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Post by William the Bloody on Aug 18, 2003 3:15:18 GMT -5
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by Joss Whedon
Air date: 9/15/97
Buffy returns from summer vacation with a "major attitude" and recurring nightmares involving The Master - even as the Anointed One and his followers plot their revenge.
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Post by Lola m on Sept 14, 2004 22:58:01 GMT -5
I think in the past I have always primarily noticed how scared Buffy is in this episode. She's acting all distant and falsely perky and fatalistic because she died and is afraid and knows it will ultimately happen again. But on this particular re-watch, it also really came home to me how angry she is! She's angry with Giles, with Angel, with Xander, with her parents. She's just so scared and angry you can feel it rolling off her. I also tried to view this ep as if it were new. Like I was really just seeing this first episode of the second season. It was interesting to notice how many of the first scenes are "meet the cast" scenes. Re-introduing us to the gang and reminding us of each of their "roles". For example: * In the first scene we re-learn that 1) Xander and Willow are good friends 2) Xander likes Buffy 3) Buffy has been out of touch with them, something is maybe wrong 4) Willow likes Xander, and perhaps they could have something together if Buffy wasn't in the way 5) Buffy kicks demon ass! * We get reminded who are the bad guys - vampires. But also get the very nice red herring of the annoying one and that crew. Setting us up with the comfy delusion that this season is going to be about fighting them like last season was. Oh what wonderful surprises we have heading our way!  ;D * We get a quick check-in with Buffy's home life. Joyce trying her hardest with the limited info she has. Oh, and Hi, Hank! Bye, Hank! * Then we get back to school. Old sets and new ones, and in quick succession re-learn: 1) Cordelia is - wow, just her fab Queen C self 2) Snyder is a weasel 3) Jenny and Giles are . . . awwwww . . . sweet on each other 4) Jenny is all hip, modern new-age gal with her burning man trips and so on and 5) Giles, not so much. (Mr. Nose-in-book).  * And lastly, Giles is Buffy's teacher, her watcher. And, gosh darn it, something's wrong with the girl, even if she can fight up a storm and take out any training dummies that talk back. "I'm ready!" She says. Oh, yeah, she's really about one nerve away from snapping. I did also find it interesting that Angel isn't part of this first wave of re-introductions. He has a much more quiet and, appropriately enough considering later events, a much more personal re-introduction. Just there, in her bedroom, providing cryptic vamp info once again. And being lied to by Buffy in a big way. "I was having a really good dream." (Speaking of which, anyone else find it verrrrrry significant that she dreams the Master is hiding under Giles' face?) Other things I noticed. * Cordy's punch-lacking insult (3 Musketeer's) is such a dead give-away that she is actually rather envious of our scoobies and a nice bit of foreshadowing her future role within the gang. * My lord, the scene with Buffy and Xander dancing is even better than I remembered. The look on his face, sooooo hurt right at that moment she turns around to dance in front of him - he knows perfectly well (regardless of his later attempt to cover "maybe she likes me" or laugh it off) what she's doing. And then, you can see how clearly he is just so mad at her! Even before she says her very very nasty cruel "Did I ever thank you for saving my life? Don't you wish I would?" Woah, is she mad at him! Angry he did save her, maybe? Angry that she had to come back and keep fighting?  * Of course, everybody loves Queen C's big speech with the spank your inner moppet bit, but I also find it very telling that what she's doing is coming to the defense of Xander and Willow. She specifically refers to Buffy not wanting to alienate her "loser" friends. Clever clever Cordy! ;D * Anyone else have flashforwards to Tabula Rasa when Buffy says "I can't do it anymore"? * Also, definite "Wishverse" vibe with the hanging conveyor belt of people to be drained. Must have been left-over Master equipment. Lola |
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Post by Spring forgetting to log in on Sept 15, 2004 7:08:11 GMT -5
I think in the past I have always primarily noticed how scared Buffy is in this episode. She's acting all distant and falsely perky and fatalistic because she died and is afraid and knows it will ultimately happen again. But on this particular re-watch, it also really came home to me how angry she is! She's angry with Giles, with Angel, with Xander, with her parents. She's just so scared and angry you can feel it rolling off her. I also tried to view this ep as if it were new. Like I was really just seeing this first episode of the second season. It was interesting to notice how many of the first scenes are "meet the cast" scenes. Re-introduing us to the gang and reminding us of each of their "roles". For example: * In the first scene we re-learn that 1) Xander and Willow are good friends 2) Xander likes Buffy 3) Buffy has been out of touch with them, something is maybe wrong 4) Willow likes Xander, and perhaps they could have something together if Buffy wasn't in the way 5) Buffy kicks demon ass! * We get reminded who are the bad guys - vampires. But also get the very nice red herring of the annoying one and that crew. Setting us up with the comfy delusion that this season is going to be about fighting them like last season was. Oh what wonderful surprises we have heading our way! ;D * We get a quick check-in with Buffy's home life. Joyce trying her hardest with the limited info she has. Oh, and Hi, Hank! Bye, Hank! * Then we get back to school. Old sets and new ones, and in quick succession re-learn: 1) Cordelia is - wow, just her fab Queen C self 2) Snyder is a weasel 3) Jenny and Giles are . . . awwwww . . . sweet on each other 4) Jenny is all hip, modern new-age gal with her burning man trips and so on and 5) Giles, not so much. (Mr. Nose-in-book). * And lastly, Giles is Buffy's teacher, her watcher. And, gosh darn it, something's wrong with the girl, even if she can fight up a storm and take out any training dummies that talk back. "I'm ready!" She says. Oh, yeah, she's really about one nerve away from snapping. I did also find it interesting that Angel isn't part of this first wave of re-introductions. He has a much more quiet and, appropriately enough considering later events, a much more personal re-introduction. Just there, in her bedroom, providing cryptic vamp info once again. And being lied to by Buffy in a big way. "I was having a really good dream." (Speaking of which, anyone else find it verrrrrry significant that she dreams the Master is hiding under Giles' face?) Other things I noticed. * Cordy's punch-lacking insult (3 Musketeer's) is such a dead give-away that she is actually rather envious of our scoobies and a nice bit of foreshadowing her future role within the gang. * My lord, the scene with Buffy and Xander dancing is even better than I remembered. The look on his face, sooooo hurt right at that moment she turns around to dance in front of him - he knows perfectly well (regardless of his later attempt to cover "maybe she likes me" or laugh it off) what she's doing. And then, you can see how clearly he is just so mad at her! Even before she says her very very nasty cruel "Did I ever thank you for saving my life? Don't you wish I would?" Woah, is she mad at him! Angry he did save her, maybe? Angry that she had to come back and keep fighting? * Of course, everybody loves Queen C's big speech with the spank your inner moppet bit, but I also find it very telling that what she's doing is coming to the defense of Xander and Willow. She specifically refers to Buffy not wanting to alienate her "loser" friends. Clever clever Cordy! ;D * Anyone else have flashforwards to Tabula Rasa when Buffy says "I can't do it anymore"? * Also, definite "Wishverse" vibe with the hanging conveyor belt of people to be drained. Must have been left-over Master equipment. Lola Great observations, Lola, and I agree about the angry. I really like this episode, and I especially love the Xander-dancing scene. It is awful in the sense that Buffy is just being so deliberately nasty, but wonderful in how well it is done by all involved. I thought Nick B was great in Season 1, but it's that dancing scene that just blows me away and makes me a forever fan. You can just see it all in his face. How much Xander knows what Buffy's doing, but how much he wants her anyway, how scared he is, etc. Just wonderful. |
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Post by Rachael on Sept 15, 2004 23:51:30 GMT -5
I think in the past I have always primarily noticed how scared Buffy is in this episode. She's acting all distant and falsely perky and fatalistic because she died and is afraid and knows it will ultimately happen again. But on this particular re-watch, it also really came home to me how angry she is! She's angry with Giles, with Angel, with Xander, with her parents. She's just so scared and angry you can feel it rolling off her. Ayup. Why she's angry with Xander, I've tried to work out. I mean, it feels too soon to be angry 'cause he brought her back - does she WANT to be dead at this point? Probably not. So, why? 'Cause her anger is directed way more at Xander and Angel, the men in her life, than at Giles or Joyce or Willow, or even Cordy. Xander gets used to make Angel jealous, but also she seems angry and wanting to hurt him, too - else why the "Don't you wish I would?" Very nice observations, Lola! Just for folks whose friends said, "There's this great show you HAVE to watch when it comes back this fall," we get a mini-pilot. Ah, yes, but WHY is it Giles? Myself, I think it foreshadows his later betrayal of her, in Season 3. And she DOES have prophetic dreams. . .and Giles does have stuff hidden behind a mask - we haven't seen Ripper or Ethan yet, have we? Also - Xander and Willow just sitting there while Giles/Master tries to kill Buffy is interesting - does she think they don't care if she lives or dies? If she does, then she really DOES have some issues to work out. Oh, eetah. Everyone is so good in that scene. Angel and Willow put on quite the facial expression show, too. Damn, but those folks can act. And. . .the dance is interesting 'cause she almost never faces Xander - her back is to him the entire time. She's not dancing with him, at all. She's alone. And. . .it kinda foreshadows the Buffy/Spike balcony scene of Season 6. A bit. If you wanna see it that way. Other stuff I noticed: Joyce: I'll just be happy if she makes it through the school year. (She doesn't.) Angel later in the season uses that exact same method to get her out of the library so he can kidnap Giles. "And you fall for it every single time!" The torture of the vampire. . .*shudder*, is all. 'Cause, is that our Buffy? With the torture? Buffy has been so traumatized by the Master, and yet we've come, over the years, to see him as almost laughable, a "practice" nemesis, and nothing compared to what she'll face later on. Finally, on the Master bones front - ever wonder if The Master is THE vampire? The original? I mean, that wouldn't remove the Kakistos inconsistencies, but maybe he's the only one "real" enough to leave behind a corpse? Okay, fanwanking. ;D |
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Post by Queen E on Sept 16, 2004 10:28:01 GMT -5
Ayup. Why she's angry with Xander, I've tried to work out. I mean, it feels too soon to be angry 'cause he brought her back - does she WANT to be dead at this point? Probably not. So, why? 'Cause her anger is directed way more at Xander and Angel, the men in her life, than at Giles or Joyce or Willow, or even Cordy. Xander gets used to make Angel jealous, but also she seems angry and wanting to hurt him, too - else why the "Don't you wish I would?" I've always thought it had a lot to do with Buffy's sense that she is obligated to "rescue" her friends; she is exhausted and angry with worrying about them and sacrificing for them (and humanity as a whole, with the Scoobies as a microcosm). But why Giles and Xander in particular? Giles, well, sent her to fight the master, in her view. But it was Willow who made her follow through, so why not vent at Willow instead? Perhaps Buffy still is dealing with the stereotype (as we see in "Some Assembly Required") that she is doing a "man's" job. So she takes it out on two of the men she's responsible for... |
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Alexandra
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"You never had it so good as me. Never."
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Post by Alexandra on Nov 27, 2004 20:19:10 GMT -5
Lola said, "Speaking of which, anyone else find it verrrrrry significant that she dreams the Master is hiding under Giles' face?"
It seems as though Buffy is extremely confused about Giles' role in her life at this point in the series. He is supposed to keep her safe in a way, but he lets her go to her "death". Even though she actually made that decision, she is only a teen, and maybe paradoxically resents that a "grownup" didn't do more to save her from the Master. This appears to be a major recurring theme in the whole series. He is the grownup watcher but she has to protect him (and everyone else.) As the series continues, she grows more into her responsibilities, but she never really likes being the one with the heavy burden. I think Faith liked the role better, even though she went rogue.
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And Lola said, "Xander gets used to make Angel jealous, but also she seems angry and wanting to hurt him, too - else why the "Don't you wish I would?"
The camera pans to Angel watching Buffy dance with Xander but the camera ALSO pans to Willow watching them. Willow probably can't hear that "Don't you wish I would?" comment, but if Xander tells Willow what Buffy said, that poison arrow will slice Willow too. Xander probably tells Willow most everything, and he won't even know he's hurting Willow by repeating what Buffy said. Buffy can hurt both of them by dancing with Xander so provocatively, and with her ambiguous comment.
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Actually, Buffy seems bent on hurting everybody around her rather indisciriminately. More like hitting out blindly in all directions because she is in so much emotional pain herself. I think it is this indiscriminate wounding of all the others, including Cordelia, that actually makes it easier for them to forgive her. She messed with everyone, no favorites. They realized she was hurling spite everywhere, not just at any one person. In a way, it wasn't personal at all. Painfully on target, but not personal.
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Just watched this ep again, and still like Xander's, "Bitca?"
Alexandra
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Alexandra
S'cubie
Founder
"You never had it so good as me. Never."
Posts: 108
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Post by Alexandra on Nov 27, 2004 20:32:38 GMT -5
It just occurred to me that she had just returned from being with her father for the summer in Los Angeles. Having to keep her secrets, having to act like a happy daughter, and probably realizing more and more as she got older that her father wasn't truly interested in her, all probably contributed to her emotional tantrums when she returned to Sunnydale.
She could unload on her true friends where she couldn't on her dad who was emotionally distant. He wouldn't have any satisfying reaction to her anger. It's human nature to want to get a reaction - to make someone else angry because you are. But her dad's reactions would have been useless without any real caring. It was interesting that she was just silent with her mother. Perhaps she didn't want to cause more upset for her mother after the divorce, so she kept her feelings inside around Joyce.
Alexandra
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Post by Lola m on Nov 29, 2004 7:36:58 GMT -5
It just occurred to me that she had just returned from being with her father for the summer in Los Angeles. Having to keep her secrets, having to act like a happy daughter, and probably realizing more and more as she got older that her father wasn't truly interested in her, all probably contributed to her emotional tantrums when she returned to Sunnydale. She could unload on her true friends where she couldn't on her dad who was emotionally distant. He wouldn't have any satisfying reaction to her anger. It's human nature to want to get a reaction - to make someone else angry because you are. But her dad's reactions would have been useless without any real caring. It was interesting that she was just silent with her mother. Perhaps she didn't want to cause more upset for her mother after the divorce, so she kept her feelings inside around Joyce. Alexandra Hi, Alexandra! Great to see your posts! We miss you! I really like both of your explanations here for Buffy's anger. The idea that it is directed at everyone, just her hitting out at whoever is near by, feels very right to me. And, as you pointed out, it also fits with the others understanding and forgiving, once they see how messed up she is. But it is the part about Hank that really struck me. I had never really put that episode into it's true timeline for Buffy. We don't hear her talk much about that summer with dad, so it is easy to have it slide out of mind. I would think that it was even harder to put on a fake front for her dad because she was also isolated from the only people who know about her slayer-ness and what that means, her friends and Giles and Angel. She just went through the trauma of fighting the Master, dying, being brought back, etc. Then she has to push that all down and go be fluffy, happy, ValleyGirl Buffy for a summer with dad. She may have even thought it was going to be a nice relief at first, not think too much, get away from duty and slaying and all things hellmouthy. But it looks to me like it was only keeping all the pain and fear and anger in stasis. If she had dealt with things over the summer, she wouldn't fall apart as much as she did once she was back. Plus, as you said, that much time spent with Hank had to allow her to realize how distant he really is. Lola Again, thanks for the insights.  |
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Post by jeff on Apr 16, 2007 17:29:31 GMT -5
unlike the last episode of season 1 where I fell in love with buffy's character when she found out she was going to die, I really do not like Buffy in this episode, all pissed off and taking it out on the ones who saved her life and helped her. The Misdirected anger is just frustrating. I am sure spending the summer with her dad in LA didn't help the attitude any, but I really didn't like that part of the story at all. Especially the Xander scene at the bronze. I really DESPISE that scene. It just felt so out of character and really meaningless for me.
Funny how the vamp's took the summer off, and then conveniantly show up the day Buffy returns.
Loved the Willow, Xander interaction in the beginning of the show.
I think that the master hiding behind Giles while Xander and Willow just set there watching him try to kill Buffy was her dream saying that no matter what happens, and no matter how much they are there to help, at this point she is the one that has to defeat the bad guy. She has not learned that them being there is all part of the reason she can defeat the bad guys. At this point she just sees them as "backup" someone there to research and point her to the bad guy so she can kill it. the Keyword being SHE. I dont think she sees them as "the Gang" yet just the research crew who finds the demon for her to fight. So in part she blames them a little bit. That is about as deep as I go people. LOL
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Post by Lola m on May 4, 2007 15:34:13 GMT -5
unlike the last episode of season 1 where I fell in love with buffy's character when she found out she was going to die, I really do not like Buffy in this episode, all pissed off and taking it out on the ones who saved her life and helped her. The Misdirected anger is just frustrating. I am sure spending the summer with her dad in LA didn't help the attitude any, but I really didn't like that part of the story at all. Especially the Xander scene at the bronze. I really DESPISE that scene. It just felt so out of character and really meaningless for me. Funny how the vamp's took the summer off, and then conveniantly show up the day Buffy returns. Loved the Willow, Xander interaction in the beginning of the show. I think that the master hiding behind Giles while Xander and Willow just set there watching him try to kill Buffy was her dream saying that no matter what happens, and no matter how much they are there to help, at this point she is the one that has to defeat the bad guy. She has not learned that them being there is all part of the reason she can defeat the bad guys. At this point she just sees them as "backup" someone there to research and point her to the bad guy so she can kill it. the Keyword being SHE. I dont think she sees them as "the Gang" yet just the research crew who finds the demon for her to fight. So in part she blames them a little bit. That is about as deep as I go people. LOL Oh, that is a very good point about Buffy being, in the end, the One. And this early in her slaying career, she is definitely feeling that aloneness. After all, it was her death that the prophesy was all about. Buffy is hard to like in this ep. She's, let's face it, mean. To everyone in turns, really. And doing it just because she's angry and taking it out, unfairly, on others. I wonder too if she isn't, perhaps, trying to drive other people away? To truly be as alone as she feels? |
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