FEATURE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Go Fish

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Not a huge amount relevant to this episode. Angel's still evil, I guess.

Heading for the State Championships, the Sunnydale High swim team are taking advantage of their prestige, but soon one of their number is found eviscerated on the beach and one in the cafeteria. Xander spots a fish monster leaving the scene of the crime and decides to go undercover to investigate whilst Buffy protects the next swimmer on the list. Go Fish is probably one of Buffy's more science-fictiony episodes and it does attempt to provide a commentary on the lengths American schools will go to to enable their teams to win as well as the personal lengths athletes will go to. It's also still as bad as I remembered.

Flirting with B-movie territory, thanks in part to the obvious man in a fish monster suit, Go Fish is an episode about various kinds of body horror. First up, the swim team themselves obviously turn into giant gill monster fish things, leaving their human skin behind. Writer Marti Noxon has often spoken about the central metaphor of steroid usage and it's largely the most effective aspect of the episode, if not the most subtle. The swim team become overly aggressive and arrogant, almost territorial, as their success grows. However, it soon becomes clear it is as a result of bodily corruption so bad that Angel spits out Gage's blood and lets him go. We know it must be serious when Evil Angel doesn't want to kill someone.

The horror, then, is about the corruption from within, demonstrated brilliantly in the scene in which Gage transforms into a fish monster right before Buffy in the boy's locker room. It's a superb job of the make-up department and I can't help but wince every time Gage starts ripping open his own chest to see scales underneath. Even the aforementioned obvious man in a suit look is handled well, all scaly and oozy, despite the resemblance to the fish monster things from Stingray. The idea of your body out of your control is a common horror trope, particularly analogous to cancer or other bodily degenerative diseases. Here, the swim team's bodies are in the control of their coach, continuing a Soviet experiment that clearly didn't work out too well.

However, this isn't the only type of body horror explored in this episode and it's arguably the less subtle of the two. When taken out on a date with Cameron, swim team star and all round monologuing douchebag, Buffy finds herself having to fend off unwanted sexual advances; he locks her in the car and tries to force himself on her. Thankfully, Buffy manages to sprain his wrist and break his nose and escapes the situation. Though clearly not at fault, Cameron, the coach and Snyder all blame Buffy because of the way she dresses. Later, Buffy is thrown to the fish men because 'boys have other needs'. Basically, Buffy is about to be gang-raped by fish monsters. In both situations, her bodily autonomy is taken away from her and they are the most psychologically disturbing moments in the episode. Linking back to the episode's theme of the lengths American schools will go to to protect their own teams, I'm reminded of the recent Steubenville rape case and the way in which the footballers were treated not only by the town, but by the press. Go Fish aired 16 years ago and this aspect of it is still relevant. That's not only scary, it's depressing. 

It's not all depressing body stuff though. In fact, one of the most hilarious moments of the episode comes with the big reveal of Xander in Speedos. Depending on your feelings towards Xander, this may be one of his character highlights. It's a scene that showcases the sparkling dialogue that Noxon is brilliant at as well as the chemistry between the four high school leads. At Xander's proclamation that he's undercover, Buffy snorts and declares 'not under much'. Meanwhile, Cordelia and Willow can barely contain their glee. It's little moments like this, and the constant fish-related puns, that stop this episode from being entirely unsubtle metaphor and helps us to keep in mind that the show can be so much better.

If it does have all this stuff going on, then why do I think it is a bad episode? The trouble with Go Fish is it just feels completely out of sync with this stage in the season. This is the episode before the big two-part finale and it's a retrograde step, especially considering how well I Only Have Eyes For You set up the dynamics of the Buffy/Angel relationship. It says absolutely nothing about the central characters and does little to build anticipation going forward. Since Surprise, we've had such an excellent run of episodes, both arc-related and Monster-of-the-Week so I always find it disappointing when I get to Go Fish because it feels like it should be in the first half of the season and not the back run of episodes. In fact, as my 'Previously...' stated, there's nothing really in this episode to tie it into anything else. Substitute Angel for a random vamp and it could even be a first season episode.

Next week, thankfully, the show will return massively to form and I'll have more stuff to write about. I am never not an emotional wreck at the end of the Becoming two-parter. Why does Season 2 make me cry so much?!

Quote of the Week:

Buffy: I think we should lock up the rest of the swim team before they get in touch with their inner halibut.

Let's Get Trivial: This is the last episode in which the opening 'Into every generation...' speech is used.

Sunnydale Who's Who: Gage is played by Wentworth Miller, he of Prison Break fame and recent scribe of the magnificent Stoker. Also look out for a small part from Shane West, who he didn't really do much after the double whammy of a Nicholas Sparks movie and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, as another member of the swim team in one of Xander's steam room scenes.

- Becky

You can read Becky's look at I Only Have Eyes for You here.

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FILM REVIEW: Stoker

Written by Wentworth Miller, previously the star of Prison Break, Stoker depicts the events that occur after the death of Richard Stoker (Dermot Mulroney). At his funeral, his brother Charlie (Matthew Goode) returns to the family home, meeting Richard's wife Evie (Nicole Kidman) and his daughter India (Mia Wasikowska). Enigmatic and intriguing, Uncle Charlie immediately has the attentions of the two women and it's not long before a power struggle ensues between the three Stokers. 

Having already proved himself to be a visionary director with the Vengeance Trilogy, Park Chan-Wook was faced with the challenge of bringing his unique brand of twisted cinema to an English-speaking audience. With a starting point like Miller's screenplay, a resident of the 2010 Black List, the foundations were already there. Though predictable at times, the narrative is a twisted grim fairytale (pun intended), full of literary and cinematic references that give added meaning to its events. You only have to look at the detailed artwork for the film (see the poster above) to see how well put-together all of the references, both internal and external, are. Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt is the obvious one with their shared Uncle Charlies but everything from Shakespeare (for an excellent article on this, head over to Waxen Hearts for a look at Stoker and Hamlet) to the Brothers Grimm makes it in there. It may just be the literature geek in me, but it is a screenplay I would really like to read as it strikes me as a text in and of itself, ideally suited to analysis and criticism.

The fairytale element is one that struck a particular chord with me, as Stoker strikes me as a twisted retelling of Snow White, especially as a coming of age story. Despite it not being an overt aspect of the film, does far more with that story than either Snow White and the Huntsman or Mirror Mirror managed to as direct adaptations. India, with her pale skin, black hair and lips that become more red throughout the film, vies for the attention of her Uncle Charlie, a weird cypher for the prince. That leaves Evie as the evil stepmother, and though she is actually India's biological parent, they share little in common and it is clear that she sees her daughter as her rival, rather than her family. It's yet another aspect to what, on paper, could have simply been another family melodrama, but these allusions make the film a rich experience.

Like the multi-layered screenplay, technically speaking, Stoker is a true marriage of every element needed in a film. In particular, the combination of Chung-hoon Chung's cinematography with Nicolas de Toth's editing is wonderful throughout, bringing together key images from different moments in the film, changing and adapting their meanings as the story evolves. We see consequences of actions, before the actions themselves have chance to tell their own part of the story or bringing new meaning to scenes we saw in different parts of the film. It's a testament to the director and editor that these images don't alienate the audience, but enable the film to become even more engrossing whilst adding to the unsettling atmosphere.

Another example of this marriage of elements is the use of sound throughout the film. The sound editing is a masterful addition to the fragmented narrative, punctuating the more still scenes with jarring noises of ordinary actions, heightened by the stillness of the Stoker household. The scene in which Charlie offers India her first sip of wine would have been noteworthy anyway as a first temptation scene, but is granted more significance through the volume shift. India's drink of wine is not only visible, but highly audible, almost uncomfortably so. Clint Mansell's score works well with this discomfort and is excellent throughout, though slightly overshadowed by one piece by Philip Glass. Entitled Duet, it was written by Glass especially for the film and is a light motif throughout before getting an entire scene devoted to it. This scene was the standout from the entire film for me; a masterclass in building tension, exploring a wide variety of themes without any dialogue and it is, quite simply, breathtaking.

Kidman gives a pitch-perfect performance as the fragile trophy-wife, on the verge of tipping into hysteria. Her speech about why people have children was one of the most chilling moments in the film, a great example of motherhood gone awry. She is given the majority of the best lines as Evie determines to assert her superiority over her daughter. Goode is also excellent as the enigma that is Uncle Charlie, remaining seductive and charismatic even as his past is slowly revealed. However, it is to Wasikowska that this film belongs; it's a subtle performance, but one that captures brilliantly the awkward sullenness of adolescence as well as a growing sense of self, brought hurtling to its dramatic conclusion by the presence of her uncle. In the hands of a lesser actor, India could easily have become a void in the centre of the film, but Wasikowska brings an intensity to the performance that ensures that it is the quiet India, rather than the histrionic Evie or the manipulative Charlie, who lingers in the memory.

Stoker is a film that demands repeat viewings; it is too layered and too intricate for one viewing to simply do it justice. It won't be to everybody's tastes and it is certainly one of the most unsettling films I've seen for a long time, but this is to its credit. I just can't get it out of my head.

*****

- Becky

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