Hush (so no talking, you at the back)
I've been counting the days to when I get to use this icon. Isn't it great?
What else is great is this episode, which encapsulates in the space of forty minutes or so why BtVS has withstood the test of time, and why many people think Joss Whedon is a genius.
It has everything.
Scary monsters (and in this case they really are genuinely scary, from their creepy politeness to each other,
to their floating along not touching the ground,
to their hardcore minions with the straitjackets, to their horrific brutality.
And that's just one of the ingredients that's mixed up here to make Hush one of the show's best ever episodes.
There's Buffy's creepy Slayer dream, for a start, which is beautifully shot, and features a kiss that I personally find way sexier than anything in the last episode I reviewed, IWRY.
It possibly has something to do with Slayer!Dream!Riley's comment about how when he kisses Buffy the sun will go down, which always gives me the shivers, especially when the sun does actually go down. Also because this scene is the first example in the episode of its stellar use of music to complement the mostly silent action. So well done.
Then again, I find this non-dream Buffy/Riley kiss later in the episode very sexy too, so maybe it's just me? ;)
Anyway, yes, so there's romance, and not just for Buffy and Riley,
but also for Giles and Olivia (well, maybe the end of romance more like, poor old Giles!),
for Anya and Xander,
and for Willow, from a new, and unexpected, direction.
Seriously, the introduction of Tara in this episode is just brilliant, as is the whole chase/bar the door by magic sequence with Tara, Willow and the Gentlemen.
Also brilliant is the moment when Buffy and Riley are confronted by their own (understandable) lack of honesty with each other,
,
which even when everyone has got their voices back...
...renders them still speechless.
So, that's horror, romance, drama and great music. What have I left out?
Oh yes, the fact that Hush, a masterpiece in so many ways, is also a comedy masterpiece,
from the Weetabix conversation between Spike and Giles,
to Anya's excruciatingly inappropriate honesty,
both vocal and silent,
to the Wicca group that isn't interested in magic,
to Spike's reaction to Xander's silent accusations,
to the one and only time that Forrest is funny (seriously, it cracks me up every time that he's writing Riley notes telling him to hurry up when they're both in danger of dying a particularly stupid death, also that he has really nice, neat writing),
to the utterly wonderful in every way lecture theatre scene, where Giles presents his Gentlemen slide show.
Anya with her popcorn,
Giles's rather graphic transparencies, and the fact that he's prepared one for every conceivable question, not to mention chosen the perfect soundtrack to accompany them,
everyone's misunderstanding of this gesture,
Honestly, some people's minds are permanently in the gutter.
And last but not least,
Buffy's indignation that Giles has drawn her hips too big.
Comedy gold, and all without a single word being spoken.
And if all the above weren't reason enough to love this episode, there's the fact that the monsters are defeated by a little blonde girl screaming.
How great is that?
Okay, I've run out of superlatives now. Really can't fault this episode in any way.
Best lines:
There are some, even though most of the episode is silent.
SPIKE
We're out of Weetabix.
GILES
We're out of Weetabix
because you ate it all. Again.
SPIKE
Get some more.
GILES
I thought vampires were supposed to eat blood.
SPIKE
Yeah, well sometimes I like to crumble up the Weetabix in the blood. Gives it a little texture.
GILES
Well, since the picture you've just painted means I will never touch food of any kind again, I'm afraid you'll have to pick it up yourself.
SPIKE
Sissy.
BUFFY (re the Wicca group)
So not stellar, huh?
WILLOW
Talk all talk. Blah blah Gaia. Blah blah moon, menstrual lifeforce power thingy. You know after a couple of sessions I was hoping we would get into something real but...
BUFFY
No actual witches in your witch group?
WILLOW
No, bunch of wanna blessed bees. You know, nowadays every girl with a henna tattoo and a spice rack thinks she's a sister to the dark ones."
BUFFY (at the Gentlemen)
Aaaargh!
Thoughts, anyone? Are are you too struck dumb with admiration to comment?
What else is great is this episode, which encapsulates in the space of forty minutes or so why BtVS has withstood the test of time, and why many people think Joss Whedon is a genius.
It has everything.
Scary monsters (and in this case they really are genuinely scary, from their creepy politeness to each other,
to their floating along not touching the ground,
to their hardcore minions with the straitjackets, to their horrific brutality.
And that's just one of the ingredients that's mixed up here to make Hush one of the show's best ever episodes.
There's Buffy's creepy Slayer dream, for a start, which is beautifully shot, and features a kiss that I personally find way sexier than anything in the last episode I reviewed, IWRY.
It possibly has something to do with Slayer!Dream!Riley's comment about how when he kisses Buffy the sun will go down, which always gives me the shivers, especially when the sun does actually go down. Also because this scene is the first example in the episode of its stellar use of music to complement the mostly silent action. So well done.
Then again, I find this non-dream Buffy/Riley kiss later in the episode very sexy too, so maybe it's just me? ;)
Anyway, yes, so there's romance, and not just for Buffy and Riley,
but also for Giles and Olivia (well, maybe the end of romance more like, poor old Giles!),
for Anya and Xander,
and for Willow, from a new, and unexpected, direction.
Seriously, the introduction of Tara in this episode is just brilliant, as is the whole chase/bar the door by magic sequence with Tara, Willow and the Gentlemen.
Also brilliant is the moment when Buffy and Riley are confronted by their own (understandable) lack of honesty with each other,
,
which even when everyone has got their voices back...
...renders them still speechless.
So, that's horror, romance, drama and great music. What have I left out?
Oh yes, the fact that Hush, a masterpiece in so many ways, is also a comedy masterpiece,
from the Weetabix conversation between Spike and Giles,
to Anya's excruciatingly inappropriate honesty,
both vocal and silent,
to the Wicca group that isn't interested in magic,
to Spike's reaction to Xander's silent accusations,
to the one and only time that Forrest is funny (seriously, it cracks me up every time that he's writing Riley notes telling him to hurry up when they're both in danger of dying a particularly stupid death, also that he has really nice, neat writing),
to the utterly wonderful in every way lecture theatre scene, where Giles presents his Gentlemen slide show.
Anya with her popcorn,
Giles's rather graphic transparencies, and the fact that he's prepared one for every conceivable question, not to mention chosen the perfect soundtrack to accompany them,
everyone's misunderstanding of this gesture,
Honestly, some people's minds are permanently in the gutter.
And last but not least,
Buffy's indignation that Giles has drawn her hips too big.
Comedy gold, and all without a single word being spoken.
And if all the above weren't reason enough to love this episode, there's the fact that the monsters are defeated by a little blonde girl screaming.
How great is that?
Okay, I've run out of superlatives now. Really can't fault this episode in any way.
Best lines:
There are some, even though most of the episode is silent.
SPIKE
We're out of Weetabix.
GILES
We're out of Weetabix
because you ate it all. Again.
SPIKE
Get some more.
GILES
I thought vampires were supposed to eat blood.
SPIKE
Yeah, well sometimes I like to crumble up the Weetabix in the blood. Gives it a little texture.
GILES
Well, since the picture you've just painted means I will never touch food of any kind again, I'm afraid you'll have to pick it up yourself.
SPIKE
Sissy.
BUFFY (re the Wicca group)
So not stellar, huh?
WILLOW
Talk all talk. Blah blah Gaia. Blah blah moon, menstrual lifeforce power thingy. You know after a couple of sessions I was hoping we would get into something real but...
BUFFY
No actual witches in your witch group?
WILLOW
No, bunch of wanna blessed bees. You know, nowadays every girl with a henna tattoo and a spice rack thinks she's a sister to the dark ones."
BUFFY (at the Gentlemen)
Aaaargh!
Thoughts, anyone? Are are you too struck dumb with admiration to comment?