Hello, and welcome to Buffy Talk. I’m your host, Glenn Hauman. Again, filling in for Peter David, who, thank God, is on his very last day of visiting the left coast, because he’s getting shpilkes in his genecktageesoink. No big whoop.
Since I don’t know when Peter’s getting back, or when he’s going to be caught up watching all his videotapes and all the blonde shiksas on 24 and we all know how farklempt you get if you don’t talk about Buffy, I figured I’d give you a place to do so.
Talk amongst yourselves. Here’s a topic– last night’s episode, “The Killer In Me”, was neither a killer, nor me. Discuss.
• 
I thought it was a really good episode. It answered one of the biggest questions of the season, is Giles dead? And they answered all the questions that have been asked about his death. Did anyone touch him? Did anyone hug him? Did anyone see him touch anything? And his last line of the show? Classic.
Rob R.
Was it just me or did anyone else think this episode really dragged? It seemed like they could have done everything they did in the first 30 minutes had they not stuck in extra scenes of the gang in the car or wandering around the empty halls of SHIELD…I mean The Initiative.
Did anyone else wonder if maybe The First has gained power/abilities from the “imbalance” created by Buffy’s ressurection? I just wonder if maybe it could now be touched or something, because that whole “Giles never mentioned that wacky axe-to-the-head” thing and the “Dawn, take this thing out to the car because I refuse to touch anything in this house” thing seemed to go unanswered in the episode.
There have been too many inconsistencies to explain them all away by the group tackling Giles. What if he died and was resurrected somehow?
I’m just saying, I don’t buy the “everything’s okay” idea here.
Eric
the “Dawn, take this thing out to the car because I refuse to touch anything in this house” thing
Of course, right after Giles said that he sat down on the coffee table. Having Dawn run the book out to the car gave him a chance to talk to Buffy alone; if he hadn’t wanted to, he’d no doubt have taken it out himself.
Although I enjoyed the episode whilst watching it, I must say after it was all over, I felt more than a little cheated.
If you ask me (and no one ever does), all three of the plotlines could have played out in its own episode, rather than being all crammed together.
Here’s the short of it (in a really long manner):
1 – Willow gives in to feelings she has for Kennedy, which results into her turning into Warren. She runs downstairs where everyone is confused for 5 minutes, says “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” and everyone goes “Ok, see ya later.”. Glad no one was too concerned to insist on helping. And then, in the end, it turns out that Willow’s transformation has less to do with controlling her immense power or dealing with moving on after Tara’s death, and more to do with Amy appearing out of nowhere to enact her bitter revenge. And the point of Amy being the cause was? Hey, I like seeing Amy as much as the next person, but not only was her appearance unnecessary, but it really didn’t make much sense. Maybe if Amy had been trying to get rid of Willow because she had joined forces with the big Evil, I could have got on board with it. But “Well, I was bitter.” seems a bit lame.
2 – I didn’t have much in the way of disbelief in the Buffy and Spike go to back to the Initiative other than thoughts of “I thought they filled it with cement?” and “Why is the show dealing with something as big as Spike’s chip malfunctioning when all this other stuff is going on?”. I guess I wanted a little more than just having it thrown in with a bunch of other stuff. And not hearing the answer to whether on not Buffy had the chip repaired or removed was a bit aggrivating. No real payoff for us paying attention to them the whole episode.
3 – Perhaps if I had not suspected that Giles was a manifestation of the First, I would not have felt so cheated by the “big reveal”. As soon as Xander got a phone call with someone else TELLING them that Giles may not be who he claims to be, I knew that Giles was really Giles. Why else reduce it to a phone call rather than actually having one of them suspect? I had waited so long for the resolution to this plotline and in the end it was reduced to nothing more than a joke. I’m SO happy that Giles is not really dead, but what a letdown.
Now again, I did enjoy the episode as I watched it, but after it was over and I began to reflect on what had happen, it all seemed to fall apart. A pity.
That said, this show rocks and even an off episode is better than anything else you’ll find on TV. 😉
Christal said: “Maybe if Amy had been trying to get rid of Willow because she had joined forces with the big Evil, I could have got on board with it. But “Well, I was bitter.” seems a bit lame.”
I had the same thoughts, but I figured since she was a rat for 3 years, she’s probably not all OK in the head.
For once, Comic Book Guy’s comment is applicable.
How awful was this episode? Let me count the ways…
Let’s save the Willow/jailbait part for last because that was just mind-boggling.
I fear that like Claremont’s X-Men, the show has become just bogged down it its own continuity. No one loves the mythology more than me but last night’s episode was nothing but re-hashes of past entanglements. I appreciate the fact that the show trusts its fans to know the history and follow it but can you imagine the footnotes if this had been a comic book? (And people said Captain Marvel was inaccessible…?) Spike’s story is all about the initiative (who haven’t been major players in at least a full season) Amy’s story goes to the rat thing and the witchcraft thing. Anya (who has gone from being one of the most fun characters on the show to a shell) (and while I’m going nuts with the parantheses, why is she even around? Her motivation for being a Scooby used to be her relationship with Xander and yes I know that she learned this season that it’s not nice to kill a fraternity, it doesn’t explain why she’s risking her life with the others.) and Xander are at least wrapped up in a plot from this season.
Now let’s get to the true embarrasment, Willow and Sleazy. Now I understand that we don’t really know Kennedy’s age but since Buffy was called as a young teen and there have been constant references throughout the season to this house full of young girls (everything I’ve seen suggests they’re Dawn’s peers) and I have yet to hear anyone say, “All those young Slayers-In-Training, and, y’know, Kennedy.” So how creepy is it that faced with the impending end of the world, Willow allows this girl to blow off Giles (and remember, at least two SiTs have ended up dead already that the Scoobies have actually *seen* so this isn’t the ol’ spirited hi-jinks) to go to a bar where they can get a few drinks?
How creepy is it that Kennedy’s pitch, used on fan-favorite character Willow and following the sweet natured characters of Oz and Tara, is basically, “Yo, baby, I wanna get witchoo.” (Please post if you had any luck using, on your first date, an expression of your date’s lickability…)
So they kiss and she turns to Warren and she tells her friends, it was my fault and I’ll take care of it. And they let her go. Which seems to me the equivalent of having your recently heroin addicted friend say that she has a major life crisis (turning into the person who murdered your lover qualifies, right?) and letting them go look up their old dealer and the friends they shot up with by herself.
Only Kennedy cares enough to follow her. Huh?
Enter Amy. Who has apparently turned into a Bond villain. She blows her cover by babbling unnecessary information. “Only you can protect her, Kennedy, Slayer in Training, who lives at 111 Main Street and has a Social Security number of 1440-22-9988…”
“Aha! I never *told you* my SS #…!”
“Curses! I guess I have to now reveal my paper-thin motivations, the ones that don’t relate to any of the history established for my character, while twirling the end of my handlebar mustache. Oh, and don’t ask how I knew that you were a SiT or why I couldn’t explain that away when it’s been established that a coven was able to find other SiTs so maybe there’s a perfectly good explanation for why I could spot one standing right in front of me while I’m with my Wicca group. But for my last act, I’ll use magic even more powerful than Willow ever showed to teleport you and send you from night to day. According to Dr. Evil, I have to send you into a death trap and then not observe what happens next so that you have every opportunity to escape it. I’ll just have to trust that you won’t send the Slayer after me.”
Here comes Willow. Turns out she feels guilty about causing Tara’s death. Why? It’s in the script. Apparently the fact that she couldn’t see Warren approaching and that he wasn’t shooting at her is enough motivation.
My favorite part? It’s all better now. How was this resolved? Kennedy kissed her. …The hëll…?
Y’know, I’ve always loved this show and I couldn’t understand why fans didn’t like last season. I thought it was really dramatic. But this season, they just seem so far off. It feels like all the color has been bleached out of Xander, Anya and Spike and episodes drag on without anything being resolved. Last night’s episode didn’t resolve Spike’s chip or the identity (or goals) of the first (except another person it *isn’t*) or the mystery of the principal or whatever. The most you could say it resolved was Willow’s grief over losing Tara and I think we’ve already put that to rest.
I would hate this show to peter out like “The X-Files” whose writers seemed to say, “Well, it’s the last season. What does it matter?”
… Maybe I’m just getting old and cranky but I haven’t lost enthusiasm for Angel so I don’t think so. Am I the only one who was so disappointed?
Two other comments that I left out of my overly long manifesto:
First, I did have to laugh after the whole “Is Giles the First?” bit because so much of it seemed to come directly from this site. After Giles final comment, I expected him to turn to the camera and say, “Ha! Fell for it, hook, line and sinker, didn’t ya, David?”
Second, I also thought it was a miscalculation to do the whole thing with turning Willow into Warren because it seemed so entwined with things the First was doing that to imply that it was just a coincidence that someone *else* just happened to be shape shifting into dead people was a bit of a stretch. Maybe they’ll tie it in later.
“Just keep telling yourself ‘It’s just a show, I should really just relax.'”
I suppose I should be asking, am I the only one who liked last night’s show? I didn’t think the Buffy/Spike C plot amounted to much except setup, and I was second-guessing the Giles B plot because I’ve been following the arguments on this site (so I was watching for, say, the OBVIOUS RED HERRING at the beginning), but I for one found the Willow storyline fascinating. Perhaps I was watching it for character rather than plot. Case in point:
Here comes Willow. Turns out she feels guilty about causing Tara’s death. Why? It’s in the script. Apparently the fact that she couldn’t see Warren approaching and that he wasn’t shooting at her is enough motivation.
So you’ve never heard of survivor guilt? Emotions don’t have to make logical sense. I would feel deeply cheated if Willow had just quietly put Tara behind her during the summer without any lingering emotions.
My favorite part? It’s all better now. How was this resolved? Kennedy kissed her. …The hëll…?
[Weird Al] It’s a METAPHOR. [/Weird Al]
And re: Kennedy’s age: If she’s the same age as Dawn, that means she’s the same age as Buffy when she slept with Angel.
Actually Kennedy has mentioned something along the lines of..
“And I think I may be too old already”
When the girls were discussing that slayers are generally called in their early to mid teens. This seemed to imply that she is in the 18-19 range of years.
Willow’s comments, when she’s ranting about killing Tara, amount to she always had her in her heart, so she wasn’t really dead, but then she let go of her when she opened herself up to Kennedy, and in a way let her die. Which doesn’t neccessarily resemble our earth-logic, but emotions are rarely logical things. It does make a twisted sort of sense.
As for Amy’s involvement, someone on the Buffistas board suggested that she was brain-washed by the First into hexing Willow. Which, if true, makes a lot more sense, and ties into the part about brainwashing in the “previously” segment (it wasn’t all that necessary for Spike’s storyline in this episode.) Add the First pretending to be Robson on the phone (can’t touch anything doesn’t mean a Bringer can’t dial a speakerphone for it.) to steer the Scoobies to run off to the desert and leave Willow alone, and you’ve got a very good chance of Willow either killing herself or actually becoming Warren.
As for the jailbait thing, we don’t know what Kennedy’s age is. Though Faith seemed to be called at 18, or pretty close to it. (We’re never given her age, and she always came across as being Buffy’s age or older to me.) Also it’s never been established when a Slayer’s potential-ness goes away. So yes, she’s probably younger than Willow, but not too much. (Remember, the Scoobies are all supposed to be 21 going on 22.) However, there really doesn’t seem to be very much chemistry between them, which hurt the episode alot.
Overall, I thought the episode was just okay. It seemed rushed, like it either should have been a two-parter or had one less ongoing storyline. Whether or not the events of the episode were due to the First’s manipulatiuons may grant it or cost it points.
I’ve been reflecting on the Spike soul/no soul thing. The demon inhabiting William’s body acted in direct violation of the established demonic/vampiric nature by in effect sacrificing itself to get William’s soul back and give it possession of it’s body again. This was somethng Angelus would have laughed at when he took control of Angel’s body again in season two despite the fact that Angel was obviously completely in love with Buffy.
So how did Spike the demon overcome his vampiric nature and compulsion to do evil? Was it:
A) what was left of William’s memories and the gentle personality of a poet? One early indicator that this might be the case is Spike’s aversion to apocalyptic schemes that every other vamp was jumping up and down over.
B) the behavior modification chip? (Was Spike always protective and respectful of Dawn in the revised timeline, pre-chip?)
C) his love for Buffy?
or
D) other. You tell me.
I seem to remember Kennedy mentioning that she may already be too old to be very likely to be called as a Slayer.
If Amy was working for or influenced by the First since she stopped being a rat, that would put an interesting spin on her role in the corruption of Willow last season.
I was really hoping Kennedy was the one who made the “too old” comment. Just hadn’t gotten around to rechecking the ep or seeing if the transcript for that ep was up yet.
Just as a comic fan, I loved the throw away line about “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.”
I don’t have a lot to say, but the whole chip-in-Spike’s-head-thing has always bothered me. Not because it’s in there, but because of all the fuss over trying to get it out.
The argument seems to be that “we can’t remove it without killing him.” Huh? Spike is a vampire, so unless the removal requires cutting off his head, staking him through the heart, setting him on fire, bathing him in holy water, or holding him outside on a sunny summer day, it should be easy to remove. Painful, maybe, but still easy.
I keep imagining a scene between Spike and Drusilla (was she around when he first had the chip implanted?) where Spike is plotting to kidnap a doctor (which he actually did, by the way) to have the thing surgically removed. Dru is being comforting, resting Spike’s head on her shoulder, saying “my poor, poor baby….” Then she digs her claws into his skull and yanks out the blood-dripping piece of plastic! As Spike collapses into unconsciousness across her lap, we see Dru stroking Spike’s hair with one hand, staring at the chip in her other blood-covered hand, saying in that sweetly menacing voice of hers, “there now…awl betta.”
Or maybe Spike could do a little exploratory surgery on his own, even off camera. We could see him resolutely take one of Buffy’s axes into another room, where we hear the appropriate noises. Then he returns, splattered with blood, throws the axe and the chip on the coffee table and says “that’s better.”
All I’m saying is that the writers seem to go to great lengths to continue a relatively minor storyline that could be easily (and entertainingly) resolved.
Do these things bother anyone else?
William Sims
I think that Spike’s behavior in regaining his soul is probably a combination of a) leftover noble impulses fueled in part by b) conditioned behavior.
I don’t think that the demons who inhabit vampires give them personality transplants so much as remove the limits on the darker side of their existing personalities; so Spike and Angelus existed in potentia inside William and Liam. I actually base this not so much on those two, but more on some of the less-evil vamps we’ve seen, such as the psych major from “Conversations With Dead People” and Xander in “The Wish” (who was still pretty nebbishy even as a vampire). And I bring this up just to make the point that I don’t think Spike’s demon was trying to destroy itself as a separate entity because I don’t think it thought of itself as such.
Vampires are capable of positive emotions and tendencies, as we’ve seen. In particular I’m thinking of the way Spike felt about Joyce (focusing more on the cocoa than the axe to the head). (Spike may have felt the same way about Dawn pre-chip, but I suspect they didn’t interact that much.)
So Spike already had potential to improve, but a vampire normally doesn’t have the “moral compass” to make significant positive development. However, with the chip he had his ability to do evil curtailed (although not eliminated), and combined with the increasing trust that others showed him he received both positive and negative reinforcement towards non-evil behavior.
I think, in sum, that Spike was driven by a deeply repressed ability to improve as driven by the chip (and his developing status as a Grey Hat) to develop a pseudo-conscience that finally enabled him to, if not necessarily internalize right vs. wrong, at least see the long-term benefits of not being evil. Trying to assault Buffy was the final spur to realize that his nature would betray him and destroy all his progress if he didn’t do something.
In other words, it’s A through D. 🙂
As to the chip, I’ve always classed it as being like the universal translator on “Star Trek:” it’s a fine plot device so long as you don’t think about it too hard, but trying to push its limits brings up tough questions. (Such as its amazing ability to tell humans from non-humans when Spike himself doesn’t know, as in the time he punched Tara.)
I think the inability to remove it is primarily plot-driven, but the neurosurgeon Spike kidnapped couldn’t remove it, so I don’t think it’s as simple as pulling out a piece of metal. And Spike would probably suffer from brain damage for a while even if it didn’t kill him, and after his long recovery from his injuries in Season 2 he may not want to take the risk.
It was okay. It finally cleared up the whole “Giles isn’t touching anything” thing. I was getting a little sick of that one. The Spike/Buffy/Initiative subplot was a little dumb. At least the Initiative is cooperating with Buffy now. As usual, Andrew was the most entertaining part. The throw away comic book reference in particular. He gets some points with me for standing up to Willow/Warren when he thought it was the First. Of course, he lost them again when he thought he/she might be the real Warren and ran up and hugged him/her.
I really enjoyed this episode as well, Doug. Mainly because we finally got a break from the Vampire Sitters Club. I love the way Buffy and Spike are interacting, her faith in his ability to change and her willingness to help him. His undying devotion to her and how he’ll do anything to protect her from himself. (with in his power of course) It’ll be interesting to see if she trusts him enough to agree to take the chip out. I’m not a big fan of Kennedy mainly just because her acting abilities are lesser than the rest of the regular cast and it gets annoying (along with the rest of the potentials). Once again, I don’t have nearly as many problems with this season as most of you do. I still love every minute of the show. I say, if you’re not enjoying it stop waisting your time and read a book.
And, as has been noted before, Spike — moreso than any other vampire we’ve ever seen — often seems to forget he’s not supposed to be a human. He likes to smoke cigarettes, eat buffalo wings, and lounge about his place watching TV. Most vamps seem to ditch human aspects like that very quickly. Hëll, he doesn’t even particularly like the taste of blood (recall that when he was living with Giles, he commented that he liked to sprinkle crackers in blood for texture). “Spike” seems less a demon and more of a wildly out-of-control outgrowth of William’s own id. This may all come into play in the vague line between what exactly William and Spike are.
Y’know, despite Xander’s numerous comics/sf geek references in passing over the years, he seems to be such in voice only. I mean, as far as I recall we’ve never actually seen his Babylon 5 plate collections in his apartment, he doesn’t wear superhero insignia t-shirts (although that Aquaman underoos incident may have turned him off that), but more significantly we’ve never seen him reading comics, watching B5 (ala Passions for Spike), or even any comics just strewn around his place. Be nice to see Xander reading an issue of Frey in the background. 🙂
This post is off-topic as I haven’t had a chance to watch this week’s episode yet. But I figured that people here would be interested to know that there’s an article out about “Fallen Angel”, PAD’s new comic book project. It sounds really good. Just go here.
Raphy
It wasn’t that Giles avoided touching anything–it was that he was asking everyone to do stuff for him. He asked dawn to go out to the car, he asked the potential to carry the documents on the First… There’s a very simple explanation. He’s become so very, very old and gross and succumbed to the ravages of age.
Which season of Buffy did I steal that from?
This episode was a mixed bag. The good, of course, included the inclusion of an off-camera Reily helping out (about time something was done with the scoobies-in-absentina) and the line Giles had at the end (“You think I’m evil if I bring a group of girls on a camping trip and =don’t= touch them?” ).
And when Amy called Kennedy a Slayer-In-Training, I jumped. I said “Oh god, she’s the First…”
Then it went down the tubes. Really Amy, but evil instead of misguided. Bah. First woulda been a bigger shock.
Overall, a fun episode, but now I want an explination of how Giles survived that Bringer… assuming it’s Giles and not something ELSE impersonating him.
It was good but not “Pasions”. Angelus was creepier in this weeks instalment. Neither show stinks, but both are holding my attenion. (then again , other tan 24 or farscape, what is there to watch?)
What’s all this about “Spike’s attitude toward Dawn pre-chip”?
Dawn didn’t exist pre-chip. The characters may have memories of her, but she wasn’t really there. I don’t think any of the show’s characters have ever said anything like “remember that time when Spike first arrived and he and Dawn…”
“Spike and Dawn pre-chip” is shorthand for “the way people remember Spike and Dawn interacting in the altered reality in which Dawn was retroactively inserted into our world’s history.” People haven’t referred to it because there hasn’t been a lot of reference to how Dawn’s new existence affected earlier continuity, but the question is relevant to Spike’s attitudes in general, since her false history has to have fit in with the real one.
Actaully Ray, back in Season 5 there were a few mentions along those lines, but not about Spike, like Dawn was involved in the part of “Prophecy Girl” where Xander had to give Buffy mouth to mouth because Angel doesn’t breath (Yet somehow Spike can pull that cigarette smoke in and blow it back out, may not be breathing, but its moving air and that’s all mouth to mouth is really about…)
But yeah, they’ve avoided the subject of what memories are different for everyone. Like I wonder how the episode “The Zeppo” would’ve been different since Dawn really liked Xander back in that time frame…
Ken and Doug bring up some good points. It’s interesting because I know that since this is Peter David’s board that there must be some crossover audience here between Buffy and comics and comic book fans (some of them anyway) scream bloody murder whenever continuity is changed. The objection I always hear is “You’re telling me ‘Captain Super # 112’ *never happened*!!!” (Which always brings to mind Frank Miller’s great line when asked if Dark Knight was an “imaginary story”: “They’re *all* imaginary stories.”) When you think about it, if Dawn was “shuffled in” to the character’s pasts, none of the episodes are likely to have happened the way we saw them. Buffy fans seem to be willing to go with that but it’s still fun to think about the imaginary effects that time travel would have.
To Tom Galloway, I’ve been re-watching the episodes on FX and I know that in one of them, there was a scene in Xander’s bedroom. I remember there was some type of superhero poster there but I can’t recall if it was an existing character or just some generic image. I think Xander is BTVS’ John Watson: the viewer’s entry into this outlandish world. So I think he’s supposed to be a “good” geek, someone who may read comics and watch B5 but maitains a life while Andrew represents a “bad” geek, anybody from, well, Andrew, to the fat guy at the stadium who appears on camera, shirtless with his team’s colors painted on his face. I think BTVS invites its fans to wave their geek flags high which is at least better than The Simpsons (a show I love) whose only adult character that reads comics is probably the *only* one who has never been shown in a sympathetic light.
Heather, I have to respectfully disagree with you. Among fandoms especially as the Internet has grown in popularity, there have always been those who say, “_, love it or leave it.” and I just think that’s silly. Again, let’s refer to PAD, as it’s his board. He has recently revamped Captain Marvel, in part, as a response to fan comments. Do you think he would have preferred to have people just drop the book and walk away, rather than say, Love this, hate that, give us more of this character, etc.? (On the other hand, I’ve dropped lots of comic books, TV shows, etc. because it became apparent they were no longer offering what I was looking for. It just seems in this case that they’re trying to offer what I liked in the show. I just think they missed the mark.)
And Doug, I know what a metaphor is. One of the scenes I love from this series is the one where Spike can’t attack Willow and he starts going on about how it’s never happened before that he can’t bite anyone and she says that she’s not the kind of girl that vamps want to bite anyway… Great stuff.
But what was this a metaphor for? Moving on? Is anyone satisfied that having this girl grab Willow and kiss her resolves Willow’s feelings for Tara? And having Willow just quietly get over Tara over the summer? Doesn’t the fact that she had turned into a world destroying witch queen before that serve as enough of a sign that she didn’t take Tara’s death well?
I wouldn’t mind if the writers wanted to revisit the issue but I thought that it was just too over the top. It’s like they were trying to give Alyson Hannigan her Emmy clip.
Sorry if I sounded tetchy; I just couldn’t find a quick way to express the point in my own words. It’s just that the “supernatural as a metaphor for the real world” concept is key to understanding the series, and in the interest of civilized discussion I feel it’s important to look at the scene on the level the writers intended it at, rather than a blunt dismissal.
Yes, Willow freaked out at the end of last season; that’s not relevant to the issue of how she’s dealing now. Trying to argue (as you apparently were) that it’s not logical for her to feel guilt is addressing the issue on entirely the wrong level. (And I took the ending not that she got over Tara entirely, but that she took the first step forward in getting on with her life.)
I guess what I’m saying is that the subjective issue of whether an episode or scene “works” for someone can’t be argued. It’s entirely appropriate to say (as you did in your last post) that the sequence with Willow didn’t work for you (as it did for me); but subjective reactions and objective analyses aren’t the same thing, and shouldn’t be mixed freely.
And to comment on a completely different issue: The Comic Shop Guy isn’t just a negative character because he’s a geek; it’s because he’s the exemplar of what someone (I want to say Mark Evanier) dubbed “destructive fandom.” That is, the tendency among fans to watch something only from the pleasure they get in tearing it apart in front of others; tuning in each week “to see how they screw it up this time.”
That’s the where the line for “love it or leave it” lies. If one reaches the point where you aren’t willing to admit the possibility of enjoying something (and even laughing at it because it’s so bad counts), then it’s time to give it up; continuing past that point is just unhealthy.
Good comments by all, I have just a bit to add.
First, in regards to Giles-Isn’t-Touching-Anything-Going-On-Too-Long, it was only 3 episodes. In our world of having a week (or as it turns out 2 or 3) to discuss this between episodes it took much longer, but in terms of time they have to tell a story, it was next to nothing.
Regarding Angel-Can’t-Breath-To-Save-The-Slayer’s-Life, as has been said before, because a character says something doesn’t make it canon law. Of course vampires can breath, they speak throughout the show. My take on it, having seen how the second season and so on went, is that Angel was making an excuse not to press his lips against hers. And since Xander was there to do the duty, he wasn’t forced to. No, he wouldn’t have let her die, but there was an alternative.
Regarding Bringing-Back-Gratuitous-Bits-From-Previous-Seasons (Initiative Base and Amy), this episode wasn’t the first. The whole season has been doing that. The First shifting to all the Big Bads from all the other seasons, the new High School being built, Willow back at college, and on and on. They even snuck a musical number in.
Regarding Xander-As-The-Geek-In-All-Of-Us I have thought before that his geekdom was perhaps a bit pretend. Remember the scene in Season 3 where Xander and Oz are debating Red vs Green vs Yellow Kryptonite? A true fanboy wouldn’t have gotten any of that wrong.
Regarding Dawn-And-Time-Travel, well, it’s almost the opposite of that. In time travel, you are going back to one point, and you affect every future event. Dawn was written in at a particular moment in such a way that the present remained the same in all aspects. When we look at particular episodes and think how would it be different now that Dawn was always there (does your head hurt?), any significant change would have meant that we couldn’t end up where we were when she was written into it, so she must not have played any real part. Maybe she was always away at camp or sleep-overs, or Dad’s house. Who knows?
Okay, maybe that was more than “a bit”, but on the subject of my favorite show, believe me — you got off lucky. 🙂
-If the Apocalypse comes, beep me.
The Killer In Me was a pathetic attempt of an episode. All season seven episodes were pathetic and this was caused by Sarah Michelle Gellar’s wavering loyalty to the show and budget cuts.
In season seven, the characters were more segregated which I felt was pathetic, where the hëll was Xander most of the time? And Willow not joining in with Buffy in the Anya-fight, whatever happened to ‘Scoobies stick together’? Pathetic.
Also, a NEW love interest for Willow is just disgustingly despicable, because although a new interest WAS required for the purpose of giving Willow newfound confidence to perform the ultimate spell of all spells… it was hurried. In the time of three episodes, Willow and Kennedy have a comfortable relationship?!!!! Was I the ONLY ONE screaming WTF at the tv? It took Willow and Tara the best part of a šøddìņg SEASON to develop.
Many of the episodes were pretty pathetic, even the finale of all finales was hurried and the plot was poor- ask any film director. Joss Whedon made the Buffy movie and it bombed. He made the Buffy series and hey presto! It appears to me he’s still a learner and that he needs to do EVERY Buffy episode TWICE to produce LIKEABLE episodes.
Overall, I can confidently state that this episode was an EXPECTED disappointment because the rest of the season had proved to be the same. I’m sorry Joss but the ‘first’ and a couple of random ubervamps aren’t going to cut it this time.
Silly man.