nerd4hire
Certified Uncloneable
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2002
- Messages
- 9,102
I'm not one of those guys that watches Buffy and asks questions like where are the police when demons are terrorizing the streets of Sunnydale, or why don't the people of Sunnydale read about it in the papers if demon corpses are turning up in every back yard and alleyway.
I can suspend my disbelief with the best of them.
Nevertheless I must admit there are moments when even I have to stop and say "Wait a minute now...You must be joking". I call these "You Must Be Joking moments" or YMBJs.
For me the all time classic example of a YMBJ would be the one from Doomed in Season 4.
Buffy and Riley are fighting these Giant Lizard demon thingies called Vahrals.
These things are tough. Buffy has been scrapping one for the whole last part of the episode. They have to keep these things from jumping into a seemingly bottomless pit leading into the hellmouth. Apparently this will create a spell that will destroy the world.
Finally Buffy's Vahrall shakes itself lose and crawls into the pit. Buffy moves to jump in after it. Riley stops her wondering what's going on. "I'm going in" she tells him.
Apparently Riley has this little wire thing he can hook onto Buffy to bring her back safely. "You're coming back out." says Riley, and he hooks her up.
They do everything but kiss each other goodby and exchange phone numbers. In the meantime the Vahral has been steadily plummeting into this bottomless pit.
Buffy finally jumps in and a few momemts later Riley hauls Buffy back out with a now docile Vahral in her one free hand.
All I could say when I saw that scene was "You must be joking!".
It just doesn't make sense.
There's a separate sort of YMBJ moment. I call it the Drew Z Greenberg YMBJ. Not only does this one not make sense within our understanding of mundane reality, it doesn't even make sense within the fantastic universe of Buffy reality.
Want some examples? Here's a few. Vampires run in terror from nerds on ATVs but they stop to duke it out with a slayer who can actually kill them. Witches can alter reality at will, but apparently Buffy who can only use her fists is the tough one. Or...
Apparently the scoob crew only notice this is a problem in 2002.
God...all this sounds like I hate Buffy, doesn't it? I don't. I love it. Nevertheless You Must Be Joking moments amuse me. I collect them in my head. Can you think of any?
I can suspend my disbelief with the best of them.
Nevertheless I must admit there are moments when even I have to stop and say "Wait a minute now...You must be joking". I call these "You Must Be Joking moments" or YMBJs.
For me the all time classic example of a YMBJ would be the one from Doomed in Season 4.
Buffy and Riley are fighting these Giant Lizard demon thingies called Vahrals.
These things are tough. Buffy has been scrapping one for the whole last part of the episode. They have to keep these things from jumping into a seemingly bottomless pit leading into the hellmouth. Apparently this will create a spell that will destroy the world.
Finally Buffy's Vahrall shakes itself lose and crawls into the pit. Buffy moves to jump in after it. Riley stops her wondering what's going on. "I'm going in" she tells him.
Apparently Riley has this little wire thing he can hook onto Buffy to bring her back safely. "You're coming back out." says Riley, and he hooks her up.
They do everything but kiss each other goodby and exchange phone numbers. In the meantime the Vahral has been steadily plummeting into this bottomless pit.
Buffy finally jumps in and a few momemts later Riley hauls Buffy back out with a now docile Vahral in her one free hand.
All I could say when I saw that scene was "You must be joking!".
It just doesn't make sense.
There's a separate sort of YMBJ moment. I call it the Drew Z Greenberg YMBJ. Not only does this one not make sense within our understanding of mundane reality, it doesn't even make sense within the fantastic universe of Buffy reality.
Want some examples? Here's a few. Vampires run in terror from nerds on ATVs but they stop to duke it out with a slayer who can actually kill them. Witches can alter reality at will, but apparently Buffy who can only use her fists is the tough one. Or...
there's this jacket that the male members of this family have been wearing regularly since the 1990s. This coat will make any female who views any male inside it so crazy with lust they are willing to maim, screw, steal or even kill to impress the wearer.
Then there's the recent one in "The Killer In Me" where Giles is going to protect the SITS from killers with reach as far away as Istanbul by taking the girls on a camping trip.
God...all this sounds like I hate Buffy, doesn't it? I don't. I love it. Nevertheless You Must Be Joking moments amuse me. I collect them in my head. Can you think of any?
