From: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org (stillpt-digest) To: stillpt-digest@smoe.org Subject: stillpt-digest V2 #212 Reply-To: stillpt@smoe.org Sender: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk stillpt-digest Saturday, November 11 2000 Volume 02 : Number 212 Today's Subjects: ----------------- b/family ["Donald G. Keller" ] Re: b/family ["Hilary L. Hertzoff" ] Re: b/family [Todd Huff ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 23:56:32 -0500 (EST) From: "Donald G. Keller" Subject: b/family Is "Family" the title of the episode? I've discovered I can't access the official web page with my antiquated equipment, so I will have to depend on others to keep me posted on the titles. (What's the =Angel= one, anyone?) The burning question this week, of course, is how we feel about the solution to the Tara situation. Meredith's vote is negative; so was my daughter's (I believe Deirdre's word was "lame"). David seems more in the middle, and I think I am, too, though I can quite understand where it could seem to have arrived with a dull thud. On reflection I have a certain admiration for the solution, simply because of its consistency. It plays fair with all the clues: Tara's stuttering under stress, backing down from confrontation, her weird hesitation talking about her mother, and especially the motivation for sabotaging the demon-scrying spell. To use a baseball metaphor, Joss Whedon threw us a changeup. That is, it wasn't a fastball ("here's what you expect--can you handle it?"), i.e. Tara is demonic in some way; nor a curveball (an explanation out of left field, to use a different baseball metaphor), i.e. an explanation we weren't expecting at all; but a changeup, i.e. something that in an ordinary context (a nonsupernatural show) we might have expected, but didn't expect in this context. I can't remember any situation in the show that =did= have so mundane an explanation, so in that sense it's something "new." But I can't blame anybody for finding it unsatisfying. There is, though, still a mystery about Tara's mother, notice. Tara's father's line is "...when your mother..." and cuts himself off. So we =don't= know if she's dead, run off like Tara, or what. Maybe it will prove to be unimportant, but it's still something we don't know about Tara's past. Many good things about the episode, in any case. Meredith has mentioned some that I might have, including those having to do with Spike, and with "Useful Member of Society" Anya. I'll add here one line of Anya's I didn't catch until a third time through the episode, during the fight scene where she says, "I've been injured this month already!" Also, I was amused that the final verdict on Tara's peculiar "insect reflection" joke being not funny came from Anya, Mistress of Comedy. Little clue-type stuff. Notice how Tara and the kitten keep being linked symbolically? No idea what that means. Also the fact that the hospital intern, speaking chess-wise, is a piece being kept ostentatiously on the board (and note the continuation of the crazy people motif). I was also intrigued to notice on rewatching that Tara's brother is in the magic shop for =several= scenes (he's visible from the time Buffy and Xander arrive), nearly five minutes of screen time, so he overheard quite a lot of conversation. Very fine scene between Buffy and Giles near the beginning. (Interesting commentary on fatherhood in this episode; note the contrast between Buffy's absentee father and Tara's domineering father.) But I think Buffy and Giles are doing the wrong thing: in this universe of discourse, "let's not tell anyone else" is almost =always= a recipe for disaster; look at what happened when Tara tried to keep everyone ignorant of her supposed demon nature, just for one example. And note that Buffy almost immediately ran into a problem with Riley when she wigged out being overprotective of Dawn. (Loved Dawn's "the source of my gladness" line.) Riley may not be brilliant, but he's not stupid, and he knows Buffy well enough, has been through enough situations with her and the gang, that he =knew= she was keeping something from him, and I think he had every reason to be upset. Riley's a nice guy, basically, and although when he gets stubborn there's an element of soldier-boy macho in it, it's also a good corrective for Buffy, certainly a contrast to Angel's "whatever you say" attitude. So Riley's been going to Willy's! (And where's Willy, by the way?) Did we all notice who his drinking buddy was? I recognized her just before she said her name: she was the random bystander Vampire Willow bit as a demonstration in "Doppelgangland." And how did Riley know she was a vampire? Just because she was in the bar? Speaking of macho...nice bit where horseplaying Riley and Xander jump to attention (military reference intentional) when Buffy threatens them. Kind of an odd scenario, where the first we hear about Buffy moving into--what, a new dorm room?--is when she immediately moves out of it again. It makes sense that she would decide she needed to be at home, but it's peculiar that this was the first mention of it. Always interesting to see how they deal with nonregular continuing characters: note that Tara had been absent two of the last three episodes, and that Joyce was absent (though mentioned) in this one. And what's the deal with Willow and Tara? Are they rooming together? Or was Willow just staying over that one night? The fact that later on Willow says she'll see Tara in the morning to fill her in seems to indicate Willow is living elsewhere; but earlier she expects Buffy to call "them" if she had found something, indicating that Buffy would know to look for Willow there. Conflicting evidence. Amusing conversation between Buffy and Xander about Tara. And "wiccan" continues to be a euphemism for "alternative lifestyle." Very amusing to hear Buffy refer to the demon adversary as being "like Cordelia" (though she also seems to me a bit like Faith in the torturing-Wesley scene), and also to hear her talk about what her friends would think...if she had friends. Here's the mystery. There was some mention of her being someone "not to be named," and in this episode she talks about "my name is a holy name," but in this week's =TV Guide= she's referred to as Glory. Don't know what to make of that. The crux of the episode, of course, is the demon attack and the aftermath with Tara's family. Most interesting was the fact that Buffy has "demon radar," that she knew the demons were there even though she couldn't see them (and was able to fight them to a standstill). And note that she couldn't see Spike, either. It was quite typical that it was Spike who figured it all out; he's really sharp. Very amusing moment when he punched Tara. Also amusing to see the "two little girls" (Buffy and Dawn) standing up to Tara's father ("she's a hair-puller"); they've really got the sister act (conflict =and= togetherness) down well. The way the scene worked out =was= a little too swift and a little too pat; especially the quick-change emotional switch Buffy went through. She's right: Tara's spell nearly got the whole lot of them killed, and Buffy had every reason to be pissed about it. So it did seem a little strange that she so quickly stood up for Tara against her family. What this may speak to, actually, is the strong influence that Willow has over the rest of the "family." It was she who took charge of the situation, calling Tara's misdemeanor a "mistake," and controlling the conversation so that the decision was pitched to Tara; I doubt that Tara would have been able to stand up for herself without that assist. So it may simply be that Buffy has enough respect for, and loyalty to, Willow and what is important to her, to back her up in that particular situation. Will Buffy have something to say to Tara later? Wouldn't surprise me. =Angel= continues to move along well, too, I think. The thing that struck me was that Wesley did a really good job standing in for Angel, the humiliation of being discovered aside, and as David pointed out that gives him a shot of confidence. I recognized the actress who played the daughter, but I couldn't place her until late in the episode: she had an important role in the short-lived series =Kindred: The Embraced= as a vampire's daughter. Looks like good stuff next week in the big 2-Hour Event. Except for those who find the flashbacks tiresome. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 01:07:24 -0500 (EST) From: "Hilary L. Hertzoff" Subject: Re: b/family On Fri, 10 Nov 2000, Donald G. Keller wrote: > Is "Family" the title of the episode? I've discovered I can't access > the official web page with my antiquated equipment, so I will have > to depend on others to keep me posted on the titles. (What's the > =Angel= one, anyone?) > > The burning question this week, of course, is how we feel about the > solution to the Tara situation. Meredith's vote is negative; so was > my daughter's (I believe Deirdre's word was "lame"). David seems > more in the middle, and I think I am, too, though I can quite > understand where it could seem to have arrived with a dull thud. I think it was an elegant solution but not a very exciting one. > On reflection I have a certain admiration for the solution, simply because > of its consistency. It plays fair with all the clues: Tara's stuttering > under stress, backing down from confrontation, her weird hesitation > talking about her mother, and especially the motivation for sabotaging the > demon-scrying spell. Actually I think the best part of this explanation was the glimpse of how the Buffyverse might affect the fundamentalist tempermentand how they might twist the reality of demons to fit their purposes. > I can't remember any situation in the show that =did= have so > mundane an explanation, so in that sense it's something "new." But I > can't blame anybody for finding it unsatisfying. > Upon reflection, I liked the explanation but the show as a whole wasn't as good as it might have been. > There is, though, still a mystery about Tara's mother, notice. Tara's > father's line is "...when your mother..." and cuts himself > off. So we =don't= know if she's dead, run off like Tara, or what. > Maybe it will prove to be unimportant, but it's still something we don't > know about Tara's past. > I almost hope there isn't anything supernatural about her mother...it would weaken the "normal girl" thing. > Very fine scene between Buffy and Giles near the beginning. (Interesting > commentary on fatherhood in this episode; note the contrast between > Buffy's absentee father and Tara's domineering father.) But I think Buffy > and Giles are doing the wrong thing: in this universe of discourse, "let's > not tell anyone else" is almost =always= a recipe for disaster; look at > what happened when Tara tried to keep everyone ignorant of her supposed > demon nature, just for one example. And note that Buffy almost immediately > ran into a problem with Riley when she wigged out being overprotective of > Dawn. (Loved Dawn's "the source of my gladness" line.) > But if they told everyone else it would destroy the dramatic tension. > Speaking of macho...nice bit where horseplaying Riley and Xander jump to > attention (military reference intentional) when Buffy threatens them. The horseplay itself was good to see. > > Here's the mystery. There was some mention of her being someone "not to be > named," and in this episode she talks about "my name is a holy name," but > in this week's =TV Guide= she's referred to as Glory. Don't know what to > make of that. Glory of God? There's a long tradition of names being powerful. > > The crux of the episode, of course, is the demon attack and the aftermath > with Tara's family. Most interesting was the fact that Buffy has "demon > radar," that she knew the demons were there even though she couldn't see > them (and was able to fight them to a standstill). And note that she > couldn't see Spike, either. Vamps = Demons... Wasn't there a scene in the first episode with Giles and Buffy in the Bronze and he has her trying to use her slayersense to locate a vampire. Five years of training and battle later... > > It was quite typical that it was Spike who figured it all out; he's really > sharp. Very amusing moment when he punched Tara. > Spike saves the day again. He has really lost it over Buffy. (So much for the front row seat at her death.) > Also amusing to see the "two little girls" (Buffy and Dawn) standing up to > Tara's father ("she's a hair-puller"); they've really got the sister act > (conflict =and= togetherness) down well. > If this hadn't been live action, I would have sworn I was watching Sailor Moon at this point. Every show has a scene where Sailor Moon and her daughter from the future challenge the bad guys to a fight. They also quarrel just like Buffy and Dawn. > The way the scene worked out =was= a little too swift and a little too > pat; especially the quick-change emotional switch Buffy went > through. She's right: Tara's spell nearly got the whole lot of them > killed, and Buffy had every reason to be pissed about it. So it did seem a > little strange that she so quickly stood up for Tara against her family. I think part of this was Willow and part was that whole protection of the innocent thing. > Looks like good stuff next week in the big 2-Hour Event. Except for those > who find the flashbacks tiresome. > Depends on the flashback. I've liked some of the Angel stuff, but other times I've just found it boring. But I think Spike's a much more intersting character than Angel. I think I've overdosed on angst Hilary Hilary L. Hertzoff From here to there, Mamaroneck Public Library a bunny goes where a bunny must. Mamaroneck, NY hhertzof@wls.lib.ny.us Little Bunny on the Move hhertzof@panix.com by Peter McCarty ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 22:53:03 -0800 (PST) From: Todd Huff Subject: Re: b/family - --- "Donald G. Keller" wrote: > Is "Family" the title of the episode? I've > discovered I can't access > the official web page with my antiquated equipment, > so I will have > to depend on others to keep me posted on the titles. > (What's the > =Angel= one, anyone?) > "Guise Will Be Guise" > The burning question this week, of course, is how we > feel about the > solution to the Tara situation. Meredith's vote is > negative; so was > my daughter's (I believe Deirdre's word was "lame"). > David seems > more in the middle, and I think I am, too, though I > can quite > understand where it could seem to have arrived with > a dull thud. > Explained everything quite well, wasn't predicted. Gotta give credit for that, although I think we were all hoping for something less pedestrian. > There is, though, still a mystery about Tara's > mother, notice. Tara's > father's line is "...when your mother..." and cuts > himself > off. So we =don't= know if she's dead, run off like > Tara, or what. > Maybe it will prove to be unimportant, but it's > still something we don't > know about Tara's past. > Having caught just a sliver of "Carrie" on Halloween I couldn't help but think of the parallels. Missing parent, supernatural powers coming to fruition, fundamentalist (apparently) upbringing. >I was also intrigued to notice on > rewatching that > Tara's brother is in the magic shop for =several= > scenes (he's > visible from the time Buffy and Xander arrive), > nearly five minutes > of screen time, so he overheard quite a lot of > conversation. > Ah. I missed this entirely. I have a feeling we'll see him and the cousin again. > So Riley's been going to Willy's! (And where's > Willy, by the way?) Did we > all notice who his drinking buddy was? I recognized > her just before she > said her name: she was the random bystander Vampire > Willow bit as a > demonstration in "Doppelgangland." And how did Riley > know she was a > vampire? Just because she was in the bar? Last time we saw Willy, wasn't he injured pretty bad? Maybe he's left town. Great catch picking out where we'd seen the vamp before. I'd have never realized that. > > And what's the deal with Willow and Tara? Are they > rooming together? Or > was Willow just staying over that one night? The > fact that later on Willow > says she'll see Tara in the morning to fill her in > seems to indicate > Willow is living elsewhere; but earlier she expects > Buffy to call > "them" if she had found something, indicating that > Buffy would know to > look for Willow there. Conflicting evidence. Didn't Tara's father say something about "your roomate told us to look here" when he walked into the Magic Box? > What this may speak to, actually, is the strong > influence that Willow has > over the rest of the "family." It was she who took > charge of the > situation, calling Tara's misdemeanor a "mistake," > and controlling the > conversation so that the decision was pitched to > Tara; I doubt that Tara > would have been able to stand up for herself without > that assist. So it > may simply be that Buffy has enough respect for, and > loyalty to, Willow > and what is important to her, to back her up in that > particular > situation. Will Buffy have something to say to Tara > later? Wouldn't > surprise me. Willow's own magic spells have gotten them in trouble a time or two, so Buffy may just have accepted that as an inevitable risk. > I recognized the actress who played the daughter, > but I couldn't place her > until late in the episode: she had an important role > in the short-lived > series =Kindred: The Embraced= as a vampire's > daughter. > Brigid Brannagh (aka Brigid Walsh aka Brigid Conley Walsh) has appeared on a lot of shows, including Dharma and Greg, Ally McBeal, NYPD Blue, Roar, and at least four episodes of Brooklyn South. > Looks like good stuff next week in the big 2-Hour > Event. Except for those > who find the flashbacks tiresome. > I'm really looking forward to young Spike. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one Place. http://shopping.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ End of stillpt-digest V2 #212 *****************************