Comments
This obviously came up in the S2 finale, but this ep brought it back up for me so I'm just gonna throw it here: I don't think the reason Joyce "kicked Buffy out of the house" was because she was a Slayer. The reason Joyce said "if you walk out that door don't come back" was simply a (misguided) tactic to force Buffy to stay and talk it through with her. She didn't understand what all was at stake when Buffy was leaving (the Angel/Acathla/World-Being-Sucked-Into-Hell shenanigans), she just knew that once again, her daughter was walking out into the dead of night without an explanation and with all this crazyness going on, Joyce felt completely out of control which, as a mother, I can only imagine how scary and disorienting that would be. But personally, I never saw that interaction as Joyce saying "if you're gonna be a Slayer you can't stay in my home." I see how people can see it that way though, especially with the earlier parallel of Slayer/LGBTQ and the fact that so many LGBTQ kids ARE kicked out just for being LGBTQ. You can even see at the beginning of this episode that Joyce is being (overly) supportive, which again, the misguidedness comes from her trying to control a situation in her daughter's life that she is entirely unprepared for. But it's her kid. I think she just wants some comfort in knowing and SEEING that Buffy's okay without being able to fully grasp yet the reality of the situation. Of course she still sees Buffy as a 5, 8, 11, 15, 17 year old girl who suddenly has the strength of 20 men and the fate of the world resting on her daily chore of vampire slayage, like WHAT?? 🤯
RNR
2024-05-13 21:09:56 +0000 UTCOh, and you rarely burn people at the stake INDOORS, because of the smoke-inhalation issues for the crowd. It's a spectator sport, after all. Plus, I'd hope City Hall has a sprinkler system. If the season ends with the Mayor burning to death in his office because Allan was sneaking cigarette in the lunch room and accidentally set some napkins on fire, I'm going to be disappointed.
Jessica Roth
2022-01-10 19:31:16 +0000 UTCA few nit-picks: What happened to Oz's SuperNose from "Lovers Walk"? Three episodes ago, Oz could smell Willow's fear from across town. Now, even though she's nearly BURNING TO DEATH, he can't find her a couple of rooms away, until it's too late. Geez, Oz. (Maybe he didn't REALLY completely forgive her, so the SuperSniffer is on strike? Or perhaps he was always faking it and in "Lovers Walk", he just decided to screw his "find Giles" mission and check the Factory on his own? Given that it hardly takes brainpower to figure out where Spike would have his hostages stashed. So Oz just changed direction on his own, and let Cordelia delude herself about the "SuperNose" nonsense. It's not as if Oz ever particularly esteemed Cordy's intelligence, after all.) I'm also not exactly sure that Cordelia can smash the glass guarding the fire extinguisher with a well-placed elbow-strike, or that she'd even attempt it. I love many things about Cordy (those scenes with Giles are a delight), but I rarely mistake her for the Hulk.
Jessica Roth
2022-01-10 19:27:44 +0000 UTCAs I say, James Whitmore Jr. has improved on his previous directing flops, but there are still problems. I mentioned upthread that Amy needs to point her hands to properly do the Hecate spell (as seen in the opening credits of this episode, which show Amy zapping Buffy in "BB&B") and she accidentally ratted herself because her hands were bound and she ended up inadvertently pointing at herself. A decent director would do an insert shot of Amy's hands as she struggles with her bonds and a close-up of her shock as she realizes what's happening. But Whitmore just gives us a full-length shot of Amy, because he's just as lazy as when he wouldn't give us a shot of Willow in 3.02 to indicate whom Xander meant by asking Buffy "Did you even try talking to ANYONE?" Hack. And I think a better director would shoot the firehose scene better so you could clearly see the flames threatening Buffy and Willow in one part of the hall while Cordelia is distracted by spraying the MOOsters elsewhere. Instead it's a poorly-staged mess that relies on Buffy's lines to carry our understanding. Feh.
Jessica Roth
2022-01-10 19:18:56 +0000 UTCJane Espenson's co-writer is Thania St. John, who previously wrote for "VR5", a syndicated sci-fi series on which Anthony Stewart Head had a recurring role. More on this late in the season. But I don't want to take away from Jane doing certain things well. The scene with Snyder and Giles in the Library is great, and the one with Willow and her mom is IMO a classic. (You might argue it goes on a beat too long, but I'm not sure I really care.)
Jessica Roth
2022-01-10 19:11:03 +0000 UTCI’ve always thought of this as a less important, stand-alone episode. But your thoughts on the complexity of Joyce here have me thinking it plays at least one role in the longer-term plot. Joyce kicked Buffy out at the moment she found out about her being the Slayer. But that was kind of a reflex reaction she regretted immediately. Joyce also had that moment where she blamed Giles for keeping the big secret, but that anger didn’t really last. So I think that for some semblance of realism we needed to see Joyce try one more time to totally reject the whole Slayer thing, before she could settle into a passive but essentially accepting role. And this was it, I think. Although she was influenced like the others by the fairy tale ghost children, there was more to it for Joyce. It was at least partially a way for her to try one last time to fully deny the Slayer thing. She couldn’t deny its reality anymore, but she could turn against it. I’m not sure it completely worked. But it was subtle enough to show that Joyce was under a spell, but also kind of working through her own feelings at the same time.
Andrew Pulrang
2022-01-08 21:30:04 +0000 UTCIt's because her hands were tied; she couldn't point at her target the way she pointed at Buffy in 2.16 and her mom pointed in 1.03. More of director James Whitmore's "Magic". He's better than in 3.02 and 3.04, but still problematic.
Jessica Roth
2022-01-08 01:20:27 +0000 UTCAmy probably didn't assume Willow would change her back later, because she probably assumed Willow was going to be burnt to death :D My theory is that she just panicked, thought, "I know, I can escape as a rat!", then when she was a rat thought "squeak squeak squeak", which is Rat for "Oh bugger, I can't cast the reverse spell now I'm a rat!"
David Meadows
2022-01-07 18:07:08 +0000 UTC@silence yeah i guess its just a huge coincidence the demon put the same symbol that willow etc happened to be using in a spell the next day lol. ah, well
x_Rhi_x
2022-01-07 14:31:21 +0000 UTCI think the symbol on the hand was the demons trying to make people think witches killed them, and thus start the witch hunt. Without the symbol there’s no clues that this is a mystical killing, and so there’s no one that the populous can shift the blame onto.
Silence_giraffe
2022-01-07 12:08:22 +0000 UTCYou know … you actually make me revisit some of these episodes and enjoy them more and I didn’t think that possible! Loved this! I’m the same for witch themes …. (The craft if you haven’t seen it please react) but yeah! I know angel isn’t your fave character but you will love the spin off! And! I for one would pay a bit more for a higher tier that has both buffy and angel ! X
charlie ray
2022-01-07 10:14:59 +0000 UTCYes it's weird about the symbol on the girl's hand. I first thought maybe willow, amy and michael were doing the protection spell to show the use of the symbol and then we'd find out a witch tried to do a protection spell on the kids, so the misdirect was that witches were evil and then we'd see after, that a witch was actually trying to protect the kids....but yeah it doesnt work out making much sense that the demon would know what spells the witch gang were casting, in order to misdirect people by putting the same symbol on it's hand as the little girl. Also I dont think Amy's spell backfired? I assumed she wanted to turn into a rat. she used the same spell as in 2x16 which turned Buffy into a rat, so I think she intended to be a rat in order to escape and she probably assumed willow would be able to change her back after. I could be wrong though
x_Rhi_x
2022-01-07 10:07:38 +0000 UTCI feel like this episode misses a scene or two, namely why do the "children" show up with that symbol on their hands? I feel like it would make sense if the spell summoned the demon or was drawn to Sunnydale because of the spell but is discounted by it being every "50 years". We know the symbol is harmless midway through the episode and maybe it could have been used to identify who the witches are, but it isn't so only serves as a misdirect for the audience. I'm also unsure why Amy's spell backfired. Was it because her hands were tied? Was it the demon? Was she unclean???
Callumbo Heath
2022-01-07 08:44:09 +0000 UTCI always forget how funny this episode is. But I always remember how disturbing parents turning on their children is. My favorite part is Buffy skewering the troll while tied to the stake and saying "Did I get it? Did I get it?" They should make that a birthday game for Buffy's party!😂😂😂
Bud Haven
2022-01-07 05:24:53 +0000 UTCI don't blame Possessed!Joyce for what she in the second half of the ep, because…possessed. But she's…less than good in the first half, too. It's one thing to have an interest in "the slaying", but another to just show up on patrol, unannounced and with Buffy taken by surprise. And the she wanders off, *Immediately* , even though Buffy TELLS her to stay put. Yeesh. Basically, she never wants to take Buffy's opinion into account, even when Buff is in her metier. Way to listen, Mom. Oy.
Jessica Roth
2022-01-06 20:56:00 +0000 UTCHappy New Year! I hope your Pokémon champion status survived another challenger. Every time I watch this I crack up when they decide to burn witches inside City Hall rather than outside where the rest of MOO wouldn't asphyxiate along with Buffy and her friends. Brilliant decision. Do they not have sprinklers in Sunnydale? 🤔 Must've been grandfathered in, I guess. This episode is fun, and great reaction as always. Oz is a prince among men. Glad you agree.
Sika6061
2022-01-06 19:12:18 +0000 UTChilarious reaction. You made this filler episode fun to rewatch XD I'm not sure if you intend to watch Angel, but I was kinda thinking not, especially after last episode lol. However, I actually think you'd enjoy the camp, funny elements, especially of s1. Another reactor, Ally Box, is always hysterical at some of the stuff in Angel that I don't think other reactors quite get, and just look puzzled at. but i'm sure you will find the humour. You laugh at stupid stuff like I do....giggling over "MOO" for so long XD. Also I Just wanted to query the sound being quite muffled/staticy, which its never done before. Did you record on a different device? I know nothing about technology btw lol. It's was fine but I found it a tiny bit distracting so just thought i'd mention it. Sorry i'm just being a fussy cow!
x_Rhi_x
2022-01-06 19:10:58 +0000 UTCI kind of have a soft place for these psych out episodes. I have this theory that when fans kind of get a hate on for a character that the writers weren't intending, they use a psych out episode to kind of play on fans animosity against the character. Some people by this point in the show like Joyce, but unfortunately, many fans really didn't like her. I think many people during season two forget that she's in the dark with respects to Buffy being the Slayer and hate her because she keeps cracking down on Buffy so hard. For many of them, that resentment kept fueling along not helped by 3x02 where everybody, including Joyce, puts the blame on Buffy's shoulders. (That may not be true, but it can appear that way) So, in this episode, if fans dislike or even hate Joyce, her actions seem to them to be in line with what they think of her character. It's easy, right before you see the ghost kids, to just get so mad at Joyce. That's why I think it's kind of a slap in the face to those that dislike her when they realize that her actions have been distorted through manic since she found the bodies. So, her only authentic actions in the episode were her bringing Buffy snacks and wanting to bond with her. So, in a way, I think this episodes purpose was to make those who really believed that Joyce was turning the town against Buffy and her friends feel foolish. To reset their thinking on Joyce. She's no longer in the dark when it comes to Buffy. She knows she has this whole obligation and is supporting her. Watching other reactors, some liked Joyce, but others really disliked her. It kind of funny to watch along and see how fast each catches on to the fact that Joyce is being influenced by an outside source, or at least figure that the behaviour is outside her norms. Other than the style of episode, this one had a lot of shock value and humor. Still, for me, the use of dead kids was a bit too harsh I think for the show. That beginning is pretty tough.
Jordan Haddow
2022-01-06 19:04:16 +0000 UTC
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