Earshot
The Good;
It's all stunning. Jonathon shows his star quality, the mindreading is excellent, the comedy and action fantastic. If I was to select one ep to show to people to demonstrate how great the series is I think it would be this one. The only thing that could make it better would be if Faith and Dawn were in it.
The Bad;
Um? Well, the excuse of why Buffy can't read Angel's mind is rather stupid. It's also a letdown that we never get to read Faith's thoughts.
Best line;
Hard to pick but I think I'll go for Jonathon 'You all think I'm an idiot. A SHORT idiot!" (although at 5'2 he's only an inch shorter than SMG, not "3 feet tall"). The one I use all the time though is Oz's 'I call that a radical interpretation of the text' plus Angel's 'I'm a funny guy'. Buffy's entire speech to Jonathon is just too beautiful for words.
Wheldon Cliches;
Character death;
None, thankfully
Shot;
Again none although Jonathon has a deer-rifle to kill himself. Some have asked why he uses something as cumbersome as a rifle but even the US has some gun control and they're easier to get than a handgun.
Tied up;
Not this ep
Knocked out;
Dinner lady by Buffy and Buffy herself faints.
Women good/men bad;
Again a female villain
Jeez!;
RAT POISON IN THE JELLY! The dinner lady is actually a recurring character, she's also amongst the mob in BBB. Xander's comment on 'taking out the place with a semi-automatic' and later admission that this is 'bordering on trendy at this point' is obviously near the knuckle. You wonder if things had worked out differently if Xander could have been one of season 6's trio (making them a quartet).
Kinky dinky;
Buffy is flattered by one of the male students admiring her beauty (love her bashful preening) then shocked that he wants to slam her against the lockers and ravish her (love to know what the second guy in that scene was thinking?). She won't always be so dainty, one day she'll happily allow Spike to do that to her and a whole lot more! But maybe it's an inherited thing amongst the Summer's girls as we finally discover the truth about Joyce and Ripper and the handcuffs on the hood of the police car? And Dawn will of course end up giving RJ a lapdance in 'Him'. Seems denial and sluttiness run in the Summer's family? (as well as incredible beauty). Willow worries that Buffy will develop a 'boy demon part' as her aspect of the demon. Oz and Xander admire Cordy and the cheerleaders. Freddy describes them a 'pseudo prostitutes whipping men up into a sexual frenzy'. Wes considers himself a very bad man for lusting after Cordy. Cordy has kneemarks on her back but claims their from the cheerleading pyramid. Once again Xander shows his yen for older women, fancying the English teacher. Willow tells Jonathon that 'fantasies are fun'. Xander questioning of a trio of babes seems to resemble the questions Playboy ask their Playmate of the Month rather than the FBIs serial killer profile.
Calling Captain Subtext;
Xander once again has one of his uncomfortable talks with Larry. Despite being able to read Willow's mind Buffy doesn't pick up any hints of lesbianism. Her reading of Cordy's mind demonstrates that Cordy really doesn't have a subtext, she literally says what she thinks. Nice to see that Othello is still relevant in supernatural teen US series, Faith not only Buffy's Iago but representing the 'dark side of Buffy herself'? Xander considers Wes 'Pierce Brosnany' which is a weird way for one straight man to think of another.
Guantanamo Bay;
Of course this is the ep which was postponed by the Columbine massacre. For UK fans it meant that we got to see the last eps of season 3 FIRST and if you waited for the video boxsets wonderful vigin eps one after the other. Willow interrogates Jonathom again.
Scoobies to the ER;
Where's Dawn?
It would have been interesting to hear Dawn's thoughts about all things Sunnydale. The only time we see Wes meet Joyce and presumably the littlelest Summers as well. Does Dawn ever learn about Joyce and Ripper's tryst?
Questions and observations;
Wonderful in just so many ways, perhaps the most perfect ep of Buffy ever.
Recently went to see The Punisher; War Zone (not good) and was proud of myself in recognising one of the henchmen as Freddy Iverson from this ep. Xander's maths needs work. Snyder is a Bangels fan. Love the headlines in the school paper, especially 'Apathy on the rise, no one cares'. The final tree gag makes me laugh every time and was apparently ASH's idea. The mislead with Jonathon is so clever. Speaking of minor recurring characters we also have 'Asian Joe' an extra whom you see a lot in the background at SDH. Here he's the guy who thinks about being a software jillionaire, his first and possibly only line in the series. Would the Flaying of the Demon Azareth really be a bad thing? Presumably for the demon Azerath? Percy becomes a recurring character. 'Magic' Jane Espensons commentary is wonderful. The demons closely resemble the Drakh from Babylon 5. Angel comments that in his whole life he's only ever loved one girl, Buffy, which is bad news for Darla in season 2 of Angel;TS. As Jane comments we see Angel hunting solo which is rare before his own show. What is with Willow's hat, is she taking up flyfishing or something?
Marks out of 10; 10/10 , up there with Dopplegangland as possibly the best ep ever.
The Good;
It's all stunning. Jonathon shows his star quality, the mindreading is excellent, the comedy and action fantastic. If I was to select one ep to show to people to demonstrate how great the series is I think it would be this one. The only thing that could make it better would be if Faith and Dawn were in it.
The Bad;
Um? Well, the excuse of why Buffy can't read Angel's mind is rather stupid. It's also a letdown that we never get to read Faith's thoughts.
Best line;
Hard to pick but I think I'll go for Jonathon 'You all think I'm an idiot. A SHORT idiot!" (although at 5'2 he's only an inch shorter than SMG, not "3 feet tall"). The one I use all the time though is Oz's 'I call that a radical interpretation of the text' plus Angel's 'I'm a funny guy'. Buffy's entire speech to Jonathon is just too beautiful for words.
Wheldon Cliches;
Character death;
None, thankfully
Shot;
Again none although Jonathon has a deer-rifle to kill himself. Some have asked why he uses something as cumbersome as a rifle but even the US has some gun control and they're easier to get than a handgun.
Tied up;
Not this ep
Knocked out;
Dinner lady by Buffy and Buffy herself faints.
Women good/men bad;
Again a female villain
Jeez!;
RAT POISON IN THE JELLY! The dinner lady is actually a recurring character, she's also amongst the mob in BBB. Xander's comment on 'taking out the place with a semi-automatic' and later admission that this is 'bordering on trendy at this point' is obviously near the knuckle. You wonder if things had worked out differently if Xander could have been one of season 6's trio (making them a quartet).
Kinky dinky;
Buffy is flattered by one of the male students admiring her beauty (love her bashful preening) then shocked that he wants to slam her against the lockers and ravish her (love to know what the second guy in that scene was thinking?). She won't always be so dainty, one day she'll happily allow Spike to do that to her and a whole lot more! But maybe it's an inherited thing amongst the Summer's girls as we finally discover the truth about Joyce and Ripper and the handcuffs on the hood of the police car? And Dawn will of course end up giving RJ a lapdance in 'Him'. Seems denial and sluttiness run in the Summer's family? (as well as incredible beauty). Willow worries that Buffy will develop a 'boy demon part' as her aspect of the demon. Oz and Xander admire Cordy and the cheerleaders. Freddy describes them a 'pseudo prostitutes whipping men up into a sexual frenzy'. Wes considers himself a very bad man for lusting after Cordy. Cordy has kneemarks on her back but claims their from the cheerleading pyramid. Once again Xander shows his yen for older women, fancying the English teacher. Willow tells Jonathon that 'fantasies are fun'. Xander questioning of a trio of babes seems to resemble the questions Playboy ask their Playmate of the Month rather than the FBIs serial killer profile.
Calling Captain Subtext;
Xander once again has one of his uncomfortable talks with Larry. Despite being able to read Willow's mind Buffy doesn't pick up any hints of lesbianism. Her reading of Cordy's mind demonstrates that Cordy really doesn't have a subtext, she literally says what she thinks. Nice to see that Othello is still relevant in supernatural teen US series, Faith not only Buffy's Iago but representing the 'dark side of Buffy herself'? Xander considers Wes 'Pierce Brosnany' which is a weird way for one straight man to think of another.
Guantanamo Bay;
Of course this is the ep which was postponed by the Columbine massacre. For UK fans it meant that we got to see the last eps of season 3 FIRST and if you waited for the video boxsets wonderful vigin eps one after the other. Willow interrogates Jonathom again.
Scoobies to the ER;
Where's Dawn?
It would have been interesting to hear Dawn's thoughts about all things Sunnydale. The only time we see Wes meet Joyce and presumably the littlelest Summers as well. Does Dawn ever learn about Joyce and Ripper's tryst?
Questions and observations;
Wonderful in just so many ways, perhaps the most perfect ep of Buffy ever.
Recently went to see The Punisher; War Zone (not good) and was proud of myself in recognising one of the henchmen as Freddy Iverson from this ep. Xander's maths needs work. Snyder is a Bangels fan. Love the headlines in the school paper, especially 'Apathy on the rise, no one cares'. The final tree gag makes me laugh every time and was apparently ASH's idea. The mislead with Jonathon is so clever. Speaking of minor recurring characters we also have 'Asian Joe' an extra whom you see a lot in the background at SDH. Here he's the guy who thinks about being a software jillionaire, his first and possibly only line in the series. Would the Flaying of the Demon Azareth really be a bad thing? Presumably for the demon Azerath? Percy becomes a recurring character. 'Magic' Jane Espensons commentary is wonderful. The demons closely resemble the Drakh from Babylon 5. Angel comments that in his whole life he's only ever loved one girl, Buffy, which is bad news for Darla in season 2 of Angel;TS. As Jane comments we see Angel hunting solo which is rare before his own show. What is with Willow's hat, is she taking up flyfishing or something?
Marks out of 10; 10/10 , up there with Dopplegangland as possibly the best ep ever.
