Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Halloween (2x06)

[fajrdrako]

I'll swear I posted this on Saturday (to no reaction), but janne_d pointed out I hadn't - who knows what bizarre corner of the LJ Void it slipped into instead of my LJ. Luckily I kept a copy. Nice to know you weren't all just ignoring me, and thanks for bringing it to my attention, janne_d. I wondered why gillo thought it was a while since I'd commented on Buffy. And here you are:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Halloween (2x06)

Interesting to watch this at this time of year: about as much the opposite of Halloween on the calendar as it's possible to be. Since the autumn equinox is my favourite time of year, and the spring equinox my least favourite time by far, it was good to get an unseasonal glimpse of October.

I have a confession about this episode. It was one of the ones I'd seen before. I think it was Harry that showed it to me, maybe eight years ago. All my friends seem to be Ethan fans, and Giles fans, and they find this episode interesting. I realized I'd seen it before as soon as Ethan came ono the screen.

Now, when I saw it back then, I didn't exactly understand the story - because most of the episode is about the characters acting out of character, and becoming the inverse of themselves. Since I had no idea what their normal characters were like, the rest was lost on me. I missed the whole point of the inverted personas, and the story didn't make a lot of sense. I wasn't bored or anything, I just didn't know what to make of it. Spike made no impression at all.

I get the feeling that there are a lot of things beginning here: it's like a trailer or teaser for things to come.

1. For some reason, I love the opening scene where Buffy lands on the jack-o-lantern.

2. So much for the theory (mentioned in the pilot, or "Harvest") that Buffy can instinctually tell when a vampire is around. There's the vampire with a camcorder through the whole scene, and she has no idea. She's busy, but still.

3. Does Cordelia really think she has any chance with Angel? I can't tell.

4. Angel's shirt makes it look as if he's wearing pajamas. In the spiffy-vampire-fashion stakes, Spike wins, hands down.

5. So Buffy sees Angel with Cordelia, and tries to retreat. Buffy is such an idiot. She wants Angel, she pines over him, she complains that he doesn't talk to her, but when she sees him, she runs. It's an understandable sort of idiocy, but there's a huge a level of self-sabotage in it, and she does it over and over: she meets Angel, argues with him, and stalks off. Then complains he doesn't talk to her. He does Batman-like disappearing acts with other people, but she's the one who consistently walks away from him. No wonder he looks pained a lot.

6. Cordelia says: "Buffy. Love the hair. It just screams street urchin." I know she's trying to be snarky, but I think that's kind of cute.

7. Buffy says:

...Who am I kidding? Dates are things normal girls have. Girls who have time to think about nail polish and facials. You know what I think about? Ambush tactics. Beheading. Not exactly the stuff dreams are made of.

Does she really believe that? Because if so, she's deluded. It seems very clear to me that she only thinks about ambush tactics and beheading when she has to - usually, when Giles forces her to. Otherwise she thinks about Angel and hanging out at the Bronze and the various sorts of things she talks about withXander and Willow. I've seen her talk about lipstick and hair conditioner. I don't recall too much idle chat about ambushing.

In other words, her self-image and the reality don't seem to match up, and she hasn't noticed.

So she walks out on Angel again.

8. I like Snyder's snarky description of how he expects Buffy to spend Halloween. I liked Willow's panicked expression as she realizes she's in Snyder's line of sight.

9. Why is Halloween quiet for vampires? I suspect that is just a sort of ironic joke - Joss's little game of twisting stereotypes - but it would be fun to think there's more to it.

10. I liked Xander's line to Larry: "Hey, Lar. You're lookin' Cro-Mag as usual." And then he feels called upon to defend Buffy's honour, and Buffy comes and saves him, and he's angry with her for interfering because of his rep. Ungrateful wretch. Seems more like that Larry would have trounced him, and what good would that have done for Buffy or her reputation? Or his? Xander needs to stop worrying about what people think about him.

I love Willow's comment on it, though: "Boys are so fragile."

11. So Willow and Buffy go to steal the Watcher Diaries from Giles - and why am I tempted to call it "The Very Secret Diaries of Angel"? I'm unclear what this book is. Angel's diary? Some Watcher's account of Angel's actions? Why would they have a portrait of a woman Angel knew before he was ever a vampire? Who drew the picture anyway?

12. I did enjoy this exchange:

Giles: I enjoy cross-referencing.
Buffy: Do you stuff your own shirts, or do you send them out?

Though I think it's once again very rude of Buffy and I don't like it in the least when she disses Giles.

13. As a ploy, she asks Giles about why Halloween is so quiet, and he says: "it's interesting, ac... Not, I suspect, to you." That is a terrible tease - it's interesting to me, I want to know! C'mon, Giles, give!

14. So Buffy cites Jenny Calendar calling Giles 'a babe', which is cute, but it makes me like Jenny even less than before, because she is associated with tricking Giles. I also like the phrase that he's a 'burning something or other'. Heh. And when Buffy says, "But I've overstepped my bounds. It's none of my business, you know," it's the phoniest thing I ever heard!

15. Buffy admires the picture of the 18th century girl and says, "Musta been wonderful. Put on some fantabulous gown and go to a ball like a princess, and have horses and servants, and yet more gowns." Buffy seems about four years old here.

16. Cordelia doesn't believe Angel is a vampire. I like that.

17. Good lines:

Buffy: It's just... you're never gonna get noticed if you keep hiding. You're missing the whole point of Halloween.
Willow: Free candy?

I love Willow's priorities.

18. So they get costumes of the selves they would like to be: Buffy a pretty noblewoman, Willow as someone who can hide under a sheet and never be seen, Xander as a tough soldier. And Ethan encourages Buffy to go for the dress - I'm unsure of his motivations. Just to cause chaos, or something more complex?

19. Buffy zooms in (and zones out) on the dress. I am reminded of Kaylee seeing the dress in the shop window in "Shindig". Strikes me that Buffy thinks she's Kaylee and wants to grow up to be Inara, but she's in denial about the part of her that's Zoe.

20. So we meet Ethan. I know a lot of fans who love Ethan. I couldn't get a handle on him, though I loved his scenes with Giles. I don't know what I think of him, but I'm intrigued.

21. My favourite scene in the episode: Spike's warehouse, with high-tech twin monitors showing him the video footage of Buffy's fight. I love it that Spike bucks tradition and goes for all the modern tools.

22. Spike says, "She's tricky. Baby likes to play." How does he manage to make that sound so menacing, so clever, and so sexy?

23. Drusilla comes in and Spike says, "C'mere, poodle." That's hilarious: because in Torchwood, Captain John Hart (the James Marsters character) admired a poodle. I hadn't known it was another Buffy joke. I love it.

24. Wonderful bit of dialogue:

Drusilla: Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see?
Spike: Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet.

That's such a wonderful mix of creepy and bizarre and romantic. The thing that really clinches it, that makes it something spine-chilling instead of something silly, is the sincerity with which Spike says it. To him, it's not silly at all.

25. When Drusilla is oracular, she makes me think of River. Are you all tried of me making these analogies and comparisons to other Whedon works, or Whedon-inspired works? I find it fascinating, the way he and the other writers involved mix and match words and phrases and ideas in different ways, a constant cycle of shifting reuse in which these things grow in meaning all the time., taking on different levels and nuances. For me, it makes both the Firefly characters (for instance) more interesting, and the Buffy ones too, to see the correspondences.

26. Drusilla says, "Someone's come to change it all. Someone new." Lovely because a few episodes ago, Spike was the new boy, overturning the old order. Now there's someone else. Does she mean Ethan? that is the most likely interpretation, though I'd love to think it went deeper and twistier than that.

27. The quick scene-shift to Ethan emphasizes the notion that this is who Drusilla is talking about. He seems to serve Chaos as represented by Janus - which is interesting, because I never thought Janus represented either chaos or duality: he represents the past and future as seen from the present, and doorways and gates, and transitions. But I like the way the show reinterprets myth. This is cool. When Giles comes along he says, "Primarily the division of self. Male and female, light and dark." It's an interesting perspective on the episode.

28. Ethan says, "Chaos. I remain, as ever, thy faithful, degenerate son." I love that phrase. It's thrillingly evocative. It's the first line in the show that I've thought had as much power as Spike's dialogue. "Faithful, degenerate son."

29. The scene between Cordelia and Oz seems oddly pointless. I know they're setting Oz up for future use and they seem to keep mentioning Devon (why?) but there's no impact here. Even Cordelia isn't important enough to the picture yet to make this the least bit interesting. We are, of course, reminded that Oz likes Willow. But obviously hasn't approached her yet - again, it's a non-event, so far.

30. Love Buffy's comment on the lady who gives the kids toothbrushes for Halloween: "She must be stopped."

31. I love it that Ethan invokes Janus in Latin. So suitable. More fun that demonic or just mysterious. And I could understand the Latin, though he didn't speak it as if it were a language, he used it more as a ritual. Definitely not ecclesiastical Latin, though it has some echoes of familiar Christian keywords.

32. "Showtime!" - wonderful.

33. So people turn into whatever they are costumed as. Xander becomes the touch soldier he wanted to be - and it's probably bad and sad that I like him better as a mindless soldier than as an insecure boy. Buffy turns into a blithering idiot in an 18th century dress. Willow turns into herself, only noncorporeal. I love the moment where she couldn't turn pages in Giles' book. Kitty Pryde has days like that.

34. I love it that Xander-soldier obeys Willow when she says "it's an order'.

35. Love the scene where Buffy comes along and they look to her for leadership and she faints. Mind you, I feel a little cheated that we didn't get to see Buffy's transformation, or her viewpoint of what was happening - we go to Willow's viewpoint instead.

36. It's funny, though, when Buffy thinks the car is a demon and wonders what it wants. This is almost Neil Gaiman-like.

37. I like the way Willow describes the situation to Cordelia - and doesn't need to. Cordelia isn't transformed.

38. So Spike sees his chance and takes advantage of the situation. I like his assessment: "This is just... neat!"

39. Giles sees Ethan and orders Willow out. I like his sudden assumption of authority - something we've never seen from him before. I've wondered why not. It's as if he carefully avoids taking an authoritative role with Buffy, even though it's what I would have expected.

40. So Ethan calls Giles "Ripper". And then: "Rupert". They know each other. Well, it seems. Giles says, "It's sick, brutal, and it harms the innocent." - which seems to sum up his principles, but Ethan implies he's got a totally different side. "It's quite a little act you've got going here, old man." Why "old man"?

41. Wonderful line from Xander: "It's strange, but beating up that pirate gave me a weird sense of closure." It took me a while to recognize the pirate as Larry.

42. Giles remains authoritative:

Giles: Break the spell, Ethan. Then leave this place and never come back.
Ethan: Why should I? What's in the bargain for me?
Giles: You get to live.

So they fight. We've never seen any indication before that Giles actually can fight well, as he is usually a punching-bag for Buffy, or thrown around the room by her. Suddenly we get a Giles who is not only willing to fight, but can fight. Now, there's a wonderful parallel here to Xander, who, caught up in Ethan's magic, is a soldier. But it's a false version of Xander, stripped of his personality and his memory, even his name. Giles, in contrast, seems to be taking on a new name and personality, as if revealing an inner self, or a dual self, or a hidden self. As if Giles-the-Librarian was a costume he'd taken off. This Giles is aggressive and has a forceful will, unlike the ego-less, idea-oriented intellectual we are accustomed to with our meek Giles.

And Ethan articulates this - both the strangeness of this other side of Giles, and its hidden nature: "I know what you're capable of. But they don't, do they? They have no idea where you come from."

Since this isn't explained, it's another instance of this episode feeling like a teaser, a trailer, a preview of things to come. Not really showing us a new level of characterization, but implying that it might exist.

Big surprise: Giles really can fight, and he can fight as if he means it. The fact that we really don't see Ethan fighting back or trying to defend himself makes it all the more anomalous: it doesn't take a lot of threats or violence to make Ethan tell Giles what he wants to know.

43. Spike to Buffy: "Look at you. Shaking. Terrified. Alone. Lost little lamb. I love it." Nice Spike moment.

44. Buffy: "Hi, honey. I'm home." Wonderful! And: "You know what? It's good to be me.?" I love Buffy much more this way than when she's in little-girl-wannabe mode.

45. At last, Buffy just... spends time with Angel. And listens to what he has to say. He points out that he never even liked 18th century girls. (Which doesn't quite ring true, but probably has a root of truth in it.)

46. A lot of this episode felt like a tease for me - a rather delicious tease, but there's a remarkable lack of closure on every level, and a sense of new directions. Spike, who comes on with enormous personal impact, just runs away - so we know he'll be back. Ethan never reveals his motivations or his background, leaving his "Be seeing you..." note for Giles. Willow doesn't put her ghost-sheet back on: is her new-found confidence permanent?

Comments

[gillo]

Nyah. Told you! (I saw the

Hallowe'en

post on SunnydaleU and hunted back to see if I'd missed it here, which is why I was so sure I was right. Beyond my natural arrogance, that is!)

I get the feeling that there are a lot of things beginning here: it's like a trailer or teaser for things to come.

Oh yes. There are long-term repercussions from this.

3. Does Cordelia really think she has any chance with Angel? I can't tell.

He's male. She sees herself as alpha female with an automatic right to move in on salty goodness if she wants to. Says a lot about Cordy at this stage. And long-term, hmm...

That is a terrible tease - it's interesting to me, I want to know! C'mon, Giles, give!

It's just that vampires think it's tacky. But sometimes they do see it as an opportunity - lots of fresh, young food on the streets.

Buffy admires the picture of the 18th century girl and says, "Musta been wonderful. Put on some fantabulous gown and go to a ball like a princess, and have horses and servants, and yet more gowns." Buffy seems about four years old here.

I have a twenty-year-old at home who sometimes fantasises that way. And for Buffy it's a way of reaching out to what she believes Angel might want, the women of his youth. Note the actual period of her fancy dress.

Spike says, "She's tricky. Baby likes to play." How does he manage to make that sound so menacing, so clever, and so sexy?

Because he's Spike and because he's James.

Drusilla: Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see?
Spike: Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet.

That's such a wonderful mix of creepy and bizarre and romantic. The thing that really clinches it, that makes it something spine-chilling instead of something silly, is the sincerity with which Spike says it. To him, it's not silly at all.

Nope. He is now and forever a fool for love.

"Showtime!" - wonderful.

This is a term you will encounter again.

So Spike sees his chance and takes advantage of the situation. I like his assessment: "This is just... neat!"

Ever the cool villain, our boy.

So Ethan calls Giles "Ripper". And then: "Rupert". They know each other. Well, it seems. Giles says, "It's sick, brutal, and it harms the innocent." - which seems to sum up his principles, but Ethan implies he's got a totally different side. "It's quite a little act you've got going here, old man." Why "old man"?

"Old man" is slightly dated English public shool slang - establishes an age-group and culture in common - and implies past, if not present, friendship. Ethan and Giles have a history together, as we shall see. (Bizarre trivia. Robin Sachs, who plays Ethan, was the alien monster leader in

Galaxy Quest

.)

This Giles is aggressive and has a forceful will, unlike the ego-less, idea-oriented intellectual we are accustomed to with our meek Giles.

This is a Giles who, reminded of his origins, is not afraid to revert to the skills he learnt then. Though he remains best at getting hit on the head.

At last, Buffy just... spends time with Angel. And listens to what he has to say. He points out that he never even liked 18th century girls. (Which doesn't quite ring true, but probably has a root of truth in it.)

Well, he's hardly going to tell her he pines for his eighteenth-century vampire mistress, is he? He wants Buffy now - that's all that matters.

This episode sets up a lot for the future. The damsel!Buffy annoys me because it demonstrates that ME's grasp of history can be shaky, but the alter-ego concept has a lot of very interesting mileage in it.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Nyah. Told you!

Eagle-eye, that's you!

which is why I was so sure I was right. Beyond my natural arrogance, that is!

Hmm - related to Spike, are you, by any chance?

There are long-term repercussions from this.

Good!

It's just that vampires think it's tacky.

That makes sense.

But sometimes they do see it as an opportunity - lots of fresh, young food on the streets.

I would think.

Because he's Spike and because he's James.

Point. And don't I love it.

He is now and forever a fool for love.

He continues to get better all the time.

"Showtime!" - wonderful.

This is a term you will encounter again.

I love it.

Ethan and Giles have a history together, as we shall see.

Seemed to me there was something unduly intimate or passionate in their interaction, or both - like Captain Jack meeting Captain John again. Then I wondered if I was just watching with slash-covered glasses on, again. But something appeared to be there as subtext.

Bizarre trivia. Robin Sachs, who plays Ethan, was the alien monster leader in Galaxy Quest.

Oh, how wonderful! I loved that movie.

Though he remains best at getting hit on the head.

Shades of Lex Luthor in Smallville! It's a running joke with fans how often Lex gets knocked unconscious, especially when Clark Kent needs to use a superpower. (There, see? I managed to make a fannish reference that isn't Torchwood.)

Well, he's hardly going to tell her he pines for his eighteenth-century vampire mistress, is he?

Not if he knows what's good for him. It would be stake-therough-the-heart time for sure.

damsel!Buffy annoys me because it demonstrates that ME's grasp of history can be shaky,

That's for sure.

the alter-ego concept has a lot of very interesting mileage in it.

Now intriguing.

The themes do seem to often hit on subjects I love. We've recently had:
- truth and lies
- masks and identity
- corruptive powers of religion
- the relationship between people and their memories of their past
- immaturity, maturity and coming-of-age experiences
- love, romance, and sex (with cross-reference to all of the above)

For all this, I can put up with the high-school stuff.

[gillo]

Hmm - related to Spike, are you, by any chance?

I'm British. It's in the blood.

Because he's Spike and because he's James.

Point. And don't I love it.

Join the queue.

Seemed to me there was something unduly intimate or passionate in their interaction, or both - like Captain Jack meeting Captain John again. Then I wondered if I was just watching with slash-covered glasses on, again. But something appeared to be there as subtext.

There is certainly some Gethan slashfic around. Their relationship is explored a little more later on.


Yes, the themes explored as we get well on into S2 are universal and approached from all sorts of interesting angles. And as the writers' confidence in what they were doing grew they had far mor continuity reference, all the time. This show has depth like nobody's business.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Their relationship is explored a little more later on.

I look forward to that. As seen, it was very intriguing.

This show has depth like nobody's business.

I'm glad to hear it, because the first season didn't.

[devohoneybee.livejournal.com]

Have you considered gathering these all on a web-site? it would be a lovely reference to the Buffy eps. I'm really enjoying them all, even when I don't comment.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Have you considered gathering these all on a web-site?

Not a bad idea. I could do that. I've been thinking of updating my website, which is woefully out of date at the moment. Good idea!

I'm really enjoying them all, even when I don't comment.

Thanks so much for saying so.

talking about my favourite! Yaay!

[beccaelizabeth]

27. The quick scene-shift to Ethan emphasizes the notion that this is who Drusilla is talking about. He seems to serve Chaos as represented by Janus - which is interesting, because I never thought Janus represented either chaos or duality

http://www.geocities.com/beccaelizabeth/ethan/janusessay.html
or the same thing
http://beccaelizabeth.livejournal.com/58415.html
(but likely there's minor spoilers in the comments thread)

is where I put all my research. The ancients called me Chaos (since I am of the first world) - Janus talking in Ovid's Fasti. There's a bunch of other stuff. Basically it's not the dominant meaning, but it's not thin air either.

And Ethan encourages Buffy to go for the dress - I'm unsure of his motivations. Just to cause chaos, or something more complex?
As far as I can tell it depends if you're a series writer using him as a plot device or a fanfic writer using him as an actual character ;)

most of my favourite theories depend on knock on consequences of his little butterfly action, which means discussing stuff you haven't watched yet, so I be quiet instead.

20. So we meet Ethan. I know a lot of fans who love Ethan. I couldn't get a handle on him, though I loved his scenes with Giles. I don't know what I think of him, but I'm intrigued.
*nodsnodsnods*

23. Drusilla comes in and Spike says, "C'mere, poodle." That's hilarious: because in Torchwood, Captain John Hart (the James Marsters character) admired a poodle. I hadn't known it was another Buffy joke. I love it.
I thought I had this ep memorised - I've written college essays on it and watched it more than pretty much all the others - and yet I hadn't noticed that. Win.

28. Ethan says, "Chaos. I remain, as ever, thy faithful, degenerate son." I love that phrase. It's thrillingly evocative. It's the first line in the show that I've thought had as much power as Spike's dialogue. "Faithful, degenerate son."
I love that line too. And have a Thing about when people paraphrase it as chaos child. Because son does not imply child, just descendent. And when spoken son = sun (more or less), so he's a big shiny of chaos, which is totally lost with the 'child' version.
It's also in how he says it. He says things good. The Latin too, it isn't everyone who can get through that and make it be 'powerful invocation' and not 'bunch of words we're concentrating on pronouncing'.

40. So Ethan calls Giles "Ripper". And then: "Rupert". They know each other. Well, it seems. Giles says, "It's sick, brutal, and it harms the innocent." - which seems to sum up his principles, but Ethan implies he's got a totally different side. "It's quite a little act you've got going here, old man." Why "old man"?
They know each other very well... and I totally have to stop talking right there or there's spoilers. Er, is a writer's opinion of pre-series background a spoiler? and, 'old man', for being British and also saying Ripper got old. I love how they get so intense about each other right there, snap to focus on each other.

Giles, in contrast, seems to be taking on a new name and personality, as if revealing an inner self, or a dual self, or a hidden self. As if Giles-the-Librarian was a costume he'd taken off. This Giles is aggressive and has a forceful will, unlike the ego-less, idea-oriented intellectual we are accustomed to with our meek Giles.

And Ethan articulates this - both the strangeness of this other side of Giles, and its hidden nature: "I know what you're capable of. But they don't, do they? They have no idea where you come from."

Yes yes yes - this is why Ethan is just so *neat* - Ethan+Giles = more of Giles. Er, and Ethan can be pretty neat of himself, but mostly we makes that up in fanfic.

Ethan never reveals his motivations or his background, leaving his "Be seeing you..." note for Giles.
I like that note; it's likely a quotation from The Prisoner. Which I'm only familiar with by pop culture osmosis, but I think it's one of the pop culture refs mentioned in a Watcher's Guide. If it isn't deliberate it's still fun.

Re: talking about my favourite! Yaay!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Woo, so very cool - thanks so much for the links! I won't read the comments for fear of spoilers. Forewarning appreciated.

Basically it's not the dominant meaning, but it's not thin air either.

How very cool!

As far as I can tell it depends if you're a series writer using him as a plot device or a fanfic writer using him as an actual character ;)

Hee. At the moment, I'm neither. I'm a Torchwood fan studying one of my show's prime inspirations - how's that for a rationale?

I thought I had this ep memorised - I've written college essays on it and watched it more than pretty much all the others - and yet I hadn't noticed that. Win.

I'm proud. My great moment of textual discovery.

And have a Thing about when people paraphrase it as chaos child. Because son does not imply child, just descendent.

That's a point. There's so much of the Trickster about Ethan, but there's nothing young about him - I think of him as an ancient, dangerous soul.

he's a big shiny of chaos

Oooh yes.

I love how they get so intense about each other right there, snap to focus on each other.

I love that too. It just heats up the screen.

this is why Ethan is just so *neat* - Ethan+Giles = more of Giles.

Giles with layers torn off, veils removed, bits exposed. Maybe that's why he's so violent with Ethan - he's fighting it, or fighting part of himself?

but mostly we makes that up in fanfic.

Aaah, Buffy fans: Is there nothing to which you will not aspire?

If it isn't deliberate it's still fun.

I'm sure it's deliberate. I'm also sure it's the flotsam and jetsam thrown out randomly from the writers' memories and their collective good and bad habits in TV watching, but that's part of the fun.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

And now I have time to comment, yay.

So much for the theory (mentioned in the pilot, or "Harvest") that Buffy can instinctually tell when a vampire is around

Yeah, they never really do much with that - I certainly can't remember any time when it appeared that Buffy sensed someone was a vampire without some visual clue. Sensing attacks, yes.

Does Cordelia really think she has any chance with Angel?

I expect she thinks she does. And she does make him laugh, even if he forgets she exists as soon as Buffy appears.

Ungrateful wretch. Seems more like that Larry would have trounced him, and what good would that have done for Buffy or her reputation? Or his?

It's a boy thing. His reputation among the guys would be less damaged if he'd taken Larry on instead of being rescued by a girl. Essentially she makes it look like Xander can't look after himself - which is probably true in a fight, but not the image most teenage boys (or men probably) want to have.

Buffy cites Jenny Calendar calling Giles 'a babe', which is cute, but it makes me like Jenny even less than before, because she is associated with tricking Giles

That seems a bit unfair to Jenny, considering she probably never said any such thing. I've always thought Buffy was completely making that up to distract Giles.

Willow turns into herself, only noncorporeal. I love the moment where she couldn't turn pages in Giles' book.

I love it when Giles asks her what she is the ghost of.

We've never seen any indication before that Giles actually can fight well, as he is usually a punching-bag for Buffy, or thrown around the room by her. Suddenly we get a Giles who is not only willing to fight, but can fight.

Yeah, when the only person we seem him sparring with is a superhero, he does look bad. Ordinary people are no bother.

Giles-the-Librarian was a costume he'd taken off

I don't think it is completely a costume. I think a lot of that is real - but he does also have a ruthless side that he doesn't display.

A lot of this episode felt like a tease for me - a rather delicious tease

You've seen The Dark Age now, right? *grins*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I certainly can't remember any time when it appeared that Buffy sensed someone was a vampire without some visual clue. Sensing attacks, yes.

Even when they mention it in Harvest it isn't clear that she can do it - Giles wonders if she can, and seems to expect it. And by chance her intuition seems right. But it doesn't need to be a consistent thing.

Cordelia and Angel -
she does make him laugh, even if he forgets she exists as soon as Buffy appears.

True.

Essentially she makes it look like Xander can't look after himself - which is probably true in a fight, but not the image most teenage boys (or men probably) want to have.

Yes. Willow was right.

I've always thought Buffy was completely making that up to distract Giles.

I'm sure she was.

I think a lot of that is real - but he does also have a ruthless side that he doesn't display.

Yes. I like that.

You've seen The Dark Age now, right?

Yes.

Re: talking about my favourite! Yaay!

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

I like you.