Buffy 3.19 Choices (SPOILERS)
P@rick
Is this a great show or what? I admit, I had seen this ep before. Heck, I've
seen all the eps before. Just like most of us. But Buffy manages to appear
fresh and be engaging, every single time I watch it.
Just like this episode, Choices. Which was all about... choices! I loved
this ep, and not just because Willow in that lovely dress.... <dreams off
into happy Willow land>
<very much later>
Ok, I'm back. Time for the recap.
Like I mentioned earlier on, this ep has one big fat red line running
through it: making (difficult) choices. Graduation day is approaching fast,
so the Scoobyes need to make some choices about their future. To be more
precise, where they will be spending the next four years of their life. Some
have lots of choice (Willow) and some have less choice (Xander). And some
appear to have some choice, but really have not (Buffy). Choosing the right
college is tough enough when you're a 'normal' teenager. But it's ten times
tough when you're part of the Scooby gang or even worse, when you're the
Slayer. They can pretend that when their high school years are over they can
take the next step in their lives, just like every other person. But it
doesn't work that way when you're living in Sunnydale fighting evil as an
extracurricular activity. Maybe they have given that some thought in the
past, most notably Buffy. But now reality has caught up with them and hits
them in the face.
Buffy realises that she really has no choice than stay in Sunnydale. She
makes a faint attempt to escape from her destiny, trying to put a premature
end to the Mayor's plans, but she fails. And even if she had succeeded,
another Big Evil would soon arise to keep her needed in Sunnydale. Nope,
Buffy's future is pretty much planned out for her by her sacred duty. But
not only Buffy's future.
On many occasions, Buffy could only defeat Evil with the help of the Scooby
Gang. So just like Buffy they are indispensable fighting Evil. And just like
Buffy, their future lies in Hellmouthy Sunnydale. Lucky for them, UC
Sunnydale isn't really bad (and I'm not talking mortality rates here).
Xander doesn't even have a future in college ahead of him. Instead, he will
hit the road, with Jack Kerouac as his personal guide. Now who will get the
supplies when he's gone? For Willow. it seems to be the biggest set back.
But being captured by Faith and stealing some pages from the Books of
Ascension, makes her realise that what she really wants is fight evil and
help people. And become a Bad Ass Wicca of course. Now you just can't learn
that at Harvard, Cambridge or MIT. UC Sunnydale is by far the best learning
ground for that. Actually, Sunnydale High is even better, but spending
another four years there is just not an option. I really love the scene
where Willow tells Buffy she is going to UCS as well. It's not just Buffy
that is overly thrilled by the news, the viewers are as well.
I guess it is bad news for the vampires in Sunnydale. Especially since
Willow learned to do the floating-pencil-right-through-the-heart trick. And
this under extreme stress as well. Who would have thought she could pull
that one off? All those years of fighting evil really gave her some
backbone. The way she stood up to Faith wasn't half bad either. And with
Faith the choice theme continues. Be it that Faith has already made her
choice, and now there seems to be now way back. She embraced Evil and
appears to really enjoy her carreermove. It remains a point of discussion to
what degree Faith really had a choice. But like Willow said, well boo hoo!
Faith undoubtedly has had some rough moments in her life. But she had some
good things going for her too. She never showed a willingness to fight to
make things better. Revelling in her self pity and choosing the path of evil
is just the easy way out.
And then there's our ever so romantic but tragic couple, Buffy & Angel. The
opening scene, with the two of them fighting vamps, already showed the
doubts they have about what the future has in store for them. It appears the
future holds nothing more than the same old slaying business. I can imagine
that can get tiresome. And no Fire Demon nest can change that. Later the
Mayor rubbed it in even more. What kind of relation can Buffy and Angel
have. One thing is clear, it will always take place in the shadows or in the
dark. And no sex, for the rest of your life? Of course, that desire will
gradually disappear when Buffy turns wrinkled and senile and cursing Angel
for his youth, as the Mayor puts it. No, the future for Buffy and Angel
looks troublesome at best. Tehy both don't want to say it out loud. Although
Angel didn't want to say that much at all in the last scene. And the look in
Buffy and Angel's eyes when they lay silently in eachother's arms spoke
volumes.
Tough debate the Scoobies were having when Willow was captured. I know where
my heart would lie. But saving hundreds of lives by destroying the box,
maybe at the cost of one, is not a weak argument. Of course, it's
unmentionable to the Scoobies. And Oz settles the question by destroying the
pedestal. What a guy!
Wesley had no authority whatsoever, again. He's really of no use anymore.
Maybe he can help Cordelia in the dress shop. Why does she need to work in a
shop? Did Wallstreet turn against her father's fortune?
Next week: The Prom. Let's see if Cordy has earned enough money in time to
buy that dress. And what will the others be wearing? Oooh, the excitement!
Bye, Patrick
--
Keeper of the Willowism, "And I'm eating this banana. Lunchtime be damned!"
Protector of Willow and Oz waking up together
Keeper of the Wily Willow Charms
ThreadMaker [tm]
Dave Stork
> I just have to say one thing, P@rick, that was without a doubt the most
> engaging, total yet concise review I have ever read. Reviewmaster can be
> added to your list of achievements.
Yes, indeed. In nksf we've felt a great loss when he decided not
to continue his daily Earth:Final Conflict reviews.
Well, to comemmorate (sp?) special achievements, we in nksf have
Het Gouden Lepeltje[tm]. I propose to give P@trick The Golden Mr.
Pointy.
<appllausse (sp?)>
--
Dave (sp?)
http://home.hetnet.nl/~jericho --- Mijn homepage "ahum"
http://come.to/nks+f -- Voor de nl.kunst.sf+fantasy FAQ e.d.
Jonathan Black
> I just have to say one thing, P@rick, that was without a doubt
> the most engaging, total yet concise review I have ever read.
> Reviewmaster can be added to your list of achievements.
Yeah, man, P@'s reviews really are da bomb. I find myself with
nothing much to add.
Very enjoyable episode. Season 3 rules. I *love* the Mayor (no
not like that!). Oh and that dress on Willow was... very, very
nice.
--
J o N a T H a N
Daasbavel
Dave Stork
<knip>
> Oh and that dress on Willow was... very, very nice.
So, you noticed that too....
--
Dave :-P
P@rick
> Very enjoyable episode. Season 3 rules. I *love* the Mayor (no
> not like that!)./
It's ok Jonathan. I love the Mayor no not like that too. Harry Groener is
just a very talented actor.
/ Oh and that dress on Willow was... very, very nice.
Time to go to happy Willow land again....
Bye, Patrick
signing off and hitting the sack
Jonathan Black
> Jonathan Black wrote:
>
> > Very enjoyable episode. Season 3 rules. I *love* the Mayor (no
> > not like that!)./
>
> It's ok Jonathan. I love the Mayor no not like that too. Harry
> Groener is just a very talented actor.
Yep, and Joss a genius for coming up with this character. He's
simply - and I can't *stress* this enough - a joy to watch :)
> / Oh and that dress on Willow was... very, very nice.
>
> Time to go to happy Willow land again....
Oh gosh yes, look at those (I'm referring to the numbers on my
clock, well, numbers and funny little shapes, that is [1] [Hi
Peter!]). Time for happy Willow land, indeed.
Mmm...
--
J o N a T H a N
Arkasha
"P@rick" <P.J.Mee...@students.fss.VampWillow.uu.nl> schreef in bericht
news:8omd0i$k22$1...@news.surfnet.nl...
> *** SPOILERS for Buffy 3.19 Choices ***
anyone else notice that when Willow reads the spell upon the roof of the
mayor's office, the pages in the spell book are completely blank?
besides that it's a nice ep, not one of my favorites. Unlike most of the
other posters in this tread, I don't like the mayor. For me he's not scary,
or funny and there's not much to him besides that.
Arkasha (finally back after >2 weeks offline, yeah !)