S04.E10: Hush

[Joe Hellandback]

The Good; Everything, it's all staggeringly brilliant. If I was to name a favourite scene it would be when Forrest and Riley are stuck in the lift about to be gassed, Riley's desperately trying to remember the overide code and Forrest holds up a piece of paper on which he's written 'C'mon! C'mon!', makes me laugh every time. Also love Gile's slideshow, the final battle and Olivia. The Gentlemen's applause.

The Bad; Naught. OK, when Spike get's his mug of blood from the fridge it's full up but then he takes a sip from it and it's almost empty

Women good/men bad; When Anya starts to complain about Xander's insensitivity towards her he comments "Boy you really did turn into a girl, didn't you?". Love Buffy's horrified reaction to Giles' drawing of her and her exasperated look as Riley smashes the wrong thing. The scene with the Wicca group, a bunch of 'wanna blessed be's' is hilarious, (when the Charmed girls had a similar scene they ended up dancing naked around a fire with them, sadly that doesn't happen here). The scene where the Gentlemen hold the guy down and slice his heart out, yeeesh! We don't actually see anything but Giles' slideshow doesn't leave much to the imagination. Also Spike's V sign to Xander. Buffy breaks guy's wrists and henchmens neck.

And here's Tara. Personally I for one thought

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

the subtext between her and Willow was evident

right from the beginning, just the look on Willow's face at the end of their final scene together when she calls her 'special'. Xander thinks Spike would bite him as he's 'moist and delicious'. The awesome dream sequence is great, the little girl I think is quite obviously Buffy as a child. All very Nightmare on Elm Street. Remember reading a great fanfic where Buffy and Anya are killed by Freddy Kreuger but in the follow up story he wakes up from his dream screaming, chained to his bed in the mental hospital he's been confined to since the night he got torched. But after the nurse sedates him she walks away and we discover she's actually Buffy. Buffy get's stabbed with the scalpel but just seems to shrug it off.

Spoiler

Presumably Dawn is quietly at home with Joyce

Just terrific, one of the Buffy eps that just sets the standard for all others, Joss at his finest. Isn't it a bit much though for Buffy to automatically assume she's the princess? Finally spotted Andy Hallet in the dream sequence, he's sitting two seats behind SMG with a dark haired girl sat in front of him. The little girl declares that you 'Can't call to mom', foretelling

Spoiler

Joyce's death? Equally when Riley in the dream turns into a Gentleman is he revealing his hidden side?

Spike is now allowed to roam around loose. The Wicca group refer to the 'wolf at our side' which Oz used to be. Will makes good cookies so why should she be opposed to the bakesale? The clocktower scene is very Tim Burton right down to the music. Tara trips like a true horror heroine. Nice twist with Willow's door. Buffy kills 8 Gentlemen and one henchman. Pink Floyd are a Cambridge group whilst Giles went to Oxford.

Marks out of 10; 10/10

[illdoc]

2 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Also Spike's V sign to Xander

V sign? I assumed that he was indicating "two words" (i.e. f*** you), because he and Xander were arguing!

[Joe Hellandback]

18 hours ago, illdoc said:

V sign? I assumed that he was indicating "two words" (i.e. f*** you), because he and Xander were arguing!

That is the V-sign, reputedly during the Hundred Years War the French would chop the index and middle finger off any Welsh/English archers they captured so the archers would present them as an insult. 

[Joe Hellandback]

15 hours ago, nosleepforme said:

That's your favorite scene in an episode with an embarrassment of riches? There are so maaaaany better scenes. 

 

I think my favorite scene is a tie between

1.) The Giles exposition scene with the drawings. Hilarious and very effective in terms of atmosphere. I particularly liked SMG's improved shock at Giles's drawing of her.

2.) The scene in which the Gentlemen applaud each other for the hearts that they have collected. So creepy, yet so polite and I am strangely turned on by it :P.

3.) The scene in which Tara heads out to find Willow and drops her books, only to have the Gentlemen creep up to her in the background of the scene.

4.) Willow and Tara holding hands.

 

As for the subtext,

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I think it's very clear on rewatches, but at the same time I feel like you can still choose to ignore it at this point if you don't want to see it, at least from Willow's part. That Tara has a crush on her is fairly obvious.

 

Also, no shout-out to the fantastic music by Christophe Beck? This is an episode in which he truly outdid himself, the music literally had to carry every scene.

 

Granted, I never watched the latter seasons of Charmed, but did that really happen?

Hush is full of brilliant moments, it's the top rated ep of Buffy according to IMDB with 9.7. But that scene just tickles me, it's like the bit in Duck Soup where Groucho gets his head stuck in a vase and Harpo's solution is to draw his face on it.

 https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=d03b4XRk&id=DC90CB7C0379A40B2E60DFED0A6D427EBF6ED5D9&thid=OIP.d03b4XRkrm5dzi-qVoJsBwHaFl&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2f4.bp.blogspot.com%2f-_OCeQ9WQLIo%2fUCsd5LvqSRI%2fAAAAAAAAHeI%2fxUKbKoOuyCA%2fs1600%2fCinelists-%2bDuck%2bSoup-%2bMarx%2bBrothers%2b(83).jpg&exph=550&expw=730&q=duck+soup+marx+brothers&simid=608052386702232877&selectedIndex=89&ajaxhist=0

Also starring Zeppo of course. 

You're right, Chris Becks music is terrific, very Danny Elfman. 

And yes it did;

[Halting Hex]

On 8/9/2018 at 1:16 PM, Joe Hellandback said:

The Good; Everything, it's all staggeringly brilliant.

Not quite.  I continue to argue that Reptile Boy is a better episode, because it's better-integrated and develops the characters, where this is largely just a stunt.  But a well-crafted stunt, I grant you.

On 8/9/2018 at 1:16 PM, Joe Hellandback said:

If I was to name a favourite scene it would be when Forrest and Riley are stuck in the lift about to be gassed, Riley's desperately trying to remember the overide code and Forrest holds up a piece of paper on which he's written 'C'mon! C'mon!', makes me laugh every time

Bonus points for going off the board for the unconventional choice!  I love the capper here, with Walsh pointing at the "in case of emergency, take stairs" sign with that "I can't believe these idiots" look on her face.  Heh.

On 8/9/2018 at 1:16 PM, Joe Hellandback said:

Also love Giles's slideshow,

Willow's dramatic miming of the headphones is hilarious.  I also adore Buffy and Willow's look of disdain at the guy selling the message boards, only for them to turn up with the boards in the next scene.  (Reconsidered, did we, girls?)  And of course "Hi, Giles!" and the subsequent hug remain perfection.

On 8/9/2018 at 1:16 PM, Joe Hellandback said:

The Bad; Naught.

Well, for starters, I could do without Buffy's assuming that this is all Willow's fault.  ("Did you do a spell?" she asks in their first mute moments.)  Some "best friend" you are, Slayer. To say nothing of Spike walking around, free as a bird.  Why, exactly?

And I can't say I love our first glimpse of Tara.  That ridiculous zig-zag part in her hair, and AB's trying to hunch down inside her own body (as if she was Summer Glau or one of the waif types Joss is so fixated on) puts me in mind of Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club, of whom I was also not a fan.  Blech.

But mostly it's just the disjointed storytelling.  After the scene with the overhead projector, Buffy doesn't see Willow or Xander or Giles until the Gentlemen are disposed of, nor does Willow see the guys.  Foreshadowing of

Spoiler

Willow being locked in Tara's room for the back half of the season.

As I say, I prefer the days when the Scoobs Scoobied together.

Plus a few minor nitpicks:  why does Giles commandeer the lecture hall for his presentation?  HOW does he manage to do that, given the voiceless circumstances?  Why is everyone so damn quiet, when it would seem far more logical to play music and fill the void?  (Because music rights cost $$$, that's why.  But I shouldn't have to be thinking about that…)

But still, it's a nice treatment on themes of communication, how B/R and Xanya actually communicate better when they can't speak (although that could be an argument against those couples, of course) and how W/T make a visceral connection that gets them past any initial awkwardness.  And points on a meta level for Joss being willing to discard his usual crutch of wordplay and jokiness for at least half of the episode.

On 8/9/2018 at 1:16 PM, Joe Hellandback said:

the look on Willow's face at the end of their final scene together when she calls [Tara] 'special'

I really wish Joss hadn't cut the meat of that scene, where the girls are discussing magic, with Tara complaining about how it feels like she's "standing at the door, trying to get through".  I understand that Joss was scared that the homophobes would use that scene to attack the 'ship ("Tara's just USING her!  Can't you see that??"), but IMO he should have had the courage to put depth into the relationship.  Of course, I'm not running the show, but even so.

Of course, some of that could be my prejudices, I'll admit.

On 8/9/2018 at 6:35 PM, nosleepforme said:

4.) Willow and Tara holding hands.

Not a patch on Buffy and Willow holding hands as they walk down the street, IMO.  The B/W handholding here is scripted (much of the earlier physical interaction was just Sarah and Aly, by contrast), so it's almost as if

Spoiler

Buffy is metaphorically "handing off" Willow to Tara.  Which, feh.

And so it goes.

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎16‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 9:57 PM, Halting Hex said:

Not quite.  I continue to argue that Reptile Boy is a better episode, because it's better-integrated and develops the characters, where this is largely just a stunt.  But a well-crafted stunt, I grant you.

Bonus points for going off the board for the unconventional choice!  I love the capper here, with Walsh pointing at the "in case of emergency, take stairs" sign with that "I can't believe these idiots" look on her face.  Heh.

Willow's dramatic miming of the headphones is hilarious.  I also adore Buffy and Willow's look of disdain at the guy selling the message boards, only for them to turn up with the boards in the next scene.  (Reconsidered, did we, girls?)  And of course "Hi, Giles!" and the subsequent hug remain perfection.

Well, for starters, I could do without Buffy's assuming that this is all Willow's fault.  ("Did you do a spell?" she asks in their first mute moments.)  Some "best friend" you are, Slayer. To say nothing of Spike walking around, free as a bird.  Why, exactly?

And I can't say I love our first glimpse of Tara.  That ridiculous zig-zag part in her hair, and AB's trying to hunch down inside her own body (as if she was Summer Glau or one of the waif types Joss is so fixated on) puts me in mind of Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club, of whom I was also not a fan.  Blech.

But mostly it's just the disjointed storytelling.  After the scene with the overhead projector, Buffy doesn't see Willow or Xander or Giles until the Gentlemen are disposed of, nor does Willow see the guys.  Foreshadowing of

  Reveal hidden contents

Willow being locked in Tara's room for the back half of the season.

As I say, I prefer the days when the Scoobs Scoobied together.

Plus a few minor nitpicks:  why does Giles commandeer the lecture hall for his presentation?  HOW does he manage to do that, given the voiceless circumstances?  Why is everyone so damn quiet, when it would seem far more logical to play music and fill the void?  (Because music rights cost $$$, that's why.  But I shouldn't have to be thinking about that…)

But still, it's a nice treatment on themes of communication, how B/R and Xanya actually communicate better when they can't speak (although that could be an argument against those couples, of course) and how W/T make a visceral connection that gets them past any initial awkwardness.  And points on a meta level for Joss being willing to discard his usual crutch of wordplay and jokiness for at least half of the episode.

I really wish Joss hadn't cut the meat of that scene, where the girls are discussing magic, with Tara complaining about how it feels like she's "standing at the door, trying to get through".  I understand that Joss was scared that the homophobes would use that scene to attack the 'ship ("Tara's just USING her!  Can't you see that??"), but IMO he should have had the courage to put depth into the relationship.  Of course, I'm not running the show, but even so.

Of course, some of that could be my prejudices, I'll admit.

Not a patch on Buffy and Willow holding hands as they walk down the street, IMO.  The B/W handholding here is scripted (much of the earlier physical interaction was just Sarah and Aly, by contrast), so it's almost as if

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Buffy is metaphorically "handing off" Willow to Tara.  Which, feh.

And so it goes.

Reptile Boy better? A bold choice if there ever was one! Plus after Something Blue Buffy assuming this was a spell gone wrong it was pretty logical. I'm not sure you could ever call Amber a 'waif' she's a little too voluptuous for that.  

[Halting Hex]

7 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Plus after Something Blue Buffy assuming this was a spell gone wrong it was pretty logical.

So now, any time anything happens, Buffy's just going to go straight to Willow as the culprit?  "My Creme Rinse is neither creme-y nor rinse-y, Willow must be doing more spells!", is that it?  Some best friend you are, "friend".

Spoiler

Of course, Willow's going to get more of this shit from Xander in Gone, after Tabula Rasa.  But there it's more annoying since Xan has forgotten that "he" messed with magic in Once More, With Spuffy.  But we'll deal with that when we get there…

Didn't Buffy see Willow being all guilty?  Didn't she see Willow baking all those cookies?  (Of course, Buffy didn't eat the cookies, but Buffy doesn't eat, period…) Didn't she see Willow detailing Giles's Citroen? Does she think that Willow was just putting on a show, she wasn't really remorseful, and blammo, first chance she gets, break out the candles?  Sheesh.

Even if Buffy assumes (for no reason) that it must be someone she knows (instead of the other 38,494 potential magic-users on Hellmouth Central), why Willow, specifically?  Didn't Giles used to summon demons for orgies?  Isn't Xander currently banging a (former) demon who has openly declared she wants her powers back and has a reputation of using magic to try to accomplish this? Could Buffy at least wait until the gang's all together before she goes after Willow while giving the guys a free pass? FFS.

7 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

I'm not sure you could ever call Amber a 'waif' she's a little too voluptuous for that.  

Of course Amber is definitely not waifish; I meant that she seemed to be trying to be such, given Joss's prejudices there, and it came off as awkward, in the extreme. But JMO.

[Joe Hellandback]

14 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

So now, any time anything happens, Buffy's just going to go straight to Willow as the culprit?  "My Creme Rinse is neither creme-y nor rinse-y, Willow must be doing more spells!", is that it?  Some best friend you are, "friend".

  Hide contents

Of course, Willow's going to get more of this shit from Xander in Gone, after Tabula Rasa.  But there it's more annoying since Xan has forgotten that "he" messed with magic in Once More, With Spuffy.  But we'll deal with that when we get there…

Didn't Buffy see Willow being all guilty?  Didn't she see Willow baking all those cookies?  (Of course, Buffy didn't eat the cookies, but Buffy doesn't eat, period…) Didn't she see Willow detailing Giles's Citroen? Does she think that Willow was just putting on a show, she wasn't really remorseful, and blammo, first chance she gets, break out the candles?  Sheesh.

Even if Buffy assumes (for no reason) that it must be someone she knows (instead of the other 38,494 potential magic-users on Hellmouth Central), why Willow, specifically?  Didn't Giles used to summon demons for orgies?  Isn't Xander currently banging a (former) demon who has openly declared she wants her powers back and has a reputation of using magic to try to accomplish this? Could Buffy at least wait until the gang's all together before she goes after Willow while giving the guys a free pass? FFS.

Of course Amber is definitely not waifish; I meant that she seemed to be trying to be such, given Joss's prejudices there, and it came off as awkward, in the extreme. But JMO.

True but if there's magic high jinks around it's logical to look at your local magic practitioner? I was actually a member of the Buffy forum Hellmouth Central. 

[Halting Hex]

Michael Collado, whom I referred to in the Spike topic, loved the heck out of Hush, but he had one tiny criticism:

Quote

This was also the episode in which it became excruciatingly clear how little Buffy had her mom…in mind. Her excuse? The college campus is five miles away. NOT A WHOLE FIVE MILES THAT’S SO FAR. What? I guess that’s exceedingly far in the small town of Sunnydale. (Especially for a freshman college student who doesn’t drive. Don’t worry, Buffs, it took me until sophomore year too.)

To reiterate, that whole not-seeing-her-mom thing was a good way to ramp up towards the end of the season. But I think it was a bit farfetched that Buffy wouldn’t see if her mom was okay when everyone’s voices were taken away and some monster was ripping people’s hearts out. It’s almost like the writers forgot [about Joyce] themselves.

Well, it might have been impractical for Buffy to swing by Revello Drive on the way to Fort Giles (especially if they wanted Willow and Buffy to arrive at Giles's pad simultaneously), but Espenson had just made reference to Joyce being out of town in Pangs, so she wasn't completely forgotten.  (I forget if there's a "I wish Mom was here to share my joy at being engaged" line in Something Blue, though.)  It doesn't seem as though it would have been too kludge-y to mention Joyce still being away before the silence hits.  

Because otherwise, yeah, fair point, IMO.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

The only thing Buffy had in mind most of the time was her current boyfriend, therefore not seeing Joyce or anyone else was quite natural. But JMO.

7 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

It’s almost like the writers forgot [about Joyce] themselves.

If only Joyce was the only one they forgot about...

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎16‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 3:56 PM, Halting Hex said:

Michael Collado, whom I referred to in the Spike topic, loved the heck out of Hush, but he had one tiny criticism:

Well, it might have been impractical for Buffy to swing by Revello Drive on the way to Fort Giles (especially if they wanted Willow and Buffy to arrive at Giles's pad simultaneously), but Espenson had just made reference to Joyce being out of town in Pangs, so she wasn't completely forgotten.  (I forget if there's a "I wish Mom was here to share my joy at being engaged" line in Something Blue, though.)  It doesn't seem as though it would have been too kludge-y to mention Joyce still being away before the silence hits.  

Because otherwise, yeah, fair point, IMO.

Well the whole point of 4 is growing more independent, Buffy loves her mum but she needs her space. 

On ‎16‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 11:44 PM, lembergwatcher said:

The only thing Buffy had in mind most of the time was her current boyfriend, therefore not seeing Joyce or anyone else was quite natural. But JMO.

If only Joyce was the only one they forgot about...

Meaning?

[lembergwatcher]

I think this episode is somewhat overrated. There's too much hype surrounding everything Joss did with Buffy post-Becoming, Part 2. Just because Joss wrote and directed that particular ep doesn't mean  it's an outright masterpiece. 

Spoiler

I prefer Doomed, the following ep, for example.

But JMO.

[Joe Hellandback]

10 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

I think this episode is somewhat overrated. There's too much hype surrounding everything Joss did with Buffy post-Becoming, Part 2. Just because Joss wrote and directed that particular ep doesn't mean  it's an outright masterpiece. 

  Hide contents

I prefer Doomed, the following ep, for example.

But JMO.

Photoshop or lookalike? 

[lembergwatcher]

1 hour ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Photoshop or lookalike? 

If you mean lower picture, it's none of these. It's 2006's Date Movie where AH played the lead.

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎02‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 11:13 AM, lembergwatcher said:

If you mean lower picture, it's none of these. It's 2006's Date Movie where AH played the lead.

I never thought I'd not be able to finish a film with AH in it but that was so awful I turned off halfway through. 

[Halting Hex]

I remembered that the last scene before the Gentlemen take the voices is the Giles/Olivia scene that ends with "that's enough small talk, don't you think?"  However, I'd forgotten that the scene before that is the Spike-mocks-Anya scene that ends with Xander going "Shut up!" a number of times.  So a double dose of foreshadowing, in fact.

From the Wicca group scene:

Quote

CHERYL: Yeah? Tara? Guys, quiet. You have a suggestion?

SHAN (in her reaction vid, raising hand):  Oooh, I do! (points at the infamous zig-zag part in TARA's hair)  Get rid of that.  It makes you look weird.

Seconded!

Why do the Gentlemen only take two hearts on the first night?  There would seem to be enough of them and enough eligible victims to get the job done and move on.  I mean, one of them literally hovers outside of Olivia's window, but doesn't do anything more.

At the rate they're going (two per night), it would take four nights to get the requisite seven hearts.  Seems a touch slow.  Were they really planning on taking the best part of a week? 

Edited November 11, 2018 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

5 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Why do the Gentlemen only take two hearts on the first night?

Those guys seem to like their job. So they want to expand it all a little longer.

[illdoc]

Maybe there's a full moon involved. Remember from the werewolf discussion, the moon is considered full for 3 nights. And maybe there's a certain amount of "fear" that needed. So they take 2 the first night (the night before the actual full moon; ramping up the fear as the news gets out), the rest on full moon night, do the spell/ritual/whatever it is that they need the hearts for on the third night (night after the actual full moon).