Season 1, Episode 12

Two exciting pieces of new: First, we are done with Season One of Buffy! Hooray! Second, tomorrow we will be posting about Season One as a whole IN VIDEO BLOG FORM! In other news, Sarah and Kali are much better at typing words than speaking them, which you will learn tomorrow.

“Prophecy Girl”

The episode starts with the love triangle and I am just so over it. I’m glad that our main characters finally get the courage to do something about it. Xander, after practicing his speech to Buffy on Willow (which is such a douchy thing) FINALLY asks Buffy out. She of course turns him down very politely and Xander gets all whiny. This is where Willow stands up for herself too. When Xander says that Willow can go with him, she tells him how she’s not gonna be his consolation prize. Does this remind anyone else of Goblet of Fire? In fact, this whole episode reminds me of different parts of Harry Potter. That’s honestly not saying much because dryer lint reminds me of Harry Potter.

Moving on to the main part of the episode- Buffy is going to die. There is a prophecy that says that The Master will kill the Slayer, so obviously that is true and you can’t do anything to stop it. I absolutely love Buffy’s reaction here because it’s so… real. She doesn’t just cry, or get angry, or deny it- she does them all. She reacts like a 16-year-old girl would. She asks if it’ll hurt, she asks about who the next Slayer will be, and the whole time our hearts are shattering into tiny little pieces. We see her try to convince her mom to leave town with her, but since she can’t explain the real reason why, her mom assumes it’s a silly teenage problem.

Favorite Line: "Giles, I'm 16 years old. I don't wanna die."

We cut to a scene where Willow and Cordelia find the bodies of several classmates. I absolutely love what Willow says to Buffy when she is telling her the story. “It wasn't our world anymore. They made it theirs.” It’s a really powerful message about how evil takes everything good and happy and twists it into their evil-version of it. I think it is right here when Buffy changes her mind about “quitting”. Like Harry Potter, Buffy makes the decision to face her death and knows that she can’t tell her friends because they will try to stop her.

She does go to talk to Giles however. This is another reason why I love Giles and wish he could be my boyfriend. He actually plans on fighting the Master himself. Even after Buffy tells him that she made up her mind not to “quit” but to go down there, he tells her that he “made up his mind first” and that HE DOESN’T CARE WHAT A BOOK SAYS. Never thought I’d hear Giles say those words. But it’s really endearing how Giles is a Watcher, minimally trained in fighting, but he’s willing to pretty much die for Buffy. Buffy finds it sweet, but also knows it must be her, so she knocks him out cold. Harsh.

I still love you, you sexy librarian.

 The Scooby Gang finds out what all is going on. Giles again has some great lines. “As the soon-to-be-purple area on my jaw will indicate, I did not let her go.” Touché. Xander does the heroic thing her and goes to Angel for help. Xander pretty much hates Angel, he has no fighting abilities of his own, but he knows that Buffy will die and he has to do something to stop it. I also have to say that Angel is kind of an ass here. I expect him to be an ass to Xander, but not when it comes to saving Buffy. It just seems out of character for him not to be immediately jumping into action to save Buffy. I also have to say, that I’m shipping Xander/Angel a little bit right now. They bicker like a married couple.

ANGEL: What.

XANDER: You were looking at my neck.

ANGEL: What?

XANDER: You were checking out my neck! I saw that.

ANGEL: No I wasn't.

XANDER: You just keep your distance, pal.

ANGEL: I wasn't looking at your neck!

XANDER: I told you to eat before we left.

This is the part that I really dislike. Why the hell doesn’t Buffy fight? The Master knocks her weapon away and grabs her from behind, so her super-Slayer reaction is to freeze in terror? Fight, kick, scream, DO SOMETHING. The Master reveals that because she came down there, he will be able to go free. Oh… Guess you feel kinda dumb now Buffy.

Angel and Xander find her. Xander gets to revive her. Everybody cheers because Buffy is alive. Cue the WORST WALKING MONTAGE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. Seriously, it’s beyond awful. Speaking of awful, could the thing that comes out of the Hellmouth be any less scary? Everyone is freaking, but I would just go grab a bottle of Weed-Be-Gone, problem solved. Then Buffy says stupid little quips to The Master, they have a short, dumb fight, and then continuity errors piss me off. I would be fine with the Master’s body leaving behind bones if it was explained WHY. Since he is the only vampire we ever see this happen to, I feel like it really needs to be explained.

Everybody leaves to go to the prom, and I’m left feeling unsatisfied with the ending. I liked when the beginning of this episode was going, but I just feel let down about this non-epic battle at the end, especially for a season finale episode. I will say that I enjoyed all of our supporting characters heroism. Even Cordelia got to be a bad ass. That’s because:

"Everyone's a hero in their own way!"

Sarah's Notes!

Basically, Kali said everything I would want to about the episode but I do have two things to add.

1) "Three in one night; Giles would be proud." Buffy sounds like a whore with Giles as her pimp. This line is hysterical and caused Kali and I to laugh a lot.

2) I think it's incredibly interesting how much Buffy's dress was brought up. As we all know now, I am a huge gender and sexuality nerd (that's a strange sentence.) What interests me about the use of Buffy's dress in this episode are all the times in which people mention it and how central it seemed to be. First, Buffy tells her mom they need to leave and her mom responds by showing her that she bought her a nice dress. Buffy is pretty much speechless and it's sort of adorable watching her act like a normal teenager instead of the Slayer who is destined to die.

Next, Buffy is wearing the dress when she visits Willow to comfort her. As Buffy's leaving, Willow tells Buffy she likes her dress, again showing us how Buffy is still a teenage girl with friends. Again, it's sort of heartbreaking to watch this because Buffy thinks that this is the last time she'll see Willow and the last thoughts spoken by her best friend are of how pretty her outfit looks.

The next occurrence is the most interesting. When Buffy goes down to the Master, he taunts her and ultimately kills her. Before leaving to go reek havoc on the world, he tells her that he likes her dress. This is a strange comment for him to make so I have to assume Joss meant something significant by him saying this to her. My belief is that, by the Master saying this, he is belittling her and showing us that Buffy is a weak little girl. We've seen her all season fight different evils as the all powerful Slayer and now this episode we're constantly being told that she is a teenage girl.

Now, because Joss is amazing, he brings Buffy back and has her acknowledge what has been shoved down our throats the whole episode. When seeing the Master again she says that she's "still pretty, which is more than he can say." Buffy takes complete ownership over the fact that she is a teenage girl but also recognizes that she is also the Slayer and she can balance being a powerful badass along with caring about having *enter whatever teenage girls are interested in here.*

After she beats the bad guy, one last time Buffy is told that she looks pretty confirming that her friends also recognize her as being unique. She's Buffy Summers: Chosen One and normal high school student all rolled into one.

Episode 11: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

This post is extremely late because I had a bunch of irritating things keeping me away from my computer today. However, you all now have the absolute pleasure of reading a post that I am writing at 2am. Hopefully it makes some form of sense...

This episode deals with the awesome idea that it is possible for people to actually become invisible when they are ignored long enough. How Giles explains it to the scoobies is through physics, saying that it's said that perception creates/shapes reality. I absolutely love this idea because, against what my Philosophy 101 instructor believes, I don't agree that an absolute truth exists and instead believe that we all create our own reality through perception. Honestly, I don't think about stuff that often because I'm non-religious and I pretty much don't care either way about issues pertaining to religion, but I think it's pretty silly for us to believe that there is some ultimate answer to life. Everyone has their own glasses in which they view the world and it shapes their reality. Going along with what I believe, I think it's awesome that this episode sort of takes this concept and shows the damage it can cause.

Marci, who will from now on will be referred to as Invisible Girl, was pretty stupid. In the flash back scenes, we only see her trying to join awkwardly into conversations with the popular group which is insane. I sort of view Invisible Girl and a version of what Willow could have been. Much like Invisible Girl, Willow is not popular but the difference is that Willow knows this and doesn't attempt to be something she's not. By trying to join the plastics popular group, Invisible Girl is playing the victim in my eyes. She knows that she will not be accepted so she proves to herself that no one notices her by attempting to be noticed by the group that is least likely to ever notice her existence. On the other hand, Willow made friends with Xander and Buffy and others that were more on her level and didn't sulk over the fact that she wasn't best buds with Cordy.

So basically, I pretty much have no sympathy for Invisible Girl and I think that she made all the wrong choices. High school is a difficult place and the only way to make it out alive is to understand yourself and be confident in who you are. It's a long process for most and sometimes takes decades to achieve but the work should start early. Invisible Girl let herself fall through the cracks by trying to achieve what she knew she never could be and therefore believing that she had nothing else to exist for, basically. That's pretty sad and pathetic.

Now, I'm going to discuss another major character in this episode and then just start listing my notes because I'm too tired to created proper sentences they are pretty funny for this episode. Cordelia is really interesting in this episode and it is actually the start of how I was able to start liking her. She still is really mean, but you see another side to her and you learn that she hides her true self pretty thoroughly. I think her true character is actually really awesome and the front she puts up was how she survived high school. It sucks and I wish, like Invisible Girl, she could just stay true to herself. However, I think her life to Buffy best sums up why she didn't fight being popular: She told Buffy being alone when surrounded by people is better than being all alone by yourself. Not saying she's right with this, but it does show that she notices how people around her act and understands that everyone believes she has it best. It sort of makes me feel bad for her, much more than Invisible Girl. And this is why Cordelia is my favorite character on Angel (until Fred comes.)

And now, here are my notes in list form:

-How short is Harmony’s shirt?!

-“My eyes are hazel, Helen Keller” lolz

-She’s acting like moaning Myrtle giggling at naked boys in the bathroom. Only Myrtle doesn’t beat boys with bats, she just tries to look at their penis.

-C for Cordelia? Harmony is so stupid.

-And now Willow has juice again, how adorable

-“There are no dead students here..this week”

-Poltergeist? Peeves is at Sunnydale?!? Is this where he went when he was left out of the HP movies? Interesting…

-Did anyone else think that Harmony was gay in the first season? I was convinced that she was in love with Cordelia. And btw, when I went to Sunnydale I fell down those stairs, too.

-Cloaks of invisibility for the gods? Actually, Xander, Death owned it but he gave his to one of the three brothers and it became one of the deathly hallows [/HP reference]

-I feel like Buffy should have better Slayer instincts and know that there is a knife by her head while she’s snooping.

-I love how clueless Giles is; when I was in middle and high school everyone wrote HAGS (aka Have a Great Summer) I HATED whenever anyone wrote that in my yearbook.

-"I don't actually recall seeing you here before" “Oh no, I have a life” lolz, way to be blunt

-This part freaks me out so much because I am terrified of sharp objects. Like I can barely keep my eyes open to watch the end of this episode.

-Buffy’s right, those guys are very creepy.

-It must be very hard for the teacher to learn everyone’s name in this class...

Favorite Line: “Color me totally self-involved”- Cordelia

-Sarah =)

Season 1, Episode 10

“Nightmares”

Today’s episode “Nightmares” is obviously about well… nightmares. But what are nightmares based on? Fear. The episode starts off with what I am sure is a recurring nightmare for Buffy, her being unable to defend herself against the Master. We are then taken to a real scene involving the Master and the Anointed One discussing how awesome fear is. The town’s nightmares start coming true because some kid was put in a coma by his asshole Kiddie League coach. That’s the main plot, but it’s really not what’s interesting to the story so I’m pretty much going to skip it.

In several of the scenes we are taken through your stereotypical high school nightmares. Well, after the first one when Wendell opens his text book and spiders come out. That shits just scary. Buffy is told that she has a test which she wasn’t aware about, has no idea about the subject, and time does by so fast she can’t answer any questions. Xander has the “naked in front of the entire class” nightmare, which Willow seems to enjoy. Cordelia has a horrible hairdo and is forced to participate in chess club, to everyone’s amusement. Also, a random boy is embarrassed in front of his friends when his mother shows up at school. He should have been embarrassed anyway for dressing like he was in Grease.

Those were the type of nightmares you expect most high school students to have. The other ones are more related to the characters themselves. Willow has to perform on stage, Xander gets attacked by a Nazi clown, Giles can’t read, and Buffy turns into a vampire. First, I think of Willow as a Hermione-ish character and I have to point out the fact that even both the actresses that play them ACT WITH THEIR EYEBROWS. I'm glad that they both get over this.

 Please stop raising your eyebrows so high that your forehead might swallow them.

Xander is also the dumbest human alive. He seriously eats candy left on the floor in a trail. Buffy comes close to his standard of saying stupid things however when she states “a coma is like sleep”. Let’s not forgot the wise decision that Willow makes to go down into a dark basement where she knows a girl was attacked to follow a mysterious voice calling her name. Oh, and I can’t leave out Giles who thinks that the best way to wake someone up out of a coma is to YELL HIS NAME REALLY LOUD.

One thing that I do enjoy is when writers refer to previous episodes seasons later, especially with little things. It tells me that they really care about continuity and also makes those little references even funnier. In this episode Giles says that dreams coming true would be a musical comedy. In the Season 6 musical, Willow sings, “I've got a theory, some kid is dreamin' and we're all stuck inside his wacky Broadway nightmare.” We see again Willow’s stage fright which was introduced last episode and it referenced again in Restless. On a more serious note, this is where we learn about Buffy’s fear of being buried alive. It’s pretty horrible to think how this comes true when she awakes in her coffin in Season 6. Along those same lines, we see Giles nightmare of Buffy dying which comes true several years later. We don’t get to see Giles react to Buffy’s death after Season 5, but here we see what it would have been like. This scene is pretty heartbreaking when he talks about how he “failed her”.

I skipped this nightmare of Buffy’s until the end because I have daddy issues wanted to spend time focusing on it alone. Many children of divorce blame themselves, but having felt those feelings myself it is absolutely gut-wrenching to watch Buffy have to live through it. What if you had your parent tell you every little insecurity of yours was absolutely true? Her nightmare version of her father tells her that not only was her parents’ divorce her fault, but she is also a worthless human being and he’s no longer going to waste his time with her anymore. Thank you Joss Whedon for ripping out my heart and stomping on it. Well, it’s good practice for the future I guess.

This is how you make me feel, Joss.

In the end we learn that the things we are afraid of only have the power to hurt us if we give it to them. It’s a pretty powerful message. Xander is actually the first one in the show to learn this. While running from the Nazi clown, he realizes that there is nothing to be afraid of, turns around and punches the clown. Go Xander! This is how Billy beats the monster that is chasing him. All he has to do is face his fear, “unmask” it, and realize that there really isn’t anything to be afraid of in the first place.

Favorite line (because it is awesome and creepy for The Master to be quoting Cinderella):

“A dream is a wish your heart makes".

-Kali!

Episode 9: "The Puppet Show"

Surprise! Today's episode will be a chat between The Two Wits. We both agreed that this episode was pretty bad so the most entertaining thing we could do would be to watch it together and make fun of it! Kali is in purple. Sarah is in blue. Enjoy!

9:51pm

Ready?

9:51pm

Ready!

9:51pm

Go!

OOO, Ballerina vagina

9:52pm

I was going to say the same thing but stopped myself because I knew you'd say it

9:52pm

Oh Cordy

9:52pm

too bad Cordelia wasn't in the musical because she's amazing

9:52pm

Totes

9:52pm

Giles looks like he might kill himself

9:53pm

I love Giles

9:53pm

I love Buffy mocking him lol

Willow's shirt has a rubber duck on it, just pointing that out

9:54pm

HA! Love it

Even tho Snyder is an ass, he's kinda right here

9:54pm

Yeah but he shouldn't force students to enter the talent show, that's a horrible punishment

9:54pm

"He was eaten, you're in my world now!"

9:55pm

lol Giles

9:55pm

lol Mime!

9:56pm

This is why high school students should never think they're special or talented

9:56pm

Cuz they aren't

Ok. So he knows his dummy is talking and he's not. Um... wouldn't you freak THE HELL OUT?

9:57pm

teenage boys can be really stupid

9:57pm

LOL

I WILL BE FLESH

9:57pm

"I WILL BE FLESH"

hey look, my name!

I've told you my name is Sarah Michelle, haven't I?

9:58pm

Yes, it took me a second to remember that

Btw, I'm so over "scary" locker room scenes

9:58pm

I get really excited whenever I think about it because it makes me feel close to Buffy

9:59pm

Buffy's dress is not finger-tip length, that's against dress code

9:59pm

I love Willow lol

9:59pm

I love how this is the start of her stage fright thing

9:59pm

and her outfit totally matches

obviously, Willow doesn't agree with the wood thing lol

10:00pm

lol

And lol to Flutie being a liberal and that's why he was eaten

I'm surprised that Cordelia wasn't the one that found the dead girl and screamed

10:01pm

I want some republican candidate to use this in their campaign lit "don't vote democrat, unless you want to be eaten!"

10:01pm

lol

10:02pm

"it could be me"

10:03pm

This reminds me of Supernatural. He said something about demons being easy to understand, but people are crazy.

10:03pm

what the hell is a dancer/band rivalry?

10:03pm

It's like Gryffindor/Slytherin I think

CORDELIA PLEASE FALL DOWN SEVERAL FLIGHTS OF STAIRS

10:04pm

that guy's shirt has way to many rectangles and squares

why is ONE light on?

10:04pm

Dramatic effect

Obviously the dummy is alive

Season 1 Buffy is dumb. She really is

10:06pm

I think the more seasons she gets into, the more her mind jumps to unrealistic things. I'm sort of glad she doesn't jump to "the dummy is alive!" first

succeed, READ!

10:07pm

True. You know that saying about when you hear hooves you think horses, not zebras? Well I'm so crazy I think unicorns!

But Buffy thinks horses first

10:07pm

principals should never touch students

and lol about the unicorns

10:08pm

Did you think Snyder was evil at first? I think I did, but then we learn he's not evil, just an ass

10:09pm

I did, and he's really a huge ass

10:09pm

Oh Joyce, you are such a momly mom

10:10pm

Joyce is awesome but I like her more in later seasons and OMG CREEPER DUMMY!

10:11pm

Why is the SLAYER running to her mom to look under the covers?!?!

10:12pm

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE" WOMEN NEVER LISTEN

omg caps lock lol

10:12pm

LMAO GILES.

10:12pm

LOL

10:12pm

Love how he tells Cordy something is wrong with her hair

10:13pm

I wanna know what Joss thinks about bunnies because he mentions them sooooo often

10:14pm

This is what bothers me about Season 1. It takes the characters half the show to figure out stuff that we knew from the beginning

10:14pm

however it's sort of awesome how we think we know what's up and we really don't because we're lead to believe that Sid is the killer right now

and WHY IS HE ALLOWED TO HAVE HIS DUMMY OUT IN CLASS?

10:15pm

LOL. And why is he talking to the teacher?

You'd think Sid would be a little smarter

10:16pm

You'd think

10:17pm

That's a good response Miss Teacher since he FREAKING TALKS TO A PUPPET

10:17pm

WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY PUPPET?!

10:18pm

I was about to mock Buffy for her fear of puppets, but I'm terrified of mascots, so yeah...

RED RUM!!!!!!!

10:19pm

and I'm terrified of sand which is the weirdest of the three so we can't mock her

Snyder sounds like a creeper here

10:20pm

I know! And also mysoginistic. "You're a girl so you can't take care of yourself"

10:21pm

we'll show them when the hair revolution starts!

10:21pm

DAMN STRAIGHT!

LOL at Giles freaking out and dropping the book

10:22pm

bye bye Morgan

10:23pm

OMG Buffy is blind. Last episode she didn't see A BODY HANGING FROM THE CEILING til she ran into it and same thing here

10:23pm

and what the hell is this doing in a school?

10:23pm

All schools have iron candelabras Sarah

10:23pm

LOL

oh yeah, I forgot

10:24pm

That would be my reaction too.

10:24pm

LOL Xander's face

10:24pm

Um... guys... the dummy is talking to us...

LMAO, perv dummy

10:25pm

pervy dummy is pervy

10:25pm

Btw, that is the dumbest curse ever

You know, a lot of this show turns up in Restless

10:26pm

being turned into a dummy and having to kill demons to be turned human again? yeah, it is

I wanna see who mrs. franklin is lol

pervy dummy is still pervy

10:28pm

Well, he doesn't have a penis so he has no way to release all that pent up sexual tension. Kinda sad actually

10:28pm

poor pervy dummy =(

10:29pm

Joss serisouly copied half of what Giles says here in Restless

BRAIN!

10:29pm

bigggg ring

10:29pm

"I'm never going to stop washing my hands"

10:30pm

lol Xander

10:30pm

At least Xander knows he's dumb

10:30pm

I LOVE WILLOW!

10:31pm

Gotta point out the other Restless correlation. Giles has his head cut open right across his forehead, like what would have happened here

Xander FTW!

10:33pm

gross demon

10:34pm

Awwww, dead puppet

LOL

"I don't get it"- Snyder

10:35pm

I love this end scene

Buffy is so not into it

10:35pm

It's the only good part of this episode

Willow is scared

10:36pm

LOL Willow

10:36pm

Xander is trying to hard, as per usual

Did that episode even have any themes? Or moral to the story?

10:37pm

sometimes when you hear puppets talk, it doesn't mean you're crazy?

10:37pm

In the interview Joss just talks about wanting to do the classic Puppet horror type movie.

Um... maybe not to judge things on first impressions? Since the puppet turned out to be good

10:39pm

or never join a school talent show

or beware of candelabras

10:40pm

Smile Time was a much better puppet show

10:41pm

Smile Time is amazing!

10:41pm

Favorite Line?

10:42pm

I think Willow saying the square root of 841 and then realizing that she is smart

10:44pm

This show didn't have very many good lines. I think I like Giles telling Cordelia something is wrong with her hair. Then he says how Xander was right and it worked like a charm.

10:44pm

his smile after Cordelia left was awesome

10:46pm

Well, I think that wraps it up. That episode was pretty lame.

10:46pm

I like the pervy dummy, but in total I agree that the episode was lame

Season 1, Episode 8

Sarah had explosive diarrhea a thing come up, so Kali ended up writing this one anyway. That's why its late being posted, but I wrote a lot and even did research to make up for it.

“I, Robot… You, Jane”

The episode continues that pattern of mostly all of Season One’s episodes. There is a very basic plotline, but underneath that there are several messages. The basic plotline here is that a demon is released into a computer and through the Internet is able to be everywhere at once and start controlling people. This demon also starts a “relationship” with Willow. Some bad stuff happens, Buffy and the Scooby Gang figure out what’s going on, some horribly bad 90’s CG is used in a battle, and everybody chats in the end. Same ol'.

That’s really all there is, so I’m going to skip going though the episode in more detail and get straight into the major themes, plus some other random things.

First, a random thing that popped into my head. Towards the beginning we meet “Dave” and immediately I thought “OMG, IT’S ASH!” That is a reference to the amazingly awesome show Supernatural. That now makes the total FOUR of actors that appeared in Buffy/Angel to have also been on Supernatural. This leads me to conclude: Joss Whedon is secretly writing for Supernatural. It makes so much sense! Now I understand why every woman that the Winchesters date either dies, leaves them, or they have to kill. I always thought this, but now that there are FOUR actors appearing in both series, I believe I have undeniable proof.

Now to the more serious. The main focus of this episode is technology, obviously focusing on technology and its interaction with the supernatural. (Not the show Supernatural this time, just the word.) First, technology and dating. Obviously things are extremely different now as opposed to the late 90’s version of Internet dating. It’s mainstream now to meet people online, talk mostly through textual communication, etc. Back then, things were a little shadier because technology wasn’t advanced enough yet to allow for a full profile with hundreds of pictures and every little tiny detail about you down to your shoe size. Today it’s less likely for someone to be a serial killer posing as an 18-year-old girl on the Internet, but people in general are posing as something that isn’t really themselves.

Having experimented in the world of online dating, I could go on and on about all the pros and cons, plus all the ways things are different now compared to 13 years ago. I’ll save you that diatribe, but will comment on a few things in Willow’s case, which are similar to my experiences. If you really like someone "I'm thinking of you" is a sweet sentiment, but if you aren't that into him/her it instantly turns into something very creepy and stalkerish. So I understand both Willow and Buffy’s reactions to that part. (I also need to point out how Buffy doesn’t like how Willow met him, but it’s okay for her to meet men IN A DARK ALLEY.) Another thing is that it’s very understandable to meet people online. Even back then and more so today it’s hard to find people that you share interests with, enjoy talking to, etc. But telling someone you’ve never met in person that you are falling in love with him/her is CREEPY. Why? Because of my last point, which is: People are never exactly who they are online in person. I’ve talked with guys and had a real interest in them, then when I meet them I find out that in direct conversation that aren’t that person in real life. Forget looks because of course people are going to put their best looking pictures online, which will differ from their everyday appearance. I’m just saying that when talking to a person face-to-face, they are different than they are in textual communication. I like how instead of being frightened that Malcom is really a demon, she’s just hurt and upset by the betrayal. I feel your pain Willow. The main point of all this is, people will do a lot of things to feel loved, even believing a lie.

Now to another random sidebar. Can we all just take a second to LOL at 90’s technology? HAHAHA. That also makes me wonder- are people going to be watching our movies from today and laughing at our computers? Most likely. Come on, the scanning program they are using was called “Scan-o-matique”. Their web cams had pictures comprised of about 10 pixels total. They talked about information going over PHONE LINES. Are phones even connected to lines anymore? And IS THIS A LAPTOP?

Seriously, is this a laptop? Or a typewriter? Or a children's toy?

One good thing is that computer geeks are cooler now than they were in the 90’s, but it’s also more common for people in general to know more about computers. I also need to copy this from my notes because I’m not even sure the context anymore, but it’s great. “THE INTERNET IS A GIFT OF THE GODS AND DON’T TELL ME OTHERWISE”

It’s great how earlier shows/movies/books can be quite prophetic. As Giles is arguing against the use of computers, he states that we will become, “A society in which human interaction is all but obsolete. In which people can be completely manipulated by technology”. Yup, that pretty much sums it up. Giles is also right about books. I love the smell of books. I love the smell of libraries and bookstores. Hence why no matter how awesome Kindles and iPads are, I will never get one because I love reading a real book. Man would I love to hear Giles rant about people reading books solely on computers.

In the end, the conversation between Ms. Calendar and Giles says it all. Each person comes to see the point in both technology and … old stuff? While technology greatly improves many, many different things, it’s also detracts from many other things. There is no winner in this argument over how much technology is too much; the important thing to remember is to maintain a balance. Computers are good, but don’t spend your entire day/life on them.

And since we can’t have an episode of Buffy without discussing relationships, Ms. Calendar is introduced in this episode and she is the yin to Giles’s yang. She knows about the supernatural, but is very modern and hip. I like where this is going. On the same note of relationships is my favorite line:

Buffy: "None of us are ever going to have a happy, normal relationship"

(everyone laughs)

Xander: "We're doomed" 

(more laughter)

Oh wait... sad face.

-Kali!

P.S. We have a super-special surprise for tomorrow!

Episode 6: The Pack

Kali is silly and watched Angel instead of The Pack because she wanted to see him with his shirt off. So now I shall review The Pack for you. On Monday I'll be doing the next episode as well because I want to watch Willow be adorable I work on Tuesday so this is better for my schedule, so try not to get too sick of me. And now, on with the Buffyness!

Season One: Episode Six

"The Pack"



This episode deals with a classic high school dilemma: how do you handle bullies? At the beginning with Lance, he does the “right” thing in order to help his social standing by not tattling. Xander, once again, does the “correct” thing by stepping in himself instead of calling upon a teacher or principal Flutie. And now here comes Joss’ supernatural twist. Xander, the boy who’s trying to help, ends up getting pulled into the gang via hyena possession. This happens a lot within high school shows and movies where someone starts out fighting for good and ends up crossing the line and going bad; think Means Girls with hyenas.

“Did I do something?” – Willow. As much as I adore her, I really dislike her Xander crush because it causes her to do things like this. She’s in a threesome of friends plus Xander has been away from both her and Buffy yet still, when Xander is acting strange, she immediately thinks it’s her fault.

The next scene withXander acting up and throwing the textbook away while going over math with Willow shows another normal consequence that comes from joining the wrong crowd: neglecting your responsibilities. Xander isn’t the smartest, but he usually tries, but since joining the “cool group” he no longer sees the point in schoolwork and ends up ditching Willow after proclaiming how he’ll “never get it.” This action pushes him further into the group because he’s cutting off all his other outlets (i.e. school and the start of losing Willow.)

Wilbur (which is how I will from now on refer to Herbert the pig) freaks the heck out when Xander walks by giving us our second indication that something is weird with Xander (the first being his weirdness at the Bronze.)

The third occurs now in gym class with mob mentality being shown by the hyena gang. And where the heck is the gym teacher when they all are throwing balls directly at Lance who is curled on the floor in a fetal position? High school is evil.

"I feel no need to stop these children from behaving like animals"

And now Xander continues to destroy everything outside of his new gang by being a complete ass to Willow. And, is it just me or does the hyena gang look like the Cullens?

"I know I look like Alice Cullen. I can see your future, and it ain't lookin' to good"

And now here comes sadness, Wilbur was so cute and they’re going to eat him D=

The hyena gang are now the big bullies on campus and everyone is aware of their presence. Xander looks up at Willow and Buffy and stares at them. Then we move up to listen in on Willow and Buffy’s conversation; again Willow jumps to her being the problem. Buffy is being rational about this while Willow is pulled into the high school drama and thinks that she’s the problem and that Xander is acting like this because she’s not hot like Buffy

Buffy goes straight to Giles who says one of the best lines in the whole episode: “It’s devastating, he’s turned into a 16-year-old boy." He’s also taking the typical adult approach by believing that Xander is acting stupid because of testosterone and not investigating to see if anything is actually wrong, like it generally is on this show.  

And now is Principal Flutie serious? These four teens just ATE A PIG and he’s inviting them into his office to give them detention. They just ATE A PIG! Need I say it again? They ATE AN EFFING PIG!

And now Xander shall attempt to rape Buffy. This is a parallel to people believing that they are so cool and now everyone must want them. And you know he’s crazy because he thinks that being with Willow would be settling!

After Buffy hits Xander with a desk, her and Giles are off to investigate at the zoo where they meet Mr. Creepo. Mr. Creepo tells them about "creepy guys" who tried to experiment and such with hyena possession and tells them to bring the pack to reverse the affects. He then tells them that the pack will search for their missing member once they've rested, meaning Willow is not safe.

“Yeah, creepy guys not like me at all”

And now the school gets torn apart while Willow tries her best not to be killed. Have you ever thought about what it must be like to be a teacher at this school? You can leave your classroom all nice and put together and go back the next day and have desks tossed everyone and your desk a mess. It’s like an OCD teacher’s nightmare.

Buffy and Giles save Buffy and part ways with Buffy drawing the pack to her and Giles and Willow going to the zoo. Then Giles, being insanely intelligent, leaves Willow alone again, that always works out well.

"You stay here, by yourself and vulnerable"

However, we soon learn that it's Giles who isn't safe alone with Mr. Creepo, who looks like he's about to wrestle. Mr. Creepo is the one who has been wanting to be possessed by hyenas (who wouldn't?) and he's angry that these teenagers stole his thunder. 

Willow comes after Giles and Mr. Creepo beings to tie her up. She needs to learn to never let a guy tie her up. Tara, however, can.

The episode now ends with Xander learning of all hyena!Xander has done, even though we learn from Giles that he should have suffered no memory loss. Very funny, Joss

I bring the lulz

Favorite Line: (while talking about Angel) “Some girls might find him good looking…if they have eyes”- Buffy

See you all on Monday!

-Sarah

Kali’s Notes:

Sarah pretty much covered all the major topics here. Bullies are bad. Getting sucked into the wrong crowd is bad. If you do, you might eat a pig alive.

Interesting side note, the book Giles talks about Malleus Maleficarum, in Latin, means "The Hammer of Witches" and was a real book. The main purpose of the Malleus was to attempt to systematically refute arguments claiming that witchcraft does not exist, discredit those who expressed skepticism about its reality, to claim that witches were more often women than men, and to educate magistrates on the procedures that could find them out and convict them. Several people and universities discredited the man that wrote it, but persecution of witches became more brutal following the publication of the Malleus, with witchcraft being accepted as a real and dangerous phenomenon. The book wasn't solely responsible for the witch-hunt craze, but it is a possible contributing factor.

Now you learned something today! Although I doubt this is the actual book Giles references in this episode.

A couple things that I want to mention about Xander. Even though Xander is possessed and being a predatory jerk, he now has the balls to tell Buffy how he feels. We also learn that he's aware of how Willow feels about him, he just pretends like he doesn't to avoid rejecting her. That’s really pretty sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. Also, Xander is once again a big hypocrite. While he in no way gets the upper hand, he tried to rape Buffy (even she mentions sexual assault)! He's possessed so obviously it’s not Xander that’s doing it, but when Spike does that with no soul its worse somehow. We’ll get into greater detail when that episode comes around, but I had to point that out.

Last thing I want to mention is how AWESOME the scene with “The Pack” walking up to the school is. The song Job’s Eyes by Far is just amazing and fitting in its 90’s grunginess plus it’s just a freaking badass song.

Favorite line is again from my boyfriend for this season, Giles:

"Testosterone is the great equalizer, turns all men into morons."