Buffy 5.01 Buffy vs ******* SPOILERS
P@rick
*** SPOILERS for Buffy 5.01 ***
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The world most famous vampire comes to Sunnydale in search for the most
famous Slayer. Dracula, Vlad Dracul, Lestat, the Real Thing. It feels
like Dracula escaped from another story, or another dimension if you
will, to cross-over with BtVS. Almost as if he doesn't belong in the
Buffyverse. A mysterious castle that apparently nobody noticed before
suddenly turns up and there's a sudden change in the weather conditions
that may or may not be caused by Willow's BBQ spell. The storm seems to
be a pretty big consequence for a relatively harmless fire-starting
spell. If Drac actually made that castle appear out of nowhere then he
probably arranged the bad weather as well for its dramatic effect. If
not then Willow should really be careful when using her magic (as if we
didn't know that already). Still, whoever can cause such a drastic
weather change is pretty powerful. And I can't imagine both Willow or
Dracula being capable of it.
Dracula is as much a legend in Buffy's world as he is in ours. But hey,
doesn't the same go for vampires in general? And in the end Vlad is just
another fanged demon with a few nifty tricks up his sleeves. But
rationalizations aside, it feels kinda weird to see our Buffster
confronted with the Prince of Darkness (let's see how many synonyms I
can come up with). Xander rightly wonders whether Drac knows
Frankenstein as well.
It appears that Buffy's reputation has travelled all the way to Europe.
And it has caught the attention of the Count himself. Why now, why
Buffy? Maybe because Buffy has already lived longer than any previous
Slayer. Which makes her special and start attracting the attention of
guys like Vlad. Unlike your average bloodthirsty vamp, Dracula isn't out
for a quick kill. He's genuinly interested in Buffy. Attracted by her
darkness. Which makes me wonder whether it is darkness that
distinguishes Buffy from previous Slayers. Dracula didn't pursue
previous Slayers as far as I can tell. It could be the influence of the
First Slayer that is still with Buffy? On the other hand Vlad the
Impaler wouldn't know about that before meeting Buffy. So he must be
attracted by Buffy's reputation, her already extraordinary state of
service which is an indication to Drac that this Slayer possesses more
(dark) powers than any Slayer before her.
At least, I think that Dracula's talk about hunting, kindred powers
rooted in darkness and finding her true nature is more than
smoothtalking Buffy into taking a sip of his blood. It builds on the
origins of the Slayer laid down in Restless, and we did see Buffy hunt
rather than patrol in the first scene. Drac also uses the famous
quote from Restless: "You think you know ... what you are ...
what's to come. You haven't even begun." (I liked it better when Tara
said it). The signs are getting stronger that the source of the
Slayer's power may not be simply qualified as a 'Force for Good'.
The darkness certainly is there but it doesn't define Buffy. When Drac
urges her to find her true nature Buffy quickly snaps out of it. Her
powers may be rooted in darkness but there's a lot more to being a
Slayer than that. Other qualities balance the darkness out, making a
Slayer more than a hunting killer. And that makes her oppositely
different from truly evil beings such as vampires, despite the common
dark nature of their powers. A Slayer has a choice to be either good or
evil (in a black and white way of looking at it). Faith is a good
example of that. The Slayer powers are there, and it's up to the Slayer
to use them for good or evil. Buffy could have given in to Dracula but
she didn't. Imagine season 3 Faith in her place and think about what
might have happened.
Dracula turns out to be one of the more successful vampires. Though
Kakistos and the Master were older than he is. Just like the Master and
Drusilla, Dracula has the gift of hypnosis. And some other neat tricks
up his sleeve. He turns into a bat a whole lot quicker than the Master.
And when he's dusted he just materializes somewhere else. It makes you
wonder what makes him so special in that respect, where did he learn
those neat tricks. Spike explains that it has something to do with his
gypsy roots. I guess that means that gypsy vampires are twice as
dangerous. And they can curse you with a soul... okay forget that last
part. But it does imply that Dracula isn't that unique. Basically every
vampire can learn the same tricks if they put their mind to it. Or if
they are out of their mind like Dru.
I didn't really like the actor who played Dracula. Not that his acting
was really bad, but he didn't come across as *the* charismatic and
intrigueing vampire Dracula is supposed to be. He looked like a cheap
impersonator with a bad accent. Buffy's and Xander's initial disbelief
must be a blow to Drac's ego.
Drac's appearance, and I mean *appearance*, is cause for some jealousy.
Riley doesn't like that Buffy keeps going on about Vlad's dark
penetrating eyes, Xander isn't all too happy about Anya's fond memories
of him and Tara is worried when Willow refers to him as sexy. It looks
like Will appreciates the external features of both sexes, just like her
Evil counterpart. An extra cause for concern for the already not-too-
confident Tara. Not that she has anything to worry about since Willow
really loves her.
After her encounter with Vlad the Paler, and also as a result of the
joining spell and the First Slayer paying a visit, Buffy is eager to
learn more about her Slayership, its origins and the other Slayers. And
she indicates she needs Giles for that. Yes!!! Excellent way to give
Giles a purpose in Buffy's life again. Buffy tells Giles she needs *his*
help. And just as he has decided to leave for his motherland. Prompting
Willow to go out of her way to make him feel useful and needed. Very
funny and very sweet.
Another underappreciated character stands up for himself this episode.
After being used and abused for the umpteenth time, Xander decides that
he won't be anyone's butt-monkey anymore. I sincerely hope that he can
keep his promise.
Riley explains why Spike hasn't been staked by Buffy yet: "You've
helped Buffy before, so she has a problem with killing you now that
you're helpless". Oh sure, that's a *really* convincing reason coming
from the Slayer. Certainly after Spike 'helping' the gang in The Yoko
Factor. They'll have to come with a better excuse for letting Spike live
than that. Riley doesn't have a problem dusting Spike. But he better
keep his hands off him. As much as Spike needs a good killing, Riley is
*not* the man for the job.
Lovely moment between Willow and Tara when Joyce sighs that sometimes
you just feel like giving up on men altogether. U-huh, we know how you
feel Joyce! Care to join us?
A very big surprise when Buffy meets her sister at the end of the ep. We
know for a fact that Buffy is an only child. In fact, Joyce mentions to
Buffy that the house will be quiet again when Buffy heads for campus. So
what's the deal? Who's that girl and why does Buffy recognize her as her
sister? A big cliffhanger to the next episode.
I liked this episode, a lot. But I didn't like how they let Dracula keep
coming back. It's strange enough as it is to see Dracula appear in
Sunnydale. Seeing him reappear after Buffy stakes him is taking the joke
too far for my taste. Maybe he'll be back. I'm not sure whether I want
him to return.
But apart from that this ep was very entertaining. Great funny moments.
And some issues from the preceding season were resolved or at least
dealt with. Giles is useful again, Xander doesn't want to take shit
anymore, and Buffy goes on an inner queste in search for the essence of
the Slayer. Roll on S5!
Bye, Patrick
--
Keeper of the Willowism, "And I'm eating this banana. Lunchtime be
damned!"
Keeper of the Wily Willow Charms
ThreadMaker [tm]
ReviewMeister [tm]
Mattia Valente
> "Get out!"
Sheesh...no need to be snippy..oh, wait, NOW I get it..
Well, so it would seem, anyway.
> like Dracula escaped from another story, or another dimension if you
> will, to cross-over with BtVS. Almost as if he doesn't belong in the
> Buffyverse. A mysterious castle that apparently nobody noticed before
> suddenly turns up and there's a sudden change in the weather conditions
> that may or may not be caused by Willow's BBQ spell. The storm seems to
> be a pretty big consequence for a relatively harmless fire-starting
> spell. If Drac actually made that castle appear out of nowhere then he
> probably arranged the bad weather as well for its dramatic effect. If
> not then Willow should really be careful when using her magic (as if we
> didn't know that already). Still, whoever can cause such a drastic
> weather change is pretty powerful. And I can't imagine both Willow or
> Dracula being capable of it.
I'm going to have go with the Dracula thing. It's part of the whole
mythology, isn't it? The storms, that sort of thing (ok, so all I've
seen as far as Dracula movies are concerned is Coppola's version, but
still..) are part of the deal. As for not fitting in, well, that's
because he doesn't, really. Everything's turned all strange, it's even
more bizarre, in some ways, than the wishverse, because at least there
you knew to expect strangeness.
<SNIP stuff I don't have much to add too..>
> At least, I think that Dracula's talk about hunting, kindred powers
> rooted in darkness and finding her true nature is more than
> smoothtalking Buffy into taking a sip of his blood. It builds on the
> origins of the Slayer laid down in Restless, and we did see Buffy hunt
> rather than patrol in the first scene. Drac also uses the famous
> quote from Restless: "You think you know ... what you are ...
> what's to come. You haven't even begun." (I liked it better when Tara
> said it).
Indeed (and Tara said it the other way around, BTW. Thanks to Jon for
pointing that out to me ;-)
> The signs are getting stronger that the source of the
> Slayer's power may not be simply qualified as a 'Force for Good'.
> The darkness certainly is there but it doesn't define Buffy. When Drac
> urges her to find her true nature Buffy quickly snaps out of it. Her
> powers may be rooted in darkness but there's a lot more to being a
> Slayer than that. Other qualities balance the darkness out, making a
> Slayer more than a hunting killer. And that makes her oppositely
> different from truly evil beings such as vampires, despite the common
> dark nature of their powers. A Slayer has a choice to be either good or
> evil (in a black and white way of looking at it). Faith is a good
> example of that. The Slayer powers are there, and it's up to the Slayer
> to use them for good or evil. Buffy could have given in to Dracula but
> she didn't. Imagine season 3 Faith in her place and think about what
> might have happened.
The thing that gets me is this: how and why does Dracula know all of
this? Does he really, or is he just wildly guessing away? Has he met
other slayers before and found out that way? If so, why doesn't the
council know about all of this? In any event, it's odd, but interesting,
but I fear we may never really get answers to a lot of these questions.
> Spike explains that it has something to do with his
> gypsy roots. I guess that means that gypsy vampires are twice as
> dangerous.
He says it's just 'showy gypsy stuff'. How much truth there is to that,
I'm not sure. The original legend of Vlad the Impaler doesn't really
seem to track very well with either the 'standard' Dracula mythos or the
one presented here, to be honest.
> And they can curse you with a soul... okay forget that last
> part. But it does imply that Dracula isn't that unique. Basically every
> vampire can learn the same tricks if they put their mind to it. Or if
> they are out of their mind like Dru.
Maybe. Then again, for some reason, he didn't go all bumpy. Weirdness..
<SNIP stuff I agree with..your reviews are annoying that way ;-)>
> Another underappreciated character stands up for himself this episode.
> After being used and abused for the umpteenth time, Xander decides that
> he won't be anyone's butt-monkey anymore. I sincerely hope that he can
> keep his promise.
Amen to that (I'm echoing myself here, I don't care.)
Mattia
--
"By the by, the answer to how I keep from losing it is I make sure to
paper the cracks in plumbing so the ooze from Saturn can't communicate
with my lungs anymore. Hmmm. I may be too late."
--Joss Whedon, Bronze Posting Board, 1998