S02.E01: When She Was Bad

[Lisin]

From Wikipedia:

Buffy suffers a vision in which the Master, undead, kills her once again. The Anointed One plans to resurrect the slain Master in a ritual using his exhumed skeleton, with kidnapped Scooby Gang members as blood sacrifices. Buffy rescues her friends, then deals with her residual fear and anger by obliterating the Master entirely.

 

Wow, Season 2 is immediately off to a better start. I'd initially thought I'd be annoyed with the fact that we're still dealing with the Master and Colin but I'm not. While I find PTSD Bitchy Buffy super annoying I like that the show went there. I like the fact that we're allowed to see the protagonist of the story acting badly and know we can forgive her instead of having her act perfect all the time because the show is afraid to show her being real. I also love Willow and Xander quoting movies at the beginning (not that I ship them, but I like their friendship, it's adorable) and I hate how Buffy treats Xander at the Bronze later. All in all I really like this episode. 

[Dianthus]

Spoiler

This ep gives us some major foreshadowing for s6. Challenging Angel to a fight? Tormenting Xander with the Sexy Dance? She'll do both with Spike.

This is where we first see the Darkness in Buffy. Darkness she refuses to deal with (or examine too closely) until forced to do so.

[CletusMusashi]

Even though it's certainly not a favorite episode of that era, I appreciated the fact that they weren't just saying "OK, we killed last season's villain, now let's whip out a new one to kill in this year's finale!" They could have, and if the overall quality had still been good I'd still have enjoyed it. But they made a point of opening the season with "This is still the same story. So-called 'endings' have repercussions, which lead to more, which lead to more..." 

Plus, Cordelia was great in it.

[Eegah]

Anyone else think Buffy doesn't nearly deserve the crap Xander dishes out to her at the end? It doesn't help that I've rarely cared for him at all, but threatening to kill her just because she acted mildly bitchy toward you in the wake of a severely traumatic experience is some cold shit. Luckily, you can easily chalk it up to his emotions running high with Willow in danger.

[DAngelus]

He isn't threatening to kill her because she acted bitchy to him, he's threatening to kill her if Willow is hurt because she was snotty and irresponsible and ignored the advice that Willow (and Xander and Giles) rightly cautioned her about.  Buffy decided she could handle things all on her own and didn't need anyone's help and didn't need to research (Giles finds the solution in less than an hour; pity Buffy wasn't there to apply it) because she's special and the Slayer and the ritual must apply to her and the others would just get in the way.  So now Willow and Giles are hanging from hooks.  Thanks, Buffy!

 

Fortunately, Buffy realizes what she's done and owns her guilt, to the point of considering a cable-ready cave.  This will not always be the case.  

Spoiler

(It's barely even the case next season, where it takes an entire argument to get Buffy as far as "Look, I was wrong, I know that", but that's best for the Dead Man's Party thread.)

 But in Season 2, Buffy was still a recognizable human being, with miles to go before "More importantly, I'll let him"/"I think you've taught me everything I need to know"/"I love my friends, but…".  I'll enjoy her while I can.

[Dianthus]

Being the Slayer, seeing what she's seen, that's gonna leave a mark. I prefer the earlier seasons myself, but change is the only constant.

[DAngelus]

Sure, but not all changes are for the better.  Buffy growing from mocking Angel's "to kill them, to kill them all" in WttH to her determined "I'm gonna kill them all.  That oughta distract them" here is good.  Her regressing from taking one episode (and the preceding summer) to move past her PTSD and smile that beautiful, relieved smile of acceptance in the "miniature tennis" scene here to

Spoiler

her never once smiling an honest smile in the 44 episodes of UPN?  Not so much, I felt.  But JMO.

[Jazzy24]

I did like Cordelia and Buffy's little exchange

Cordelia paraphrasing "going for the bitch of the year award"

Buffy "as defending champ scared"

and Cordelia scoffs like she has nothing to worry about.

[Joe Hellandback]

On 6/4/2014 at 2:47 PM, Lisin said:

From Wikipedia:

 

Wow, Season 2 is immediately off to a better start. I'd initially thought I'd be annoyed with the fact that we're still dealing with the Master and Colin but I'm not. While I find PTSD Bitchy Buffy super annoying I like that the show went there. I like the fact that we're allowed to see the protagonist of the story acting badly and know we can forgive her instead of having her act perfect all the time because the show is afraid to show her being real. I also love Willow and Xander quoting movies at the beginning (not that I ship them, but I like their friendship, it's adorable) and I hate how Buffy treats Xander at the Bronze later. All in all I really like this episode. 

I think part of the improvement can simply be put down to the budget, they can now afford more than 2 corridors at the school. 

 

On 6/4/2014 at 11:25 PM, Dianthus said:

Spoiler

This ep gives us some major foreshadowing for s6. Challenging Angel to a fight? Tormenting Xander with the Sexy Dance? She'll do both with Spike. This is where we first see the Darkness in Buffy. Darkness she refuses to deal with (or examine too closely) until forced to do so.

 

Spoiler

 

Not of her choice, we see in s7 why Slayers have this dark sexual side. 

 

 

 

On 6/5/2014 at 3:30 AM, CletusMusashi said:

Even though it's certainly not a favorite episode of that era, I appreciated the fact that they weren't just saying "OK, we killed last season's villain, now let's whip out a new one to kill in this year's finale!" They could have, and if the overall quality had still been good I'd still have enjoyed it. But they made a point of opening the season with "This is still the same story. So-called 'endings' have repercussions, which lead to more, which lead to more..." 

Plus, Cordelia was great in it.

Yes, it was a nice bit of continuity, one of the strengths of the series is that it always deals with the consequences, no screen wipe (except for CC's boyfriends).

 

On 6/11/2014 at 6:08 AM, DAngelus said:

"So…are you gonna kill me? Or are we just making small talk?"  I miss badass Buffy; it's amazing how quickly she disappears.  

Spoiler

(She's barely in S3/S4, never mind the Dawnverse.) Oh well, we'll always have 34 eps of 16-mm brilliance; that's more than most shows get.

 

 No, no, we see more of her later. 

 

On 6/11/2014 at 12:13 PM, Eegah said:

Anyone else think Buffy doesn't nearly deserve the crap Xander dishes out to her at the end? It doesn't help that I've rarely cared for him at all, but threatening to kill her just because she acted mildly bitchy toward you in the wake of a severely traumatic experience is some cold shit. Luckily, you can easily chalk it up to his emotions running high with Willow in danger.

Absolutely, Willow in peril bring out his best and worst.

 

On 6/11/2014 at 5:48 PM, DAngelus said:

He isn't threatening to kill her because she acted bitchy to him, he's threatening to kill her if Willow is hurt because she was snotty and irresponsible and ignored the advice that Willow (and Xander and Giles) rightly cautioned her about.  Buffy decided she could handle things all on her own and didn't need anyone's help and didn't need to research (Giles finds the solution in less than an hour; pity Buffy wasn't there to apply it) because she's special and the Slayer and the ritual must apply to her and the others would just get in the way.  So now Willow and Giles are hanging from hooks.  Thanks, Buffy!

 

Fortunately, Buffy realizes what she's done and owns her guilt, to the point of considering a cable-ready cave.  This will not always be the case.  

Spoiler

(It's barely even the case next season, where it takes an entire argument to get Buffy as far as "Look, I was wrong, I know that", but that's best for the Dead Man's Party thread.)

 But in Season 2, Buffy was still a recognizable human being

Spoiler

, with miles to go before "More importantly, I'll let him"/"I think you've taught me everything I need to know"/"I love my friends, but…".

 I'll enjoy her while I can.

 

She was always human but the weight of the world...

 

On 6/13/2014 at 1:22 AM, DAngelus said:

Sure, but not all changes are for the better.  Buffy growing from mocking Angel's "to kill them, to kill them all" in WttH to her determined "I'm gonna kill them all.  That oughta distract them" here is good.  Her regressing from taking one episode (and the preceding summer) to move past her PTSD and smile that beautiful, relieved smile of acceptance in the "miniature tennis" scene here to

Spoiler

 

her never once smiling an honest smile in the 44 episodes of UPN?  Not so much, I felt.  But JMO.

 

 

Spoiler

 

She smiles, normally when she's with Dawn or mooning after RJ

 

 

 

On 6/13/2014 at 5:25 AM, Jazzy24 said:

I did like Cordelia and Buffy's little exchange

Cordelia paraphrasing "going for the bitch of the year award"

Buffy "as defending champ scared"

and Cordelia scoffs like she has nothing to worry about.

 

 

Not as good as 'Cordelia's hips are wider than I thought' but still good.

 When she was bad;

The Good; Buffy's 'Miss me' to the camera (which I inexcusably missed first time around). Xander and Willow's almost kiss 

Spoiler

(awwwwww! even the most foremost Tara/Willow or Willow/Oz fan must feel their heart breaking).

Snyder and Giles' brilliant talk and walk and the first hints of Giles'/Jenny's attraction. Buffy's great training session with Giles, the incredibly creepy dream sequence where the Master-as-Giles tries to kill Buffy whilst Willow and Xander watch on unconcerned (she should have known it was a dream when Xander swapped his chocolate for an apple). The whole scene smacks of Freudian rape overtones, Buffy's father figure forcing himself upon her and penetrating her body with his fangs, you could see the whole Master/Buffy experience in these terms with Buffy acting out in the manner of a sex attack survivor. Willow not being able to say the word B-I-T-C-H and Xander not being able to spell it (LOVE Giles' expression in this scene). The great Hank/Joyce scene

Spoiler

(I figure this is the summer by the beach Dawn later refers to in Blood Ties),

Cordy's sympathy with Buffy and characteristic bluntness about the truth about Sunnydale. The Buffy/Angel bedroom scene and the smoking-hot Buffy dancing with Xander at the Bronze. The trap and rescue of the Scoobies, Buffy's cathartic smashing the Master's bones, especially Buffy killing 2 vamps at once. All told, fan-bloody-tastic and a whole new start for Buffy.

The Bad; The only thing I can find wrong with it is when the Scoobies figure out that Jenny is the vamps next target and rather than try to warn her just assume for no possible reason that they've already got her. Lazy writing! Also Willow wears her HORRIBLE yellow tights again

Best line; Snyder; "There are some things I can just smell, like a sixth sense" Giles; "Actually that would be one of the five"

What the fanficcers thought; a slightly different take on this story in a story called 'Merciless Mistress' that explores the metaphor of Buffy as a sex attack survivor, coming to terms with her ordeal and triumphing.

Questions and observations; So, you CAN bring a vampire back from the dead 

Spoiler

as we'll see later with Darla in Angel

. One wonders why they don't try it more often but then with a few notable exceptions they don't really seem to care about one another so much. Joyce and Hank seem to have a pretty civilised divorce. The whole look and feel of this ep is different, as though the first season was just a trial run and now it's time for the real thing to begin. Firstly, we have all the Scooby's except Buff and Angel knocked out and all but Buffy, Angel and Xander tied up. Secondly rewatching this ep you're very much struck by the sight of Buffy torturing the vamp for information to save her friends, ramming a silver cross down it's throat, the vampire equivalent of a red-hot poker. HMMMMMM? Kinda puts 'waterboarding' and Abu Grahib in perspective, huh? Psychologists (and yes, that's the degree I'm doing in case you're wondering) have occasionally commentated on the way people object to torture in real life but are OK with it in fiction (Dirty Harry springs to mind). What they suggest is that we find it easier to accept when we can put a human face to those who are going to be saved, in TV and movies the correlation between the info gained and benefits are always very direct and evident.

10/10, now we're talking

[Halting Hex]

On 6/10/2018 at 5:32 AM, Joe Hellandback said:

I miss badass Buffy; it's amazing how quickly she disappears.  

Spoiler

(She's barely in S3/S4, never mind the Dawnverse.)

 

 

On 6/10/2018 at 5:32 AM, Joe Hellandback said:

No, no, we see more of her later. 

Don't know if I can co-sign this; we may get the occasional moment, but 

Spoiler

only when she's seeing off the major villain for the year; from telling Glory "You're a god. Make it stop" to crushing Warren's Magic Balls to (in theory) telling the First to "get out of my face" (this last being IMO as lame as anything else to do with Windbag)

,  I don't really see the consistent level of grit that Buffy shows in this episode/season in any of the later years.  But JMO.

On 6/10/2018 at 5:32 AM, Joe Hellandback said:

the first hints of Giles'/Jenny's attraction.

Surely not.  Jenny flirted with him all through I Robot, You Jane, right up to "that's not where I dangle it".

[Joe Hellandback]

2 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

 

Don't know if I can co-sign this; we may get the occasional moment, but 

  Hide contents

only when she's seeing off the major villain for the year; from telling Glory "You're a god. Make it stop" to crushing Warren's Magic Balls to (in theory) telling the First to "get out of my face" (this last being IMO as lame as anything else to do with Windbag)

,  I don't really see the consistent level of grit that Buffy shows in this episode/season in any of the later years.  But JMO.

Surely not.  Jenny flirted with him all through I Robot, You Jane, right up to "that's not where I dangle it".

I never got that, it was only when we see them in this ep that there's cleat attraction. 

[Pallas]

I moved some posts and added spoiler tags to others because Season 6 doesn't happen in Season 2. Please discuss the future in the threads that, somehow, already await it. 

[Halting Hex]

I never really got the "a B-I-T-C-H/a bitca?" joke, since it's clear what word Willow is spelling and why.  Then today I wondered…could it be that Xander has some sort of slight hearing loss?

We know from The Pack that Xander knows American Sign Language (he signs "I love you" to Willow in the tag) and we know from Nightmares that Xander's fearful reaction to the clown at his sixth birthday provoked some sort of anger from his dad, perhaps even physical abuse.  Could he have been beaten so badly that he "cheats" and follows conversations by lip-reading and context, but can sometimes be thrown if Willow is spelling words out and he mistakes "H" for the similar-sounding "A"?

I mean, it's not as if he's too damaged to use a phone, as we see in Prophecy Girl, and other eps to come, but if he's only working with, say, 75-80% normal hearing, that's rather interesting.  (And it might also explain his spotty academic career, if he didn't want to report this to the school authorities.  Makes the whole "active listening" bit from Nightmares all that much deeper.

Or not.  Mmmmmmms. Tishler does appear as though she would look very distracting in a midnight-blue angora sweater, I'll agree.)

Edited June 22, 2018 by Halting Hex

[Joe Hellandback]

On 6/22/2018 at 5:36 PM, Halting Hex said:

I never really got the "a B-I-T-C-H/a bitca?" joke, since it's clear what word Willow is spelling and why.  Then today I wondered…could it be that Xander has some sort of slight hearing loss?

We know from The Pack that Xander knows American Sign Language (he signs "I love you" to Willow in the tag) and we know from Nightmares that Xander's fearful reaction to the clown at his sixth birthday provoked some sort of anger from his dad, perhaps even physical abuse.  Could he have been beaten so badly that he "cheats" and follows conversations by lip-reading and context, but can sometimes be thrown if Willow is spelling words out and he mistakes "H" for the similar-sounding "A"?

I mean, it's not as if he's too damaged to use a phone, as we see in Prophecy Girl, and other eps to come, but if he's only working with, say, 75-80% normal hearing, that's rather interesting.  (And it might also explain his spotty academic career, if he didn't want to report this to the school authorities.  Makes the whole "active listening" bit from Nightmares all that much deeper.

Or not.  Mmmmmmms. Tishler does appear as though she would look very distracting in a midnight-blue angora sweater, I'll agree.)

 

Yeah, Tishler is mighty fine! Everyone at SDH is so beautiful. I don't buy deaf Xander though

Spoiler

(not least because of Hush)

, I just think he's not 'academically inclined'? 

[Halting Hex]

You should probably spoiler that episode reference ^ , but good point.

[Halting Hex]

"It IS a trap.  It just isn't for her."

You don't really see the four henchvamps standing together that much in the episode, so I'm surprised to find that Ned (in his suede jacket) is actually taller than Bob, given how big and hulking Bob is, and that he's the last of the four to get slain.  (Ned gets killed by Angel, ffs.). Meanwhile, Walt is such a fucking schlub…I'm glad Buffy dusts him in mid-chant.

(All names from the shooting script.  The girl is "Jane".)

Xander's classic "I have a boner, but I also want to throw up" expression.  Wonderful work from Nick.

Cynthia Bergstrom (new costumer) MAY be overdoing the dichotomy between Willow (who looks like she just got off the swings in third grade) and Buffy (who looks like she's trying to set a new record for showing skin) just a little, I'm just saying.  I mean, first day of a new job, I get that you want to make an impression…but even so.

Edited September 8, 2018 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

Sweet. Just sweet.

[Joe Hellandback]

16 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

Sweet. Just sweet.

Dammit! Why did some random vamp have to ruin this perfect moment? Xillow forever!

[Halting Hex]

To be fair, Xander appears to be stopping himself (the "it's WILLOW! You can't go there!" thoughts still in effect) even before the vamp appears.  But yes, he's definitely glad of the Buffy-shaped distraction that arrives soon after.

Spoiler

As for Xillow, at least it's almost a step. Others will follow.

[lembergwatcher]

I don't know whether someone's already asked that question, but nevertheless: how did Absalom & Co find out who exactly was in close proximity to Master the moment he died? Did Collin meet someone else from the gang apart from Buffy (because I can't recall something like that)? Who told them those people were precisely Giles, Willow, Cordy and Jenny, and not Giles, Willow, Cordy, Jenny, Xander and Angel? And furthermore, how did the vamps discover the Master's burial site?  Was it marked or something?

[Halting Hex]

A spell?  Maybe they weren't waiting for Buffy to get back to town, but Cordelia, instead?

(Yeah, that's weak.  I know.)

[Loandbehold]

54 minutes ago, Halting Hex said:

A spell?  Maybe they weren't waiting for Buffy to get back to town, but Cordelia, instead?

(Yeah, that's weak.  I know.)

Well given that 

Spoiler

in two episodes Spike comes to town and at the end says that they're going to have a little less ritual and a little more fun, I think a spell is a good guess. 

[Halting Hex]

Hmm, I hadn't thought about that.  Maybe the Aurelians knew how to chant a chant, after all.

I mean, presumably the ritual in this episode would have worked, if Buffy hadn't given Walt a poke at just that moment.  (Be rather lacking in drama if she could have just stood by and watched and nothing would have happened.)  So if the local evil undead (led by the deeply-prophesied Anointed One, after all…

Spoiler

whom Spike heard about, even though he seems to have been in Prague when the A1 rose

) know how to do the ritual to bring the unlife back to the Master's bones, I suppose it's not too surprising they'd also be able to scry for exactly which SHS faculty and students they needed to have in the mix.

Okay, I hate to fall back on "a wizard did a spell", but I can see the internal consistency here.  Thanks.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Halting Hex

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎02‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 11:10 PM, lembergwatcher said:

I don't know whether someone's already asked that question, but nevertheless: how did Absalom & Co find out who exactly was in close proximity to Master the moment he died? Did Collin meet someone else from the gang apart from Buffy (because I can't recall something like that)? Who told them those people were precisely Giles, Willow, Cordy and Jenny, and not Giles, Willow, Cordy, Jenny, Xander and Angel? And furthermore, how did the vamps discover the Master's burial site?  Was it marked or something?

Interesting but remember the vamps were besieging the library at the time and maybe saw him fall through the skylight. As for the rest maybe magic, maybe they kept tabs on the Scoobs over the Summer but had to wait for CC and Ms Calendar to come back (or the stars to align etc)?

[Joe Hellandback]

Just watching WSWB and check out the guy in this clip at about 2.00 dancing between Xander/Buffy and the stage? 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=buffy+and+xander+dance&ru=%2fvideos%2fsearch%3fq%3dbuffy%2band%2bxander%2bdance%26FORM%3dHDRSC3&view=detail&mid=5D89874FF2E008BA46935D89874FF2E008BA4693&rvsmid=A411FAA68ACD6AD56D5AA411FAA68ACD6AD56D5A&FORM=VDQVAP

James Marsters? Or his double?

[Halting Hex]

Quote

I never really got the "a B-I-T-C-H/a bitca?" joke, since it's clear what word Willow is spelling and why.  Then today I wondered…could it be that Xander has some sort of slight hearing loss?

Reasonable arguments were advanced against this hypothesis upthread but I've read a review of Nightmares that spotlights this dialogue:

Quote

WENDELL:  [Spiders aren't] insects!  They're arachnids!

XANDER:  They're from the Middle East?

And while the confusion over "Iraqnids" could well be meant as "Xander's kind of stupid" or "Xander makes a bad pun", it could also be gist for the "hearing issues" idea, since those would be more likely to crop up with unfamiliar words, and "arachnids" doesn't find its way into too many everyday conversations, of course.

Again, almost certainly not intended this way, but intriguing anyhow, IMO.

Edited September 7, 2020 by Halting Hex

[watcher1006]

Seems to me that hearing B-I-T-C-H as "bitca" isn't all that improbable in an environment with plentiful background noise. Seeing how the letter "H" can be phoneticized as "aitch" all it takes is for someone to miss hearing the final consonant.  Speaking as one who generally doesn't talk loudly enough and who often gets asked to repeat myself.

[Halting Hex]

Okay, so what's up with that "Brent Jennings as Absalom" credit in the beginning?  Brent's a nobody and "Absalom" is a one-off vampire, never referred to before and unlikely to ever be seen again, since Buffy burnt him all up.  He's in a whopping four scenes and has like six lines.  (His original speech, telling Ned "Dig" twice in the graveyard, cueing the ritual, telling Ned to protect "the sacrifices", and ranting at Buffy before she flambés him.  Big whoop.)  Nice job, Brent's agent, I guess.

I mean, "Armin Shimerman as Principal Snyder" I get, since that's a recurring bit and Armin was also on another popular series (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) at the same time.  But hell, Robia LaMorte (Ms. Calendar) used to dance for Prince and Dean Butler (Hank Summers) used to be the romantic lead on a major series*…where are their special "as" credits, I ask you?

*-Michael Landon actually didn't even appear in some later-season episodes of Little House on the Prairie, leaving Dean (as Almanzo Wilder), Melissa Gilbert (as Laura) and Victor French to do the work while Landon sat back and counted his executive-producer $$$ or whatever.  Top that, Brent Jennings!

***********

Quote

XANDER:  Hey, G-man, what's up?
GILES:  Nice to see you…and don't ever call me that.

Spoiler

And, as far as I know, he never does again.  It's cute how considerate Xander is.  Awww.

(Faith will use the name, next season, but she buttered Giles up with that "young and cute" compliment beforehand.  Flattery will get you many places, it seems.)

 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

So apparently Georgia Corsby and Aaron are more than just friends;  when she was admiring Shirtless!Xander in Nightmares, they did a slo-mo of his reaction to her interest with a "TRIGGERED!" graphic.  I wasn't sure; I had thought they might just be Willow/Xander-type "buds".

Of course, it's not as if Xillow themselves are free of deeper feelings.  Which makes their reactions to this episode's teaser of note:  Georgia is wondering if W/X are on a date and then (as the kiss seems possible) if this is a dream sequence.

Meanwhile, Aaron takes a more practical tack:  if Buffy was close enough to rescue them, does that mean she saw the almost-kiss?

Interesting question.  If so, that makes Buffy really cruel to do the Bitch-Tease Dance with Xander right in front of Willow.  Of course, there's the theory that she's trying to push away all of her friends, which Aaron becomes roughly the 1000th person to advance.  But even so.  Don't hurt Willow, Buffy!  Grr.

[lembergwatcher]

On 2/28/2021 at 10:30 PM, Halting Hex said:

Meanwhile, Aaron takes a more practical tack:  if Buffy was close enough to rescue them, does that mean she saw the almost-kiss?

Interesting question.  If so, that makes Buffy really cruel to do the Bitch-Tease Dance with Xander right in front of Willow.  Of course, there's the theory that she's trying to push away all of her friends, which Aaron becomes roughly the 1000th person to advance.  But even so.  Don't hurt Willow, Buffy!  Grr.

Well, that's a good question. I guess Buffy should have seen the almost-kiss, otherwise I can't explain the spontaneity of the Slayer's reaction. And yes, the dance was a bitch-move. But that's just Buffy being Buffy, right?.. Ok, I'm being too unfair and judgemental right now. Buffy was desperately trying to deal with her issues but like many people her age failed to do it in any reasonable manner. As for hurting Willow,

Spoiler

unfortunately Buffy has a tendency to treat Willow like shit with every passing season. And not just Willow.

 

[Halting Hex]

Awww.  I just noticed that when Xander wins the "I must consult my books" bet with Willow (re: Giles) and she pays up, he says "Thank you".  I love that he's polite.

In contrast, Buffy sweeping out of the Bronze after the Bitch of the Year Dance, without even a cursory "goodbye" or "see you" to Willow, kind of frosts my cupcakes, the more I think about it.  Grrr.

(No, I don't know where I got "frosts my cupcakes" as slang for "pisses me off".  Don't mind me.)

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

Amusing that Giles zings Snyder with the sarcasm about how he "enjoys" these "pep talks"…and then he rather flubs things himself, telling Buffy she'll probably have even worse screw-ups in the future.

Not as easy as it seems, huh, G-Man?

[lembergwatcher]

On 6/16/2021 at 7:19 AM, Halting Hex said:

Awww.  I just noticed that when Xander wins the "I must consult my books" bet with Willow (re: Giles) and she pays up, he says "Thank you".  I love that he's polite.

In contrast, Buffy sweeping out of the Bronze after the Bitch of the Year Dance, without even a cursory "goodbye" or "see you" to Willow, kind of frosts my cupcakes, the more I think about it.  Grrr.

Politeness isn't one of Buffy's virtues, so... Besides bitcas will be bitcas, no matter what.

[Halting Hex]

Was thinking about Whedon's general fondness for a particular phrase and then I realized he uses it to show character evolution during this episode:

Quote

XANDER: Please, I'm so over [Buffy]. Did she, uh, mention when she might be gettin' back? About which I do not care.

WILLOW: I haven't heard from her. I got a couple postcards when she went to L.A., but then, like, nothing.

XANDER: Well, she's probably with her dad having a good time.

WILLOW: And you don't care?

Quote

BUFFY: What happened?

XANDER: (out of breath) Vampires. The ones you could handle yourself.

BUFFY: Where are the others?

XANDER: I don't know. (angry) I don't know what your problem is, what your issues are. But as of now, I officially don't care.

Nice repetition of the phrase to show how Xander moves from weakly protesting that he's no longer obsessed with Buffy to his being legitimately angry at her.  He may not have lost all romantic feeling towards her (that look he gives while watching her weep on Angel's chest after the battle probably means something, or so Willow seems to think), but things are definitely more complex now.

Takes most of the episode as opposed to the complete reversal that Buffy goes through between two consecutive "I don't care" lines in Prophecy Girl, but still of note.  Well done, Whedon.

Now perhaps your response to this analysis is "who cares?" but still…

[MapleCourt]

When She Was Bad is definitely one of my favorite episodes. Every time I watch it after finishing Season 1 I think, "Wow, they're really taking things to the next level." I was so disappointed that Willow and Xander didn't get to kiss.

[Halting Hex]

Mike from the Review Crew points out that it probably wasn't a good idea for Buffy to bail for LA so soon after Prophecy Girl, because if she had been around when G/W/X buried the Master, it would have helped her get closure, seeing the Master actually being buried in the ground.  (Of course, simply smashing the bones works, too, as we see later in the episode.)

I also checked out Tyler Alexander's reaction vid, and noted that Willow points out the exact spot where they buried the Master early in Act I, which certainly comes in useful when Buffy visits his grave in Act III.  Otherwise, Buffy would have been wandering the cemetery all night, wondering where the Master's grave was…

Tyler, meanwhile, was more prosaic.  When Xander puts the ice cream on Willow's nose in the teaser, Tyler shivers, saying that (as Xander had been licking the ice cream) probably about 50% of  what Xander was smearing on her was actually Xander's saliva.

Also, this, from Act I:

Quote

Buffy wakes from the nightmare (where Giles was the Master and he was killing her), realizes where she is, and then looks towards her window.

BUFFY:  Hello.

ANGEL:  Mind if I come in?

TYLER:  No, mate.  You have to ask that before you actually enter.

ANGEL:  How are you feeling?

TYLER (as Buffy):  Violated.  Get the fuck out of here.

Heh.

Edited July 13 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

Quote

BUFFY:  I was a moron! I put my friends in mortal danger on the second day of school!

Well, your judgment aside, you apparently have inadequate (if not specifically moronic) math skills.  That was the third day of school.

Day 1:  Meeting up, Giles learns about Ms. Calendar dancing naked, Buffy has an angry workout, the vampires plan a plan, Buffy has a dream that Giles is the Master (Sergio, when we later seen Calendar unconscious: "It was Giles all along!"), Angel stops by.

Day 2:  Hype over Cibo Matto, the vampires dig up the bones, Bitch of the Year Dance at the Bronze, Cordelia and Calendar are kidnapped, Buffy sees the disturbed grave.

Day 3:  A very interesting discussion about trout, further research, Buffy walks into a trap…but it's not a trap for her, fighty-fighty-fight.

And this is the aftermath, on Day 4.  So Buffy had a problem with the math.  ("What part?" "The math.")

Of course, this is actually a Joss problem, not a Buffy problem.  On Night 1, Absalom tells the vampires that their big event will occur "In three days".  In other words, on Night 4, but in fact Buffy (and Angel) kill them all on Night 3.  I like to think that Absalom had just built in an extra's wiggle room into the planning, since they had to find the burial site, dig up the bones, and kidnap 4 people, and who knows how long that would take, but still.  It seems off.

And of course, at the end, when the question of going to the Bronze comes up, Willow says "Wednesday night, kind of beat"…but since this is the fourth day shown in the episode, it should be Thursday.  I suppose it's possible that school started on Friday (for whatever reason) and Buffy actually had a quiet weekend before the dream about Giles killing her (and Angel's visit) on Sunday night, but that seems unlikely.  (Although it does fix one math problem if Absalom's pep talk was on Saturday and so Tuesday was always the intended day for resurrecting the Master…)

But still.  Buffy's the one who called herself a moron, and clearly got the number of days involved wrong.  Obviously, she needs more math tutoring sessions with Willow.

(Or snuggle sessions, but that's just my 'shipper glasses talking.)