S03.E13: The Zeppo

[Halting Hex]

1 hour ago, Halting Hex said:

Tried to edit and ended up quoting myself instead.  Ye gods.

Mods, feel free to delete, please.

Edited January 29, 2022 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

Who's the other girl, Xand?..
 

[Halting Hex]

Heh, I'll have to try and spot a cheerleading extra in the episode; they wouldn't bother to do wardrobe for somebody who was just there for a photoshoot, I wouldn't think.  Nice find.

[Halting Hex]

Occasionally, I mention the rather-complicated trivia game I played from 2003-2006.  Out of nostalgia, I recently checked out the board that hosted it, just to reread the quizzes again.  (This probably says something about my needing friends, but leave that alone, pardon the pun.)

Anyhow, I checked out the "talk" thread on that board, and found some vintage venom I'd written about this episode back in '04.  So long ago the S3 DVDs hadn't come out yet…

Quote

The Zeppo is on right now. God, it's jarring seeing this when I haven't been watching Season 3 (I generally don't watch FX, due to the edits, but I'm killing time right now). I've been watching Season 1 on my discs, and it's just so jarring. What is this show? Who is that guy pretending to be Xander, with the squeaky, desperate voice as he tries to cling on to Angel, of all people? He seems so *tiny*, compared to the gung-ho snarky guy I've been watching. Not that 16-mm Xander's so macho (he's an awkward 16 year old guy, no doubt), but he gets to work and does his best. The S3 guy seems like such a pipsqueak in comparison.

Hey, look, time killed and I didn't have to watch any more of the ep. Venting over. 

(Well, almost. I hadn't thought about it much recently, but thinking about S3 as a whole, I can't help noticing how little Scoobying Xander does. He's involved in Dead Man's Party, then a skip ahead to Revelations/Lovers Walk and then nothing until 

Spoiler

Consequences/Doppelgangland/Enemies/Choices

. You could cut Xander completely out of all those other eps, and you pretty much wouldn't miss him. Bizarre.)

Well, at least I'm consistent.  I've disliked Xander's sidelining this season since the first time I saw S1-S2.  (I started watching regularly in S3, so I didn't know better.  But I know now.)

[lembergwatcher]

On 2/6/2023 at 8:05 AM, Halting Hex said:

Who is that guy pretending to be Xander, with the squeaky, desperate voice as he tries to cling on to Angel, of all people?

Post-season 2 Buffy has always had problems with consistency especially when it came to characters. It started with Xander 

Spoiler

and then got worse and worse with every new season.

[lembergwatcher]

Quote

Xander: But... It's just that it's buggin' me, this 'cool' thing. (cut to them) I mean, what is it? How do you get it? Who doesn't have it? And who decides who doesn't have it? What is the essence of cool?

Oz: Not sure. (reaches for a chip)

Well, you can learn how to play guitar and start some mediocre band which will eventually occupy the stage at The Bronze for some time since no major acts perform in such places... 

But there's another way, Xander. Much better way. You can kill a bloody lot of people, attempt to start an Apocalypse or two, torture someone for fun (like, say, Oz) and... voilà, congratulations, you're cool now. That's Buffyverse, baby. 

Oh, I just imagine what it would've been like if...

Quote

Xander: Cordelia! Am I a thing worth saving, huh? Am I a righteous man?

Cordelia: Yes, yes, you are, oh my knight in shining armor! (starts taking her clothes off). Take me! Ravish me right here and know!

You don't have to ask Xander twice. They undress and start doing it on top of the Kingsmans Bluff in the snow...

 

[lembergwatcher]

And one more thing: the way Dan Vebber portrays Xander in this episode makes the guy look not only useless, but also very dumb. 

Why? Consider this.

Cordelia taunts Xander because of him lacking super-freakin'-powers. Xander OTOH for some mysterious reasons asks Oz for lessons in coolness. I'm totally lost here: are we required to believe "cool" is some kinda synonym to "superpowered" from now on? Why aren't

Spoiler

the hogan martins of the world

saving the freaking day then?

What "superpowers" does Oz have anyway? Isn't it kinda dumb to ask him for advice regarding superpower-related issues? Why not go to Willow ("Can you give me some lessons in magic, Will so I won't be that useless?") or Angel ("Can you turn me so I'll be looking cool like you and ladies gonna find me attractive?")? Is the whole scene written just to humiliate Xander/say "fuck you" to a few Xillow 'shippers out there who remained loyal? Like, see, not only Xander accepts his defeat and doesn't fight for Willow but he also believes the Wolfboy is totally superior?

What happened to the whole "it's totally ok to be uncool" narrative from the first two seasons?

Besides, how exactly having a cool "thing" (in this case some stupid car) proves Xander's usefulness to the gang? Is riding the car considered to be some sort of a superpower? Does Xander really believe Buffy and Willow are that shallow to be impressed solely by his driving skills? Ok, Buffy is a little bit shallow, true, but Will?.. The girl Xander used to know since kindergarten?..

Was Xander's memory erased

Spoiler

long before the Dawn-creating monks arrived at the scene

so that he doesn't remember his own contribution to the cause? Do others have amnesia too? Why wasn't Xander's safety an issue when soulless Angel was running around wrecking havoc while Buffy couldn't decide whether to stake him or not? Or that time when Buffy was in LA for months and the whole slaying thing became the responsibility of 3-4 non-superpowered teens because Giles the Prick got more important things to do? Why Xander's "safety" all of a sudden matters at this particular moment

 

Spoiler

but when the guy nearly ended up dead/seriously hurt because of Faith, Angel or the hell hound who hated the formal wear a few eps later nobody gives a damn?

Does any fucking thing make sense in this "landmark" episode?

Edited March 30, 2023 by lembergwatcher

[Halting Hex]

On 3/28/2023 at 7:19 PM, lembergwatcher said:

some mediocre band which will eventually occupy the stage at The Bronze for some time since no major acts perform in such places...

Spoiler

Michelle Branch and Aimee Mann

would like a word with you.

I'm amused by your C/X fanfic in the snow, but Cordy's actually in Aspen at the time.  However, given that Xander doesn't actually have to worry about combusting from the sunshine, it's all moot.

And i don't think the issue is that Xander thinks he's "uncool" because he doesn't have superpowers; it's that he feels socially awkward and the group has been his way to cling on to his identity.  Cordelia is only rebutting his use of the group as a defense mechanism.

The whole "getting girls" deal does sound like a retcon, though.  Given that he's asking Oz for advice when not only did he have a perfectly good long-term relationship before he strayed, but that Oz's girl threw herself at Xander, too.  Followed soon by a footloose Slayer

Spoiler

and, imminently, a morally-bankrupt but fairly easy-on-the-eyes sometimes vengeance demon.

I'm not really so convinced that Xander needs to revisit the days of flugelhornen gone by in his Quest for Trim.

Indeed, I'm a little suspicious of Xander's claim to have never been "up with people" before,  I can understand his and Willow taking things slowly, since they both had guilt about even kissing, but he was together with Cordelia for virtually an entire year. (Barring her time in Las Palmas.) I find it hard to believe that if lack of consummation had been an issue, that it hadn't "come up" during that year.  JMO.

[Halting Hex]

Not from this episode:

Quote

XANDER:  The essence of cool.  What is it?

OZ:  Not asking the guy you cuckolded for dating tips?  Just a thought.

I mean, really.  This show might need a few more male recurring characters, I'm just saying.  (True, Xander could go looking up Larry, but…)

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

From the episode:

Quote

BUFFY (re Xander's Uncle Rory's Bel Air):  Is this a penis metaphor?

(2 acts later)

FAITH:  I'll steer you around the curves.

So apparently…yes.  Not to mention the part where he literally rammed the Jhe lady with the Meta-Mobile.  Your "Sisterhood" can't resist my hot rod, demon chick!  Vroom, vroom, vroom, let's go back to my room…

Edited April 27, 2023 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

On 10/4/2022 at 5:47 PM, lembergwatcher said:

Who's the other girl, Xand?..
 

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!

[lembergwatcher]

I like Willow's pants 🙂

[MapleCourt]

The Zeppo is the worst episode of the worst season of the show. It's a stab in the back to fans who grew to love the characters in the first two seasons, only for Joss to decide he wants to take the show in a new, popular, mainstream direction now that his ratings are up.

Xander was the true male lead in the first two seasons. He had the most screentime of anyone besides Buffy, he had the largest role of anyone besides Buffy. He was always there, fighting beside her, saving her multiple times, playing a serious role as a serious character.

Spoiler

And then we get this producer-fiction that Xander is useless comic relief, relegated to a few minutes per episode until he's unceremoniously knocked out by a single punch from Riley of all people in Dracula.

At least in Season 6 Xander had a lot of screentime, finally got rid of Anya, and got to tell Willow he loved her when she was conscious.

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by MapleCourt

[lembergwatcher]

Xander, one of the most promising characters, goes from being a badass who stood up to ruthless master vampire (Killed by Death) to being a joke easily intimidated by almost everyone (Jack O'Toole, Cordelia, Oz, Faith). And yes, he has never contributed anything to the fight, he was totally "useless". And the worst thing is that he agrees with that. 
Really-really sad. 

[Halting Hex]

On 8/13/2023 at 1:02 AM, Halting Hex said:

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!

On closer inspection, that's actually Whitney Dylan (Lisette) in both pictures!

They tried Whitney as both blonde and brunette and they ultimately decided not to make Lysette a cheerleader (wouldn't make much sense for Xander to be dating one of Cordy's teammates, honestly), but that's Whitney/Lysette, all right.

I guess she had already been cast and now they were just tweaking the look.  Cool.