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 11:38 pm (UTC)