Thoughts on the season premiere of Buffy. Nothing terribly coherent or systematic or otherwise organized. Just things I scribbled down on the back of a magazine insert whilst watching.
- The Buffybot (who I will miss terribly) was doing a nice job taking over the Anya role of strange and inappropriate speech patterns and content.
- So, who says the Key is not good for anything else any more? And, for that matter, howzcum Dawn is suddenly so well-adjusted over being a construct?
- Speaking of the Key, when will the Doc reappear? I don’t know Joel Grey’s schedule, but, remember, we never saw the body. Hell, even if we had, what difference would that make on this show?
- Opening credits are a fine montage once again. Except for one jarring shot where Buffy’s wearing way-too-vivid lipstick.
- UPN’s choice of shots for promoting the next episode looks like it’s going to be a constant irritant, since they seem compelled to Give It All Away.
- Margie asks, “Buffy’s been dead the entire summer. Where’s the replacement Slayer?” A good question.
- Margie also asks, “Why is Buffy’s hair so much longer than when she died?”
- Buffy – Shock and trauma? Or oxygen deprivation? Obviously a situation that can’t stay status quo for long, but I’m sure the circumstances of her resurrection will have effects for the rest of the season.
- Giles – Probably an appropriate time, plot-wise, to bow out, but, damn, I’ll miss the guy.
- Xander – Y’know, Xander makes for good comic relief (with occasionally all-the-more-profound-therefore serious guy moments), but I’d really like to see him do something effective in a fight. He seems to spend all of his time getting batted around. We touched on some of the ego effects last season, and we certainly don’t want to see a Riley repeat, but it’s gotta “grate his cheese” a lot.
- Anya – She keeps getting better at being human, for good and for ill. I do worry that she’s going to get hurt badly by Xander Real Soon Now, given his reluctance to announce their engagement. And, geez, wonder how a woman who used to be A Demon Of Vengeance For Women Hurt By Men will react to that.
- Willow – I see at least a full season of plotlines related to Willow. I mean, this is the gal who, apparently without repercussions, went rooting around in a volume titled Darkest Magick at the end of last season in order to take out Glory. And this whole Resurrection Spell thing, and what she did to perform it, has got to reverberate for a while. Yup, tough times ahead for MegaWitchGirl.
- Tara – Finally getting to be a solid member of the Scooby Gang. That’s good, because she’s going to need them as Willow works through her problems.
- Dawn – I’m hoping the “Dawn can’t follow instructions and therefore gets into trouble” schtick will go away. Quickly. Yeah, she’s younger than the rest, more impulsive, but not necessarily stupid.
- Spike – He’s good. He’s real good. In sort of an evil way. I don’t know where Joss is going with him, but he’s doing better at the “Vampire Working Alongside Good Guys” bit than anyone, and I include Angel in that evaluation. He’s a creature of passions, and right now those passions are directed at Dawn, as a replacement for (different passions for) Buffy. This should be fun to watch.
- Margie observed one of the reasons why she’s been having problems with Buffy over the past few seasons — because the arcs are so increasingly labored and tangled, and the audience apparently considered so flaky, that every episode has to start with five minutes of “Previously, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” By the same token, though, Babylon 5, which was at least as arc-y, never had any “previously” bits — if you missed last week, you missed last week. She has a point (though she doesn’t seem to mind it as much when they do the same thing on Angel). I’m hoping for a bit more focus this season on Buffy. We’ll see.
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