In praise of "Beer Bad"

[beer_good_foamy]

I'm currently rewatching s4 of Buffy and I just got to "Beer Bad". And since it's one of my favourite comedy episodes (to nobody's surprise) I thought I'd take this opportunity to jot down some possibly slightly serious thoughts (and a poll!). Let me just get a beer...

*pop*

...Now, trying to explain why I love this episode should be simple, but... see, when I started getting into fandom after seeing the whole series, there were a couple of huge surprises in store for me. "Season 6 is considered awful?" "What's a shipping war?" "People don't like 'Beer Bad'? Seriously?" I'm not going to argue that it's a great Buffy episode, and it's undeniably very very silly, and there's no accounting for taste; some people simply don't find it funny. But...

One common argument against it that I keep coming across is that people treat it like a morality play. As if the writers of Buffy try to warn impressionable youths about the dangers of alcohol, and fail miserably because the message is simply a prissy "Kids, don't do drugs." Which, IMO, is unfathomable for two reasons:

One, because it's so gloriously silly. It's got cave!Buffy, ferchrissakes. There's no way in hell anyone could write, direct and act this and think they were doing anything with any sort of serious message. If anything, it's a parody of the sort of after-school specials I'm told US students have to sit through. It's a bit like watching Reefer Madness (the original), except Buffy knows it's being ludicrous. ETA: And the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy agrees with me!

At least one show, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," was rejected after it showed itself to be immune to the drug office's worldview. "Drugs were an issue, but it wasn't on-strategy. It was otherworldly nonsense, very abstract and not like real-life kids taking drugs. Viewers wouldn't make the link to our message," says someone in the drug-policy office camp who read and helped reject it.

Two... because the message of it, if you desperately want to find one, isn't abstinence – whether from beer or anything else. Yes, it hammers home the "beer bad" message so hard it becomes ridiculous – but it does the same thing to almost everything in the story, including things that are absolutely necessary for us to survive.

Not convinced? Okay.

BUFFY: Just lots and lots of beer. It's nice. Foamy. Comforting. It's just beer.

It's easy to overlook how arcy "Beer Bad" is. Not so much plotwise – the Initiative is still just a background event – but in setting up the early character arcs here. Buffy's trying to get over Parker (and her own reaction to Parker), Willow and Oz are about to break up, and Xander and Giles are mostly feeling useless. All of that turns up in "Beer Bad", but it's a Buffy-centric episode...

BUFFY: You know maybe, maybe he's just having trouble dealing. I mean, don't guys sometimes put the girl they really, really like inside these deep little brain fantasy bubbles where everything's perfect? They do that right? Maybe I'm in his bubble and then pretty soon he's going to realize that he wants more than just bubble Buffy and he'll pop me out and we'll go to dinner and it could happen right?

So we start off right away with Buffy dreaming of rescuing Parker. And when she wakes up and sees him flirting with another girl...

WALSH: So, how does this conflict with the ego manifest itself in the psyche? What do we do when we can't have what we want?

...she does the same thing again, except she exaggerates the rescue to ridiculous proportions. Ice cream, flowers, bare chest.

Xander's working as a bartender. Note Xander's ID. Does anyone buy that? Of course not. It's not remotely realistic.

WILLOW: I don't believe this is entirely on the up and up.
XANDER: What gives it away?
WILLOW: Looking at it.

If that's not metacommentary on the episode itself and its supposed message, I don't know what is. And then we step into the bar, where we're going to stay for much of the episode. We meet the Beer Jerks: a gang of very pretentious students who want beer, women, and admiration for being smart – except when they try to sound smart, all they do is pile big words on top of each other. Which is pretty dumb. But hey, one of the best things about drinking beer is that everything you say to others drinking beer beside you becomes very deep and thoughtful. They've paid attention in class, but they haven't actually learned anything. Well, maybe one thing:

BEER JERK #1: The thing that the modern day pundits failed to realize is that all the socio-echonomical and psychological problems inherent in modern society can be solved by the judicious application of way too much beer.

Meanwhile, the plot is spiralling merrily into lunacy – as always in Buffy with some humorous exaggerations and misunderstandings, though here they seem even more on topic than usual. Willow claims to have killed a man to get a table (hyperbole), assumes Buffy had group sex (jumping to the extreme conclusion, which of course is wrong), and finally takes Parker apart into tiny little pieces (not for having sex with Buffy, but for betraying Buffy's trust), by applying her (rather outdated) Freud from psychology class.

WILLOW: I'm tired of you men and your... man-ness.

...says Willow and stops driving stick. Ahem. Thanks, Parker, we owe you. (Hyperbole!) And then the cavemen start running wild, beating each other with sticks, kidnapping girls and setting fire to stuff. Fire. Huh-huh-huh. Xander – who's just been tipped about half a month's wages by the Beer Jerks, clearly too much, and actually seems to be warming up to the bartender job – finds out what's going on and confronts the villain:

BARTENDER: Relax. It will wear off in a day or so.
XANDER: In "a day or so", someone could get killed. (Leaves, comes back) You're a bad, bad man.

Yup, Captain Obvious and Idboy are writing this episode. And they know what we want: we want to see cave!Buffy scare the pants off Xander and Giles, and then give Parker what he deserves to tie back to the start; Buffy the College Student dreams and mulls over, Buffy of the Clan of the Cave Bear cuts through all the shit and applies the simplest solution. And obviously it's presented as a good thing, because sometimes, the id needs to tell the other two blowhards to quit yakkin' and get the job done with what they've got. Cavemen win.

BARTENDER: That's the great thing about beer. It makes all men the same.

Now, I could sit here for a while and list the funniest moments in this episode – apart from the fact that I think the funniest thing about it all is the way it consistently sends up and subverts everything it touches simply by making it impossible to take completely seriously. But I was trying to meta, right? Well, here's a key line:

BUFFY: It's just... Parker's problem with intimacy turns out to be that he can't get enough of it. And I knew it.

And yet nobody says the message of the episode is "Don't try to connect with people." Well, OK, I guess a lot of people see it as yet another "Sex is bad" message, but... note the repeated use of the word "intimacy" rather than "sex." And note who ends up on the ground with a bump on his head. Silliness can be a wonderful way to deflate a serious subject, and "Beer Bad" is very silly. But in the end, I love it precisely because it doesn't have a simple message of "Don't do this" (except for Parker.) The point is that anything, if judiciously applied to extreme levels without fore- or afterthought, will fuck you up. What you learn isn't the morals, isn't the big words, isn't the exact rules on what to do or not to do; what you learn is that you learn something from everything that happens, and you somehow piece it together into a workable self after you sober up. It's called experience.

XANDER: And was there a lesson in all this huh? What did we learn about beer?
BUFFY: Foamy!
XANDER: Good, just as long as that's clear.

...And with that, Buffy's out of the bubble(s). The moral? Intimacy, education, bubbles and beer aren't bad things, and categorically saying they are makes you look silly. They're all just what they are, and they can be used, underused or overused. Now, learn how you handle them.

WALSH: We won't be able to cover it all in the class, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth knowing and it doesn't mean it won't be on the mid-term. Now, if I've been unclear in any way, speak now.

[Poll #1599026]

Comments

[frogfarm]

BB isn't the episode that got me sucked into Buffy, but it *was* the first one I actually watched, and to this day is still one of my favorites.

[rayruz.livejournal.com]

I chose other because the answer is ALL OF THE ABOVE... I love that episode. I so do.

ETA: Thematically, season 4 is about changing identities. How do we change when our circumstances change, and what is fundamental about us that doesn't change? Cave!Buffy? Still Buffy! Look at her rushing into the fire to rescue her friends. And it's not just "Still the Slayer" because by the end of that season we know what pure Slayer looks like. We get a chance to see Buffy as pure undiluted Cave!Buffy and see who she is at heart.

[maureen.livejournal.com]

I absolutely adore season six. I think it is my favorite season, and that is saying something because there is no Faith and you know how I love my Faith.

[2maggie2.livejournal.com]

Yay for Beer Bad love. I picked other, because the right answer is "all of the above."

You found a lot of interesting and true things to say about this supposedly awful episode. But what's really great, is that I'd have a meta that says a bunch of other interesting (to me, anyway) and true things about the same episode. I love that it took so much screen time for Buffy to work through her Parker issues, which is pretty much just Angel redux as a farce. Ending it with a farce is brilliant. I love that there's just a hint of how scary a slayer really can be to ordinary humans (see some of Giles' reactions). Excellent follow up to the same theme in Living Conditions, and an important subtext in the Scoobie break up plot. I personally love the shoutout to Aquinas even though it's in the middle of all the pretentious blather, because that particular remark is exactly the nub of the difference between Joss and me, and I love that it's text. It's funny as all get out (though I think some of the running around at the end gets a wee bit tedious, which might be the only bad thing I have to say about the episode). I could go on. I think my commentary on the episode to my brother ran for pages. (Season 4 in general is much more brilliant and well-crafted than people think. The main arc was silly, but boy everything else is tight and that's what counts. Scoobie relations are dissected in a million different ways, Buffy's slayer issues, her relationship issues, patriarchy issues, insider-outsider issues, etc. etc.)

[snickfic]

I don't have a lot to add here, except I have an icon for this episode! W00t!

And also this features the first of two actors (that I'm aware of) that appeared on both BtVS and Ats, but in different roles: Kal Penn, later of House M.D. He's one of the Beer Jerks here and he shows up as one of W&H's pet psychics on Ats - I think he gets his skull sawn off.

While it's not my favoritest ever, I think this may rank as one of my top underrated comedic episodes.

[lusciousxander.livejournal.com]

I don't get the hate for this episode. Okay I get it. But I never cared if the episode is meant to teach me a lesson or an after school special or plain stupid. What I care about is: Did I enjoy it? In the case of Beer Bad, HELL YEAH!

I remember how I couldn't stop laughing when Xander and Giles found CaveBuffy in her dorm room, and I love that she thinks Xander smells good. It makes the Bander in me very happy.

[me-llamo-nic.livejournal.com]

My "other" vote is: Willow misunderstanding what Buffy did at the bar. "And then group sex?"

there were a couple of huge surprises in store for me. "Season 6 is considered awful?" "What's a shipping war?" "People don't like 'Beer Bad'? Seriously?"

I had pretty much the same surprise moments. It was unsettling. And 'Beer Bad' is fantastic.

WILLOW: I'm tired of you men and your... man-ness.

...says Willow and stops driving stick.

*sporfle*

And obviously it's presented as a good thing, because sometimes, the id needs to tell the other two blowhards to quit yakkin' and get the job done with what they've got.

Yes, yes, and yes.

Cavemen win.

I've always thought so.

The moral? Intimacy, education, bubbles and beer aren't bad things, and categorically saying they are makes you look silly. They're all just what they are, and they can be used, underused or overused. Now, learn how you handle them.

Perfect summation. This post is my new best friend.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Dude! You're early! We're just about to start on Season 4 over at fantas_magoria and this, my friend, is just the sort of thing we need for Beer Bad! Perfect! Foamy! Come rewatch with us!

Season 6 is awesome. So is Season 4. IMO, all the even-numbered seasons are thee bombe. I do not understand the even-numbered season hate. Bad, bad, fans.

[athenamuze.livejournal.com]

I did a Happyland Episode about Beer Bad and whilst discussing it realized there IS a message, but its not about beer. The message really is:

Don't be a pretentious ass.

Seriously... Many of your same points can be heard here:
http://www.upsidedownhappyland.com/2010/04/happyep054-pretentiousness/


(and I'd LOVE To have you on as a guest sometime..........)

[pocochina.livejournal.com]

Dude, this post is like an existential mediation on the ever-changing relationship between semi-omnipotent observer and subject.

when I started getting into fandom after seeing the whole series, there were a couple of huge surprises in store for me.

Yes. Just...yes.

I also really enjoy Beer Bad. I think it's like the fluffy S1 episodes, but much more enjoyable because now we have three years of character development behind everyone's goofiness.

I totally agree the beer bad (but foamy) lesson is pretty tongue in cheek. IIRC, there's significant financial incentives for American shows to have anti-drug messages in the storylines once in a while, and I really enjoy seeing that turned on its head. (See also The Dark Age: you, too, can watch a buddy die during an LSD-fueled orgy and still grow up to become a successful member of the secret society keeping the world from doom!)

Funniest moments have to be a tie between Buffy whacking Parker, and Giles, Xander, and Caveslayer.

(Here via the Herald.)

[devilscrayon.livejournal.com]

Cavemen win! Yess!

Also, yet another here who was shocked to find S6 not well received.

Boys smell nice

[jnb71976.livejournal.com]

Yay, I get to use my Id!Buffy icon!
I LOVE Beer Bad. I LOVE Season 4. I LOVE Season 6. I have nothing else useful to say except you got it, dude. I too was shocked when I entered fandom and discovered so much hate. Fortunately I never lost the belief that I'm doin' it right and they're they're doin' it wrong, so off with them. More Beer!

[infinitewhale.livejournal.com]

Beer Bad, ftw! It's one of my favorite episodes and I've never understood the hate for it. I feel that way about a lot of the "worst" episodes you see on lists. It's not even my contrariness doing it; I liked them before I found out people were crazy didn't like them.

I also love Season 6. It might be my favorite season. I liked Season 7, too, so maybe I'm just weird that way.

[peroxidepirate.livejournal.com]

I agree, this is a really funny episode! And I love your analysis of it.

I picked Xander, Giles and Caveslayer as my favorite part, but actually, I have two other favorite moments that weren't on the list:

-- Buffy throwing the fire extinguisher at the fire
-- "Whose van is that?" "I don't know. Wasn't locked."

Cheers!

[shego2drakken.livejournal.com]

WOOHOO! *gives cookies*

Personally, I don't get the Beer!hate, either, though it's one of the episodes where I just turn off the more serious parts of my brain, sit back, and enjoy the wacky.

"[...] and then came... beer."
"And then group sex?"

[shapinglight]

For 'funniest moment', I wanted to choose Buffy knocking out Parker and Buffy knocking out Parker again, because I couldn't choose between them. :)

I'm all for people enjoying beer so have always had a soft spot for this episode. It's fun, and if ever someone deserved a cartoon-like whack on the head, it was Parker.

Also, Cave!Buffy is cute.

[elisi]

If anything, it's a parody of the sort of after-school specials I'm told US students have to sit through.
I seem to remember that they were asked by the network to make an episode 'with a message', and 'Beer Bad' was the result, which is why it so deliberately plays with all these themes. (And you can't claim that it doesn't have a message - just look at the title! *g*)

Anyway, I love it too. :)

[kerkevik.livejournal.com]

Hi,

unfair! I had to choose between the Buffy watching TV / Willow assuming Buffy had group sex scene and Xander's obviously seminal (in a Jossian way) NOTHING CAN DEFEAT THE PENIS! moment :-). Chose the first because, well, I'm a guy, I do like Porn and Buffy & Group Sex? Got to be a winner, especially if it was Bouffet the Vampire Layer we're talking about :-)

Also I've never-even-remotely hid my love for Beer Bad; never thought of it as being a guilty secret, because I just love, as if I were a pig in muck, the sheer Badness of Beer Bad.

BTW, in third spot, has to bet that look on Giles' face when Buffy beats her chest. Who couldn't love that moment? I want it on a T-shirt. I wanna! I wanna!

LOL for this,

Still under Willow & Tara's spell,
Ray.

[treadingthedark.livejournal.com]

I LOVE Beer Bad. So much funny all throughout the episode, I love all the Xander in it, and the moment that Buffy knocks Parker out felt as triumphant as anything else in the series!

My favorite part is when cave-Buffy runs into Spike on campus and....Oh wait, that was fan fic. ;)

Enjoyed your analysis very much.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I'm now watching this again 'cause of you. I love this ep.

"Nothing can defeat the penis!"


Also, it's like a Spuffy shipper wrote this prophetic exchange.

Buffy walks in and sees Parker talking to a girl. She walks right into
Riley, spilling his drink on him.

Buffy: Oooh. Riley, I'm so sorry.

Riley: That's okay you know, but most people go around. I'm not
saying you can't go through me, It's just that the other is much
quicker.

Buffy: In my defense you do take up a lot of space.

Riley: I do. I'm--you looking for someone?

[gillo]

I find it very hard to select an episode I don't like. Even DMP,

Bad Eggs

and

As You Were

have redeeming features, and I'd still rather watch the ten worst

Buffy

episodes than the ten best

Heroes

, for example.(Yes, even S1 when it had some genuine awesome.)

I can recognise flaws in Beer Bad, but every time I rewatch I go "But this is actually

funny

." As for S6, I consider it to be truly great TV, and its attackers mostly just want S1 MOTW or S2 Bangel back. I don't. (Though see above for "worst" episodes.)

In

Beer Bad

,I particularly love the way Buffy's fantasies are actually carried out, to the word - and yet she still bops Parker on the head. Be careful what you wish for indeed. As a symbolic dismissal of a crap boyfriend it just rocks - and perhaps relates to her Angel issues too.

Cave!Buffy is adorable, too - wonderful comic performance from SMG there.

[willowy-dawn.livejournal.com]

The cave-fratboys give BB its bad rep (and it always reminds me of Chesterton's comment that the one thing we know about cavemen is that they could paint, referring to the caves of Lescaux), but amid the funny, it gives the mike to Maggie Walsh and lets her tell us, indirectly, what she is about -- and what the whole conflict is going of the season is going to be, that is, the apparently rational forces of science & control being subborned by everlasting primeval forces, and being confronted by the apparently non-rational, but actual trans-rational force represented by the friendship that binds Buffy, Xander, Willow & Giles into a (S5 theme please) family.

And is it possible to adore Aly more than in this ep when she's pretending to be won over by Parker's charms when she's about to burst out laughing? (Well, yes, it's always possible to love Aly more . . . :) )

[local-max.livejournal.com]

I said Giles and Xander and caveslayer, because of Giles imitating Buffy's walk. "Sort of a sideways limp...."

This is a great, great writeup of the episode, which is of course an assault on the exact type of story people accuse it of being. Rather like the show itself. It's a bit of a mystery why this one seems to fool so many into thinking it is a simplistic message story--and I'm not excluding myself from it, since I dismissed the ep for a while, too. Isn't the entire series about playing with disreputable genres? Why not the "Just Say No" anti-beer ad genre?

[candleanfeather.livejournal.com]

Offers you a big cool glass of foamy beer and raises her own with you in praise of Beer Bad. I've never understood why this episode is classified as one of the bad ones. It may not be a summit of art but it's light and eccentric parody. I just love it. Beer bad is good, that's my mantra and I won't change it. Raises glass once more.