Halloween
Halloween (episode six of season two) begins with Angel waiting for Buffy who is delayed in a vampire fight for their date. Buffy is dissapointed that she is not a normal girl. After being forced into community service, the group of friends go to a new shop to find costumes for Halloween night where Buffy finds a beautiful 18th century dress that she buys. Although Buffy's attempts to dress Willow more extrovertly, Willow dresses up like a ghost. This holiday, we learn, is the only day where vampires to not lurk. Ethan Rayne, the owner of the new shop, is found to have placed a spell on his merchadise and everyone who bought from his store becomes their costume. Buffy becomes a fearful noblewoman; Willow is a ghost; Xander is a soldier. Taking advantage of Buffy's state, Spike decides this is his chance to defeat Buffy.
The TV series is known for their subtle meanings and metaphors. The show was created upon a metaphor: "High school as Hell"... literally. Vampires and other freaks of nature mixed with petty high school drama with a sprinkle of humor for zest. I am not crazy about Buffy as I am with Twilight (Buddah is just jealous because he can't sparkle in the sunlight!), but it's watchable and interesting. The acting felt a bit fake and phony. I was expecting great acting because most of the cast has had past experiences in the industry. Once the acting is below average, the video is unbearable to me and annoying. Going to more positive terms, I really like the concept of metaphors in each episode. I think that's brilliant. The main metaphor in this episode is "Be you". Buffy is trying to please Angel and become a perfect girl that she doesn't realize that the reason why he likes her is because she is not a generic normal girl. Willow is confused and doesn't feel comfortable with herself. They both learn to be who they are because the person they'd rather be is not always sunshine and butterflies. At times, they are the worst people.
Hush
Think of the creepiest movie you've ever seen... now multiple that times 15! I'm going to use the word creepy so much, I'm going to have to find synonyms. Just imagine The Joker minus the hair and the laughter in a nice clean suit tearing the heart out of your body with a polite smile smacked on his face. That's the Gentlemen. An elite group of savages, with etiquette of course, that go around town to town stealing voices so they can rip out seven hearts for their own personal amusement. If you don't think that's creepy, then you must be a creep yourself.
Episode 10 of season four delivers the disturbing tale of the Gentlemen, earning the TV show its first Emmy nomination for best original writing. Buffy, now in college, has a dream about a girl singing a lullaby about a certain group freaks snatching hearts while the innocent are speechless, no pun intended. Buffy explains her nightmare to Giles (her Watcher) and he does research without any results. Meanwhile, Buffy's relationship with Riley (Angel is long gone) is in a pickle. Their relationship is stumped by babblering and useless talk. Willow goes to a Wicca group only to realize that they are fakes and all talk (another pun, I'm on a roll!). Xander, with similar issues relating to communication, is confronted with his demonic girlfriend (I'm not joking, she is a demon) Anya who accuses Xander of not loving her and only trying to get in her pants. That night, the Gentlemen arrive and take all the voices. The citizens of Sunnydale must use other forms of communication instead of relying on their speech.
As stated before, Joss Whedon is a metaphorical man. "When talking ceases, communication begins" is the metaphor used for Hush. As soon as their voices were taken, Buffy and Riley were able to express how they felt easier than before because the useless babblering was gone. Willow meets a girl, Tara, in the Wicca group who was struggling with expression but when everybody else's voice is taken away, they find out just how powerful they truly are. Xander, who could say his feelings out loud, was able to express just how much he loved Anya when through a misunderstanding. In a way it's ironic how much is left unsaid when you actually say something.
You probably think I'm bipolar because of this shift from creepiness to emotional dilemma, but I can tell you that the sudden shift is not me... it's the show. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is bipolar in a positive way. In five minute time span, Joss Whedon will make you laugh, cry, and scream. And it flows so well together. That is the beauty of Buffy. It's original and different.
I enjoyed Hush more than I enjoyed Halloween purely because of the fact that the acting was better. The story was more mature along with the metaphor. High school drama is so annoying, except Twilight! (I had to show Buddah the Halloween episode and explain the metaphor so he wouldn't dye his hair reddish-brown and eat a deer) They only reason why I like Buffy is to find the metaphor afterwards. I love puns (as you can probably tell) so the use of figurative language appeals to me. With exception to the metaphors and puns, I don't like Buffy that much. At times, they seem so cheesy and corny that it makes me what to laugh for the wrong reasons. But if you like mysterious and twisted (in a good way) story lines and don't care about the acting, you might enjoy Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (Even the name sounds corny)
Oopsies, The golden contacts that Buddah shoved in his eyes are giving him a red eye! I have to go knock some sense into his brain and convince him that A) he can not afford that Volvo and B) he can not read minds...
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