Inca Mummy Girl. (Stop Yawning, You at the Back)
I mean it. Nothing to yawn about here. Okay, I know everyone's all School Hard!Yay! and it's a big let-down that Spike and Dru (and Angel) are absent from the following episode. Plus it's well-known that season 2 is chockful of boring MotW episodes, but I'm here to tell you that this isn't one of them (and, in fact, I think only two episodes in the entire season are one of them, and one of those isn't that boring).
Anyway, just tell yourself that Spike, Dru and Angel are off somewhere having a proper family reunion, as imagined a gazillion times in very old slash fics and enjoy this is very sweet, very sad little story about a girl who was the chosen one of her people, and who couldn't escape her destiny, and whose life and death are therefore full of parallels to Buffy's own situation.
Starting with this scene, where Giles tries to stop Buffy going to the school cultural exchange program dance because her secret identity may be compromised.
Silly you, Giles.
No way you were ever going to win that one (except that he sort of does because in the end Buffy misses the dance anyway).
Another girl, meanwhile, is equally determined to go to the dance (that she doesn't know exists yet), even if she has to kill to do it. And given that her people sacrificed her to their gods at a very young age, you can hardly blame her for feeling she's missed out.
This is, however, massively unfair on Rodney Munson, one of a small army of less than stellar students Willow appears to be tutoring...
...even if they are stupid enough to remove and break the only object that was keeping the dead girl dead.
It's even more massively unfair on the totally blameless Real Ampata Gutierrez, whose only function in the episode is to die after causing Xander to make yet more controlling remarks about Buffy's love life (basically, he doesn't want her to have one if it's not with him), though Buffy, as always shrugs these off, and I'm sure Xander himself is just going through the motions now.
Not least because he's instantly smitten by Fake Ampata Gutierrez,
which is really not surprising.
Sadly for Xander and 'Ampata', the Inca version of a Watcher won't leave them in peace.
Watchers! Always banging on about duty, and never having to face the consequences themselves (except that sometimes they do).
Giles is just lucky Buffy never slayed him, that's all.
Equally sadly, in the end, it seems for some there's no escape from destiny.
Ampata can't live unless she kills.
That said, when she fails to kill Jonathan, she can't at first bring herself to kill Xander. She has genuine feelings for him.
But when she has to choose between Xander or death, she chooses Xander, and Buffy has no choice except to kill her.
.
It's hard not to feel sorry for her, though. Certainly, Buffy does.
Buffy: She was gypped. She was just a girl
and she had her life taken from her.
I remember when I heard the prophesy
that I was going to die. I wasn't exactly
obsessed with doing the right thing.
See? Not so boring after all?
If I've failed to convince you, though, there's always Cordelia and her borderline racist treatment of the long-suffering Sven.
Poor Sven. You really can't blame him for deciding to play dumb.
There are also some great firsts in this episode.
First appearance of Oz (and Devon).
First Dingoes gig.
First time Oz sees Willow.
First (and last) time Willow dresses as an Eskimo.
It's also the first time Jonathan appears as a named character.
Angel, Spike and Dru who?
Best lines: BUFFY
(sarcastic)
Oh, I can finish this one for you.
'Slaying entails certain sacrifices
blah blah blah-bity blah I'm so
stuffy give me a scone.'
GILES
(witheringly)
It's like you know me.
Thoughts, anyone?
Sorry this is late, btw. RL stuff going on.
Anyway, just tell yourself that Spike, Dru and Angel are off somewhere having a proper family reunion, as imagined a gazillion times in very old slash fics and enjoy this is very sweet, very sad little story about a girl who was the chosen one of her people, and who couldn't escape her destiny, and whose life and death are therefore full of parallels to Buffy's own situation.
Starting with this scene, where Giles tries to stop Buffy going to the school cultural exchange program dance because her secret identity may be compromised.
Silly you, Giles.
No way you were ever going to win that one (except that he sort of does because in the end Buffy misses the dance anyway).
Another girl, meanwhile, is equally determined to go to the dance (that she doesn't know exists yet), even if she has to kill to do it. And given that her people sacrificed her to their gods at a very young age, you can hardly blame her for feeling she's missed out.
This is, however, massively unfair on Rodney Munson, one of a small army of less than stellar students Willow appears to be tutoring...
...even if they are stupid enough to remove and break the only object that was keeping the dead girl dead.
It's even more massively unfair on the totally blameless Real Ampata Gutierrez, whose only function in the episode is to die after causing Xander to make yet more controlling remarks about Buffy's love life (basically, he doesn't want her to have one if it's not with him), though Buffy, as always shrugs these off, and I'm sure Xander himself is just going through the motions now.
Not least because he's instantly smitten by Fake Ampata Gutierrez,
which is really not surprising.
Sadly for Xander and 'Ampata', the Inca version of a Watcher won't leave them in peace.
Watchers! Always banging on about duty, and never having to face the consequences themselves (except that sometimes they do).
Giles is just lucky Buffy never slayed him, that's all.
Equally sadly, in the end, it seems for some there's no escape from destiny.
Ampata can't live unless she kills.
That said, when she fails to kill Jonathan, she can't at first bring herself to kill Xander. She has genuine feelings for him.
But when she has to choose between Xander or death, she chooses Xander, and Buffy has no choice except to kill her.
.
It's hard not to feel sorry for her, though. Certainly, Buffy does.
Buffy: She was gypped. She was just a girl
and she had her life taken from her.
I remember when I heard the prophesy
that I was going to die. I wasn't exactly
obsessed with doing the right thing.
See? Not so boring after all?
If I've failed to convince you, though, there's always Cordelia and her borderline racist treatment of the long-suffering Sven.
Poor Sven. You really can't blame him for deciding to play dumb.
There are also some great firsts in this episode.
First appearance of Oz (and Devon).
First Dingoes gig.
First time Oz sees Willow.
First (and last) time Willow dresses as an Eskimo.
It's also the first time Jonathan appears as a named character.
Angel, Spike and Dru who?
Best lines: BUFFY
(sarcastic)
Oh, I can finish this one for you.
'Slaying entails certain sacrifices
blah blah blah-bity blah I'm so
stuffy give me a scone.'
GILES
(witheringly)
It's like you know me.
Thoughts, anyone?
Sorry this is late, btw. RL stuff going on.