Buffy the Vampire Slayer
It definitely feels like the back half of season one of "Buffy" is superior to the first half. We get two solid episodes this time as we head towards the end of this debut season. Let's get to it.
"The Puppet Show"
Principal Snyder: "Kids today need direction. It's an unpopular word these days: discipline. I know Principal Flutie would have said, "Kids need understanding. Kids are human beings." That's the kind of wooly-headed liberal thinking that leads to be eaten."
Rupert Giles: "I-I think perhaps it was a little more complex than, um..."
Sunnydale High has a new principal and he's the complete opposite of Principal Flutie. Principal Snyder is not in to any of that touchy-feely crap and he's already pegged Buffy, Xander and Willow as bad seeds. He's also put Giles in charge of the school talent show. Things are progressing as well as a high school talent show can until a contestant is found with their heart cut out. And all signs are pointing to an extremely creepy ventriloquist dummy.
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| Sophocles would be proud. |
When I was a teenager, I worked at CD/movie/book store in the Newton Shopping Center called On Cue. They had VHS sets that each had six episodes from the first three seasons of "Buffy." I loved the show and I remember buying the season one set and this was one of the episodes on it. I watched those six episodes a lot. So, I may be a little bit biased when it comes to this episode. I tried to watch it with an unbiased eye and for me, it still holds up.
This episode introduces one of Buffy's longterm nemeses, Principal Snyder. Snyder is played by Armin Shimerman who sci-fi fans may know as Quark from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." Snyder is the complete opposite of Flutie and he immediately targets Buffy and the rest of the Scooby Gang as problem children. It's easy to hate Principal Snyder. He's extremely hatable and has a super punchable face, but as an adult, I can understand why he immediately targets Buffy, Xander and Willow. A lot of things have happened and they have been at the center of it, so I would probably keep an eye on them too. Ugh. Even kind of defending Snyder makes me feel gross and dirty. Overall he is kind of a caricature of a bad principal down to the fact that he admits to Giles that he hates children. Watching Giles and Snyder interact are some of my favorite moments of this episode.
It feels like around the time that this episode aired there were a lot of TV shows that had very similar plot lines with ventriloquist dummy's that looked a lot like Sid. I was a big fan of the "Goosebumps" books and this whole plot is giving me "Night of the Living Dummy" which was one of my favorite books. I agree with Buffy that dummies give me the wiggins and that, I think, is why they are so popular in fiction. It's not a huge shock when we find out that Sid is not the villain of the piece but actually a demon hunter that has been cursed in to the form of this ventriloquist dummy. You have to give it up to Sarah Michelle Gellar. She really is able to have chemistry with anyone, even a wooden doll.
The action in this episode is solid and kind of ridiculous. When Buffy and Sid are fighting it's really funny and I don't think that they really even tried to make it seem realistic which was a solid choice. The final fight between the actual demon and Buffy makes up for that silly sequence and there is the added danger of Giles being trapped in an actual guillotine. There are some decent jump scares in this episode. The moment when the brain falls down onto Buffy comes to mind.
I do feel like that this episode is maybe full of too many red herrings. I like the idea of the villain of the week actually being a human rather than a demon. It would have been an interesting turn especially when you consider the Scoobies reaction when they think that the thing removing hearts from their classmates could be one of their fellow students. The show is trying extra hard to throw off you track. Morgan is the original suspect. But they also try to make it seem like it could be Principal Snyder. Sid thinks that Buffy is the demon. I get that they don't want to make it too obvious but it's just too much overall.
Grade: B+
"Nightmares"
Buffy Summers: "I'm glad you showed up. You see, I'm having a really bad day."
Coach: [As the Ugly Man] "Lucky 19."
Buffy Summers: "Scary. I'll tell you something though. There are a lot scarier things than you... And I'm one of them."
Someone is bringing the nightmares of the citizens of Sunnydale to life. And no one is immune, including Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles. It's up to Buffy to figure out the cause of all this before Sunnydale becomes a nightmare that no one can wake from.
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| Vampire Buffy has had it. |
This is another season one episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" that I would encourage someone to watch if they wanted to do a speed run of the first season. It's an episode that I think really shows the series coming into its own and fully leading up to its potential. It is at turns funny and frightening. It takes a serious issue and fits it in to the tone of the series without coming off as schmaltzy or like an after school special. It's not a surprise that the script comes from a story by Joss Whedon with a teleplay by David Greenwalt.
The concept of nightmares coming to life isn't new. But, they do a great job of adapting that concept to the world of Buffy. I really love the atmosphere of the episode, particularly when the nightmare world is starting to encroach more and more into the real world. The transitions between different nightmarescapes are really cool and really seamless. I love how Buffy goes from the sunny school to the darkened cemetery. One of my favorite moments of the episode is when Willow comments on how there is now a cemetery across from the school and how it is night there.
One of "Buffy's" biggest strengths is how it is able to juggle different tones in one episode and this is one of the earliest examples of the show really doing that well. There are serious things happening here. The whole storyline with Billy Palmer is extremely messed up. But at the same time, the show acknowledges that some nightmares we have are inherently ridiculous and funny when you look back on them. There is Xander who appears in his underwear in the front of his class or his interaction with the party clown that traumatized him as a child. Willow's nightmare of being a famous opera singer who suddenly can't sing a note on stage. Cordelia becoming a nerd and being dragged off to chess club. These are all great comedic moments but they never take away from the serious portions of the episode.
This is really a great episode for Sarah Michelle Gellar. Of course, Buffy's nightmares aren't silly. Her first is a confrontation with her dad, Hank, who tells Buffy that she is the reason that her parents divorced and that he doesn't enjoy spending time with her. SMG murders it in this scene. She doesn't say much. She allows her body language and her facial expressions to convey everything that she's feeling. Then, she is confronted by the Master and buried alive, emerging as a vampire. It's always a trip to see Buffy in vamp face. Throughout this all, Buffy shows why she is the Slayer and why she is a true hero. She never stops trying to help Billy. Her confrontation with the Ugly Man in the hallway is a true badass Buffy moment that stands toe to toe with any other badass Buffy moments throughout the season.
The reveal that Billy was attacked and hospitalized by his little league coach who blamed him for losing their last game. This could definitely come off as overly sentimental or like a "very special episode," but it never does. It's handled with the right amount of seriousness and it never crosses the line into melodrama. And it does give Xander an actual nice moment when he grabs the coach when he tries to flee after Buffy reveals that Billy is awake. Xander immediately reverts to being the worst when he admits to Willow he still wanted to fuck Buffy when she was a vampire.
The only part of this episode that doesn't work for me is the stuff with the Master. I am never sure if the Master that attacks Buffy and buries her alive is actually the Master or just a nightmare version of him. It's muddy because of the speech that the Master gives to the Anointed One about how fear and the lack of mastery over it will lead to his triumph. It seems like it is just kind of a clumsy way to state the theme of the episode and also remind viewers that the Master is still out there. It's a misstep a lot of shows make early on when they are trying to balance serialized storytelling with more episodic storytelling. But this is not enough to diminish what is a highlight of the first season.
Grade: A-
Next up, we wrap up season one with invisible attackers and Buffy's final confrontation with the Master.
What did you all think? Do you love puppets that come to life? No? Do you enjoy "Nightmares?" Let me know in the comments.
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