shapinglight | BtVS season 1: The Harvest

BtVS season 1: The Harvest

Trawled through my enormous cache of icons looking for suitable ones for posts about BtVS season 1 and this was the best I could come up with. Very nice, though, isn't it?

Anyway, tomorrow I'm off back to work. No more episodes of The Wire in the afternoons. I'm stalled at episode 6, which was - of course - brilliant. :Sigh: I didn't get to watch one today either, as once K left to catch the train, there wasn't time. I did have time to watch another episode of BtVS season 1, though. Thoughts on The Harvest behind cut.

Hmm, Buffy gets out of her Luke-induced tight-spot rather easily, doesn't she? It was a bit of a One Leap and Buffy Was Free Moment. Apart from that, while she's down in the sewers with Xander, she seems a lot less take-charge than she does by the end of the episode, and I have to say the fight scenes made me smile. Wee little SMG-P, with her chubby cheeks and her tiny little fists raised in a defensive posture. However, her beheading of the minion with the cymbal is still a cool moment as is her under the brows stare at the remaining vampires at the end.

Quite a few important mythology bits in this episode, including Giles's Revised History of the World talk in the library, his vehement insistence to Xander that Jesse is not his friend 'but the thing that killed him', a view certain fans refuse to move on from, no matter how later events contradict it. Also, since I'm always sticking in descriptions in my fics of vampires as having eyes that glow in the dark like a cat's or a wolf's, was very pleased to see the vampire glowing eyes in the sewer scene (even if we never see them again). See - canon!
The Master, along with Luke, is still a crashing bore in this episode, except in the scene where he pokes the unfortunate Colin's eye out. Awful lot of Colins in the Master's family, aren't there?
Luke, Darla and Jesse all standing gaping at the Master while he pontificates is very silly. I'm fanwanking to myself that Darla's really thinking, "What did I do to end up with this bunch of losers?" while she's standing there, but sadly, I don't think she is.
Angel's cryptic act really annoyed me this time, even though he still looked very pretty (see icon). In view of later events, I ended up thinking, did he decide he wasn't going to back Buffy until he knew she could win? That's not how it came across in Becoming 1, though in fact I think I prefer that interpretation to what did happen in Becoming 1.

Xander still annoyed me too, though I suppose I have to expect that, seeing as he made such a poor first impression. I kept having to remind myself that Jesse was his friend and that's why he felt impelled to go after Buffy, but he still came across as whingy and sorry for himself to me when he was complaining about being useless. The Cordy/Harmony/Willow scene in the IT lesson was quite amusing. Cordy gets most of the best lines.
Best line of all, however, belongs to Giles, who looks utterly, utterly gorgeous in his cardy, with his 'The Earth is doomed' line at the end. His glee about all the nasties Buffy may have to face in the future is also very funny. However, I had to grit my teeth at his Techno Amish moment. Of course, in the late 1990s, we Brits were still sending each other messages by post-chaise, or even carrier pigeons, and had never heard of computers. :Rolls eyes:

Finally, Joyce's attempts to be stern mum with Buffy suggest that she's not really done it before, which is odd in view of Buffy's less than stellar academic record, and doesn't mesh that well with the relationship they seem to have. Poor Joyce! Doomed to be a feckless parent because her getting a clue would mean the end of the story. Also, I really like Principal Flutie. Wish he'd lasted a teeny bit longer before being eaten.

All-in-all, fun but the cheese factor is too high for comfort.

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i have a completely unrelated favor to ask you.

in the current issues of the buffy s8 comics, i have heard rumors having to do with giles, faith perhaps a new facet to their relationship. i would like to be filled in on anything and everything relating to this (for a variety of reasons, but first and foremost because i'm in the middle of a f/g WIP which began last may, and i'm interested in all takes pertaining to them, especially canon takes).

if you don't want to post spoiler stuff, my e-mail is mama_said_riot@yahoo.com and if this comment is too spoiler-y, delete it. i didn't know who else to ask. if you would be willing to do this i'd be so greatful

pass

Well, as a big fan of your F/G WIP, I'll be happy to give you any info that comes to light in the comics, though I'm not expecting anything new in the way of revelations in the near future.

I don't know if you're familiar at all with the story so far, but I can tell what's happened right here and now, if you like. I don't think it counts as spoilery any longer. There was a 4 issue Faith arc in which she'd split up with Robin and what with one thing and another, wanted to stop slaying. Giles then recruited her on one 'final mission,' which was to be the assassination of a 'rogue' Slayer (a very implausibly written English aristocrat). Faith had to learn to speak Brit etc so she could (again, very implausibly) pass herself off as another English aristo to gain the other girl's confidence. She agreed to do it after Giles gave her a sort of pep talk about how they were both compromised already by bad things they'd done in the past and how he could never ask Buffy to do stuff like that. There was a little bonding-type stuff involved but certainly nothing 'shippy.

At the end of the story (Faith didn't kill the girl, though the girl died anyway, and Buffy got the wrong end of the stick and thought Faith was trying to kill her, which she seemed only too willing to believe) Faith decides she should mentor young Slayers with personal problems and Giles goes along as her sort-of Watcher, having had a big, though largely inexplicable, row with Buffy.

As far as I know, there are no spoilers to do with either character in upcoming issues. You don't really get spoilers for comics the way we did with the show. All I can say is, it seems that Faith and Giles have been written out of the story for the time being.

I hope that's helpful and of course if I do find any genuine spoilers about them I'll let you know.

One of the Yahoo lists I'm on is having a rewatch, with a couple of total newcomers to the Buffyverse. Oddly enough, one of them wrote very, very similar things about this ep. It's not as good as the first episode - which, after all, was the pilot Joss worked on a lot longer.

Buffy panicking as she tries to shut the door on the vampires in the sewer seems very OOC as she became. But if we can assume most of her vampire contacts before had been at a distance (them in the gym, her outside, burning it) it makes a little more sense that she's more freaked at close quarters. She'll learn.

They all look so very young and pretty, despite some dire clothes. And yes, much as I loved the impact of Snyder, I wish Flutie'd been around a bit longer.

It's not as good as the first episode - which, after all, was the pilot Joss worked on a lot longer.

Did Joss not write this one too? I thought WttH and The Harvest were originally a two-parter? Am afraid I never thought to check while watching, though.

Yes, Buffy's quite OOC even within the episode, because at times she's very take-charge. Maybe SMG-P hadn't managed to quite put Scream, or whichever horror film she was a victim in, behind her?

Yes, Joss wrote this too, but WTTH is basically the infamous unaired pilot, extended and developed a little. So it took shape a long while before he had to find ways of finishing it off, and I think that shows - the first episode is much more polished. I think they aired as a two-parter in the US, but by the time I saw it on the Beeb they were a week apart.

Ah, that explains a lot.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to watching the next one. I always liked The Witch.

So I decided to watch along after reading your and other's comments from Welcome to the Hellmouth.

It is interesting to view with a critical eye after repeated watchings and several years in fandom/fanfic.

I too am annoyed by Cryptic!Angel. My Spuffy heart tells me that Spike never would have hidden while she fought, but then again she always knew Spike was a vamp.

And I wonder about this Darla. Here is a dangerous 400 year-old vampire and she cowers before Buffy like she's never seen a slayer (has she?). I may be getting ahead of myself, but it seems like she doesn't get balls until the episode where she tries to lure Angel back to the family (and why does she never get a wardrobe change in Season 1?).

Xander doesn't annoy me too much, but I find myself wondering why I love to slash him with Spike.

I liked Flutie, too!

I too am annoyed by Cryptic!Angel. My Spuffy heart tells me that Spike never would have hidden while she fought, but then again she always knew Spike was a vamp.

I think Early Angel suffers from serious lack of Joss quite knowing what to do with him. The show was never supposed to be about vampires, after all. In fact, I think Joss actively wanted to avoid the whole 'romantic vampire' cliche, but fortunately for us, he ended up doing quite the opposite.

You're right about Darla. She's mostly OOC, though I'm not sure the cowering in front of a Slayer bit is OOC. I think Darla would be only too pleased to have a big, strong man (Luke in this instance) do all the hard work while she ducks out of trouble. She's a survivor.

Xander doesn't annoy me too much, but I find myself wondering why I love to slash him with Spike.

Heh! Afraid I can't help you with that one.

You're right about Darla being a survivor. That's how she lived so long I suppose, and much of that time with a big, strong, male vamp at her side.

Yes, I think she likes having one on hand to do the dirty work and hand her in and out of carriages and so on.

I think the main reason people people slash Xander with Spike is because he's the regular guy. Now don't get me wrong, I actually like Xander most of the time, (when he's not being a bully that is.)

But he's one of the most out of character written chars in Buffy fanfic. Because he's the 'normal one' he's supposed to be the standin for the viewers and unfortunately that often comes through in fanfic where he's very often not Xander, but Xander Stu.

where he's very often not Xander, but Xander Stu.

How true is that! Never would have thought of it that way. And yes, bully is how I often think of him when I'm watching the show.

I'm fanwanking to myself that Darla's really thinking, "What did I do to end up with this bunch of losers?" while she's standing there, but sadly, I don't think she is.

The only way I can accept this is to assume that the Master put her under a really vicious form of thrall that infantilised her, as punishment for going off with Angelus two hundred years earlier...

That could work. She even has the voice to go with it. I think her voice gets a little deeper in AtS, though I could be wrong. It's always a bit little girl-ish.

I can't remember anything about this episode. ::blinks::

It is mostly quite forgettable. Some good funny lines, though.

Ah, so this was the episode with the "Earth is doomed" quote. Still one of the best one-liners from the first season.

I agree. It's very amusing, and I liked hearing Giles repeat it in Chosen.

It's not a very good episode, but I still think this is one of the best expositions in s1. Quick and snappy explanation for how vampires work (and don't work) in the Buffyverse:

WILLOW: Uh, this may be the dumb question, but shouldn't we call the police?
GILES: And they'd believe us, of course.
WILLOW: Well, we don't have to say vampires. We, we could just say that there's a, a bad man.
BUFFY: They couldn't handle it even of they did show up. They'd only come with guns.
GILES: You have no idea where they took Jesse?
BUFFY: I looked around, but soon's they got clear of the graveyard, they could have just, voom!
XANDER: They can fly?
BUFFY: They can drive.
XANDER: Oh.
WILLOW: I don't remember hearing a car.
GILES: Let's take an enormous intuitive leap, shall we, and say they went underground.
BUFFY: Vampires really jam on sewer systems. You can get anywhere in the entire town without catching any rays.

I agree, and in fact managing to make exposition not boring is something that BtVS has always excelled at - or maybe I should say that ASH excelled at, since poor old Giles got stuck with most of it.

Luke, Darla and Jesse all standing gaping at the Master while he pontificates is very silly.

I agree with passion. Actually, The Master was nothing but silly to me. One of the low points of season one. Darla was so stupid, I can't believe that Hyena Xander was scarier than her.

I kept having to remind myself that Jesse was his friend and that's why he felt impelled to go after Buffy, but he still came across as whingy and sorry for himself to me when he was complaining about being useless.

Xander feeling insecure about his macho-ness is to be expected, seeing how he gets bullied a lot, and the way he's treated by his father at home. I actually think that Xander becomes quite brave, too brave for his own good, when one of his friends is in danger. Along with brave, he's irrational and foolish. Something that he developed out of since S7, continuing in S8, when Buffy asked him to take Dawn away, he had argued but in the end he obeyed, showing more rationality and maturity. In The Long Way Home, he told Buffy she should take someone stronger than him to save Willow. I don't think Teenage Xander would have said that. He'd jump into that portal with nothing but a rock to rescue his friend.

Darla was so stupid, I can't believe that Hyena Xander was scarier than her.

Heh! He was, wasn't he?

As far as my opinion of Xander in this episode goes, that's just how he comes across to me, I'm afraid. Not saying there mightn't be extenuating circumstances, but at the time we didn't know what they were and neither did NB.

I'm doing the rewatch too! (I have time when Callum falls asleep in my lap after feeding.) But to shake things up a bit, I'm watching it dubbed in French (I need the practice!)

So far I've determined:

1) I have a lot of trouble following the dialogue (they talk fast!) but it helps that I have the English version practically memorized.

2) Xander goes by "Alex" in French, which is way less cool.

But to shake things up a bit, I'm watching it dubbed in French (I need the practice!)

Oh boy, really?

:Is very impressed:

Wonder how far you'll get before Callum's crawling?

In the late '90s I was still on smoke signals personally :)

Hi D, just popping my head round the door to say hello. Hope you're recovered from last week's illness and that work's not too drab. Enjoyed your recap of The Harvest; I know how cheesy it was but it still gives me a big silly grin.

Hi, Frim. How lovely to see you! How are you? What have you been up to?

Same old, same old round here as I guess you can see.

In the late '90s I was still on smoke signals personally :)

Well, I may have been a bit ahead of you but I'm pretty sure my home computer was still steam-powered at the time.

I'm all better, thanks for asking, and yeah, it made me grin too. SMG-P is so cute.

Mine was an old Acorn computer, powered by a genuine hamster on a wheel.

I'm all right, thanks. Very very busy with work, which is mostly jolly, friends, who are very jolly, and P, who is famously jolly :) Still crossing my fingers that his possible army career can be averted; he's got two PhD applications in progress, which would take him to Nigeria for a year, but at least not *deliberately* into armed combat. Trying to decide myself whether to do another masters or have a kid :D

Are you still reading the AtS/BtVS comics?

Mine was an old Acorn computer, powered by a genuine hamster on a wheel.

Heh! This is going to turn into a Monty Python skit if we're not careful.

Glad to hear that things in general are jolly and hope that P will lose interest in the army thing. Nigeria could be jolly, given the right circumstances.

Are you serious about the having a kid thing? If you are, bear in mind that it'll probably be years before you get to do the PhD, whereas if you do it the other way round, you can have the kid while resting on your academic laurels. Think how smug you'll feel.

I am still reading the comics. I like the AtS one but am still not keen on the BtVS one. I am reading other things too, though, including The Sword, which is brilliant, and someone introduced me to Fables, which I love. You?

Should add that even I'm a bit of a fandom whore these days. I've fallen in love with Battlestar Galactica and The Wire.

Nooo, not you! You're the stalwart! Though heh, I love BSG too. (Not just because perma!stoned Helo reminds me of my other half.) The guy who pimped Buffy to me pimped me BSG as well, and I've loaned him my Torchwood disks in return, though he's definitely got the short end of the deal there :)

Yep, I've given up on Buffy too but am hanging on with AtS for the time being. I feel there are stories still to be told in that series; Buffy, not so much. And yes, I'm reading The Sword too, and a few other things: Umbrella Academy (is very silly and surprisingly good); Nightwing; Doktor Sleepless; and persisting with Midnighter though I've dropped the rest of the Wildstorm stuff. I read the whole of Y: The Last Man, too, and it's one of the best stories I've ever seen in any genre. Highly recommended.

As for the baby thing, it's something we've been talking about. It's definitely start-something-new time, but we're not sure yet what the thing should be. Lots of reasons not to do it now, but most of them (no job security, don't know where we'll be in five years) are going to apply for pretty much the whole rest of our lives and those of everyone in our generation :)

Btw, the Authority fancomic I was working on with

whatistigerbalm is nearly complete and online here (http://fancomics.livejournal.com), should you still follow that series at all - but I know it's outside your fandoms, so please don't feel obliged to read.

The guy who pimped Buffy to me pimped me BSG as well, and I've loaned him my Torchwood disks in return, though he's definitely got the short end of the deal there :)

Oh boy, has he! Seasons 1 was so pants! This one's been better but it still doesn't do a lot for me.

Tell me more about Y: the Last Man. Who wrote/drew that? It sounds very interesting.

Can see why you've dropped the Wildstorm stuff, though it's hard to abandon Midnighter. I dunno what the hell they think they're doing with those characters. I will definitely read your comic, btw.

As for the baby thing, it's something we've been talking about. It's definitely start-something-new time, but we're not sure yet what the thing should be. Lots of reasons not to do it now, but most of them (no job security, don't know where we'll be in five years) are going to apply for pretty much the whole rest of our lives and those of everyone in our generation :)

I do get what you're saying. People seem to be leaving it so late to have babies these days and there's an awful lot to be said for having your children relatively young so you're still youngish yourself when they're all grown up. I'm also the last person to tell you you should wait until you've got steady jobs/bought the house etc, as I didn't do that. When K was born (I was 26), S didn't have a proper job and we ended up living with his brother until he found one.

It is, however, true that once you've had the kids, your lives will never be the same, but that can be a good thing, of course, as well as a bad one.

Hope you and P manage to make the right decision for you, and lovely to see you around.

:Hugs:

Hi, Frim. Don't know if you'll get this comment, but I've read your comic and I absolutely love it. It's a gazillion times better than anything Wildstorm are doing with these characters at the moment.

I hope the rest will be up soon?

Hey, thank you! That's very kind. I'm hoping the rest will be forthcoming soon: the remaining pages are all inked and just need colouring, but Mia - the artist - is doing a PhD and a full time job (in two separate countries no less) so her art time is limited.

How's things? I was in the office at 7 this morning (deadline day) and feel very virtuous ^_^

I'm okay, thanks, except for having what you might call a noisy brain - ie. it won't shut down enough to let me think properly.

7am, huh? That is very virtuous. Made any progress on that life-changing decision yet?

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BtVS season 1: The Harvest

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