Buffy the Vampire Slayer
With these two episodes we have reached the midway point of season two. And if you've watched this season before, you probably know that the quality of this sophomore season really fluctuates but the back half of season two, with one or two exceptions, is pretty phenomenal and tees up the series best season in season three. So, something to look forward to. Let's get to it.
"Ted"
Willow Rosenberg: "What do you mean, check him out?"
Buffy Summers: "I mean, investigate him. Find out his secrets. Hack into his life."
Xander Harris: "Can you say "overreaction"?"
Buffy Summers: "Can you say "sucking chest wound"?"
Buffy is disturbed when she finds her mother making out with a man in her kitchen. The man is computer software salesmen named Ted who has charmed Joyce and quickly charms Xander and Willow, as well. Buffy isn't so sure and initially thinks that maybe she is just being overprotective. But soon, Ted is threatening her on the mini golf course and threatening to expose her slaying to Joyce. When Ted refuses to give Buffy back her diary and strikes her, Buffy fights back and learns what happens when a human meets Slayer strength. But, could there be more to Ted than meet the eye?
 |
| Three's Company, indeed |
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was never the type of show that relied on stunt casting. It wasn't like "Will & Grace" where it was like a new guest star each week. So, when a famous face did pop up on "Buffy" it was kind of a big deal. Sitcom star, the late, great John Ritter plays Joyce's new beau, Ted. Ted is a far cry from Ritter's most well-known role, Jack Tripper of "Three's Company." Ted is a very old school individual. I don't think I've ever heard someone who is so deep into computers say things like "little lady" and "beg to differ." Ritter does such a great job showing these different sides of Ted. He goes from this seemingly nice guy to someone who is threatening to hit and then blackmail a teenage girl. Ritter is able to snap back and forth between these two personas with ease.
I think part of the issue with this episode is kind of the build up to the midway point. I think that there is something to say with pushing this aspect of Buffy who is kind of enjoying being her mom's number one priority. It makes sense that she would not be super hyped that her mom is now seeing someone seriously who is going to be taking that attention away from her. She wouldn't give him the time of day and she would obsess over him to anyone who would listen. So, I do like a lot of that. Particularly when she is running off at the mouth about Ted to Angel. Where it kind of falls apart is that Ted shows his cards a little too quickly. Like, I understand we only have forty-five minutes to tell this story, but they could have maybe had a couple of outings with Ted before he was threatening to slap her smart ass mouth.
The midway point of this episode is really where things start to get wild. Ted confronts Buffy in her room when she sneaks back in and has gone through her things including reading her diary. This is all very creepy and when Ted smacks Buffy, you know it's on. And Buffy doesn't fuck around. She lets this man have it. It's like she doesn't for a second consider that he might be a human. I don't think she cares. She whoops the dog shit out of this man, while Joyce watches which is the craziest thing. We'll get back to Joyce later on. But, no one should be surprised that Ted is dead once Buffy is done with him.
The next thing we know we are transported to an episode of "Law & Order: Buffy Victims Unit." Joyce is ready to fully lie for her daughter, but Buffy admits to hitting Ted. The cop investigating this doesn't seem too concerned and it never really feels like Buffy is going to be in any kind of real trouble. I understand what they are trying to say here. It's a lesson about Buffy being able to control herself because she can't use her Slayer strength to get out of every situation. But again, that hits less hard when even when the cops are at school searching through her records it doesn't feel like Buffy is going to go to juvie. It can't be that serious because Principal Snyder doesn't show up to threaten her with expulsion. Which I still can't believe didn't happen. That feels like a lay up. It's not long before Ted is revealed to be a robot who killed four other women and Buffy is vindicated.
Joyce doesn't acquit herself really well in this episode. She doesn't believe Buffy at all when Buffy tells her that Ted threatened to smack her. And I get that the cookies and the food that Ted has been making for Joyce was supposed to make her compliant but the way that Joyce just completely brushes off her daughter saying this man was going to commit violence against her definitely gave me the ick. Then, there is Joyce just being totally nonplussed at the end of the episode that her daughter was doing major damage to a grown ass man with her fists and feet. I'd have a lot of questions and Joyce has zero. Also, what happened to Ted's robot body? How was this all swept under the rug? Does Joyce think that Ted just went to jail? I'm so confused.
We re-visit Giles and Jenny who are still not doing great after the Ethan Rayne debacle. I'm not sure that this reconciliation subplot needed to get shoehorned into this plot. Did we really need a slapstick interlude with Giles and Jenny patrolling for Buffy while she's fighting for her life against Ted? Like, hahaha, Jenny shot Giles in the backside with a crossbow bolt. Tee hee. And now they are making out in the library.
I don't hate this episode. It's entertaining because is so fucking whackadoo and it has so many tonal shifts. Like, it's serious. It's comedy. It's romance. And none of it matches.
Grade: B-
"Bad Eggs"
Buffy Summers: "Come on, Mom. Please?"
Joyce Summers: "I'm sorry, honey."
Buffy Summers: "Do you understand how important this is?"
Joyce Summers: "It's an outfit. An outfit that you may never buy."
Buffy Summers: "But... I looked good in it."
Joyce Summers: "You looked like a streetwalker."
Buffy Summers: "But a thin streetwalker."
[Buffy gets a look from her mother.]
Buffy Summers: "That's probably not going to be the winning argument, is it?"
The students of Sunnydale High are tasked with treating eggs as if they are their own children. But, there is something inside of these eggs that are convincing their "parents" and others to dig something up under the school. Not only this, but Buffy has to deal with the vampiric Gorch brothers, who have come to Sunnydale to wreak havoc.
 |
| We haven't seen the last of Lyle. Seriously. |
I didn't bring this up during the recap of the last episode because I was hoping to ignore it, but Xander and Cordelia are still making out any chance they get in various closets throughout Sunnydale High. I would have liked to continue to ignore it, but it is even a bigger plot point in this episode. It feels like every time we turn around we are being smacked in the face by this unlikely, terrible couple. And like, are the rest of these kids just dumb. Do they realize that something is up with Xander and Cordelia and they just don't care. There is so much awkward and cringe here. I hated watching that scene were they are insulting each other and turning the lights off on each other. When does something like this ever happen in real life? Has any functioning relationship ever started off this way? If yours did, sound off in the comments. And just when you think it can't get any cringier, the two of them go back and forth insulting each other under the veil of answering the teacher when he asks what is the worst thing that could happen from teenagers having sex.
This is kind of a serious, crazy thing to even speculate on and I recognize that. But, does anyone get the impression that Xander could potential grow up to like smack around his wife or girlfriend? Like, it made my stomach churn how quickly and easily he was willing to hit Cordelia when she was possessed by the Bezoar's children. He didn't have to do that, but he did. And the look on his face was almost like he enjoyed it. That's definitely how the scene felt. Like, Cordelia deserved to get hit but you can't hit girls unless they are possessed by Bezoar spawn and they hit you first. I'm extremely curious who Joss Whedon is getting back at here. I don't like it. At all.
This is yet another not great episode for poor Joyce Summers. She is doing great at the start preventing her daughter from dressing like a thin streetwalker. She thinks she's catching Buffy sneaking out when she's actually sneaking back in and grounds her. This is all fine, but then the whole thing happens with the Bezoar. She truly believes there is a gas leak which is hilarious. But Joyce freaks out because Buffy wasn't in the library? If there was a gas leak, Buffy could have potentially been passed out on the floor of the gym. She has a big bruise on her forehead that Joyce doesn't even acknowledge. Like, I get they are completely gaslighting this woman but her priorities are not in order.
I went to a high school around the time that Buffy and the gang went to high school. They are a little bit older than me, but I never had to do this treat an egg like a baby health assignment. And it was such a staple of like high school set shows in the late '90's and early '00's. Another question for anyone around my age who might end up reading this: did any of y'all actually do that? I'd love to hear from you. This definitely feels like some nonsense made up by a tv writer. But if you did actually do this in high school then sound off in the comments.
This whole episode feels pretty meh and also like a hodgepodge of two different episodes that they mishmashed together. How else to explain the inclusion of Lyle and Tector Gorch. It's like they wanted to include a couple of hillbilly vampire brothers, but knew they couldn't come up with a story strong enough so instead they shoehorned them into this episode about a creature under the school. It's just a big bowl of who really cares. A little tease of what's to come. Tector Gorch may be gone, but Lyle will return in a future episode. Something to look forward to?
Grade: D
Next up, Buffy celebrates her seventeenth birthday and takes her relationship with Angel to the next level.
What did you all think? Would you have liked to see more guest stars on "Buffy?" How do you think John Ritter did? Does anyone like "Bad Eggs?" Let me know in the comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment