Halting Hex

Another from the "Red Room" photoshoot, seen above: Flirty-flirty, Slayer.

Quite possibly. But Giles is on Detonator Duty and if he has to run back and forth from leading the bowmen to being in position to administer the final kibosh when Dickie goes "Well, gosh!", that increases the possibility of something going wrong, even if it's as simple as tripping over a root. Far simpler for Giles to take his post and leave the bowmen to Xander. To quote Tweed -Boy himself (in Owen is So Dreamy!), "it should simply be 'Plunge and Move On'". Best to stick to the plan.

Continuing from the above, we all recall the famous "Three Musketeers" photo, seen several times through the seasons. (Inca Mummy Girl, Hallowe'en, Dead Man's Party, and Primeval, at least.) More than one picture was used, and I don't think this was either of them, just the trio all smiles between takes: Well, by S6, S2 was loooong gone, as I've been known to lament. But clearly somebody at the time of the "Xander and the girls" pic (in the previous post) at least recalled how iconic the "Three Musketeers" pic was, as they shot this nodding homage, as well: Nice to know that the past wasn't as forgotten by the cast as the scripts seemed to make it seem. Aww.

Well, as I've noted, the idea that we may be discovering that Xander is in love with Buffy is only meant to be a red herring, after all. There's no need to apply it to the rest of the episode once it has proven false. Xander's only been the same room as Drusilla for a few seconds, after all. (And clearly the gen-pop's reactions to Xander are specifically not intended to show a uniform level of pre-existing Xander-lust. [And not only because the lunch lady is the only one wearing a uniform, lol.] Jenny shows in the episode that she is clearly in love with Giles, and suffering from his rejection. [One hopes this won't be an issue all season long. Poor Jenny!] And Buffy clearly isn't 100% over Angel yet. [Alas.]) Also, Buffy specifically notes that Willow's feelings are different from those of any passing Katie: Aww. Say, is this the first time that it has been specified that Willow LOVES Xander? It's certainly been implied, from Teacher's Pet to The Pack to I Robot, You Catfish and Xander has said that he loves Willow twice (in the sign language at the end of The Pack and in Inca Mummy Girl), albeit not in the "I think about her lips so much" kind of way…but is this a new level of canon for Willow-loves-Xander? Aw, again. (Better shoot your shot then, Xan. Wouldn't want Hairball the Guitarist to start "burying his bone", ahem. As nice of a consolation prize as CC may be.) Speaking of Willow and love…well, almost…here's the sign Alyson held up on KTLA (the WB affiliate in Los Angeles)'s morning show the day after SMG put her "I miss you, Aly" sign at the end of her Saturday Night Live hosting gig that week So, Alyson was up at 1.00 AM Pacific Time (SNL airs on delay for the West Coast), saw Sarah's sign, and had time to make sign of her own, get some sleep, get to the KTLA studios, go through make-up and go on air, in a grand total of 6.52 from sign to sign? Impressive! (Or "cocaine is a wonderful drug", possibly. But I haven't heard that about Aly.)

No surprise that Zap2It's house photog thought that Emma (and her shirt) should be photographed out in the sunlight, as she's looking…healthy: And the season may have been a rough one for fans of the Xan-Man, but Nick apparently has the Great Roofie Spirit bringing him dates: Nice pose by Amber, there. I guess even at this point, she knew where Tara's plot was going, huh?

So apparently the exterior scenes for this were shot Torrance H.S. Here's our Slay Gal shimmying out of her trailer at sundown for good night's worth of kicking and flipping. (No, I don't know why Buffy doesn't have a stake, but apparently she doesn't need one.)

Hardly a top episode (it's what made David Hines quit reviewing the series), but at least Smidge and Nicky took a moment to chill with acting history: Jack Donner (Glory's Cleric), the only actor to guest-star on both the original Star Trek and BtVS. RIP, Jack (1928-2019).

Apparently this was a whole photoshoot: Different girl, you'll note. It appears that the Rory-Mobile is bringing ALL the cheerleaders to Xander's yard, uh-huh!

Another "behind the scenes" shot, from this episode: Yummy!

We don't have a "Cast Appearances in Real Life" thread as TWoP did once upon a time, but I suppose if a cast member is reported by the media as being at an event, the qualifies as "in the Media", right? So, let's reminisce: December 10, 1998. Sarah and Alyson attend the premiere of Playing by Heart. March 15, 1998. Our ladies attend the Paley Center's panel on the show.

XANDER: And what did we learn about senior guys picking up freshmen girls? BUFFY (booming voice, since she's BIG): SQUISHY! XANDER: Good, just so we're clear. Editorial Note: The Death Penalty is always wrong (for humans). Even if it's Parker [/editorial]

Behind-the-scenes shots of this eps Bangel scene, from Fanpop as referenced elsewhere: Is Buffy really dreaming about her and Angel doing a dance routine? That would be a different kind of episode. (Okay, it's probably just SMG using David's bulk as a wind-break. Don't mind me.) "Look, David, we made them laugh!"

I found a decent-sized amount of behind-the-scenes pics for the series (or "bts at BtVS") on Fanpop, and here's one that's relevant to this episode: Joan and Red, fighting the monsters together. Aww.

Not originally, as Dawn was intended to be 11-years old. Sarah, it seems, used her pending renegotiations to flex her casting muscles a bit and rescue Michelle from SMG's old All My Children haunts. By season's end, a Dawn story might have been more credible, but Trachtenberg (b. October 13, 1985) was still only 15, and the California laws against over-working underage actors were still in play, even as when they had taken a 17-year-old Katie Holmes out the running for playing Buffy, back in 1996. Eliza Dushku was able to file for legal emancipation in Season 3 so that she could work longer hours, but that was for a few months at most. (Eliza, b December 30, 1980, turned 18 between the filming of The Zeppo and Bad Girls. Which may be part of the reason we saw more of Faith in the back half of S3, although K. Todd Freeman leaving to take the role in Grosse Pointe Blank certainly factored into storyline decisions as well.) A not-yet-16 Michelle would have stood very little chance, IMO. From a profile of Iain Armitage (Young Sheldon): I guess Iain can work around this in a sitcom. but I can't imagine MT fitting a lead drama role into such a schedule.

Yes, I could have done an Italian version based on Buffy's last-known (non-comics) address, but this is where my mind went. And I think it's funnier, anyhow. Sorry! This was going to be a nice wholsesome joke about Wiffy living the angst-free life of a "fluff" fanfic… …but then I remembered that the laundry scene is actually in that specific episode. And, much like Angel, I've always been weak…

Well, sometimes it is wise to take action. See Love Canal, for example. And the jury is still out on E. Palestine OH, but I'd be looking to relocate, personally.

(Wow, 2020 was aways ago, huh? ^ ) Nothing radically new going on; I only wanted to complain about the latest forum revamp, which has ads all over the page. I guess I could turn an ad-blocker on and see if that helps, but I know that causes other iss-yews. Sigh.

That SMG/JLH pic in the Calendar thread had me checking out other vintage Sarah snaps and look at this: UPN TV Critics event, July 16 2001. Given how badly the "cast pics" had been photoshopped since S3, it's nice to see the gang actually together. Aly looks so lovely…and MT is showing why they had to work to hide her development. 😉 (If that doesn't bring Joe out of lurkdom, idk what will.)

"See, put Sarah in heels and keep Aly in flats and they're the same height. Thus making the kissing scenes easier more aesthetically balanced." (In my defense, that is an I Robot, You Jane pic.) (

Happy CC day!! Love the attitude in that Malibu Shores promo shot. I've got a pre-BtVS shot as well: UPN! Turn it UP!! Ahem. The Lying Game promo. My forever Queen!

I posit the idea is that once Dawn is a candidate, she's bound to be called eventually. And then it's not merely run-of the-mill mortal danger, but Certain Death. (Recall, Big Sis is on life #3 at this point. That's not what happens, generally speaking.) Of course, this all falls to the ground if there are plenty of Potentials who never get the Call. We only recently had Kennedy say she thought she was too old (at 19), so who's to say Dawn couldn't dodge the job, too? That said, the Monks did ensure that the gang acts over-protectively about Precious Dawnie, so perhaps this is only that spell doing its thing. And, face it, the Summers girls have never been shy about their ideas of their own importance, so that may well have rubbed off on those around them.

Five consecutive scenes of Bleach-brain whingeing on about Drusilla, I remind you. Couldn't Vebber have had the vamp vamp about something else, if only to change things up a bit?

It is a shame that Felicia doesn't appear to have advanced much over the past decade; I thought she had stardom written all over her. **************** On an annual OT from upthread, Turner Classic is making us wait for this year's showing of 1776, but it's coming. 10:45 pm ET, 7:45 Pacific, 03:45 GMT. (I suppose they're right to project limited interest abroad.) Tune and/or set those DVRs, if interested.

Yes, I know all the standard group pics, with the girls in their NKAB-wear. However, it is always cool to find ones I hadn't seen before, like that BX shot I posted a while back. As for yours, I think the one in the alternate outfits is new to me. I guess Susanna brought an entire wardrobe rack to the shoot, huh? Or perhaps they went back for another shoot while filming IRYJ, as seen by Buffy's LBD and Xander with a shirt that is bound to end as a grease-rag (and arguably can skip right to that destination, now). That would explain CC's absence, as Cordelia isn't in that ep.

Ah, interesting. I didn't hear about the WB having those sort of alliances with USA, but things can happen.