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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Weight of the World

Willow: "I think we already deja'd this vu."

Okay, that was some great Ben/Glory morphing as their personalities began bleeding into each other – very well done, especially that long scene in the alley when they were arguing with each other. And I enjoyed the continuing joke about no one remembering them being the same person ("Is everyone here very stoned?") which of course explains why Dawn didn't tell anyone that she had seen Ben turn into Glory several episodes back.

I'm still confused about the "death is your gift" thing that kept coming up during that loop Willow was visiting in Buffy's head – but the next episode is called "The Gift," so I guess I won't have to wait long to find out what it means.

Speaking of Willow, what's with her? In the beginning of this episode, it was almost like she was possessed. She's so different than she used to be. We've come a long way from high school in a short time. I think I'm missing the high school stuff.

Didn't someone mention in an episode awhile back that there was a hell-god triumvirate in Glory's dimension? I had originally thought that Ben, Glory, and the character played by Joel Grey were the three hell-gods before we found out that Ben was Glory's human prison, poor guy – so who or what is Joel Grey? I'm confused! And I don't believe that Ben is ready to sacrifice Dawn in order to stay alive himself; he's too much of an altruist.

Hey. Do Spike and Xander make a cool team or what?


Bits:

— That red robe thing with the black pajamas looked really good on both Ben and Glory during all that morphing. Much better than Glory in intern scrubs or Ben in a slinky dress with heels, hmmm?

— Buffy's father, Hank, is back... sort of.

— Loved Spike lighting up under a "no smoking" sign in a hospital.


Quotes:

Xander: "How you doing?"
Giles: "It only hurts while I answer pointless questions."

Willow: "Hey, I know you. You're the first original Slayer who tried killing us all in our dreams. How've you been?"
First Slayer: "Death is your gift."

Young Buffy: "(giggles) You talk funny."
Willow: "Yes, as you'll tell me again when we're older and in chem class."

Two stakes out of four,

Billie
---
Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.

6 comments:

  1. I'm rewatching BtVS and there's just one thing here that keeps bugging me. So the portal to all the hell dimensions gets opened by a ritual bloodletting - so what would happen if the Key was indeed a log or some other inanimate object? Everyone seemed very surprised to find out it was in human form. I guess it's convenient that the monks chose a human girl then...

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    Replies
    1. If it wasn't human, then the key would most likely be animal... which can bleed.

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  2. I know that, as the penultimate episode of the season, this one is meant to raise the stakes (ha ha). It doesn't work for me, probably because I never invested in Dawn as a character.

    The other major problem I have with this episode is the Glory/Ben scene. I guess because I know the story so well now, I see new things. This time through, I was struck by how bad the acting was -- from both of them.

    But, as usual, Spike saves this episode. The scene where he hits Xander always makes me laugh.

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  3. I did enjoy this episode but mostly for the Willow/Buffy stuff and just remember the special effects at the time were amazing and it must have hard to act it well. I also enjoyed Spike giving Xander a slap upside the head and Xander didn't seem to react that badly. Can't wait for the next episode.

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  4. This episode drags a lot... I don’t dislike it, though, and there are interesting moments in it.

    I think Clare Kramer was okay on the Glory vs. Ben debate. But, yeah, Charlie Weber was absolutely terrible. He monotones his lines through the entire scene and has no idea how to properly move his body. One thing I noticed on this rewatch is that Ben’s arc is interesting and sad. On a season stuffed (overstuffed?) with storylines, the writers gave him a good one, but Weber failed to deliver and in the end Ben is quite uninteresting.

    Buffys and Willow’s scene was a very good one, but all that loop to get there was mostly tedious. I mean, they literally repeated scenes. Glory’s talk on the human race was good too, but it also seemed her scenes with Dawn were on repeat. Maybe this episode would’ve been better if it lasted 30 minutes instead of 40+.

    Two bits I love: Anya enthusiastically wishing “good luck” to Willow, and Spike casually picking a bag of blood at the hospital.

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  5. The actual episode was only OK, but I was still happy to reach it because 'Buffy shutting down after placing the book on the shelf' was the main thing that kept popping in my head whenever I thought of season 5, to the point where I can't even remember the specific details of what happens in the coming finale lol. I'm glad I can put it to rest.
    "Ben's Glory!"
    "Look at this, Special Ed remembers"
    lmao. Obviously agreed on Spike and Xandypoo (sorry) making a good team

    ReplyDelete

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