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| Writer: | Jane Espenson |
| Director: | Michael Lange |
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| - | Review |
This is a very funny episode that unfortunately has a couple problems. Willow and Xander's silly romance still bugs me to no end. This is really out of character for both of them. Yes, Willow had a big crush on Xander in S1 and into S2, but Xander only returned those feelings once, in "When She Was Bad" (2x01). They both have a boyfriend/girlfriend now, and they wouldn't both betray them like that; it's not in their personalities. The episode is making it out to be a cute moment between them when all it does is make me cringe.
Back in "Surprise" (2x13) Buffy gives her mom a little speech about feeling more responsible now that she's 17. It's fun to see Joyce saying 'no' to Buffy's continuous requests to drive. Also very interesting is the fact that Joyce believes Giles is taking up too much of Buffy's time. This is a natural extension to how she felt back in "Anne" (3x01) when telling Giles that he had an entire relationship with Buffy behind her back. This is great character development and follow-through.
Buffy wants more adult responsibilities, but when her 'parents' start acting like reckless teenagers she becomes very uncomfortable not having those 'parents' there to help her when things get messy. She wants her mom to be the serious parents and she needs Giles to be a responsible Watcher again. This issue is followed up in a very serious way beginning with "The Body" (5x16) and continuing throughout S6 and S7.
It's really fun, and surprisingly interesting, seeing the "adults acting like teens" premise play out. Giles is all cocky, Joyce wants his approval, and Snyder is a nerd who wants to be in Buffy's group. Somehow it all seems to make sense based on what little we know of these characters' pasts (Giles being the exception). Because of that exploration this turns out to be a great plot. It's even better knowing that Ethan's candy curse was just a ruse to allow a baby-eating ritual to go through unscathed. The fact that the Mayor is ultimately responsible for the entire scheme, and that Buffy doesn't find out, makes it even better.
There's a couple small things I really liked as well. First is how easily Ethan gives up the information about his part in the scheme. Another amusing moment is when the Mayor makes a phone call about needing sewer repairs while waiting for the ritual to begin. As a package, this episode really delivers as a fun basic premise with a cool little twist thrown in. On top of all that we get little touches of character development from Giles, Joyce, Snyder, and Buffy. It's not perfect, but I definitely enjoyed it.
| - | Minor Pros/Cons (+/-) |
| Pros: | |
| + | Buffy studying for the SATs in the cemetary with Giles. |
| + | The Mayor looking for some Scotch in a shrunken head. |
| + | Angel's excerises and great scene music. |
| + | Willow pointing out, while in The Bronze, that she doesn't act all crazy and 'teen-like' normally. |
| + | Giles and Joyce making out (and a whole lot more) on the hood of a police car. |
| + | Giles telling Buffy to hit Ethan and then jumping in the air whispering 'yes!' when she finally does. |
| + | Awkwardness between Joyce and Giles at the end. Awesome ending and abrupt cut to credits. |
| Cons: | |
| - | The scene at The Bronze where all the adults are acting crazy goes on too long. |
| - | Foreshadowing |
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| - | Quotes |
| GILES: | This isn't meant to be easy, you know. It's a rite of passage. |
| BUFFY: | Well, is it too late to join a tribe where they just pierce something or cut something off? |
| WILLOW: | Oz is the highest-scoring person ever to fail to graduate. |
| BUFFY: | Isn't she cute when she's proud? |
| OZ: | She's always cute. |
| XANDER: | I hate they make us take that thing [SATs]. It's totally fascist, and personally, I think it, uh, discriminates against the uninformed. |
| CORDELIA: | Actually, I'm looking forward to it. I do well on standardized tests. What? I can't have layers? |
| : | (Giles is tying a blindfold tightly around Buffy's head) |
| BUFFY: | Why do I put up with this? |
| GILES: | Because it is your destiny... and because I just bought twenty 'cocorific' candy bars. |
| BUFFY: | Okay, you're just doing this to take funny pictures of me. |
| JOYCE: | Were you at the Bronze? What was happening there that was so important? |
| BUFFY: | Bronze things. Things of Bronze. |
| XANDER: | The band. Yeah. They're great. They march. |
| WILLOW: | Like an army. E-e-except with music instead of bullets, and... usually no one dies. |
| BUFFY: | More SATs? Is there really a point? I could die before I even apply to college. |
| - | Score |
| 90/100 | A- |
Everything that an 'A' possesses, but with either a few more mistakes or slightly less power. Generally represents great episodes that are a tiny bit rough around the edges.
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| - | Screencaps |
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| - | Comments (28) |
| 1. | junMar 24, 2007 (Sat) | |
| The "yes!" from Giles and the exchange between he and Joyce at the end were my 2 favorite bits of this episode. :) |
| 2. | cudlyguyJul 2, 2007 (Mon) | |
| I rate this episode slightly higher than you did, as I did not find the Willow/Xander dalliance to be out of character at all for most teens. Exceptionally funny stuff with the Giles/Joyce liaison. Anthony Stewart Head in his Ripper persona is an unalloyed treat. |
| 3. | mikejerJul 2, 2007 (Mon) | |
| cudlyguy, I don't think of Willow, Xander, and Buffy as "most teens." They're all above cheating on their boyfriend/girlfriend, at least in the way they'd been developed as characters up until (and after) that point. |
| 4. | cudlyguyJul 18, 2007 (Wed) | |
| In many ways Willow and Xander are indeed "most teens," which is why viewers relate to them so intensely. As I can painfully recall, teens are buffeted by shifting infatuations powered by hormonal surges and general adolescent angst as a matter of course. And don't you think geeky Xander would jump at the chance for smooches with any willing attractive gal, let alone his longtime and cute friend, Willow? |
| 5. | mikejerJul 18, 2007 (Wed) | |
| No, I don't, because he already has a girlfriend and up until that point I had more respect for the two of them. I did not think that the initial kiss was built up to at all and when it happened I was squinting my eyes thinking "what in the world are the writers doing!?" Maybe teens cheating on each other isn't a big thing to some people, but I'm sorry, I'm not going to make excuses for them (or the writers) "just because they're teens." There was absolutely no precedent in story or character for them to kiss each other when they did. Additionally, like I mentioned before, their character development up until that point never even remotely hinted that they were capable of cheating on their partners, let alone that they had any kind of attraction to one another anymore. Remember Willow in "Inca Mummy Girl" being all resigned to the fact that Xander isn't interested in her, so she moves on? I'm sorry, but I really don't buy this whole cheating arc one bit and it bugs me every time I get to this part of S3. |
| 6. | LatoyaJul 18, 2007 (Wed) | |
| Willow had not completely moved on. Which you can tell by Innocence (finding out about Xander/Cordy & Consequences (finding out about Xander/Faith). Willow: It just means that you'd rather be with someone you hate than to be with me. Either way, I hated Xander/Willow. I could imagine Willow cheating on Oz with Xander though. She had wanted to be with Xander since she was five years old. |
| 7. | spuriousAug 10, 2007 (Fri) | |
| I think cheating is very in character for Xander. First, he seems like someone who is ruled by his emotions, so I can see him getting carried away with his feelings. Second, we know he is not especially honest, since he clearly lied to Buffy at the send of S2 so she would kill Angel (knowing, as he must, how much Buffy loved Angel makes that a pretty serious lie). Third, I never bought the Xander/Cordelia relationship, I never understood why they liked each other. But cheating doesn't seem in character for Willow, because she is so compassionate, such a rule follower, and because she so clearly is crazy for Oz. That's the part I thought was irritating, even though she has that history of pining for Xander. That said, I still love the humor in this episode, it was one of my early favorites when I was watching the show for the first time. |
| 8. | testAug 23, 2007 (Thu) | |
| Does HTML work? |
| 9. | re: testAug 23, 2007 (Thu) | |
| apparently |
| 10. | AustinSep 25, 2007 (Tue) | |
| I Love that Buffy bounces the ball off the wall to hit Giles, it's really cool and makes her point that she is really good a lot better than a lot of other things could have. |
| 11. | AustinSep 25, 2007 (Tue) | |
| I Love that Buffy bounces the ball off the wall to hit Giles, it's really cool and makes her point that she is really good a lot better than a lot of other things could have. |
| 12. | AustinSep 25, 2007 (Tue) | |
| Why does Buffy lie to Angel about Scott? |
| 13. | XenophonOct 1, 2007 (Mon) | |
| I just have one question for this episode which does not seem to have been covered : Why was Snyder not aware of the reason for the candy? I mean if he is reporting to the mayor and assisting the mayor why would the mayor let him humiliate himself like that. If he is batting for the same team as the mayor it would just be logical that he would have been in on the deal? @Austin - I think Buffy lied to Angel about Scott because in her mind it would make it easier to remain "friends" with Angel when he thinks she is dating someone else. |
| 14. | buffyholicOct 23, 2007 (Tue) | |
| This is a very funny episode to watch, especially Synder and Giles. I love how Synder is such a geek and needs to be accepted by Buffy and Giles is just great. For me, the only thing I didn´t like was the dialogue between Xander and Willow, it sounds contrived. |
| 15. | Scoobasteve83Oct 25, 2007 (Thu) | |
| Hi guys! Im new here and to Mikejer: thanks for these great reviews. I watched BtVS like 6 years ago and rewatched it 2 years ago, because of a short scene from season 6, when Willow started to go all bad and act out of control. It reminded me of "the goodl old times", when everyone had a "normal" kind of life with less issues. Actually, its quite funny how I really enjoyed exactly those seasons, when everything turned al little bit darker and creepier. I also got to add something to the whole cheating thing between Willow and Xander: I dont think it really came out of nowhere. Like someone else already mentioned, Willow was never REALLY able to move on, and what everyone seems to forget is, that in BECOMONG PT 2, when Willow was in a coma, Xander stayed by her bed all the time and also told her he loved her. I dont mean the kind of love you have for a friend. You could also see how disappointed he acted, when she spelled out Ozs name then. I agree with you, that I dont love the cheating stuff very much, and I also agree that it IS abig deal, but I dont think it really came out of nowhere and that it was built up too artifically! |
| 16. | Plain SimpleNov 20, 2007 (Tue) | |
| @Xenophon: As teenage!Snyder shows this guy is just a pathetic little man doing anything he can to belong to a group that helps him pose as a big shot. The mayor is using him and him being the ignorant little attention seeker he is, is loving every minute of it. No use for the mayor to let him in on every detail of his plan. |
| 17. | Plain SimpleNov 20, 2007 (Tue) | |
| ^I meant to say "Snyder is loving every minute of it", not the mayor. |
| 18. | TonyJun 15, 2008 (Sun) | |
| Scoobasteve83 brought up a great point. Xander realized then that he liked Willow even more when she was in her coma. So they did foreshadow that something would happen last season time and time again with Willow's obvious feelings for Xander, and Xander telling her he loves her. So it didn't come out of no where and I bought it entirely. |
| 19. | AndreaJul 9, 2008 (Wed) | |
| I always love silly little jokes and events that happen in these earlier episodes that continue on throughout the rest of the series... hyena-people get jokingly mentioned quite a few more times, for example, and Giles and Joyce Doin' It on top of a police car is alluded to at least four or five more times throughout the series and is alllways hilarious... I think the first mention is in Earshot when Buffy finds out for the first time what they actually *did*... As I mentioned in another episode review, I despise Xander/Willow and wish it could be permanently blocked from my memory. On top of all the content-related reasons why it's horrible and uncomfortable and cringe-worthy, Nicholas Brendon and Alyson Hannigan have absolutely zero sexual chemistry... it's like watching a brother and sister (i.e., Xander and Willow!). It's one of those things that's *so* awkward and embarassing to *watch*, you almost have to turn away. |
| 20. | AndreaJul 10, 2008 (Thu) | |
| Oh, another favourite moment in this ep.: the Volvo streetrace. Genius. |
| 21. | AdastraAug 11, 2008 (Mon) | |
| I loved the way Giles talked when he was under the Candy influence. There was a little more of ASH's own accent shining through and he reminded me of the way Spike talks, obviously. |
| 22. | bigmoneygripOct 22, 2008 (Wed) | |
| My favorite has to Giles rocking out, with the "front teeth over the lip" move to the music in his apartment. I had no idea who that was, but after searching far and wide, found out is "Tales of the Brave Ulysses" by Cream. |
| 23. | EmilyMar 17, 2009 (Tue) | |
| I just want to throw in there that I also hate the Xander/Willow relationship. And I also agree with Spurious- it's in character for Xander to cheat, but not for Willow. They should've developed it on Willow's side better, or just done nothing at all. But I understand they had to, because Cordy goes to Angel, so there had to be a way to get her out of the show. Still, though- not in character for Willow. |
| 24. | ChristianJun 4, 2009 (Thu) | |
| Hey guys, I just wanted to add that I don’t really care much for the whole Xander/Willow thing... but I love the great songs that play on two occasions when they're together. First in the scene during "Homecoming" when they first kiss, the song is "How" by Lisa Loeb. The lyrics start off with “I didn’t come this far for you to make this hard on me… and now you want to ask me, how does your heart beat?� The song totally goes with the situation, Willow having already “moved on� and Xander after all this time decides to act upon the situation…
The second one is after the scene where Willow realizes Xander and Faith slept together. She cries in the bathroom while “Wish we never met� by Kathleen Wilhoite plays. Great moment!! For me, the great songs make up for the fact that the writers decided to take that direction with these characters =) |
| 25. | LucyAug 11, 2009 (Tue) | |
| I love Joyce in this episode. It was really refreshing to see her as a woman instead of just as a Mum. Kristine Sutherland did a great job.
I also love how Giles listens to that "Tales of Brave Ulysses" song just after Joyce died (in 'Forever' I think). Lovely scene. |
| 26. | KateSep 5, 2009 (Sat) | |
| Kristine Sutherland said she loved this episode. I do too, but ethan Rayne annoys the hell out of me.
Sure, he hates Giles, but why keep coming back, and back and back??? Fan Love? |
| 27. | SunburnSep 30, 2009 (Wed) @ 1:45pm | |
| I've just seen this episode again and it totally cracks me up. Mike, I can't believe you didn't put "Summers, you drive like a spaazzz!" in the quotes! I was saying it for days after I first watched it. Plus Giles and Joyce in his apartment were ace - I loved how she asked him if he liked whoever-it-was's music and then hastily pretended(?) not to herself when he looked disgusted, also how he lit two cigarettes and gave one to her - what a de rigueur Seventies seduction move! |
| 28. | ShannonJan 25, 2010 (Mon) @ 12:10pm | |
| I just watched this again the other night, and my big question is - why the heck does the mayor go through all the trouble of staging the candy production in order to steal 4 babies from the hospital?! FOUR!! There has to be an easier way to get 4 babies than to drug/put a spell on all the adults in Sunnydale. C'mon. |
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