Dude, What is that Foulness?

Episode 2.19: Go Fish Original Airdate 5.5.98 

"When several members of the Sunnydale High swim team are mysteriously skinned alive, Buffy and the gang take it upon themselves to protect the remaining members, which results in Xander revealing a side of himself rarely seen."

Zelda's thoughts:

• Goddammit. This episode is so stupid.
• What music is that extra dancing to?
• It's significant that both I Only Have Eyes For You and this episode have a guy hitting on Buffy in the teaser. In IOHEFY she shuts him down very quickly. Here, she allows it. Because of ARC and CHARACTER and what happened in IOHEFY.
• Aw bitty Jonathan. Rejecting Buffy's help. She's like the one kid who's nice to you.
• Shenanigans - While I totally believe he'd be playing solitaire in class (our school computers had games), how would he have the option of naked ladies on the cards? That's not a default skin (pun unintentional).
• "We've been having trouble finding a competent teacher this late in the term." My school did it, when a teacher unexpectedly retired midterm. Granted, it was history, not computers, but feh.
• Buffy's face while swimman blathers on. Soooooooo bored. :)
• "Are you wearing a bra?" What to the fuck, dude?
• So Snyder pulls her in to punish her for breaking Cam's nose ... did they go out driving during school? Whaaaaaaat.
• Even the funny isn't quite funny enough for me to like this episode. Nice try with the oreo cookie analogy, Willow.
• "You're gonna think about that later, mister, and you're gonna laugh." I"ll laugh at that, but not about what you're talking about. GO AWAY, EPISODE.
• Maybe I'll start using "go fish" as an alternative for "go fuck yourself."
• "You're lucky I'm hungry." // "The cafeteria's closed." // "Not to me." THERE'S NO FOOD THERE YOU NITWIT.  I hate this episode.
• Though the steam rising out of the skin shed by the fishmen is a nice touch.
• "I think I've lost all will to cheerlead."
• Buffy sucks at espionage. We learned this in I Robot, You Jane.
• Hi Angelus! Time for some more pretense at being evil without any follow-through? Oh right you do try to bite Gage.
• Actually a pretty cool way to reveal Gage has fishy blood.
• Buffy and Willow are eating a bucket of popcorn while they watch ... swim practice?
• Gage waving at Buffy from the pool. Cutie.
• Xander twitchily hiding behind the boogieboard. Love it.

What are you hiding there?

• Our school didn't have a steam room. But we also didn't have a pool, so who am I to talk.
• "Tag, you're it." okay that bit was cute. I still hate this episode.
• "After the fall of the Soviet Union ..." No. What. No. Just STFU. STFU. Stop. Just stop. Look at your life. Look at your choices. This is terrible writing.
• He had the gun just sitting out on the countertop. Um ... no? They didn't even try for logic in this episode. There's so little effort.
• Thank God that's over.

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Xander is a Yankees fan. Figures.
• Hey! Willow and Cordelia are getting along! I like this!
• Cameron Walker is a sleeze with bad pick-up lines. Come on Buffy!
• Ok, she's catching on now...good for you!
• Xander: I love when you guys mess with her. Me: Me too!
• Cordy can draw! [What? I can't have layers? - Cordelia]
• Buffy is terrible at undercover.  She'll admit it later.
• Wentworth Miller (Gage) does a stereotypical Californian accent until he doesn't. When he gets scared or has to deliver an emphatic line, his British accent comes out in full force: "Was that the thing that killed Cameron!" You know, my mate! My chum! Stiff upper lip, Buffy!
• Hellloooooooo boys in speedos: 

Buffy and pre-lesbian Willow agree

• OK, I'll admit, Xander actually looks pretty good, too
• Willow: The trick is not to leave any marks. Me: Uh...wow.
• Jonathan peed in the pool! HA! and EWW.
• Coach has an odd idea of what fish people need: People as food? Sex? They don't even have penises!
• Aww, Cordy's speech is so sweet! She wuvs Xander! She does!
• Did they really call animal control for fish people?

Crossfire!

Z: Angel's a pretty flaccid villain. Except for when he killed Jenny. If this were a Showtime show, he'd be killing someone every episode.
D: Yeah, but if it were a Showtime show there'd be a lot more characters to kill off.
Z: I'm not gonna call them out on it too much though, because it's not Showtime, and it's a teen show.
D: Plus, there's 22 episodes as opposed to 13.

Favorite Lines:

Zelda: "I don't know two finer boys than Cameron and ... that other one." - Snyder
Daniel: "Oh I'm not worried about me".  - Buffy in response to Cameron's "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you."

90s Factoid:

• "Good pie charts everyone!"
• Also, Gage is playing a Gameboy.

Remember these?

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Willow interrogates Jonathan, not for the last time.
• Buffy's still taking French, but her teacher doesn't remember her name.
• The library cage being used yet again to secure potential monsters.

Stats:

Voiceover - Giles
Dead Humans - 6
Dead Undeads -0
Dead Flashbacks - 0
Giles Unconscious - 0
Giles Cleans His Glasses -0
Buffy Breaks a Door - 0
Evil Reveal - 2 (Coach Carl Marin and Nurse Greenliegh are behind the steroid fish steam)
Unevil Reveal - 1 (the fishmen aren't killing the swimmers; they are the swimmers)
Shenanigans Called - 1
Apocalypse Called - 0
We're counting the humans transmogrifying into Fishthings as human deaths because their human self is dying - going by the same standard as counting someone turning into a vamp as a human death.