From: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org (stillpt-digest) To: stillpt-digest@smoe.org Subject: stillpt-digest V5 #19 Reply-To: stillpt@smoe.org Sender: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk stillpt-digest Friday, January 24 2003 Volume 05 : Number 019 Today's Subjects: ----------------- b/potential ["Donald G. Keller" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 22:08:38 -0500 (EST) From: "Donald G. Keller" Subject: b/potential I start from the position that "Potential" (Tuesday's =Buffy=) was a swell episode; but I've seen dissenting opinions in several quarters, so now I feel challenged to explain said position. I suppose we could do with some spoiler =SPACE= Space space.... (does that give the typographical impression of an echo? OK, maybe not.) Let's begin at the end: the scene between Dawn and Xander. One dissenter complained that the whole episode was A Very Special Episode and trying too hard to Make A Point, with the last scene in particular hammering it home. I mean, don't we know that about Xander already? I couldn't agree less. I thought it was a lovely, lovely scene which worked on all kinds of levels. First of all, note that this is probably the first time Xander has really talked to Dawn as though she were an adult, because he felt she deserved it. (And I don't disagree.) And though probably Buffy and Willow know very well Xander's value to the group, I think it was worth Xander's while to explain it to Dawn, =and= articulate it for the viewer as well. We =have= known, at least subconsciously, since very early on in the series, that Xander pays attention: he sees, and he knows. He knows Buffy perhaps as well as anyone (in some ways, better than Willow or Angel)--that's why he gets so angry with her when he knows she's fouling up. I was delighted to see him take justified credit for it. Also, the scene really resonated because we have an established, longtime warm regard between Dawn and Xander. Which now is one step solider yet. Going to immediately before that scene, and then taking a longer view: I really liked the emotional arc of the episode, where Dawn at the beginning is feeling left out of the Potentials club (not having Buffy's attention, partly), in the middle freaks out because she thinks she =is= a Potential (and gets a grip), and then at the end is feeling left out again--but, I think it's fair to say, feeling more content, more adult, with the situation. I thought the episode was particularly well-structured: in particular, the third act was just smashing. I actually outlined and timed the pieces of the episode, and it's really interesting: the second act is 12 minutes long, but has only three main divisions: Dawn and the rest of the spell-group trying to deal with Dawn (apparently) being a Potential (including her going off to her room and then out the window); the demon bar scene (very funny); and the two-part section of Dawn and Amanda meeting on the sidewalk and then going to hunt the vampire at school. (More about some of this later). It's a very leisurely act. The third act is only about half the length, but is divided into =twelve= segments, although with one exception they're all from either the scene in the vamp nest (Spike, Buffy, the Potentials) or the scene at the school (Dawn and Amanda vs. the vampire). It's a very old technique, of course, to crosscut two threads, and =Buffy= is particularly fond of it, but it worked especially well this time: I was on the edge of my seat. The cuts came quicker and quicker, the rhythm of the cuts echoing the rhythm of the violence, with an especially good one where it cuts back to the school with Buffy (from the other scene) still talking in voiceover "color commenting" on Dawn fighting the vampire. And then, tension at a peak in both scenes (Buffy and Spike shut the four Potentials in with the vampire, Dawn is in peril), *WHAM* it cuts to a quieter, but still tense, scene with Willow, Xander, and Anya outside Dawn's door. (And then, as they rush off, back to the Bringers "saving" Dawn and going after Amanda. End act.) All obvious, perhaps, but it =worked=. To finish up the fourth act: two three-part scenes, the first with Dawn setting people on fire so she and Amanda could run/Dawn's speech to Amanda handing her the Potential label (overheard by Xander)/the cavalry (Buffy and Spike) arriving, big fight, good guys win. Nicely done. And the first part of the last scene, the Potentials aftermath discussion, giving each other strokes and making sure Amanda felt included (notice how Kennedy was all touchy-feely with her?), was well-done also: for the first time they seemed like a real team and not a random group of whiners. (Points to Buffy.) Then the little scene with Dawn and Buffy, and then the finale with Dawn and Xander. Here's an issue: someone complained that Buffy and Spike shutting up the Potentials with a vampire was too much like the Cruciamentum in "Helpless": how could Buffy do that? A point worth pondering. But think of it this way: in "Helpless" Buffy was artificially weakened (to human average or maybe less), solo, and (supposed to be) unarmed. In the present case, the script made the point of having Buffy say, earlier, that the reason the four were Potentials was that they had =some= strength, and skill, and intuition (though not as much as they'd have if they were Called); also, they'd had a little training, both before and since they arrived in Sunnydale; they were all well-armed; and they had a four-to-one advantage. Yes, it was probably a risk to endanger the few Potentials left; but I think it was less of a risk than it seemed. Another gripe from elsewhere: how could Dawn be =so stupid= as to go off by herself at night, and even worse, decide to go, unarmed, after a vampire? In a vacuum, that's a fair question. However, her behavior is =entirely in character=. How many times has she gone out her window on her own at night? (I've lost count.) Not to mention that, as she says, "it runs in the family"--Buffy has also been known, way too often, to go out her window at night and rush into situations ill-prepared. If Dawn had acted in any other way, one could have accused the writers of having her act =out= of character. To be very specific: this episode gains a lot of perspective, and resonance, if one compares it (as I did, first in memory and then on tape) with the 5th season episode "Blood Ties." (That was season episode #13, and this was #12, by the way.) The older episode is the one where Dawn discovers that she's the Key. Remember how it went? She has a snit because everybody is treating her funny; goes out the window; teams up with Spike and finds out at the Magic Shop that she's the Key; cuts herself; throws a humongous tantrum; the next day, throws =another= humongous tantrum, trashes her room, starts a fire in her trash can (burning her diaries), and goes out the window =again=; and gets in a scrape with Glory. (And it's not even this episode where Buffy says, "Dawn's in trouble--must be Tuesday.") Her behavior in "Potential" follows the same pattern, but with a difference: she freaks when she finds out she's a Potential (but notice that one of the first thing she thinks about is Buffy's death); yes, she goes off to her room, but she doesn't throw a tantrum; yes, she goes out her window, but she's already calmed herself and steeled her determination ("I am Chosen."), and the need to get away hasn't changed; yes, she goes after a vampire half-cocked...all in all, she's foolish and premature, but she's taking responsibility for herself and her calling (as she thought), and that's a step forward. Remember, she's still only 16; her behavior in the earlier episode was entirely typical for 14. Basically, the whole concept worked fine for me here, too. Then there's the issue of Slayer succession. Buffy says point-blank during her basement speechifying that "my death could make you the next Slayer." (Dawn later has the same thought, as I mentioned.) Now, someone has pointed out that we only have Joss Whedon's word in an interview that the Slayer succession runs through Faith; has he changed his mind? The thought occurred to me that maybe Faith had slipped the writers' minds, or more likely (within the frame), Buffy and Giles were deliberately not mentioning Faith to the Potentials; but note that when the first three arrived, Buffy mentioned Faith in their presence. (Vi--the one in the knit hat--who came later mentioned last episode that she'd heard there was "another one somewhere," which is greeted with general disbelief. Maybe Buffy mentioning Faith was a writer's slip?) Now for some minor points. I thought it was amusing that the Potentials picked up the vibe between Buffy and Spike (especially the traded looks about Spike's "comfy" crypt); and that one of them wondered if Buffy had dated Clem, too! (Fun to see Clem again.) Also note what a friendly reception Spike gets from the Potentials the second time he appears in the episode, in the kitchen. An unusual instance of Buffy self-knowledge: "Oh, goody. Rapt attention. I love that =so= much." Duh! Good lines in that speech: "Death is what a Slayer breathes; death is what a Slayer lives." Cute bit with Dawn writing a headline: "Household Crossbow Incident Claims Teen." More good lines: "I hate my free will!" Willow on the chrysales (I =think= that's the plural): "butterfly transformer pods." Willow on Dawn and Buffy: they "share the same blood or whatever." Anya: "Never got that." (Me either.) There was someone who referred to Dawn being a Potential then not as "bait and switch." I didn't think so; I had been so sure Dawn probably was that I said so to the TV when Dawn said "It could be anybody!" I was really surprised when it was Amanda instead. (Could anybody tell if Amanda was visible through the glass door panels when Dawn crashed against it?) Some people were sure that Amanda was the Potential when she showed up in Buffy's office; Deirdre was sure when she showed up again on the sidewalk. Me, I was taken in even =past= the point where Dawn realized it: after all, we've had many Buffy-counseled students who were minor characters, and Amanda showing up again =could= have been to be Victim of the Week. So I was surprised. OK, two important things from reading recent shooting scripts on that German site. Remember when Rona (the black girl) says something about "a bunch of 15-year-olds" in the demon bar? Well, it turns out that the scripts are very specific about their ages: Molly (the Brit) 14 or 15; the late Annabelle, 16; Chloe (the one absent this episode: why?) 14; Eve (also deceased) 17; Vi (the timid one) 17; Rona, 16; and Kennedy (here's the surprise) 19. So she =is= significantly older than the others, which explains a lot. Also, there are two stage directions being =very clear= that Giles cannot touch anything or anyone. Not our imagination. Well, there are probably more trivia that could be discussed, but this is way long enough. Next episode Feb. 4, I believe. ------------------------------ End of stillpt-digest V5 #19 ****************************