Buffy Season Two Episode Eleven
Episode title: Three's Company.
(Just kidding. It's really "Ted.")
I don't have strong feelings about this episode, though it was done steadily enough, no one out of character, no false shifts in tone. And Gellar was excellent going from suspicion and petulance to remorse, so the moments when she gets to let loose and fight come as a strong relief, as if they really take her back to herself. The episode nicely makes us a little uneasy about Buffy's apparent license to kill, without sloshing us in the uneasiness. John Ritter, as Buffy's mom's suitor, is good at seeming a bit off in his goodness; so we're with Buffy in her suspicions (and we would be anyway, given that the episode is called "Ted," and no one else in it seems a candidate for monster). We also eventually get an explanation for why none of the others join Buffy in her early suspicions (they're all eating the feel-good food).
I did enjoy watching, of course. My relative noninvolvement is probably because there was no real tension between Buffy and her friends. They're fundamentally with her even before they're with her, and anything else would have been out of character. The Cordy-Xander soap opera and the Rupert-Jenny soap opera feel alluded to more than deeply embodied.
(Just kidding. It's really "Ted.")
I don't have strong feelings about this episode, though it was done steadily enough, no one out of character, no false shifts in tone. And Gellar was excellent going from suspicion and petulance to remorse, so the moments when she gets to let loose and fight come as a strong relief, as if they really take her back to herself. The episode nicely makes us a little uneasy about Buffy's apparent license to kill, without sloshing us in the uneasiness. John Ritter, as Buffy's mom's suitor, is good at seeming a bit off in his goodness; so we're with Buffy in her suspicions (and we would be anyway, given that the episode is called "Ted," and no one else in it seems a candidate for monster). We also eventually get an explanation for why none of the others join Buffy in her early suspicions (they're all eating the feel-good food).
I did enjoy watching, of course. My relative noninvolvement is probably because there was no real tension between Buffy and her friends. They're fundamentally with her even before they're with her, and anything else would have been out of character. The Cordy-Xander soap opera and the Rupert-Jenny soap opera feel alluded to more than deeply embodied.