More about 'Bring on the Night'

[butterfly]

Thinking about the end again. About the different reactions. So I'm going to describe the ending in detail. Description of the scene will come before the dialogue. After careful viewing, I'm pretty sure of who Buffy is supposed to be looking at in her solo shots. Who she would be looking at given her position.

First we see Buffy in a chair, numb and beaten, looking very small, arms wrapped around herself, listening to the others talk downstairs. As the conversation goes on, the camera slowly moves in on Buffy's face.

Giles: "We could make plans, as we always do, but the truth is Buffy was our plan. There is no back-up."
Willow: "Giles, she looks bad."
Giles: "She does. I'm afraid there may be internal bleeding." (We can see Buffy breathe in sharply. She blinks quickly, listens.)
Willow: "What does that mean? Will she..."
Giles: "Die? No, I don't think so. I don't know."
Willow: "What do we do if she can't fight? If she can't beat this thing?"

We switch to downstairs. Giles is pacing, Xander leaning.

Giles: "We're back at square one."
Xander: "Which square would that be exactly?"

He looks sharply at Giles. The camera swings over.

Giles: "I'm not sure. The First predates everything we've ever known..."

Cut to Anya and the pony-tailed protoSlayer. Anya looks down at the table.

Giles: "Or can know..."

Cut back to Giles.

Giles: "It's everywhere..."

Cut to Willow, who seems very uncertain and lost.

Giles: "It's pure..."

Cut to Giles, who sighs and turns away with his next words.

Giles: "I don't know if we can fight it."
Buffy: "You're right."

Cut to the doorway of the dining room. Buffy comes down the stairs and comes into the room to join the group.

Switch to reaction shot from Buffy's perspective. Willow and Xander are on the left, Willow with her arms crossed, Xander leaning back against the table, arms down, supporting himself. The two protoSlayers are sitting on the left side of the table, Giles standing in between them and Anya and Dawn, sitting on the right. Dawn and one of the protoSlayers react a bit to seeing her, probably due to her injuries. Xander leans back a little more on the back table.

Buffy: "We don't know how to fight it."

Switch back to Buffy, standing in the doorway. Her voice trembles slightly.

Buffy: "We don't know when it'll come."

We see Giles, looking at Buffy intently. Trying to figure out where she's going.

Buffy: "We can't run."

Close-up on Buffy. She looks terrible. Very hurt and horribly young. Young in a way that she hasn't looked in forever.

Buffy: "Can't hide. Can't pretend it's not the end 'cause it is."

Cut to Dawn, with Anya in the background. Dawn looks uncertain. Anya, intent.

Buffy: "Something's always been there to try and destroy the world."

Back to Buffy. Her gaze moves across the room. It looks like she's looking at Willow and Xander during the first half and then her gaze moves to Giles for the second half of the sentence.

Buffy: "We've beaten them back, but we're not dealing with them anymore."

Switch back to the Buffy-perspective shot.

Buffy: "We're dealing with the reason they exist."

Switch back to Buffy, as her gaze first flits to the side before moving to look at the people sitting at the table. After a sentence, it moves back up to Giles.

Buffy: "Evil. The strongest. The first."

Switch to Giles. Concerned.

Giles: "Buffy... uh, I know you're... very tired."

Back to Buffy. She looks first to the side, where W and X are, then back at Giles. Then she's very matter of fact and strong.

Buffy: "I'm beyond tired. I'm beyond scared. I'm standing on the mouth of hell and it is going to swallow me whole... and it'll choke on me."

Back to Giles, who looks... I'm not sure. He's listening very carefully. Cut right back to Buffy, who is now completely in charge of herself. Her strength is radiating from her eyes and the way she holds herself.

Buffy: "We're not ready? They're not ready. They think we're going to wait for the end to come...

Her eyes look over to Willow and Xander.

Buffy: "Like we always do..."

Her eyes shift back to Giles.

Buffy: "I'm done waiting. They want an apocalypse? Well, we'll give 'em one."

She looks over at W&X, nods slightly, before moving her gaze down to the protoSlayers.

Buffy: "Anyone else who wants to run, do it now."

Switch to the protoSlayers, as the camera focuses on each of them in turn.

Buffy: "Because we just became an army."

Back to Buffy, as her eyes move back to Giles.

Buffy: "We just declared war."

The camera switches to Dawn, moves past her to Anya.

Buffy: "From now on, we won't just face..."

Cut to Willow and Xander. Willow is looking something near terrified. Xander, slightly nervous but very determined.

Buffy: "...our worst fears, we will seek them out."

Back to Buffy.

Buffy: "We will find them and cut out their hearts one by one. Until the First shows itself for what it really is. And I'll kill it myself."

Cut to Giles, who looks... again, I'm not sure. Back to Buffy, who is so incredibly strong and absolutely certain.

Buffy: "There is only one thing on this earth more powerful than evil. And that's us."

To Buffy-perspective shot. Back to Buffy.

Buffy: "Any questions?"


And for any interested parties, here's Buffy's end speech, without the side notes:

Giles: "I don't know if we can fight it."

Buffy: "You're right. We don't know how to fight it. We don't know when it'll come. We can't run. Can't hide. Can't pretend it's not the end 'cause it is. Something's always been there to try and destroy the world. We've beaten them back, but we're not dealing with them anymore. We're dealing with the reason they exist. Evil. The strongest. The first."

Giles: "Buffy... uh, I know you're... very tired."

Buffy: "I'm beyond tired. I'm beyond scared. I'm standing on the mouth of hell and it is going to swallow me whole... and it'll choke on me. We're not ready? They're not ready. They think we're going to wait for the end to come, like we always do... I'm done waiting. They want an apocalypse? Well, we'll give 'em one. Anyone else who wants to run, do it now. Because we just became an army. We just declared war. From now on, we won't just face our worst fears, we will seek them out. We will find them and cut out their hearts one by one. Until the First shows itself for what it really is. And I'll kill it myself. There is only one thing on this earth more powerful than evil. And that's us. Any questions?"

Comments

[cicelian.livejournal.com]

Damn. I just figured out what that speech reminded me of - Torrance's speech in Bring it On.

*worries for self's sanity*

Re:

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

*tilts head*

I can't say that I see it.

[cicelian.livejournal.com]

It's the whole "we defy incredible odds" vibe, the call to arms. And the "facing our worst fears" thing Buffy has going is, to me, the subtext of "Even... mime". Hee.

Re:

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Hee. I'll try to see it with that in mind, next time.

Of course, it's been a while since I've seen BiO.