"Empty Places" (7.19)
Apr. 29th, 2003 09:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hermionesviolinReally good title.
I so called the mind control. I think i like that she's using the magic again no problem.
Xander's blinding didn't really affect me emotionally, but the scene with Willow was really moving. And Buffy's whole all-about-the-mission reminded me of Fred's thing last week ("Sacrifice" 4.20) about how a world where you're cut off from all emotion and caring is not a world worth fighting for.
Ooh, shades of Ripper.
Yes, we get a mention of Xander's Halloween costume ("All the Way" 6.05).
[edited to add: "Usually when there's a party I end up having to rebuild things." Okay, so it was before Xander became a carpeneter, but that immediately made me think of "Dead Man's Party" -- which is somewhat ironic given the ending of this episode.]
Opening shot at the Bronze? So "Dirty Girls."
Hellmouthed police -- allusion to police brutality?
Andrew-as-Dawn on Spike's motorcycle (see "Bargaining"). We know he had his hands a little lower than waist, no? ;)
"It is not for thee but for she alone to wield." Hmm.
I love that Faith manages to create sexual tension with whomever she is in a scene with.
I love Rona.
But yeah, "Ding dong the witch is dead"... "Shut your mouth." Buffy's being reckless and generally not a good leader, but she has gotten them through 7 years.
"Brat's all woman-sized."
And even Xander... all the more poignant after his speech last episode about trusting her. Not only is it a blow for her but you know it's gotta be painful for him.
All the stuff about Buffy being handed everything, not ever being told she deserved it (Anya for example was given power because she in some sense earned it)... is it just because i'm at Smith or do we think Joss hates Bush?
"Don't." And we see her crying. "Don't be afraid to lead them." I openly admit to being moved by that scene.
So, um, where is Buffy going to go exactly?
I could be writing lengthy things about character and leadership and making decisions and Buffy-as-the-law ("a girl who thinks she's a cop... favorite of my current bruises")... really lots about Buffy, about her role and how it's changed and what she's been trained to do and how one fights a battle like this (as well as the whole battle metaphor and unpacking that) and all that, because really while Angel has been about major forces and mythos and being part of something larger, this episode was really about the people. Ostensibly it may have been about gathering information and trying to avert the apocalypse, but really it's about leadership and togetherness and trust and all that. But i really don't have anything profound to say. I think it's all right there, and honestly i don't think i want to read anyone theorizing about it (though i'm sure![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
mutant_allies will link to brilliant stuff) i just want to watch it unfold. I've mentioned this before. Whedonverse is my thing. I don't enjoy seeing it torn apart (in the sense of fans tearing apart the plot and all, not in the "Yoko Factor" sense or anything like that). I really enjoy dissecting this stuff, connecting it, theorizing, all that... but sometimes i just need to let it be. This episode made me sad, and for once i'm not up for analysis.
Oh, and preview for next week? That was not what i was expecting when i found out the episode was gonna be titled "Touched." If Angel is any indication, badness ensues. But honestly, if you think the world is gonna end, what else are you gonna do? And there's the potential for a lot of really interesting resolution of unresolved issues (Oh, and i went "aw" at Anya's bit about being, or not being, at the beside of her ex-fiancee).
I so called the mind control. I think i like that she's using the magic again no problem.
Xander's blinding didn't really affect me emotionally, but the scene with Willow was really moving. And Buffy's whole all-about-the-mission reminded me of Fred's thing last week ("Sacrifice" 4.20) about how a world where you're cut off from all emotion and caring is not a world worth fighting for.
Ooh, shades of Ripper.
Yes, we get a mention of Xander's Halloween costume ("All the Way" 6.05).
[edited to add: "Usually when there's a party I end up having to rebuild things." Okay, so it was before Xander became a carpeneter, but that immediately made me think of "Dead Man's Party" -- which is somewhat ironic given the ending of this episode.]
Opening shot at the Bronze? So "Dirty Girls."
Hellmouthed police -- allusion to police brutality?
Andrew-as-Dawn on Spike's motorcycle (see "Bargaining"). We know he had his hands a little lower than waist, no? ;)
"It is not for thee but for she alone to wield." Hmm.
I love that Faith manages to create sexual tension with whomever she is in a scene with.
I love Rona.
But yeah, "Ding dong the witch is dead"... "Shut your mouth." Buffy's being reckless and generally not a good leader, but she has gotten them through 7 years.
"Brat's all woman-sized."
And even Xander... all the more poignant after his speech last episode about trusting her. Not only is it a blow for her but you know it's gotta be painful for him.
All the stuff about Buffy being handed everything, not ever being told she deserved it (Anya for example was given power because she in some sense earned it)... is it just because i'm at Smith or do we think Joss hates Bush?
"Don't." And we see her crying. "Don't be afraid to lead them." I openly admit to being moved by that scene.
So, um, where is Buffy going to go exactly?
I could be writing lengthy things about character and leadership and making decisions and Buffy-as-the-law ("a girl who thinks she's a cop... favorite of my current bruises")... really lots about Buffy, about her role and how it's changed and what she's been trained to do and how one fights a battle like this (as well as the whole battle metaphor and unpacking that) and all that, because really while Angel has been about major forces and mythos and being part of something larger, this episode was really about the people. Ostensibly it may have been about gathering information and trying to avert the apocalypse, but really it's about leadership and togetherness and trust and all that. But i really don't have anything profound to say. I think it's all right there, and honestly i don't think i want to read anyone theorizing about it (though i'm sure
mutant_allies will link to brilliant stuff) i just want to watch it unfold. I've mentioned this before. Whedonverse is my thing. I don't enjoy seeing it torn apart (in the sense of fans tearing apart the plot and all, not in the "Yoko Factor" sense or anything like that). I really enjoy dissecting this stuff, connecting it, theorizing, all that... but sometimes i just need to let it be. This episode made me sad, and for once i'm not up for analysis.Oh, and preview for next week? That was not what i was expecting when i found out the episode was gonna be titled "Touched." If Angel is any indication, badness ensues. But honestly, if you think the world is gonna end, what else are you gonna do? And there's the potential for a lot of really interesting resolution of unresolved issues (Oh, and i went "aw" at Anya's bit about being, or not being, at the beside of her ex-fiancee).
no subject
Date: 2003-04-29 10:17 pm (UTC)That scene . . . with Wood noting that Faith was "worried about [Buffy]" . . . made me squeal and squeal. My lovely pairing. ^_^
Pretty damn poignant episode, overall. (Felt the same with the whole Willow and Xander scene, despite not feeling the Xander pain overall either.) I'm also wondering what Buffy is going to do now. I think the others were right, however, although rather than kicking her out of the house, maybe they should have offered her the choice of being a follower or leaving.
Hmmm. Joss and his misogynists.
Next week: everyone's doing it! And we mean doing it. *sigh* Beautiful. Really. Why aren't Faith and Buffy doing it? Grrr.
I am incoherent and babbling in your journal. I will go now.
no subject
Date: 2003-04-29 10:40 pm (UTC)You can babble in my journal (and in my physical presence) anytime. And you were in fact coherent, for the record.
I like your icon.
My mother wrote, "I actually got to watch Buffy in real time. Tearful. I can't imagine how it will end." Tearful is definitely a good word for how i felt at the end.
I don't think Buffy could have stayed and been a follower. Perhaps they should have offered it as an option (Faith asking "can you follow?" doesn't count) but i don't think she could have stayed. She was willing to leave and leave Faith in charge and give her her blessing of sorts, but Buffy has never been a follower ("Checkpoint," "The Gift," etc.), and she certainly won't follow when she thinks the leader is in the wrong.
Yes, they should so be getting it on (though i admit to very much looking forward to the B/S if for no other reason than that they deserve better resolution than they have gotten so far). Someone should write angry/comfort sex fic. And Olivia
or Michael (and yes i do mean the real-life one)whould come back for Giles. And Kennedy should die and Oz can come back for Willow. And... and no i'm not being facetious, for the record; i think if we're gonna have a shagfest we should go all out and those are pairings i would like to see.