To me, this is one of those instances where the writers molded Buffy's character around the story they wanted to tell...character development be damned! So instead of the strong young woman who's coming to terms with her responsibilities as the Slayer, we get pouty Buffy who lies to Giles and allows herself to be made a victim by some college guys.
Things I Like:
I love Buffy and the Scoobies hanging out at the beginning of the episode, trying to decipher a Bollywood musical. The things you do when you don't have cable and LOLcats haven't been invented yet.
I do like what they did in making the guy who's nice to Buffy the evil one. A lot of times dangerous predator types are dangerous because they know how to turn on the charm.
"You guys. I just hate you guys so much." Charisma Carpenter's weary, defeated delivery of this line is perfect.
Things I Don't Like:
This Exchange: "What, is she playing hard to get?" "No Richard, you're playing easy to resist."
Strike one, Reptile Boy. Strike one. Buffy! Never trust a smooth talking college senior when you're a high school junior. There's a reason he can't get girls his own age!
I can't get over Buffy straight up lying to Giles. Especially about her mom being sick. It's called tempting fate, and in this universe I think that's a literal thing.
Something about Buffy acting all weird when she's offered some alcoholic punch rings false to me. It just seems like the kind of girl she is, having grown up in LA, she wouldn't have been so awkward about it. I'm not saying she should have drank the alcohol that some random frat guy gave her. Far from it. I just think most teenagers, if they didn't want to drink, would just hold onto the cup and hope no one would notice they weren't drinking.
Come on Xander. Being a dude crashing a frat party is a bad idea, even if the frat in question didn't happen to be a group of demon worshippers. The frat party demographics are usually like 80% freshman girls, 15% frat brothers, 4% other girls, 1% guys who aren't in the frat. They're going to notice you, and they're not going to be happy.
I'm not wild about the ridiculously overblown and not subtle demon as rape metaphor. I feel like I got that one rammed into my head like a railroad spike.
OMG was their special effects budget ten dollars and a Subway coupon? And could this demon be any more phallic?
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| Yeah OK point taken. |
Verdict:
Sorry, but this has to be the worst episode of season 2, and one of the worst Buffy episodes period. I don't know exactly what they were going for here, but they missed the mark. Buffy is painfully out of character, the bad guys are cringe-worthy, and the demon is a textbook example of how not to use special effects. There's really not very much to love in this episode. Even Xander in drag can't redeem it.
Moral of the Story:
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| DO NOT TRUST. |
2 Stakes Out of 10
"Allows herself to become a victim"? Anyone should know better than victim blaming by now in our society. I agree w/ the lack of characterization, but just to point out, language like that is what implies "Don't get raped/attacked" Vs "Don't rape/attack"
ReplyDeleteThat's a different demon, though. The one you pictured is from the double meat palace episode much later in the series.
ReplyDeleteTo your first point: You're right, that was a poor choice of words. I would never mean to suggest that victims are to blame. Mea culpa.
ReplyDeleteSecond point: I know it's a different demon, I was showing an example of how a demon could be more phallic.
Thanks for reading! :)
I hope you don't take offense to this, because I really enjoy your reviews and insights... but I think the use of the animated .gifs is distracting and annoying in the reviews.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I love your stuff and will continue reading!