Wow. I sure didn't see that one coming.
Is Joyce dead? I think she is. But this is Sunnydale. Is she gone for good? My friend Pam came up with a theory awhile back during the whole brain tumor thing that Joyce would indeed die and Dawn, as the mysterious key, would somehow bring her back. I sure hope she's right because I would hate to have Joyce gone permanently.
Did Glory kill Joyce? And who is this mysterious Brian? It's probably too much of a coincidence that Joyce had a hot date and flowers delivered right before Buffy found her dead, right?
The storyline about poor, "perfect girlfriend" April was just sad, especially the Buffy/April conversation on the swings at the end. "Crying is blackmail. Good girlfriends don't cry." Warren, you're a shithead. I did like the way the whole gang picked up on the fact that she was a robot almost instantly. Is there anything weird or supernatural that these guys haven't seen by now?
And speaking of sad, what about poor, homicidal little Spike? They're all ganging up on him! It's funny being on both sides of this situation. I was all gung ho for the macho way Giles was dressing Spike down, and then all sympathetic toward Spike while he was taking it. What a schizophrenic situation. Will Spike be any happier with a mechanical Buffy than he was with a mannequin Buffy? I hardly think so, but it'll sure be interesting to see where this plotline goes.
Moving on to Buffy, wouldn't she be better off with Spike than with a cross-dressing, body-sharing deity whose female half wants to kill her? Just a thought.
Bits and pieces:
— Anya was cool in this episode. Hand-woven Chex mix? Online trading? I especially liked the Lutheran line. It's intelligent writing like this that has made me such a big fan of this show.
— It was nice having Buffy lean on Xander, and he was so sweet and supportive. Hey. Didn't Willow used to do this stuff?
Quotes:
Anya: "Well, at first it was confusing. Just the idea of computers was like, whoa, I'm eleven hundred years old. I had trouble adjusting to the idea of Lutherans."
Willow: "A good deed."
Anya: "Yes. I'm expecting a big karmic reward any second now."
Anya: "She speaks with a strange evenness and selects her words a shade too precisely."
Xander: "Well, some of us like that kind of thing in a girl."
Giles: "A fourteen-year-old's too old to be babysat, and it's not fair to her."
Buffy: "What'd she make you do?"
Giles: "Um, well, we listened to aggressively cheerful music sung by people chosen for their ability to dance, then we ate cookie dough and talked about boys."
Joyce: "Gosh, I'd forgotten how much fun dating can be."
Buffy: "I don't know. I was standing right here. I didn't see Prince Charming. I didn't even see a goodnight kiss. It all looked pretty tame to me."
Joyce: "Well, I suppose by your standards it could seem pretty... (pauses) Oh dear."
Buffy: "What?"
Joyce: "I left my bra in his car."
Buffy: "Mother!"
Joyce: "I'm joking."
Buffy: "Good god, that's horrible. Don't do that."
Joyce: "I left it in the restaurant."
Buffy: "No more! No more! No more!"
Joyce: "(yelling up the stairs at her) On the dessert cart!"
Giles: "And you're certain she was a robot?"
Buffy: "Absolutely."
Tara: "She practically had 'genuine molded plastic' stamped on her ass."
Xander: "What can we do?"
Tara: "Do you have any books on robots?"
Giles: "Oh, yes, dozens. There's an enormous amount of research we should do before... no, I'm lying. I haven't got squat, I just like to see Xander squirm."
Buffy: "Oh, come on. The guy's just a big wedge of sleaze, don't make excuses for him."
Buffy: "Can you cry? Sometimes I feel better when I cry. But there might be rust issues."
April: "Crying is blackmail. Good girlfriends don't cry."
Xander: "Scary, isn't it? I think I've actually turned into someone you want around after a crazed robot attack."
Buffy: "And if you ever start your own business, you have your slogan right there."
Three out of four stakes,
Billie
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Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.
I love this episode but it's weirdly difficult to separate it from that ending. I really like the sad scene with April and Buffy on the swings, but somehow, in retrospect, it all seems to be working up to those final few shots, which makes it strangely difficult to judge on its own.
ReplyDeleteI love badass Giles. Even badass Spike backs down. And, I love the scene where Xander is talking about the "perfect girlfriend" while all the women in his life just stare at him. "I miss Oz." LOL
ReplyDeleteI like this episode as well, but it is that final shot that lingers.
Warren is such a slime-ball misogynist, the way he speaks to Katrina, and programmed April to feel 'pain' if she didn't respond to his commands...ugh!. Buffy talking to April as she winds down is a really nice touching scene.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the final scene totally overshadows this episode, no warning totally blind sided it is a very shockingly real moment.
I was not impressed by this ep - I thought the story was too simple and in a straight line, and no-one batted an eye over the fact that a young guy just build an extremely convincing semi-intelligent robot (including a combat program!) in his dorm room. And the ep didn't go there. Then the fight scene was poorly staged, and a bit odd - Buffy fighting in a heavy leather jacket for instance. The stuff between the regulars was ok though.
ReplyDeleteGiles rejecting Spike was something I forgot happened (I blame the ending!) and was thrilled to see for the 'first time' again. Dangerously-close-to-Ripper Giles is the highlight of the episode. My heart sank with the beginning of the episode and seeing Buffy immediately talking about Spike, but now I'm glad the transition isn't as smooth as I remembered it being. This progression is good and it doesn't feel quite inevitable. I even felt kinda bad for Spike being publicly put down like that, but the feeling went away seeing him place the order for a Buffybot lol. The things we gloss over for you, Spike...
ReplyDeleteI distinctly remember that my first impression with the ending wasn't exactly denial, I just stupidly, very stupidly thought that Joyce was a bot. Then with it going to credits it occurred to me that might really be her. And like you I assumed the off-screen Brian was responsible... the flowers made me think of Jenny, murder sounded about right. And I had a false 'realization' that the whole point of Dawn must be to die to bring her back.
Before I forget, yeah I'm glad you pointed out the sweet puffyXander-Buffy scene. Her laying her head on his chest like he's her teddy bear, such a sweet sight. And his complaining that she embraces him only after he's in a thicc-suit lol. Lovely.
My body isn't ready for The Body though :( Maybe it'll be the first episode I skip.
Rewatching Buffy in random order is pretty crazy. This episode is so stinkin’ full of foreshadowing that it’s very painful to watch and not just for the final scene. Moving from Touched to this one is bizarre.
ReplyDeleteQuotes
Giles to Spike: There is no way to Buffy.
And I always love the dialogue segues between scenes…
Willow: “I was just saying a pretty girl like that, there’s always someone lurking around, looking for some action.” Cue Spike approaching Buffy. Lol.