av Mr Chase » mån mar 01, 2004 2:45
Mr Chases recension av "Innocence":
26. Innocence (part 2 of 2)
There just aren't enough superlatives to describe this episode so I won't ever bother. It is quite possibly the very best "Buffy" ever made, or at least in the extreme top category. Mind you that I haven't seen all of "Buffy" yet. When I first saw this it left me utterly speechless and in awe. I'm glad I haven't graded the previous episodes because I just know that after this all preceding gradings would have to be recomputed. There was no way that I could have anticipated that an episode could be this good. And considering that if I was to give this the highest mark I just know that Joss would come up with something even better, screwing up the grades again. So I won't even try it.
This episode is the prime example of why this is a show for grown-ups despite having characters set in a high school. It is deep, sad, tragic and even witty at places amidst all the horrors. "I got older" Buffy said at the end and my she did, the poor wretched girl!
It is actually beyond tragic, it is almost epic in scale and grandeur. When Buffy gives herself to the greatest love of her life and it turns out the way it does it should have destroyed any lesser mortal. But despite her sorrow she manages to come through in the end and rises to the occasion.
The evil Angelus is indeed a frightening thing to behold. While it at first might seem stupid of him not to just kill Buffy and her friends there is a method to his evil. He wants to make her mad first, just like he did with Drusilla. Another killing machine wouldn't be nearly as frightening, not to mention interesting. His treatment of Buffy in his apartment after their shared night was much more cruel than if he just had snapped her neck. The Judge (a k a the Smurf Demon) doesn't even come close to Angelus. Besides, the big blue seemed just to be an excuse to verify that Angelus is indeed back, that he was just going through a phase. Angelus: "She made me feel like a human being. That's not the kind of thing you just forgive." But I could have lived without the heavy-handed anti-smoking "message" when we see that evil Angelus smokes. That kind of PC crap tends to destroy many other shows and "Buffy" should be above that. *end small rant* And Spike gets to tell the vampire mission statement: "Now, I know you haven't been in the game for a while, mate, but we still do kill people. Sort of our raison d'être, you know."
There has been one thing about this curse which has bugged me from the start. It's when Jenny's uncle Enyos says that "one moment of true happiness, of contentment, one moment where the soul that we restored no longer plagues his thoughts, and that soul is taken from him." It will in effect break the curse. OK, but what is "one moment of true happiness" really? Couldn't it just be the moment when Angel realizes that he truly deeply loves Buffy and vice versa. Does it really have to imply a sexual encounter? On the other hand it would be a very dangerous curse if it worked that way because odds are that somewhere down the line a vampire with a soul will find some happiness, with living forever and everything. So, I've come to the conclusion that what the curse really means is that a vampire with a soul can't make love to the one he loves. That's one hell of a punishment and it makes a whole of a lot more sense. But why had they neglected to inform Angel of that fact? Having that knowledge would actually have made his suffering far worse. But I'm still making conjectures since that is never spelled out in the episode or in any subsequent ones that I know of.
What you can't make a mistake about is the purposefulness by which the Kalderash gypsies went about their curse. As Enyos said: "To the modern man vengeance is a verb, an idea. Payback. One thing for another. Like commerce. Not with us. Vengeance is a living thing. It passes through generations. It commands. It kills." *shudder*
So in retrospect Willow's advice to Buffy in the beginning of part one to "catch the fish", sorry carpe diem, was not a very good one but she couldn't have known that.
The scenes involving Jenny Calendar is also heart-wrecking. She has betrayed all of the Scoobies, with Buffy and Giles in particular. Giles echoing Buffy's "get out" to her is just to die for, he hurts and Jenny hurts but Giles never doubts where his loyalty lies. You know the Watcher will never ever betray his slayer and that is further amplified in the end with their conversation in the Gilesmobile. He is a great substitute father for her but for him it must be just awful to send his "daughter" out on all those lethal slaying missions. Great relationship. Buffy's mother also makes a strong bonding with her daughter. She knows that something just isn't right but she won't ask Buffy about it. She will just be there for her, with the birthday cupcakes and the light. "I'll just let it burn!" Buffy says. *snivel*
Since this is the Hellmouth things just don't happen by themselves. Of course Willow has to catch Xander and Cordelia kissing whilst in the middle of a major crisis. Her problems with that is no way comparable to Buffy's but it potentially threatens to break up the gang at a critical time. Willow pulls through though and the gang can still function. I have to say though, that I think that Willow goes way overboard on this one.
Willow: "I knew it! I knew it! Well, not 'knew it' in the sense that I had the slightest idea, but I knew there was something I didn't know. You two were fighting way too much. It's not natural!"
Xander: "I know it's weird..."
Willow: "Weird? It's against all laws of God and Man! It's (disgusted) Cordelia! Remember? The, the 'We Hate Cordelia' club, of which you are the treasurer."
Xander: "Look, I was gonna tell you."
Willow: "Gee, what stopped you? Could it be shame?"
Xander: "All right, let's overreact, shall we?"
Willow: "But I'm..."
Xander: "Willow, we were just kissing. It doesn't mean that much."
Willow: "It just means that you'd rather be with someone you hate than be with me."
I'm with Xander here, Willow is way overreacting. OK, I can empathize with her to some extent, after all she had a silly crush on him before (the operative word here is "before"). She has Oz now, and he is so much better for her anyway, so what's the big deal? You might say that Xander is a jerk for not having noticed her crush before, but then again what if he had, what should he have done if he didn't reciprocate the feelings. Potentially wreck a great and life long friendship or hope that she'd grow out of it? Kill me if you like but I'd have done what Xander did.
And this 'We hate Cordelia' is getting too old. What do they want from the poor cheerleader anyway? Hasn't she proved her worth by now? She's more or less a full fledged Slayerette, hanging out with them, doing research, making field trips. How bad can she be?
I know I'm biased in favour of Cordy but I can't help feel for her. She can't help herself being with the other Slayerettes., much less with Xander. She wants to be where things happen, and considering it's the Hellmouth and all, what better place to be prepared for the worst than with the people who could actually do something about it. At the same time there is her social standing to consider and the fact that the other Slayerettes most of the time doesn't really like her. That much Willow made abundantly clear.
As to the feelings Cordy and Xander have for each other they are obviously getting more complicated than being just about hormones. Something deeper is about to emerge and it's probably killing her because she's well aware of the other's dislike of her and she doesn't know if Xander also dislikes her some of the time. She's also *very* jealous of Willow and Buffy with regards to Xander. Imagine that, the most popular girl in school is jealous and insecure about the reigning dorkhead!
Cordelia: "I know, you were too busy rushing off to die for your beloved Buffy. You'd never die for me."
Xander: "No, I might die from you. Does that get me any points?"
Cordelia: "No."
Xander: "Come on, can't we just kiss and make up?"
Cordelia: "I don't wanna' make up. (smiles) But I'm okay with the other part."
That last part was kind of cute but she's really bothered that she ranks well bellow the other Slayerettes, and slayage in general, in her boyfriend's (well, sort of) mind. Wake up Xander!
Still she continues to help them and follows Xander into an army base, where the security really *is* a joke, to help steal a rocket launcher. Xander's G I experience from "Halloween" is put to good use and Cordy is dutifully impressed. And the following exchange just cracks me up.
Cordelia: "So does looking at guns makes girls really wanna have sex? That's scary."
Xander: "Yeah, I guess."
Cordelia: "Well, does looking at guns make *you* wanna have sex?"
Xander: "I'm seventeen. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex!"
And back in the van we see that Willow falls in love with Oz ('bout bloody time) and that he's so cool about it, treats her exactly right and says that he'll wait for her to get Xander out of her system (also 'bout bloody time). She even makes a little joke.
Oz: "So do you guys steal weapons from the army a lot?"
Willow: "Well we don't have cable so we have to make our own fun."
In the end Buffy exposes the seemingly indestructible demon to the wizardry that is modern weapons technology. Truly fitting.
The Judge: "Fool, nothing forged can stop me." (Buffy pulls out the rocket launcher.)
Buffy: "That was then. This is now." (Buffy powers up the weapon.)
The Judge: "What's that do?" Well take a wild guess, smurf! Ka-boom!
Whew, this was a long review but I had to get some stuff out of my system. I'm better now. I Promise.
Rupert Giles: "I'll be back in the Middle Ages."
Miss Calendar: "Did you ever leave?"