i like the tiling.
I really freaking love the end of BtVS S4.
I really like Riley here. There were issues from the start with him, obviously, which come to the ugly conclusion halfway through S5, but here, he's really trying to beat all that back and be a good guy, fighting with his social programming and the chip in his shoulder all at once. I'm not excusing the Douche Move or the Douche Attitudes that led up to it - though I know that would be so like me - but he really did try to pull himself above all that and slide back when he was worn down by life on the Hellmouth. Dollars to doughnuts he and Sam did actually have a solid, equitable relationship. Also, Marc Blucas is pretty funny here. I never think of him as having the same delivery as, say, Alyson Hannigan with the Whedon banter, but he's more than capable of puffing himself up for comedic effect. Cowboy Guy cracks me up.
I didn't get why Angel was there (well, HAHA, but seriously), but on second thought, it really makes the contrast between Becoming and Primeval pop. Because:
Angel: No weapons, no friends, what's left?
Buffy: Me.
As opposed to:
Xander: I still don't like you going in there alone.
Buffy: I won't be.
Forrest: Is that all you got?
Riley: She's got me.
As much as even I had underestimated the extent of his awfulness to Riley earlier in the episode, it's pretty critical. He makes a big point of letting Riley think he's lost his soul again. Cause it's all about who has the biggest stake, AMIRITE? Nobody here laughed when Riley tasered him, because obviously that would be immature and wrong. But aside from the provocation of the dudely posturing - oh, Riley is way too easy to bait into it, but Angel really does bait him - it's really important that Riley, like Anya did in Pangs, sees the vicious violence in Angel and think he's evil. The Initiative is the big train wreck between human and demon, and Angel as he is (not the Angel/Angelus duality everyone is clinging to at this point) is the distillation of that conflict.
Pathetic Bad Spike never fails to crack me up. LET'S GO SAVE 'EM, BY GUM! Spike's doing the right thing for the wrong reasons yet again, and he's simultaneously less impressive and more useful this time around. Less impressive because it's a choice made out of fear and not a proactive attempt to change things for the better for himself. (Also a fun contrast: Angel beats the ever-loving crap out of the Initiative guys because....I actually don't know why, exactly, as I don't see how they would have known to attack him if he was actually laying low. Spike beats up demons. Not for any good reason yet, but the seeds of Becoming are starting to peek through here.)
There doesn't need to be an ancient prophecy about the Chosen One and her friends. In fact, there can't be. They choose each other. Sometimes they're better to each other than other times, but it an be a really gorgeous dynamic. I forgot just how touching the scene where Willow comes out to Buffy in NMR is, but it's so beautifully done.
Pathetic drunk Giles is the best Giles. I would've snickered at "Fort Dix" anyway, OBVIOUSLY, but Giles giggling at it set me off for a good minute and a half. Tara and Anya are super-cute. I never don't laugh when Xander tells Anya he's not joining the army. "Stopped that nonsense right in time!" hee.
The seeds of Dollhouse were laid down in BtVS for sure, and a good deal of it shows up here, with the creation-weapon taken its own consciousness, the fruit of curiosity knowing almost nothing but. This is so interesting. Adam/Alpha; always the First. And all that talk about Riley up top almost happens in reverse with Paul, who starts out with a terminal Dude Hero Complex but ends up as the mission's right-hand man. Riley knowing what is being done to him and having to fight so hard to stop it. The fuzzy border between physiology and psychology.
Also, I love Harmony. That is all.
I really like Riley here. There were issues from the start with him, obviously, which come to the ugly conclusion halfway through S5, but here, he's really trying to beat all that back and be a good guy, fighting with his social programming and the chip in his shoulder all at once. I'm not excusing the Douche Move or the Douche Attitudes that led up to it - though I know that would be so like me - but he really did try to pull himself above all that and slide back when he was worn down by life on the Hellmouth. Dollars to doughnuts he and Sam did actually have a solid, equitable relationship. Also, Marc Blucas is pretty funny here. I never think of him as having the same delivery as, say, Alyson Hannigan with the Whedon banter, but he's more than capable of puffing himself up for comedic effect. Cowboy Guy cracks me up.
I didn't get why Angel was there (well, HAHA, but seriously), but on second thought, it really makes the contrast between Becoming and Primeval pop. Because:
Angel: No weapons, no friends, what's left?
Buffy: Me.
As opposed to:
Xander: I still don't like you going in there alone.
Buffy: I won't be.
Forrest: Is that all you got?
Riley: She's got me.
As much as even I had underestimated the extent of his awfulness to Riley earlier in the episode, it's pretty critical. He makes a big point of letting Riley think he's lost his soul again. Cause it's all about who has the biggest stake, AMIRITE? Nobody here laughed when Riley tasered him, because obviously that would be immature and wrong. But aside from the provocation of the dudely posturing - oh, Riley is way too easy to bait into it, but Angel really does bait him - it's really important that Riley, like Anya did in Pangs, sees the vicious violence in Angel and think he's evil. The Initiative is the big train wreck between human and demon, and Angel as he is (not the Angel/Angelus duality everyone is clinging to at this point) is the distillation of that conflict.
Pathetic Bad Spike never fails to crack me up. LET'S GO SAVE 'EM, BY GUM! Spike's doing the right thing for the wrong reasons yet again, and he's simultaneously less impressive and more useful this time around. Less impressive because it's a choice made out of fear and not a proactive attempt to change things for the better for himself. (Also a fun contrast: Angel beats the ever-loving crap out of the Initiative guys because....I actually don't know why, exactly, as I don't see how they would have known to attack him if he was actually laying low. Spike beats up demons. Not for any good reason yet, but the seeds of Becoming are starting to peek through here.)
There doesn't need to be an ancient prophecy about the Chosen One and her friends. In fact, there can't be. They choose each other. Sometimes they're better to each other than other times, but it an be a really gorgeous dynamic. I forgot just how touching the scene where Willow comes out to Buffy in NMR is, but it's so beautifully done.
Pathetic drunk Giles is the best Giles. I would've snickered at "Fort Dix" anyway, OBVIOUSLY, but Giles giggling at it set me off for a good minute and a half. Tara and Anya are super-cute. I never don't laugh when Xander tells Anya he's not joining the army. "Stopped that nonsense right in time!" hee.
The seeds of Dollhouse were laid down in BtVS for sure, and a good deal of it shows up here, with the creation-weapon taken its own consciousness, the fruit of curiosity knowing almost nothing but. This is so interesting. Adam/Alpha; always the First. And all that talk about Riley up top almost happens in reverse with Paul, who starts out with a terminal Dude Hero Complex but ends up as the mission's right-hand man. Riley knowing what is being done to him and having to fight so hard to stop it. The fuzzy border between physiology and psychology.
Also, I love Harmony. That is all.