The Bad Episode About Eggs

[shapinglight]

Sorry this post is so late. I was going to put it up on Friday but completely forgot, then a lot of RL stuff happened and I forgot again until my co-mod gillo (way more on the ball than me) reminded me.

I hope the vast hordes of you who think Bad Eggs is the best BtVS episode ever haven't been too put out by the wait

Comments

[trepkos]

Sorry, but I love the Gorches! Especially the way the Tector says "Hello" to the Mother Bezoar, and the way Lyle says "It's over!" I like a villain who knows when to run away.

Did you know these guys were from The Wild Bunch - in which there was also a guy called Angel?

But Buffy's mum is extremely irritating.

And I REALLY don't understand how carrying an egg around teaches you anything about parenting unless it hatches and you look after a chick. The "egg diary" seems to be a paper exercise.

[gillo]

The idea is that you learn just how annoying it is to have to carry something around with you all the time and tend to its needs. There's a brilliant short novel by Anne Fine called Flour Babies based on much the same premise but with bags of flour. And some schools have been known to have actual baby-sized dolls which cry loudly at unpredictable intervals and weight about right. I doubt if any of these methods do anything other than make the designers of the classes feel self-satisfied that they have engaged with young people and issued an appropriate warning. Which anybody in the throes of teenage passion will remember clearly. Of course they will.

[trepkos]

The babies, I can see the point of. The eggs just don't seem anywhere near onerous enough.

[shapinglight]

Sorry, but I love the Gorches!

It's all right. I forgive you.

Did you know these guys were from The Wild Bunch - in which there was also a guy called Angel?

No, I did not know that. Personally, I think they should have stayed in it.

I agree the egg thing is weird and doesn't really seem to teach you anything. But I admit that could just be my anti-egg bias talking.

[bogwitch]

I don't think it is the worst episode. Not far off, but not the worst.

[shapinglight]

No, it's the second worst, like Father Ted, in Mrs Doyle's opinion only worst instead of best.

If you know what I mean? ;)

[gillo]

To be fair to Joyce, she could arguably still be somewhat upset with Buffy for killing her boyfriend in Ted, even if he did turn out to be a creepy stalker robot, which in most instances might make a person quite glad, you'd think. However, the failure of the two generations to communicate with each other is important this season - and several of the others, really - and fits with the whole Romeo and Juliet star-crossed Bangel lovers thing that's going on, and will recur even after this week's game-changing episodes. Remember the horror with which the Scoobies reacted on seeing Giles and Jenny snogging in the library last episode?

The Gorch brothers are the lamest of all lame vampires. They make the Annoying One seem charismatic and compelling. And the whole Alien steals you brain thing is pretty sad too. It's sloppy plotting, using a number of tropes already thoroughly worked-over - touches of John Wyndham, Alien and even Anne Fine's Flour Babies, which does it so much better. And Xander's child-care method - boil the baby and it

[shapinglight]

To be fair to Joyce, she could arguably still be somewhat upset with Buffy for killing her boyfriend in Ted, even if he did turn out to be a creepy stalker robot, which in most instances might make a person quite glad, you'd think.

That's the trouble. She acts like she's forgotten about that, and it gives me Star Trek: the Next Generation vibes, which I don't like.

The Gorch brothers are the lamest of all lame vampires.

Thank you. I knew I couldn't be the only one who thought that.

There are some good jokes and the characters are more developed than they were in S1, so it's perhaps not quite as bad as the low points of that season.

I respectfully have to disagree with this. I think this episode makes every single episode of season 1 (even Teacher's Pet, the worst episode of the season) look like a mini masterpiece. I mean, at least season 1 has the fact that it's season 1 as an excuse.

[rebcake]

I Robot…You Jane was the worst episode in S1. Actually, I think it was the only really bad one. I kind of like Teacher's Pet, myself.

[shapinglight]

Hmm, we're going to have to agree to disagree on that. Or at least reach a compromise where we agree that they're both as bad as each other.

Also, they both have their good moments, whereas, IMO, it's hard to find any in this one.

[quinara]

I feel this episode makes no sense - but only because they retconned the Bangel storyline in S3 (or maybe about 5 episodes time?). I think the part where Buffy completely fails to pay any attention to the Gorches in favour of smooching Angel is quite well done, if this is going to be a story about how Buffy's relationship with Angel leads her off the rails (which it never really is, but then could be if you read the end of S2 differently from usual). The egg business... I dunno; it sort of works as some sort of metaphor for emotions distracting you from things, even if it's basically just a load of horror clichés and Bogwitch and I mostly tried to work out just how many mass hysteria episodes there are in Buffy (more than you'd think

[shapinglight]

I feel this episode makes no sense - but only because they retconned the Bangel storyline in S3 (or maybe about 5 episodes time?)

They did? Er...in what way?

Please keep a list of incidents of mass hysteria. I meant to keep a list of incidents of Buffy being bashed over a tombstone by vampires and being fine the next minute but I forgot to.

I know what you mean about Joyce. I would be the same as your mum. I just think that her behaviour is very weird considering Buffy just saved her from a robot Bluebeard. But I suppose it could just be Sunnydale Syndrome and Joyce has forgotten about that already.

[quinara]

They did? Er...in what way?

In the sense that it stopped being a story about Buffy (where Angel is basically there to be a mystery, then a relief from slaying, or something to angst over, or the Big Bad that basically stands for blokes being mean) to start being a story about Buffy and Angel and their fatal attraction, myth of ages, meant to be but can't be bollocks. ie. an episode which has Joyce fairly pointedly accuse Buffy of being distracted by boys makes sense when Angel is basically standing in for Boy, but less so when he's standing for Soulmate, if you see what I mean.

[shapinglight]

I do see what you mean and agree.

Unfortunately, though, with Angel's own show in the offing, it was inevitable that his role should change in season 3. He had to become a person rather than a walking metaphor.

The soulmate thing is overdone, though, to the point where I often think Joss was making fun of the concept (but, apart from in The Zeppo, I don't think he was).

[velvetwhip]

This was a ridiculously inept episode. The cowboy vampires alone deserve censure, but there's Willow being basically useless, Joyce being ill-used, and like you, I'm no fan of eggs, so... bad eggs! Bad!

Gabrielle

[shapinglight]

Yes, it's a bit of a stinker really. :(

I still think Some Assembly Required beats it the Worst Episode stakes, because it's only bad and irritating rather than bad and boring.

[velvetwhip]

Absolutely. Some Assembly Required is worse... but not by much.

Gabrielle