A New Man (Or Should That Be Demon?)
Hello again. I was meant to make a post about A New Man months ago, but first I had problems with my wireless router, then, to be frank, Christmas was coming up, then New Year, and I just forgot. I even forgot that I had all the screencaps already downloaded. Plus, I forgot what happened in the episode. But I've re-watched it now, so here's my review, and if there's no one out there still watching this community...well, I guess it's my fault. Very sorry.
Anyway, this episode always used to be one of my favourites. In fact, in most ways, it still is.
This scene, for instance....
....will never not be funny.
Also, it's impossible not to enjoy any appearance (and this is sadly, his last),
of this old reprobate - Ethan Rayne. Hoorah!
I also love this scene:
Ethan and Giles getting drunk together.
And this one:
Willow and Tara doing magic together.
Every scene with Spike in it is hilarious too.
especially the ones he shares with Demon!Giles.
They make a great team, IMO.
Evidence.
More evidence.
Yet more evidence.
What a shame they have so few scenes together after this.
There're also some important plotty things in this episode.
Such as Ethan warning Giles about the Initiative stirring demony things up that were better left unstirred, and the mysterious 314 all the demons are scared of,
and the revelation at the end of the episode of Maggie Walsh's connection to it.
There's also a fair bit of important character development stuff, such as the aforementioned Willow and Tara scene,
and the Buffy/Riley sparring session, which ends with Buffy cutting loose (at Riley's instigation) and showing him just how much stronger than him she is, with the whole question of whether he can deal with having a super-strong girlfriend who won't take orders from anyone rather left hanging at the end.
Riley insists that he can, but do we believe him?
Especially when Professor Walsh appears to find Buffy's actions questionable.
But of course, the episode is really about Giles and how out of the loop he is, which is emphasised first at Buffy's surprise birthday party...
...the only one ever that doesn't end in misery or bloodshed (or both), when Giles discovers Buffy has a new boyfriend,
who, being a nice, polite young man, treats him like a revered community elder.
Not to mention, he later finds out that Buffy forgot to tell him Riley is a commando, or that there was this thing called the Initiative, which is led by Professor Walsh, and which, if Giles had known about earlier, might have saved him some embarrassment in this scene.
By the end of the episode, Buffy has realised just how important Giles is to her, which really struck home for her when she thought he'd been killed by a demon,
and Giles has more than forgiven her for her...I dunno, is 'carelessness' the right word?
Especially since he got to see Ethan Rayne be carted off into protective custody in Nowheresville, Nevada,
,
never to be seen again. Booh!
On the other hand, all these years later, I do at certain points in the episode find it quite hard to sympathise with Giles, especially in his first meeting with Maggie Walsh.
I mean, look at it from her perspective.
There she is, getting on with her work, when in barges this weird English bloke,
who starts lecturing her about how to treat young people, and Buffy in particular, saying he's a 'friend' of Buffy's.
What's more he sits on Maggie's furniture, as if it belongs to him.
I don't know about you, but if I were Maggie, I might well have called campus security to have him evicted,
rather than make passive aggressive comments about bad male role models.
I might even have called the police to report a case of suspected grooming.
So really Giles got off lightly. YMMV, of course, but I didn't like Giles in this scene. I thought he came across as quite arrogant.
This scene will never not be funny, though. In fact, every scene with Demon!Giles is wonderful.
Best lines:
SPIKE: What, you just come over all demony this morning?
GILES: Matter of fact, I did. Thanks to Ethan Rayne. You've got to help me find him. He has to undo this. Then he needs a good being-killed.
SPIKE: And I'm supposed to help you out of the evilness of my heart?
RILEY: The demon attacked Professor Walsh. It got out of a small gray car. A Citroen.
WILLOW: It stole Giles' car!
XANDER: Why would a demon steal a car?
ANYA: Why would a demon steal that car?
BUFFY: Giles! Giles! I'm sorry! Don't die!
GILES: Actually I feel quite well. Except for the rage.
Hmm, there are quite big chunks of dialogue in the shooting script of this episode left out in the broadcast episode. What a pity - especially as it's nearly all Giles/Spike stuff. The final moments of the Spike car crash scene was also omitted, which is annoying. As it stands, you're left wondering why the Initiative didn't catch him.
Finally, if you're wondering what happened next to Ethan Rayne, you could do worse - an awful lot worse - than go and read Ethan Rayne Versus America by indri, one of the best fic writers the Buffyverse fandom has ever had.
Thoughts, anyone?
Anyway, this episode always used to be one of my favourites. In fact, in most ways, it still is.
This scene, for instance....
....will never not be funny.
Also, it's impossible not to enjoy any appearance (and this is sadly, his last),
of this old reprobate - Ethan Rayne. Hoorah!
I also love this scene:
Ethan and Giles getting drunk together.
And this one:
Willow and Tara doing magic together.
Every scene with Spike in it is hilarious too.
especially the ones he shares with Demon!Giles.
They make a great team, IMO.
Evidence.
More evidence.
Yet more evidence.
What a shame they have so few scenes together after this.
There're also some important plotty things in this episode.
Such as Ethan warning Giles about the Initiative stirring demony things up that were better left unstirred, and the mysterious 314 all the demons are scared of,
and the revelation at the end of the episode of Maggie Walsh's connection to it.
There's also a fair bit of important character development stuff, such as the aforementioned Willow and Tara scene,
and the Buffy/Riley sparring session, which ends with Buffy cutting loose (at Riley's instigation) and showing him just how much stronger than him she is, with the whole question of whether he can deal with having a super-strong girlfriend who won't take orders from anyone rather left hanging at the end.
Riley insists that he can, but do we believe him?
Especially when Professor Walsh appears to find Buffy's actions questionable.
But of course, the episode is really about Giles and how out of the loop he is, which is emphasised first at Buffy's surprise birthday party...
...the only one ever that doesn't end in misery or bloodshed (or both), when Giles discovers Buffy has a new boyfriend,
who, being a nice, polite young man, treats him like a revered community elder.
Not to mention, he later finds out that Buffy forgot to tell him Riley is a commando, or that there was this thing called the Initiative, which is led by Professor Walsh, and which, if Giles had known about earlier, might have saved him some embarrassment in this scene.
By the end of the episode, Buffy has realised just how important Giles is to her, which really struck home for her when she thought he'd been killed by a demon,
and Giles has more than forgiven her for her...I dunno, is 'carelessness' the right word?
Especially since he got to see Ethan Rayne be carted off into protective custody in Nowheresville, Nevada,
,
never to be seen again. Booh!
On the other hand, all these years later, I do at certain points in the episode find it quite hard to sympathise with Giles, especially in his first meeting with Maggie Walsh.
I mean, look at it from her perspective.
There she is, getting on with her work, when in barges this weird English bloke,
who starts lecturing her about how to treat young people, and Buffy in particular, saying he's a 'friend' of Buffy's.
What's more he sits on Maggie's furniture, as if it belongs to him.
I don't know about you, but if I were Maggie, I might well have called campus security to have him evicted,
rather than make passive aggressive comments about bad male role models.
I might even have called the police to report a case of suspected grooming.
So really Giles got off lightly. YMMV, of course, but I didn't like Giles in this scene. I thought he came across as quite arrogant.
This scene will never not be funny, though. In fact, every scene with Demon!Giles is wonderful.
Best lines:
SPIKE: What, you just come over all demony this morning?
GILES: Matter of fact, I did. Thanks to Ethan Rayne. You've got to help me find him. He has to undo this. Then he needs a good being-killed.
SPIKE: And I'm supposed to help you out of the evilness of my heart?
RILEY: The demon attacked Professor Walsh. It got out of a small gray car. A Citroen.
WILLOW: It stole Giles' car!
XANDER: Why would a demon steal a car?
ANYA: Why would a demon steal that car?
BUFFY: Giles! Giles! I'm sorry! Don't die!
GILES: Actually I feel quite well. Except for the rage.
Hmm, there are quite big chunks of dialogue in the shooting script of this episode left out in the broadcast episode. What a pity - especially as it's nearly all Giles/Spike stuff. The final moments of the Spike car crash scene was also omitted, which is annoying. As it stands, you're left wondering why the Initiative didn't catch him.
Finally, if you're wondering what happened next to Ethan Rayne, you could do worse - an awful lot worse - than go and read Ethan Rayne Versus America by indri, one of the best fic writers the Buffyverse fandom has ever had.
Thoughts, anyone?