BtVS season 1: Nightmares
Oct. 9th, 2008 07:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shapinglightI'm off to stay with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
trepkos for the weekend early tomorrow morning and shan't be around online, as a consquence. Hope you all have a good one.
Before I go, since I watched Nightmares from BtVS season 1 the other day, I thought I'd better write a quick review before I forget everything about it.
Unlike the previous two, this one has the definite feel of an arc episode, thanks to the presence of the Master and the insufferable Anointed One. What an annoying little git! Already can't wait for Spike to come along and get rid of him.
Usually when episodes of TV shows introduce random small kids (who, weirdly, very often seem to be boys called Billy), it's a sign to the audience that this is one of those episodes where you just have to grit your teeth and get through it. However, Annoying One or not, this is not true of this episode, where Billy, the kid around whom the plot revolves, is quite sweet in fact - enough so that it's a pleasure to see him wake up and accuse the lowlife who put him in hospital.
However, the central plot with Billy is there IMO as a vehicle for lots of character development of Buffy and her friends, featuring as it does (thanks to Billy) their encounters with their worst fears. Of these, Buffy's is the darkest and most poignant as she first encounters her father, who tells her he and Joyce split up because of her, that she's a horrible disappointment and he doesn't love her. Obviously, she fears that her father doesn't really care about her, which, sadly, turns out to be true, though possibly at this stage Joss hadn't planned that it should. She also encounters the Master and is unable to fight him (at least, not alone), which turns out to be prophetic and sets the stage for Prophecy Girl two episodes later. In fact, it's not entirely clear to me if Buffy's dream at the beginning is a Billy-induced nightmare or a Slayer dream.
I'm also unclear whether Buffy getting vamped is Giles's nightmare or Buffy's, but I find it very poignant that Giles's worst nightmare is that Buffy should die. She means an awful lot to him, though he doesn't express it openly. For instance, standing over her grave, he talks about how much potential she had, which is not something he ever says to her in person. Very British, I suppose, though I think his fondness for her always does shine through.
In fact, after this re-watch, I'm inclined to say that Buffy's relationship with Giles is by far the most important in this season and the best-developed.
By contrast, both Willow's and Xander's nightmares are couched in comedic terms. Xander easily conquers his fears (are clowns really the stuff of his nightmares? What about vampires, or his parents?) and Willow's attempts to sing Madam Butterfly and horrible stagefright are teeth-grittingly embarrassing and hilarious at the same time. As for Cordy's nightmare - the bad hair and clothes and being made to join the chess-club - it sort of seems like poetic justice at this stage. Of course, the following episode will paint her in a somewhat different light.
Anyway, everything works out, but with the Master back in play and the big theme of conquering your fears introduced that will be so important in the season finale, the gear up the the end of the season starts here.
Trivial stuff
Still not missing Angel
Also, I remember hearing some people (not fans of the later seasons) saying how great it would be if the BtVS comic brought back a season 1 vibe (which I think it has actually) and how wonderful the show was back then, and thinking how silly that was. Re-watching these early episodes, though they've been so much better than I remember, I haven't changed my mind. I like that BtVS got all emotionally messy and complicated and that everyone was allowed to grow-up (not always with grace), and I realised that one of the main reasons why I've been enjoying these episodes so much is because I know what's to come.
Best line: No stand-outs, though Xander saying he'd be more scared of Nazis crawling over his face than of spiders is quite good.
Speaking of which, had to close my eyes during the spider scene. :Shudder:
trepkos for the weekend early tomorrow morning and shan't be around online, as a consquence. Hope you all have a good one. Before I go, since I watched Nightmares from BtVS season 1 the other day, I thought I'd better write a quick review before I forget everything about it.
Unlike the previous two, this one has the definite feel of an arc episode, thanks to the presence of the Master and the insufferable Anointed One. What an annoying little git! Already can't wait for Spike to come along and get rid of him.
Usually when episodes of TV shows introduce random small kids (who, weirdly, very often seem to be boys called Billy), it's a sign to the audience that this is one of those episodes where you just have to grit your teeth and get through it. However, Annoying One or not, this is not true of this episode, where Billy, the kid around whom the plot revolves, is quite sweet in fact - enough so that it's a pleasure to see him wake up and accuse the lowlife who put him in hospital.
However, the central plot with Billy is there IMO as a vehicle for lots of character development of Buffy and her friends, featuring as it does (thanks to Billy) their encounters with their worst fears. Of these, Buffy's is the darkest and most poignant as she first encounters her father, who tells her he and Joyce split up because of her, that she's a horrible disappointment and he doesn't love her. Obviously, she fears that her father doesn't really care about her, which, sadly, turns out to be true, though possibly at this stage Joss hadn't planned that it should. She also encounters the Master and is unable to fight him (at least, not alone), which turns out to be prophetic and sets the stage for Prophecy Girl two episodes later. In fact, it's not entirely clear to me if Buffy's dream at the beginning is a Billy-induced nightmare or a Slayer dream.
I'm also unclear whether Buffy getting vamped is Giles's nightmare or Buffy's, but I find it very poignant that Giles's worst nightmare is that Buffy should die. She means an awful lot to him, though he doesn't express it openly. For instance, standing over her grave, he talks about how much potential she had, which is not something he ever says to her in person. Very British, I suppose, though I think his fondness for her always does shine through.
In fact, after this re-watch, I'm inclined to say that Buffy's relationship with Giles is by far the most important in this season and the best-developed.
By contrast, both Willow's and Xander's nightmares are couched in comedic terms. Xander easily conquers his fears (are clowns really the stuff of his nightmares? What about vampires, or his parents?) and Willow's attempts to sing Madam Butterfly and horrible stagefright are teeth-grittingly embarrassing and hilarious at the same time. As for Cordy's nightmare - the bad hair and clothes and being made to join the chess-club - it sort of seems like poetic justice at this stage. Of course, the following episode will paint her in a somewhat different light.
Anyway, everything works out, but with the Master back in play and the big theme of conquering your fears introduced that will be so important in the season finale, the gear up the the end of the season starts here.
Trivial stuff
Still not missing Angel
Also, I remember hearing some people (not fans of the later seasons) saying how great it would be if the BtVS comic brought back a season 1 vibe (which I think it has actually) and how wonderful the show was back then, and thinking how silly that was. Re-watching these early episodes, though they've been so much better than I remember, I haven't changed my mind. I like that BtVS got all emotionally messy and complicated and that everyone was allowed to grow-up (not always with grace), and I realised that one of the main reasons why I've been enjoying these episodes so much is because I know what's to come.
Best line: No stand-outs, though Xander saying he'd be more scared of Nazis crawling over his face than of spiders is quite good.
Speaking of which, had to close my eyes during the spider scene. :Shudder: