Buffy - 7x13 "Killer in Me"
Feb. 4th, 2003 09:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
estepheiaI watched the new episode of Buffy last night.
I was forewarned not to expect to expect too much. A friend called it “blah” and Herc gave it 3 out of 5. But when I watched it I laughed in the right places, awwed a few times and liked the whole concept. I was definitely entertained but not awed. It’s not an episode I’ll watch again and again, but I might just make it through my habitual four viewings (one on my own, one with Mr. Estepheia and two with friends who regularly come to watch with me). That’s more than I can say for Potential which I actually found so utterly boring that I started getting fidgety during the third viewing.
Anyway, the Spuffy moments are touching. Personally I thought Buffy and Spike gave off a married-couple/old friends vibe which some people may not find attractive but I found myself responding to with a smile. The initiative plot is a bit lame but ok. Two things annoyed me with regard to this storyline: A) there is a group scene in which Spike collapses in pain but nobody cares because Buffy and the Scoobies are all concerned over the Willow/Warren problem. Bad, bad, bad. I blame the director. B) Maybe it was my copy, but the lighting in the Initiative ruins was really bad. I could hardly see anything. The fight scene was boring. Of course Spike’s chip kept him from fighting, telling even the thickest person in the audience that the chip had outlasted its usefulness and was now a liability rather than a blessing. Thank you, ME for ramming it down my throat.
JM’s performance/Spike’s character: I may be in the minority but I like souled!Spike. He’s sincere and considerate. Spike is trying to fit in. I sometimes miss the old swagger, but this Spike is nice in a different way. I like JM’s muted body language. It’s tricky to change a character so fundamentally and still keep the essence intact. So, pluspoints for Spikey goodness.
The Giles subplot is lame. Period.
The Willow/Warren/Kennedy plot is a clever idea, and the acting of Alyson Hannigan and Adam Busch seemed pretty good to me (will pay more attention next time I watch it). I am not fond of Kennedy, put I honestly can’t put my finger on the reason for this. Amy’s role in this is a neat surprise. So why wasn’t I thrilled? Maybe it was the uninspired writing. And the fact that I could almost hear the ME writers brainstorm:
Writer#1: Willow needs a new girl-friend.
Writer#2: No way, the Tara fans will go ballistic (those that haven’t quit the show already)
Writer#1: Don’t you see, we have to prove we’ve nothing against gay love, so we need a new gay love interest for one of the characters.
Writer#4: How about Andrew and Xander?
All writers: Ewwww.
Writer#3: But the fans won’t accept it, if Willow moves on too quickly.
Writer#1: The other girl will have to make the first move. And then we do a story line in which Willow can break down and move on. Alyson is great when she cries.
…
I always feel insulted when storylines and metaphors get too transparent. S7 has been the most transparent Season yet. I’m not talking about plot. I can’t predict what’s going to happen (although I have a few educated guesses which I will put into a second very spoilery post), but I can analyse what I see and discover the underlying message or function of a scene.
I have this pesky little voice inside my head that likes providing analytical commentaries or pointing out inconsistencies. That’s the voice that started ranting during the Spike-gets-drowned-because-we-want-the-baptism-metaphor scene. That’s the voice that counted the days between CwDP and Bring on the Night and felt like throttling Marti Noxon for murdering the continuity. That’s the voice of discontent that finds the Giles red herring utterly contrived.
During the better episodes that pesky voice just shuts up and enjoys the ride. These days the voice and I miss the times when an episode actually had more than one layer. When certain clever parallels or juxtapositions weren’t obvious at first viewing. Or maybe I’m just too attuned into the whole thing and know the recipe for an episode by heart. Either way, Killer in Me is neither hateworthy nor impressive. It’s blah but okay.
3 out of 5.
I was forewarned not to expect to expect too much. A friend called it “blah” and Herc gave it 3 out of 5. But when I watched it I laughed in the right places, awwed a few times and liked the whole concept. I was definitely entertained but not awed. It’s not an episode I’ll watch again and again, but I might just make it through my habitual four viewings (one on my own, one with Mr. Estepheia and two with friends who regularly come to watch with me). That’s more than I can say for Potential which I actually found so utterly boring that I started getting fidgety during the third viewing.
Anyway, the Spuffy moments are touching. Personally I thought Buffy and Spike gave off a married-couple/old friends vibe which some people may not find attractive but I found myself responding to with a smile. The initiative plot is a bit lame but ok. Two things annoyed me with regard to this storyline: A) there is a group scene in which Spike collapses in pain but nobody cares because Buffy and the Scoobies are all concerned over the Willow/Warren problem. Bad, bad, bad. I blame the director. B) Maybe it was my copy, but the lighting in the Initiative ruins was really bad. I could hardly see anything. The fight scene was boring. Of course Spike’s chip kept him from fighting, telling even the thickest person in the audience that the chip had outlasted its usefulness and was now a liability rather than a blessing. Thank you, ME for ramming it down my throat.
JM’s performance/Spike’s character: I may be in the minority but I like souled!Spike. He’s sincere and considerate. Spike is trying to fit in. I sometimes miss the old swagger, but this Spike is nice in a different way. I like JM’s muted body language. It’s tricky to change a character so fundamentally and still keep the essence intact. So, pluspoints for Spikey goodness.
The Giles subplot is lame. Period.
The Willow/Warren/Kennedy plot is a clever idea, and the acting of Alyson Hannigan and Adam Busch seemed pretty good to me (will pay more attention next time I watch it). I am not fond of Kennedy, put I honestly can’t put my finger on the reason for this. Amy’s role in this is a neat surprise. So why wasn’t I thrilled? Maybe it was the uninspired writing. And the fact that I could almost hear the ME writers brainstorm:
Writer#1: Willow needs a new girl-friend.
Writer#2: No way, the Tara fans will go ballistic (those that haven’t quit the show already)
Writer#1: Don’t you see, we have to prove we’ve nothing against gay love, so we need a new gay love interest for one of the characters.
Writer#4: How about Andrew and Xander?
All writers: Ewwww.
Writer#3: But the fans won’t accept it, if Willow moves on too quickly.
Writer#1: The other girl will have to make the first move. And then we do a story line in which Willow can break down and move on. Alyson is great when she cries.
…
I always feel insulted when storylines and metaphors get too transparent. S7 has been the most transparent Season yet. I’m not talking about plot. I can’t predict what’s going to happen (although I have a few educated guesses which I will put into a second very spoilery post), but I can analyse what I see and discover the underlying message or function of a scene.
I have this pesky little voice inside my head that likes providing analytical commentaries or pointing out inconsistencies. That’s the voice that started ranting during the Spike-gets-drowned-because-we-want-the-baptism-metaphor scene. That’s the voice that counted the days between CwDP and Bring on the Night and felt like throttling Marti Noxon for murdering the continuity. That’s the voice of discontent that finds the Giles red herring utterly contrived.
During the better episodes that pesky voice just shuts up and enjoys the ride. These days the voice and I miss the times when an episode actually had more than one layer. When certain clever parallels or juxtapositions weren’t obvious at first viewing. Or maybe I’m just too attuned into the whole thing and know the recipe for an episode by heart. Either way, Killer in Me is neither hateworthy nor impressive. It’s blah but okay.
3 out of 5.
