Helpless
The Good;
Fabulous ep, really pulls the rug out from under you and puts Buffy in serious peril, very scary. Lovely Amy ref, love the final scene and Joyce's pride at Buffy's cleverness.
The Bad;
The whole idea of the Cruciantanem is stupid. If the Slayer isn't up to the job then surely she just dies anyway and they get a new one? Surely Buffy would go to her friends for help? How does Kralik know that Buffy is aware where to come to when he send her his invitation? Wouldn't it be better for the Council to have Wes standing by to relieve Giles rather than leave it a fortnight? Willow's mustard yellow tights are awful, I think Tara threw them out as we don't see them past season 3. .
Best line;
No contest "Bite me!" but I do also like the Buffy/Angel exchange;
Buffy; "That's beautiful...or taken literally really gross"
Angel; "I was just thinking"
Character death; 2 humans and 2 vamps
Tied up; Joyce
Knocked out;
No but Buffy mesmerised
Women good/men bad;
Lots of it. Buffy is let down by her father and betrayed by her father figure (the scene where she dumps her father's present in the bin is particulary heartrending). Kralik killed and ate his own mother (hopefully after he became a vampire?) Kralik menacing Joyce is very scary and his idea of turning Buffy even more so (although would even a sired Slayer be evil?).
Kinky dinky;
How long have you got? Buffy and Angel 'getting all sweaty' as Xander would say. Buffy refers to dating an older man who likes it when she calls him daddy, probably her father but Angel would like to be sure. I must say I missed the whole 'phallic crystal fondling' first time around, David Fury had to point it out to me.You could even say that the whole Giles' drugs Buffy routine is tantamount to child abuse, he dopes her then penetrates her with the needle. Kralik meanwhile actually seems to like pain from Buffy burning him with the cross
Calling Captain Subtext;
If there were ever an ep where Cordy and Buffy were to get together this is it. Note Cordy's outraged pounding of the guy who pushes Buffy and her leaving Buff home.
Guantanamo Bay;
The Watcher's Council show their true colours and they're pretty damn ruthless
Scoobies to the ER;
Going to start a new topic because in virtually every ep one or more requires hospital treatment;
Buffy pretty banged up and without Slayer healing for once
Where's Dawn?
Still at the house when Kralik snatches Joyce? At Kit's? Girl Scouts? After school classes? Or taken hostage with her mother?
Questions and observations
Interesting to hear David Fury's initial story idea, that Buffy hallucinates the Scoobies and Joyce as vamps. Nice to hear he was a fan before he got to write it. I also heard they couldn't do it because Kristine Sutherland was allergic to the vamp makeup. No Faith this ep? A shame, liked to have seen her. Presumably Kralik's pills are for mental illness rather than for anything physical which would have been cured when he became a vamp like Spike's mum/Darla. The guy he turns is one of the crew from ST;ENTERPRISE. You always knew Buffy would beat him but her method is very ingenious (after all, Little Red Riding Hood defeats the big bad wolf). Presumably more time elapses between Buffy trying to untie Joyce and him breaking through the door than is shown onsecreen. Remember Buffy hasn't even seen Kralik wash down the pills so Joyce must have told her. Personally I always liked the eaten-away-from-within effect and it was always obvious to me. Cordy's paper is on Bosnia which dates this ep pretty accurately (nowadays kids would be writing about Darfur).
8/10, very, very good, almost a classic
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EDIT
Episode Summary
For her upcoming 18th birthday, Buffy declines the Scooby gang's offer of a big party, hoping to celebrate with quiet reflection and a traditional trip to the ice show with her father. Suddenly, Buffy finds that her Slayer abilities are fading, perhaps completely. Is this some natural event in the lifecycle of the Slayer, or is it something more sinister?moreless
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Sarah Michelle Gellar
Buffy Anne Summers
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Seth Green
Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne
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David Boreanaz
Angel
Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
See All-
Trivia
ADD TRIVIA-
When Giles is injecting Buffy, he rolls up her sleeve so he can puncture her skin, but he never rolls it down. When Buffy leaves, you can see the sleeve is rolled back down, but neither one of them moved it.
Edit - In previous episodes when vampires have come into contact with holy water the burning and pain experienced is immediate. Yet Kralik not only touches holy water to his lips without reacting but continues to take several swallows and starts talking to Buffy before any effects are seen or felt. Edit
- Kralik takes a poloroid picture of himself with Buffy's mother. These cameras use mirrors to relect the light inside the device and so the vampire shouldn't show up on film. Edit
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Notes
ADD NOTES- Angel references 2 season 2 episodes: Surprise, when he mentions the severed arm of the Judge at Buffy's last party; and Becoming Part 1, when he is sitting in a dark car, watching Buffy being called in Los Angeles at her school, in a flashback that was in the episode. Edit
- The vampire Zachary Kralik was named after writer David Fury's nephew. Edit
- The original idea for this episode had Buffy hallucinating that her friends and family were vampires and demons, but it was eventually changed because it was considered too similar to The Wish (3x09). Edit
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Quotes
ADD QUOTES- Angel: Buffy, you could never be helpless or boring, not even if you tried. Edit
- Kralik: She'll go to sleep, and when she wakes up, your face will be the first thing she eats. I have a problem with mothers. I'm aware of that. Edit
- Cordelia: What's going on? Oh, God. Is the world ending? I have to research a paper on Bosnia for tomorrow, but if the world's ending, I'm not gonna bother. Giles: You can't walk home alone, Buffy. It isn't safe. Buffy: I don't know you. Cordelia: Did something take her memory? He's Giles. Giiiiillles. He hangs out here a lot. Buffy: Cordelia, could you please drive me home? Cordelia: Of course. But if the world doesn't end, I'm gonna need a note. Edit
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Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS- Cordelia: Did something take her memory again? Referring to the season 2 episode Halloween in which Buffy "became" her costume of a 17th Century woman and forgot who she was, and who her friends were. Edit
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Visual: Angel's gift to Buffy.
Angel gives Buffy "Sonnets from the Portuguese" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning for her birthday. It was originally published in 1850 in a two volume publication entitled Poems. It contains the famous poem "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." Edit -
Kralik: Why did you come to the dark of the woods? To bring all these sweets to grandmother's house?
Kralik refers to the story of Little Red Riding Hood in which a wolf accosts a young girl who is carrying a basket through the woods to her grandmother's house. The fairy tale has been around since the early 19th century and has been written in many different languages with many different versions. Edit
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