av Mr Chase » mån mar 22, 2004 3:46
Mr Chase försöker och misslyckas med en drastisk distraktionsreduktion:
39. Homecoming
Mr Trick: "Ladies, gentlemen, spiny-headed looking creatures, welcome to SlayerFest '98!"
I am very ambivalent about this episode. On the one hand, Mr Trick and his Slayerfest and on the other a season one redux, not to mention Willow and Xander, ewww! I thought that most of the gang was acting out of character, or at least in a way that they had been acting before, and it felt very forced at times. It seems that the writers haven't assimilated the changes that has taken place in the meantime, like the relationship between Buffy and Cordelia, and especially the one between Willow and Xander. I can see were Joss is going with this, but sorry, it doesn't ring true to me.
Cordelia is back in old Queen bitca mode and Buffy has had her prom queen within awoken. And war ensues as both of them fight for something as trivial as the title of Homecoming Queen -- especially considering all the more serious slaying things that they have been doing -- burning bridges and hurting old friends in the process without any second thoughts. I really didn't care for either Cordelia and Buffy in this episode and it was only fitting that neither of them won in the end.
While it might be true, as has been suggested, that Buffy pulled a Ross Perot on Cordy, I think that both girls at this point have gotten so beyond the normal high school existence that other kids will have a hard time relating to them. Buffy was never in the popular loop in first place and Cordelia has "sacrificed" her popularity to be with Xander (note how Buffy lists Xander as one of Cordy's weaknesses) and becoming one of the Scoobies. And Cordy could never hope to win by just reaching out for the geek vote, especially if she doesn't know the first thing about the "Vulcan Death Grip" (there is no such thing, and if I'm allowed to reveal my inner geek, that phrase is actually a litmus test for true Trekkers; there is however a Vulcan Nerve Pinch). No amount of last ditch campaigning, cupcakes and gift baskets notwithstanding, was ever going to change that fact.
Buffy: "Now, this is just like any other popularity contest. I've done this before. The only difference being this time I'm not actually popular, although I'm not exactly unpopular. A lot of people came to my welcome home party."
Willow: "But they were killed by zombies."
Buffy: "Good point."
The conflict between Buffy and Cordelia isn't actually about any real animosity between them, harsh words aside. It's more about regret and loss. Buffy has from time to time expressed the opinion to be normal and escape her slayer destiny. Cordelia feels a void in her life. What is her destiny more precisely? But I'm pretty sure she feels more alive now as a Slayerette than she ever did as Queen C but the old has a way to reassert itself from time to time. Cordy wonders why Buffy would want a tiara when she has all this slaying to make her feel important.
However I didn't really buy it this time. Been there, done that! Buffy should by now, as has been shown in a number of previous episodes, have come to terms with her destiny. And Cordelia can make herself a useful part in the slayage thing (she should stay away from assault rifles though, and stick with spatulas). Remember the highlight when she literally talked Texas vampire Lyle Gorch to run away, ROTFL. You go, Cordy!
Lyle: "I'm gonna kill both you Slayers for this! You hear me?"
Cordelia: "I hear you, you redneck moron! You got a dress that goes with that hat?"
Lyle: "I'm gonna..."
Cordelia: "Rip out my innards, play with my eyeballs, boil my brain and eat it for brunch? Listen up, needle-brain. Buffy and I have taken out four of your cronies, not to mention your girlfriend."
Lyle: "WIFE!"
Cordelia: "Whatever. The point is, I haven't even broken a sweat. See, in the end, Buffy's just the runner-up. *I'm* the Queen. You get me mad, what do you think I'm gonna do to you?"
Lyle: "Later."
If there are some persons acting out of character more than others in this episode it most certainly are Willow and Xander. The clothes fluke! I absolutely, unequivocally *hated* it! It was positively horribly cringeworthy, and I'm not just saying that because I'm an ardent Buffyverse "old schooler". I know that there's been a fair number of fans wanting them to get together since the first season and if they had by, let's say, "Lie to Me", it would've been five-by-five with me. But now it's not, dammit!
Aside from the terrible and unjustifiable hurt that it would afflict on two otherwise nice innocent characters, Oz and Cordelia, the "attraction" comes right out of the blue. Sure Willow had some feelings for a then quite oblivious Xander in the past, but as we have seen she's grown way past those and found bliss with the Wolfman. And Xander never really had any feelings like that for his old friend (except perhaps for a seconds brief ice cream-on-the-nose fluke way back in the first episode of season 2). Those kinds of feelings were reserved early on for Buffy, who didn't reciprocate, and later for Cordelia, who has, and that with a bang.
Spoiler the rest of Buffy and Angel
I can never bring myself to believe in the Willow/Xander thing and I'm not really sure why Joss put it in there. I mean, it doesn't lead anywhere. It's just a fluke, albeit it goes on for a couple of episodes and ends in total devastation. They don't wind up together. In hindsight it's just a convenient plot device to distance Cordelia from the Scooby gang in general, and Xander in particular, so that she can move to Los Angeles and help Angel fight big city demons in the spin-off series "Angel". Her relocation is maybe a good thing (haven't seen "Angel" at the present so I reserve further judgement on that) but from a "Buffy" standpoint I felt it was too contrived. And if the plan was to ship her off, then why on earth couldn't they have waited. It was just the early episodes of the season, for crying out loud, and a lot more of them to come after these ones. Had they really run out of ideas about what to do with her character and her relationship with Xander? Pfft... Definitely *not* happy about this as you can tell. Probably the single most irritating thing I can never forgive Joss for doing. (Well there is one other thing...)
Willow: "I'm a rabid dog who should be shot! But there're forces at work here! Dark, incomprehensible forces."
You should be, Will and you're sure right about the last part. They're called Joss!
Both pairings, Willow/Oz and Xander/Cordelia, are so right for each other. The wandering Oz gets some sense of stability from Will and she gets to be a little wild and assertive around him. Xander was always the one to face up to Cordelia and she was strangely drawn to him because of that. And she responded of course, in her trademark tactless fashion. Both Xander and Cordelia have layers upon layers -- Xander wears a mask with his constant jokes and carefree attitude and Cordelia one with her alternate bitchy/popularity persona. But neither of those are the true persons beneath and it is only together that they can bring their respective walls down. Of them Cordelia has come the furthest as this episode clearly reveals in her conversation with Buffy in the beleaguered forest cabin.
Cordelia: "I'm never gonna know if it's real between me and Xander, or if it's just some temporary insanity that made me think I loved him. And now I'm never gonna get the chance to tell him."
Buffy: "You really love Xander?"
Cordelia: "Well, he kinda grows on you, like a Chia Pet."
On a side matter, Buffy is still keeping Angel's return a secret. The takeout blood was humorous but why on earth would she tell someone that has suffered eons in another hell dimension that she's seeing someone else? And then cut to Scott dumping Buffy. It should have been the other way around but at least now we got rid of the annoying boy. Faith takes it upon herself to humiliate him in front of his new date at the dance. Way to go, Faith, LOL.
Faith: "Scott? There you are, honey! Hey, good news. The doctor says that the itching and the swelling and the burning should clear up, but we gotta keep using the ointment."
So if I can think away the clothes fluke and the silly girl rivalry all that is left is the Slayerfest and that was entertaining in itself, and of course our first meeting with the Mayor. On the outside he seems nice but at the same time he has a menacing craziness and compulsive obsessiveness that makes him so creepy, and such a perfect new villain for Buffy and the other Slayerettes. That introduction alone makes me accept this instalment.
Rupert Giles: "I'll be back in the Middle Ages."
Miss Calendar: "Did you ever leave?"
).
Dandruff. Too much makeup. Never studies.
