2/21: Becoming, Part One

[Linda]

ehills said:

Thoughts about Becoming 1. So much to love.

I love Whistler. I wish we could have seen more of him.

I love Angel's leering smile as he watches Buffy at the end of the teaser.

<snipped>

I love love love the Angel-Dru confession scene to pieces, especially with Angel's hand on the grate at the end.

I love the cut from dark dark NYC to bright bright LA.

Hi Liz!

Eetah!

I always like to think about how the decision to reveal HumanAngel and Angel's origins at this point in the narrative. How does this affect the audience's (an audience watching the show the first time) perception of Angel. How would it have been different if the flashbacks had been shown in the episode "Angel" for instance?

<snipped>

Thanks to your speculation about how Angel's flashback would affect a first-time watcher's perception, I have decided to indulge myself here. (Goes without saying that I blame you, right?)

Becoming Parts 1 and 2 were the first Jossverse episodes I ever experienced. They blew me away. And since they served as my introduction to the Jossverse, I thought I would try to become Perspective Girl. But with less anger and more crazy-flakes.

I watched these episodes without any knowledge of the Buffyverse except for a few nice blurbs in places like Entertainment Weekly and TVGuide. The extent of my knowledge: Buffy was a superhero who went to high school and whose ex-boyfriend was evil. I admit that I was skeptical, because teen-angst dramas are not my thing and silliness without heart gets old really fast for me.

I was *not* impressed by that first flashback. In fact, hearing the jarring "accents" made me wonder about the entire show's production values. Now, having watched the entire series, I can appreciate the writing and intent of the flashback. To answer your question directly, it was absolutely vital that Angel be introduced as a human first, because he was the least sympathetic character in the present. And the flashback also established that this wasn't some sanitized high school drama, since Angel's turning implied sex and alcohol and predatory behavior.

Nevertheless, as someone with only 2 minutes invested in the show, I almost changed the channel. I am *so* glad that I didn't. Because the next scene was Buffy in the graveyard fighting a couple of vampires. The fight was fine and the dustings were good TV-budget FX-wise. But I really liked that Buffy was simultaneously serious and matter-of-fact about it. And she was wearing *practical* fighting clothes: sweats and athletic shoes. And then Xander popped up onto the screen. His plain old acceptance of her super-powerness even as he towered over her was nice. And then the shift to high school concerns made me smile. And then Xander's "Oh, yeah, Finals! Why didn't you let me die?" made me laugh out loud.

When viewed as a whole, I think that Becoming hangs together as a movie motion picture. (Well, except for the flashback accents and clunky archeological artifact and the sword fight stunt double obviousness and the blech whirlpool FX that forced DB to stand way too cardboardly for someone in agony.) What I mean is that the clarity of the writing and acting made everyone distinct and funny and memorable. And I cared about what happened to them. (Well, except for Snyder.)

And then there was Spike. The usual thing in a superhero story is for the guy in the wheelchair to be some kind of brain-powered genius. ;D The only thing I knew about him was what I picked up onscreen: he called Dru "pet" with affection and consideration, he had some kind of childish head-smacking relationship with Angel, and he was the real-world-practicality guy of the trio. Oh, and I *may* have noticed that he was angry and pretty and funny as all hell to watch. ;D

And a special note: It was a revelation to watch the scene in the Library as Buffy and Willow brought Ms. Calendar's spell to Giles. The anger and the pain it exposed brought depth and weight to everything that needed to be decided. Even *I* could feel it and I had never seen any of the backstory behind it. I thought it was wonderfully well done by all.

Linda, although if you wanna bring on the pain, Part 2 is the chainsaw to Part 1's knife

[Lola m]

prokaryote said:

ehills said:

Thoughts about Becoming 1. So much to love.

I love Whistler. I wish we could have seen more of him.

I love Angel's leering smile as he watches Buffy at the end of the teaser.

<snipped>

I love love love the Angel-Dru confession scene to pieces, especially with Angel's hand on the grate at the end.

I love the cut from dark dark NYC to bright bright LA.

Hi Liz!

Eetah!

I always like to think about how the decision to reveal HumanAngel and Angel's origins at this point in the narrative. How does this affect the audience's (an audience watching the show the first time) perception of Angel. How would it have been different if the flashbacks had been shown in the episode "Angel" for instance?

<snipped>

Thanks to your speculation about how Angel's flashback would affect a first-time watcher's perception, I have decided to indulge myself here. (Goes without saying that I blame you, right?)

Becoming Parts 1 and 2 were the first Jossverse episodes I ever experienced. They blew me away. And since they served as my introduction to the Jossverse, I thought I would try to become Perspective Girl. But with less anger and more crazy-flakes.

I watched these episodes without any knowledge of the Buffyverse except for a few nice blurbs in places like Entertainment Weekly and TVGuide. The extent of my knowledge: Buffy was a superhero who went to high school and whose ex-boyfriend was evil. I admit that I was skeptical, because teen-angst dramas are not my thing and silliness without heart gets old really fast for me.

I was *not* impressed by that first flashback. In fact, hearing the jarring "accents" made me wonder about the entire show's production values. Now, having watched the entire series, I can appreciate the writing and intent of the flashback. To answer your question directly, it was absolutely vital that Angel be introduced as a human first, because he was the least sympathetic character in the present. And the flashback also established that this wasn't some sanitized high school drama, since Angel's turning implied sex and alcohol and predatory behavior.

Love the way you put this - the reason why it was necessary for Angel to be introduced as a human first. Also eetah on the way we are shown that this isn't going to be a sanitized teen show. One of my big loves for the Jossverse is it's realness in the midst of vampires and werewolfs and demons, oh my.

Nevertheless, as someone with only 2 minutes invested in the show, I almost changed the channel. I am *so* glad that I didn't. Because the next scene was Buffy in the graveyard fighting a couple of vampires. The fight was fine and the dustings were good TV-budget FX-wise. But I really liked that Buffy was simultaneously serious and matter-of-fact about it. And she was wearing *practical* fighting clothes: sweats and athletic shoes. And then Xander popped up onto the screen. His plain old acceptance of her super-powerness even as he towered over her was nice. And then the shift to high school concerns made me smile. And then Xander's "Oh, yeah, Finals! Why didn't you let me die?" made me laugh out loud.

When viewed as a whole, I think that Becoming hangs together as a movie motion picture. (Well, except for the flashback accents and clunky archeological artifact and the sword fight stunt double obviousness and the blech whirlpool FX that forced DB to stand way too cardboardly for someone in agony.)

**snicker** Ahem. But true! The writing - it's always the writing that makes Joss-shows what they are. They may have sucky budget effects sometimes, the monsters may be . . well . . . sometimes. But the writing will be effulgent.

What I mean is that the clarity of the writing and acting made everyone distinct and funny and memorable. And I cared about what happened to them. (Well, except for Snyder.)

And then there was Spike. The usual thing in a superhero story is for the guy in the wheelchair to be some kind of brain-powered genius. ;D The only thing I knew about him was what I picked up onscreen: he called Dru "pet" with affection and consideration, he had some kind of childish head-smacking relationship with Angel, and he was the real-world-practicality guy of the trio. Oh, and I *may* have noticed that he was angry and pretty and funny as all hell to watch. ;D

And a special note: It was a revelation to watch the scene in the Library as Buffy and Willow brought Ms. Calendar's spell to Giles. The anger and the pain it exposed brought depth and weight to everything that needed to be decided. Even *I* could feel it and I had never seen any of the backstory behind it. I thought it was wonderfully well done by all.

**nods nods nods** It's those breakthrough moments that can just make me shiver.

Linda, although if you wanna bring on the pain, Part 2 is the chainsaw to Part 1's knife

Wonderful final line, Linda!!! Sooooo true.

And then we'll be picking librarian out of the carpet for weeks.

[leftylady]

moscowwatcher said:

Re Foreshadowing

In hindsight I realise that for Joss Becoming 1 became sort of AtS pilot.

When I watched Becoming 1 for the first time I was struck by writer's quirky idea to devote practically the whole episode to Angel's past. But later it made sense creative-wise. Joss told in the commentaries that he started thinking about spinning off The Angel Show after watching DB acting in IOHEFY. Becoming 1 script is dated March 9, 1998. The shooting of IONEFY ended around the same time.

TV Tome imforms that when this episode was repeated on September 15, 1998, it was presented with an altered first scene. There are several subtle differences, but the most noticeable is that Max Perlich provides the voice-over for that scene, rather than David Boreanaz as it was the first time the episode aired. Whistler speaks of "our side"/ Curiously this line is absent in the script. Obviously it's a foreshadowing to the "Powers That Be" in the spinoff "Angel."

By the end on Becoming 1 we get all we need to know about Angel to start watching his show. We see many key players (Darla, Whistler who turned into Doyle because of actor's unavailability). We see the theme established.

And in Becoming 2 we get the replacement for Angel. Spike.

For me - Spuffy freak - the most endearing aspect of the episode is Whedon's ability to domesticate Spike in three short scenes. Spike appears in the very end of act 1. By the beginning of act 3 Spike\Buffy alliance looks absolutely natural.

It's interesting to rewatch Spike and Joyce scene in hindsight, when we know how much Spike understands Buffy situation with her mother - when you are the only child and your mother is the only parent and she's all you have and you're all she has and the bond between you is very strong and you don't want to disappoint your mother but you have to confess that you're not an ordinary person. This scene is quasi-bookended in LMPTM when William comes home and announces to his mother that he became a vampire.

Doubly interesting to see how neatly Buffy and Spike complement each other in fight and how they understand each other immediately when Buffy lies to Joyce that they are in a band (they look like a pair of mischievous teenagers, IMHO).

In the next scene Spike becomes the witness of Buffy's confession to her mother about her slayer duties. It's one of the most important moments in Buffy's life - and Spike is with her.

When she invites him into her home he has a funny "small talk" with her mother. Plot-wise the scene is absolutely unnecessary. Common sense would tell Buffy to leave Spike on the back porch while dealing with Joyce and talking with Willow. Yet Whedon "invites" Spike in Buffy house.

Why?

I think it was kind of "screen test". Whedon wanted to see and evaluate Spike as somebody who can be close to Buffy. And he passed the test brilliantly.

Yes, Joss uttered his infamous "no more vampires!" in the end of season 3 when SMG asked about the possibility of pairing Buffy with Spike. But I think that, when a great writer/director watches two great actors playing, he can't stop imagining them together in other kind of scenes. It's a tricky thing, author's imagination.

What I find extremely interesting - that JM is obviously UNDERPLAYING to let SMG shine. When you read the script, there are some moments where Spike is supposed to glare, to demonstrate other intense emotions - but JM demonstrates self-restraint and plays very reservedly. His acting says "its all about Buffy".

Actor's instinct? Pure generosity? Maybe both?

And, boy, his decision payed off. Today the very matter-of-factness jf Spike's decision to seek Slayer's help looks like a beautiful foreboding of things to come.

Some random thoughts.

SMG also is great. The actor's strength is his capability to be convincing in extreme emotional situation, to make esoteric accessible. And she never fails. Buffy sends her lover to hell, and we believe her reactions. In Joss' heightened reality she acts absolutely naturally.

When Buffy finds the diskette she also does it at the second try. Brilliant portending Angel's re-souling at the second try.

The most poignant bookending in Becoming 1-2 is "close your eyes" uttered in the beginning by Darla as she kills Angel for the first time at the beginning and in the end by Buffy as she kills him for the second time.

Interestingly, Angel (the artist!) twice dies with his eyes closed while Spike in Chosen says "I want to see how it ends".

Then again, I read somewhere that this line was Whedon's final warning to spoiler hos. ;D

I didn't have time to post anything when we were doing the Angel and Buffy marathon last summer, but have a bit of time to catch up. I hope I can remember all I wanted to say then but couldn't.

Elena, I think you're right to mention both Becoming and Chosen, but I don't think Joss was playing with us "spoiler hos". A lot of BtVS is continuity, continuity and more continuity played out in parallel, which is why we are still analyzing and obsessing about it. Look at the 2 mentioned episodes and all the parallels:
**scene with Buffy and her vampire lover/exlover in battle:
Becoming she fights him
Chosen she fights alongside him
**after fight, others leave the 2 alone
Becoming, Angel dies when Buffy kills him to save the world
Chosen, Spike dies to save the world
**eyes:
Becoming, the theme is "close your eyes" musically and told by Buffy to "close your eyes" while she kills the unsuspecting Angel (not voluntary)
Chosen, Spike choses to die with his eyes open "to see how it ends"
**Buffy leaves town on bus:
Becoming, Buffy leaves alone, brokenhearted and devasted
Chosen, Buffy leaves with friends and sister and (at least according to Joss) made whole once again

There are probably more parallels that could be drawn but these were what struck me right away.

[Lola m]

leftylady said:

moscowwatcher said:

Re Foreshadowing

In hindsight I realise that for Joss Becoming 1 became sort of AtS pilot.

When I watched Becoming 1 for the first time I was struck by writer's quirky idea to devote practically the whole episode to Angel's past. But later it made sense creative-wise. Joss told in the commentaries that he started thinking about spinning off The Angel Show after watching DB acting in IOHEFY. Becoming 1 script is dated March 9, 1998. The shooting of IONEFY ended around the same time.

TV Tome imforms that when this episode was repeated on September 15, 1998, it was presented with an altered first scene. There are several subtle differences, but the most noticeable is that Max Perlich provides the voice-over for that scene, rather than David Boreanaz as it was the first time the episode aired. Whistler speaks of "our side"/ Curiously this line is absent in the script. Obviously it's a foreshadowing to the "Powers That Be" in the spinoff "Angel."

By the end on Becoming 1 we get all we need to know about Angel to start watching his show. We see many key players (Darla, Whistler who turned into Doyle because of actor's unavailability). We see the theme established.

And in Becoming 2 we get the replacement for Angel. Spike.

For me - Spuffy freak - the most endearing aspect of the episode is Whedon's ability to domesticate Spike in three short scenes. Spike appears in the very end of act 1. By the beginning of act 3 Spike\Buffy alliance looks absolutely natural.

It's interesting to rewatch Spike and Joyce scene in hindsight, when we know how much Spike understands Buffy situation with her mother - when you are the only child and your mother is the only parent and she's all you have and you're all she has and the bond between you is very strong and you don't want to disappoint your mother but you have to confess that you're not an ordinary person. This scene is quasi-bookended in LMPTM when William comes home and announces to his mother that he became a vampire.

Doubly interesting to see how neatly Buffy and Spike complement each other in fight and how they understand each other immediately when Buffy lies to Joyce that they are in a band (they look like a pair of mischievous teenagers, IMHO).

In the next scene Spike becomes the witness of Buffy's confession to her mother about her slayer duties. It's one of the most important moments in Buffy's life - and Spike is with her.

When she invites him into her home he has a funny "small talk" with her mother. Plot-wise the scene is absolutely unnecessary. Common sense would tell Buffy to leave Spike on the back porch while dealing with Joyce and talking with Willow. Yet Whedon "invites" Spike in Buffy house.

Why?

I think it was kind of "screen test". Whedon wanted to see and evaluate Spike as somebody who can be close to Buffy. And he passed the test brilliantly.

Yes, Joss uttered his infamous "no more vampires!" in the end of season 3 when SMG asked about the possibility of pairing Buffy with Spike. But I think that, when a great writer/director watches two great actors playing, he can't stop imagining them together in other kind of scenes. It's a tricky thing, author's imagination.

What I find extremely interesting - that JM is obviously UNDERPLAYING to let SMG shine. When you read the script, there are some moments where Spike is supposed to glare, to demonstrate other intense emotions - but JM demonstrates self-restraint and plays very reservedly. His acting says "its all about Buffy".

Actor's instinct? Pure generosity? Maybe both?

And, boy, his decision payed off. Today the very matter-of-factness jf Spike's decision to seek Slayer's help looks like a beautiful foreboding of things to come.

Some random thoughts.

SMG also is great. The actor's strength is his capability to be convincing in extreme emotional situation, to make esoteric accessible. And she never fails. Buffy sends her lover to hell, and we believe her reactions. In Joss' heightened reality she acts absolutely naturally.

When Buffy finds the diskette she also does it at the second try. Brilliant portending Angel's re-souling at the second try.

The most poignant bookending in Becoming 1-2 is "close your eyes" uttered in the beginning by Darla as she kills Angel for the first time at the beginning and in the end by Buffy as she kills him for the second time.

Interestingly, Angel (the artist!) twice dies with his eyes closed while Spike in Chosen says "I want to see how it ends".

Then again, I read somewhere that this line was Whedon's final warning to spoiler hos. ;D

I didn't have time to post anything when we were doing the Angel and Buffy marathon last summer, but have a bit of time to catch up. I hope I can remember all I wanted to say then but couldn't.

Elena, I think you're right to mention both Becoming and Chosen, but I don't think Joss was playing with us "spoiler hos". A lot of BtVS is continuity, continuity and more continuity played out in parallel, which is why we are still analyzing and obsessing about it. Look at the 2 mentioned episodes and all the parallels:
**scene with Buffy and her vampire lover/exlover in battle:
Becoming she fights him
Chosen she fights alongside him
**after fight, others leave the 2 alone
Becoming, Angel dies when Buffy kills him to save the world
Chosen, Spike dies to save the world
**eyes:
Becoming, the theme is "close your eyes" musically and told by Buffy to "close your eyes" while she kills the unsuspecting Angel (not voluntary)
Chosen, Spike choses to die with his eyes open "to see how it ends"
**Buffy leaves town on bus:
Becoming, Buffy leaves alone, brokenhearted and devasted
Chosen, Buffy leaves with friends and sister and (at least according to Joss) made whole once again

There are probably more parallels that could be drawn but these were what struck me right away.

I really like these comparisons. They make me want to get out those eps and watch them back to back.

Chosen (all of season 7, actually, but especially that ep) is so full of references to the beginning of Buffy. I love in particular the scene in the hallway of the school right before the final battle, when we have the original core group together again - and you can see that they suddenly realise this too.

[SpringSummers]

lolam said:

leftylady said:

I didn't have time to post anything when we were doing the Angel and Buffy marathon last summer, but have a bit of time to catch up. I hope I can remember all I wanted to say then but couldn't.

Elena, I think you're right to mention both Becoming and Chosen, but I don't think Joss was playing with us "spoiler hos". A lot of BtVS is continuity, continuity and more continuity played out in parallel, which is why we are still analyzing and obsessing about it. Look at the 2 mentioned episodes and all the parallels:
**scene with Buffy and her vampire lover/exlover in battle:
Becoming she fights him
Chosen she fights alongside him
**after fight, others leave the 2 alone
Becoming, Angel dies when Buffy kills him to save the world
Chosen, Spike dies to save the world
**eyes:
Becoming, the theme is "close your eyes" musically and told by Buffy to "close your eyes" while she kills the unsuspecting Angel (not voluntary)
Chosen, Spike choses to die with his eyes open "to see how it ends"
**Buffy leaves town on bus:
Becoming, Buffy leaves alone, brokenhearted and devasted
Chosen, Buffy leaves with friends and sister and (at least according to Joss) made whole once again

There are probably more parallels that could be drawn but these were what struck me right away.

I really like these comparisons. They make me want to get out those eps and watch them back to back.

Chosen (all of season 7, actually, but especially that ep) is so full of references to the beginning of Buffy. I love in particular the scene in the hallway of the school right before the final battle, when we have the original core group together again - and you can see that they suddenly realise this too.

Yes, really nice comparisons . . . the whole Buffy/Angel thing was deliberately and entirely inverted with the Buffy/Spike thing, and this ending is no exception.

[leftylady]

springsummers said:

lolam said:

I really like these comparisons. They make me want to get out those eps and watch them back to back.

Chosen (all of season 7, actually, but especially that ep) is so full of references to the beginning of Buffy. I love in particular the scene in the hallway of the school right before the final battle, when we have the original core group together again - and you can see that they suddenly realise this too.

Yes, really nice comparisons . . . the whole Buffy/Angel thing was deliberately and entirely inverted with the Buffy/Spike thing, and this ending is no exception.

And there are also Buffy/Spike Spike/Buffy inversions as we proceed to the end. When we get to "Dead Things" I can point out a source that uncovers remarkable dialogue inversion from the alley scene to the "Chosen" flaming hands scene. Makes the connections between the two all the more intense.

[jeff]

I for one loved Xander's reaction to the fact that it was possible for Angel to be resouled. Not that I didn't want that to happen, but I loved the conviction and emotion and resolve that Xander showed. He has never liked Angel and has never hidden that fact, now I admit, it was low to lie to buffy about what Willow said. I am basically talking about the scene in the library when they first show the spell to Giles. Xander stands his ground against Giles, Buffy, and Willow. I just thought it was a very cool scene.

[jeff]

Also thought Drusilla's killing of Kendra was a very smart move on Joss's part. She really needed something to validate that she is more than some crazy loony vampire that can see visions. Her Killing a slayer really validated her Bad -ass - ness. Especially in future episodes.