[Buffyfest] Buffy #38 Review (Spoilers)
The Preamble: It occurs to me that I'm going to live just long enough
to regret what I said on preview night and then be brutally murdered by
a very angry fanbase. At the time, it seemed like saying something
exciting to get people jumpy would be a good idea. I thought it would
be, you know... fun? I guess what I'm trying to say is: Dead Blogger
Walking. In the past I've done the plot first followed by the review.
Since we're so close, I'm going to review first with as few spoilers as
possible and then post the plot but keep it blacked out for those who
want to wait until they get the actual issue. Consider it an olive
branch in the hope that I won't be drawn and quartered (or become the
subject of hate!fic for years to come... if I'm not already, that is).
The Review: I woke up this morning and realized I was supposed to write
this review yesterday and now I'd have to do a rush job. In some ways,
that forces me to pull out all the stops, try for something really
impressive to compensate for the fact that I'm winging it as I go. I
know it's been four years, I know there was a meeting between Joss and
Scott to go over everything, but I can't help but feel like this issue
reads as though it was written on the fly. There's just so much
happening and, at times, it feels convoluted. Twilight, the Seed,
Buffy, Angel, Spike, the possible end of magic, the US army, Bug One,
it's everything and the kitchen sink which leaves very little breathing
room. It is, in essence the antithesis of "The Weight of the World".
On the plus side, when it fires, it does so on all cylinders. The
betrayer is now looking more like "betrayers". I really like how every
character has their own unique and conflicting motivations right now.
There's something mature and honest about close friends drifting apart
even when they're standing right next to one another. I also like how
there's still some mystery left. With all the major notes, one of my
biggest questions was "What is Giles playing at?" and he wasn't even
all that actively involved this time around.
There are only two issues left before the curtain falls and every
character is set to go through some major changes. There's a reason
Season 9 will be split into multiple titles. I don't think anyone is
going to be able to look each other in the eye. So, yes. All very
exciting, big cliffhanger ending, I just hope it all makes some
semblance of sense when the dust clears.
The Plot: I can't believe they killed... that random bug on Bug One!
Yes, yes. Throw your sticks, your rotten produce, possibly your very
sharp knives, hurl me down a flight of steps onto some bullets. It was
a bit of a psyche out. Tantalizing people is an imperfect science. I
might have gone a bit wrong this go around. If you could maybe not
murder me, that would be cool. But back to the beginning!
The preview you know. Angel fights with the Twilight Lion, the Master
has a chat with the Scoobies while all hell breaks loose outside, and
then demons show up and smack the crap out of Dawn. Now... they fight,
the demons demand Willow tell them where "it" is by which I assume they
mean the seed. They fight some more, Willow nearly sets Spike on fire,
it's a bit of a scene. Demons defeated, Xander holds Dawn. She looks...
not good. Dawn groans "Buffy..."
She's alright. Sort of. Xander complains that she's a bit too heavy to
carry which raises some girlfriend snark. Body image issues are
hilarious! Buffy sends Xander and Dawn away to get Dawn some care away
from the fight and we can see that Dawn is, at least, able to walk on
her own.
The Master tells Buffy he needs her to help him guard the seed. In a
single panel we see Angel, elsewhere) just his face but it's kind of...
green and his eyes are completely yellowed out. He's zombie Angel.
Meanwhile, Buffy isn't terribly interested in working with her first
big bad (barring Lothos, of course). She snaps off a make shift stake
and tells Spike to hold the Master down. Willow stops this by telling
Buffy that they are currently losing the war and that, if the Master
wants what they want, then he's part of the team. There's an argument
since, you know, the Master kind of killed Buffy that one time. Willow
brushes it off by saying that Buffy and Spike weren't always "B.F.F.'s"
which is a pretty shitty comparison frankly. Buffy rightly calls out
Willow and asks her what happened when she went temporarily comatose.
Willow admits to being "summoned" by her sexy snake lady but when Buffy
asks what was said, Willow deflects. "If the seed can connect the
spiritual realms to this new Twilight Sex Eden you created, maybe we
can use it to heal the Earth, chase the demons out. Maybe we can use it
to make the world better, Buffy".
And now we're in the room with the seed. Yes, that room. The casa de
betrayal sauce. The Master's eyes turn red. He's in a bit of a thrall.
There is thrallage. He attacks Buffy and hurls Spike across the room.
He announces that the seed is "not without its defenses" and, indeed,
it would seem that Buffy has no power here. The Master tells Buffy that
she is the same little girl he met years ago, that he can still smell
the acne scrub. Wait, Buffy used acne scrub? Anyway, it looks like he's
going to kill Buffy, Giles looks like he'll shoot either the Master or
maybe the seed but instead Willow stops him and tells the Master that
they will help him protect the seed. This, for some reason, temporarily
stops the Master long enough for Willow to tell Buffy to get out of
there. Giles ushers Buffy away and they have part one of what I am now
deeming "the talk". No, not the birds and the bees. It's about how the
seed was there all along, how did Giles not know? It can Kill Buffy and
Angel? Giles says that he didn't understand the Twilight thing save for
the idea that is was "terrifying". They cop to the fact that the
whole "Chosen" thing is the reason Twilight became possible. Buffy does
that thing she does where she blames herself for every death in the
history of forever.
Meanwhile, there's Angel. I, uh... uh oh. He's laying down, the lion
stand over him. "Stand up". He does. "Fly". Yeah, that, too. I guess
the Master's not the only one under a thrall today.
On Bug One, the General smashes one of the bugs over the head... to
death. Yup. Your death for #38, everybody (please, no real life
murderin' times!) Warren and Amy wonder why they didn't do that a while
ago but the General isn't interested in spending anymore time with
them. He splits the scene to go and find his army buddies.
Back to Buffy and Giles for "the talk" part dos. Well, Spike is there
now so there's more planning than talking. Buffy needs to get in the
fight and so does Spike but Spike can't exactly go strolling out into
daylight. That's fine, stand around long enough and the fight will come
to you. Before that, though, Giles makes with the inspiration words.
"This may be Sunnydale, but we're not running 'round cemeteries
anymore, Buffy. You're not that girl. You've become something I never
could have imagined."
"Giles, these powers"
"I don't mean the powers. But you must put those powers to use now. And
I can help, but not here. I'll see you when this is over..."
Yeah... what the hell, comic? Are you going to kill Giles? Sorry,
sorry. The plot! Giles busts a move and the demons make towards Buffy
and Spike. And, shucks howdy, that's a whole mess of demons.
Army tent. Xander and Dawn turn up and run into the General. You'd
think this would be a bit of a problem but the General is happy to help
stitch up Dawn. He also has some choice words for Xander.
"You seem like a normal guy, could even be mistaken for a solider. Our
intel says there's a way to end all this, you know. There's something
here. All we gotta do is destroy it. All the fighting ends. That's why
your friends shot down there, right? But they want to protect it, don't
they? Son, believe me, I understand the temptation of power, but are
they so addicted to it they want all *this*, too?"
Did someone say "addiction"? Oh, look, it's Willow! Miss "magic is a
drug" herself. She's got the Master in some magical shackles. And she's
talking... to the Master? Nope. To the seed.
"Awake in peace! Your eyes that dart the rays of the sun, whose divine
power is great on the head of the goddess! Your heart is the beat of
life, that gives life to all! The queen of Earth undying the regent in
the west, and in the east, the Divine Mother who ascends to the throne!"
Willows eyes are bright red. Yes, it's a trilogy o' thrall, this week.
"Let your sworn protector stand against your enemies!"
To be continued? No? You mean there's more? Alright then! Buffy and
Spike at the mouth of the cave, beating back the demon horde. Uh oh,
there's a really big one and Spike isn't sure how they'll take it down.
Suddenly, the demon just bursts. Oh, good, it's Angel. Buffy is
relieved. Except we, the audience, know that something isn't right in
Angel-ville and we can see that his eyes are red-rimmed. He punches
Buffy into a wall. Spike shouts "Angelus!" Yeah... no. Angel grabs
Spike and throws him into what I think is outside, into the sunlight.
Ruh roh.
In response to the "Angelus" accusation. Buffy says "No" and Angel
responds simply with "Twilight".
Now we're at the end. Wowzers! See you next month assuming I'm not dead
by fandom.
to regret what I said on preview night and then be brutally murdered by
a very angry fanbase. At the time, it seemed like saying something
exciting to get people jumpy would be a good idea. I thought it would
be, you know... fun? I guess what I'm trying to say is: Dead Blogger
Walking. In the past I've done the plot first followed by the review.
Since we're so close, I'm going to review first with as few spoilers as
possible and then post the plot but keep it blacked out for those who
want to wait until they get the actual issue. Consider it an olive
branch in the hope that I won't be drawn and quartered (or become the
subject of hate!fic for years to come... if I'm not already, that is).
The Review: I woke up this morning and realized I was supposed to write
this review yesterday and now I'd have to do a rush job. In some ways,
that forces me to pull out all the stops, try for something really
impressive to compensate for the fact that I'm winging it as I go. I
know it's been four years, I know there was a meeting between Joss and
Scott to go over everything, but I can't help but feel like this issue
reads as though it was written on the fly. There's just so much
happening and, at times, it feels convoluted. Twilight, the Seed,
Buffy, Angel, Spike, the possible end of magic, the US army, Bug One,
it's everything and the kitchen sink which leaves very little breathing
room. It is, in essence the antithesis of "The Weight of the World".
On the plus side, when it fires, it does so on all cylinders. The
betrayer is now looking more like "betrayers". I really like how every
character has their own unique and conflicting motivations right now.
There's something mature and honest about close friends drifting apart
even when they're standing right next to one another. I also like how
there's still some mystery left. With all the major notes, one of my
biggest questions was "What is Giles playing at?" and he wasn't even
all that actively involved this time around.
There are only two issues left before the curtain falls and every
character is set to go through some major changes. There's a reason
Season 9 will be split into multiple titles. I don't think anyone is
going to be able to look each other in the eye. So, yes. All very
exciting, big cliffhanger ending, I just hope it all makes some
semblance of sense when the dust clears.
The Plot: I can't believe they killed... that random bug on Bug One!
Yes, yes. Throw your sticks, your rotten produce, possibly your very
sharp knives, hurl me down a flight of steps onto some bullets. It was
a bit of a psyche out. Tantalizing people is an imperfect science. I
might have gone a bit wrong this go around. If you could maybe not
murder me, that would be cool. But back to the beginning!
The preview you know. Angel fights with the Twilight Lion, the Master
has a chat with the Scoobies while all hell breaks loose outside, and
then demons show up and smack the crap out of Dawn. Now... they fight,
the demons demand Willow tell them where "it" is by which I assume they
mean the seed. They fight some more, Willow nearly sets Spike on fire,
it's a bit of a scene. Demons defeated, Xander holds Dawn. She looks...
not good. Dawn groans "Buffy..."
She's alright. Sort of. Xander complains that she's a bit too heavy to
carry which raises some girlfriend snark. Body image issues are
hilarious! Buffy sends Xander and Dawn away to get Dawn some care away
from the fight and we can see that Dawn is, at least, able to walk on
her own.
The Master tells Buffy he needs her to help him guard the seed. In a
single panel we see Angel, elsewhere) just his face but it's kind of...
green and his eyes are completely yellowed out. He's zombie Angel.
Meanwhile, Buffy isn't terribly interested in working with her first
big bad (barring Lothos, of course). She snaps off a make shift stake
and tells Spike to hold the Master down. Willow stops this by telling
Buffy that they are currently losing the war and that, if the Master
wants what they want, then he's part of the team. There's an argument
since, you know, the Master kind of killed Buffy that one time. Willow
brushes it off by saying that Buffy and Spike weren't always "B.F.F.'s"
which is a pretty shitty comparison frankly. Buffy rightly calls out
Willow and asks her what happened when she went temporarily comatose.
Willow admits to being "summoned" by her sexy snake lady but when Buffy
asks what was said, Willow deflects. "If the seed can connect the
spiritual realms to this new Twilight Sex Eden you created, maybe we
can use it to heal the Earth, chase the demons out. Maybe we can use it
to make the world better, Buffy".
And now we're in the room with the seed. Yes, that room. The casa de
betrayal sauce. The Master's eyes turn red. He's in a bit of a thrall.
There is thrallage. He attacks Buffy and hurls Spike across the room.
He announces that the seed is "not without its defenses" and, indeed,
it would seem that Buffy has no power here. The Master tells Buffy that
she is the same little girl he met years ago, that he can still smell
the acne scrub. Wait, Buffy used acne scrub? Anyway, it looks like he's
going to kill Buffy, Giles looks like he'll shoot either the Master or
maybe the seed but instead Willow stops him and tells the Master that
they will help him protect the seed. This, for some reason, temporarily
stops the Master long enough for Willow to tell Buffy to get out of
there. Giles ushers Buffy away and they have part one of what I am now
deeming "the talk". No, not the birds and the bees. It's about how the
seed was there all along, how did Giles not know? It can Kill Buffy and
Angel? Giles says that he didn't understand the Twilight thing save for
the idea that is was "terrifying". They cop to the fact that the
whole "Chosen" thing is the reason Twilight became possible. Buffy does
that thing she does where she blames herself for every death in the
history of forever.
Meanwhile, there's Angel. I, uh... uh oh. He's laying down, the lion
stand over him. "Stand up". He does. "Fly". Yeah, that, too. I guess
the Master's not the only one under a thrall today.
On Bug One, the General smashes one of the bugs over the head... to
death. Yup. Your death for #38, everybody (please, no real life
murderin' times!) Warren and Amy wonder why they didn't do that a while
ago but the General isn't interested in spending anymore time with
them. He splits the scene to go and find his army buddies.
Back to Buffy and Giles for "the talk" part dos. Well, Spike is there
now so there's more planning than talking. Buffy needs to get in the
fight and so does Spike but Spike can't exactly go strolling out into
daylight. That's fine, stand around long enough and the fight will come
to you. Before that, though, Giles makes with the inspiration words.
"This may be Sunnydale, but we're not running 'round cemeteries
anymore, Buffy. You're not that girl. You've become something I never
could have imagined."
"Giles, these powers"
"I don't mean the powers. But you must put those powers to use now. And
I can help, but not here. I'll see you when this is over..."
Yeah... what the hell, comic? Are you going to kill Giles? Sorry,
sorry. The plot! Giles busts a move and the demons make towards Buffy
and Spike. And, shucks howdy, that's a whole mess of demons.
Army tent. Xander and Dawn turn up and run into the General. You'd
think this would be a bit of a problem but the General is happy to help
stitch up Dawn. He also has some choice words for Xander.
"You seem like a normal guy, could even be mistaken for a solider. Our
intel says there's a way to end all this, you know. There's something
here. All we gotta do is destroy it. All the fighting ends. That's why
your friends shot down there, right? But they want to protect it, don't
they? Son, believe me, I understand the temptation of power, but are
they so addicted to it they want all *this*, too?"
Did someone say "addiction"? Oh, look, it's Willow! Miss "magic is a
drug" herself. She's got the Master in some magical shackles. And she's
talking... to the Master? Nope. To the seed.
"Awake in peace! Your eyes that dart the rays of the sun, whose divine
power is great on the head of the goddess! Your heart is the beat of
life, that gives life to all! The queen of Earth undying the regent in
the west, and in the east, the Divine Mother who ascends to the throne!"
Willows eyes are bright red. Yes, it's a trilogy o' thrall, this week.
"Let your sworn protector stand against your enemies!"
To be continued? No? You mean there's more? Alright then! Buffy and
Spike at the mouth of the cave, beating back the demon horde. Uh oh,
there's a really big one and Spike isn't sure how they'll take it down.
Suddenly, the demon just bursts. Oh, good, it's Angel. Buffy is
relieved. Except we, the audience, know that something isn't right in
Angel-ville and we can see that his eyes are red-rimmed. He punches
Buffy into a wall. Spike shouts "Angelus!" Yeah... no. Angel grabs
Spike and throws him into what I think is outside, into the sunlight.
Ruh roh.
In response to the "Angelus" accusation. Buffy says "No" and Angel
responds simply with "Twilight".
Now we're at the end. Wowzers! See you next month assuming I'm not dead
by fandom.