No Place like Home (just rambling, spoilers)
Arkasha
Spoilers for No Place Like Home
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Mucho development on both shows this week. In Angel we find out what’s up
with
Darla and on Buffy we finally find out what’s up with Dawn.
I had a group of friends over for dinner that night, so I naturally forced
all
of them to watch Buffy with me. They are all well aware of my obsession, so
I
really wanted this to be a good ep, to prove I’m really not some freak.
It took some time for the story to really get going. The opening of the
Magic
Box was a little too dragged out, I think. Giles was strange and not really
funny. Anya was ok, but even her humor, which is mostly spot on, was a bit
flat this week. The only good thing to came out of it, is an actually
purpose
(and income) for Anya.
We are also introduced to the new Evil in town. The Beast. She’s looking for
‘a key’ to open ‘a door’ and she wants some monks to give to her.
Monks are good, I like monks. I may be a bit corny, but somehow the added
mysticism makes the evil seem more ancient and frightening.
During the course of the episode we get different options to believe where
this evil is. Is it the shinny orb? It was found at the factory and the
security guard later turns crazy. Buffy takes it home and Joyce is still not
feeling well.
Then the revealing spell shows clearly that there is something weird with
Dawn. For a while it looks like she might be the real evil.
Then we get introduced to the Beast her self. A rather pissed off young
woman,
who doesn’t appear very sane. We get to see how the first security guard
lost
his mind though some interesting brain sucking. It seems to calm her down
and
presumably this drives the victim crazy, but also gives the victim some
inside
into what’s happening.
She is also very strong as demonstrated in the fight with Buffy. So this not
some MoTW, but most likely the seasons baddy.
The monk finally reveals that Dawn in this mysterious key, and that she
doesn’t know that herself. She really believes she’s Buffy sister.
I’m glad we finally got some development on her part. I don’t think they
could
have gone on much longer with ignoring the issue. Buffy goes from extreme
annoyance, to fear/anger to sympathy for Dawn in just 40 minutes. Now what
will come next? Who will she tell about Dawn and will they believe her?
So there are still enough lose ends, to keep us occupied for the time being.
Like what is this key good for? What is it exactly that makes Joyce sick?
Does
the beast know the key is now human?
The guard warns Buffy they will get to her thought her family. Does he mean
Joyce or Dawn? And who is getting to her? He could be talking about the
Evil,
but we saw that the woman doesn’t seem to know Buffy. Is it the monks? Are
Joyce’s headaches their fault? And why do they need to get to Buffy anyway,
if
Dawn is the real important one.
Now a couple things happen just a little too convenient. Buffy just happens
to
slay a vamp at the factory and immediately gets the orb from the guard. And
where were the monks during that rave party least week anyway? Then Buffy is
at the hospital at just the right time to meet the now crazy security guard.
It must all be ‘meant to be’, I guess.
What I’m still curious about whether there is a link between this Evil girl
and Buffy’s Slayerness that goes beyond the mere fact the monks thought it
would be a good place to hide the key. After all Dawn’s appearance was
already
prophesied more then a year ago, although the monks ‘made’ her apparently
two
months ago. And every time we got a hint, it was always by another Slayer
(Faith) or by the First Slayer (as Tara).
And beside all this arcy progress, we also saw Spike. This was weird and
totally unconnected to the rest of the ep. It seems his dream has made an
impression on him. He’s now getting stalkery and acts like a 16-years old
who
has his first crush. Not liking it yet.
And to wrap it up Riley is back to normal wants to get back into action. But
Buffy is concerned first for his psychical health and then for his feelings.
So he suggests they help each other. Right, whatever.
In the end it was a reasonable ep. We get a big set up for things to come,
but
the whole ep feels unbalanced. My friends liked the evil girl, but I’m
afraid
I didn’t manage to raise some new Buffanatics this week.
Now we have to wait to see if we’re gonna get answers to all those
questions.
Arkasha
Saskia
> Is there some pact to ignore this ep that i=92m unaware of?
Looks that way doesn't it?
> Spoilers for No Place Like Home
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> P
> O
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> Mucho development on both shows this week. In Angel we find out what=92s up
> with
> Darla and on Buffy we finally find out what=92s up with Dawn.
> I had a group of friends over for dinner that night, so I naturally forced
> all
> of them to watch Buffy with me. They are all well aware of my obsession, so
> I
> really wanted this to be a good ep, to prove I=92m really not some freak.
Hehe. I know the feeling! And you sit there all nervous hoping and praying
it's really really good and that they like it.
> It took some time for the story to really get going. The opening of the
> Magic
> Box was a little too dragged out, I think. Giles was strange and not really
> funny.
What, you didn't like that wonderful outfit?? I loved it. And I loved that
whole scene where Buffy walks in, sees him in that um thing and you can
actually read a whole conversation going on even though they're not saying
a word. Excellent stuff.
> Then we get introduced to the Beast her self. A rather pissed off young
> woman,
> who doesn=92t appear very sane. We get to see how the first security guard
> lost
> his mind though some interesting brain sucking. It seems to calm her down
Very weird chick indeed. Very nutty, sexy and funny but definitely weird.
And scary at the same time. Hope we'll be seeing more of her.
> and
> presumably this drives the victim crazy, but also gives the victim some
> inside into what=92s happening.
yeah, very weird that...
> have gone on much longer with ignoring the issue. Buffy goes from extreme
> annoyance, to fear/anger to sympathy for Dawn in just 40 minutes. Now what
> will come next? Who will she tell about Dawn and will they believe her?
I can't imagine she won't tell the Scooby Gang. I mean, they always tell
each other everything, don't they? So I expect she'll be running for the
Magic shop to tell them all about it and figure out what's what... Damn
and there's only one ep left until September :-(
> Now a couple things happen just a little too convenient. Buffy just happens
> to slay a vamp at the factory and immediately gets the orb from the guard.
I have a feeling that orb found Buffy instead of the other way around...
otherwise it makes no sense that it just happened to be lying there.
> where were the monks during that rave party least week anyway? Then Buffy is
> at the hospital at just the right time to meet the now crazy security guard.
> It must all be =91meant to be=92, I guess.
Well yeah, you've got to allow for *some* coincidences I guess ;-)
> What I=92m still curious about whether there is a link between this Evil girl
> and Buffy=92s Slayerness that goes beyond the mere fact the monks thought it
> would be a good place to hide the key. After all Dawn=92s appearance was
> already
> prophesied more then a year ago, although the monks =91made=92 her apparently
> two
> months ago. And every time we got a hint, it was always by another Slayer
> (Faith) or by the First Slayer (as Tara).
Hmmm... good point! I hadn't thought of that yet... and yes, it would seem
logical there's some kind of connection there.
> And beside all this arcy progress, we also saw Spike. This was weird and
> totally unconnected to the rest of the ep. It seems his dream has made an
> impression on him. He=92s now getting stalkery and acts like a 16-years old
Very annoying.
> In the end it was a reasonable ep. We get a big set up for things to come,
> but
> the whole ep feels unbalanced. My friends liked the evil girl, but I=92m
> afraid
> I didn=92t manage to raise some new Buffanatics this week.
Really? I actually loved this ep. It felt like quite a leap forward arc-
wise. Suddenly we got answers to several questions. OTOH, it raised lots
of new ones, so plenty of reasons to keep watching :)
--
Saskia
"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch,
you must first create the universe."
- Carl Sagan
Arkasha
> Arkasha zei :
> > Is there some pact to ignore this ep that i'm unaware of?
>
> Looks that way doesn't it?
Hmmm, some kind of mindcontrol spell going on??
> > Spoilers for No Place Like Home
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> > Mucho development on both shows this week. In Angel we find out what's up
> > with
> > Darla and on Buffy we finally find out what's up with Dawn.
> > I had a group of friends over for dinner that night, so I naturally forced
> > all
> > of them to watch Buffy with me. They are all well aware of my obsession, so
> > I
> > really wanted this to be a good ep, to prove I'm really not some freak.
>
> Hehe. I know the feeling! And you sit there all nervous hoping and praying
> it's really really good and that they like it.
It’s really nerve-racking, like you have to pass some test.
> > It took some time for the story to really get going. The opening of the
> > Magic
> > Box was a little too dragged out, I think. Giles was strange and not really
> > funny.
>
> What, you didn't like that wonderful outfit?? I loved it. And I loved that
> whole scene where Buffy walks in, sees him in that um thing and you can
> actually read a whole conversation going on even though they're not saying
> a word. Excellent stuff.
Not really my kind of humor I guess.
> > Then we get introduced to the Beast her self. A rather pissed off young
> > woman,
> > who doesn't appear very sane. We get to see how the first security guard
> > lost
> > his mind though some interesting brain sucking. It seems to calm her down
>
> Very weird chick indeed. Very nutty, sexy and funny but definitely weird.
> And scary at the same time. Hope we'll be seeing more of her.
I bet we will. Eventhough we have only seen a little of her, she comes
across as a very intriging character.
> > and
> > presumably this drives the victim crazy, but also gives the victim some
> > inside into what's happening.
>
> yeah, very weird that...
Could be some kind of cross contamination. She sucks the reason/sanity
out of her victim and and in the process gives back some of her own
insanity back, together with her knowledge.
Or maybe she just takes the sanity, so that the victim's mind is now
somehow clear enough to see a different reality.
> > have gone on much longer with ignoring the issue. Buffy goes from extreme
> > annoyance, to fear/anger to sympathy for Dawn in just 40 minutes. Now what
> > will come next? Who will she tell about Dawn and will they believe her?
>
> I can't imagine she won't tell the Scooby Gang. I mean, they always tell
> each other everything, don't they? So I expect she'll be running for the
> Magic shop to tell them all about it and figure out what's what... Damn
> and there's only one ep left until September :-(
I'm wondering whether she's gonna do about Joyce and Dawn herself. It
definitely sucks we only get one more ep this week!
> > Now a couple things happen just a little too convenient. Buffy just happens
> > to slay a vamp at the factory and immediately gets the orb from the guard.
>
> I have a feeling that orb found Buffy instead of the other way around...
> otherwise it makes no sense that it just happened to be lying there.
I guess so. The monks could have send it to her somehow, the give her
extra protection. But why then only now? Dawn has been with Buffy for
a while now.
> > where were the monks during that rave party least week anyway? Then Buffy is
> > at the hospital at just the right time to meet the now crazy security guard.
> > It must all be "meant to be", I guess.
>
> Well yeah, you've got to allow for *some* coincidences I guess ;-)
>
> > What I'm still curious about whether there is a link between this Evil girl
> > and Buffy's Slayerness that goes beyond the mere fact the monks thought it
> > would be a good place to hide the key. After all Dawn's appearance was
> > already
> > prophesied more then a year ago, although the monks 'made' her apparently
> > two
> > months ago. And every time we got a hint, it was always by another Slayer
> > (Faith) or by the First Slayer (as Tara).
>
> Hmmm... good point! I hadn't thought of that yet... and yes, it would seem
> logical there's some kind of connection there.
I gives great potential to delve a bit more into the history and the
mistic side of Slayerness. We've gotten some hints on the 'dark' side
of the Slayer.
Could this be connected to this great evil????
> > And beside all this arcy progress, we also saw Spike. This was weird and
> > totally unconnected to the rest of the ep. It seems his dream has made an
> > impression on him. He's now getting stalkery and acts like a 16-years old
>
> Very annoying.
>
> > In the end it was a reasonable ep. We get a big set up for things to come,
> > but
> > the whole ep feels unbalanced. My friends liked the evil girl, but I'm
> > afraid
> > I didn't manage to raise some new Buffanatics this week.
>
> Really? I actually loved this ep. It felt like quite a leap forward arc-
> wise. Suddenly we got answers to several questions. OTOH, it raised lots
> of new ones, so plenty of reasons to keep watching :)
With a little less Giles and Magic box stuff, I would've liked it
more.
Like I said, not my kind of humor.
Arkasha
Mattia Valente
>
> Is there some pact to ignore this ep that i’m unaware of?
Well, no. I've been anywhere but home for the past 5 days, so no actual
review from me yet. I hope to get it up by tonight, latest tomorrow. It
will be written, though.
> Spoilers for No Place Like Home
> /
> /
> /
> S
> P
> O
> I
> L
> E
> R
> /
> /
> /
> S
> P
> A
> C
> E
> /
> /
> /
> Mucho development on both shows this week. In Angel we find out what’s
> up with Darla and on Buffy we finally find out what’s up with Dawn.
Yep. Weirdness in both camps.
> I had a group of friends over for dinner that night, so I naturally
> forced all of them to watch Buffy with me. They are all well aware of
> my obsession, so I really wanted this to be a good ep, to prove I’m
> really not some freak.
Heh. Risky business, that. Live, new episode to start people off. I
believe George managed to get people to watch 'Restless' as a first ep.
Imagine the reaction to that (an ep which makes zero to a tiny bit of
sense if you haven't seen all the other seasons, and can be confusing
even if you have...go figure.)
> It took some time for the story to really get going. The opening of
> the Magic Box was a little too dragged out, I think. Giles was strange
> and not really funny. Anya was ok, but even her humor, which is mostly
> spot on, was a bit flat this week. The only good thing to came out of
> it, is an actually purpose (and income) for Anya.
Really? Weird. Giles was a hoot in this ep, the strangeness being part
of the funny. Anya was more fun than usual (not flat at all, really.
Flat was Cordy/Wes bickering in this week's Angel, IMO.) As for dragging
a little, a lot of time passing before things kick into high gear in a
big way, it's pretty much true, but something I only noticed on third
watching, when I could step back a little and look at the composition.
Dragged me along for one great little ride the first time, still manages
to now (it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of the episode.)
> We are also introduced to the new Evil in town. The Beast. She’s
> looking for ‘a key’
The Key, even..
> to open ‘a door’ and she wants some monks to give to her.
Indeed. What door? Or portal? Or whatever? Monky Boy said a lot
(hey...hmm...No More But Monk Key. Conincidence? I think not..) and yet
very little. And now he's dead. Annoying. Means finding out about this
'Key' may not be too easy after all.
> Monks are good, I like monks. I may be a bit corny, but somehow the
> added mysticism makes the evil seem more ancient and frightening.
Oh, I totally agree. Nothing wrong with the mysticism here. It's fun :o)
> During the course of the episode we get different options to believe
> where this evil is. Is it the shinny orb? It was found at the factory
> and the security guard later turns crazy. Buffy takes it home and
> Joyce is still not feeling well.
True. The Dagon Sphere has me a little flummoxed. What was the spell
that the monks were busy with 2 months ago? Creating Dawn and all those
memories? Seemed a little too simple and short notice. Perhaps they were
sending the Dagon Sphere to the Key (or to Buffy), since they were
talking about 'Protecting the Key' and the Sphere is for warding off
ancient primordial evil. Hmm..
> Then the revealing spell shows clearly that there is something weird
> with Dawn. For a while it looks like she might be the real evil.
Indeed. Could you BE more ominous with the "I made you some tea" line?
Sheesh...
> Then we get introduced to the Beast her self. A rather pissed off
> young woman, who doesn’t appear very sane.
Understatement much?
<g>
> We get to see how the first
> security guard lost his mind though some interesting brain sucking. It
> seems to calm her down and presumably this drives the victim crazy, but
> also gives the victim some inside into what’s happening.
Yep. A little like the flashes Joyce was having. Moment of clarity
before she passed out, saw Dawn for what she is (we now know...well, we
still don't really know much about what she is, but still.)
> She is also very strong as demonstrated in the fight with Buffy. So
> this not some MoTW, but most likely the seasons baddy.
Ooooh yes. No simple slay here. Stamping ones foot and causing major
structural damage is not easy.
> The monk finally reveals that Dawn in this mysterious key, and that
> she doesn’t know that herself. She really believes she’s Buffy sister.
Strangeness...and then he dies. Gah.
> I’m glad we finally got some development on her part. I don’t think
> they could have gone on much longer with ignoring the issue. Buffy
Well, it was basically being sadistic to the viewers, but hey, Angel
dragged things out just as much (and in a less satisfactory way..I'm a
cynic, I guess); big revelations eps for both sides.
> goes from extreme annoyance, to fear/anger to sympathy for Dawn in
> just 40 minutes.
Well, the fear/anger thing is an understandable reaction to the wierd
spell and he revelation that Dawn is something some insanely powerful
beast wants to get her hands on, something that's stashed away in your
own home. The sympathy is interesting. I'm wondering how this will
affect their relationship, how she feels about Dawn, knowing what she
is.
> Now what will come next? Who will she tell about Dawn and will they
> believe her?
I don't think belief is too hard, personally. It's the Buffyverse,
weridness abounds. It's the reactions and results of the revelations
that interest me.
> So there are still enough lose ends, to keep us occupied for the time
> being. Like what is this key good for? What is it exactly that makes
> Joyce sick? Does the beast know the key is now human?
All very good questions.
> The guard warns Buffy they will get to her thought her family. Does he
> mean Joyce or Dawn? And who is getting to her? He could be talking
> about the Evil, but we saw that the woman doesn’t seem to know Buffy.
> Is it the monks? Are Joyce’s headaches their fault? And why do they
> need to get to Buffy anyway, if Dawn is the real important one.
A lot of very good questions. Things getting complicated over in
Buffy-land. As for Buffy, they sent the Key to her because they couldn't
keep it safe, obviously (The Beast crashed their little party, probably
killed most all of them.) The Slayer is the champion for Good in this
'verse, so why not choose her? We've had prophetic dreams for 2 seasons
now, from both slayers, about 'Little Sis Coming'.
> Now a couple things happen just a little too convenient. Buffy just
> happens to slay a vamp at the factory and immediately gets the orb
> from the guard. And where were the monks during that rave party least
> week anyway? Then Buffy is at the hospital at just the right time to
> meet the now crazy security guard. It must all be ‘meant to be’, I
> guess.
Yes, there's some convenient plot device type stuff going on. The guard
finding the sphere is what's got me the most confused. Some of it can be
chalked up to fate, perhaps (as Saskia mentioned) the sphere was seeking
her in some way, but we don't know enough about the thing to really say
for sure.
On the Monk front, I don't know how he got away from the Beast the first
time around (perhaps he got lucky, and the other two were chased and
killed, he managed to sneak off for the time being. Or perhaps the beast
let him, and tracked him to Sunnydale (very perhaps, wouldn't count on
it.) I'm guessing our friendly monk was the only one around. The reast
are probably dead or in a monastery somewhere. When we saw him, he was
sitting in the warehouse looking at blueprints or a map of some kind.
Perhaps trying to locate the sphere that was sent there by him, trying
to find the Slayer (and why Buffy, BTW? The line runs through Faith
now..), setting up more protection...
Hmm..this is what the transcripts say:
"Pan down to reveal the monk from the Czech monastery crouched on the
floor amid a circle of lit candles and magickal icons similar to the
one we saw before. He's marking locations on a map of Sunnydale."
Can't say I noticed that offhand, and I'll be sure to check the shooting
scripts when I get home, but still...
> What I’m still curious about whether there is a link between this Evil
> girl and Buffy’s Slayerness that goes beyond the mere fact the monks
> thought it would be a good place to hide the key. After all Dawn’s
> appearance was already prophesied more then a year ago, although the
> monks ‘made’ her apparently two months ago. And every time we got a
> hint, it was always by another Slayer (Faith) or by the First Slayer
> (as Tara).
Exactly so. BTW, again, the ritual is something I'm not sure about (we
don't know how long the Beast has been up and about, or when exactly the
Key was made. If it was two months, that's an awfully long time. If the
eps are a week apart that doesn't quite track, but they probably aren't,
or something. Chronology is always an oddity in episodic TV.
> And beside all this arcy progress, we also saw Spike. This was weird
> and totally unconnected to the rest of the ep. It seems his dream has
> made an impression on him. He’s now getting stalkery and acts like a
> 16-year old who has his first crush. Not liking it yet.
Well, no. Disturbing, has me worried, but it's truly hilarious. One of
his best lines ever came out of this:
Buffy: "What are you doing here? Five words or less."
Spike: "Out. for. a. walk... bitch."
Heheh..Ahum. Still, no, not very good Spike development quite yet.
> And to wrap it up Riley is back to normal wants to get back into
> action. But Buffy is concerned first for his psychical health and
> then for his feelings. So he suggests they help each other. Right,
> whatever.
She suggests, you mean. He says 'you do your thing, I'll do mine'
actually. I like the amount of Riley in this ep. He's there, so it's
continous, but he's not overyl present. They're drifting apart though,
Buffy's trying too hard to keep him involved, Riley's having none of it.
> In the end it was a reasonable ep. We get a big set up for things to
> come, but the whole ep feels unbalanced.
I really enjoyed this ep, best episode of the season thus far, as it
answered a lot of questions and raised even more. Angel was more
'unbalanced' in that the revelations were either illogical (and probably
not the whole big picture) or lacking in some way; the pacing was a
little better than in Buffy, but the final reveal, the manner in which
it was filmed, etc. makes me enjoy 'No Place Like Home' more than 'Dear
Boy'. It's a close call this week, though.
> My friends liked the evil
> girl, but I’m afraid I didn’t manage to raise some new Buffanatics
> this week.
Well, one ep is hard to sell people on. It generally takes a while, and
most people will never really be fans. Most people don't even have a
fave TV show, one they'd tape if they weren't home and that they keep
the tapes of, for example.
> Now we have to wait to see if we’re gonna get answers to all those
> questions.
We've got the better part of a season to deal with them..
Mattia