Buffy the Vampire Slayer: the Dark Age (2x08)

[fajrdrako]

Beulah came over tonight, bringing supper with her, and, by a miracle, cans of Kinnie to drink. Yes, Kinnie. Remember how I feared I'd never taste Kinnie again? Never say never.

The perfect medicine.

So we'd got to Buffy 2.07 when I was so rudely interrupted last week, and here I am, at "The Dark Age". More background on Giles: yay!

1. Mystery man gets attacked by ghoul who kills him and turns into a puddle of blue goo. Turns out to be a demon Giles consorted with back when he was wild and foolish. I think I would have liked Giles back then.
   
   
2. I like Ethan, whose villainy seems like the accidental, slippery sort. I still don't like Jenny, though I've nothing really against her - I'm just never happy to see her, and this episode was no exception. I thought she made a terrific demon, though.
   
   
3. Giles remains wonderful, though sometimes descended to cliché here. I loved his being depressed and dishevelled and Buffy worrying that he was drinking. The 'noise/music' thing was most fun at the end, when Giles 'plays the game' but chooses the Bay City Rollers. I love Giles so much in these 'twist the paradigm' moments.
   
   I also liked his nightmares and the glimpses of his past.
   
   
4. A few demerit points to Xander for insensitivity on the matter when Buffy was upset - this is one of those "Xander in regression" episodes, where he was higher than usual on the 'obnoxious' scale and lower than usual on the 'intelligent' scale.
   
   
5. Embarassingly, I had to look up who Gavin Rossdale is. I know John Cusack and I can relate to Willow's fantasy. Let's see... instead of sitting alone with a sore foot in Ottawa, I'm on a sunny cliff in Wales, overlooking the ocean with Captain Jack and the Doctor and a full picnic basket, at the site of some ancient castle. Good game.
   
   
6. Jenny teases Giles about dog-earing and underlining his book. This was funny. On the other hand, I am enough like Giles to share his pain rather acutely. So what was the book? Is Giles a Horatio Hornblower fan or is there a reference I'm missing?
   
   
7. I liked Detective Winslow. No particular reason. I just did. Loved Cordelia's obtuseness: "I can take a hint! ...What was the hint?" and "Can you help me with a ticket? It's totally bogus. It was a one-way street. I was going one way." On the one hand, it's so unsubtle I squirm. On the other hand, it's still funny.
   
   
8. Nice (though brief) appearance of Angel.
   
   
9. What was Ethan looking for in the library? Loved his exchange with Buffy: "But you looked great." And their dialogue:

   Buffy: I'll let you know when we're even. What're you doing here?
   Ethan: Snooping around.
   Buffy: Honesty. Nice touch.
   Ethan: It's one of my virtues. ...Not really.

   
   
10. Buffy asks Ethan if he knows Giles and he says, "We go back. Way back." Isn't that another Torchwood line?
    
    
11. Sadly, whenever they mentioned the Mark of Eyghon I thought of the Eye of Argon. That was unfortunate.
    
    
12. It's always fun hearing Ethan call Giles "Ripper".
    
    
13. Willow says, "It's not Egyptian, it's Etruscan mistaken for Egyptian by the design pattern, but any fool can see it predates their iconology." I beg your pardon? That's the worst piece of pseudo-Indiana-Jones archeological nonsense I've seen on the show yet. Not a fine moment for Willow but she delivered it well. I did love it when Willow got mad at Xander and Cordelia and became all authoritarian.
    
    
14. How did Buffy know there was a screw under her bed to cut the ropes on? She couldn't see it or touch it...! Ah well. Slayer powers.
    
    
15. So Willow risks Angel to save Buffy (and Giles and Ethan) and it works. Good call, Willow. Lucky call.
    
    
16. Lovely Buffy-Giles conversation:

    Giles: I never wanted you to see that side of me.
    Buffy: I'm not gonna lie to you. It was scary. I'm so used to you being a grownup, and then I find out that you're a person.
    Giles: Most grownups are.
    Buffy: Who would've thought?
    Giles: Some are even, uh... shortsighted, foolish people.
    Buffy: So, after all this time, we finally find out that we do have something in common. Which, apart from being a little weird, is kind of okay.

    
    

Comments

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

it's my summary of half the Doctor/Master relationship as well...

I like that interpretation, in both cases.