infinitejest | Entries tagged with television analysis

Episode Title: "The Pack"
Writers: Matt Kiene and Joe Reinkemeyer
Episode Number: 1.6

Spoilers. And, as usual, I got my script transcripts from TWIZ TV.

( Demon Lore, in four parts. )

( Slayer Notes. )

( Characterization. )

( Themes. )

( Miscellaneous. )

Giles Knock-Out Count

KO #3: The zookeeper knocks Giles out with his staff-- first a blow to the gut, then a blow to the back/head. He drags him off-stage and into the maintenance area behind one of the walls of the exhibit.

Favorite Quotes

Principal Flutie: "Today it's all gangs and drugs and those movies on Showtime with the nudity. I don't have cable, I only heard."

Coach, on how to play dodgeball: "Now, for those of you that may have forgotten, the rules are as follows: you dodge."

Coach, on dodgeball: "God, this game is brutal. I love it."

Giles: "It's devastating. He's turned into a 16-year-old boy. Of course, you'll have to kill him."

Giles: "Testosterone is a great equalizer. It turns all men into morons. He will, however, get over it."

Buffy: "I can't believe you, of all people, are trying to Scully me."

Willow: "What're you gonna do?"
Giles: "Get my books. Look stuff up."

Buffy: "It shouldn't be too hard to find a new principal. Unless they ask what happened to the last one."

2010 Update

Now that I've actually watched all of The X-Files, I finally caught Buffy's Scully comment in this episode. Heh.

Links

Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Movie
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Origin comic
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.1: "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.2: "The Harvest"
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.3: "The Witch"
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Viva Las Buffy! comic
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.4: "Teacher's Pet"
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.5: "Never Kill A Boy On the First Date"

Crossposts: http://ladyofjest.livejournal.com/18790.html

Episode Title: "Never Kill A Boy On the First Date"
Writer: Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali
Episode Number: 1.5

Spoilers. And, as usual, I got my script transcripts from TWIZ TV.

( Vampire Lore )

( Slayer Notes )

( Characterization )

( Miscellaneous )

( Themes )

Giles' Knock-Out Count

Knock-out #2: Vampire Andrew knocks a cross from Giles hand, then throws him across the room. Giles hits the wall, his head slamming into the button to turn on the incinerator, before he falls to the floor, unconscious.

Favorite Quotes

Buffy, to Giles: "Oh, that's great: I kill them, you fence their stuff."

The Master: "'And one of the Brethren shall go out hunting the night before and get himself killed, because he couldn't wait to finish his job before he ate.' Oh, wait. (grabs one of the Brethren by the throat) That's not written anywhere."

Owen: "I've lost my Emily. Dickinson."

Buffy: "There's some new hoity-toity vampire sect in town."
Willow: "That's bad."
Xander: "Well, hey, they're bringing the much-needed tourist dollars."

Buffy: "Well, in that case I won't wear my button that says, 'I'm a Slayer. Ask me how!'"

Buffy: "If the apocalypse comes, beep me."

Giles: "Buffy, when I said you could slay vampires and have a social life, I didn't mean at the same time."

Links

Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Movie
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Origin comic
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.1: "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.2: "The Harvest"
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.3: "The Witch"
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Viva Las Buffy! comic
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.4: "Teacher's Pet"

Crossposts: http://ladyofjest.livejournal.com/17974.html

Episode Title: "Teacher's Pet"
Writer: David Greenwalt
Episode Number: 1.4

Spoilers, as usual.

( Demon Lore )

( Vampire Lore )

( Sunnydale Lore )

( Characterization )

( Themes )

( Miscellaneous )

Favorite Quotes

Dr. Gregory: "Don't be sorry: be smart."

Mr. Flutie: "Don't say dead! Or decapitated, or decomposing, I'd stay away from D-words altogether."

Mr. Flutie: "We all need help with our feelings. Otherwise we bottle them up, and before you know it, powerful laxatives are involved. I really believe if we all reach out to one another we can beat this thing. I'm always here if you need a hug, (jumps back) but not a real hug! Because there's no touching, this school is sensitive to wrong touching."

Giles on Willow's creative use of the computer: "Right. Wasn't here, didn't see it, couldn't have stopped you."

Xander: "Need should definitely be met as long as it doesn't require ointments the next day."

Xander: "Wow, your hands... are really serrated."

Giles, on the phone: "Frankly, madam, I haven't the faintest idea what time it is, nor do I care. Now, unlock his cell, unstrap him, and bring him to the telephone immediately. This is a matter of life and death!"

Buffy: "Yeah, well he taught me: you do your homework, you learn stuff."

Links:

Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Movie
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Origin comic
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.1: "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.2: "The Harvest"
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.3: "The Witch"
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Viva Las Buffy! comic

Crossposts: http://ladyofjest.livejournal.com/17118.html

Episode Title: "The Witch"
Written by: Dana Reston
Episode Number: 1.3

The usual spoiler warning applies.

( Witch Lore )

( Characterization )

Themes

They continue playing up the theme of there being a huge generation gap preventing adults from understanding children and vice versa. However, I'm more interested in the other theme at this time: that of victimization, fairy tale style.

This story is a fairy tale at its root. Beautiful and accomplished woman becomes trapped by her circumstances (saddled with a husband and a baby). Beautiful woman comes to resent her life, and is wronged when she's cast off for another woman. She pours her resentment into her child, eventually stealing her daughter's youth and beauty out of the desire to recapture her glory days. As a witch, she begins a string of gory spells in blind pursuit of her goal and is foiled by a person with genuinely good intentions. She's locked in a prison of her own making for all eternity, and her daughter, returned to herself, walks free into the Wood.

I like how they handle the theme of victimization. While the rest are quick to blame Amy for the terrible and disfiguring spells they think she's committing, Buffy says:

"It's not Amy's fault. She only became a witch to survive her mother."

This is a loaded statement. It points out that a victim can often be driven to do terrible things to escape that victimization (i.e., go against their true nature or commit crimes in order to become that which is desired by the abuser), but it also points out what can happen to the victim over time. Even when the actual abuse stops, it never really stops. It's still going on inside the victim, and this leads to a choice, sometimes one that has to be made again and again: will the victim become the victimizer, become that which she hates, or will she rise above what was done to her and prevent the legacy from continuing? I've been faced with this before, and I was strong enough to rise above it. Sadly, Amy later proves not to be so strong.

( Miscellaneous )

Giles' Knock-Out Count

This episode allows the debut of the "Giles' Knock-Out Count" section. Much later in the series, I was struck by Giles' comment to the effect of, "Well, I've been knocked out. Now I know I'm back in Sunnydale." Although he got knocked out a lot, I never realized how much of a running gag it must have been backstage of the show. So I've decided to keep track on the re-watch.

So, this would be Knock-Out #1. Catherine sends a table rocketing across the floor, which crashes into Giles and shoves him hard against the wall. He crumples to the floor, unconscious.

Favorite Quotes

Giles:"You have a sacred birthright, Buffy. You were chosen to destroy vampires, not to... wave pompoms at people. And as the Watcher I forbid it."

Giles: "But that's the thrill of living on the Hellmouth! There's a veritable cornucopia of, of fiends and devils and, and ghouls to engage. ... Pardon me for finding the glass half full."

Xander: "Oh, huh, I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away."

Xander: "First vampires, now witches. No wonder you can still afford a house in Sunnydale."

Links

Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Movie
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Origin comic
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.1: "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.2: "The Harvest"

Crossposts: http://ladyofjest.livejournal.com/15752.html

Episode Title: "The Harvest"
Writer: Joss Whedon
Episode Number: 1.2
Notes: This episode is technically a two-parter with "Welcome to the Hellmouth" being part the first.

As per usual, spoilers abound.

( Buffyverse Mythology )

( Vampire Lore )

( Characterization )

( Themes )

( Miscellaneous )

Favorite Quotes

Willow: "Oh, I, I need to sit down."
Buffy: "You are sitting down."
Willow: "Oh, good for me."

The Master: "My ascension is almost at hand. Pray that, when it comes, I'm in a better mood."

Giles: "Alright. The Slayer hunts vampires, Buffy is a Slayer, don't tell anyone. Well, I think that's all the vampire information you need."

Xander: "They can fly?"
Buffy: "They can drive."

Giles, to Willow: "Well, then help me. I've been researching this Harvest affair. It seems to be some sort of preordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on Earth, quite charmless. I'm a bit fuzzy, however, on the details. It may be that you can wrest some information from that dread machine. ... ... That was a bit, um, British, wasn't it?"

Angel: "They really don't like me."
Buffy, sarcastic: "How could that possibly be?"

Xander: "Well, the part of my brain that would tell me to bring that stuff is still busy telling me not to come down here."

Xander: "I don't like vampires. I'm going to take a stand and say they're not good."

Buffy: "So, Giles! Got anything that can make this day any worse?"
Giles: "How about the end of the world?"
Buffy: "Knew I could count on you."

Luke: "Ladies and Gentlemen! There is no cause for alarm. Actually, there is cause for alarm. It just won't do any good."

Luke: "Tonight is his ascension. Tonight will be history at its end! Yours is a glorious sacrifice! Degradation most holy. What? No volunteers?!"
I love how offended he sounds that no one volunteers.

Buffy: "There's something you forgot about, too. Sunrise! ... It's in about nine hours, moron!"

Buffy: "Well, we averted the Apocalypse. I give us points for that."

( Favorite quotes continued... )

Links:

Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Movie
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Origin comic
Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.1: "Welcome to the Hellmouth"

Crossposts: http://ladyofjest.livejournal.com/14961.html

I posted last week about the first five True Blood minisodes, briefly analyzing the themes I felt they invoked and also writing a bit about where I felt the story was going. (This included spoilers from Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries series.)

Now, I've finally watched the final installment:

"Jason"
This scene immediately follows Jason ( spoilers for the end of S2 ). It's incredibly recursive, dense with flashbacks of the first two seasons, as memories of Jason's past mistakes and experiences boil through his mind. Jason, as Jason is so good at doing, freaks out incoherently. In the closing moments of the minsode, we see two eyes regarding him from the underbrush.

( Spoilers for the books and so, probably, for the show. Includes my predictions for S3. )

Okay, that's enough noodling around for the night. Have I mentioned that I love my cracktastic vampire soap opera?

Over the past several weeks, HBO has been airing True Blood minisodes online. If you're into the show, you should definitely watch them: the HBO site is horribly unwieldy, unfortunately, so I'd recommend checking them out on YouTube instead.

These 3-5 minute minisodes have been fleshing out the end of S2 with little moments that happened off-screen, preparing us for the in media res beginning to S3. I think they're doing more than that, of course: I think they're also invoking themes that will be important throughout the new season.

Fair warning: spoilers for the minisodes are uncut since I'm discussing them. Watch them at the links before reading. There are spoilers for S2, the very beginning of S3, and book-spoilers behind the cuts.

"Eric and Pam"
If the show were tied more closely to the books, you'd expect Eric and Pam to be interviewing new bartenders: Fangtasia does tend to go through them once Sookie becomes a regular feature of their (un)lives. Instead, they're interviewing dancers and this seems largely designed to ( spoiler ).

"Jessica"
The intentions here seem pretty obvious: the minisode comforts us that Jessica is still a good person inside, softening the rawness of seeing her ( spoiler for end of S2 ). It also highlights her mischief, pointing out that, good or not, she's still going to go astray.

"Sookie, Tara, and Lafayette"
I really hate it when they show Sookie and Tara fighting: it tends to get pretty damn ugly. Sookie's touchiness in response to Tara's questioning of Bill's finances (and the part of his life that secures those finances) possibly foreshadows the discovery of a whole side of Bill Compton that she knows nothing about. This would jive with the novels, considering ( spoiler ).

"Sam"
Here we see Sam desperately trying to destroy the symbol of the Maenad's power, before finally desecrating it in puerile fashion. Well, given he's a shifter, I suppose it's not that puerile: it is how a dog marks his property, after all. In any case, I think this emphasizes Sam's need to take control of his fate, and that slots in nicely with the trailers that suggest he's seeking out his birth family.

"Bill"
This was the best minisode, hands down: it is hilarious and eminently quotable. I think it slightly invokes more consideration of those shadowy sides of Bill by depicting his willingness to glamour a human for such a relatively simple benefit. As much as I resented them downplaying Eric to play up Bill (as compared to the book characters), I'll be sad to see them tear Vampire Bill down even a bit.

There was one last minisode released just last night about Jason, but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. I'll make another post reflecting on it and the trailers sometime this weekend, after I've had a chance to finish my re-watch of S2.

For those of you who've watched all the minisodes: thoughts?

Episode Title: "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
Writer: Joss Whedon
Episode Number: 1.1
Notes: This episode is technically a two-parter with "The Harvest" being the second part.

And so Buffy the Vampire Slayer begins its metamorphosis from a one-shot cheesy movie into a multi-faceted, quirky genre-bending television show. This first episode takes Joss' desire to give the Blonde Damsel in Distress walking boots and weapons and shoves it even more into center stage.

By the way, as with my earlier posts, I'm more concerned with discussing mythology, themes, characterization, and relationships here. In my analyses of Buffy episodes, you won't really be finding any summaries or episode reviews. So, if that's the kind of thing you want, it's best not to waste too much time reading these.

Now, on with the show.

( spoilers abound )

Favorite Quotes

Giles: "Then why are you here?"
Buffy: "To tell you that I don't care. Which I don't, and I have now told you. So bye."

Buffy: "To make you a vampire, they have to suck your blood. And then you have to suck their blood. It's like a whole big sucking thing. Mostly, they're just going to kill you. Why am I still talking to you?"

Buffy: "From now on, I'm only going to hang out with the living."

Buffy: "Seize the moment because tomorrow you might be dead."

Buffy: "I didn't say I'd never slay another vampire. It's not like I have all these fluffy bunny feelings for them, I'm just not going to get way extra-curriculuar with it. You know, if I see one, sure--"
(See, I just find this comment to be so ironic in light of her later extra-curricular activities with the blood-sucking undead...)

Giles: "But you didn't...hone."

Buffy: "Now, we can do this the hard way or... well, actually, there's just the hard way."
Darla: "That's fine with me."
Buffy: "Are you sure? Now this is not gonna be pretty. We're talking violence, strong language, adult content..."

Whew. I cannot keep doing this for EVERY episode. I'm hoping that this post was just so much work because I'm dealing with the set-up. As soon as characterization and patterns are developed, these posts should drop down to something much more manageable.