What was the saddest part of The Body?

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im weepy again reading through this thread again, on a lighter note when i found out santa was real... but disembowels children...
 
The thing that hits the closest to home for me is Anya's speech. I think that even as adults, when its someone close to us we all revert to the confused "just get up" type attitude. Obviously Joyce was an alternate mom for Anya like Giles served as father. I personally have been there, where you're tempted to ask why the heck it's happened when it makes no sense. Plus they're all used to demons or something supernatural being responsible, where getting up and having fruit punch again are a very real possibility. I'd say this is likely Anya's first brush with a completely human death, one that can't be fixed so easily. And Emma makes me cry every single time.
 
Bluebird
Bluebird
I love your sig!
Okay.. I have a few, fist, the complete silence when she found her mum

- mom? mom? mommy

when she yells
- We're not supposed to move the body

Her telling dawn and us not being able to hear what is being said

Her moment with Tara

Also some willow/Tara/Xander/Anya moments

- God, why do all my shirts have such stupid things on them?
- Joyce loved the blue ashirt
- Xander decides he blames the wall

and when Anya admits to being confused as to why Joyce cant just get back in her body
 
OMG... Everything, I guess.

When Buffy's really silent and vomits and gets out and comes in again and takes some paper and watches the vomit getting absorbed...

When you see Dawn's discovery from her class' point of view...

The "Mom? Mom? ... Mommy?" part.
The fake flash forward.
The moment when the plate breaks and bam, here's dead Joyce again.

Of course the "Why" moment.
And the "Strong like an amazon" moment.
And the Tara/Buffy bonding.

The only part I really dislike is the fight with the vampire. I thought it was inappropriate and useless, just as if Joss had felt obligated cos hey, that's Buffy the VAMPIRE SLAYER... Sometimes I get the feeling they all seem obligated to put at least one fight per episode, and this one was just so useless...
 
Five said:
The only part I really dislike is the fight with the vampire. I thought it was inappropriate and useless, just as if Joss had felt obligated cos hey, that's Buffy the VAMPIRE SLAYER... Sometimes I get the feeling they all seem obligated to put at least one fight per episode, and this one was just so useless...
Click to expand...

I hated that at first, but now I get it. It is more to do with the fact that life goes on, even when you are in your own isolated little world. Plus, the brutality of the fight was nice and symbolic of how Buffy was feeling. Plus, without it, we wouldn't have ended up with the girls on the floor, which makes for a great final scene.
 
F
Five
Well, that's right... Thanks for your opinion. Sides, your name reminds me of mine =D or maybe the other way around...
Gotta agree with Five by Five, the vampire attack was great symbolism for the fact that the world doensn't just stop when something tragic happens. In a way, it was necessary to have something supernatural happen, in only to bring you back the the overall idea of the show.

I loved this ep, it was all so incredibly sad. Buffy on the phone though, saying "She's cold"...and yeah, just her face after "we're not supposed to touch the body!" my heart just broke. Dawn breaking down, the Scoobs in dorm room...it was just so sad to watch.
 
L
Lindsey McDonald
I like it when people agree with me!
I think i mentioned this elsewhere... but here goes.

Okay, the whole of the first act for me was sad!!! The line SMG delivers is great... the 'mom? mom? mummy?'... that got me right where it hurts (the heart incase anyone misinterprets it). And then actually seeing Joyce there... all lifeless and pale, it was disturbing, haunting and sad all at the same time. The eerieness of no music, it was uncomfortable but very real. I think Joss did a great job at getting the realness of the first few hours after the death of someone you love (personal experience can back that up). Also i think the point in which Buffy phones Giles is a real sad part too... she finaly acknowledged that after everything Giles is her father (although not biologically).

The act with Willow for me was the worse part though... i actually couldn't see though the tears. Ally did an amazing job. Ive said this before many a time... Ally has for me got to be one of the most emotional actresses i have ever had the honour of watching. She has it in her face... the awkwardness in the body language... the eyes! I also think the way she acts about the clothes, the whole focus on something so insignificant in the face of something major is very realistic. Also it was the first time on screen that Willow and Tara kissed... and placing it in an episode like this was the right thing to do i think. It was so understated and i think some people didn't realise until after... making it very special and comforting.

For me though the real tear part came when Anya gave her speach. My gosh did i cry. It was like when i lost my Uncle whom i loved dearly... i was about ten and i didn't understand it, and all around me people were upset but putting on brave faces, and i was kind of in a state of confusion... i didn't understand how he couldn't be back... where was he? What happened?
She delivered it perfectly! I think as well its the first time i really really liked her. I mean i had liked her but never really liked her, she was there but she was never in my heart... after that one scene she was! I think Anya needed something like that to make her less of an add on and more a part of the team.

The whole scene with Buffy and Dawn again made me go. I mean... Dawn grew up alot in that scene, and i think it was a turning point for the character. The whole scene was amazing. The way in which we dont hear Buffy tell her but see the reaction... We didnt need to hear it, but seeing the reaction was enough. I think Michelle did a great job.


Overall... theres not one sad part for me... and its hard to choose simply because for me its one of the best things i have seen. It could easily rival alot of the Blockbuster films out there... and beat them infact! I love the episode as you can tell. I cried about an hour after it and i was all sad for the rest of the day... it rarely happens!

x
 
Like quite a few of you the saddest part of this episode for me, and which never fails to make me tear up is Anya's speech. All that confusion and emotion that she she just doesn't know what to do with or how to behave - it gets me every time!
 
I forgot to mention in my post, that there is another moment that just hits you. It's actually at the end of I Was Made Too Love You too. Just after Buffy walks in, she looks up the stairs. The first time you watch it, and you suddenly see Joyce lying sprawled, out of focus, and realise just what it means: that was such a sad and surprising moment.
 
I have also felt that the vampire fight at the end perhaps was a bit unnecessary.
Like Joss felt that they had to have one fight because it is a Buffy episode after all.

But Five by Five has a very good point. Never thought about it that way myself.
I shall remember that when I see The Body next time.

On a side note, I always smile at Willow's - We panicked - comment when they comes back with all that candy and stuff in the hospital.
It's so lovely.

/SK
 
The whole scene in Willow/Tara's dorm room. Willow crying, looking for the right sweater (God, Alyson always makes me want to weep whenever she gets going) and Anya's monologue, which usually has me in tears.
 
The entire episode, but, mainly, the silence. Though, on the whole, I don't consider the episode as sad as it is jarring. Along those lines, I have to say that the most upsetting moment for me is Buffy's fantasy about everything going right, followed by the snap back to the bare, stark reality. Heartbreaking.
 
L
Lindsey McDonald
Me too. It's horrible.
As many have already said, the *entire* episode is one huge heartbreak for me. The few moments that break me down every time though are Buffy's sudden vomit - anyone who has ever felt so deeply and so empty knows what it's like to suddenly have your body betray you like that - to feel so destroyed that you just can't handle it...

I also break during the few moments either right before or after (i can't recall which at this point) when Buffy opens the back door and we hear the wind-chimes and children's laughter. Oh wow, it that powerful. It, along with the vampire fight, to me perfectly embody that question we all must ask after an event so powerful: "how is it possible that life is continuing?"

Additionally, the lack of music in The Body is all the more powerful, in my opinion, because it imbues the episode with a dream-like quality that I have personally experienced in real life during traumatic events. Time passes in jolts and waves and so many things seem sudden even when they shouldn't. I could go on and on about this... but I won't. 😉
 
this episode is definately one of my favourites from the show's entire run, when i watched it recently it made me cry for the first time in about 4 years, which is a credit to how emotionally powerful it really is. as for the saddest part, for me it is anya's speech, in particular when she say's "why" and breaks down. amazing.
 
i don't find "the body" as sad as i do disturbing. the way it was filmed--the silence, the concentration on detail, the flashbacks and the fantasies and how they connect so abruptly with reality. i loved anya's speech and willow's struggle to find something to wear--those were the saddest elements to me.
 
The whole episode is sad, but for me its the beginning part, the whole "Mom.......mommy?" thing. When I first brought season 5 on dvd my mum was going through some health troubles, she is fine now but at the time I was really scared and even though I knew this episode was coming I couldn't stop myself from watching it! and for some weird reason it actually made me feel better! lord knows why.....
 
When she tells the 911 lady that she's cold and the lady says, "The body?" and she says, "No, my Mom"....totally clueless to what the lady was saying.
It always gets me.
 
I think Anya trying to understand the human emotions of the death of someone close to you was really quite sad.
"..she'll never have eggs, or yawn, or brush her hair.."
 
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