I posted about Buffy on a list, but someone pointed out that I hadn't posted *here*. Bad me. So because I'm lazy I'm going to repost my comments with some editing, summarizing where necessary the comments of the person I was responding to.
[Spike is much weaker than he should be.]
I think his soft, warm-milk sort of aspect hit a not unpleasant tone in this ep. I mean, I like Classic Spike, but I'm also willing to like New Spike, if they just flesh him out. I was carping about his passivity recently, but I'm beginning to think it's not so much passivity that bothers me--in terms of baffled inaction--as it is expressiveness. He just needs to express *something*.
Has anyone else noticed the amazing disappearing eyebrows, by the way? In version Wicked 1.0 he used to have these black bad-boy brows, and now he's getting these pale, almost invisible ones. At least that's my impression, without having rewatched yet.
["Principal Wood is a beautiful man."]
My god, he is. And funny. And now possibly menacing! I like him.
[Re Nikki]
I'm disappointed they couldn't get the FFL actress. This model prettiness of the replacement actress rather irks me.
[Re the weird bloody tear in Spike's shirt]
Yeah, *that* was strange. They were clearly telegraphing it, but I'm not sure why.
[Buffy, "still in love with Spike"--that's odd.]
I didn't think of that [as being a clue that there's something odd going on with the timespace continuum of the Buffyverse right now]. I just thought it was a Freudian slip.
I was really, really pleased with last night's ep overall. It felt like someone's creative hand was finally, gently beginning to gather things up and form them into a pattern that might come to make sense. The Principal Wood plotline was electrifyingly cool! I mean. Just. So. Cool. *bounce*
So, hey--it seemed like the penny only dropped when they hit the high school basement ("You're a vampire"), and yet he was trying to look at Spike in the rear-view mirror of the car on the drive over, and he wouldn't have shown up--so that makes no sense to me.
Miscellany...
Loved Spike's very sincere declaration that he was okay with Buffy's date, followed by his persistent desire to show up and interrupt it. Snerk. Nice fan-fictiony feel to that interruption scene, too, and the car drive.
Xander's date--man, that has got to be the final straw for the poor guy. He *cannot* win. And isn't it fascinating, when you think about it, that of Willow's "Something Blue" spells, 2 of the 3 (3?) have a suggestively lingering quality? The Spuffy, and Xander's demon-magnetude. It would be perfectly neat if we could find even a nice *metaphor* for Giles's blindness, but oh well.
Speaking of Spuffy. What to say? It was just sweetness. I was happy when they had their hallway chat and they both seemed to be moving on their separate ways, and equally happy during their couch convo when it surfaced that there might still be some sparkage under the ashes. I kind of expect that, if they go the S/B route, they'll probably deal with the "attempted rape" at some point. ME's stock and my trust are riding a high curve again at the moment. (The hand touch in the basement! Awww.)
Andrew--much less annoying this ep. ("You're a peach.") Showing some brass there, standing up to the First. Geek gay bonding on Captain Archer. There are. No words.
Jonathan--oh my god. Danny Strong was just *brilliant*. You know, I'd been coming to admire him more and more over the years, but I never really got how he could have been seriously considered for Xander's role until last night. Because, man. That subtlety, that coolness and menace and intelligence, so different in tone than any turn he'd given on the show before--he was amazing. Wait...hold up. Must turn off the faucet of my gush before you all drown. {g}
Willow had a few nice moments here and there. AH doesn't laugh quite as effectively as she cries, though. The ha-ha of forced amusment at Buffy's deluded career optimism--D.B. Woodside pulled it off better.
Anya--not really registering that strongly here. Except that there are really almost no repercussions from "Selfless," are there?
Giles--weird. Can't get a handle on what's going on with him. The recap of the fight in London was rather lame, and as others have said--what the fuck is up with that? Unless it's going to have some future significance, there was no real pay-off to the "what-if?" tension of his status. Nice speech towards the end, where he forced them all to get serious, and yet, I kinda expected him to leave the room, and then for everyone else to have one of those bathetic moments where comedy ensues to undermine the tension. I mean, it came off a bit harsh--sure, there's a primeval evil running around and trying to kill everyone, but life goes on. But as we were reminded a beat later, Buffy and Xander hadn't known about the murder attempt of the potentials, and that was rightly sobering, I imagine. (Where the hell were the other potentials, anyway? Sigh.)
I thought Buffy's date was very nicely done--her simple happiness at the flirtiness, her sense of normalcy, and then her opportunity to bond with someone on the good-v-evil thing, someone who isn't too much a freak, as far as she (we) can tell. And as I said, Wood's backstory was fascinating, and his reactions after that very cool to watch.
So, I'd forgotten one thing that really bugged me--Xander got stabbed. In the *gut*. That should have been a serious bleeder, causing internal damage that needed hospital attention. And yet he's fine, just a makeshift bandage and home again. Lame, lame, lame. Grrrr.
And, um, thoughts on Angel.
What can I say? I was damn pleased. I made a few comments here, on the subject of Angelus & DB's acting. Must recant
I just loved it all--Angel carried it the whole way through, and his interactions with Wes made my toes curl. Lovelovelovelalala!