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Post by William the Bloody on Dec 30, 2003 2:51:22 GMT -5
Written by Jane Epenson
Directed by Michael Gershman
Air date: 1/25/00
Feeling suddenly old and useless, Giles drowns his sorrows at a pub with an old friend and sorcerer Ethan Rayne and winds up with much more than just a simple hangover the next morning
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Post by Lola m on Jul 2, 2006 15:37:28 GMT -5
Huzzah! It's the opening week of the 2006 Episode Festival! And what was our 10th most requested BtVS episode you ask? Why, it's A New Man!You know what gets me? This is what gets me. Twenty years I've been fighting demons. Maggie Walsh and her Nancy-ninja boys come in and six months later, demons are pissing themselves with fear. They never even noticed me.
A Fyarl demon. Sort of a foot soldier type, works for other demons lots of the times. Very strong . . . ugh! And hey, mucous.
This, um, Initiative, I'm-I'm a little concerned. Ethan's not exactly a reliable source but, um . . . I'm not sure that he's wrong about them. I want you to have your personal life, but . . . keep your eyes open. Make sure you know what you're getting into.
Links The main site, where Spring’s analysis of these episodes are here. Click on Spikecentricity and go to the review of A New Man. The board thread discussing Spring’s analysis is here. And now . . . . discuss - squee - quote - celebrate to your heart's content!
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Post by Lola m on Jul 3, 2006 12:07:57 GMT -5
One of the things I love about "A New Man" is how it displays all the best elements of a BtVS ep. It's got funny, it's got serious, it's got character development, it's got meaningfulness to the overall season arc, etc. etc.
When I watch Joss eps it really strikes me how well he mixes all this, so apparently effortlessly. And how few others do it at all, much less do it well.
Plus, how can you not love:
"With bitter enemies we don't give them my lamp". ;D
Ethan and Giles getting drunker and drunker and cuter and cuter. ;D
The whole scene with Giles trying to wake up Xander and finally ending with "bloody humans". ;D
Spike: Paralyzing mucous. Shoots out through the nose. Sets up fast. Hard as a rock. Pretty good in a fight.
Giles: Are you making this up? ;D
Giles chasing Maggie down the street. ;D
Giles in the lovely silver shirt. ;D
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Post by Onjel on Jul 4, 2006 18:29:38 GMT -5
We're just a couple of old mystics. . .. ;D
I liked that shirt! ;D
Spike getting information from the waitress describing Ethan and Giles as British like him only older and not as cute. ;D
I really, really liked how Buffy recognized Giles at the last minute from the majorly annoyed look in his eyes. And later, he fails to recognize her from her eyes when she is in Faith's body.
And, Spike driving Giles' car making fun of it! ;D
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Post by Rachael on Jul 4, 2006 21:27:35 GMT -5
Okey dokey.
There's a lot of stuff going on in this ep. For starters, "A New Man" - as always, doesn't refer just to the obvious. In fact, if might refer more particularly to Riley, the new man in Buffy's life. The teaser opens on Buffy and Riley. And, more generally, it seems to refer to new relationships, of which there are several in this episode. Buffy/Riley, Xander/Anya, and Willow/Tara - all new. Plus one old relationship - Ethan/Giles.
Buffy/Riley - This episode is right at the beginning of the Buffy/Riley dynamic, and it's also where the Riley inadequacy complex begins. Buffy is amused (and trying to hide it) by the ridiculously small number of "hostiles" Riley has killed or captured. Walsh presents "17" as if it's boastworthy (and, hey, is "Hostile 17" just a coincidence?). And then...Buffy's "all out" is much more effective than Riley's "all out" (and, we later discover, she was STILL holding back).
Buffy is even, in some ways, taking the stereotypical "male" role. She says, "we have different amounts of experience," which for me sounded like something that Riley, as the older man, ought to be saying. (Plus, that line sets up the slayage=sex parallel quite nicely.)
Giles being (they think) kidnapped gives Riley a chance to be useful and briefly dominant - all of his tech and government power comes in very handy for finding Giles and getting Ethan dealt with. But, ultimately, he doesn't succeed in maintaining the dominant role. He tries to stop her going with him, and she says, "You're not taking me with you. I'm going, and I'm letting you come along," leaving no doubt as to who "wears the pants" in this relationship.
Finally, Riley speaks in a sort of awe-struck voice about Buffy's strength and commandiness, but, still, he intends to outdo her. "I like it. But give me a week to prepare, and I'll take you down." He's always trying to be dominant, and Buffy can't be dominated.
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Post by Rachael on Jul 4, 2006 21:44:45 GMT -5
And then, there's Giles. Giles is clearly feeling old and outdated in this episode, and very little is done to counter that impression for him. He's bored and lonely at Buffy's party, noting all the "new faces" - people in Buffy's life, a life that increasingly doesn't include him. For me, it just illustrated, yet again, that Giles is Buffy's father - and this is what happens to fathers when their daughters grow up and go to college - they're just never as involved in one another's lives as they once were. Giles-as-father is shown again when Buffy introduces him to "her boyfriend". It's a deliberately fatherly moment - more so because Giles had no idea she even HAD a new boyfriend. Later, Maggie contradicts this view of Giles as Buffy's father figure, saying, "Buffy clearly lacks a strong father figure," followed by, "I'll tell her her 'friend' was lookng for her." The ironic emphasis on "friend" is deliberate on her part, I think - but whether she's implying that Giles ought to be putting his energies as an older male into being a father figure for Buffy, or expressing disdain for his claiming "friendship" with her, or something else, I'm not sure. At any rate, this is the first real indication of Buffy's neglect of their relationship. Had she told Giles that Maggie was the head of the Initiative, he would have been on stronger footing with her. He could have introduced himself as her Watcher, and been perceived by Maggie as an authority figure in Buffy's life. She MIGHT have been more polite and less bitchy had he done so. But, since he didn't know Maggie knew Buffy was the Slayer, he had to stick with "friend and high school librarian", which sounds really lame. I also had a moment in this episode where I wondered if Maggie intended to be the father figure in Buffy's life.  And later, when Giles drunkenly mutters that he's "twice the man she is," I thought again about Maggie as father figure. Giles/Ethan/Fyarl Demon: There really is a sort of juvenile relationshippy thing between Giles and Ethan, isn't there? Giles getting up to leave in order to force Ethan to get to the point was just so...high school girlfriendy.  Something I wanted to know, and never got an answer for: WHY turn Giles into a Fyarl demon? I mean, what had he done to Ethan lately? Is it really just because he's "sadistic and self-centered"? Fun moments: "I have a soul, a conscience. I am a human being." And then he chases Maggie anyway. 'Cause even with a soul and a conscience, can you honestly tell me you wouldn't have done the same? ;D "He has to undo this, and then he needs a good being killed." "It's the stay and gloat. Gets me every time." ;D Hmm. Was Ethan there just to torment Giles, or was there another reason? Because either he's a wonderful actor ("Oh, bugger, I thought you'd gone.") or else he was around for something else, and just took the opportunity, as long as he was there, to do something nasty to Giles.... And the "secret detention facility" where Ethan will be held "pending a determination of his status"? WAYYYY less funny nowadays. |
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Post by Rachael on Jul 4, 2006 21:50:09 GMT -5
Finally, stuff that didn't fit anywhere else: This was the nicest Buffy birthday ever. Once again, I have to say how I love that Joss doesn't allow the "stay and gloat" or long speechifying: "Oh, bugger, I thought you'd gone," and "Just try and stop me! [crash]" There's a couple of early Xander/Anya and Willow/Tara things that might be significant for their later interactions: Xander's condescension towards Anya at the party just grates on me - she might be being rude, yes, but his public correcting of her is just as rude. And he treats her like a child he's got to train. Is she your girlfriend, or your daughter, Xander? Choose one. And the rose thing - while the exploding rose is written off as being caused by Ethan's dark magics...it's also interesting that it happens right after Willow explicitly states that their minds must be perfectly attuned to get it done. Couldn't get much less attuned than that. Just sayin'. But, as Tara said, "The petals are off." Spike is measuring...the OUTSIDE of a crypt? "I happen to speak Fyarl." Oh, of course. Hee. And, finally, "Uh-oh. You have but-face." Giles' reaction is perfect - after the weekend he's had, for all he knows, he really does suddenly have butt-face. ;D |
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Post by Lola m on Jul 5, 2006 7:24:10 GMT -5
Okey dokey. There's a lot of stuff going on in this ep. For starters, "A New Man" - as always, doesn't refer just to the obvious. In fact, if might refer more particularly to Riley, the new man in Buffy's life. The teaser opens on Buffy and Riley. And, more generally, it seems to refer to new relationships, of which there are several in this episode. Buffy/Riley, Xander/Anya, and Willow/Tara - all new. Plus one old relationship - Ethan/Giles. Buffy/Riley - This episode is right at the beginning of the Buffy/Riley dynamic, and it's also where the Riley inadequacy complex begins. Buffy is amused (and trying to hide it) by the ridiculously small number of "hostiles" Riley has killed or captured. Walsh presents "17" as if it's boastworthy (and, hey, is "Hostile 17" just a coincidence?). And then...Buffy's "all out" is much more effective than Riley's "all out" (and, we later discover, she was STILL holding back). Buffy is even, in some ways, taking the stereotypical "male" role. She says, "we have different amounts of experience," which for me sounded like something that Riley, as the older man, ought to be saying. (Plus, that line sets up the slayage=sex parallel quite nicely.) Giles being (they think) kidnapped gives Riley a chance to be useful and briefly dominant - all of his tech and government power comes in very handy for finding Giles and getting Ethan dealt with. But, ultimately, he doesn't succeed in maintaining the dominant role. He tries to stop her going with him, and she says, "You're not taking me with you. I'm going, and I'm letting you come along," leaving no doubt as to who "wears the pants" in this relationship. Finally, Riley speaks in a sort of awe-struck voice about Buffy's strength and commandiness, but, still, he intends to outdo her. "I like it. But give me a week to prepare, and I'll take you down." He's always trying to be dominant, and Buffy can't be dominated. **nods a lot** I've always seen Riley as at least one of the "new men" here, if not the main one. And the reason why he's suddenly labeled as such is because this is the ep where Giles finds out about him and is one of the first to start suggesting (based on Ethan's information) that the Initiative (and Riley by implication) is not as goody-good as one might think. One of the main problems that Buffy and Riley are going to have are set up so nicely here. You're not clubbed over the head with them in an excessively foreshadowy way, but when you look back . . . . well. When Riley says "give me a week to get ready . . . and I'll take you down" it's sooooo important for us to see that at that moment, he really thinks this is true. He hasn't yet really grasped what being the Slayer means. I think it is important that in the next ep both Prof Walsh AND Riley are watching the monitor when Buffy says: "If you think that's enough to kill me, you really don't know what a Slayer is. Trust me when I say you're gonna find out." |
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Post by SpringSummers on Jul 5, 2006 8:34:51 GMT -5
Love the great observations, Rachael (especially that great "but-face" one).
Definitely, the title is not just about Giles, with Riley being an even more obvious "New Man" and even Spike here, is showing us a "new" side of himself - he becomes more and more human and compassionate, as Giles becomes more and more demon-like - speaking to the way those two characters mirror each other and interact throughout the series.
Love the Giles-Buffy interaction very much in this ep, as Buffy truly begins to cut apron-strings and come into her own - but her love for Giles - their love for one another, is a constant throughout all the ups and downs, and we also see that here.
And the episode is just plain delightful - funny lines, everyone is great in it, and ETHAN! His eps are always fun.
Ethan always "brings the demon, the Ripper" out in Giles, and this time, we see him do it literally.
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Post by Michelle on Jul 6, 2006 19:49:50 GMT -5
Rachael, et al--I love reading your observations! I always learn something new. I typed whilst watching, and this is what spewed out: Willow: “Guess you won’t be killing anything tonight after all, huh?” Buffy: “Don’t be so sure.” The look she shoots Willow--priceless! Grrr, this episode has The Most Over-Used Xander Line: “Anya, we talked about this.” Vomit.  That always annoyed me. And I love Xander, don’t get me wrong, but what is up with that cammo sweater vest? And later, he’s wearing bright orange-red pants. Xander, Xander, Xander. Buffy introduces Giles to Riley: “Giles was the librarian at my high school.” This indicates to Giles that even though Riley is the new man in Buffy’s life, she’s not being completely honest with him about who she is. But didn’t she admit she was “Slayer, The” in the previous ep, Doomed? So why the sin of omission here? Buffy to Giles, re: Walsh. “She’s got better things to do than hang out with a bunch of kids.” Then Riley hands Giles some cake and calls him “sir.” Ouch. Spike to Anya, re: Xander’s living space. “I’ve known corpses with a fresher smell. In fact, I’ve been one.” Then he taps his ashes on the floor. Ouch again. Buffy looks so pure and wholesome in her white sweater, her hair pulled back chastely with a barrette, carrying a bright pink satchel. Riley in his true-blue button down shirt and hands in the pockets of his khaki pants, sort of an “aw shucks” pose. Strolling together as a fountain babbles perkily in the background. But contrast that with what they’re discussing: how many more kills Buffy has scored than Riley. A blind person could see that this relationship was doomed before it began. The scene with Giles and Walsh in her office foreshadows Season 6, and Giles’ belief that Buffy has become too dependent on him. I guess it wasn’t out of character for him to leave, after all. - Giles says, “I think it’s best if we let a young person find their own strengths. If you lead a child by the hand, they’ll never find their own footing.”
- And Walsh replies, “But it can be unhealthy to take on adult roles to early.”
Sparring with Buffy, Riley does the flippy thing, the same flippy thing Spike does in Harsh Light of Day. Nice. This is the last episode featuring Ethan. I’m sad about that; he was always a lot of fun. “You won’t have to worry about that anymore, mate. When you went to the loo, I slipped a small pellet of poison in your drink. You’ll be dead in an hour. Just kidding! Ha ha ha ha!” ;D Buffy isn’t the only one keeping secrets from Giles. Willow and Tara are progressing in their relationship, and Giles (as well as Xander) doesn’t find out about that until The Yoko Factor. It’s fun watching Giles as a Fyarl demon knowing that ASH is wearing high heels. Willow counsels Buffy, “You can’t walk around pretending to be less than you are. It wouldn’t be right for you to hold back.” Buffy confesses, “I held back a little.” And that is one of the main obstacles between Buffy & Riley. He told her he loved the whole Buffy package, but I’m not sure he was ever really comfortable with her Slayer side. Buffy never felt she could completely be herself around him. Something I only just noticed, even though I’ve seen this ep many times: When Giles comes across Spike, Spike is using his usual punk accent, “That would be, oh right, the things I can kill." Head tilt. Then he realizes it’s Giles, and his accent and manner suddenly become more proper. “You’re speaking Fyarl, I happen to speak Fyarl. And by the way, why the hell are you suddenly a Fyarl demon?” His words are clipped and precise. I imagine that Giles and Spike come from somewhat similar backgrounds, and it would be natural for Spike to easily fall back into that cadence. But when Giles tells him he has to help find Ethan, Spike slips back on his punk routine again. “And I’m just supposed to help you out of the evilness of my heart?” It’s interesting that Spike didn’t kill Giles, even after he knows he’s Giles. Like he said, demons are things he can kill, and Spike is an evil soulless thing who doesn’t much like Giles. So why didn’t he kill him? Hmmm. Walsh screaming and running scared from Giles the Demon is also interesting. She’s the leader of a military group that hunts and kills demons, but when she comes face to face with one, she is completely spineless. Riley and Buffy have two very different ways of tackling a problem. They don’t make a very good crime fighting team. But in the end, he knows how to punish Ethan, and Buffy thanks him for that. And he tells Walsh that Buffy is the truest soul he’s ever known, so points to him for that. Really, really love this ep. |
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Post by Lola m on Jul 6, 2006 21:07:41 GMT -5
Rachael, et al--I love reading your observations! I always learn something new. I typed whilst watching, and this is what spewed out: Willow: “Guess you won’t be killing anything tonight after all, huh?” Buffy: “Don’t be so sure.” The look she shoots Willow--priceless! Grrr, this episode has The Most Over-Used Xander Line: “Anya, we talked about this.” Vomit. That always annoyed me. And I love Xander, don’t get me wrong, but what is up with that cammo sweater vest? And later, he’s wearing bright orange-red pants. Xander, Xander, Xander. Buffy introduces Giles to Riley: “Giles was the librarian at my high school.” This indicates to Giles that even though Riley is the new man in Buffy’s life, she’s not being completely honest with him about who she is. But didn’t she admit she was “Slayer, The” in the previous ep, Doomed? So why the sin of omission here? Buffy to Giles, re: Walsh. “She’s got better things to do than hang out with a bunch of kids.” Then Riley hands Giles some cake and calls him “sir.” Ouch. Spike to Anya, re: Xander’s living space. “I’ve known corpses with a fresher smell. In fact, I’ve been one.” Then he taps his ashes on the floor. Ouch again. Buffy looks so pure and wholesome in her white sweater, her hair pulled back chastely with a barrette, carrying a bright pink satchel. Riley in his true-blue button down shirt and hands in the pockets of his khaki pants, sort of an “aw shucks” pose. Strolling together as a fountain babbles perkily in the background. But contrast that with what they’re discussing: how many more kills Buffy has scored than Riley. A blind person could see that this relationship was doomed before it began. The scene with Giles and Walsh in her office foreshadows Season 6, and Giles’ belief that Buffy has become too dependent on him. I guess it wasn’t out of character for him to leave, after all. - Giles says, “I think it’s best if we let a young person find their own strengths. If you lead a child by the hand, they’ll never find their own footing.”
- And Walsh replies, “But it can be unhealthy to take on adult roles to early.”
Sparring with Buffy, Riley does the flippy thing, the same flippy thing Spike does in Harsh Light of Day. Nice. This is the last episode featuring Ethan. I’m sad about that; he was always a lot of fun. “You won’t have to worry about that anymore, mate. When you went to the loo, I slipped a small pellet of poison in your drink. You’ll be dead in an hour. Just kidding! Ha ha ha ha!” ;D Buffy isn’t the only one keeping secrets from Giles. Willow and Tara are progressing in their relationship, and Giles (as well as Xander) doesn’t find out about that until The Yoko Factor. It’s fun watching Giles as a Fyarl demon knowing that ASH is wearing high heels. Willow counsels Buffy, “You can’t walk around pretending to be less than you are. It wouldn’t be right for you to hold back.” Buffy confesses, “I held back a little.” And that is one of the main obstacles between Buffy & Riley. He told her he loved the whole Buffy package, but I’m not sure he was ever really comfortable with her Slayer side. Buffy never felt she could completely be herself around him. Something I only just noticed, even though I’ve seen this ep many times: When Giles comes across Spike, Spike is using his usual punk accent, “That would be, oh right, the things I can kill." Head tilt. Then he realizes it’s Giles, and his accent and manner suddenly become more proper. “You’re speaking Fyarl, I happen to speak Fyarl. And by the way, why the hell are you suddenly a Fyarl demon?” His words are clipped and precise. I imagine that Giles and Spike come from somewhat similar backgrounds, and it would be natural for Spike to easily fall back into that cadence. But when Giles tells him he has to help find Ethan, Spike slips back on his punk routine again. “And I’m just supposed to help you out of the evilness of my heart?” It’s interesting that Spike didn’t kill Giles, even after he knows he’s Giles. Like he said, demons are things he can kill, and Spike is an evil soulless thing who doesn’t much like Giles. So why didn’t he kill him? Hmmm. Walsh screaming and running scared from Giles the Demon is also interesting. She’s the leader of a military group that hunts and kills demons, but when she comes face to face with one, she is completely spineless. Riley and Buffy have two very different ways of tackling a problem. They don’t make a very good crime fighting team. But in the end, he knows how to punish Ethan, and Buffy thanks him for that. And he tells Walsh that Buffy is the truest soul he’s ever known, so points to him for that. Really, really love this ep. Good thoughts! I never really noticed the omission of total truthfulness in Buffy's “Giles was the librarian at my high school” speech. Probably because I was so busy being distracted by the main message of "Buffy and Riley together, keeping Giles out of the loop" that I didn't notice the moments that were actually tilted the other direction. And yet it fits so nicely with the other Buffy & Giles moments - when Buffy lets Riley know she's heading out to get Giles back, no matter what his boss wants. Or her realizing just by looking in his eyes that this is Giles, not a real Fyarl demon. (Which will weigh with her more than she wants to admit, later in the season, when Riley doesn't notice it's Faith in her body - which, to be fair to him, why should he!) I wish we'd seen more Ethan as well. Even if it would only have been once a season or so, I would have appreciated it. |
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Post by Spaced Out Looney on Jul 8, 2006 8:33:51 GMT -5
OK, thoughts. Out of order because my notes are out of order. *Ethan: I love Ethan but he never seemed to show up in the episodes that I love. Except Halloween. Halloween was great. He should have showed up more. The last thing we know about him is that he was imprisoned by the Initiative. Hmm... *The Giles/Walsh parenting conversation: I like it because each of their point of views is valid in a way. Also Walsh's "lack of a strong father figure" really refers to Hank, but Giles takes it personally. *Shades of Kafka's Metamorphosis: metaphor for mid-life crisis, except a Faryl Demon instead of a giant bug in this instance. *Scene segues: I love scene segues and there are quite a few good ones in this episode. *Willow's "Vampires don't breathe fire:" I just like that line for some reason. *the "mythtaken" pun: I hate that pun even though everyone else likes it. *Giles/Ethan interaction: Love it. This exchange totally cracks me up. Ethan: Oh, so cross. We used to be friends, Ripper. When did all that fall apart?
Giles: About the same time you started to worship chaos.
Ethan: Oh, religious intolerance. Sad, that. I mean, just look at the Irish troubles. *FyarlGiles chasing after Walsh: Love it. Also, you can hear James (breaking character, but I don't care) giggling about it as FyarlGiles gets back in the car. *Spike pumping the waitress for information: creeps me out when I realize that Spike's just using the same skills he used to use to seduce his victims. *Spike crashing Giles car: So did Giles get mad about that or was he just grateful that he now had an excuse to buy a better one? And what is the plural of "apocalypse" anyway? |
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Post by Michelle on Jul 8, 2006 8:46:48 GMT -5
Good thoughts! I never really noticed the omission of total truthfulness in Buffy's “Giles was the librarian at my high school” speech. Probably because I was so busy being distracted by the main message of "Buffy and Riley together, keeping Giles out of the loop" that I didn't notice the moments that were actually tilted the other direction. And yet it fits so nicely with the other Buffy & Giles moments - when Buffy lets Riley know she's heading out to get Giles back, no matter what his boss wants. Or her realizing just by looking in his eyes that this is Giles, not a real Fyarl demon. I have to wonder what Riley was thinking when he came to Giles' house and Buffy was there. At that point, all he knows is that Giles was her high school librarian, and this, alongside her high emotions indicates she has a pretty intimate relationship with him. Except Riley at this point probably wouldn't have the kind of impure thoughts that I just did. Good observation! It would have meant a lot to her if Riley had sensed something was off about Buffy when Faith inhabited her body. But then again, none of her friends (including Giles) could tell it wasn't her either. What would have really thrown Buffy for a loop was if Spike had been able to see that she wasn't the really real Buffy. |
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Post by Michelle on Jul 8, 2006 8:56:00 GMT -5
*The Giles/Walsh parenting conversation: I like it because each of their point of views is valid in a way. Also Walsh's "lack of a strong father figure" really refers to Hank, but Giles takes it personally. Poor Giles! Season 4 was really hard on his character, I think, between being unemployed, feeling threatened by Walsh, being turned into a demon and having his chance at a getting a new girlfriend thwarted by The Gentlemen. Excellent observation!! Never thought of that before, but you're certainly on to something. Jane Espenson is a brilliant writer, I think. Yes, it kind of takes me out of the moment, but Espenson loves to play with words, and she usually is pretty good at it. I noticed James laughing too! Hee! |
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Post by SpringSummers on Jul 8, 2006 11:55:39 GMT -5
OK, thoughts. Out of order because my notes are out of order. *Ethan: I love Ethan but he never seemed to show up in the episodes that I love. Except Halloween. Halloween was great. He should have showed up more. The last thing we know about him is that he was imprisoned by the Initiative. Hmm... *The Giles/Walsh parenting conversation: I like it because each of their point of views is valid in a way. Also Walsh's "lack of a strong father figure" really refers to Hank, but Giles takes it personally. *Shades of Kafka's Metamorphosis: metaphor for mid-life crisis, except a Faryl Demon instead of a giant bug in this instance. *Scene segues: I love scene segues and there are quite a few good ones in this episode. *Willow's "Vampires don't breathe fire:" I just like that line for some reason. *the "mythtaken" pun: I hate that pun even though everyone else likes it. *Giles/Ethan interaction: Love it. This exchange totally cracks me up. Ethan: Oh, so cross. We used to be friends, Ripper. When did all that fall apart?
Giles: About the same time you started to worship chaos.
Ethan: Oh, religious intolerance. Sad, that. I mean, just look at the Irish troubles. *FyarlGiles chasing after Walsh: Love it. Also, you can hear James (breaking character, but I don't care) giggling about it as FyarlGiles gets back in the car. *Spike pumping the waitress for information: creeps me out when I realize that Spike's just using the same skills he used to use to seduce his victims. *Spike crashing Giles car: So did Giles get mad about that or was he just grateful that he now had an excuse to buy a better one? And what is the plural of "apocalypse" anyway? Yes - I'm glad you mentioned it - I had noticed the background laughter from Spike when Giles gets back in the car, but I never thought of it as breaking character. I mean - I thought of it as Spike laughing, it made sense to me that Spike would get a laugh out of it. Either way, I love it - I love that whole scene with Spike & Giles in the car. It's just a classic. |
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And later, when Giles drunkenly mutters that he's "twice the man she is," I thought again about Maggie as father figure. 
That always annoyed me. And I love Xander, don’t get me wrong, but what is up with that cammo sweater vest? And later, he’s wearing bright orange-red pants. Xander, Xander, Xander.
