It's All Right - I Have More Scotch

Episode 4.9: Something Blue. Original Airdate 11.30.99

"One of Willow's spells causes her statements to become reality, with consequences both entertaining and life-threatening."

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Something Blue. Or something blew? No, but seriously. I do like this episode. It's fun. What I hate about it is that it's a precursor to future events. I don't know if the writers knew this and/or did it on purpose. But that's what I hate. The dread.
• Aww. Oz. Willow Sad. I don't like sad Willow :(
• Reason 215 why Riley is awesome: Lesbian equality! Though why do they need a MAN to hang up their sign? [Because he's 8 feet tall? - Z]
• Also...look at that - all the lesbians are completely and totally lipstick.
• Buffy's hair looks awful. Like...a cavewoman.
• HOW CAN ANYONE NOT LOVE THESE TWO? "Say, don't you just love a picnic?" I feel like he's going to start singing Oklahoma.
• And Buffy - I mean that's the thing. There's something messed up about always expecting misery. Safe doesn't have to mean boring.
• And...Spike's in a bathtub.
• I wonder if Olivia got Giles that "Kiss the Librarian" mug. [I accept this as canon. - Z]j
• Oh man, Aly Hannigan crying.
• Even vampires have their shows that they must watch. Spike will be excited when DVR is invented. And Netflix.
• Remember when Passions was a thing? (link to imdb page)
• And yet another reason Riley is awesome. Inviting poor mourning Willow to sit and crash his date with Buffy.
• ANYA! See? She's helping. She offered to kill Oz if she had her powers. She's the best!
• Buffy: "Anybody remember when Buffy had the fun beerfest and went 1 Million Years B.C.?" Me: Yeah she still has the hair.
• Why are they being so hard on Willow? Why can't she have a few beers and drink her sorrows? I mean does anyone remember how Buffy pined over Parker for like 100 episodes? And he was a douchey douche. Not even a boyfriend. Willow was actually in love with Oz.
• So how come Willow can't straighten a q-tip but all these other things she doesn't mean to happen happen?
• Sorry, I think Willow's argument is completely fair. She doesn't complain much; she can't have a few off days?
• Amy! Naked Amy! For like a second! It's so awesome that they got Elizabeth Anne Allen to come back for a 2 second cameo.

• OMG. They're all awful friends. Go out. Get drunk with your friend. It helps.
• Spuffy kissing. I bet Giles is glad he's blind.
• "Hey, I was just trying to help." This is a prime example of Nicky's awful, awful line deliveries. He just sounded...mean when he said that. There was nothing else in there. That's, unfortunately, how a lot of his line readings come across.
• Ha! I love that Giles is so touched at first because it is something Buffy would do - ask Giles to give her away at her wedding. And then he realizes how ridiculous this all is.
• Look! Archways! It might be a Sunnydale set.
• "You'll really like him....well nobody really likes him." Heh.
• "How? What? How?" // "Three excellent questions."
• D'Hoffryn!
• Anya's helping!
• I don't know if Willow's caused enough pain to be considered for a vengeance demon spot. I mean the worst she really did was blind Giles. She sent a few lame demons after Xander and she gave Spike and Buffy a happy pill. Which was all accidental. I mean, it's true she's powerful and D'Hoffryn sees power in her - but she's not evil enough. Unless he can foresee what happens in a couple of years... [Yes to all of this. The closest she got to vengeance-yness was when she almost cast that spell on Veruca. - Z]
• Willow's shirt: "speak no evil." Cute, costume designer.
• "We may be into a forgetting spell later." Foreshadowing!
• Riley says something endearing and walks away. Buffy stands and looks after him. She can't walk after him because she's short and standing on an apple box.

Zelda's Thoughts:

• Yay! I'm excited. This episode is hilarious.
• Aw shit we start off with a feels punch. Photos of Oz and Willow. When does the hilarious get here?
• Aw Riley rehearses conversations with Buffy. That's actually kind of cute slash maybe I've done that too. Not conversations with Buffy. Conversations with - never mind. Hey look a tv show!
• I'd like this better if he were a better actor.
• Parking lot graveyard! Do a shot.
• Naw, Buffy, you know who has good arms? My boyfriend Jeremy Renner.

• If nothing else, this ep is good for pointing Buffy firmly toward Riley as a love interest. She talks with Willow about still craving the danger and violence that she had with Angel - the part where he made her miserable - and lacking that with Riley. Willow's spell matches her with dangerous and violent (well, formerly) Spike and she almost loses Riley in front of the bridal shop, so this makes it clear to her what she wants and what she doesn't want.
• YAY SPIKE IN A BATHTUB. I mean. Um. Stuff.
• "Giles, help, he's gonna scold me." God I freaking love their chemistry. Their mutual loathing is just hilarious and awesome.
• "Giles, make her stop." So much like siblings driving each other crazy and turning to mom to fix it.
• Another moment of the writers trying to make Spike the new Cordelia "Are you people blind? She's hanging on by a thread. Any ninny can see that."
• No one should ever make Willow cry just because Alyson Hannigan is so good at it. Poor Willow. :( Stupid Oz.
• "Come on, now! It's Telly Time!" Seriously I want the spinoff of these two as flatmates.
• "Timmy's down the bloody well! And if you make me miss it, I''ll -" // "You'll do what, lick me to death?"
• "Cars and Buffy are like ... unmixy things." Hey~ One more thing Buffy and I have in common! We're totally the same person. [With different hair - D]
• Vineyards? Sunnydale has vineyards now? And yet is a town that Buffy can traverse as an avid pedestrian? I'm starting to suspect Sunnydale of TARDIS-ness.
• Hi drunk Willow! Did we learn nothing from Beer Bad?
• See, I understand sadness and not being able to pull out, but when she starts taking jabs at her friends - belittling Xander's situation - it's not cool.
• "You have to go through the pain" // "Well, isn't there some way I can make it just go away? Just cuz I say so? Can't I just make it go poof?" Sadly, this is a lesson Willow continues to not learn and accept, and it will form the basis of her arc of S6.
• I wonder why it is - as it's never explained - that Willow's will-be-done spell goes awry. Things she intends to work don't, and random declarations she makes about her friends do. Is it just supposed to be that she's not yet proficient enough? Is it only when she attaches emotion to what she says that it works? Each time her will gets done here, it's her being mad at her friends for failing her (in her perception). Giles points out that in her heightened emotional state, the spell may not have cast correctly, and that's really all the explanation we get.
• Listen to Giles, Willow. He is wise and British.
• I like the detail that Spike's black nail polish is chipping away. Although I must say it's nice that Buffy and Giles cared enough to touch up his roots with bleach because those roots are whiiiiiiiteblond.
• Oops Spike escaped.
• "If I had any real power, I could have made Oz stay with me." Ooh lawdy that's a dangerous thought.
• I'm not quite sure why finding Spike is a priority, when he's still basically toothless? Is it because they still need info on the Initiative from him? Okay, I'm going with that.
• I love the double ow of Spike - ow from hitting Buffy, ow from getting hit by Buffy.
• "Giles, I accidentally killed Spike. That's okay, right?"
• WHEEEEEEEEEEE SPIKE AND BUFFY ARE SO SAPPY AND IT'S HILARIOUS. I love that she's crying. SMG for the win.
• And now we have metaphorized Willow's lashing out at her friends with spelliness. Stop lashing out at Xander, Willow. He loves you. You and your yellow crayon.
• "Mr. and Mrs. Big Pile of Dust."
• So here's what I love about this - while clearly the being in love with, and wanting to marry, Spike, are the result of the spell and have no current basis in reality - I like to think that if Buffy had her druthers, if she weren't weighted down with slayeryness, this is the sappy kind of bride she would be, and it's adorable and sweet. It's like how she wanted to be homecoming queen, how she wanted to have a perfect moment at prom, how she wanted to be a cheerleader. This is a glimpse at Buffy if she got to be normal. You know, if we ignore the engaged-to-a-vampire part.
• hahahaha and even spelled Spike resents everything about Angel at all times. My name is Zelda and I approve this message.
• Hah and see Spike is starting to help take care of blind Giles. This supports my theory of Everything Spike Does is Guided By His Stupid Heart (short version, Love's Bitch). When he's in love with Buffy, he'll help fight on Buffy's side. Although it takes him a long time, his crush on Buffy is what starts him on his path toward redemptioness.
• "You'll really like him ... Well, nobody really likes him. I don't even really like him. But I love him!" perfect delivery.
• "He's totally old. Well, not as old as my last boyfriend was."
• At least Xander realized that "fruit roll ups of love" was not the sexiest thing to say.
• I like that Anya's knowledge of demons and such helps them destroy the Serparvo demon.
• "So the plan is to cure my total incapacitating blindness ... tomorrow, is it?"
• Wow Buffy already has sooooo much wedding prep swag. I'm impressed.
• "Whereas the name Buffy gives it that touch of classic elegance." // "What's wrong with Buffy" // "Such a good question." Seriously, the banter in this episode rocks.
• "And you both were affected. I probably only escaped because I'm the Slayer. Some kind of natural immunity." I freaking love it. SMG is hilarious.
• Blind Giles is not quite as funny as Drunk Giles, but I still enjoy him.
• "OH MY GOD wouldn't this be a perfect place for pictures?" Figures she chose old reliable Alpert mausoleum.
• Oh yeah, Spike doesn't know he can fight demons yet.
• Oops Spike and Buffy are not a great fit, IT TURNS OUT. He talked about her quitting slaying, as it kills his friends (what friends?) and then when she bristled at him "protecting" her, he said "Oh, not with the girl power bit!" bad Spike. You're completely ruining my theory of Everything Spike Does Blah Blah Blah. Fine, whatever. Go be a theory ruiner.
• Heh I like how matter of fact D'Hoffryn is after Willow turns him down. Another instance of what could have been a whatever character, made richer by a good actor. Andy Umberger (one of Joss's hat trick actors) is awesome in this part.
• haaaaaaaaaa Buffy's and Spike's face when the spell lifts. So amazing.
• hah Anya, annoyed "How long are you going to keep making these?" This is why Emma Caulfield is awesome. The line didn't have to be said with any annoyance, just a question; she flavored it that way and made it funnier and specific to character.
• I want a cookie now.
• Who am I kidding, I want a cookie always.
• Buffy plays it off with Riley pretty well. She's lucky he's already completely infatuated with her.

  

Favorite Lines:

Daniel: "Please stop whatever you're doing. You smell like fruit roll-ups." - Giles

Zelda: "How? What? How?" // "Three excellent questions." - Xander/Giles

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Recurring: Anya, Riley, Amy, D'Hoffryn.
• Buffy saw Angel in LA for only "five minutes." Because waaaaaaaaaaah
• Devon gets a shoutout.
• Buffy shouts out to her Beer Bad activities.
• Another moment of Willow turning to magic as a shortcut to solve her emotional distress.
• Amy the Rat turns human for one second! And then she's a rat again.

Stats:

Anya's Hair - really short and brown

Dead Humans - 0

Dead Undeads - 2

Dead Flashbacks - 0

Giles Unconscious - 0

Giles Cleans His Glasses - 1

Buffy Breaks a Door - 0

Evil Reveal - 0

Unevil Reveal - 0

Shenanigans Called - 0

Apocalypse Called - 0