DVD review - Buffy season 2, episodes 11 and 12
Continuing my viewing and reviewing of season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
*** SPOILERS ***
Episode 11: Ted
Synopsis: When Buffy's mother is romanced by a computer software salesman named Ted, Buffy's uneasy feelings cause her to launch a background investigation. (written by: Joss Whedon, airdate 12/8/97)
I loved the twist on the child from a divorced marraige not accepting a parent getting back into the dating pool. Like Buffy, I was not so sure about this guy from the moment we met him. Being a great chef and everyone loving his food - too good to be true (I so called the food being a key to the infiltration). Even then, I was not 100% sure what the deal was with him. I knew Ted was weird but why. When Buffy finally has to defend herself and puts him out, I thought "okay, this just got all weird - she killed him". It felt so surreal and that helped the viewer feel Buffy's confusion. Then, bam, Ted's baaaaaaack! That was freaky. Even more freaky, what lies under Ted's skin. John Ritter played this part perfectly, from nice guy to crazed killer robot. Loved the team (Willow, Xander and Cordelia) doing their own investigating and finding the hidden place in the cellar. Oh, and I loved that Xander and Cordelia know their love is "forbidden" (by high school clique standards) but they'll still go make out in the utility closet. I also enjoyed that Giles went out to pick up the slack of patrol, only to have Jenny follow him to apologize. Then, bam, she's in danger and he protects her so she can escape. Yet, she wants to help only to end up shooting Giles instead (so glad many layers of tweed are like kevlar). In the end, they make up which is nice to see. I'd hate to see her leaving the show so soon.
Episode 12: Bad Eggs
Synopsis: Willow, Cordelia, Giles and Joyce become drones for an ancient beast after its eggs are mistakenly given out as part of a health class assignment. (written by Marti Noxon, airdate 1/12/98)
Lots of coupling going on in this one - Buffy and Angel, Xander and Cordelia. I enjoyed the later pair's veiled fight in health class. Speaking of, this episode gives a whole twist on the "egg baby" exercise by throwing in little nasty parasite creatures. Ick indeed. A nice and creepy episode - giving the viewers the heebee jeebees right with the characters. A shame we lost one of the two cowboy-vampires to the egg-laying momma, but I have hopes that the other one will return in the future. He seemed too good of a character for a one-shot appearance.
Labels: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, TV
Michael O'Connell said...
Doh!! I'm falling behind again!
TED: Ah, the late, great Ritter. Very sad. I remember what a treat it was to see him in this ep, first time around, because I hadn't seen him on screen in years. And definitely hadn't seen him in anything like THIS. Nice work. Creepy as all get out. I, too, loved the play on the hate-the-guy-dating-mom thing. Every teen's (every teen with a single parents) worst nightmare, a guy like that. And yes, the killing him thing came out of nowhere, and man, was it handled well. You could tell Joss was behind the writing on this one. Really tough emotions there - particularly that scene with her and mom in the kitchen. Heavy stuff. But then the Buffy twist! Robo-Tripper! I love that this show has robots, too. You never know what's coming next. And I love the fact that willow kept parts. :) I like how Joyce was kept out of the truth with the believable idea of him just being a psycho stalker killer still at large. Secret identity - safe! Once again, an ep where Joss took a show about the fantastical and made it something people can strongly emotionally relate to.
BAD EGGS: A Body Snatchers episode! Sweet! And doing so with the familiar and dreaded egg-sitting thing (I remember having to do that, too). Loved everyone's chance to be bad puppet people. Evil Willow is especially disturbing. Great episode, too, to show the down side of the teen secret identity thing - her getting in trouble for doing her slayer thing, not being able to explain to mom. Loved seeing another brief appearance of Jonathan, too, our recurring random student. The brothers were great!! I love how they explore the possibilities of vampires on this show, ones who would have long backstories going back a couple hundred years or more (or to the crucifixion, as the joke from the first Spike episode goes). I'm sorry we had to lose one of them. It was the brother part that made them more interesting. Redneck cowboy vampires. Awesome. Had to cheer for Xander getting to be a hero again. Go, Xan, go!
Martin Maenza said...
You'll catch up. I had a lot of time this week with Terri travelling to just watch Buffy. Taped shows have to wait for her to get home tomorrow.
Robo-Tripper - I like that.
Evil Willow is disturbing. Sexually agressive Willow is another matter (that's episode 16).
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