#we got one last episode with the actual cordelia we love . after a whole season of evil cordelia

[aahsoka]

just finished the final cordelia episode

#😭 fuck joss whedon for what he did to herrrr #jordan talks #ats #we got one last episode with the actual cordelia we love . after a whole season of evil cordelia #who honestly barely acted like cordy at all…… where was the bitchiness…… #her being all nice and soothing 24/7 should have been a dead giveaway. also her and connor but noooo #they kept rationalizing it lmfao . like oh you know u wrote some stupid shit .

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

JIANG YANLI (MO DAO ZU SHI)

1.) (note about the name first, she's chinese so its jiang yanli, family name jiang) (also this is specifically about the novel, not any of its adaptations and specifically not the untamed. they all have their issues too but are a lot better)

she's the main character, wei wuxian's sister who he loves dearly, but is barely a presence in the story. at first she basically just exists to create drama between wei wuxian and her fiancé jin zixuan. then when she and jin zixuan get married and have a kid, she has seemingly become obsolete and just gets teleported to a battlefield she has no business being at to die tragically and create drama between wei wuxian and their brother, and later wei wuxian and her son. she's barely even around, she just gets talked about and fought over by all the actual important people (the men in her life). no attention is payed to her interiotity, she doesn't get to react to all the plot points even when they affect her just as much or more than other characters… overall she's treated as a plot device and not an actual character.

2.) She was a sister, wife, and mother. Then she died. Many characters loved her, and they only remember how caring and nice she was. Her fierce protectiveness is not mentioned after her death. She could also not fight for some reason (even though her mother was famous for her fighting skills??).

3.) After she has her kid- and her husband dies- she rushes into the middle of an active battle field and dies in the protagonist (her pseudo brother’s) arms. She tries to tell him one last thing but dies right then. He then goes on a rampage. Previously the biggest things we got to learn about her was she makes good soup, she had an arranged marriage (that was called off but was remended), and is kind. Despite being close w/ the protagonist (before her death) and one of the major side characters (and her being a Sect Leader’s daughter) there isn’t a lot of depth to her. Even if she’s only shown in flashbacks her character comes across as “she died to further the plot”

CORDELIA CHASE (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER/ANGEL THE SERIES) (CW: Pregnancy)

1.) (downs an entire bottle of vodka and slams it back on the table) SO. CORDY. Cordy started off as a supporting character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. At the start she was your typical high school mean girl character, but as the show went on we got to see more depth to her character: her insecurities, her courage, her capacity for incredible acts of kindness. Then after the third season she moved into the show’s spin off, Angel, where from the beginning she was basically the show’s secondary protagonist. Her and Angel were the two mainstays of the show’s main cast, she gets the most episodes centered on her out of all the characters aside from Angel (and yes, I’ve checked), and we really got to see her grow from a very shallow and self-centered and kind of mean person to a true hero who was prepared to give up any chance at a normal life to fight the good fight while still never losing the basic core of her character. There were some… questionable moments like the episode where she gets mystically pregnant with demon babies and things got a bit iffy like halfway through season 3 where the writers seemed to run out of ideas for what to do with her outside of sticking her in this romance drama/love triangle situation with the main character but overall, pretty good stuff right? THEN SEASON 4 HAPPENED. In season 4 she gets stripped of literally all agency and spends pretty much the entire season possessed by an evil higher power, and while possessed she sleeps with Angel’s teenage son (who BY THE WAY she had helped raise as a baby before he got speed-grown-up into a teenager it was a whole thing don’t worry about it) and gets pregnant with like. the physical manifestation of the higher power that’s possessing her. it’s about as bad and stupid as it sounds and also is like the third time cordy’s got mystically pregnant in this show and like the fourth mystical pregnancy storyline overall (you will be hearing more on that note in other submissions I’m so sorry). after giving birth she goes into a coma, in which she remains for the rest of season 4 and the first half of season 5. SPEAKING OF WHICH DON’T THINK SEASON 5 IS GETTING OFF SCOT FREE HERE. yeah so in season 5 the show just FULLY starts trying to erase cordy’s existence. she gets mentioned ONCE in the first episode and then never again until halfway through the season where she wakes up, helps out Angel for a bit and encourages him in his fight against evil, and then goes quietly into that good night and dies so it can be all sad and tragic. I’d call it the worst fridging of all time but even THAT feels generous because the whole point of fridging is killing off a female character so a man can be sad, and after Cordy dies basically no one’s even sad about it because the show immediately goes back to pretending she never existed. she is not mentioned ONCE in the two episodes after she dies. in the whole stretch of time between her death and the end of the season she gets mentioned exactly four times. again, I counted. anyway the fun twist to all of this is that all of this happened because the actress who played cordy got pregnant before season 4 and joss whedon was so pissed off about this affecting his plans for the show that he decided to completely fuck over her character and then fire her and write her out of the show. so cordy’s a victim of both writing AND real life misogyny!! good times!!

2.) OH SO MANY THINGS they menaced by giving her terrible hair cuts, making her seem like she’d get together with the guy she loves (and who loves her back) but instead she was killed and when she was brought back, she got possessed by an evil entity who used her body to give birth to itself. afterwards she was in a long coma and died. her character was so throughoutly assassinated

3.) She got demonically pregnant TWICE - there was this real sense of a womb/ability to get pregnant as like, a place for evil to get in. She got positioned as femme fatale and evil mother. The actress basically got fired for being pregnant, and when she agreed to come back for a single final episode she specifically said they could do anything but kill off the character. Guess what happened

#polls #round 1 #week 2 #new #cw pregnancy

[atlasshrugd]

ok. let me see if I can express what I’m thinking.

cordelia and xander’s relationship to me at first was a crack ship, and it seemed intended to be. but then it started to grow on me. i started actually caring about them as a couple and liking how their relationship developed. the rivals to lovers to s/o’s was cute. i started to like cordelia for more than just her comedic relief.

then, season 3 happened. not only do they not act like a couple (which they never rly did, but at least they used to have some sweet moments), they put in the mf CHEATING storyline. xander’s attraction to willow was sudden like a bus crash. it came out of nowhere and made no sense. both willow and xander were in good places in their relationships, and this was when we realised that cordelia’s feelings towards xander were deep and real (which she has never experienced). she admitted that she loved him, she said she would always stay with him when she thought he got turned into a creepy fish creature, she had photos developed of him and them that she stuck in her locker. meanwhile - xander’s feelings remain stagnant. he has no scenes where he admits his feelings for cordelia or even speaks kindly about her. pretty much, we’re led to believe that he doesn’t care as much about cordy as she cares about him.

AND THEN, during the whole freak show of willow and xander’s cheating, willow tries to resist xander because she knows it is wrong (trying to find a spell for it etc.) but xander doesn’t seem to show any restraint and only seems remorseful bc willow is remorseful. he is the one who makes all the moves even when willow says not to. and he doesn’t feel guilty about it the way willow does.

this culminates in them kissing AGAIN after being kidnapped by spike only to be found by cordelia and oz (who also deserves better), and then cordy falls and gets IMPALED by a fucking wooden stake. fucked up, but she survives, and then XANDER ASS comes to the hospital with flowers and an explanation. but before he can, cordy says to stay away from her, which is understandable. but what does Xander do? does he show genuine remorse (at cheating, not at being caught)? does he make a genuine apology for cheating and stringing her along even when he didn’t have deep feelings for her? No. He leaves, and we don’t get any scene where xander expresses any genuine feeling towards cordelia, not even in his many voicemails. And this is the writers fault, and their blatant mistreatment towards the character of cordelia (and the actress).

and ik cordelia can be a bitch and that in s1 she was sort of a bully, but she literally gave up her popularity, friends, and social standing to date xander publicly. he didn’t have to sacrifice anything and totally took her for granted. not to mention he decided to date her when he was STILL in love with buffy and had feelings for willow.

and then the next episode? xander BLAMES oz and cordelia for walking in on them and blaming them for cheating bc “they were about to die so it would be the last kiss” ??? like??? what??? I wish he was joking but you could tell he actually believed it. and when everyone found out he cheated, everyone alienated her and mocked her.

the moral of the story is: cordelia/xander deserved better, cordelia and oz deserved better, xander and willow SHOULD feel bad and guilty, and that s3 characterisation is all over the place.

#anti-xander #btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #btvs spoilers #Cordelia chase #mine #btvs s3 #rant #cordelia x xander #willow x xander

[hamliet]

The Girl Who Gets to Have It All: Buffy Summers

So with @linkspooky​‘s encouragement, I have binged Buffy the Vampire Slayer and relived my childhood culture. And, it's a 10/10 for me. Not that it doesn't have flaws, but it's genuinely one of the best stories I've seen, with consistent character arcs, powerful themes, and a beautiful message. It's also like... purportedly about vampires and demons and superpowered chosen ones, but it's actually all about humanity.

Buffy was able to be a teenage girl, allowed to like the things teen girls are scorned for (boys, shopping, etc), to be insecure about the thing teenage girls are insecure about (future careers, dating, school, parents), and to be a superhero with its good and its bad aspects. The story wasn’t afraid to call Buffy on her flaws (sometimes she got in a very ‘I am the righteous chosen one’ mode) and to respect and honor each of her desires (to be a good person, to be loved, and more). The story listened to what she wanted and respected her desires, giving her the challenges needed to overcome her flaws while also never teaching her a lesson about wanting bad boys or romance is silly or any manner of dark warnings stories like to throw at teenage girls. 

It respected teenage girls--nerdy girls like Willow, jocks like Buffy, lonely wallflowers with trauma like Dawn, and popular/snobby ones like Cordelia, girls gone wild like Faith. It never once reduced them to the stereotypes that were lurking right there: each character was fully rounded, human, flawed and yet with respected interests and goals. This is so rare for a story that I’m still in awe. 

The story as a whole follows Buffy from 15 to 21, of her as she grows from teenager to adult. She acts like a teenager and grows to act like a young adult, wrestling with loneliness and duty. The adults, like Giles, Joyce, and Jenny, are not perfect either, but neither are they “bad parents” or “bad mentors” necessarily. Joyce in particular says something terrible to Buffy, but she tries to do better, and it’s rare to see a parent in YA stories shown with such nuance. Basically, it wrote the long-lasting adult characters as human beings, too. 

Speaking of growing up, I appreciated how Buffy’s love interests mirrored this. Angel was someone Buffy loved and admired, wanted to be like, but who was always either extreme good or extreme bad, and combined with Buffy’s own tendencies towards black-white thinking, made for a beautiful relationship to help her grow, but didn’t necessarily form a foundation for a long-term partner. Spike, on the other hand... they both saw each other at their worst and were drawn to each other even then, and were inspired to become better because they couldn’t bear to be a person who treated the other person so wrongly. They pushed each other to become the best them they could be, and believed in each other. Also, Spuffy is an enemies to lovers ship for the ages. 

(Also, most of the other ships were well-done or at least can be understood. Riley was very obviously wrong for Buffy which paralleled Harmony and Spike in being 100% wrong for each other. Cordelia and Xander were a fun ship even if we all knew it would never last, and Willow and Oz were beautiful and cute. But Xander and Anya and Willow and Tara? OTPs. As were Giles and Jenny, the librarian and the computer teacher.) 

That said, it’s not a perfect series. No story is. All of the characters and ships had problematic aspects to them worthy of critique, and the writing is very 90s in a lot of ways. It’s a product of its time, and in many ways it’s good society has progressed beyond some of the tropes/metaphors used in the show. In other way, though, the show was ahead of its time, and in a good way it wasn’t bound by the fear of purity policing with its takes on redemption (many characters would never fly today). 

So, in order of seasons ranked from my very favorite to my “still enjoyed it very much” (no season was actually bad, imo), here’s my review. I’ll also review my top 10 villains in the show, because Buffy does villains very well in terms of the redeemable and irredeemable.  

Season 7:  Yep, the final season was my favorite. 

Overall Opinion: Buffy's finale is literally "f*ck them men, our power is ours" and while it seems cheesy it actually works (also, f*ck in both a literal and figurative sense). The series strongly hit all the themes: love as strength, and redemption. Buffy consistently shows love as her strength--*all* kinds of love. Friendship w Willow/Xander, familial with Joyce/Dawn, romantic with Spike/Angel. These types of love are also never pitted against each other as is so often the case in current-day media. It's beautiful. Also, Spike’s confrontation with Wood was so powerful in terms of exploring forgiveness, redemption, and reconciliation: where they overlap and where they don't, and what it means to move forward. 

Unpopular Opinion: I have seen a lot didn’t like the inclusion of Potential Slayers, and while I agree they could have been better incorporated/characterized, it was a great way to show Buffy’s final stage of growing up to be ending her chosen one status and projecting/multiplying her powers over the world. 

Biggest Critique: Kennedy was female Riley--the anti-Tara to Riley’s anti-Angel (by ‘anti’ I mean opposite in every way). Kennedy was annoying and immature. Her role, like Riley’s, was less about exploring her as a character and more about her just being stamped as “love interest: lesbian.” 

Favorite Episodes: Beneath You, Lies My Parents Told Me, Touched, Chosen

Season 6: 

Overall Opinion: I said this on Twitter, but I felt like this was Buffy’s The Last Jedi or Empire Strikes Back moment. It is polarizing and dark, deconstructing the tropes it stands on--but by digging to the core of these tropes, it actually makes what’s good about them shine brighter. Everyone’s enemy was the worst versions of themselves. Giles left Buffy, Willow's struggle to relate to the world led to her trying to destroy it, Buffy hurt everyone through her anger, Xander abandoned Anya at the altar, Spike... yeah. It ages well as an integral part of the story, and the Trio were eerily prophetic. 

Unpopular Opinion: Dawn is a great character with a good arc. A traumatized teen acting out and struggling to come to terms with loss and identity? She wasn’t whiny; she was realistic. 

Biggest Critique: Willow’s addiction coding (I’ll discuss this below) and Seeing Red as an episode. I see the argument for both of its controversial scenes from a narrative perspective: Willow starts the season not grieving Buffy but instead being determined to fix it with magic and needs to learn to grieve, but. Still. Bury your gays is not a good look. For the Spike scene... he conflates sex/passion and violence (”love is blood, children” is something he said way back in season 3), but like Tara’s death, it had more to do with Spike (as Tara’s death did for Willow) than with Buffy’s arc, and as for the actual execution... they really botched that. Did it like... have to go on that long or go that far? No. Also, the framing was good, but inconsistent with the rest of the series (Xander to Buffy in the hyena episode, Faith to Xander and to Riley, etc.) 

Favorite Episodes: Once More With Feeling, Smashed, Grave

Season 3 (tied with Season 5):

Overall Opinion: The opening continuity of Buffy meeting Lily/Anne after saving her life in Season 2 was sweet. The Witchhunt episode had really powerful subtext: stories of deaths that aren’t even true are actually demons that possess the town and convince them to turn against their children in the name of protecting the children. It’s a good commentary on, oh, everything in society. Faith’s character arc was fantastic, and her chemistry with Buffy was off the charts (look, I may be Spuffy all the way, but Fuffy has rights). The finale was satisfying in so many ways, seeing the entire graduating class unite to destroy the Mayor and the school with it, symbolizing Buffy et al’s readiness to move on to college. Oz's relationship with Willow was very sweet and meaningful for a first romance for Willow. 

Unpopular Opinion: I actually don’t really have one. Maybe that the miracle in Amends was earned? I think you can make a decent case that Season 3 is the best written of the seasons, but can only truly be thematically appreciated to its full potential in the light of subsequent seasons (which finish Faith’s arc and deconstruct Buffy’s).  

Biggest Critique: It forgot Buffy killed the hyena guy in Season 1, making her continual insistence that she can’t kill people very ????? 

Favorite Episodes: Lovers Walk, Amends, Graduation Day Part 2 

Season 5, which ties with Season 3:

Overall Opinion: The entire season is about family and what it means, from Tara’s to Buffy’s to the Scoobies. I loved Glory aka Enoshima Junko as the Big Bad, I loved Dawn’s interesting meta commentary on retconning (like, the fact that she’s retconned in matters), and most of my ships are still alive. Joyce’s relationship with Spike is one of the most heartwarming aspects, and Spike’s arc’s desire is clearly highlighted: he wants to be seen as a person. The episodes after Joyce’s death are the most honest portrayals of grief I’ve ever seen, and absolutely brutal to watch. 

Unpopular Opinion: Buffy’s choice at the end seems a deliberate inversion of her choice at the end of Season 2 (sacrifice a loved one to save the world), but it actually isn’t: much like at the end of Season 2 where Buffy skips town because she’s devastated after killing Angel and doesn’t want to sort out being expelled, her mom knowing she’s the slayer, and her own trauma, Buffy’s sacrifice here was as much about her wanting the easy way out of relationships, family, college, etc. as it was about saving Dawn. Buffy’s death is coded as a suicide, which Season 6 emphasizes as well. 

Biggest Critique: Like Season 3, I don’t have a lot to critique here. I wish the suicidal coding had been a little more obvious in Season 5 itself, but also I’m not sure it could have been more obvious; it’s pretty apparent if you pay attention. Maybe also that Buffy and Riley’s relationship failing should have been more squarely blamed on Riley, you know, being insecure and cheating. 

Favorite Episodes: Family, Fool for Love, Intervention. 

Season 2:

Overall Opinion: Heartbreakingly tragic but exciting and revealing at the same time. It asked the viewer interesting questions about redemption and forgiveness and atonement through Angel being honest about his past, and then decided to show us his past now reenacted, challenging us. And still, we saw them save him in a parallel to saving Willow in Season 6 (but Season 2 was tragic because it wasn’t enough, while Season 6 was not). Jenny’s death was agonizing, and the scene were Angel watches Buffy, Willow, and Joyce get the news through the window was powerful. We didn’t have to hear them to get the grief. 

Unpopular Opinion: Jenny’s death isn’t a fridging; it works for her arc too when you consider her history. She worked to save the person whose life she was tasked to ruin, and it cost her her own--yet she still succeeded, because Jenny brought joy and wisdom to the show. Kendra’s death, on the other hand... was because they needed the stakes to be high--but we already knew that before she died. So, her death was useless. 

Biggest Critique: The subtext was Not It. It was essentially “do not have sex. Your older boyfriend will lose his soul, kill your friends, you’ll lose your family, your school, your home, and have to kill your true love or else hell will literally swallow earth.” 

Favorite Episodes: School Hard, Passion, Becoming Part 2.

Season 1:

Overall Opinion: I really liked it; it’s just lower on this list because the others are just better. It’s a great introduction to the series and to its characters, from Giles to Buffy to Willow to Jenny to Cordelia. It has great subtext a lot of the time (for example, Natalie French as She-Mantis is a literal predatory bug who engages in predatory behavior with students). Additionally, it subverts the typical YA trope of two guys and a girl, in which the girl is usually the least interesting character. Buffy and Willow were both fully fledged characters from the beginning with distinct strengths (even before Willow became a witch, as she wasn’t one in season 1 yet), while Xander was the more ordinary of the group. 

Unpopular Opinion/Biggest Critique: Xander’s arc showed its first flaws that unfortunately continued throughout the series: his writing was either very good or very indulgent in ways it never was for other characters.  (cough, the hyena episode, cough, in which he gets to skirt responsibility--and acknowledges that he is skirting it--for something the show will later hold others to account for). Xander’s just kind of inconsistent, which weakened his character over all. (Which is why both his love interests--Cordelia and then ultimately Anya--were good for him: they did not indulge him.) 

Favorite Episode: Witch, Nightmares. 

Season 4:

Overall Opinion: it’s still a good season. It’s a good portrayal of college and the growing pains of branching out, the strains of college growth on relationships (romantic and platonic). It shows us the first hints of Spuffy, giving us some serious Jungian symbolism between Spike and Buffy early on, and does well in establishing Xander/Anya and Willow/Tara as beautiful OTPs. Faith and Buffy’s foiling is fantastic. The Halloween episode was very fun as well. However, it suffers because its Big Bad, Adam, is not all that compelling thematically--yet, he could have been. See, the final battle pulls off the Power of Friendship in a really strong way but notably the season does not end there. Instead, it ends on dreams of each character’s worst fears, continuing what we saw in Nightmares in Season 1. Why? Because it shows us that the characters’ wars aren’t against monsters, but monsters of their own making: their flaws. Adam, as a literal Frankenstein, exemplifies this, but it wasn’t capitalized on as well as it could have been. 

Unpopular Opinion: Beer Bad isn’t a bad episode, at the very least because Buffy gets to punch Parker. It’s not one of the series’ best, obviously, but it does give Buffy an arc in that she gets her daydream of Parker begging her to come back, but she has overcome that desire and her desire for revenge. If we wanna talk about bad subtext in Season 4, Season 2′s Not It sex subtext continues in the Where the Wild Things Are episode in this season; it’s a powerful callout of abusive purity-culture churches, until the fact that the shame creates a literal curse undermines the progressive message it’s supposed to send. Also, the Thanksgiving episode (Pangs) is a nightmare of white guilt and Oh God Shut Up White People. 

Biggest Critique: Riley is awful. Like Kennedy, he had “love interest:normal” stamped on him and that was it. The thing is, he could have worked as an Angel foil, representative of the normal-life aspect of Buffy to Angel’s vampire/supernatural aspect, but the writers never explore this and seemed to even try to back away from that later on. They threw all the romantic cliches at the wall to see what sticks, from klutzy “I dropped my schoolbooks, that’s how we met” to cliché lines that had me rolling my eyes. Do you know how bad a romance has to be to make me dislike romantic tropes? 

Favorite Episodes: Fear Itself, Hush, Restless

Villain rankings: 

Dark Willow, the only villain to be truly sympathetic. While the addiction coding was insensitive and, while unsurprising for its time, aged extremely poorly. That said, Willow’s turn to the dark side after Tara’s death worked well for her character and the story: it was believable and paid off what had been building since Season 1's “Nightmares” episode (Willow’s inferiority complex). 

Glory managed to be genuinely terrifying, and humorous/enjoyable too. Her minions and their numerous nicknames for Glorificus were hilarious, as was her intense vanity. Her merging with Ben--a human being who genuinely wanted to be kind and good--added complexity and tragedy to her role. 

The First. A really good take on Satan. The seventh season as well as the First’s first appearance in season 3′s “Amends” had kind of blatant Christian symbolism, and so the First being essentially Satan works. Their disguising themselves as dead loved ones and the subtle manipulation they used to alienate people was really disturbing and well done. 

The Mayor, who was a terrible person but a truly good father. He provided an interesting contrast to the normal ‘bad dad’ bad guy character, in that he provided Faith exactly what the other characters refused to: he saw the best in her and offered her parental support, while the heroes didn’t and wound up pushing her away. 

The Trio, who were villains ahead of their time: whiny fanboy reddit dudebros, basically. The stakes seemed so much lower than fighting Glory, a literal god, the previous season. But that’s why they worked so well for Season 6′s human themes, and were especially disturbing because we all know people like them. I also appreciated the surprisingly sensitive takes on Jonathan and Andrew, who got to redeem themselves, but Warren did not, and I don’t think he should have either. 

Angelus + Drusilla. I’m ranking them below the Trio because Angelus was just sooooo different from Angel that it was difficult for me to feel the same way for him. He was still Angel, so it wasn’t possible to enjoy his villainy, but he also wasn’t nearly as sympathetic as Dark Willow, had no redeeming qualities like the Mayor, and wasn’t as disturbingly realistic as the Trio. However, the emotional stakes were excellently executed with him as the Big Bad, in that you were never quite sure how to feel and it just plain hurt. Also, Drusilla was a favorite recurring character. She was sympathetic and yet batsh*t enough to be enjoyable as a villain at the same time. 

The Master, who was just completely camp and really worked as an introductory villain. He was scary enough to believe he was a threat, and was funny enough to introduce the series’ humor as well. He was, like Glory, an enjoyable Big Bad. 

The Gentlemen, the one-off villains of Season 4′s Hush who were genuinely terrifying. It’s not as if they got a lot of explanation or any backstory, but they didn’t need it. 

Caleb, the misogynist priest. Fitting with the First’s Christian symbolism, Caleb serving as a spokesperson of all bad religious beliefs felt appropriate. He was also a good foil to Warren--being actually supernaturally powered instead of a wannabe--and to Tara’s family in being full-out evil. I despised him. 

Snyder. Okay Snyder is not a Big Bad like Adam is, but let’s face it: Adam is lame compared to the other villains. But Snyder as a principal? He was so irritating and yet really well used in the series to critique overly strict, hypocritical teachers. Like, we all know teachers like him. I loved to hate him, and his ending was so satisfying. 

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #spuffy #buffy summers #dawn summers #spike #angel #cordelia chase #btvs giles #willow rosenberg #tillow #tara maclay #anya jenkins #xanya #xander harris #jenny calendar #kendra young #faith lehane #hamliet reviews

[ifeveristoday]

I got out my DVDs for this rewatch (that’s not actually a big deal. I only have season 3 on DVD. 😂) so let’s get to it.

I forgot they did a cold open for this episode!

I know it’s for ambiance but man does Angel have a lot of candles displayed. Probably too ‘mainstream’ for his taste but the thought of Angel furtively going to a Bath and Bodyworks in the mall during their semi-annual sale and just buying out their whole candle selection gives me the purest joy. Let’s be real though, Angel would shop at some boutique/hole in the wall owned by a wizened old character with a twinkle in their eye and everything marked up 20%. Or it would be a steel and glass monstrosity with a collection labeled Candles for Men. That’s the range.

Back to the enormous fire hazard that this scene is -

Wait. Does fire burn on stone?

Shout out to the stunt doubles.

I think that Angel getting food for Buffy for a sort of alfresco picnic while training is really sweet, actually. Also, can't miss the opportunity for both carbs and phallic symbolism ala bread.

Everyone is so embarrassingly horny in this moment. I'd say get a room except they're in a whole giant mansion.

Always remember the bread! What did Angel do with the food after Buffy fled? Fed the no-doubt cursed pigeons that live in Sunnydale.

Thanks for the workout (insert stereotypical dirty laugh).

Oh yes, the awkward 'let's talk about your birthday without mentioning the last birthday you had at all because it's horrifying' chitchat. God, the anxiety Angel is radiating here and Buffy trying to smooth it over. You can't unfrost that trauma cake!

Angel, you utter dork. You're lucky Buffy finds you pretty. Very powerful himbo energy here. And it's nice to see some light-hearted flirting/banter between them.

How do you know when someone's aura's dirty? Buffy is only asking the reasonable questions everyone has.

Do you hear yourself, Giles. "I'm aware of your distaste in studying vibratory stones..." I can't imagine what that section of the Slayer handbook looks like. Are there pull-out charts?

Faith being conveniently gone for this episode. Boo, hiss.

That workout really did a number on Buffy. I see what you're doing with those crystals.

One of the sad parts of rewatching Buffy is that you just don't have the first time discovery feels of watching it - that magic is gone, but even though I know why Buffy's wobbling in her fight, the reveal is still upsetting. Thinking about how in Season 5, when she does get staked, just as she's questioning her powers - and here, where she's losing them.

Also, obvious observation is obvious - the sexual violence imagery is really, really blatant here - with the vampire crouched over her with the stake aimed toward her heart, just as she playfully staked Angel earlier in a more romantically set scene.

AND THEN THE THEME KICKS IN. Like, damn! Three minutes and you can pretty much tell what the plot is going to be - Buffy and Angel's UST is getting out of hand, Buffy's lone Rangering it, and something is wrong with her. And it's her birthday.

And Buffy's resourcefulness saves the day.

Perhaps you shouldn't be throwing knives in the library, Buffy.

Did they do a geography lesson on Cuernavaca? It's also just fun to say. Like La Cienega. Brief moment to ponder yet again about a show set in Southern California, actually shot in Southern California, with the huge Latine population we have and the Spanish-influenced names and culture and - getting sidetracked by all this casual 90s racism.

"We do it every year for my birthday," except your seventeenth, presumably because of the murderous ex-boyfriend stalking the town you live in and all your loved ones. [Or, he did take her and it was not shown on screen!] Sometimes I wonder if the continuity editors just go, you know, I'm going to let this one go for the 'emotion' and not just so years later, a Virgo with a deep-seated need to obsess over throwaway details will go into a thought spiral to make it make sense.

I think this is also the last time Hank Summers was spoken of with any real affection because then he was Deadbeat Dad for the remainder of the show. Oh, look. The Scoobies are surprised about the traditional birthday ice show that I'm going to nitpick about forever.

Oz is so supportive, and then the clunker of a 'deep' line of ice being cool because it's water then it's not. I do like the Whedonesque school of dialogue, but sometimes you gotta reel it back. I remember the dialogue on Dawson's Creek was getting pinged for the teenagers talking like grad students.

Quiet reflection. Oh you poor girl, you have no idea.

Quarterly projections - is a convincing filler phrase for when you don't need to know what the job is, because it's boring but sounds vaguely official. What does Hank actually do? Who cares! He's an asshole.

Sunnydale Arms, because of course, Sunnydale has a broken down abandoned murder hotel.

Quentin Travers. Boo. Hiss.

The scary music is very scary. Also one of the Council flunkies looks like a very young Vincent D'Onofrio.

This scene with them in the library is so bittersweet because Buffy is fishing for Giles's attention as a father figure substitute ("very sophisticated people go!" breaks my heart) and he pointedly is rejecting this for training talk.

Look for the flaw at its center. THE FLAW IS YOU GILES. YOU YOU YOU.

it's just so terrible, this scene because of how methodical and clinical it plays out. And Buffy is just not there, and then Giles smiles like nothing has happened.

Buffy makes it through another night - next day (another reason why this trial is so horrifying is that it takes place over several days - it's not on Buffy's birthday but leading up to it, so the idea of her getting weaker and weaker and unable to fight to make it to 18 in the first place) and it's time for the Cordelia has had enough of toxic masculinity scene!

Also, Willow blithely ignoring a person's feelings and treating Amy as just a rat is played for laughs and cuteness, but yeah...you can't treat people like puppets or rats [law and order sound]

I love Cordelia's coat. And also, while it does suck that she stood him up, he's not entitled to her time or attention and certainly not to threaten her. Go, Cordy! Fight like a girl! Yes! Pummel him into the hallway.

I also love Willow's outfit here because I think the colors are so complementary and warm and it's a cute outfit. Okay, the knit wooly hat is a bit too Blossom-esque, but whatever.

Buffy is tiny, we all know this, but I do think they purposefully dressed her in larger than her size coats in this episode to make her look even more tiny and vulnerable.

Giles is TOO BLASE for this scene also shut your mouth about throwing knives like a girl

"It's an archaic exercise in cruelty." SO WHY DID YOU GO ALONG WITH IT, BRAIN TRUST. (I am going to be very mean to Giles this whole rewatch, deal with it.)

"But I'm the one in the thick of it." No, you're not. You are going to be adjacent to it, at best.

Hey it's that guy!

Okay, in better lighting, flunkie does not look like Vincent D'Onofrio.

It's impossible to pin down one type of Vampire in the Whedonverse, except for the delineation between Grunt Bait Vampires, and Special Guest Star/Master vampires, but Kralik is the only other example of a vampire with mental illness besides Drusilla, yet he's medicated. Makes me wonder how exactly they got Kralik...he was a monster before he was a vampire, but who vamped him? I don't put it past the Watchers to have vampires created for this purpose.

Curse against lawyers!

Xander and Oz bonding over comic books is so fun. I regret they didn't really get closer until after Xander and Willow cheated because Oz was the one male friend Xander had.

They mentioned her birthday! Thinking about Buffy's love of poetry later on, this is a nice little detail, and it *is* a thoughtful, sweet gift. Also those poems: horny. Oh yes, maybe in a restrained way, but Elizabeth Barrett Browning knew what was up.

The Buffy and Angel relationship in season three is full of these starts and stops that I can see why and agree with others about how it's frustrating on a number of levels. They know why they can't be together, but they still try to find a common ground because they want to need the other one. They still have their identities to figure out - Buffy as the slayer and a young adult, Angel as a person, separate from Buffy and being Buffy's ex sort of maybe.

But this conversation in Helpless is genuinely sweet and a glimpse at what a normal couple at the crossroads would talk about - I think I'm also being soft on this because the other Important Male Figure in Buffy's life in this episode lets her down so spectacularly bad, that Angel being supportive and kind in his awkward way is a nice respite. It's good to be away from the angst and the horror that their relationship has had.

And the self-aware puncturing of the Moment between them is something Buffy does very well. "Taken literally, incredibly gross - I was just thinking that too". Look, it's cute and soft and I will allow it.

The horror of this episode (and there are so many) is that we have to watch Buffy become the helpless blonde in a slasher flick who is being chased by the monsters and she can't do anything about it - that she has to be rescued or die. That the real world with men catcalling and bystanders who ignore women's cries of distress is far scarier than the literal demons that inhabit the town - and Buffy brokenly saying she can't just be a person, she can't be helpless like that [like women are, still, today] is a gut punch. It's uncomfortable and unhappy because Buffy is supposed to be the hero, the [sigh] strong female lead who can kick ass and take names, and this episode is all about finding who Buffy is, separate from her super powers. Also an exercise in emotional torture, but must be Tuesday.

The physicality - the weakness that both Buffy and Giles display in this scene is so, so good. The way Buffy's hand trembles toward the needle in the case and the dawning realization of what Giles has done, has chosen to do - and he bloodlessly tells her what the Cruciamentum is.

Her tiny little "Liar."

GOD WHY DIDN'T SHE GET AN EMMY (rhetorical we all know genre tv only matters if it was Game of Rapey Thrones)

"You will be safe now, I promise you." LIAR.

Another puncturing a heavy moment - Cordelia as cavalry - I love it. Cordelia taking the most obvious approach to the situation - 'oh Buffy might have lost her memory, well he's Giles,'

I can't believe they robbed us of a conversation in the car scene with Cordy and Buffy.

Kralik had to have found a polaroid camera and a metallic sharpie for this whole scenario -- OH I KNOW WHO HE REMINDS ME OF. The Night Stalker and any number of serial killers that terrorized SoCal. Is the show being self-aware of the problem with mothers and parents in general?

Probably a glib accident.

I don't have much to say about the part where Buffy hunts Kralik because it's so masterfully done with the atmosphere and music.

Nice of Giles's backbone to enter the chat now.

This is not business. Ooo.

Buffy's "I thought I killed a man" emo overalls!

Like it's shadowy, but there's still enough light to see facial expressions. Lighting guy, I salute you.

Little red riding hood metaphor. Oh, that's so her stunt double.

CREEPY SEXUAL VIOLENCE REARS ITS DEFORMED HEAD AGAIN

Jump stair scare. I remember the first time I saw it, I jolted in the living room.

Serial Killer Shit. Why are vampires such drama queens?

THAT'S RIGHT, BUFFY DID THAT

The ending scene in the library is cathartic in that Buffy gets to stand up for herself finally, and recognizes what Giles gives up by helping her, delayed as it was, also there's the feeling of hate punching Quentin Travers via your eyes.

Still don't think she should have forgiven Giles so easily, but we don't get to see a lot of aftercare for Buffy when she gets hurt, and it is a very tender scene.

The Scoobies are being way too upbeat if they knew about the fact that Giles poisoned Buffy, which is why I'm assuming she told a very abbreviated version of events ending with Buffy killed the bad guy and Giles got fired, oops.

Xander's big strong man comment and then looking immediately to Willow to open the jar and not Oz...

I could watch this episode again with episode commentary from David Fury, but another day.

#a bit later #but here it is #saff rewatches buffy

[mj-spooks]

Alright, judging by how successful that last Harry Potter experimental question was, Buffy's scooby gang, as a Leverage Crew? Is it too simple to say Buffy as a hitter and Giles as a mastermind?

Which version of the gang are we talking here? Can I go across the whole series? Season 1 only? All Stars? Fuck it I’m cherry picking because THAT’S HOW WE DO.

So, Giles is absolutely on the money. He’s the Mastermind, no doubt. He’s the watcher, he trains the others (mostly Buffy and Faith, but let’s be real, he trains all of them in their own way), he’s the one that works things out, leads research parties, comes up with plans. He’s the Mastermind, at least at first. Like Nate, he graduates out of that position (although I think the others sort of share it after he steps down, rather than one person picking it up).

But Buffy’s not the hitter.

Buffy is the grifter.

Think about it. Pretty, blonde, posterchild for popularity. She’s charismatic. She’s endearing.  You like her. You’d probably do anything she asked you to. She’s an an excellent liar, a brilliant actor. She plays the part. The only reason she doesn’t have Sunnydale wrapped around her fucking finger is because all the bullshit with demons and vampires is Too Obvious for no one to ever notice how weird she is. If they could be even slightly more subtle, or pick slightly more convenient times to get up to their nonsense, no one would ever suspect she was anything but what she looks like.

No, the hitter? That’s Faith. And yes, I’m counting her as a Scooby. My girl got done dirty, alright. Granted, she did some people pretty dirty as well. But she was a teenage girl with a really shitty childhood, and I’m not one to use the shitty childhood as a get out of jail free card (get it), but dude. Dude. Every single thing that could’ve gone wrong for her, did. And every time the team had a chance to prove she could trust them, they fucked it up. Mostly Wesley fucked it up, but let’s not go there. And did I mention she was a teenage girl? Also, it helps that she was only Properly Evil for like, a few months, after which she was in a coma, and was Properly Evil for all of five minutes before deciding “Actually I just wanna be Buffy,” because guess what, she never WANTED to be the bad guy-

I’m getting off topic. The point is. Faith is the brawn, alright? Post-Faith, I guess that position goes to Spike, who let’s face it, is basically Buffy’s backup/guard dog from the moment he realizes he can still kill demons, and especially after his big “Oh shit I love the slayer” realization. For the record, bad decisions being made by an ostensibly helplessly evil soulless monster aside, no one EVER had Buffy’s back like Spike did. Not a single damn person. Fucking fight me. Every. Single. Other. Person. Let her down. Constantly. Or they were never in a positoin to properly have her back in the first place. The one time he really did screw it up, he realized how fucked up he was, and went off and got a fucking soul for her, so basically

Riley, for the record, is not a Hitter and does NOT count as a Scooby, because screw that guy. Also while I’m on the subject, screw Xander, because the episode where Riley leaves and Xander gives Buffy the “you’re the bad guy” speech sits so fucking wrong with me, and Xander goddamn Harris can get fucking bent. I’m still off topic, I know, I know. Sorry, I just. I have VERY STRONG OPINIONS ABOUT BUFFY.

ANYWAY. Willow is the hacker, big fucking shock. She’s... she’s literally a hacker, okay. Even when she stops being all computer-y and starts being all witch-y, her approach to witchcraft is... is to hack it. She hacks magic. Literally. That’s what gets her in so much trouble with it, because she’s too fucking good at cheating the system. It’s how she brought Buffy back. She’s the goddamned Hacker. Age. Of. The. Fucking. Geek. Baby.

Thief............ hmph. I don’t know?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?

See, the thing is, basically all of the properly involved Scoobies had to steal something at one point or another, all with basically the same level of success, so... wait.

Okay. No. The thief is Dawn.

She’s literally a thief! She steals from everybody all the goddamned time! With varying degrees of success, sure. But if she was actually trained at it, she’d be better than all of them. She’s the only Little Sibling out of the bunch (Well, okay, Tara had an older brother, but her homelife was so fucked she has Very Different Younger Sister energy than Dawn). She has a specific talent for it that I bet would serve her well if she was actually trained. I honestly at this point have read so much fanfic that I cannot for the life or me remember if canon!Spike ever helped teach her to knick stuff or if that’s just widely accepted fanon!Spike because people love that dynamic (as they should, it’s great). I’m doing a rewatch but... uh... I kinda stopped partway through S5 because I’m like four episodes away from The Body and gods I just can’t take it. Point being, I dunno if that’s legit or not. BUT. If it were legit, and she was taught how to steal, she’d be great at it.

I guess Spike is kind of also the thief. But he’s also the only one of the scoobies that’s properly been a villain (I’m not counting Faith or Willow’s brief insanity, and Angel isn’t the villain, Angelus is, so...), so naturally he’s got the shady skills. He can kind of grift and mastermind, too, except he’s too impatient for it, which is why he ends up stuck as a hitter most of the time. Everything else is too slow for his ass. See, the entirety of S2.

For fun, under the cut, the remaining scoobies and what position they’re best suited for:

Xander: Hitter??? He’s not got the super strength and he’s kind of played for laughs, but there was that whole bit where he had the tactical training from his brief stint as GI Joe in the Halloween episode. He’s a decent tactician, which is kind of the hitter’s job. I bet that if the wasn’t so busy feeling inferior to Buffy and he actually like. Trained. He could be a decent fighter.

Cordelia: Straight fucking grifter. Which she proves plenty of times on Angel. It’s extra great because she basically IS Sophie, what with the whole “can grift like a boss but put her on stage and she’s terrible” bit. She’s also a decent mastermind, also showcased on Angel. She whips him into shape from day one, and is the only thing that keeps AI running half the time. Also not unlike Sophie. Honestly Cordelia is my favorite character from the OG cast. She deserved better.

Angel: Mastermind. He’s got all of Angelus’ brains, remember, just not necessarily any reason to use them. He’s smart, though, and definitely good at planning. He’s also really into knowing the most and keeping his cards close to his chest. The parallels with Nate are a little strong, honestly, because he also has that whole... guilty conscience spiraling downward holier than thou thing going on. And yes, I do ship him and Cordy, thanks for asking.

Oz: Hacker! Not a lot of people really remember this, since his prominent character traits were “In a band”, “Willow’s boyfriend”, and “werewolf”. Plus there’s the whole flunked-senior-year plot point which I honestly think they did just to keep him around. But the first time Oz actually properly interacted with Willow was because they’d both gotten singled out for their badass computer skills on career day. He’s very nearly as good as her.

Anya: Grifter. I mean, the whole vengeance demon schtick relies on the grift. She’s very good at it. Which, she ought to be, she’s been doing it for over a thousand years. It’s sort of hilarious though because it seems like the second she loses her powers, she also loses her ability to blend in. I think that’s likely because she’s used to short term cons, and running the long con that is being human again is more difficult. Still, this is where she shines.

Riley: He doesn’t count because I kinda hate him. But fine if you wanna go there. Hitter. He doesn’t deserve the title though because Eliot is both brains and brawn and Riley can’t think his way out of a paper sack without someone giving him directions, and even then it’s dicey.

Tara: This one is super hard for me! I can’t see her as any of the actual team positions. I suppose the one skill she displays would be grifting, since she does try to hide her identity as a supposed demon from the others for a while before her birthday comes up. But honestly I see her less as a member of the crew and more as a Maggie. Voice of reason, moral high ground, not putting up with shenanigans if she can help it... yeah. Tara’s the Maggie. Every crew needs one.

#leverage anon #buffy the vampire slayer #btvs meta #leverage #This is a Pro-Spike blog antis will be blocked on sight lmao #and also fuck xander harris #there I said it

[ettadunham]

A Buffy rewatch 7x13 The Killer in Me

aka i just want willow to be happy

We did it, guys! We made it to the last season! Also, hello if you’re new, and stumbled upon this without context. As usual, these impromptu text posts are the product of my fevered mind as I rant about the episode I just watched for an hour (okay, sometimes perhaps two). Anything goes!

And I have a lot of complicated feelings about today’s episode.

Killer in Me follows in the footsteps of Potential, taking a break from the Big Bad to focus more on some of our characters. It just does it with a somewhat more questionable execution.

And by questionable, I mean that I’m not actually sure how I feel about all of it. There’s a lot that I like here, and with the ending scene especially, I found that, overall, it worked.

You got me, show. I want Willow to be happy.

I earlier criticized Kennedy for being an under-developed love interest for Willow in the show’s last season (as opposed to Willow/Anya that was… right there, you guys, it was right there!!), but I can’t even pretend to be mad anymore. Ultimately, that’s not the point. Kennedy’s not the point. Willow not feeling constantly miserable for the rest of her life is.

And while the doomed relationships thing is basically a theme here, I think at this point the writers also became somewhat aware of the implications of having their one (canon) queer main character end the show on that note? I mean, it was 2003, we were still getting used to not connecting to the internet through dial-up, so there wasn’t as much uproar as you’d might expect today upon Tara’s death. But it still had an impact. This sort of meta acknowledgement would also coincide with having Rona earlier in the season comment upon how black women die first in movies – a trope that the show’s been obviously guilty of as well.

Not to mention that Kennedy was written with an effort to have her be more steeped in queer culture – something that the writers never really explored with Willow, and use Kennedy here to comment upon. But we’re also just talking about Willow’s experience and relationship to her sexuality in general, which is so nice???

Maybe if we’ve done this more and earlier, we wouldn’t have The Discourse in the first place…

I like the simplicity of it all too of what Willow says. She fell in love with Tara. That was it.

What makes the show strong, even when it might not be familiar with certain experiences, is that it knows its characters. That’s what they build upon with their themes too, and it’s what makes these stories work, regardless of anything else. So I like to think of this scene as a follow up on that, that also briefly ties into a greater context.

The part where Willow talks about her mom’s reaction to her coming out is also interesting, and something we’ve never discussed on the show before.

WILLOW:  “My mom was all proud like I was making some political statement. Then the statement mojo wore off and I was just gay. She hardly ever even met Tara.”

This isn’t all that surprising if one remembers Gingerbread though – Willow’s mom couldn’t even recall Buffy’s name. In season 3. So, of course she wouldn’t bother to get to know her daughter’s girlfriend of three years either.

Willow says that she didn’t mind though, saying that her and Tara were “private”. Which in a way is a callback to season 4, when Willow kept Tara and her relationship with her hidden from the Scoobies for months, saying that she wanted something that was only hers.

(“I am, you know.” “What?” “Yours.”)

But Willow eventually introduced Tara to her friends, and the latter became an integral part of their group. And yet when it came to her mom, she felt more comfortable with keeping these things separate.

…Or maybe it’s just that she felt distant from her mom in general, who never even tried to understand or connect with her.

In any case, Willow and Kennedy’s date ends up being surprisingly sweet. Especially when you consider that Kennedy essentially tricked Willow into the whole thing…

Anyway.

Let’s talk about Willow turning into Warren.

I think I already mentioned that there’s this possible interpretation of the Trio as a darker reflection of Willow in season 6, without getting too much into it.

I guess we’ll have to get into it now.

Let’s go back to the early seasons and Restless. What does Willow feel like her defining characteristic is at that time? What’s her greatest fear in college? How does she see herself even as late as season 6?

WILLOW:  “Let me tell you something about Willow. She's a loser. And she always has been. People picked on Willow in junior high school, high school, up until college. With her stupid mousy ways. And now? Willow's a junkie.”

Willow started out the show as a lonely nerd, who was motivated by wanting to be special and loved. Her and Warren were never the same, because Warren never had the self-awareness to temper his entitlement, but you can track some of the same patterns through both of them, coming from a similar place of insecurity. Like their need for control and power, and the lengths they’d go to maintain that.

And I think Willow had the self-awareness to recognize that. After all, that kind of ability of self-examination is one of the things that distances her from Warren in the first place. No wonder then that her subconscious chose this form of punishment for her upon Amy’s hex then.

The part that initially felt more clunky to me about this, was the misogynistic language. That was what signaled to us the fact that Willow wasn’t just simply appearing in Warren’s form, but was becoming him. And it felt decidedly extreme and non-Willow-y, and messed with the nuance of it all.

…Until I remembered the kind of language Willow would use in the earlier seasons to describe characters like Cordelia or Faith. It stuck out to me then as well, and in a sense, this detail now can be interpreted as a commentary on that, and Willow’s internalized misogyny.

But the crux of it all, the emotional gut-punch, ends up being about a whole different kind of connection that Willow feels to Warren.

Killing Tara.

WILLOW:  “No, she was never gone. She was with me. We should have been forever, and I let her be dead. She's really dead. And I killed her.”

Let 👏 Willow 👏 be 👏 happy 👏

See? There’s a lot of juicy stuff here to talk about and I love that. Not to mention that we finally embrace Amy as an Ethan Rayne-type of chaotic neutral villain foil to Willow, and it’s so good! So very good!

AMY:  “This is not about hate. It's about power. Willow always had all the power, long before she even knew what to do with it. Just came so easy for her. The rest of us, we had to work twice as hard to be half as good. But no one cares about how hard you work. They just care about cute, sweet Willow. They don't know how weak she is. She gave in to evil, stuff worse than I can even imagine. She almost destroyed the world! And yet everyone keeps on loving her? So what's wrong with having a little fun, huh? Taking her down a peg or two?”

It’s delicious. Even more delicious than the brownies Amy and Willow would bond over during Junior High.

On a less fun note, a lot of characters’ reaction to the idea that Willow would now be a boy is a bit… troubling. I’m not talking about the Scoobies here, who are mostly freaked out by the fact that it’s Warren, but things like the Wicca group’s reaction for instance. Like, they aren’t even reacting to the story of how Willow was hexed yet, they’re just being weird about the idea itself that someone they knew as a girl is now a boy. As if that was out of the realm of possibilities.

Meanwhile in one of our other side-stories, Spike’s chip is malfunctioning, so he and Buffy are trying to contact the Initiative to ask for their help (Sarah Michelle Gellar also lost her voice at some point it seems), and the rest of the gang think that Giles might be dead and the First, so they go on a road trip to investigate.

Overall, there’s plenty of flaws to be found with this episode. The themes of Willow turning into Warren don’t actually get fully explored, and scenes like Willow buying the gun are just super weird for it. Ideas like the fairytale kiss are just clunky. And yet, The Killer in Me also got to me, and provided me with tons of stuff to dissect.

So, much like with the Willow/Kennedy relationship, I can’t be too mad about it.

#buffy rewatch 2k19 #btvs talk #btvs

[dream-girls-evil]

Episode 10 Reaction

LOL WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT. This reaction is going to be significantly less polished because I have a lot of complaints, a lot of wine, and zero fucks.

Pre-Apocalypse

I’m SO glad Myrtle and Venable meet. I need about two more hours just of them interacting. They’re GREAT. 

Oh wow, Myrtle’s packing some serious witchy power!

“My hair is a mystery, never to be fully understood.” I love it.

Okay, so the coconut heads are legit in another outpost. I’m so mad we didn’t get to see Venable or Myrtle kill them.

Venable 200% deserved the opportunity

I actually feel kind of bad that she’s back to working for this shitheads since the apocalypse was prevented.

Back to Misty’s swamp, yet still no Misty. I am confused and upset.

Aaaaand now we know how Mallory and Coco end up in Outpost Three

called it!!! Y’all thought Cordelia blowing that powder was to kill someone--I’ve been telling you it was just for the identity spell.

“Not to make it all about me.”

The “new personalities” thing was a nice way to excuse Coco’s behavior. It’s a little irritating, but I get the point. Her job is literally to crush Mallory’s soul.

it’s so funny that they just blatantly said she’s modeled after Madison

at least they’ll be together if the world ends--things getting more than a little gay.

Myrtle and Cordelia get a little callous talking about Coco’s family.

I know it’s necessary and that if things work none of it will happen, but still. Cordelia is all over Mallory trying to comfort her, but she basically tells Coco to suck it up.

Mr. Gallant and Brock are back and I loved Madison being an Uber driver.

Okay, Cordelia sitting on Misty’s couch, staring out the window, is the most beautiful scene. I’d like us all to imagine that she’s just watching Misty work in the garden.

Madison and Myrtle team up for one thing and one thing only: revenge.

Post-Apocalypse

So...they literally just buried themselves in the ground until Mallory’s powers activated. 

and then somehow magically got to the other side of the country in like a week.

At least we know why Cordelia isn’t sick anymore in 2021

suppressing Mallory’s magic must have restored her own, and that good ol’ Louisiana mud healed her side.

“You’re special, Mallory” aaaaand we’ve come full-circle to the beginning of this season’s problems

“The seventh seal,” I’m sorry, did we miss the first six? Where was the season about that??

Aaaaand Michael is, in the end, literally just another male trying to prove that he’s better than the witches

FUCK YES MARIE!!! And Delphine makes an appearance! Cordelia really is ruthless, damn. Trading Dinah for Marie was a fucking power move.

And there goes Mrs. Mead? Singing Daisy? Just...why.

At least Madison keeps her wits and sees the opportunity to grab a gun.

Hey there’s brock! Knew he was still wandering around somewhere. 

god, I would have paid to see him interact with non-identity spell Coco

she would have been disgusted with him

Madison’s head literally just exploded. Fucking stupid. Actually, everyone’s deaths are fucking stupid.

Marie has been off screen for .2 seconds and I miss her.

Excuse me, why is Mallory calling her Cordelia instead of “miss”?

“It appears as though we’re fucked, my dear” you don’t say

“I knew you’d survive the nuclear fallout” bitch then why were you whining about thinking you killed all the witches?

Aaand here we go with Cordelia. And Myrtle seriously doesn’t see what’s coming?? She’s literally been talking about this since 2018.

gotta admit though, that “my sisters are a legion, motherfucker,” was fantastic, and Cordelia’s death was as badass as her life.

I’m glad she told Myrtle she loved her though, since this ends up being the last time they see each other.

Pre-Apocalypse...Again

Mallory literally just runs him over with a fucking car. 

and apparently had time to change into something more fashionable.

what?

like, that’s so unexpected for her character. She’s freaking Snow White. 

I don’t dislike it, I just wish we’d seen this side of her beforehand so it seemed consistent.

Dare I say that Constance letting Michael’s spirit move on is actual character growth?

Point of frustration: this means Madison never freed Moira from the house

but it also means Violet and Tate never get back together and I’m happy about that

So...Mallory just joins the coven in 2015?? Because that’s not gonna create a fucking paradox or anything.

Mallory’s parents think she’s a devil worshipper--she’s legit Misty’s little sister or something

Aw, she’s so happy to see Cordelia and Cordelia has no fucking clue who she is XD 

Btw, I LOVE Cordelia’s dress!

OH GOD WHY does Cordelia’s paperwork say Cordelia Foxx

I THOUGHT WE COVERED THIS ALREADY

And Queenie’s not gonna die!

Lmao but she’s letting Madison suffeeeeeer

NAN!!! 

MISTYYYYYYYY!!!! 

okay listen so Mallory has NEVER met Misty before, which means that Cordelia must have talked about her, enough that Mallory would know that bringing her back is the most important thing she could do to make Corelia happy

not AS good as the first reunion, but still adorable

“I’m sure you two have a lot to catch up on” MALLORY SHIPS IT

Misty is so cute meeting Mallory

legit thought Misty and Cordelia were gonna kiss when Misty reached for her...so sad

Mallory could literally be their daughter, wow

The only good thing about this episode: Misty has only been in hell for a year, and now she’s finally safe at home with Cordelia

they’re canon, okay?

2020: aaaaand were back to Romeo and Juliet

wait....what. Now Romeo and Juliet’s KID is the antichrist?? 

excuse me, the whole point of the antichirst is that he’s the result of the union between a ghost and a human woman. 

is this supposed to tie-up their “genetic superiority” arc? Weak.

What.

Okay, so, it could have been worse? I guess? I mean, Misty and Cordelia both made it out alive and they’re in the same place for once. No one tragically died, nothing actually awful happened.

But...they didn’t really stop anything from happening either, in the long run. There’s still a clan of angry warlocks out there; there’s a new antichrist on the rise; and Mallory is still the next Supreme--maybe?

If Mallory’s still the next Supreme, that means Cordelia STILL has only a few years to live. Which fucking sucks. But I’m thinking that maybe she’s actually not the next Supreme. Theory one goes back to that whole “witches’ powers spike in times of danger” thing. What if the ascension of the next supreme was just sped up in response to the danger of Michael? Without that threat, maybe Cordelia’s reign will have the normal timespan. Theory two is that Mallory is technically displaced out of her own timeline now, so I think it could have taken her out of the lineup for Supreme.

Speaking of which, what’s gonna happen in three years when younger Mallory shows up at the academy??? Paradoxes. Upon paradoxes. Upon paradoxes.

“Neat little bow” was right; “for the fans” was not. There was still no Goode-Day kiss or confirmation, which at this point is ridiculous because it’s blatantly obvious to everyone that they’re in love. I mean, even Mallory, who never met Misty, knew enough about her that she knew Cordelia needed her back. She must have heard Cordelia tell stories, must have watched her head out on weekends to fix up the shack, must have heard from Zoe and Queenie how Cordelia asked the antichrist himself to retrieve her even though it would make her concede the supremacy. All of this for a woman named Misty Day.

And then that scene is literally Misty and Cordelia’s last appearance of the season. Holding each other and crying and smiling. It could have been better--we definitely deserved better--but I can live with how Goode-Day played out.

The rest of the episode? No, that just straight-up sucked lol.

#american horror story #ahs apocalypse #ahs spoilers #apocalypse spoilers #michael langdon #ahs mallory #cordelia goode #misty day #foxxay #goode-day #madison montgomery #ahs coco #myrtle snow #wilhemina venable #miriam mead #constance langdon #moira o'hara #ahs theories #ahs nan #marie laveau #ahs brock #ahs emily #ahs timothy #ahs queenie

[because-i-say-so]

AHS Apocalypse Finale Thoughts, Reactions, and Unpopular Opinions (I Think)

So last night was the finale. Overall, I was kind of disappointed with the season in general. A lot of it has to do with the way the storyline played out. Now, let me explain. We were introduced to a bunch of new characters in the first episode, and I was down for it all; a whole new cast of characters, all in the same vein as this anthology series has been. That being said, yes, I was aware that this would be a crossover season, and we’d be seeing other characters from both Murder House and Coven... but let’s be honest, this season was really Coven 2.0. The entire plot was centered around the witches stopping the Antichrist. I wasn’t disappointed with that, on the contrary, I was actually excited because I loved Coven and seeing these characters again was wonderful. What I wasn’t too keen on was that we spent 7 episodes in a flashback. I get it, we needed the flashback to see what happened to get us to the Apocalypse, but did we really need to spend 7 episodes on it? Honestly some of those episodes were just filler and didn’t really push the plot along. While the finale didn’t feel that rushed, I didn’t feel like there was too much thought put into it, kind of like they built the whole season around the finale. Just my feelings. All in all, the whole season was basically fan service, so that I am grateful for.

So on to my episode reaction. Just because I didn’t like the season as a whole, didn’t mean that I was going into the finale without a shit ton of feelings. Absolutely not. I had a lot of feelings going into this episode, that I had my bottle of wine at the ready to help cope with it all.

Myrtle Snow was so, so great in this episode. That woman is not afraid to spill the tea, and has zero regrets doing so. Also, did she plant the idea of purple being a royal color in Ms. Venable’s head? She dressed in purple secretly in the Outpost. She did favor herself as important, because she was the “leader” of the Outpost, but I guess she technically was only “middle management” after all.

I wonder why we weren’t treated to Mutt and Jeff’s deaths.

I love Coco. She really has a kind heart, and damn, I just felt so bad for her when she was going to be placed under the identity spell. She was just so sad knowing that her family was going to die, and then she was just like “fuck no I don’t want to be like Madison.” (Does anyone remember when she was on that show Popular? I was getting Mary Cherry vibes when she was identity spell!Coco.)

So did anyone notice that the remaining witches were hiding out in the Louisiana swamps where they placed the identity spells on Coco and Mallory... and then magically the two are in LA with Madison at the wheel, driving them to Gallant’s salon? I’m sitting here trying to figure this one out... because unless Madison took a fast as hell jet back to the swamps and in the same clothes... Two different states, man.

Also wondering how the hell Cordelia, Myrtle, and Madison survived the nuclear fallout. Protection spell maybe? Louisiana mud was kind of a weak explanation.

MARIE. FUCKING. LEVEAU.

I cheered. Such a nice surprise. Too bad she didn’t survive Michael. Just got back from hell, and now she’s going back. Totally not fair. Actually, she’s still there, torturing Madame LaLaurie, as it turns out... since you know, Cordelia didn’t need to get her out of hell in the end.

Let me talk about Cordelia for a second. We all knew she had to die for Mallory to become the Supreme. I was so sad, and yet I saw it coming a mile away. She, hands down, had the BEST line of the episode. 

Cordelia, you are selfless and full of heart. You ARE the FUCKING Supreme.

And now, on to Michael The-Punk-Ass-Antichrist Langdon. I’m sorry, but even though I love this character, he really was a punk in this episode. Cordelia was right when she said he was coward.

He was so sure of himself. When Cordelia offed herself, it was beautiful. I’m guessing he was upset because he couldn’t erase her soul from existence like he did Queenie and Zoe, since he didn’t directly kill her himself? Anyway, this moment was wonderful. Finally, something put legitimate fear into Michael.

Time travel is a tricky, tricky thing. I wish we could have seen what exactly made Constance go savage on Michael in the re-do of the past. Did Mallory do/say something before this to make her rethink her previous decision? I feel like there was some sort of exchange between them for her to just go and kick Michael out of the house like that. Her rant had me SHOOK. (Bravo Jessica Lange, you are still the Queen of AHS.)

Listen, you can’t have a 7-episode character development arc for Michael and have me not catch feelings for this boy. Every chance he got to have a loving family, someone to care for him, any loving contact... it got ripped away from him in the worst way possible. I was on the sympathy train for him, even though he was the Antichrist. Yes, the Antichrist is inherently evil, and I’ve said that before, but the way his story unfolded, it really did feel like he was being controlled by outside forces driving him to end up the way he did. I think that Michael, not the Antichrist, was just a little boy that wanted to be loved and accepted but was denied that at every turn. There wasn’t any other way it could go, either.

So yeah, I felt bad for him. Remember, he’s technically only a 9/10-year-old kid in a grown man’s body an the Outpost. How else do you expect a 9/10-year-old kid to act when that much power is put in front of them?

Then, in a wholly anti-climactic way, Michael was run over by Mallory. Repeatedly. (Why she didn’t just run over his head, I don’t know. Maybe she wanted him to feel pain. Whatever.) And that was it. I was hoping for a showdown, not this emotional sting:

I think that in the end, Michael was the little 5/6-year-old boy Constance wanted to raise. He didn’t understand why this was happening to him, and it’s kind of heartbreaking. When he asked to be taken to the house, though, Constance knew that couldn’t happen... that was the evil talking. She just couldn’t take the chance that the evil could still exist.

Constance, you did good.

And just like that, the Michael we all came to know and love through the entire season was snapped out of existence. Fuck.

((Side note: Cody Fern did a phenomenal job with Michael this season. I could gush like crazy about his acting chops, but I’ll leave it at that. Michael Langdon has cemented himself as one of my favorite characters of all time. I would love to see Cody in another season of AHS playing a completely different character. That is all.))

Oh, and Tim and Emily were always destined to meet, and their “perfect” DNA produces another Antichrist. I guess it’s just inevitable. I wish the end of the episode was just panning out on the shot of the new Antichrist and his parents, with the dead babysitter. It would have felt more full-circle. The appearance of Anton LeVay and his cardinals was just... overkill.

Other thoughts: Tate and Violet didn’t get their “happy ending.” (Thank God because I didn’t agree with that forgiveness mess at all. Fight me.) But neither did Moira. (That’s a little upsetting, because it was very beautiful, and she deserved it.) Hey the warlocks still exist, but we’re just going to pretend that all the ones we were introduced to aren’t important anymore. Myrtle was never brought back, and while that’s good, her one-liners never existed this season either. Constance is alive! Queenie lives and never goes to the Hotel Cortez! Misty gets brought back and we even got to see Nan again! (Thanks, Mallory.) And poor Madison’s character development never happened because she’s still stuck in retail hell.

The last episode left me... in a mood, and with a half-empty bottle of wine.

#american horror story #ahs apocalypse #apocalypse then #season 8 finale #thoughts #reactions #unpopular opinions? #myrtle snow #coco st. pierre vanderbilt #marie leveau #cordelia goode #constance langdon #michael langdon #i got some questions #this episode kind of fucked me up #not sure if in a good way or bad

[kevoreally]

#BuffyAt20 - S03E08 “Lover’s Walk”

> OKay, first thing’s first: is it Lovers or Lover’s? Wikipedia has the first one, Hulu has the second. Very confusing.

> Another fake-out opener where someone is being hyperbolic about the world ending but it’s just grades or something.

> Willow got a 740 verbal on her SATs. Like, I think she’s being too hard on herself, but I get not feeling academically fulfilled by that. I think I got 700? I don’t remember. My math sucked, that’s for sure.

> That Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel reference has endured the test of time.

> What is Xander’s score if it’s close to 740? We joke about his grades a lot but like. Get serious, son.

> Willow, that top is so loud.

> Omigod, I’m looking forward to going back to pretending Xillow never happened soon.

> Cordelia testing well is good continuity with “Band Candy.” And I loved them following up on SAT scores. I think these might have come out a little quick, but it’s fine.

> “That was my sarcastic voice.” “Y’know, it sounds a lot like your regular voice.” “I’ve been told that.” I feel you, Oz.

> Cordelia’s terror at the idea of double dating IS A DANGER SIGN, XANDER.

> I have Buffy’s SAT score memorized: “1430, Buffy, you kicked ass!” (A friend got the same score on her first take.)

> “Now you can leave and never come back.” I actually love Cordy here, a rarity for me lately.

> Pretty sure the shot of Spike crashing into the Sunnydale sign is just a retouched copy of the one from Season 2. Not a problem, just funny.

> I wasn’t sure I had the energy to do my #BuffyAt20 right now but this theme song is giving me life.

> I don’t get Spike’s obsession with Sinatra in this episode but sure.

> Oh man, remember the Factory? It’s a slot on my Buffy Monopoly board.

> Do we feel the flashback to when Dru left Spike that we get in Season 3 keeps in line with what we’re presented here? Dru accusing him of loving Buffy as far back as now? Hm.

> Literally the episode where Cordelia and Xander break up is the episode where it most seems like they’re a happy couple. And even then, they’re horrible to each other half the time. Sigh.

> Oz giving Willow the PEZ Witch is still one of the best things ever. I really wanted a wolf PEZ for Oz.

> Okay, a friend and I recently discussed a fan poll where people voted on their favorite mate for Willow and it made me uncomfortable that Oz was winning. But… I get it.

> There’s a lot of focus on Giles packing in this scene.

> Ooh! Worth noting: the guy who wrote this episode wrote three of my favorite #Daria episodes! He’ll also later write “The Zeppo.”

> This episode laid a lot of interesting potential for Buffy to be able to leave Sunnydale. Not forever, but, even if just for college. It was interesting.

> I wish I could make Buffy Now see how much Giles treated Seventeen Buffy like an adult over this Angel situation. He could’ve been SUUUCH a prick. And their relationship got really awkward for a while there, and I don’t think Buffy was entirely fair to him. Or probably him to her too. Fathers and daughters, man.

> I spent a whole dumb Xillow scene typing that last one. Not sorry.

> I’ve said it before but it’s wild that Buffy’s house never changes once in 7 seasons. The cinematography changes so much that it feels like a different house.

> How does Angel not hear, or even sense, Spike right outside the Mansion? Still recovering from Hell, I guess? Coz otherwise, wtf?

> I do love Spike waking up on fire.

> What happened to Spike’s car between Seasons 3 and 4 anyway? Where’s that story?

> “This is just too much.” Some real gentle language there, Spike.

> The Magic Box is, like, the same SHAPE we see in Season 5. But the layout isn’t totally right. And the back hasn’t been blown out yet. The storefront is the same. They moved the register away from the door. Hmm.

> Ooh, that Spike shot of grabbing the shop owner becomes his credits shot.

> Hey! It’s the Mayor! I forgot he’s in this one. And Allan! He’s pretty cute, tbh.

> “Boats did have canons. And a loose one would cause it to rock.” Lol.

> The way that the Mayor celebrates sinking that putt makes me wonder if he hadn’t been expecting it, haha.

> Where is Angel getting hair gel from in the Mansion? How is this a priority? Then again: same question at Derek Hale sleeping in a train yard.

> I’m not loving the dramatic beat when Angel tells Buffy she should leave. Like. Buff. Shouldn’t you? Sigh.

> Willow is trying to do magic on Xander without his consent. That’s actually an interesting portent for Season 6.

> Xander and Willow, like, really try and hold their own against Spike here. Mad respect.

> Alyson Hannigan shows such amazing vulnerability in the scenes with James Marsters, it’s bonkers. And then how it flips on a dime to be comedic. Wild chemistry, those two.

> OOOH, Dru accused Spike of going soft for teaming up with Buffy, eh? Interesting…

> HA! The “chaos demon, all slime and antlers” line was a favorite among fans, so we loved finally seeing him in Season 5.

> “I haven’t had a woman in weeks.” Blech. “Well, unless you count that shopkeeper.” Double blech.

> “I’m not a real witch, you know.” Heh.

> It. Is. SO. Clever. That Willow sends Spike to Buffy’s house. Holy. Shit.

> You know who else is a good version of Cordelia Chase? Valencia from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Becomes a good person in, like, half the time it’s taking Cordy…

> Ugh, I hate coincidence moments like that. Buffy heard Spike on the phone when her mom happened to call? Sigh.

> YAAS, the Joyce/Spike bond! We needed more of this!

> Joyce Summer is Top 5 TV Mom material.

> “You get out of this house or I will stake you myself.” GEDDIT, JOYCE!

> Lol, remember how Buffy is going to start sleeping with Spike? This show, man.

> Spike just called Angel a “poof.” Nice.

> “What if they were kidnapped by Colombian drug lords?” CORDELIA. STOP.

> Oz smelling Willow is… interesting.

> Buffy is so eager to kill Spike.

> Did Buffy rip off Sookie Stackhouse with this love triangle or vice versa? Angel being Bill, Spike being Eric. Hm.

> Buffy always made kicking in doors look so cool.

> What exactly are we supposed to make of Spike’s observation about Buffy and Angel being in love here? I mean, he’s right. But. Like. What, they needed someone else to tell them?

> “I won, right? Kicked his ass?” “You were real brave. Do you need to barf.” Classy.

> “Give me a third option.” “He’s so drunk he forgets about us and we starve to death.” HA.

> AAAAAnd they kiss, aaaand Oz and Cordy show up, aaaand it’s horrible. AAAAND Oz is the only one who composes himself maturely, like always.

> Cordelia getting skewered was… so weird.

> They’re having this vampire fight, like, in the middle of downtown Sunnydale right now. I get that it’s probably 3am or something but omigod.

> Oh yeah, the storefront is definitely the same a when it’s the Magic Box.

> Seeing Buffy, Angel, and Spike standing side-by-side is a hoot.

> The “let’s give baby a taste” stuff Spike does is… No.

“ “Baby like his supper?” No. No he doesn’t.

> The table Spike stakes this guy on is, like, probably the same table he and Anya bang on in Season 6, haha.

> The holy water bombs are so cool. Why don’t they use holy water more often?

> The resolution of this Spike story is… so Spike. You know, we probably would’ve never seen him again if they didn’t love James Marsters SOOO much.

> Remember when they made us think Cordelia died? Like, right after she found of Xander cheated on her? This story was, like, one of the lowest points of the show. I’m sorry but it was. I remember laughing out loud when we found out Cordy wasn’t dead. That’s not something you wanna get a laugh on.

> What was the point of this story arc, though? “Don’t cheat or someone could die?” This is a ‘Blood on the Pavement’ type parable here. Way more Dawson’s Creek than Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

> I remember thinking Cordelia was going to be blind, because of the “I can’t see you” thing. I don’t know how being skewered would blind her.

> Okay, CAN WE TALK about the nailed-up broken sheets of wood at the Mansion entrance? It is the weirdest thing, it looks like a child’s tree fort.

> Buffy, if you think you’re fooling Giles and your friends into believing you don’t want Angel, you are sorely mistaken.

> Angel, be a big boy, let the seventeen year old girl go.

> She has to step through his weird cobbled-together wooden doorway! And it’s gone, like, after this episode! Wtf!

> This maudlin montage of all the characters being despondent was, like, the biggest bummer. Why do I love Season 3 so much?? This is such a downbeat point for the show.

> And there’s Spike riding off into the sunset. See you in a year, William.

#buffy #buffy the vampire slayer #BtVS #Buffy Season 3 #Lovers Walk #Spike #Angel #william the bloody #Buffy Watch #Buffy Blog

[marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer]

MTVS Epic Rewatch #193

BTVS 7x11 Showtime

Stray thoughts

1) Rona was such a wasted opportunity of a character for a show that has a track record of treating POCs poorly. Instead, they turned her into the Token Angry Black Girl. Le sigh.

2) I guess we were supposed to be into the flirty banter here, but it feels… I don’t know? Too forward? Too abrupt? Too soon? Too unearned?

KENNEDY You don't have to do this. Flooring it. In the bag. 'Cause nice big comfy bed right here. I mean, you ought to know. Your bed.

WILLOW Yeah, but no. I'm OK. I just, I like it down here. It's firm.

KENNEDY Funny, you look a little uncomfortable. Or... is it just me? (…) So, you're saying I should enjoy having this bed all to myself as long as I can?

3) Using the dead potential to infiltrate Buffy’s house was a smart move but The First didn’t play it right. But I’ll get into that later.

4)

RONA Um... why is that guy tied to a chair?

XANDER The question you'll soon be asking is, "Why isn't he gagged?"

 5) Your Cordelia is showing, Buffy…

BUFFY We know stakes don’t kill it, but anything in those ancient books about what does? Sunlight, fire, germs?

6) I get the point they were trying to make here…

EVE Spike? Sorry, I'm confused. He's that vampire who's been killing people, right? He's the one you're worried about helping?

BUFFY Well, we need him to—he's the one that's been—it's complicated, Chloe.

They were trying to highlight that Buffy wanted to rescue Spike for personal reasons more than anything. But there was a more obvious and rational answer to that question: the fact that the First wanted Spike and had obviously been manipulating him should be enough of a reason to want to keep an eye on him.

I still can’tunderstand why no one could put two and two together! Especially Giles...

7) Spike dreaming of breaking free and seeing Buffy is #sad. And then the way he repeats “she’ll come for me” as a mantra is #waysadder. Although it’s beautiful how the reality ended up being so much better than his fantasies.

8) Shocker: Xander truly was Anya’s best boyfriend.

9) Anya is the true hero in this episode.

ANYA OK, Torg, look, you open this tiny little gateway to the Beljoxa's Eye for me, and I'll— You and I will go— I'll have sex with you again.

Same, Giles.

10) Sloppy Firsty tsk tsk.

If it had cleaned up after its murder, as one should, it would’ve gotten away with infiltrating and manipulating the potentials for way longer and getting priceless intel in the process.

11) You’re damn right, Dawn.

ANDREW OK, here's another interesting thing: how come the slayer's always a girl?

DAWN I dunno. 'Cause girls are cooler?

12) Now this is so cool, I love it!

I wish we’d gotten to see more demons/monsters like this one. For a supernatural show, Buffy was usually pretty light on the horror part of it or, well, repetitive (is this a penis metahoor?) 

13) There is something that I appreciate about Kennedy: her bravado and fearlessness. Most of the girlss are sacred shitless, and she’s like, let’s go kill some stuff.

14) And I fucking love this moment. I don’t know, it kind of proved the show still had a few tricks up its sleeve and that it could still surprise us, you know? It’s such a small moment and it almost goes unnoticed, and when it’s revealed what actually was going on it acquires so much relevance.

15)

WILLOW Last time I tried using magic, The First—it turned it around on me. Got inside. I felt it just surging through me, every fiber of my being. Pure, undiluted evil. I could taste it.

KENNEDY How's evil taste?

WILLOW A little chalky.

16) WTF Buffy!

Literally 20 seconds later...

The fucking Turok Han was after them and this girl took her time to put on her jacket and buttoning it up??? PRIORITIES!!!!

17) Now, this is something I didn’t need to hear…

ANYA I just—I don't understand how Buffy's death mucked up the whole slayer mojo. You know, it's not like she hasn't died before.

GILES It's not because she died. The Beljoxa's Eye was quite clear about that in its enigmatic way. It's because she lives. Again. Buffy's not responsible for that.

ANYA Oh. Oh. Willow and me and Xander and Tara. We're the ones who brought Buffy back. We're—we're the reason The First is here, the reason those girls were murdered. No, it's our fault. The world would've been better off if Buffy had just stayed dead.

 How dare you, Anya. How fucking dare you. Yes, they fucked up, they had messed with dark forces they couldn’t even imagine because they were selfish and scared. And while there’s truth to what Anya says, there’s something about the way she phrases it that rubs me the wrong way. Because, you see, she’s putting the blame on Buffy. She’s saying: “the world would be better off if Buffy had stayed dead” instead of “the world would be better off if we hadn’t brought her back”

18) I fucking love this, all of it. Iconic.

BUFFY Looks good, doesn't it? They're trapped in here. Terrified. Meat for the beast, and there's nothing they can do but wait. That's all they've been doing for days. Waiting to be picked off. Having nightmares about monsters that can't be killed. But I don't believe in that. I always find a way. I'm the thing that monsters have nightmares about. And right now, you and me are gonna show 'em why. It's time. Welcome to Thunderdome.

It truly is an iconic moment, and for good reason. The previous episode had ended with Buffy making a grand speech which was more of a mission statement than an actual plan. The potentials could tell she had good intentions, but they had yet to see what she was capable of doing. On the contrary, they had seen at least two of their own getting killed off, Buffy being beaten up, and The First easily infiltrating their home without anyone noticing it. Buffy needed to show them in an unequivocal way that she was a force to be reckoned with, and that she was putting her money where her mouth was.

In-fucking-deed.

The fight with the Turok Han is definitely one of the most memorable fight scenes in the whole show, and yet another highlight of the season, in my opinion.

And she was so damn right, even if it was still more for show than anything.

BUFFY See? Dust. Just like the rest of 'em. I don't know what's coming next, but I do know it's gonna be just like this. Hard. Painful. But in the end it's gonna be us. If we all do our parts, believe it, we'll be the ones left standing.

19) BRB, crying.

I just love how far from the fantasy he played out in his head this scenario is. He imagined there would be this epic battle and that he’d kick some Bringers’ ass and then Buffy would be waiting for him, loving and welcoming. The hero returning to his lady. In reality, there was no battle at all, it wasn’t much of a grand rescue, and instead of being the hero he was the damsel in distress. Buffy simply arrived and set him free. But the way she looked at him, with such tenderness, that was so much more than what he could’ve asked for, let alone imagined.

20) Good episode!

21)  If you’ve got this far, thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recaps and my blog, please consider supporting it on ko-fi. Thanks!

#Buffy the Vampire Slayer #BTVS #Buffy Summers #Sarah Michelle Gellar #Spike #MTVSepicrewatch #BTVSrewatch2015 #mine #Showtime #recap #btvsrecap

[aion-rsa]

American Gods Season 3: What Awaits Shadow in Lakeside

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

When asked about the evolution of American Gods from Shadow and Wednesday on the road to the more hidebound setting of Lakeside, Ricky Whittle makes no secret of his feelings about American Gods season 3’s bold change in scenery.

“This is my favorite part of the book. I’ve always been looking forward to doing this,” Whittle tells Den of Geek.

In a sense, if you are hiding from the world, there is no better place to do it than Lakeside, which is as far out in the middle of nowhere as can be managed by someone in the modern world. There is no radio or television station; only a local newspaper. There are no megastores or malls; only a general store. There is no fast food; only a beloved local diner with famous, addictive Cornish pasties. 

Lakeside is a significant change in the story of Shadow Moon. Rather than staying on the road with Wednesday, traveling across America and meeting Gods, Shadow settles in for a very long winter in a strange little town, walking away from Odin’s revelations and washing his hands of the war. On the surface, Lakeside, Minnesota (played by Toronto, Canada) is a frosty Americana of friendly people unbothered by the troubles of the outside world. Under the surface, things are never what they seem; Shadow is pulled into a mystery that has repercussions throughout the American Gods universe. One of the fan-favorite sections of Neil Gaiman’s book is now coming into play.

Regardless of the lack of comfort provided by shooting outdoors in Canada in winter, Lakeside as a setting does offer something more valuable than the contents of Hinzelmann’s General Store or the clunkers at the bottom of the lake to Shadow Moon a.k.a. Mike Ainsel. Rest. Rest, and a chance to work through the information that Shadow learns over the course of two packed seasons.

“There’s a lot on Shadow’s mind. He’s been given a whole sack full of information that he’s got to process now. His first decision was he’s done. He was always being attacked, one way or another. We found out in season two that his mother died from cancer when he was 15. He never grew up with a father. Then we find out that Wednesday killed Laura. Wednesday wasn’t working in the local store, the local bowling alley. He’s a God. He’s Odin. He could have changed his life at any time. That’s a lot sitting with Shadow right now.”

For Shadow, Lakeside offers more than just breathing room and a chance to process information, it is a chance for Shadow to have the only thing he has ever really wanted, from the time he was a teenager. 

“Shadow is more than happy to live a normal life. That’s all he’s ever really truly wanted. We find Shadow, beginning of season three, he’s grown his hair and his beard out. He’s hiding from the FBI, the police, the authorities. He’s changed his name. He’s Mike Ainsel. He’s working in a factory. He’s got his eyes on a local girl. Because that’s all he ever truly has wanted is to live that normal life after being pounded constantly by the universe.” 

With Lakeside, Shadow gets a chance to indulge in a little normal life cosplay and pretend he’s just like everyone else. American Gods gets a chance to clear up lingering production issues and settle down after three seasons of instability behind the scenes. For both Shadow and the show, the timing for Lakeside could not be better.

“Shadow is kind of left with no other choices, to be honest. We are starting to head into our very first winter on the show, all other routes are snowed in, and he is left with this quaint little town that he heads to and starts to fall for, because it’s full of humans. This is the first time that we have seen Shadow, in the story, surrounded by humans and not gods. He’s always been the last person in the room to know what’s going on. Here, we find him in a town where he actually knows more than everybody else.”

A place for Shadow Moon, the universe’s punching bag, to catch his breath, make some normal friends, and avoid the world that his father introduced him to? If that sounds too good to be true, that’s because, as Whittle puts it several times in his interview, “this is American Gods, and Shadow’s not allowed to be happy.” On its surface, like the lake itself, Lakeside is calm, placid, and beautiful. Under the ice, however, there is something more going on there.

“There is a dark underbelly, and unfortunately for him, things take a turn,” Whittle says. “The only thing that has changed in the town is there is a new guy. So all the questions and heads start to turn towards Shadow as they start to think that he’s maybe hiding something. Unfortunately, for Shadow, it’s a lot bigger than what they think. So the walls are closing in on Shadow. Again, he finds himself trying to hide information from people he cares about.”

A man with secrets, and a town with secrets. Lakeside slows things down for American Gods, and allows the performer, and the viewer, more opportunities to explore the material and the psychology behind the characters themselves. For once, the mystery is not directly around Shadow, but outside of him, and that gives both the character and Ricky Whittle a chance to be more actively involved in things.

“Shadow really grows in this season. You really start to see him grow into his position as he starts to decide what kind of god and person he wants to be in this world,” Whittle says. 

It is all part of a larger season 3 narrative of self-discovery, both for Shadow and for the other characters involved in the storyline. Everyone is getting a break from the war, at least for a bit, to focus on themselves and their own needs while Wednesday politics in the background. Old One-Eyed’s work isn’t done, not by a longshot, but wars are fought with bodies and resources, and while World is in disarray, Odin has an opportunity to go to work and the gods, both old and new, are given a chance to figure out their place once more.

More than just a chance to breathe and learn, Lakeside will have major implications for the non-Shadow gods on the show.

“Lakeside is almost as if it has been put in a little time capsule and kept away from Tech Boy’s influence,” Technically Boy actor Bruce Langley says. “It’s not impossible for him to get on in there, but it is a lot harder.”

“I’m so excited for Lakeside. I know as any fan of the book probably is,” says Yetide Badaki when asked about Lakeside’s importance to Season 3. “We see these different characters go through journeys of self-discovery. We see that happen for Salim. We see it happen for Laura Moon. We see it happen for Technical Boy. We see it happen for Cordelia, played by the lovely Ashley Reyes. And we see Shadow Moon, not only having this moment of self-discovery, but we’re also seeing him find this whole new agency within him. It’s fascinating to see that the more all of these people learn about themselves, the more they see how interconnected they are.”

Everyone interviewed—regardless of their connection to Lakeside as a plotline in American Gods—is excited to see it brought to life on screen. The enthusiasm the actors have for Neil Gaiman’s twist into mystery is infectious. Langley and Badaki both expressed excitement for that change, but no one seems as happy about it as Whittle. Lakeside as a mystery hangs solely on the broad shoulders of Shadow Moon.

“It didn’t disappoint. It really is my favorite season so far, because it’s Lakeside. It’s my favorite part of the book. It’s where the story really starts to ramp up. So I loved it. I had a great time,” Whittle enthuses. “The show, as always, looks incredible. It has always had that incredible rich tone and stunning look that I have never seen on any other show. It’s just a completely different look this season, very Fargo. Every episode gives you a different feel, a different story, a different moment. This season really is taken to a different level thanks to Mother Nature.”

That enthusiasm for the setting and the story would definitely help keep any actor motivated and engaged with the material. However, there was one thing that neither Ricky Whittle nor Shadow were properly prepared for, and that’s the effect Mother Nature would have on all aspects of the production. Shooting in winter in Toronto, Canada, is an entirely new experience for the actor playing Shadow Moon.

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“Winter in Manchester is pretty tough. It is the worst experience I’ve ever felt in my life. There were takes that I had to redo because my mouth wouldn’t open because it was so frozen. I had icicles on my eyelashes, in my beard, and in my hair. Don’t get me wrong, our makeup and hair department is incredible. They should be receiving awards for what they have done over these past two seasons. But everything you see on screen, if Shadow looks cold, it’s because Ricky is freezing. That is all natural. I’m Daniel Day Lewis. I am method as hell.”

The post American Gods Season 3: What Awaits Shadow in Lakeside appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2JZyDXT

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[bizarrebird]

Getting back into the old Buffy rewatch. For the record, these are probably gonna be sporadic as I gotta kinda sit down and watch and type scene by scene, but I like doing them, so I’m gonna keep going with it. This episode, which in most shows would be really fillery, I’m gonna cover cause it has one of the most iconic speeches in the whole show, the big Lie to Me spiel from Giles. This episode also deals with some heavy themes and interesting developments for Buffy, and I’m always about that good character stuff for my best girl

So here we go with Season 2, Episode 7: Lie to Me

And we’re starting in a creepy playground. Promising. Drusilla’s here, trying to eat a kid. Like I’m amazed no other vampires have already gotten here. Kid this is Sunnydale, the fuck are you doing? Luckily Angel shows up and scares the kid off (probably to go get eaten by a sludge monster off screen, this is fucking Sunnydale don’t leave your kids unsupervised) He and Drusilla have a weird moment where she clearly knows her and remembers things about her mother. It’s because of this history that he tells her to take Spike and go, but Dru knows Angel won’t actually hurt her. She tells him how she knows he’s fallen for Buffy just as Buffy shows up on a conveniently close roof to watch them get a little too close for comfort and then OPENING CREDITS

To school we go where we find Jenny Calendar and Giles talking about the surprise date Jenny’s planning for them. It’s flirty and cute and I’m sure nothing will mess up this relationship in the very next episode (remember kids, if you’re happy Joss Whedon hates your guts and wants you dead) Sad Buffy is here and she and Giles start talking shop. Giles encourages her to take the night off to go be with her vampire boo (which is sweet, thanks new dad) but Buffy’s a little iffy on that. Next we go to Cordelia being precious in a class where Buffy and Willow are passing notes about the girl she saw Angel with the night before. They leave the class and start talking about it as Xander gets there and immediately wants to know about Angel possibly doing bad things

Okay like, I get that this is supposed to be funny or endearing or whatever, but it just comes off amazingly creepy that Xander “has a happy” when he hears about Buffy’s current boyfriend doing something wrong, cause that means he might have a chance with her. This is beyond ‘cute funny crush’ territory, it’s just obnoxious, why do they hang out with Xander, like ever

ANYWAY

It’s time for the main plot of the episode to start, so here comes Ford, Buffy’s old friend and former crush from her last school, who’s apparently transferred to Sunnydale for his senior year. And oh man, another guy who Buffy knows and is talking to, here comes JEALOUS XANDER TO THE RESCUE. And isn’t that just super endearing. Buffy and Ford explain how they know each other and Buffy’s clearly super thrilled to see him (which doesn’t stop Xander from being a complete and utter tool the entire time, of course it doesn’t, nothing can stop him, literally nothing) Buffy invites him to the Bronze with them that night and takes Ford off to the admissions office in time for Xander to be super gross

Cut to the Bronze where Scoobies + Ford are playing pool and swapping stories. Xander’s still just feeling extra dickish this episode (when is he not) and Buffy goes to get a soda, only to find Angel conveniently brooding by the counter. Across the room, Willow and Xander tell Ford a bit about Angel, how he’s dating Buffy and is older than her (with all the times this comes up it’s really, really rare that it’s mentioned that the age difference is a little sketch, but hey, vampire love story, what’cha gonna do?) When asked, Angel says he stayed in last night and Buffy knows he’s a giant liar face, so she goes back over to Ford and after a very awkward introduction with him and Angel, Buffy pulls Ford out of the club to take a walk, where they talk a little about Angel before Buffy spots a vamp and tries to distract Ford... but that doesn’t quite go as planned and he follows after her (hello ominous music what are you doing here) and gets a full view of the stakeage, which doesn’t seem to surprise him at all. He tells her that he already knows she’s the slayer

We go to Willow and Buffy talking on the phone about the situation and how it’s kind of a relief for Buffy honestly. Meanwhile, Ford heads into the creepiest warehouse possible where there’s a club of people dressed like vampires hanging out and listening to intense music. Ford seems to be sort of in charge here and pops some pills as he promises that soon they will have the chance to ‘die young and stay pretty’. If you didn’t get that Ford is creepy yet, we then see him mouth the difficult to hear speech of a vampire creep in a movie that’s playing in the background of the club

Back to Willow, who gets a knock at the door as Angel arrives to ask her for help. After a little awkwardness (which is super precious, I honestly wish these two had more scenes together, they’re both very much comedic actors who play off each other so well) she invites him in. He asks her to track down information on Ford, which... kinda gives Willow pause and she asks if he’s jealous. Angel admits that he kinda is, cause Buffy is the one shining light in his guilt hole of misery, but he’s still pretty sure there’s something off about Ford. Willow immediately finds something, checking the records and finding that Ford doesn’t actually go to their school. Before she can do more, she has to shove Angel out of the room as her mom calls up to her, and she promises to find more info for him later. He asks her not to tell Buffy

And we very soon see at school the next day that Willow is terrible at lying to Buffy and is instantly a nervous wreck as soon as she sees her, very quickly making an excuse to leave. Giles arrives to give Buffy info so she can contact him that night in case something goes wrong. He’s vaguely concerned when Ford already knows about the vampire situation, but Buffy explains she didn’t tell him, he somehow just already knew (which no one finds suspicious. at all) That night, Buffy takes Ford on a tour of Sunnydale and they spot two vampires heading into the school. She gives him a cross as she leads the way in. They get separated when one of the vamps tackles Buffy over the railing. Ford manages to subdue the other and makes some kind of deal with her we don’t see the end of. Buffy handles her vamp easy and finds Ford alone, saying he dealt with the other one

Meanwhile Xander, Willow, and Angel check out a lead that takes them to the creepy vampire fanclub warehouse. All of them are immediately weirded out, cause they actually live in Sunnydale. They get approached by a groupie, who tries to talk to them about the ‘lonely ones’ (which is like a cool name for vampires or some kinda creepy supernatural species, but not here. all vamps are assholes here. Yes even Angel. Sometimes especially Angel) Angel comes over to shut her down and she goes all tumblr on him saying that he doesn’t get to say who’s valid and leaves. Angel says they should get out cause he knows this type, vampire fans who are really, really upset Twillight won’t be out for a few more years. But that doesn’t explain why Ford is there, so now they definitely know something’s up with him

Back at the library, Buffy’s called in Giles and Jenny, and finds that she pulled them away from their date at a Monster Truck rally, cause Jenny thought it would be a good change for him. Oh Jenny, honey no, you’re trying but... no, no, no. Buffy gets things back on track to talk about the vampires near the school. She already sent Ford home and as she’s mentioning the vamp he took out, she spots a familiar picture in a book: the girl Angel was with the other night. DUN DUN DUNNNNN. Turns out that’s Drusilla, who Giles says is Spike’s lover who was thought to be killed in Prague (idk where that info is coming from, but I’m guessing the Watcher’s Council??? God, they just suck at everything, can’t even keep track of which vamps got dusted) but surprise! She’s... okay well not alive, but not dust, you get the picture. As Giles goes to look for more books on the matter (Oh Giles, don’t ever change) he runs right into a vampire, who literally no one noticed was just rifling through his office this whole time I guess. The vamp makes off with a book and Giles is very offended, but Buffy points out the more pressing point that Ford said he killed that vampire

We go to Dru, trying to get her dead bird to sing to her as Spike enters to ask abut her trip outside the other night. She doesn’t give him much of an answer, even when he brings up Angel, but she’s more about the bird until he tells her a little sharply that it’s dead cause she didn’t feed it, just like the last one. Dru gets all sad and pouty so Spike gets sweet again cause he crumbles when his lady love is sad. He apologizes and offers to get her a new bird just as Ford??? walks right through the front doors???? Spike wonders aloud if he has security here (apparently not, they just don’t make good vampire help like they used to) Te vamp from the library shows up with the book as Ford makes an offer, trying to talk Spike into the typical villain “you have 30 seconds to live/talk” thing. At Dru’s prompting, he reluctantly does the thing and Ford explains he wants to be a vampire. Spike’s hesitant cause he doesn’t really like Ford (not his type, he likes his men taller and more broody) but Ford offers a trade, him getting all bitey for the slayer

And that brings us to Buffy’s place as Angel arrives to tell her Ford isn’t what he seems. GASP Nooooo really? Who could have guessed???  Anyway, Angel tells her the deal about the creepy vampire place and how he and Xander and Willow have all been talking behind her back about this (definitely not for the first time showing in some ways, Buffy is still on her own, and her friends will other her when they need to) She’s mostly not happy about the behind the back going and demands to know about Drusilla. Before he tells her, Angel asks if she loves him (not out of the blue or manipulative at all) Buffy says she does and still wants to know. Angel tells her Drusilla was the worst thing he ever did. Before he turned her, she was a pure, sweet girl (troubled by visions although I think that comes up more when this story is revisiting in Angel: the series) and Angel drove her insane, killing her family and eventually driving her into a convent before he finally turned her. Buffy’s clearly a little sorry she asked, but they gotta get back to the present and Ford, cause they still don’t know what his fucking deal is

This brings us to one of the creepier brightly lit scenes of the series thus far, where Ford encounters Buffy at the school and asks if she wants to come out again with him that night. The camera angles are all spinning and super ominous and it’s actually shot in a really interesting way that I’d get way more into if I was a different kind of film nerd. But I’m not, so we go into the school where Buffy runs into Willow and Xander, who she’s not super happy with, who ask if she knows what’s up, she does and is still (understandably) upset and leaves. Xander can only think about the fact that Angel was in Willow’s room, showing that he’s not just concerned about the guys Buffy dates, but in any woman he’s remotely connected to showing any interest in any other guy

Moving on we go to Ford and his creepy crew, who are super jazzed about the lonely ones coming to bless them. None of these fuckos would make it ten seconds in the rest of Sunnydale, how are they alive in this bunker. But before the vamps can show, Buffy gets there first and Ford subtly signals to have the door shut behind her. Buffy is not pleased especially with Ford’s excuse of ‘everybody lies’ and tries to convince him and everyone else that they’re being stupid and that vampires are picky about who they turn... until she realizes what he was up to and that he was going to give them her (this realization goes fast cause we’re running short on screen time and need to move things along) Ford admits to it as Buffy realizes she’s been trapped in the bunker with them, the door’s rigged so it can only open from the outside and the vampires are on there way as soon as the sun sets. Buffy looks for another way out, but there isn’t one. She tries to talk Ford into letting the others go, but they’re real dumb and won’t listen

Brief scene of Spike getting his forces ready and bringing Dru along. Back in the bunker, Buffy tries the door again, conveniently getting her and Ford up onto this separate upper platform thing for serious talks. Ford admits that the others are probably just gonna be snacked on and won’t get changed (here he crosses the moral event horizon) but he’s cool with it because he will deffs get changed. Buffy tries to explain to him that being a vampire isn’t as glamorous as he thinks and that it basically just makes your body host to a demon (okay tbh for all the focus on vampires and souls here, the show could really do a lot more with it, but that’s another post for another time) Ford then dramatically admits that he’s already dying

And honestly, Ford is a good tragic villain and sometimes I wish they had done more than just a single episode with him, largely because of his connection to Buffy and her past and what that could mean for her as a character, but alas, this is a Joss Whedon show where he only pretends to give a shit about his female characters. Like shit the actor plays this scene really well and it’s a super interesting idea to explore with how the supernatural could fix common problems, but at a cost, and Buffy is super heavily impacted by it, but nah, not gonna make this a long running thing, why bother

ANYWAY Buffy takes a second to compose herself and then tells Ford that she’s sorry for what he’s going through, but he’s still a shit and even dealing with his health issues doesn’t make what he’s doing okay (cool motive still murder.gif) What solidifies Ford’s shittiness is that he calls the other people sheep, just doing the vampire stuff for kicks and giggles, but he doesn’t have a choice. Buffy disagrees, saying that yeah, the hand he’s been dealt is a terrible one, but that doesn’t justify what he’s doing now.

And like, okay, for all btvs’s flaws, it very much hammers in an ‘ends don’t justify the means’ message, which is honestly super cool, and I wish more shows would do that now. For the most part (and there are definitely exceptions to this, which I will cover when they come up) when people screw up in Buffy, there are consequences, and they can be fucking harsh

God, okay, this moment with Ford and Buffy up here is so good, someone yell at me later to write more about it

Ford somehow managed to knock out Buffy???????????? right as the vamps get there. Okay sure, fine. The vamps start eating everyone  (surprise, surprise) and Buffy spots Dru, who’s away from everyone just being weird and obvious in her glowing white dress. Buffy holds a stake to Dru’s chest and threatens Spike, who calls for everyone to stop. Following Buffy’s demands, he lets all the groupies go. The groupies wise up and run and Buffy gets Spike to back off enough for her to throw Dru at him and have time to escape, the door shutting behind her, trapping the vamps... and Ford

Buffy gets out right as the Scoobies arrive. She says they should go, cause the vamps are gonna get free eventually, but the have to come back... for Ford’s body. Back in the bunker, we see the vamps trapped and Spike admitting that Ford did in fact give them Buffy. We don’t get to see exactly what went down and in the next scene, Buffy’s walking into the bunker and she finds Ford’s body, unsure whether or not he’s been turned

Sometime between this scene and the last, there’s been a funeral and Ford has been buried (vamps are very patient and only wait till the most dramatic moment to rise, clearly) So we go to Buffy and Giles in a graveyard where Buffy puts flowers on Ford’s grave. They talk about how Buffy wishes this could be easy if she could just hate him and how she thinks Ford wanted to be the villain, but he was really just scared. She talks about how nothing is ever simple anymore and how she doesn’t know who to trust and it’s all just so confusing. Giles says that’s just part of growing up and Buffy asks if it ever gets easy. Vampire Ford pops out of the grave and Buffy stakes him without thinking

Giles repeats her question and asks what she wants him to say and Buffy says the show title “Lie to me” And here comes that iconic speech

“Yes, it’s terribly simple, Good guys are always stalwart and true Bad guys always distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats We always defeat them and save the day No one ever dies And everybody lives happily ever after”

And Buffy calls him a liar as we go to credits

FINAL THOUGHTS: Okay, there is... a looooot to unpack in this episode. You could write entire essays on it, and I’m sure people have. But the main thing is that morals are complicated and Buffy doesn’t know how to deal with it all the time, but she does her best. This is a really, really solid episode and definitely worth some analysis.

Next up, Season 2, Episode 8: The Dark Times (only cause Ethan Rayne is here and I love him)

#diana hush #diana liveblogs buffy #hey look more buffy #btvs #yes i'm still doing this #just had to take a brief pause #gonna try to do at least a few a week #xander hate #as always #i just hate him so much #he's like... sort of less annoying in the next few episodes but #god just every episode i ask why the fuck he's even here #he serves very little purpose #heart of the show my fucking ass

[theclacks]

Angel Thoughts - Season 3

So these were super delayed because of stuff. And mildly tainted because I’ve already gone on and watched the first 7-8 episodes of Season 4. But I’m writing them down anyway. (Also at least my predictions for Season 4 are pure/aka written down right after I finished watching.)

Previous Seasonal Recaps: BtVS S1+S2, BtVS S3, BtVS S4 + AtS S1, BtVS S5 + AtS S2, BtVS S6

I’m going to try and keep this short and sweet. 

On Darla and the pregnancy arc:

I thought the Darla pregnancy storyline was going to repetitive of last season’s Darla arc, but I liked it. I liked the conclusion and how Darla had to stake herself and that’s her death = redemption arc. Actually, I think I was like “HOLY SHIT, SHE’S NOT-- OH MY GOD SHE IS--!” when she staked herself but yeah.

On Fred:

So it took me awhile to warm up to her, but now I love Fred. And OH MY GOD, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop in the episode with her parents but I LOVE THE FACT THAT HER PARENTS ARE JUST COOL WITH IT AND LOVING AND SUPPORTIVE AND OH MY GOD IT IS JUST THE BEST TWIST.

On Fred/Gunn/Wesley love triangle:

I also loved it. I loved how they made Fred/Gunn a thing (they remind me of Rey/Finn is a lot of ways) and how cute they are compared to all of the seriousness around them. I like how it’s a relationship with two completely different... well, not brain types because Gunn is smart, he’s just not book smart. But no one is like “Fred is inherently better because she’s college educated” or “Gunn’s not good enough for her”. They just like each other and they work. Also there isn’t an episode where there’s drama because they don’t share the same interests (in fact they go the opposite way by introducing Gunn to ballet, which was the BEST).

Which speaking of the ballet episode and the Wesley part of the love triangle, I like how they resolved in that one episode and Wesley just backed off. I was legit scared they were going to go the jealous!Wesley is possessed by the count’s spirit or something, but no. Wesley is a BAMF and he knows when to let go.

On the supportive Cordelia/Angel as team Mom/Dad + baby relationship:

Again I loved it. (Plus Uncle Lorne stepping in as baby sitter and singing resentful lullabies about not getting invited to the ballet.) I think part of that was balanced out by the stark contrast to Season 6 Spike/Buffy that was going on at the time. Like the blondes are having wall to wall angry sex, knocking down entire buildings, and a couple hundred miles away in LA, the brunettes are lying down all chill with a bottle of milk and baby Conner between them, just talking. Like they were two completely different relationships and they worked like that. (Well, Spike/Buffy was self-imploding, but yeah). And yeah... then things started tanking...

On the Angel/Cordelia romantic relationship:

I was totally behind Angel suddenly developing these feelings and Cordelia having no clue/being dismissive. And I didn’t even mind Groo popping back up and essentially being a romantic cockblocking cliché (mostly because Groo is plain awesome).

BUT. I hated the final episode where Cordelia just talks to vision of herself as is like “okay yeah. i’m in love with angel. totally.”

NO. NO. NO.

THAT IS NOT HOW YOU DO ROMANTIC DEVELOPMENT/REALIZATION. NO.

And I was about ready to forgive it (a little) because of how cute their phone conversation was when Cordelia said she wanted to meet him, but then they got cockblocked again by the Powers That Be, so wtf???

On Wesley’s betrayal:

So I’m super fine with the fact that Angel didn’t forgive him, but I’m not sure why every single other member of the team followed suit? Well, I mean, Fred pretty much instantly forgave him so four for you, Fred. You go, Fred.

But yeah, it’s not like Wesley was directly in league with Holtz, planning to hand Conner over. And, it’s like, I could see them giving Wesley a cool off period out of support to Angel if Wesley was physically fine, but he wasn’t. HE GOT HIS THROAT CUT. HE NEEDED SUPPORT TOO. And, like, yes Cordelia was gone during the immediate aftermath of this and was Team Mom but am I really supposed to believe she was like “oh wesley thought angel was prophesied to kill conner so he tried to take him away to save him but got his throat cut? hmmm... well, i guess wesley deserved it. i won’t check on him to make sure he’s still alive or anything, even though we’ve known each other for the past four years”??? Like COME ON.

On the ep where Cordelia becomes a demon:

This was my favorite episode after the ballet ones. Cordelia is still my fave and this was a much needed episode in a season where it kind of felt like she got picked up and put back down whenever the plot remembered/forgot about her?

On Conner timeskipping to be a teenager:

AAAAAANGST. I did like his interactions with the druggie girl though. Nice, tragic one-off character.

On predictions for next season:

(as i mentioned, i’ve already started watching the next season, but these were written the minute i finished season three (aka a month or so ago))

- Angel will spend the entire summer at the bottom of the lake

- and Cordelia's a literal angel thing now? and Fred and Gunn are 100% clueless about what's going on… but Wolfram and Hart would be on the whole "where the fuck is angel?" cluetrain, and they'd send Wesley to do something, or Wesley would learn about it, and he'd team up with Fred and Gunn

- and with the powers of Wolfram and Hart they’ll find Angel somehow

- IDK the only other option would be Cordelia coming back all "lol i'm here temporarily to help you out" and she’d light them a beacon in the sea to find Angel (and I know she comes back because she's on the cover of the DVDs)

- anyway, Angel will be free and there's going to be drama with Connor; i'm predicting a mid-season climax/turn back to the light side

- I'm guessing Angel/Cordelia angst in the form of her going, "i'm only here temporarily. i'm going to reascend soon. we can't be together" and Angel will be all "i could never be with you physically anyway so can we just watch netflix and chill?"

- and then, yeah, Cordelia will re-ascend at some point because I'm 90% she's not in season 5

- Fred and Gunn will continue being cuties but because this is a Whedon show, something will happen externally to break them up. I've heard there's a character named Illyria who eventually exists, and Amy Acker also plays her so Fred becomes Illyria or something? And then the Fred/Gunn/Wesley love triangle re-ignites? Except for now it's Illyria/Gunn/Wesley? (i am more stoked to figure out what the hell happens with this vs any sort of angel/conner/apocalypse drama)

- Holtz's girlfriend will die at some point because she's a terrible person

- Lilah will continue to kick ass, rise above Daniel Dae Kim, and get an offer to become a senior partner aka some sort of devil demon

- the show will cease to follow Angel and instead follow Lilah and Cordelia as they become two giant opposing forces on a higher plane and… okay, yeah, that's not going to happen but a girl can dream

- Lorne will live because... alright, I don’t have a reason, I just want him to live because he’s my second favorite character and I want a scene with him and Spike together next season

#btvs #ats #angel the series #//// #///// #clacks from theclacks

[buffster]

Becoming Part 1 (BTVS 2.21)

This is part of my ongoing Buffy Project, where I write notes/meta for every episode in an attempt to better understand the characters and themes of the show. You can find the full list here. Gifs are not mine.

Whistler: Here’s the thing. There’s moments in your life that make you. That set the course of who you’re gonna be. Sometimes they’re little, subtle moments. Sometimes they’re not. I’ll show you what I mean.

There’s a lot of time spend on Angel’s backstory in this episode, which I love. It was about time. It begins in Galway, 1753, with a young Liam drunkenly exiting a bar. He tells his friend they’re going to come back with some of his father’s silver. Then he spies Darla.

Liam: My lady, you will find that, with the exception of an honest day’s work, there is no challenge I am not prepared to face. 

He is excited by her proposal to see the world and she turns him. We return to present day where Buffy has decided she is taking the fight to Angel. Apparently she was hoping he’d attack and force her into what she has to do, but she’s tired of waiting it out. She assures her friends she is ready.

After a vision from Drusilla, Angelus decides to steal a relic from the local museum. It is Acathla, a demon who came forth to swallow the world. It was killed by a knight and turned to stone, as demons sometimes do (well, ok?). It was buried where no demon would look until some people decided to build on it. Angelus wants to be the worthy one to pull out the sword and send the whole world into hell. Giles says that only non-demon life will suffer there, but when Angel is sent there he suffers. This might be explained later but I don’t remember it.

The next flashback is London, 1860. Drusilla is praying and goes to confess. Unbeknownst to her Angelus is in the other side drinking the priest’s blood. She confesses to him that she is having visions and her mother says she is cursed. This is when she drew Angelus in: she wanted to do good and not give in to the devil. He can’t resist turning light into darkness.

Drusilla: No...I want to be good...I want to be pure.

Angelus: We all do, at first. The world doesn’t work that way.

Willow is tutoring Buffy for finals. She has no patience for Buffy calling herself a moron and tells her not to waste her time if she’s not going to try. Buffy says she really is a good teacher (kind of surprised Willow didn’t end up in this profession?). Buffy’s prophetic abilities are used again when she is able to locate Ms. Calendar’s missing disc after experiencing deja vu. 

The next flashback is in Rumanian Woods, 1898. There’s a glimpse of the body of the gypsy girl being grieved over and the old woman saying the spell to restore Angel’s soul. It’s returned to him and he begins to feel what he’s done. Just like with Spike in season seven, it overwhelms him. 

Back at the school Buffy and Willow are telling Cordelia, Xander, and Giles about their findings. Giles doesn’t think he can perform the ritual because he doesn’t have the required knowledge of the black arts, but Willow nervously admits she has been studying enough that she thinks she does. 

Giles: Willow, performing this kind of ritual--channeling such potent magicks through yourself--it will open a door you may not be able to close. 

They are continuing to argue (with Willow being the most passionately pro-ritual) when Xander jumps in with one of his worst moments of the series. He’s got Issue Face (as in, I’ve got personal issues here that are making me Non-Objective guy). Sorry, but I’m going to note the entire conversation for my future reference:

Xander: This spell might restore Angel’s humanity? Well, here’s an interesting angle: who cares?

Buffy: I care.

Xander: Is that right?

Giles: Xander, let’s not lose perspective here--

Xander: I’m perspective guy. Angel is a killer.

Willow: Xander--

Buffy: It’s not that simple.

Xander: What, come back home, all is forgiven? I can’t believe you people.

Cordelia: Xander has a point--

Xander: You know, just once I wish you would support me and I realize now that you were and I’m embarrassed so I’m gonna get back to the point which is that Angel needs to die. 

Giles: Curing Angel was apparently Jenny’s last wish...

Xander: Yeah, well, Jenny’s dead.

Giles: Don’t you speak of her in that insolent--

Xander: Can’t you see what I’m saying--

Buffy: Alright, stop it!

Willow: (to Buffy) What do you want to do?

Buffy: I don’t know...what happened to Angel wasn’t his fault...

Xander: What happened to Ms. Calendar is. You can paint this however you want. Way I see it you want to forget all about Ms. Calendar’s murder so you can get your boyfriend back. 

Cordelia: Wow. Even I know that was insensitive.

Xander: Am I wrong?

I think his issue here is multi-faceted. One is that he doesn’t see any distinction between Angel and Angelus. It’s almost as if he views Angel as a muzzled dog that’s too dangerous to let live. Which, to be honest, is a fair point. Angelus will always be a possibility that’s pretty dangerous for the world. I also don’t think some critics are wrong that there’s a part of this that’s about jealousy over Buffy. My third view is that he has seen Angel as That Guy from the beginning--the guy that’s a total jerk but the pretty girl and everyone else can’t see it. The kind of guy that probably bullied Xander a lot. I think he’s been looking forward to Angel’s death for awhile now and he doesn’t want to let that go. My least favorite part of this scene is that he accuses Buffy of not caring about what Angelus did to Ms. Calendar. We know that’s not true and how much the guilt weighs on her. Xander’s character is a bit uncompromising and very black and white.

Buffy and Willow later talk on the phone, where Willow condemns Xander with some strong language. Buffy isn’t sure what she wants but then finds her Claddagh ring at the bottom of her drawer. 

Kendra returns to help them fight. She brings a sword blessed by the knight who first slew the demon. There’s another crazy moment where a vampire bursts into flames in the middle of a classroom delivering a message to Buffy. These kinds of events lead to all the students helping in Graduation. Buffy decides to meet Angel while Kendra guards everyone else. 

We go to Manhattan, 1996. Whistler approaches Angel (sent by the Powers that Be?), who looks horrible and is feeding on rats. He tells him to stop feeling sorry for himself and shows him Buffy, who has just become the slayer. I love flashback Buffy even more than flashback Angel. She is very much season one Cordelia, sucking on a lollipop and talking about boys with her friends (she’s clearly the ringleader). Her clothes are very different; she’s dressed in bright neon colors. Her first Watcher, Merrick, approaches her. Buffy barely manages to kill her first vampire as Angel watches.

Back in present day Buffy goes to fight Angelus. While she’s there the Scoobies are attacked. Willow is knocked down by a shelf, Xander is injured fighting, Giles is taken, Cordelia flees, and Kendra is killed by Drusilla. I’ve read before that her obedient nature is what made her susceptible to Dru’s hypnosis, which I think is pretty interesting. Buffy returns to find chaos and Kendra’s dead body. She is approached by a policewoman.

Whistler: Bottom line is even if you see em coming, you’re not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really, but it does. So, what, are we helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come, can’t help that. It’s what you do afterwards that counts. That’s when you find out who you are.

As Angel performs the ritual to bring forth Acathla, he says, “As I ascend, as I become”. He also says he wants to become someone to Whistler (there’s our title). 

Character Notes:

Cordelia Chase: Cordelia actually compliments Willow and her dedication to teaching and tutoring. 

Principal Snyder: He is upset about Cordelia and Xander and Willow and Oz’s PDA. He also tells Buffy she should just give him a reason to kick her out.

Rupert Giles: Giles is the best authority on obscure relics in Sunnydale and a professor refers him to the museum curator. 

Hank and Joyce Summers: The original script had a scene where Joyce tells Buffy that her and Hank are agnostic. In the actual show there is a flashback where they argue because Hank wants to be tougher on Buffy.

Whistler: Whistler is the one who gives Angel the information to find blood at the butcher’s. He says his real name is hard to pronounce unless you’re a dolphin. 

Buffy Summers: She mentions she has stolen lipstick when Merrick approaches her. Possibly something she did for her parent’s attention like Dawn in later seasons?

Kendra Young: She gives Buffy her lucky stake, Mr. Pointy. 

#becomingone #Kendra young #Buffy summers #angel #angelus #Buffy/angel #Cordelia/xander #Rupert giles #willow/oz #willow rosenberg #xander harris #drusilla #whistler #Jenny calendar #principal snyder #dawn summers #hank summers #Joyce summers #darla #joss whedon

[ettadunham]

A Buffy rewatch 5x11 Triangle

aka buddy comedy Buffy style

Welcome to this dailyish text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and go on an impromptu rant about it for an hour. Is it about one hyperspecific thing or twenty observations? 10 or 3k words? You don’t know! I don’t know!!! In this house we don’t know things.

And today’s episode has a bit more to it than I remember, but at its core, it’s still a classic premise of two characters at odds being forced to work together and grow and bond along the way. Well, maybe “bond” is a strong word for it. “Tolerate each other more” is probably slightly more accurate.

I have fond memories of Triangle for all of those scenes between Willow and Anya, which is why I was slightly thrown off by the fact that this episode actually has other storylines going on as well. Shocking, I know.

There’s Buffy dealing with the fallout of her break-up with Riley, and latching onto Xander and Anya’s relationship as her last hope in romance for some reason (even though Willow and Tara are also… right there). There’s Giles’ offscreen trip to England, and having Dawn overhear their discussion at the end about her being the Key. And then there’s also Spike’s whole deal.

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy those things about the episode though. On the contrary, it’s always an unexpected treat to re-discover moments like the early scene between Joyce and her daughters, and then Dawn following Buffy into her room just to lend her an ear to talk about her feelings about the Riley departure. It was such a sweet sisterly thing to do, and I love that whole exchange - even if it somewhat clashes with the more outrageous comedic elements of the episode when it comes to portraying Buffy’s state of mind.

It should also come as no surprise that I absolutely love that we see a lot of Buffy and Tara in this episode as well. (They’re taking a class together and talking about where they’ll sit next time. Someone please link me to some quality Buffy/Tara college fics, thnx.) I also just generally love how Tara is integrated more into the group, and we see her playing a slight buffer role between Willow and Anya and then between the two and Xander too. There are unfortunately still moments though where I feel like the writers just don’t know what to do with her, like in that last fight scene, where she’s just standing around in the background.

And it hurts my soul, because I love Tara, and she’ll have many strong moments throughout the show, but imagine how much more we could’ve been given still? They wouldn’t even put Amber Benson in the credits until her very last episode, the absolute cowards.

Anyways. Willow and Anya.

I’ve been talking about Willow’s jealous streaks in the past. She appears to be especially hostile towards Xander’s love interests throughout the show, but with Bad Girls, we also see that the same type of emotions can arise when it comes to Buffy’s love interests.

(Yes, I am just going to keep calling Faith Buffy’s love interest without any quotation marks or whatnot and you can’t stop me.)

She’s even self-aware of this in Consequences. “I kind of have an issue with Faith sharing my people.” And in this episode, Anya calls out the same thing:

ANYA:  You don’t want anyone else to have [Xander].

And yet, as frustrated as Willow was in season 4 about Buffy ditching the gang for Riley, she never really took that out on Riley. Part of that must have been that she had her own stuff going on with Tara for sure, and maybe the other part is that by season 5, Buffy really wasn’t all that focused on Riley in the first place. There was no reason for Willow to feel slighted or replaced.

That’s sort of one of Willow’s core fears I believe. Being replaced or becoming less special in her friends’ lives. And maybe that fear is more potent when it comes to other women than with a male love interest, because Willow feels less threatened by those? There’s probably a lot to unpack there.

But remember too, Willow is self-aware of this about herself. So maybe that’s why she didn’t have it in for Riley, because she didn’t really have any other reason to hate him; whereas Faith betrayed Buffy and assaulted Xander right around the time she started to resent her.

Faith is probably the best case example for Willow’s jealousy, not just because it relates to both Buffy and Xander, but because we can actually see her getting along with Faith before her heel-turn. (Unlike with someone like Cordelia, who they pretty much were in a feud for all of high school apparently.)

It’s not that Willow and Faith had tons of scenes together, but they were fine with the other. And even with Bad Girls, we don’t really see Willow taking out her feelings on Faith. She’s only confronting Buffy about it in Consequences. Her being openly hostile towards Faith comes after what Faith did to Buffy and Xander in that episode.

Which is why I like the reading we get in this episode; that Willow’s main source of dislike for Anya comes from her fear of Anya eventually hurting Xander.

I still think that there’s more to it though. Willow has been making snide and cruel remarks about Anya ever since early season 4. It feels personal, not to mention that it started way before Xander and Anya’s relationship became serious enough to lead to one of them seriously hurting the other. So… the jealousy is probably still a factor.

But also, there is actually some personal history here too with Doppelgangland. Anya used Willow for a spell that ended up bringing her evil vampire alterego to their world, so there’s a whole lot of trust issues and baggage there to begin with. (And that’s without using the later metaphoric interpretation of magic from season 4. I mean… “It did get a little sexy, didn’t it?”)

We’ve also just got a classic setup of two characters with similar and opposite traits in ways that will never allow them to bond above a certain level on the show. Where Anya is blunt and forward, Willow is self-conscious and cagey. While Willow tiptoes and calculates, Anya just bulldozes through everything.

And yet as Anya points out, both of them have also been approached by D’Hoffryn to become vengeance demons, proving that they both have the potential for great destruction. They feel things very deeply, are not especially good at dealing with strong, negative emotions, and are prone to lash out with them. They will also both have a complex relationship to their power eventually.

So I like that this is the conflict that we’re still left with. They mostly resolve the part that involves Xander, but these are still two very different and yet similar characters who will continue to have trouble relating to each other. And that can be okay.

When Anya confronts Willow about her own fears, regarding how Willow might poison Xander against her, we’ve also got what I believe is our first confirmation from Willow regarding her sexuality. I’ll just bookmark that line and its exact wording (“Gay now!”), and put it away for now. I might get back to it before the end of the season. Because I don’t know what’s good for me.

One thing’s for sure, I really enjoyed the episode, and having Willow and Anya work together by the end to help Buffy to defeat Olaf.

Good job, team!

#buffy rewatch 2k19 #btvs talk #btvs