Lullaby is on some days my favourite AtS episode -- which is not to say that I'm actually sure that Darla's arc should have ended there, but it's so well done. The (fallen female) death generating life is a cliche that should be dispensed with, but hot damn if it isn't one of the series' most passionately written and directed and acted (holy cow!) scenes. And I'd argue that Connor's spending most of the next season and a half angry at Angel and then turning out to be the tool of a higher power trying to enslave the world actually do undermine the story in a somewhat pleasing way, too: Connor isn't really "Darla's redemption," is he? Or, maybe he would be if it weren't for that pesky Angel and the fact that Holtz is still around....
The Gift is on some days my favourite BtVS episode, though usually one of the heavyweights from s6, or one of the other Whedon marvels from s4-5 take it. I actually do struggle with the "same blood" thing, maybe because I used to be into shows where the worldbuilding was meant to make sense. I have a fanwank that is satisfactory to me that ties in with the thematics though:
1) Keyness is needed to open the portal 2) after the first few drops of Key blood, it gets used to Dawn's blood -- the Keyness is no longer crucial to it, but the portal somehow adapts (through magic!) to Summers blood and recognizes that as the Key's form in this world 3) then, Summers blood of any sort will close it, at least of a close relative, which is Buffy.
OTOH, the worldbuildingy part of me does wish that the monk had actually said "we made her out of you!" back in No Place Like Home so that the Montage Of Truth at the episode's end was *all* information that other people gave her, rather than things that Buffy already intuited improbably as it was in the "the monks made her out of me" claim which is still pretty speculative, no? I mean -- I get that part of the story is that Buffy's insight brings her Beyond The Rational, that her pre-sacrifice insight was one that the Buffybot couldn't have made; but I still admit that I'm uncomfortable with the aspects of it that a) don't quite make sense, and b) where I think that the writing obviously *could* have set it up better, and while relatively minor, having the monks give that info might have helped. OTOH, that might have telegraphed the ending more, though, when it comes down to it, I'd rather have a slightly telegraphed but better-set-up ending rather than saving all the surprised for the end.
Oh yeah, right, so: heroic sacrifice! Excellent! Love Buffy! But I'm so glad she came back. I think that her job is the same as ours. We don't "get" to retire at 20 from the trials and tribulations of our life. Buffy certainly earned sweet release, but I much prefer the story where she gets to the point where life is once again preferable to, well, sweet release.
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Date: 2012-07-19 10:41 am (UTC)The Gift is on some days my favourite BtVS episode, though usually one of the heavyweights from s6, or one of the other Whedon marvels from s4-5 take it. I actually do struggle with the "same blood" thing, maybe because I used to be into shows where the worldbuilding was meant to make sense. I have a fanwank that is satisfactory to me that ties in with the thematics though:
1) Keyness is needed to open the portal
2) after the first few drops of Key blood, it gets used to Dawn's blood -- the Keyness is no longer crucial to it, but the portal somehow adapts (through magic!) to Summers blood and recognizes that as the Key's form in this world
3) then, Summers blood of any sort will close it, at least of a close relative, which is Buffy.
OTOH, the worldbuildingy part of me does wish that the monk had actually said "we made her out of you!" back in No Place Like Home so that the Montage Of Truth at the episode's end was *all* information that other people gave her, rather than things that Buffy already intuited improbably as it was in the "the monks made her out of me" claim which is still pretty speculative, no? I mean -- I get that part of the story is that Buffy's insight brings her Beyond The Rational, that her pre-sacrifice insight was one that the Buffybot couldn't have made; but I still admit that I'm uncomfortable with the aspects of it that a) don't quite make sense, and b) where I think that the writing obviously *could* have set it up better, and while relatively minor, having the monks give that info might have helped. OTOH, that might have telegraphed the ending more, though, when it comes down to it, I'd rather have a slightly telegraphed but better-set-up ending rather than saving all the surprised for the end.
Oh yeah, right, so: heroic sacrifice! Excellent! Love Buffy! But I'm so glad she came back. I think that her job is the same as ours. We don't "get" to retire at 20 from the trials and tribulations of our life. Buffy certainly earned sweet release, but I much prefer the story where she gets to the point where life is once again preferable to, well, sweet release.