PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A SPOILER-RICH ZONE

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A SPOILER-RICH ZONE. If your diet requires you to dine on television spoiler-free ... good luck with that.

REVIEW ARCHIVES

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Stinky Yak Cheese in My Bra

Episode 6.10: Wrecked. Original Airdate 11.27.01                   




[another bad summary from imdb, so Zelda rewrote it] While Buffy is regretting sleeping with Spike, Willow descends further into her magic addiction when she meets Rack, who is awful in every way.


Zelda's Thoughts:



  • And thus begins the season of Spike Isn't Allowed to Wear Clothes [You love it, pet ~Spike]
  • Wow, Spike, your pillow talk is awful. "I knew the only thing better than killing a Slayer would be f-"also a callback to when he and Dru got off on killing the Slayer during the Boxer Rebellion.
  • Hey, I just had a thought. Rats only live a few years. Willow may have transformed Amy back into a human just in time. [Well... ~Peter Pettigrew]
  • Man, poor Dawn. She's trying to play it so lightly, but she is being super neglected. Willow and Buffy are finally home, and they're both heading off to sleep the day away.
  • Yep, time for my Amy Shenanigan. How the fuck does she know about Rack? She literally JUST stopped being a rat. It's such a contrivance for the sake of moving along Willow's junkie arc. Okay, so they drop in some language that she knew about him back before she became a rat, but I have a lot of trouble believing the Amy we knew would be into this.
  • "It's cool, isn't it," Amy says as the camera pans over a waiting room full of skeletal-looking junkies.
  • Fuck off, Rack. I hate him and I hate the actor.
  • "It's okay, it's over fast." // "I'm just going to take a little tour." Ugh, can this episode be over already?
  • I always forgot when the creepy inflated Tara dress thing happened. It's both sad and kind of horrifying.
  • And in this week's Inconsistent Characterization of Dawn, she's completely blase about Buffy/Willow's abandonment, and assures Willow - seeming completely sincere - that she's completely fine on her own.
  • Oh look now it's time for Amy to fulfill the role of junkie friend.
  • Willow's Rack's new favorite? Amy knows this after taking her there once? Ugh whatever to the timeline.
  • God fucking dammit, Willow. Do NOT take Dawn to Rack's den.
  • How am I going to pick out a favorite line when I'm spending this whole episode just being mad at all the characters?
  • More Naked Spike.
  • AH is doing a good job with the arc, and even if it's clear the writers are doing a bit of a 180 on what Willow and her magic has been a metaphor for, the metaphor for drug addiction as executed here mostly works. I'm just frustrated.
  • "I'm in your system now. You're gonna crave me like I crave blood." More junkie language.
  • It is kind a cool horrifying thing, that Willow's trippy magic adventures with Rack actually summoned a demon.
  • YEAH DAWN YOU KICK THAT DEMON IN THE GUT.

Dawn slapped Willow. Good.

  • But Willow's finally recognized she has a problem. "God, I need help. Please, please help me."
  • And Buffy's face. She's still pretty dead inside. But she has to be strong for Willow.
  • "If you could be, you know, Plain Old Willow or Super Willow, who would you be? I guess you don't actually have an option on the whole super thing." // "Wil, there's nothing wrong with you. You don't need magic to be special." It's actually a really great distillation of how Willow got to this point, this conversation. And a continued set up for Willow's final arc this season. She thinks Tara never knew "boring" non-magic Willow, but she also thinks that Tara is what made her special. When Tara's taken away again, she doesn't want to be anything resembling Willow anymore. But we're not there yet.
  • Buffy bought $300 worth of garlic and hung it from her windows.



Daniel's Thoughts:



  • It’s the next day and Tara has stayed all night because Buffy and Willow are all irresponsible and stuff. 
  • I’m kinda jealous.  I could never “just close my eyes for a minute” and fall asleep for the whole night.
  • They’re all bloody.  Buffy, this is not healthy.  Which, yeah, I know is the point.  But I wish it would stop.
  • Season 4, they drifted apart…season 5, they all got back together…and now season 6, they’re all just self-destroying.
  • Spike: It’s daylight, I can’t leave.  Yeah you can.  You’re immune to the sun, remember? Just like put a blanket on your head and you can walk for miles.
  • Aww, Tara/Willow awkwardness.
  • Joyce still has African art on her wall. 
  • Haha, there’s a sign at the magic shop: Shoplifters will be transfigured.
  • "Martha Stewart isn’t a demon, she’s a witch."
  • How does Amy know about this guy? She’s been a rat for years.
  • And everyone in the waiting room looks like a junkie…we get it.
  • Rack is so gross.
  • See, they’re not actually doing any magic.  They’re hallucinating and…yeah ok, rolling on the ceiling but they’re not accomplishing anything.  They’re just high.  It’s not so much a metaphor.  They’re just high.  Cool visuals, though?
  • Putting Tara’s clothes on the bed and magicking them to have her shape to hold her is actually kinda sweet…
  • “I’ll leave a note for Buffy on the fridge.  It’s the first place she goes after patrolling..” Well sometimes she does crave a fat free yogurt…
  • Why is Buffy attacking Amy? Ugh, this over-metaphor metaphor is awful.
  • No one in the waiting room this time…and Willow can just walk into Rack’s room?
  • Again, nothing really to do with magic…she’s just really high.  Is she traveling through space? Is she hallucinating it?  It just feels like a hallucination.
  • Eww, put some clothes on, Spike.
  • Hairy demon kinda looks like a werewolf. 
  • Willow is steering by motioning like Anya did in the Restless dream:
(Thanks, Lucas, for making this gif!)

  • Drunk driving/magic driving…  we get it.  The ‘metaphor’ really didn’t use to bother me this much.
  • I like that we’ve had at least some real location shots...
  • And you know what?  Shut up, Buffy.  As much as I hate Willow at this moment, Buffy saw everything that was going on with Willow lately and did absolutely nothing to help her best friend so she really can’t be this mad at her.  Willow’s been self-destructing for a while.  Then again, so has Buffy and Willow doesn’t seem to notice or care.  They’re both being horrible friends.  The only person who is open and honest is Anya…
  • At least they’re being open and honest now?  They’re being there for each other?  As contrived as this episode is…at least it has that?
  • Hey, look…she’s having the DTs, like a drug addict….we get it.



Favorite Lines:
Zelda: eh.
Daniel: "Martha Stewart isn’t a demon, she’s a witch." ~Anya
 

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

First appearance: Rack (trivia note: same actor as Kralik from Helpless)
Recurring: Tara, Amy
Dawn's comment that Buffy goes right to the fridge after patrolling is a callback to Faith's remark about slaying making you hungry and horny.

Stats:
Anya's Hair - very blond, curly
Dead Humans - 0
Dead Undeads - 1
Dead Flashbacks - 0
Buffy Breaks a Door - 0
Willow Breaks a Car - 1
Evil Reveal - 0
Unevil Reveal - 0
Shenanigans Called - 1
Apocalypse Called - 0


4 comments:

  1. I'm still on season 5 of Buffy and Season 2 of Angel but I'm almost caught up with your reviews on my rewatch. I haven't seen this episode in more than 10 years so I'm interested to see if I feel the same way you 2 do about this episode. Lots of people hate season 6 but like I said it's been years but from what I remember the nerds were pretty funny and I didn't mind the season as most seem to do. Anyway, thanks for this and look forward to more reviews by you guys in the future. Zelda this is NSM from twitter.

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  2. I've been stuck on Buffy episode 16 from season 5, kind of like a roadblock. Need to buy me some beers in order to get past that episode, that's how sad that episode is. NSM.

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  3. Thanks for this- "And you know what? Shut up, Buffy. As much as I hate Willow at this moment, Buffy saw everything that was going on with Willow lately and did absolutely nothing to help her best friend so she really can’t be this mad at her. Willow’s been self-destructing for a while."

    I agree, and I agree that everyone is basically a horrible friend in this season. Can't wait to see what you have to say about "Older and Far Away" when Willow's purported 'best friend' Xander tries to talk her into using magic even though he KNOWS she's basically a recovering addict.

    Lots of great examples of friends this season.

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  4. i agree wholeheartedly that this episode is awful. they moved the storyline way too fast and their use of amy and rak to do it didnt work. it made sense but it didnt MAKE SENSE if you know what i mean. if didnt fit. nobody in this episode did what they would actually do. except anya and spike who are straightforward, and tara who suited herself. everyone else was like someone else.

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