I May Be Dead but I'm Still Pretty

Episode 1.12: Prophecy Girl. Original Airdate 6.2.97

 



"Giles discovers an ancient book foretelling Buffy's death at the hands of the Master."

Zelda's Thoughts:

• Xander practicing asking Buffy out and spazzing through it - sad. Willow eating it up - sadder.
• Buffy's slo-mo land, mid-fight, is a great intro/first appearance for the season finale. Well done, sir.
• Earthquake! Poor Giles's books.
• "What do you think, 5.1?" - it's these little moments that make me not hate/be completely bored by the Master. He's just sooooo epic and melodramatic all the time, and blah blah blah all right, I get it. You're evil. Do we have to chat about it all day? But the little quite takeback moments are so well-done.
• My brilliantly talented friend Trip has used Xander's attempt to ask Buffy out as an audition monologue for a play I directed. That right there cemented our friendship for ever and always.
• "Willow's not looking to date you. Or if she is, she's playing it close to the chest." FORESHADOWING.
• Buffy's rejection of Xander is very sad and painful because it's very true. I think they both behave pretty well - Xander takes an unpleasant jab at Angel, but you can see that it's just his hurt talking. And Buffy clearly does care, but she can't love him the way he wants her too.
• "I would say the end is pretty seriously nigh."
• "On a scale of 1 to 10? It sucked."
• I really respect Willow turning Xander down - she's not going to be his self-pity date. It shows more gumption than most hopeless crushy teenage girls typically have.
• Oh god oh god I can't handle this scene - where Buffy overhears Angel and Giles. I can't. It's so good. ASH is so amazing and SMG is so honest and vulnerable and heartbreaking. When she asks if it'll hurt, I start crying. Every damn time.
• "Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't wanna die."
• Shenanigans! Only on TV can someone buy someone else a surprise prom dress and have it fit perfectly. SMG is tiny! That sucker would have to be way hemmed.
• The cartoon the no-longer-alive teens are watching is: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf.
• This whole episode is just well-done - the way it tracks Willow walking into the room of five dead teenagers - and the way it breaks her, the violation of it - and how that spurs Buffy into doing the job she has to do - even if it kills her. I just love it.
• Buffy's prom dress is white - white for innocence, white for a wedding - her meeting with the Master, both of their deaths is a marriage of sorts - and white for mourning if we're going Eastern - mourning for her own death she knows is coming.
• Lovely Giles trying to protect Buffy from it - and Buffy not letting him. PUNCH.
• "I made up mine first. I'm older and wiser than you!"
• Children, pay attention. That girl in the white dress, the black jacket, wielding the crossbow? That is a hero. That is our hero. Let's take a moment.
• Why is Willow in the Library! She totally promised Buffy she'd stay home tonight! What a liar! The trust is broken!
• Why are the vampires walking slowly like zombies? No sense in any way. Creepy, loomy image, but ... there are more effective means of getting around. Sheh. Nan. Ih. Gans.
• Only Joss Whedon would kill his title character in the season one finale (sure, it doesn't stick, but ... come on). If only the creators of Lost had done likewise, as they intended.
• Dear Angel, You suck: "I pant pant have no breath pant pant." [Get out of my brain! - D]
• Yay Xander gets to save the girl! He don't get to keep her, but he gets to save her.
• Slowest. Moving. Vampires. Ever. Were they all recruited from The Vampire Nursing Home?
• Did Joss not think the show was coming back? He destroyed big chunks of set here (no, no he did not think the show was coming back).
• I get so stupid excited when the theme music plays under Buffy herowalking. It's just a perfect moment. And then: "Oh look, a bad guy."
• Each character is given a cool moment because it's the finale. Willow turns Xander down, Xander saves Buffy, Giles tries to shield Buffy from the whole death thing, Cordy fights a vampire, and Angel ... isn't consistently awful. Oh, and Buffy saves the world. It's a thing.
• Dudes, did you know Audrey Two comes from the Hellmouth? I thought she was an alien.
• I'd call shenanigans on how white Buffy's dress is after all the fighting is done, except I understand that it's a metaphor. Also, pretty.

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Great opening with Buffy fighting a vamp.  I like that this will become something fans rely on to open many episodes. It's comforting.  Like Mac & Cheese.  Only...staking vampires...
• I enjoy the comedic moments of the Mayor  Master.
• "5.1?"  - Such a Californian thing - to guess where an earthquake is on the Richter scale. 
• Shenanigans! Xander saying "Leave" to some kid. A) It's very bully-like for someone who is not at all popular and B) Like anyone wouldn't just laugh in his face.
• When Cordy was looking for someone to hook up her sound system, I shouted "Oz will do it!"
• Buffy's monologue about not wanting to die is SMG at her best. Make her cry more, please!
• OK, I'm going easy on Joyce this week.  Sort of.  She does seem to be trying, but she's still not listening to her daughter.
• The first genuinely terrifying moment in this show - when Willow sees all her dead friends in the AV Lab.
• Also - the bloody handprint juxtaposed with the cartoon pigs.  Very haunting image.
• OMG!  They killed Buffy! You bastards!  They brought her back!  Yay!
• I love Cordy driving to the rescue.....through the school to the library!
• "I flunked the written."
• "You have fruit punch mouth!"
• I love that there are different types of vampires.  The Master is so old that he doesn't dust completely.
• The annoying one is still alive [Patience, pet - Spike]
• I didn't write many notes for this episode because I was just so...rapt.

Crossfire!

Angel: "You're way out of your league."

Daniel: "He's so pretty."

Zelda: "He's so baaaaaad."

Daniel: "But...pretty."

D: The Bronze? Why is the prom at the frikkin Bronze?

Z: Everything's at the Bronze!

D: Why is everything at the Bronze?

Z: My prom wasn't at the high school either. No one's was.

D: Yeah, but the *BRONZE*?

Z: THEY DON'T HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF TOWN.

D: *laughs*

Favorite Lines:

Zelda: I have two. Can I have two? "We've fought some blood-sucking fiends, and that's all been a good time. But I want more. I wanna dance with you." - Xander. // "Read me the signs. Tell me my fortune. You're so useful sitting here with all your books. You're really a lot of help!" - Buffy.

Daniel: "When he wakes up, tell him ... I dunno. Think of something cool, tell him I said it." - Buffy because...sometimes you don't always have the words.

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Angel has a phone! And Giles has his phone number! Slash! And Xander knows where he lives! Threesome slash!
• Cordy has already moved on to Kevin from Mitch. And she seems to really like this dude she's been dating for a whole minute.
• Buffy dies for the first time.

Stats:

Voiceover - none

Angel's Character - A Breathless Bastard

Dead Humans - 6

Dead Undeads - 3, but we weren't tracking the final battle well

Giles Unconscious - 1 (by Buffy!)

Giles Cleans His Glasses - 0

Buffy Breaks a Door - 0

Evil Reveal - 0

Unevil Reveal - 0

Shenanigans Called - 3

Apocalypse Called - 1