S02.E18: Killed By Death

[Mya Stone]

 

While hospitalized with a severe case of the flu, Buffy battles a demon that sucks the life out of sick children.

 

Not much to say here, except this demon reminds me of a mixture of the Gentlemen and that nasty demon from "Same Time, Same Place" that eats strips of skin. (shudder) 

Bits I liked: the drawings the kids made of Buffy saving them

 

Bits I didn't like: uh, just about everything else 

[Loandbehold]

It did have some great Cordelia and, especially, Cordelia-Giles moments. I found that in a lot of what I consider poorer episodes, Cordelia had some moments that really stood out, maybe because the rest of the episodes are just not good. Still, her questioning Giles about what every demon does will never not amuse me. Plus, telling Xander to watch her ass, well, one must always listen to Queen C.

[Halting Hex]

I was skimming a collection of reviews and I realized that "Lysette", the girl that Cordelia cites as having the botched plastic surgery in this episode, is the same name as a character in 

Spoiler

The Zeppo; she's the girl impressed by Uncle Rory's '57 Chevy Bel Air.

Now, there's no reason that there couldn't be two girls named "Lysette" in town, and the actress in the latter episode 

Spoiler

Whitney Dylan

looks as though she might have had her nose thinned but doesn't look horrific, IMO, but it does amuse me to think that it could be the same "Lysette", after all.   Just another case of "we don't have a whole lot of town, actually", I'd say.

ETA:  I guess I should come out with a more full-throated defense of the episode rather than just retreating into trivia, but I think there are wonderful character moments for everyone, from "Power Girl" Buffy to "No more frogs!" Willow and her faux-astonishment.  And Cordelia's interrogation of Don the Security Guard (Willie Garson) is a classic.

"'Fear is for the Weak', that's my motto!  Or 'Live in the Now'.  I haven't decided yet."  Oh, Don, make up your mind, would you?  Sigh…

Edited June 7, 2018 by Halting Hex

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎04‎/‎08‎/‎2014 at 7:57 PM, Mya Stone said:

 

Not much to say here, except this demon reminds me of a mixture of the Gentlemen and that nasty demon from "Same Time, Same Place" that eats strips of skin. (shudder) 

Bits I liked: the drawings the kids made of Buffy saving them

 

Bits I didn't like: uh, just about everything else 

Apparently he was supposed to be Freddy Kreuger. Read a great fanfic once where Freddy has killed Buffy but then wakes up strapped to his bed in the mental hospital he's been in ever since he was torched. But as his nurse walks away we realise it's actually Buffy. 

You didn't even like Xander's face off with Angelus?

On ‎04‎/‎08‎/‎2014 at 8:52 PM, Loandbehold said:

It did have some great Cordelia and, especially, Cordelia-Giles moments. I found that in a lot of what I consider poorer episodes, Cordelia had some moments that really stood out, maybe because the rest of the episodes are just not good. Still, her questioning Giles about what every demon does will never not amuse me. Plus, telling Xander to watch her ass, well, one must always listen to Queen C.

Yeah, you could easily have left CC out of this ep but actually she's one of the highlights of the show. 

 

On ‎07‎/‎06‎/‎2018 at 11:49 PM, Halting Hex said:

I was skimming a collection of reviews and I realized that "Lysette", the girl that Cordelia cites as having the botched plastic surgery in this episode, is the same name as a character in 

  Hide contents

The Zeppo; she's the girl impressed by Uncle Rory's '57 Chevy Bel Air.

Now, there's no reason that there couldn't be two girls named "Lysette" in town, and the actress in the latter episode 

  Hide contents

Whitney Dylan

looks as though she might have had her nose thinned but doesn't look horrific, IMO, but it does amuse me to think that it could be the same "Lysette", after all.   Just another case of "we don't have a whole lot of town, actually", I'd say.

ETA:  I guess I should come out with a more full-throated defense of the episode rather than just retreating into trivia, but I think there are wonderful character moments for everyone, from "Power Girl" Buffy to "No more frogs!" Willow and her faux-astonishment.  And Cordelia's interrogation of Don the Security Guard (Willie Garson) is a classic.

"'Fear is for the Weak', that's my motto!  Or 'Live in the Now'.  I haven't decided yet."  Oh, Don, make up your mind, would you?  Sigh…

I'd love that to be true, so nice when they have continuity of characters. I guess after this Don gives up the security guard business and move to NY to be Carrie's best friend?

On ‎08‎/‎06‎/‎2018 at 12:06 AM, nosleepforme said:

My favorite Cordelia line is actually in this episode when she says "Buffy, this is serious. Half the school is out with this flu and we're all concerned with how gross you look." To which Buffy replies with: "I'm touched".

 

Generally though, this is a fun MOTW-episode, a little bit removed from the rest of the series since it is set mostly in the hospital and since Buffy's dead cousin is quickly forgotten again (just like Jesse!), but I thought at least Der Kindestod was a deliciously creepy villain. I think in terms of looks, he ranks second in creepiness right after the Gentlemen.

Yeah, you'd have liked Buffy to call Aunt Arlene or something. I really liked how Joyce delivers the story of Celia to Giles, more interesting when you consider the future;

Spoiler

Buffy/Dawn relationship

Killed by death

The Good; Very creepily shot and the central concept is just terrifying. Love the scoobs at the end and the kids drawing. Cordy's funny scene with the security guard, Cordy 'helping' Giles with research. Best of all though is Xander's Dirty Harry style confrontation with Angelus.

The Bad; Not much

Best line; Angelus; "If I chose to walk in there do you think for one moment you could stop me?" Xander; "Maybe I couldn't. Maybe those orderlies couldn't. Or that security guard. Or those cops. But I'm kinda curious to find out..." (the coolest Xander moment ever!)

Knocked out; yep, Buffy

Questions and observations; Willie Garson is great as the security guard, he also plays Carrie's friend Stanford in Sex and the City (which SMG guest stars in). Love Cordy's high-heels and miniskirt. Buffy passes out. Willow's frog fear re-occurs. You wonder if Buffy had taken the concentrated flu virus would it have killed her, she's pretty tough? Or once again is Buffy saved by her friends and family where any other Slayer would have died. Slayer healing again.

Obvious similarity to Nightmare on Elm Street although I also think the demon rather resembles Kid Rock? (anyone else read the fanfic where Freddy Kreuger kills Anya and Buffy only in the follow up story for him to wake up strapped to the bed in a mental hospital where he's been from the first night he was torched. But as his nurse walks away you realise she's actually Buffy?)

The first alternate Buffy played by Mimi Paley. She's OK but not as good as the little girl we'll see in season 5. Buffy's had a cousin called Celia, Aunt Arlene's daughter? Even as a kid Buffy played at being a superhero and attracted the supernatural. Again, isn't Joyce a bit suspicious about Giles' turning up at Buffy's bedside? Love the bit about the Scoobs playing doctor (anyone else share Cordy's scepticism about Buffy's denials?).

10/10 up to the standard of late Buffy season 2 and you can't give much higher praise than that

[Halting Hex]

20 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

I guess after this Don gives up the security guard business and move to NY to be Carrie's best friend?

Possibly.  Although Stanford doesn't seem the type to appreciate Cordy the way that Don does.

20 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Buffy's had a cousin called Celia, Aunt Arlene's daughter?

Could be.  But we know Buffy has at least one other aunt (Aunt Lolly, mentioned in a cut scene from Angel), so Celia could have been anybody's daughter.

20 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Even as a kid Buffy played at being a superhero and attracted the supernatural.

"It's kind of a destiny thing."  Aw, Power Girl.

20 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Again, isn't Joyce a bit suspicious about Giles' turning up at Buffy's bedside?

Nah, she's too busy stepping over Jenny's corpse to hit on the newly-single.  "Oh, your girlfriend died, you big strong man?  How awful for you!  I know what it's like to be alone, you know…"  The ladies from Desperate Housewives wouldn't have been on his scent any quicker.

20 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

once again is Buffy saved by her friends and family where any other Slayer would have died.

"A Slayer with family and friends.  That sure as hell wasn't in the brochure."  One of the few times when Spike wasn't speaking out of his ass.  Well noted, bleach boy.

20 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

10/10 up to the standard of late Buffy season 2 and you can't give much higher praise than that

Absolutely blasted by a large segment of the fandom at the time, because it was seen as a let-down from Passion (and it was the last episode before a two-month wait) and because of the obvious, er, "homage" to Freddy Krueger.  (Always seemed a silly objection, IMO:  besides the vampires, the show had already done witchcraft and Frankenstein and Mummy and parasite and werewolf episodes 

Spoiler

with ghosts, Black Lagoon, zombies and Jekyll/Hyde right around the corner

…what's wrong with elevating Freddy to that pantheon?  Nothing I can see.)  But it's an excellent ensemble piece, suffering only because there's not enough Angel, who IMO needs to come back to menace Buffy while she's trying to save the kids.  (This was an inventoried script, written before Angel went evil; in the original version, Buffy collapses on patrol and Angel takes her to the hospital, then isn't seen until the tag because All.That.Blood is just too tempting for him to be around.  Lol, Wussy Angel, too sweet.)  The "White Knight" scene was an insert, likely written by Joss (Batali and DesHotel, the credited writers, had moved on by then), and I guess he didn't feel like bothering to squeeze in one more Angel scene.  But IMO the story needed it.

So I dock it a little for that and a little bit because Cousin Celia is a silly plot-contrivance (did Buffy really need a personal reason from her past to save sick kids? Power Girl wouldn't…), but it's still a favorite.

"Flowers for milady."  "I believe they're called balloons."  "Yeah, well, plant them in water; maybe they'll grow."

"Fine.  Watch my back."  (And he does!)

"Hanging on every 'ew'."

(with "shock" and "wonder") "No more frogs…"

I swear, I love them all so much.  Happy sigh.

Edited June 24, 2018 by Halting Hex

[Joe Hellandback]

16 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Possibly.  Although Stanford doesn't seem the type to appreciate Cordy the way that Don does.

Could be.  But we know Buffy has at least one other aunt (Aunt Lolly, mentioned in a cut scene from Angel), so Celia could have been anybody's daughter.

"It's kind of a destiny thing."  Aw, Power Girl.

Nah, she's too busy stepping over Jenny's corpse to hit on the newly-single.  "Oh, your girlfriend died, you big strong man?  How awful for you!  I know what it's like to be alone, you know…"  The ladies from Desperate Housewives wouldn't have been on his scent any quicker.

"A Slayer with family and friends.  That sure as hell wasn't in the brochure."  One of the few times when Spike wasn't speaking out of his ass.  Well noted, bleach boy.

Absolutely blasted by a large segment of the fandom at the time, because it was seen as a let-down from Passion (and it was the last episode before a two-month wait) and because of the obvious, er, "homage" to Freddy Krueger.  (Always seemed a silly objection, IMO:  besides the vampires, the show had already done witchcraft and Frankenstein and Mummy and parasite and werewolf episodes 

  Hide contents

with ghosts, Black Lagoon, zombies and Jekyll/Hyde right around the corner

…what's wrong with elevating Freddy to that pantheon?  Nothing I can see.)  But it's an excellent ensemble piece, suffering only because there's not enough Angel, who IMO needs to come back to menace Buffy while she's trying to save the kids.  (This was an inventoried script, written before Angel went evil; in the original version, Buffy collapses on patrol and Angel takes her to the hospital, then isn't seen until the tag because All.That.Blood is just too tempting for him to be around.  Lol, Wussy Angel, too sweet.)  The "White Knight" scene was an insert, likely written by Joss (Batali and DesHotel, the credited writers, had moved on by then), and I guess he didn't feel like bothering to squeeze in one more Angel scene.  But IMO the story needed it.

So I dock it a little for that and a little bit because Cousin Celia is a silly plot-contrivance (did Buffy really need a personal reason from her past to save sick kids? Power Girl wouldn't…), but it's still a favorite.

"Flowers for milady."  "I believe they're called balloons."  "Yeah, well, plant them in water; maybe they'll grow."

"Fine.  Watch my back."  (And he does!)

"Hanging on every 'ew'."

(with "shock" and "wonder") "No more frogs…"

I swear, I love them all so much.  Happy sigh.

 

Always thought KS would make a great DH, read a few fics where the Summer's girls move to Wisteria Lane.

Spoiler

I don't think Joyce is putting the moves on Ripper just yet, wait a season. 

[lembergwatcher]

This episode reminds me of the discomfort or even panic attacks I often had upon entering the hospitals. My mom once told me I fell seriously ill back when I was a toddler, and had to spend some considerable amount of time in the hospital. The very sight of doctors or anyone wearing white coat could literally scare me shitless for years. So I kinda understand Buffy's panic after the Scoobs brought her in.

But I do like that ep anyway. Buffy was truly blessed to have someone like Xander and Willow in her life, and I very much like Cordelia in that episode (and that in itself is a rare thing, mind you). Xander Vs Angelus hospital scene continues to be one of my favorite Xander moments in the whole series. Pity, there was no one around to see that. Yes, Xander was scared, but he passed the test after all. If other Scoobies knew 'bout that incident, their treatment of White Knight would definitely change for the better.

Spoiler

Sadly, the writers turned Xander into such a cartoonish character in the following seasons (with occasional moments of former glory). To this day I cannot forgive Joss & Co for making a guy, who showed true perseverance in the face of a monster, look that miserable while listening to Cordy's senseless rantings, or going to Oz (!) for advice in The Zeppo.

One of the best X/W lines definitely:

Quote

Willow: Oh, yeah, I'm good at medical stuff since Xander and I used to play doctor all the time.

Xander: (chuckles) No, she's being literal. (gets a look from Cordelia) She used to have all these medical volumes, uh, and diagnosed me with stuff. I didn't have the heart to tell her she was playing it wrong.
Willow: (to Xander) Wrong? Why? (to Buffy) How did *you* play doctor?

Buffy: (evasively) I never have.

Also we can see no Oz in that ep, which itself is a great thing. Because this is one of final episodes of S.02 and post-Phases, the absence of plastic werewolf brings me real joy everytime I watch it. Therefore I can consider Killed by Death one of my favorite episodes in the season (if I were you, Xander, I would grab Willow and drag her down to the basement for some kissing/groping session. Cordelia? Cordelia who? She could flirt with that security guard anyway. And screw Oz too).

And the final moment in Buffy's room is soooo sweeeet. I totally love it when they end the eps showing the Three Musketeers spending time together.

Spoiler

Which, unfortunately, will become a rarity through the course of the subsequent seasons...

Edited September 19, 2018 by lembergwatcher

[Joe Hellandback]

1 hour ago, lembergwatcher said:

This episode reminds me of the discomfort or even panic attacks I often had upon entering the hospitals. My mom once told me I fell seriously ill back when I was a toddler, and had to spend some considerable amount of time in the hospital. The very sight of doctors or anyone wearing white coat could literally scare me shitless for years. So I kinda understand Buffy's panic after the Scoobs brought her in.

But I do like that ep anyway. Buffy was truly blessed to have someone like Xander and Willow in her life, and I very much like Cordelia in that episode (and that in itself is a rare thing, mind you). Xander Vs Angelus hospital scene continues to be one of my favorite Xander moments in the whole series. Pity, there was no one around to see that. Yes, Xander was scared, but he passed the test after all. If other Scoobies knew 'bout that incident, their treatment of White Knight would definitely change for the better.

  Hide contents

Sadly, the writers turned Xander into such a cartoonish character in the following seasons (with occasional moments of former glory). To this day I cannot forgive Joss & Co for making a guy, who showed true perseverance in the face of a monster, look that miserable while listening to Cordy's senseless rantings, or going to Oz (!) for advice in The Zeppo.

One of the best X/W lines definitely:

Also we can see no Oz in that ep, which itself is a great thing. Because this is one of final episodes of S.02 and post-Phases, the absence of plastic werewolf brings me real joy everytime I watch it. Therefore I can consider Killed by Death one of my favorite episodes in the season (if I were you, Xander, I would grab Willow and drag her down to the basement for some kissing/groping session. Cordelia? Cordelia who? She could flirt with that security guard anyway. And screw Oz too).

And the final moment in Buffy's room is soooo sweeeet. I totally love it when they end the eps showing the Three Musketeers spending time together.

  Hide contents

Which, unfortunately, will become a rarity through the course of the subsequent seasons...

Personally I think it makes it all the more noble of him, he doesn't seek to claim any credit for his bravery, Buffy's survival is reward enough. I'd have liked Oz here although hard to see what role he would have played? I think Jane Espenson actually comments on the fact that fans love the gang at the end in one commentary. 

[Halting Hex]

23 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

One of the best X/W lines definitely:

Quote

Willow: Oh, yeah, I'm good at medical stuff since Xander and I used to play doctor all the time.

Xander: (chuckles) No, she's being literal. (gets a look from Cordelia) She used to have all these medical volumes, uh, and diagnosed me with stuff. I didn't have the heart to tell her she was playing it wrong.
Willow: (to Xander) Wrong? Why? (to Buffy) How did *you* play doctor?

Buffy: (evasively) I never have.

The best part of all that is Cordelia's "yeah, surrrrre" raised eyebrow at Buffy's denial, IMO.  Somebody needs to write a Buffy/Cordy pornfic where Cordelia "teaches" Buffy how to do it.

("Somebody" of course meaning "me", but if I'd written all the ideas I'd ever had, there'd be a lot more bad fic out there.  And who wants that?  The only good thing would be a distinct lack of Spike, but even so.)

23 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

Xander Vs Angelus hospital scene continues to be one of my favorite Xander moments in the whole series.

Do you think "it must just eat you up that I got there first" was Angel cluing Xander in about Buffy's "birthday present"?  I mean, we see her essentially tell Jenny and then Giles gets hit with the "duh" clue, and Angel tells Joyce, and Buffy had already given Willow the "seizing is kind of inevitable" heads-up (and we know that Willow and Giles both know because of the conversation they're having while Buffy is explaining things to Joyce)…but did anyone explicitly say to Xander "you know how Angel lost his soul?  

Spoiler

I'll give you a hint, it wasn't crème brûlée.

" before this? I go back and forth on the issue, myself.

23 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

I totally love it when they end the eps showing the Three Musketeers spending time together.

Yeah, but even when they don't make with the dramatics, there's a tendency to emphasize romantic couples, rather than the friends, unfortunately.  I mean, I understand Joss wanting to insulate the Buffy/Angel heartbreak of Innocence and the Giles/Jenny heartbreak of Passion by putting two very heartwarming episodes in between, but it was still one W/O and one X/C.  We haven't had a proper B/W/X finish since When She Was Bad (and technically the last word there went to the Annoying One).

Spoiler

 

What do we have coming up?  Dead Man's Party (sorry, lemberg, no Xander, but the B/W zingfest still satisfies me), The Wish (they're only in the b/g; the tag is Cordy/Anya-centric) Gingerbread (again, just B/W, but still cute), Helpless (geez, even when Xander does get to be there, he's not exactly shown well…), Döppelgängland (okay, I'd start to be upset about missing Xander, but this tag is just perfect as is), Living Conditions (one of the few adequate parts of a very stupid episode; again no Xander, but it's rather dictated by the circumstances), Fear Itself (Giles and Anya are there, too, but it's still Scooby-rific), Beer Bad (Core Four, rather enjoying unconscious Parker), Pangs, kind of (you had to open your yap about Angel, huh, Xan?  See, this is why we don't invite you to the tags…), Doomed, kind of (I know, I know, Spike is there instead of Buffy, but we do get nice W/X bonding), and I'm not going think about the Dawnverse because I don't care.  So, not exactly a lot.  

Pleasantly surprised on behalf of my girls, but yeah, definitely sucks to be Xander.  Oh, well.

 

Edited September 20, 2018 by Halting Hex

[Joe Hellandback]

10 minutes ago, Halting Hex said:

The best part of all that is Cordelia's "yeah, surrrrre" raised eyebrow at Buffy's denial, IMO.  Somebody needs to write a Buffy/Cordy pornfic where Cordelia "teaches" Buffy how to do it.

("Somebody" of course meaning "me", but if I'd written all the ideas I'd ever had, there'd be a lot more bad fic out there.  And who wants that?  The only good thing would be a distinct lack of Spike, but even so.)

Do you think "it must just eat you up that I got there first" was Angel cluing Xander in about Buffy's "birthday present"?  I mean, we see her essentially tell Jenny and the Giles gets hit with the "duh" clue, and Angel tells Joyce, and Buffy had already given Willow the "seizing is kind of inevitable" heads-up…but did anyone explicitly say to Xander "you know how Angel lost his soul?  

  Hide contents

I'll give you a hint, it wasn't crème brûlée.

" before this? I go back and forth on the issue, myself.

Yeah, but even when they don't make with the dramatics, there's a tendency to emphasize romantic couples, rather than the friends, unfortunately.  I mean, I understand Joss wanting to insulate the Buffy/Angel heartbreak of Innocence and the Giles/Jenny heartbreak of Passion by putting two very heartwarming episodes in between, but it was still one W/O and one X/C.  We haven't had a proper B/W/X finish since When She Was Bad (and technically the last word there went to the Annoying One).

  Hide contents

 

What do we have coming up?  Dead Man's Party (sorry, lemberg, no Xander, but the B/W zingfest still satisfies me), The Wish (they're only in the b/g; the tag is Cordy/Anya-centric) Gingerbread (again, just B/W, but still cute), Helpless (geez, even when Xander does get to be there, he's not exactly shown well…), Döppelgängland (okay, I'd start to be upset about missing Xander, but this tag is just perfect as is), Living Conditions (one of the few adequate parts of a very stupid episode; again no Xander, but it's rather dictated by the circumstances), Fear Itself (Giles and Anya are there, too, but it's still Scooby-rific), Beer Bad (Core Four, rather enjoying unconscious Parker), Pangs, kind of (you had to open your yap about Angel, huh, Xan?  See, this is why we don't invite you to the tags…), Doomed, kind of (I know, I know, Spike is there instead of Buffy, but we do get nice W/X bonding), and I'm not going think about the Dawnverse because I don't care.  So, not exactly a lot.  

Pleasantly surprised on behalf of my girls, but yeah, definitely sucks to be Xander.  Oh, well.

 

In regards to fic, that's true of us all. 

[lembergwatcher]

Spoiler

3 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Pleasantly surprised on behalf of my girls, but yeah, definitely sucks to be Xa

I wouldn't mind seeing no Xander in those scenes of the aforementioned eps if the writers allowed the only male musketeer to have some good friends of his own and therefore have his own moments with someone who cared (since he obviously wasn't special enough to share that sappy B/W bonding anymore). It always irritated me that the writers decided only Willow deserved to have a new best friend to share special moments with. Therefore I say: writers, you suck. And no matter how cute all those B/W sugary scenes could be, I still say: writers, you suck...

And btw all those things you've mentioned are among the reasons why I hate Xordelia with a passion, because that relationship was exactly what ostracized Xander from his only friends eventually... Sigh...

 

3 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Do you think "it must just eat you up that I got there first" was Angel cluing Xander in about Buffy's "birthday present"?

That thought crossed my mind time after time. Though it's obvious (for me, at least) that Xander totally missed the hint at that particular moment...

[Halting Hex]

Somebody wrote that they were wondering if "flowers for m'lady" was improvised, since perhaps the script had called for actual flowers and they just couldn't find any?  I was dubious (where would the joke be, then?), so I went to the script and found that it was all as written.  (There were some clunker lines that got cut, such as a Willow line about Buffy trying to use Yoo-Hoo to rehydrate that I'm glad was skipped, but the B/X exchange is all there.)

What's not there?  Giles giving Buffy the grapes after he eyerolls at Cordelia for being "out of the loop" on gifts.  Somebody realized that it made no sense for Rupert to be all snobby and "It's traditional among…people" if he hadn't brought anything, so they shoved something from the craft services table into Tony Head's hands and let Giles use that.  Which always struck me as strange, since a half-eaten bag of grapes seems like the worst gift ever in these circumstances…we've just seen that Buffy's immune system is compromised (that's how she got the flu in the first place), what if Giles was breathing some bacteria all over the leftovers he's pawning off on her?  A fresh fruit arrangement would be one thing…the part of the bag that Giles hasn't finished is quite another.

But now I see that it's less "Giles is being a cheap asshole" and more "the show is covering for a script hole", so that's better.  Still not fond of his scoring off of Cordy given the poor quality of his own offerings, though.

[Halting Hex]

I had this up in the comments of somebody's YT review, and there's no reason we shouldn't have it here, too.  I mean, it is Motörhead's second-most-famous song, after all. (Behind only "The Ace of Spades".)  From Düsseldorf, 2004:

Strange that the late Lemmy Kilmeister insisted on always having the mic set up so high that he had to tilt his head to sing into it.  I guess his throat opened up better at that angle or something?  But it still seems odd, IMO.

[lembergwatcher]

There was a tendency to name some episodes of Buffy after famous and not so famous rock & pop songs.

Spoiler

Venom (Teacher's Pet), Iron Maiden (Revelations), Faith No More (Helpless), Donna Summer (Bad Girls), Joe South (Hush), The Who (Who Are You), Elton John (Restless), AC/DC (Hell's Bells), The Police (Bring On the Night).

Btw, this episode made me realize what the Slayer stamina is. Buffy is thrown off the pier and falls into cold water, then gets wet in the pouring rain while trying to eascape from Spike's henchmen and shags with Angel's cold dead body afterwards (Surprise). Then she gets soaked in the mall while fighting her former boyfriend (Innocence). Yet it took more than a month for Buffy to catch a flu and not pneumonia...

[Halting Hex]

I tend not to credit the band for "inspiration" if the title is a familiar phrase that's just been used by any number of artists.  So for me it's this and

Spoiler

Dead Man's Party (Oingo Boingo) and Hell's Bells

that I'm truly sure of.  I mean, otherwise, you could credit

Spoiler

The Carpenters for Superstar

and I'm rather skeptical of that one, for sure.

Edited July 1, 2019 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

Quote

JOYCE:  I mean, [Buffy] never gets sick.

Never, Joyce? Never?  I could see that Buffy has an exceptionally-strong constitution (as discussed upthread), but are you saying that she was always resistant to illness and viruses, even before her Slayer powers manifested?

Is this another sign that Buffy was destined for her role?  Just as how "Power Girl" showed that Buffy was always drawn to being the hero she describes herself as being here?  Are these indicators of some sort of Latent Slayerness that can actually be detected, as apparently was the case for Kendra (whose family sent her to Sam Zabuto years before her calling)?  Interesting.

****************************

As noted elsewhere, Georgia Corsby's boyfriend, Aaron (Mutter? Matten? I forget) esteems Joyce Summers as little as I do.  (During their Passion vid, he said he wished Angel had killed Joyce rather than Jenny.)  This may distress Joe, but I always enjoy that sort of thing, as you know.  And Aaron's back at it, this time, so let's:

Quote

At the hospital, the Scoobs are nervously awaiting news on Buffy's condition.  Joyce enters.

AARON:  Giles gets there before Buffy's mum, of course.

Nicely-spotted!  To be fair, perhaps the gallery's phone line was busy or Cordelia (who had Joyce-notification duty) had trouble inventing an explanation, but still.  It does appear that Giles has been there for a fair patch of time before Joyce shows.

Quote

JOYCE:  If there's anything I can do, you big, strong, sexy man…

Aaron smirks and turns to Georgia, flicking his eyebrows in a flirty manner.  Georgia giggles.

I was ecstatic to see someone else notice that Joyce is basically hitting on Giles here.  I've always hated that.

Quote

AARON (speculatively):  [Will Giles be] Buffy's new dad?

GEORGIA (shocked):  Oh, no!  Maybe years and years down the road, but not now.

AARON:  Good, because I don't like [Joyce].

Right with you, dude.

(Sorry, Joe.)

Edited March 26, 2021 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

How come Joyce didn't notice Buffy wasn't her usual healthy self days before the hospitalization? There should've been numerous signs Buffy was seriously ill that couldn't escape Joyce's attention... 

[Halting Hex]

Jenny Trout weighs in (not that she knows we're commenting, and this is from 2015, but even so):

Quote

When Joyce arrives, Giles tells her that Buffy is still in the emergency room. I’m giving her a pass on wondering what the hell her kid’s librarian is doing at the hospital with her in the middle of the night, since Joyce is worried that her daughter might be dying.

Fair enough, but when she visits two days later (and where was she on the 2nd day?  Gallery having a big sale?) and finds Giles in her daughter's hospital room, shouldn't she start wondering then?  I mean, come on.

I know, she's too busy stepping over Jenny's corpse so she can hit on Giles, but perhaps her response to Rupert's tragic loss should be more on the side of "he better not try to rebound with my little girl!", I'm thinking.  (Not that Giles would, I'm sure but some men would, and Joyce should be on guard about it, IMO.)

After all, it was literally only last episode where Willow pointed out that it would be rather inappropriate for Giles to intervene in Buffy and Joyce's talk about That First Time, you might recall.

(I suppose, maybe not?  Perhaps Joyce would have fetched Giles some tea before they all sat down to get the details of Buffy's sex life.  Huh.)

Edited April 16, 2022 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

12 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Fair enough, but when she visits two days later (and where was she on the 2nd day?  Gallery having a big sale?) and finds Giles in her daughter's hospital room, shouldn't she start wondering then?  I mean, come on.

There are two options that come to mind: 1) This is Sunnydale; 2) This is Joyce Summers.

After all, she was quite satisfied hearing Buffy's "explanation" considering Giles' presence at the hospital twenty four eps earlier, in Angel. Besides, what if Mrs Summers thinks Tweed Boy is some sort of guidance councelor or whatever and that it's a normal thing in SHS for councelors to follow "their kids" 24/7. 

Anyway, if School Hard wasn't enough for Joyce to start suspecting Sunnydale High is not your average high school, then why should she be shocked watching some "old fart" from England hanging out with her precious daughter? Pressure of being a single mother who has to work to pay the bills thus not having time to think about... things... 

[Halting Hex]

31 minutes ago, lembergwatcher said:

What if Mrs Summers thinks Tweed Boy is some sort of guidance counselor or whatever and that it's a normal thing in SHS for counselors to follow "their kids" 24/7? 

Then she should be wondering how good Giles is at his "job" since she spent all evening at the school on Parent-Teacher Night and Giles never showed his face. And also since Snyder, apparently, told Joyce that Buffy was on the verge of expulsion.  And,

Spoiler

as we'll discover in Anne, Joyce has no problem blaming Giles for Buffy's actions, no matter how unfairly.

Jenny Trout loved the character work on Cordelia, was really icked out by Der Kindestöd, but got side-tracked into nitpicking about violations of hospital procedure, since she used to be a nurse.  (Which, fair enough, but a little dramatic license should be allowed, IMO.) And, on a more disheartening note, she beat up on the episode for not being Passion (how many could be?) and because she has warm memories of IOHEFY.  Wow, that two-month break for repeats really screwed this episode over, didn't it?  People "blamed" it for making them wait fo the next one, then were just overjoyed to see the show back,

Spoiler

silly Marti Noxon 'shipper-pandering

notwithstanding.  

She does raise one good question about the tag, though:  is it really appropriate for Xander to be sharing Buffy's bed (even on top of the covers and fully-dressed) given that:

a) it's only been two episodes since Xander told Buffy he was still in love with her (twice, in fact, and while she was enspelled during the "don't open that raincoat" bit, that episode's tag makes it clear she remembers), and

b) Xander has a girlfriend

Fair enough, but let's remember that 

• Buffy is several times as strong as Xander, and

• Willow is sitting right there

I doubt Buffy really has to worry about any unwanted advances here.  Actually, Xander seems far more interested in that extra bag of Cheesy Chips™ than he does in her.  (Is that why she never reciprocated his feelings?  She was worried she'd be dumped for any Chocolate Hurricane™ that tumbled by, whereas Angel [bored off of his immortal ass by that monotonous blood diet he's on] had no problem waiting on her, hand and foot?)

If anything, I could see Buffy going for some comfort snuggles and burying her face in his chest while Xander springs another confusion!boner (as in When She Was Bad) and Willow gets ill watching, but Buffy knew what she was doing with that B-I-T-C-A performance, and hopefully wouldn't repeat it.  JMO.

Edited April 15, 2022 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

On 4/15/2022 at 3:55 PM, Halting Hex said:

Then she should be wondering how good Giles is at his "job" since she spent all evening at the school on Parent-Teacher Night and Giles never showed his face. And also since Snyder, apparently, told Joyce that Buffy was on the verge of expulsion.  And,

  Hide contents

as we'll discover in Anne, Joyce has no problem blaming Giles for Buffy's actions, no matter how unfairly.

That (School Hard) was then, this is now. Snyder could've promoted G-Man to the position of one unruly student's guidance councelor after Parent-Teacher Night fiasco so he won't have to expel Miss Summers and probably have "his" school's budget cut or face a lawsuit...

[Halting Hex]

Quote

ANGEL (leaning over, "narrating"):  Oh, no.  This does not look good for Our Heroine.

He leans over to bite Buffy.  Sudden a coat is flung over his head, and then Xander starts kneeing the blinded vampire.

As it's Xander who does the physical action here, and as Xander is a man (with man parts), I had always assumed that he was the one who tossed the coat over Angel.  After all, you can see Nick Brendon over Angel's shoulder as he leans in.

But…no.  This time I noticed that Xander's actually a bit far away to be on top of Angel that quickly, and a frame-by-frame look shows that it's actually Willow who threw the obstructing garment.  When it switches to a wide shot, we can see Xander tap Willow to move out of the way and only after she does so does he start getting his kicks.  (Even though they're nowhere near Route 66.). Huh.  You go, Willow!

(Cordelia quite logically stays several steps back until it's time for her to use her cross to drive Angel off.  So they all save Buffy…but it wasn't only Xander who laid the smackdown on Leatherpants, after all.)

[Halting Hex]

Wow! This episode has a "Previously…"!  I'd never seen it before.  Thanks, Fuse!  (Poor Jenny, looking so lovely…until…)

****************

Quote

The gang drives off Angel (as described upthread).

XANDER (turning to check):  Buffy, you okay?

BUFFY (struggling to her feet):  I told you guys to go!  I said… (faints)

Jiminy Cree, Slayer; the gang did just save your life.  A little gratitude would not be uncalled for.

Yes, she's struggling with the flu, but even so.

******************

Quote

Buffy's been sedated, but the gang frets.

XANDER:  Do you think Buffy will be okay?

CORDELIA:  I don't know.  Lysette came in here looking for the "Gwyneth Paltrow", but she ended up with the "Mr. Potato Head", so…

XANDER:  Cordy…

WILLOW:  Buffy's not here to get plastic surgery.

Well, yes, but…it's not as if the gang knows a lot of people who have needed major surgery; Lysette's nose job may be the only evidence Cordelia has about Sunnydale General's level of competence.  Perhaps she's extrapolating a bit much, but still.

After all, the only times we've been to the hospital before, they misdiagnosed Joyce's bite marks as a "barbecue fork" and then (in Nightmares), the whole place went crazy, thanks to Billy.

And, since the Ugly Man was only a facet of the nightmare, Laura's injuries may have vanished once Billy woke up, just as with Buffy's vampirism and Xander's missing clothes and so on.

So maybe Laura didn't need any surgery.  Maybe she didn't even remember being injured.  Which ruins Buffy's chances for gratitude smoochies, so no wonder our Slay Gal is all depressed at the start of 1.11, but I digress…

Anyway, my point is that Xillow shouldn't be so quick to dismiss Cordelia's contribution here. "Stereotypes are so unfair," as Ms. Chase herself will point out, later in the episode.

Edited October 12, 2022 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

1 hour ago, Halting Hex said:

Jiminy Cree, Slayer; the gang did just save your life.  A little gratitude would not be uncalled for.

Well, the gang has to be grateful 

Spoiler

Buffy didn't fire them. Like Angel did with Cordy, Gunn and Mr. Arrogance two years later... 

[Halting Hex]

So wait a second, in the tag, where exactly is Willow sitting??  Since when is there an armchair in Buffy's room?

Well, actually it's been there for quite a while, at least.  I was just looking at the Disney+ version of Inca Mummy Girl and while the extra space at the sides of the frame is generally superfluous

Spoiler

(and leads to intrusive elements in some episodes, such as the camera crew visible in Graduation Day, Part 1 and the stagehand pulling down Nick's pants in Grave)

in this case, it allows us to see the chair over Buffy's shoulder when Buffy and "Ampata" are preparing for her for the dance.  It's just that generally we're shooting an angle on Buffy in bed (either focusing on her and her night table, or one of the windows [the one Sid creeps in The Puppet Show or the one Buffy and Angel use to enter, in various episodes]) or on someone at her desk (usually Buffy herself, but Ted sat in front of it in Ted, for example).

But here we can see the full panorama:  you have Buffy's bed, then her night table in front of the Sid window, then the chair and then, once you get to the corner, her black bookcase against the far wall, with the desk (and the two little tables on either side of it) next to that, and the stool in front of it.

So thank you, excessively-wide version!  Now I know Buffy doesn't just have furniture appearing randomly!  Although, "this being Sunnydale and all…", if she did, I wouldn't be terribly surprised.

(Now if I can only figure out where the TV seen only in the Reptile Boy teaser came from…)

[Halting Hex]

Reactor Vic (a female Vic, presumably Victoria) notes that not only was it wise for Der Kindestöd to drag Dr. Backer's body away so that his death wouldn't be connected with the children's ward (and thus make continued feeding easier), but that Backer's corpse being hidden is why Backer's office hasn't been locked up by the police (pending further investigation) and so Buffy and Willow are able to enter in Act III.

Not that locked doors have ever stopped Buffy, going back to the pilot, but still.

And while I'm still skeptical of the need to have Cousin Celia as a "personal" motivation for Buffy to act, as noted above, it is true that seeing Young Buffy watching in confusion while Celia screams for her life against the invisible killer does clear up the question as to whether Mr "Child Death" is specifically visible only to children, as Willow and Giles posited right before Aly sat on the long table and diverted my eyes to her butt back in Act II.  Nope, Power Girl was as blind to the creature as Non-Feverish Buffy was when watching Kindestöd slice-and-dice Backer.  It's the fever, not puberty, that determines visibility.

(And "Power Girl" still is adorable and forms a baseline for Buffy calling herself "a hero" to try to convince Ryan, so there are other benefits in the story, as well.)