From: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org (stillpt-digest) To: stillpt-digest@smoe.org Subject: stillpt-digest V2 #195 Reply-To: stillpt@smoe.org Sender: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk stillpt-digest Friday, September 29 2000 Volume 02 : Number 195 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: b/vs.d/&A ["Susan Kroupa" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 08:41:47 -0700 From: "Susan Kroupa" Subject: Re: b/vs.d/&A I just watched last week's episode again last night and several things struck me (apart from what's already been discussed.) One was Xander's excellent comic timing as the high-strung, bug-eating minion of Dracula--he was hilarious. Another was the delicious look that passed between Willow and Tara when Joy is saying how sometimes she's about to give up on men altogether. And finally--I wonder if anyone else noticed this, too--I thought a couple of times Buffy used tone and body language that mimicked Faith's--I'd have to go back to the tape to say when, but once was in the last scene with Dracula. It was a shrug and flip/amused tone of voice that was oh-so-Faith. I wonder if it was accidental (or if I'm being over-imaginative) but as Buffy was giving into the darker side--hunting--as she later put it, it's possible it was deliberate. Faith was the best part of Angel (Faith always seems to be the best part when she's in--she creates so much tension) but I thought the whole episode was strong. I liked the lighter touch. Sue - ----- Original Message ----- From: Donald G. Keller To: Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 9:20 PM Subject: b/vs.d/&A > Gonna keep this brief. Sleep to catch up on. > > My luck held, my VCR worked (yes, I'm paranoid), and I got to watch the > season premiere of =Buffy= when I got home this morning (and =Angel= when > I woke up, and then =Buffy= again). > > I'm with Meredith: the Faith scene was a complete surprise (no, she wasn't > in the credits, because I remember remarking on the Wolfram and Hart > lawyers being in there), and an extremely welcome one. Wonderful scene, > struck exactly the right tone, it seemed to me, Faith not exactly happy > with where she is but satisfied she's doing the right thing. And her > expression when Angel told her about the karaoke was priceless. > > There were a number of ways they could have developed the Faith saga > (Wolfram & Hart getting her off after all?), but I like this way so > far. How they're going to get her involved in plots while in prison > (riot? jailbreak? Faith getting information from other inmates?) is a > problem, but I feel sure they'll think of something. > > The karaoke schtick was decidedly odd, but well-done (the emcee's > performance was first-rate). > > And Julie Benz was excellent in the one Darla scene. That's an angle I > expected more from (the preseason previews of both shows seem to have > scenes from more than just the premiere episodes), but I'm sure we'll get > more soon. > > As for =Buffy=, I'm still thinking about it. Dracula's mythology is quite > different from established =Buffy= vampire mythology, and sits very oddly > within it. And I'm still trying to puzzle out just how =much= in thrall to > him Buffy was: she seemed to waver in and out of influence, and it was > hard to keep track. Sucking his blood seemed to snap her out of it, which > is more food for thought. > > We do in fact seem to be leaning towards =some= kind of quasi-demonic > nature for the Slayer. > > OK. Here's the main puzzler for me. Waking-world Tara, as far as we can > see, has little to do with Buffy's dream-Tara in "Restless," and we have > to inquire in Buffy's direction why she "borrowed" Tara to intermediate > with the first Slayer. > > And obviously, since Dracula repeated Tara's "oracle" word for word, he > either knows or has some connection with Slayerness. > > So what's the deal? > > Some really good dramatic scenes, especially Buffy acting very weird after > Dracula bit her, leading to the confrontation with Riley over her scarf. > > And good scenes between Giles and Willow, and Giles and Buffy at the > end. Seems we're going to get a lot more of Buffy & Giles this year. Let's > hope. > > Nicely-timed coda about Dawn (especially the comic simultaneous "Mom!"s). > > My favorite line was from =next= week's show: "I'm telling Mom you slayed > in front of me!" > > Several other points of Meredith's I want to think a bit more about. > > Let the discussion begin! > > > ------------------------------ End of stillpt-digest V2 #195 *****************************