Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Bad Eggs (2x12)

[fajrdrako]

~ ~ ~

This was reasonably silly: it's hard to think of eggs as scary. But. The episode had a certain charm. The 'egg' plot wasn't much of anything, but the dialogue and the characters were great. I liked it.

1. Delightful mother/daughter exhange:

   Joyce: You're just too young to wear that.
   Buffy: Yeah, and I'm gonna be too young to wear it until I'm too old to wear it.

   Yes, Buffy, that's exactly the way it works.
   
2. I liked Buffy's line to the vampire, Lyle: "But you promised you'd never cheat on me again, honey." Freaking out the girl. Heh. Question: why is "Lyle" often used as the name of a villain, and "Kyle" as the name of a hero? Or am I wrong in that impression?
   
3. This is brilliant:

   Joyce: Let me guess: you were distracted by a boy.
   Buffy: Technically.

   And it inspires Buffy to a moment of honesty:

   Joyce: A little responsibility is all I ask. Honestly, don't you ever think about anything besides boys and clothes?
   Buffy: Saving the world from vampires?
   Joyce: I swear, sometimes I don't know what goes on in your head.

   Moral of this story for Joyce: listen to what your daughter says. And then believe it.
   
4. More hilarious groping-in-closets with Xander in Cordelia. I love it. Question: Aren't the broom closets in schools usually kept locked? I must admit that in all my years in high school I never tried to open one. But I assumed. You know, just in case someone might try to steal a broom.
   
5. I liked Buffy's reaction to getting her egg: "As far as punishments go, this is fairly abstract."
   
6. I actually thought Lyle and Tector were very funny. More vamp-types with personality. Silly personality, but still. Are they based on specific characters in the media, or just stereotypes?
   
7. Buffy says, "Like Angel and I are just helpless slaves to passion." One of her better lines.
   
8. Buffy calls her egg Eggbert. I once had an egg-shaped wooden viking doll I called Eggfried. Brings back memories. He disappeared one day - I never figured out what happened to him. Probably ran away to sea.
   
9. Tector is disturbed: "Well, how come Angelus is gettin' all cuddly with her, Lyle? I mean, does the man have no code?" Vampires have a code? Like pirates? like Slayers?
   
10. Good dialogue:

    Buffy: You're killing me. Parenting's a pain!
    Joyce: Wait till it starts dating.

    And Joyce doesn't even know that Buffy is dating a 241 year old vampire. As far as she knows, Buffy isn't dating anyone.
    
11. A wonderful Gilesism: "I suppose there is a sort of... Machiavellian ingenuity to your transgression."
    
12. Then Angel and Buffy stop kissing long enough to have a talk. Uh-oh.

    Angel: So you don't think about the future?
    Buffy: No.
    Angel: Never?
    Buffy: No.
    Angel: You really don't care what happens a year from now? Five years from now?
    Buffy: Angel, when I look into the future, a-a... all I see is you! All I want is you.

    What I like most about this - besides its doomed-romance angle - is that it translates so clearly in a different conversation in which Angel is saying, "Have you really considered the implications of having a vampire as a lover, rather then a normal life?" And she's saying, "I love you so much I don't care."
    
13. Once again, Buffy is the one with an instinct about the evil eggs and the others don't understand her worries.
    
14. Buffy says, "I always say that a day without an autopsy...is like a day without sunshine." What?
    
15. An interesting conversation between Joyce and Giles about having children:

    Joyce: 'Bristow's Demon Index', 'Hell's Offspring'?Giles: A hobby of mine, uh, but, uh, having nothing to do with Buffy in any way.

    Oooh, no, nothing at all.
    
16. Bezoar. Because I am a dictionary geek, I looked it up: "A concretion, usually of hair or undigested vegetable matter, found in an animal's intestines. From Persian pâdzahr پادزهر, meaning "to expel poison." (In ancient times, bezoars from animals were ground up and ingested as remedies for various maladies and as antidotes to poisons.)"
    
17. Digging out the cave with the mama egg-creature. Hmm. Why do I suddenly think this particular story has lost all coherence? But I do like Lyle and Tector still.
    
18. So Buffy finds a way to make out with Angel even though she's grounded. Smart girl.

Comments

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

"I always say that a day without an autopsy...is like a day without sunshine." What?

It's just a cliché she's goofing on: "A day without x is like a day without sunshine." In other words, a downer of a day. I think it might have started out with "coffee" as x, but it's long since become a snowclone.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

I rather like this one as well - mainly because of Lyle and Tector I think. They amuse me. I like the attitude that if they can't go out and have fun they'll just fight each other instead.

I liked Buffy's line to the vampire, Lyle: "But you promised you'd never cheat on me again, honey."

Yeah, that was cool.

I do like the whole idea of the episode as well - mind control through creepy creatures. The bit where the offspring is going after Buffy reminded me a bit of The Puppet Show where Sid is in her room, only this time Buffy just goes right into fighting back instead of freaking out. Ugh, that bit freaks me out though. The offsrping are like big mutated spiders skittering about.

We also have another Jonathon shout out - he's the kid in the hallway that Buffy and Xander hear screaming for help and then they see his manner change.

"I suppose there is a sort of... Machiavellian ingenuity to your transgression."

I think it was a pretty smart idea from Xander. I would have been tempted to do the same thing!

besides its doomed-romance angle - is that it translates so clearly in a different conversation in which Angel is saying, "Have you really considered the implications of having a vampire as a lover, rather then a normal life?" And she's saying, "I love you so much I don't care."

It's a good conversation. Sometimes I wonder if they do really appreciate how doomed they are. I think Angel probably gets it more than Buffy, but I like that neither of them can really pull back despite it.

Buffy says, "I always say that a day without an autopsy...is like a day without sunshine." What?

Sarcasm.

But I do like Lyle and Tector still

I like how there's a brief moment of Buffy and Lyle fighting on the same side against the bezoar-zombified people.

Buffy finds a way to make out with Angel even though she's grounded. Smart girl.

Good use of window ledges, certainly. And Buffy obviously found the time since Ted went to the scrapyard to go around with some pliers and get the nails out.

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

A day without orange juice is a day without sunshine. Advertising slogan by the Florida Orange Juice growers in the 1970s.

[kiltfriction.livejournal.com]

Never liked this episode I don't think, always thought it was one of the weaker ones. I remember it just never seemed as sharp as all the others.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I rather like this one as well - mainly because of Lyle and Tector I think. They amuse me.

Me too. They are really good villains.

I like the attitude that if they can't go out and have fun they'll just fight each other instead.

That was wonderful! In this show, a lot of the villains are mosly place-holders or generic vampires. Lyle and Tector were entertaining all by themselves.

The offsrping are like big mutated spiders skittering about.

Yes. Quite scary. I liked the way they hid. (Shudder.)

We also have another Jonathon shout out -

I see. Someday I'm sure I'll learn why this is significant.

Sometimes I wonder if they do really appreciate how doomed they are. I think Angel probably gets it more than Buffy, but I like that neither of them can really pull back despite it.

Yes, which is why it's so moving. They really are ready to pay any price to be together. And know they'll have to.

Buffy obviously found the time since Ted went to the scrapyard to go around with some pliers and get the nails out.

Necessary post-episode work!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Wasn't it originally orange juice? I get the irony in Buffy's case, but I don't think it's one of her sharpest lines!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I remember it well. It was sort of obnoxious even when it was new. IMHO.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I remember it just never seemed as sharp as all the others.

Well, it has a few things against it. Like the egg monster and the zombie people in the end. Lame. And the idea of adopting eggs as babies for a school project on the consequences of sex - the whole set-up is a bit crack-ridden.

But then I liked the characters and the dialogue, and in truth, liked it better than some episodes with a much better plot.

MORE INFO THAN YOU REALLY NEED!

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

A day without orange juice is a day without sunshine. Advertising slogan by the Florida Orange Juice growers in the 1970s.

I think the phrase only really became famous because it was spoken by spokesperson Anita Bryant, who hated gays and successfully got several anti-gay laws passed in Florida in the mid 70s, leading to a lot of boycotting of oranges all over the country. Gay people still can't adopt children in Florida because of her "Godly" work. OTOH, her activism kinda destroyed her life and career and the Southern Baptist church turned on her when she divorced her husband, so I suppose karma was served.

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

Isn't this the one where Buffy falls into the pit with the mother-creature, you hear vicious fighting going on, then Buffy climbs out with a very scary, determined look on her face, and one of the vampire brothers runs away in the face of that look (the other brother having been killed?) I always think that look is a salute to the look on her face when she's up on the stage in the pilot, having dispatched the main bad-guy vampire. It's her "don't f*cking mess with me, I'm the Slayer" face.

Also, I think we see the vampire that got away in a future episode, though I could be mistaken.

Fun fact! Some Bezoars actually work to a limited degree! Put one in a drink with arsenic it it, and it will absorb the poison. Not that you'd want to put that to the test.

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

And the idea of adopting eggs as babies for a school project on the consequences of sex - the whole set-up is a bit crack-ridden.

No, there are high schools where they assign an egg to a pair of students for this very reason. It's to impress upon the kids just how much minute-to-minute responsibility a baby entails. Most kids destroy the egg the first or second day.

[kiltfriction.livejournal.com]

American schools are very, very strange places...

[flautopiccolo.livejournal.com]

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<<Also, I think we see the vampire that got away in a future episode, though I could be mistaken.>>

You are correct - in Season 3.

[ceruleancat.livejournal.com]

This is probably my least favorite episode. A prime example of the filler-before-a-major-arc-ep pattern. Even the creepy scorpion looking babies and their mom look too much like plastic moulds.
Although it does have a few good lines, and I like the interactions with the vamp brothers, especially when one of them fights with Buffy while fighting against her. I know he shows up again, but I can't remember when.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I always think that look is a salute to the look on her face when she's up on the stage in the pilot, having dispatched the main bad-guy vampire. It's her "don't f*cking mess with me, I'm the Slayer" face.

Yes. It's a good moment.

I think we see the vampire that got away in a future episode, though I could be mistaken.

Oh, I hope we do! Though I wouldn't be good at recognizing him again. I like it when the show portrays that kind of continuity.

Some Bezoars actually work to a limited degree! Put one in a drink with arsenic it it, and it will absorb the poison. Not that you'd want to put that to the test.

Eee. No, I don't think so. But it's a good thing to remember for fiction.

Re: MORE INFO THAN YOU REALLY NEED!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I remember Anita Bryant (and the ad campaign) well, from before the anti-gay publicity - those ads were simply annoying and almost put me off both orange juice and sunshine for a while. I didn't know about the subsequent karma; good to hear.

And gay people still can't adopt in Florida? That's disgusting.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

American schools are very, very strange places...

So it seems!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

there are high schools where they assign an egg to a pair of students for this very reason.

They may actually do it, but I still think the idea is crack!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

This is probably my least favorite episode. A prime example of the filler-before-a-major-arc-ep pattern.

Ah - I hadn't really noticed the pattern. So that means good stuff is coming up? - Right, I already know that.

Although it does have a few good lines, and I like the interactions with the vamp brothers,

Yes. There are a lot of good lines and interplay, it's just the plot that's really dumb.

[gillo]

And the idea of adopting eggs as babies for a school project on the consequences of sex - the whole set-up is a bit crack-ridden.

It's been done in real life. And Anne Fine (writer of the novel "Mrs Doubtfire" was based on) wrote a similar YA story called

Flour Babies

.

[gillo]

It's not a top-ranking episode, but no Buffy is actively bad, IMO. And the Gorch brothers are good (based on real Western criminals, I believe.)

I like the recurring Jonathan appearances too - he's just "around" as part of the furniture and gradually becomes a little more important. I think he is in every season.

[kiltfriction.livejournal.com]

A prime example of the filler-before-a-major-arc-ep pattern.

Good point that, we're right into Surprise/Innocence next aren't we. That could have contributed to my dire memories of this episode.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

no Buffy is actively bad, IMO.

There are some first season episodes that I thought lacklustre enough that if it were not for the assurances of my friends that I should go on watching, I probably wouldn't have. But, quite right, none of them have been so bad that there was nothing good in them.

the Gorch brothers are good (based on real Western criminals, I believe.)

Amusing. I could wish they'd turned up in Firefly.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's been done in real life.

That doesn't make it any more sensible!

Anne Fine (writer of the novel "Mrs Doubtfire" was based on) wrote a similar YA story called Flour Babies.

ANd somehow that makes me think of the Adipose.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

That could have contributed to my dire memories of this episode.

Sometimes things just suffer by contrast.