This is more for my benefit than yours‏

Ok, so let me start with my insanity. Monday night, I had nightmares that I hated this episode of Buffy and I was going to have to go for a month and a half with a bad Buffy taste in my mouth. I seriously had two different dreams about the episode ending with Willow laying on a bed, shaking. I'm disturbed. Made me all the more glad that I wasn't disappointed. So, on to my thoughts. I'll address a couple problems I had with the ep first. ~ The name of the ep was "Never Leave Me." Any idea why? Maybe it was supposed to be "Never Leave ME" (as in Mutant Enemy) and was a reference to Drew Goddard who is now my hero and is challenging the almighty Joss for favorite Buffy writer. Never thought I'd say that.~ Despite the genius of Mr. Goddard, I hereby request that no one ever use the word "withdrawal" on Buffy again. Both times Buffy said it, I cringed. (Especially after my dreams) It's like the word "champion" on Angel. I vote it off the show forever.~ The Buffy/Spike scenes, while they did have their good parts, seemed a bit drawn out to me. It's the same way I felt about the Buffy/Holden scenes in "Conversations With Dead People." I can't help but think that it's because of Buffy. I don't know if it is necessarily SMG's acting or what, but I cannot seem to care about Buffy at all. She is particularly uninteresting this season. Don't know why. ALl the more reason for her to be the Big Bad. Maybe I'll care about her. I found James to be quite effective the past two weeks and have been much more intrigued by Spike than I had previously this season. If it ain't him, it's gotta be her, right? Ok, so on to some more interesting observations:~ Camden Toy, who played Gnarl in "Same Time, Same Place" is the fellow who played the vampire that came out of the Seal of Danzathar. He also played on of the Gentlemen in Hush. Thought that was interesting. I think I'll call his vamp Danzathar, since he doesn't have a name yet. My first thought was that it was the Master though. That would have been fuckin cooooooooooool.~ It figures that it's the First Evil. That was my first thought and the easiest explanation. That's how they do it in the Buffyverse all the time anyway, easiest is usually best. I wonder if Tony Head misspoke in that TV Guide interview when he said the show would go back to season 2 and he meant 3. Easy mistake since Jenny was in the episode with the First. But also easy mistake not to make cuz it was after Angel came back. Just a thought.~ Poor Jonathan is useless, even in death. It figures, though.~ Andrew was so totally hilarious this week. I still hate him and think he'll eventually die, but he was rather good this week, I thought.~ I like that Warren is still around too. I hate him as well, but I think Adam Busch and Tom Lenk work well together.~ It was a riot when Andrew showed up looking like Spike (or maybe Angel cuz of the whole gay thing?~ "Or Patrick Swayze" with that loving look in his eyes. In a sub par episode that would be my favorite quote, but this one is chock full of nominees:When he tries to kill the pig: "That'll do pig!" What a brilliant and hilarious reference to Babe. So cool.Immediately following, from Warren, "That's the worst attempt at pig slaughtering I've ever seen."When Andrew arrives at the Summers house: "You'll get nothing outta me, carpenter!"Two from the brilliant Emma Caulfield, "The weasel wants to sing. He just needs a tune!" and "A crappy musical"Surprisingly Xander even makes the cut this week: "He's primed. I'll be pumping him in no time."~ Loved the Matrix reference in the Butcher shop when the Butcher called Andrew Neo.~ Man, even when she is criminally underused, Alyson still impresses me. That look of recognition, pain, hatred, confusion, etc. in her eyes when she saw Andrew was nothing short of perfect. And, is it me, or does she look exceptionally beautiful this season? Not sure what it is, but this whole year she's looked really good.~ Speaking of being criminally underused, just as they have me loving Dawn, she's barely around. Loved her scene with Principal Wood though. And good for her for kicking some ass. Seems she really pays attention to her sister though - taking for granted that that one guy was dead or unconscious was a very Buffy act.~ And what's up with our favorite principal? I assume he was possessed, but I guess we don't really know. I'm just assuming because of that far off look in his eyes, but maybe he is a baddie.~ How awesome was it that there were at least 3 watchers in addition to Quentin that were from "Checkpoint"? (Including the chick that did her thesis on William the Bloody)~ How unexpected was it that they went boom? That totally caught me off guard. At least stupid Quentin got what he deserved. (Not that they couldn't eventually prove useful, but right down to the end he was an idiot.) And it's a damn good thing they didn't find Giles.~ My favorite stuff for the episode though was the Xander/Anya good cop/bad cop with Andrew. Especially the Anya stuff. I like Xander and Anya working together and it makes me appreciate Nick Brendon some more. (I don't need that to appreciate Emma, she's always appreciated.) Loved the look on Xander's face when Andrew mentioned the Spike/Anyanka sex. Loved Anya punching Xander and her quick apology. Loved "You lying son of a bitch!" Give me an episode with Emma, Aly, Michelle, Tony, James, Juliet back from wherever Dru is, and Amber and Robia back from the dead and I could die a happy man. Throw in some Alexis over from L.A. too.~ I can't believe that Xander attempted to blame Anya for his empty, black heart. Doofus. Interesting though, I read something that mentioned that he is "the heart" of the group. ("Restless" and the first slayer and all.)~ Interesting parallels to "The Gift." Dawn's blood opening/Buffy's closing the portal. Now Spike's opens the seal. Incidentally, I think Spike's next role will be a big pile of dust. And I think he'll do it by sacrificing himself for Buffy.~ I've mentioned the Buffy/Angel parallels this season. Saw another. Spike trying to persuade Buffy to kill him because of all the bad he has done in the past. Didn't Cordy just say that she couldn't be with Angel because of his past? Coincidence?

Bloody Hell!

Ah yes, my thoughts on this week's episode. I did mean to email you yesterday about it, but I was in one of my "get work done" moods, and I really can't afford to ignore those, they are so few and far between. I wanted to immediately call you after the "wha-HUH?" moment at the end of the episode (that's the noise both Matt and I made). But other than that, there was nothing really pressing that I had to get off my chest, so I figured that I'd wait till today to email you, cuz I figured after one day of working, I would be due for a break. Anyway, on to my thoughts....The episode was pretty good. Made me feel bad for Spike, which was a long time coming. Made me appreciate James Marsters some more. BUt it also frustrated and irked me a bit. I think I'll talk about Spike first:~ I can't help but think that Spike is a BIG player in the coming apocalypse or whatever is coming. Mr. (or Ms.) Biggest Baddest really has a hold on him, and I'm not quite convinced that bringing the Buffster to that house was done too early. This thing can control Spike, I think it knew what it was doing. I think everything is playing out the way it wants things to.~ Like I said, the episode made me feel bad for Spike. It seems like I can feel bad for Spike in ways that I never could with Angel. I don't know if that's testament to James Marsters as an actor or maybe the writers, but I care about Spike and wish Angel nothing but pain and suffering. I mean, Spike stands up for himself and is all "Fuck you, Buffy", while Angel is "I love you, Buffy, can't you tell by the years of pain and torment that you see in my eyes? However, you are too good for me, so I must brood and weep for my poor self."~ Proof that Spike has a soul: his denial of Anya sex. That was the best scene in the episode (outside of Giles' 2 minutes). Interesting how it kind of paralleled the scene with Willow when Spike was first chipped. He still can't "perform" because of this new addition.~ I'm going to start collecting my favorite lines from each episode (based on Andrew's last week). This week's honor goes to Anya: "Soulless Spike would have had me upside down and halfway to happyland by now." Second place goes to Aimee Mann, but I'll have more on her later.~ I also liked Anya saying that the stake was kinky. That's a total Harmony thing to say. Intentional?~ So in addition to Anya and Xander being absent from last week's ep, I'm being forced to conclude that their existence is of absolutely no consequence to the Big BAd Morphing Maniac. Why, if Spike is consistently alone with Xander and now Anya, hasn't BIggest Baddest turned either of them to vamps? If he really wants to get rid of Spike, have him kill Xander. And if either Xander or Anya were important, they would definitely at least have had been attacked by now.~ I liked Xander's interaction with Anya. He made me laugh and smile because he wasn't being stupid Xander, he was being coy, quippy, clever Xander. More Xander/Anya interaction is requested by me. And dammit, why the hell can't they give Xander something, anything to do? At least kill him and make him an example or something.~ The name of the song that Aimee Mann sang was "Pavlov's Bell." I thought that was pretty clever and quite appropriate. Do you know what song Morphy was singing and humming that set Spike off? I gotta do some research and find out.~ "I hate playing vampire towns." That was pretty funny too.~ "What was I, a one-bite stand?" Cringe-worthy quote of the week. It made me want to close my eyes and curl up into a ball and pretend it was never said. That must have been a David Fury line. Jane Espenson is rarely that corny. Almost as bad as Doug Petrie's "Get off super-bitch" from last year's "Two to Go"~ I have to say it again, Michelle Trachtenberg is really showing that she is a hell of an actress. Perfect look on her face when they were talking about Joyce. EVeryone knew how she felt and that she's not going to tell them what "Joyce" said. Betcha that will come and bite her in the ass.~ Will, Buffy and Dawn were all thinking and talking about what I have been thinking and talking about for the past week. It was cool that they all were at least talking about it (usually it's weeks, months and years before certain things come out between them), but it was also frustrating because I didn't want the questions, I wanted answers, dammit. (Hello? Call Giles, please!)~ Speaking of Rupert, holy crap, those bastards and that ending. From what I could see, it really didn't look like he'd have any chance of keeping his noggin, but I know he's not dying. Well, I don't know, but I KNOW. And why was he in the guest credits? That was really annoying, cuz the whole time I was like, "Where the fuck is Giles?" When they had that first scene in London it was before his name was on the screen, so I was like, "Oh, Giles is around?" Then I didn't see him, so I was kinda annoyed, but then his name appeared, but he didn't until the end of the episode. I think that's all I can think about right now for "Sleeper." I do want to remark on "Conversations..." and that poor bastard Jonathan. I think I'll miss him so much because he was so much like me in high school. Always the outsider, always wanting to fit in, never quite getting there. I identified more with him than anyone on the show (well, except maybe Willow, but they were very similar in high school). And through it all, Jonathan was always a good guy deep down. He might have gotten a bit confused last year, but he made up for it, and her certainly did not deserve to die, especially at the hands of that little whore Andrew. I would like somehow if Jonathan could come back, for him to be the savior of the season. For him to finally be appreciated and loved by the Scoobies. That would be really cool.

I'm still reeling...‏

So, my mouth was literally hanging open for the last 10 minutes of the show. Literally. I was totally aware of it, yet there was nothing I could do to stop it. I was absolutely floored. And, holy shit, it's only the 7th episode of the season. I can't even begin. Has there been one episode this season that hasn't made mention of something in the past, something from the beginning. I really don't think so, and I am LOVING it! This episode left me with so many questions and thoughts and possible conclusions. My brain is overloaded with information and I can't think about anything else. So Jane Espenson (who hasn't written a great episode in awhile) and Drew Goddard (who wrote the best episode in two years, Selfless, as his first Buffy episode) did an incredible job. It almost made me forget that Amber Benson wasn't around. Almost. Ok, so onto my thoughts: ~ Michelle Trachtenberg is kicking some major ass this season. I REALLY like what they are doing with Dawn, and Michelle has really shown some brilliant acting in the past two weeks.~ All that shit with Dawn was seriously creepy.~ Was that really Joyce? I think probably yes.~ Alyson Hannigan deserves a fucking Emmy goddamit! Those first two scenes with Cassie were just so....I can't even describe. She is such the best actress on television.~ Damn UPN and their spoiling stuff for me. I probably would have assumed that it really was Tara talking to Will (until Will realized it wasn't) except that in their episode description, UPN said that Willow is contacted by someone she *thinks* is Tara. So, the whole time I assumed it wasn't her. That didn't make those initial scenes any less powerful, but the payoff might have been stronger, had I not suspected.~ I like Azura Skye (Cassie). I thought she was a good alternative to Amber, since they couldn't work anything out. Will Cassie continue to haunt Will as I assume Tara would have?~ So Big Baddie wants Will dead? That makes me think that she will be quite the player in the grand scheme of things which makes me very happy. It almost makes it sound like the world would be doomed without Willow. Me likey.~ Why was Adam Busch's name in the guest credits. He would have been so much better as a surprise.~ And how about that bastard Andrew? His worship of Warren did have some homosexual undertones last season, but he is SO in love with him, which I think was made obvious last night.~ I can't believe they killed Jonathan! How blinded by love is Andrew? He's dead as soon as he proves useless. I missed Jonathan though, especially since he ended last season so strong. I hope Danny Strong sticks around and haunts Andrew or something.~ I don't know if you caught it, since you're not that familiar with Star Wars, but the dialogue between Andrew and Warren ("There is another...") was hilarious.~ Was that really Warren? If no, I forgive Andrew and assume that he was under the power of Big Bad Morphing (Wo)Man.~ Why was Jonathan having dreams about "From beneath you, it devours."? Was that just the Big ol' Baddie's way of getting him back to Sunnydale, or does he have a role yet to play?~ Wonder what Anya and Xander were doing?~ I liked the guy who played the vamp that analyzed the Buffster. Although their scenes were a bit slow moving at times (maybe cuz I wanted to see more Will and Dawnie action), it was interesting nonetheless.~ Scott Hope is gay - HA!~ Ah, Spike proves interesting yet again. It's about time. You think that was really him? I hope it was. I REALLY hope it was. Of course, it might not be, cuz who knows how great the powers of super duper Big Bad Morphing (Wo)Man really are. But how excellent would it be if Spike is up to his old tricks with a soul and a chip. That would rule so much! If he somehow felt a way to deal with the pain (physically and soul-fully), that would really intrigue me. Spike is SUCH a better bad guy. And a bad guy with a soul is really interesting to me. But how stupid can he be? Why would he turn someone? (Unless it's not really him...)~ "From beneath you, it devours." How many meanings is this going to have? Does it ultimately mean that whatever Andrew and JOnathan dug up will (attempt) to destroy them all? Does it mean that Buffy is going to destroy all her friends, at least Dawn, as Joyce warned? (Cuz Buffy said that she is beneath them) Does it mean that Will will be overcome by the magic that she is trying to hold beneath her and she will destroy her friends as "Cassie" warned? (Just cuz it's bad, doesn't mean that it's wrong. Maybe it was trying a reverse psychology thing with Will.) I just don't know.


I've thought of some more things though (I'll save my best for last): ~ "The Yoko Factor" - season 4 ep when Spike tried to split up the group for Adam. "Conversations" was very similar - and Spike seemed to be at the center of this episode too.~ I thought Buffy was visiting Joyce's grave at the beginning of the episode.~ What if all the "Dead People" were manifestations of the Biggest Baddest and they were all attempts to create distrust? Will distrusting herself and her magic; Dawn distrusting Buffy; Buffy distrusting herself and Spike. Buffy never seemed to remember that Holden fellow. Maybe that's because he never existed. His presence could have just been to create some seeds of doubt within Buffy about herself and Spike. Explain it with the tae kwon doe if you will, but he was a really good fighter for a newly risen vamp. And it can't just be a coincidence that he was sired by Spike. It can't. ("There's two things I don't believe in: coincidences and leprechauns.")~ Incidentally, Buffy was "whispering in a dead man's ear again." Wonder if that's significant.~ If Big Bad creature thing wants Spike out of the picture too (if Buffy thinks he's doing harm, he's not gonna be around much longer), then that tells me that Spike has quite the role to play as well.~ All leading me to the biggest point of all: The chick that Spike bit was evil! She offered him cigarettes (a sure sign of evil in the Buffyverse), yet I don't think Spike ever took one (i.e., Spike is not evil). Maybe she was sent by the Biggest Baddest to crazy up Spike some more. Maybe he could tell cuz he was so in tune with the Morphing Monster. Maybe he could just tell she was bad and by killing her, he was doing good. How about that?!