BTVS, "Empty Places" - First impressions
Apr. 29th, 2003 10:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThe power of the download was with me! Wowsers. Great episode. And with some intriguing differences from the spoilers, all of which work to the advantage of the episode, btw. The most important difference results in my nomination for best Buffy/Faith moment ever...well, except for the kiss in Graduation Day II and the slashy dance in "Bad Girls".
1) The shades of grey which make me love the later seasons so much continue. Do the Scoobies and the Potentials have a point in the heartrendering final scene? Of course they do. But so does Buffy, and kudos to the script for giving her the chance to explain her reasoning (which incidentally makes sense to me). So who is right or wrong? Impossible to say.
2) SMG gives an excellent performance here, with Buffy feeling incredibly guilty about Xander and not knowing how to talk to him, angry and helpless with Caleb, frustrated and inscecure with Faith, relieved to have finally found a strategy and increasingly horrified when the refusals and accusations start, and finally, that last exchange with Faith which I'm so glad I was unspoiled for... what can I say? There has been a lot of debate on whether or not Buffy is a hero recently. I defy anyone to watch that dialogue between Buffy and Faith and say otherwise.
3) Speaking of which, what Buffy says to Faith also answers the question raised by the Potentials in "Dirty Girls" and this episode, as to whether Buffy cares for them as human beings or sees them as canon fodder. It's obvious that Kennedy, Rona and Anya were given arguments which could come straight from the avarage anti-Buffy threads; more importantly, though, they hail back to Buffy's own fears which she voiced to Holden in "Conversations with Dead People", about feeling not worthy of her powers, or her friends' affection, and inferior to them. So many people only quote the "superiority complex" part of that conversation and forget the equally relevant inferiority complex. Compare what Anya says to Buffy in "Empty Spaces" to what Buffy herself said to Holden - "I have all this power, it got just handed to me, and I feel like I'm not worthy".
4) Faith: our other Slayer is very sympathetic, too. With the girls, with Buffy, in the big showdown, and, like Buffy herself, in the very last scene. I loved it that she didn't just let Buffy leave but went after her. Throughout the episode, Faith seemed to get Buffy better than anyone else. That conversation with Wood will have a follow-up, obviously.
5) Clem! It's so good to see him one more time before the show wraps up.
1) The shades of grey which make me love the later seasons so much continue. Do the Scoobies and the Potentials have a point in the heartrendering final scene? Of course they do. But so does Buffy, and kudos to the script for giving her the chance to explain her reasoning (which incidentally makes sense to me). So who is right or wrong? Impossible to say.
2) SMG gives an excellent performance here, with Buffy feeling incredibly guilty about Xander and not knowing how to talk to him, angry and helpless with Caleb, frustrated and inscecure with Faith, relieved to have finally found a strategy and increasingly horrified when the refusals and accusations start, and finally, that last exchange with Faith which I'm so glad I was unspoiled for... what can I say? There has been a lot of debate on whether or not Buffy is a hero recently. I defy anyone to watch that dialogue between Buffy and Faith and say otherwise.
3) Speaking of which, what Buffy says to Faith also answers the question raised by the Potentials in "Dirty Girls" and this episode, as to whether Buffy cares for them as human beings or sees them as canon fodder. It's obvious that Kennedy, Rona and Anya were given arguments which could come straight from the avarage anti-Buffy threads; more importantly, though, they hail back to Buffy's own fears which she voiced to Holden in "Conversations with Dead People", about feeling not worthy of her powers, or her friends' affection, and inferior to them. So many people only quote the "superiority complex" part of that conversation and forget the equally relevant inferiority complex. Compare what Anya says to Buffy in "Empty Spaces" to what Buffy herself said to Holden - "I have all this power, it got just handed to me, and I feel like I'm not worthy".
4) Faith: our other Slayer is very sympathetic, too. With the girls, with Buffy, in the big showdown, and, like Buffy herself, in the very last scene. I loved it that she didn't just let Buffy leave but went after her. Throughout the episode, Faith seemed to get Buffy better than anyone else. That conversation with Wood will have a follow-up, obviously.
5) Clem! It's so good to see him one more time before the show wraps up.
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Date: 2003-04-29 11:56 pm (UTC)And I've been discussing with my husband the fact that I think this season will probably make more sense to people on DVD, when they can watch the episodes closer together, than it has with the episodes so widely and randomly spaced. I definitely think I'll enjoy season 4 more on DVD, and am looking forward to watching it again. I didn't enjoy the characters of Adam and Riley very much, but most of the rest of the season was really excellent. I'm expecting that I'll appreciate Riley more upon second viewing, knowing that he won't be sticking around. ;)
I don't know why you Americans have your reruns anyway
Date: 2003-04-30 08:01 am (UTC)Seriously, it does make a difference to see each season without interruptions.
As for Riley: not my favourite character, nor my least favourite. He was designed to be the anti-Angel, and worked as such. As far as his romance with Buffy was concerned, their early courtship (to use a Riley term) up to "Doomed", and their relationship from the point where the first problems became apparant ("New Moon Rising") were interesting to watch; what faltered, from a dramatic pov, was the in between, the attempt to depict Buffy and him in a harmonious relationship.
Re: I don't know why you Americans have your reruns anyway
Date: 2003-04-30 12:45 pm (UTC)