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butterflyIt was actually reading the book Conversations with God that made me start on a path that was less Christian and overtly religious and onto one that was broader and more pure spirituality without church-y trappings. That was the book that jolted me out of the 'one true way' line of thinking. I had an epiphany in California. It was all very movie of the week (I've been going through all my old posts to put everything of future relevance into memories -- hee, I found my first due South mention, where I squee and say that I've just seen an episode of a show and the guys are so in love (that was Mountie on the Bounty)! Sometimes I forget how quickly I fell in love with Fraser and RayK, very comparable to what I'm currently going through with Stargate.). And once I'd had my epiphany, it was easy to forget that I actually used to be fairly harsh about certain things Once Upon A Time. And that's not good either. We have to remember our roots or we'll never truly touch the sky.
Back in May, I wrote a detailed response to rewatching Welcome to the Hellmouth (BtVS S1). At the time, I said that I planned on doing the same for every episode. I meant that. And so here are my thoughts on the Harvest, the second half of Buffy's first two-parter.
This will contain many spoilers for plot points and character arcs, spanning from Buffy's S1 to Angel's S5. I said in my first one that these are written without an agenda -- this is, of course, completely wrong, as each one contains a multitude of tiny biases that add up to my view of things -- but though this isn't true, they are written as objectively as I am capable of doing, with as many angles as I can think of. It contains joyous squees, as many metaphors as I can find, and much adoration of pretty much every single character. I love them all so much.
Even that rat bastard Parker.
The Harvest
Once again, we open with the introduction of Buffy's vampire slayerness. This happens for every single episode this season, though, happily, not for every episode ever, which cannot be said for Highlander 's 'Duncan' speech in their opening credits.
We start right where we left off last time, with Buffy in the coffin, Luke holding her down. He lowers his teeth towards her neck and then pulls back with a growl, looking at his now sizzling hand, burnt by the cross given to Buffy by Angel. Angel almost never saves Buffy directly, but is instead a facilitator who gives her ways to save herself. A true helpmate. Buffy takes her chance and kicks Luke off her and out of the coffin with one well-placed foot. She jumps out of the coffin and races through the graveyard, leaving Luke where he has presumably fallen. We do not see her pick the cross up.
Once she's in the graveyard, we're shown again that Buffy does not yet seem to have the ability to sense vampires, as she can't locate the one holding Willow until she hears the vamp growl. Once Buffy has seen Willow, we hear Willow scream -- Buffy can't hear innocence crying out unless she's looking. She kicks him off Willow and the vamp just runs away. Wimp. Willow looks up, Buffy takes off, and Willow follows. Having been saved, innocence transforms to helping spirit once more.
Next, we see Xander being dragged off by two vampires, unconscious and limp. Willow calls out Xander's name, distracting the vampires so that Buffy's able to attack, once again starting with a kick. She rips a branch off the closest tree and stakes the male vampire, while Willow races to Xander, helping him up as he regains consciousness. We see the three of them in a line as they talk, Xander on the ground, Willow kneeling behind him, and Buffy leaning behind the two of them. Xander, heart and the one who sees, tells Buffy that Jesse was taken by 'that girl' but he didn't see where she took him. Buffy looks around slowly and softly says Jesse's name.
After the credits, we open on a spinning globe. Giles starts talking, stopping the globe as he does. Here we get a "Watcher's View" of the way the Buffyverse begin.
"This world is older than any of you know and contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold aeons, demons walked the earth, made it their home, their hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. A way was made for mortal animals, for man. All that remains of the Old Ones are vestiges. Certain magicks. Certain creatures."
In Season Five of Angel, we finally meet one of these Old Ones. And while the world as Illyria would have desired would be considered a hell by us, it was, of course, this world that horrified it. For Illyria and others like it, the world as it was was a paradise. But they lost their purchase, were trapped or killed, and now exist only in the Deeper Well. But again, as we see with Illyria, the Old Ones were not immoral but amoral. They were only concerned with power -- "To rule all and never die; that is winning." I'd argue that the First Evil was also an Old One, dispossessed of a body and alone on this plane for so long that it saw no danger in claiming to be first and only. "To rule all and never die." And we know that Illyria possessed at least limited shapechanging skills as well.
We see Buffy wearing Angel's cross and I'm going to assume that she went back to the crypt a) to see if Luke was still there and b) to grab the helpful cross. The guys have their 'Vampires are real' talk and Xander is still adjusting to the reality of it all. And when Buffy gets sarcastic, Giles flips through a book, ignoring her, while Xander gets a "Oh, sarcasm, that's original" look on his face and Willow looks worried.
And more world-building info, yay!
"So, vampires are demons?"
"The books tell of the last demon to leave this reality, fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed affected by the demon's soul. He bit another and another. And so they walk the earth, feeding, killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out and the Old Ones to return. "
I'm guessing this 'last demon' would be the ones that we meet in Season Seven of Buffy, the Turok-Han. Mostly because the First does call it a 'real vampire' and because, unlike most demons we meet for various reasons, it was actually physically sealed away. Most seem to be mystically sealed away. Also, because the Turok-Han's behavioral patterns seem to fit with how 'pure demon' Angel acted in Pylea. They're basically just animals, foot soldiers. It's the human mind that gives them their intelligence. Also? I love that this mythology does resonate throughout the entire two Buffyverse series. We actually go back to all this stuff in season five of Angel when we meet Illyria. I love that they did that.
We cut to Darla walking confidently down a sewer tunnel, Jesse and Luke are behind her, Luke pushing Jesse forward. Darla steps over the line, proclaiming Jesse's pureness (first indicator that vampires can sense virginity?) and showing that she's fed from him. He's pissed at her and she goes into simper/grovel mode. Ah, and here the Master tells us that he's stuck in 'this house of worship' revealing that, yes, he's trapped in an old, buried church. Also, this would be the first time in the Buffyverse that we hear the word 'ascension', as that's what the Master calls his attempt to go to the surface in all his power. Hint A that ascension isn't a good thing.
Darla and Luke talk about Buffy's presence and the Master surmises that she may be 'a Slayer'. The way that they speak, I'm guessing that most vampires don't run into Slayers much. In fact, it may have been quite some time since a Slayer was any true threat to vampires. Especially considering how the Watchers have chosen to guide them. Buffy becomes infamous among vampires, the Slayer that doesn't die. The Slayer who, in the end, changes the rules.
We cut back to the library scene, with Xander asking about Slayers. Interesting thing -- Xander wears a necklace with round, flat, pearlish disk on it. Also, a green Hawaiian shirt. But it's the necklace that I'm wondering about. It reminds me of the windows on the doors to the library, and of the full moon. The moon, of course, reflect the light of the sun back to us. It's a reminder of the sun, of something that kills vampires. It's also a reminder of animal nature, of the wolf that howls.
Willow has on overalls and a striped shirt. I have no words.
And here we see the first time that Buffy insists that she be allowed to go it alone. She's the Slayer, he's not, and that should be that. We learn here that Buffy and the others can expect no help from higher authorities -- "they wouldn't be able to handle it, they'd only come with guns". And guns never work well on Buffy. They never succeed. That was one of Angel's first true breaks with its parent series -- guns can be and are used with effect on Angel. More rules are learnt -- vamps can't fly, which is (another) break from movie canon. And they set up Sunnydale's amazing sewer system (that gets explained later with Faith's "The Mayor built this town for demons to feed on."). Willow has an idea, but first, we cut to the Master.
And note that the Master does have a pulse on what the Slayer is -- "If the boy lives, she'll try to save him." Because the Slayer was not meant as a killer but as a protector.
Here we get Willow's first on-screen illegal action, which is quietly sanctioned by Giles not objecting. The first time that Willow is taught that it's all right to break the law for a higher purpose. The only person who offers any feedback on her actions is Xander's "someone's been a naughty girl", which is not meant to be taken seriously. Buffy gets hit by a flashback and Xander is the one to notice and question what she's remembering -- again acting as the one who sees. And once Buffy knows where Luke came from, Xander offers to go with her, impulsive heart. She tries to keep him out of the fight, as she will do up until the second to last episode (because he, of course, would be the person she would ask to take Dawn to safety). He's also wearing a ring on his middle left finger. I never noticed the jewelry before.
Anyway, after Xander's been shot down, Willow offers to help, and Giles tells her that she could help him. Because, of course, Willow's skills seem more useful to Giles than Xander does. Giles' dismissiveness of Xander will not change until season six, and then only for some brief moments. Also, Giles leans way too close to Willow and she seems a bit uncomfortable. Was she already crushing on him a little here?
So, Willow and Giles are collaborating and Buffy heads off alone. And she's immediately stopped by Principal Flutie, who tells her to stay on campus. He locks the gates and she jumps backwards over them. Ineffectual authority=0, Buffy=1.
"Buffy doesn't want you getting hurt. I don't want you getting hurt." And over the years, they try using this excuse on him again at times (most notably in The Zeppo). The heart is the most easily damaged part of the body, but it's also one with incredibly reservoirs of strength. Again, the metaphor holds so well over the years, as Willow's power comes from and grows through her willpower (most easily symbolized by magic), while Xander's comes from his gutsy human heart. And he's strongest when he works from love (Prophecy Girl, Grave). And amusingly enough, considering that Willow is clearly shown as 'the smart one', his is the power most often expressed and shown through words. But as I said in my WttH review, Willow may be the smart one, but Xander's the clever one. Willow can correctly define and explain words, but the emotional power of words to inspire and encourage is not her gift. Explanation versus persuasion perhaps.
Buffy enter the mausoleum and ooo! I have those boots! Sorry. Right. Incidental. Anyway, she enters and runs into Angel, who snarks about thinking she would have gotten there sooner. I can't blame him much for the snark, as he's afraid to go into the tunnels and he can't go into the sun, so he's been trapped there since the night before. "They really don't like me." Well, honey, you did kinda insult the hell out of the Master the last time that you saw him. Angel's very Angelus-y in his pissyness.
And Buffy's question "Do you know what it's like to have a friend?" really makes me all sad-puppy for Angel this time around. Because, no, he hasn't. He was pretty much a loner when he was alive, despite the 'whoring layabout' thing, and when he was a demon, he didn't have real friends, just people who amused him. Until first Buffy and then Doyle and the others, he didn't have friends. Man, poor guy. Hmm. And then he just faded back into the shadows. He's a vampire, so he couldn't leave by the door, and Xander doesn't mention seeing him, so I'm guessing that he just watched as Xander followed Buffy down. Hmm. First love watches the heart walk into danger, and we see Xander walk where Angel fears to tread. We find out here that Buffy is not scared of rats, as she doesn't flinch to see one crawl over her boots.
"If I can help him out, that's what I gotta do." That impulsive, helpful nature... yeah, Daniel reminds me a little of Xander sometimes. Buffy and Xander banter and talk in the dark, and I feel the sharp pangs of my utter adoration of the two of them together. This is what I love -- teasing friendships with the potential for more. Sparks and jokes and standing next to each other come what may.
We see Giles with his glasses and books, finding out that tonight is the night for Harvest. We cut to the computer lab, where we find out that Cordy and her gang will be at the Bronze that night. And Willow defends Buffy against Cordy.
Back in the sewer, Buffy and Xander find Jesse and we find out that rats don't seem to like vampires. And Xander says the words, "It's cool, Buffy's a superhero," as Buffy will echo in Tabula Rasa ("I'm like... a superhero."). Buffy frees Jesse and the three of them take off, watched by a pair of vampires. Jesse leads them into a room that seems to have no exit, then reveals that he's been vamped.
And it's time for more helpful information on how vampires work. Jesse still seems to have full awareness of himself, still claims to be himself. Contrary to what Giles tells Xander later, I fall on the side of Jesse still being there, but being influenced by the evil that resides inside himself, his connection to the goodness of the world lost, that connection replaced with one that yearns to kill or corrupt the humans, make the world closer to how the demons desire it to be. He tells Xander that their friendship, that Xander 'is like a shadow' but he still shows desire for his human crush, Cordelia, later on in the episode.
Xander is the one who spots the ceiling exit (with his flashlight), thus validating his presence on the excursion. Xander finds the way out (as he searches for endlessly in his dream in Restless). Again, he's the one who sees. Huh, and Xander's got one of those chains on his pants. Eight or so years ago, is all I'm saying. He climbs out of the sewer and pulls Buffy out when a vampire grabs her ankle.
Also, note that when random vampire disappoints the Master, he gets a nail in the eye. When Darla disappoints the Master, he hurts her a bit and then seems to forgive her. It's interesting. He doesn't want to kill her, of course, because she does seem special to him. But not, you know, as special as she was before she left him for the cute, murderous Irishman.
Anyway, Luke kisses the Master's hand, bites down on his wrist, and gets marked as the vessel.
Back in the library, Xander and Buffy come in, very subdued. Xander violently kicks the recycling can and proclaims his dislike of vampires, one that will not waver, and though he comes, in time, to grudgingly respect Angel and Spike on occasion, he will never truly like them.
Hee, the whiteboard has "Hellmouth?" written on it. We learn here that the Master's original goal was to open the hellmouth, let out the demons, and turn the world back into what it had been. Possibly not realizing that those very demons that he let in would so have him for lunch once the humans were taken care of. True demons have no respect for 'vampires'.
"Opening a dimension portal is a tricky business." Illyria, with its full powers, can do this easily, though fears to once it realises that its army is gone. Willow manages it in Get It Done, but not without draining two other people of their personal power. The AI gang has found various items that can aid one in opening a portal, though they can't do it unaided. Ah, and Sahnjin could open dimension portals.
Once again, Xander is the one who hits on the answer -- "They're going to the Bronze." He knows that they'll head to where they can do the most damage. He sees, he knows.
Joyce tries some parenting, but as she doesn't know what Buffy is dealing with, her attempt is unworkable. Because she doesn't have the facts, she doesn't have the correct response. She does get better at it once she knows the truth.
So Joyce tells Buffy she has to stay in, and Buffy, naturally, gets her stuff and climbs out the window. Clothing note -- in the sewers, where she fails in her task (save Jesse), she wears a black shirt. At the Bronze, where she succeeds (stop Luke), she wears a white shirt.
We see Cordy as the Bronze, in her element as arrogant airhead. Her cover, in many ways, as we begin to learn in Out of Mind, Out of Sight. She talks over her 'minons' and completely controls the way the night goes... until she runs into vamped Jesse. He pulls her into dance, tells her to shut up, basically overriding her in the same way that she overrode her 'friends'.
Darla is the one who leads the vampires to the Bronze, though Luke is the first one through the doors. And dude, but Luke's almost drooling over the bouncer before he feeds off of him. What was it that James Marsters said about feeding being like sex and that was why we never see same-gender drinking? Was he, like, on crack? Because there's same-gender drinking all. the. time.
Our Scoobies all race to the Bronze and Buffy instructs the other three to concentrate on rescue and not fighting, giving Xander a significant look as she does so, as he's the one who's shown that he'll ignore her wishes if she wishes him to stay safe.
Darla brings Cordelia to be fed on by Luke. As Cordy is Buffy sans spirit, and Darla is Buffy sans humanity, I find this amusing. Shadows trying to kill shadows.
Buffy makes her grand entrance, saving Cordy and the rest of the Bronzers.
The other three make it to the back entrance, and Xander races forward, in front of the others. Once in, it looks like he waits until he spots Buffy and sees that she's safe before he starts evacuating the would-be victims. Xander stays in the thick of it, getting people to go to the exit, while Willow and Giles are stationed at the exit, further out of the of harm. When Xander gets grabbed, she beheads the attacker with half of a cymbal. Clever and resourceful, as Spike pegs her in Halloween. Xander and Buffy share a moment of morbid amusement ("Heads up") and Buffy gets grabbed from behind by Luke. When Jesse goes for Cordy, Xander comes up from behind and tries to talk him out of it, distracting him from Cordy. When Giles moves away from the door, Darla jumps him.
Buffy headbutts Luke, freeing herself. Willow throws holy water on Darla, saving Giles. Xander stands against the wall, being taunted by Jesse, when a girl runs past and bumps against Jesse, pushing him onto Xander's stake, dusting him. Then two vampires grab Xander.
Buffy tricks Luke into thinking he's about to be consumed by sunlight, then stakes him. We see the Master scream in failure and then a power-shot of Buffy staring down the vamps that have Xander. The vamps break and run, leaving Xander. Angel watches the vampires run away and then utters what will turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy ("She did it. I'll be damned."). He stands in front of a door marked 'Watch your step', which I find amusing and appropriate.
The Scoobies meet together in front of the stage, Xander hands Buffy her coat and the group wonders if it's over now. Xander says that nothing will ever be the same, and we cut to a typical sunny day at Sunnydale High. We get our first example at how 'forgetful' the people are when we hear Cordy buying into the 'rival gangs' story. Buffy is walking across the lawn of the school and meets up with Xander in the sunlight -- they meet up with Willow and Giles under the shade of the roofed walkway. I'm not saying anything, just pointing out the facts.
Not for the last time, Giles attempts to bring their attention to the seriousness of the matter. Xander and Buffy and Willow walk off together, joking and bonding. This is what Buffy forget about for a time in season seven -- she let Giles convince her that laughing and joking made her weaker, when it makes her stronger. When she finally realized that again, in the final episodes, we see a deliberate homage to this ending scene in the final episode, Chosen. Buffy's remembered what she used to know instinctively -- that this joy is what they are fight for, is the reason that the world is, and will be, worth saving.
Back in May, I wrote a detailed response to rewatching Welcome to the Hellmouth (BtVS S1). At the time, I said that I planned on doing the same for every episode. I meant that. And so here are my thoughts on the Harvest, the second half of Buffy's first two-parter.
This will contain many spoilers for plot points and character arcs, spanning from Buffy's S1 to Angel's S5. I said in my first one that these are written without an agenda -- this is, of course, completely wrong, as each one contains a multitude of tiny biases that add up to my view of things -- but though this isn't true, they are written as objectively as I am capable of doing, with as many angles as I can think of. It contains joyous squees, as many metaphors as I can find, and much adoration of pretty much every single character. I love them all so much.
Even that rat bastard Parker.
The Harvest
Once again, we open with the introduction of Buffy's vampire slayerness. This happens for every single episode this season, though, happily, not for every episode ever, which cannot be said for Highlander 's 'Duncan' speech in their opening credits.
We start right where we left off last time, with Buffy in the coffin, Luke holding her down. He lowers his teeth towards her neck and then pulls back with a growl, looking at his now sizzling hand, burnt by the cross given to Buffy by Angel. Angel almost never saves Buffy directly, but is instead a facilitator who gives her ways to save herself. A true helpmate. Buffy takes her chance and kicks Luke off her and out of the coffin with one well-placed foot. She jumps out of the coffin and races through the graveyard, leaving Luke where he has presumably fallen. We do not see her pick the cross up.
Once she's in the graveyard, we're shown again that Buffy does not yet seem to have the ability to sense vampires, as she can't locate the one holding Willow until she hears the vamp growl. Once Buffy has seen Willow, we hear Willow scream -- Buffy can't hear innocence crying out unless she's looking. She kicks him off Willow and the vamp just runs away. Wimp. Willow looks up, Buffy takes off, and Willow follows. Having been saved, innocence transforms to helping spirit once more.
Next, we see Xander being dragged off by two vampires, unconscious and limp. Willow calls out Xander's name, distracting the vampires so that Buffy's able to attack, once again starting with a kick. She rips a branch off the closest tree and stakes the male vampire, while Willow races to Xander, helping him up as he regains consciousness. We see the three of them in a line as they talk, Xander on the ground, Willow kneeling behind him, and Buffy leaning behind the two of them. Xander, heart and the one who sees, tells Buffy that Jesse was taken by 'that girl' but he didn't see where she took him. Buffy looks around slowly and softly says Jesse's name.
After the credits, we open on a spinning globe. Giles starts talking, stopping the globe as he does. Here we get a "Watcher's View" of the way the Buffyverse begin.
"This world is older than any of you know and contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold aeons, demons walked the earth, made it their home, their hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. A way was made for mortal animals, for man. All that remains of the Old Ones are vestiges. Certain magicks. Certain creatures."
In Season Five of Angel, we finally meet one of these Old Ones. And while the world as Illyria would have desired would be considered a hell by us, it was, of course, this world that horrified it. For Illyria and others like it, the world as it was was a paradise. But they lost their purchase, were trapped or killed, and now exist only in the Deeper Well. But again, as we see with Illyria, the Old Ones were not immoral but amoral. They were only concerned with power -- "To rule all and never die; that is winning." I'd argue that the First Evil was also an Old One, dispossessed of a body and alone on this plane for so long that it saw no danger in claiming to be first and only. "To rule all and never die." And we know that Illyria possessed at least limited shapechanging skills as well.
We see Buffy wearing Angel's cross and I'm going to assume that she went back to the crypt a) to see if Luke was still there and b) to grab the helpful cross. The guys have their 'Vampires are real' talk and Xander is still adjusting to the reality of it all. And when Buffy gets sarcastic, Giles flips through a book, ignoring her, while Xander gets a "Oh, sarcasm, that's original" look on his face and Willow looks worried.
And more world-building info, yay!
"So, vampires are demons?"
"The books tell of the last demon to leave this reality, fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed affected by the demon's soul. He bit another and another. And so they walk the earth, feeding, killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out and the Old Ones to return. "
I'm guessing this 'last demon' would be the ones that we meet in Season Seven of Buffy, the Turok-Han. Mostly because the First does call it a 'real vampire' and because, unlike most demons we meet for various reasons, it was actually physically sealed away. Most seem to be mystically sealed away. Also, because the Turok-Han's behavioral patterns seem to fit with how 'pure demon' Angel acted in Pylea. They're basically just animals, foot soldiers. It's the human mind that gives them their intelligence. Also? I love that this mythology does resonate throughout the entire two Buffyverse series. We actually go back to all this stuff in season five of Angel when we meet Illyria. I love that they did that.
We cut to Darla walking confidently down a sewer tunnel, Jesse and Luke are behind her, Luke pushing Jesse forward. Darla steps over the line, proclaiming Jesse's pureness (first indicator that vampires can sense virginity?) and showing that she's fed from him. He's pissed at her and she goes into simper/grovel mode. Ah, and here the Master tells us that he's stuck in 'this house of worship' revealing that, yes, he's trapped in an old, buried church. Also, this would be the first time in the Buffyverse that we hear the word 'ascension', as that's what the Master calls his attempt to go to the surface in all his power. Hint A that ascension isn't a good thing.
Darla and Luke talk about Buffy's presence and the Master surmises that she may be 'a Slayer'. The way that they speak, I'm guessing that most vampires don't run into Slayers much. In fact, it may have been quite some time since a Slayer was any true threat to vampires. Especially considering how the Watchers have chosen to guide them. Buffy becomes infamous among vampires, the Slayer that doesn't die. The Slayer who, in the end, changes the rules.
We cut back to the library scene, with Xander asking about Slayers. Interesting thing -- Xander wears a necklace with round, flat, pearlish disk on it. Also, a green Hawaiian shirt. But it's the necklace that I'm wondering about. It reminds me of the windows on the doors to the library, and of the full moon. The moon, of course, reflect the light of the sun back to us. It's a reminder of the sun, of something that kills vampires. It's also a reminder of animal nature, of the wolf that howls.
Willow has on overalls and a striped shirt. I have no words.
And here we see the first time that Buffy insists that she be allowed to go it alone. She's the Slayer, he's not, and that should be that. We learn here that Buffy and the others can expect no help from higher authorities -- "they wouldn't be able to handle it, they'd only come with guns". And guns never work well on Buffy. They never succeed. That was one of Angel's first true breaks with its parent series -- guns can be and are used with effect on Angel. More rules are learnt -- vamps can't fly, which is (another) break from movie canon. And they set up Sunnydale's amazing sewer system (that gets explained later with Faith's "The Mayor built this town for demons to feed on."). Willow has an idea, but first, we cut to the Master.
And note that the Master does have a pulse on what the Slayer is -- "If the boy lives, she'll try to save him." Because the Slayer was not meant as a killer but as a protector.
Here we get Willow's first on-screen illegal action, which is quietly sanctioned by Giles not objecting. The first time that Willow is taught that it's all right to break the law for a higher purpose. The only person who offers any feedback on her actions is Xander's "someone's been a naughty girl", which is not meant to be taken seriously. Buffy gets hit by a flashback and Xander is the one to notice and question what she's remembering -- again acting as the one who sees. And once Buffy knows where Luke came from, Xander offers to go with her, impulsive heart. She tries to keep him out of the fight, as she will do up until the second to last episode (because he, of course, would be the person she would ask to take Dawn to safety). He's also wearing a ring on his middle left finger. I never noticed the jewelry before.
Anyway, after Xander's been shot down, Willow offers to help, and Giles tells her that she could help him. Because, of course, Willow's skills seem more useful to Giles than Xander does. Giles' dismissiveness of Xander will not change until season six, and then only for some brief moments. Also, Giles leans way too close to Willow and she seems a bit uncomfortable. Was she already crushing on him a little here?
So, Willow and Giles are collaborating and Buffy heads off alone. And she's immediately stopped by Principal Flutie, who tells her to stay on campus. He locks the gates and she jumps backwards over them. Ineffectual authority=0, Buffy=1.
"Buffy doesn't want you getting hurt. I don't want you getting hurt." And over the years, they try using this excuse on him again at times (most notably in The Zeppo). The heart is the most easily damaged part of the body, but it's also one with incredibly reservoirs of strength. Again, the metaphor holds so well over the years, as Willow's power comes from and grows through her willpower (most easily symbolized by magic), while Xander's comes from his gutsy human heart. And he's strongest when he works from love (Prophecy Girl, Grave). And amusingly enough, considering that Willow is clearly shown as 'the smart one', his is the power most often expressed and shown through words. But as I said in my WttH review, Willow may be the smart one, but Xander's the clever one. Willow can correctly define and explain words, but the emotional power of words to inspire and encourage is not her gift. Explanation versus persuasion perhaps.
Buffy enter the mausoleum and ooo! I have those boots! Sorry. Right. Incidental. Anyway, she enters and runs into Angel, who snarks about thinking she would have gotten there sooner. I can't blame him much for the snark, as he's afraid to go into the tunnels and he can't go into the sun, so he's been trapped there since the night before. "They really don't like me." Well, honey, you did kinda insult the hell out of the Master the last time that you saw him. Angel's very Angelus-y in his pissyness.
And Buffy's question "Do you know what it's like to have a friend?" really makes me all sad-puppy for Angel this time around. Because, no, he hasn't. He was pretty much a loner when he was alive, despite the 'whoring layabout' thing, and when he was a demon, he didn't have real friends, just people who amused him. Until first Buffy and then Doyle and the others, he didn't have friends. Man, poor guy. Hmm. And then he just faded back into the shadows. He's a vampire, so he couldn't leave by the door, and Xander doesn't mention seeing him, so I'm guessing that he just watched as Xander followed Buffy down. Hmm. First love watches the heart walk into danger, and we see Xander walk where Angel fears to tread. We find out here that Buffy is not scared of rats, as she doesn't flinch to see one crawl over her boots.
"If I can help him out, that's what I gotta do." That impulsive, helpful nature... yeah, Daniel reminds me a little of Xander sometimes. Buffy and Xander banter and talk in the dark, and I feel the sharp pangs of my utter adoration of the two of them together. This is what I love -- teasing friendships with the potential for more. Sparks and jokes and standing next to each other come what may.
We see Giles with his glasses and books, finding out that tonight is the night for Harvest. We cut to the computer lab, where we find out that Cordy and her gang will be at the Bronze that night. And Willow defends Buffy against Cordy.
Back in the sewer, Buffy and Xander find Jesse and we find out that rats don't seem to like vampires. And Xander says the words, "It's cool, Buffy's a superhero," as Buffy will echo in Tabula Rasa ("I'm like... a superhero."). Buffy frees Jesse and the three of them take off, watched by a pair of vampires. Jesse leads them into a room that seems to have no exit, then reveals that he's been vamped.
And it's time for more helpful information on how vampires work. Jesse still seems to have full awareness of himself, still claims to be himself. Contrary to what Giles tells Xander later, I fall on the side of Jesse still being there, but being influenced by the evil that resides inside himself, his connection to the goodness of the world lost, that connection replaced with one that yearns to kill or corrupt the humans, make the world closer to how the demons desire it to be. He tells Xander that their friendship, that Xander 'is like a shadow' but he still shows desire for his human crush, Cordelia, later on in the episode.
Xander is the one who spots the ceiling exit (with his flashlight), thus validating his presence on the excursion. Xander finds the way out (as he searches for endlessly in his dream in Restless). Again, he's the one who sees. Huh, and Xander's got one of those chains on his pants. Eight or so years ago, is all I'm saying. He climbs out of the sewer and pulls Buffy out when a vampire grabs her ankle.
Also, note that when random vampire disappoints the Master, he gets a nail in the eye. When Darla disappoints the Master, he hurts her a bit and then seems to forgive her. It's interesting. He doesn't want to kill her, of course, because she does seem special to him. But not, you know, as special as she was before she left him for the cute, murderous Irishman.
Anyway, Luke kisses the Master's hand, bites down on his wrist, and gets marked as the vessel.
Back in the library, Xander and Buffy come in, very subdued. Xander violently kicks the recycling can and proclaims his dislike of vampires, one that will not waver, and though he comes, in time, to grudgingly respect Angel and Spike on occasion, he will never truly like them.
Hee, the whiteboard has "Hellmouth?" written on it. We learn here that the Master's original goal was to open the hellmouth, let out the demons, and turn the world back into what it had been. Possibly not realizing that those very demons that he let in would so have him for lunch once the humans were taken care of. True demons have no respect for 'vampires'.
"Opening a dimension portal is a tricky business." Illyria, with its full powers, can do this easily, though fears to once it realises that its army is gone. Willow manages it in Get It Done, but not without draining two other people of their personal power. The AI gang has found various items that can aid one in opening a portal, though they can't do it unaided. Ah, and Sahnjin could open dimension portals.
Once again, Xander is the one who hits on the answer -- "They're going to the Bronze." He knows that they'll head to where they can do the most damage. He sees, he knows.
Joyce tries some parenting, but as she doesn't know what Buffy is dealing with, her attempt is unworkable. Because she doesn't have the facts, she doesn't have the correct response. She does get better at it once she knows the truth.
So Joyce tells Buffy she has to stay in, and Buffy, naturally, gets her stuff and climbs out the window. Clothing note -- in the sewers, where she fails in her task (save Jesse), she wears a black shirt. At the Bronze, where she succeeds (stop Luke), she wears a white shirt.
We see Cordy as the Bronze, in her element as arrogant airhead. Her cover, in many ways, as we begin to learn in Out of Mind, Out of Sight. She talks over her 'minons' and completely controls the way the night goes... until she runs into vamped Jesse. He pulls her into dance, tells her to shut up, basically overriding her in the same way that she overrode her 'friends'.
Darla is the one who leads the vampires to the Bronze, though Luke is the first one through the doors. And dude, but Luke's almost drooling over the bouncer before he feeds off of him. What was it that James Marsters said about feeding being like sex and that was why we never see same-gender drinking? Was he, like, on crack? Because there's same-gender drinking all. the. time.
Our Scoobies all race to the Bronze and Buffy instructs the other three to concentrate on rescue and not fighting, giving Xander a significant look as she does so, as he's the one who's shown that he'll ignore her wishes if she wishes him to stay safe.
Darla brings Cordelia to be fed on by Luke. As Cordy is Buffy sans spirit, and Darla is Buffy sans humanity, I find this amusing. Shadows trying to kill shadows.
Buffy makes her grand entrance, saving Cordy and the rest of the Bronzers.
The other three make it to the back entrance, and Xander races forward, in front of the others. Once in, it looks like he waits until he spots Buffy and sees that she's safe before he starts evacuating the would-be victims. Xander stays in the thick of it, getting people to go to the exit, while Willow and Giles are stationed at the exit, further out of the of harm. When Xander gets grabbed, she beheads the attacker with half of a cymbal. Clever and resourceful, as Spike pegs her in Halloween. Xander and Buffy share a moment of morbid amusement ("Heads up") and Buffy gets grabbed from behind by Luke. When Jesse goes for Cordy, Xander comes up from behind and tries to talk him out of it, distracting him from Cordy. When Giles moves away from the door, Darla jumps him.
Buffy headbutts Luke, freeing herself. Willow throws holy water on Darla, saving Giles. Xander stands against the wall, being taunted by Jesse, when a girl runs past and bumps against Jesse, pushing him onto Xander's stake, dusting him. Then two vampires grab Xander.
Buffy tricks Luke into thinking he's about to be consumed by sunlight, then stakes him. We see the Master scream in failure and then a power-shot of Buffy staring down the vamps that have Xander. The vamps break and run, leaving Xander. Angel watches the vampires run away and then utters what will turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy ("She did it. I'll be damned."). He stands in front of a door marked 'Watch your step', which I find amusing and appropriate.
The Scoobies meet together in front of the stage, Xander hands Buffy her coat and the group wonders if it's over now. Xander says that nothing will ever be the same, and we cut to a typical sunny day at Sunnydale High. We get our first example at how 'forgetful' the people are when we hear Cordy buying into the 'rival gangs' story. Buffy is walking across the lawn of the school and meets up with Xander in the sunlight -- they meet up with Willow and Giles under the shade of the roofed walkway. I'm not saying anything, just pointing out the facts.
Not for the last time, Giles attempts to bring their attention to the seriousness of the matter. Xander and Buffy and Willow walk off together, joking and bonding. This is what Buffy forget about for a time in season seven -- she let Giles convince her that laughing and joking made her weaker, when it makes her stronger. When she finally realized that again, in the final episodes, we see a deliberate homage to this ending scene in the final episode, Chosen. Buffy's remembered what she used to know instinctively -- that this joy is what they are fight for, is the reason that the world is, and will be, worth saving.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-04 01:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-04 04:14 am (UTC)Willow's Crush on Giles
Date: 2004-10-04 02:36 am (UTC)Re: Willow's Crush on Giles
Date: 2004-10-04 03:09 am (UTC)Re: Willow's Crush on Giles
Date: 2004-10-05 03:40 am (UTC)Re: Willow's Crush on Giles
Date: 2004-10-05 05:43 am (UTC)Re: Willow's Crush on Giles
Date: 2004-10-04 04:15 am (UTC)Re: Willow's Crush on Giles
Date: 2004-10-05 03:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-04 03:11 am (UTC)Actually, in this episode, they weren't sewers, but electrical tunnels.
> Because there's same-gender drinking all. the. time.
I think Luke, here, is really an exception to the rules. I see him as either asexual, or having a preference for the other side. Asexual because he seemed to be all about business. It really didn't matter who he drank, because he had a higher purpose behind mere "feeding." Also, notice that he was not on the vampire task force designated to seducing and bringing The Master some tasty victims. He only shows up later on to take care of business.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-04 04:17 am (UTC)Well, I was paying more attention to Buffy than to Willow. I should probably work on that.
Also, notice that he was not on the vampire task force designated to seducing and bringing The Master some tasty victims. He only shows up later on to take care of business.
Honestly, I assumed that he didn't do that bit because he wouldn't be that good at it. He was more intimidation than seduction.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-04 06:36 pm (UTC)True that. I think Marsters was probably doing the crack. *g*
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-04 03:57 am (UTC)And...Connor says in Origin, "I'm some kind of superhero."
One of these days I'm going to actually write up that Connor/Buffy paralell thing in my head, down to how he filled the necessary Slayer/vampire-romance role on AtS.
"Opening a dimension portal is a tricky business."
Sometimes you got no recourse but to get a sluk to punch a hole through the dimensions for you.
What was it that James Marsters said about feeding being like sex and that was why we never see same-gender drinking? Was he, like, on crack?
Yes.
God knows I love my fictional version of the man, but JM really *is* on crack when he says things like that. Or not really paying attention to things outside of his direct purview. Which I'd understand, but then, you know. Shut up.
As Cordy is Buffy sans spirit, and Darla is Buffy sans humanity, I find this amusing. Shadows trying to kill shadows.
NICE. I'm loving this whole thing, btw. And that you're doing it. When you get through the seven years of BtVS, you wanna take a crack at AtS? 'Cause that would rock.
Buffy is walking across the lawn of the school and meets up with Xander in the sunlight -- they meet up with Willow and Giles under the shade of the roofed walkway. I'm not saying anything, just pointing out the facts.
Heeeeeeeeeeee. You crack me up, sweetling.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-04 04:19 am (UTC)Ooo! Ooo! Do it!
Sometimes you got no recourse but to get a sluk to punch a hole through the dimensions for you.
Another way that Connor's like Buffy -- resourceful.
I'm loving this whole thing, btw. And that you're doing it. When you get through the seven years of BtVS, you wanna take a crack at AtS? 'Cause that would rock.
Oh, I'm definitely going to do AtS. It's all connected. Which, again, I adore so much.
Heeeeeeeeeeee. You crack me up, sweetling.
*blinks innocently*