Buffy ep by ep; SHOWTIME!-one for the money,...

[saturn5]

SHOWTIME
Halfway through season 7, nearly at the end now!

The Good;
The seige of Revello Drive and Buffy taking the Turok-Han down.

The Bad;
So why doesn't the Turok-Han attack night after night? The only thing I can think off is that it wanted to get some of the Potentials to Sunnydale? Or maybe the Turok-Han has some limits to it's strength and needs to 'recharge'? (this ep is set several days after the last)

Best line;
Buffy; "Welcome to thunderdome!" followed by "Dust, like all the rest"
Although I also like;
Rhona; (on being handed a sword) "What's the point?"
Kennedy; "It's the sharp end"

Women good/men bad;
Dawn says the Slayer is always female because girls are just cooler.

Jeez!;

Kinky dinky;
Anya once had a one night stand with the six spleened demon whilst wearing entrails! Anya is quite prepared to prostitute herself on behalf of the Scoobs.

Captain Subtext;
Will still shy about sharing Kennedy's bed but the rich minx isn't so hesitant. Andrew refers to his 'joystick hand' which even Xander won't 'touch' (interesting phrasing?).

Guantanamo Bay;

Scoobies to the ER;

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
Spike; 2

Scoobies knocked out:
Buffy: 20
Giles: 12
Cordy: 6
Xander: 15
Will: 9
Jenny: 2
Angel: 6
Oz: 3
Faith: 1
Joyce: 3
Wes: 1
Anya;7
Dawn; 4
Tara; 1
Spike; 1

Kills: Xander and Kennedy kill a Bringer each. Buffy kills 4 Bringers and the Turok-Han
Buffy: 118 vamps, 60 demons, 6 monsters, 9 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot
Giles: 8 vamps, 2 demon, 1 human/1 god.
Will: 6 vamps + 3 demons +1 fawn+1 human.
Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie
Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans
Xander: 6 vamps, 2 zombies, 1½ a demon, 2 humans
Anya: 1 vamp and 1½ a demon
Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons
Spike; 9 vamps and 6 demons
Buffybot; 2 vamps
Tara; 1 demon
Dawn; 1 vamp + 1 demon
Kennedy; 1 human

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
Spike; 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: 13
Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce, Katrina, Tara, Quentin Travers.

Sunnydale deaths; poor Eve
103

Total number of scoobies: 12, add Vi (my 2nd favourite Potential), Chloe and Rhona (my least favourite) to the list
Xander, Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Anya, Spike, Giles, Kennedy, Molly, Vi, Chloe, Rhona

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?
Buffy: 4 confirmed; Angel, Parker, Riley, Spike. 2 possible, Dracula+RJ(?)
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
Dawn in peril; 14
Dawn the bashful virgin; 9

What the fanficcers thought;
Who shall hear my children when they cry?, a Buffy: The Vampire Slayer fanfic - FanFiction.Net

Questions and observations;
Vi refers to Faith. The game 'Six degrees of Kevin Bacon' is mentioned (simple, Kevin was in Will and Grace as was Seth Green). Bojoxers eye is very reminiscent of Big Trouble in Little China. If the bringers are human why doesn't Xander just get Anya's gun and shoot them? Kennedy says she's been training since she was 8? Buffy tells Rhona 'Welcome to the Hellmouth'! The Coven is still there so Giles and co still have allies around the world. Holy Water works on Turok-Han even though they must surely predate Christianity? Mad Max 3 quoted although I never thought it was that successful in the US (and again, a reference for scriptwriters in their 30s rather than a 23 year old?). Buffy wins because she has the human traits of strategy and weapons and is fighting for the people she loves. If the First needs to release more Turok-Han why doesn't it just bleed the Bringers?
Marks out of 10; 9/10

 

[sosa lola]

More annoying slayers, less Scoobies, Spike gets saved.



Showtime:

So Rona shows up. I don't really hate her like many fans do. Since no body is putting Buffy in her place this season with Xander, Dawn and sadly Anya joining Willow and Spike in their 'We're Buffy's Slaves and We're So Damn Proud Of It' club, I'm actually glad for Rona and Kennedy not taking crap from Buffy and Buffy's superiority.

What bugs me is *why* won't Willow have another girl in her room? She has a king size bed enough for three, and it's all for Kennedy, and *Willow* gets to sleep on the floor? God, I hate how the writers are trying so hard to have a Willow/Kennedy tension moment, but this is so stupid! If Willow was so uncomfortable, then get the other girls to sleep on the bed! It's also so rude to have them sleeping downstairs on the floor when there's enough space in the bed. This is another reason to why I dislike Willow/Kennedy. Sigh. Maybe instead of this pointless scene with have Willow talking to either Xander or Dawn about her redemption.

Apparently Xander had already abandoned his apartment to live at the Summer's house. (You don't get it, you idiot, this is just the writers' way of giving him some scream time for a stupid reason so we won't complain.) I know that's the deal! However, I'd like to think that Xander is sleeping there 'cause Buffy wants a man to protect the girls, even though Willow is stronger than Xander. (Ooooh I love the way you think.) Sure, you do, Bander lover. (*ignores the Bander comment* Besides, Willow's strength is in her magic, and she said she won't do it, so Xander is stronger than her in this situation.) For some reason I believe Dawn can kick both Xander and Willow's butts.

Okay, the whole Botox's Eye thing? Lame! Lame! Lame! Everything happening right now is annoying, boring and lame. Why kidnap Spike again? Been there done that with Glory, except it was much more interesting. Why have an eye coming out of nowhere to tell them what they want? Why not search it in the books like they always did back in high school, you know, like Joss promised us, back to the basics. Well, I don't see any of the basics, Joss!

The First's torturing methods are lame.

I love how Dawn states the obvious. When were these frightened little girls any help? Dawn and Anya rock the best in this season.

Buffy and Xander. Mommy and Daddy. Together to get the new little baby from the hospital. Gasp. Baby is dead. Gasp. This baby is familiar, Daddy Xander says, they already brought her home with the other twin/triple babies. To say the truth, I actually enjoyed this storyline.

Dawn telling Andrew to shut up is the most important event in this episode. I love Dawn. I don't get why people like Andrew? I'm sorry, but he's so freakin' annoying. (Who are you to judge? You like Spander.) Stop it with the Spander bashing, last week you admitted that a Spander bonding storyline is much more interesting than this crap. (Yeah, but not Spander gay sex.) When did I ever say that I read Spander slash for the sex?

I think the silliest Spike torture technique by the one and only idiot the First is drowning Spike. Spike doesn't breathe! (Wasn't it holy water?) "¦ I really really really hope so.

One of the most embarrassing bloopers is the thread held to the front door while the gang was waiting for Mr. Super Strong to have the too visible thread to pull the plastic door down. So nice, directors.

Seems the fight between Buffy and Mr. Super Strong is very popular among fans, but since I'm not a big fan of fight scenes, and I even had talked to my best friend on the phone during the Buffy/Angelus famous Becoming 2 fight scene, I didn't pay much attention to this one, nor Buffy's speech later. But since everybody says it's cool, then I'm sure it is.

Sigh. The telepathy scene. And they say Willow is the only witch, lookie here guys, Buffy is a witch, too! Man, that girl is everything! The hand, the heart, the spirit and the mind. Why do we need Xander, Willow and Giles in the mix anyway? Buffy can do everything by herself, you see, slayers are meant to fight alone, friendship and unity and completing one another aren't that big deal anymore. That's the message of the season.

And finally the sweet Spuffy scene in the end. I admit, it brought tears to my eyes, not because it was a romantic Spuffy scene or the fact that, God, the writers suck so much 'cause where the hell are The First and the bringers? I had tears in my eyes 'cause someone gave a damn about Spike, that made me tearful, I felt so sorry for Spike at the moment. I wanted to hug him. *hugs Spike*

4/10 A point for all the Dawn scenes. A point for Dawn shutting Andrew up. A point for the Eve plotline with Xander and Buffy. And a point for the Spuffy scene in the end.

 

[Bungle Jerry]

The telepathy scene drives me crazy. The only way it can work is if Willow just spends all of her time reading Buffy's mind in case she happens to call out "Willow!" in her head, and if Willow can set up some kind of three-way party line (Xander can't say "I know juuuust the place" without having heard Buffy's thoughts). And given those two premises, why aren't the three of them head-chatting, like, all the time? It'd be a very handy trick to have.

 

[dan k]

I understand what you are saying. It came out of nowwhere and didn't seem to make a lot of sense. Maybe it was the first time Willow tried to get inside their minds? That's the only explanation i can think of.