Buffy S2 “The Dark Age”
18 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in Project Buffy Tags: Angel, Buffy, Cordelia, Giles, Jenny Calendar, Mark of Eyghon, Slayer, Vampire, Wesley Pryce, Willow, Xander
Quotes of the Episode:
Xander: “Ooh, gang, did you hear that? A bonus day of school plus Cordelia, mix in a little rectal surgery and it’s my best day ever!”
Jenny Calendar/Eyghon: “Nothing’s safe in this world, Rupert. Don’t you know that by now?”
Buffy: “I’m not going to lie. It was scary. I’m used to you being, you know, the grown-up. And then I find out you’re a person.”
Giles: “Most grown-ups are.”
Let me start off this post with how strange the beginning is. This man hurriedly approaches a high school at night. He asks the janitor for Rupert Giles, and the janitor motions him over to the library. Even if the janitor knew that Giles was the librarian, wouldn’t it be weird to motion this man, at night, towards the library when the librarian probably isn’t there — because it’s night?
Anyways, this episode focuses on Giles. From the very beginning, with an unknown man trying to find him, this episode shines a mysterious light onto our lovable librarian. He’s not the predictably past-less man that he seems; he is a real person with real histories and experiences, just like everybody else. This episode also develops Giles in other ways as a person, for instance romantically with his relationship with Jenny Calendar. At this point, Jenny’s got him pretty much figured out, and she can make him “squirm” by joking about ruining an important book of his. Though, the dialogue takes us to another aspect of their relationship, where she hopes to “make him squirm” on a night-in. Things are taking off in their relationship, and we witness Giles’ actions and reactions to it.
For example, Giles tells Jenny that he never meant for her to “get involved in any of this”. I take it to mean that by “any of this”, Giles is referring to all the fantastical and otherworldly dangers that he, as a Watcher, has to face. Even though she is a techno-pagan, Giles doesn’t want her to ever have to face real danger — because he cares for her.
We see the same mark on Giles that we see earlier on the guy from the beginning of the episode. We find out that it’s the Mark of Eyghon, but when confronted about it, Giles doesn’t share any information. He says that it’s “his battle”. That introduces the idea that there is something that he is more suited to solving than the Slayer is. Buffy doesn’t see it that way; she sees this situation as something that endangers everybody, and everybody should know the details of this situation. At that point, Giles leaves, leaving Buffy to try to solve this problem on her own. Luckily, Buffy has Willow, and Willow is a BAMF.
It is striking, though, to see Giles in this episode. He has scruff; he’s all disheveled. The lighting is particularly involved in making him look so…different. The lighting’s dark with bright green and yellow hues. This gives him a very unnatural and eerie countenance — going along with this air of mystery that is hanging around him during the entire episode. And there are moments (for instance, when Jenny/Eyghon jump out of the window, when Giles knows that Jenny is possessed), when Giles looks strikingly similar to Wesley Pryce, who we haven’t met yet. But I look at him, and I see Wesley. There’s an uncanny Watcher-ness in the two.
Finally Giles spills the beans, and we get a glimpse into his past. He was a rebel in his youth, experimenting with magics. We find out that he and his comrades discovered how to summon Eyghon, but one day it took a hold of one of his gang and they killed him in the process of saving him. Now he’s stricken with the fear of losing Jenny — which shows his true and honest colors.
But due to Willow’s brilliance, Angel saves the day with his being dead.
Unfortunately, this experience — which Giles had hoped he could keep Jenny from — has shaken her. And she’s drawing back, coping, thinking.
Thought the conversation between Buffy and Giles at the end (as many conversations between them are) is poignant. Buffy, growing up, now realizes that adults have lives and experiences and issues. Once she graduates high school, she will realize that even more.
Buffy S2 “Lie to Me”
09 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in Project Buffy Tags: Angel, Buffy, Drusilla, Ford, Giles, Jason Behr, Jenny Calendar, Joss, Slayer, Vampire, Willow, Xander
Quotes of the Episode:
Buffy: “Are you drinking coffee again? ‘Cause we’ve talked about this.”
Xander: “Once more with tension.”
Buffy: “Lie to me.”
Hello all! Greetings from Ann Arbor, MI! I am here for a lesson, but I had some extra time on my hands and thought a blog post would be the best thing to do!
As the episode’s name implies, this episode is about honesty and trust. Even side stories deal with trust; Jenny asks Giles to trust her regarding the mysterious date she’s planning for them. Though it all mostly centers around Buffy’s trust. The events of the episode lead to those she trusts most hiding information from her. She sees Angel with Drusilla in the park, but he doesn’t tell her about it. Angel, Willow, and Xander all cooperate to find out information about Buffy’s LA friend Ford (Jason Behr) behind her back. Understandably, Buffy is upset.
Buffy sees Angel while she’s on patrol. She sees him speaking to a woman (Drusilla) in a park. She’s too late to see him stop Dru from preying on a child, but she’s right on time to see them speak really closely. Of course (and yet again) she’s overcome with jealousy and inadequacy. Sometimes I’m frustrated at Buffy’s jealousy. She was right there feeling insignificant in the last episode, and then at the end of the episode, she and Angel are making out and life is grand. But then we’re back to her being jealous. Enter trust issues! This just means that she doesn’t trust Angel yet, which she admits later on in the episode. Once she realizes that he does love her and that he is a vampire with a soul — meaning good — she will begin to trust him and she won’t succumb to jealousy. I don’t know how long that takes.
The next trust issue, which includes Angel, is more directed at her friends. They go behind her back to investigate Ford. They trust Angel’s feelings about him, but — understandably — Buffy’s history with this kid blinds her. When she discovers that they’ve been doing this, she feels betrayed, but I think this experience shows her that she should trust her friends (people who have saved her life various times already) more than some kid who she went to school with in LA. I think Buffy’s grown from the events in this episode, because she will start to realize that the friendship she has with Willow and Xander is deep and extremely trustworthy.
The last issue in this episode deals with the cult of vampire wannabes. Ford’s assembled a host of crazies who believe vampires exist and that they are not cruel killers; they believe that vampires are transcendent beings, almost divine creatures. This is, of course, B.S. We know from Buffy’s experiences that vampires, in Joss’ world, are human shells inhabited by evil demons. They hunger for human blood and kill blindly. On the one hand, they can’t really be blamed for this foolishness. They haven’t encountered a vampire in real life. They have a romantic ideal of a vampire, and they want to believe it. These are young people that thrive for things that even I want: immortality and youthfulness. I love immersing myself into fantasy stories with immortal beings and magical creatures, and I wish that was possible — so I can relate with these kids who are holding on to this idea that could transform their lives and achieve their deepest wish. But that’s not real life, and they almost die pursuing their dream.
Ford is different, though. He is sick, and he wants to become a vampire so that he can live. He has 6 months, and he wants more, even if that means living in a Ford-shell with Ford’s memories and a demon’s evil. And it’s a bit cruel that Ford is killed, while the other fools live. Ford actually had an actual reason to seek out vampiric immortality, yet he’s the one left lifeless.
As always, feel free to comment! I hope you enjoy this blog post all the way from Ann Arbor!
Buffy S2 “Some Assembly Required”
16 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
in Project Buffy Tags: Angel, Angelo Spizzirri, Buffy, Chris, Daryl, Giles, Ingo Neuhaus, Jenny Calendar, Joss, Slayer, Vampire, Willow, Xander
Quotes of the Episode:
Buffy: “Sorry, but I’m an old-fashioned gal. I was raised to believe that men dig up the corpses and the women have the babies.“
Angel: “Yeah, but he’s in your life. He gets to be there when I can’t. Take your classes, eat your meals, hear your jokes and complaints. He gets to see you in the sunlight.”
This episode is extremely creepy at times. Joss is really good at creating creepy images and delivering creepy moments; sometimes I wonder how he sleeps at night. This episode revolves around the classic Frankenstein idea of creating a new person from dead flesh. The way Joss handles this episode is very interesting, because at first, we think that the boys who are doing these terrible deeds are sick freaks. After we get to know more about these boys, Chris (Angelo Spizzirri) in particular, we realize that Chris is fighting some conflicting emotions. He’s actually brought his brother, Daryl (Ingo Neuhaus), back from the dead after an unfortunate early death. Chris impulsively brought his brother back, only to realize that his brother could never go out in public; his brother would be alive again, but he would also be extremely lonely. So he’s pressured, by the brother he loves, to create him a beautiful woman to share his life with.
It was a lot easier when the kids just seemed like sick freaks — because what they were doing was clearly and undeniably wrong. Now that this complicated factor is in the mix, it blurs the lines a little bit. I mean, clearly it would still be wrong if the kids had taken a life in order to complete the woman — but was it that wrong to harness those dead parts after those cheerleaders had died? A brother just wants to do what he can to make up for a cheated life. The point is that I can clearly understand Chris’ motivations; they are noble and respectable, but life and death is an unavoidable cycle — and he learns this when Daryl, in an effort to save his woman’s body from the fire, dies again.
The other thing that I would like to indulge in is the absolute cuteness that is Giles and Jenny Calendar. What started as conflicting tensions between ideologies has turned into a very natural and logical attraction between the two. Giles is kicking himself trying to practice asking her out. He gets advice from Buffy — and later doesn’t even have to test out her ideas when Jenny asks him out! They are very much an example of opposites attract. He’s the more old-fashioned man with his roots in books and the past, and she’s the more forward-thinking woman, exploring the Internet. They are absolutely delightful, and I do look forward to revisiting this relationship. I really appreciate that Joss developed Giles’ character this way. In other shows similar to this, the high school kids would be seen as the main characters: Buffy, Willow, and Xander. They are the ones that the viewers relate to the most. A similar show could have an older guide or teacher who is there purely as a guide, with no other purpose at all — but Joss makes Giles more than just a Watcher. Giles is just as naive as they are, regarding dating, and he’s experiencing life just as the youngans are.
I’m sorry it took me so long to write about this. I am trying to become more diligent!
Buffy S1 “I Robot…You Jane”
22 Jul 2010 3 Comments
in Project Buffy Tags: Buffy, Giles, Jenny Calendar, Robia LaMorte, Slayer, Vampire, Willow, Xander
Quotes of the Episode:
Xander: “To read makes our speaking English good.”
Giles: “Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell…musty and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is…it has no texture, no context. It’s there and then it’s gone. If it’s to last, then the getting of knowledge should be tangible. It should be, um…smelly.”
There are some interesting ideas that this episode addresses. Actually, something hit me just as I was watching this that concerns our dear Willow. Willow starts off as the geeky student who lacks self-confidence. I told myself I’d only mention it once, but Willow starts off as the exact demographic targeted by the wretched Twilight books. She’s a very weak and bland character, that just chills in the background. The difference between the Twilight protagonist, Bella, and our dear Willow is that during the course of the show, Willow grows into a strong, confident woman. She acknowledges her strengths (her intelligence, her compassion, her friendships), and she focuses on her weaknesses (self-confidence, social skills) — and she becomes a complete person. She doesn’t remain the personality-less bore of the Twilight saga; Willow becomes a crucial member of the team and somebody we’d all either hope to know or hope to be, maybe both! At this stage of the series, Willow is breaking out of her initial stage of weakness. She falls for the romantic words of an online woo-er, but after she realizes the truth, she breaks loose from her shell and taps into her fury and unleashes power and meaning.
Another exciting item about this episode is the advent of Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte). She is one of my favorite characters in the series. She’s the Computer Science teacher, and there’s immediate tension between Giles and herself — he being the old-fashioned older white man who wallows in piles of books and she being the younger, attractive woman who uses technology to access information. Their little spats seem like minor, humorous bits to listen to, but their arguments are very valid — and still very applicable to life today.
Giles advocates (per his aforementioned quote) that books provide a sensual experience for acquiring knowledge. You can smell and touch a book. Jenny argues that society is entering a new, unavoidable era where e-mails and internet searches reign. This argument is such a frustrating one because both sides are legitimate. I’m an Internet junkie — reading articles and getting my news from the Internet. I communicate with colleagues, teachers, family, and friends via e-mail and instant messages. But I do love the idea of the book. I love that I can open its pages and read the words in a computer-less world. I love smelling a new book and I love the feel of a broken-in book. I like being able to highlight my favorite quotes in the pages, and I love the idea of going to a library and finding the information you need.
Today is an age where you walk into Barnes and Noble and you see a stand selling the Nook for reading e-books. It seems so paradoxical at times. Some people love the e-book, but I wouldn’t want to read everything off a computer screen. First newspapers, then books, what next? Sheet music? Street signs?
Sorry to have strained a little far from Buffy, but it’s nice for Joss to have brought up this very relevant discussion in our changing world. And I really enjoy that Joss introduced Jenny Calendar into the Buffy-verse. This is yet another episode that veers off the vampire path; it shows that as there are many other kinds of villains to face (witches, giant bugs, etc), it also shows that there are also other ways of defeating bad guys. Usually there is chanting from an ancient text and it’s over, but now, with the advent of the techno-pagan, we see internet-network chanting. It’s a novel idea to accompany the super-hero-in-modern-life with crime fighting on the web.
It seems that even Giles still has some things to learn.
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