Buffy - Season 4 impressions (episode 7)
Nov. 15th, 2005 09:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thalia_seawoodThe Initiative
A summary can be found here or here.
This episode brings a lot of previously prepared plot points into the open.
Here are my observations in chronological order:
- Since Buffy has entered college she has become extremely clumsy. It's amusing to watch her fight not only demons, but also the contraptions that make our daily lifeeasier harder. I'm still amazed though *why* she has become so clumsy.
- Riley knocks Parker out. He gets a plus point for this, though I'd wish he had done the same for any girl and not just for Buffy. But hey, this is Mr Solid so it would have been too much to expect.
- Spike is Riley's opposite: Where Riley first thinks and then acts (most of the time), Spike most often acts on impulse. He can get so carried away by his emotions that he doesn't reflect a lot: 'The Slayer is my enemy. Therefore she must be responsible for my imprisonment.' - He's way too hasty in his reasoning here.
- Riley and Spike even get parallel lines:
Riley : (Walking off.) Well, I guess I'm gonna go see a girl.
Cut to the facility. We see Spike on the floor uncouncious. Beside him is an empty sack of blood. Two lab types grab him and are loading him onto a gourney. As they're starting to strap him in his eyes open. He grabs the lab guy by him by the throat.
Spike : Sorry, can't stay. Got to go see a girl.
- We finally learn Oz's full name: Daniel Osbourne. I can't believe I never even asked myself if Oz had a "real" name; Oz fits him so well. Someone who needs to use so few words, needs a short name.
- Buffy standing up to Walsh: Love her for it. This takes more guts than fighting demons, IMO. - I don't appreciate Walsh's super-tough attitude, but she doesn't mind it when people state their opinion. Walsh does admire courage.
- I liked the talk between Riley and Willow.
Willow : Ok, say that I help, and you start a conversation. It goes great. You like Buffy, she likes you. You spend time together, feelings grow deeper, and one day, without even realizing it, you find you're in love. Time stops, and it feels like the whole world's made for you two, and you two alone, until the day one of you leaves and rips the still-beating heart from the other, who's now a broken, hollow, mockery of the human condition.
Riley : (Looking a bit put out, but is glib.) Yep, that's the plan.
- Harmony is priceless: She must be the only vampire in existence who puts up posters of unicorns. :-))
- The reunion of Spike and Harmony cracked me up:
Harmony : Bastard. You dumped me and staked me and hurt me and left me--
Spike : I know, sugar, but you're forgetting one other thing I did. (He gets a touchy feely look.) I missed you.
Harmony : Really? (He holds up his arms, in a "Well here I am," sort of way.) Oh! Just don't ever do that to me again. (She leaps into his arms hugging him.)
Spike : Oh, never, my little foam latte. Your blondie bear is here to stay.
Spike's petnames are painfully funny and absolutely terrible. (It makes a lot of sense that he used to be a bad poet. :-))
- Nice moment with Giles and Xander:
Cut to Giles and Xander hiding in the woods.
Xander: Every man faces this moment. Here. Now. Watching. Waiting For an unseen enemy that has no face. Nerve endings screaming in silence. Never knowing which thought might be your last.
Giles : Oh, shut up.
- Another funny highlight of the show is the fight between Xander and Harmony. The most girly fight ever - and it's in slow motion! Harmony never even puts on her demon face, she fights just as badly as she would have as a human. And let's just say Xander has fought with more style in the past. I guess he's overwhelmed by Harmony's girlishness.
- Harmony burning Spike's stuff: Usually I'm against the destruction of someone else's belongings. But Spike had it coming. So, go, Harmony, go!
- Riley is observant. He immediatley notices that the song by the Dingoes does bring up painful memories for Willow. And he's nice enough to have the song switched right away. He gets another plus point from me for this.
- Riley and his friends entering the place of the Iniative is very James Bondish. :-)
- So far, I don't like the Iniative. Yes, Buffy kills demons, too, but she doesn't experiment on them first. IMO, these guys have very questionable morals. - I like Riley, though. I get honorable vibes from him. I don't think he has ever doubted the Iniative so far; he isn't really the type to question things quickly. It's telling that it takes the intervention of his friends, before he realises he's attracted to Buffy.
- My favorite scene is Spike and Willow talking after he hasn't managed to bite her. Such a nice twist on all the man-fails-to-have-sex scenes. :-)
Spike : I don't understand. This sort of thing's never happened to me before. (He's sitting on Willow's bed.)
Willow : Maybe you were nervous.
Spike : I felt all right when I started. Let's try again. (He leaps on her and draws back immediatly. He tries again and the same thing happens.) Ow! Oh! Ow! Damn it! (He gets up and kicks the dresser. He starts to pace around the room.)
Willow : Maybe you're trying too hard. Doesn't this happen to every vampire?
Spike : Not to me, it doesn't!
Willow : It's me, isn't it?
Spike : What are you talking about?
Willow : Well, you came looking for Buffy, then settled. I--I... You didn't want to bite me. I just happened to be around.
Spike : Piffle!
Willow : I know I'm not the kind of girl vamps like to sink their teeth into. It's always like, "ooh, you're like a sister to me," or, "oh, you're such a good friend."
Spike : Don't be ridiculous. I'd bite you in a heartbeat.
Willow : Really?
Spike sits on her bed again.
Spike : Thought about it.
Willow : When?
Spike : Remember last year, you had on that... Fuzzy pink number with the lilac underneath?
Willow : I never would have guessed. You played the blood-lust kinda cool.
Spike : Mmm. I hate being obvious. All fang-y and "rrrr!" Takes the mystery out.
Willow : But if you could...
Spike : If I could, yeah.
Willow : You know, this doesn't make you any less terrifying.
Spike : Don't patronize me.
[...]
Spike : I'm only 126.
Willow : You're being too hard on yourself. Why don't we wait a half an hour and try again? Or... (She picks up a lamp and smashes it over his head. She runs over to her door and tries to leave, but it's locked.)
I find it interesting that Spike makes Willow the offer to turn her into a vampire in the very beginning of this scene. These two would make quite a vicious vampire couple. She would do the planning and he would do the fighting. Like Drusilla, the vampire version of Willow enjoyed inflicting pain very much.
And: How comes Spike is remembering what Willow was wearing a year in the past? That's very odd and not at all typical for (heterosexual) men. I have to think about this tidbit and then overinterpret it. :-)
- What the heck does the Iniative do with "contained civilians"? What's this "quarantine" they are talking about? - I really don't trust them.
- Walsh as a military leader makes perfect sense. She's the Mon Mothma of Buffy.
A summary can be found here or here.
This episode brings a lot of previously prepared plot points into the open.
Here are my observations in chronological order:
- Since Buffy has entered college she has become extremely clumsy. It's amusing to watch her fight not only demons, but also the contraptions that make our daily life
- Riley knocks Parker out. He gets a plus point for this, though I'd wish he had done the same for any girl and not just for Buffy. But hey, this is Mr Solid so it would have been too much to expect.
- Spike is Riley's opposite: Where Riley first thinks and then acts (most of the time), Spike most often acts on impulse. He can get so carried away by his emotions that he doesn't reflect a lot: 'The Slayer is my enemy. Therefore she must be responsible for my imprisonment.' - He's way too hasty in his reasoning here.
- Riley and Spike even get parallel lines:
Riley : (Walking off.) Well, I guess I'm gonna go see a girl.
Cut to the facility. We see Spike on the floor uncouncious. Beside him is an empty sack of blood. Two lab types grab him and are loading him onto a gourney. As they're starting to strap him in his eyes open. He grabs the lab guy by him by the throat.
Spike : Sorry, can't stay. Got to go see a girl.
- We finally learn Oz's full name: Daniel Osbourne. I can't believe I never even asked myself if Oz had a "real" name; Oz fits him so well. Someone who needs to use so few words, needs a short name.
- Buffy standing up to Walsh: Love her for it. This takes more guts than fighting demons, IMO. - I don't appreciate Walsh's super-tough attitude, but she doesn't mind it when people state their opinion. Walsh does admire courage.
- I liked the talk between Riley and Willow.
Willow : Ok, say that I help, and you start a conversation. It goes great. You like Buffy, she likes you. You spend time together, feelings grow deeper, and one day, without even realizing it, you find you're in love. Time stops, and it feels like the whole world's made for you two, and you two alone, until the day one of you leaves and rips the still-beating heart from the other, who's now a broken, hollow, mockery of the human condition.
Riley : (Looking a bit put out, but is glib.) Yep, that's the plan.
- Harmony is priceless: She must be the only vampire in existence who puts up posters of unicorns. :-))
- The reunion of Spike and Harmony cracked me up:
Harmony : Bastard. You dumped me and staked me and hurt me and left me--
Spike : I know, sugar, but you're forgetting one other thing I did. (He gets a touchy feely look.) I missed you.
Harmony : Really? (He holds up his arms, in a "Well here I am," sort of way.) Oh! Just don't ever do that to me again. (She leaps into his arms hugging him.)
Spike : Oh, never, my little foam latte. Your blondie bear is here to stay.
Spike's petnames are painfully funny and absolutely terrible. (It makes a lot of sense that he used to be a bad poet. :-))
- Nice moment with Giles and Xander:
Cut to Giles and Xander hiding in the woods.
Xander: Every man faces this moment. Here. Now. Watching. Waiting For an unseen enemy that has no face. Nerve endings screaming in silence. Never knowing which thought might be your last.
Giles : Oh, shut up.
- Another funny highlight of the show is the fight between Xander and Harmony. The most girly fight ever - and it's in slow motion! Harmony never even puts on her demon face, she fights just as badly as she would have as a human. And let's just say Xander has fought with more style in the past. I guess he's overwhelmed by Harmony's girlishness.
- Harmony burning Spike's stuff: Usually I'm against the destruction of someone else's belongings. But Spike had it coming. So, go, Harmony, go!
- Riley is observant. He immediatley notices that the song by the Dingoes does bring up painful memories for Willow. And he's nice enough to have the song switched right away. He gets another plus point from me for this.
- Riley and his friends entering the place of the Iniative is very James Bondish. :-)
- So far, I don't like the Iniative. Yes, Buffy kills demons, too, but she doesn't experiment on them first. IMO, these guys have very questionable morals. - I like Riley, though. I get honorable vibes from him. I don't think he has ever doubted the Iniative so far; he isn't really the type to question things quickly. It's telling that it takes the intervention of his friends, before he realises he's attracted to Buffy.
- My favorite scene is Spike and Willow talking after he hasn't managed to bite her. Such a nice twist on all the man-fails-to-have-sex scenes. :-)
Spike : I don't understand. This sort of thing's never happened to me before. (He's sitting on Willow's bed.)
Willow : Maybe you were nervous.
Spike : I felt all right when I started. Let's try again. (He leaps on her and draws back immediatly. He tries again and the same thing happens.) Ow! Oh! Ow! Damn it! (He gets up and kicks the dresser. He starts to pace around the room.)
Willow : Maybe you're trying too hard. Doesn't this happen to every vampire?
Spike : Not to me, it doesn't!
Willow : It's me, isn't it?
Spike : What are you talking about?
Willow : Well, you came looking for Buffy, then settled. I--I... You didn't want to bite me. I just happened to be around.
Spike : Piffle!
Willow : I know I'm not the kind of girl vamps like to sink their teeth into. It's always like, "ooh, you're like a sister to me," or, "oh, you're such a good friend."
Spike : Don't be ridiculous. I'd bite you in a heartbeat.
Willow : Really?
Spike sits on her bed again.
Spike : Thought about it.
Willow : When?
Spike : Remember last year, you had on that... Fuzzy pink number with the lilac underneath?
Willow : I never would have guessed. You played the blood-lust kinda cool.
Spike : Mmm. I hate being obvious. All fang-y and "rrrr!" Takes the mystery out.
Willow : But if you could...
Spike : If I could, yeah.
Willow : You know, this doesn't make you any less terrifying.
Spike : Don't patronize me.
[...]
Spike : I'm only 126.
Willow : You're being too hard on yourself. Why don't we wait a half an hour and try again? Or... (She picks up a lamp and smashes it over his head. She runs over to her door and tries to leave, but it's locked.)
I find it interesting that Spike makes Willow the offer to turn her into a vampire in the very beginning of this scene. These two would make quite a vicious vampire couple. She would do the planning and he would do the fighting. Like Drusilla, the vampire version of Willow enjoyed inflicting pain very much.
And: How comes Spike is remembering what Willow was wearing a year in the past? That's very odd and not at all typical for (heterosexual) men. I have to think about this tidbit and then overinterpret it. :-)
- What the heck does the Iniative do with "contained civilians"? What's this "quarantine" they are talking about? - I really don't trust them.
- Walsh as a military leader makes perfect sense. She's the Mon Mothma of Buffy.
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no subject
Date: 2005-11-15 11:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-16 08:44 pm (UTC)So many pairing possibilities in this show. I was captivated by the possibility of Spike/Willow. :-)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-16 08:07 am (UTC)Harmony is priceless: She must be the only vampire in existence who puts up posters of unicorns. :-))
So true. And she'll never give it up! Harmony/Unicorns OTP!
And let's just say Xander has fought with more style in the past. I guess he's overwhelmed by Harmony's girlishness.
That, and he just can't react to Harmony as a vampire. To him, she's the girl he went to High School with. Of course, the reverse is true as well - Harmony reacts to him not as a walking meal but the boy from High School. It's a hilarious scene.
Riley and his friends entering the place of the Iniative is very James Bondish. :-)
Deliberately so. The Initiative layout is where the boys in the writing staff catered to their James Bond fetish.
So far, I don't like the Iniative. Yes, Buffy kills demons, too, but she doesn't experiment on them first. IMO, these guys have very questionable morals. - I like Riley, though. I get honorable vibes from him. I don't think he has ever doubted the Iniative so far; he isn't really the type to question things quickly. It's telling that it takes the intervention of his friends, before he realises he's attracted to Buffy.
You are very observant on both counts, is all I'm saying.
My favorite scene is Spike and Willow talking after he hasn't managed to bite her. Such a nice twist on all the man-fails-to-have-sex scenes. :-)
It cracks me up every time.*g*
harmony/unicorn OTP
Date: 2005-11-17 05:32 pm (UTC)I like Riley, though. I get honorable vibes from him. I don't think he has ever doubted the Iniative so far; he isn't really the type to question things quickly. It's telling that it takes the intervention of his friends, before he realises he's attracted to Buffy.
Ahh, Riley Riley -- you were right to observe earlier that he's a widely disliked character, though I do think he's also a widely loved character. It's just that the Riley-haters were so vocal when he first came on that people are convinced liking him is a hugely minority opinion.
I love Riley a great deal -- for a lot of the reasons I love Wesley -- and I think his overall character arc is wonderful.
I'm curious if you were surprised by him and his friends being part of the Initiative. I saw the later s4 episodes first and I have always wondered if I would have figured it out, watching in order. I doubt it but then, I'm not very observant.
The Spike/willow seen is indeed very funny --
Re: harmony/unicorn OTP
Date: 2005-11-18 11:11 pm (UTC)The first episode
Spike and Willow: When I look at them they feel like brother/sister to me. Which was why I was thinking they would make a brilliant vampire couple. Vampire Willow also shares certain characteristics with Drusilla: She's smart, likes to make plans and has a cruel playfulness Spike would be intrigued by.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-06 10:32 pm (UTC)I think probably because Spike was only in one S3 Episode (Lover's walk) and he was not only very drunk, but very attentive to Willow in the lovely little scene where he first threatens to cut up her face and ends with his head on her shoulder and her patting him on the knee, saying "There, there." Willow and Joyce were the ones who showed some sympathy/interest in him, so he probably remembered that, but Spike is a very observent vampire, and with his head on her shoulder I'm sure he was definitely noticing the "Fuzzy pink number with the lilac underneath". *g*
no subject
Date: 2006-03-07 08:17 pm (UTC)This gave me the thought that he must have been such a sweet human boy: He would have been one of the few men who noticed all the little details: What dress is she wearing? What's her favorite colour? What kind of chocolate does she like?