What's My Line 1 & 2

[Updated April 29, 2013]

What’s My Line would be a fan favorite if it had nothing else but the Xander/Cordy basement scene, but it also has a satire on Microsoft; classic Spike and Dru scenes; Willow, Oz, and animal crackers; and the first reference to the group as the “Scooby Gang”, which will become the standard from now on. “What’s the flum?” “I’m thinkin’ maybe dinner and a movie.” “Eb diminished ninth.” “That’s me only shirt.”

Buffy’s feeling constrained by her destiny: “Y'know, if you don't like the way I'm doing my job, why don't you find somebody else? Oh, that's right, there can only be one. As long as I'm alive, there is no one else. Well, there you go! I don't have to be the Slayer. I could be dead. … Either way I'm bored, constricted, I never get to shop, and my hair and fingernails still continue to grow. So really, when you think about it, what's the diff?” The irony of this outburst will soon become apparent, but she’s acting immaturely, which she basically admits to Giles.

What’s interesting about her reaction to career day is that her dissatisfaction is not at her lack of normalcy today. After all, she’s doing exactly what all the rest of the students are doing. No, she’s chafing at her future. That’s where she differs from her fellow students – she’s committed to a goal and they aren’t.

Perhaps seeking compensation for her frustration at her lack of a “normal” life, i.e., for the way her commitment “limits” her, she turns more towards Angel. In Lie to Me she told Angel that she loved him but wasn’t sure she trusted him. Though Angel didn’t reciprocate her declaration of love, Buffy finds him “the one freaky thing in my freaky world that still makes sense to me.” Her own lack of “normalcy” leads her to find comfort in the idea that she won’t have to be alone in that state, that someone decidedly not normal can share it with her. Notice how this mirrors Daryl’s desire for a “mate” in Some Assembly Required, though Buffy certainly doesn’t plan to kill anyone to find her true love.

Thus, when Angel’s put in danger, first by Kendra and then by Spike, Buffy reacts with her melodramatic proclamation that “nobody messes with my boyfriend” (a word she resisted when Ford asked her in Lie to Me). She also, in a scene Joss added, accepts Angel’s vampire side by kissing him in vampface. This is their first on-screen kiss since Halloween and only their second since Angel. I like this scene because WML gives us 2 ways to interpret it: Buffy has seen past the demon to Angel’s true heart; or she is overlooking the demon, as Kendra thinks. In reaching your own view of the scene, I’ll suggest that it makes sense to consider the parallel kiss of Buffy’s metaphorical heart and her metaphorical shadow self. Also consider the possible metaphor involved in where that first X/C kiss takes place – the basement.

Then there’s Kendra. Any time a new character gets introduced, especially one who seems to play a significant role, we should be asking whether that character plays a metaphorical role as well. I think Kendra does and I’ll discuss that 3 posts from now.

Some additional thoughts:

In the end, of course, Buffy rescues Angel (with no small assist from Kendra). But Angel, the one who created Dru, is the one who brings her, involuntarily of course, to full strength. This is metaphorically essential for the events to come.

At the end of School Hard, Spike complains about “A Slayer with family and friends. That sure as hell wasn't in the brochure.” In Kendra we see what he means.

Kendra’s decision to help rescue Angel is an interesting one. She takes the same view of Angel that Xander does. Some questions this raises: Did Kendra act only because her goal of stopping Spike happened to mesh with Buffy’s goal of rescuing Angel? Whose goal is the correct one, Kendra’s or Buffy’s? Are Kendra and Xander right or wrong about Angel?

Note the parallel between Drusilla’s forecast of the future using Tarot and the school’s use of standardized tests. Also take note of the sexually charged scenes in which Dru tortures Angel and Angel nearly gets Spike to dust him. Spike’s comment that he’s “not one for the pre-show” clearly has a double meaning. The restoration spell also can be read sexually.

In the DVD commentary, Marti Noxon states that scene in which Buffy and Kendra argue about returning to the Watcher was staged for Willy’s benefit. They wanted Willy, and therefore Spike, to believe that Buffy would be coming to the church alone. As a reminder for those watching for the first time, the commentaries after S1 do contain spoilers, sometimes major ones.

Trivia notes: (1) “What’s My Line” was the name of a popular game show from the 50s and 60s. The contestants tried to guess the line of work of the guest using only “yes” or “no” questions. The title obviously applies to Buffy, but it can be read as applying to Angel as well: is he essentially human or is he, as Kendra says, a “monster”? (2) Bianca Lawson (Kendra) auditioned for the role of Buffy. (3) Don’t blame her for the Jamaican accent. They decided at the last minute that Kendra should have one so Bianca didn’t have enough chance to practice it even though they did get her a coach. (4) One reason for the popularity of S2 is the introduction of 6 very popular secondary characters: Spike, Dru, Jonathan, Oz, Ethan, and now Willy. (5) Buffy kisses Angel while he’s in vamp face, thereby answering Darla’s question to him in Angel: “Did you think she would understand? That she would look at your face... your true face... and give you a kiss?” (6) Spike’s “By George, I think he’s got it” is a line from My Fair Lady and presumably ironic given the nature of Dru. (7) Buffy called Kendra “Pink Ranger”. The Pink Ranger was one of the Power Rangers. Sarah Michelle Gellar’s stunt double at this time was also the stunt double for Amy Jo Johnson, who played the Pink Ranger. (8) Spike referred to Buffy as “Rebecca of Sunnyhell Farm”. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm was a classic children’s novel. Wikipedia summarizes the novel as one in which Rebecca “faces many trials in her young life, gaining wisdom and understanding.” (9) After Xander spread the glue on the ground, he said “Welcome my little pretties”, which is a line from the Wizard of Oz. (10) Seth Green and Alyson Hannigan adlibbed the whole animal crackers scene after the point where Oz compliments her on her smile. (11) Sarah Michelle Gellar loves ice skating. (12) No worms were harmed in the filming of these episodes.