From: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org (stillpt-digest) To: stillpt-digest@smoe.org Subject: stillpt-digest V2 #44 Reply-To: stillpt@smoe.org Sender: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk stillpt-digest Thursday, February 24 2000 Volume 02 : Number 044 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: b/this year's girl ["David S. Bratman" ] Re: b/this year's girl [allenw ] Next week's girl - predictions [GHighPine@aol.com] b/comments2/23 ["Donald G. Keller" ] b/faithdreams ["Donald G. Keller" ] Re: b/comments2/23 [GHighPine@aol.com] Re: b/this year's girl ["Berni Phillips" ] Re: b/comments2/23 ["Berni Phillips" ] b/This Year's Girl [allenw ] Re: b/this year's girl [GHighPine@aol.com] Re: b/This Year's Girl ["David S. Bratman" ] b/Angel ["David S. Bratman" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 08:11:20 -0500 (EST) From: "David S. Bratman" Subject: Re: b/this year's girl After some problems with my e-mail server over the weekend, I'm back on the list. I think. Anyway, I've gotten a couple messages overnight. I have to say that the new smoe "key confirmation" signon system (more complicated than their previous system) sucks, and thanks to Meredith for bypassing it for me. Hard to imagine the Mayor, just before the Ascension, having taken time to make a precautionary video for Faith just in case things went wrong, but symbolically it works, especially in the way it shows how well he knows her. (The "go on: open it" sequence, in which he shows he knows her reactions as well as if he were actually there.) I guessed the nature of the device almost instantly when Faith used it. (The zap gave it away.) It's a hoary old science fantasy cliche, but it will afford the opportunity for some interesting acting next week, which I'm looking forward to seeing. Interesting that, though Will (she seems to have dropped the second syllable of her name entirely) still hasn't told the gang about Tara, she seems to be trying to recruit Tara into the gang. Tara definitely has mixed feelings about this, lending support (unless this is deliberate misdirection) to the theory that she sabotaged last week's demon-finding spell out of general nervousness. Notice that we didn't see Riley actually leaving the hospital. He might not be telling the full story of how he convinced the other Initiative guys to let him out. His nature, hinted at before, of a military man finding himself bereft of purpose is being reinforced. I find it interesting that Spike had to remind Giles and Xander that he isn't on their side. I wonder how many viewers had to be reminded of that too. This week's _Angel_ provided a few things: 1) Needless death of minor recurring character; 2) Major demon inexplicably and gratuitously blowing his cover; 3) Revelation of Angel's real first name; 4) Hint of dorky back story as to why he's called "Angel"; 5) Proof, as if it were still needed, that David Boreanaz ain't Irish. Also one plus: Funny bit about security systems, definitely up there with the comic relief moments in the first couple episodes. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 10:25:06 -0600 (EST) From: allenw Subject: Re: b/this year's girl Well, that was interesting. GENERIC SPOILER SPACE PRODUCT SUBSTITUTE DERIVATIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kind of an old-timers week, what with Faith and Joyce and Mayor Wilkins and the Council of Watchers and Darla (and Dark Spike, for that matter) all showing up within an hour of each other. It's nice to know the writers haven't forgotten previous seasons; here's hoping they haven't brought all these threads together just to do away with them (though some resolution would be appropriate). - Merideth: Strong agreement on the Xena-Callisto parallel (though with the hairstyles and colors reversed). In fact, at the end SMG was doing such a crazy-Hudson-Lieck look that it was somewhat distracting. And yup, Faith sounded jealous. - Donald: My preliminary take on the Slayer-dreams is that they *are* shared. However, the dreams that Buffy remembers she shares with Faith's light side; the dreams that Faith remembers she shares with Buffy's dark side. And I don't know where the Mayor is coming from. There's a fairly long, very recent interview with Doug Petrie at http://www.anotheruniverse.com/tv/interviews/dougpetrie022500.html which you might find interesting, although I should warn you that in the "Love - Buffy Style" section, about 2/3 of the way down, there's some surprisingly spoilerish commentary on Willow and Tara's development. - - Sue: It's sort of as if Riley has taken Willow's place as 'potential-hostage-of-the-week'. And it's about time, too. - - David: I'm glad to see that Willow has at least told Tara about the monster-hunting gig, and that Buffy exists. I was half-expecting the detective's father to get vamped, and he still might, but it would have been really hard to hide the requisite blood-exchange from the audience (and Angel). Effective scene, though. - - Allen Wilkins (no relation) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 13:36:18 EST From: GHighPine@aol.com Subject: Next week's girl - predictions Predictions for next week: The typical identity switch / evil twin story goes like this. A (our hero) spends the whole story trying to convince everyone that B is an imposter. Nobody believes it at first until B's inappropriate / evil behavior starts to provide some backup evidence to A's outlandish claim. At last some allies believe A and help to defeat B. I believe that next week's episode will follow this rough outline, but, like the demons and monsters who are only metaphors for the horror of adolescence, it will be only a means to an end. A bit like "Earshot" -- the plot of the telepath who starts being driven crazy by thoughts is a cliche, but it was only a means to an end, that end being to make the points that Buffy made to Jonathan in the bell tower. I believe that the point of next week's episode will be the effects on Buffy of living in Faith's skin and being treated like Faith. Buffy gets a little taste of what Faith's life has been like, and what =she= would have been like under such circumstances. I speculate that we are going to see some hints that remind us of the Buffy of "The Wish," which made the point that Buffy would have turned out different, and more Faith-like, under different circumstances. Faith, on her side -- did the previews hint of a liaison between her and Spike, or did I dream that? Well, I suspect that interesting things will happen there, and -- wow, talk about the prediction (that both Donald and I made) re Anya's possessiveness toward Xander -- Faith in Buffy-guise just has to go after Xander, with interesting repercussions on the Anya and Riley side. But I think that the main point on Faith's side will be the effect on her of having friends, family of a sort. On the one hand, comfort; on the other hand, an uncomfortable restriction. I believe that her efforts to fit into Buffy's life will take precedence, at least at first, over any thoughts of sabotaging Buffy's relationships in revenge. I believe that this will tie right in to the theme of control and relationships with authority figures. Oh, hey, wow... ... the Watchers' Council has Buffy in Faith's body. (Hope they explain why they are apparently leaving Buffy alone? If they planted someone to keep an eye on Faith, they MUST have someone watching Buffy too. Who???????? Who in Buffy's life could possibly be a Watchers' spy?) I'm trying to remember what Giles said the Watchers' Council did with rogue Slayers in the past? (The obvious thing would seem to be to kill them, because keeping them imprisoned means no Slayer out doing Slayer work. Wow! Does this tie in with Riley / Initiative or what. The whole theme of relationship with parental / authority figures. What is good authority and what is bad. I think that this season is beginning to take this theme a little beyond the question of individual young people's relationships with the authority figures in their lives, and the process of gaining independence, into a larger theme of how individuals relate to authority. Last season, there were these frequent exchanges between Buffy and Faith about "You're just like me, you don't want to admit it." And then, in G1 I think, Faith says something like "You kill me, you become me." I knew that was all foreshadowing for themes that would be picked up sooner or later in the arc. But I had no idea that it would be expressed so literally! In important ways, this next episode is the climax of the Faith arc and the culmination of the thematic seeds that were planted long ago and patiently and carefully cultivated. My prediction: the next episode is going to be dynamite, one of the most powerful and dense with meaning the series has ever had. Gayle Faith will have a very ambivalent attitude toward Joyce -- on the one hand, taking pleasure in having a loving nurturing mother, on the other hand resisting any restrictions on her actions, and on the third hand having a hard time actually trusting... though she did trust the Mayor. Well, we will see how ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 22:04:26 -0500 (EST) From: "Donald G. Keller" Subject: b/comments2/23 I was so revved last night that I didn't sleep that well, which made a somewhat trying day at work more so. But I came straight home, had a short nap, reread everyone's comments from last night, rewatched the episode and took notes, transcribed the three dreams for later commentary, watched bits of "Earshot" (which was rerun tonight), and feel refreshed (as though I'd been in a coma for 8 months!) and ready to comment. As I suspected they might, they ran a =different= promo for next week's episode at the end of "Earshot." Buffy/Faith in front of the mirror again, but also her hugging Joyce with a sour expression on her face; saying to Willow "I forgot how much you didn't like Faith"; and asking Riley if she's a bad girl. Voiceover expressing the sentiment of "everyone Buffy knows is in Faith's hands." Let me start back in on "This Year's Girl" with something that disturbs me a little (just to prove I'm not a slavish devotee). By position (beginning of last third) and by subject matter (Faith) this two-parter corresponds, roughly, to "Bad Girls"/"Consequences" last season (and both correspond, even more roughly, to "Passion" in the 2nd season). Where the cliffhanger in "Bad Girls" hinged on a very serious moral dilemma (Buffy and Faith's sharply contrasting attitudes toward the accidental killing of Alan Finch), the cliffhanger of "This Year's Girl" hinges on a big, fat, flashy plot twist. Not that it isn't going to be exciting, and entertaining, to see how they play out the twist, but by comparison it seems a little...superficial. (Note also that, like "The Zeppo" and "Something Blue" it's going to be a "silly Buffy hair" episode.) I hope I'm wrong in the long run. By the way...the solution to this "two-body problem" is almost certainly going to have to be supernatural (as was the cause). It suddenly struck me, as I was retiring last night, that there is a parallel that goes all the way back to the second (rather third) episode ever; and that if they pick up that clue it will necessitate taking an action we've been expecting since last season. I'll leave what I mean cryptic for the nonce. Interesting to speculate...it's about the time of the season to kill somebody, to put it callously. Do we think they will this time? My biggest question of the episode: =who= called Buffy to tell her about Faith? My guess is that it was the nurse from the hospital (who is a Watcher's Council confederate). It =was= a little odd to do that setup of Tara and Willow and then not use them the rest of the episode (I loved Tara's "five what by five what?"); guess it was just misdirection. As was the implication Faith would go after Riley. By the way, Meredith: I was confused by your syntax. Did you mean was Faith jealous toward Riley over Buffy? Or jealous toward Buffy over Riley? I favor the latter (note her going for Riley next week), though it =is= true there's a little bit of "subtext" ("Give us a kiss.") It's true: Faith is =so= much like Callisto that, Callisto having come first, it almost makes me wonder if there was an influence. Certainly they're both fabulous characters. I have to put in a word for Eliza Dushku here. She walks (swaggers, rather) in off the street (her character out of a hospital bed) and goes toe to toe, literally and figuratively, with SMG/Buffy. An amazing job. (Brilliant actors they may be, but I have to say that neither of them runs like an athlete, which does hurt verisimilitude a little.) Anybody notice that the episode took place three days in the future? Anybody notice that the climactic fight restaged the mid-episode fight in "Ted"? Similar overhead shot in the hall, similar tumble down the stairs. Faith shutting the glass door on Buffy was a new move on me, though. Excellent fight (but not quite at the level of their previous ones). By the way, I was surprised to confirm, upon repeat view, that Faith did not tie Joyce up. Guess she felt she didn't need to. Very interesting contrasting reactions of Willow and Xander to Riley showing up, which match their reactions to Angel: Willow really likes him, while Xander is very suspicious. Was Faith's reappearance "the worst timing ever" as Xander claims? My vote goes to Angel losing his soul while the team is trying to deal with the Judge. But it's close. Riley's line that he "suck[s] at gray areas" smells of setup to me. A coworker wondered if they left something out of the scene where Riley leaves the hospital (note the parallel with Faith, by the way! Both stabbed!). Are we satisfied that his fellow soldiers obeyed his orders and just let him walk? We didn't see them again after that. =Was= there something Buffy didn't tell Riley about Faith? Hard to say since we didn't witness the full conversation (which Buffy admitted was edited). The line about her "identical cousin" I'm taking as a joke. She =did= refer to Faith's superpowers; did she not tell him Faith is also a Slayer? Riley of course is right on about Faith getting under Buffy's skin. To dig into a more substantial theme...I think the show has all along been careful to make sure we have at least a little corner of sympathy for Faith. Sure, she's a psycho, she's scary, unpredictable, ruthless, etc. etc., but she has feelings, too, and she's been hurt. (And despite all the Mayor's evil, it's actually true that on =some= level he was good for Faith.) It really was a heartrending little speech she made in "Enemies" (threatening Buffy with sharp objects the while) about all the things Buffy had in her life that Faith didn't. What's really important to note in this regard is that =Buffy= feels a lot of sympathy for Faith; she really does believe that the difference between them comes down to circumstances. (And she may well be right, cf. Mayor and cf. "The Wish.") And right in "This Year's Girl" she left the door wide open for Faith to stand down and play nice. Which means, essentially, that Buffy will tend to cede first move to Faith in any confrontation. (Not in =Graduation Day=, though, when she fully intended to kill her, nor when Faith was threatening her mother. How long =was= Buffy there before she jumped through the window, by the way?) "This Year's Girl" really does a good job of leading us down the garden path, too, offering us Faith's "poor me, mean Buffy" dreams to gain our sympathy, as well as the scene where she finds out 1) the Mayor's fate 2) how long she's been out. But then, with that cutaway to her wearing the other woman's clothes, they undercut our sympathy very neatly. (Shall we take bets? Are Faith's days numbered? They'd be nuts, dramatically, to do her in.) There's probably lots more to be said about Faith; but it's late now, and sleep beckons. I'll send this out, followed by my transcriptions of the three dreams, and I'll do comments on them tomorrow. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 22:08:33 -0500 (EST) From: "Donald G. Keller" Subject: b/faithdreams [All rights reserved, etc./Fair Use Only] [DREAM I] [Teaser: WHITEOUT (rather than BLACKOUT) becomes a sheet which BUFFY is laying on a bed; FAITH is helping her make the bed.] BUFFY: They smell good, don't they. FAITH: What? BUFFY: Clean sheets. Like summer. FAITH: I wouldn't know. BUFFY: Right. I forgot. FAITH: I noticed. BUFFY: I wish I could stay, but... FAITH: No, you have to go. BUFFY: It's just with... FAITH: ...little sis coming. I know. So much to do before she gets here. [They finish making the bed, meet at the foot to admire their handiwork.] BUFFY: Now I really have to... FAITH: So go. Don't let me keep... [She pauses. Drops of blood are dripping on the sheet.] Damn! Just when we made it so nice! [FAITH looks down at her side. BUFFY's expression has turned menacing.] FAITH: Are you ever going to take this thing out? [BUFFY is holding the handle of FAITH's knife, which is buried almost to the hilt in FAITH's side. BUFFY deliberately shoves the knife deeper.] [Cut to a hospital monitor. Pan to FAITH still lying in her hospital bed. BLACKOUT.] [DREAM II] [1st quarter] [Overhead shot of FAITH in her bed alternating with shots of a stormy sky, panning down to trees and a grassy clearing. Sounds of thunder. We get closer to FAITH and see her R.E.M.s. Just before the next cut we hear FAITH off-camera.] FAITH: Think it's gonna rain? [FAITH and the MAYOR are having a picnic on a blue checked blanket.] MAYOR: Nonsense! It's a beautiful day. Now eat your sandwich. FAITH: I dunno. It always seems like it starts raining right about now. MAYOR: You're too young and too pretty a girl to start wearing worry-lines on your face. [FAITH smiles.] MAYOR: Hey-hey-hey! [He picks up a small snake. FAITH eyes it warily.] Hey there, little fella! I don't know where you belong, but it's not here with us. There you go. [He lets the snake go off the blanket.] You see: There's nothing going to spoil our time together. [brightly] Who wants cheesecake? [He turns; cut to FAITH, whose eyes suddenly widen in fear.] FAITH: NO!! [BUFFY slashes the MAYOR's throat and stabs him in the stomach with FAITH's knife.] BUFFY: [biting off the words] I told you I had things to do. [FAITH tries to scramble away on her hands and knees. BUFFY walks slowly after her.] [Cut to FAITH in her hospital bed, R.E.M.ing] [DREAM III] [Still 1st quarter] [FAITH, looking behind her, desperate, is running through a graveyard. BUFFY, FAITH's knife in hand, strides after her with determination. Cuts back and forth to FAITH R.E.M.ing. FAITH stumbles, then falls headlong into an empty grave. BUFFY pauses at the edge, looking down at FAITH looking up at her fearfully. BUFFY jumps feetfirst into the grave. It begins to rain. A hand comes out of the grave. FAITH laboriously pulls herself out and stands on the wet grass in the rain, looking up. The sound of a shout. In her bed, FAITH opens her eyes. BLACKOUT.] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 22:49:42 EST From: GHighPine@aol.com Subject: Re: b/comments2/23 In a message dated 2/23/00 7:09:17 PM Pacific Standard Time, dgk@panix.com writes: << =Was= there something Buffy didn't tell Riley about Faith? Hard to say since we didn't witness the full conversation (which Buffy admitted was edited). The line about her "identical cousin" I'm taking as a joke. She =did= refer to Faith's superpowers; did she not tell him Faith is also a Slayer? >> I had the impression (from exchanges with Willow,. I think) that she was leaving out Angel's role in the story. And I disagree that this is going to end up being superficial; as I said before, I think that we have finally come to the culmination of a carefully set-up thread. Especially of stuff set up in G1, the moral dilemma (about which Buffy is in denial) about setting out to kill Faith. "You kill me, you become me" realized in literal form (though the cause-and-effect is rather weak). I think that Buffy will never be the same again after experiencing life in Faith's body. << It really was a heartrending little speech she made in "Enemies" (threatening Buffy with sharp objects the while) about all the things Buffy had in her life that Faith didn't. >> More of what I believe will be setup for next week's ep. Gayle ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 20:19:28 -0800 From: "Berni Phillips" Subject: Re: b/this year's girl SPOILER SPACE - ---------- >From: "Susan J. Kroupa" >Great show and I agree with everything Don said. To me, though, the >most interesting part of the show was the beginning because the second >dream--I think it's definitely Faith's--where she's running from Buffy >makes Faith sympathetic. Then, of course, Faith is her bad ol' self, >but we (or at least I) wish it could be different. It's great writing >to make a villian at once so evil and sympathetic--which is exactly what >Whedon did with the bad Angel, too. I had no doubt that second dream was Faith's. She has quite a history of rewriting history in her favor. Remember when she turned on Buffy and railed at her about how Buffy had everything: the mom, the friends, the watcher. It wasn't Buffy's fault, and while Faith can't be blamed for not having a good mom and perhaps she could not have saved her watcher, Faith has no one to blame but herself for not having trusted friends. It's not surprising that in her dreams she sees herself an innocent victim pursued by a relentless, emotionless Buffy. Faith is so unstable in so many ways that a more balanced person would appear emotionless to her. One thing I had a problem with in this episode was Faith's physical condition. After lying in a hospital bed for 8 months, even a slayer would not be in top physical condition. She should have been comparatively weak and no match for Buffy. >Wow! I'm still reeling from this show. Yes, especially since she crushed the switcher device after using it. I'm assuming Willow and Giles will have to come up with a mystical solution to get Buffy back in her own body. Let's hope they can do so! >Riley plays an important part in that he's vulnerable--he's something >Buffy couldn't bear to lose--and he's wounded and even when he wasn't he >couldn't beat a slayer. So just his being onstage, so to speak, adds >tension. Definitely. Faith had to see Buffy with Riley so he had to be there. Again, she paints the situation in her own sleazy colors: Buffy dumped Angel and took up with the first boy toy she could find -- a very Faith thing to do. I, too, was disappointed in no Anya. Berni ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 20:51:15 -0800 From: "Berni Phillips" Subject: Re: b/comments2/23 - ---------- >From: "Donald G. Keller" >little...superficial. (Note also that, like "The Zeppo" and >"Something Blue" it's going to be a "silly Buffy hair" episode.) I >hope I'm wrong in the long run. Hey, are you saying that curly hair is silly hair? This curly- haired lady will bop you one for that! Besides, it's not "silly Buffy hair," it's "as close to Faith's as she could get it" hair. >Interesting to speculate...it's about the time of the season to kill >somebody, to put it callously. Do we think they will this time? If we're taking votes, I vote for Riley's buddy who doesn't trust Buffy. Joyce is a prime candidate. Buffy doesn't know Tara yet, so that lets her out unless they're planning a new Willow arc. And Riley is also an obvious choice. (But that's so Star Trek Original: Kirk falls in love and the lady of the week dies.) >My biggest question of the episode: =who= called Buffy to tell her >about Faith? My guess is that it was the nurse from the hospital >(who is a Watcher's Council confederate). Yes, I wondered about that, too. >It =was= a little odd to do that setup of Tara and Willow and then >not use them the rest of the episode (I loved Tara's "five what by five >what?"); guess it was just misdirection. As was the implication Faith >would go after Riley. The Tara/Willow scene was worth it just to hear Tara ask "5 what by 5 what?" It really doesn't make sense, and, of course, it is the final tip off at the end of the episode when it comes out of Buffy's mouth. >I have to put in a word for Eliza Dushku here. She walks (swaggers, >rather) in off the street (her character out of a hospital bed) and >goes toe to toe, literally and figuratively, with SMG/Buffy. An >amazing job. As I said in my previous message, that struck me as being very wrong. Buffy should have kicked her butt. >Anybody notice that the episode took place three days in the future? And the Halloween episode this season had Halloween on a school day when it was a Sunday. I don't trust dates in TV. The only reason, if real, is to tie into the second part in some way. >By the way, I was surprised to confirm, upon repeat view, that Faith did >not tie Joyce up. Guess she felt she didn't need to. Yes, that was misleading. I kept checking Joyce out in that scene. She held her wrists together as if they were tied, but her sleeves were both very long and striped so I couldn't tell if Joyce had duct tape on her wrists or not. Her ankles were obviously not tied. Joyce is no athlete, though, so she knew she couldn't get away from Faith, and she was probably hoping to "mom" her in some way. >Very interesting contrasting reactions of Willow and Xander to Riley >showing up, which match their reactions to Angel: Willow really likes him, >while Xander is very suspicious. I interpretted Xander's reaction to how easily Riley dealt with the blaster. I thought Xander was miffed about that. >=Was= there something Buffy didn't tell Riley about Faith? Hard to say >since we didn't witness the full conversation (which Buffy admitted was >edited). The line about her "identical cousin" I'm taking as a joke. She >=did= refer to Faith's superpowers; did she not tell him Faith is also a >Slayer? Obviously Buffy has not gone into gory detail to Riley about Angel. The "identical cousin" was a reference to the old Patty Duke Show and the hijinks "they" (Patty/Cathy, both played by Duke) got into. >To dig into a more substantial theme...I think the show has all along been >careful to make sure we have at least a little corner of sympathy for >Faith. Sure, she's a psycho, she's scary, unpredictable, ruthless, >etc. etc., but she has feelings, too, and she's been hurt. (And despite >all the Mayor's evil, it's actually true that on =some= level he was good >for Faith.) It really was a heartrending little speech she made in >"Enemies" (threatening Buffy with sharp objects the while) about all the >things Buffy had in her life that Faith didn't. Heartrending? I saw it as self-pitying and self-deluding. Faith had a chance when she came to Sunnydale. Buffy's friends warmed to her so much that Buffy felt left out. Faith herself screwed that up, as I suspect she has screwed up most things for herself. Sure, she had a bad start, but she's a big girl now and responsible for her own behavior. >"This Year's Girl" really does a good job of leading us down the garden >path, too, offering us Faith's "poor me, mean Buffy" dreams to gain our >sympathy, as well as the scene where she finds out 1) the Mayor's fate >2) how long she's been out. Again, I see the dreams as Faith's delusion that she was the one who was wronged. >(Shall we take bets? Are Faith's days numbered? They'd be nuts, >dramatically, to do her in.) And, please Lord, don't send us another slayer! Berni ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 23:10:27 -0600 (EST) From: allenw Subject: b/This Year's Girl Donald: I had thought that, in Dream 1, Buffy pulled the knife *out* (albeit roughly) rather than stuck it further in. But I rewatched, and you're right. Certainly puts a different spin on it. I'm still thinking that Faith's-dream-Buffy (complete with Terminator music) may actually be an aspect of Buffy, just as Buffy's-dream-Faith seemed to be an aspect of Faith. And I was thinking of the same solution you were, Donald, from the same episode. Which will almost certainly involve both Willow and Tara, and serve to introduce Tara to the gang (and, perhaps, shed some light on whether or not Tara is related to Amy). -Allen W. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 00:35:01 EST From: GHighPine@aol.com Subject: Re: b/this year's girl In a message dated 2/23/00 8:17:36 PM Pacific Standard Time, bernip@ix.netcom.com writes: << Yes, especially since she crushed the switcher device after using it. I'm assuming Willow and Giles will have to come up with a mystical solution to get Buffy back in her own body. Let's hope they can do so! >> Gosh, you think maybe the change could be permanent? Now, that would be a genuine Joss surprise. Though, once the gang got used to Buffy's new appearance, the story line wouldn't have to be greatly changed. This would be a great way to handle things if SMG wanted to leave for a movie career. Buffy now inhabits Eliza Dushku's body. Speaking of Eliza Dushku, I heard she was only 17 when she came on the show! Prior to that, SMG was the only teenager ever among the series regulars, as she was 18 when the show started. Back to switching back -- two possibilities that have occurred to me: Maybe Anya plays a part in it. Maybe she gets so furious when Faith-in-Buffy-form goes after Xander that she is somehow able to summon some demon powers that bang things back. The other possibility is that Willow and Tara play a role. Those are speculations, but here's a prediction: very little screen time will be spent on the solution (comparable to the time spent on the fight with the cook in "Earshot") because the episode will be so packed with character bits, both funny and deep ones. I believe that Buffy will be permanently changed by the experience. It won't be a total reset button / return to status quo. IOW, I believe that this will be an =important= episode in the overall series arc. BTW, speaking of "Earshot," here's a great exchange that completely went past me before: Xander to Cordelia: "You have no shame." Cordelia: "Please. Like shame's something to be proud of?" Gayle ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 00:43:15 -0500 (EST) From: "David S. Bratman" Subject: Re: b/This Year's Girl A few more thoughts on this week ... Do people really think it was the nurse who called Buffy? It could have been, and it had to be someone who was there, and she's the most likely one of those we've seen, but it would certainly add new wrinkles to the Buffy/Council relation. Where has the Council been all this time, anyway? (Berni says, "In the Cotswolds.") And black helicopters ... really. I tended to assume that any organization which couldn't find anyone better than Wesley to send must be running very thin on the ground. We shall see. As usual, Gayle's speculations on what Faith will do make the most sense. It would be more disruptive to seduce Xander and thereby upset Riley (not to mention Anya, and Xander) than to seduce Riley, though she might do that too, so assuming she's not too busy just trying to keep cover ... we'll see. Faith's dreams struck me as very interesting indeed. I don't see them either as attempts to whip up a little sympathy for Faith, or as demonstrations of how warped Faith is, but simply as a chance to view Buffy through Faith's eyes. Buffy does have a confident, take-charge side that comes out a lot (for instance this week in her plan to hunt for Riley), only slightly removed from cold arrogance. It makes sense for Faith to view Buffy that way, particularly as I think Faith has an inferiority complex on the subject. (Though she seems to be physically superior: the fight out on campus is the second time Faith has gotten away from a Buffy who looks on in helpless bewilderment.) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 00:51:11 -0500 (EST) From: "David S. Bratman" Subject: b/Angel One other thing about this week's ANGEL that both Berni and I forgot to mention earlier. The scene in which the newly-vamped Angel appears in the graveyard -- why can we see the vampires' breaths condensing? Couldn't the filmmakers even bother to edit that out? ------------------------------ End of stillpt-digest V2 #44 ****************************