Buffy 5x14-5x17, spoilers through S6

[oyceter]

Watched Crush through Forever tonight. Spoilers through S6

Crush always makes me horribly embarrassed for everyone involved, though I do very much like the Spike outburst at all the bloody women in his life. And Joyce asking Buffy if she's inadvertantly led Spike on eerily echoes the fandom arguments about the attempted rape in Seeing Red. It was weird watching this again, because all the other times I watched it was when I was just getting into Buffy and a big fan of Spike. Still like Spike, but I was also sort of watching this ep through Buffy's POV and getting her complete disgust at the idea of Spike having a crush on her.

I keep forgetting how good I Was Made to Love You is, despite the fact that it's about a sexbot, and watching Warren now knowing everything that's going to happen in S6 is also incredibly strange. I keep wanting to warn Buffy somehow.

The Body hits as hard as always, and as always, I teared up during Anya's speech.

I was wrong previously about having seen all the Buffy episodes -- I had completely forgotten I hadn't seen Forever and sundry S1 episodes. I knew The Body was good, but I didn't quite realize just how good Forever was as well. Despite being a non-B/A shipper, I smiled when Buffy's hand slipped into Angel's at the graveside, all without her even looking at him. I feel if they had that sort of connection in S2 (or emphasized it), I would have been a bigger fan of the ship... Never quite caught on in S2 because it just felt so high school crush like. And I hope Spike's flowers made it to the grave.

It's interesting how much this episode sets up for the rest of the season -- Glory finding Dawn, obviously, but also Doc on the tower and, further down the line, Willow's eventual resurrection of Buffy and her attempted resurrection of Tara.

And I was doing ok until the end, when Buffy breaks down in front of Dawn. I didn't think it was possible, but it hurt even more than Anya's speech in The Body because this was Buffy and my heart just went out to her. Sometimes when I'm watching I just want to reach out and hug Buffy and tell her everything's going to be ok by S7, even if she has to go through hell to get there. Haha, I get very involved in my show sometimes ;).

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Forever is one of the underestimated episodes of the show, one of my favourites and imo one of the best Marti Noxon wrote. I tear up during Buffy's and Dawn's confrontation/breakdown as well, each time.

[oyceter]

I think so too ... and while Marti writes some eps I've disliked, I think people give her far too little credit.

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

I think one of the main reasons Forever is so underrated was the network's stupid decision to have the 6 week hiatus be between both episodes. When both episodes are watched back-to-back, they feel like companion pieces, Forever being the natural coda, as it shows Joyce's funeral and the immediate grieving, and you still have all the emotion built up from The Body. But when it first aired, after six whole weeks since we saw Joyce die, the feeling of loss wasn't as fresh in our memories, and so it felt like a downer after such a long break. There's always some disappointment when the first episode back isn't what was expected, and I just don't think people were expecting something with the plotting and pacing of Forever, which is a different kind of episode. The first time I saw it, I liked but didn't love it. But after rewatching with The Body, it's just as moving and necessary.

[oyceter]

Huh, I never realized! That makes sense. It does feel like such a necessary coda to The Body though, and it just sets up so much to come as well.

[toronto-gal.livejournal.com]

I quite enjoy reading your thoughts on S5 =) And I very much agree that the last scene during Forever was heart-breaking. I always get rather misty-eyed when watching that.

Plus I love how the episode builds towards a neat role reversal between Buffy and Dawn. It starts out with Dawn as the broken, lost child who won't accept that her Mother's gone - where as Buffy is the one who's trying to take on a mature, adult stance towards her Mother's death. But during that last scene, where the sisters confront one another, you can see those roles quietly and subtly reversing themselves. As the emotion pours out of her, suddenly it's *Buffy* becoming the broken, lost child who just wants her Mother back. And when Dawn rips up the picture of Joyce, she's the one doing the mature, adult thing. I thought it was a rather poignant reversal of roles between the girls.

And I love that, because it shows just how much the sisters are reflected in one another. Plus seeing Buffy finally lowering all her emotional defenses, and completely breaking down, really tugged at my heartstrings.

[oyceter]

I adore the Buffy-Dawn dynamic, especially the flip at the end. Hrm, you know, I just thought it's sort of like the Buffy-Joyce role reversal in Listening to Fear, with Buffy first crying and then acting the mother/protector to both Dawn and Joyce.

Watching Buffy be strong just makes me sniffle more when she says, "Mommy?" in that voice of hers.