Great Buffy Rewatch of 2015: Reptile Boy

[gillo]

We're at the fifth episode of S2 now, and it seems in some ways to be just another MOTW episode, with a cheesy snake monster. Somebody really should have warned Mutant Enemy about them - do they ever really work? However, there is rather more depth here than one might expect, though the Spikelessness is depressing for some.

Comments

[perpetual]

Not completely sure why, but I love this episode. It just exemplifies that fresh, open-hearted, campy but tongue-in-cheek sincerity of Season 2.

Whenever it comes up there's always a lot of criticism for Buffy's "When you kiss me" line - I've even heard it from B/A shippers. I actually wrote a one-shot in defense of it once, but maybe I can provide a briefer explanation: the "falling in love" part of Buffy and Angel's relationship was covered in the last season. Whether or not the viewers liked it, it's already on the table and spending screen time on confirming it would feel repetitious. We would all get bored.

Instead, the writers wisely focused on the issues that being in love with a vampire will cause for Buffy, so we start out with the characters in this incredibly awkward position of knowing each others' feelings but refusing to advance, which is spelled out when they start arguing about whether or not they should date. Angel's essentially right, but he's also the one who's been leading her on with mixed messages, and given her age and nature, it makes perfect sense that she would call him out on it by using language that points out how badly he's hurting her.

Also, Buffy's mortality is highly relevant here. If she's unhappy and it's related to Angel, it won't be that much of a leap for her to start thinking about her own death.

Now for some real fun, let's speculate on how many of the frat's alumni went on to Wolfram & Hart!

[gillo]

I imagine W&H send recruiting trips annually. It would be worth their while.

I think Buffy's "I want to die" line really emphasises how very young she is. Angel just doesn't know how to cope with this at all. Presumably he hasn't had a willing, human partner for centuries, let alone one so young and innocent. I think we get an excellent sense of that stage when a young person is very certain of her own maturity and ability to make choices, but in reality displays how very much unready she is. In one way that's what this whole episode is about.

[perpetual]

I know that's the accepted interpretation in the fandom, but I'd rather not dismiss the intuition that Buffy - and all teenagers, at times - can show sometimes. She's reacting emotionally indeed, but Angel just openly accused her of not knowing what she wants, and that's when it's time to get angry. Even the hyperdrama has a purpose: this is a dramatic situation. A vampire and a Slayer in love is irrational, and rational discussion about it won't get them anywhere. So what if she doesn't really want to die when they kiss? She's legitimately hurt by the limbo he's left her in, and whatever she isn't ready for, she definitely ready to get out of that.