Well This is Just...Neat

Episode 2.6: Halloween. Original Airdate 10.27.97

"On Halloween, Buffy and her friends patronize an unusual costume shop where customers turn into whatever costume they are wearing."

Zelda's Thoughts:

• OH THANK GOD A GOOD EPISODE.
• Ahahaha throwing a gord at the vampire, then a pumpkin = Zelda laughs. I do love me some slapstick.
• Again, why does Snyder want a juvenile delinquent watching children? What is his deal? This could backfire horribly on him.
• Hi Larry! Who woulda thought you would get used so much on the show after this episode?
• "A black eye heals, Buffy, but cowardice has an unlimited shelf life."

• Buffy and Willow planning to steal Giles's journals is so freaking adorable I could die. "Most importantly, it would be wrong."
• Also I LOVE Willow's face in the window ======>
• "Do you stuff your own shirts, or do you send them out?"
• I love this episode. So cute and funny. UNLIKE FRIKKING REPTILE BOY.
• Aww Buffy wanting to be a princess. Very sweet.
• "Still, I think I'd prefer being able to vote."
• "You're never gonna get noticed if you keep hiding!" = Willow's valuable lesson of the week. Of course, Oz noticed her anyway, so ... that kinda disproves that theory.
• More evidence that Spike is a modern vampire = having his minions videotape Buffy. Also more evidence that Spike is a stalker.
• "Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see?" Dru's and Buffy's insecurities are the same.
• ...Xander has a toy gun in a public school. Xander gets expelled?
• "Is mister I'm-the-lead-singer-I'm-so-great-I-don't-have-to-show-up-for-my-date-or-even-call gonna be there?" // "Yeah, you know, he's just going by Devon now."
• ZOMG THE CHILD'S A DEMON. Yay. I love this show:

Child or little person in make-up?  You decide.

• Xander's onscreen gunswap was pretty well done.
• Hah. Buffy faints.
• "She's not Buffy." // "Who's Buffy?" // "Oh, this is fun."
• Man, I love so many things about this episode. But SMG's attempt at an accent is not one of them.
• I love it. The dialogue is so sharp in this episode.
• "Mrs. Summers? Good, she's gone." Of course she's gone. Joyce is never home. [Worst. Mom. Ever. -Blog Gods]
• Methinks this is the start of Cordelia having a thing for Xander.
• "Well, this is just ... neat." I love you Spike.
• Yay it's the Buffy/Xander/Willow picture again!
• "I'm just meant to look pretty, and then someone nice will marry me. Probably a Baron." It's kind of cute because she's not exactly what a noblewoman of the time would be like, but she's exactly like what Buffy was imagining a girl like that would be like (a princess with no responsibilities) without fully examining the scope of it.
• So...the vamp who gets into the house is clearly not a real vamp because otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get in without an invite. I hope Angel didn't kill him.
• OMG Giles's reaction to Willow walking through the wall:

Thanks V for this gif.  Read Coincidence & Leprechauns.  Link is =====>

• "I'm a ghost!" // "The ghost of what, exactly?"
• Spike already has new minions ... tiny demon children. Boy works fast.
• "Hello Ripper." GASP GASP GASP
• "It's strange, but ... beating up that pirate gave me a weird sense of closure." d'aww.
• And Angel carries Princess Buffy, because she is utterly useless. And in this episode I gain a tiny bit of respect for Angel, because he's so clearly annoyed at what a useless doily she is.
• OMG Giles is a badass and beating the snot out of Ethan eeeeeeeeeee. I guess he is a good sparring partner ... just maybe not against a supernaturally strong slayerperson. Then he calmly cleans his hands with his handkerchief. Of course he STILL won't clean his freaking glasses, but I guess we can't have everything.
• Big props to the whole cast btw for this episode - good work and range all around (accent notwithstanding).
• Yay! Buffy's back.
• "You know what? It's good to be me." We all learned that lesson, yes?
• And Spike runs away again. He's really good at that. Now he'll live to snark another day.
• So this time everyone remembers what happened during magic fun time ... how will this get explained to the entire freaking town?
• Aw and yay, Willow's got her swagger.
• Not a shenanigan - Oz is driving a European van and they haven't moved the steering wheel over yet.
•  "Who IS that girl?" THEIRLOVEISSOTRUE
• Shenanigans! "I hated the girls back then, especially the noblewomen." Yeah, that's just because you were such a drunken lout, they wouldn't give you the time of day. He says he wanted someone "interesting." That's not you, Buffy. That was Darla.
• "Be seeing you." Yay! More Ethan to come!

Daniel's Thoughts:

• I think this might be the first time I've noticed that the majority of vamps Buffy fights in the opening sequences are men.  Actually I think they all might be men. Odd, that.
• I like that Cordy & Angel actually at least somewhat get along, preparing for his spin-off. [Ew. - Z]
• I love love love Willow & mischievous plan to get the watcher's diary.
• Shenanigans!  "Who is she?"//"It doesn't say":

Umm...does so.  It's Sarah...something

• I love that Cordy still doesn't know that Angel is a vampire.
• Cordy: "When it comes to dating, I'm the Slayer."
• "You're a cat"//"That's just my costume" Hee.
• I had the same note as Zelda - it seems like this is the first time Cordelia shows a bit of interest in Xander.  I think it's the gun.  Chicks dig guys with big...guns.
• Such great dialogue in this episode and the actors sell it.  Really good back & forth.
• It's Ethan Rayne!  Star of "Chaos Bleeds", an awesome Buffy video game.
• Shenanigans! When Giles tells Willow to leave, after a few seconds you hear a door open and close.  This is awful on so many levels.  Someone in some meeting made sure to say they had to add a sound effect and no one at all thought this was a mistake since Willow is a freaking ghost??
• I love the "Be Seeing You" note that Ethan leaves for Giles: An obvious reference to the cult series The Prisoner, a surreal British series that paved the way for shows like Buffy.

Well played, writers.  Well played.

Crossfire!

Daniel: We need a crossfire.

Zelda:  But we agree on everything.

Daniel:  But we need a crossfire.

Zelda:  No, we don't.

Favorite Lines:

Zelda;  "It's not a demon, it's a car." // "What does it want." // "Is this woman insane?" - Willow/Buffy/Xander
Daniel: "She couldn't have dressed up like Xena?" ~Willow

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Cordy's dating Devon again.
• Larry's first appearance! Not yet gay.
• Halloween is supposed to be quiet time for vampires. This is rarely actually true in Sunnydale.
• Cordelia still doesn't know Angel's a vampire. Even after they tell her he's one. Several times.
• Ethan Rayne's first appearance.
• Giles's nickname is Ripper. BECAUSE HE USED TO BE ALL DARK AND STUFF AND WAS FRIENDS WITH ETHAN RAYNE.
• Drusilla has prophetic visions.

Stats:

Voiceover - Giles

Dead Humans - 0

Dead Undeads - 1

Giles Unconscious - 0

Giles Cleans His Glasses - 0

Buffy Breaks a Door - 0

Evil Reveal - 1 (Ethan)

Unevil Reveal - 0

Shenanigans Called - 3

Apocalypse Called - 0

You guys, I just ... hate you guys.

Don't drink and slay, kids.

Episode 2.5: Reptile Boy. Original Airdate 10.13.97

"Buffy and Cordelia attend a frat party where they are offered as human sacrifices to a reptile-like creature." Yes, it's just as dumb as it sounds.

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Hey! It's Lucky Spender #3, Greg Vaughn, from General Hospital! It's actually nice seeing him play a jerk.  I'm so used to seeing him as a nice guy.
• I will never get what college guys want with HS girls...it's very pervy, if you ask me.

"My name is Douche, and this is my fratbrother,
Other Douche. We park outside high schools."

"I am a dick! It's a metaphor!"

• In the opening scene, Xander seems better at braiding Willow's hair than Buffy is...
• I love the cemetery in the WB parking lot.  The tombstones looks so incredibly fake.  Is this an Ed Wood production?
• Cordelia's fake laugh is awesome. 
• I've never hidden the fact that I'm way more into the sci-fi/fantasy/comedy side of Buffy and not so much into the romantic side but lines like "When you kiss me, I want to die!" make me want to hurl.
• Again with the weird random computer searches, Willow.  Let's see how many words end in "ent", so we can see where that broken bracelet came from.  Again, I know we're supposed to suspend disbelief but I can accept vampires and werewolves faster than I can accept that Willow did a computer search and found out that a bracelet with the word "ent" came from Kent Preparatory School.
• And we have our very first of what's to become many "penis monsters." ==>

• I like Willow's blow-up at Angel & Giles, especially since she realizes it was something she had to do but solved nothing.
• SHENANIGANS!  No one invited Angel into the frat house.  It should be protected, the same way other houses are protected because people do live there.  
• Cordelia is just on this episode.  Everything she does is hilarious.
• I also like how the third "victim" is just as feisty as Buffy is.
• Sometimes I can like Xander.  Nik's non-reaction to Angel standing right behind him right after he's mocking him is hilarious.
• YAY! Jonathan is back!

Zelda's Thoughts:

• Ugh. We have entered one of the bottom ten episodes in the series.
• These tombstones leave something to be desired in terms of specificity:

Mother

Dad

• Cordy's fake laugh sounds kind of like she's crying.
• Also, who was her non-speaking acolyte? Where's Harmony?
• Awww Buffy's dreaming of Angel!
• "Well, I'm not a demon...which is why you should let go now."
• "No, I don't think you know what it's like to be 16. And a GIRL. And a SLAYER."
• Yay. I love how not interested in fratboys Buffy is.
• Ew fratboys hitting on high schoolers. Ew ew ew these people are gross.
• Seriously, why is no one calling an "ew" on this? These guys are hitting on sixteen-year-olds!
• Aw Giles. I think maybe your fighting prowess is not enough up to the level of sparring with Buffykins.
• Angel is wearing maroon! A color!
• See, Angel recognizes the Ew of a man his age (or even apparent age) dating a high schooler. I guess this is to point out to us why Buffy's hackles aren't up higher about the fratboys hitting on her.
• This episode isn't funny enough to mitigate its badness. Blarg blah blooooo please end the episode now.
• "Askew means cockeyed." "Oh." See? it's not that funny.
• I also really hate humiliation plotlines, so the hazing of Xander is just unpleasant too.
• But I guess ... yay Buffy turning down alcohol and being a responsible teenager?
• Except for then she takes a drink after all. Stupid Buffy.
• Well. Buffy and Cordy sobered up quickly, especially considered they were roofied.
• "Angel, how do you shave?" Willow gets the one funny moment of the episode.
• The one not-loathable thing in this episode is Willow yelling at Angel and Giles.
• Oh god. The stupid awful phallus monster. Ugh ew blah.
• Why not call the episode "Snake Boy?" Reptile Boy is a stupid non-informative title.
• Haha Xander got to punch the douche...and realized that punching douches hurts your hand.
• "And YOU. You're going to jail for 15,000 years."
• "I told one lie, I had one drink." // "Yes, and you were very nearly devoured by a giant demon snake. The words 'let that be a lesson' are a tad redundant at this juncture." Yay, but. This episode still sucks.
• Awww yay more Jonathan!
• "Angel Angel Angel. Does every conversation we have have to come around to that freak? Hey man, how's it going?"

Favorite Lines:

Daniel:  "Oh Buffy, it's like we're sisters, but with really different hair!" - Cordelia

Zelda: "Some guy's attacking Buffy with a sword. And also there's a big snake." - Willow. Why couldn't we just summarize the whole episode like that and then not have to watch it?

90s Factoid:

Look! The TV has knobs! KNOBS!!!

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Cordy is attempting to date a fratboy ... Poor Devon?
• Of course she's apparently also attempting to date a Jonathan.

Stats:

Voiceover - Giles

Dead Humans - 0

Dead Undeads - 1

Giles Unconscious - 0

Giles Cleans His Glasses - 0 

Buffy Breaks a Door - 0

Evil Reveal - 1 (Tom)

Unevil Reveal - 0

Shenanigans Called - 1

Apocalypse Called - 0

I'm so stuffy. Give me a scone.

Episode 2.4: Inca Mummy Girl. Original Airdate 10.6.97

"A beautiful Inca princess who was buried alive in a tomb 500 years ago is brought back to life."

Zelda's Thoughts:

Okay. Man. I want to like this episode. Or rather, I want to not hate it. I want it to not be shrouded under Reptile Boy's shadow of pure suckage. So I try to keep reminding myself that it's not as bad as I keep thinking it is. And it's not, it's not as bad as I keep thinking it is. But. It's also not good. Here's my main beef: I get that the Mummy (I'm not calling her Ampata because Ampata is a dude) is meant as a bit of a foil for Buffy - she was chosen as a sacrifice to protect her people; Buffy was also chosen, not necessarily as a sacrifice (though that could be a side effect), but as a protector of her people. Neither one had a say in the assignment of this role, and both have had to play with the hand they're dealt. But. The Mummy makes bad, wrong, immoral, WRONG choices. Choices Buffy would never make. It's the same situation that comes up with Ford in "Lie to Me," but I don't think the Mummy is given the same level of condemnation, though she should be - "You have a choice. You don't have a good choice, but you have a choice. You're opting for mass murder here, and nothing you say is gonna make that okay." Nothing is gonna make the Mummy's behavior okay, and by the way NO KILLING JONATHAN IN HIS VERY FIRST EPISODE. Now to the bullets:

• "It's the Ubersuck." Is this our first time hearing them use "Uber?"
• There's a whole catalogue with pictures of the exchange students. So why doesn't Buffy have a picture of male Ampata?
• "What he lacks in smarts he makes up for in lack of smarts."
• Sure is convenient that Buffy and crew provide Inca Mummy Girl with all the needed exposition while standing over her - his name's Ampata and he's arriving at the Sunnydale Bus Depot.
• They are upping their body count a lot this season, especially considering how bloodless the end of the season one was (save the finale).
• Buffy wins her argument with Giles by punching his punching bag over and over and over. Awesome.
• It's good Xander is trying to not encourage Willow's feelings. But ... sad Willow.
• You know, if we were tracking Giles taking off his glasses, rather that the actual cleaning of them, our stats would be huge.
• Awww the Scoobies realizing that their joke about the Mummy killing Rodney ... might not be a joke.
• Xander's condescending signing/speaking slowly = obnoxious. Can we stop it now?
• So...was male Ampata gonna sleep in Buffy's room? How in the hell would Joyce be okay with that? WORST MOM EVER.
• Shenanigans! How would Buffy turning off her bedroom light take the light off the bodyguard's face? Is he in the tree? Maybe this is the same way Warren's magic bullet spoilered spoiler.
• "She doesn't have to talk." Ew.
• "It is very old, valuable ... YOU SHOULD HIDE IT." Nice try, Mummy.
• TWINKIES. Yay. I want Twinkies now. "That's why you bring two."
• "I like you like it ... please don't learn from my English."
• SHENANIGANS! Willow playing with the frog. Where's that frog fear, Rosenberg???

Credit to V at Coincidence and Leprechauns for pointing this out.

• She's so freaking disingenuous. See, this is why the Mummy is a full-on villain and not someone I can feel sympathy for, even with the parallels drawn between her and Buffy. She wantonly kills dudes, foolishly flirts with Xander when she has to know where that will lead, and spits all these lies at Giles about the seal, and tries to convince them it's the bodyguard who is the threat. The actress is playing her very sympathetically/ingenuey, but ... she's a bad bad person.
• "Hey, look at us. We came up with a plan. A good plan. ... No, bad plan! I have other plans! Dance plans! ...Cancelled plans."
• Buffy's wearing her depression overalls again. Maybe I'm confusing regular overalls with her depression overalls.
• Aw, I like the picture of Buffy and Willow and Xander. Especially because of how they'll keep using it for the rest of the series.
• Nice quiet touch of Buffy finding boy's clothes in Ampata's luggage.
• Angel is AWOL again.
• "Get. Punchy. You. Fruit drinky."
• Poor sad eskimo Willow.
• Man, Xander really does have shit luck when it comes to romance. A Slayer who ain't ever gonna love him, a praying mantis, a Mummy, and next - CORDELIA.
• TINY LITTLE JONATHAN IN HIS AUSTRALIAN OUTFIT.
• "Next time you should probably say shrug." ...that was said in a really mean tone, Xander. Ugh. Stop making my job of defending you against Daniel so hard! [...-D]
• Nooooooooooooooo don't kill Jonathan!
• And see? This? Where she actually does kiss Xander and start to suck him dry? Un-fucking-forgiveable, especially if she loves him as she claims to do. She is a bad person!
• Awwww Oz tried to talk to Willow but she ran away! THEIRLOVEISSOTRUE
• Oh good, now she's going to try to kill Giles. She's the worst person ever. She's worse than Britta.
• And now she's trying to kill Willow. I can't even.
• Also you shouldn't try to bury Buffy alive. She really hates that.
• I am literally yelling at the tv for Giles to clean his glasses. They're covered in Mummy dust! I'm sure they need a good cleaning!
• I'm not buying Buffy's defense of the Mummy's actions. Not a bit. Because she's an awful person. And she did things Buffy would never ever do.

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Bully Rodney likes nerdy Willow!
• Poor Willow.  So sad cause Xander likes yet another girl that's not her.  She really just...needs to discover girls already.
• Welcome to Sunnydale, Ampata. Now die!  
• It's really not nice for the school of Sunnydale to invite guests to a city that has such a high mortality rate. 
• And it's a lucky coincidence that Ampata and mummy girl were generally from the same region.  Because I don't think she could have been called "Sven".
• I love whenever they show Giles with his little itty bitty tea cup.  Giles wears Tweed.  He drinks tea.  We get it, he's English.
• Is Ampata wearing Joyce's jeans? 
• Willow looks so cute in her little Eskimo outfit.  This is why we love Willow.
• One of the Cordettes looks like Kirsten Dunst.
• This Rabbi is rockin' out:

• SHENANIGANS! It's really nice that this museum has no security guards.  People can scrape ancient masks, steal plates, have knock down, drag out fights, break in and try to replace and glue together broken mystical plates, etc...etc...etc...
• And why is Xander stopping Willow from having her first lesbian kiss??  Oh...cause it'll kill her.  Carry on, then.

Crossfire!

Xander: Oh, yeah. Fall for the old 'let me translate that ancient seal for ya' come on. Tsh. D'ya know how many times I've used that?

Zelda: Ha!

Daniel: PSh. Shut up Xander.

Zelda: It's funny!

Daniel: It's not funny!

Zelda: You're not funny.

Daniel: Your face is not funny.

Favorite Lines:

Zelda: "That girl. Who is she? No not her ... the Eskimo." - Oz. AWWWW I CAN'T STAND THE CUTE YOU CAN SEE HIM FALL IN LOVE. 

This is the look of love, ladies and gents

Daniel: "Well, it involves a feather boa and the theme from A Summer Place." - Oz

90s Factoid:

Work those mummyjeans  momjeans , Ampata.

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• First appearance of Devon, who is currently dating Cordy.
• First appearance and performance by Oz's band Dingoes Ate My Baby.
• Oz's first appearance. Yay Oz! Oz's hair is orange today. Today.
• Jonathan's first appearance! Yay Jonathan!

Stats:

Voiceover - Giles

Dead Humans - 3

Dead Undeads - 1

Giles Unconscious - 1

Giles Cleans His Glasses - 0

Buffy Breaks a Door -0

Evil Reveal - 0

Unevil Reveal - 1

Shenanigans Called - 3

Apocalypse Called - 0