Buffy the Vampire Slayer
We are a few days late, but with this post we are looking at "Buffy's" first, iconic Halloween episode. Let's get right down to it.
"Reptile Boy"
Buffy Summers: "I told one lie. I had one drink."
Rupert Giles: "Yes. And you were very nearly devoured by a giant demon snake. The words "let that be a lesson" are a tad redundant at this juncture."
Buffy is overworked by Giles, who doesn't understand that there is more to her life than vampire slaying. And is frustrated by Angel because she doesn't know where their relationship stands. All this pushes her to agree to go with Cordelia to a frat party, but things take a turn when the girls discover they are meant to be sacrificed to a snake demon that has promised the frat brothers wealth and prosperity.
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| Someone needs to moisturize. |
It's been a few years since I did a "Buffy" re-watch and I think I forgot about how a lot of the conflict was things the show kept re-hashing particularly in these early seasons. It feels like we are constantly getting a variation on the "Buffy wants a normal life but she has to train and patrol etc." This will always be an issue that Buffy has to deal with. And I don't mind them focusing on it, but sometimes it feels lazy which it kind of does in this episode. Couple that with the burgeoning Buffy/Angel relationship and them having fighting about something that they will always fight about. Their age difference! She's the Slayer, he's a vampire! He's killed people! She's killed vampires. Again, I'm not saying these things can't be compelling, because they certainly can be but it feels like this is a well that the show is returning to a lot and they aren't doing anything with it.
It is early in the season but it also kind of feels like the show is spinning its wheels when it comes to the long term overarching storyline for this sophomore season. We were introduced to the Master at the very beginning of the first season and I think people were thinking that would happen here. We have Spike and Drusilla, but even if you know they aren't, they don't feel like the major Big Bad for this particular season.
The first three seasons of "Buffy" have this great way of filtering the horrors of high school through the literal horrors that Buffy fights every episode. "Buffy" has some great episodes that deal with teenage sexuality including one that is coming up this season, but I don't think that this episode is one of them. This is very late '90's teen drama. Teen drinking is bad. Teen sexuality is bad. Look what happens when these pretty girls go to this frat party and decide to let loose and have one drink. They get drugged. They are threatened with sexual assault and then they are almost sacrificed to a lizard demon. So, that last part might just be specific to "Buffy." I'm not saying that those things don't happen and that they aren't actual things that women have to deal with, but I do feel like there is a way to caution young women about these things without it being as heavy handed as it is in this episode.
That's not to say that I hated this episode. Overall, I think that it was very entertaining. There is something really magical when Buffy and Cordelia team up for an episode. It's clear that Sarah Michelle Gellar and Charisma Carpenter have this phenomenal chemistry that you can feel through the television screen. They play off each other really well and they bring out these natural comedic talents within each other. Carpenter is on fire in this episode. Whether she is fake laughing at nothing because she read it in a book about making yourself desirable to men or she is insulting Buffy's looks as if Buffy is unattractive, she really kills every moment in this episode.
You all know that I hate Xander, so it should come as no surprise that I particularly enjoy the scenes of him being humiliated in this episode. I don't necessarily love the trope of feminizing someone and then parading them around as if being feminine and a man is bad, but I do like it when it's happening to Xander. Call me a hypocrite all you like. Hypocrisy is my brand. Willow has a great moment when she pretty much lets both Giles and Angel have it. One of my favorite Willow's is when she has had it and she basically just explodes on people. It's wonderful. and Giles and Angel completely deserve the blow up that Willow levels at them.
Another thing I love about the show is that Buffy pretty much always saves herself. Sure Angel shows up to help her, but by the time he gets to the basement, Buffy has already broken free of the ceiling chains and is whupping ass. I love that. Angel is never Tuxedo Mask, swooping in to save the defenseless Slayer. Buffy takes care of herself and I really appreciate that.
We have a couple of fun guest stars. You might recognize Cordy's douchebag frat bro paramour. He's played by Greg Vaughan who was Piper's pre Leo beau in the original "Charmed." And we get another appearance from Jonathan at the end of the episode when he's on a date with Cordy. Jonathan will play a bigger role as the series progresses.
Grade: B-
"Halloween"
Angel: "I thought we had..."
Buffy Summers: "A date? So did I. But who am I kidding? Dates are things normal girls have. Girls who have time to think about nail polish and facials. You know what I think about? Ambush tactics. Beheading. Not exactly the stuff dreams are made of."
It's Halloween on the Hellmouth, which is typically a quiet affair. Buffy and the gang are planning on a low key evening until they are forced by Principal Snyder to take groups of elementary school students trick-or-treating. Costumes mandatory. Things are going well until the gang turns into their costumes, which is bad news for Buffy. She's dressed up as a proper Victorian lady to surprise Angel so she's not in a great place for fighting when Spike shows up.
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| Not a sexy ghost, just a ghost. |
It feels like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is the type of show that should have a Halloween episode every season, kind of like "Friends" always did a Thanksgiving episode. But in the seven season the series aired, there were only three. The season four Halloween episode is great, but the best of the three is the original. "Halloween" is a great episode. I could see it on a list of the greatest "Buffy" episodes of all time. It is a episode that not only stands the test of time, but it is also an episode that is referenced throughout the rest of the series. That is some staying power.
The first thing that this episode introduces to the "Buffy" mythology is that Halloween is usually a pretty slow night for the Slayer and for demonic activity in general. This comes as a surprise to Xander and Willow when Buffy tell them about it. I like this switch up. It makes a lot of sense to me. Don't tell anyone, but I did think it was funny when Xander said that the vampires thought that Halloween had become too commercial which was why they stayed away from it.
This episode introduces us to Ethan Rayne. Ethan is a sinister, chaos loving magic user that has connections to Giles. We don't learn too much about Ethan and Giles's relationship in this episode but the episode leaves us extremely curious to find out more. This episode shows Giles in a completely different light. Up to this point, we have seen Giles as kind of a bumbling but well meaning guy. I mean, in the past few episodes we've seen Buffy pretty much lay into him physically. But when he confronts Ethan Rayne in this episode we see a full shift. Giles is really scary. For a minute there, you're not sure how far he'll go to get Ethan to tell him how to undo the spell that he's cast. And while Ethan gets away from Sunnydale at the end of the episode, he leaves a card that says "Be Seeing You." And it's exciting as a viewer. Why is Giles such a badass? Why was Ethan Rayne calling Giles "Ripper?" Spoiler alert, you won't have to wait very long to find out.
I was lamenting a little bit in the last recap about how the show was kind of going back to the same wells when it came to drama for Buffy. Well, this episode is an example of how the show does this correctly. Buffy wants to know more about this guy she likes. She and Willow steal the Watcher Diaries from Giles, which is a genuinely funny scene, and she sees the kind of girl Angel dated when he was human. It makes sense that Buffy would see this and maybe think that she should change herself for this guy she likes. That's normal. Especially as a teenager. It feels really realistic. This extends to Willow who is trying to be sexy for Halloween no matter how uncomfortable she is in the leather mini skirt and halter top that she wears. I mean, Willow does look great, but am I the only one who thinks that it's a little weird to wear that to take kids trick-or-treating.
The episode really amps up when the costumes take over. Xander actually becomes a soldier. This is something that will pop up in future seasons since Xander retains his pseudo military training even when the spell is broken and it comes in handy later on. Buffy becomes a Victorian lady and Willow becomes an actual ghost. We talked a little bit about Sarah Michelle's comedy chops in the previous episode, but they really shine in this one. It's wild to see Buffy in this light. Not only is she trying to shield herself using Xander (gross), but she's talking about how she's defenseless and doesn't want to be smart and hopes to just marry rich. All this and she's a brunette. It's wild.
It's great when Buffy comes back after the spell is broken. I love when Spike comes back holding Buffy's wig and she lays into him. The opening scene of Buffy fighting the vampire at the pumpkin patch is iconic. Oz and Willow keep almost having the meet cute they are destined to have. Children turned into literal monsters are legit terrifying.
I do have a couple minor issues with this episode. I don't love that Buffy is threatened with sexual assault for the second time in two episodes just so Xander can have a manly moment saving her from Larry the pirate. I don't necessarily think that we need that. I also don't love that Cordelia keeps hitting on Angel throughout the episode. And I'm glad that this episode kind of sees the end of that.
All in all though, a classic episode of the series that stands the test of time.
Grade: A-
Next up, Buffy reconnects with an old friend with an ulterior motive and Ethan Rayne returns which means trouble for Giles and his burgeoning relationship with Jenny Calendar.
What did you all think? Do you like "Reptile Boy?" Is "Halloween" the superior "Buffy" Halloween episode? Let me know in the comments.
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