"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.
What is essential is invisible to the eye."
--- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Okay, so by now you've either read my message
explaining that I've been too swamped to write
reviews for the past couple of weeks, or maybe you've
noticed that there just haven't been any. It's
now been an unreasonable amount of time since 'Potential' aired
and that makes it a tad difficult to get in the proper
head space to discuss it. But hopefully I can dive
in anyway, and this thing will write itself like it
usually does. Can someone hit the lights, please?
Buffy and Spike are both looking all healed up in episode
7.12, which would imply that some indeterminate amount
of time has passed since she de-headified the "Chaka
Khan" and pulled Spike out of the cave. The word
around the way is that it's been a couple of
weeks, but since they both heal Wolverine-style, I'm
just going to have to take everyone's word on
that. William is the new teacher at Buffy's academy
for young Slayers-in-Training (let's hope Willow
gets the Defense Against the Dark Arts gig). The opening
scene in the graveyard was cool, and the whole time
Spike was chained up in the cave I was looking forward
to seeing him get his chance to really lend his fierce
talents to the side of good. Now that he's on
the outside, having an in-house vamp is a great teacher's
aid in Buffy's NEVER ENDING lecture on defending
yourself against the things that get bumpy at night
("blah blah blah…"). My only regret
is that he didn't actually finish the job when
he had his fangs so close to Vi's jugular. It's
been a slow process, but Vi is presently the only potential
that I haven't grown to like. Well, not including
this episode's slightly annoying late addition
to the ranks, but we'll get to her in a bit.
Rona is funny as the cranky cynic, and there's
something about Molly's clumsy parody of an accent
that's endearing. "Aw we spouse t' lawk,
mike owt wif 'im?" Cute. Now say, "The
rain in Spain falls mainly in the plane" and
I'll take you to the racetrack (I need sleep).
I dig Kennedy, but so do most people I've spoken
to.
Question about Spike's chip, though. It's
been a pretty vague couple of months, in terms of what
exactly he can and can't do. The last time we
really saw the chip come into question, it seemed like
he could attack people whenever the First was controlling
him with the Friendly Giant theme, but as long as he
was clearheaded and attacked a human (like when he
decked Xander to get out of the apartment), he'd
still receive a crippling shot of brain pain. A while
back when Buffy had him tied up at Fort Summers, she
asked him when his chip stopped working, and his reply
was that he wasn't aware it had. Has it? And
if so, when? In my opinion, the way he manhandled Rona
and Vi would have been too much for the Spike of seasons
4, 5, and 6. If the rule holds true that he can only
get rough with the living when it's on the First's
dime, should we not still be worried? Buffy seems pretty
confident that Spike's entirely on her side for
the moment, but maybe the First works in more subtle
ways than we've seen so far. Quick! Someone sing 'Early
One Morning' and see what happens!
Speaking of subtle, Giles has gone from barely there
to not there at all. He's off to Shanghai to
pick up another potential (who will no doubt speak
perfect English), and I have to assume that he took
the Latina potential we saw in 'Showtime' who
was absent from this episode. If not, where the hell
else would she be? Was it an oversight? Did the actress
throw some kind of tantrum and get her walking papers,
and M.E. hoped we wouldn't notice her absence
this time?!? I might be willing to believe Giles took
her along for the trip, since theories still abound
that he has no physical form and would therefore need
someone to hand over his passport and boarding pass,
AND carry his luggage. Then there's the seatbelt
to consider, and the conspicuous way he'd be
refusing all food and beverages on such a long flight.
But this required assistance would imply that the potential
understands his status, and OH, GIVE ME A BREAK!! This
whole Giles thing is ridiculous. The only way I can
imagine NOT being totally irritated is if, upon his
return, he scoops Willow up in a big hug and drinks
milk straight out of the carton from Buffy's
fridge and we learn once and for all that it was one
big red herring. I could appreciate the idea that Joss
only had his writers script No-Touchy Giles to throw
us off and keep us speculating. I was thinking a while
ago that there may well have been entire episodes in
the past where at least one character made no on-screen
contact with any objects or people. It's not
impossible, and we just wouldn't have noticed
because we weren't looking for it and it wouldn't
have meant anything anyway. But I think the idea that
Giles has spent all this time in the house and not
one single person has noticed his incorporeal state
(if it is as such) is quite possibly the stupidest
concept in the show's history. Of course there's
still the matter of what happened to him when that
Bringer in London swung an axe at his head. Boy, Joss,
you've dug yourself into quite a hole with this
one. I'm one of the most vocal "Trust in
Joss" cheerleaders, but my faith is wavering
on whether or not this is going to resolve itself in
a way that will satisfy me. Please surprise me. Please
pull something out that's going to knock me off
my couch with its unforeseen craftiness. It's
not that I don't think you have it in you, I'm
just getting worried that this matter of ghostly Giles
will be fraught with illogical and poorly explained
goofiness.
There was also nothing new on Principal Wood, but as
I said to Chris yesterday, I've recently had
the truth of his identity spoiled for me and I would
pay someone to suck the information back out of my
brain. Damn it. It's a great idea and I applaud
Joss (or whoever it was) for thinking of it, but I
know how much more thrilling it would be if it came
as a total shocker. I'm sure all of you who are
tragically addicted to spoilers are tired of me lecturing
you, but here it is again. Hearing this stuff in advance
decimates the show's entertainment value, and
since it's looking more and more likely that
we don't have very much show left, can we all
just try and keep our mitts out of the cookie jar?
If you promise to stop reading spoilers, I have it
on good authority that Drew Goddard will french you
with his (self-proclaimed) masterful frenching skills.
Ultimate Drew, if you're reading this, Kitty
B says she is IN for that deal, so prepare to pucker
up.
I was pleased as punch to see the return of my man
Clem. Yay Clem! I've always been a fan of any
glimpses we're granted into the demon underworld,
so the field trip to the bar was a nice touch that
was made sweeter still by the inclusion of my favourite
saggy-faced hellspawn. I don't know which I like
more – that he can do that crazy trick with his
face, or that he has TiVo. Did anyone else find it
strange that he and Spike didn't even acknowledge
each other? I thought they were buds.
I guess all that's really left to discuss is
the meat of the episode, namely Dawn's whole
revolving door moment in the Slayer lineage. I think
most of us saw this coming – at least the first
half. With all the talk that the show could potentially
continue without SMG, or with her appearing as an occasional
guest star, many people have speculated that Dawn might
be a likely candidate for the chief stake-wielder in
an eighth season ("Dawn The Vampire Slayer" is
a phrase that many fans have batted around this year).
Let's keep in mind that she's rapidly leaving
her season 6 self behind and maturing into a wise and
dependable member of the team. Admittedly, Dawn's
no Buffy, but I could see a lot of great stories spawning
from her early training and first adventures as the
chosen one. I wasn't so foolish as to assume
that the future was clearly laid out when Willow's
locator spell illuminated Dawnie, but I also didn't
think for a second that it wasn't intended for
her. Even when she snuck out (following Andrew's
hilarious speech on the ancient joys of womanhood and
Xander's desperate plea for its end), I didn't
foresee Amanda as the real potential. If anything,
as they broke into the school and started heading for
the Home Ec lab, I started to get the sense that Amanda
was leading Dawn into a trap. Was she already a vamp?
Was she an agent of the First? Was she the offspring
of Rick "Elevator" White and Shelly Duvall?
I don't think I saw a single complete episode
of Freaks & Geeks, so tell me – was Millie
(this actor's character on that show) a freak
or a geek?
I like it when the Buffy & Angel writers incorporate
classic horror movie themes and devices. In this case
it was the abandoned school at night, and the young
girls frantically pushing cabinets against the door
to keep the monster out as they scrambled for a plan
with the soundtrack screeching and crashing around
them. But true to Whedon form, this isn't a world
where the girls get caught by the monster and wind
up dead (Tell that to Jenny Calendar – Ed.).
It was a really clever move to have Buffy's instruction
to the potentials in the crypt playing over the scenes
of Dawn fighting off her own vamp. It was a great precursor
to the revelation that came with the Harbingers' arrival,
as it illustrated Dawn's potential as a warrior,
regardless of how the Powers that Be may have designated
her. She might not be in line for the Slayer job, but
her strength, courage and resourcefulness are constantly
developing, and Xander is living proof that there's
a lot more to the job of backing up the Slayer than
just having superpowers. The real essence of this episode
was that, in surrendering her taste of power to Amanda
at that moment, Dawn ultimately accepted her role as
a vital member of the team with only the tools of her
own fragile humanity as her arsenal. It might be tough
to be the Slayer, but in many ways it's harder
to be the Slayer's (seemingly) powerless kid
sister. And as Xander pointed out, her willingness
to accept this role and the challenges that come with
it make her all the more extraordinary. It took me
a while to fully appreciate it, but this was Dawn's
coming of age episode and an installment that looked
on the surface like filler actually contained a pretty
heavy development.
Some parting thoughts, before I start on the review
for the second last Angel (I HATE being behind!!):
- As was mentioned by
a few readers, Buffy said something in 'Potential'
about how one of the girls
will be called if she dies. Do the Scoobs still not
understand the current state of the Slayer lineage?
I can't personally remember a moment where they've
actually discussed the fact that Faith is the rightful
Slayer and Buffy is a footnote, but Joss and Marti
have both explained it at great length in interviews.
Buffy died briefly in season one, which called forth
Kendra. Dru whacked Kendra, and that gave us Faith.
Buffy's death at the end of season five did bugger
all, because the torch had already been passed. For
a new Slayer to be called, Faith is the one that
has to die. Is it possible that no one on the show
has
realized this yet? Do they think there might be another
Slayer active because of Buffy's second death
and that every time she dies a new one is called?
OR, as an even crazier possibility, is Joss set to
turn
Slayer canon on its ear by revealing that there IS
another Slayer (a third)?!? Don't hammer me with
emails telling me that its impossible, because I'm
not expecting it to happen either. But who knows
what our man is capable of surprising us with? As
Jane Siberry
said, I Muse Aloud.
- Do any of the potentials, including Amanda – who
lives right in Sunnydale, have families? Is the
mother that Amanda mentioned going to notice if her
teenage
daughter suddenly moves into Buffy's little boarding
school?
- Rebecca brought up an interesting thought.
Isn't it time we launched some kind of serious
campaign to get Buffy recognized by the Emmys
this season? Maybe some of you are already on the
task,
so let me know if you are. Since this could be
the last season, if it's ever going to happen it
has to happen now. And I'm not just talking about
make-up and special effects. At the very least
we need to see nominations for the show's writing,
and
James Marsters deserves a Best Actor nomination
as much as anyone on television. But I'm at a loss
here. Who decides these things? Is there a small
nominating
committee? A massive academy? If it's up to 20th
Century Fox, or whoever, to promote the show
for possible consideration, they'd better get on
it.
And if
we, as the viewing public, can help matters with
petitions and email campaigns, then show me where
I sign.
Thanks
for the wake-up call, Rebecca, and take care, everybody.
Ron
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