Season 2, Ep 15

OMG??? the BEST sister ever!! definitely a classic...oh jonathan taylor thomas, how you were so popular for 0.03 seconds in the 90s, where did you go lmao

Shelby

OMG no i LOVE when anyone knows the movie Wild America!! A few years ago my younger sister found it on DVD and gave it to me for xmas and i watch it all the time now LOL. a classic :D

darciesnothere

So, I know this reaction is about 8 months old (just subscribed to your patreon and I'm catching up), but I had to comment because as if I didn't love you and your reactions enough already, you had to go and mention Wild America??!! Officially the best <3 Dude, my sister and I were obsessed with that movie when we were younger. And it was recently randomly playing on some channel so obviously I had to hit record, immediately notify my sister, and we watched it together a few days later (we're 30 and 34 now) 😂

Shelby

hhehee im glad you like it!! <3 <3

darciesnothere

I like that you call us viewers cornpops :p hehe its so cute

Eileen Furtado

SAME. I owned it. On VHS. That tape got a lot of play, let me tell you.

Madam Satsuma

AHH this comment got buried in my notifs but whenever someone KNOWS the movie wild america i get so excited LOL

darciesnothere

Just catching up here, but man I LOVE the Wild America shoutout. 13-year-old me was screaming.

Madam Satsuma

This was the first ever episode of Buffy I watched - when I was a teenager, so I always like this episode

Sharon Owen

Viewing Larry's coming out scene through a 2021 lens is unhelpful here. Whilst yes, there is an active example of hetero gay panic as a trope, the handling of Larry's experience was a significant step in the right direction, especially when it comes to material geared towards younger audiences.

Renee Pope-Munro

Larry Clarke, a gay commenter on the alt-Buffy-v-Slayer message board, had been advocating (pun?) for Xander to be gay since almost Day 1. Joss didn't give him that…but he did name Larry in his honor.

Jessica Roth

And I’m caught up on every reaction 🙌 On the whole Xander thing, as a gay kid growing up in the 90s I’ve always seen Xander response to Larry coming out as pretty well done. You gotta remember at this point in time there hadn’t even been a gay kiss on television and toxic masculinity was on a whole different level. When I told my friends some had the same reaction as Xander and they’re my greatest advocates today. The thing is not everyone knows how to react to every situation, and although Xander can be problematic I’ve always seen his “greyness” as a character quite refreshing to look back on. He’s definitely a very human character and its a much different time. I cannot wait to see your next few reactions and particularly for the rest of the season.

Dino Reviews

Wow. That's a huge amount to unpack and something that I unfortunately don't have the time to respond to as I'm way behind at work. I might have time to reply by the weekend, but I'll be busy with my my other fall activity. So I guess you have the last word.

Melissa

If I might speak on Xander's behalf, the idea that he should just nobly bow out and let "great guy" Oz have Willow is hugely disrespectful. We don't KNOW that Xander has started to "wake up and smell the hottie" wrt Willow…but IF he has, that is information she deserves to have, so she can make her own decisions. The idea that Oz has marked his territory and Willow now irrevocably his may work for werewolves, but among humans, I find it rather anti-feminist. JMO. "Like, you have someone." And isn't that disrespectful to Cordelia? Why should she be glad to be Xander's consolation prize? "You think I want to [be with you] and watch you wishing you were there with her? You think that's my idea of hijinks?" to quote Willow in "Prophecy Girl". Cordelia deserves to have someone who wants her, not someone who's settling, just as much. Yes, IF Xander now has feelings, it will be inconvenient. But "if you love somebody, you love them", to quote Willow in "Angel". Why should Xander's feelings be considered less valid than Buffy's? "Oz is a pretty great guy." Oh, really? We don't know him…we don't even know why he's wearing all those "New York' shirts. Yes, he's attractive (per Xander; I'm not sure I go past "cute"), but so what? Lots of guys are good-looking. I mean SPIKE is reasonably good-looking; is HE boyfriend material? And yes, he was willing to wait until Willow was ready, which is nice, but no different than Willow's own decision about Xander. Arguably it's just self-protection. And he helped last episode, but that's just once. Xander has SAVED THE WORLD on multiple occasions. Xander doesn't trust Angel (rightly so, it turns out) and doesn't like him…but he's been willing to work with Angel, accept Angel into the group, and even defend Angel (against Kendra) . He was just as ready to "be afraid and die" for Angel last ep as he was for Buffy. And Xander has even been willing to damage his relationship with Willow (which IMO is the most important thing in his life) for the greater good. I didn't get to discuss this last episode (because I also "run on" and "yammer" lol) but when Xander says "we might need wheels" when discussing the plan, that's not a random thought. He knows what he's asking and he knows whom he's asking it of…that's why he looks at Willow. Let's face it; looked at from a certain angle, what Xander does there is pretty disgusting and gross. He knows HE can't recruit Oz (Oz barely knows Xander's name) and this is a pretty dangerous mission. (Theft of government property is punishable by up to 10 years in Federal Prison.) He's asking Willow to trade on her relationship with Oz (the only date she's ever been on) and basically prostitute herself, so Oz will risk a decade in Leavenworth to help the gang. Willow has every right to be appalled, and Xander KNOWS this…"but what's happening now is more important", to quote Willow herself. And so does Xander. So he risks her disdain, right after she caught him "cheating"…but his heart is in the right place. And she knows it, so all he gets is a near eye-roll. Even though she doesn't know the plan. Because she trusts him, and he trusts her to do so. So IMO, Oz has a bit of way to go to catch Xander in the heroism department. And maybe he will. But right now, he's not doing so great. I UNDERSTAND why he didn't come clean about being the wolf…but, still… And it's great that he tried to solve the problem on his own…but that didn't go so well, did it? (In part because he stupidly answered the door when he really shouldn't have.) And I'm still not happy he doesn't take responsibility for not telling Willow, even when she calls him out. Yes, he had an excuse…but Willow deserves better than excuses. JMO. (And he really should be looking for a better solution than "just lock yourself up". What kind of crap is THAT, Rupe? I couldn't say anything before but I always get REALLY upset when Giles just blithely assures Kendra "No, no, [Angel's] good now" in 2.10. Oh, YEAH? I know a woman in an alley…and Jenny's uncle…and Theresa [and who else, down the line?] who would REALLY like to dispute that. Except they can't, because they're dead. Yes, he was grateful because Angel had saved Jenny's life…but c'mon, Rupe. You're a WATCHER. DO YOUR JOB. Don't just take Angel's word about a curse. Check with the Romany themselves. [As it turns out, you're "squirming" with one…] And don't sentence Oz to a life in chains, even if it is only three days a month. FIND A DAMN CURE. Grrr. ) Ahem. So I'm going to withhold Oz's "great guy" tag until we get more evidence. To quote Xander, "what do we really know about him, anyway?" If it turns out his risking public safety for his own benefit was just a once-off and he never does that again, great. But to quote Giles, "let's not jump to conclusions". And even if Oz IS a "great guy", the idea that Xander should nobly hold his tongue (IF he has feelings for Willow, which we don't actually know) and keep kissing Consolation Prize Cordy isn't exactly something I'll get behind, either. Feelings change. (Ask Buffy.) I vote for honesty. Again, JMO.

Jessica Roth

Don’t hate Xander too much. Joss had been toying with the idea of Xander coming out, and you can see hints of it in a number of episodes.

Richard Lucas

I adored Giles this episode being so cute about being into werewolves. His reaction "one of the classics" is just so adorable. Xander is really not that likeable this episode. Aside from the whole Larry coming out, he's also completely dismissive of Cordelia and weirdly obsessive about Willow and Oz becoming a thing. Like dude, you have someone. Maybe focus on her for a change and realize Oz is a pretty great guy and that you f'ed up by not getting together with Willow yourself when you had the chance. It comes off as creepy and stalkerish behavior. Sorry, this is my Xander hate coming out. It started a while ago and really ramps up at times. I liked that we got just enough Angel to unnerve Buffy. And I agree that Angelus' personality can be a bit charming in a way. I mean, he's an asshole but he's also hilarious and can really engage you before he bites your neck lol.

Melissa

The setup and sound was good for this video and yes the werewolf costume was cheesy but I totally agree that it was fun to introduce another creature and have it be Oz.

I may be completely wrong, but I always thought (even back when I watched this the first time) that Xander was a.) nervous about others thinking he was gay stupid yes, but b.) more importantly, I thought he felt really awful that Larry shared this important revelation with him personally when Larry doesn’t even like Xander. I believed Xander felt terrible/was scared that Larry shared his big secret with him only because Larry thought Xander had been “through the same thing” when he hadn’t and if Larry then found out that Xander wasn’t gay and Larry had come out to him, Larry would be mad. Maybe I’m wrong and Xander’s just being ridiculous.

Ashley

Okay. I wrote the above comment before viewing the end of the episode. Xander’s gay panic is pretty classic, with very little positive progress evident. It’s really Larry’s reaction that redeems the whole thing. I think at the time it made the point that gay people themselves can be just fine … it’s panicky, insecure hetero guys that are always wigging out.

Andrew Pulrang

You can almost see the standard “gay panic” trope morphing into something slightly less objectionable in real time here. Compare it with several moments from “Friends” and the difference is even clearer, though the original problematic lineage is in plain sight too.

Andrew Pulrang

And OF COURSE, Patreon eats part 2. Darcie, could you be so kind as to repost from your notifications? It's a bit long (I know, SHOCKER) for me to re-do, off the cuff. Thanks.

Jessica Roth