BtVS Episode Review: Superstar
The short? A novel concept episode that's well-executed and fun to watch. However, it doesn't lend itself to very enjoyable rewatching since most of the cast is OOC for most of the episode (After all, who likes reading Mary Sue fanfics over and over?). Full review below the cut.
Characters:
Buffy Xander Willow Giles Spike Riley Anya Tara
Plot
Bad Guy
Arc
Overall (7/10)
Best Moment
Buffy:
Last season, Buffy established herself as the "go-to" girl for demon-fighting. This year, she's the undisputed champion in that arena and the one people look to for guidance and help. But, in this episode, Jonathan inadvertently takes that from her with his augmentation spell. We're now shown a Buffy who hasn't been given a chance to live up to her potential. Her past victories are given to someone else, and Buffy's confidence in herself is diminished as a result. As she mentions to Riley, she knows she could do well if somebody just gives her a chance.
She doesn't organize the meetings. She can't handle more than two vampires. She's the Slayer, and yet she's not the ultimate demon-fighter. In some ways, this can be read as a feminist metaphor with Jonathan (obviously, a man), taking Buffy's power away and keeping her from being as great as she can be. Even her peers doubt her abilities. Giles, her Watcher, thinks she's out of her depth when she's trying to figure out the mystery of Jonathan. This is similar to society's treatment of women as unequivocably inferior to men, with that very idea being what "keeps women down". Buffy, in this case, represents all women while Jonathan represents all men.
However, Jonathan's act was misguided, not malicious. While he intially tries to keep Buffy from figuring things out, he eventually encourages her to fight the monster, letting her know that she used to do just that. At the conclusion, Buffy is restored to her former place as Slayer supreme.
Pretty interesting stuff. We also get the resolution of the Buffy/Riley conflict over Faith, helped along by Jonathan.
Xander:
Xander is something of a Jonathan-fanboy in this episode, even going so far as to wish Buffy's defeat to stay in Jonathan's "world".
Willow:
Willow, like Xander, gets to play fangirl to Jonathan and isn't given much else to do besides.
Giles:
Giles is finally given some Watcher-stuff to do. His apartment is the central meeting place, and Jonathan validates him in his research ability. Giles has the opportunity to give guidance to Buffy in her diminished state.
Spike:
Spike is largely the same, except that his main nemesis is Jonathan instead of Buffy. He doesn't even bother to remember Buffy's name. At the same time, he's openly attracted to her to an extent that he's never been able to show before (Because Buffy would kick his ass).
Riley:
Riley comes through in a big way in this episode. Putting aside the Faith resolution, he comes to Buffy's aide and shows his support of her, going against the augmentation spell that's in play. This is a big show of confidence in Buffy from him as he goes against the other Scoobies to do so.
Also, Riley is introduced to the more magical side of demon-fighting in a cute scene with the Scoobies researching.
Anya:
Anya indirectly helps save the day by explaining the concept of alternate universes to Buffy. In a way, this also explains the concept to the audience which helps set up for Dawn's big arrival in S5.
Tara:
Tara fulfills her role as the "new Willow" by playing the victim in this episode. She and Willow are openly friends in front of the Scoobies, though the full extent of their relationship isn't known. Yet.
Plot:
Jonathan performs an augmentation spell on himself which causes some excitement in Sunnydale. This is an amusing take on the concept of a "Mary Sue".
Bad Guy:
Jonathan, who performed the spell, though the immediate baddie is the monster that's created as a side effect.
Arc:
Oddly enough, this does manage to forward the arc. It introduces Adam's Uranium core that's used in Primeval to kill him. It also gives us a bit more insight into Adam, who's not affected by the augmentation spell. He's hyper-aware and loves chaos. Yay.
Overall:
An original concept for the show with a very well-executed theme. Unfortunately, it's not high on the rewatchability scale given that most of the regular characters don't have much to do and are, by nature, slightly out of character (As tends to happen when a Mary Sue enters canon).
Special performance award goes to Danny Strong. Cause I like him.
7 out of 10.
( About my scoring system)
Best Moment:
Buffy and Riley's talk at the beginning in Riley's bedroom. It sums up the conflict Buffy goes through in this episode, at the same time forwarding the conflict between Buffy and Riley as a result of Faith.