Season 3, Ep 12
Added 2022-01-27 16:49:56 +0000 UTCHELLO HI CORN POPS! missed you!
had been so long since i recorded this, it was kinda like a nice little rewatch for me lol.
little note - there are noticeably less edits in this one, (editing with fatigue), but i hope it is still enjoyable for yall!
feels good to be back :)
Comments
Interesting…so by using a BLUE crystal to hypnotize Buffy, are we saying that Giles was trying to juice up her non-slayer powers in order to compensate for what the drugs were taking away? Intriguing. And of course mention of Jenny's rose quartz will always make me melt…
Jessica Roth
2022-02-02 22:02:12 +0000 UTCGlad your feeling Better, Darcie! Interesting to see your reaction to Kralik verses ghosts or some other season 1 stuff, lol. Most fans rate this episode within Buffy's top 5 most horrifying. I love when Buffy's obsession with ice skating etc. comes up because it just adds a bit more to her personality. Also love your "crystal girls" commentary, lol. I'm not super knowledgeable about crystals but what I do know is that none are really "bad" generally speaking. Black (obsidian, onyx, tourmaline etc.) would be considered the safest as it's suppose to protect you from energy attacks, spirits and what not. Pink stones like rose quarts help attract love of all kinds (self-love, generosity etc.). Purple and blue stones are also beneficial but they are said to have more spiritual properties, enhance one's intuition and what not so if you really don't like juju stuff you might want to avoid them, lol. Other stones are suppose to have properties like strength, optimism, motivation, confidence, enhanced health and healing, creativity, attracting luck and fortune.
samantha
2022-02-02 18:37:44 +0000 UTCAbsolutely. This episode exposes a lot about the Council, especially how manipulative they are. Just look at the vampire they had for the test. They did a bunch of work to make the house into a sealed box, to prevent escape from either the vampire or the slayer. Just think though, how many times does the slayer fail the test? Probably more than 50% of the time; but let's just say a fair number of times. So, what happens to the vamp then. Given their strength and nothing else to do, they are likely to escape. Especially after they killed and drank from a slayer. So, the Council has a backup plan, the pills. After collecting knowledge on vampires for millennia, they have probably learned a lot, like how to use magic or compounds to cause a slow death do one. Also, a temporary cure, that slows that death down. So, they find a vamp, do whatever they do to them, and then hand them a bottle of pills. After that, they probably have the vamps death calculated down to the hour if they take all the pills at the right time. Further than that, I would also go so far as saying that the council manipulated events so Joyce found opportunities in Sunnydale so they would move there in the first place.
Jordan Haddow
2022-01-30 19:46:31 +0000 UTCGreat reaction Darcie, and I'm SO glad you're starting to feel better. Take it easy. COVID is no joke.
Sika6061
2022-01-30 18:19:48 +0000 UTCReally? You think the Watchers Council had something to do with her father not showing up? I always assumed it was because of him being distracted by something else that I can't mention because spoilers.
Sika6061
2022-01-30 18:18:05 +0000 UTCthis episode is the best answer to show to people that say "not all men" also, my little contribution to the analysis of this episode's commentary on Patriarchy is that I think they show via Giles how men under Patriarchy are forced to repress their humanity, their feelings, and are made to act with cruelty even against their own family. I'm not for deresponsabilizing men nor do I think that men suffer from sexism - they (or some of them) suffer from the consequences of sexism - but in this episode we can see that sometimes men have to accept to pay a price (being fired for example) if they want to betray the Patriarchy and do the right thing.
angelcakes
2022-01-30 01:15:39 +0000 UTCA final note: good point about how Cynthia Bergstrom goofed by putting Xander in a collared shirt to go with that sweater. Not only can one argue with the look in general, but it's far too preppy for the character. That said, I have no idea how you noticed XANDER's clothes without being blinded by the nightmare that Cynthia dressed Willow in Act 2. The hat and the shirt are both butt-ugly. The skirt might be acceptable, but not with that outfit; the colors are a disaster. Ugh. (And then Willow's wearing another [mediocre] hat in the tag. INDOORS. Does Buffy have the AC up too high or something? I mean, Willow can be cute in hats, occasionally. ["Surprise", and perhaps the second hat she wears in "Inca Mummy Girl"]. But let's not go to that well too often, okay?)
Jessica Roth
2022-01-29 18:16:26 +0000 UTCSo, this episode kind of introduces you to a little secret of the Buffyverse fan base. Being a Buffy fan means that at certain points you get entered into hate groups. Now, I know, that sounds terrible, right? It's not. There isn't piles of social media misinformation campaigns to wage or group meetings where we all have to where tan kakis. It just means we all hate certain things. There are a few in the show. Here, we all learn to hate the Watcher's Council. What a snotty pack of douchebags. Anyways, ok, angry rant over. This episode has so much in it that it would take a novel to explain it all, so I won't bother. Just.a few things. Just to show how manipulative these guys are, think about how much of a coincidence it is that Buffy's father couldn't make it to their annual trek to Ice Capades right at the time this test is supposed to happen? That's right, most likely the council did something to prevent her father from coming out and messing with the timing of their test. Jerks. Also, doesn't the test seem just a bit (or a lot) unfair. They strip the slayer of her powers, give her no warning, then lock her in with a vampire, all when she turns 18? Is it a test or is it just a way to maintain control? Probably a lot of slayers fail and die, giving the council a new, younger, thus easier to manipulate slayer. If she passes, they have made sure show her their power over her. At the same time, they've also managed to prevent the Watcher slayer relationship from getting too close. They have to know, that after a few years it would be natural for a paternal/maternal bond for form with the slayer. So, what better way to damage that bond than to force the Watcher to be the one that disables, in secret, the slayer before the test. Sickos. You have to admit though, that actor that plays the lead Council member sure can push those buttons right? It's like, by the end of the episode, you almost wish Buffy was better so we could watch her dismantle the old guy for treating them all so badly. Can't say he did a bad job at acting like a jerk. By the way, glad to see you're feeling better. I understand that this blasted Covid hangs on. I caught it in the beginning of the month and my lungs still rattle and cause me to cough. It sure doesn't like to let go, that's for sure. Well, get better better soon. Thanks for pushing the reaction through even if you weren't 100%, but don't make yourself worse.
Jordan Haddow
2022-01-29 03:48:23 +0000 UTCI think one of the reasons I'm so disappointed with the disappearance of Willow and Xander from the episode is not just that they're my two favorite characters, but that it's emblematic of the character regression the bad writing in Season 3 has done to them. Notice that when Buffy gets knocked down by the guy hassling Cordelia, Willow rushes over to check on her. "Buffy, are you all right?" But in the next scene, which the script says is only "minutes later", Buffy is asking Giles what happened…but where is Willow? Did she spontaneously combust? Was she kidnapped by time-traveling aliens? Nah, she probably just went to class, because that's more important than Buffy being in a crisis. Riiiiiiight. Season 1 Willow would have been mother-henning all over Buffy, frantically asking Giles what could have done this. But now she's like "whatever, gotta motor". Ugh. And boy did Xander take the news of Giles drugging Buffy and nearly getting her killed easily, didn't he? He's just sitting around when Willow's wigging out about Giles being fired, rather than bitterly saying Giles should just go back to England. You know, like how he was angry and froze Jenny out after she was revealed as a spy? (He nearly hip-checks her in the hall in BB&B.). Where's my Angry-But-Caring Xander when Buffy's suffered the ultimate betrayal? Well, he's been reduced to irrelevance, just like Willow, that's what happened. Nowadays Xander's nothing but a clown (Xander can't even open a jar, ha-ha!) and Willow is That Silly Girl Who Cheated on Perfect Oz, the Best Boyfriend Ever, Hallowed be His Name! Feh and Double-Feh, I. say. (People say they didn't like Vamp!Xander in "The Wish". But he's the only Xander in the last FOUR episodes who was in any way productive or germane to the plot, so I'm taking what I can get, personally.) In defense of Oz, we do get some character development this episode. Apparently Oz is such a comic-book geek he can school Xander about the different types of Kryptonite. There's been nothing previous to indicate Oz even knows what comic books are, but let's go with it. Oz can tell you all of the powers in Thor's hammer, that's the ticket. Now, will this continue to be a part of Oz's characterization going forward, or was that just a once-off scene designed to make Xander look stupid? Only time will tell.
Jessica Roth
2022-01-28 22:07:53 +0000 UTCMy theory is that this slayer test is meant to kill a lot of slayers, so that the Watcher’s council gets a new, young slayer.
Svetlana Grabar
2022-01-28 17:48:06 +0000 UTCI didn’t realise how much I missed this until it was gone haha so happy your back!
charlie ray
2022-01-28 12:45:28 +0000 UTCIs anyone else having problems with loading the video?
Michael Mammano-Cheydleur
2022-01-28 11:23:51 +0000 UTCOne specific bit of praise: you'll notice that when Buffy defeats Kralik, James Contner (who made it through the episode without any shots of people's shoes) gives us AN INSERT SHOT of the bottle of Holy Water, so we can more easily understand what just happened. James Whitmore Jr., take note! Directing an episode works a lot better when you don't just plant the camera and keep on rolling. Honestly.
Jessica Roth
2022-01-28 07:27:38 +0000 UTCSo, I started to watch this, and halfway through I remembered I had a deadline on something else, so I paused it and took care of that…and then I forgot I was watching this. Yeah, not exactly a favorite episode. (Nothing hideously bad about it, just sloppy and doesn't hold my interest.) However I can now follow up on a trivia note I hinted at last time. You may remember how I noted that Thania St. John (co-writer on "Gingerbread") had written on the syndicated series "VR5" and that Anthony Stewart Head had a recurring role on that series. To be more specific, ASH played a character named Oliver Sampson, who was known for having his own personal hypodermic needle, which he kept in special carrying case. So this episode is a bit of a shout-out.
Jessica Roth
2022-01-28 07:24:03 +0000 UTCBuffy forgave Giles way too fast for my liking. It reminded me of a child who forgives an abusive parent not because they deserve it but because they have to. They need them too much. Also the rite of passage seemed not so much of a test but a culling. It seems that only the best Slayers would pass that test and the rest would be dead. So why wouldn't the council want Slayers living past 18? Slayers are presented as a girl who is a trap for unwary vampires. An 18 year old is no longer a girl but a young woman. Someone not yet becoming their own person would be more to their liking. Something more like Kendra's reign.
Bud Haven
2022-01-28 06:15:22 +0000 UTC
