Revsiting AOQ Review 1-3: "Witch"
Apteryx
> Date: Jan 7 2006, 6:02 pm
> Subject: AOQ Review 1-3: "Witch"
> To: alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer
>
>
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season One, Episode 3: "Witch"
> (or "newts, once indigenous to most of North America, were hunted to
> the brink of extinction by witches, who valued them for their
> eyes...")
> Writer: Dana Reston
> Director: Stephen Cragg
>
> The opening gag of "Witch" features Giles ranting about the duties of
> a
> Slayer and the dangers of "cultish" behavior. The camera slowly pans
> to show Buffy dressed as a cheerleader. It's a decent enough joke
> that
> sets the stage for the mostly-lightweight episode that follows it.
Best gag so far. A superbly timed cut.
> The
> ending of "The Harvest" promised us _Buffy_-ized takes on other
> supernatural creatures besides vampires, and this episode shows that
> they can be the focal points for episodes centered more around normal
> life in Sunnydale. The variety should give the series some legs.
>
> There are few things more thoroughly stupid than cheerleading (except
> perhaps cheerleading competitions),
There's always movies about cheerleading competitions.
> but it's hard to fault Buffy too
> much for trying out. Some kids sit and home watching vampire shows,
> and some kids would rather wave pompoms and at least try to hang out
> with the popular crowd. Although obviously there's witchcraft and
> stuff going on, a good part of "Witch" is about seeing how our heroes
> would fare in a school-based comedy, and they do okay for themselves,
> with most of the situations and wordplay seeming like it makes sense.
> When Xander lets us know that he really isn't bothered by school-
> spirit
> type events as long as they feature scantily-clad chicks, it elicits
> tolerant smiles, because we all know people like that.
>
> The nasty stuff underneath the surface of this episode gets coated
> with
> a veneer of fun; the story of Amy's nightmarish mom is introduced
> early, but it's done within the context of the grin-inducing image of
> broth-only diets and brownie binges. Once the witchcraft starts,
> Cordelia getting blinded is played mostly for jokes as we gradually
> figure it out, and who can do anything but grin during the early parts
> of Buffy's perky scenes ("juice!")? Actually, I have no idea why
> Catherine's spell requires Buffy to go insane or why she snaps out of
> it when she does,
Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad? I dunno. It's just
the way the spell works, with the potential for hilarity being presumably
the main reason. The results are fun.
> but my fiancee and I didn't feel the need to think
> too hard about it; we were too busy deciding that "[name]-shaped
> friend" is pretty much the BEST PHRASE EVAR!!!1!! and should be part
> of
> every conversation.
>
> Most of this review has focused on how light and fun this episode is.
> But when it goes for heavier themes... well, Catherine is easily the
> darkest and scariest thing that this young show has produced to date.
> Although she's offscreen for most of it, I was struck by how
> thoroughly twisted the character is. I didn't predict the body-switch
> revelation (though it wasn't a shock or anything), but I want to
> congratulate whoever decided to put a marvelously sinister spin on
> Fantasy Stock Plot #258 by combining it with the idea of a parent
> living vicariously through her kid.
Sometimes that part of it strikes me as rather thickly laid on, but other
times, including this one, meh, its ok.
>
> As far as the episode's big character development -- Xander's crush on
> Buffy -- jury's still out on that. I liked the dynamic as it was and
> don't really feel in the mood for the soap opera stuff, but when you
> throw hot teens and hormones together, it's pretty much inevitable
> that
> something like this will come up. The "one of the girls" payoff is
> unsatisfying since that joke is so overdone, but at least they set it
> up so it'd have an extra joke (Xander basically getting his own words
> reflected at him). I'm glad Xander and Willow have that magic kind of
> purely platonic friendship you see a lot of on TV, since the scenes
> between the two of them can let the characters be themselves without
> the shyness or whatever else normally keeps them from saying what's in
> their minds. While I'm on a Xander-heavy paragraph, I criticized
> Brendon for playing him too self-confidently back in "Hellmouth." I
> think Joss was thinking more along the lines of "nervous energy"
> rather
> than "life of the party" when creating his extroverted nerd character,
> and some scenes in "Witch" get it right. (Others don't.) And the
> mop-like haircut helps disguise the actor's blatant cuteness too.
>
> Random short takes:
> - Nitpick: Real Driver's Ed cars always give the instructor his own
> brake.
>
> - Buffy seems to imply that she's only been Slaying for about a year.
> I'd have guessed longer given how otherworld-weary she seems
> sometimes.
> Of course, a year can be a long time when you're fighting for your
> life.
>
> - Is Buffy the only one capable of action during an unexpected crisis?
> Everyone else just stands there staring, every time. I know she's the
> only superhero enrolled at SHS, but still...
Not everyone's cut out for it - "I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide
until it goes away."
> - It hadn't occurred to me that "Xander" could be a nickname for
> "Alexander"; I'd assumed all the good guys in the show just had
> ridiculous names.
>
> - Although Giles really gets to do a lot in this one (including his
> first incantation), the show is never _about_ him; it's always the
> kids. That's too bad, in a way. There's still plenty of show left,
> though, even if we take Ken's advice and try to pretend that each
> season could be the last.
>
> - I liked the scenes with Buffy's mom; not so much the big one at he
> end, but the earlier stuff keeps her established obliviousness to her
> daughter whilst showing that she does feel guilty about it. And the
> part with the exhibit implies that she has a life and interests
> outside
> the realm of What's Immediately Relevant To Our Heroes.
>
> - The mirror was deeply lame, but they made up for it with Catherine's
> final fate: right out of the _Twilight Zone_ School Of Ironic
> Punishments.
The mirror might have looked better if they had laid off the special effects
for the casting of the spell. The opening words of Catherine's spell are "I
shall look upon my enemy!" which would make the mirror make sense if they
left it at that, but as they did it in the end, with a blast of magical
energy, we are left with the impression that Buffy was pretty lucky that the
spell happened to be reflexive. But definitely, Catherine's fate is right up
with best of letting the punishment fit the crime.
> I've really talked a lot about "Witch" considering that it'll almost
> certainly go down as a fairly inconsequential episode in the long
> term.
> No developments in our big story arcs. I guess Amy could become a
> recurring character, but I honestly don't see much use for her after
> this.
Rats!
> So "Witch" seems like it should technically be forgettable.
> Fluff. Not the dark stuff of later seasons that's supposedly so much
> more interesting. But with "filler" this good, who cares? It's just
> a
> lot of fun, and the few more hard-hitting moments are on target.
> Nicely done.
>
> So....
>
> One-sentence summary: A joy to watch.
>
> AOQ rating: Excellent
I wouldn't go quite that far. It has a great beginning, and a great end, but
in between nothing that isn't done as well or better most of the season. I'd
call it Good. It's my 58th favourite BtVS episode, 9th best in season 1
Apteryx
Kevin
> > perhaps cheerleading competitions),
>
> There's always movies about cheerleading competitions.
>
Yeah OK, fellow geeks -- high-school football players and their
cheerleaders are all lame, they're secretly envious of dorks who are
into Band and Science Club and Star Trek (like your mom told you), and
being athletic and popular is just empty and ephemeral, blah blah
blah. Jeez.
I love Joss, but boy can he epitomize that typical teen-loser
perspective. A big game can be *fun*, you know, cheerleaders and
all. Anyway, the story of Witch is great, and these early episodes
are wonderful in their initial explorations of our main characters.
Their relationships are fresh and vital; I love rewatching that
innocence, hard to recall from several seasons later.
--Kevin
Arbitrar Of Quality
> > > There are few things more thoroughly stupid than cheerleading (except
> > > perhaps cheerleading competitions),
>
> > There's always movies about cheerleading competitions.
>
> Yeah OK, fellow geeks -- high-school football players and their
> cheerleaders are all lame, they're secretly envious of dorks who are
> into Band and Science Club and Star Trek (like your mom told you), and
> being athletic and popular is just empty and ephemeral, blah blah
> blah. Jeez.
>
> I love Joss, but boy can he epitomize that typical teen-loser
> perspective. A big game can be *fun*, you know, cheerleaders and
> all.
That's kinda the point, though, and one reason I'm fond of episodes
like "Witch" and "Homecoming." Buffy comes to us by way of being one
of the cool kids, although this isn't always conveyed perfectly, since
BTVS's conception of "coolness" makes it clear that the show is the
work of people who never got laid in high school and read comic books
into their adult lives. But an important part of Buffy's character,
at least in the early seasons, is that she could be a shallow She's
different from Cordelia in that she wouldn't, say, go out of her way
to mock someone like Willow simply because she's there. But if evil
didn't follow her around, she would totally like to be the captain of
the cheerleading squad, with her biggest worries being buying new
outfits and keeping scrapbooks about boys and campaigning to be
Guacamole Queen. And the show makes even the most chess club of fans
sympathize with that.
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
> I wouldn't go quite that far. It has a great beginning, and a great end, but
> in between nothing that isn't done as well or better most of the season. I'd
> call it Good. It's my 58th favourite BtVS episode, 9th best in season 1
I really wanted to find ways to work "[name]-shaped friend" into
casual NG conversation after this episode, but that one turned out to
be surprisingly hard to adapt to other situations.
I wouldn't go with Excellent anymore either - hey, I was young. But
I'm still very fond of "Witch." The S1 feel is all about telling
impossibly fun stories about this group of friends that turn out to
have really disturbing subtexts when you think about them. And
"Witch" does that type of story better than all but one other episode
this year. In that sense, it's the embodiment of what S1 is like when
it's "on." Good for me too, and about on par with the first episode.
-AOQ
Madman
I will always consider "Witch" the episode that won me over to the
Buffyverse. Yes, I loved the action in Hellmouth and Harvest. But as
soon as they revealed that Catherine switched bodies with her
daughter, I was surprised at the unexpected but conventional plot
twist. I remember thinking then, if the twists are this well written
on just the second episode, this will be the show for me. Sure enough,
there were many plot twists in the episodes to come that were as
surprising and unconventional.
One Bit Shy
news:1174158200.8...@b75g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
Well said. And now of course I'm going to ruin it for you <g> by noting
that is one legitimate parallel with Veronica Mars - something that I think
helps explain what Joss saw in it and the crossover interest from BtVS fans.
VM had been part of that popular world too. There's a similar foundation to
their characters. Lots different too of course. (VM is meaner for
example.) But the parallel came to mind as I read that.
Anyway, back to Witch. The start of this episode really demonstrates what I
meant about Joss lightly tapping the reset button. Buffy internally
"solved" her issue with being the Slayer and immediately leaped back into
being a cheerleader. I really like her early confrontation with Giles
because of how Buffy takes the argument as roughly on par with a parent
expressing concern that she won't keep up with her homework if she spends
too much time on her hobbies. That's a radically different perspective than
shown in WTTH. And Buffy is so damned perky! (I think perky Buffy is what
people miss when complaining about the later seasons.)
It's interesting to me how one side effect of the story of ambition and
competition run amok is for cheerleading to end up less appealing to Buffy.
In the end she doesn't seem to mind so much that she's not going to be a
cheerleader. Indeed, being the Slayer isn't even really the cause. Not
obviously anyway. Rather, the Slayer aspect is what comes across as more
rewarding, more real.
So the first post-Harvest trade-off between being Slayer and living a normal
life doesn't even feel like a trade-off. Advantage Slayer.
But a little part of her life got closed off anyway, pointing her towards
more time in the library. (Not to read books.)
I think it's a neat part of the story how she naturally gravitates the
Slayer direction. Does that make it less of a trap? Probably not. But it
does start to point out part of her conundrum that will eventually become
very prominent. For all of its problems, she really likes being a Slayer.
OBS
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
> Slayer direction. Does that make it less of a trap? Probably not. But it
> does start to point out part of her conundrum that will eventually become
> very prominent. For all of its problems, she really likes being a Slayer.
good thing slayers are hot chicks with super powers
meow arf meow - they are performing horrible experiments in space
major grubert is watching you - beware the bakalite
impeach the bastard - the airtight garage has you neo
Don Sample
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
> On Mar 16, 4:47 pm, "Apteryx" <apte...@xtra.co.nz> wrote:
>
> > I wouldn't go quite that far. It has a great beginning, and a great end, but
> > in between nothing that isn't done as well or better most of the season. I'd
> > call it Good. It's my 58th favourite BtVS episode, 9th best in season 1
>
> I really wanted to find ways to work "[name]-shaped friend" into
> casual NG conversation after this episode, but that one turned out to
> be surprisingly hard to adapt to other situations.
[Name]-shaped friend is one of those things that fanfic writers took and
ran into the ground. Buffy says it once over the whole run of the
series, and the fic writers just keep repeating it over and over and
over. Similarly, they keep having Xander call Giles "G-Man" and Angel
"Deadboy." He only used each of them once. In fact Xander *never*
reused any of the nicknames he made up for people. Probably why he
never called Willow by anything other than her name. He used up all his
possible nicknames for her years ago.
--
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>
One Bit Shy
news:etf391$mmd$1...@aioe.org...
>> From: "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com>
>> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>> Season One, Episode 3: "Witch"
>> Most of this review has focused on how light and fun this episode is.
>> But when it goes for heavier themes... well, Catherine is easily the
>> darkest and scariest thing that this young show has produced to date.
>> Although she's offscreen for most of it, I was struck by how
>> thoroughly twisted the character is. I didn't predict the body-switch
>> revelation (though it wasn't a shock or anything), but I want to
>> congratulate whoever decided to put a marvelously sinister spin on
>> Fantasy Stock Plot #258 by combining it with the idea of a parent
>> living vicariously through her kid.
>
> Sometimes that part of it strikes me as rather thickly laid on, but other
> times, including this one, meh, its ok.
It's not an original idea, but it still caught me by surprise and somehow
felt very fresh as played. I think it's a terrific theme to start with in
the high school as hell series. Most everyone can relate to the pressures
of living up to the expectations of ones parents. But especially good is
our introduction to the MOTW as metaphor. Mom literally taking over Amy's
body is a superb way to get the idea across as it simultaneously expresses
the parent's demands and the daughter's frustrated inability to act on her
own. Off hand, I can't think of any other MOTW metaphor that's more apt -
and quite a few that fall short of this.
>> As far as the episode's big character development -- Xander's crush on
>> Buffy -- jury's still out on that. I liked the dynamic as it was and
>> don't really feel in the mood for the soap opera stuff, but when you
>> throw hot teens and hormones together, it's pretty much inevitable
>> that
>> something like this will come up. The "one of the girls" payoff is
>> unsatisfying since that joke is so overdone, but at least they set it
>> up so it'd have an extra joke (Xander basically getting his own words
>> reflected at him).
That works as a joke, but of course there's more to it. Willow actually
pines after Xander much as he pines after Buffy. And she feels invisibile
to him much as he does to Buffy. I think this is the first example of the
series using the device of parallel stories. The first one I noticed
anyway. In time that will become a defining characteristic of BtVS story
telling.
>> Random short takes:
>> - Nitpick: Real Driver's Ed cars always give the instructor his own
>> brake.
But they don't always come equiped with instructors who don't panic.
>> - It hadn't occurred to me that "Xander" could be a nickname for
>> "Alexander"; I'd assumed all the good guys in the show just had
>> ridiculous names.
That reminds me of Fred in AtS. For some reason I'm constantly amused that
her nickname actually makes sense. I mean, imagine how awful it would have
been if she was called "Winnie".
>> - Although Giles really gets to do a lot in this one (including his
>> first incantation),
And gets knocked out and takes off his glasses a couple times (doesn't clean
them though)...
>> the show is never _about_ him; it's always the
>> kids. That's too bad, in a way.
I don't know. He gets to express his enthusiasm for his work. (The glass
half full remark) And he saves Buffy's life - thereby proving his value,
which he really didn't in the series opener. Having Giles take care of
Buffy as she lies ill while her mother is distracted and "doesn't get it" is
introducing pretty strongly the Giles as parent role. (Also introducing
Giles and Joyce as rivals in that role - something that will come up now and
then in the future.) I think this is one of the more important episodes for
Giles. It establishes a bond between him and Buffy, and makes him an
important player. Not just the stuffy Brit who doesn't get it.
>> I've really talked a lot about "Witch" considering that it'll almost
>> certainly go down as a fairly inconsequential episode in the long
>> term.
I suppose in terms of plot content it's not that consequential. But the
really big thing it does is introduce the MOTW as metaphor concept that will
rule BtVS for some time. Very adeptly, IMO. It's one of my favorites of
that genre.
>> No developments in our big story arcs. I guess Amy could become a
>> recurring character, but I honestly don't see much use for her after
>> this.
>
> Rats!
Heh.
>> So "Witch" seems like it should technically be forgettable.
>> Fluff. Not the dark stuff of later seasons that's supposedly so much
>> more interesting. But with "filler" this good, who cares? It's just
>> a
>> lot of fun, and the few more hard-hitting moments are on target.
>> Nicely done.
>>
>> So....
>>
>> One-sentence summary: A joy to watch.
>>
>> AOQ rating: Excellent
>
> I wouldn't go quite that far. It has a great beginning, and a great end,
> but
> in between nothing that isn't done as well or better most of the season.
> I'd
> call it Good. It's my 58th favourite BtVS episode, 9th best in season 1
I would. This is one of my favorite episodes of the season, and among the
best MOTW episodes overall. I love the twisted mom. I really like the
assortment of places SMG has to go in her acting. Perky drunk Buffy. And
deathly ill Buffy expressing such care and concern for Amy in mom's body.
It's a very lively, quickly paced episode with lots of variety. (Such a
contrast to the standing around exposition in The Harvest.) And it has an
assortment of interesting nuances like the Giles as father figure that I
mentioned above. Another I get a kick out of is Willow getting brash and
standing before Amy telling her about the really good cauldron she has and
asking if Amy rides a broom. There's some Willow foreshadowing in that
scene (including her later disdain for cauldrons and brooms), but it works
really nicely then as part of her awakening from mousedom. (Dresses a
little better too. One outfit is almost stylish. Another really shows her
figure.) She's not very good at it yet. But I think she was ready to use
that bat she brought into the lab.
OBS
Exp315
viewing. I wouldn't go so far as Excellent either, but it rates a
solid Good. Buffy hasn't quite hit her stride as a character yet, but
the storyline works and things are starting to come together.
This was the first time I caught Xander's line about being tortured
with a railroad spike. Foreshadowy goodness!
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
"Exp315" <Exp...@canada.com> wrote:
foreshadow only applies
if the writer was deliberately referencing a future topic
i doubt they were thinking about william the bloody at this point
(like the suit he wore in tabula rosa was not predicted
but when the opportunity arose they took it)
One Bit Shy
<mair_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:mair_fheal-5F8CC...@sn-ip.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net...
> In article <1174177986.5...@p15g2000hsd.googlegroups.com>,
> "Exp315" <Exp...@canada.com> wrote:
>
>> Witch definitely holds up better than either WTTH or The Harvest on re-
>> viewing. I wouldn't go so far as Excellent either, but it rates a
>> solid Good. Buffy hasn't quite hit her stride as a character yet, but
>> the storyline works and things are starting to come together.
>>
>> This was the first time I caught Xander's line about being tortured
>> with a railroad spike. Foreshadowy goodness!
In this case, foreshadowing the past, since I believe that reference shows
up in a flashback to the 19th century. Heh.
> foreshadow only applies
> if the writer was deliberately referencing a future topic
>
> i doubt they were thinking about william the bloody at this point
>
> (like the suit he wore in tabula rosa was not predicted
> but when the opportunity arose they took it)
People keep saying that - not just you. But I really disagree.
That treats writers as if they were literal seers within the story. But
they're external craftsmen invisible to the story. Part of the craft is
using earlier story elements to define the future as if it were
foreshadowing. Within the story, if the future links up to the past in such
a fashion, then it's foreshadowing. How and when the writers applied their
craft to achieve that effect isn't pertinent to experiencing the story.
A number of times I've read interviews with authors of series - both in
literature and television - that speak of discovering things in their
stories that they didn't know were there, and how future stories tend to
write themselves, naturally growing from the seeds planted in the earlier
ones.
The railroad spike isn't a particularly profound example, but it does
enhance the atmospheric continuity across the series.
OBS
David E. Milligan
"Don Sample" <dsa...@synapse.net> wrote in message
news:dsample-0353A1...@news.giganews.com...
After YCB Girl (Yellow-Crayon-Breaking) -- what's left? Red? Cutie
Pie?
Madman
wrote:
> "Don Sample" <dsam...@synapse.net> wrote in message
>
> news:dsample-0353A1...@news.giganews.com...
>
>
>
> > In article <1174159327.319524.132...@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>,
"Little Miss Muffet counting down from 730."
"Get back before dawn"
Now THIS is foreshadowing.
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu
>> From: "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com>
>> Date: Jan 7 2006, 6:02 pm
>> Subject: AOQ Review 1-3: "Witch"
>> To: alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer
>> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>> Season One, Episode 3: "Witch"
>> (or "newts, once indigenous to most of North America, were hunted to
>> the brink of extinction by witches, who valued them for their
>> eyes...")
>> Writer: Dana Reston
>> Director: Stephen Cragg
.
>> The opening gag of "Witch" features Giles ranting about the duties of
>> a
>> Slayer and the dangers of "cultish" behavior. The camera slowly pans
>> to show Buffy dressed as a cheerleader. It's a decent enough joke
>> that
>> sets the stage for the mostly-lightweight episode that follows it.
It was a *great* joke, and this whole scene is excellent. However, the
second part of the teaser, the cheerleader tryout scene, really grates on
me. Buffy being the only one to try to help Amber was annoying -- I mean,
her having the fastest and best reaction makes sense, but no one else does
anything at all aside from gasp in shock, and that's a little too much for
me. And Amber's smug little dance routine really puts me off. When I
watch The Witch (less often than most season 1 episodes, but more often
than nos. 4 and 8), I usually skip forward as soon as Amy is introduced,
if not as soon as the witch's cauldron appears.
Though it's worth noting that Cordelia uses the word "hyperbole" in that
scene, an early hint that maybe she's not so dumb after all.
>> There are few things more thoroughly stupid than cheerleading
Hey, now, our president was once a cheerleader ... on second thought,
you're right.
>> but it's hard to fault Buffy too
>> much for trying out. Some kids sit and home watching vampire shows,
>> and some kids would rather wave pompoms and at least try to hang out
>> with the popular crowd. Although obviously there's witchcraft and
>> stuff going on, a good part of "Witch" is about seeing how our heroes
>> would fare in a school-based comedy, and they do okay for themselves,
>> with most of the situations and wordplay seeming like it makes sense.
This part is reasonably well done and very important for character
development. One of the main non-witchcraft developments is Buffy
realizing that cheerleading wouldn't really satisfy her anymore, and by
extension that she isn't that interested in becoming popular again. It's
not clear at this point how thorough and lasting that change will be,
though. Another major development is in our heroes' torrid love triangle.
We learn that Xander is not just attracted to Buffy but has a serious
crush on her, that Willow is still secretly in love with Xander, and that
Xander is in deep denial about Willow's feelings (if he's noticed them at
all). The way Willow tries to advise Xander as a friend to ask Buffy out,
only to change her tune when he's about to actually do it, might indicate
that she's still in denial herself. Maybe it was Xander's crush on Buffy
that first made Willow consciously realize how she felt.
Most importantly, this is the point when Willow and Xander first join up
as Buffy's regular Slayage assistants, not just her friends who got caught
up in one crisis. Buffy is surprised at first; she clearly had *not*
assumed that her friends being in on the secret meant that they would
start to work for her. We aren't shown Giles's reaction, but I doubt he
expected it either. But Willow and Xander volunteer of their own free
will and without hesitation. Soon helping Buffy will be an integral part
of both their identities. And the term "Slayerettes" is introduced for
the first time. ("Scooby Gang" has to wait until season 2.)
Some other firsts in The Witch:
-first human villain
-first episode with no vampires at all (not even Angel)
-first witch, first magic spell (I don't count the Harvest ritual), and
first time one of the main cast members is hit with a spell
-first time Giles gets knocked out
>> figure it out, and who can do anything but grin during the early parts
>> of Buffy's perky scenes ("juice!")? Actually, I have no idea why
>> Catherine's spell requires Buffy to go insane or why she snaps out of
>> it when she does,
The transition from drunk Buffy to dying Buffy is a little abrupt, isn't
it? I guess it's not impossible that this was deliberate, to show the
viewer that seemingly lighthearted situations can get pretty dark at any
moment.
>> the shyness or whatever else normally keeps them from saying what's in
>> their minds. While I'm on a Xander-heavy paragraph, I criticized
>> Brendon for playing him too self-confidently back in "Hellmouth." I
>> think Joss was thinking more along the lines of "nervous energy"
>> rather
>> than "life of the party" when creating his extroverted nerd character,
>> and some scenes in "Witch" get it right. (Others don't.)
"Extroverted nerd" is not a bad description. Xander is outgoing, but the
clumsy way he does it just puts most people off. Only his fellow outcasts
stick with him long enough to see his better side.
>> - Buffy seems to imply that she's only been Slaying for about a year.
>> I'd have guessed longer given how otherworld-weary she seems
>> sometimes.
>> Of course, a year can be a long time when you're fighting for your
>> life.
Also, Buffy's only 16. If she became the Slayer much more than a year a
go, she would have started slaying *extremely* young. How young *can* a
Slayer be? My pet theory is that most Slayers are called at 15 or 16, but
the possible range is 14 to 21. 14 is at least old enough to be through
the early stages of puberty, 21 is still young enough to be girl-ish (in
season seven Kennedy is still a Potential at age 19), and I just like the
multiples of 7 thing. It feels right for a supernatural process.
>> - It hadn't occurred to me that "Xander" could be a nickname for
>> "Alexander"; I'd assumed all the good guys in the show just had
>> ridiculous names.
When I first became I fan I couldn't think of any other Xanders. Then a
year or so later I was looking through some old 80s albums and saw that
on the back of the Circle Jerks' _Wonderful_ that their bassist was Zander
"Snake" Schloss.
>> - I liked the scenes with Buffy's mom; not so much the big one at he
>> end, but the earlier stuff keeps her established obliviousness to her
>> daughter whilst showing that she does feel guilty about it.
Yes -- whereas your average sitcom would either have the mom get defensive
or just drop the whole thing after the "what was I trying out for" joke,
BtVS instead allows Joyce to become a little more human and believable.
>> No developments in our big story arcs. I guess Amy could become a
>> recurring character, but I honestly don't see much use for her after
>> this.
>
> Rats!
As OBS said, heh.
>> AOQ rating: Excellent
>
> I wouldn't go quite that far. It has a great beginning, and a great end, but
> in between nothing that isn't done as well or better most of the season. I'd
> call it Good.
I agree with Apteryx there. I wouldn't make it a high Good, either. But
there is some really fun stuff in there, especially the opening scene and
spell-drunk Buffy in the kitchen; and the character development,
especially the moment when Willow and Xander officially join the team, is
deeply satisfying in retrospect.
--Chris
______________________________________________________________________
chrisg [at] gwu.edu On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog.
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu
> Anyway, back to Witch. The start of this episode really demonstrates what I
> meant about Joss lightly tapping the reset button. Buffy internally
> "solved" her issue with being the Slayer and immediately leaped back into
> being a cheerleader. I really like her early confrontation with Giles
> because of how Buffy takes the argument as roughly on par with a parent
> expressing concern that she won't keep up with her homework if she spends
> too much time on her hobbies. That's a radically different perspective than
> shown in WTTH.
In retrospect this seems like a brief instance of Buffy going overboard
with acting like her issues were solved. She mentions not having seen a
vampire in over a week. I think this lull made her overconfident that her
dilemma wasn't so severe, that Slaying would not take over too much of her
personal life.
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu
> "Deadboy." He only used each of them once. In fact Xander *never*
> reused any of the nicknames he made up for people. Probably why he
> never called Willow by anything other than her name. He used up all his
> possible nicknames for her years ago.
That reminds me of something. Am I right in thinking that Buffy, Xander
and Oz are the only ones who frequently call Willow "Wil"? IIRC everyone
else, even Tara, almost always uses her full name.
Don Sample
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
> Don Sample <dsa...@synapse.net> wrote:
>
> > "Deadboy." He only used each of them once. In fact Xander *never*
> > reused any of the nicknames he made up for people. Probably why he
> > never called Willow by anything other than her name. He used up all his
> > possible nicknames for her years ago.
>
> That reminds me of something. Am I right in thinking that Buffy, Xander
> and Oz are the only ones who frequently call Willow "Wil"? IIRC everyone
> else, even Tara, almost always uses her full name.
Tara called her "Will" a few times, as did Spike.
What no one ever called her is "Wills," which shows up in a lot of
fanfic.
Stephen Tempest
>That reminds me of something. Am I right in thinking that Buffy, Xander
>and Oz are the only ones who frequently call Willow "Wil"? IIRC everyone
>else, even Tara, almost always uses her full name.
Well, Tara usually calls her "sweetie" or "honey". She calls her
"Willow" when she's angry with her, but you'd expect that...
Spike, Faith and Kennedy have all been known to call her "Red".
Stephen
William George Ferguson
tomys des anges <mair_...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>In article <12vqtkr...@corp.supernews.com>,
> chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
>
>> The transition from drunk Buffy to dying Buffy is a little abrupt, isn't
>> it? I guess it's not impossible that this was deliberate, to show the
>> viewer that seemingly lighthearted situations can get pretty dark at any
>> moment.
>
>a fire that burns hot exhausts it fuels and sputters out quickly
>
>> Also, Buffy's only 16. If she became the Slayer much more than a year a
>> go, she would have started slaying *extremely* young. How young *can* a
>> Slayer be? My pet theory is that most Slayers are called at 15 or 16, but
>> the possible range is 14 to 21. 14 is at least old enough to be through
>> the early stages of puberty, 21 is still young enough to be girl-ish (in
>> season seven Kennedy is still a Potential at age 19), and I just like the
>> multiples of 7 thing. It feels right for a supernatural process.
>
>i think combining with the movie and some later episodes
>she was called at the end of the freshman year or beginning of sophmore at 15
>fought lothos and burned down gym the fall before the series
>got kicked out and enrolled in sunnydale starting at midyear winter
>after her birthday (i dont recall any season one birthday disaster)
There are some time stamps within the series that help. She is already 16
in WTTH (both Joyce and Flutie mention her age), and her birthday has been
massively established as in the 3rd week of January, so she clearly started
at SHS after that, either February or March. Later in season 1, she
mentions that she has been the Slayer for over a year. In Becoming, we
learn that she was Called in 1996 (the scene where she meets her Watcher is
labeled "Los Angeles, 1996"). With no real proof, but just because it
would be neat, I've always considered that her Watcher first showed up in
the 3rd week of January 1996, and she burned down the Hemery High gym in
the 3rd week of January 1997 (Buffy's birthdays suck beyond the describing
of them).
--
... and my sister is a vampire slayer, her best friend is a witch who
went bonkers and tried to destroy the world, um, I actually used to be
a little ball of energy until about two years ago when some monks
changed the past and made me Buffy's sister and for some reason, a big
klepto. My best friends are Leticia Jones, who moved to San Diego
because this town is evil, and a floppy eared demon named Clem.
(Dawn's fantasy of her intro speech in "Lessons", from the shooting script)
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu
>>i think combining with the movie and some later episodes
>>she was called at the end of the freshman year or beginning of sophmore at 15
>>fought lothos and burned down gym the fall before the series
>>got kicked out and enrolled in sunnydale starting at midyear winter
>>after her birthday (i dont recall any season one birthday disaster)
>
> There are some time stamps within the series that help. She is already 16
> in WTTH (both Joyce and Flutie mention her age), and her birthday has been
> massively established as in the 3rd week of January, so she clearly started
> at SHS after that, either February or March. Later in season 1, she
> mentions that she has been the Slayer for over a year. In Becoming, we
> learn that she was Called in 1996 (the scene where she meets her Watcher is
> labeled "Los Angeles, 1996"). With no real proof, but just because it
> would be neat, I've always considered that her Watcher first showed up in
> the 3rd week of January 1996, and she burned down the Hemery High gym in
> the 3rd week of January 1997 (Buffy's birthdays suck beyond the describing
> of them).
Looks like we're all thinking along the same general lines here. In my
personal scheme Buffy becomes the Slayer just after her 15th birthday, in
January 1996, which would preserve the "slaying for over a year now" from
The Witch. Then she had the climactic battle, in which her first Watcher
was killed and the gym burned down, sometime in the fall of 1996. That
would give Joyce a couple of months to finalize her divorce and find a new
home in Sunnydale, before Buffy starts at Sunnydale High in mid to late
January 1997. But I have to admit that putting the gym fire in the same
week as her birthday really works thematically.
If it wasn't for that pesky "over a year now" line, I'd say Buffy became
Slayer early in the fall of 1996, and lost her Watcher and burned down the
gym just a few weeks later. Season 1 Buffy seems to have had some intense
fighting experience, but she doesn't seem to have had a very lengthy
relationship with her first Slayer.
BTW, while Buffy's birthday seems to be in mid-January, we never learn
when Willow's and Xander's are. The only clue is that Xander is already
17 when Buffy's 17th birthday arrives. So I have decided, totally
arbitrarily and without any textual evidence whatsoever, that Xander's
birthday is in late November, say Nov. 29, and Willow's is in early to mid
December, say Dec. 11. That would make all three of them already 16 when
the show starts, and would keep Willow and Xander's birthdays within a
couple of months of Buffy's, but still far enough away that they aren't
mentioned in the Buffy-birthday episodes.
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
in the context of high school student
this can refer to anytime in her freshman year
not a calendar year but anytime in the fall or spring term of the previous year
Don Sample
William George Ferguson <wmgf...@newsguy.com> wrote:
But we also have a rough date for "The Harvest": "From out of the
crescent moon, the first past the solstice, it will come." That places
it between December 21, 1996 and January 20, 1997. (If they actually
paid attention to the phases of the moon it would have been about
January 12 for 1997.
<http://www.griffithobservatory.org/skyfiles/skyphasesto2014.html>)
I figure that WTTH and The Harvest take place just a day or two after
Buffy's 16th birthday.
William George Ferguson
Of course, we also know that Phases takes place between Buffy's 17th
birthday (3rd week of January 1998) and Valentine's Day (February 14,
1998), and a full moon did not occur in that period. As Dorothy L. Sayers
said in her preface to "Have His Carcase", 'I have arranged the phases of
the moon, and the tides, to fit my story.'
bookworm
this may be a dull question: but how/ why do we know, that Buffy's
birthday is in the 3rd week of january? the only thing we know is, that
it takes place after Christmas, and that they can put an episode between
Christmas (Amends) and her birthday (Helpless); it could be the second
week as well.
bookworm
William George Ferguson
We know two ways. Willow refers to how long she's known about Xander and
Cordy in Phases (a couple of weeks), and there's also a back reference to
Phases in Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, which canonically takes place
on Valentine's Day. So we can count backwards from BB&B, which places
Surprise/Innocence in the 3rd week of January. Second, when Riley asks
Buffy "What are you?" in Doomed, she answers "Capricorn on the cusp of
Aquarius. You?". That means her birthday is between Jan 19 and Jan 22,
e.g. the 3rd week of January.
--
"Oh Buffy, you really do need to have
every square inch of your ass kicked."
- Willow Rosenberg
bookworm
the second is a little bit easier, and makes me look even a little bit
less buffy-inclined than I am, does it help, that I used to repress
everything Riley-related...
it took me quite a few run-throughs to warm up to the charater...
soldier just makes a guy really uninteresting in my book...
ana
>
>
>
bookworm
everything... it makes me seem even less buffy-inclined than I am...
does it help that I repressed everything riley-related for a lot of
run-throughs, and am just warming up to him right now...
it took me forever to get over the soldier-thing... not kindest breed of
human beings in my book *ugh*
bookworm