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selenakA few years ago I did a poll on various types of episodes every genre show seems to do sooner or later (body swap, hostage situation for everyone, king for a day, pov character may be crazy, etc., etc.) and which variations of these people loved best. Something that I hadn't remembered listing back then were wedding episodes. Which tend to have mostly bad reputations as sweep stunts. A wedding episode in a show can come in several varieties, mostly in three:
1) Heroine (or hero, but mostly it's the heroine) is about to get married to wrong person, usually the show's villain. Wedding does not happen in the last minute. (Both Lois & Clark and the most recent variation of the Robin Hood story did this.)
2) Regulars want to get married; stuff happens; wedding called off at the last minute. (This is the variation most disliked by fans.)
3) Show regular or regulars want to get married; obstacles occur; wedding happens regardless.
Some examples of the later two variations which imprinted themselves on my mind for various reasons, usually but not always positive ones, were:
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Data's Day
An enjoyable episode; the wedding in question is between O'Brien and Keiko, both of whom would eventually end up on DS9, but at this time they're TNG recurring characters, with O'Brien having been promoted from silent or one or two lines only character to popular support. The preparations for their wedding, complete with some obstacles and cold feet, and eventual happy ending, are the red thread through this episode which is a Data pov, but basically a good natured ensemble piece. Not a TNG classic, but I like it quite a lot. If you're keeping score, I think this is the first time on Star Trek when two recurring characters got married without either of them dying or being written off the show. Instead, the O'Briens' marriage continued to play a role on TNG (with Keiko getting pregnant and giving birth with Worf as a very unwilling improvised nurse) and continued all through DS9 where O'Brien was a main character.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: You Are Cordially Invited
The one where Dax and Worf get married. Among other things, this was a tension breaker after the tightly written and very dramatic six-episodes Second Occupation arc, meant as comic relief and a chance to relax for both characters and audience. I can understand that and appreciate it as such, but I also have severe problems with several aspects of it. For starters, it uses that stalwart of romantic comedy, the critical mother-in-law which has to be won over. The problem here is that while Worf's adoption by Martok was something that happened after the audience saw them bond over several seasons, and thus works, we've never met his wife before, and she and Worf have no emotional ties to each other. ( Meanwhile, if you've watched TNG you're aware of and sorely missing Worf's human parents who adopted him, and whom the audience does know.) So using that particular comedy cliché for her and Jadzia just makes no emotional sense. Secondly, and actually my main problem with the episode, this is where the writers remove the problem of emotional fallout between Kira and Odo after Odo's actions during the Second Occupation by letting them reconcile off screen. (As in, we see them go to talk, and at the end of the episode, they're discovered still talking and reconciled.) Given the magnitude of what Odo did, and how Kira felt during the second occupation, this is just infuriatingly lazy on the writers' part and my main reason why the Kira/Odo hookup some episodes later sticks in my throat. (In s6. I like them as a couple in s7.)
On the fun side of things: I still love the sequences dealing with the respective stag and hen nights; O'Brien, Sisko and Bashir enduring an infinitely painful ritual with Worf while everyone else has a great time boozing and dancing it up at Jadzia's. Plus this is where Quark basically comes out and says he's in love with Dax. But I really have to switch off my brain to enjoy the episode, and even then the Odo-Kira stuff still frustrates me beyond measure, because the show is usually better than this.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Hell's Bells
This one was elected least favourite in some Entertainment Weekly poll, which I never understood. Aside from liking the episode, worst of BTVS? Really? Several other candidates come glaringly to mind. Hell's Bells is the episode in which the wedding of Xander and Anya does not happen. The reason why I don't feel we were teased for nothing is that it's a really good character and ensemble episode. (As always, imo.) It builds on continuity and has both funny and heartbreaking scenes. Moroever, while the ostensible bad guy of the episode is the one responsible for making outward trouble, he's not really the cause for Xander's actions at the end of the episode, as Xander himself says. (Though the fact that it's not just a random demon but a victim from Anya's vengeance demon days is also good continuity.) BTVS has established Xander as the Scooby with the most rotten homelife from the get go. Some scenes that especially come to mind are one from Amends, Xander saying as casually as possible that he'll spend Christmas Eve outside to see the stars to Buffy and Willow, which Cordelia (still after vengeance) counters by stating he told her he did this to escape his drunk family; Xander's nightmare vision of his father in s4's Restless; everyone hearing Xander's parents fight while trying to watch tv in his basement in early s5, which is when he leaves.) So when we meet the Harris clan on screen, with Xander's father not physically but emotionally abusive to his wife, constantly belittling her and putting her down, the ground has been prepared, and the fact that this is a major issue for Xander both as something that has formed him and that he tries to get away from isn't something new. The scene at the end, when he watches his parents argue yet again and clearly sees the parallel to himself and Anya when telling her, re: the possible future for them that he saw " it wasn't you I was hating", is both sad and feels believable for this reason.
The whole sequence with Anya trying out variations of her wedding vow through the episode combines both comedy, character exploration and heartbreak in a great way. We start out smiling at Anya's vows, but by the time she arrives at "you're my best friend, I'm marrying my best friend", a lump is in this viewer's throat, and not because Xander simultanously gets shown a dark fake future. It's because here's something that burdened the Xander/Anya relationship from the get go. He's her best friend, but she's not his. Not because he doesn't care for her, but because he cares for Willow and arguably Buffy more. (Definitely for Willow. The extreme closeness of their friendship from early childhood onwards is all the more understandable if you consider that Willow probably was the only one with whom Xander as a child could have an affectionate and trusting relationship, given what his family is like, but it's a burden for any romantic relationship Xander entertains.)
I have to say I also adore Buffy in this episode, dealing with Mr. Harris the überobnoxious, trying to keep the guests entertained with charades, unafraid to make herself look silly, and for the first time in a while mature in dealing with the Spike situation; she's acknowledging and admitting that yes, seeing him with another girl does hurt instead of pretending he means nothing to her, but she's also resolved that this does not change any of the reasons why she broke up with him to begin with. Spike, for his part, after getting the admittance doesn't stay to gloat but removes himself from the scene as not to rub it in any further, also being far more mature than he was in a good long while.
In conclusion: I remain pretty fond of this episode, and consider it a good variation of the wedding ep entry.
Torchwood: Something Borrowed
Like the DS9 episode, this episode is meant as a tension breaker and comic relief after a dark miniarc, in this case the Dead Man Walking one for Owen, and builds on an established long term relationship, in this case the one of Gwen and Rhys. I must admit I love it to bits, from the teaser where Eve Myles gives us one of her best comedy faces onwards. It serves up all the wedding ep topoi but with a Torchwood twist, and manages to be a welcome variation of one of the potentially most misogynistic genre clichés, the demonic/alien pregnancy. As opposed to poor Cordelia in the AtS s1 episode Expecting, Gwen never loses her mind or her agency, and she doesn't suddenly become enamored of the unwanted alien offspring in her, either. Far from being a damsel in distress, she gets to do one of the coolest rescue sequences of the episode (hiding her gun behind her bouquet, and saving her mother from the shapechanger this way), and the "made hormonal through pregnancy" thing isn't played in a way that makes her look weak (as she intimidates the hell out of Jack and Owen both in the scene in question). For all the comedy, her outburst of how Rhys had to put up with so much since her joining Torchwood and on this day of all days he and her relationship with him will come first is a good character moment, too. (If not pregnant by alien, she probably would have said the same thing, only quieter.) For all that this is Eve Myles' episode as Gwen, everyone else gets to shine as well, from Rhys (Rhys versus the Nostrovore for the win!) to Tosh (chewing out the unfortunate Banana) to Ianto (shopping for Gwen). It has a believable tender moment and not ooc between Owen and Tosh. (Not an easy thing to pull off.) At the time of first broadcast, a lot of Jack/Ianto shippers were upset with his reply to Gwen's "so what will you do when I'm gone?" question ("pizza, Ianto, saving the world"), as well as with the implication that he still had ambiguous feelings about Gwen. As a non-shipper (well, for Jack/Ianto; I do ship Gwen/Rhys!), it basically was in line with how I saw Jack's attitude towards Ianto; he clearly cared for him but just as clearly did not regard himself in an exclusive relationship there. Which, you know, is not that surprising with Jack. He also was clearly not planning on doing anything about Gwen other than keeping her as a friend, even if she hadn't made her preference for Rhys clear; that dance at her wedding was a goodbye to a might have been dance.
In conclusion: when rewatching s2, this episode leaves me with a big smile and a mellow "awwww" for everyone on my face.
After going through these various examples, I suddenly am tempted to come up with crack scenarios for wedding episodes for shows where they'd be completely inappropriate and unthinkable, because I'm in a silly mood like that. You're welcome to join in. Scenario the first: a wedding episode for Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles:
The Bride: Catherine Weaver, who has just heard from American immigration authorities she won't get a Green Card. As real!Weaver was still a citizen of the UK, and a competitor for her firm - cue sinister music playing hinting this might be Skynet related - has made her look suspicious to the US authorities. What's a Terminator under cover to do if threatened with deportation, and with the need to keep everyone away from John Henry in the basement? Clearly, she must marry an American citizen on short notice. Which brings us to:
The Groom: James Ellison. Shamelessly manipulated into doing this for greater justice by Savannah crying at the prospect of having to leave the US and John Henry behind.
The obstacle: the well known terrorist Sarah Connor and her cohorts, having been given an anonymous tip, are planning on crashing the wedding. Also, Ellison and Weaver must prove to the immigration authorities they're really in love, which...
The wedding: gets cancelled at the last minute, but Catherine Weaver does get her GreenCard. Also, somehow the Connors end up with the wedding cake, which given Sarah's pancakes they regard as a plus.
1) Heroine (or hero, but mostly it's the heroine) is about to get married to wrong person, usually the show's villain. Wedding does not happen in the last minute. (Both Lois & Clark and the most recent variation of the Robin Hood story did this.)
2) Regulars want to get married; stuff happens; wedding called off at the last minute. (This is the variation most disliked by fans.)
3) Show regular or regulars want to get married; obstacles occur; wedding happens regardless.
Some examples of the later two variations which imprinted themselves on my mind for various reasons, usually but not always positive ones, were:
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Data's Day
An enjoyable episode; the wedding in question is between O'Brien and Keiko, both of whom would eventually end up on DS9, but at this time they're TNG recurring characters, with O'Brien having been promoted from silent or one or two lines only character to popular support. The preparations for their wedding, complete with some obstacles and cold feet, and eventual happy ending, are the red thread through this episode which is a Data pov, but basically a good natured ensemble piece. Not a TNG classic, but I like it quite a lot. If you're keeping score, I think this is the first time on Star Trek when two recurring characters got married without either of them dying or being written off the show. Instead, the O'Briens' marriage continued to play a role on TNG (with Keiko getting pregnant and giving birth with Worf as a very unwilling improvised nurse) and continued all through DS9 where O'Brien was a main character.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: You Are Cordially Invited
The one where Dax and Worf get married. Among other things, this was a tension breaker after the tightly written and very dramatic six-episodes Second Occupation arc, meant as comic relief and a chance to relax for both characters and audience. I can understand that and appreciate it as such, but I also have severe problems with several aspects of it. For starters, it uses that stalwart of romantic comedy, the critical mother-in-law which has to be won over. The problem here is that while Worf's adoption by Martok was something that happened after the audience saw them bond over several seasons, and thus works, we've never met his wife before, and she and Worf have no emotional ties to each other. ( Meanwhile, if you've watched TNG you're aware of and sorely missing Worf's human parents who adopted him, and whom the audience does know.) So using that particular comedy cliché for her and Jadzia just makes no emotional sense. Secondly, and actually my main problem with the episode, this is where the writers remove the problem of emotional fallout between Kira and Odo after Odo's actions during the Second Occupation by letting them reconcile off screen. (As in, we see them go to talk, and at the end of the episode, they're discovered still talking and reconciled.) Given the magnitude of what Odo did, and how Kira felt during the second occupation, this is just infuriatingly lazy on the writers' part and my main reason why the Kira/Odo hookup some episodes later sticks in my throat. (In s6. I like them as a couple in s7.)
On the fun side of things: I still love the sequences dealing with the respective stag and hen nights; O'Brien, Sisko and Bashir enduring an infinitely painful ritual with Worf while everyone else has a great time boozing and dancing it up at Jadzia's. Plus this is where Quark basically comes out and says he's in love with Dax. But I really have to switch off my brain to enjoy the episode, and even then the Odo-Kira stuff still frustrates me beyond measure, because the show is usually better than this.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Hell's Bells
This one was elected least favourite in some Entertainment Weekly poll, which I never understood. Aside from liking the episode, worst of BTVS? Really? Several other candidates come glaringly to mind. Hell's Bells is the episode in which the wedding of Xander and Anya does not happen. The reason why I don't feel we were teased for nothing is that it's a really good character and ensemble episode. (As always, imo.) It builds on continuity and has both funny and heartbreaking scenes. Moroever, while the ostensible bad guy of the episode is the one responsible for making outward trouble, he's not really the cause for Xander's actions at the end of the episode, as Xander himself says. (Though the fact that it's not just a random demon but a victim from Anya's vengeance demon days is also good continuity.) BTVS has established Xander as the Scooby with the most rotten homelife from the get go. Some scenes that especially come to mind are one from Amends, Xander saying as casually as possible that he'll spend Christmas Eve outside to see the stars to Buffy and Willow, which Cordelia (still after vengeance) counters by stating he told her he did this to escape his drunk family; Xander's nightmare vision of his father in s4's Restless; everyone hearing Xander's parents fight while trying to watch tv in his basement in early s5, which is when he leaves.) So when we meet the Harris clan on screen, with Xander's father not physically but emotionally abusive to his wife, constantly belittling her and putting her down, the ground has been prepared, and the fact that this is a major issue for Xander both as something that has formed him and that he tries to get away from isn't something new. The scene at the end, when he watches his parents argue yet again and clearly sees the parallel to himself and Anya when telling her, re: the possible future for them that he saw " it wasn't you I was hating", is both sad and feels believable for this reason.
The whole sequence with Anya trying out variations of her wedding vow through the episode combines both comedy, character exploration and heartbreak in a great way. We start out smiling at Anya's vows, but by the time she arrives at "you're my best friend, I'm marrying my best friend", a lump is in this viewer's throat, and not because Xander simultanously gets shown a dark fake future. It's because here's something that burdened the Xander/Anya relationship from the get go. He's her best friend, but she's not his. Not because he doesn't care for her, but because he cares for Willow and arguably Buffy more. (Definitely for Willow. The extreme closeness of their friendship from early childhood onwards is all the more understandable if you consider that Willow probably was the only one with whom Xander as a child could have an affectionate and trusting relationship, given what his family is like, but it's a burden for any romantic relationship Xander entertains.)
I have to say I also adore Buffy in this episode, dealing with Mr. Harris the überobnoxious, trying to keep the guests entertained with charades, unafraid to make herself look silly, and for the first time in a while mature in dealing with the Spike situation; she's acknowledging and admitting that yes, seeing him with another girl does hurt instead of pretending he means nothing to her, but she's also resolved that this does not change any of the reasons why she broke up with him to begin with. Spike, for his part, after getting the admittance doesn't stay to gloat but removes himself from the scene as not to rub it in any further, also being far more mature than he was in a good long while.
In conclusion: I remain pretty fond of this episode, and consider it a good variation of the wedding ep entry.
Torchwood: Something Borrowed
Like the DS9 episode, this episode is meant as a tension breaker and comic relief after a dark miniarc, in this case the Dead Man Walking one for Owen, and builds on an established long term relationship, in this case the one of Gwen and Rhys. I must admit I love it to bits, from the teaser where Eve Myles gives us one of her best comedy faces onwards. It serves up all the wedding ep topoi but with a Torchwood twist, and manages to be a welcome variation of one of the potentially most misogynistic genre clichés, the demonic/alien pregnancy. As opposed to poor Cordelia in the AtS s1 episode Expecting, Gwen never loses her mind or her agency, and she doesn't suddenly become enamored of the unwanted alien offspring in her, either. Far from being a damsel in distress, she gets to do one of the coolest rescue sequences of the episode (hiding her gun behind her bouquet, and saving her mother from the shapechanger this way), and the "made hormonal through pregnancy" thing isn't played in a way that makes her look weak (as she intimidates the hell out of Jack and Owen both in the scene in question). For all the comedy, her outburst of how Rhys had to put up with so much since her joining Torchwood and on this day of all days he and her relationship with him will come first is a good character moment, too. (If not pregnant by alien, she probably would have said the same thing, only quieter.) For all that this is Eve Myles' episode as Gwen, everyone else gets to shine as well, from Rhys (Rhys versus the Nostrovore for the win!) to Tosh (chewing out the unfortunate Banana) to Ianto (shopping for Gwen). It has a believable tender moment and not ooc between Owen and Tosh. (Not an easy thing to pull off.) At the time of first broadcast, a lot of Jack/Ianto shippers were upset with his reply to Gwen's "so what will you do when I'm gone?" question ("pizza, Ianto, saving the world"), as well as with the implication that he still had ambiguous feelings about Gwen. As a non-shipper (well, for Jack/Ianto; I do ship Gwen/Rhys!), it basically was in line with how I saw Jack's attitude towards Ianto; he clearly cared for him but just as clearly did not regard himself in an exclusive relationship there. Which, you know, is not that surprising with Jack. He also was clearly not planning on doing anything about Gwen other than keeping her as a friend, even if she hadn't made her preference for Rhys clear; that dance at her wedding was a goodbye to a might have been dance.
In conclusion: when rewatching s2, this episode leaves me with a big smile and a mellow "awwww" for everyone on my face.
After going through these various examples, I suddenly am tempted to come up with crack scenarios for wedding episodes for shows where they'd be completely inappropriate and unthinkable, because I'm in a silly mood like that. You're welcome to join in. Scenario the first: a wedding episode for Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles:
The Bride: Catherine Weaver, who has just heard from American immigration authorities she won't get a Green Card. As real!Weaver was still a citizen of the UK, and a competitor for her firm - cue sinister music playing hinting this might be Skynet related - has made her look suspicious to the US authorities. What's a Terminator under cover to do if threatened with deportation, and with the need to keep everyone away from John Henry in the basement? Clearly, she must marry an American citizen on short notice. Which brings us to:
The Groom: James Ellison. Shamelessly manipulated into doing this for greater justice by Savannah crying at the prospect of having to leave the US and John Henry behind.
The obstacle: the well known terrorist Sarah Connor and her cohorts, having been given an anonymous tip, are planning on crashing the wedding. Also, Ellison and Weaver must prove to the immigration authorities they're really in love, which...
The wedding: gets cancelled at the last minute, but Catherine Weaver does get her GreenCard. Also, somehow the Connors end up with the wedding cake, which given Sarah's pancakes they regard as a plus.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-25 12:08 pm (UTC)I agree with you on the awesome of the Torchwood episode.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-27 09:48 am (UTC)Then again, I'm a bigger fan of s.6 and s.7 Buffy than most fans I've talked to, so I'm aware my perspective is a little weird (so I can't say I'm very surprised to hear that Hell's Bells was a fan un-favorite. Meh.)
no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 05:42 pm (UTC)Something Borrowed Someone just feedbacked me for my old meta on the female characters of Children of Earth and told me that I was completely wrong about Gwen and Gwen was a Mary Sue. Head. Desk.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 05:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-29 12:40 am (UTC)