The “big sucking void” thread is way too long, so here’s a thread for the 10/23 episode.
This was kind of a placeholder episode. The only thing of real consequence was Giles ponying up the check, which leads me to wonder why he didn’t do it earlier. Did he have to be sure that Buffy was incapable of holding down a real job, verifying this hypothesis by having her be humiliated in a couple of jobs, first? At least this answered some of the questions about Xander’s employment. Not only is he working but he’s a foreman-type who can hire and fire (which we sort of knew from the “split Xander” episode but I don’t think had seen previously). Although he shouldn’t have been able to fire Buffy, since she wasn’t working for him (if she was he wouldn’t have had to call in markers to get her the job). The rest of the crew really pissed me off, especially that “that time of the month” comment. The line was very jarring. It really wasn’t worthy of the show. Loved the Legion of Super-geeks. “Don’t touch my magic bone!” Heh heh heh.
I enjoyed this weeks episode. I can’t wait for the legion of geeks to get beaten down. I’m hoping Willow finds them and does unpleasent things to them, to continue the decent of Willow into evil naughty sexy wickedness.
I think Giles might have been collecting the money so didn’t hvae it to give to her right away.
I wonder if the work crew might be involved in later episodes. The guy who was giving Buffy a hard time semed to have a major bug up his ass. Though it could be he’s just a prick.
Blech, I hate the legion of super-geeks. They do nothing for me, like I’m watching Beavis and Butthead. Did I mention Blech.
The look on Giles’ face when Buffy said the check made her feel safe was interesting. I think he’s going to have to push her out of the nest, make her stand on her own, become an adult. And to do that, he’s going to have to leave. This is setting up his escape.
Kitten poker is the next big thing. I loved ante’ing up the kitty. SMG did a pretty good job playing drunk.
I really dislike The Trio (I think that’s how they referred to themselves this time), which I find odd since I’d normally love that kind of character. I don’t know what it would do to redeem their presence; maybe if that one would stop whining so damn much. I just can’t get behind them as enjoyable villains because right now, they’re just jerks.
Things for Buffy and the rest of us to think about now that Giles has bailed her out:
The bills are paid for now, but where is she going to get the money to pay the new ones? (or was that check a LOT bigger than I thought?)
Where does this leave Giles financially? Is he breaking the bank by keeping the Slayer alfloat? After all, he doesn’t have the income from the Magic Box anymore.
The idea of his coming through with the money to save the day seems like such a simple answer; I can’t believe that they’ll drop the money matters at that. From the look on Giles’ face at epidode’s end, I suspect that Telemark is right in thinking that this is just one more thing to strengthen his resolve to force Buffy to be an adult.
I did like the way we see that Buffy now turns to Spike for companionship as a matter of course. She seemed a little uncomfortable the first few times she sought him out, but now it’s like she’s come much closer to accepting his new position in her pantheon of friends.
Buffy/Spike shippers, did you see that look he gave her at the end of the “drinking shots at Spike’s place” sequence? It didn’t seem to weird her out as much as before, and I note that she didn’t kick his ass for referring to her as “my lady” at the bar, though I’ll grant that she was drunk. She’s got a ways to go, but she’s warming to him.
(Is there any chance we could get some kind of Juniper/Spike shipper movement going on? I lack the words to express how good of an idea that would be.)
Just gotta mention that I watched this episode with my family, including my 12-year old son who is a MAJOR Star Wars geek (books, Legos, etc.) as well as going through a manic James Bond stage. We have regular debates on the relative merits of the various Bonds, Bond books vs. movies, X-wings vs. tie-fighters, etc. Needless to say, the episode was a major hit in our household.
They’re clearly just biding time. I’m interested in seeing who this season’s big bad turns out to be.
“I’m a breast girl. But you already knew that.”
I can remember references to Star Trek, Star Wars, X-files, James Bond, Monty Python. Any others? Sure, not the basis for a season, but an entertaining episode (for me) nonetheless.
Sure, babe, we’re all about the Juniper/Spike thing.
:: harp trills ::
And then you woke up!
Giles should still have some income from the Magic Box. As he told Anya in the first episode, he’s still a partner in the business, just an overseas, silent partner.
And besides that, he still works for the Watchers Council and presumably (based on relevant episodes) draws a large salary from them.
And he owned a BMW convertible last we saw, so whatever the source he obviously has copious amounts of money.
Do you all remember the song “Stand” by REM? It included such lyrics as “your head is there to move you around” and is widely viewed as a gentle attack on the band’s underemployed art-school dropout fans.
The Legion of Geeks are obviously a similar dig at Buffy/Angel fans. I admit the color washed out of my face last night when Jonathan began ranting against the Bond film Moonraker, just hours after I’d done something similar in another thread here.
Anybody know anything about the other series Giles is in? He might have made some money there; he made some references that I assume were to the new series (“I met some old friends, and may have made a new one, which is statistically impossible for a man of my age…”).
As we were watching last night, I had two thoughts (apologies if this had been addressed in the other thread):
Why hasn’t the Watchers’ Council, over the centuries, made arrangements to take care of the Slayers and their families? I realize that they can be somewhat cavalier about the lives of the Slayers – at least the ones who aren’t actually out in the field with them (remember “Helpless”?) – but they don’t know what circumstances the Slayer might be in when she’s called. If she can’t live, she can’t slay.
I think part of what’s going to come to a head between Buffy and Willow is the fact that Willow and Tara are and have been living in her house, spending her money, eating her food, using her water, phone, and electricity, and aren’t paying for a damned thing. Neither of them have jobs, but they sure felt comfortable moving into Joyce’s bedroom. Not cool of Willow, not at all.
I really enjoyed last night’s ep. Very good acting throughout by SMG, especially her mounting frustration during the time loop, and her drunkenness. I really expected, and wanted, for her to tell Giles that she loves him. Parent/child love, but love nevertheless.
I, for one, like the supervillian trio. After the darkness of the last two seasons, it’s a little bit of a respite while posing a genuine enough threat to keep the action going. Last night, when Warren called the van and said, “Francis 7 to Logan 5–the runner is tagged!,” I laughed hard and said, “Geek check!”
My problem with the “evil geniuses.” What are their sources of knowledge/ability, and what are their bounds? They apparently have near-limitless technological expertise, can control demons, and do some pretty advanced magic.
Does this just go to show what any one in the Buffyverse can do with a can-do attitude, adequate sticktoitiveness and sufficient personality deficits?
BTW - what was with the bartender, and the weird thing he did with his tongue?
I don’t think he waited very long, really. It was only in the last episode that Giles got involved in figuring out Buffy’s financial situation-- remember that he was sitting at the table, looking at a stack of bills, when Buffy flew out to meet Angel. The check was obviously a sizeable one, and I doubt even well-off Giles can pull together large sums of money cavalierly.
I also think he was wise to let Buffy at least try to solve the problems without help. She’s very headstrong and independent, as well as dealing with quite a bit of anger and loss. Giles sweeping in to the rescue if it wasn’t truly warranted would have damaged his relationship with her. I think he also already senses that his relationship with Buffy is on shaky ground, since he is no longer a confidant and knows she has not come back from death unscathed. Adding to that his clash with Willow, I think the look on his face at the end of the show was a broad hint that he already plans to leave, and now has to break it to Buffy. It may very well be that the money was intended, in part, to soften the blow of his leaving. He may already have commitments in England.
Speaking of which, is the show called Ripper or The Watchers? I’ve only seen the “Ripper” name on these boards, but I’ve been reading about “The Watchers” elsewhere. Which is it? Did it get changed? Is it under one name in the UK and another here? What’s the scoop?
I enjoyed the episode (I liked the Francis 7 to Logan 5 comment, too, and the kitten poker) but have to agree with Dinsdale that it currently seems a little weird that the Legion of Nerdy Doom can do all the things that they can. I have to assume our Fearless Leader, Mr. Whedon (or his cabal of Noxon, Espensen, etc…) will explain this - they are usually pretty good about that kind of stuff…
I, for one, am grateful for the other explanations for Giles facial expression after Buffy tells him how safe she feels. I was certain the look meant - “I really should tell Buffy about that terminal illness I’ve contracted.”
I personally like the Trio. I don’t think they’d be a worthy adversary for an entire season, but they’re awfully amusing. Not as much as kitten poker, though. ("…which are a stupid currency!") I’m giggling just thinking of Spike asking to be spotted a kitten. I think the Trio will give up and be embarrassed when Buffy reminds them how many times she’s saved their lives, especially Jonathan. How can he turn against her?
In other Buffy news, I am LOVING FX’s reruns! Last night’s rerun was great.
Kendra’s case seems to indicate that the Watchers make some small level of provision for at least Slayers in training, as Kendra was sent by her family to her Watcher when quite young, and her Watcher presumably fed her (although barely clothed her, what with her having just the one shirt and all). I’ve also wondered why Buffy doesn’t get a stipend, especially when Giles is on the payroll. Maybe the Council figures that since Slayers don’t last very long they don’t want to bother with all the paperwork? I predicted in the “big sucking void” thread that the Council was going to be the answer to Buffy’s money problems, but that in becoming more entangled with the Council she would get more seriously annoying problems.
They moved in to the house to take care of Dawn after Buffy’s death. It makes sense that as a couple they would sleep in the master bedroom. I think Buffy’s gratitude to them for caring for Dawn would not allow her to get to terribly upset about the idea that they were living there. Besides, we don’t know that they aren’t paying anything. It was unlikely that they paid rent (to whom, Buffybot?) while Buffy was dead. They may start now that Buffy’s alive.
Dinsdale
We already know that Jonathon can cast spells to the level of temporarily affecting the entire world, which to my way of thinking ranks him on par with Willow in technique, although Willow is superior in natural ability. Or is that 'supernatural" ability? I haven’t seen the episode with the flying demon monkeys so I don’t know what that kid can do really, but the builder of the Buffybot is, as you say, technologically savvy to the nth degree. Presumably they got where they are today by studying. Arcane texts don’t seem to be that hard to come by in Sunnydale (Giles even lent some of them through the school library) and I’m sure at least one of them has an autographed first edition of the Star Fleet Tech Manual.
Beadalin
He waited at least three days (assuming that auditing classes, the construction job and the Magic Box episodes were different days). Plus howver much time elapsed while she was visiting Angel. He could have told her, “Let me juggle some numbers, I want to give you some money but it will take me a few days.” But of course had he done that this would have been a pretty short episode.
Oh, and I can’t believe no one’s mentioned my third-favorite line yet: Spike: “Come on, someone’s got to stake me!” Drunken Buffy: “I’ll do it!”
And I’m the loving the FX reruns, too, since it’s my first time seeing them!
It’s very weird, though, to be seeing Spike trying to kill Buffy at 7pm, then see him being her best friend at 8pm, then back to trying to kill her the following day…