Buffy 5x09 Listening to Fear
Tue, May. 25th, 2004 01:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterWow. Buffy does X-Files! The creature shots from the queller's POV (the fisheye camera, the scrambling up the tree thing), all very X-Filey. Plus, of course, there's the whole extraterrestrial thing, the reference to Tunguska (or did I make that up?) and the prominent feel of paranoia and claustrophobia almost.
Buffy S5 continues to impress me. The plotting of the eps actually feels more like latter seasons of Angel, with the focus on moving the seasonal plot along. And the tone in general feels more like Angel as well -- less of the funny, more of the fear.
I always thought Buffy really started breaking down around The Body, and they've really started it much earlier in the season, from the discovery of her mom's medical problems, understandably. I just didn't realize that they were spending so much time with the Joyce arc, and I'm very pleased with that ^_^. Mostly because it freaks me out utterly, because while things like The Gentlemen were scary, this is deep down frightening and real. And they're dealing with it extremely well, I think, showing both how Dawn doesn't quite know how to react, how left out she's feeling and how scared and confused she is (I remember feeling like that when my grandmother got Alzheimer's -- I didn't know it was Alzheimer's, which made it even more confusing). I felt so bad for her when Joyce sees her Keyness and yells. And I felt so, so bad for Buffy, trying to do everything, trying to be there all the time and not yell at Dawn and not get to do her own thing. She's trying so hard to be the mom, and I think the shot right after she kills the monster captures that -- Buffy is the one to come in, to tell both her mom and Dawn that they're safe, and she's the one hugging them both. So much responsibility on such thin shoulders.
I nearly cried at the scenes when Joyce was talking to herself/the monster, with Dawn trying so hard to ignore it because it was too hard to deal with and Buffy turning up the music and finally just breaking out into tears while washing the dishes. I don't even remember Buffy being flippant in this episode -- she's trying so hard to be sincere and loving to her family, to comfort Dawn and her mother, that it hurts to see her smiling that tight, humorless smile of hers.
And not only did they manage to pack in this giant emotional wallop with Buffy/Joyce/Dawn, they had Riley being more greyish... I have to say, I am not a fan of grey Riley. I think it's partially because I know how it ends, and I think it's absolutely stupid to blame Buffy -- the girl has so much to take care of already. Plus, while I knew Riley was sort of pulling away from Buffy, I didn't realize he was pulling away from the Scoobies as well, before watching S5. But he is because he's too afraid or insecure to stick around with them. And it seems like because he's not willing to integrate himself with the Scoobies or something, he is getting more and more left out of Buffy's life, like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It's also really interesting watching from the start of S5 -- before I watched with Spike as my POV character, and now, it's totally Buffy. It made FFL very different (but no less good).
Then they drop the bomb about Ben (dum dum dum!!) and finally, the talk between Joyce and Buffy about Dawn, sniff.
Haha, we shall see how I feel about Riley after Into the Woods....
Buffy S5 continues to impress me. The plotting of the eps actually feels more like latter seasons of Angel, with the focus on moving the seasonal plot along. And the tone in general feels more like Angel as well -- less of the funny, more of the fear.
I always thought Buffy really started breaking down around The Body, and they've really started it much earlier in the season, from the discovery of her mom's medical problems, understandably. I just didn't realize that they were spending so much time with the Joyce arc, and I'm very pleased with that ^_^. Mostly because it freaks me out utterly, because while things like The Gentlemen were scary, this is deep down frightening and real. And they're dealing with it extremely well, I think, showing both how Dawn doesn't quite know how to react, how left out she's feeling and how scared and confused she is (I remember feeling like that when my grandmother got Alzheimer's -- I didn't know it was Alzheimer's, which made it even more confusing). I felt so bad for her when Joyce sees her Keyness and yells. And I felt so, so bad for Buffy, trying to do everything, trying to be there all the time and not yell at Dawn and not get to do her own thing. She's trying so hard to be the mom, and I think the shot right after she kills the monster captures that -- Buffy is the one to come in, to tell both her mom and Dawn that they're safe, and she's the one hugging them both. So much responsibility on such thin shoulders.
I nearly cried at the scenes when Joyce was talking to herself/the monster, with Dawn trying so hard to ignore it because it was too hard to deal with and Buffy turning up the music and finally just breaking out into tears while washing the dishes. I don't even remember Buffy being flippant in this episode -- she's trying so hard to be sincere and loving to her family, to comfort Dawn and her mother, that it hurts to see her smiling that tight, humorless smile of hers.
And not only did they manage to pack in this giant emotional wallop with Buffy/Joyce/Dawn, they had Riley being more greyish... I have to say, I am not a fan of grey Riley. I think it's partially because I know how it ends, and I think it's absolutely stupid to blame Buffy -- the girl has so much to take care of already. Plus, while I knew Riley was sort of pulling away from Buffy, I didn't realize he was pulling away from the Scoobies as well, before watching S5. But he is because he's too afraid or insecure to stick around with them. And it seems like because he's not willing to integrate himself with the Scoobies or something, he is getting more and more left out of Buffy's life, like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It's also really interesting watching from the start of S5 -- before I watched with Spike as my POV character, and now, it's totally Buffy. It made FFL very different (but no less good).
Then they drop the bomb about Ben (dum dum dum!!) and finally, the talk between Joyce and Buffy about Dawn, sniff.
Haha, we shall see how I feel about Riley after Into the Woods....
(no subject)
Tue, May. 25th, 2004 06:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, May. 25th, 2004 09:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, May. 25th, 2004 07:54 am (UTC)Yes, that was definitely the most powerful scene in the episode for me. I recently rewatched it, and it was especially difficult since we had a very similar situation in my house about a year ago, when my grandma was dying. I know that at this point Joyce was not necessarily going to die, but the covering your head with a pillow, and turning up the water so you could block out the noise or cry, as well as hearing someone you love saying very strange things to you or someone who isn't there, really hit home for me. SMG, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Kristine Sutherland were all brilliant in this ep.
(no subject)
Tue, May. 25th, 2004 11:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, May. 25th, 2004 10:44 am (UTC)It's hard to defend Riley too hard here - but it is a two-way street. And as the shows go on, the ineptitude of these characters at reaching out to one another is exposed to a greater degree. Such that, oftentimes, we'll see how the other characters stay defined withing the group based upon their romantic tie to B/W/X - and very rarely develop interlocking relationships.
For example, I think "the Replacement" might actually be the last episode where Riley has a meaningful 'friendship' type scene with Willow, Xander, Giles, Tara or Anya... and they with him.
(no subject)
Tue, May. 25th, 2004 11:42 pm (UTC)I think the interesting thing about Riley is that he seems to be deliberately distancing himself -- Anya and Tara more often than not seem to feel out of place, but still sort of seem to want to be accepted (Tara in particular), and Riley in S4 was like that too, very friendly, very nice. Now he's really starting to pull away -- he's sort of gone off on his own and ditched the Scoobies twice, he hides the Initiative involvement, very interesting.
(no subject)
Tue, May. 25th, 2004 12:41 pm (UTC)Listening to Fear is a neat episode for me - on re-watching it, I start seeing stuff I originally missed out on. As I've rambled about in my own journal, Dawn's arc was written to be a metaphor for adoption. I missed out on that during the first viewing - but on repeated viewing, I see all this wonderful subtext on the matter. Like this little exchange from Listening to Fear...
JOYCE: Dawn... She's not ... mine, is she?
BUFFY: No...
JOYCE: She's ... she does belong to us, though...
Heh - I love that... because it so beautifully encapsulates what a mother would feel towards her adopted daughter. The idea that the child isn't hers... and yet the child belongs to her. I really enjoy that sentiment.
Anyhoo - I just wanted to send my compliments regarding your neat analysis of the episode. It was a really great read, and I enjoyed it a lot. Plus it's always nice seeing people who share in affection for S5. From a brief glance at your journal, it seems you've shared more thoughts on the season - so hopefully it's okay that I'm friending you =)
Take care!
(no subject)
Tue, May. 25th, 2004 11:51 pm (UTC)I love the entire Dawn arc in S5 (I have a little sister, so I am sort of biased). And welcome aboard the LJ!