![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatHaven't done much today - groceries, stayed off the knee, did exercises, and watched things on television. It was a pretty day, if a little cool - although define cool? It was in the low forties, upper thirties, which is relatively balmy in comparison to what it has been of late.
The All Birds slippers arrived at Mother's, finally, she tried them on - and they fit. She likes them. Yay! (Allbirds doesn't wrap it's items, so..).
Finished watching Angel S2 episodes Reunion (9) thru Blood Money (12) (all heavy on the noir themes, we even prior to Reunion have the heist episode, where everyone turns on each other. Each episode has a twist). It's made clear in these episodes that Angel is neither good nor evil, more in the grey area. He doesn't care about his friends, or that much about anyone really - outside of destroying WRH and Darla/Dru. This is kind of important - in regards to Buffy (after watching episodes 8-13) because while Angel is swinging more and more towards that dark grey area, Spike is swinging more and more towards that lighter grey area. The two characters are going in opposite directions, and the one going towards the dark side - has a soul.
Then along comes Episode 14 of Buffy S5, Crush by David Fury and guest starring Juliet Landau (as Dru) and Mercedes McNab (as Harmony). This is a confusing and a mixed bag of an episode, and doesn't quite play the way the writer intended. (It's so far off in places, that I wonder if David Fury has seen the previous five episodes? Or watched Angel? It's also very heavy handed in spots, to the point in which I was laughing at the writing and not with it. David Fury is a lot of things, but subtle isn't among them. His dialogue can be heavy handed at times?)
So, Buffy starts out just going to Spike to beat him up for information or pays him to help her, kind of similar to what Angel is doing with Merle in Angel the Series. Except, at a certain point, around roughly Into the Wood, this stops. And Spike starts helping her free of charge. She still will occasionally beat him up, but not as often. In certain episodes, he even helps her friends (Family). Then in Checkpoint? She shocks Spike and the audience by taking her mother and sister to his crypt for Spike to protect them? Did Doug Petrie, Espenson and Whedon forget to clue David Fury in on that? And in "Blood Ties", after Spike helps Dawn figure out she's the key, and Buffy attacks him for it, she listens to him, and has him assist her in finding Dawn, and he helps her fight off Glory.
Okay. The episode after Blood Ties is Crush. In Crush, Dawn understandably goes to talk to Spike, after Buffy accuses her of taking her blue cashmere sweater. (Most likely because while at Spike's place in Checkpoint - Dawn saw it?) She even tells Spike - that she's there to find something. And he manages to distract her.
Buffy to Dawn: Why would you go to hang out with Spike? What on Earth would make you think that is a good idea?
Audience: Because you took her and your mother there two episodes ago to be safe??
Dawn tells Buffy that Spike has a crush on her. Buffy doesn't believe her. The episode starts with Buffy sitting in the Bronze, and Spike seeking her out to talk to her, in regular clothes, no black duster, no red shirt. Xander even tells him to get out of his seat. Then she checks out a killing on a train - which was obviously a vampire, but is so distracted by Spike potentially having a crush on her - that she doesn't investigate it - and Xander is highly amused by it. They see it as a joke and not real. (The audience sees Miss Edith, and realizes it is Drusilla. )
Spike then takes Buffy to a vampire nest - thinking that's who took out the train. It's set up as a date - he offers her a drink, he plays music for her, he tries to open the door for her - she doesn't pick up on it, until he opens up the door for her. And I'm thinking, Buffy - come on. How dumb are you?
When she gets home - she discusses it with Willow and Joyce, who wonder what she could have done to lead Spike on?
Buffy: Maybe he gets off on me hitting him?
Audience: Really? You don't remember taking your mother and Dawn to his crypt two episodes ago? Asking his help to find Dawn? Confiding in him when your mother was ill? Honestly people, I'm amazed you've survived this long.
More to the point, the characters appear to have suffered amnesia? Or the writer hasn't been paying attention to a few key plot points? Such as Spike knows Dawn is the key, knows what Glory looks like, and has access to all sorts of information that they don't. This is a major plot hole that jumps up and down and does the hoochy coochy in this episode and bugged the hell out of me.
After Spike kidnaps Buffy, threatens her, releases her, and then is shut out of her home - I'm thinking, Buffy, hon, why didn't you just stake him? (Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she didn't? But if she's so worried about him - and his interest in her, then why didn't she? He knows about Dawn? He knows about Glory? What's stopping him from her point of view from exposing Dawn?) I honestly thought Spike was going to expose Dawn after this episode. And was surprised he didn't.
The writers are sending mixed messages. For one thing, Spike is more sympathetic in the episode than Buffy and her friends are. Buffy is also being written as kind of dense. I get she has a lot on her plate, but...and for that matter, her mother is also being written as dense. Spike is talking to Buffy's Mom, hanging with Dawn, and Buffy took her Mother and Dawn to stay with Spike - for their protection. He's shocked by it. And even calls her on it, but when she begs him, he caves quickly without asking for anything - why is Dawn the only one who picked up on that?
Also, he keeps asking about Buffy - every time he talks to Xander or anyone else? How dumb are they? It's not like he's some annoying neighbor, he's Spike.
Spike is trying. And I feel sorry for him. Buffy is always hitting Spike. He's shown as an outsider. And dear god, can Harmony be any more annoying?
I know the writer is trying to show how nasty Spike is to his women, which yes, to a degree - but actually, he's very tolerant of both Harmony and Dru. He's not invading Harmony's home, she's visiting his. And Dru visited him, not the other way around. He's also confused by Dru and confused by his feelings towards Dru. More importantly he's confused by his feelings towards Buffy.
Spike is a puzzle box of a character. He says one thing and does the opposite. The writers - I think - were to a degree ambivalent on whether to redeem him or not without a soul, and skating the line on this in S5 and S6. This episode and Fool for Love are excellent examples of that ambivalence and disagreement?
The weird bit in Crush - is why didn't Buffy and her friends consider for a minute that Spike knew Dawn was the key, and could tell Glory at any time, even on a whim? And why was Buffy trusting Spike with Dawn and Joyce in previous episodes, but not in this one? No wonder Spike's confused. It confuses me. It's not like Buffy is giving him any reason to keep Dawn safe? So, if she doesn't believe he cares for her or loves her, why is she trusting him at all - at this stage? (Honestly, if I were Buffy - I'd have staked Spike at the end of Crush. It surprises me that she didn't. It's not surprising she locks him out, what is surprising is she doesn't stake him. Isn't he dangerous?)
The Angel episodes work a little better? I think mainly because the writers are less ambivalent on Angel - it's clear noir. (Although it is admittedly odd that Angel doesn't stake or kill Dru and Darla.) He's an anti-hero/noir hero, so, no a lot of disagreement there. I think one of the things I loved about Angel and Buffy is how the writers play with the soul and aren't sure what to make of it. Does it make you good or evil in this verse? Or does it merely provide the character with a choice?
Marsters does a good job of subtly showing the changes in the character of Spike over the seasons. The Monster is always present - but more and more you see the man, the human being, soul emerge. I can tell Spike loves Buffy and has no idea what to do with it. And is confused by it. Buffy isn't helping. Also, Buffy doesn't quite know how to handle Spike - since he's the opposite of Angel - in that he wants to talk everything through and confronts it head on. (Riley tended to not want to talk everything through, but was more talkative than Angel. Actually a rock is more talkative than Angel.)
Because Buffy doesn't stake Spike - both Spike and the audience are left wondering why? We know why Angel didn't stake Dru and Darla - he feels responsible for them, and he cares about them on a certain level. So, it's not hard to jump to the same conclusion about Buffy. If Buffy truly meant what she said to Spike - she'd have staked him by now. Or avoided him like the plague. She's doing neither.
The writers are walking a fine line - they love the character of Spike, but at the same time struggling with how to make him part of the story - in a way that makes sense. This struggle makes the story a lot more interesting than it would have been otherwise.
Not sure anyone read through that ramble. I'm rewatching these because they don't require much focus, are entertaining, and I don't remember them well enough to be bored.
ETA: in rewatching Angel S2 - halfway through there's something goofy going on with Cordelia's hair. It goes from being long, to being this odd haircut that is black, and kind of poofy? It looks like a wig. That lasts for about two-three episodes, then we get an actual short pixie cut, that is highlighted. (She looked better with long hair.). Rumor had it that the actress got her haircut without telling anyone about it. Big no-no in television and film acting. Causes all sorts of continuity issues. (Keep in mind, Marsters was dying his bleach blond every week for his character.)
(I was told this in S4, but since I didn't remember much of S2 and had skipped over a few episodes...I thought, when was this?). It was apparently awful. And they had to write around it and fix it. I had thought that was in S3 - and hadn't noticed anything major in S3, so didn't know what they were talking about - until I watched this season. It wasn't in S3, it was in S2, in the second half of the season. Apparently, I'd skipped a bunch of episodes when I previously watched it? Because I honestly don't remember a couple of them - and the ones I don't remember - are the ones in which there appears to be something up with Cordy's hair.
So now, I'm trucking along, and think, wait, what is up with her hair? It's jarring. I spent two episodes distracted by the black mop of hair - trying to figure out if they'd died it? And why was it cut like that? Then all of a sudden by the third episode, it's a short highlighted pixie cut - that no one mentions.
I'm beginning to realize, re-watching Angel and Buffy, that part of the continuity issues and plot issues the series had - weren't necessarily writer oriented, but actor oriented. Television actors have a tendency to behave like cats? They wander off. Do their own things. Etc. Makes it hard to do a long-term television series. Also unlike writers - which you can for the most part switch out without the audience noticing, it's kind of hard to switch out actors. We'd notice if someone else popped up to play Buffy, Spike, Cordelia, Oz, etc, and get upset. The actors on those shows, like most television series, didn't want to stay put and do what the writers and show-runners wanted them to do.
They do get paid a lot. But it's difficult and boring work, and honestly, I don't blame them for wandering off. Also unlike most jobs, their job is dependent on their looks - so they have to stay fit, keep their hair a certain way, work out, but not too much, and show up early for makeup, and sometimes wear heavy make-up from foot to toe with prosthetics. Add to that, work while sick or injured. Most of the cast worked when they had the flu. David Boreanze did the stunts in the S5 episode Destiney with a torn ligament in his knee. And back issues. James Marsters did his stunts with a wrenched back - and reports crawling to the chiropractor.
There's a reason they get paid what they do.
The All Birds slippers arrived at Mother's, finally, she tried them on - and they fit. She likes them. Yay! (Allbirds doesn't wrap it's items, so..).
Finished watching Angel S2 episodes Reunion (9) thru Blood Money (12) (all heavy on the noir themes, we even prior to Reunion have the heist episode, where everyone turns on each other. Each episode has a twist). It's made clear in these episodes that Angel is neither good nor evil, more in the grey area. He doesn't care about his friends, or that much about anyone really - outside of destroying WRH and Darla/Dru. This is kind of important - in regards to Buffy (after watching episodes 8-13) because while Angel is swinging more and more towards that dark grey area, Spike is swinging more and more towards that lighter grey area. The two characters are going in opposite directions, and the one going towards the dark side - has a soul.
Then along comes Episode 14 of Buffy S5, Crush by David Fury and guest starring Juliet Landau (as Dru) and Mercedes McNab (as Harmony). This is a confusing and a mixed bag of an episode, and doesn't quite play the way the writer intended. (It's so far off in places, that I wonder if David Fury has seen the previous five episodes? Or watched Angel? It's also very heavy handed in spots, to the point in which I was laughing at the writing and not with it. David Fury is a lot of things, but subtle isn't among them. His dialogue can be heavy handed at times?)
So, Buffy starts out just going to Spike to beat him up for information or pays him to help her, kind of similar to what Angel is doing with Merle in Angel the Series. Except, at a certain point, around roughly Into the Wood, this stops. And Spike starts helping her free of charge. She still will occasionally beat him up, but not as often. In certain episodes, he even helps her friends (Family). Then in Checkpoint? She shocks Spike and the audience by taking her mother and sister to his crypt for Spike to protect them? Did Doug Petrie, Espenson and Whedon forget to clue David Fury in on that? And in "Blood Ties", after Spike helps Dawn figure out she's the key, and Buffy attacks him for it, she listens to him, and has him assist her in finding Dawn, and he helps her fight off Glory.
Okay. The episode after Blood Ties is Crush. In Crush, Dawn understandably goes to talk to Spike, after Buffy accuses her of taking her blue cashmere sweater. (Most likely because while at Spike's place in Checkpoint - Dawn saw it?) She even tells Spike - that she's there to find something. And he manages to distract her.
Buffy to Dawn: Why would you go to hang out with Spike? What on Earth would make you think that is a good idea?
Audience: Because you took her and your mother there two episodes ago to be safe??
Dawn tells Buffy that Spike has a crush on her. Buffy doesn't believe her. The episode starts with Buffy sitting in the Bronze, and Spike seeking her out to talk to her, in regular clothes, no black duster, no red shirt. Xander even tells him to get out of his seat. Then she checks out a killing on a train - which was obviously a vampire, but is so distracted by Spike potentially having a crush on her - that she doesn't investigate it - and Xander is highly amused by it. They see it as a joke and not real. (The audience sees Miss Edith, and realizes it is Drusilla. )
Spike then takes Buffy to a vampire nest - thinking that's who took out the train. It's set up as a date - he offers her a drink, he plays music for her, he tries to open the door for her - she doesn't pick up on it, until he opens up the door for her. And I'm thinking, Buffy - come on. How dumb are you?
When she gets home - she discusses it with Willow and Joyce, who wonder what she could have done to lead Spike on?
Buffy: Maybe he gets off on me hitting him?
Audience: Really? You don't remember taking your mother and Dawn to his crypt two episodes ago? Asking his help to find Dawn? Confiding in him when your mother was ill? Honestly people, I'm amazed you've survived this long.
More to the point, the characters appear to have suffered amnesia? Or the writer hasn't been paying attention to a few key plot points? Such as Spike knows Dawn is the key, knows what Glory looks like, and has access to all sorts of information that they don't. This is a major plot hole that jumps up and down and does the hoochy coochy in this episode and bugged the hell out of me.
After Spike kidnaps Buffy, threatens her, releases her, and then is shut out of her home - I'm thinking, Buffy, hon, why didn't you just stake him? (Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she didn't? But if she's so worried about him - and his interest in her, then why didn't she? He knows about Dawn? He knows about Glory? What's stopping him from her point of view from exposing Dawn?) I honestly thought Spike was going to expose Dawn after this episode. And was surprised he didn't.
The writers are sending mixed messages. For one thing, Spike is more sympathetic in the episode than Buffy and her friends are. Buffy is also being written as kind of dense. I get she has a lot on her plate, but...and for that matter, her mother is also being written as dense. Spike is talking to Buffy's Mom, hanging with Dawn, and Buffy took her Mother and Dawn to stay with Spike - for their protection. He's shocked by it. And even calls her on it, but when she begs him, he caves quickly without asking for anything - why is Dawn the only one who picked up on that?
Also, he keeps asking about Buffy - every time he talks to Xander or anyone else? How dumb are they? It's not like he's some annoying neighbor, he's Spike.
Spike is trying. And I feel sorry for him. Buffy is always hitting Spike. He's shown as an outsider. And dear god, can Harmony be any more annoying?
I know the writer is trying to show how nasty Spike is to his women, which yes, to a degree - but actually, he's very tolerant of both Harmony and Dru. He's not invading Harmony's home, she's visiting his. And Dru visited him, not the other way around. He's also confused by Dru and confused by his feelings towards Dru. More importantly he's confused by his feelings towards Buffy.
Spike is a puzzle box of a character. He says one thing and does the opposite. The writers - I think - were to a degree ambivalent on whether to redeem him or not without a soul, and skating the line on this in S5 and S6. This episode and Fool for Love are excellent examples of that ambivalence and disagreement?
The weird bit in Crush - is why didn't Buffy and her friends consider for a minute that Spike knew Dawn was the key, and could tell Glory at any time, even on a whim? And why was Buffy trusting Spike with Dawn and Joyce in previous episodes, but not in this one? No wonder Spike's confused. It confuses me. It's not like Buffy is giving him any reason to keep Dawn safe? So, if she doesn't believe he cares for her or loves her, why is she trusting him at all - at this stage? (Honestly, if I were Buffy - I'd have staked Spike at the end of Crush. It surprises me that she didn't. It's not surprising she locks him out, what is surprising is she doesn't stake him. Isn't he dangerous?)
The Angel episodes work a little better? I think mainly because the writers are less ambivalent on Angel - it's clear noir. (Although it is admittedly odd that Angel doesn't stake or kill Dru and Darla.) He's an anti-hero/noir hero, so, no a lot of disagreement there. I think one of the things I loved about Angel and Buffy is how the writers play with the soul and aren't sure what to make of it. Does it make you good or evil in this verse? Or does it merely provide the character with a choice?
Marsters does a good job of subtly showing the changes in the character of Spike over the seasons. The Monster is always present - but more and more you see the man, the human being, soul emerge. I can tell Spike loves Buffy and has no idea what to do with it. And is confused by it. Buffy isn't helping. Also, Buffy doesn't quite know how to handle Spike - since he's the opposite of Angel - in that he wants to talk everything through and confronts it head on. (Riley tended to not want to talk everything through, but was more talkative than Angel. Actually a rock is more talkative than Angel.)
Because Buffy doesn't stake Spike - both Spike and the audience are left wondering why? We know why Angel didn't stake Dru and Darla - he feels responsible for them, and he cares about them on a certain level. So, it's not hard to jump to the same conclusion about Buffy. If Buffy truly meant what she said to Spike - she'd have staked him by now. Or avoided him like the plague. She's doing neither.
The writers are walking a fine line - they love the character of Spike, but at the same time struggling with how to make him part of the story - in a way that makes sense. This struggle makes the story a lot more interesting than it would have been otherwise.
Not sure anyone read through that ramble. I'm rewatching these because they don't require much focus, are entertaining, and I don't remember them well enough to be bored.
ETA: in rewatching Angel S2 - halfway through there's something goofy going on with Cordelia's hair. It goes from being long, to being this odd haircut that is black, and kind of poofy? It looks like a wig. That lasts for about two-three episodes, then we get an actual short pixie cut, that is highlighted. (She looked better with long hair.). Rumor had it that the actress got her haircut without telling anyone about it. Big no-no in television and film acting. Causes all sorts of continuity issues. (Keep in mind, Marsters was dying his bleach blond every week for his character.)
(I was told this in S4, but since I didn't remember much of S2 and had skipped over a few episodes...I thought, when was this?). It was apparently awful. And they had to write around it and fix it. I had thought that was in S3 - and hadn't noticed anything major in S3, so didn't know what they were talking about - until I watched this season. It wasn't in S3, it was in S2, in the second half of the season. Apparently, I'd skipped a bunch of episodes when I previously watched it? Because I honestly don't remember a couple of them - and the ones I don't remember - are the ones in which there appears to be something up with Cordy's hair.
So now, I'm trucking along, and think, wait, what is up with her hair? It's jarring. I spent two episodes distracted by the black mop of hair - trying to figure out if they'd died it? And why was it cut like that? Then all of a sudden by the third episode, it's a short highlighted pixie cut - that no one mentions.
I'm beginning to realize, re-watching Angel and Buffy, that part of the continuity issues and plot issues the series had - weren't necessarily writer oriented, but actor oriented. Television actors have a tendency to behave like cats? They wander off. Do their own things. Etc. Makes it hard to do a long-term television series. Also unlike writers - which you can for the most part switch out without the audience noticing, it's kind of hard to switch out actors. We'd notice if someone else popped up to play Buffy, Spike, Cordelia, Oz, etc, and get upset. The actors on those shows, like most television series, didn't want to stay put and do what the writers and show-runners wanted them to do.
They do get paid a lot. But it's difficult and boring work, and honestly, I don't blame them for wandering off. Also unlike most jobs, their job is dependent on their looks - so they have to stay fit, keep their hair a certain way, work out, but not too much, and show up early for makeup, and sometimes wear heavy make-up from foot to toe with prosthetics. Add to that, work while sick or injured. Most of the cast worked when they had the flu. David Boreanze did the stunts in the S5 episode Destiney with a torn ligament in his knee. And back issues. James Marsters did his stunts with a wrenched back - and reports crawling to the chiropractor.
There's a reason they get paid what they do.