Buffy - Season 6 impressions (episode 14)
Jul. 23rd, 2006 01:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thalia_seawoodOlder and Far Away
For a summary click here.
Behold, another update! *g*
I watched this episode immediately after Dead Things. I really wanted to know what would happen next: How would Buffy deal with her breakdown at the end of Dead Things, how would Spike deal with the situation, what would Tara do?
While this episode is not as brilliant as Dead Things, it's a nice follow up episode. Everybody tries to get back to normal and pretend nothing out of the ordinary has happened - which is very realistic. Despite this, the episode deals with some big issues - how to handle change and loss or Dawn's kleptomania. At the same time, it has some delightfully funny moments.
- The episode starts out with Buffy and Dawn interacting. Dawn visibly makes an effort to please Buffy. She agrees to everything Buffy asks her to do and does so with fairly good cheer. Only when Buffy has left the house do we see that Dawn really was struggling to uphold the cheerful facade.
Since Dawn was rather short with Buffy during past season 6 episodes, it's interesting to see that her attitude has changed. I think that she has realised how fragile Buffy is, so she now tries her best to hold the situation together. Perhaps she also hopes that being good for Buffy, will bring her some attention.
- In the next scene, we see that Dawn feels very much alone. She tries to spend times with the scoobies, but they are all busy with their own lifes.
- Love the scene with Halfrek/Cecily as school counsellor.
It took me a while to recognise her again and then was wondering if they just had conveniently reused the actress who played Cecily - well, it turns out that Halfrek and Cecily are one and the same "person".
I wonder if Cecily was already a vengeance demon when she told William he was beneath her. After some deliberation and watching the season 7 episode Selfless, I think it's unlikely.
If Cecily was already a vengeance demon back then, I doubt she would have wasted her time with William. After all, why crush some man's ego as a professional vengeance demon when this man is absolutely harmless and wouldn't hurt a fly? There would have been more interesting tasks for her. Plus wreaking vengeance seems to be a business involving magic and sometimes blood, not just making a hurtful remark.
It makes much more sense to assume that Cecily became a vengeance demon, because she had a certain predilection to it, e.g. already knew as a human how to hurt others and enjoying that power to a certain extent.
Cecily/Halfrek is also embarassed when she meets William/Spike. If she had been a vengeance demon back when they first met, there would be no reason for her to be embarassed. In fact, she could make a cutting remark about his pathetic past. But she doesn't which suggests she doesn't want Spike to tell everyone about *her* past either. She'd rather not have everyone know about her human origins. I'm not even sure that Spike does recognize her. After all, he meets her in her demon form, but she certainly doesn't want to risk a scene. Cecily/Halfrek has always been keen on appearing dignified.
- I wanted to give Dawn a hug here:
People keep ... people have a tendency to go away ... and, I miss them. And sometimes ... I wish I could just make them stop. Going away.
The wish she makes is very understandable in her situation. You can feel how she yearns for some constants in her life.
Halfrek twisting this yearning into a less than than pleasant reality is quite sinister. I've been wondering why she does it. Does Halfrek genuinely want to make life better for Dawn or does she want to cause some mischief and targetting the Slayer's sister is bound to provide some nice entertainment? I suppose she does believe in helping Dawn - after all, she prefers to be called "Justice Demon" and mentions repeatedly that she heard Dawn's inner anguish all over town. Ironically, whenevervengeance justice comes into play, the person who makes the wish and is supposed to feel avenged is hurt just as much. That's a theme that's explored nicely in several other episodes, e.g. in Beneath You and Selfless.
Dawn's wish reminded me that she and Buffy have very similar issues. After all, Buffy also had to deal with big time loss in season 5 and season 6 (her mother, in a way her father, Riley, Giles, the close friendship with the Scoobies). So yes, Buffy is in a position to understand Dawn.
- I really like the party setup and the many awkward encounters between the different characters. To list a few of them:
There's Buffy meeting Tara for the first time after having a breakdown in front of her and entrusting her with the secret that Spike's has been her lover for some time.
There's Tara and Willow meeting again - both obviously still in love with one another.
There's Spike showing up after being beaten up by Buffy.
There's Tara meeting Spike with her new knowledge. (Love the scenes between them. Tara often comes across as very harmless and naive, but she has a quirky sense of humor underneath. And isn't it neat that she plays poker with Spike and Clem? :-))
There are two people who are unaware of the supernatural world: Sophie and Richard. Seeing them deal with the ensuing situation - and also Clem, the nicest demon ever - provides some nice comic relief.
- The interaction between Buffy and Spike is ... interesting. I was surprised by how close they still are to one another. There are no apologies and - nearly - no accusations. In fact, they are friendlier with one another than they usually are. I like this development: Despite what happened, they know and understand one another. It also hints at what happens later on: Even when worse things happen between them, there's always the chance for them working together again.
- The episode does a good job with building a feeling of claustrophia. At first the party is fun and everybody is having a great time. But then there are more and more signs that noone is able to leave the house any longer.
The situation reminded me of Waiting in the Wings: In both cases, a character is incapable of living with change and the results are being frozen in a static reality.
- Dawn and Buffy finally have a talk about what has been troubling Dawn. After this talk, Buffy has to make the painful realisation that her sister has become a cleptomaniac. Dawn, on the other hand, has to realise how much it hurts when you disappoint the trust of your family and friends.
Once again, Buffy should be able to understand Dawn. If I remember correctly, she also had a problem with stealing when she was a teenager.
- Another issue the episode touches is Willow's relationship to magic. We learn that Willow hasn't disposed of all her magical equipment, something Tara isn't happy to hear. Despite this, Tara later on stands up for Willow when Anya and Xander want her to use magic in order to help them escape the house and Willow refuses to do so.
- Halfrek: Did you think I'd be stopped by a sword in the chest?
This could give Buffy a clue for her big fight in Selfless. :-)
- Love the irony that Halfrek herself is unable to leave the house again due to her spell. Nice twist.
- All in all, not an outstanding episode, but certainly not a bad one either. I even watched it a second time and was just as entertained during this second viewing.
Here's a status overview regarding which episodes I've seen and/or commented on. If you are new to my LJ, please check this info so you don't post any big spoilers when you leave comments. Thanks!
For a summary click here.
Behold, another update! *g*
I watched this episode immediately after Dead Things. I really wanted to know what would happen next: How would Buffy deal with her breakdown at the end of Dead Things, how would Spike deal with the situation, what would Tara do?
While this episode is not as brilliant as Dead Things, it's a nice follow up episode. Everybody tries to get back to normal and pretend nothing out of the ordinary has happened - which is very realistic. Despite this, the episode deals with some big issues - how to handle change and loss or Dawn's kleptomania. At the same time, it has some delightfully funny moments.
- The episode starts out with Buffy and Dawn interacting. Dawn visibly makes an effort to please Buffy. She agrees to everything Buffy asks her to do and does so with fairly good cheer. Only when Buffy has left the house do we see that Dawn really was struggling to uphold the cheerful facade.
Since Dawn was rather short with Buffy during past season 6 episodes, it's interesting to see that her attitude has changed. I think that she has realised how fragile Buffy is, so she now tries her best to hold the situation together. Perhaps she also hopes that being good for Buffy, will bring her some attention.
- In the next scene, we see that Dawn feels very much alone. She tries to spend times with the scoobies, but they are all busy with their own lifes.
- Love the scene with Halfrek/Cecily as school counsellor.
It took me a while to recognise her again and then was wondering if they just had conveniently reused the actress who played Cecily - well, it turns out that Halfrek and Cecily are one and the same "person".
I wonder if Cecily was already a vengeance demon when she told William he was beneath her. After some deliberation and watching the season 7 episode Selfless, I think it's unlikely.
If Cecily was already a vengeance demon back then, I doubt she would have wasted her time with William. After all, why crush some man's ego as a professional vengeance demon when this man is absolutely harmless and wouldn't hurt a fly? There would have been more interesting tasks for her. Plus wreaking vengeance seems to be a business involving magic and sometimes blood, not just making a hurtful remark.
It makes much more sense to assume that Cecily became a vengeance demon, because she had a certain predilection to it, e.g. already knew as a human how to hurt others and enjoying that power to a certain extent.
Cecily/Halfrek is also embarassed when she meets William/Spike. If she had been a vengeance demon back when they first met, there would be no reason for her to be embarassed. In fact, she could make a cutting remark about his pathetic past. But she doesn't which suggests she doesn't want Spike to tell everyone about *her* past either. She'd rather not have everyone know about her human origins. I'm not even sure that Spike does recognize her. After all, he meets her in her demon form, but she certainly doesn't want to risk a scene. Cecily/Halfrek has always been keen on appearing dignified.
- I wanted to give Dawn a hug here:
People keep ... people have a tendency to go away ... and, I miss them. And sometimes ... I wish I could just make them stop. Going away.
The wish she makes is very understandable in her situation. You can feel how she yearns for some constants in her life.
Halfrek twisting this yearning into a less than than pleasant reality is quite sinister. I've been wondering why she does it. Does Halfrek genuinely want to make life better for Dawn or does she want to cause some mischief and targetting the Slayer's sister is bound to provide some nice entertainment? I suppose she does believe in helping Dawn - after all, she prefers to be called "Justice Demon" and mentions repeatedly that she heard Dawn's inner anguish all over town. Ironically, whenever
Dawn's wish reminded me that she and Buffy have very similar issues. After all, Buffy also had to deal with big time loss in season 5 and season 6 (her mother, in a way her father, Riley, Giles, the close friendship with the Scoobies). So yes, Buffy is in a position to understand Dawn.
- I really like the party setup and the many awkward encounters between the different characters. To list a few of them:
There's Buffy meeting Tara for the first time after having a breakdown in front of her and entrusting her with the secret that Spike's has been her lover for some time.
There's Tara and Willow meeting again - both obviously still in love with one another.
There's Spike showing up after being beaten up by Buffy.
There's Tara meeting Spike with her new knowledge. (Love the scenes between them. Tara often comes across as very harmless and naive, but she has a quirky sense of humor underneath. And isn't it neat that she plays poker with Spike and Clem? :-))
There are two people who are unaware of the supernatural world: Sophie and Richard. Seeing them deal with the ensuing situation - and also Clem, the nicest demon ever - provides some nice comic relief.
- The interaction between Buffy and Spike is ... interesting. I was surprised by how close they still are to one another. There are no apologies and - nearly - no accusations. In fact, they are friendlier with one another than they usually are. I like this development: Despite what happened, they know and understand one another. It also hints at what happens later on: Even when worse things happen between them, there's always the chance for them working together again.
- The episode does a good job with building a feeling of claustrophia. At first the party is fun and everybody is having a great time. But then there are more and more signs that noone is able to leave the house any longer.
The situation reminded me of Waiting in the Wings: In both cases, a character is incapable of living with change and the results are being frozen in a static reality.
- Dawn and Buffy finally have a talk about what has been troubling Dawn. After this talk, Buffy has to make the painful realisation that her sister has become a cleptomaniac. Dawn, on the other hand, has to realise how much it hurts when you disappoint the trust of your family and friends.
Once again, Buffy should be able to understand Dawn. If I remember correctly, she also had a problem with stealing when she was a teenager.
- Another issue the episode touches is Willow's relationship to magic. We learn that Willow hasn't disposed of all her magical equipment, something Tara isn't happy to hear. Despite this, Tara later on stands up for Willow when Anya and Xander want her to use magic in order to help them escape the house and Willow refuses to do so.
- Halfrek: Did you think I'd be stopped by a sword in the chest?
This could give Buffy a clue for her big fight in Selfless. :-)
- Love the irony that Halfrek herself is unable to leave the house again due to her spell. Nice twist.
- All in all, not an outstanding episode, but certainly not a bad one either. I even watched it a second time and was just as entertained during this second viewing.
Here's a status overview regarding which episodes I've seen and/or commented on. If you are new to my LJ, please check this info so you don't post any big spoilers when you leave comments. Thanks!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 12:17 am (UTC)Season 6 was when I really started to warm up to Dawn - she moved from annoying little sister/plot device to character I could care about.
I've always wanted to see a fic with Spike and Halfrek running into one another and having a nice, long chat.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 08:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 11:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 12:20 pm (UTC)The Ice Queen by
Buffy Summer's Diary by Lori. OAFA if Buffy sounded like Bridget Jones...
Enjoy!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 08:37 pm (UTC)I read "The Ice Queen" today. Very nice characterisation for Cecily, well researched - and the ending rocks.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 04:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 08:46 pm (UTC)vengeancejustice comes into play, the person who makes the wish and is supposed to feel avenged is hurt just as much. That's a theme that's explored nicely in several other episodes, e.g. in Beneath You and Selfless.Going right back to the start, and The Wish. Cordelia is the person making the wish, and of course she dies after a third of the episode is barely over. So do Halfrek and Anyanka believe they are avenging children and spouses of unfaithful guys respectively? I think they do. But they also apparantly never try to do this in a manner which doesn't cause pain all around - "they all deserve it", says Aud, and thus qualifies herself in D'Hoffryn's eyes.
Buffy and stealing as a teen: there is the flashback from Becoming when 15-years-old Buffy tells her first watcher "I totally meant to pay for that lipstick", assuming he's from a store she visited, so she apparantly did, but presumably not often enough to get caught. (Of course, she burned down her school in Los Angeles, so perhaps everyone forgot that by comparison.*g*)
Older and Far Away is the conclusion of the last sentence of Empire of the Sun, the book Dawn's class is reading, by J. Ballard. (And filmed by Steven Spielberg.)
no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 09:34 pm (UTC)Very true! Joss does a good job of making the point that revenge doesn't pay. The stories are so well told that the message doesn't feel moralistic at all.
Older and Far Away is the conclusion of the last sentence of Empire of the Sun, the book Dawn's class is reading, by J. Ballard. (And filmed by Steven Spielberg.)
As always I'm impressed by all the details you know! Thanks for sharing!