Buffy The Vampire Slayer (3x06) - Band Candy

[fajrdrako]

Buffy 3x06 - Band Candy
~ ~ ~

Oh what a delicious treat this one was. I loved it thoroughly. Very funny. Even the silly demon didn't ruin anything, because the Mayor and Trick are such good antagonists.

1. Any episode that starts with Giles has to be a good one. He starts out reading: "And on that tragic day, an era came to its inevitable end." Is that from a real book? What's it referring to?
   
   
2. Buffy's reply is less than scholarly, but isn't that the way we all always answer multiple choice?
   
   
3. Interesting combination of study and vampire-fighting. So much a hallmark of this show. I like her stabbing the vampire with her pencil.
   
   
4. I like Trick saying "I'm a very delicate person." Strikes me as very funny. And in its way, true. I also like his line, "I know a beast who knows a guy."
   
   
5. So now we know Mayor Wilkins walks on the hellish side. Consorts with demons. Gets ahead by magic. Creepy in a bizarre sort of way.
   
   
6. Nice exchange between Buffy and Cordelia:

   Cordelia: Oh, God. Are we killing something again?
   Buffy: Only my carefree spirit.

7. I also rather love Xander's summation: "I hate they make us take that thing. It's totally fascist, and personally, I think it, uh, discriminates against the uninformed." Which presumably would be him.
   
   
8. Another lovely Cordelia line: "What? I can't have layers?"
   
   
9. Then they are all drafted by Principal Snyder to sell candy. He doesn't miss a chance, does he? Good dialogue here, too:

   Buffy: I'm sure we love the idea of going all WillyLoman , but we're not in the band.Snyder: And if I'd handed you a trombone, that would've been a problem, Summers.

10. Cute exercise where Buffy, blindfold, throws the ball at Giles. Well, he asked for it.
    
    
11. Is that tai chi Angel is doing?
    
    
12. Good dialogue between Angel and Buffy:

    Angel: It's late. How'd you get away?
    Buffy: Aw, it was easy. Started a fire in the prison laundry room. Rode out in the garbage truck.
    Angel: Oh.
    Buffy: I'm joking. No garbage. Smell me.

    Oops. So Buffy falls back on her lie about Scott.
    
    
13. Then Buffy comes home, claiming Giles was keeping her late, but Giles is there to expose her lie. Uh-oh.
    
    
14. Something is weird about the candy. Well, no surprise, since (a) we need a story and (b) Principal Snyder forced it on them. So: we see Ethan. Now we really knowsomething's not as it should be.
    
    
15. Cordelia says, "I heard that there was a secret rule that if a teacher's more than ten minutes late, we can all leave." That isn't a secret rule. At least, everyone knew that rule when I was in school. (Otherwise known as, "Run while you can.")
    
    
16. And Xander and Willow continue to fool around. Not so subtly. Uh-oh. What was it Angel said to Buffy about "being careful"?
    
    
17. Mrs Barton: Fun, but I'm suspicious.
    
    
18. Giles has vinyl records. Haven't seen those for a long time. And Joyce is at his place... I feel another "uh-oh" coming on.
    
    
19. Joyce lets Buffy take the car. Something is very wrong. But - lucky Buffy.
    
    
20. Giles is listening to Cream. I used to really like Cream. I also didn't like Seals and Croft.
    
    
21. Great dialogue:

    Joyce: So how come they, uh, call you Ripper?
    Giles: Wouldn't you like to know.

    Tease! I want to know.
    
    
22. The grown-ups take over the Bronze. This is not good. And Snyder is there. I'd have run away by then.
    
    
23. Great dialogue:

    Buffy: Uh, well... ma-maybe there's a doctor here.
    Man: Yeeeeaaaaaah!
    Willow: I think that *is* my doctor... He's usually less... topless.

24. I like Trick's strategy for employee obedience.
    
    
25. It's Oz who spells out what they're seeing: "They're teenagers. It's a sobering mirror to look into, huh?" I love the way he talks. And thinks.
    
    
26. And Buffy: "No vampire has ever been *that* scary."
    
    
27. And Snyder follows them out. It just gets worse and worse.
    
    
28. Oz says, "Even if he's sixteen, he's still Giles, right? He's probably a pretty together guy." You really think so, Oz? Buffy knows: "Less Together Guy, more Bad-Magic-Hates-The-World-Ticking-Time-Bomb Guy."
    
    
29. I like Joyce's description of what her state feels like: "Yeah, like, uh, getting married and having a kid and everything was just a dream, and now things are back like they're supposed to be."
    
    
30. And Giles - should I say "Ripper"? - steals a shawl for Joyce and fights a cop. Bad boy. The cigarette is a wonderful touch. "Bert Reynolds", Joyce calls him. The reference seems a little early to me. How old is Joyce likely to be, really?
    
    
31. I love Buffy's line, when they wonder where the vampires are: "Soup's on, but no one's grabbing a spoon."
    
    
32. They figure out it's the candy. I love Willow's horror: "God, using candy for evil!"
    
    
33. Snyder doesn't know where it came from. "It came through the school board. If you knew that crowd..." Knowing the Mayor, one shudders to think.
    
    
34. Buffy says, "Ratboy and I are going to the source." At that time, I was heavily into X-Files, where "Ratboy" was Krycek. Quite a different image.
    
    
35. So Buffy sees Giles and her mother snogging and doesn't like. And fights with them over the candy. And gets a little taste of premature parenthood.
    
    
36. Love it when Snyder calls Giles "Brit-face".
    
    
37. So Giles and Ethan see each other:

    Giles: Ethan.
    Ethan: Ripper.

    What a great moment!
    
    
38. Cordelia too has terrible parent problems: "Mom started borrowing my clothes. There should be an age limit on lycra pants. And Dad, he just locked himself in the bathroom with old copies of Esquire." The "Esquire" is sort of the best touch there.
    
    
39. Lovely Xander line: "I don't get this. The candy's supposed to make you feel all immature and stuff, but I've had a ton, and I don't feel anydif... Never mind."
    
    
40. Buffy wants information from Ethan: " We're pretty much in a talk-or-bleed situation. Your call." Buffy is wonderful when she's being tough.
    
    
41. And Giles is downright dangerous. "Hit him." And loves it so much when she does.
    
    
42. Giles wants to shoot Ethan. Buffy takes the gun away from him. Or does Giles just want to intimidate him - prove his power over him?
    
    
43. And it's Willow the researcher who learns that the demon Lucornis is into eating babies.
    
    
44. Joyce has handcuffs. Given to her by Giles, at a guess? Way to go, Joyce.
    
    
45. Giles remembers something of his learning. Sewers.
    
    
46. Big fight. Trick gets away. Good. I wouldn't want to lose Trick so soon: he's too good. I like his report to the Mayor: "Where's the downside? You just got yourself one less demon you have to pay tribute to. The way I see it, I did you a favor."
    
    
47. Kiss rocks. Heh.
    
    
48. Buffy isn't too upset about the car: "Hey, the way things were going, be glad that's the worst that happened. At least I got to the two of you before you actually *did* something." Oh, really? I think this calls for another "uh-oh".
    
    
49. Periodically in this episode I was wishing Giles would be a permanent teenager: he's such fun that way. And so sexy. And makes Buffy and her friends look very tame. Bring back Spike, or bring back Ripper!
    
    Okay, yes, Giles in his normal state is fun and sexy too, at least - most of the time. But I like the variations in his character.
    

Comments

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

Oh what a delicious treat this one was. . . . Very funny.

Oh, yes.

Xander's summation: ". . . I think it, uh, discriminates against the uninformed."

Yes, not only is it presumably him, but that's the idea . ;<)

Xander and Willow continue to fool around. Not so subtly.
This candy seems to majorly regress people to their adolescence. I don't know that I noticed any difference in Cordelia and Xander. [Ah, yes, you cover this in 39.] The adults, of course, noticeably weren't. But Willow normally is very responsible for her age. So I'm wondering if they were trying to show some such effect in the normally responsible youngsters. I don't think Buffy had much, did she?

Giles: Wouldn't you like to know.

Tease! I want to know.

Oh, yes. Me, too.

OK, I'm for a Spike and Ripper episode. I hear it is hard to get new ones. Hopefully they did one.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

"Bert Reynolds", Joyce calls him. The reference seems a little early to me. How old is Joyce likely to be, really?


The episode aired in 1998, Buffy was 17, so even if Joyce had Buffy a 18, that makes her 35, which means she was 15 when Smokey and the Bandit came out. If she's a more-believable 40, she was 20 for Smokey and 12 or 13 when Burt bared it all in Comso. Perfect ages, if you ask me.

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

I don't really have much to say about this ep at the moment. But I think you know how I feel.

If not, here's one of my icons:

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, I guess the arithmetic works. I'd guess Joyce to be about 40. Kristine Sutherland was born in 1955. Smokey and the Bandit was 1977 - that late? I'd remembered it as being earlier.

But then, I was never much of a Bert Reynolds fan!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I don't really have much to say about this ep at the moment. But I think you know how I feel.

I do?

Sometimes you are so very laconic!

Nice icon, though.

(And Giles is the next best thing to god.)

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

[I do?]

You don't?

Band Candy was the first Ethan ep I saw (and by extension, the first G/E ep, of course). You could say it influenced my life in the decade after, considering how it all ended up for me :)

If you are bored, much discussion of this can occur with myself and Cat, once parentals are gone.

[Sometimes you are so very laconic!]

*sporfle*

Some day soon this quote is gonna be so damn funny.

(If you want, no spoilers quote (http://www.vrya.net/bdb/clip.php?clip=3169).)

[Nice icon, though.]

Thanks. I have several with the same text, but most others... you know, have his face on them.

[And Giles is the next best thing to god.]

Well, there's an interesting AU bunny if I ever saw one.

[bright-lilim.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. Band Candy is one of my favorite episodes of Buffy.

I just love the Buffy dialogue. I don't think any other series has such a good and varied dialogue.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I love the Buffy dialogue, especially now we're in season 3 or 4 and there's good substance to it. In season 1, I didn't like it nearly so much - it was like watching a sitcom sometimes. Too many one-liners, at the expense of meaning.

When it's good, it's magnificent.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You don't?

Well, I know you love Giles and Ethan, and quite, right, too. And I know I love this episode and we often see Buffy episodes with a similar reactions, so the odds are that you love it. (Two out of two there.) But since you have been very discreet and careful about not giving me spoilers (thank you) there was always the off-chance that you thought the show got Giles all wrong here and the story was silly or something. Unlikely, I think, but still possible.

You could say it influenced my life in the decade after, considering how it all ended up for me :)

That's as good as it gets!

Some day soon this quote is gonna be so damn funny.

Hee.

If you are bored,

I am. Despite all these hours of foot exercises.

much discussion of this can occur with myself and Cat, once parentals are gone.

I'd like that.

there's an interesting AU bunny if I ever saw one.

Hmm. I like it. Now I'm contemplating Giles/Aziraphale slash suddenly.

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

Now I'm contemplating Giles/Aziraphale slash suddenly.

Now that is very funny, because whenever we play "if I were casting this movie, here's who I would pick", I always choose ASH to play Aziraphale when I cast "Good Omens."

...and Peter Wingfield for Crowley, in case you were wondering!

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

I loved the actors playing teenagers in this one: both the dialog and the acting were pitch-perfect and really sold me on the change. Joyce was a perfect good girl-type, attracted as she was to the bad, bad boy embodied by Ripper. I loved how she started to talk about loving the music of a certain band but quickly reversed herself once he'd declared them 'rubbish' -- that delicate reversal to curry favor and look cool and knowing in front of this cool boy she so obviously was trying to impress, my god, she was so deliciously teen-agery!

The actress who played Joyce almost never got to really *do* anything, she was great in this episode. And of course we all adore Ripper; that streak of too-cool rebellion to be found in the formerly-fussy librarian!

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

I like the play of... light/dark, chaos/order, Giles/Ethan, Aziraphale/Crowley. Pairings of that kind work for me, always have. It's the bridging, I suspect.

Also Aziraphale and Giles could talk books until hell freezes over... for quite a long while. Not that I'm against the slash, obviously, I just see more of a conversation over tea or maybe cocoa. I think Giles would like that.

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

Joyce in that ep always reminded me of Janet - from RHPS.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

because whenever we play "if I were casting this movie, here's who I would pick", I always choose ASH to play Aziraphale when I cast "Good Omens."

You make me want to reread the book, with that in mind.

...and Peter Wingfield for Crowley, in case you were wondering!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. I think I just fainted.

Bring it on! I want that movie.

Or: skip the movie and give me the slash based on it.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

light/dark, chaos/order, Giles/Ethan, Aziraphale/Crowley.

All of that. But with Giles and Ethan... I'm not always sure where the light and dark lie. Chaos and order - much more colourful with them. I think Giles exemplifies order but the chaos is under the surface waiting to break out; Ethan exemplifies chaos but keeps it in order in his own way.

Also Aziraphale and Giles could talk books until hell freezes over...

And melts again. And then some.

I just see more of a conversation over tea or maybe cocoa.

Tea with scones, I think. And a bit of honey.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Joyce in that ep always reminded me of Janet - from RHPS.

Me too, but not just that episode. Since the very first episode, Kristine Sutherland has reminded me of Susan Sarandon - which isn't a good thing because I don't like Susan Sarandon at all, except as Janet. There was an odd mental strangeness there, not helped by having seen the photos of ASH as Frankenfurter.

But yes, Joyce is Janet-like, which is not a bad thing.

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

Giles exemplifies order but the chaos is under the surface waiting to break out;

And that's what Ethan likes, I believe; trying to break that thin ice surface, trying to tease out the chaos within.

Ethan exemplifies chaos but keeps it in order in his own way.

Has control over his magic. Uses it for practical purposes. Definitely. You wait and keep that in mind - for other, general themes in later times.

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

Yes, there's her looks, almost all the time, but in Band Candy there was more to it - something about behaviour. I won't say "dumb slut" because, well, I like Joyce, but you know - Janety.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

He starts out reading: "And on that tragic day, an era came to its inevitable end." Is that from a real book?

Hmm. The only thing I got when I googled it was BtVS transcripts. Maybe they made it up. I really like how Giles has a spare pencil to replace any Buffy uses to stake vampires.

isn't that the way we all always answer multiple choice

Nope. I usually laugh at the blatantly ridiculous answers and tick the right one - I'm like Cordelia, I test well.

So now we know Mayor Wilkins walks on the hellish side

He's this lovely mix of macabre and mundane. I love his laugh too.

they are all drafted by Principal Snyder to sell candy

I like Buffy talking her mother into buying half of them. I would have tried to do the same - much more efficient.

Is that tai chi Angel is doing

Yes. Though not the style I do. I like the line where Angel says "That'll be better" about not needing Buffy anymore and she's trying to hide it hurts.

Giles is listening to Cream. I used to really like Cream.

This is one of these scenes - and what happens with Joyce and Giles - that you should remember for later on. Much later on... there will be resonance.

I like how Giles' accent changes as well. He clearly had a much rougher image as a teenager than he projects now. Ooh, he swears more too - more Britishisms, yay.

Snyder follows them out. It just gets worse and worse

Obviously Snyder was always the most unpopular kid in class. I really like Joyce's eyeroll later when he tries to impress her.

"Even if he's sixteen, he's still Giles, right? He's probably a pretty together guy." You really think so, Oz? Buffy knows: "Less Together Guy, more Bad-Magic-Hates-The-World-Ticking-Time-Bomb Guy."

I love those lines. And the look Buffy and Willow share when Oz says it.

Giles - should I say "Ripper"? - steals a shawl for Joyce and fights a cop. Bad boy

Oh yeah. He's so much cooler than Joyce was as a teenager - she comes across as a hanger on rather than in the cool crowd type.

Buffy sees Giles and her mother snogging and doesn't like.

Heh. I like the way she's marching along all purposefully and then stops dead as she realises. And Giles getting all aggressive and then acting like it's his idea to back off when she calls him on it - he might be a teenager but he's not stupid enough to take on a Slayer.

Giles is downright dangerous. "Hit him." And loves it so much when she does

Oh, that little gleeful jump when she hits him. Makes me laugh so much.

it's Willow the researcher who learns that the demon Lucornis is into eating babies

Actually, it's Oz. I love the vampires who go and collect them because of the mini-vamp in the bunch. It looks so ridiculous.

Giles remembers something of his learning.

And as he does, his accent gets more refined.

Big fight

And a boring one. I like how the Mayor takes the time to call about the state of the sewers while he's down there. I also like his line "In the future, I'd be very careful how many favors you do for me." to Mr Trick. Very threatening in a pleasant way.

At least I got to the two of you before you actually *did* something." Oh, really? I think this calls for another "uh-oh".

Their reaction is priceless.

But I like the variations in his character.

Giles is likeable in all incarnations.

[babydraco.livejournal.com]

"I hate they make us take that thing.

See, that annoyed me. They *don't* "make" you take it. It's optional. Except on tv.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

So confusing for us non-Americans, not knowing what to believe of what we see on American TV!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Maybe they made it up.

I think they must have. It sounds like a real book, but it would!

I usually laugh at the blatantly ridiculous answers and tick the right one - I'm like Cordelia, I test well.

Well, actually, I do too, but I test better with essay questions. With multiple choice I sometimes play games like that.

Though not the style I do.

What style do you do? I once studied Tai Chi With Sword and totally loved it - I still have my notes and I'm thinking of practising it again.

I like the line where Angel says "That'll be better" about not needing Buffy anymore and she's trying to hide it hurts.

I like the way Angel and Buffy are both hurting for the same reasons and trying to hide it, trying to put on a good face.

I like how Giles' accent changes as well. He clearly had a much rougher image as a teenager than he projects now. Ooh, he swears more too - more Britishisms, yay.

I love the comparison and contrast between the Giles we see (putting on the schoolteacher manner) and the Giles who sometimes appears underneath the surface - rough, tough, scrappy, wilful, even a little dangerous. But still our Giles.

Snyder was always the most unpopular kid in class.

Short, awkward, tactless - yup. And it explains a lot about his style as Principal, and his attitude to teenagers.

I really like Joyce's eyeroll later when he tries to impress her.

You can just picture the same thing happening 20-some years earlier, if they had known each other.

He's so much cooler than Joyce was as a teenager - she comes across as a hanger on rather than in the cool crowd type.

But she has good taste in bad boys.

he might be a teenager but he's not stupid enough to take on a Slayer.

And he knows Buffy only too well.

as he does, his accent gets more refined.

It's interesting and very clever the way they play the different levels of consciousness, both with Giles and with Joyce - him being reminded of his role as Watcher and taking on some of it's characteristics while still under the influence, and Joyce caught between her sense that's she's Buffy's mother, and the candy that's affecting her.

I also like his line "In the future, I'd be very careful how many favors you do for me." to Mr Trick. Very threatening in a pleasant way.

Yes, it gives it all a sort of double-image and makes the Mayor seem all the scarier. "Scarier" isn't quite the right word. More dangerous and more creepy.

Giles is likeable in all incarnations.

Giles is just so wonderful, and the more we see of him, the more he improves.

there will be resonance.

I'm counting on it.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I liked Joyce in this episode, a lot. Especially since she has the good taste to appreciate Giles! She has good moments, but she keeps doing things that infuriate me - not in "Band Candy", but in various other episodes.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

the Mayor and Trick are such good antagonists.

Aren't they? I came to truly love the Mayor. And not just as a great bad guy. Honest. If you listen to things he says, you hear Truth. It's pretty startling, how often he gets to speak the main truth of a situation.

1. Giles wasn't reading from a book; he was reading Buffy a reading-comprehension paragraph from the Scholastic Aptitude Test practice booklet. The passage may have come from something published, or it may have been just something written for the test.

5. Yeah, this was where we first got to see a good bit of the Mayor. I loved it that he "subcontracted" the job of distracting the adults so he could acquire the babies for his tribute... very scary to see him acting like a normal-world businessman for such a thing.

6. Cordelia did get some of her best lines in this episode. She also shone in the Halloween episode... hm, also an Ethan vehicle.

8. Yep! I loved this one. Cordelia putting on the act so nobody knows she's intelligent... love it.

10. Buffy tosses the ball at the wall and smacks Giles on the rebound. Snicker! That'll teach him to scoff at his Slayer.

11. Yes, Angel doing tai chi. Still as startling and beautiful a moment as it was the first time I saw it.

13. Buffy getting caught in the lie by Mom and Giles... not a fun moment. I hate it when the adults in her life try to treat her like a child.

14. "Something weird with the candy," you say! Yes! I wonder how you reacted when you saw Ethan!

17. I loved Mrs. Barton taking over the classroom... and talking trash behind Snyder's back. Hee.

18. Yep, Giles has vinyl records. Later on there's a delightful Oz moment with them. You'll see it soon. Season Four. ...Buffy's mom with Giles at his place didn't turn out to be the big uh-oh, however, did it? Hee hee hee... no, that was out on a public street!

20. I love the pacing of the scene where Giles lights the two cigarettes and then goes right into, "Wait, wait, this part --" and then jives to the distorted guitar. That was so incredibly in character as a teen nihilist. Loved it! (But... I did like Seals & Crofts. Still do. Ah, well. Do you like Patti Smith and the Ramones?)

21. I wonder if Joyce ever does find out, that night, in verbal form I mean, why they call him Ripper.

25. You have mentioned before how much you like how Oz thinks and talks. I recognize him as a totally nonlinear thinker. He's one of Joss Whedon's (maybe pseudo) autistic spectrum characters. You may or may not agree.

Ai, you make fun comments. Can we watch this episode next time I visit Ottawa? Can we have an Ethan/Ripper Buffy video party?

[judymoe.livejournal.com]

34. Yes, even though it's totally fanon, "Ratboy" is and will always be Krycek for me. And they couldn't be more different ratboys. I know which one *I* prefer. Hee.

It remains a joy to read your new viewer comments. I'm watching Buffy & Angel (seasons 6 and 3 right now) with dargie and glinda_north, and it's so much fun.

Ah, Giles. I always love and adore him. And I am a big fan of Trick and The Mayor. Woo!