| Wednesday, April 16, 2003 |
Losing the Faith...Buffy
Rant ahead -- also, minor spoilers in this and linked post if you haven't seen "Dirty Girls." Drop by here for hubby's take on last night's episode of Buffy, then come back for my continuation. It's okay, I'll wait....dododee...tralalala....[filing nails]... Ah, good -- you're back! The other problem I had with last night's episode harkens back to a discussion Phil and I have had privately. It was about how this season started and on what it seemed to be focused at the start--at least in part--which seemed to be penance, consequences, and redemption. Joss, in "Lessons" and a couple of the writers (in the first few episodes) set us up for what could've (should've) been high drama and deep emotion. Anyone remember "From beneath you it devours"? Then, they set us up for what should've been an emotionally charged episode...regret, forgiveness, compassion, a rebuilding of faith and trust (pun intentional) -- the return of the rogue slayer to the scene of her crimes and to one of the people she wronged to the point of stealing her body. Instead, it was handled with the same nonchalance of many potentially dramatic moments this season...like say Spike's chipectomy or the confrontation and reconciliation of Buffy and Wood in his office. Forget emotionally charged -- I would've settle for some emotions, period. Talk about going through the motions. Other Nitpicks of the Night Faith just got the snot kicked out of her in Los Angeles by "The Beast" and Angelus--including some downtime with a wacky superdrug--and all this just a few days. Okay, maybe a week ago, but still based on the escalated timeline we're seeing (and if more time is supposed to have passed, the writers aren't communicating it well enough for me to tell -- despite healing wounds), she should've been in a world of hurt. Or, conversely, if she is supposed to have healed up because of superslayer powers or whatever, why is this endowed preacher able to take her down in a single pummel when that big beasty and Angel had such a hell of a time doing it? Xander...so is he working out and training with the potentials or something? Because if he's not, then given his poor fighting record, why the Hellmouth would HE be taken into this blowout battle they're expecting with Caleb and/or the First? I mean, maybe over the years he's learned some strategies, but he's not so hot with the hand-to-hand action. Buffy...so, in how many episodes do we get to hear her say: "I'm tired of waiting/words -- I'm taking the fight to..."? And why with all that they've learned can they not seem to understand that homefield advantage is an advantage. She keeps taking the fight to them in their friggin' ballpark! Spike? Don't even get me started on that none too subtle innuendo exchange...because apparently WE'VE all forgotten what Faith in Buffybod said? And Giles...I have to agree with Phil on this one. Show the man some damn respect--he's earned it. Besides, he appears to be the only watcher left on the planet! My P.S. I consider myself a die-hard and somewhat obsessed fan without becoming too anal retentive about the show. I can let some small things slide and "tell myself it's just a show, I should really just relax." So, I am trying to get into this season and believe that there's something great in the works yet, but have to admit that I'm losing the faith... UPN: Another flipping rerun next week? Maybe you could just intersperse ever single episode with a rerun or two to make the non-sequitur storyline even more difficult to follow and/or care about. Writers: You better be building to some empathy for someone (anyone) soon because the way you're going, you'll have fans egging on the end of the world this time. Don't fall victim to series finale syndrome. Maybe you wrote yourselves into some corners. Maybe you've found it hard to continue building a bigger "bad guy" and critical mass each season. I really don't know, but "end of the world" is becoming kind of cliche. The show used to be about the characters and their lives not just puzzle pieces building to a finale. Sure, sometimes episodes were about moving the bigger, seasonal plot, but sometimes they were just about life and day-to-day. What happened? [ ] |
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