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Post by William the Bloody on Aug 18, 2003 3:17:21 GMT -5
Written by Ty King
Directed by Bruce Seth Green
Air date: 9/22/97
A series of grave robbings leads to a science club member who is trying to create a girlfriend for his brother, whom he has jsut brought back from the dead.
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Post by Queen E on Sept 23, 2004 21:32:22 GMT -5
I know a lot of people were ambiguous about this episode, but I really felt it set the tone for the rest of the year in some interesting ways. Chris Epps is one of the first really ambiguous "bad" guys that we are faced with on the show. The Master, Colin, the talent show demon, the evil little league coach, Catherine Madison, Natalie French, the zookeeper, Marcie, all basically black hats. Even Catherine and Marcie had allowed circumstances to turn them into thundering loonies. And Fritz and Dave were under the influence of some seriously evil mojo.
Chris Epps is in pain; the brother who protected him dead, the mother who should be helping him through the loss can barely acknowledge he exists. He just wants to things to be OK for the people whom he felt protected and nurtured him; I didn't see any indications that he was gaining anything from what he was doing.
We also have Cordelia moving inexorably closer to the Scoobies; Xander saves her life and she thanks him. The fact that Xander doesn't really hear or acknowledge that thanks shows us how far he still has to go in terms of maturity; but his heart is in the right place. In Eric, we get the first shadow of Warren Meers; someone so socially inept he has to "create" a woman, and sociopathic enough to not care how it's done. (Although the woman is for Daryl, the primary agent and motivator is Eric.) We see echoes of Angel and Buffy predicament in Daryl's inability to really be "seen" or interact with humans, and yet that doesn't lessen either's desire for love. Giles and Jenny have their first date. And Willow utters what could be the theme of Season 2: "Love makes you do the wacky."
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Post by Rachael on Sept 23, 2004 22:59:22 GMT -5
WHAT? There was new T.V. all week!
Okay, so just to get the science-geeky thing out of the way first, 'cause I just have to say: FORMALDEHYDE! Would make ALL tissues irretrievably dead, not just the brain. 'Cause it crosslinks all the proteins and cell membranes and DNA together, so nothing moves, so the cell is dead in a way that magic, but not science, can fix.
Okay. Now for the important stuff:
Frankenstein. Obviously. So, what was Frankenstein about, I asked myself. Well, I got "wanting to know your place in the universe, and why your Creator created you", but that didn't seem quite right. But then I thought about it a bit more, and realized that it was more the "bride" part of Frankenstein that we were dealing with, here. The monster who couldn't have an ordinary woman, because none would have him, so needed his creator to make a mate for him. Hmm. So.
This episode was about love. Yeah, you say, duh. But, wait! It was more about love for folks who are different. Very different, even. On the far end of the bell curve. But still, they want and need love. And how there's someone out there for everyone. Well, almost. And also, it was about "People don't fall in love with what's right in front of them."
We start out the episode being shown couples, or near-couples: first up, we have Buffy and Angel. Neither of them is "typical" of what they're supposed to be - Buffy isn't your average 16-year-old girl, and Angel certainly isn't your average 240-year-old vampire. Neither can find love among their own kind, but they're perfect for one another. I'm not saying this very gracefully, but you hopefully get the gist.
But, on the flip side - Buffy doesn't fall in love with what's right in front of her. 'Cause there's someone else out there who's head over heels for her, and who knows what she is, and loves her not despite it, but more because of it. And he's, well, closer to what would make her seem "normal". But no.
Then we get Giles and Jenny. Again, two people who aren't who they seem to be - sure, Giles is a librarian, but he's also a member of an ancient secret society, sent to watch the Slayer, and knows stuff that would turn the hair of your average Sunnydale citizen white. Jenny, also, seems to be your average, ordinary computer science teacher. Except, no. She's actually a technopagan and a gypsy, sent to watch over Angel. Interesting, that - both Jenny and Giles are Watchers, of a sort. But I digress.
Despite all these commonalities, though, Jenny and Giles are also very different. Giles is hidebound in many ways (so far) and takes the "ancient" part of the ancient society very seriously. He's comfy with books and not with technology. Jenny, on the other hand, is, well, a technopagan. She's melded the ancient and the modern within herself. But, as with Buffy and Angel, opposites attract. And the unusual, the, to use a strong word, freakish, find love.
(Giles and Jenny, incidentally, don't really adhere to the "people don't fall in love with what's right in front of them" principle. They do, in fact, and that might illustrate the more mature nature of their relationship.)
We're also shown other, more minor examples of both themes: Xander and Cordy, while not yet a couple, are definitely far more aware of one another than is normal for a geek and the prom queen. They banter just a little too much, and like it. When Cordy gets scared, the first person to spring to her mind is Xander - now, she blames him for trying to scare her, but it's interesting that she thinks of him first.
Xander is a geek, as I've said - an outcasty type by definition. Cordy, on the other hand, is a more interesting case. She's a popular girl, so by all outward appearances, she's not "unusual". She's a trendsetter, so the very definition of "usual". BUT - she's not comfortable there. She needs the popularity, in order to feel loved, but she senses a real, deeper bond between Buffy, Willow, and Xander, and she's already working to share it. So, as popular girls go, she's different. And, again, she and Xander seem to be opposites, attracting.
And Xander? My friend? Bit of irony in your "people don't fall in love with what's right in front of them", given that Willow was right in front of Xander when he said it. She's exactly what you'd think he'd need, they have much more in common than he has with Buffy or Cordy, and she knows everything about him, and why he's the way he is. And yet.
And one more for the "right in front of them" category - for ultimate irony. Our Frankenstein's monster, Darryl (who has gone unmentioned so far, because I think he's really just a symbol for all of the other "outcasts" in the episode), was beloved of Cordelia, but when he was a big football star, he didn't even notice her. 'Course, now that he's a big old freak (and one who, sadly, is the exception that proves the rule - there is no love for him), he wants Cordelia. Now he realizes what he missed out on.
Okay. I have little stuff, but I think I'm gonna put that in a new post.
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Post by Rachael on Sept 23, 2004 23:05:11 GMT -5
Little things:
Giles' "There, there," when Cordy wants her pain dealt with. ;D
Willow is already a little callous and strange - she views digging up graves as a field trip, and brings a picnic lunch.
Cordy has depth, even in her seemingly "shallow" activities - she's honestly disturbed by the fact that cheerleading practice went badly, and she cares about getting it right, to the point of stupidly taking chances with her own life at the game.
"Ms. Calendar's my father." Hee.
Why parts? Why not just choose the dead girl with the body you liked best? And maybe replace any part that was seriously damaged? Or, once you're gonna choose a head from a live girl - why not kill and reanimate the whole girl?
Well, 'cause the Frankenstein analogy would be harder then, yeah. And the whole girl wouldn't be, well, ugly enough to qualify as a freak who'd have to stay inside with Darryl, maybe?
I love that Jenny was a sports freak. Baseball is poetic, basketball is graceful, football is - large men beating on each other, so with the hormone rush. ;D
And finally - what the hell kind of decapitation tool WAS that? I mean, for kids who are reported to have made good incisions up to that point, they were showing a big lack of knowledge of the difficulty in, oh, removing a human head!
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Post by Rachael on Sept 23, 2004 23:06:52 GMT -5
In Eric, we get the first shadow of Warren Meers; someone so socially inept he has to "create" a woman, and sociopathic enough to not care how it's done. Oooh. Nice catch. I hadn't noticed that before. Yup; that was among my notes, too. Very, very cool. And potentially the theme for Seasons 3, 5, and 6, too. If you look at it the right way. |
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Post by Lola m on Sept 27, 2004 11:13:23 GMT -5
I know a lot of people were ambiguous about this episode, but I really felt it set the tone for the rest of the year in some interesting ways. Chris Epps is one of the first really ambiguous "bad" guys that we are faced with on the show. The Master, Colin, the talent show demon, the evil little league coach, Catherine Madison, Natalie French, the zookeeper, Marcie, all basically black hats. Even Catherine and Marcie had allowed circumstances to turn them into thundering loonies. And Fritz and Dave were under the influence of some seriously evil mojo. Chris Epps is in pain; the brother who protected him dead, the mother who should be helping him through the loss can barely acknowledge he exists. He just wants to things to be OK for the people whom he felt protected and nurtured him; I didn't see any indications that he was gaining anything from what he was doing. I like the ambiguousness too. But then, I'm a big fan of the gray area. Yes, we really feel for Chris. Always in the shadow of his bigger brother and his popular, football star life. Now dealing with the death of that brother, who always looked out for him and to whom he feels a huge obligation. And virtually alone, since mom has gone all catatonic flashback on him. In some ways, I was also reminded of Amy and her mother. A parent's desire to re-live vicariously through their child's high school glory. Oooooh, good one! I hadn't thought of that comparison, but you are so right. Eric is the completely creepy one, and like Warren, the one to push matters over that final edge toward actual murder (or attempted murder in this case). And then, we also get Xander's earlier lines about "wanting the unattainable". Yes, this is mainly about Xander's desire for Buffy - his unattainable girl - but it also gets at the typical American society push toward some unattainable style of beauty. They don't just dig up one girl and re-animate her. They piece one together out of their "favorite bits". Can't find the ultmate girl, of course, because she doesn't exist. Gotta keep looking further, to the next one and the next one, what if I'm missing the ultimate? If only I could just take all the best bits and put them together. I mean, look at the title of the ep - "some assembly required". Oh, yeah. And we even get it twice in one episode, from Willow and then also from Buffy, just to drive the point home. The whole episode is built around the insane lengths people will go to in the name of "love". Chris' love for his brother and his mom. His zombie brother's "need" for someone to love him. Etc. etc. Lola |
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Post by Lola m on Sept 27, 2004 11:22:23 GMT -5
WHAT? There was new T.V. all week! <snipped for space> Frankenstein. Obviously. So, what was Frankenstein about, I asked myself. Well, I got "wanting to know your place in the universe, and why your Creator created you", but that didn't seem quite right. But then I thought about it a bit more, and realized that it was more the "bride" part of Frankenstein that we were dealing with, here. The monster who couldn't have an ordinary woman, because none would have him, so needed his creator to make a mate for him. Hmm. So. This episode was about love. Yeah, you say, duh. But, wait! It was more about love for folks who are different. Very different, even. On the far end of the bell curve. But still, they want and need love. And how there's someone out there for everyone. Well, almost. And also, it was about "People don't fall in love with what's right in front of them." <snip> Just wanted to "eetah" this, Rachael! Very nice outline of all the "unrequited" love examples. Yep. This ep is just chock full of desire for the unattainable or just out of reach kind of love. I like your idea that Giles and Jenny are the exceptions to this as an example of a more mature love. Because Giles and Jenny are shown in a kind of goofy manner and the gang teases him as if they have so much more understanding and experience than these adults. (Ha! Buffy giving out dating advice? Run, Giles, run!) So it's good to have this reminder that really, they are the grown-ups here. Also, did anyone else notice a hint of real "ripper-like" anger in Giles face when they are first teasing him, after catching him "practicing" inviting Jenny out? I know it's all ret-conning, but I try to come up with reasons why Giles needs to practice asking someone for a date, considering his past experiences. But then I think of my own early wild young times. 'Cuz we all kind of travelled in packs, you know? People just all went out together and some of them were having sex with some of the others and so on. Much more group and casual interaction and the relationships were very fluid. I remember one of my friends kind of actually freaking a bit because one of the guys asked her to go to an Iggy Pop concert as a real date kind of thing. They'd even already slept together some time back, but this was his way of becoming more "serious". She was freaked because she'd never actually gone on a "date" before and didn't quite know what it meant. So maybe Giles was in the same place? Never really did much of the straightforward, "normal" dating thing, and probably also a bit out of practice since getting all involved in Watcher stuff. Ahh, fanwanking. I love it. Lola Plus. The opening scenes where Buffy gets distracted by Angel and then is trying to fight the vamp? Her fumbling and "where's my stake" really prove that Spike's later lesson (a slayer must always reach for her weapon, I've already got mine) is one she should pay attention to. How interesting that this happens in the ep before we're gonna meet Spike. Hmmmmm. ;D |
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Post by jeff on Apr 16, 2007 18:20:40 GMT -5
I really had no stron feelings for this episode. I do feel it was a great episode for character developement , and it really moved the relationship front ahead quite a bit. Angel and Buffy, Cordy and the gang, Giles and Jenny. It really had some great writing and dialogue. The actual story I found Lacking, but the writing and character development was fantastic. Does that make sense? LOL
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Post by Lola m on May 4, 2007 22:32:30 GMT -5
I really had no stron feelings for this episode. I do feel it was a great episode for character developement , and it really moved the relationship front ahead quite a bit. Angel and Buffy, Cordy and the gang, Giles and Jenny. It really had some great writing and dialogue. The actual story I found Lacking, but the writing and character development was fantastic. Does that make sense? LOL Makes sense to me. I have that same feeling toward several eps in season 1 and early season 2. When I re-watch them, I catch myself kind of . . . skipping over the story a bit and focusing on mostly the interactions between characters and the dialog. ;D But I think a lot of that has to do with early shows not having enough background or history yet for a lot of arc. And arc is often my favorite bit of storytelling.  |
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