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Forward, march
Feb. 5th, 2003 10:29 amReally big ass spoilers for Buffy episode 2/4
The Killer in Me -- watch out! Vampires, beware!
I’m feeling a bit trepidatious about writing this review — I’ve been seeing a bunch of LJ posts related to Buffy fandom where people are discussing how bitter and angry everyone is, and I must have missed whatever’s going on (deliberately, for the most part, as I’m feeling a little fragile about it myself), but now I’m scared to be accused of being an overly analytical fan-bitch and whatnot. Arg. And the thing is, I have a lot of different thoughts on this ep, mostly good, but I love to analyze... I don’t know what that makes me, really.
So, anyway. Myself, I really liked and admired this episode. The Drews are the man... men... whatever, and Drew Greenberg’s script didn’t disappoint me at all. One thing I admired was the title, which linked the three threads of the stories together beautifully — Spike’s chip deteriorating, allowing the killer in him to resurface, which conflicts with his soul; Willow becoming Warren, not only channeling the killer in Warren but the one she is still so deeply afraid of in herself; and Giles, settling once and for all that he doesn’t have the killer in him in the form of the FE. It also gave us the forward momentum I’ve been cranky about for a while; here, many of the questions were settled and while it served as a standalone episode, what played out here will have ramifications for the fight against the FE in the future.
I loved how Buffy kind of mocked herself a little about giving speeches, the speeches that have had so many fans irritated. And because I am a Spuffyite, I have to start there and discuss just how much I loved the scenes with the two of them — not simply because of the true affection that’s so clearly visible now, but also because of the tragedy of what Spike has given up and how far it’s brought him down, yet he still keeps going on, trying. I love this delicate balance of trying to find the right and the good, yet knowing that everything he did, he did for probably the wrong reasons, and it hasn’t gotten him anywhere, not really. Even while this friendship is growing between them, and clearly there is a much deeper affection on Buffy’s part, there’s this air of melancholy and suffering because, not terribly unlike Angel after he came back, he knows he can’t really be with Buffy, at least, not the Buffy he knew before. They’re both different, and now these different people are moving together slowly into a new place, and it’s tinged with sweet Spuffy stuff as well as a tragic undercurrent. I adore this.
The moments between them were wonderful, especially that scene at the beginning with Spike smiling at her while she talked about the SITs, and the cute “ow” back and forth. Her concern and interest in him later was so genuine, and I loved that he even managed to eke out a joke in the midst of it. And that it will be Buffy making the choice for him — whatever she would do, now, she would do for the right reasons, with concern and thought, where before she could never have done that. It’s long past the time when that chip should have deteriorated, but I’m glad that it occurred when Buffy is there to help him — and wants to because she cares so much for him.
The Willow storyline was dynamic and creepy. I don’t fully get Amy’s intentions and motivations, but then, I confess I’ve never gotten Amy at all. She has never made sense to me as a character, and here I wasn’t entirely certain of her motives or her timing, but that was a fairly small wrinkle, and probably a personal one. Alyson Hannigan can be an amazing actress when she gets that chance, and how she channeled Warren was just astonishing. I really felt like he was in her, propelling her forward. I remember there being quite a stink when the spoilers for the kiss with Kennedy came out, and I would rather walk through a live mine field than go anywhere near places like the kitten board, but I bought this. Kennedy is used to getting what she wants, even at this age, and Willow is lonely. She hasn’t forgotten her grief over Tara, she hasn’t forgotten what her grief made her do, and she played her confusion and fear and trepidation beautifully. Her final scene was heartbreaking, especially her confession that she doesn’t know how she feels. I completely believed that she would easily be drawn to someone who knows what she wants, despite age issues or SIT issues or whatever. I know what that kind of grief feels like, that emptiness, and how tempting it is to have someone offer you a chance to feel differently. There is so much here to mine in the future, and even if I’m not terribly fond of Kennedy, it’s the right time and place to start mining this storyline.
Speaking of Warren, for me he was the worst of the big bads they’ve ever had — and I mean that in a seriously creeped out way. While so many people decried the lack of serious evil on the trio’s part last year, I thought that was what he was all about — he was pure human evil, and I felt that from him since his first appearance on the show a couple years ago. I was filled with anxiety over seeing him inhabit Willow, and was very nervous about them making this believable, but they did in every way — that he so haunts Willow’s thoughts for so many reasons she would turn into him, absorb him, was horribly sad. And much as I detest Warren, I have to give huge props to Adam Busch for his incredible performance — both he and AH were able to channel each other’s acting and voice/facial tics perfectly. The constant switching back and forth from camera POV was outstanding. Both of these actors really impressed me last night.
And of course now we know the answer to Giles, which I knew all along (smug me, I never doubted it). It seemed like a bit of backpedaling to say that they’d never seen him touch or hug or that stuff, when it all was kept deliberately off camera, but if that’s my only gripe, it’s pretty small (and of course the gun buying, but it’s tv-land, so I’m willing to give them that). I adored his line about bringing a group of girls on a trip and not touching them — god, I’ve missed Giles lines like that. Here’s hoping for more of him in the future now that the red herrings are settled.
I have Andrew issues — I know I’m pretty much alone in my issues with him, but while he makes me laugh a lot, I can’t forget that he worshipped Warren and as I said, Warren was the most despicable character ever, for me. I also can’t forget that he killed Jonathan, and previously had been more than willing to kill Jonathan back in S6 if Warren desired it. I’m afraid that they may be mitigating this and shoving it under the rug simply because he is so funny, and that’s probably the one niggling concern I have about this ep. I’m not sure what kind of a line you walk here, though — in the past people have griped that Willow’s rampage was glossed over (I didn’t think it was, but a lot of fans do), and the Spike haters have always complained that people forget he was a murderer, etc. So I’m not sure how you do integrate a character like Andrew, who for most of his life has had no personality of his own, and now is the sort of reject killer wannabe who’s thrust into the middle of the good guys. Is he doing this because he wants to? Or because he has no ability to choose on his own? Part of what I always liked about Spike was that he chose his paths, when he could (obviously he couldn’t regarding the chip), and he didn’t always do it right, but when he chose to be good for Buffy’s sake, it was at least his decision. With Andrew, I’m not certain, especially after the way he grabbed at Warren when he saw him. If he sticks around (and he’s too funny not to, I’m sure), I think addressing this quality — or lack of — will be imperative. Especially when you compare to Willow and Spike and their stories, how they might integrate him is important to address, not just let it slide and suddenly he’s a Scoobie.
The teaser for next week disturbs me, but I’m waiting to see it before I make any decisions. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, spoilers have to be taken with large grains of rock salt, and lots of ‘em. I find dating a supervisor to be questionable, but there could be a lot more going on that will change my mind. If this week’s ep is any indication, they’re back on track and moving forward, and doing a really good job of it. There’s a reason this is my favorite show — many, many of them, in fact, and their ability to pull themselves out of a mire is one of the biggest.
The Killer in Me -- watch out! Vampires, beware!
I’m feeling a bit trepidatious about writing this review — I’ve been seeing a bunch of LJ posts related to Buffy fandom where people are discussing how bitter and angry everyone is, and I must have missed whatever’s going on (deliberately, for the most part, as I’m feeling a little fragile about it myself), but now I’m scared to be accused of being an overly analytical fan-bitch and whatnot. Arg. And the thing is, I have a lot of different thoughts on this ep, mostly good, but I love to analyze... I don’t know what that makes me, really.
So, anyway. Myself, I really liked and admired this episode. The Drews are the man... men... whatever, and Drew Greenberg’s script didn’t disappoint me at all. One thing I admired was the title, which linked the three threads of the stories together beautifully — Spike’s chip deteriorating, allowing the killer in him to resurface, which conflicts with his soul; Willow becoming Warren, not only channeling the killer in Warren but the one she is still so deeply afraid of in herself; and Giles, settling once and for all that he doesn’t have the killer in him in the form of the FE. It also gave us the forward momentum I’ve been cranky about for a while; here, many of the questions were settled and while it served as a standalone episode, what played out here will have ramifications for the fight against the FE in the future.
I loved how Buffy kind of mocked herself a little about giving speeches, the speeches that have had so many fans irritated. And because I am a Spuffyite, I have to start there and discuss just how much I loved the scenes with the two of them — not simply because of the true affection that’s so clearly visible now, but also because of the tragedy of what Spike has given up and how far it’s brought him down, yet he still keeps going on, trying. I love this delicate balance of trying to find the right and the good, yet knowing that everything he did, he did for probably the wrong reasons, and it hasn’t gotten him anywhere, not really. Even while this friendship is growing between them, and clearly there is a much deeper affection on Buffy’s part, there’s this air of melancholy and suffering because, not terribly unlike Angel after he came back, he knows he can’t really be with Buffy, at least, not the Buffy he knew before. They’re both different, and now these different people are moving together slowly into a new place, and it’s tinged with sweet Spuffy stuff as well as a tragic undercurrent. I adore this.
The moments between them were wonderful, especially that scene at the beginning with Spike smiling at her while she talked about the SITs, and the cute “ow” back and forth. Her concern and interest in him later was so genuine, and I loved that he even managed to eke out a joke in the midst of it. And that it will be Buffy making the choice for him — whatever she would do, now, she would do for the right reasons, with concern and thought, where before she could never have done that. It’s long past the time when that chip should have deteriorated, but I’m glad that it occurred when Buffy is there to help him — and wants to because she cares so much for him.
The Willow storyline was dynamic and creepy. I don’t fully get Amy’s intentions and motivations, but then, I confess I’ve never gotten Amy at all. She has never made sense to me as a character, and here I wasn’t entirely certain of her motives or her timing, but that was a fairly small wrinkle, and probably a personal one. Alyson Hannigan can be an amazing actress when she gets that chance, and how she channeled Warren was just astonishing. I really felt like he was in her, propelling her forward. I remember there being quite a stink when the spoilers for the kiss with Kennedy came out, and I would rather walk through a live mine field than go anywhere near places like the kitten board, but I bought this. Kennedy is used to getting what she wants, even at this age, and Willow is lonely. She hasn’t forgotten her grief over Tara, she hasn’t forgotten what her grief made her do, and she played her confusion and fear and trepidation beautifully. Her final scene was heartbreaking, especially her confession that she doesn’t know how she feels. I completely believed that she would easily be drawn to someone who knows what she wants, despite age issues or SIT issues or whatever. I know what that kind of grief feels like, that emptiness, and how tempting it is to have someone offer you a chance to feel differently. There is so much here to mine in the future, and even if I’m not terribly fond of Kennedy, it’s the right time and place to start mining this storyline.
Speaking of Warren, for me he was the worst of the big bads they’ve ever had — and I mean that in a seriously creeped out way. While so many people decried the lack of serious evil on the trio’s part last year, I thought that was what he was all about — he was pure human evil, and I felt that from him since his first appearance on the show a couple years ago. I was filled with anxiety over seeing him inhabit Willow, and was very nervous about them making this believable, but they did in every way — that he so haunts Willow’s thoughts for so many reasons she would turn into him, absorb him, was horribly sad. And much as I detest Warren, I have to give huge props to Adam Busch for his incredible performance — both he and AH were able to channel each other’s acting and voice/facial tics perfectly. The constant switching back and forth from camera POV was outstanding. Both of these actors really impressed me last night.
And of course now we know the answer to Giles, which I knew all along (smug me, I never doubted it). It seemed like a bit of backpedaling to say that they’d never seen him touch or hug or that stuff, when it all was kept deliberately off camera, but if that’s my only gripe, it’s pretty small (and of course the gun buying, but it’s tv-land, so I’m willing to give them that). I adored his line about bringing a group of girls on a trip and not touching them — god, I’ve missed Giles lines like that. Here’s hoping for more of him in the future now that the red herrings are settled.
I have Andrew issues — I know I’m pretty much alone in my issues with him, but while he makes me laugh a lot, I can’t forget that he worshipped Warren and as I said, Warren was the most despicable character ever, for me. I also can’t forget that he killed Jonathan, and previously had been more than willing to kill Jonathan back in S6 if Warren desired it. I’m afraid that they may be mitigating this and shoving it under the rug simply because he is so funny, and that’s probably the one niggling concern I have about this ep. I’m not sure what kind of a line you walk here, though — in the past people have griped that Willow’s rampage was glossed over (I didn’t think it was, but a lot of fans do), and the Spike haters have always complained that people forget he was a murderer, etc. So I’m not sure how you do integrate a character like Andrew, who for most of his life has had no personality of his own, and now is the sort of reject killer wannabe who’s thrust into the middle of the good guys. Is he doing this because he wants to? Or because he has no ability to choose on his own? Part of what I always liked about Spike was that he chose his paths, when he could (obviously he couldn’t regarding the chip), and he didn’t always do it right, but when he chose to be good for Buffy’s sake, it was at least his decision. With Andrew, I’m not certain, especially after the way he grabbed at Warren when he saw him. If he sticks around (and he’s too funny not to, I’m sure), I think addressing this quality — or lack of — will be imperative. Especially when you compare to Willow and Spike and their stories, how they might integrate him is important to address, not just let it slide and suddenly he’s a Scoobie.
The teaser for next week disturbs me, but I’m waiting to see it before I make any decisions. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, spoilers have to be taken with large grains of rock salt, and lots of ‘em. I find dating a supervisor to be questionable, but there could be a lot more going on that will change my mind. If this week’s ep is any indication, they’re back on track and moving forward, and doing a really good job of it. There’s a reason this is my favorite show — many, many of them, in fact, and their ability to pull themselves out of a mire is one of the biggest.
