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.”

The Dark Age

[Updated April 29, 2013]

Buffy got the last word at the end of Lie to Me: “liar”. We have every reason to think her epithet referred solely to Giles’ description of life just preceding. This very next episode shows us that it had a much more general application. Giles has been lying to all of us, concealing his “Ripper” past. Like the statue of Janus in Halloween, Buffy’s word looked both backward and forward.

Lie to Me

[Updated April 29, 2013]

Lie to Me is almost certainly the best episode which I rarely see on Top 10 lists, including my own. In his reviews for The AV Club, Noel Murray suggested it as the episode he’d use to introduce a new viewer to Buffy. It’s truly a wonderful episode.

Halloween

[Updated April 29, 2013]
 

Halloween is one of my favorites, though I can say that about most of the remaining episodes in S2. There are lots of classic moments here, the best (for me) probably being when Willow walks through the wall into the library and Giles’ reaction, though I could be talked into “eyeballs to entrails”. Naturally I think we’re learning something important about Buffy in addition to being entertained, so let’s talk about that.

Buffy Movie News

The LA Times covers this industry more than most, so I'll copy this little note from today's paper in case it didn't get picked up elsewhere:

"'Buffy' film script falls flat

That big-screen revamp of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has been dealt a setback: It looks as though the movie's first-time screenwriter bit off more than she could chew.

Two sources close to the project say that the script submitted this past summer by Whit Anderson fell far short of expectations and, in the end, was rejected completely.

That's news that will spark celebration from some longtime "Buffy" fans who were less than thrilled by the prospects of a "Buffy" revival that didn't involve Joss Whedon, who wrote the 1992 film and created the WB series.

A new writer is being sought but the entire endeavor may have lost some steam."

I hear there's this guy in LA who has a great reputation as a script doctor. Maybe they could bring him in....

Reptile Boy

[Updated April 29, 2013]

Reptile Boy, whether in spite or because of its heavy-handed, sexually charged theme and metaphor, is ranked consistently down there with IRYJ among the least liked of the series. Perhaps we can find a nugget if there’s a way to reconcile text and subtext.

Inca Mummy Girl

[Updated April 29, 2013]

Inca Mummy Girl doesn’t require very much of us in order to spot the metaphor. Ampata is a “Chosen One” like Buffy. If we needed more, other details reinforce the comparison: Xander’s instant attraction to her, just as he was attracted to Buffy; Ampata’s desire, which she tells Buffy, to lead “a normal life”, which has been Buffy’s desire from the very beginning; and, perhaps beating us over the head with the point, Ampata telling Buffy “You remind me of someone from very long ago: the Inca Princess…. They told her that she was the only one. That only she could defend her people from the nether world…. Out of all the girls in her generation... she was the only one... chosen.”

Ampata’s death at a young age may have been more certain, but Buffy’s own life expectancy as the Slayer isn’t all that much to brag about. It’s natural, therefore, that we’d be sympathetic to Ampata, seeing her both as a victim and as a stand-in for Buffy’s situation. Note the way the Guardian describes her situation: “You are the Chosen One. You have no choice.”

We’ve forgotten all about poor Rodney Munson and the real Ampata Gutierrez.