"You know, you should really get yourself a boring boyfriend, like Xander.
You can't have Xander!"
This isn't the first time I've compared Buffy, or Joss Whedon serials generally, to Chris Claremont's run on X-Men in the 1980s. (Apologies to non-comic geeks; just skip the next couple of sentences and it'll be fine!) We have a combination of a fast-moving, ever-changing status quo and a strong focus on characterisation which just seems so very close in style that I suspect there's a strong, direct influence. If so, it works as well on screen as it did on the comic book page. This episode is big, important, arc-defining, but essentially all about character, character, character.
Riley is now suffering the after-effects of his failure to ask questions, as the fact that everything he knew was wrong causes his entire world to fall apart. His emotional denial that Walsh – his surrogate mother- could do such terrible things is paralleled by the cold turkey he's going through, having been unknowingly fed a kind of super-soldier serum. There's a very strong parallel between the physical and mental symptoms, to the point where each is a metaphor for the other. The emotional heart of the episode is Riley realising he can't kill an old demon lady. There's hope for him, but by the end of the episode it still hasn't arrived. These things take time. And Buffy realises he needs her, she cares deeply, but nothing she tries can make him any better. They're in love, at this precise moment, but they're not soulmates and they never will be. Riley's the unquestioning sort who does as he's told and needs certainty as a bedrock. Buffy questions things and needs to decide things for herself before there can be any certainty. It's tempting to see two opposing political and philosophical positions here, not exactly left vs. right but authoritarianism vs. liberalism.
Elsewhere, the season arc is explored in the biggest info-dump so far. If it wasn't blatant enough that Adam is a version of Frankenstein's monster, we get a rather distressing scene with a small child in the forest which quite pointedly evokes a similar scene from James Whale's Frankenstein. And it's Adam who, most kindly, gives us a much-needed shot of exposition towards the end of the episode. And yes, he's the season's Big Bad, here at last.
In other news, Willow and Tara continue to make sweet, romantic magic in an increasingly obvious metaphor for sex acts, which is lovely. Amber Benson continues to be amazing in how she portrays the socially awkward Tara. Willy's back, and it's great to see him again. It suddenly strikes me just how huge Xander's basement is. Probably the coolest thing in this episode is Spike's thumbs-up gesture to the suggestion of Buffy's being killed, but it's clear that there's no way back for him; the demon grapevine has heard what he's been up to. Life seems to be railroading him into Scoobydom, whether he likes it or not.
No comments:
Post a Comment