Willow: "What if the girl wants to, and the guy doesn't? That's a bad sign, right?"
Xander: "Could be. Or the girl caught the guy in one of the seven annual minutes he's legitimately too preoccupied to do it."
So the writers had to find a way to write a popular character out of the show and they had no way of knowing if it was temporary or permanent — and they still did a hell of a job. It was heartwrenching and intense, but open-ended at the same time so that from here on out, anything could happen. And they even finally dealt with the wolf thing, which had to happen eventually.
I have to commend Alyson Hannigan on some amazing tearduct action, and I don't mean that sarcastically. The profuse tears were tremendously effective and very much in character. I almost cried myself. It was painful watching poor fashion-challenged Willow coming to Oz's place in leather pants to seduce him; it was even more painful to see Willow actually turn to the black arts, although I knew she'd stop before committing herself. Seth Green was very good, too. Having his character's trademark stoicism fall to pieces not once (when he yelled) but twice (when he almost cried in the car) was quite effective.
So did Oz have a good reason to cheat on Willow? Yes, absolutely. To prevent killings is an extremely good reason. But did he enjoy it? I think he did, or he might have found another way to deal with the situation. Pheromones, shneromones — he could have just lured Veruka into a cage and locked her up without him, right?
So what happened to Spike and the commandos? I'm getting really curious about those commandos. And by the way, I thought when Buffy and the commando collided that their rifles got switched and that Buffy would end up killing Oz. Dan thought so, too.
Bits and pieces:
— Giles is no longer ever-present but he is even more delightful than ever. Going to the Bronze? Watching game shows? I'll bet Giles would kick ass at Jeopardy.
— Buffy's hair has gotten longer while Willow's has gotten shorter.
— I've decided that that prof who gave Buffy an A no longer deserves to be a Spike Happy Meal.
— Maybe it's time now for Willow and Xander to get together. I hated it last year when it involved cheating on Oz and Cordy, but now... it's a thought, isn't it?
Quotes:
Giles: "It's ages since I've been to a gig. Well, don't look that way. I'm down with the new music. And I have the albums to prove it."
Buffy: "Yes, but it's your cutting edge 8-tracks that keep you ahead of the scene."
Willow: "Well, things with Oz are weird. And I talked to Buffy about it, but I think we're in guy-ville here. I need a translator from the Y side of things."
Xander: "Well, last time I checked, I had the creds. Hit me."
Willow: "What does it mean when a girl wants to... you know."
Xander: "If you're doing it, I think you should be able to say it."
Willow: "Make love."
Xander: "Wild monkey love, or tender Sarah McLachlan love?"
Buffy: "Giles, I've never seen her like this. It's like it hurts too much to form words."
Giles: "You've felt that way yourself. And you got through it."
Buffy: "Yeah. I ran away and went to hell and then got through it."
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 read somewhere that Joss Whedon said losing Seth Green was heartbreaking for everyone so they decided that Oz's departure should be just as gut-wrenching.
ReplyDeleteBoy, he wasn't kidding.
I cried.
ReplyDeleteSo, since I am new to Buffy and this all happened years ago...why did Seth Green leave? I am assuming a better job offer?
It's funny because I have never been a Seth Green fan, I never knew he was on Buffy. But now that I have seen him as Oz, I like him more.
Yes, that's exactly it, Sooze.
ReplyDeleteIf you can get the DVDs, the commentaries are worth listening to, especially if the Divine Whedon himself is involved. (Although they usually contain spoilers for the rest of the season.)
Sooze, Seth Green had so many movie roles at this point that he really couldn't do Buffy any more. It's too bad, because Oz was a popular character.
ReplyDeleteSad.
ReplyDeleteThis one is kind of meh for me. I really appreciated Buffy and Willow's scenes. They really showed some increasing maturity and even greater depth to their friendship. Oz' dilemma didn't really interest me much. Despite my Willow love, their relationship just never really felt deep or lasting to me. (Maybe the danger with having an extremely laconic character is that it's hard to connect to him.) Anyway my thoughts as I watched:
ReplyDeleteI’m actually not a big fan of the fight scenes, but finally, it seems like forever since we saw a staking. Spike! Vampire tasers?
I’m not feeling Veruca(?) She gives me kind of a Faith vibe and I never liked her. Ok, so I was clearly right about her. Although it may be the actress isn’t working for me in the role. And now it’s all a moot point.
Willow – best friend ever. Happy for Buffy making her academically jealous.
Poor Giles needs a direction, he’s starting to look a bit seedy.
Xander – still acting mature “If you’re doing it, I think you’ve gotta be ready to say it.”
Where is Oz’s cage? How do they all come up with the resources to deal with these secret life issues? Ok, I see it’s at the cemetery.
I may not care about Oz and Willow's relationship, but I'm a little worried about her now. Will she loose that sweet joy? I hope not.
Its hard watching Willow getting her heart broken, so not very enjoyable but its an important episode in the overall story. It was good to get a glimpse of Spike, and amusing to see his big bad speech zapped. Its about time we got some answers about the soldiers that seem to be patrolling the campus at night.
ReplyDeleteI think it is Veruca that brings it down for me, we now understand why Oz is drawn to her but she's just annoying and obvious and the scenes where she's supposed to be singing are pretty dire.
Benjamin Disraeli said it best, "The magic of first love is our ignorance that it can ever end." This episode perfectly captures that moment, the first time you realize that the person you love(d) so much is not your happily ever after. Heartbreak always sucks, but the first one is the worst.
ReplyDeleteI thought everyone brought their A-game to this episode. It's a great hour of television when you both laugh out loud (Giles at the Bronze) and cry (pretty much the entire time with Willow).
So sorry I haven't been able to keep up with the rewatch. I didn't get to watch this again, but I remember that seeing Willow's heartbreak breaks my heart every time. I love her and Oz together, and as glad I am for Seth Green that his career took off, it is sad that he had to go.
ReplyDeleteNot a fan of Veruca either! I like the name reference, though. :)
I don't rewatch this one a lot (when Willow hurts, I hurt). Spike's monologous interruptus makes me laugh out loud every single time.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the posters on Oz's wall are of bands that have had songs featured on the show in the past, including Cibo Matto and Velvet Chain.
Im behind but working to catch up. The acting in this was superb and the crying scenes were some of the best I've seen. Oz was a great character and I will miss him.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't take Veruca seriously...because only a year or two before she had played psycho Tara on 90210. What does she write on her resume? "I excel at playing psychopaths."
ReplyDelete