I haven't been able to watch BTVS at such a quick pace lately, so it might take me a month or two to finish the series if I'm unlucky. One nice thing about not hurrying through it all, though, is that I'm able to appreciate and contemplate each episode much more than I did when I was watching entire seasons within the span of a week or two.
'Dead Things' was so beautiful-yet-disturbing that I've watched it a few times in a row. It definitely touched me, and I'm still thinking about it before I continue on with the rest of the season. I apologize in advance if there are any grammatical issues with this post, or inconsistences with tenses. I just wanted to get my thoughts down quickly.
First things first: Spuffy. Do I hate their relationship, or do I love it? It's hard to say. Everyone knows I'm a Spike fanatic, but I just don't know if he and Buffy are the greatest idea. They're certainly hot together, and the conversations they have are compelling. But are they in love with each other? I don't know. In my opinion, they both feel a kind of love for each other, but I find myself doubting that it is romantic at its core.
...And then I see some things, and I'm sure they're star-crossed lovers or something. The scene where Spike's lighting a cigarette and crumbling something into a glass of blood (at least, that's what it looks like he's doing), and he senses Buffy outside his crypt was intense enough that it brought tears to my eyes. The juxtaposition of "Out Of This World" and the imagery of him and her being separated by the heavy crypt doors made me think they desperately needed and wanted each other, in far more than a sexual sense. I felt the same way during Buffy's dream sequence, when Spike arrives to comfort Buffy in her bed and they begin to make love like a "normal" couple...before it all goes to hell, of course, and she starts staking people in her dreams.
When he let her beat him up after telling her she would be wrong to go to the police, I felt like a turning point had just occurred. To me, her eyes said it all: She loves him - in which way, I'm still not absolutely sure - but she is deeply upset that she does. When she cried in Tara's lap, her crisis was existential and palpable. Dawn feels abandoned, and so she's going through a crisis also.
(The sex scene at the Bronze was hot because of the dialogue, but it was so unrealistic. You see Spike lifting Buffy's skirt up, and suddenly he's inside her? It makes no sense. There are no zippers or buckles being undone, at least that I can hear, and that bothered me.)
The Trio remind me of the current trend I've seen of young men who call themselves "nice guys" while hating women. They think that women are playthings, and their lack of confidence - combined with their misogyny, heavy or light - leads them to do some pretty disgusting things. The Trio supposed to be a mundane "Big Bad", but I see them as incredibly evil due to the fact that there are many rape apologists in this world, and that's a lot scarier than fictional demons are.
Seeing Willow and Tara outside the magic shop was sad. Having known a fair share of addicts in my lifetime, I find Willow's magic "addiction", along with Amy's enabling, to be a realistic use of metaphor. I understand why Tara left Willow, because Willow hurt a lot of people through her misuse of magic.
This episode actually felt much more disjointed than other BTVS episodes. A lot took place, but it didn't "flow" as well as it could have. Night and day seemed to collide with one another, for example.
Overall, though, I loved this episode, as I'm sure you can tell. A lot of ground was covered. I think it's going to be a turning point.
Agree with my ideas? Disagree with them? I'll check back when I get home from work this evening.
'Dead Things' was so beautiful-yet-disturbing that I've watched it a few times in a row. It definitely touched me, and I'm still thinking about it before I continue on with the rest of the season. I apologize in advance if there are any grammatical issues with this post, or inconsistences with tenses. I just wanted to get my thoughts down quickly.
First things first: Spuffy. Do I hate their relationship, or do I love it? It's hard to say. Everyone knows I'm a Spike fanatic, but I just don't know if he and Buffy are the greatest idea. They're certainly hot together, and the conversations they have are compelling. But are they in love with each other? I don't know. In my opinion, they both feel a kind of love for each other, but I find myself doubting that it is romantic at its core.
...And then I see some things, and I'm sure they're star-crossed lovers or something. The scene where Spike's lighting a cigarette and crumbling something into a glass of blood (at least, that's what it looks like he's doing), and he senses Buffy outside his crypt was intense enough that it brought tears to my eyes. The juxtaposition of "Out Of This World" and the imagery of him and her being separated by the heavy crypt doors made me think they desperately needed and wanted each other, in far more than a sexual sense. I felt the same way during Buffy's dream sequence, when Spike arrives to comfort Buffy in her bed and they begin to make love like a "normal" couple...before it all goes to hell, of course, and she starts staking people in her dreams.
When he let her beat him up after telling her she would be wrong to go to the police, I felt like a turning point had just occurred. To me, her eyes said it all: She loves him - in which way, I'm still not absolutely sure - but she is deeply upset that she does. When she cried in Tara's lap, her crisis was existential and palpable. Dawn feels abandoned, and so she's going through a crisis also.
(The sex scene at the Bronze was hot because of the dialogue, but it was so unrealistic. You see Spike lifting Buffy's skirt up, and suddenly he's inside her? It makes no sense. There are no zippers or buckles being undone, at least that I can hear, and that bothered me.)
The Trio remind me of the current trend I've seen of young men who call themselves "nice guys" while hating women. They think that women are playthings, and their lack of confidence - combined with their misogyny, heavy or light - leads them to do some pretty disgusting things. The Trio supposed to be a mundane "Big Bad", but I see them as incredibly evil due to the fact that there are many rape apologists in this world, and that's a lot scarier than fictional demons are.
Seeing Willow and Tara outside the magic shop was sad. Having known a fair share of addicts in my lifetime, I find Willow's magic "addiction", along with Amy's enabling, to be a realistic use of metaphor. I understand why Tara left Willow, because Willow hurt a lot of people through her misuse of magic.
This episode actually felt much more disjointed than other BTVS episodes. A lot took place, but it didn't "flow" as well as it could have. Night and day seemed to collide with one another, for example.
Overall, though, I loved this episode, as I'm sure you can tell. A lot of ground was covered. I think it's going to be a turning point.
Agree with my ideas? Disagree with them? I'll check back when I get home from work this evening.
