S04.E01: The Freshman

[Joe Hellandback]

The Good; Very clever ep, it's interesting that we really feel for Buffy, we're used to her being invincible but here she's bested by an ordinary vamp and it shakes her and us (note that people refer to her as 'Willow's friend'). Of course, our girl comes back and it's possible she was only off her game because

Spoiler

Kathy had been sucking her soul.

 Great opening gag with the vamp behind Buffy and Will and it's amazing how funny the old comedy cliché of the smallest person carrying the biggest load can be.

The Bad; It is disturbing to see Buffy so upset but the whole idea of putting the heroine in peril is to see her overcome

Best line; Xander; "You're sitting here alone looking like you've been diagnosed with cancer of the puppy"

Character death; poor Eddie. Buffy says it's been a 'Slay-heavy summer'.

Shot; no Scoobies but the vamp tranquilised at the end

Tied up; No but Eddie's favourite book is 'Of human bondage'

Knocked out; No although Riley says he has a slight concussion

Women good/men bad; Professor Welch considers herself the 'evil bitch monster of death'. Sunday tells Buffy she 'fights like a girl' (which is maybe why Buffy beats her?)

Jeez!; The idea of Sunday and co not only killing the weaker students but mocking them is awful.

Kinky dinky; Buffy thinks 'Of human bondage' is porn which she's 'trying to cut down on'. Xander spent the summer working in a male strip club kitchen (and possibly on stage?) Read a great fanfic once where Wes pays for his motorcycle by working in the same club under the stage name 'Huge Grant'. Buffy compares Giles to Hugh Hefner and he now has the lovely Olivia as his own girl next door. Buffy thinks Giles shouldn't have a private life because he's old and it's gross which is a bit of a blow for Guffy (or is she jealous and wants to keep daddy for herself?). When Xander is all alone he sometimes wonders what Buffy is wearing. Willow compares learning to a sexual act

Calling Captain Subtext; Xander and Oz don't hug because they're too manly. Buffy comments that she hopes her mum has a 'funny aneurysm' which is

Spoiler

foreshadowing indeed as is the reference to Joan Armatrading's 'Once more with feeling'.
 

Scoobies to the ER; No, Buffy's arm is hurt but not broken (and even if it was would heal pretty quickly)

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Where's Dawn? Interesting scene where Buffy goes home to find Joyce is storing stuff in her room. You wonder why she didn't put it in Dawn's room which isn't occupied yet?

Questions and observations; Interestingly Buffy hasn't accepted Christ as her personal saviour, the series has always had an ambiguous relationship with Christianity. Five Scoobies at this stage, Buffy, Giles, Xander, Willow and Oz. Buffy shows great tactical awareness, Faith or Kendra might have fought to the death even when they know it's hopeless, Buffy retreats, get's reinforcements and defeats the bad guys. Great gag where Buffy answers the phone, we know it's actually 

Spoiler

Angel phoning just to hear her voice.

Buffy just walks into Giles place, doesn't even knock.

Now of course in Sunday we have the very clear prototype for

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Glory and the resemblance is remarkable

. The original idea was that Sunday was a vamped Slayer but they dropped that from the script which is unfortunate, I think we'd all have liked to have seen that concept, loved to have seen the proposed storyline for s5 where Buffy allows herself to be sired, forms her own undead Scoobs and Faith returns to lead the original gang against her.

 
Marks out of 10; 6/10 I think although that might be a little generous

Okay before going to the next review of Living Conditions I'll be doing a review/discussion thread of the Angel ep 'City of...' first. 

[Loandbehold]

Not a favorite episode. but I liked Sunday and wished that she could have been in a few more episodes.

Buffy is just now registering for classes? This is a big problem for me. I refuse to believe Willow wouldn't have been pestering Buffy to make sure that she did register on time, and in fact doing so at the same time Willow did. The steps the writers took to make Buffy completely out of her depth in college were over-the-top considering what we've seen Buffy do that past three years. I know college is a change, but she's not alone. Maybe after she bombed out on a test, it would have made more sense. Also, that is the biggest dorm room I've ever seen. Mine was 1/3 the size. And it started out as a triple. 

I enjoyed the Klimpt v. Monet poster competition. 

[Joe Hellandback]

22 hours ago, nosleepforme said:

I think it's funny that Buffy never seems to have patrolled on campus before. Seems kind of inefficient that Sunday was able to act out her college schemes before. Surely, there must have been reports about an unusual amount of college kids going missing.

I figure UCSD is a little way outside the town as most campuses are, Buffy probably stuck to the main part of SD and the graveyards where the action is. Also if you look at Sunday and co's MO it's very clever, you'd expect some students to drop out so Sunday and co fly beneath the radar. Plus Buffy probably avoided the campus because she was sick of being hit on by the college Barney Stinsons/Charlie Harpers. 

17 hours ago, Loandbehold said:

 Also, that is the biggest dorm room I've ever seen. Mine was 1/3 the size. And it started out as a triple.  

TV makes everything look bigger, you should do the Hollywood studio tour some time, you'd be amazed how small the sets really are. 

[illdoc]

12 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

On 7/22/2018 at 9:53 AM, Loandbehold said:

 Also, that is the biggest dorm room I've ever seen. Mine was 1/3 the size. And it started out as a triple.  

TV makes everything look bigger, you should do the Hollywood studio tour some time, you'd be amazed how small the sets really are.

Hollywood set or not, Buffy's room has two (twin?) beds side by side, with a couple of nightstands and a couple of desks. My dorm room only had room for bunk beds and a counter that ran along the wall to use as a desk. So, yeah, I'd say that they have a big room. Don't they have a full size refrigerator too? I had a mini-frig that sat on that desk/counter.

[Halting Hex]

Joyce is frequently criticized for turning Buffy's room into storage so quickly, but my podcaster points out the practical aspect:  Buffy's room is upstairs.  It's a lot of work to schlep all that stuff upstairs and maybe only bring a piece or two back down again, every once in a while.  They have a basement; put it there.

Just remember to make sure there aren't any dead cats lurking around.

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎23‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 9:16 PM, illdoc said:

Hollywood set or not, Buffy's room has two (twin?) beds side by side, with a couple of nightstands and a couple of desks. My dorm room only had room for bunk beds and a counter that ran along the wall to use as a desk. So, yeah, I'd say that they have a big room. Don't they have a full size refrigerator too? I had a mini-frig that sat on that desk/counter.

I think we can put that down to Hollywood economics, Joey Tribianni, frequently unemployed actor living in a Manhattan apartment that Playboy reckoned would cost him $5000 a month 

1 hour ago, Halting Hex said:

Joyce is frequently criticized for turning Buffy's room into storage so quickly, but my podcaster points out the practical aspect:  Buffy's room is upstairs.  It's a lot of work to schlep all that stuff upstairs and maybe only bring a piece or two back down again, every once in a while.  They have a basement; put it there.

Just remember to make sure there aren't any dead cats lurking around.

Maybe the cellar was already full? Or flooded?

[Halting Hex]

Regarding Buffy finding Eddie's copy of Of Human Bondage in his "abandoned" room:

Quote

SHAN (in her reaction video):  Wait! (pauses episode) So you're telling me, [the vampires] looted his entire room…and left one book?  (beat)  Convenient.

Heh.  I remember David Hines calling this out as too easy and saying that Joss would have done better to have Buffy go look for the Somerset Maugham and not find it and only later become convinced that something was wrong, despite the evidence…but of course that's a meta critique.

Inside the show, there's the simpler fact that Sunday's gang misses only one item in Eddie's room…and it just happens to be the one item that is guaranteed to set Buffy's alarm bells a-clanging.  Wayyyy too easy.  Hack writing, Joss.  Sigh.

[Joe Hellandback]

1 hour ago, Halting Hex said:

Regarding Buffy finding Eddie's copy of Of Human Bondage in his "abandoned" room:

Heh.  I remember David Hines calling this out as too easy and saying that Joss would have done better to have Buffy go look for the Somerset Maugham and not find it and only later become convinced that something was wrong, despite the evidence…but of course that's a meta critique.

Inside the show, there's the simpler fact that Sunday's gang misses only one item in Eddie's room…and it just happens to be the one item that is guaranteed to set Buffy's alarm bells a-clanging.  Wayyyy too easy.  Hack writing, Joss.  Sigh.

Or they're philistines with no appreciation for classic English literature?

[lembergwatcher]

If he said "When it's dark and I'm all alone and I'm scared or freaked out or whatever, I always think, "What would Buffy do?" and do the fucking opposite", that would've been one of the best lines Whedon's ever written.

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎15‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 12:32 AM, lembergwatcher said:

If he said "When it's dark and I'm all alone and I'm scared or freaked out or whatever, I always think, "What would Buffy do?" and do the fucking opposite", that would've been one of the best lines Whedon's ever written.

To be fair, Buffy can do things Xander can't (fight/slut her way out) so what's good for her is not always suitable for the everyman 

[Halting Hex]

On 12/16/2018 at 6:48 AM, Joe Hellandback said:

To be fair, Buffy can do things Xander can't (fight/slut her way out) so what's good for her is not always suitable for the everyman 

Hey,  don't be sexist! Xander can slut with the best of them!  The man just got through keeping body and soul (and vehicle) together by spending the summer as a male stripper, apparently.  How did Miss Buffy earn her money, the summer before?  As a waitress.  

Weak, Buffster. Just saying.

Speaking of…well, nothing (other than my being too lazy to construct a proper segue), Liam Duke thinks that Buffy, with her slayer-reflexes and all, should have been able to catch the psych books that she accidentally drops on Riley's head.  On the one hand, we've never actually seen Buffy flash the speedy hands like Peter Parker with the lunch tray in the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man, but it does seem a valid point.  And we end the episode with her seeing off Sunday with that perfectly twirled and tossed stake…so is the clumsiness here a metaphor for Buffy being lost at UC-Hellmouth for most of the episode and only getting her groove back at the end?

Or is it just another case of Joss forcing the jokes in this one, without keeping the characters consistent from one scene to the next?  (See also Buffy going from being able to drop "Dada-ist pep talk" into her Bronze reunion conversation with Xander to not being able to tell "renaissance" from "reconnaissance" shortly thereafter.)  Thoughts?

Edited April 22, 2019 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

20 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

is the clumsiness here a metaphor for Buffy being lost at UC-Hellmouth for most of the episode and only getting her groove back at the end?

Or is it just another case of Joss forcing the jokes in this one, without keeping the characters consistent from one scene to the next?

I think it's former rather than the latter. Although knowing Joss, I won't be surprised if it turns out to be the latter. He's such a joker, our Joss.

And speaking of Buffy

20 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

not being able to tell "renaissance" from "reconnaissance"

while Xander (Xander!) is clearly able to do so... Is the right person accepted into UC Sunnydale? I mean, her academic performance was mediocre at best during Buffy's first two years at Sunnydale High. Most teachers (except for the late Dr. Gregory) viewed her as a troublemaker and juvenile delinquent, she was expelled from school and wanted for murder. Buffy skipped chemistry test falling for Faith's curves. Buffy was able to impress Miss Murray during the literature class only due to the power of telepathy she got from the demon. And yet our blonde Slayer still got admission into a college out of the blue.

Edited April 22, 2019 by lembergwatcher

[Halting Hex]

4 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

And yet our blonde Slayer still got admission into a college out of the blue.

Well, and by dint of her 1470 SAT score.  Apparently, randomly guessing which answer-bubble to fill in is a lesser-known Slayer ability.

And, to be fair, Slaying itself makes for one heck of an extra-curricular.  How many of the rest of Northwestern's applicants had died to save the world or sent their boyfriend to Hell, after all?  Maybe 5, 10 tops?  The difficulty is in figuring out how to fit all that into the form, I suspect.

[lembergwatcher]

17 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Well, and by dint of her 1470 SAT score.  Apparently, randomly guessing which answer-bubble to fill in is a lesser-known Slayer ability.

"Someone just got lucky..." (sing-songy in Spike's voice from Becoming, Part 1).

[Halting Hex]

Although I enjoy the line for what it is, Xander's "Let's put this bitch in the ground!" exhortation to Buffy as they head out to slay Sunday always sets off my Nitpicker Alarm, since slain vampires turn to ashes, of course.  If Buffy wants to put Sunday in the ground, she'll have to dig a hole and sweep the ashes into it. 

(Which would be good housekeeping, admittedly.  So perhaps Xander was just encouraging Buff to be more thorough, now that she's in college?  Sure, Giles let her get away with being a slob and leaving vampire-ash all over the High School, but that's probably what got him fired.  Nobody likes a lazy Chosen One, Buff!  Clean up after yourself, would you?)

But I can't really be too triggered by this, as I was just watching Becoming, Part 2, and Spike does the same thing, when he's proposing they ally against Angel.  "I'm talking about putting your ex in the bloody ground."  Er, no, Spikey; not how it works.  You'd think he'd know that. 

(Although Angel did just call out Spike for being a poor student in the previous episode.  Which is pretty tacky of him…you were his sire, jackass.  If the childe doesn't learn, well…I'd say take a look in the mirror, but admittedly that's a bit difficult in Angel's case.)

So if Xander is really being thick (rather than urging Buffy to be meticulous), he can be comforted in knowing he's got company.  Poor Buffy, surrounded by silly boys.  Sigh.

(Okay, Riley apparently digs Willow, so at least he's got a brain.  But exception that proves the rule, and all that?)

[lembergwatcher]

19 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Nobody likes a lazy Chosen One, Buff!  Clean up after yourself, would you?

CHOSEN ONES DON'T DO CLEANING!!! That's for ordinary humans with no superpowers.

[Halting Hex]

Oh, so Xander was specifically proposing a team-up, then?  Buffy slays, he sweeps up after?  Got it.

"In every generation, there is a Chosen One.  He alone shall stand against the ashes, the dust particles, and the forces of sooty-ness.   He is…the Sweeper."

No wonder Buffy was off her game until Xander came home, then.  A "slay-heavy summer", and she had to do her own cleaning, too?  Ugh.

(As we're learning right now, janitors are under-appreciated [and underpaid!] heroes.)

[lembergwatcher]

5 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Oh, so Xander was specifically proposing a team-up, then?  Buffy slays, he sweeps up after?  Got it.

Yeah, that's right. Buffy slays, Xander sweeps up after, Willow takes notes during classes or does ocassional homework (Killed by Death).

[Writing Wrongs]

I just noticed that Pedro Pascal plays Eddie. He looks so young.

Edited May 5, 2020 by Writing Wrongs

[Halting Hex]

57 minutes ago, Writing Wrongs said:

I just noticed that Pedro Pascal plays Eddie. He looks so young.

Yes, like Joey (now "Clayne") Crawford (Rodney Munson, Inca Mummy Girl), Pedro was using the name he grew up with at this point.  I really don't think "Balmaceda" was holding him back, but he's certainly Pascalled his previous level of success since he made the switch.

(Pedro's full name is José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal.  As with most people from Spanish-speaking countries [Chile, in his case], the father's last name comes before the mother's.  I guess Mama Pascal has the winning touch.)

Pedro was 24 (or perhaps just about to turn it) at the time of filming.  A bit old for a "freshman", but reasonably youthful, overall.

[lembergwatcher]

There's a moment in the teaser when Buffy informs Willow she hasn't had "a whole lot of time to think about life at UC Sunnydale" during their conversation at the graveyard.

Quote

Well I've been busy! It's been a very slay-heavy summer.

 Does that mean Willow wasn't around throughout most of the summer too? Because otherwise she should know such information... Maybe the Dingoes were touring outside Sunnydale and Willow, being loyal groupie, followed her man during those hot summer days...

I also get the impression that Buffy didn't stay in touch with Giles most of the summer. While almost everyone she holds dear (A/W/X/C/O) wasn't around, one might expect our Slayer clinging to the only close person besides her Mom...

But apparently Buffy decided to dedicate the summer of '99 solely to slaying and moping because of Angel's departure.

PS: If Willow spent most of the summertime touring with the Dingoes who took care of Amy the Rat?

[Halting Hex]

Quote

GILES (re Buffy's flutterings over Olivia):  I'm not allowed to have a private life?

BUFFY:  Giles, she's two years younger than Cordelia!  What, did you ask Wesley for pointers or something?

Okay, so that's actually about the actresses (Charisma turns a lovely 51 next Saturday, same day as Ziggy celebrates his 7th;  Phina is 48 heading for 49 at the end of August), but still.  We don't need to be slaves to the calendar wrt the characters' ages.  (After all, speaking of Calendars, Robia LaMorte [Jenny] was only 17 days older than CC, recall.)

But still.  Aside from Olivia being a canon-destroyer (so…that "I've waded around for so long in these old books, I've forgotten what the real world is like" speech was bullshit, huh, "Ripper"?), it just looks silly. JMO.

BTW, as Denisof (b 25 February 1966) is only 4 years older than CC, does that make Wesley "22" to Cordy's "18"?   Maybe the group should have cut "the kid" some slack, then.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Halting Hex

[Gigi43]

On 7/17/2021 at 2:19 PM, Halting Hex said:

 

BTW, as Denisof (b 25 February 1966) is only 4 years older than CC, does that make Wesley "22" to Cordy's "18"?   Maybe the group should have cut "the kid" some slack, then.

 

Now you got me thinking, did they ever state Wesley's age? I'm trying to think on either show. It was always eye rolling Wesley was called out for Jailbait although Cordy was a senior but Angel following Buffy since she was 15 is epic love. I guess the rules change when you're over 200.

[lembergwatcher]

14 hours ago, Gigi43 said:

Now you got me thinking, did they ever state Wesley's age? I'm trying to think on either show.

I don't remember them ever mentionin WWP's age but I always assumed he was more or less same age as Denisof.

 

14 hours ago, Gigi43 said:

I guess the rules change when you're over 200.

Yes. Child molesting is allowed when you're over 200. I will never understand why were both Scoobies and fandom OK with this "relationship"...

[Halting Hex]

On 7/17/2021 at 2:19 PM, Halting Hex said:

Aside from Olivia being a canon-destroyer (so…that "I've waded around for so long in these old books, I've forgotten what the real world is like" speech was bullshit, huh, "Ripper"?)

The more I think about this, the sadder I get.  So that whole "I haven't had a date in 20 years, so I'm practicing on a chair" riff was just an act?  So when we were sad because you and Jenny broke up…and sad because you broke up again…and sad because Angel killed her…and sad because Drusilla tortured you with her image…all those times, you actually had No-Pants Chippy here, just waiting in the wings?  I mean, I can understand your wanting a better back-up plan than effing Joyce, but still.

It's really depressing because it's Whedon writing this.  If it had been Jane the Joke Machine (who wasn't on the staff in S2), I'd still hate it but I'd just call her a hack and move on.  But Joss is supposed to care about his show, ffs.  

[lembergwatcher]

3 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

The more I think about this, the sadder I get.

We don't know Olivia's exact age. Well, I don't know to be precise. Maybe she and Giles didn't screw for 5, 10 or 15 years... 

As for G-Man supposedly lying regarding his sex life... Wasn't he a part of some very very secret & powerful organization which had to hide its own existence from the outside world. I mean, deception was Giles' job...   

[illdoc]

Actually, I believe Giles & Olivia had a "friends with benefits" situation (going back to his Ripper days). Maybe he doesn't consider that "dating".

[Halting Hex]

3 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

I mean, deception was Giles' job... 

Well, yeah.  But I have a hard time seeing him deliberately planning to be caught spluttering about "indecorous" and "amenable" and calling himself an idiot, just so he can have Buffy and Xander (both 16, and Xander's never had a date in his life) mock him and give him advice.  That's some deep cover there, lol.

(Or just a bad retcon, obviously.)

[lembergwatcher]

20 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

That's some deep cover there

Giles would've been dancing in tutu in front of Buffy & Xander if it served his "cause".

[lembergwatcher]

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Buffy: When you look back at this, in the three seconds it'll take you to turn to dust, I think you'll find the mistake was touching my stuff.

I find it quite ironic that Buffy considers touching her stuff more serious offence than, say, kidnaping her two best friends. Hence Sunday turns to dust but Prince Spike just walks away before Buffy confirms both Xander and Willow are alive and well.
Something just ain't right with Buffy's priorities, don't you think? 
Guess the whole post-fluke fiasco and the trouble with Ozdelia distracted the Scoobs' attention from Spike therefore neither X, nor W bothered asking about him...
Very sad actually... 
Xillow would've been quite upset if they learned some decorated parasol aka Class Protector Award meant more to their supposed best friend than their well-being. Talk about vanity.