Day Fourteen. Potential and Storyteller.

"Potential," written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner. Season seven, episode 134.
"Storyteller," written by Jane Espenson. Season seven, episode 138.

"I see more than anybody realizes, cos no one's watching me...You're not special. You're extraordinary."
Xander, "Potential."

"You've already met Buffy. She's beautiful with a lion's heart and the face of an angel. She's never afraid because she knows her side will always win."

"Honestly, gentle viewers, these motivating speeches of hers get a little long."
Andrew, "Storyteller."

"I knew we'd always do that again. One more time anyway."
"Is that what this was? One more time?"
"Do you think there should be more?"
"I don't know. It was nice. It felt like...like a 'one more time.'"
"I think we're really over. Which—it's good, right? Now we can move on?"
"Sure."
Xander and Anya, "Storyteller."

"Here's the thing. I killed my best friend. There's a big fight coming, and I don't...think I'm going to live through it. That's probably the way it should be."
Andrew, "Storyteller."

In the best of all worlds, this would be a year long course—or at least a semester. I know we skipped an entire season, watched one episode from the next, and now we're six episodes from the end of the series. A lot has happened that we've never even seen: Buffy's other boyfriend, Riley; the death of Tara; the descent into evil by Willow; Xander's becoming a responsible adult with a regular job; Spike and Buffy's tortured love affair; Spike's redemption; Giles' leaving; the reason the potentials have ended up in Sunnydale. Sorry guys. There's always Netflix and Wikipedia to fill in the blanks.

There are those who loved the series and thought it should have ended after the fourth season, where Buffy dies. The original intent of the show, a show about the hell of high school, had long been achieved; and the tone of the show got darker and more serious—no more hell hounds and Inca Mummy Girls and Willow and Cordelia running from some monster, screaming, nor Giles and/or Xandet getting knocked out in three seconds. This is, as we discussed with "The Body", a series about young adults in that netherworld between adolescence and adulthood. Now, seven series in, that's probably done as well. Buffy is the adult, the one making life and death decisions for these scared potential slayers, not to mention her best friends. Giles is gone, "no longer standing in the way" of Buffy's full growth as he sang in "Once More With Feeling." We're a long way from the Buffy who wrote "Buffy—heart—Angel" on her notebook. I don't know if this makes the show less interesting, less dramatic, but it certainly makes it different. Not coincidentally, Dawn is a sophomore in this last season—the age Buffy was when the series began.

"Potential" and "Storyteller" are two unusual episodes in our viewing, though they speak to the adventurousness and willingness to try something different that the later seasons engaged in more and more often. Buffy really is a secondary character in both episodes. And in "Storyteller," Andrew—a minor character elevated to someone major—acknowledges something that some viewers complained about at the time: Buffy, as an adult and leader, was a bit of a bore—her speeches did go on and on. Joss Whdeon clearly made this part of her character. Giles made being The Man seem so easy, and clearly it isn't, not even for Buffy. And Buffy's lessons to the potentials can be confusing: as Molly—or is it Vi (I can't keep track of the potentials)—asks Buffy, are they supposed to make out with a vampire before they kill it? Andrew's hilarious video narrative speaks of Buffy's lack of fear—which should be the heroic narrative, but as we know, isn't here.

Anyhow. All this is a lead up to the final three episodes we'll be watching. So:

1. Your reaction to the two episodes? What particularly struck you in each episode? In fact, since Buffy is, arguably, secondary in both, what is each episode really about?

2. How is Buffy as an adult in these two episodes? Give specific examples from each episode in answering this.

Tomorrow: ""Lies My Parents Told," a Spike centered episode, and "End of Days," the penultimate episode. Giles returns with other slayers and Faith, the bad slayer of season three; and we meet Caleb, the very bad preacher who is in cahoots with The First. See you then.

Buffy Day Thirteen. Once More With Feeling.

"Once More With Feeling," written by Joss Whedon. Episode 107, season six.

"Will I stay this way forever, 
sleepwalk through my life's endeavor?
I don't want to be going through the motions, 
losing all my drive.
I can't even see 
if this is really me,
I just want to be alive."

This is an episode that people either love or hate. No middle ground. Which makes sense—this is a pretty audacious move, to present a full-fledged musical with a bunch of non-singers and non-dancers, have it be thematically consistent with what came before it, and be essential dramatically to the overall narrative of the series. Imagine Breaking Bad or Mad Men trying something like this. Or Glee...oops, it does—but as successfully? In any case...

1.  Reactions? Like? Hate? And why? Whatever you felt about it, what moment or scene or image stuck out for you here?

2. This episode deals directly with the adult Scoobies. How is each of our heroes doing as an  adult? Talk about Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles. If you want to include Giles, Dawn, Spike, and Anya, feel free to.

3. Speaking of Spike. I'm just curious...Spike or Angel? And why?

Tomorrow, we skip to the seventh season. We'll let our resident experts fill in the blanks.

Buffy Day Twelve. The Body and The Gift.

"The Body" and "The Gift," written by Joss Whedon. Episodes 94 and 100, season five.

"Mom? Mom? Mommy?"

"God, why do all my shirts have to have stupid things on them? Why can't I just dress like a grown-up? Can't I be a grown-up?"

"Things don't just happen! I mean, they don't just happen. I mean, somebody...Somebody's got..."
"Okay. Let's go. Come on. You and me. Let's go."
"You know I can't take you." 
"Damn straight."

"This is how many apocalypses for us now?"
"Six at least. Feels like a hundred."
"I've always stopped them.Always won.  I sacrificed Angel to save the world. I loved him so much. But I knew...I was right. I don't know that anymore. I don't understand. I don't know how to live in this world if these are the choice. If everything just gets stripped away, I don't see the point. I just wish...my mom was here."

"I don't understand how this all happens. How do we go through this. I knew her, and then she's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead any more. It's mortal and stupid. And Xander's crying and not talking, and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, well, Joyce will never have any fruit punch ever. And she'll never have eggs , or yawn or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why."

I realize I dropped you in the middle of what essentially is another television series today with these two episodes. Chronologically, these take place over a year after graduation: Buffy has been in college and dropped out, Willow is thriving in college and has discovered her true vocation—witchcraft—as well as her true love, Tara, Xander is deeply involved with Anya (obviously, since he just proposed), Spike has discovered he loves Buffy, and Giles is trying to live a life not as a watcher, though he still remains Buffy (and the others as well) adult mentor. But looking at these episodes, we are in a whole other world from where we last see our Scooby Gang. Or maybe not.

1. Your reaction to these episodes? What image or moment in each stayed with you—and why?

2. So Willow is a lesbian, Buffy is a big sister, Xander is proposing marriage...yes, they are clearly older versions of the selves we've been watching for the past eleven days. Are they still recognizably the teens we knew? How so or how not?

3. This is a show about adults now. Agree or disagree. And why?

Tomorrow, we will watch the great (in my opinion) musical episode, "Once More With Feeling," then discuss. No tissues required. See you then.

Buffy Day Eleven. Graduation Day, Part 2 and I Will Remember You.

"Graduation Day, Part 2," written by Joss Whedon, season three, episode 56.
"I Will Remember You," written by David Grossman and Jeannine Renshaw, Angel, season one, episode 8.

"Graduation Day, Part 2" is the kind of episode every season of Buffy had to end on: the climatic fight with the season's "Big Bad," as the reigning monster of that season became called. Our heroes triumph, a few quips are tossed out, and life goes on. But not for all. Larry—the big guy who we saw bully Xander earlier in our viewings. and who became a vampire hunting "white hat" in the alternate world of "The Wish," and who later expressed a crush on Xander—is killed, as is Harmony, Cordelia's "best friend," eaten by a vampire. Harmony will return to the series as a vampire, and even later become a regular on Angel as the receptionist at the evil law firm Angel ends up running (don't ask, just watch the series on your own—you'll enjoy it).

"I Will Remember You" is perfectly in keeping with the general tone of Angel. It is a much darker, more tragic and violent show than Buffy. If the main theme of Buffy is growing up, then the great theme of Angel is redemption. Can someone who has committed as many terrible acts as Angel redeem himself? The show is more serious, dare we say more mature than Buffy we've watched in both theme and presentation (though by the sixth and seventh season Buffy will take its own dark corners—as we will see to some extent).

So: 1. What was your reaction to both episodes? Like? Dislike? What jumped out at you in each of them?

2. If we take "Graduation Day" as the show's final take on high school—and the next time the show shows Buffy she is going off to her first day of college—what is it saying about the high school experience?

3. Is the Buffy we see in "I Will Remember You" the Buffy we've been seeing so far? Is she actually an older, more mature figure? If so, how so? If not, why not?

Tomorrow, we get very serious. Bring some tissue paper. See you then.

Buffy Day Ten. The Prom.

"The Prom," written by Marti Noxon, season three, episode 54.

"We're not good friends. We never got the time to get to know you. But that didn't mean we haven't noticed you. We don't talk about it much but it's no secret that Sunnydale High isn't like a lot of high schools. A lot of weird stuff happens here."
"Zombies!"
"Hyena people!"
"Synder!"
"...We're proud to say the class of 99 offers its thanks and gives you this. It's from all of us, and it has written here, 'Buffy Summers, Class Protector.'"

"For God's sake, man, she's 18 and you have the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone. Just have at it, will you, and stop fluttering about."

"I had no idea that children—en masse—could be so gracious."
"People can surprise you."

After the heaviness and darkness of "The Wish," "The Prom" comes as a welcome, light relief. It takes Buffy two minutes at most to take care of the hell hounds. Tucker Wells, the creator of the hell hounds, is subdued in three seconds ( his brother Andrew will become in seasons six and seven a pathetic nemesis to Buffy and then an equally pathetic ally—but funny as all get out). So again, the conflict, the drama, is not the snarling monsters, but something else... I've always enjoyed this episode with everyone looking so sharp and handsome or pretty, with Giles' great smack down of fellow watcher Wesley (above), and the romantic, wordless, dance between Buffy and Angel (no loud, smacking kisses for once). The show never is condescending to its young protagonists—as Giles says above, kids can be gracious—and one could argue that one of the themes the show proposes, like a modern Peter Pan, is the inevitable sadness of growing up.

So: what was your reaction to the episode? What stood out to you—and why? And what is, to you, the conflict or drama of this episode? What does it say about Buffy's journey to adulthood—or college, as will happen, for a little while, in season four?

Tomorrow, we'll watch the last half of "Graduation Day, Part II," as Sunnydale HS class of 99 finally gets to graduate, but still have to deal with the ascension of the Mayor at the same time; then, we'll look at an episode of Angel where Buffy visits him in L.A. See you all then.

Buffy Day Nine. Band Candy and The Wish.

"Band Candy," written by Jane Espenson, episode 40, season three.
"The Wish," written by Marti Noxon, episode 43, season three.

"That was too close for comfort. Not that slaying is ever comfy...But you know what I mean. If you guys hadn't been there to help."
"But we were. And we did. And we're all fine."

"You have to get Buffy. She changes it! I mean, the clothes alone—But people were happy. Mostly"

"World is what it is. We fight. We die. Wishing don't change that."
"I have to believe in a better world."
"Go ahead. I have to live in this one."

"You trusting fool! How do you know the other world is any better than this?"
"Because it has to be."

In my mind, "Band Candy" and "The Wish" are two of the best episodes in the entire seven year run of BVS. On the strictly technical level, we see what range these actors have, from Anthony Stewart Head as "Ripper" hilariously channeling his inner teen punk, to Nicholas Brendon and Alyson Hannigan playing 180 degrees against type as evil Xander and Willow (evil Willow returns again in "Dopplegangland" where good Willow gets to pretend to be bad Willow, leather and all, and it's as entertaining as you can imagine it would be), to, finally, Sarah Michelle Geller giving us, I think, a totally believable scarred, cynical Buffy. "The Wish" creates a thoroughly credible alternate reality; and by this point in the series, if one buys into it at all, it's devastating to see these people we've come to care about, Cordelia included, meet a terrible fate. Jonathan asked me before class if I had watched 24; and I said I tried, but it never quite "got" me. Buffy, obviously, "got" me, and no episode "gets" me more than "The Wish." "Band Candy" is nowhere near as serious and affecting as "The Wish" (in my humble opinion), but it's a lot of fun just to see Giles and Joyce as the kids they were—gawky, silly, self-involved, and, pointedly, much less able than the kids they mentor. Buffy saves the day, as always, but it means having to see her mother make out with her teacher and mentor—something much more terrifying than Lucronis, the silly monster of the day. And even when you save the world, there's still the SATs to take. So:

1. You reaction to both episodes? What stayed with you especially from both episodes, and why?

2. What are these two episodes "about," so to speak, in the context of Growing Up Buffy? How do they, might they, fit into this narrative we've been talking about in class? Take some time with this, and write a couple hundred words.

Tomorrow I'm going to call on everyone in class during the discussion portion of the class—there are some of you we've not heard from—and then we'll finish the week with another episode from season three.

Buffy Days Six and Seven. Surprise, Innocence, and Becoming Part One.

"Surprise," written by Marti Noxon, episode 25, season two.
"Innocence," written by Jos Whedon, episode 26, season two.
"Becoming,Part One" written by Joss Whedon, episode 33, season two.

"In fact, let's not talk about it at all. It happened."
"I don't understand. Was it me? Was I not...good?"
"You were great! Really, I thought you were a pro."
"How could you say this to me?"
"Lighten up. It was a good time. It doesn't mean we have to make a big deal."
"It is a big deal."
"It's what? Bells ringing? Fireworks? A dulcet choir of pretty little birds? Come on, Buffy, it's not like I've never been there before."
"Don't touch me."
"I should have know you'd not be able to handle it."
"Angel. I love you."
"Love you too. I'll call."

"So it was me. I did it."
"I think so."
"I don't understand."
"The curse. If Angel achieved true happiness, even just a moment of...He would lose his soul."
"But how do you know you were responsible for...Oh." (Buffy, Jenny, Giles)

"You must be disappointed in me."
"No. No, I'm not."
"This is all my fault."
"I don't believe it is. Do you want me to wag my finger at you and say you acted rashly? You did, and I am. I know that you loved him. And he...he has proven more than once that he loved you. You couldn't have known what would happen...If it's guilt you're looking for, Buffy, I'm not your man. All you will get from me is my support and my respect." 

For me, this selection of episodes from the end of the second season of BVS speaks to a series that has found itself finally. It's truly funny, it's touching (think Willow and Oz), it's exciting (the fight choreography has gotten better and better), it's surprising (did anyone, other than those who already knew, expect Kendra the Slayer to die at the end of "Becoming"?), and it's uncomfortable and sometimes all too real. The Buffy we see now is a far ways away from the Cordelia-like figure in Angel's flashback (another neat turn, as the show spins its own mythology and history). When Joyce asks Buffy how was her seventeenth birthday, Buffy answers, "I got older," to which Joyce answers, "You look the same to me." If only.

As we said in class, the evil of these last episodes is not in monsters like The Judge, all too easily destroyed (and how does a one Starbucks town like Sunnydale have a port, an airport, and an Army base?), nor even really in the vamps Buffy keeps dusting. So...

1. Your reaction to these episodes, in particular "Surprise" and "Innocence"? What stuck with you and why?

2. Do you agree with my statement above, that the evil in these episodes is not in the monsters? If so, why? And what in these episodes backs this statement, in your opinion? If you disagree, why? And what supports your position?

 Everyone write a couple hundred words. Feel free to quote from the dialogue above. Be as specific as you can be in talking about the episodes. Tomorrow, we'll finish "Becoming" and talk.