BuffyTheVampireSlapper Reviews

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Empty Places (2003) Season 7, Episode 19

Masteroidul's review is dead right

[10/10 · 21 March 2010]

It's not often someone else's review of a Buffy episode completely hits the mark for me, but masteroidul's review of this episode is perfect. The climax of this episode is NOT a surprise, but a satisfyingly necessary resolution of tensions that have been building up for years. And watching the episodes immediately before it, many times you have to wonder: how do the other characters put up with Buffy's attitude? And when Xander is sitting there blind in one eye, and she says they have to go back and get a few more people killed (and so presumably Xander can be totally blind) and she says "I know last time wasn't fun". FUN?! She *has* totally lost it, and they are right to throw her out. It has at least partly become about her ego at this point, not just about saving the world. And there *is* another bona fide slayer sitting right there, so it's not quite the simple dictatorship it used to be. In the past, Buffy had all the strength, so the others followed her. That allowed her to behave snottily towards them. So it's no surprise when they kick back (Willow's rampage at the end of season 6 was as much about finally showing Buffy that she's not the only one with power, as it was about grief.)

So those saying that this episode makes no sense clearly haven't been paying attention! :)

For being such a pivotal and devastating episode, this is a 10.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Killer in Me (2003) Season 7, Episode 13

In defense of another great episode

[9/10 · 21 March 2010]

Sailing against the wind apparently, I have to sing the praises of this episode.

It's a classic Buffy storyline - a supernatural occurrence becomes a metaphor for what a character is going through, a way to act out what they're feeling. So in order to move on from Tara, Willow has to feel like she's finally accepting that Tara has died. She has to put her in the past tense (which she corrects herself over in the Bronze scene). And because of this, she feels like she's killing Tara. And so she becomes Tara's killer (thanks to a hex from Amy that lets the victim's subconscious punish them.)

So many fans are down on season 6, because it was dark and depressing. But that was the whole point of it. And the moment in this episode where Willow turns up in the back yard with the gun... it's spine-tingling. And the way Alyson Hannigan and Adam Busch blend their performances, which become increasingly emotionally charged as Willow wrestles with the fact that Tara is really gone and, is amazing, very well done. "Please baby, I'm so sorry... come back..." it's kind of a surprise when you realize that each actor says half of the line. I'm reminded of when Buffy and Faith swapped bodies and there were a lot of little subtle changes to the Gellar/Dushku performances in the way they mimicked each other.

Okay, to the fans it may seem like Kennedy is brash, arrogant, pushy. But really what she is is emotionally secure and not needy. She's got no idea about magic and stuff. She just knows she likes Willow. Her emotional security is exactly what Willow needs to lean on.

So full marks for Kennedy for being awesome, for Adam and Willow for merging together so well, and for the series for cranking out another 42 minutes of genius out its classic formula. It's not 10/10 simply because we have to have somewhere to go for Hush, don't we?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Potential (2003) Season 7, Episode 12

In defense of a great episode

[9/10 · 21 March 2010]

I have to balance the other review here claiming this episode is skippable. On watching Season 7 again I find I'd forgotten just how good it is. This episode is wonderful and ultimately pretty heart-wrenching, not to mention very funny as well.

The experience Dawn goes through is the major point of the episode, and is not to be missed - the stuff with the other potentials is just the background to that - the club that Dawn secretly wants to belong to, as a way to get closer to her sister, or just to belong to her peer group.

Besides, the potential slayers are not all bad, Vi (Felicia Day) in particular is very funny in this episode during the Spike training scene and in the demon bar.

This episode also contains one of Anya's funniest lines ever, when Dawn realizes that Buffy would have to die before a new slayer is chosen: "Yes, it's a lot like being the Pope, in that way. Except you don't have to be some old Catholic!" And the Xander/Andrew interaction is all-time-great. "I'll PAY you to talk about Star Wars!"

If anything, the only weakness is that Buffy's "speechifying" (which will become a running joke in later episodes) is already getting quite tiresome at this point. But even this turns out to have a season-arc significance - Buffy is having to become unpopular, separate from the group, because she's got to step up to being the leader in a much more obvious way than previously.

Also, the moment where Willow glares at Andrew as he messes around with the snakeskin - the whole point of that is that he shouldn't be doing it, not to mention talking about people shedding their skin, in front of Willow! Just pointing this out because I've noticed many times how people imply that the writers of TV shows are making a mistake, when clearly it's the *fictional character* that is making the mistake.

And one more thing - about Spike's chip and whether it can still hurt Spike, this is actually covered in the very next episode.