BUFFY eps 4.01 thru 4.08 reviews re-discovered
Some years ago I reviewed eps of BUFFY and ANGEL and emailed the reviews
which were posted on a fan website.
Unfortunately, That website has been defunct for some time now.
Here are the original reviews, I have not further edited them, except
for the removal of some personal email content. 26-01-2006
..... ..... ..... ..... .....
I have been deliberately vague in places and especially not given away
major spoilers , but have included what I think is plenty of details to
make the review interesting (for example Eddie becomes turned into a
vampire and is killed by Buffy, as is the female vamp Sunday, howvere I
avoided naming them as the one's she got, in my review)
NOTE That it is a deliberate part of my writing style to use commas and
hyphens more than average. I do this to make things read in a more
true-to-verbal style.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer, ep 4.01 The Freshman
The teaser opens with Buffy and Willow in a graveyard and Buffy seems to
have well lost her focus, Slayerwise.
At the episode opening, over a background of lonesome and lonely music, we
see Buffy wandering around lost and well out of her depth, at UC*D college
orientation day <<
Willow though is in her element and already has herself 100 % organised.
At the University bookshop Buffy has a run-in with a spunky young Tutorial
Assistant. Buffy is instantly attracted to him, but he seems only to have
eyes for the more academic Willow.
Buffy doesn't much like her new room-mate and wishes that she and Willow
had been assigned a room together.
Day one of classes doesn't start at all well, when Buffy gets booted out of
her lecture by a grumpy professor. Her second class is only marginally
better, the professor there's a hard nosed bitch, who barks her words out
to the class. But at least the ol' Buffmeister makes it through the class.
Later, lost on the campus at night, Buffy has a chance encounter with a
nice freshman boy called Eddie. The next day he fails to show up for class.
He has supposedly dropped out of school but Buffy isn't so sure.
The next night, Buffy is attacked by a group of vampires. She takes out one
of them, but their leader, a female vamp named Sunday, fair whips Buffy's
butt. Buffy escapes with her life, barely. She is injured and thoroughly
humiliated.
Buffy skips college for the day and returns home for a time-out and to
regain her composure. Unfortunately there's no place for her there, her
bedroom's already been taken over (by her mother for storage).
Returning to her college dorm-room she finds she's been "dissappeared". ie
someone has nicked all her stuff, and left a "I've dropped out of college
and run away" note, with her name forged on the bottom.
Buffy wanders around, she's at her lowest ebb ever, when she runs across
Xander. He helps her regain some of her focus. "Let's put this bitch in
the ground" he says and they head off together.
They discover where the vampires might be hiding and go for a reccy. Xander
goes away to secure weapons leaving Buffy to keep an eye on the vampires
lair. She drops in on them, weapon-less, a bit earlier than planned.
The battle starts poorly for Buffy, but she regains her focus partway
through the fight, killing 2 vampires while 2 others escape. Moments later
Xander arrives with weapons and reinforcements. But it's all over, Buffy's
back to her good old Slayer self and her confidence in her slayer abilities
has returned.
As Buffy and the Slayerettes reclaim her belongings from the lair, and
return to her room, we see that one of the vampires that escaped, running
away through another part of the campus grounds, is stunned unconscious, by
an electrical "Taser" gun, and taken captive by a group of masked men.
Review by Catherine Jemma 3 Feb y2k
OK I've got 2 for you. No I didn't rush them, I did one last night when
Parkinson was on. I only have 2 channels here, ABC and GWN (= ch 7 clone,
Prime), and that had sport on.
So I did one B ep last night and one this morning
As per the first review I tried to be vague enough in places so as not to
give everything away, however I recommend you web header page containing
some sort of spoiler warning "The following reviews contain some spoilers"
or etc
As usual it is written in my regular style with the use of commas, hyphens
etc as I see fit.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER ep 4.02 Living Conditions
Rooming with Cathy is bugging Buff, big time. Not quite the roomy from
hell, but Cathy's obsessive compulsive behaviour is driving Buffy to
distraction.
Struggling to find an excuse to leave on her nightly patrolling, Buffy
claims she's going for a coffee, but Cathy tags along anyway. On a dark
campus path, a demon attacks them from behind. Buffy shoves Cathy out of
the way, into some shrubbery, and smacks the demon 'round a bit. The demon
runs off before Cathy regains her senses and climbs out from amongst the
bushes.
Cathy even crowds in on Buffy's personal space in the cafetaria, when she
squeezes in on the Slayerettes table at lunchtime. Buffy chatted with a
guy at lunch, later Cathy seems to be moving in on him too.
The Slayerettes are concerned that Buffy is losing the plot mentally and
going off the deep end. Cathy's irritating behaviour is in danger of
costing her a right pounding and maybe worse. Oz accompanies Buffy on
patrol that night, in order to keep an eye on her deteriorating mental
state.
The next morning, Buffy having seen Cathy having a girl to girl chat with
Willow, tells Willow she intends to kill Cathy. Willow "drops-a-dime" and
dobs in Buffy's homicidal intentions to Giles. Xander, Oz and Giles
conspire to capture Buffy and tie her up in Giles' apartment. Giles then
leaves to continue his research on the original demon attacker. Buffy
escapes her bonds and overcomes Oz and Xander, leaving them unconscious on
the floor.
Buffy returns to her room to have it out once and for all with Cathy.
Giles returns to his apartment, to find Buffy gone and the 2 guys nursing
sore heads. His research has turned up some disturbing information. Giles
and Willow together try an incantation.
The catfight between Cathy and Buffy rapidly become serious and violent.
Cathy seems to be getting the upper hand, when the dorm-rroom door bursts
open and Cathy's Dad storms in. He is NOT a happy man, and insists that his
runaway offspring return with him to the family home where she belongs.
Buffy gets assigned a new room-mate, but her nerves are still on a knife
edge. Will things be any better after all ??
Catherine Jemma, 6 Feb y2k
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER ep 4.03 The Harsh Light Of Day
Buffy's been seeing a lot of a guy called Parker lately. After a night out
at the student bar, Buffy and Parker leave together. As Willow leaves the
bar, she is attacked right outside, by Melody, a girl she knew from
Sunnydale High last year. Oz arrives and helps fight her off.
Just as Buffy and Parker reach her dorm-room door, Oz and Willow run up and
relate what's just happened. Meanwhile Harmony's returned home and begs
her boyfriend to kill Willow for her. But he's not interested in girlie
squabbles. He's got more important work on his mind.
Anya (the vengeance demon whom Willow turned mortal by a spell, in the
earlier episode 3:16 Dopplegangland) re-appears on the scene and starts
bugging Xander. She wants Xander and she wants sex, and there ain't
nothin' gonna stand in her way !
Buffy and Parker run across Spike and Melody in the student bar. Buffy
chases them outside and a brief fight ensues. Spike backs off and Melody
threatens they'll be back stronger and deadlier, when they've found the
magic jewel they're seeking.
Later, Buffy meets up with Parker again. They go back to his room, where
his slick talking seduces her. Meanwhile Anya has waylaid Xander in his
basement aprtment, and seduced him, well and truely.
The next morning when Buffy arrives back at her dorm room, Willow and Giles
are already waiting for her, with worrying news.
Melody's perpetual bimbo-headedness, has driven Spike to the edge. They
discover the cache of jewels they're seeking and grab a handful each.
Melody finally pisses off Spike to the max and he rams a stake through her,
in a moment of fury.
Buffy has wondered why Parker hasn't phoned or got back to her in the last
couple of days. Then she sees him getting friendly with another girl on
the campus grounds. She accosts him and he as good as admits that he was
just using her for sex.
Buffy has barely had a moment for that shattering revelation to sink in,
when as she turns around she is suddenly and unexpectedly attacked by
Spike, right there in the campus grounds. He is very strong now and even
staking him doesn't seem to be slowing him down much. The fight is very
vicious indeed but Buffy finally manages to take the protective jewel away
from Spike, now vulnerable, he runs away.
Later, at a meeting of the Slayerettes, it is agreed that Oz will take the
gem for safekeeping.
As the episode closes, 3 lonely women, all having just lost the men in
their lives, are seen wandering aiimlessly 'round the campus grounds.
Catherine Jemma, 6 Feb y2k
Just a sidenote re my earlier review. I might have been in error on a minor
point. The reference for the ep where Willow's spell converted theVengeance
Demon Anyanka into human form might have been ep 3.09 The Wish and not ep
3.16 Dopplegangland as I earlier suggested.
You may just want to delete the bracketed reference from my earlier review.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER ep 4.04 Fear, Itself
As the Slayerettes are happily engaged in carving pumpkin heads for
Hallowe'en, Buffy is severely depressed at having been dumped by Parker.
She's so broken up inside that the next day when she sees Parker in the
cafetaria, she does a bail.
Anya seeks out Xander in his basement apartment. "You haven't called" she
says, "It's been a whole week since we copulated". Xander invites Anya out
with him and the gang, to the Hallowe'en festivities that evening.
Oz helps a Fraternity install a high powered sound system for their
Frat-house. Amongst the Hallowe'en party decorations and props, a
Pentagram is being drawn onto the floor. Nicking his finger while
installing a loudspeaker, some drops of Oz's blood fall within the
Pentagram.
That evening Oz and Willow join up with Buffy and Xander and together
wander along towards the Frat-house party. On the way they see a group in
paramilitary costumes armed with realistic looking assault weapons. Upon
entering the Frat-house, the groundfloor seems to be deserted, although
frightening sounds fill the air. Anya arrives a few minutes later, but
can't get in because the house now has no external front door. She looks
around just in time to see the windows disappearing too.
Anya leaves and seeks out Giles' help. He quickly packs a carrybag with
supplies. Meanwhile things in the Frat-house are getting weirder.
The Slayerettes while exploring, become seperated. Oz commences to wolf
out. Willow tries to use witchcraft, to help find the others. But that
idea doesn't go as planned. Xander seems to have become invisible, while
Buffy has a run in with some bad dudes.
Arriving outside the house, Giles selects what he needs to create a
doorway, from within his carrybag. He enters the house accompanied by
Anya, but they too become trapped as the doorway instantly disappears
behind them. The meet up with the other 4 Slayerettes, now back together.
Willow has found an old book, from which the Pentagram was copied. She and
Giles try to make sense of it's archaic language. Before they have time to
seek a solution their way, Buffy acts impetuously, inadvertantly summoning
forth the Fear Demon in full physical form.
Prompted by Giles, and using a non-standard Slayer technique, Buffy manages
to overcome the demon.
Catherine Jemma, 7 Feb y2k
Yeah sorry I didn't do this yesterday, I wasn't well. I wasn't too good
this morning but came right as the day wore on. I actually did this at
breakfast but only now, 4 pm my time, have I got 'round to sitting down at
the comp. My handwritten notes take up more space than any other rreviw,
so I hope it's ok.
I have fastforwarded my Buffy/Angel tape so that tomorrows review will hop
to angel ep 1.05, ok. Then I'll rewind and do the other 3 Buffy's in a
row. I thought I'd do it this way in order to more easily enable you to
maintian one or two eps ahead of the airing of eps. I goto Perth next in
six days so you should have all the Buffy's upto 4.08 and Angel's to 1.07
by then, ok
BUFFY ep 4.05 Beer Bad
The episode opens with Buffy slaying numerous vampires in defence of
Parker, who then begs for Buffy's forgiveness. But....It's all just a
daydream. Buffy's really in a lecture and Parker's just a few seats away,
chatting up another girl.
Xander's started attending UC Sunnydale. Well he's started working as a
bartender at the on-campus Pub anyway. At lunch, Willow (apparently)
admits to getting pregnant to her step-brother, and skulling a whole bottle
of Wild Turkey whiskey in order to console herself somewhat. Buffy's still
haunted by feelings for Parker, but Willow warns he's just plain no good.
That evening Buffy literally runs into Riley at the Pub, while spying
Parker at a table playing tonsil hockey with his latest conquest. A smart
alec college guy treats Xander like an idiot.
Sitting alone at the bar, Buffy is not feeling good. Seeing Parker sucking
face with his next victim hasn't helped. Buff finds a friendly bartender
to talk too. She has an idea for a new Health Plan for Parker. No, not
insurance, more of a slayer-esque bad-health plan. Buffy refers to herself
as a slut and an idiot for falling for Parker. As she's about to leave the
bar, she runs into some guy who invites her back to his table with him and
his three buddies (one of them the smart alec who put Xander down earlier).
They're buying the beers so Buffy decides to hang with them for awhile.
Willow and Oz are at the Bronze. Willow's done Oz's schoolwork for him,
again. Because he skipped lectures, again. Oz seems distracted by some
kind of weird vibes in the air. When the band begins to play he becomes
entranced with the female lead singer. "Verooka" he knows of, through his
musician contacts. This is the girl who he's made eye contact with on
several occasions but never actually spoken to.
The next morning Buffy's feeling the effects of too much beer. During
Maggie's lecture Buffy seems to be losing it. She snatches a sandwhich
right out of a neighbouring girls grasp and bolts it down. A brief
camerashot shows us some chemlab equipment set up in a backroom somewhere,
distilling something and adding it to the campus beer supply. That evening
Buffy's again sitting with the same 4 guys, who are knocking back the beers
like a gang of Aussie Miners.
Oz's skipped class yet again, he meets up with Willow and tells her he'll
be at the Bronze again that evening. This time he's been invited to sit in
and play along with Verooka's band. They go their seperate ways.
Xander manages to wheel Buffy out of the Pub and talk her into going home
to bed. Sometime later her boozebuddies discover her missing and become
upset. Then as Xander's trying to get the guys to leave, (now very drunk)
they prove themselves to be a right pack of animals. Xander gets knocked
to the floor and stunned temporarily but eventually gets the guys to leave.
Xander has words with his boss who's sorting out stock in the storeroom,
he admits to spiking the beer. He's sick of college guys who think they're
just "s-o-o-o" smart. His beer is supposed to bring them all down to a
lowest common denominator level.
Xander gets Giles and together they go to check on Buffy. She's been
making a right mess of her dormroom, but then does a runner in search of
more beer. Earlier, Willow had sought out Parker, found him in the pub,
and was giving him a piece of her mind when the 4 drunkards burst in,
behaving like a pack of wild animals they knock Willow and Parker to the
floor, smash the place up a bit and set it afire.
Xander catches up with Buffy, they notice a fire has broken out in the pub
(yeah her brain is about half-working at this stage). Buffy goes inside to
help drag out survivors while Xander goes off to raise the alarm.
After rescuing the unconscious Willow and helping others to escape, Buffy
was going to leave Parker to the fire, but has second thoughts and does
drag him clear.
Later, outside, during mopping up operations, Parker comes upto Buffy and
begs her forgiveness. Buffy gives him a piece of her mind, (which from
Buffy carries a bit more impact than Willows earlier attempt).
Catherine Jemma, 7 March y2k
Hi tthere
Well my handwritten notes for this one have exceeded all others, either my
writing's getting bigger or else I just felt like writing a lot.
Personally I love this ep, it's one of my favourites, and it is a very
intense episode. It starts off almost like a comedy but by the end of the
ep is a real tissueboxrequired tearjerker
Below this line is intended for publication on your website
BUFFY ep 4.06 Wild At Heart
Buff's slayin' the vamps alright, but they just don't seem to appreciate
her sense of humour, while getting their requisite pummelling. Unknown to
Buffy (who in TVBuffyland doesn't get the useful PMS that her movieland
incarnation did) Spike is nearby and secretly looking on. As she leaves
to resume her patrol, he mutters a few threats towards her. Unfortunately
for him he's cut short by some army looking dudes who zap him into
unconsciousness with an electrical TASER stungun.
The Slayerettes are all hanging out at The Bronze, even Giles shows up.
Verooka's singing again tonight and Oz sits mesmerised, even Xander and
Giles seem to be transfixed by her "remarkable presence".
Willow and Oz awake together, before heading off to class Will' explains
Oz'll have to lock himself up that night as she'll be attending an oncampus
Wicca thing. Buffy's done well in class, her reward is to do extra work
and lead a discussion group. (?? Reward ??)
Verooka invites Oz to share her lunch table. Willow arrives but feels left
out of their music talk. Oz and Verooka go their seperate ways, the lone
Willow then joined by the newly arrived Buffy. Willow's worried about Oz's
seeming attraction to Verooka. Buffy assures her that Oz isn't the kind of
guy who'd stray from the nest. That night Oz locks himself in his cage,
without a Willow to keep watch over him. Professor Maggie Walsh, finishes
up some work late, and while walking oncampus late that night sees two wild
dogs engaged in a fierce fight.
The next morning Oz awakes outside amongst the shrubbery, naked and lying
next to a similarly (un)-clothed Verooka. The deep scratches they both
bear testify to an intense night together. They raid a laundryroom for
some clothes. Oz wonders how he escaped from his cage. Verooka wonders
how someone's got Oz so "domesticated" that he'll even allow himself to be
caged.
Verooka's hot ! She wants to get it on with Oz again (in human form this
time) right there in the laundryroom. Willow returns from her Wicca thing
and searches out Oz in his room. She's interested in some carnal action
but Oz rejects her outright, even before she can get the shirt off of him
(perhaps he's worried how he'd explain a back covered in claw scratch marks
?). Willow leaves Oz's room feeling rejected, disappointed, and sexually
frustrated. Buffy's heard reports of "two wild dogs" fighting and asks
Giles to do some checking up.
Willow's feeling jealous and worried about the Oz/Verooka situation. She
heads off to the Harris household and seeks out Xander's counsel. Buffy
finds Oz to see if he can shed any light on the "two wild dogs" thing, she
finds him repairing his broken cage door. Oz claims to have ne relavent
info for her.
Oz spends that day alone in his room. Willow meanwhile is alone too,
amongst the college crowd. As evening approaches Verooka seeks out Oz,
they end up locked in his cage together. This is apparently good.
Although things don't appear quite as good when Willow turns up the next
morning, having brought breakfast for Oz, to find his naked body entwined
with Verooka's. Willow's spittin' chips and Oz's explanation just falls on
deaf ears.
Willow is utterly shattered. She's staggering 'round in a dreamlike state,
and Riley only just manages to save her from being runover by a car. B.
sees Willow safely back to their dormroom and then goes out in search of
Verooka.
Come late arvo, a bad tempered Willow's working some dark Mojo on the wild
ones.
Buffy and Oz are patrolling the campus grounds trying to sniff out
Verooka's scent. They become split up when Buffy runs smack-bang into
'masked commando guy'. Oz goes on ahead and arrives just as Verooka's
about to have some Willa for dinner. Oz and Verooka bitch at each other
awhile before the fisticuffs start. As the sun sets they both wolf out,
still locked in a lunatics deadly embrace. Oz eventually prevails and
chows down on some she-wolf. He's about to have a piece of
Jewish-Wicca-Girl dessert, when Buffy arrives onscene with a dart rifle.
Ozwolf has a bit of a bye-byes as Buffy comforts a rapidly disintegrating
Willow.
At the Slayer and Watcher mini debriefing session, B. informs Giles about
'masked-commando-guy' and expresses her fears regarding Willow's fragile
emotional state.
Willow visits Oz in his room, he's throwing a few things in a bag. A few
gentle words, a brief hug, and he's gone. Out the door, and out of
Willow's life. Into his van ( a moments pause for second thoughts) then
drives off down the road.
Willow remains, alone in Oz's room, crying her eyes out.
Catherine Jemma 10 March y2k
I have two reviews for you. No I didn't rush them either. I did one last
night when there was crap on tv and another this morning.
It will be about a week before I send you more reviews (Angel 1.06
onwards). I've got lots of chores to do tomorrow before going to Perth for
a few days then upon my return I'll have chores to catch up on again.
As stated earlier these are close to being my favourite episodes so far.
Although I think that honour is currently held by eps 4.09 Something Blue
and 4.10 Hush and A1.10 Parting Gifts
Buffy ep 4.07 The Initiative
RILEY and his tablemates are scoping out the talent in the cafetaria. A
blonde beauty attracts their attention. But what a klutz ! Poor ol' Buffy
manages to break every dispenser she touches, and then spill all her food
before making it safely back to a table.
SPIKE meanwhile is having an EVEN WORSE day. He regains consciousness
lying on the floor of a tiny all white prison cell. Measuring less than 3
metres square, and devoid of any internal fitments or furnishings, the
front face of the cell is safety-glass, and when he tries to break through,
Spike gets knocked for a six by an electric shock. White coated
technicians can be seen occasionally in the corridor outside the cell. The
large outer room seems to contain at least 20 (maybe more) cells, each with
a single vampire or demon trapped inside.
Buffy drops 'round to Giles' place, to inform him that patrol duties will
fall to him and Xander that night, because Buff's taking Willow (she who is
the Oz-less depressed black hole of the universe) to a party.
A trapdoor in the ceiling of the cell opens and a plastic sachet of blood
drops through. Spike's about to consume it when a vampire in a
neighbouring cell shouts a warning to him that it's drugged.
The lecture den of she-who-roars-like-a-lion (Professor Maggie Walsh), will
it seems, be without Daniel (Osborne) for ever more. B. has a few choice
words to say on the matter.
Giles is with Xander in his basement apartment, getting their weapons ready
for that night's patrol. There is some concern though, about whether or
not the fruit punch is upto the required standard.
Parker the Poophead is bigmouthing (and badmouthing) his conquest of Buffy.
Riley knocks him out cold with one punch. Riley seeks out Buffy in order
to ask her out. Willow's alone in their room, so Riley pumps her for info
that'll get him in good with Buff.
Two technicians in white labcoats remove an unconscious Spike from his
cell. He's only faking though, and gets the better of them, stealing an
electronic swipecard from one of them, which enables him to escape the
underground prison/laboratory facility. Spike returns to his old lair.
Harmony seems cold at first but within moments they're engaged in the
horizontal tango together. Buffy and Willow attend the party going on at
Riley's fraternity house. Riley tries to engage Buffy in conversation but
he's lost for words.
Xander, patrolling alone, comes across Harmony amongst a thicket of bushes,
doing the all-men-are-bastards-let's-burn-all-their-stuff trick. Xander
"the para-slayer" Harris takes on Harmony "Vampire-throat-ripper" Kendall
in a no-holds-barred fight. Stalemated at about the same stage as two 7
year old girls at a Sunday School picnic, they decide to call it quits and
mutually agree to back off and go their seperate ways. It came up in
conversation that Spike didn't even spend one full night back in Harmony's
arms, before zooming off to kill The Slayer. Xander's shocked to hear that
Spike is back in town, and out for Buffy's blood.
Riley has only just started a conversation with Buffy when Xander arrives
and makes an excuse to drag her away. Riley and a couple of his fraternity
housemates later head downstairs. Downstairs of their Frat-house is a huge
underground prison/laboratory complex. Special Agent Riley Finn is given
his orders. "Hostile # 17 has escaped !" So he and a number of other men,
all dressed in military garb, and going about equipped accordingly, leave
to search. Live capture is preferable, they're told, but staking is
permitted if necessary.
Buffy's patrolling in search of Spike is "compromising" the area of campus
that Agent Finn's troop wants to search. Riley discards his army kit and
"happens" across Buff. They then try to out-talk each other into making
the 'other' one return to their room. A scream is heard in the distance
and they both run off, in different directions.
Spike meanwhile has traced which dorm-room Buffy is registered in.
Knocking softly at the door, he's invited in by the half-asleep Willow.
Spike's looking forward to having a suckfest on Willow's neck, however he
is unable to perform. Even when they take a break for a while, and then
Willow tries offering gentle words of encouragement, it's all to no avail.
Willow's despondant. Shattered even. She's not even good enough tto be
vampire tucker. Does he want to fang only with Buffy and won't accept a
second choice Willow ? NO ! Spike assures her, he'd happily drain her dry
in a heartbeat, if he could. Willow makes a run for the door but the
lights go out and the door is locked. The military type guys have tracked
Spike down, and activated some security over-ride that blacks out the whole
dorm and locks all the doors. The Military guys make their way to Willow's
room and bust the door in. A fight ensues in the near pitch darkness, the
military guys having the benefit of nightvision glasses. The fight gets
even more confused when Buffy arrives and discharges an incendary flare,
temporarily blinding the military types. Spike manages to escape as Buffy
gets sidetracked fighting the military guys, before they beat their hasty
retreat.
The next day Riley and Buffy have a casual chat, while out walking oncampus
together. The previous night's action in the dormitory is put down to
being a fraternity stunt.
Review by Catherine Jemma 12 March y2k
Above this line for publication. OK Rebecca I'm all typed out for today
(It's taken over an hour to type this). So although it's already
handwritten you'll have to wait for tomorrow's logon for the next review,
ok.
OK here's today's review. Next reviews expect in about a week, ok.
Buffy ep 4.08 "Pangs"
Buffy accosts a vamp one dark night, and dusts him in 30 seconds flat. But
something's troubling her, a vibe, a feeling in the air. What we see (but
B. doesn't) is Angel lurking in the shrubbery, keeping an eye on his lil
ol' Buff.
Buffy, Willow and Anya are watching the groundbreaking ceremony for a new
university building. Xander's got a job weilding a shovel. Anya's come to
watch Xander's body muscles ripple and his skin gleam with beads of sweat.
She's imagining having sex with him "Right Now !" and isn't afraid to tell
everybody. The Professer making a speech waffles on about "our new
cultural center", "thanksgiving day" and "the melting pot", that has formed
modern (United States of) America. Willow's in wild disagreement though.
Her take on the situation is a bunch of invaders wiping out the original
inhabitants and taking over the land.
Xander and the work crew have only just started to dig when the ground
underneath them gives way. The "X"-man falls several metres into the
buried remains of an old church. He's unhurt though and is soon rescued.
It turns out to be the old SunnyDale Mission. Lost since an earthquake in
the early 1800's.
Buffy's mum's away, and Willow's mum refuses to have any part in
Thanksgiving Day festivities. So the girls put their heads together and
decide to organise their own Thanksgiving together. Willow's really keen
on NOT-inviting Anya (just 'cause Anyanka tried to get Willow eaten by a
vampire once) but Buffy says that if Xander comes then she'll be at his
side too. Everyone needs a home to go to.
Spike's staggering 'round in a bad way. He hasn't fed for yonks. The
military types are still cruisin' lookin' to give him a bruisin'. Xander
fails to make it to his work on day two. Anya finds him in his basement
apartment as sick as a dog. She removes his clothes and puts him to bed.
The Professor lady from the groundbreaking (who's name escapes me) is on
the phone, construction of the new building has been suspended while
investigations and study of the ruins of the old SunnyDale Mission takes
place. As the lady Prof hangs up the phone, her day is ruined, for the
rest of her life, by an "Indian" warrior bearing a stone knife and one
helluva bad attitude.
Will' and Buff sneak in and investigate the room where the lady was
lacerated. They notice that an exhibit is missing from a glass display
case. A Native American artifact, a stone knife.
Buffy's turned up at Giles' with bagloads of ingredients and tells Giles
what she's found out so far, about the Professor's murder. She leaves
Giles' place after funny vibes go through her again. After she's gone
Angel comes out of hiding in a backroom, he and Giles discuss what unusual
danger Buffy may be unwittingly about to face.
Willow and Buffy are chasing down some last minute ingredients (because
Buffy wants the Thanksgiving dinner to be as authentic and complete as
possible). Riley happens by and Willow slopes off so's he and B. can make
eyes at each other. Angel grabs Willow in the coffee shop. He's big on
dire warnings but pretty scant on the details. Meanwhile Riley refuses
Buff's invitation to her thanksgiving dinner, he tells her he's got a last
minute flight home to Iowa ("that's one of the ones in the middle, right
?") to spend Thanksgiving with his family. As he says "Home's the place
that when you have to go there, they have to take you in".
Unfortuunately for Spike, Harmony hasn't heard that saying. She's been
busy reading contempary feminist literature. Even though Spike's at
death's door, she doesn't want him back at hers. He halfway manages to
seduce her, before she comes at him with a wooden stake. He staggers away.
Spike's shattered, she wouldn't even rustle him up someone to eat.
Buffy seeks out an old Catholic priest who she hopes has information on the
history of the original SunnyDale Mission. The priest refuses to help her
though. On account of him being dead and rather cut up about the whole
thing. Buff takes on a Native American Warrior guy, whom she busted doin'
the dirty on the poor padre'. He transforms into animal incarnation and
wings it.
Back at Giles' place preparations for the dinner are going on swimmingly,
when comes a gentle knock upon his door. It's Willow with history
textbooks and EVEN MORE ingredients (slaying must be hungry work). Will's
found out that the old mission building was used to confine 'Indians'
before the white settlers butchered them all. Giles and Willow have a full
on blue over how to deal with their Native American Spirit Warrior menace.
A second knock at the door, and it's Anya there, propping up Xander The
Dreadfully Sick.
Meanwhile Angry Spirit Warrior Guy steals a bunch of ancient weapons. He
does a spell to summon forth a bunch of his yobbo mates.
At Giles' a huge argument regarding what to do about the Native Warrior
Spirit Vengeance Guy is underway, when there's a THIRD knock at the door.
Buffy opens the door. Aparently nobody's there. Suddenly Spike leaps into
the doorway, cowering from the Sun's rays under a smoking blanket. Giles
hands Buff a nice sharp stake. Spike's beggin' 'em for an invitation
inside. Willow assures them all that Spike is now thoroughly impotent. A
truce is undertaken whereupon Spike is invited inside and tied up, in
return he promises to tell them all he knows about the local soldier boys
that they keep running into. The slayerettes are still arguing about how
to deal with the spirit warrior menace. Spike sums up in a nutshell, in 30
seconds flat, Southern Californian history. (Well he's had a hundred years
to think about it).
Willow and Anya-Xander go to warn the college Dean that he may be the next
one in line for the chop. While they're away a native warrior raiding
party has Giles' place under armed attack. The three slayerettes race back
to Giles'. Their best efforts don't help out the fight much though until
Angel arrives and takes care of a few of the bad guys. Buffy's busy
fighting for her life inside the house so never sees Angel outside taking
care of the mobs of badguys out there. Eventually Buffy manages to kill
the chief spirit warrior guy, using his own ceremonial knife. All the
other spirit warriors instantly dissappear.
Everyone has a big feed of Thanksgiving dinner, (except of course Spike who
sits tied up at an empty place setting, at their table). Xander lets the
cat out of the bag over Angel (which ultimately becomes the cause behind
the crossover episode Angel 1.08).
Review by Catherine Jemma 14 March y2k
which were posted on a fan website.
Unfortunately, That website has been defunct for some time now.
Here are the original reviews, I have not further edited them, except
for the removal of some personal email content. 26-01-2006
..... ..... ..... ..... .....
I have been deliberately vague in places and especially not given away
major spoilers , but have included what I think is plenty of details to
make the review interesting (for example Eddie becomes turned into a
vampire and is killed by Buffy, as is the female vamp Sunday, howvere I
avoided naming them as the one's she got, in my review)
NOTE That it is a deliberate part of my writing style to use commas and
hyphens more than average. I do this to make things read in a more
true-to-verbal style.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer, ep 4.01 The Freshman
The teaser opens with Buffy and Willow in a graveyard and Buffy seems to
have well lost her focus, Slayerwise.
At the episode opening, over a background of lonesome and lonely music, we
see Buffy wandering around lost and well out of her depth, at UC*D college
orientation day <<
Willow though is in her element and already has herself 100 % organised.
At the University bookshop Buffy has a run-in with a spunky young Tutorial
Assistant. Buffy is instantly attracted to him, but he seems only to have
eyes for the more academic Willow.
Buffy doesn't much like her new room-mate and wishes that she and Willow
had been assigned a room together.
Day one of classes doesn't start at all well, when Buffy gets booted out of
her lecture by a grumpy professor. Her second class is only marginally
better, the professor there's a hard nosed bitch, who barks her words out
to the class. But at least the ol' Buffmeister makes it through the class.
Later, lost on the campus at night, Buffy has a chance encounter with a
nice freshman boy called Eddie. The next day he fails to show up for class.
He has supposedly dropped out of school but Buffy isn't so sure.
The next night, Buffy is attacked by a group of vampires. She takes out one
of them, but their leader, a female vamp named Sunday, fair whips Buffy's
butt. Buffy escapes with her life, barely. She is injured and thoroughly
humiliated.
Buffy skips college for the day and returns home for a time-out and to
regain her composure. Unfortunately there's no place for her there, her
bedroom's already been taken over (by her mother for storage).
Returning to her college dorm-room she finds she's been "dissappeared". ie
someone has nicked all her stuff, and left a "I've dropped out of college
and run away" note, with her name forged on the bottom.
Buffy wanders around, she's at her lowest ebb ever, when she runs across
Xander. He helps her regain some of her focus. "Let's put this bitch in
the ground" he says and they head off together.
They discover where the vampires might be hiding and go for a reccy. Xander
goes away to secure weapons leaving Buffy to keep an eye on the vampires
lair. She drops in on them, weapon-less, a bit earlier than planned.
The battle starts poorly for Buffy, but she regains her focus partway
through the fight, killing 2 vampires while 2 others escape. Moments later
Xander arrives with weapons and reinforcements. But it's all over, Buffy's
back to her good old Slayer self and her confidence in her slayer abilities
has returned.
As Buffy and the Slayerettes reclaim her belongings from the lair, and
return to her room, we see that one of the vampires that escaped, running
away through another part of the campus grounds, is stunned unconscious, by
an electrical "Taser" gun, and taken captive by a group of masked men.
Review by Catherine Jemma 3 Feb y2k
OK I've got 2 for you. No I didn't rush them, I did one last night when
Parkinson was on. I only have 2 channels here, ABC and GWN (= ch 7 clone,
Prime), and that had sport on.
So I did one B ep last night and one this morning
As per the first review I tried to be vague enough in places so as not to
give everything away, however I recommend you web header page containing
some sort of spoiler warning "The following reviews contain some spoilers"
or etc
As usual it is written in my regular style with the use of commas, hyphens
etc as I see fit.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER ep 4.02 Living Conditions
Rooming with Cathy is bugging Buff, big time. Not quite the roomy from
hell, but Cathy's obsessive compulsive behaviour is driving Buffy to
distraction.
Struggling to find an excuse to leave on her nightly patrolling, Buffy
claims she's going for a coffee, but Cathy tags along anyway. On a dark
campus path, a demon attacks them from behind. Buffy shoves Cathy out of
the way, into some shrubbery, and smacks the demon 'round a bit. The demon
runs off before Cathy regains her senses and climbs out from amongst the
bushes.
Cathy even crowds in on Buffy's personal space in the cafetaria, when she
squeezes in on the Slayerettes table at lunchtime. Buffy chatted with a
guy at lunch, later Cathy seems to be moving in on him too.
The Slayerettes are concerned that Buffy is losing the plot mentally and
going off the deep end. Cathy's irritating behaviour is in danger of
costing her a right pounding and maybe worse. Oz accompanies Buffy on
patrol that night, in order to keep an eye on her deteriorating mental
state.
The next morning, Buffy having seen Cathy having a girl to girl chat with
Willow, tells Willow she intends to kill Cathy. Willow "drops-a-dime" and
dobs in Buffy's homicidal intentions to Giles. Xander, Oz and Giles
conspire to capture Buffy and tie her up in Giles' apartment. Giles then
leaves to continue his research on the original demon attacker. Buffy
escapes her bonds and overcomes Oz and Xander, leaving them unconscious on
the floor.
Buffy returns to her room to have it out once and for all with Cathy.
Giles returns to his apartment, to find Buffy gone and the 2 guys nursing
sore heads. His research has turned up some disturbing information. Giles
and Willow together try an incantation.
The catfight between Cathy and Buffy rapidly become serious and violent.
Cathy seems to be getting the upper hand, when the dorm-rroom door bursts
open and Cathy's Dad storms in. He is NOT a happy man, and insists that his
runaway offspring return with him to the family home where she belongs.
Buffy gets assigned a new room-mate, but her nerves are still on a knife
edge. Will things be any better after all ??
Catherine Jemma, 6 Feb y2k
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER ep 4.03 The Harsh Light Of Day
Buffy's been seeing a lot of a guy called Parker lately. After a night out
at the student bar, Buffy and Parker leave together. As Willow leaves the
bar, she is attacked right outside, by Melody, a girl she knew from
Sunnydale High last year. Oz arrives and helps fight her off.
Just as Buffy and Parker reach her dorm-room door, Oz and Willow run up and
relate what's just happened. Meanwhile Harmony's returned home and begs
her boyfriend to kill Willow for her. But he's not interested in girlie
squabbles. He's got more important work on his mind.
Anya (the vengeance demon whom Willow turned mortal by a spell, in the
earlier episode 3:16 Dopplegangland) re-appears on the scene and starts
bugging Xander. She wants Xander and she wants sex, and there ain't
nothin' gonna stand in her way !
Buffy and Parker run across Spike and Melody in the student bar. Buffy
chases them outside and a brief fight ensues. Spike backs off and Melody
threatens they'll be back stronger and deadlier, when they've found the
magic jewel they're seeking.
Later, Buffy meets up with Parker again. They go back to his room, where
his slick talking seduces her. Meanwhile Anya has waylaid Xander in his
basement aprtment, and seduced him, well and truely.
The next morning when Buffy arrives back at her dorm room, Willow and Giles
are already waiting for her, with worrying news.
Melody's perpetual bimbo-headedness, has driven Spike to the edge. They
discover the cache of jewels they're seeking and grab a handful each.
Melody finally pisses off Spike to the max and he rams a stake through her,
in a moment of fury.
Buffy has wondered why Parker hasn't phoned or got back to her in the last
couple of days. Then she sees him getting friendly with another girl on
the campus grounds. She accosts him and he as good as admits that he was
just using her for sex.
Buffy has barely had a moment for that shattering revelation to sink in,
when as she turns around she is suddenly and unexpectedly attacked by
Spike, right there in the campus grounds. He is very strong now and even
staking him doesn't seem to be slowing him down much. The fight is very
vicious indeed but Buffy finally manages to take the protective jewel away
from Spike, now vulnerable, he runs away.
Later, at a meeting of the Slayerettes, it is agreed that Oz will take the
gem for safekeeping.
As the episode closes, 3 lonely women, all having just lost the men in
their lives, are seen wandering aiimlessly 'round the campus grounds.
Catherine Jemma, 6 Feb y2k
Just a sidenote re my earlier review. I might have been in error on a minor
point. The reference for the ep where Willow's spell converted theVengeance
Demon Anyanka into human form might have been ep 3.09 The Wish and not ep
3.16 Dopplegangland as I earlier suggested.
You may just want to delete the bracketed reference from my earlier review.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER ep 4.04 Fear, Itself
As the Slayerettes are happily engaged in carving pumpkin heads for
Hallowe'en, Buffy is severely depressed at having been dumped by Parker.
She's so broken up inside that the next day when she sees Parker in the
cafetaria, she does a bail.
Anya seeks out Xander in his basement apartment. "You haven't called" she
says, "It's been a whole week since we copulated". Xander invites Anya out
with him and the gang, to the Hallowe'en festivities that evening.
Oz helps a Fraternity install a high powered sound system for their
Frat-house. Amongst the Hallowe'en party decorations and props, a
Pentagram is being drawn onto the floor. Nicking his finger while
installing a loudspeaker, some drops of Oz's blood fall within the
Pentagram.
That evening Oz and Willow join up with Buffy and Xander and together
wander along towards the Frat-house party. On the way they see a group in
paramilitary costumes armed with realistic looking assault weapons. Upon
entering the Frat-house, the groundfloor seems to be deserted, although
frightening sounds fill the air. Anya arrives a few minutes later, but
can't get in because the house now has no external front door. She looks
around just in time to see the windows disappearing too.
Anya leaves and seeks out Giles' help. He quickly packs a carrybag with
supplies. Meanwhile things in the Frat-house are getting weirder.
The Slayerettes while exploring, become seperated. Oz commences to wolf
out. Willow tries to use witchcraft, to help find the others. But that
idea doesn't go as planned. Xander seems to have become invisible, while
Buffy has a run in with some bad dudes.
Arriving outside the house, Giles selects what he needs to create a
doorway, from within his carrybag. He enters the house accompanied by
Anya, but they too become trapped as the doorway instantly disappears
behind them. The meet up with the other 4 Slayerettes, now back together.
Willow has found an old book, from which the Pentagram was copied. She and
Giles try to make sense of it's archaic language. Before they have time to
seek a solution their way, Buffy acts impetuously, inadvertantly summoning
forth the Fear Demon in full physical form.
Prompted by Giles, and using a non-standard Slayer technique, Buffy manages
to overcome the demon.
Catherine Jemma, 7 Feb y2k
Yeah sorry I didn't do this yesterday, I wasn't well. I wasn't too good
this morning but came right as the day wore on. I actually did this at
breakfast but only now, 4 pm my time, have I got 'round to sitting down at
the comp. My handwritten notes take up more space than any other rreviw,
so I hope it's ok.
I have fastforwarded my Buffy/Angel tape so that tomorrows review will hop
to angel ep 1.05, ok. Then I'll rewind and do the other 3 Buffy's in a
row. I thought I'd do it this way in order to more easily enable you to
maintian one or two eps ahead of the airing of eps. I goto Perth next in
six days so you should have all the Buffy's upto 4.08 and Angel's to 1.07
by then, ok
BUFFY ep 4.05 Beer Bad
The episode opens with Buffy slaying numerous vampires in defence of
Parker, who then begs for Buffy's forgiveness. But....It's all just a
daydream. Buffy's really in a lecture and Parker's just a few seats away,
chatting up another girl.
Xander's started attending UC Sunnydale. Well he's started working as a
bartender at the on-campus Pub anyway. At lunch, Willow (apparently)
admits to getting pregnant to her step-brother, and skulling a whole bottle
of Wild Turkey whiskey in order to console herself somewhat. Buffy's still
haunted by feelings for Parker, but Willow warns he's just plain no good.
That evening Buffy literally runs into Riley at the Pub, while spying
Parker at a table playing tonsil hockey with his latest conquest. A smart
alec college guy treats Xander like an idiot.
Sitting alone at the bar, Buffy is not feeling good. Seeing Parker sucking
face with his next victim hasn't helped. Buff finds a friendly bartender
to talk too. She has an idea for a new Health Plan for Parker. No, not
insurance, more of a slayer-esque bad-health plan. Buffy refers to herself
as a slut and an idiot for falling for Parker. As she's about to leave the
bar, she runs into some guy who invites her back to his table with him and
his three buddies (one of them the smart alec who put Xander down earlier).
They're buying the beers so Buffy decides to hang with them for awhile.
Willow and Oz are at the Bronze. Willow's done Oz's schoolwork for him,
again. Because he skipped lectures, again. Oz seems distracted by some
kind of weird vibes in the air. When the band begins to play he becomes
entranced with the female lead singer. "Verooka" he knows of, through his
musician contacts. This is the girl who he's made eye contact with on
several occasions but never actually spoken to.
The next morning Buffy's feeling the effects of too much beer. During
Maggie's lecture Buffy seems to be losing it. She snatches a sandwhich
right out of a neighbouring girls grasp and bolts it down. A brief
camerashot shows us some chemlab equipment set up in a backroom somewhere,
distilling something and adding it to the campus beer supply. That evening
Buffy's again sitting with the same 4 guys, who are knocking back the beers
like a gang of Aussie Miners.
Oz's skipped class yet again, he meets up with Willow and tells her he'll
be at the Bronze again that evening. This time he's been invited to sit in
and play along with Verooka's band. They go their seperate ways.
Xander manages to wheel Buffy out of the Pub and talk her into going home
to bed. Sometime later her boozebuddies discover her missing and become
upset. Then as Xander's trying to get the guys to leave, (now very drunk)
they prove themselves to be a right pack of animals. Xander gets knocked
to the floor and stunned temporarily but eventually gets the guys to leave.
Xander has words with his boss who's sorting out stock in the storeroom,
he admits to spiking the beer. He's sick of college guys who think they're
just "s-o-o-o" smart. His beer is supposed to bring them all down to a
lowest common denominator level.
Xander gets Giles and together they go to check on Buffy. She's been
making a right mess of her dormroom, but then does a runner in search of
more beer. Earlier, Willow had sought out Parker, found him in the pub,
and was giving him a piece of her mind when the 4 drunkards burst in,
behaving like a pack of wild animals they knock Willow and Parker to the
floor, smash the place up a bit and set it afire.
Xander catches up with Buffy, they notice a fire has broken out in the pub
(yeah her brain is about half-working at this stage). Buffy goes inside to
help drag out survivors while Xander goes off to raise the alarm.
After rescuing the unconscious Willow and helping others to escape, Buffy
was going to leave Parker to the fire, but has second thoughts and does
drag him clear.
Later, outside, during mopping up operations, Parker comes upto Buffy and
begs her forgiveness. Buffy gives him a piece of her mind, (which from
Buffy carries a bit more impact than Willows earlier attempt).
Catherine Jemma, 7 March y2k
Hi tthere
Well my handwritten notes for this one have exceeded all others, either my
writing's getting bigger or else I just felt like writing a lot.
Personally I love this ep, it's one of my favourites, and it is a very
intense episode. It starts off almost like a comedy but by the end of the
ep is a real tissueboxrequired tearjerker
Below this line is intended for publication on your website
BUFFY ep 4.06 Wild At Heart
Buff's slayin' the vamps alright, but they just don't seem to appreciate
her sense of humour, while getting their requisite pummelling. Unknown to
Buffy (who in TVBuffyland doesn't get the useful PMS that her movieland
incarnation did) Spike is nearby and secretly looking on. As she leaves
to resume her patrol, he mutters a few threats towards her. Unfortunately
for him he's cut short by some army looking dudes who zap him into
unconsciousness with an electrical TASER stungun.
The Slayerettes are all hanging out at The Bronze, even Giles shows up.
Verooka's singing again tonight and Oz sits mesmerised, even Xander and
Giles seem to be transfixed by her "remarkable presence".
Willow and Oz awake together, before heading off to class Will' explains
Oz'll have to lock himself up that night as she'll be attending an oncampus
Wicca thing. Buffy's done well in class, her reward is to do extra work
and lead a discussion group. (?? Reward ??)
Verooka invites Oz to share her lunch table. Willow arrives but feels left
out of their music talk. Oz and Verooka go their seperate ways, the lone
Willow then joined by the newly arrived Buffy. Willow's worried about Oz's
seeming attraction to Verooka. Buffy assures her that Oz isn't the kind of
guy who'd stray from the nest. That night Oz locks himself in his cage,
without a Willow to keep watch over him. Professor Maggie Walsh, finishes
up some work late, and while walking oncampus late that night sees two wild
dogs engaged in a fierce fight.
The next morning Oz awakes outside amongst the shrubbery, naked and lying
next to a similarly (un)-clothed Verooka. The deep scratches they both
bear testify to an intense night together. They raid a laundryroom for
some clothes. Oz wonders how he escaped from his cage. Verooka wonders
how someone's got Oz so "domesticated" that he'll even allow himself to be
caged.
Verooka's hot ! She wants to get it on with Oz again (in human form this
time) right there in the laundryroom. Willow returns from her Wicca thing
and searches out Oz in his room. She's interested in some carnal action
but Oz rejects her outright, even before she can get the shirt off of him
(perhaps he's worried how he'd explain a back covered in claw scratch marks
?). Willow leaves Oz's room feeling rejected, disappointed, and sexually
frustrated. Buffy's heard reports of "two wild dogs" fighting and asks
Giles to do some checking up.
Willow's feeling jealous and worried about the Oz/Verooka situation. She
heads off to the Harris household and seeks out Xander's counsel. Buffy
finds Oz to see if he can shed any light on the "two wild dogs" thing, she
finds him repairing his broken cage door. Oz claims to have ne relavent
info for her.
Oz spends that day alone in his room. Willow meanwhile is alone too,
amongst the college crowd. As evening approaches Verooka seeks out Oz,
they end up locked in his cage together. This is apparently good.
Although things don't appear quite as good when Willow turns up the next
morning, having brought breakfast for Oz, to find his naked body entwined
with Verooka's. Willow's spittin' chips and Oz's explanation just falls on
deaf ears.
Willow is utterly shattered. She's staggering 'round in a dreamlike state,
and Riley only just manages to save her from being runover by a car. B.
sees Willow safely back to their dormroom and then goes out in search of
Verooka.
Come late arvo, a bad tempered Willow's working some dark Mojo on the wild
ones.
Buffy and Oz are patrolling the campus grounds trying to sniff out
Verooka's scent. They become split up when Buffy runs smack-bang into
'masked commando guy'. Oz goes on ahead and arrives just as Verooka's
about to have some Willa for dinner. Oz and Verooka bitch at each other
awhile before the fisticuffs start. As the sun sets they both wolf out,
still locked in a lunatics deadly embrace. Oz eventually prevails and
chows down on some she-wolf. He's about to have a piece of
Jewish-Wicca-Girl dessert, when Buffy arrives onscene with a dart rifle.
Ozwolf has a bit of a bye-byes as Buffy comforts a rapidly disintegrating
Willow.
At the Slayer and Watcher mini debriefing session, B. informs Giles about
'masked-commando-guy' and expresses her fears regarding Willow's fragile
emotional state.
Willow visits Oz in his room, he's throwing a few things in a bag. A few
gentle words, a brief hug, and he's gone. Out the door, and out of
Willow's life. Into his van ( a moments pause for second thoughts) then
drives off down the road.
Willow remains, alone in Oz's room, crying her eyes out.
Catherine Jemma 10 March y2k
I have two reviews for you. No I didn't rush them either. I did one last
night when there was crap on tv and another this morning.
It will be about a week before I send you more reviews (Angel 1.06
onwards). I've got lots of chores to do tomorrow before going to Perth for
a few days then upon my return I'll have chores to catch up on again.
As stated earlier these are close to being my favourite episodes so far.
Although I think that honour is currently held by eps 4.09 Something Blue
and 4.10 Hush and A1.10 Parting Gifts
Buffy ep 4.07 The Initiative
RILEY and his tablemates are scoping out the talent in the cafetaria. A
blonde beauty attracts their attention. But what a klutz ! Poor ol' Buffy
manages to break every dispenser she touches, and then spill all her food
before making it safely back to a table.
SPIKE meanwhile is having an EVEN WORSE day. He regains consciousness
lying on the floor of a tiny all white prison cell. Measuring less than 3
metres square, and devoid of any internal fitments or furnishings, the
front face of the cell is safety-glass, and when he tries to break through,
Spike gets knocked for a six by an electric shock. White coated
technicians can be seen occasionally in the corridor outside the cell. The
large outer room seems to contain at least 20 (maybe more) cells, each with
a single vampire or demon trapped inside.
Buffy drops 'round to Giles' place, to inform him that patrol duties will
fall to him and Xander that night, because Buff's taking Willow (she who is
the Oz-less depressed black hole of the universe) to a party.
A trapdoor in the ceiling of the cell opens and a plastic sachet of blood
drops through. Spike's about to consume it when a vampire in a
neighbouring cell shouts a warning to him that it's drugged.
The lecture den of she-who-roars-like-a-lion (Professor Maggie Walsh), will
it seems, be without Daniel (Osborne) for ever more. B. has a few choice
words to say on the matter.
Giles is with Xander in his basement apartment, getting their weapons ready
for that night's patrol. There is some concern though, about whether or
not the fruit punch is upto the required standard.
Parker the Poophead is bigmouthing (and badmouthing) his conquest of Buffy.
Riley knocks him out cold with one punch. Riley seeks out Buffy in order
to ask her out. Willow's alone in their room, so Riley pumps her for info
that'll get him in good with Buff.
Two technicians in white labcoats remove an unconscious Spike from his
cell. He's only faking though, and gets the better of them, stealing an
electronic swipecard from one of them, which enables him to escape the
underground prison/laboratory facility. Spike returns to his old lair.
Harmony seems cold at first but within moments they're engaged in the
horizontal tango together. Buffy and Willow attend the party going on at
Riley's fraternity house. Riley tries to engage Buffy in conversation but
he's lost for words.
Xander, patrolling alone, comes across Harmony amongst a thicket of bushes,
doing the all-men-are-bastards-let's-burn-all-their-stuff trick. Xander
"the para-slayer" Harris takes on Harmony "Vampire-throat-ripper" Kendall
in a no-holds-barred fight. Stalemated at about the same stage as two 7
year old girls at a Sunday School picnic, they decide to call it quits and
mutually agree to back off and go their seperate ways. It came up in
conversation that Spike didn't even spend one full night back in Harmony's
arms, before zooming off to kill The Slayer. Xander's shocked to hear that
Spike is back in town, and out for Buffy's blood.
Riley has only just started a conversation with Buffy when Xander arrives
and makes an excuse to drag her away. Riley and a couple of his fraternity
housemates later head downstairs. Downstairs of their Frat-house is a huge
underground prison/laboratory complex. Special Agent Riley Finn is given
his orders. "Hostile # 17 has escaped !" So he and a number of other men,
all dressed in military garb, and going about equipped accordingly, leave
to search. Live capture is preferable, they're told, but staking is
permitted if necessary.
Buffy's patrolling in search of Spike is "compromising" the area of campus
that Agent Finn's troop wants to search. Riley discards his army kit and
"happens" across Buff. They then try to out-talk each other into making
the 'other' one return to their room. A scream is heard in the distance
and they both run off, in different directions.
Spike meanwhile has traced which dorm-room Buffy is registered in.
Knocking softly at the door, he's invited in by the half-asleep Willow.
Spike's looking forward to having a suckfest on Willow's neck, however he
is unable to perform. Even when they take a break for a while, and then
Willow tries offering gentle words of encouragement, it's all to no avail.
Willow's despondant. Shattered even. She's not even good enough tto be
vampire tucker. Does he want to fang only with Buffy and won't accept a
second choice Willow ? NO ! Spike assures her, he'd happily drain her dry
in a heartbeat, if he could. Willow makes a run for the door but the
lights go out and the door is locked. The military type guys have tracked
Spike down, and activated some security over-ride that blacks out the whole
dorm and locks all the doors. The Military guys make their way to Willow's
room and bust the door in. A fight ensues in the near pitch darkness, the
military guys having the benefit of nightvision glasses. The fight gets
even more confused when Buffy arrives and discharges an incendary flare,
temporarily blinding the military types. Spike manages to escape as Buffy
gets sidetracked fighting the military guys, before they beat their hasty
retreat.
The next day Riley and Buffy have a casual chat, while out walking oncampus
together. The previous night's action in the dormitory is put down to
being a fraternity stunt.
Review by Catherine Jemma 12 March y2k
Above this line for publication. OK Rebecca I'm all typed out for today
(It's taken over an hour to type this). So although it's already
handwritten you'll have to wait for tomorrow's logon for the next review,
ok.
OK here's today's review. Next reviews expect in about a week, ok.
Buffy ep 4.08 "Pangs"
Buffy accosts a vamp one dark night, and dusts him in 30 seconds flat. But
something's troubling her, a vibe, a feeling in the air. What we see (but
B. doesn't) is Angel lurking in the shrubbery, keeping an eye on his lil
ol' Buff.
Buffy, Willow and Anya are watching the groundbreaking ceremony for a new
university building. Xander's got a job weilding a shovel. Anya's come to
watch Xander's body muscles ripple and his skin gleam with beads of sweat.
She's imagining having sex with him "Right Now !" and isn't afraid to tell
everybody. The Professer making a speech waffles on about "our new
cultural center", "thanksgiving day" and "the melting pot", that has formed
modern (United States of) America. Willow's in wild disagreement though.
Her take on the situation is a bunch of invaders wiping out the original
inhabitants and taking over the land.
Xander and the work crew have only just started to dig when the ground
underneath them gives way. The "X"-man falls several metres into the
buried remains of an old church. He's unhurt though and is soon rescued.
It turns out to be the old SunnyDale Mission. Lost since an earthquake in
the early 1800's.
Buffy's mum's away, and Willow's mum refuses to have any part in
Thanksgiving Day festivities. So the girls put their heads together and
decide to organise their own Thanksgiving together. Willow's really keen
on NOT-inviting Anya (just 'cause Anyanka tried to get Willow eaten by a
vampire once) but Buffy says that if Xander comes then she'll be at his
side too. Everyone needs a home to go to.
Spike's staggering 'round in a bad way. He hasn't fed for yonks. The
military types are still cruisin' lookin' to give him a bruisin'. Xander
fails to make it to his work on day two. Anya finds him in his basement
apartment as sick as a dog. She removes his clothes and puts him to bed.
The Professor lady from the groundbreaking (who's name escapes me) is on
the phone, construction of the new building has been suspended while
investigations and study of the ruins of the old SunnyDale Mission takes
place. As the lady Prof hangs up the phone, her day is ruined, for the
rest of her life, by an "Indian" warrior bearing a stone knife and one
helluva bad attitude.
Will' and Buff sneak in and investigate the room where the lady was
lacerated. They notice that an exhibit is missing from a glass display
case. A Native American artifact, a stone knife.
Buffy's turned up at Giles' with bagloads of ingredients and tells Giles
what she's found out so far, about the Professor's murder. She leaves
Giles' place after funny vibes go through her again. After she's gone
Angel comes out of hiding in a backroom, he and Giles discuss what unusual
danger Buffy may be unwittingly about to face.
Willow and Buffy are chasing down some last minute ingredients (because
Buffy wants the Thanksgiving dinner to be as authentic and complete as
possible). Riley happens by and Willow slopes off so's he and B. can make
eyes at each other. Angel grabs Willow in the coffee shop. He's big on
dire warnings but pretty scant on the details. Meanwhile Riley refuses
Buff's invitation to her thanksgiving dinner, he tells her he's got a last
minute flight home to Iowa ("that's one of the ones in the middle, right
?") to spend Thanksgiving with his family. As he says "Home's the place
that when you have to go there, they have to take you in".
Unfortuunately for Spike, Harmony hasn't heard that saying. She's been
busy reading contempary feminist literature. Even though Spike's at
death's door, she doesn't want him back at hers. He halfway manages to
seduce her, before she comes at him with a wooden stake. He staggers away.
Spike's shattered, she wouldn't even rustle him up someone to eat.
Buffy seeks out an old Catholic priest who she hopes has information on the
history of the original SunnyDale Mission. The priest refuses to help her
though. On account of him being dead and rather cut up about the whole
thing. Buff takes on a Native American Warrior guy, whom she busted doin'
the dirty on the poor padre'. He transforms into animal incarnation and
wings it.
Back at Giles' place preparations for the dinner are going on swimmingly,
when comes a gentle knock upon his door. It's Willow with history
textbooks and EVEN MORE ingredients (slaying must be hungry work). Will's
found out that the old mission building was used to confine 'Indians'
before the white settlers butchered them all. Giles and Willow have a full
on blue over how to deal with their Native American Spirit Warrior menace.
A second knock at the door, and it's Anya there, propping up Xander The
Dreadfully Sick.
Meanwhile Angry Spirit Warrior Guy steals a bunch of ancient weapons. He
does a spell to summon forth a bunch of his yobbo mates.
At Giles' a huge argument regarding what to do about the Native Warrior
Spirit Vengeance Guy is underway, when there's a THIRD knock at the door.
Buffy opens the door. Aparently nobody's there. Suddenly Spike leaps into
the doorway, cowering from the Sun's rays under a smoking blanket. Giles
hands Buff a nice sharp stake. Spike's beggin' 'em for an invitation
inside. Willow assures them all that Spike is now thoroughly impotent. A
truce is undertaken whereupon Spike is invited inside and tied up, in
return he promises to tell them all he knows about the local soldier boys
that they keep running into. The slayerettes are still arguing about how
to deal with the spirit warrior menace. Spike sums up in a nutshell, in 30
seconds flat, Southern Californian history. (Well he's had a hundred years
to think about it).
Willow and Anya-Xander go to warn the college Dean that he may be the next
one in line for the chop. While they're away a native warrior raiding
party has Giles' place under armed attack. The three slayerettes race back
to Giles'. Their best efforts don't help out the fight much though until
Angel arrives and takes care of a few of the bad guys. Buffy's busy
fighting for her life inside the house so never sees Angel outside taking
care of the mobs of badguys out there. Eventually Buffy manages to kill
the chief spirit warrior guy, using his own ceremonial knife. All the
other spirit warriors instantly dissappear.
Everyone has a big feed of Thanksgiving dinner, (except of course Spike who
sits tied up at an empty place setting, at their table). Xander lets the
cat out of the bag over Angel (which ultimately becomes the cause behind
the crossover episode Angel 1.08).
Review by Catherine Jemma 14 March y2k
posted by Catherine Jemma at 11:11 am
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