Picspam: Whedonverse special episodes
"We were constantly doing things that had never been done, we were constantly doing things that challenged both the audience and ourselves."
Joss Whedon have talked about how he sometimes feel he is just walking in the same tracks over and over again. And when that happens, he wants to challenge himself. And this picspam is about the results of these challenges. It celebrates five episodes were Joss Whedon tried something different, sometimes in a subtle way (The lack of music in The Body) and sometimes in a more obvious way (the music in Once More With Feeling). So here it is, five episodes that each made their special impression on me, because they were different, magical and, above all, heart wrenching and beautiful.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn." - Joss Whedon
SPOILERS FOR HUSH, ONCE MORE WITH FEELING, THE BODY, OUT OF GAS AND EPITAPH ONE.
.01 hush
Hush is a special episode in more than one way and it has one of the scariest villains of season 4, The Gentlemen. Whedon takes away the voices of the characters, and the silence is a really scary thing. I love this episode, it has some great scenes like Giles's silent presentation and Xander and Spike's banter. It also have some important character points; Riley and Buffy's first kiss and them finding out about the Initiative/slayer part of the other, the introduction of Tara and Xander and Anya working further with their relationship. I love the final scene were they have their voices back, but they don't talk at all ♥
.02 out of gas
All the other Firefly episodes are pretty straightforward. Opening - plan - some kind of problem - Somewhat-semi-happy ending. This one tells everything in the wrong order and with three time lines going in and out of each other. You have the Mal storyline, the fire and the crew leaving Serenity, and all the flashbacks. The episode is beautifully put together and you are never in doubt about what storyline you are in. You also get the back story of all the characters and some lovely Serenity family moments.
.03 the body
The fact that The Body doesn't have any music didn't register with me the first time I watched it. It was just to sad and heartbreaking. But when I watch it again I think that the lack of music is one of the reasons the episode hits me, it makes the absence of Joyse even worse. The episode also plays with camera movements and angles, the camera sometimes feels like a person in it's own. This episode also contains my favourite Buffy sequence ever: The scene in Tara and Willow's dorm room. It is heartbreaking and real. Nobody knows what to do, Willow changing her clothes, Xander wanting to blame something, Tara wanting to support Willow and Anya sums it up perfectly in her monologue. The Body and this sequence can still make me cry.
"The episode is stark and eerily quiet, beautifully stripped down to the true banality and mechanics of death. It’s heartbreakingly straightforward, while also showing how nonsensical death feels in the immediate aftermath." - Tuyet Nguyen
.04 epitaph one
This one is different and challenging because it takes place in a post-apocalyptic future. It gives closure if the show had been canceled and it shows story potential for the future. I love the fact that we get to know how things will/might turn out. I love the new characters and I love the new things we get to know about the old characters.
"Cities don’t burn because everyone got smarter. They burn because someone
lost control of them" - Dominic
.05 once more with feeling
Well it's pretty obvious why this is a special episode. I love the musical feel and I like that it actually is a reason for it (demon), not just "Let's make everyone sing! It will be fun!" Even if I'm sure it was that as well.