av Mr Chase » tor mar 11, 2004 22:34
Mr Chase är tanklös och utom synhåll:
11. Out of Mind, Out of Sight
Wow, the biggest revelation in this episode is not that a girl turned invisible due to lack of attention but that Cordelia Chase, Queen bitca of Sunnydale High, actually has a brain. She tries to do well in classes, even if it is odd to hear her self-absorbed complaint about Shylock being self-absorbed. Gotta love it!
And her intelligence also shows when she realizes that Buffy and the Slayerettes are the only ones who can help her from the vengeance of the mad invisible girl, and goes straight to them. Her gradual incorporation into that gang has just started. And it's funny that she manages to insult them by force of habit even as she's seeking their assistance.
Well, as a self-professed, if late in realization, Cordeliac, this episode naturally gets high marks from me. Finally we see there is a reason for Charisma Carpenter being in the credits. She's often way too underused, but then again how much fun can you have with a egotistical bimbo? So you give her depth and reveal that she's really not a bimbo at heart. She just acts like that so she'll stay popular and not be so alone.
But make no mistake, Cordelia is actually a very lonely girl -- way more lonely than the "loser" Slayerettes are because they are *real* friends. Cordy just has followers. At this moment I just have to quote from the surprisingly open confession that Cordy gave to Buffy.
Cordelia: "Hey! You think I'm never lonely because I'm so cute and popular? I can be surrounded by people and be completely alone. It's not like any of them really know me. I don't even know if they like me half the time. People just want to be in a popular zone. Sometimes when I talk, everyone's so busy agreeing with me, they don't hear a word I say."
Buffy: "Well, if you feel so alone, then why do you work so hard at being popular?"
Cordelia: "Well, it beats being alone all by yourself."
The ironic thing is that when I first watched the show I couldn't care less about Cordelia even if she was good eye candy.
Spoiler s2 "What's My Line, pt 2" onwards:
It was only after she became involved with Xander that I really noticed her as more than decoration and went back to rewatch older episodes with her transformation in mind.
Even as Cordy had said what she said to Buffy I really hadn't heard a word of what she had said. Now I'm the opposite, probably grasping for straws about her in the early episodes. Well darn it, I feel for the poor girl. Cordy's speech also reminds me of a fishism (that's from "Ally McBeal" for you ignorant people out there): "Everybody's alone. It's just easier to take in a relationship." How true, indeed, if rather cynical.
The Cordy transformation is only just beginning here. It is going to be a long and painful progress but extremely fun not to mention interesting to watch. And of course she reverts to her old self, insulting the "losers" when she's around others. But we do know that her thankfulness was heartfelt.
We also get to see a nice interaction between Angel and Giles. They actually have a lot of interests in common -- caring for Buffy being the prime one, of course. And Giles's comment "A vampire in love with a Slayer. It's rather poetic... in a maudlin sort of way" is spot on. You cannot help but being touched, but then again I'm a hopeless romantic. How about that, I'm both a cynic and a romantic! You do the math!
The funniest line belongs to principal Snyder: "There are no dead students here. This week." and the runner-up is Xander's "Vampire bat" if only because I'm a sucker (no pun intended) for bad linguistic jokes.
Rupert Giles: "I'll be back in the Middle Ages."
Miss Calendar: "Did you ever leave?"