"Buffy The Vampire Slayer" Season Six Reviews (Spoilers)

[matt_zimmer]

Also reviews for the season premiere of What If...?, the latest episodes of Chip 'N' Dale: Part Life, and the novel Finders Keepers.



Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Bargaining, Part 1"

This was a bit of a surprise. A good one. Considering how much I hated the season I totally forgot that the premiere was solid. Buffy is notorious for terrible season premieres and I mixed it up in my head that because the season sucked, the premiere must have too, But thinking back on it I think I liked it back in the day too. I think UPN sort of went a bit above and beyond qualitywise for the premiere because a lot of people were concerned about the change of networks. And yeah, it's good.

There is so much to go over, and I think I will have things to complain about in the second part. But what's interesting to me now, and was the selling point of doing it then, is that Buffy's death last season never struck the audience as permanent. Maybe if the show had ended there, it would be different, but the UPN negotiations were pretty widely publicized. And with one of the main cast members being a powerful witch it's a no-brainer to bring the character back from the dead. Regardless of how I feel about dark and light magic, and how the show tried to supposedly have Willow's poor behavior excused by the practice's supposedly addictive nature, it is definitely a well-thought out idea to suggest that bringing the main character back from the dead was the wrong move. And every episode in Season 6 and 7 sort of solidified that idea and proved the point. What many viewers took for as a given and a cheap way out of a supposedly phony death, the show took it seriously. I think a LOT of the consequences that sprung from it seem unrelated, stupid, and annoying. But I take note that the show decided to explore consequences to this to begin with. Season 6 sucked. But this premiere showed that it had potential, and it might not have destroyed itself with a different showrunner. Marti Noxon wrote a solid premiere. It's her long-term planning of arcs and character development that damned the season later on.

People decry the ruin of Spike's character, and damn it, as much as I wound up hating Spike, I do sympathize. If you want to get right down to it, he's more interesting in this specific episode than he's ever been. There is really no reason to fight alongside the heroes anymore. He doesn't even have a conscience to speak of. Except it seems he weirdly does, which makes his frustration over refusing to leave Dawn alone fascinating, but if you ask me, makes him even more culpable for the ill-advised attempted rape later in the season than he already was. Him helping Giles is good. His disdain of the Buffybot's sexualization of him is good. I resent the ruin of the character too because at this point they could have done great things based on these first two episodes back. The fact that the show decided instead to literally destroy itself speaks poorly of not just Marti Noxon, but Joss Whedon giving her the free reign to destroy everything he spent five seasons building up.

I love Spike's impression of Giles' life flashing before his eyes: "Cup of tea. Cup of tea. Almost got shagged. Cup of tea."

A criticism of the series is due, and I would have griped about in in "The Gift", but it didn't register for me that last viewing. But it did this time for this episode. Willow should not be able to project her voice into Spike's mind and read his thoughts. According to the episode "Earshot" from Season 3, vampires cannot have their minds read because it's like the mirror, and your thoughts are reflected back on you instead. But let me be brutally honest. I don't blame this episode for ignoring that (or the series Angel later ignoring it either). In reality, that was a STUPID storytelling mistake by Jane Espensen back then, who tends to accidentally weaken the long-term health of the shows she writes for without intending to. Damn, that specific thing, done as a cheap gag, really boxed the writers in, or would have if they didn't just choose to ignore it. But "Earshot" is a flawed episode because of the Angel stuff, and this episode proves it.

I love how freaked out Dawn is when the Buffybot says she's her sister and she loves her and give her a hug. I'm like, "Damn, I can't even PICTURE the level of pain that girl must be feeling." In the past I have expressed disdain for this show putting characters through pain no real person can relate to. But even if this is that, it's the right thing to explore.

Honestly, I find Willow's leadership of the Scoobies entirely lacking. We'll get into that more in the next couple of episodes but the jarring thing is Willow fixing the Buffybot so demons wouldn't know Buffy was dead... While her damn grave is marked and VERY easy to find. And you can blame Joss Whedon's insistence on ending last season on a shot of the grave. Truth is, the idea is super shady to begin with.

As is Willow's idea to resurrect Buffy in the first place. As far as potentially being trapped in a demon dimension, Willow has absolutely no reason to think this. Forget no proof. There is no reason she should be thinking a hell dimension is a potential reality for Buffy. None of the facts of her death supported it. "Mystical energy"? That right there is Willow trying on a excuse to bring back Buffy for entirely selfish reasons and pretend she's doing her at -peace friend a favor.

I feel like the arc of the arc season went totally off the rails early on, and the show kept pushing the limits to how much the audience was willing to tolerate from it. But I'll give the episode this. One you see Willow kill the fawn, it's clear she's the villain of the season. And she would have been in spirit even if Warren hadn't killed Tara, and she hadn't gone "dark" in retribution. That moment says Willow is the villain. Even more than flaying Warren did. And it happened MUCH earlier on too.

It's not just Spike noting the Buffybot got along famously at the parent teacher conference because she's a predictable automaton. I thought that was pretty evident at the meeting itself, and even if Spike had not perfectly articulated it later on to Dawn, I thought as far as allegories go, it was pretty sly. The show stopped doing sly allegories soon after this. But it's a clever moral for this episode anyways.

We'll discuss that further in the next review, but that was a strong as hell opening with a killer (or rather living) closing shot. ****1/2.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Bargaining, Part 2"

That was powerful with a lot of great moments. Buffy asking if this was Hell is a perfect set-up to the end of the next episode. But I need to say, the episode does a few majorly questionable things that I think would have been danger signs for a different show than the one we spent the last five seasons invested in. We didn't see it imploding coming. But this episode had some warning signs and red damn flags.

The first major red flag is a red flag because it's not played as such. But Razor essentially threatens to have his biker gang, gang-rape Willow and her friends. The sinister implication of him smirking that some of his boys are "anatomically incompatible" and are likely to tear them up is a major part of that threat.

He's a thought. No.

No.

That's not acceptable for a piece of primetime entertainment, especially one that used to be aimed at teenagers. You need to have your villain threaten that specific thing to up their scariness to the viewer? You, Marti Noxon, have simply created a crappy villain. I am not saying the threat of rape cannot be used in fiction. I have in fact used it in some of the darker issues of Gilda And Meek And The Un-Iverse involving Vic Puff. What you CANNOT do is have that threat be so casual. Have it be a mere gimmick of how to prove the villain's bonafides. Season 6 of Buffy is wholly immoral, and right from this episode Marti Noxon is treating rape as a gag / gimmick instead of a trauma. And maybe people would have ganged up on this episode more at the time if it weren't for the fact that the threat itself isn't made a huge deal, and the dude is killed before ANY of his gang get anywhere with it.

But no. You don't do that in a proper bit of fiction. You do that if you are Game of Thrones and a terrible series written by terrible people. I think this season, that actually described Buffy The Vampire Slayer. In no small part that a threat of a gang-rape is brushed off and ignored by the writers immediately after it happens.

Spike taking care of Dawn even though he is evil is SO freaking fascinating and another reason I am furious Noxon ruined the character.

I mentioned I was gonna add some complaints from the last episode to this one. Here is one, and why I believe both Joss Whedon and Marti Noxon should get their privileges revoked from the League of Dramatic Writers: The first season episode "Nightmares" established that Buffy has a deep-seated fear of being buried alive. It never occurred to either Noxon OR Whedon to call that back and make the scenario that Buffy dug her way out of her own grave a thousand times worse? The show is repeatedly chasing after bad unearned drama this year. They had a perfect excuse to up the stakes exponentially with Buffy's suffering there and didn't remember to do it.

Do you know the messed up thing? This is not a Hindsight / Eyes Wide Open gripe. I was disappointed it was never brought up back when this aired. It's an actual failing.

I doubt many of y'all watched the premiere the night it aired, but it was shortly after 9/11, and there was some controversy about the sensitivity of showing Glory's tower being knocked down. I feel like if anything, the last vestige of the Beast's evil falling to the Earth feels even MORE powerful and necessary with that subtext. Uncomfortable? Yes. And the right moment.

My biggest gripe of the episode is how the show treated the destruction of the Buffybot. The other characters didn't care much about it. But damn it, the audience DID. It deserved better, and for the Scoobies to actually show a little damn compassion for the most innocent character currently on the series. I get the show didn't want to have to deal with two Buffys going forward. But if they needed to destroy her, they could at least have done right by her when doing so. A great death can be a powerful thing. A wasted death that nobody cares about? Is not okay.

I am still reasonably happy with the episode as the second part of the premiere, but My Eyes Are Wide Open and I see some incredibly disturbing and troubling things that didn't quite register with me before this rewatch. Most disturbing is asking myself WHY I didn't object to all this before now. How could I possibly have let some of these things slide before I rewatched this tonight? I don't just think less of the show for this. I think less of myself too. ****.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "After Life"

Wow. That ending;. Cuts me like a knife. Sarah Michelle Gellar didn't just play it to the hilt. I think the way James Marsters played it deserves praise. He is seriously disturbed and outraged on her behalf. And her admonishment that her friends could never know. Man, I get why they grew closer.

I do have to say the "I always save you," thing is super creepy in hindsight. And I would have thought that even if the attempted rape hadn't occurred.

I love Anya claiming the demon isn't a price but a gift with purchase. I will never get tired of how literal that character is.

Willow nervously asks Tara if her wanting to be thanked for bringing Buffy back makes her a bad person. Yes, Willow it does make you a bad person. The worst in fact. It's weird that you think it might not, especially considering the damage you did to that poor woman.

And Dawn. Dawn. Her telling Willow taking Buffy back now is worse than never bringing her back at all feels righteous when she asks her what gives her the right to play with people's lives.

Spike and Xander's confrontation is amazing to me. Xander is kind of looking down on Spike as the creeper perv he always viewed him as, but Spike feels legit betrayal by him. Because he fought beside him all summer. Him speculating that Willow kept him out of the loop because he'd protect whatever came back if the spell went wrong, was never clearly decided on the show, but it does seem to me the most likely scenario. Him saying there are consequences to magic is him summing up the entire season without having to actually ruin it (yet).

Buffy standing in front of the statue with the angel wings was sort of genius foreshadowing back in the day, but despite being a great visual, in 2023 it now has the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and the allegory lands with a thud. Great for back in the day. A groaner by modern standards.

One of the best moments in the episode is Buffy looking at the picture of Joyce and pretty much losing her all over again. WHILE she's in Hell. If it feels especially cruel in hindsight, at least it's the right episode for it.

I notice Buffy marked the fact that Willow actually deserved the blame for bringing her back. Before it was a group effort. But Buffy has to put on a fake smile and thank Willow for destroying her existence and well-being. Ugh. So freaking complicated.

Spike immediately noticing the injured hands because he crawled out of his own coffin himself is another reason Buffy is currently relating to him better than her friends.

That ending kills me dead every time. Even if the rest of the episode feels a bit disjointed and uneven at points. ****.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Flooded"

Trouble ahead. Not necessarily in this episode. But there are warning signs.

In hindsight, I think the Trio is the worst of the various Buffy villains. Big Bad, Little Bad, the Trio is the worst and doesn't work at all. Why? It's because they have perhaps the absolute worst motivation for a fictional villain you can imagine: They're bored. Robbing people and causing chaos is how they cure their boredom. Jonathan, Warren, and Andrew are a triple threat of sociopathy and narcissism. And no, I won't just say this toxicity is just down to Warren. That's the easy answer the show tried to get me to swallow. But Jonathan putting up making Buffy their sex slave On The Board says these guys are already the worst.

I resent the ending of Warren saying "Don't be such geeks." It implies there is a harmlessness to the Trio. That would be okay if they were harmless. But ultimately the only Big Bad to do the Scoobies bigger damage than Warren was Angelus. So I don't appreciate them ending their first episode on a laughline.

On the other hand, I love that that the sex slave thing is being treated a joke at this stage of the game. Because for many nerdy viewers who identify with Jonathan, Warren, and Andrew's geekage, sex slaves are a fun trope and secret fantasy. Only later in the season the reality is brought home by Katerina crying "Rape!" and suddenly these lovable doofs are monsters. And while I didn't appreciate their ending in the episode being a harmless gag, I do appreciate that the love slave thing is not made aware to the viewer how harmful it is ahead of time.

I felt Giles' fury at Willow was righteous. And here is why Willow sucks: Even if she didn't agree, she's actually surprised this is his reaction. If Willow were the hot magic babe thinks she is instead of the rank arrogant amateur Giles rightly called her out for being, she'd know Giles would be super pissed and sort of approach him delicately with her tail tucked between her legs. Instead she's outraged he doesn't admire her for it, which is just about the most vulgar (and insane) reaction I could picture. How about letting Giles be mad, Willow? Because he's mad for the right reasons! Let him vent. Take it. And work through it. Instead she's threatens him? How dare she? Who does she think she is?

I can't tell if it's a good thing or a bad thing Spike offering to "thin the herd" gets a smile out of Buffy. As far as Buffy's emotional health and the Spuffy ship in general goes, it probably counts as a bad thing. Considering how Buffy has to constantly keep smiling smiles she doesn't feel in front of them all? It sounds like a half reasonable (or at least funny) idea.

Todd Stashwick on my TV way back in 2001? That dude has been on TV forever, and is MUCH older than he currently looks. Also it's nice he's graduated to some leading man roles in the meantime, because he has a rugged handsomeness to him, and back then he always got cast as monsters and alien goons in heavy make-up. Like here. Simply because he's huge. But the dude can stretch a little, even if he's best at playing buttholes.

I love that Anya is mad that Xander doesn't back her up on the Spider-Man thing. First of all, Xander happens to be right about Spider-Man. But for Anya, it's part of Xander's larger agenda to kiss her and fool her with comforting words, trying to make her forget why she's pissed. When she storms off saying, "When are you going to grow up, Xander?" I pretty much punched the air.

Say what you will about UPN and The WB, they lined things up easily enough for the shows to still coordinate endings like that, even if crossovers were off the table until Buffy's series finale. It's even more impressive realizing that the shows no longer aired new episodes one right after the other and having the timing of the airings of each episode of Buffy and Angel running off to meet each other must have been tough.

This is not going to be a fun season. And I don't think I am going to be a particularly fun reviewer either. ***.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Life Serial"

The last act is aces, but I have problems with the rest of the episode. We'll get to that awesome last act by the end of the review, but I don't feel like the writing was as strong as it needed to be.

Especially during the test at the construction site. Okay, I can buy Buffy's sexist coworkers denying she saved their lives after the fact. But the idea that she knocked the foreman unconscious when saving his life from the demon so he doesn't actually see her heroics is bargain basement writing. And I have to say I'm angered Xander doesn't stick up for Buffy. Maybe not as far as the firing goes. But they were making a ton of rude and sexist remarks. They said the time of the month thing in front of Xander and he sheepishly pretended like he didn't hear it. Some friend. I understand he doesn't want to lose his job, but it's my understanding that he's good at it and has a LOT of credibility at the site. I would think if he told the guys to be respectful they would have listened to him. But that would involve putting his reputation on the line for the friend who's saved his life hundreds of times and the world itself a half dozen times too. It's a bad look.

Also, the "r-word". No. This is why Buffy The Vampire Slayer is unacceptable. It's a really hard show to defend while it has that word in so many episodes.

Again, I think the Trio suck. Their motivations sucks, they're an annoyance instead of a threat, and all three have repulsive personalities. I won't lie. The bit about the mummy hand ceasing to be, and an ex-mummy hand was pretty good. But their James Bond arguments were working my last nerve, and while they are bringing up the time loops of Star Trek: The Next Generation and The X-Files it never actually ONCE occurs to them to mention "Groundhog Day"? Are these guys actual nerds or not? That is shoddy. Did the writers skip the room's elephant because they thought Groundhog Day was too mainstream a reference? If so, it's another reason I believe the show often completely misread nerd culture in Season 6. NO nerd would overlook Groundhog Day. Mainstream or not. That's not how nerds work.

The scene of Buffy in the college class was pure cringe. I've never actually been in a college class, but if that scene is truly credible I'll eat my hat.

So we get to the great last act. The kitten poker scene just exploded my imagination and I wound up writing an entire comic book story in homage to it (and it's one of my better Stella Stickyfingers stories). The reveal is hilarious as is Buffy's reaction. I love her drunkenly freeing the kittens and accusing Spike of being a neutered vampire who cheats at kitten poker. To which Spike replies, "Oh, you noticed the cheating, did you?" Despite the fact at how poorly the season handled their relationship, I find the fact that Buffy seems to like him now, despite him being evil, is kind of interesting. I think for a LOT of Buffy's thought processes regarding her feelings for Spike, I don't wanna know. But before it became the huge mess it did when things were consummated, I recall having questions and taking interest in how that kind of friendship could actually work.

Clem is hardly as lovable here as he wound up becoming. He's kind of a jerk to start out with.

I was gonna give this 2 star episode 3 and a half stars for kitten poker alone. But going over everything else before it in my mind like I just did makes me feel that is WAY overly generous. 3 stars is respectable for an episode with this many problems, but it's the best I can do. ***.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "All The Way"

I was actually kind of hoping I would like that (there were individual elements that impressed me back in the day) but in hindsight, it's freaking terrible. I'm wondering if this is a season 6 thing or not, but this felt like an episode that could do little right.

The creepy old man was over the top and it was a nice surprise the teen vamp killed him at the end of the first act break. And I love that Spike watches the Great Pumpkin like a person. And him being personally offended at the vampires not taking the Halloween off was a good moment too.

What's wrong? Everything else.

The episode somehow manages to have all of the characters frame marriage in the scariest terms possible to show Xander that it's a bad thing. Willow's magic addiction plot feels even more hamfisted in hindsight and her fight with Tara was poorly acted by both Alyson Hannigan and Amber Benson. Buffy expecting Giles to "take care of things" for her feels especially egregious because the writers deliberately had her put that in the most clueless and insensitive manner possible, which is pretty much what the entire episode is.

Unpleasant thoughts: The Dawn teenage make-out stuff is pure cringe just based on the dialogue alone. Either the show has gotten VERY shoddy at teenage flirtations, or we let a LOT of crap slide in the first two seasons we shouldn't have. Pretty sure it's the second thing. But this feels like the show being a parody of itself at the point. Worse, knowing that Michelle Trachtenberg felt unsafe with Joss Whedon on-set, and was not allowed to be alone with him because he couldn't be trusted makes the kissing she has to do feel especially creepy, and as if she's being a bit objectified. At her age? Yuck. And that's not something I should ever be thinking, but that's how off the rails the show has become about stuff like that. And it only gets worse during the rest of the season.

That was bad. And the scary thing is that I did not remember it being particularly so. I HATED the rest of the season back in the day. I dread thinking about how it's going to come across to me if this episode that I formerly found so inoffensive made me cringe so much. Ugh. *1/2.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Once More, With Feeling"

Where do we go from here?

I have an unhappy opinion about musical episodes. Almost all of them, with a couple of exceptions (like this very episode) are horrible. They are damaging. They are poorly written. They are stupid. They are cheap. They are tedious. They are cringe. Almost all of them. They never fit the shows that use them, and any excuse the show uses to explain the singing in the story is always completely lame and stupid. And I won't lie, "Once More, With Feeling" is imperfect. Willow and Tara's crappy song feeds into how terrible almost all other musical episodes are. And the less said about Dawn's creepy child bride stuff, the better. Michelle Trachtenberg claims Joss Whedon was not allowed only in the room with her when she was 15 years old. Gee, I wonder why.

I have and will say my share of bad things about Whedon. But he did the musical episode right for one of the few times in the trope's history. I also liked the musical episodes for Xena: Warrior Princess and Batman: The Brave And The Bold. But literally every other musical episode I've ever seen is, no exaggeration, horrible.

What sets Once More With Feeling apart from other crappy musical episodes? The first thing seems obvious, but for me it's not actually a deal-breaker. But still the fact that MOST of the songs are amazing is a victory. I noted "I'm Under Your Spell" sucks and both "I've Got A Theory" and "I'm Standing In The Way" are weak too. But "Going Through The Motions" is a fun opening, "I'll Never Tell" has some funny byplay between Xander and Anya, "Let Me Rest In Piece" works as a great and angry Rock Ballad for Spike, "Walk Through The Fire" is a great crescendo, and both "Life's A Show" and "Where Do We Go From Here?" are pretty much perfect showstoppers. This is unusual for musical episodes (to put it mildly).

Why else does it work? The reason for the singing is ludicrous as usual, but Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a drama that already has a LOT of silly broad comedy in it. It fits the Universe better than any other drama attempting it. Even most comedies (like Scrubs) weren't able to pull it off because it felt stupid. This is probably also the precise reason I liked the Batman and Xena musicals too.

What else? People LOVED Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' musical episode but I hated it. Everyone was TOO good of a singer. They were belting out showstoppers. In an episode where people are showing vulnerabilities by singing secrets they don't want to share, it HELPS that most of the cast here besides Anthony Stewart Head and James Marsters are unprofessional singers at best, and shoddy at worst. Buffy's songs would not mean as much to me as they do if Sarah Michelle Gellar belted them out like a diva. It's the heart and vulnerability in her voice telling them they pulled her out of Heaven that tears my guts out. If she were a great singer, it wouldn't mean as much to me. The lack of polish is the selling point. Deidrich Bader didn't even sing his own songs in "Mayhem Of The Music Meister!" so it's not like Batman: The Brave And The Bold's musical ep was perfect to begin with either.

So those are the reasons this works for one of the few times ever. I might as well talk about the arc stuff next.

I find the romantic kiss between Spike and Buffy at the end beyond problematic. It hints their relationship is a Hollywood Ending when it's nothing but toxic and dysfunctional later on instead, and leads to an attempted rape. Talk about misrepresenting the scenario. I feel incredibly angry in hindsight that it was botched as badly as it was. Yes, that was almost certainly Marti Noxon's fault. But Whedon let it happen. It's his show, and he signed off on Noxon destroying it. He is not blameless even if he didn't have much to do with the rest of this season besides this episode.

And yeah, the Dawn stuff is creepy. Technically, Labyrinth had a similar amount of cringe going for it in the young woman discovering sensuality for the first time. But Jim Henson was Jim Henson, and you KNOW Henson is protective of kids, and wasn't actually exploiting Jennifer Connelly in her dancing scenes with David Bowie. But Whedon wasn't JUST knocked out by the MeToo movement by Charisma Carpenter. Trachtenberg says he perved on her too when she was just a kid. And seeing the way he's dressed her here and the things he's had her do on the show, it's super gross. You forgive Labyrinth because you know the set was still safe for Jennifer Connelly. You don't Buffy The Vampire Slayer because you know it was hell for Michelle Trachtenberg.

In hindsight, I think Hinton Battle as Sweet is one of the best One-And-Done Buffy Villains ever. Not just because he survives. But because he's fair. Knowing it was Xander who cast the spell lets him say although he's tempted, he'll let the clause slide just this once. Dawn is a fool for hoping he's a good demon. But I will argue he's not an entirely bad one.

I think other shows saw "Once More With Feeling" and took the wrong lesson from it. The lesson they took was "This is a fun trope everybody should try!" Without understanding the REAL lesson is "Very few fictional shows have elastic enough premises to make this believable and work." Even "Once Upon A Time", a show based on Disney Fairytales made a terrible musical episode. A show that can sustain the premise is rare enough. But having good songs, a strong script, and even the right mix of different quality singers is near impossible to find. When it comes to musical episodes most franchises need to understand they aren't built for it. What's weird is I don't think most people actually even LIKE musical episodes. I could be wrong, but I think most people simply tolerate them. More credit than I'LL give them, tolerance is, but it's also not a trope that is remotely fan-demanded. I think fans put up with them instead of liking them. I suggest we all stop doing that. Enough is enough. Very few franchise could ever make "Once More, With Feeling". And the truth is Buffy's famous musical episode IS actually imperfect and slightly overrated. If Buffy The Vampire Slayer is making these kind of visible stumbles in the greatest musical episode that ever existed, what chance do House and Riverdale stand? Come on now. Be real. ****1/2.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Tabula Rasa"

In reality, it's one of the stronger episodes of a poor season. In hindsight I'm not going to love it.

The jokes between Rupert and Randy worked. As did the magically appearing bunnies. And the loan shark is an amazing villain. He said something very funny when Spike claimed he needed more time to get him his kittens, that was also very deep: "Time turns kittens into cats."

The problem in the episode is how irredeemably detestable Willow is. And I can't think of any good reason for it, which is the biggest failing of the season. Willow is a good person. Willow loves Tara. So showing her deliberately hurting her as some sort of cautionary addiction tale is both ridiculous and maddening. Literally. I'm mad about it. It shouldn't be happening.

"Goodbye To You" is one of the best songs the show has used for a closing montage. And again the tenderness in the last shot totally misrepresents how Marti Noxon plans to fail Buffy and Spike.

While I will concede it's noticeable and fascinating that without his memory Spike has no idea he is evil. It's also not remotely credible. That's not how vampires work.

The King Ralph bit is funny, but nobody young seeing the episode fresh would get it. Also, King Ralph wasn't actually funny, so maybe the joke NEVER was.

Tara noting how it's a violation after what Glory did to her is why Willow is unforgivable. And Tara wasn't exactly asking for the moon there. The fact that Willow can say in a straight face she loves this woman, and ask in a shy baby voice if she's gonna leave her, and doesn't even put in the bare minimum effort there means Willow is a bad person, whether she's gone on a killing spree yet or not.

They were really infantilizing amnesiac Dawn which struck me as totally unnecessary, and something that should only happen on a worse-written show.

The Randy bits were funny. "Randy Giles? No wonder I hate you," as was Spike realizing he's English too. Bonus points for Spike not actually misusing any of the slang. Whedon is usually incredibly sloppy there but listing it out of context works all right. It doesn't always.

The spikes. The spikes were hilarious.

I'd feel better about the nasty Giles and Anya kiss if it actually changed things between them going forward. Since it didn't, it's just awkward, gross, and weird for no reason.

This is NOT actually a great episode. What makes me most unhappy about realizing this is knowing it's pretty much all downhill from here. ***.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Smashed"

That was ghastly. A shark jump and an irreversible one. The series never recovered. That was appalling. God, I feel SO bad for Sarah Michelle Gellar. She deserved SO much better.

In the commentary writer Drew Z Greenberg, a guy who I will now always hate, complimented Joss Whedon for giving the note that after Greenberg envisioned Willow making the two louts kiss, that Whedon rightly told him 1. He shouldn't be sending the message that you can turn your orientation on and off like a switch, and 2. He shouldn't be treating it like a punishment. Greenberg was really impressed by that, and at the time I kind of was too. In hindsight, it seems a self-evident message. Whedon is not amazing for knowing it. He just contained a lick of common sense that Greenberg did NOT. And Greenberg deserves MUCH scorn for that fact and any praise Whedon gets should be measured. It's actually super obvious.

Another reason to hate the episode: Andrew claims he's seen every episode of Doctor Who. Written by someone who knows nothing about the franchise and how many lost episodes there are that could NEVER have been viewed by a person of Andrew's age and country of origin. The Red Dwarf reference was more impressive. I'll give them that. That is a Brit sci-fi staple and this episode is really the only time in pop culture I'd seen that show referenced. But the Doctor Who quip is pure garbage.

Beside Amy getting that lesbian to mack on Willow WAS sending the message that feelings can be turned on and off like a switch. The bad message there was sent, whether there was homophobia attached to it or not.

I never forgave the show for this. 0.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Wrecked"

It is my theory (that has yet to be proven wrong) that every great series, no matter HOW great it is, is two bad episodes in a row from being a terrible series. The wrong 2 episodes in a row can not just destroy a series, but make any possible future improvements impossible. The two wrong episodes, if they follow one another, make a show's decline irreversible. No matter what.

Weclome to Episode 2 for Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The show never recovered.

This episode is so loathsome and painful to watch I am going to basically discuss my disgust in brief rather than detail. Focusing on how gross this is will just make me angry and not add any additional insights besides "That sucked."

Let's see: The beginning of the season was fooling people in believing Buffy and Spike had some sort of deep connection and friendship. Both "Once More With Feeling" and "Tabula Rasa" hinted an epic love story was in the making. Here Buffy and Spike treat each other like dirt and the entire thing is a master class in degradation. Marti Noxon claims a lot of the season's rough sex came from her experiences as a younger woman. Let me just say, it's not fair to shove her hang-ups into the audience's faces. Nobody who watched this show ever signed up for this crap. Noxon needs to freaking leave her therapy to the professionals, instead of injecting her gross habits into a previously good show because she's mentally unstable. After Whedon was outed as a creep, Noxon declared solidarity with the female cast members who spoke their truth. You ask me, she was every bit a part of that set's toxicity as he was. Whedon NEVER put Gellar in the kinds of humiliating and degrading scenes Noxon did. And Whedon was pretty famous for degrading his female leads. But is a whole other level.

Also "Strawberries". Noxon needed professional help that we as an audience cannot give her. And I don't WANT to help a person that gross and broken anyways.

One last interesting tidbit to note before I give one of the very worst episodes of the entire series its deserved zero star grade: It is only the second episode in Buffy history (besides the Pilot) where we see garlic. It's actually a repellent for vampires after all. It's just clearly nonlethal which is why we almost never see it.

The show is utterly ruined and I am disgusted. 0.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Gone"

Do you know what pisses me off? The social worker was right that Dawn had a crappy home life and deserved to be taken away. And invisible Buffy messes with her to make her think she's going crazy and potentially lose her job. That isn't remotely fair.

The stuff with Spike remains totally gross.

The invisible fight was probably a neat conceit back in the day, but now it just bores me, and I don't see the humor in it.

Warren is an irredeemable jerk, but he's right that the only reason Lex Luthor doesn't kill Superman is because it's Superman's book. It's not like he doesn't try.

The series is currently working my last nerve. This rewatch has become a slog. *1/2.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Doublemeat Palace"

I remembered hating this episode, and I looked at the writing credits, and of course, it's Jane Espensen. She is universally beloved by fandom, and makes every show she writes for MUCH worse than if she weren't involved. I don't understand why both of those things are true. But they are. Because she's bright, and sunny, and real, and funny in real life interviews! The fact that she screws up every show she writes for doesn't even matter to her fans. It's the access into the process that is Espensen's selling point. If you go by episodes like "Doublemeat Palace" it certainly isn't the work.

Most sites I post the reviews on frown on discussing politics but I probably need to sort of talk a LITTLE about the topic for the main reason the episode hits me wrong. And again this has to do with both Espensen and Joss Whedon personally. But Espensen probably considers herself progressive, and an ally to the labor movement. But really if you unpack the messages of the episode, this isn't giving sympathy to people with hard jobs. It's shaming them for them. The prison door clink as the timecard is punched is meant to evoke a sense of helplessness.

Excuse me? Who decided fast food work is a crap job? What gives Espensen, "ally extraordinaire", the right to look down on people making an honest living, rather than shoveling crap out into the world and being unjustly praised for it? The idea that Buffy now humiliatingly smells bad is treating the character like she's turning tricks down by the dock, instead of doing an honest job many people who watch the show probably have. What an insult to them that is. And it pisses me off about people from my side of the aisle, and it's one of the reason so many low-income hard-working people believe the politicians I advocate on behalf of don't believe in THEM deep down. There are larger societal issues than that (including racism, of course) but that crap from my side doesn't help. At all. Nobody on the left should be snickering at and looking down on people in the service industry. Randy is portrayed as insane for taking his job seriously and caring about it. And that is everything that is wrong with people like Jane Espensen and the writers of this show. It's sickening, it pisses me off, and it's so totally on-brand for the kind of toxicity the show routinely trafficks in. Whedon supposedly created the show because he never had a good day in high school. Instead much of the humor and messaging of the show venerates the cruel and the bullies. And Whedon himself being taken down by that isn't a shock. What is was people like Noxon and Espensen claiming solidarity years later with the women he harassed and bullied. Because they were a part of the problem. And they always were.

The stuff with Amy is maddening, but her wanting the cage is an interesting facet. But the show never allows us nice and interesting characters, and leaves her part off in the season and her one-off next year on a bad note for no good reason that I can tell.

Halfrek is interesting because while I get the sense that she's partly messing with Anya, and no guy would be good enough for her friend no matter what, the truth is every single criticism she leveled at Xander was not just true. But damning for being true. The episode itself had to have Xander playfully brush Anya being mad at him by the end off. Because he literally has no good defense for the true things Halfrek says. Using the words "corrections" puts Xander's Nice Guy toxicity in the proper context. What kills me about this insightfulness is that I don't think Espensen planned for it to be as right as it was. She wanted it to come across as Halfrek being a manipulative b-word and it never occurred to her the words were actually true. And it's the fact that the most truthful scene in an episode filled with cruelty and debasement was an accident which is another reason I think Espensen is ALWAYS unfairly praised.

Awful. Just awful. 1/2.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Dead Things"

Wow. Okay. Yikes.

The broad fan consensus back in the day is this went too far. It is TOO dark and outside of what the show should be, and actually was for the first five seasons.

I don't buy that. Don't get me wrong. I agree with that in principle. But I don't think that's WHY people were upset. I dislike the episode too. But its quality is actually quite good, although it is far from perfect. I think the episode hit people wrong because Buffy was one of those early franchises back in the day really responsive to online fandom, and this episode took a harsh mirror up to it, and they didn't like the conclusions they saw about themselves. After MeToo, Katerina's accusations of rape now hit the viewer exactly right. But back when this aired, plenty of sci-fi and genre "heroes" took advantage of love potions, mind control, body swapping and the like. Basically this episode is saying anyone who has sex with a slave is a rapist. And that makes Captain Kirk a rapist. This is an opinion I've always held. But the episode rankled fans, male ones specifically, for pointing out why that is. What's especially clever is the first half of the horrid scenario is played for laughs, and a bit like wish fulfillment. Jonathan is all "Gee whiz, I feel like a kid in a candy store!" And when she says the word, and he's horrified by it, it probably hit him worse than either Warren or Andrew, because going by the events of "Superstar", penned by Danny Strong's good pal Jane Espensen, Jonathan is already a rapist, and was before either of those two ever thought of the idea. And yeah, people were pissed that they took a lovable character like Jonathan, and accused him of that. The reality is it's been a part of him since "Superstar", and good for Drew Goddard finally understanding that and portraying that. And despite his "nice guy" protestations, even he mutters that it's cool they got away with murder at the end.

In a season with nothing but bad message after bad message, as dark and unpleasant as the episode is, for the most part, it's the right messaging. For maybe the ONLY time in the entire season. Yes, I hate the episode. But I fully dispute that it's actually bad. I hate it for being both true and effective. And if people were more honest to themselves, they'd admit that's why they hate it too. But really, I don't think anyone slamming the quality has a leg to stand on. It hits its mark very well. The male fans suffering from arrested development who grew up during an era when male genre leads routinely mistreated women? It pissed them off for the sole fact that it was right. I won't love the episode for making me hate Jonathon, but it's a good episode for making me understand I always should have, and long before this.

Buffy and Spike's stuff at the Bronze was super gross, although Buffy beating him up at the end was horrifying for the right reasons. Spike says you always hurt the one you love. But every horrible thing she is saying to Spike as she's hitting him is a thing she believes deep down about herself. She isn't hurting someone she loves. She's hurting herself. And she currently HATES herself.

Usually I don't take Dawn's side in their fights, even this season. But Dawn finding Buffy thinking about turning herself into the police as unforgivable is exactly right. Spike may be trying to prevent her from doing that for entirely selfish reasons. But he's still right to do that.

People reviling this episode can never really appreciate something about it that may have slipped them by. I don't know about anyone else, but I never liked Tara. Amber Benson was miscast and I feel like Whedon probably mistreated her because of that fact. What I will say is Tara's understanding at the end of Buffy's suffering, as Buffy is pleading her not to forgive her, makes me like the character for the first time ever. And this is speaking as someone who doesn't agree with her rationalizations. But when Buffy speaks aloud the fear about what her friends would think of her, and how they would look at her in disgust, Tara has value because when they DID find out, they DID give her that look. And Tara was the only one who didn't. And honestly, finally giving a reason for the audience to like Tara makes thoughtlessly killing her off later on even worse in hindsight. Whedon stated the death was supposed to hurt and feel like a loss. Who says the audience deserves to be hurt? For no good reason? We aren't the bad guys. We did nothing wrong. But that's a complaint for later in the season. For now, I really enjoy Tara's role in both this episode and the next as Buffy's secret protector, and person who has her back, and doesn't judge her (and gives Spike the business for good measure). And I wish the producers had cared enough about her to realize that means she didn't deserve to die for shock value and as a poor excuse to turn Willow temporarily evil. And her being amazing in this episode makes me extra angry about that.

I will never like this episode. But I dispute it's bad. It's good and effective, and shines a light on the kinds of skeevy sci-fi heroes fandom used to venerate and give a free pass to. It doesn't surprise me that pisses certain fans off. It IS a direct shot across the bow at not only genre, but fandom in general. A recent favorite expression I recently heard was "A hit dog hollers". That's the only real reason the episode is dragged on if you ask me. It's quality is above average. ***1/2.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Older And Far Away"

I probably like the episode more than I should. It's not very good. And yet my reaction is mostly favorable.

I love Tara as Buffy's wingman and shooer-awayer of Spike. Her defending Willow against Anya was really cool too.

And while I do feel Anya was losing control and being uncool, I felt her anger at Dawn was righteous. Besides Xander, the thing Anya values most is money and commerce. And Dawn essentially hurt her in the most personal way possible. I don't even think Dawn understood exactly how cruel that would seem if and when she was found out. What I especially love is it isn't made explicit through dialogue. It's something the viewer must work out based on Anya's reactions and the performances. We aren't being spoonfed how betrayed and hurt Anya is. We simply see it and accept it.

What's most interesting about Anya's rage is the defense Buffy uses to shield Dawn. She wants Dawn to tell her it's a mistake, and she didn't do it. I love that because Buffy as the Mama Bear cannot actually protect Dawn from Anya's fury if she actually did it. And she KNOWS how much Anya value money and property, and is helpless to actually say "Stop treating my sister like garbage." Tara can say that to Anya about Willow when it comes to bullying her into doing magic when she doesn't want to. When it comes to taking Anya's legit rage over Dawn hurting her in what Anya would only perceive as a personal manner, Buffy is helpless against it. And I think that serves Dawn right a bit. As long as Anya isn't being violent (and she isn't) Buffy has no choice but to let Dawn take it.

Kali Rocha plays both Halfrek here and she played William the Bloody's human crush Cecily in "Fool For Love", and she and Spike both recognizing each other means they are the same person. How Cecily became a Vengeance Demon, excuse me, JUSTICE Demon, is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of the Buffyverse. Along with Anya's bunny fears, I bet the backstory is amazing. And probably more amazing than the writers could think up, which might be the real reason why they didn't.

I love that she calls it being a Justice Demon and suggests most Vengeance Demons aren't as specialized as Anyanka always was. It's fascinating to hear stuff like that, and makes the very silly seeming world sound credible, even if it's technically a joke.

Clem is funny and nice when he isn't eating kittens. Which raises questions to me of why he's friends with Spike to begin with. There are definitely weird and unusual reasons I could think they might dig each other, which makes the friendship interesting. But it IS weird.

The episode is taking pains to prove the group are ignoring Dawn and her pain. There is a moment at the beginning where I think they are ignoring Buffy's clear problems and doing FAR worse by her. Xander claims to Willow that is seemed really important to Buffy Tara was at the party "for some reason". It never occurred to Xander that that was unusual, and that something was up. And if you want to be charitable Xander might assume it's not his business. But not only does Xander routinely insert himself into Buffy's business, even when he shouldn't. But he KNOWS she's been struggling, and a good friend would have delved deeper into WHY Buffy and Tara are such fast friends now. For the record, this passing by both Willow and Anya too makes them not off the hook either. But both of those characters had personal reasons to either not notice or not object to it. Xander himself should have been a little bit concerned about the idea if he was the great friend he thinks himself to be.

I was not impressed with Halfrek's righteous rant about the pain Dawn was in. Because the truth is, when it comes to pain, Dawn spreads it around. She is no innocent victim. Ask Anya herself. Maybe the adults in her life are failing her and treating her like crap. But it's not like she isn't always telling them how much they suck. I find them wanting to vacate the premises under those circumstances understandable, rather than unforgivable. When it comes to mistreatment of their loved ones, Dawn Summers has never once made me feel like she ever had the high ground.

I mentioned this isn't a good episode. It's not. It's more filler than anything else. And Season 6 had more filler episodes in it than any other later season of the show. The season always felt a bit empty and meandering for this reason. But I won't deny that there are parts of the episode I really like, mostly involving Anya and Tara. ***.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "As You Were"

I really like this episode, and looking over what's coming in the rest of the season, I will not be shocked if it's the last episode of the season I really like.

People give the show unending crap over the constant misery they put every single one of the characters through, but really, the fact that they gave Riley Finn a super happy ending is usually ignored by people. Not by me. It's appreciated. And I'll tell you why the episode did this specific thing right. It made choices other franchises would not have made. Like for instance Riley not judging Buffy negatively for Spike and claiming it didn't matter to him. Him affirming to her how amazing she was. Him finding proper closure with both her and the rest of the Scoobies. But most importantly and most unusual of all, the show decided to make Riley's wife likable. Not just to the other characters. But to me too and I'm betting everyone else. We aren't jealous. She says the precise awesome and insightful things to people who need to hear them and is incredibly empathetic and cool to the group. The show did NOT need to do that. But it put in our heads Riley moving on and being happy is a good thing instead of an obstacle to BUFFY'S happiness. That's an amazingly rare gift for a show to do with a love triangle or quadrangle and it's appreciated.

I do find Buffy's behavior with Spike distasteful. Not just for her being dumb enough to defend him. But for clearly using him even before she admitted it at the end. But in my mind the most unforgivable thing to me, is the fact that she didn't defend Riley when Spike starting rubbing his nose in being discovered. It was deliberately cruel to Riley, and regardless of the fact that Spike is evil (the Doctor thing proves it yet again) she does exert a level of control over him. If she had raged against him and told him Riley was ten times the man he could ever hope to be, that would have not just defanged the taunting, it would have supported Riley in a difficult moment too. Worst of all, the things Spike was saying were degrading Buffy herself. She can't defend Riley's hurt feelings WHILE this jag is telling her she'd never go for him because she's actually a terrible person? Remind me why she isn't arguing against that specific thing? Or at least remind me why she isn't actually a terrible person by not doing that.

The end and the "William" thing felt both final and moving. And of course Noxon ruins what is already a difficult ship for people who used to like both of those characters in "Seeing Red". We'll talk about the attempted rape then, but maybe if this actually HAD been the end of it, I could have lived with it occurring at all. Probably not, those two irreversible episodes in a row already occurred. But maybe. But every time the show ever gave Buffy and Spike a moment of grace with each other, they ruined it for the sake of shock value. And that's why the show jumped the shark. It cared more about upsetting the audience than it did about doing right by the characters. And that became more and more evident as the final two seasons went along and the show was much worse for it.

But this episode was a rare bright spot in the season. ****.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Hell's Bells"

I don't think there is a single Buffy fan who doesn't hate this episode. And the reasons are self-evident. An open question is if the writers understood how hated the episode would be. And if they did, what made them push forward? I think the biggest mark against the episode is that the breaking up of Xander and Anya is unnecessary and never shook up or really changed anything in the show besides making them both temporarily miserable. For Joss Whedon, that's enough. For a person who cares about the characters, and was truthfully moved by their performances at the end? It's NOT enough.

Buffy usually has good casting, and hiring sitcom vets Casey Sander, Lee Garlington, and Steven Gilborn as Xander's family was inspired. But I can't get over what a bad hire old Xander was. Forget the fact that they look nothing alike. They ACT nothing alike. Buffy has a REALLY unfortunate tendency to not just cast badly when hiring a different actor to play a regular character at a different age, but SPECTACULARLY badly. Every single miscast is not just unfortunate. It always winds up atrocious.

Spike and Buffy's stuff was eye-opening to me in that it's the show indulging in its trite cliches, and showing not only that they don't work with those two characters. But the fact that they don't work really makes you notice how badly written and stupid the cliches are to begin with, even with you characters you previously thought they worked with. After seeing this, you will roll your eyes at every bit of Buffy and Angel angst upon a rewatch. And you'll be right to. It's super dumb.

I love the bit where the little girl says she's bored and Xander's aunt says that it's a wedding and they are all bored.

I don't run the show. But if I did, I would certainly not be delivering episodes that NO-ONE would ever like. I wouldn't mind some of the tough drama of the season being debatable (see me liking "Dead Things") but there is not a single Buffy fan who doesn't think this is one of their least favorite episodes of the entire series, and probably the whole damn Buffyverse. That would be something I would avoid were I showrunner. Call me nuts. 0.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Normal Again"

This is another episode most people hate, but unlike "Hell's Bells", I believe there IS some artistic merit present. Not much, and the episode is a hot mess, and the ending is unforgivable. But there are a few individual elements that work in an episode that mostly pisses me and everyone else off.

Learning Buffy spent two weeks in an institution and she worries she never left is some of Sarah Michelle Gellar's finest acting on the series. I would argue it was an even bigger lift than "The Body". Buffy spent much of that episode in a daze and wasn't permitted to emote as much as she was probably feeling, especially since the episode didn't focus exclusively on her. Gellar is purely haunted here. "Goodbye." Gut-wrenching.

What's great about the hospital scenario is the doctor pointing out that Buffy inserted Dawn retroactively into her "delusion", and it started crumbling apart because of the "inconsistencies". Common fan complaint there, and it's handy the series addresses it in such an up-front way.

Similarly, Buffy and Spike's pain with each other felt real instead of obnoxious. I especially like Spike deciding to stop taking crap from Xander. Xander is of course lashing out because HE'S hurting, but despite Spike being evil. he doesn't have the right to do it. Spike was mostly civil to Xander for Buffy's sake. Why NOT rub it in while Xander is acting like he's better than him?

Another thing to note about Hank Summers being present in the delusion. Hank isn't absent during the rest of the series because Dean Butler was an in-demand actor who was impossible to contract. He was absent because he was a terrible father. Whenever the show needs a fantasy Hank for contrast over what a bad father he is, Butler always shows up. Hank is just a turd deep down.

The reason most people hate the episode is the ending. I got into an argument with Bruce Timm on a message board about it because he liked it, but Bruce Timm is a Twin Peaks fan and sort of enjoys being punished as an audience member. In reality, it's probably the worst storytelling mistake of the entire season, a season with almost nothing BUT storytelling mistakes.

I understand Buffy likes bringing the pain this year. But ending the episode on an out of body experience Buffy is not even present for is a violation of the audience's trust. I think that's what actually appealed to Bruce Timm, and it's to his credit he never screwed us over the same way on Justice League Unlimited despite admiring the idea. But regardless of the artiness of the horror movie ambiguity there, it's an unfair worry to saddle the audience with from a long-running series. The episode did it as a subversive middle finger to us all. I don't believe I or anyone who watched the show deserved that middle finger. It's weird Joss Whedon and Marti Noxon think torturing the audience, not for dramatic stakes, but for giggles, is all right. The truth is it's not. We don't deserve that. We deserve better. And that's where a lot of the fan hatred boiled down to, I think. But I think the season spent so much time punishing the viewer that many of us had difficulty separating the earned moments of pain, with the torment that exists because the writers are lazy and bad at their jobs. That ending is the latter, and probably the worst example of it the entire season. I don't believe that fiction needs to be hyper realistic to have value. I would not be a Buffy fan, with all its crappy visual effects if I did. But fiction needs to be realistic within it's own world and consistent with the rest of the story. I don't mind Buffy fighting rubbery and bad CGI monsters. I do mind the producers suggesting a possible St. Elsewhere ending could potentially happen. Both of those things are unrealistic, but the rubbery monsters fit in with the tone of the rest of the show. Screwing around about Buffy's sanity is out of bounds, especially since it only happens the once. We aren't the bad guys. We don't deserve that. We never did.

Ultimately, it's a bad episode that has a few redeeming qualities I can now recognize. Enough to make me think the episode isn't bad? Nope. THAT is a MUCH harder reality to accept. *1/2.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Entropy"

Both Anya and Spike are shown to be misbehaving all throughout the episode, but truly, it's the things Xander says and does at the end that are unforgivable. It's why the character has always been toxic, and why despite the show always trying to tell us he's changed, he never really does.

The biggest lie told in the episode was Spike saying he doesn't hurt Buffy. The ending here doesn't just make him a liar. So does the entire next episode.

Do you know what bothers me most? I feel like Spike and Anya's liaison was portrayed as healthy, at least as far as Spike goes, and it's like Anya gets nothing but crap for it. For the record, she's right she owes Xander nothing in this regard. Him acting like she does is why the character has always sucked.

Willow and Tara's stuff at the end was so filled with maudlin cliches, it made me cringe. And this is a problem for a LOT of the shipping in the series. Just because the show invented many of these cliches itself doesn't make them good.

Buffy saying at the beginning her friends would love her no matter what is true, but considering what happened the last episode, probably the least healthy mindset she could have about it. I'm also a little creeped out and wary over how insightful and cool Dawn is being towards her. That must mean things are bad.

Halfrek and Spike having no reaction to each other now feels like an oversight.

I don't think it's a bad episode in and of itself, but it didn't occur in a vacuum. It was the show piling misery upon misery to the characters for no good reason. And that takes a toll on a viewer. I know I didn't enjoy that. And I dislike the episode because I didn't. *1/2.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Seeing Red"

Back in the day, this was television that passed for shocking. In hindsight? It's just appalling.

We'll talk about the rape scene soon enough, but what I can't get over is the misogyny the writers have Warren spew. He is worse in this episode than he's ever been, and for the Trio, even after "Dead Things", this feels very much like a bait and switch, and an unearned one at that. I understand the need the writers have to make the audience hate Warren. It would help us forgive Willow later on. Here is my question: Who says that Willow deserves to be forgiven? In hindsight, just based on Tara in this episode, Willow deserves no amount of forgiveness. Because she did it in the name of a person who would be utterly appalled by her actions. Every thing Willow did in the next three episodes was an utter perversion of the love Tara felt for her, and the forgiveness she gave her after Willow personally hurt her. And making Warren this openly evil is cheap writing. And I don't care. I choose not to let Willow off the hook.

Speaking of which, Xander is back on my poop list. I'm glad he and Buffy hugged at the end and told each other they loved each other. But Xander's behavior towards Buffy is appalling and gross. And when Buffy tells him her personal life is not his business he tells her it used to be. No, it didn't. How does the show not have her correct that delusion? She tells him how hard it's been since she's been back and he foolishly says she could have told him, and she is right that he didn't want to know. NONE of the friends did, with the exception of Tara. Everyone else was willing to let Buffy sort her pain out for herself, because to talk about it would be admitting their selfish culpability in how they mistreated her and screwed her over. Buffy is a better than me because she doesn't say this to Xander. Buffy is a worse person than me because I never in a million years would have apologized at the end for keeping the secret. And Xander admits he would have been an ass, but that's not good enough for me. I am angry the writers had Buffy offer the apology to begin with. Xander was never owed it, and television ALWAYS pulls crap like that. It especially hurts when somebody as cruel and toxic Xander Harris gets an "apology trophy" not because they deserve it, but because TV writers are dumb enough to believe it settles the issue. Xander's psychological problems are deep. And again, while I'm glad he and Buffy can say they love each other, I'm mad the writers had Buffy apologize at ALL to keep the peace. That's not her job, and Xander was the one mistreating HER. It is utterly messed up that the show turned Warren in a misogynist and Spike into an attempted rapist to make Xander's toxicity seem like the persona of a nice, understanding guy. Xander is the bad guy here. Just because Spike and Warren or worse doesn't let him off the hook for contrast.

After Charisma Carpenter came forward to talk about how Joss Whedon mistreated her on the sets of Buffy and Angel, Amber Benson confirmed the set was toxic. I feel angry at the show killing Tara off. Not because I like the character, or I believe Willow deserved her, but the idea that the show put Amber Benson's name in the cast titles for the episode she dies feels like this giant middle finger before writing her off the show. And Joss Whedon has said he ALWAYS wanted to kill of a character in the main titles. Amber Benson is not his plaything to screw around with, and fulfill that "naughty" desire. She's a real person who was essentially fired from the show because Whedon and Noxon wanted an easy and unearned way to make Willow the final villain of the season. That's not okay. And it's doing really dirty by her actress after firing her.

The attempted rape. Ugh. Here is my problem. Over and over again, producers of the show are asked why their characters often do evil things, often to each other. The writer asked the question then invariably smirks and says "Joss LOVES redemption stories." I don't give a crap about what Joss loves. He's already messed up in the head, but maybe the question we should be asking about things like this is "Why should Spike be redeemed from this?" Why is the takeaway from that horrible scene about how bad Spike feels about it after the fact? The show is SO messed up HE'S the one having PTSD flashbacks about it! I was shocked by that! Not only does the show care more about the guilt of the attempted rapist after the fact, but it doesn't even care about Buffy's perspective at all! What is wrong with this show?

Couple of final notes. Clem is an interesting character. I can't deny that. He's interesting because I don't think he's remotely evil. I think he's nice. And he's still friends with Spike anyways. And here is the kicker: When Spike gets his soul the next season, they are still friends. They apparently aren't friends because they have evil in common, and they aren't friends because they have good in common. They are friends for some other reason we simply don't know about.

The last note is between the end of this season and the next, Whedon made a big to-do about how Spike's quest actually WAS about him getting his soul back, and he wasn't tricked and trying to get the chip out. I'm calling malarkey. Not that I don't believe that after the fact, but the things Spike says here mostly focused on the chip, and how it ruined everything, are entirely inconsistent with Spike searching for and then fighting for a soul. TV of this era, and the Buffyverse in general, used to mislead viewers this way all the time, and you know what? It's not okay. It's lazy. It's stupid. And it's unearned. Which describes this entire trainwreck of a season.

I knew going in I was gonna rag on the episode. What's scary is it's actually even worse than I remembered. 0.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Villains"

It's an interesting episode ("Bored now" is probably the season's killer line) but I maintain Willow is not forgivable. If it was just Warren, maybe. But it wasn't.

And again I must look down on the show for making Warren crueler, more obnoxious, and stupider than he's ever been. He thinks he's getting out of this? It never occurs to him to legit deescalate? Even after Rack's warning? After the bullet his completely insincere "I know you're in pain," makes the audience WANT Willow to kill him. It's too late.

I will say this. I like that the show raised the controversy with Buffy, Dawn, and Xander themselves. I fully agree with Buffy, by the way. But I like that the writers had Dawn feel differently, and Buffy kind of had to tell Xander to knock it off when he's all "Out of the mouths of babes". Also, Xander, Dawn is not a babe. Not in the baby sense and not old enough to be thought of in the other sense either.

I notice that Buffy takes an instant liking to Clem. Her trusting Dawn with him is a pretty big deal in hindsight. And I will never forgive the last episode. But I did find it entirely interesting that even afterwards Buffy suggesting Dawn should go to Spike's. Just because Dawn still trusted him. Xander thinks she's nuts but as messed up as the idea is, I think Buffy is right that Spike wouldn't hurt her. Of course I thought the same thing about him and Buffy before they decided to randomly destroy the character, but there is a cold logic to Buffy's crazy idea. And the fact the logic exists is almost a mark against the show. It really shouldn't.

I love how disrespected Warren was by the demons, Rack, and the vampires all throughout the episode. Buffy and friends didn't talk up The Trio as a legit threat to the demon underworld for the sole reason that they weren't. Honestly, I really liked Rack's reaction to Willow's rage. And honestly it's the fact that she kills HIM in the next episode that I can't forgive.

The scenes of the EMTs with Buffy and Xander rubbing his mouth with blood on his hands were dramatically impactful, because although the show traffics in death and blood all the time, a gunshot wound is just not done, and it's played up as wrong and out of bounds as is. The show does not deal in gunplay, so Warren using one is cheating, especially when the nimrod is gloating how effective they are. I am so annoyed by this character, and I'm annoyed that the only reason the writers made him that way was because they needed to turn Willow evil. The fact that Warren's sociopathic role was gonna go to Andrew's brother Tucker, but the show couldn't contract his actor, means Warren's irredeemable evil is random, instead of earned or built into the character. I'm not remotely impressed by that.

The is the point in the season where although the stakes are more personal, it becomes about as action oriented as the other finales. As such the show is actually watchable again. If I give the next two episodes positive reviews don't be shocked. And also keep in mind that won't ever make me forgive the season, Joss Whedon, or Marti Noxon. ***1/2.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Two To Go"

I expected to like that more than I did.

My problem isn't even Rack's death anymore (although the series decided to try and make us think he also had it coming, which is bogus). My concern is Willow's shocking cruelty to her friends. She's terrorizing Dawn and saying all of these horrible things. She actually calls Buffy the b-word at the end. At this point it's not even the people Willow has killed which makes her unforgivable. It's the things she's said.

I do have to admit when she told Buffy she needed every square inch of her ass kicked, part of me DID think that true. Mostly because I recognized Buffy's "There is so much to live for," speech for as hollow is it was. Willow was right about that.

Xander's guilt about the gun thing is interesting and I don't think he's wrong for feeling that way. You can't blame a guy with no superpowers for freezing, but none of his friends would have in his place, if only because they have superpowers.

I hate Xander. I won't lie. But the good thing about if not him, then his role on the show, is when he's not being a misogynistic creep, he is often given the perspective of the everyman. Him noting the smell after Warren died and being all "Willow did that," is his entire selling point, as was him debating with Buffy over or not whether "he had it coming". And Buffy's reaction is interesting: "Maybe." Now that's it's over, Buffy no longer feels the need to take the iron-clad stance against it she did before it happened.

I adore Anya describing her affair with Spike not as vengeance, but as solace. What kills me is she has to tell Xander this. This isn't his first thought. His first selfish thought was she did it to get back at him. And while he didn't see Spike and Anya's conversation before they had sex, we the viewer understood that's what it actually was. She AND Spike had no idea the cameras were there. She never expected Xander to find out. It's amazing that fact doesn't just not occur to Xander, it's not brought up on the series itself to prove Anya's point.. But when it comes to women telling hard truths to cruel and crude men, Buffy The Vampire Slayer has always been lacking in that department, whether Joss Whedon claims to be a feminist icon or not. The fact that Anya doesn't say "Duh, you were never supposed to know!" means he's actually not. Well, okay a BUNCH of things mean he isn't, but if those things didn't occur that one fact would STILL mean he wasn't a feminist icon.

The dialogue between Spike and the Demon he's seeking out to "restore him" is too cute by half, especially with Spike misleadingly threatening Buffy again, and saying, "This b-word is gonna see a change." What is it with this show and the b-word anyways?

Andrew begging Jonathan to give him orders makes Andrew pathetic, and the fact that Jonathan is only worried about himself upon hearing Warren died makes Jonathan pathetic. I really liked Buffy in the episode because despite the fact that she and Jonathan have a personal connection (he presented her with the Class Protector Award at Prom) she doesn't like him anymore. I think in Buffy's mind Warren did what he did because none of his friends had the courage to stand up to him when they should have. And honestly, after "Superstar" a rapist like Jonathan doesn't deserve to be forgiven either.

I continue to be impressed by Clem. His squeamishness confirms he's not a bad guy. And him suggesting that he wants to stay on Buffy's good side is another good demonstration of the complexities of good and evil demons and how they might approach the Slayer differently. That kind of ambiguity is more fully explored on the spin-off Angel, but I always appreciated Clem for bringing that dynamic to THIS show for the last couple of seasons at least.

Can I tell you a secret? Giles' reappearance at the end is awesome, but back in the day, I was actually disappointed. No lie. And in hindsight, I think I was right to be. Despite the fact that the character has been entirely absent since Episode 8, he was STILL a major part of the season. From TV Guide's episode description of an old friend returning to help Buffy stop Willow I was imaging big, instead of the most easy to contract actor. I would have loved it if OZ had come back! Even if they had Xander be the one to talk Willow down, it would have been the perfect excuse to bring back a character we all missed, and the show no longer seemed to have a place for. And if I had been running the show, aside from the season not sucking because I wouldn't have made the mistakes it did, I would have brought back both Giles AND Oz and sort of made it an intervention from people who really cared about Willow.

I'll say this good thing: I forgot about her screaming. It's actually terrifying and effective. It didn't make me jump (it wasn't a jolt) but it made me squirm. Totally creepy.

For the record, Buffy saying Willow has an addictive personality is just bogus. It's a completely cringe thing to say, especially because it's not actually true.

I did like the moment where Jonathan points out he's known Willow as long as the rest of them and she's always been "Just Willow". It's a good reminder that the character used to be harmless and the Scoobies used to be okay with him. That fact also bother me too, truthfully.

I expected to like that more than I did because I guess I forgot that Willow didn't just turn quippy when she turned evil. She turned damn mean. And THAT somehow makes it worse than her killing a couple of dirtbags the producers are TRYING to get us to hate. Because it's aimed at people we like. But yeah, I'm a little disappointed. ***.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Grave"

I am not the same person I used to be. It confuses me a little.

I didn't like that. I'm surprised I didn't. And I'm wondering WHY I didn't. Sure in this following review I'll list problems I had, but ultimately, those problems always existed. Have I become so jaded that I can no longer enjoy things I used to because I am hyper-aware of the faults? I would like to think I was more jaded back then and I simply didn't think the faults mattered. Regardless of whether I've evolved or devolved as a person (and it's debatable to ANYONE who has read and disagreed with my reviews) I don't feel that was right.

I can talk about the fact that it DID actually do a lot right. There is no denying that. I feel like the bones are strong, and the execution weakens them.

What worked? First of all, one of the reasons it was questionable to make Willow the Big Bad at ALL is because she is the most powerful character on the show, and probably has been since Season 5. And Buffy couldn't beat her in a fight, or at least not believably. So Xander talking her down using love is the proper way out of the crisis. Not just for using love instead of violence to solve the problem, but to show that Xander's humanity is crucial to Team Buffy, and he's the only one who can defeat the most powerful enemy they've ever faced. And Nicholas Brendan played the idea to the hilt, and his performance telling Willow that he deserves to be the first person she kills if she destroys the world is just great. I think Brendan is very underrated as a comic actor. If he weren't, he'd be a sitcom star today. Despite his young age here, he had legit comedy chops and great timing. I like that stuff like this stretches his dramatic skills. And I felt a lot more connected and bad for him than when he's slut-shaming Buffy and Anya.

And the truth is I still don't like him. He calls Jonathan and Andrew the R-word and it's just SO freaking hard.

I love that once Giles returns, Anya is back to the doofy girl she was before Xander left her at the alter. She can't help it. She loves Giles.

What else? I can't believe I didn't bring it up first in the review, but despite the Spike dialogue continuing to be misleading, and frankly narratively dishonest, that doesn't change the fact that that was literally one of the best season-ending cliffhangers I have ever seen. It still is whether I can binge Season 7 starting tomorrow or not. A great cliffhanger for me means a LONG ass summer. And that summer back when this aired was unbearably long. I don't like the misleading dialogue, but if I were Joss Whedon I would not have revealed Spike intended to get the soul back in interviews, and left the fans twisting in the wind. It would have been extremely cruel as a creator to make the fans wait, but I think it would have been better if we had to. While that twist definitely gave the final season added buzz, it probably would have been through the roof if Joss had let the issue be debatable until the second episode of Season 7 when Spike tells Buffy the truth. I think the cliffhanger in Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince was beyond cruel. And regardless of whether J.K. Rowling sucks or not, she was absolutely right NOT to give us any hints about whether Snape was good or bad. Whedon thought he was being kind to the fans by unclenching a bit of the knot we felt over the last shot. I think that's something we needed to suffer a little. Whedon is always going on about not giving us what we want, but what we need. The fact that Joss just couldn't stand to have driven us so crazy means he didn't know what we actually needed, and he never did. It's one of the best moments of the show. And Whedon ruined it a little by talking out of class. He shouldn't have.

The Sarah MacLachlan song was a nice touch too and sort of a callback to Season 2. She sings the correct songs for sad endings, and it leading into Spike's thing felt perfect.

I love that the first thing Giles notices about Buffy is that she cut her hair.

Those are all good, solid things, and reasons for me to like the episode. Why didn't I?

It felt like it was going through the motions. I mean Willow randomly decides to destroy the world because every Buffy finale has the group facing the end of the world. No rhyme or reason, no matter WHAT the show would have us believe. It had her do it because the show is lazy. And yes, again, I like and appreciate the idea that only Xander, the guy without powers can stop their worst threat through love. But despite the fact that the premise and heart of the moment is right, they didn't bother giving Willow a good reason to kill everybody on Earth. That's a pretty baller move, especially for a former hero. You might want to make the audience believe she has legit reasons for doing it.

Willow is general is not working as a villain. I mentioned how impressive the scream was in the last episode. I feel like the show having Willow do sinister mustache-twirling "Mwa ha ha!" villain lines feels false. I'm not saying Alyson Hannigan performed them badly... You know what? I am saying that. It doesn't fit the actress and they weren't believable things coming out of her mouth.

One of the things I absolutely loathed was Buffy and Dawn's fight in the ground with the plant zombies. First of all, Willow says she's doing that because Buffy deserves to go out fighting. Honestly? I think it's because the show did not have the courage NOT to end the climax with an action scene. And maybe I could have shut off my brain and lived with it if Dawn didn't just be randomly awesome as swordfighting and upon Buffy's amazement asking her if she never thought she was watching her this entire time.

I've been watching Buffy the entire time too, and longer than Dawn has probably. And I've probably seen more than her. That doesn't mean I automatically know Kung Fu or swordfighting. And the show is lazy and stupid if it thinks that's an excuse that will fly. I seem to recall being a little annoyed at that back in the day, mostly because Dawn was the annoying Mary Sue character on the show, and that moment very much fed into that. But the truth is the moment would have been dumb if they gave it to XANDER. The moment doesn't suck because Dawn is obnoxious. The sucky moment is obnoxious independently of Dawn. It's amazing I disliked the character so much I never noticed that true thing. I think a LOT of writers try to skate with bad and stupid writing by handing it off to a hated character and then the audience rolls their eyes and says "Of course." It's the character's fault for saying something obnoxious in a totally familiar way instead of the writers for being super dumb. But My Eyes Are Wide Open. The writers are actually super dumb. That is not Dawn's fault.

Giles' laughter: On some level it's a good character moment. It says what a good relationship he and Buffy have that they can both laugh at that. And I recall a person reviewing the episode noting Giles' response over the increasingly ridiculously tragic doings of the season since he left is the only response that nonsense deserved. The storyteller in the me though? The guy who takes his work seriously? I would not be poking THAT big a hole through my work, especially not for a single joke, and I'm the dude poking holes in the work in the work itself CONSTANTLY. Giles' reactions says we shouldn't take the pain of the season, that the writers were deliberately piling on not just the characters, but us the viewers, remotely seriously. That is bad narrative messaging. Full stop. I often do Mea Culpas in my story over plotholes and inconsistencies. I would never seriously ask the reader to question the entire message or the saga's actual credibility. There are just some things I believe a story shouldn't do. And back in the day, before I was a writer, or at least before I took the craft seriously, I laughed along and was delighted with everybody else. Now it hits me wrong. Entirely.

I wanted to end a questionable season with a positive review, and since most of the Buffy finales are solid I had high hopes I'd be able to. But I don't think I'm more jaded or cynical. I don't think I'm too demanding. I just think my tastes and expectations for fiction are different now than they were then. And you know its true. If any other show from today, even one I like, made those specific mistakes I'd point them out and say I didn't like them. This rewatch isn't a revenge tour to prove that Joss Whedon is a creep (although truthfully some of the reviews can be read that way, as can the notion that I'm watching this with My Eyes Wide Open and Looking For Red Flags). But the truth is things I rolled with back in the day just don't fly with me anymore. Hazard of the craft, I think, and nothing more. Why? I honestly think before I became as serious about writing as I did, I was mistakenly under the impression that stuff like the stuff I just griped about came with the territory. All shows, good and bad, suffered from dumb stuff like this because that's how fiction works. I guess the reason I don't tolerate it now is because I now know better. Fiction can choose NOT to use bad tropes and shaky ideas and do that easily. Talk about Eyes Being Wide Open? That was an extremely shocking thing to learn for myself. Genre writers always pretend they are powerless about stuff like that, and I foolishly believed them. Writers CAN do better. And fans CAN demand better. And if something simply isn't up to snuff, a fan pointing it out isn't being a troll for doing so. Coming to that opinion honestly, especially if one can argue rationally about how you arrived at it is totally in-bounds. I'm sure many of my negative reviews drive people crazy. But I don't complain for the sake of complaining and if I felt an episode failed me, like I felt this one did, it's because I believe that. No because I'm a contrarian. Either way, the episode delivered one of the best season ending cliffhangers in TV history after a finale that was thematically right, and extremely flawed in the specific choices it made to explore that theme. **1/2.




What If...? "What If... Nebula Joined The Nova Corps?"

I hate the What If...? Comics but the cartoon is pretty cool. It's a great premise and the comics wreck it nearly every time. Every time the Watcher asks the question in the comics it always ends in tragedy for the characters and the Universe explored. Not only does that fact make the comic less interesting. But it suggests the heroes' victory in the mainline continuity is down to nothing more than random luck instead of the heroes actually being awesome. The cartoon, instead of rubbing our faces in how close to disaster we were, explores different takes and ideas in the Multiverse. Some ARE super depressing tragedies. But it's better than the comic because sometimes it just explores a neat premise.

This is a neat premise. There is less Guardians Of The Galaxy in the tone, and more Blade Runner.

I have come to believe Howard The Duck is the Bill Murray of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You see him rarely, but when you do, you always wish he had a bigger role (and he seldom does). The MCU refuses to turn Howard into Kenneth from 30 Rock, who upon positive fan response was overused until we were all sick of him. He's deliberately underutilized the way Murray always is, or (if you need another sitcom simile) Creed from The Office. Howard's rare appearances seem to be rare to make maximum impact.

Here is why the MCU actually sucks, and it's the receipt for every bad thing its detractors have ever said about it. Quantumania is the first and so far only movie in cinema history in which Bill Murray has a role, and is not the best thing in it. If you ask me, that means Kevin Feige needs to hang his head in shame for that embarrassing fact. If Feige were thinking properly he would have cast Murray as Howard instead of Seth Green to begin with. No-brainer really.

Yeah, I kinda dig the cartoon. Sue me. ***1/2.




Chip 'N' Dale: Park Life "The Big Sock / Hark! The Squirrel Sings / The Christmas Roast"

The Big Sock

I think the Mickey cast was a deliberate nod to "Pluto's Christmas Tree". Fun Fact kids today might not know: "Pluto's Christmas Tree" is actually one of the most famous Disney cartoons in history. It's never cited in best of lists, or as a major part of the studios history, but I would not be surprised if more people have seen it than ANY other Disney short. I grew up the 1980's and I don't know if young people will understand this, but Disney cartoons were scarce back them. You could see compilations on VHS tapes or on the then Premium cable channel The Disney Channel. But back then Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, Caspar, Mighty Mouse, all the big classic cartoons could be either seen in syndication or Saturday morning. Disney hoarded those cartoons instead. I feel a similar level of perplexity in 2023 over how the Beatles estate has hoarded that band's music and made it unaffordable to hear in movies or TV shows, which is how a LOT of young people first hear and connect to classic music. Disney merch was big in the 1980's, but until Disney Television Animation got started with Gummi Bears and Wuzzles, cartoons were scarce.

Once in a while The Wonderful World of Disney aired a compilation of classic shorts. VERY rarely. There were also "Sport Goofy" syndicated specials. But as a rule the only real Disney cartoon shorts we saw with any regularity was that and the Donald Snowball fight one because those two aired every year before "Mickey's Christmas Carol" on NBC. Neither of those shorts made cartoon history. But I would bet money that more people have seen them than EVER saw Steamboat Willie, The Band Concert, Clock Cleaners, or Lonesome Ghosts. So yeah, I appreciate the vibes here. ****.

Hark! The Squirrel Sings:

It's to the episode's credit that the song is not distinctive enough to become an earworm after the fact and stuck in my head. But it's still awful and makes the cartoon unpleasant to watch and listen to. *.

The Christmas Roast:

The show has a real problem being dialogue free. For this short for example I couldn't remotely understand what message they were trying to send the audience by the things shown. Cartoons CAN work without dialogue (see Shaun The Sheep for a great example of that). This show often sucks because it sometimes can't do it. *1/2.

Episode Overall: ***.




Fargo "The Tender Trap"

Lorraine is a very interesting character. I love her offering Indira the job. And yet her destroying that guy's life was NOT a proportionate response. And the fact that despite her refusal to initially believe Indira that Dot was a victim and it wasn't her fault, she seems genuinely outraged when she reads the files and sees the pictures. We started the season believing the character was a villain. She might wind up a powerful ally of both Dot and Indira instead.

Gator is taunting Munch because Gator is stupid.

Right off the bat, I was wondering why the HELL Indira let her no-account husband speak to her that way. Forget getting out from under the debt. She should take the job so she can afford to leave that utter loser. I lost a little respect for her realizing somebody like this ever won her over.

Scottie being good on the drums was cool. Because she's only good for a kid. It doesn't sound professional, which is right. I don't know how many shows really understand this when showing a child has a talent with a musical instrument. The series or movie in question can make them good without making them idiot savant child prodigies. What this was, was believable. I like it for that.

I figured the cancer guy was in for a bad end. I hope Roy eventually is held to account for it.

No Dot this week, which is a shame, because she's my favorite. Next week looks to be about her though. ****.




Finders Keepers by Stephen King

Technically the second book in the Bill Hodges Trilogy is WAY better than "Mr. Mercedes", but the thing is Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney have almost nothing to do with it or how it shakes out. They are Indiana Jones in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, if Indy was only in about a quarter of the picture.

The ending of course recalls "Misery", except instead of Paul Sheldon saving the precious manuscript, Morris Bellamy watches them all go up in flames and dies trying fruitlessly to put them out. Have to say I felt WAY more satisfied with the way Paul tricked Annie Wilkes back then. The manuscripts being destroyed here is a disappointment.

As dark as "Revival" was, "Doctor Sleep" and the Bill Hodges stuff sort of tell you King has sort of gotten a LOT less ruthless in his writing as a rule. 20 years earlier in his career Linda Saubers NEVER would have survived the gunshot wound to her head, much less been more or less fine afterwards. And that's not even a question. King is currently much kinder to his characters.

The most memorable moment of the book for me was when Tina Saubers asks Morrie if he's going to rape her, and King says the thing he says in response is so frightening because she doesn't understand it: "No. I won't make that mistake again." That? THAT is some damn fine prose. I feel like King's prose is a little too loose in the Bill Hodges stuff, especially because much of it is told in the present tense. That specific thing gave me chills and was a brilliant conceit at the same time. An excellent bit of writing.

Another compliment is due the book, especially because King doesn't write outlines or plan out his books in advance. I LOVE The Dark Tower. I won't deny it. But very little of what is set up in earlier books is paid off in any sort of satisfying manner in later books. But the Brady Hartsfield scenes in THIS book I feel perfectly set up "End Of Watch", and tease a GREAT deal of the plot there, without the reader being made aware that is what it is doing at the time. For King, that is VERY unusual.

Jerome's Tyrone Feelgood stuff still works my last nerve. Luckily it's not as present as in the last book, but it's present enough to still be majorly unpleasant.

King Connections: Sequel to "Mr. Mercedes", and Part of The Bill Hodges Trilogy, and a precursor to Holly Gibney's solo outings.

I gave a very negative review to Mr. Mercedes. I'm glad I can give this one a passing grade. ***1/2.

Comments

[a_natural_beauty]

Awesome! I don't think I will read this right now since I have never watched the complete series. Someday I would like to. ;-)

[matt_zimmer]

It's a polarizing series in hindsight. But it's definitely a part of television history that people should probably be familiar with. It started a LOT of trends and tropes, as problematic as it was.

[a_natural_beauty]

Yes, I just miss older shows in general honestly. I don't like the direction that T.V. has become.

[matt_zimmer]

Buffy started a lot of good trends and it unfortunately started a LOT of bad ones. Everybody remembers the good things about Buffy but nobody seems willing to point out current TV would not be as sucky as it is if Joss Whedon didn't put bad ideas into current creator's heads. Buffy set a LOT of good trends in storytelling. It also did a lot of damage there too (and arguably the damage was more lasting).