Season 3, Ep 2

Also the not looking for Buffy anymore by the cops makes since because really the only reasons the cops looked her way anyway was because 1. She was right next to a body and 2. The principal blamed her. Once they got to talk to Xander, Cordillia, Willow, And Giles all would have said that Buffy wasn’t there when the im going to assume they would just say gang on PCP showed up and attacked them killing Kendra

Alphatrion

Sorry for the late comment. Been back to work and lately been working like crazy. Finally able to take a moment to catch up on all my favorite reactors. First, as I always mention on this episode, I'm totally on Buffy's side with regards to the argument. I can see how everyone is butthurt and can't understand her actions as she hasn't told them about what really happened. Still, I've been at a point in my life when the pain of things that happened to during certain events was so overwhelming that I shut down. It was actually like the world turned grey. Not in the literal sense, but in the emotional sense. I just simply couldn't feel anything. I remember a few times people told me things that would normally provoke a major response, but it affected me like someone mentioning the weather. So, I kind of understand the position the writers put Buffy in when she left. It's not that she didn't want to talk to people, it was more like she couldn't. Anyways, enough about that. I was wanting to more comment on Buffy not being hunted down by the cops still. Superficially the off comment that the cops aren't looking for her still seems pretty short and pointless. In reality, the show has spent considerable effort in making it so brief. Look back at the history of the show, especially with respects to those in authority in town. Initially, it was like they had blinders on and simply didn't see the strange things going on. Then, in 2x03, we learn that they do know about what's going on and are actively covering it up using scape goats like gang members on PCP. Anything to detract attention from the truth of the strange things going on in town. Later still, we find out that Snyder isn't so much motivated to get rid of Buffy out of personal dislike, but because it somehow makes the Mayor happy. So, we know that much of the authority structure in town knows the truth of the demon world and seems motivated to make things difficult for the slayer while keeping public attentions away. So, the events of season finale happen, but Buffy disappears. What do the cops do? The usual. The longer the investigation is open, to more attention it gathers. So, it seems the problems of keeping the case open outweigh the seeming benefits of hanging the mess on Buffy to have her shuffled off to prison. So, most likely, the police scape goated someone and shut the whole thing up. So, in a way, it really kind of makes sense that the whole thing is been reduced to an offhand comment, because that's exactly what the authority structure in town would like it to be. Not some event of note, but some footnote to be forgotten. At least, that's my take.

Jordan Haddow

i know this is an old comment sorry just getting around to replying BUT i love this and have thought about it ever since you commented! "theyre not just extras to youre lifes movie" omg... yes 100000% yes.

darciesnothere

I read a really good run down somewhere of why the police wouldn't charge Giles. Even though he'd be their first suspect there'd be no evidence he did it, no grounds except being in a relationship that was a bit fraught, he has an alibi. Plus there's evidence of a fight at school and NOBODY would murder their girlfriend and then take them home. Even if they HIGHLY suspect it was him they know their case would be thrown out so they don't pursue it. This person was a lawyer so I believe them :)

R J Walker (FumblesMcStupid)

"Flip happy" LOL! Congrats on your niece earning her Captain's badge! Way to go! Woo hooooooo! Yeah! Rock on Chica! My hockey team is doing craptacular, so I'm glad someone is doing well. Regarding company plates, you're doing fine. Unless you are holding a dinner party and trying to impress with fine China, you're cool with regular plates. Fine China isn't very modern. I know plenty of people who don't switch it up when "company comes calling." That has something to do with tradition and cultural stuff, so no worries if you don't conform. Great reaction as always! This isn't my favorite episode, but you made it enjoyable. Thank you! Happy Halloween!

Sika6061

Not a big deal but I don’t find the resolution of the murder charge that difficult. Xander, Giles, Cordelia, and Willow would all have told the police that Buffy was not at the library when they were attacked by a “gang”.

Cheryl Coffin

I think "company plates" tend to be the dinnerware one would receive from a wedding registry. At least that's how I think about it. I personally believe in minimalism, and to be honest, don't really like company, so even if I got married, I would not have separate sets of dinnerware just for other people. I would for Halloween tho. ;) That's my holiday. Everything would be different for October. Dingoes Ate My Baby is actually a real-life band called Four Star Mary, minus Oz, so chances are, they are probably a lot older than they should be. Yeah, I don't get the "Buffy no longer wanted for murder thing" either. Then again, I am still confused, all these years later, on the fact that Giles was never a suspect in Jenny's murder. She was found dead in his bed! Like uh, in reality, he'd be the main suspect. It's nice to see a reactor not go completely anti-Joyce in this episode. Many do, actually, most do. I personally see all sides. Everyone had a right to be angry. Buffy leaving caused her parental figures and friends constant worry and distress wondering if she was alive or dead, or ever coming back. She left her friends, and the rest of Sunnydale, to fend for themselves for 3 months. It's a lot. I just wish Buffy had called, to at least let them know she was alive. But yes, at the end of the day, the problem is very clear: none of these people know how to communicate properly. Sometimes, I think that's an overall theme of the series: learn to communicate! Also, I don't think I've commented on this before but I love that you take the time to make sure you heard things correctly, "rewind" and check, or just to laugh at something for a second or third time. I don't think any other reactor I watch does that, and it's so unrealistic to me. If I miss something or enjoy something, I am "rewinding" to hear it again. <3

cruzinbosco

It is so frustrating with the Scoobies because really they don't talk things out together clearly. I get both sides of the argument, Buffy left out of the blue and the rest of the scoobies had to take up slaying and almost dying every night for 3 months while on the other hand, no one knew that Buffy was going through so very emotional trauma. She had to deal with her mom not accepting her and kicking her out of the house, being expelled and losing a fellow slayer, killing the love of her life when he was GOOD. Both sides had it very difficult. It is just they got to COMMUNICATE!

Love the emotional aspects about this episode but the zombie aspect was uhhhhhhhh awful lmao. I have so many mixed feelings. Honestly would have been happy if this episode didn't have anything supernatural aside from the vampire in the beginning. The acting from everybody is fantastic here and it just gets kind of...muddled with the half-assed Monster-of-the-Week. Although, one of my favorite underrated moments, is Cordelia sympathizing with Buffy. Sure, she worded things terribly, but you could tell she really was empathetic to Buffy's situation, or at least what she knows of it. Shows a lot of growth on her part, imo

Ritchie

yeah Xander, who wouldn't want to go to Belgium? it's lit !! 🥰🍻

angelcakes

You raise an interesting detail question … whether Snyder had any real justification for expelling Buffy. I don’t think the writers really intend us to explore the question too deeply. But Giles is on the right track when he points out that Buffy has a right to a public education that is very difficult to overrule. Certainly bad grades alone would never result in expulsion, except from an elite private school. In real life, it takes a lot of definite proof of real disruption and danger to the school to get a student expelled from a public school. Buffy, of course, could probably be expelled if everyone totally knew about her activities. But since they don’t, and can’t know, it makes it hard for anyone to actually do anything based on just a vague sense that she’s involved in something mysterious. So that kind of holds up on the show as mostly realistic. As for suddenly not being wanted for murder … that’s I think a much clearer case of the writers saying, “Ah, screw it.” I imagine them spending hours and days trying to figure out what to do with that piece of the Season 2 finale, and not being able to deal with it efficiently so they could get on with the story. In the end, I feel like they gave up on the “wanted for murder” idea and gave a wink the audience by making it especially sudden and unexplained. Kind of like, “Sorry, we didn’t know what to do. So we’re just going to forget it. Okay?”

Andrew Pulrang

my favorite part of this ep is when Willow says to Buffy "I m going through stuff as well" it's very important for 1. making willow's character real and engaging 2. because it's a theme that will be further explored in this season, the fact that people around you live lives just as rich and detailed as you do, they're not the extras to your life's movie.

angelcakes

I just realized that the Zombie episode is being discussed…on the Day of the Dead. Cool. Dan is at the party! In the brown shirt with the orange stripe on the sleeve, seen by the door as Buffy reacts to "some chick who just got out of rehab". Good to know he's in the loop for invites. I actually think home-schooling would work well for Buffy. She could patrol all night, sleep in until the afternoon, and then Willow could stop by after school to help Buffy with her classwork. And Willow is probably credentialed by now, too.

Jessica Roth

Don't have a lot to say about this one other than that it has quite a few funny lines (and also technical flubs, as others have noted haha) and while I'm definitely not *happy* with how Buffy's friends reacted to her return, I do understand their perspectives and I don't find their behavior unbelievable. (Well... apart from them just randomly deciding to have a party at Buffy's house?? And Joyce for some reason being okay with it even after she deliberately had Buffy set out the "company plates"??? Weird!) They were avoiding one-on-one interactions with her at first because even though they were harboring some simmering resentment over her disappearance, they didn't want to blow up at her about it when she'd just gotten home. Which, granted, was not a great idea; as the end of the episode shows, they *needed* to have it out so they could move on, and maybe if they'd recognized that they could have gone about it in a better way. Still, I'm glad that the show didn't just push it all under the rug and act like there *wasn't* any simmering resentment on their parts. That, I think, actually would have been unbelievable. And I'm glad that, having undergone the ritual airing of grievances, they seem to be starting to get back to normal (or what passes for normal on the Hellmouth)!

ghostofdurruti