Buffy ep by ep; SAME TIME, SAME PLACE-frozen Dawn, paralell lives

[saturn5]

SAME TIME SAME PLACE

The Good;
Some lovely emotional stuff between Willow and her friends, some funny stuff with Anya and Willow but best of all paralysed Dawn is hysterical, especially love the remote control gag.

The Bad;
Not much

Best line;
Dawn (unable to move her lips) "Stop talking about vomit!"

Women good/men bad;

Jeez!;
Skinned vandals and eyeless Gnarl. Gnarl cutting Willow and eating her flesh in front of her is awful.

Kinky dinky;

Captain Subtext;
Dawn wonders when anyone in the Scoobs are ever going to ask for help when they need it, still some emotional baggage from Normal Again. Anya observes that the spell she and Willow do is a 'little sexy'. Willow seems to agree then catches herself on. Note Anya wants to do more spells afterwards but Willow refuses.Why not Winya? They could both share Xander between them and he'd sure be happy. Remember Anya eschewed the company of men for a thousand years, maybe she and Halfrek were more than just friends?

Guantanamo Bay;

Scoobies to the ER;

Nope, Willow heals herself

Missing scenes;

Apocalypses; 7,

Wheldon Cliches (with kind permission from Boo)

Scoobies in bondage:
Buffy: 8
Giles: 4
Cordy: 5
Will: 4
Jenny: 1
Angel: 4
Oz: 1
Faith: 3
Joyce: 1
Wes: 1
Xander; 2
Dawn; 4

Scoobies knocked out:
Buffy: 19
Giles: 12
Cordy: 6
Xander: 14
Will: 8
Jenny: 2
Angel: 6
Oz: 3
Faith: 1
Joyce: 3
Wes: 1
Anya;5
Dawn; 4
Tara; 1

Kills: 1 demon for Buffy
Buffy: 108 vamps, 59 demons, 6 monsters, 3 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot
Giles: 8 vamps, 2 demon, 1 human, 1 god.
Cordy: 3 vamps, ½ a demon
Will: 6 vamps + 3 demons +1 fawn+1 human.
Angel: 3 vamps, 1 demon, 1 human
Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie
Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans
Xander: 6 vamps, 2 zombies, 1½ a demon,
Anya: 1 vamp and 1½ a demon
Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons
Spike; 8 vamps and 6 demons
Buffybot; 2 vamps
Tara; 1 demon
Dawn; 1 vamp + 1 demon

Scoobies go evil:
Giles: 1
Cordy: 1
Will: 3
Jenny: 1
Angel: 1
Oz: 1
Joyce: 1
Xander: 4
Anya; 1
Dawn; 1
Buffy; 1

Alternate scoobies:
Buffy: 8
Giles: 4
Cordy: 1
Will: 5
Jenny: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 2
Joyce: 2
Xander: 4
Tara; 1
Dawn;1
Spike; 1
Anya; 2

Recurring characters killed: 12
Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce, Katrina, Tara

Sunnydale deaths; the vandal
98

Total number of scoobies: the Dawnster is finally part of the Scoobies, about time too
Xander, Buffy, Dawn

Xander demon magnet: 5(6?)
Preying Mantis Lady, Inca Mummy Girl, Drusilla, VampWillow, Anya (arguably Buffy & Faith with their demon essences?), Dracula?

Scoobies shot:
Giles: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 4
Riley; 1
Buffy; 1
Tara; 1

Notches on Scooby bedpost:
Giles: 2; Joyce & Olivia, possibly Jenny and 3xDraccy babes?
Cordy: 1?
Buffy: 4 confirmed; Angel, Parker, Riley, Spike. 1 possible, Dracula(?)
Angel: 1;Buffy
Joyce: 1;Giles, 2 possible, Ted and Dracula(?)
Oz: 3; Groupie, Willow & Verucca
Faith:2 ;Xander, Riley
Xander: 2; Faith, Anya
Willow: 2;Oz and Tara
Riley; 3; Buffy, Sandy and unnamed vampwhore
Spike; 2 Buffy and Anya
Anya; 2 Spike and Xander
Spike; good or bad?

Dawn in peril; 12

Dawn the bashful virgin; 9

What the fanficcers thought;
Anya places Dawn in a Girl Scout pose, read more than a few dodgy fanfics over the years that place her in THAT uniform!
(not allowed to post the links, PM me of you're over 18)

Questions and observations;
Nice that we still have Joyce's picture scattered around the house but who are the couple in the pic by the phone? Aunt Arlene? Grandma and grandpa Summers? Note the scorched mummy hand in the box Anya brings from the Magic Box. Dawn seems to be a CSI fan. Surely she hardly needs high heels she already towers over all the other girls.
Marks out of 10; 7/10

 

[thevikingsgirl]

I love the differing perspectives. Anyone remember the show Boomtown? I loved that show. This episode reminds me of that, showing the same time period from different perspectives. I loved how Spike seemed extra-crazy but was really just his normal amount of crazy and was talking to them both. lol

 

[Anya2012]

I enjoyed this episode...Gnarl was creepy. It was the first time since Hush has a demon creeped me out.

8/10.

 

[MinwaraYana]

I love it. I agree paralyzed Dawnie is the best part. Dawn kinda grew on me so fast in this season. 😀

Best lines for me is, Willow's and Anya's "Was it you?"..."No!".

 

[Tasha]

OH god the gnarl demon freaked me out when i was younger, my friend sammy used to do the impression of him. 'All alone'
haha. Poor wee willow in this though.

 

[thevikingsgirl]

It was definitely a creepy demon.

 

[PrincessBuffy16]

Paralysed Dawn is the best part. But I fet sorry for Willow, she was really, really scared, and when Buffy and Xander thought she skinned that guy, AGAIN, well that was wrong. They had good reasons, but come on guys, have some faith.

 

[Eleftheria]

It was an interesting episode. I immediately thought of parallel universes blending together or something like that but it turns out Will wasn't ready to meet her friends. Gnarl was disgusting. I can't imagine the fear of the victims, being paralysed all the time, while that thing eats their skin.

I felt sorry for Will cause everyone's first thought was about her. And Dawn was hilarious. Anya was great when she put Dawn in caertain positions! lol!

 

[saturn5]

I love it. I agree paralyzed Dawnie is the best part. Dawn kinda grew on me so fast in this season. 😀

Best lines for me is, Willow's and Anya's "Was it you?"..."No!".

Yeah, I remember Boomtown, it was pretty good for a procedural show but maybe too confusing for the viewership to be a big hit.
Dawn get's a lot more popular in season 7, partly I think because Michelle Tractenberg grows from adorable moppet to beautiful young woman/smokin' hottie during the course of the season but also because she is finally given something to do beyond get into trouble then rescued, whinge and provide Buffy with unconditional love. In season 7 Dawn finally finds her role, she's a full part of the gang at last.
Gnarl is creepy as hell and the threeway between Buffy, Spike and Willow is masterful (a little reminiscent of Connor, CC and Darla on Angel).

 

[sosa lola]

Willow comes back, Buffy and Xander are ready to forgive her, but Dawn isn't.


Same Time, Same Place

Buffy, Xander and Dawn are in the airport waiting for Willow. I love how Xander is so excited to meet Willow with his cute large sign with words written in yellow crayon. Aww. Dawn is actually nervous about meeting Willow, I'm loving it, Dawn has got to be nervous and scared because the last time they'd seen Willow, she had no problem killing her friends just to get to what she wanted. Buffy is also worried about seeing Willow, but I guess it's more about meeting Willow again than being scared of what she'll do.

Willow enters and finds no one, I really felt bad for her. It's strange that there's no photo of Willow in Buffy's desk, there's a photo of Anya for God's sake and not Willow?! (Yeah, I know, the writers just took it a little far with the 'we're better off without Willow' bit.)

I really love how Dawn doesn't trust Willow that much, unlike Xander and Buffy. It's really realistic, and I wish it was kept for more than an episode, I wish they showed us how gradually Dawn is going to trust Willow. Maybe instead of Willow/Kennedy, we see some Willow/Dawn bonding.

I also agree with Dawn a little bit, while I love how loyal Buffy, Xander and Giles to Willow, it's not really fair that she gets a special treatment than Spike and Anya just because she's their friend. However I'm choosing to ignore that and enjoy the core four's closeness and loyalty to each other while it lasts.

This episode is full of Willow/Anya slashy goodness. Okay, I'm not into female slash. At all! However, Anya/Willow is an exception, they're the female Spander! So much similarities between Spander and Anya/Willow "¦ (it's funny how you don't call them by one of those stupid names"¦ Wanya or"¦ well, Wanya) because it sounds funny? (*snort* Spander, Xangel, Spangel, Spuffy, Bangel"¦ etc) Yeah. Yeah. I get it. They all sound funny, but at least they're easier to write.

I love noticing the little things like Xander easily feeling like throwing up whenever he sees a body. From Welcome to The Hellmouth and Xander doesn't handle watching dead bodies well. It's a nice touch that after all these years he still can't handle it.

The Willow/Spike/Buffy/Xander scene is AMAZING! I really love it, so confusing and funny. "Her boy? *I'm* her boy!" Hehe (An amazing scene and that's what attracts your attention the most?) Spike considers Xander a boy"¦ Buffy's boy"¦ something slashy about it. Hehe. (What? What's so slashy about it?!) A boy. Xander. Spike thinks Xander is a boy. More specifically Buffy's boy. Hehe. (I don't get it.) He's a boy! Buffy's boy! (I don't"¦ grrr never mind, you slashers are crazy!)

Another Willow/Anya"¦ sorry Wanya slashy scene. Huh. I wish Anya hooked up with Willow, totally more interesting than Willow/Kennedy.

Did I mention how I adore every single scene between Buffy/Xander/Dawn? I love how close those three have gotten, it kinda reminds me of Buffy/Xander/Willow in the high school years, especially with Dawn working on the computer. Complete Willow-ness.

Aww Xander mentioned Willie! I miss him! And Buffy dared to imply that Xander is stupid. (I can hardly blame her) *both watch as Xander dumbly replies "Huh?"* I guess poor thing is just used to be called stupid. (Or he's actually really stupid.)

The Scoobies follow Spike, and then Xander pretends to "accidentally" smack against Spike's back. Spike grabs Xander, pulls him close, and whispers "I love you" in his ear. Xander looks at Spike shocked. Buffy is jealous. Sigh.

The scene with the demon eating Willow's flesh with her being alive and feeling so helpless is very disturbing.

Anya playing with Dawn's body is so funny. (It is, even though you make it sound creepy) Hmmm wasn't Anya's hair shorter in the last ep? How did it get this long?

Buffy, Xander and Anya head to the cave again. Another Wanya moment. And we see a foreshadowing to later events with Buffy sticking her thumbs into the demon's eyes with Xander getting so grossed at it. Probably thanking God that it wasn't him. 🙂()

Willow seeing Xander and Buffy is the most heartbreaking scene in S7 so far. "Here they are, here they are" *hugs Willow tight*

Nice scene with Buffy and Willow, I think those two need to mend their friendship more than Xander/Willow. Xander can easily accept Willow no matter what she did, but will Buffy ever trust Willow and accept her again? (Like she used to pre-S6? Don't think so)

10/10