Buffy #37: the Review.

[fenderlove]

This is very late, but here it is... in all its rage-filled glory. Word of warning to those that adored this issue- I didn't, and I make no bones about showing my displeasure in great detail. If I could grade this issue lower than an "F" I would. Wait, I can. I give this issue an "H" for haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate as well as head-desk. I also warn you

Comments

[owenthurman]

I'm owenthurman and i approve this message.

Still I think my little fic from very early on is the best explanation of S8. It just needs a similar story for Angel and everyone is back in character.

[fenderlove]

Your ficlet is highly likely. Also, your Christine O'Donnell icon makes me LOL. XD

[rebcake]

Well, now I don't need to write up a review, myself. Though one thing you don't mention that I'm wondering: why is Spike an effete snob all of the sudden?

I don't mind Buffy jumping out of the ship. Why the hell not? She's always jumping into things. Other than that, I cannot agree more with your points.

*iz sad and confused by non-sense-making fiction*

[fenderlove]

Spike is sorta behaving like William if William hadn't been a sweetheart and had instead been one of those snobby elitists at the party the night he died. It's very strange.

I think the jumping thing was just for the visual, but it just seems like the same thing from the very first issue. Maybe that was the point, but she might have well been jumping over a shark.

*hugs*

[ubi4soft]

if William hadn't been a sweetheart and had instead been one of those snobby elitists at the party the night he died.

Ah, yes, that why with the Madeira.

[shipperx]

Well, she can fly these days. It's not impetuous to jump when for no reason that's been adequately explained she can now defy gravity and aerodynamics and fly.

[infinitewhale]

The whole thing, to me, comes off as a CYA following the glowsex. Buffy's fantasy--the first one, that is--is pretty much Joss talking to the reader to contradict Willow in 34 because they didn't think of the backlash. They have Willow spending way too much time on the topic for me to think we're supposed to question her exposition. Then fandom freaked and they're throwing Buffy and Angel under the bus like Spike in S4. They were themselves! But they weren't! But they were. The glow was powerful enough for it to be affected them 4 issues later, but not enough that it took away free will. OK

[fenderlove]

I don't think Spike even actually snarks at her, I think it's part of the daydream. Her eyes drift off in that panel and I think that's where it starts.
Well, I guess it's how you interpret it. Spike still called her a moron even if that is the panel in which she started to drift off, which she totally deserved if she was in complete control of herself.

They're being too obvious about it and really?They did sorta give away the whole plot in the first arc- pregnancy metaphors, birth metaphors, broken eggs/seeds, Buffy is the Queen Slayer, worlds colliding into one another, the breakdown of reality, Spike's return, Angel being the bad guy... It's all kind of there before issue 12. I just don't think Joss cares about the audience, never did. He just does whatever, mocking every fan grouping along the way. I don't think that Dawn's death is about audience impact; it would be about the impact on Buffy that Dawn's death at the hands of someone Buffy trusts would have... Then again, that might actually make sense, and we can't have

[infinitewhale]

Spike still called her a moron even if that is the panel in which she started to drift off

See, I think she imagines that. If you look at Spike before that panel, he's in exposition mode and when it's obvious she's dreaming, he's still in exposition mode. Why Buffy would daydream about Spike insulting her, is anyone's guess, though. The jab about Giles calling her a crap student would be redundant if he actually said it. Moreover, it really doesn't make sense for Spike to rag her about college since it has nothing to do with college. Even Giles knew nothing about it.

They did sorta give away the whole plot in the first arc

Yeah, we know that now, but it wasn't painfully obvious at the time. The tagline for 38 is 'will Dawn survive?' which is a little over-the-top. You're right that Joss doesn't care about the audience. Still, though, Xander's the only one who's been around awhile and not fucked over in the books, I can't think it's all for nothing. Or maybe I just want him to die because I hate Mary Sues. :|

I'm actually more

[fenderlove]

I think that this is one of those "darn you, comics" moments where they could have been clearer about when her fantasy starts by shifting the colour, which they don't do until she's kissing him in her fantasy. That makes it very unclear about what's fantasy and what's reality when only two panels have that colour shift. They should have muted everything where the fantasy began in the subtle yellow tone and done it that way because how can anyone really be 100% sure of which is which otherwise? Like, they could have even done a panel shifting into a that muted colour scheme to illustrate that she's drifting off into LALALand.

Yeah, we know that now, but it wasn't painfully obvious at the time.I knew the pregnancy/birthing metaphor was coming with the egg (I felt it in my bones because the only overwrought "I AM WOMAN! HERE ME ROAR" metaphor she hadn't gotten into yet was actual pregnancy so she had to get knocked up eventually in some way) and I guessed haphazardly that Angel was Twilight 'cause it just had to be to torture my Spangel

[mulder200]

LOL! I gotta say even if the comics suck dick (and not in a good way) your reviews never fail to crack me up.

[fenderlove]

I'm glad that I can be of some entertainment. It does make me feel useful to some degree. :D

[shapinglight]

Guess what? Spike's still Buffy's "dark place," and that's supposed to be a compliment. But when did being Buffy's dirty little secret that's so horrible that she believes her friends will all desert her if they find out because Buffy thinks so little of her pals become a compliment? We see what Spike is to Buffy in perfect clarity- the guy to be there and be her dildo. That's all she wants out of him. He's nothing- NOTHING- to her besides a place to hide from reality. We're supposed to find her behavior what? Cute? Funny? Am I supposed to be happy that Spike has been relegated to being placated with moronic platitudes and then be reduced to the most basic marital aid?Yep. This was my reaction to those fantasy scenes too. Still is, in fact. I don't see anything good for Spuffy in them, just a reiteration of what Georges Jeanty said about Angel being 'home' and Spike being 'the little cabin in the woods,' which is pretty tough on the little cabin in the woods IMO

[fenderlove]

I feel sorry for both Spuffies and Bangels after all this. Jeanty, Allie, and Whedon have talked about the "respect" that they wanted to show for both fan-groupings, but I don't see much respect for either in this story. It would have been much better to have this season have a new bad guy, just as all the other seasons had a new Big Bad.

Even so, I don't get the sense that she keeps quiet to spare Spike's feelings, but more because she's embarrassed at being caught out having naughty thoughts.Totally agree. She actually stomps on his feelings more by not coming up with a better excuse for her distance. There he is trying to help her and take the time to explain things to her specifically, allowing her to use his facilities so that she'll feel more comfortable, and she can't give him the courtesy to listen to him. Instead, she imagines him being all defensive and then pouting childishly, and then he instantly falls for her slight show of affection and not!compliments