FEATURE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I Robot, You Jane

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy kissed Angel finally who turned out to be a vampire, but the good kind, "like a Care Bear with fangs" (sorry, jumping ahead there - kudos to anyone who knows which episode that quote is from). Willow has a major crush on Xander; Xander hasn't got a clue and is still trailing Buffy. It is a lot about love lives in this season isn't it?

Ah I Robot, You Jane. This episode bears the not-so-honourable title of being one of my least favourite Buffy out of the entire series, a cautionary tale about the dangers of the internet with all the subtlety of a large gold brick. After Giles decides to enter the 20th century and start cataloguing his books digitally, it turns out one of the books held a big old nasty demon in its pages, one who is now running loose on the world wide web. Yes, there's a demon on the internet. And he's set his sights on our Willow whilst picking up a couple of disposable Sunnydale students along the way.

To start on a positive note, it's not all terrible. It's the first episode to really showcase just how good the demon designs and prosthetics were for the show; Moloch's green visage is suitable impressive and it's a shame that we didn't get to see more of that. Though I did notice this time around that he bears a remarkable resemblance to Giles as a Fyarl demon in the fourth season's A New Man. It also marks a key episode in the development of Willow's character in particular as she finally gets a large amount of screentime, facing that teenage dilemma of potential new boyfriend or existing friends. Hannigan's earnestness in her early performances as Willow is so endearing, it's not hard to see why she's a big favourite amongst the fans. Plus, she hits Moloch/Malcolm with a fire extinguisher off her own back and isn't content to just be rescued. Go Willow.

It also marks the first appearance of Robia LaMorte as Jenny Calendar, techno-pagan and excellent foil to Anthony Head's still quite stuffy Giles. The pair form one of the many 'new versus old' binaries that hit you over the head in this episode in particular, though it's one of the central themes of the show. The introduction of Jenny gives Giles just that little bit more depth, going from being just a tweed-clad librarian with a handy line in exposition to moving towards a three-dimensional human being. Their flirting forms much of the comedy in the episode, particularly the moment with the corkscrew 'earring' (which I literally only just got in this viewing. Oh the naivety of youth).

And then we get to the bad. First up, that afore-mentioned theme of new versus old? You're going to be sick of it by the end of this episode; it doesn't just subtly interplay across the narrative, it tries to beat you over the head with the frankly gigantic computer monitors. It starts with an intriguing opening, all candlelight and chanting. There's a big demon fellow, a willing servant with a promptly snapped neck and some powerful monks who trap said demon in a big book. It's grandiose, but fits in with the general ritualistic style of the first season; bad guys don't just kill people, they recite scripture whilst doing it and good guys don't kill demons, they trap them in books. Said book is then transported to Sunnydale library centuries later and scanned into a computer, thus releasing the demon.

The 'new' in this case is the dread computer and the unspeakable evil that is the internet. The basic premise of a demon running around the internet is a decent metaphor for the dangers of meeting someone online, but it's over-egged to the point of just being ridiculous. Although Buffy and Giles are at pains to point out the dangers of having a demon running around the internet are quite large, there's no sense of peril involved at all because it's not a tangible evil and there's no great effort to make Moloch all that scary. 

The dialogue, for which Buffy is most remembered for, is pretty terrible in this episode and while there are a couple of good back-and-forths, these are largely overshadowed by such clangers as 'there's a demon in the internet'. And then there is the central problem of the plot itself; the trouble with making a film or episode specifically about the dangers of contemporary technology is that tech advances so quickly these days. This episode is so fantastically dated, it's hard to take seriously and I remember struggling with it even nearer the time. 

And Robot Malcolm is just silly.

Next Time: The Puppet Show

Quote of the Day: Xander - "To read makes our speaking English good"

Let's Get Trivial: The monk at the beginning is listed as Thelonious, an ace reference to the jazz musician Thelonious Monk. It's the little things.

- Becky

You can read Becky's piece about previous episode Angel here.

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TV REVIEW: Southcliffe - The Hollow Shore

As an audience, we're spoilt for choice with excellent crime dramas at the moment and Southcliffe, should the series continue in the same vein as the first episode, will be no exception. Directed by Sean Durkin (of Martha Marcy May Marlene - also well worth a look), Southcliffe tells the story of a tragic shooting in a sleepy coastal town through the build-up, the event itself and the subsequent fallout. It's bleak subject matter, but is handled sensitively by Tony Grisoni, the man also behind Channel 4's excellent drama Red Riding. The first episode focuses in the shooter himself, the mentally unstable Stephen (Sean Harris) and the returning soldier Chris (Joe Dempsie).

Opening in suitably shocking fashion with gunshots ripping through the quiet coastal air, Southcliffe then takes a step back to before the shootings take place. From there on in, the pace slows right down in order to continue the creeping sense of dread that permeates those opening scenes. Moody and atmospheric, Durkin allows shots to linger whether they are close-ups of his actors or simply of the gorgeous Kent scenery with its mists and gloom. It's both beautiful and threatening, a location that seems idyllic one minute and terrifyingly remote the next. The opening scenes demonstrate this stark contrast brilliantly; a woman gardening is interrupted by a gunshot that wounds her before a succession of shots of the quiet villages, punctuated by gunfire and the ominous approach of sirens. In these moments, the shooter is unclear, concealed within the mist.

This theme of concealment runs throughout the episode; Durkin isn't afraid to hide action behind door frames, just out of shot and creates the sense that this isn't just a puzzle for the characters, but for the audience, piecing together the events leading up to the shooting. Many things remain hidden in Southcliffe; Stephen and Chris are both reluctant to confess the truth about their respective circumstances to those around him. Whilst Chris manages to keep whatever he is hiding from his girlfriend under wraps, Stephen becomes exposed quickly by Chris and a relative, resulting in a deeply uncomfortable scene that leads directly into the shooting itself.

The sound, or rather the lack of it, is used to particularly great effect. There is no score, only music used for a specific purpose in certain scenes such as the party for the returning soldiers or the outdoor gig later in the episode. Even then, the music feels jarring and intrusive, out of step with the nearly silent world that these characters inhabit. This is demonstrated most in the fast-paced folk music after the ritual humiliation of Stephen in the woods. The silence that punctuates the other scenes proves to be just as unsettling, building into the mounting sense of dread.

Grisoni's script has not attempted justify Stephen's actions, serving more to offer an explanation as to why he attacks the residents of the community. Since The Killing, crime dramas have become less focused on the crime itself and more upon the ripples that run through the community in which it occurs, most recently seen in Broadchurch and Top of the Lake. With Southcliffe, there are an intriguing array of characters we are yet to see. Some are glimpsed in this episode, Shirley Henderson in particular, and we spend a fair amount of time with Rory Kinnear's journalist, who will shortly find himself pulled back to his home town to provide a unique perspective on the coverage.

An impressive opening for Southcliffe; bleak yes, but underscored by an emotional current that, should it continue, will make for a very interesting series indeed. The next episode airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 4.

- Becky

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TV REVIEW: Luther - Episode Four

It has now been over a week since Detective Chief Inspector John Luther (Idris Elba) graced our television screens for the last time and yes, I'm getting withdrawal symptoms. The finale saw Luther down a partner after Ripley (Warren Brown) was gunned down by the vigilante killer Tom Marwood (Elliot Cowan) and possibly a girlfriend after Marwood goes after Mary Day (Sienna Guillory). He's also still the subject of a rather ham-fisted investigation into his activity by DCU Stark (David O'Hara) and the now rather conflicted DCI Erin Gray (Nikki Amuka-Bird). However, as these threads begin to unravel and tie him up in knots, an old friend in the form of psychotic Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson) shows up to help out.

I'm still in two minds about this finale because it felt like an episode of two halves. On the one hand, you had the culmination of the Marwood plotline which followed directly on from the previous episode and featured some of the tensest scenes Luther has been involved in. On the other, there was the desire to wrap up Luther's story in a satisfying way to ensure that the fans got the ending that the character deserved. We also had this ongoing investigation into his methods, which by this point was weaving between the two narratives, but is very much a leaden weight to both. It's an odd mix and  Neil Cross managed to largely succeed in making both plotlines work, but not necessarily together.

First of all, the Marwood narrative is one of the more interesting ones tackled by Cross; the idea of a vigilante killer in Luther's messed up world poses some intriguing questions for both the audience and Luther, as discussed in last week's review. Yet in his brutal killing of Ripley, an innocent, Marwood crosses a line and in this episode, he crosses that line and then sprints some way into the distance. Thus ensuring that we know he's completely unhinged by kidnapping an innocent woman to persuade her husband into killing the imprisoned murderer of Marwood's wife. Elliot Cowan's performance has been excellent throughout; Marwood's a broken man trying desperately to get some recognition for what he's done.

It's that desperation that Luther latches on to and there is an absolutely brilliant scene in which he and Alice wear Marwood down, filming him with his own camera in order to puncture his vigilante hero reputation. Any scene between Cowan and Elba was a delight, but the extra spark of the excellent Ruth Wilson elevated it above the rest. It was one of two key scenes in Marwood's plot that stood out from the episode, the other being the confrontation on the top of Paragon Tower safe house in which he tried to force Luther to choose between Mary and Alice. The tensions was ramped up the right amount but came more from the fact I didn't really care about Mary but was desperate that Alice survived. Luther's clever decision picking Alice (who would've let Mary die) ensuring that Mary saved her was a good twist and provided a most satisfying ending for Marwood.

And then there was the other plot thread in which Stark's demented investigation continued, but managed to suck any tension out of the proceedings once the odd couple of him and Gray appeared onscreen. Arresting Luther for the murder of Ripley and attempted murder of Mary was just a bit ridiculous on both level of plot and in terms of the characters' decision. Plotwise, it seemed to be there just to continue the parallels to Zoe's death in the first series and to put Luther in an adverse position, which he sort of was already. Granted, it did introduce Alice back into the mix (and what an entrance), but it didn't feel necessary to the proceeding hour.

In fact, the investigation plot didn't feel necessary in these last two episodes full stop. O'Hara's performance became a grizzly one note that wasn't menacing, but irritating and I was curiously indifferent to the moment in which Stark got blasted away. Gray's sudden change of heart just felt like a last minute attempt to redeem the character. It was a plot that was wrapped up in the second episode with the declaration from Ripley in which it provided an interesting dynamic to the fetish killer narrative. Here, however, it was just a dead weight. I would have much rather have spent more time with Marwood's plot and allowed that to breathe more; it was the much more compelling storyline.

The performances in this episode were largely excellent, particularly Cowan as I have mentioned. Yet it is to the two starring roles that we must turn because, when all is said and done, Alice came back. A fascinating character in her own right, Wilson's Alice is so gleefully demented that she provides a great balance to Elba's darker introspection. The actors' chemistry is electric and this episode proved that the third series really missed the banter that passed between them. With rumours of a movie and an Alice spin-off, Luther's ending left it suitably open-ended, but one thing was absolutely clear; Luther and Alice were going off together.

And let's face it, that was the ending we always wanted. He could've kept the coat though...

- Becky

You can read Becky's review of the previous episode here.

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FEATURE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Angel

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy's got the hots for Crypto-Guy, otherwise known as Angel, the Master still wants to kill her and Xander's crush on Buffy shows no signs of abating, despite Willow's obvious doe-eyed affection.

The Master's a little peeved that Buffy has pretty much killed off half his gang and so decides to send The Three after her, a trio of vampiric assassins with some natty threads and a penchant for violence. Buffy meanwhile is at The Bronze, oblivious to both her would-be killers and Angel, lurking characteristically in the shadows so the light just catches his amazing jawline and those cheekbones and... Ahem. Anywayyy, The Three are quickly dispatched and the episode gets down to business, specifically giving us some much needed explanation of who Angel is and just why Buffy probably shouldn't be that keen to get involved. Which she does anyway. Obviously.

I have a big soft spot for this episode for several reasons but first and foremost, this was the very first encounter I had with the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When it initially aired all those years ago on BBC Two, my parents deemed me not old enough to watch this sort of supernatural wickedness that might scar me for life. That didn't stop me however from recording the episodes on VHS in the lounge whilst we were all having tea in the kitchen and then getting up ridiculously early before school to watch them without the parentals finding out (sorry Mum and Dad). It may have taken me until halfway through the second season to convince them that this show was worth watching, but I was hooked instantly. And this episode was why.

It's not one of the best episodes certainly, but it was perhaps the first where the audience got a true sense of the scale that the show would reach with Angel's extended past. Yes, this is the moment in which the doomed nature of Buffy and Angel's relationship is revealed as they kiss all romantically and then he vamps out before leaping out the window and running off into the night. It sets up the constant torment that their relationship will one day become, hinting that it will always be Angelus who gets in the way. It also established that Angel is actually a man with a weighty guilty conscience. I love the scene between him and Darla where we find out just how far these two go back and Julie Benz is so fantastic in the role that you're genuinely sorry to see her dust at the end of the episode.

Gellar and Boreanaz always have a fantastic chemistry when onscreen together and the development of their relationship is actually quite sweet, building on the antagonistic flirtation that we have seen in previous episodes. Their confrontation in The Bronze is the first of many, but it still remains one of my favourite Buffy/Angel moments, simply because it plays on the duality of Angel's character and the role which Buffy plays in teasing both of them. Of course, Darla gets it all wrong; it won't be killing Buffy that turns Angel back to his demonic side, as hinted at in this episode when they kiss for the first time, but let's not get ahead of ourselves eh? 

There are other relationships that are hinted at throughout this episode too, alongside the central ones. We already knew that Darla hung around with The Master for a long time, but that Angel did too and he and Darla were heavily involved with each other. On the human side of things, one of the show's big, snarky rivalries is hinted at between Xander and Angel. They've not shared much screen time yet, but Xander reacts badly to him straight away as a rival for Buffy's affections. This animosity becomes a running theme throughout the show and will lead to some hilarious moments, as well as some heartbreaking ones.

"Do we even own a barbecue fork?"

The relationship stuff is the meat of the plot in this episode, but that doesn't stop some other silly stuff getting in the way. We have The Bronze's pre and post-fumigation parties to get rid of the cockroaches whilst Joyce's injuries are explained away by a barbecue fork which may or may not exist. Then there is The Three. The Three make for one of the least terrifying set of villains in Buffy's entire rogues gallery; the only threat they seem to pose is that they can walk menacingly and pull off body armour. That and there is three of them. That seems to be about it as they are quickly shrugged off by both Buffy and Angel before being dusted by Darla a few minutes later. For all the bass and emphatic music, The Three are actually a bit useless.

Establishing a big part of Angel's character, his soul, quickly and effectively whilst advancing his relationship with Buffy, Angel is a special episode for kicking off one of the most famous pop culture doomed romances. I have yet to work out the physics behind the whole getting a cross burned into his chest from Buffy's necklace though. I'm fairly certain it's physically impossible to do.

Next Time: I Robot, You Jane

Quote of the Week: Angel: "You've no idea what it's like to have done the things I've done... and to care"

Demonology 101: This episode establishes the vampires must be invited rule in the show's vampire mythos - this is going to crop up a lot in relation to Angel.

Sunnydale Who's Who: Darla may be dusted for now, but she proves to be a consistently influential figure in the Buffyverse and will return in the second season via the handy medium of flashbacks.

- Becky

You can read Becky's look at The Pack here.

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FILM REVIEW: Pacific Rim

An inter-dimensional breach deep in the Pacific Ocean has led to huge monsters, nicknamed Kaiju, to wreak havoc on the human race. In response, we build Jaegers, giant mechanised warriors operated by two pilots to do battle with the Kaiju. As the attacks keep coming and the situation gets desperate, Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) brings back a disgraced pilot, Raleigh Beckett (Charlie Hunnam) to help him with the few remaining Jaegers he has left. 

A film from Guillermo del Toro is always going to be visually arresting and right from the first trailer, Pacific Rim has never looked like bucking the trend. The film's excellent viral campaign has been building this world for us for months now and that meticulous attention to detail makes Pacific Rim totally immersive. From small details like pin-up paintings on the side of a Jaeger to city architecture building around Kaiju skeletons, every aspect of this ravaged earth feels authentic with a weight and a history behind it. There is also the multicultural aspect that del Toro has created, blending cultures and people together to create a vision of humanity pulling together against a common enemy.

It is a real shame then that the same level of attention hasn't been paid to achieving some sort of gender balance with the characters seen. Yes, one of the best characters in the film is female (and we'll get to the awesome Mako Mori soon), but there are very little female faces elsewhere. In fact, there is just one other female speaking role and she doesn't really carry any screen time. Many of the other minor roles aren't gender specific and it doesn't really make a lick of sense why, when a fair amount of countries are represented, the same can't be said for the women of this battered earth. It's been a bad year for female characters in blockbusters and sadly, Pacific Rim has done nothing to buck that trend. 

It also doesn't help that the characters are thinly drawn and barely extend beyond their particular archetype. Somehow though, this sort of works and it helps that most of the cast lend a certain credibility to the clunkier aspects of the script. Elba brings a gravitas to his role as the impressively monikered Stacker Pentecost and is clearly destined for more roles of the authoritative variety, giving Pentecost a weariness that plays well into the decaying world around him. Even Robert Kazinksy as the Iceman substitute, Chuck, whilst cartoonish, manages to add a little more drama to the human focused scenes and his relationship with father Herc (Max Martini) provides another emotional dimension to the proceedings.

The light relief of Charlie Day and Burn Gorman's exposition characters can get a bit wearing, especially as Day seems to operate on a permanently SHOUTY level, but they have a couple of funny moments between them and allows for a Ron Perlman appearance to boot. Kikuchi meanwhile is the character granted the biggest arc (though that's not saying much) as Mako Mori, an intriguing mix of vengeance and ambition. She's easily the best thing in the film and it's refreshing to see a female character not simply there just to facilitate the hero's development or just strip unexpectedly down to her pants.

Pacific Rim does not, however, have a convincing lead. Charlie Hunnam certainly looks the part and there are plenty of shirtless moments for girls and guys who are so inclined to have a cheeky gape at. But a well defined set of abs does not a leading man make. Lacking in the charisma that is usually mandatory for this kind of disgraced former genius pilot role, Hunnam is seemingly incapable of varying his line delivery and proves to be a bit of a vacuum at the centre of the film when he should have been the heart. It's also a shame that his relationship with Mako is never really developed, especially considering they are supposed to be mentally compatible enough to pilot Gipsy Danger. Nevertheless, the film does just enough to make sure that you care and it's the first film in a long time where they actually feel in genuine peril for at least the final act.

From the moment the first trailer punched its way on to the internet, Pacific Rim promised huge, bone-crunching action and it really delivers. The CGI used to create the Jaegers and the Kaiju is simply fantastic, a real testament to its quality in an age when all special effects are scrutinised heavily. Both adversaries move with a credible weight, making a visible impact on the locations even when they aren't smashing into buildings and bridges. The sequences are frenetic and largely, it's possible to discern what's happening, but there are occasions when the shots are badly lit or the camera moving at such a pace that it's best to just sit back and wait for the audio to let you know what's happening.

Despite these gripes, Pacific Rim is actually just a huge amount of fun from start to finish and for that reason, it gets away with having a less than stellar script, mostly one-note characters and the odd shaky-cam faux pas. It's a film that is just happy to be a loud, live-action cartoon of many a childhood fantasy and as someone who grew up watching Power Rangers, the action sequences here are what those episodes with the Megazord always promised but could never quite deliver. For that alone, I loved it.

****

- Becky

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TV REVIEW: Luther - Episode Three

Just as he finds a little romance and bromance in his life, Luther is faced with a vigilante, a man determined to exact his own justice as publicly as possible and the stakes get personal extremely quickly.

The episode begins in a typically Lutherian brutal fashion; two young people have been out with friends and romantically get together in the car on the way home. The happiness won't last though as the pair are attacked by a gang of hoodies, but a figure appears out of the dark with a sawn-off shotgun and blasts the ringleader away. Said figure is Tom Marwood (Elliot Cowan), a self-proclaimed vigilante killer out to make the criminal world pay for the horrific rape and murder of his wife. Luther (Idris Elba) gets on the case and, now reunited with Ripley (Warren Brown), must track down the killer before he strikes again.

The vigilante aspect of the killer makes for an intriguing change of pace from the previous two episodes in which the fetish killer was all about silence and taking his time in killing and arranging the bodies. In contrast, Marwood is loud, violent and most of all, in the public eye. It produces a different level of discomfort for the audience because the build-up this time isn't about where the killer is, but who he is going after and why. And in a canny use of the internet, Marwood captures his own audience and goes after the most public hate figures he can. It's viral violence, a vigilantism that garners support almost instantly.

Unlike previous killers, in which we automatically know they're completely in the wrong for murdering young women in their beds, the morality surrounding Marwood is immediately a nasty shade of grey. As Luther observes when the pair confront each other, it's not his motive that is wrong, it's his means. But this is also a sympathetic figure; the man lost his wife and was failed by the criminal justice system. He is also a man that will publicly hang people and therefore not to be approved of. The scene between Elba and Cowan was wonderfully constructed, facing each other across the canal bank, forming two sides of the argument with only the disparity of the gun between them.

The episode also takes a big step in the development of Luther as a character; he begins with Mary (Sienna Guillory) in his flat, he introduces Ripley is his friend and everything seems to be going swimmingly. But a happy Luther is not an interesting Luther and it's not long before it all goes to pot. From the minute that they decided it was a good idea to get the victim of a paedophile to plead for her tormentor's life in a live press conference, it was apparent it was all going to go completely wrong and poor, brave Ripley paid for it with his life.

Brown's performance in his final scene was just excellent, calmly refusing to let Cowan go and the moment packed an emotional, though not wholly unexpected punch. Structurally, the moment bore remarkable similarities to the death of Zoe Luther (Indira Varma) in the first series with Luther arriving too late and huddling over the body. It's clear it's going to have a massive impact on the character, losing his only friend to a vigilante who had previously only targeted criminals. It marks a massive shift for Luther over the course of the episode and psychologically speaking, he's never been the most stable. With the promised return of Alice (Ruth Wilson) next week (YAY), I'm hoping for a finale with the same amount of impact and drama as the one from the first series.

The only duff note in an otherwise strong episode is the continuation of the internal investigation into Luther's methods by the impossibly gruff-voiced Stark and the now morally conflicted Erin Gray. Quite why she thought this was a good idea to begin with when Stark is clearly deranged is never broached by the show, nor does it feel as if their inclusion is necessary now Ripley has confirmed that Luther hasn't done anything illegal. Their pursuit of Mary lacked any sort of impact because we don't know the character well enough - my criticism of this stands for the end of the episode too. I was still distraught about Ripley to worry about someone I met a couple of weeks ago. The 'whirlwind' speech was an excellent moment however.

What it does do, albeit in a rather oblique and unsuccessful way, is ask the question of what is going to happen to Luther now Ripley, his moral compass of sorts, is out of the picture. Will he go off the rails? Probably. Will he run off into the night with Alice before returning for the next series? Let's hope so.

- Becky

You can read Becky's review of Episode Two here.

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FEATURE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Pack

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: This episode's fairly standalone so not much going into this one other than Xander has masculinity issues still with Buffy being around and Willow's crush on Xander continues to be unrequited.

Following a trip to Sunnydale Zoo (the first of many Sunnydale size inconsistencies*), Xander becomes possessed by the spirit of a hyena along with four of the school's meanest teens. They begin to stalk across campus like a pack, picking on the weak, feasting on the school mascot and laughing like loons at just about anything. They also get their very own badass slo-mo walk. Xander does his level best to fracture his relationship with Willow whilst going all sexual predator on Buffy, but Giles remains sceptical to say the least. However, when the new school mascot, Herbert the pig - sorry - Herbert the terrifying Razorback - is eaten, even Giles is forced to admit that something supernatural is going on. The gang manage to sort everything out, but not before Principal Flutie is erm... eaten.

The Pack explores the concept of bullying and does so rather well through the 'winged monkeys' as Buffy terms them, of Kyle, Rhonda, Tor and Heidi, four people who live to prey on the weak. The hyena laughing gets a bit wearing, but there's no doubt as to what message the writers, Matt Keine and Joe Reinkemeyer were going for, particularly in the Dodgeball scene. The animalistic nature is realised well in the way the possessed start cackling and in their physicality; there's also the neat moment in which they recognise instinctively that Buffy is too strong from them to take on and turn back to a previous victim. It also acts as a metaphor for the whole hormonal process that teenage boys tend to do go through as focalised by Xander, in which they become moody and just not fun to be around. Again, the metaphor isn't explored all that deeply and just offers a superficial circumstance which the characters must navigate, but it does lead to some great scenes.

Nicholas Brendon balances the joker and the predator in Xander well, completely transforming himself into the latter when required and the scene where he forces himself on Buffy makes for uncomfortable viewing. The star in this episode though is Alyson Hannigan, granted some meaty scenes in which to develop Willow beyond merely the lovesick sidekick. Beaten back by Xander's harsh words, Willow takes a lot in this episode, but then there is the scene between them in the library in which Willow manipulates Xander into revealing his true current mental state. It's like a practice run for the scene between Black Widow and Loki, but the lack of medieval English swearing means it doesn't quite pack the comic punch. It does deal a few emotional blows though and is a great insight into just how strong a character Willow is.

Thanks to the subject material, it's not one of the first season's funnier episodes and the focus is much more on the dramatic which Buffy has always excelled at. However, the denouement isn't perhaps as strong as it could be with a reveal that is easily foreseen. It's all a bit rushed and after the excellent action in the previous episode, just lacks a little of the thrill that has slowly started to creep in to Buffy's more violent moments. I did enjoy Giles getting knocked out though - is this the first time it happens in the series? It certainly won't be the last.

A largely solid episode then that is made much stronger by its focus on the character development as a result of the central metaphor, rather than the central metaphor itself. 

*Sunnydale rapidly goes from a 'one Starbucks town' to having its own zoo, a gazillion graveyards/churches and eventually its own university campus. Still only one nightclub though.

Next Time: Angel

Quote of the Week:

Giles: Xander has taken to teasing the less fortunate?
Buffy: Uh huh.
Giles: And there is a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanour?
Buffy: Yes.
Giles: And otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles?
Buffy: It's bad isn't it?
Giles: It's devastating. Xander has turned into a 16 year-old boy. Course you'll have to kill him.

Let's Get Trivial: This is the first episode in which the library cage has been used to trap anyone; it'll get some use next season with Oz's transformations, as well as being used to trap members of the Scoobies by evil ne'er-do-wells. I should use that word more often.

Sunnydale Who's Who: Eion Bailey, who plays Kyle, is one of those character actors who seems to pop up just about everywhere; look out for him in Band of Brothers or more recently, Once Upon A Time (coincidentally, a project involving major Buffy contributor Jane Espenson).

- Becky

You can read Becky's look at previous episode, Never Kill a Boy on a First Date here.

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