Monday, April 12, 2010

Classics: BtVS 2:15 - Phases

Overall Rating: 6.8

An episode that would have gotten a solid 7.8 if it weren't for one cheesy Hollywood stereotyping choice made by the episode's writing team. Hooray for Oz becoming interesting on a whole new level and additionally...hooray for Willow showing signs of growing into a strong woman - step by step. :)

Plot Synopsis:

Buffy and Willow talk before school about Willow's progress with Oz. Their first few dates have been fun and Willow is really starting to fall for Oz's understated charms, but he's still withholding on even the slightest bits of physical intimacy and Willow is starting to get a little impatient. She's also starting to show some teeth when it comes to Xander's flirtation with Cordelia (as Buffy hilariously says - 'me-ow!'). Unfortunately, Xander and Cordelia aren't having much romantic luck either. He's too distracted being jealous of Willow and Oz and mooning over Buffy. Hey, Xander, I love you; but you can only have ONE girl...not three - especially one who is totally not interested in you and another who you personally rejected! Perhaps Cordelia continues to be ashamed by you because you keep talking about other women while you're kissing her? Ah teenage hormones!

Speaking of which - werewolves are attracted to sex hormones and one of them attacks Cordelia's car. They report the incident to Giles and Buffy and make a connection to a handful of other animal attacks in Sunnydale on the same night. Curiously, these attacks did not occur on the full moon, but the day BEFORE the full moon. After a little research, Giles discovers that werewolves actually come out for three full nights...the full moon and the two nights surrounding it. Buffy will patrol tonight in lover's lane (the same area as Cordelia's short-circuited date). Unfortunately, on patrol with Giles, she runs into a man straight out of a 1940s era African Safari cartoon - complete with werewolf teeth around his neck and a ridiculous chauvinistic attitude (what one has to do with the other is beyond me) designed to make him a cheap foil for Buffy. He hunts werewolves to harvest their pelts and make a killing in the black market, not caring that they're normal people 25 days per lunar month. If they're going to find and capture this creature alive, they're going to need to outsmart Dr. Evil Poacher McSexist to the target.

Knowing that werewolves like sex hormones, Buffy heads to the Bronze. Willow and Cordelia are kibitzing (in an oddly friendly manner) about how stupid men are (*sigh*) when the creature bowls through the wall and rampages around, scaring the teens enough to make them hurl their illegally consumed alcoholic beverages and flee! Buffy arrives seconds later and tries to trap the beast with a chain, but fails and it escapes. Dr. Evil Poacher McSexist shows up and mocks her for letting it get away.

Meanwhile, in another part of town, Angelus approaches a girl who is freaked by the distant sounds of growling. He recognizes her as one of Buffy's classmates from Sunnydale and offers her his escort service (mmm...bloooood) to send another twisted message her way. Unfortunately, the news reports her death as an animal attack and Buffy assumes the werewolf got her. As does Oz when he awakes in a field and realizes he is the very werewolf the team is hunting. When he learns of her tragic death, he freaks and goes into hiding (planning to chain himself up to prevent any more deaths). That afternoon, Buffy goes to visit the funeral home where Theresa (Angel's victim) is being prepared for her final resting place. She had been feeling guilty that she was responsible for this girl's death, but realized it might also be a vampire. Sure enough, the teeth marks tell the story - as does Theresa herself when she leaps from her grave and attacks Buffy. "Angel sends his love!" she barks. After she gets properly dusted by Xander (sweet!), Buffy heads back to prepare for wolfman patrol.

Willow, spooked by his apparently avoiding her, goes to his house to yell at him only to realize (too late) that he's changing into wolfman. She only escapes being eaten when wolf-Oz gets distracted by Dr. Evil Poacher McSexist firing shots at him in the forest. This being the last night of his animal visage, Buffy has this one last chance to capture the affected person alive and she's better prepared this time around. Giles presents her with a dart gun loaded with sedative strong enough to take down a fully grown bull elephant. As they're loading up to begin their patrol, Willow scurries into the library to report her encounter and leads them to the woods where wolf-Oz is prowling. They track him down and knock him out with the tranquilizer and Dr. Evil Poacher McSexist dumbly quips that this is why Sunnydale is overrun with beasts - Buffy bends his gun and sends him away properly emasculated. The next day, Oz and Willow talk - Oz is ready to leave Willow alone, but Willow is OK with the werewolf affliction as long as Oz promises not to bite (heh).

Meanwhile - back when Xander thought schoolyard bully Lary was the werewolf, he interrogated him about his activities and learned way more than he wanted to know. It turns out, Lary is gay - he acts all sexually aggressive with women so that his teammates on the football team won't suspect his differences. Xander inadvertently implicates himself as also being gay and Lary suddenly appreciates him (and leaves him alone!)...promising that his proclivities will be their little secret.

Writing: 7.5

If it hadn't been for the use of the cliche "bully acts out because he's secretly gay!" plot twist or the ridiculous cardboard cutout of a straw man character to be Buffy's nemesis in the hunt for wolf-Oz (yes...I refer to Dr. Evil Poacher McSexist), I would have given this episode a solid 8.5 or 9 for writing based entirely on my deep desire to squeeze Willow until she explodes into a pink haze of cute dust (and the fact that many of her lines in this episode perfectly exemplify her cuteness in delightful ways) and the clever way in which the staff chose to incorporate Oz in the monster lifestyle. Sadly, I don't like being pandered to in shallow ways like those described above, so I have to take some points off the board.

Acting: 8.0

Alyson Hannigan is the master of cute-ology, so I should expect that when she's featured in her first attempts at romance, she will put in a strong performance. Seth Green continues to be fantastic when he appears as well. His reaction to Theresa's death and the talk amongst the slayerettes about Dr. Evil Poacher McSexist possibly having a point about beasts needing to be taken out was among the best moments in acting that I've seen this season. SMG didn't quite convince me she was actually feeling blue about letting the werewolf escape when it seemed that failure had to led to an innocent girl's death, and Jack Conley (Dr. Evil Poacher McSexist) was just plain awful in his (admittedly ridiculous) role. I wasn't all that impressed with Lary Bagby III (Lary) either, but his part in the story was minor. The regulars did a fine job overall.

Message: 5.0

I won't go too roughly with my mocking of Hollywood demonizing of poachers - I'm not a fan of poaching for sport or wearing fur either...I just don't think anyone benefits from the implicit statement that all poachers are completely backwards-minded pigs with ancient stereotypes and a total lack of respect for women. We can hate trophy hunting without having to add layers of evil and stupidity to the perpetrators. Regarding Lary's silent coming out party, I gather that they were just going for a cheap little "ha ha...he thinks Xander's gay now" chuckle, so I won't judge too harshly here...but still...these tropes do get old - especially when not well executed.

Highlights:

BUFFY: I think it's nice that Oz isn't the kind of guy that rushes straight for the bedroom. He's taking his time and making sure you're ready!
WILLOW: It is nice! And...we have a great time. But I want smoochies!
BUFFY: Have you dropped any hints?
WILLOW: I've dropped anvils! (LOL)
BUFFY: Well, don't worry, Wil...it'll happen. I mean - what guy could resist your wily Willow charms?
WILLOW: Presently? All of them? Maybe more? (aww...)
BUFFY: Well they don't know a thing. They get an 'F' in Willow.
WILLOW: But I want Oz to get an 'A'. Oh...and one of those...gold stars. (heart exploding from the cuteness!! ACK!!)

BUFFY: Werewolf, hm? Sounds like we'll need to gather the team. Maybe you can get Xander in on this?
WILLOW: Great! I'll just give him a call. What was his number again? Oh, I know - 1-800-I'm-Dating-A-Skanky-Ho! (BWAHAHAHAAAA!!!)
BUFFY: Meeeooww!!
WILLOW: Really? You mean it? I've never gotten a meow before! (makes a clawing motion while saying this)
BUFFY: Well this one was well deserved.
WILLOW: Good. (LOL)

GILES: Quite - it, uh, acts out of instinct. It has not conscience at all...uh uh...predatory and aggressive.
BUFFY: So, basically, your typical man. (Hey!!!)
XANDER: On behalf of my gender, I'd just like to say 'hey!' (THANK YOU!)
GILES: Yes, let's not jump to conclusions. (indeed)

OZ: Maybe I should just...
WILLOW: Maybe you should just what?
OZ: ...give you some space. Kind of lay back for a while.
WILLOW: Shouldn't that be up to me?
OZ: So you're...OK?
WILLOW: Well I like you! You're nice, and funny. And you don't smoke. Yeah, OK, werewolf - but that's not all the time. I mean...three days a month I'm not much fun to be around either. (ROTFL!)
OZ: You are quite the human.
WILLOW: And you're quite the werewolf.
OZ: A werewolf in love. (aw. :) )

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