Discussion of 7.16 "Storyteller" - Aired 2/25/03 (UPN-US)

[Buffy Summers]

Andrew creates a documentary called Buffy, Slayer of the Vampyres, a record of the current situation in Sunnydale to show to future generations. He manages to capture many important moments, and to annoy almost everyone in the house. But Buffy needs to tear him away from his filmmaking because the Seal of Danzalthar is active and Andrew may hold the key to closing it before it destroys the town.

Source: TV.com

Discuss this episode here!

 

[VisionGirl]

One of my favorite season 7 eps. Andrew is a hoot, & I love how he manages to annoy the hell out of everybody in the house. The ending was really, really good.

Favorite quotes:
But it tickles and I'm all tense. Can't I have a cool, refreshing Zima?
In my plan, we are beltless
Andrew: A Slayer in action. Buffy: A nerd in pain!

And did y'all see the Cheese Man?

As a former band geek, I have to say that I was cheering when I saw the graffitti for "Marching Band Rules!"

And aww, I forgot all about the ME monster singing "We are gods!"- I usually turn it off at the credits, now I need to go watch the very end.

 

[BuffyThoughts]

I have a question. I hope someone can help me.

In this episode, there is a passage where the onscreen dialogue is very different from the script. In the script, as I have it, the passage reads like this:

BUFFY Something bad's going on.
WOOD Tell me you're using that exciting bad-is-good street language of the last forty years.
BUFFY Things are, sort of, coming true. Like, all the hidden feelings of high school. You know, like, I'm fat or everyone's looking at me, or no one's looking at me...

Now here's what SMG actually says on screen:
BUFFY: There's this thing that happens here, in this school, open Hellmouth, where, the way a thing feels, it kind of starts, being that way. For real.

Wood never says what the script says he should.

How did this happen? Was SMG adlibbing? Did the writers change the script at the last minute and never wrote it down? Anybody know?

 

[Jules]

I did enjoy this episode. I love that Andrew is the central character. His board at the beginning was so funny, I love his comment when Buffy's making her speech in the kitchen, its so very true of this season.

I like that the school's problems were a small reflection of season 1. The ''Marcey'' scene was nice.

 

[Goby]

On one of those stupid ideas (or so I thought) that turned out great. I love this episode.

 

[Living Dead Boy]

All I have to say about this episode is this:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dyjnqc0J28"]We Are As Gods[/ame]

 

[PassionBecoming]

ANdrew. He's annoying.
-Buffy's black hat from S2! Back to easier times...
-Love Andrew playing on Anya's ego
-"They are very mobile for blind people."
-Love Buffy's cereal bit
-Andrew does have a point about the length of Bussy's speeches
-The locusts. Heh.
-Hell's a'busting out all over. Catchy title for a song.
-Oh, fun Xander and Anya moments. Awkward.
-Aw, piggie!
-Creepy student chanting. Awesome.
-Murder knife with utensils. Ew. And how do they not have steak knives?!
-I would say school is out for summer.
-yyeeeaahhh, Andrew has no sense of accountability. At all.
-So that's how Bringers are made.
-Ok, I get Wood's anger, but killing one of the few fighters on the good team is not a good plan.
-Go Buffy for making Andrew finally own up. And good plan.

 

[Give Us A Kiss]

I have a question. I hope someone can help me.

In this episode, there is a passage where the onscreen dialogue is very different from the script. In the script, as I have it, the passage reads like this:

BUFFY Something bad's going on.
WOOD Tell me you're using that exciting bad-is-good street language of the last forty years.
BUFFY Things are, sort of, coming true. Like, all the hidden feelings of high school. You know, like, I'm fat or everyone's looking at me, or no one's looking at me...

Now here's what SMG actually says on screen:
BUFFY: There's this thing that happens here, in this school, open Hellmouth, where, the way a thing feels, it kind of starts, being that way. For real.

Wood never says what the script says he should.

How did this happen? Was SMG adlibbing? Did the writers change the script at the last minute and never wrote it down? Anybody know?

They probably changed the script at the VERY last moment (not sure about this though).

 

[Mr Trick]

This episode is a low point of the show for me. I just don't find Andrew interesting enough to base a whole episode around him, and find the comedy of the character repetative and just not that funny. The ending whe Buffy turns on him is good, the rest not so much.

 

[Charmander]

I absolutely love the scene in the kitchen where Andrew is doing the intros and when he fakes facing up against dark Willow. I find this more of a high point to the season because I love random episodes like this, which S7 is lacking because they wanted to bring in a huge story arc.
I liked the reference to "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", though it was kind of horrible that the nerdy kid exploded and Buffy was so matter-of-fact about it!
No, Xander, you still haven't apologised enough for what you did to Anya.
I find it kind of sad that Anya still stays there after Buffy implied that she wasn't their friend a couple of episodes back. She no longer has Hallie, the Magic Shop is never mentioned and it seems as if Anya doesn't have much of a life outside the group anymore.
Funny moment:
*pig walks past*
Wood: "God, I hope that's not a student."

I don't like how Wood really isn't bothered about the fact students might be injured. At least Snyder was upfront about it.

While I think it was horrible that Andrew never seemed to be that bothered about murdering Jonathan, his false re-enactments were hilarious. He's a shallow character but clearly very immature, and probably never saw the seriousness of what he'd done.

 

[VisionBoy]

though it was kind of horrible that the nerdy kid exploded and Buffy was so matter-of-fact about it!

I don't like how Wood really isn't bothered about the fact students might be injured. At least Snyder was upfront about it.

Yeah I must admit, the way the chaos in the school was either treated way too casually or as comedy got a little bit bizarre at times IMO. I never understood why they wouldn't immediately start evacuating the school when it was clear the hellmouth was effecting the kids so actively and so badly.

 

[Athena]

I just rewatched this, and noticed something odd. Maybe SyFy are showing the HD remasters (I'm not sure!) but in the scene with Buffy and the disappearing girl by the lockers, Buffy goes to slap the girl in the first shot, but you can clearly see SMG's hand go towards but not touch the girls face (it's just in shot, her hand stops just next to the girl's cheek) but you still hear a "slap" sound. In the next shot the girl is holding her cheek.

Probably a remaster blunder, but I thought it was interesting.

 

[Out for a walk]

I am sorry, but I love this episode. Andrew is hilarious and most of my favorite episodes of BTVS are the funny/goofy episodes. The comedy in the series is what made me love it so much.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

The greatest thing about Buffy is the violent shifts in tone. The shift at the end from awkward comedy to raw emotion and despair is gut wrenching. It made me not regret that Willow did not get to finish off the last two members of the rape and murder trio. There was always this discrepancy between what the rape and murder trio imagined they were doing and what they were actually doing. I guess the same is true for a lot of bad people.

 

[Fool for Buffy]

This episode is pretty funny even though it seems out of place in the middle of what is basically a season long apocalypse. But even if you are bothered by the sudden jump to comedy, anyone has to admit the episode is worth watching just to see the scene between Anya and Andrew in the bathroom.

 

[Give Us A Kiss]

Andrew, you are more of a gentle viewer than the rest of us...

Andrew, stop with that accent...

Anya, not everyone masturbates...

Andrew, you want someone to sue you or something ??? Because that's where you are heading...

Andrew, you need more practice...

Dawn, let Spike smoke, it's stressful with all of the potentials...

Andrew has a point, Buffy is annoying and talks too much...

Johnathan was rather cute for a supervillan

Andrew is portraying Johnathan as a gentle viewer, they both are...

The nerds are going to explode, that's bad...

OMG

Andrew

Willow and Kennedy didn't notice that Andrew was there

Andrew

Everyone talks about having a dream where they are naked, I don't recall having one...

Robin

The pig

Andrew, sod off, you didn't get Spike's consent to film him...

That symbol needs to be destroyed, just like ISIS...

Meanwhile in Mexico...

The first in Mexico

That is not a steak knife...

I didn't know that cheerleaders were Sunnydale high's version of an evil person...

Andrew, stop making excuses...

Of course Xander feels good, he had sex with Anya again...

Buffy

Tears help too

Andrew signed off

Next time: Wood wants to eliminate Spike...

 

[Priceless]

Big episode. We open with Nietzche, Shakespeare, comics and Star Wars . . . Here is Andrew the storyteller, currently removed from the world by his camera 'I document. I don't participate' he declares. But he has participated, in the attempted takeover of Sunnydale, in the attempted rape and actual murder of Katrina, and the murder of Jonathan.

Andrew has always been a fantasist, but now he's taken it a step further and picked up a camera to hide behind. Early on we have a strange high shot, with the camera looking down on Andrew and Buffy. They are made small and distant by the camera, which is how Andrew sees those around him.

He begins to make a record of those around him, not really understanding all that he's seeing. He talks about Buffy's speeches, but as someone who is watching this season closely, Buffy really doesn't give that many speeches and the ones she does give are important. (Is it sad that I actually quite enjoy Buffy's speeches?) While Andrew is monologuing to his camera he's missing Buffy telling them about her visions of the Turok-Han, something vital that they all need to know.

Eventually he is forced by Buffy to face head on what he did and he can no longer lie to himself. I thought the ending, with him considering his own death and that he may deserve to die, was actually quite powerful. It ties in with Anya and her quest to discover who she really is, which is why these two characters work well together.

There are lots of great things in this episode. While Andrew is living his fantasy, the high school is imploding. Every metaphor from season 1-3 come back. Robin gets hit by a rock and I can't help thinking how lucky he is, the previous principals got eaten

I keep reading on this board that JM stopped working out so they wouldn't make him take his shirt off, but we are in ep 16 and he's shirtless again, though I'm not complaining

Liked that Xander and Anya got some sort of closure, and that Xander says leaving Anya was the right thing to do, even though he still loves her. It's complicated, but I'm with Xander, I think he did do the right thing.

I enjoyed Andrew directing Spike to act like Spike. The 'we are Gods' scenes are funny, as was Andrew being more interested in the new windows than Willow and Kennedy kissing. Laughed at Andrew noting 'sexual tension you could cut with a knife' between Spike and Robin.

I also really liked
SPIKE
(looking around) These kids went nuts, didn't they?

ROBIN WOOD
(sarcastically) No kidding.

BUFFY
Shh, they'll hear you.

Buffy shushes Robin, not Spike She later shouts Spike to warn him of an attack, but she doesn't warn Robin. We see Robin with a stake and are in no doubt what his plan for Spike is.