Buffy ep by ep; THE HARSH LIGHT OF DAY

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saturn5

Scooby
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The Harsh Light of Day

The Good;
Spike's back and the series is better off with him in it. Our first sign that Harmony survived graduation and is now a vamp. Great fight and some excellent comedy, especially love Spike's workers groaning when Harmony starts bleating on about France again. Also like Parker's complaining about guys who are so 'Dark and brooding, give me love'. Nice reveal of Spike
The Bad;
None, good ep, best of season 4 so far

Best line;
Buffy; 'Spike, with Harmony. What you lose a bet?'
but I also like Willow (on Harmony being a vamp) 'She must be dying without a reflection'
Wheldon Cliches;

Character death;
nope, the guy Spike and Harmony bite at the party survives and we see Asian Joe again in 'Pangs' so the Scoobs obviously rescue him.
Shot;
Tied up;
Asian Joe chained to the wall.
Knocked out;
Xander in the fight with Spike
Women good/men bad;
The final scene with a broken hearted Buffy, Anya and Harmony all miserable having been dumped. Xander remarks that he's 'Actually turning into a woman as he's saying this' when hesitating before the offer of casual sex with a beautiful girl. But as he says 'Still more romantic than Faith'. Spike and Harmony have an abusive relationship but in fairness to Spike she seems just as bad as he is and even more manipulative.
Jeez!;
Spike's 'trash-talk' with Buffy whilst fighting her (he should know better!)
Kinky dinky;
Harmony may be dumb but she knows how to get what she wants. She hints that she and Spike have bondage, S&M and exhibitionist sex. Anya does a striptease for Xander (cue juice gag!) and brings black condoms for their coitus. Parker and Buffy have sex but he dumps her afterwards. Harmony seems to have a thing for Antonio Banderas. Spike comments that he loves syphilis more than he does Harmony. Xander dreams of being naked at the Walmart. Willow seems to want to know the details of Buffy and Parker's night of passion, not graphically but as a 'blurry watercolour'.
Calling Captain Subtext;
Harmony wants to bite Willow. Maybe there was an underlying attraction between the 2 all these years? Parker suggests Buffy and Spike used to go out and she laughs.
Guantanamo Bay;
The gang threaten Harmony to try and find Spike.
Scoobies to the ER;
Xander is hurt in the final fight but not too badly. Willow needs a band-aid.
Where's Dawn?

Questions and observations;
Where season 4 kicks into gear really, quite marvellous. Willow becomes the 3rd Scooby to be bitten by a vampire (Buffy twice by Angel and the Master, Angel and Joyce by Darla although the latter is not a Scooby). Buffy still has the scar from where she was bitten but is that from The Master or Angel? Personally I never know what to make of Parker, Buffy seems to think their sex is the beginning of a relationship whilst it's casual to him. I don't think he's a bad guy really. Giles never locks his door and owns a TV which disappoints Oz who nevertheless seems to appreciate his vinyl albums just as Joyce did in Band Candy. Good music, especially like 'Lucky' (for the Buffy/Parker sex scene) and the interestingly titled 'Faith in love'. Asian Joe, the guy who is chained to Spike's wall is a recurring extra as a Sunnydale High School student (Harmony comments she used to have a class with him), you can see him in many eps but most prominently in Earshot where Buffy hears him thinking about being a 'software gillionaire'. Unfortunately the last appearance of Devon in the series although he's mentioned in Something Blue
Marks out of 10; 8/10, very good
 
A much better episode. The last time we saw Spike was Lover's Walk, so his reappearance was a long time coming. And worth the wait! Season 4 is a tad better with Spike in it, i must admit.

8/10.
 
Parker sucks --if he wanted to have casual sex, he should have made that clear instead of bringing Buffy coffee in the morning and saying that he'll call[\i] her. I mean, there's no way that can be taken out of context. Sounds like he wants a relationship to me. :/ I feel bad for Buffy, who is trying to get over Angel, but instead this happens. What a detrimental blow to an already fragile morale, jeez.

I remember being so happy Spike was back. Props! Last time we saw him was in Lovers Walk, where he was depressed about loosing Drusilla. Interesting to see him with Harmony; I guess he can't stand being alone for long, huh?

I love the scene where Buffy, Anya, and Harmony are wandering around the campus, all three heartbroken. Sad.
 
Ok, I hate Parker. I needed to say that, I really hate that guy. Haha Harmony without reflection, love that quote. Spike as the big bad, best Spike ever. I hate when he is talking when they are fighting in the light. Angel is mentioned, and as you sad, best episode of season 4 so far.

8/10
 
Poeple are very down on Parker, I've heard him described as a sociopath in some circles, I don't think he is, he's just the guy who doesn't call. He reminds me of Barney Stinson from HIMYM. He never promises Buffy anything and he does bring her coffee. What's he supposed to do, say 'Last night was great but I don't really think you're girlfriend material"?
 
Yeah, I mean, guys like that really exist. And Joss said that was Buffy's typical college experience. Maybe the most realistic thing on the show. He is normal guy who is not for the relathionship, but I think everybody see's him like that because it's about Buffy.. I mean after Angel she decided to took the chance, and that chance was wrong.
 
saturn5 said:
Poeple are very down on Parker, I've heard him described as a sociopath in some circles, I don't think he is, he's just the guy who doesn't call. He reminds me of Barney Stinson from HIMYM. He never promises Buffy anything and he does bring her coffee. What's he supposed to do, say 'Last night was great but I don't really think you're girlfriend material"?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree, but I think there needs to be some sort of mutual understanding before anything actually happens. It's obvious Buffy intended to pursue Parker romantically rather than just sexually. I think the reason for so much Parker hate is that it at least seemed like he knew what he was doing -- leading her on.

I hate to use personal real life anecdotal evidence in relation to a Buffy episode (it seems so trite, haha,) but when I was just sort of "seeing" a boy, I made it clear that this was not to lead to a relationship. I think honesty, in this case, is the best policy. 😀
 
Yeah but if he was honest she wouldn't have slept with him.Which was his goal by the way.

He's just your typical jackass college guy. Any girl who's going to head to college/university on this board, be prepared, many a Parker awaits.
 
Anya2012
Anya2012
[No message]
T
thevikingsgirl
[No message]
saturn5 said:
Poeple are very down on Parker, I've heard him described as a sociopath in some circles, I don't think he is, he's just the guy who doesn't call. He reminds me of Barney Stinson from HIMYM. He never promises Buffy anything and he does bring her coffee. What's he supposed to do, say 'Last night was great but I don't really think you're girlfriend material"?
Click to expand...



Parker is a typical male, who conned his way into Buffy's panties.

Plain and simple.
 
Personally, I really dislike Parker. He is basically the poster child for those who treat women as notches on their belt and give college guys everywhere a really bad name. While he was certainly pretty honest about his feelings after the fact (though he tried to avoid direct discussion with Buffy), he definitely played up the romantic angle and insinuited that he was falling in love with Buffy just to get in her pants. To be fair though, this type of behavior is not unique to the male gender. I have seen just as many women in my college campus treat men in a similar fashion and I've had a lot of friends (both guys and girls) get their hearts broken by such people. Despite my feelings for him, I do like that such a character was put in the show as it was a great representation of some of the pitfalls of college and I think a lot of people (myself included) could relate to how Buffy felt.

To speak more about the overall episode, this is one of my favorite of the season. Spike was great and it was good to see that he got one last hurrah as Buffy's nemesis before he was forced to play nice and start living with Xander.
 
M
Megalita
[No message]
Sunnydale Siren said:
Parker is a typical male, who conned his way into Buffy's panties.

Plain and simple.
Click to expand...

Oh, misandry! He didn't con anything, she just wanted a relationship and he didn't, there's no evidence that he decieved her at all. You could say that Buffy is a typical female and goes all bunny-boiler when rejected?

One thing that's been pointed out to me, what happens to all the treasure found in the crypt? Would have come in useful in season 6
 
I thought the episode was ok, but I was slightly disappointed in Buffy for sleeping with a guy that she knew for a week. IMO, that was Buffy's bad, not Parker's. Sure, he's not the most empathetically compassionate male out there, but he didn't force her into anything: Physically, or mentally. He didn't even initiate the sex. If I remember correctly, the interaction went like this:

Parker : But there something amazing about these huge events that when you dig down into them they're just about regular people trying to make choices. When you look back at it seems like people were swept up in events they couldn't control. But I don't believe that. I believe you have a choice in everything you do.

They kiss.

Parker : Is this okay? Because I can stop if you wanna. It's your choice. (She pulls his close and strokes his face.) What are you doing?

Buffy : Making a choice.
Click to expand...

Parker said he thought that people had a choice in everything. Buffy chose to have sex with him, she started it, and Parker could've very well assumed that she was along the same lines as he was: To my knowledge, girls looking for a meaningful relationship don't sleep with someone after knowing them for 7 days. Parker may have known that she wanted a relationship, but I doubt that he actually lied about anything. He was just using things out of context to bond with someone.

But I loved seeing Spike again, and their little conversation was quite funny. I do believe that if Spike hadn't brought up Angel, he probably would have beat her.


Also, loved the
I mean don't you just hate guys that are all 'I'm dark and brooding so give me love?'

Buffy : I don't think I've ever met that type.
Click to expand...

Either Buffy was lying, since that totally describes Angel, or she just wanted to pretend that all her thoughts weren't Angel, Angel, and, hey, look, Angel! 😀
 
E
Eleftheria
I believe what you said about the "Angel on my mind every second" is why she said that about not meeting a dark brooding guy!
I agree with your verdict on Parker but I have no problem with Buffy having sex with him after a week, if she'd had sex with him after 30 seconds that would be ok, no one's to blame here
 
This is the episode where I first thought, "Wow, Spike is hot." It's in the scene with Harmony when he pushes her against the wall and she says, "Right here? In front of everyone?" or something along those lines. He gives her this look that's totally sexy. Of course, I always have a Spike observation 😉

Parker's an idiot. There are guys like him all over. Girls' mothers should warn them about these guys, though it won't always help. He was pretty smooth and she fell for his line. Life lesson. I don't think he's evil or a sociopath; one day he'll probably grow up to be a respectable citizen (though they don't all do that). But he's dishonest and a jerk.
 
He didn't lie, but Buffy didn't knew that was onl one time thing for him. She didn't knew that kind of guys. He should've told her "Look, I'm not here for serious relathionship, if we are going to do this, it's going to be only for one night". He didn't told her that. He only asked her is she sure she wants to do that. He didn't lie, but I don't think he was clear.
 
Parker didn't exactly lie, but he definatly led her on. He tricked her into thinking he was all sweet and sensitive, when really he was thinking 'i'l compare her to a toilet'. Parker is a grade A dick. I'm proud of Riley for hitting him.
 
T
thevikingsgirl
Lying by omission.
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