Last Night, You Know, Did Anybody, um...Burst Into Song?

Cover design by Savark Dicupe
who also played Giles

"Last night, you know, did anybody, um...burst into song?" ~Buffy Summers, Once More with Feeling


Sunday night, Zelda and I had the pleasure of attending GayGeeks of NY’s 2^nd annual Buffy musical sing-along and trivia contest. Having bought VIP tickets, our group of four was allowed to arrive an hour early in order to get seats – and it’s a good thing we did!  The venue, Vlada, was packed with over two hundred people eager to sing along with Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies.

There were few seats, but our own gang of Scoobies was able to score a couch near the stage.  As VIP ticket holders, we also got sing-along sheets with all the lyrics (not that we needed them!).  Vlada’s bar even stocked special Buffy-themed cocktails: Sweet’s Cocktail was a deliciously sweet drink made from Strawberry Vodka and Sprite, while the “Mustard-tini” was a yellow concoction made from Lemon Vodka, Pineapple juice and something else that I’m sure made it very good…but that I refrained from.  The hosts of the evening promised that it neither included mustard nor tasted like mustard [But … it still had mustard in the title, which ew. – Z].

Buffy has a theory it doesn't matter.

And then the night started! Along with Gay Geeks of NY’s founder, Nick DelGiudice, our M.C. for the evening was Miz Jade, who had the dual duties of being both host and Once More with Feeling’s Big Bad, Sweet….nicknamed Sweet Ass Sweet.  After a few introductions, the overture began to play and blonde-bewigged actress Mara Dratfield stepped out through the fog (yes, there was a fog machine), carrying a stake and lip-synching the opening number, “Going Through the Motions.”  From then on, we got number after number of actors having the time of their lives.  The songs were all lip-synched – except, of course, for Sweet’s “What You Feel,” which was belted out by Miz Jade, with Billy Hannon accompanying her on piano (and providing Dawn’s part in a jazzy tenor).

Spike and Buffy get dirty

And of course, alternating with the performance were rounds of trivia!  Twenty-one teams full of Buffy nerds with team names such as “Clem’s Kittens,” “Mmm Cookies,” and “Slayerfest ‘13” competed in four different trivia rounds throughout the evening.  Two of the rounds were the traditional simple question and answer round.  But simple is probably not the right word, considering you really had to be a Buffy expert to know the answers to these questions. (Quick! What high school did Buffy attend before Sunnydale? What song did Giles sing at the Espresso Pump? Who among the Scoobies likes Onion Blossoms? And – for the truly insane – who played Willow in the unaired pilot?)

One of the other rounds was “Don’t Forget the Lyrics,” where one member from each team had to go up on stage, choose a random number which corresponded to an excerpt from the Buffy musical and finish the lyrics.  Zelda, being the only brave one of us, represented Team “Ampata’s Mom Jeans,” a name proudly chosen by our teammate Matt.  This round’s points were based on difficulty and length of the lyrics.  Zelda, as chance would have it, chose one of the most difficult ones – a section from “Life’s a Show” – and won 8 points for our team!  [You guys, holy crap, I was shaking. There’s a reason I never tried to pursue a career in musical theatre. – Z] Considering most of the teams couldn’t even get their three pointers, I was a very proud co-blogger indeed. [I then promptly fainted. You know … metaphorically. – Z]

The final trivia round was called the “Hush” round, where one team member chose four episode titles at random to act out – charades style – for the rest of the team.  Matt acted out “Fool For Love,” “Touched,” “Band Candy,” and “The Pack” beautifully but unfortunately time ran out before we could guess the fourth.

And we’re happy to say that we placed second out of the original twenty-one teams.  Not bad, though we missed it by one point!

All in all, we had a fabulous night with Gay Geeks of NY’s interpretation of the songs of Buffy, along with some added bonuses:  we got to shout “Shut the fuck up, Dawn!” to Billy Hannon, who played Dawn as a kleptomaniac, stealing everything she could get her hands on; the mostly-silent Willow shouting “Oh Shit” when Buffy revealed she was pulled out of heaven; and other fun asides, such as when Sweet Ass Sweet asked Dawn how long she’d been living in Sunnydale – “Oh, about a season and a half.”

All proceeds for the evening went to The Trevor Project, a great organization that you can learn all about here. Thanks for a great night, Gay Geeks of NY!

All photos by Mike Cho of Gay Geeks of NY

One Perfect High School Moment

Episode 3.20: The Prom. Original Airdate 5.11.99

"After Angel breaks off their relationship, Buffy single-handedly battles three fearsome hell hounds so that her classmates can enjoy their senior prom."

Zelda's Thoughts:

• Mostly I'm waiting for Jonathan's speech at the end. But I guess I'll watch the rest of the episode.
• HAHA BUFFY HAS BEDHAIR. This is a rarity on television, y'all. Of course, the half of her hair that was actually against the pillow isn't smuffed at all, so um ... fuck that.
• Awww Buffy is getting all nesty in Angel's pad. Poor thing doesn't know what's coming.
• "I guess it's later than we thought." THERE'S A DOUBLE MEANING IN THAT.
• "Men are evil. Will you go with me?" // "One of us is very confused, and I honestly don't know which." Yeah, I ship this. They have great banter chemistry.
• Then again, he also has good chemistry with his sock puppet of love:

Who's this Anya? Is she prettier than me?
(Thanks Darthy for this gif!)

• WHERE IS ANGEL COMING FROM. SHENANIGANS ON ALL THAT SUN.

I uh...leaped from shadow to shadow.

• I'd say dammit Joyce stop pooping on Buffy's love life, but it was clear from the teaser scene that Angel's already harboring Mayor-planted doubts of his own about his future with Buffy.
• "The caffeine, it makes me jittery." um really? 

Liar!

• DB's work here is almost great, it's okay, but this is such a well-written scene and I love it. It's right and it's still heartbreaking.
• "And I myself will be wearing pink taffeta as chenille would not go with my complexion. Can we please talk about the Ascension?" I love you Giles.
• Buffy states her thesis here: we deserve a little fun before the Mayor tries to kill us all. And she will fight like a hellhound to achieve that for her friends and classmates.
• D'awww dream wedding. What first looks like fan-wanking turns into HAHAHAHA FANS FUCK YOUR DREAMS.
• But listen to the sweet music of their lurv.
• Wow though I don't like Buffy's dress. Hate the skirt, hate the sleeves. Great neckline.
• Alert! Bad hand acting from DB.
• Oh Angel. A sewer is a terrible place to break up with your Buffy.
• SMG is acting the hell out of this scene. DB is ... considering acting at some point in his future? I dunno. He's just reading his lines with no emotion.
• "I want my life to be with you." // "I don't." And there's no way to argue with that and it's awful.
• "How am I supposed to stay away from you?" 
• I find myself in a weird position. I feel for Buffy, and SMG is really amazing in these scenes, but I don't actually ... I'm not anywhere close to crying. Not like in Becoming Part 2, not like in New Moon, and nowhere remotely close to The Body or Forever or The Gift.
• "I think horrible is still coming. Right now it's worse. Right now I'm just trying to keep from dying." It is really sad and SMG is amazing and stuff.
• "But don't you already have all the dresses?" Love it.
• Love that Cordelia's shallowness about wardrobe is actually the key to the motivation of the hellhounds.
• Hi Tucker! You may recognized Tucker's voice from such classics as Jonathan's singing in Superstar, or Aladdin's singing in Aladdin.
• Buffy's new mission! Prom for everyone! (Except Buffy)
• "I'm going to give you all a nice, fun, normal evening if I have to kill every single person on the face of the earth to do it." // "Yay?" Great act break.
• "I'm over the whole Buffy Gets One Perfect High School Moment Thing" waaaaaaaaaaah
• People shouldn't look so terrifying when they say "Have. A nice. Time."
• I just want to point out what a good man Giles is. After all he feels about Angel and all the shit Angel/Angelus did to him, when Buffy tells him Angel's leaving her, he looks genuinely sad and says "Buffy, I'm sorry."
• This is actually a far more realistic portrayal of prom that most film and tv does it.
• I like that this was a way for Cordy and Xander to be on good terms again. Their romance is long over, but they can be friends now.
• "I have my reasons." Flashback: "You wanna go to the prom with me?"// "No." BEST. UNDERMINING. FLASHBACK. EVER.
• "That's right, follow Buffy, good dogs."
• Yay Buffy brought her dress. And it's such a pretty dress, except for the weird train. Though I can't understand what's keeping it up. Tape?
• But see, Jonathan's speech? I'll cry every time. 
• Also glad to see he wasn't suspended from school for that whole weapon thing.
• "Is Buffy Summers here tonight?" BRB ALREADY WEEPING
• "lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history." ... it's insane that they track that. slash wonderful
• Buffy Summers: Class Protector. And Jonathan's sweet smile at her. And I'm just weeping.
• "And you have the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone." I have to start using that in real life
• wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiild horses couldn't drag me awaaaaaaaaaaaaay
• Buffy's work got recognized by her classmates - she will be remembered - calling back to Homecoming - "I could pick up a yearbook someday and say, 'I was there. I went to high school, I had friends, and ... for one moment, I got to live in the world.' And there'd be proof. Proof that I was chosen for something other than this." - and even though they're not getting back together, Angel came to Buffy's prom to dance with her. This is just ... thank you, show. Thank you for the feels. And thanks for earning them first.

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Buffy’s getting all couple-y  and Angel’s not.  Do they ever talk?  They know what happened last time they got too involved.  There’s no way they can have a sexual relationship. There’s no future in their relationship.  They both know it and they’re both not talking about it.  Besides the no-sex thing, 
• Anya!  I almost forgot!  And I got really fan-girly:

Yes, this was me at that moment

• Anya and Xander haven’t really interacted until this moment.  I wonder if they tested their chemistry first.
• "Men are evil, will you go with me?" (to the prom).  I love it.  She’s so amazing.
• And Willow’s contempt of Anya starts early... [Well, she did lie right to her face about a spell. - Z]
• Buffy and Angel 4eva. YES.  SHE’S A TEENAGER.  AND YOU’RE 500.
• Aww, we don’t really get to see Joyce in other places. 
• And she brings up so eloquently what I was trying to say earlier.  Yay, she’s being a good mom.  Love this scene.
• Prom Dress or Demon?  Fun game.
• Hey! People in the library!  Nope….just Cordelia & Wesley. I got excited for a second.
• The monster of the week subplot is incredibly sub par and kind of lame.  And the demon dog make-up looks fake.  Doesn't matter though because the writing in the rest of the episode is so good.  And the monster part, I think, is just meant to be a background story while the real story is about Angel & Buffy, and about leaving high school.
• Buffy looks really beautiful in her wedding dress.  (It seems there would be crossfire here, as Zelda criticized the dress up there. except SMG looks pretty in everything.)
• It’s interesting in his dream that it’s Buffy that goes up in flames when they hit the sunlight.  I think that speaks to Angel's character that he's more worried about her than himself.
• Buffy and Angel fight.  Vamp comes.  Buffy, “Not now.” *stake*  Love it. No long sequence; just a stake.   Because, the relationship is more important than the Hellmouth right now.
• I like that they bring back what the mayor said about their relationship.  Good continuity. It’s important that this didn't just come out of the blue.
• This break-up is so sad because they WUV EACH OTHER SO MUCH BUT THEY CAN’T BE TOGETHER AND IT’S ALL SO SAD.
• And then she goes to her best friend because that’s what you do.
• And Willow does her best friend duties by making Angel the bad guy.  HAHA.  And she just said, “And that’s a best friend’s job.” Are these my thoughts or my memories?
• How…did they get the security footage?
• Buffy: “I’m going to give you a nice normal fun evening if I have to kill everyone on the face of the Earth to do it.” HA!
• McPlasmas would make a lot of money in Sunnydale.  But they’d need to be open just at night.  And the workers would have to wear crosses for protection.  I've thought way too much about this.
• This episode is seriously missing a getting-ready-for-the-prom music montage.
• ANYA IS TERRIBLE AT SMALL-TALK.  She’s talking about her past and the fate she's befallen on men AND IT’S amazing and awesome. 
• I LOVE HER FACE BECAUSE SHE KNOWS SHE’S BAD AT SMALL TALK AND IT’S THE SAME FACE I MAKE WHEN I GO OUT. (Before I get drunk.)
• I’m glad they didn't bring Tucker back as they had planned.  He’s not as interesting as Andrew. (Though I hate Andrew.)  Love you Tom Lenk!
• Did Xander really think he was going to win class clown?  No one. Likes him. [No one likes Buffy either but she got a toy surprise. - Z] [People like Buffy or at least respect her. Mini-Crossfire! -D]
• Jonathan had to lower the mike because he’s a little person!
• Omg.  This Jonathan speech about Buffy.  I love it so much.  I think it just boils up the first three seasons so perfectly.
• Heh.  There’s a kid dancing with his girlfriend and he’s so much shorter than her so his head is resting on her boobs. 

Heh.

• And wiiiiiiild horsessssssss couldn’t drag me awaaay.  I love this freaking song.  And it’s so perfect for when Angel walks into the prom.
• And such a nice way to end the episode.  They’re not reunited – because that would be a big backwards step.  They dance with no other expectations.  They just want to hold each other. 

Crossfire!

Angel: "I'll go."

Buffy: "Where?"

Daniel: "LA."

Zelda: "Wednesday nights."

Favorite Lines:

Daniel & Zelda: "We have one more award to give out. Is Buffy Summers here tonight? Did she, um ... This is actually a new category. First time ever. I guess there were a lot of write-in ballots, and, um, the prom committee asked me to read this. 'We're not good friends. Most of us never found the time to get to know you, but that doesn't mean we haven't noticed you. We don't talk about it much, but it's no secret that Sunnydale High isn't really like other high schools. A lot of weird stuff happens here ... But whenever there was a problem or something creepy happened, you seemed to show up and stop it. Most of the people here have been saved by you, or helped by you at one time or another. We're proud to say that the Class of '99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history. And we know at least part of that is because of you. So the senior class offers its thanks, and gives you this. It's from all of us, and it has written here, 'Buffy Summers, Class Protector.'"

90s Factoid:

Yes, they're all 90s songs but we feel the song playing at the beginning of the prom, Praise You by Fatboy Slim really gives that 90s feel. And it's got this amazing video:

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Recurrings: Anya, Joyce, General Redhead, Wesley, Jonathan
• Cordelia's brokeness and her job at the dress shop is finally revealed.
• Tucker Wells is here, with an as-yet-undisclosed younger brother.
• Zombies and Hyena People get recalled at the Prom.

Stats:

Oz's Hair - blonde

Anya's Hair - honeyblonde with swept bangs

Dead Humans - 1

Dead Undeads - 4

Giles Unconscious - 0

Giles Cleans His Glasses - 0

Buffy Breaks a Door - 0

Evil Reveal - 0

Unevil Reveal - 0 

Shenanigans Called - 1

Apocalypse Called - 0

Why Couldn't You Be Dealing Drugs Like Normal People?

Episode 3.19: Choices. Original Airdate 5.4.99

"The Mayor takes Willow prisoner after Buffy and her friends steal away a box containing demonic energy needed for Ascension Day."

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Mayor, I want a cookie! I bet he bakes well.
• So I love this father/daughter relationship that the Mayor & Faith have.  Because it’s not just about being close.  He disciplines her like a dad too.  A kind of deranged dad…but still.
• And that is the coolest knife I've ever seen.

Eat your heart out, Crocodile Dundee

• They really like leather on this show.  Also, hey!  A female vamp.  They’re kinda rare in opening vamp-fighting scenes. But of course, it’s Angel fighting her.
• Give it up, Joyce. Buffy isn't going to Northwestern.
• Yay! Snyder!

• “Go ahead mock me.”// ”I think she just did.”
• Cordy’s not going to college.  She’s going to LA.  And will eventually become evil, stupidly. And eventually die, also stupidly.
• "This conversation is reserved for people who actually have a future." Way Harsh, Tai.
• Yes, Buffy – ‘Cause vamps and demons just attack during school breaks.
• Now Faith stole Buffy’s red leather pants.
• I actually like Willow’s shirt-dress – it’s also a bit witchy.
• I love Willow’s drawing!
• The fight choreography in the Mayor's conference room is awesome.  Good job, fight choreographer. 
• Nice job, Willow!  Those pencil-floating skills are really coming along!
• I like Willow's speech to Faith. It doesn't help much but...it's still good. And Alyson nails it.
• You can tell what the Mayor is saying is getting through to Angel & Buffy. 
• And it’s kind of amazing how much he knows about Angel.
• Those spider thingies are so creepy!

Hey! It’s general redhead from Chuck!

General Redhead started as a boutique manager

Zelda's Thoughts:

• She's smelling the knife. Why is she smelling the knife?
• Buffy's feeling like she and Angel are in a rut ... in their slaying times. Buffy, you're like 18. This is a talk for when you're 28. Oh god. I'm 28. I'm old. And all I do is watch Buffy and look for funny gifs to post. WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE. [I...have you beat. *sigh* :( - Daniel]
• Buffy got into Northwestern. Northwestern rejected me. WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE.
• Random Snyder driveby.
• Buffy's feeling her lack of choices about her future. Sure she got into Northwestern, but is she also glued to the Hellmouth?
• WTF IS THAT HAND GESTURE WESLEY.

By the power invested in me by the Council, I forbid it.
Also I can turn into a mushroom if I do this three times.

• Shenanigans! Faith's new knife is not for sawing of bone. It's for stabbing. Look at the internal cutting of it. It's made to do visceral damage - while stabbing. Sawing would dull its edges too much.
• Harry Groener, you are the best. I wish we had scenes of you and Armin Shimerman being the best together.
• Shenanigans! Cordy hands her acceptance letters to Xander, but they're all small envelopes. That's how I could tell my rejections - small envelopes. The acceptance letters came with big thick packets. Also why is she just carrying them around? Is that a thing people do?
• It's Mission: Impossible time!
• Oops alarm.
• The fight scenes are in general much better this season.
• Oh shit. Mayor Wilkins is angry.
• Also oh shit Willow's a hostage.
• "I need a volunteer to hit Wesley." Everyone everywhere raises hands.
• "Buffy's like a dog." Just the light casual way he says it. Harry Groener, still the best.
• I love that Willow uses her hostage time to spy more on the Mayor and the Books of Ascension. I love it. She's not willing to be a girl waiting to be rescued, she's gonna be useful, dammit!
• I also love her interaction with Faith: "It's way too late. You know, it didn't have to be this way, but you made your choice. I know you had a tough life. I know that some people think you had a lot of bad breaks. Well, boo hoo! Poor you. You know, you had a lot more in your life than some people. I mean, you had friends in your life like Buffy. Now you have no one. You were a Slayer and now you're nothing."
• Angel: "Yeah, well, what can I say, I like 'em sane." LIES LIES LIES
• Aww, the Mayor pointing out - correctly - that there are issues of longevity for Angel's and Buffy's relationship. We'll see this bear fruit next week.
• I love that this is how he spends his evil monologue time - tearing into their insecurities, rather than any blustering about his intentions of Evil Domination and Power.
• HAHAHAHA and Snyder busts up the trade, thinking it's drugs.
• Yay! Thank you, show, for giving me HG and AS in a scene together. That was awesome of you.
• Aw, the Gavrok spider thing killed a deeply stupid policeman. For the record.
• Yeeeeeah, Snyder's gonna have a hard time blocking this from his memory.
• And there's Faith's requisite one moment of possible redemption per episode - throwing her fancy knife to save Wesley from the Gavrok spider. And then leaving the knife behind.
• YAY WILLOW RIPPED OUT PAGES FOR GILES FROM THE BOOK. Love it.
• Awwwwwwwww Willow's gonna go to UC Sunnydale too. Best friends! (fyi, UC stands for University of Convenience.)
• I'm glad Willow clarifies that she's not staying for Buffy - because that would be a bad choice - but for herself - she wants to continue the good fight with Buffy. "I want in."
• And tah-wist, Cordy is working at the dress shop.
• "I'm hoping mom will let me live there. It's too far to come home every night." I thought you didn't have a whole lot of town, Sunnydale!

Favorite Lines:

Daniel: “Of the two people here, who is the boss of me?” - Willow

Zelda: As the Scoobies debate whether to go after Willow or perform the ritual to destroy the Box of Gavrok, Oz wordlessly destroys the spell stuff so that they have to trade the box for Willow. BECAUSE HE LOVES HER AND THIS IS NOT A CONFLICT OF INTEREST FOR HIM.

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Recurring: Mayor, Faith, Joyce, Snyder
• The Mayor gives Faith her fancy knife which will be used in many dream sequences. She leaves it behind with the Scoobies after the showdown.
• First mention of the conveniently-located UC Sunnydale. Also first mention of Sunnydale having an airport.
• Xander announces his plan of a post-graduation road trip.
• Mr. Pointy gets name-dropped.
• Willow's pencil levitation skills from Enemies comes into play as she stakes a vampire with a floating pencil.
• First time Buffy and the Mayor have officially met.

Retraction: (as published in our review of Graduation Day: Part 1) We would like to retract our previous stats/scoffs of Choices where we mocked Sunnydale's sudden acquisition of both an airport and a university. Sunnydale's airport first reared its implausible head in What's My Line: Part 1 (when Kendra arrived), and Sunnydale's Crestwood College's Frat House o Penises (Delta Zeta Kappa) made an appearance in Reptile Boy. But for the record, Crestwood is not UC Sunnydale, so ... snap.

Stats:

Oz's Hair - blonde

Dead Humans - 2

Dead Undeads - 3

Giles Unconscious - 0

Giles Cleans His Glasses - 0

Buffy Breaks a Door - 0

Evil Reveal - 0

Unevil Reveal - 0 

Shenanigans Called - 2

Apocalypse Called - 0

What Am I, Saint Buffy?

Episode 3.18: Earshot. Original Airdate 9.28.99  

"Buffy fears she will descend into madness after she acquires the ability to read minds."

Zelda's Thoughts:

• I'm so excited, you guys. I'm already calling dibs on Buffy's speech to Jonathan as my favorite line of the episode.
• Wow, parking lot set. You are looking particularly parking lot-y tonight. 
• Oh hey, Wesley has learned how to snark! We're rubbing off on him!
• And they all get up and leave as soon as Wesley starts speaking. It's a thing of beauty.
• Buffy: Everybody who isn't currently Buffy.// D&Z: Awwww
• SMG is so funny. "Infect? Infect! Giles. INFECT???"
• "I usually enjoy lameness, and this is leaving me kind of cold."
• What's great about this episode is how very much it embodies what's good about the show. There's drama, there's heartache, but there's this amazing lighthearted play here, too. The banter of Oz and Xander, the bright sunlight. Amidst the sadness and angst, it's an optimistic show - a moment reinforced even more so with Buffy's climactic scene with Jonathan in the tower.
• Angel: "No matter what, I'll always be with you." ... until I get my own spinoff show at the end of this season.
• WHEE BUFFY CAN HEAR YOUR BRAINS
• I'm glad Angel invested in some curtains to cover THE GIANT WINDOWS AND DOORS in his stupid mansion
• I really like the way they explain away why Buffy can't read Angel's mind - comparing it to the mirror, that they don't reflect out. It's a cool twist. And a bit of a "be careful what you wish for" - Buffy wanted to know what Angel was thinking, and instead she gets to know what everyone BESIDES Angel is thinking.
• "In 243 years I've loved exactly one person." Cue schmoop.

And for once, he is. Thanks Lucas for the gif!

• Interesting character exploration: Cordelia speaks exactly what she thinks. Willow speaks support but inwardly frets. Oz gets metaphysical but just says "Hmm." Xander thinks about sex and is terrible at multiplication.
• "We think, therefore she is." Oz, you are my favorite. Well, one of my favorites. I HAVE A LOT OF FAVORITES OKAY
• "It's gotta get better. Please tell me it gets better." // "She doesn't even know I'm here." There's so much misery in high school. Accurate.
• "Who hasn't just idly thought about taking out the whole place with a semi-automatic?" and that is why they delayed airing the episode until September.
• "You had sex with Giles???" AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
• "We all have fantasies that we're powerful, more respected. Where people pay attention to us." That's Season Four Jonathan, Willow.
• "Moderate strain." Hogan, darling, you are not ... erm ... intelligent.
• Poor Buffykins. She can't fight the potential killer, she can't do anything, she's incapacitated by her metaphor-over-empathy.
• Yay Larry is out now!
• "Freddy Iverson." // "He's gay?" // "No." 

Uhhhhh yes he is.

• So is that ... um ... a shitload of sunlight falling on Angel as he feeds Buffy the antidote? Sheh-nan-i-gans.
• :( Poor sweaty Jonathan. Coming up to kill yourself. With an automatic rifle. Um. That's not an effective suicide weapon.
• I mean, it's another misdirect, but like ... it doesn't make actual sense for him to do that. All they needed was one throwaway line at the end to say that, and I'd be okay with it.
• Buffy's run up the staircase railing is so cool.
• "Stop saying my name like we're friends. We're not friends."
• "I don't think about you much at all. Nobody here really does."
• "My life happens to on occasion suck beyond the telling of it." I just ... it's such fucking good writing.
• Xander's rat poison just makes me think "Soylent Green is people!" and of course Buffy's freakout in Doublemeat Palace.
• The stunt lunch lady *cough* dude is just ... so incredibly clumsy in terms of editing. They couldn't pad the costume? Daniel's very excited because he'd never noticed before.

Seriously, they couldn't pad the guy?

• "What am I, Saint Buffy? He's like three feet tall." Hey!

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Falling fakeout!  “You demons can’t resist on a run and stumble, can you?”
• I like the fishy looking mouthless demons.
• Cool effect with the demon ooziness disappearing into Buffy’s hand.
• Buffy’s purse matches her outfit!  Good for you, girl.
• Wesley got one on Giles and Giles got one on Wesley. I love their rivalry.
• Sunnydale HS newsletter has an obits section…that’s disturbing
• “For a minute there, I thought you were going to make an expression”//”Not gonna lie. I felt one coming on.”  I like that Jane is writing an Oz/Xander friendship.  They don’t interact much.
• So many movies/TV shows have done mind-reading as a power and I never thought it was handled as well as it was in this episode.  Because people's minds never really turn off.  I know mine doesn't. And there are all these thoughts running around in there; most of which I don't want people to hear; most of which people shouldn't hear.  And not because I'm violent or a bad person or because I'm planning anything nefarious.  But because thoughts just happen.  But most of the time, that's all they are is thoughts.
• “The boys at this school are seriously disturbed,” Well, yeah.  They’re teenage boys.  All they think about is sex.
• Nancy dresses like she’s  Bree on Desperate Housewives:

Like a long lost daughter

• I bet this was Jane Espenson’s dissertation too:  The whole Iago/Othello thing that the teacher said was her dissertation.
• Seriously.  Terrible house for a vampire.
• David’s good with the “I just woke up” face.
• Great to add to the vampire mythology, Jane.  It makes sense that his mind can’t be read like other humans.
• Come on Buffy, he’s 243 years old.  You think he remained celibate in all that time?
• Oh Cordelia.  She’s amazing.  I love that they show her to think exactly what she says.
• And Oz thinks way more than he speaks.
• And Xander is a typical teenage boy.  I completely understand him wanting to bolt.  
• I love hearing all these thoughts.  And I wonder if some of these extras got “under fives” paychecks.
• Jonathan!  Poor sweet Jonathan.
• Why’d they bring her outside and not to the nurse’s office?
• Hey Xander figured it out!  In jest…
• I can’t take Xander’s fiesta shirt:

"What? This was my Uncle's."

• Even Buffy’s mom doesn't want to be around her. 
• “You had sex with Giles!?! Twice??"
• Ooh, they haven’t done this investigating students thing since the fish episode
• This time, however, Jonathan didn't just pee in the pool.
• “Apathy on the rise, no one cares”  - that's an amazing headline.
• You know what I’d do if I had this power?  See what puppies are thinking. But that's just me.
• Larry!  I love that Larry is totally out now. “I’ve got my grandma fixing me up with guys.” YAY!  The funny thing is – Xander never denies that he’s gay whenever Larry brings it up.
• When did Sunnydale high get a clock tower?
• Awww, Jonathan.  Oz is short, too!
• I think this is Jane Espenson’s best-written episode.  Sure, the metaphor is obvious but it’s explained so well.  I love Buffy’s speech to Jonathan about everyone’s pain.
• Also, High School sucks.
• And Xander’s ADD fat-ass has saved the day.
• Omg!  The lunch lady’s stunt double is a man! And a man half her weight!
• And the ending to this episode with Giles walking into a tree.  Awesome.

Favorite Lines:

Zelda: "You know what? I was wrong. You are an idiot. My life happens to, on occasion, suck beyond the telling of it. Sometimes more than I can handle. And it's not just mine. Every single person down there is ignoring your pain because they're too busy with their own. The beautiful ones. The popular ones. The guys that pick on you. Everyone. If you could hear what they were feeling. The loneliness. The confusion. It looks quiet down there. It's not. It's deafening." - Buffy

Daniel: "I don't see what this has to do with me." - Cordelia's thoughts. "I don't see what this has to do with me." - Cordelia 

90s Factoid:

Phone Booths:

Maybe Superman can still use this?

 This trend started in the 90s and unfortunately there are some who still do it today.  We just don't get it.  It's gotta be really uncomfortable:

"Sometimes I think my pants are gonna fall right off."

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Trivia: They delayed the airing of both this and Graduation Day: Part 2 because of violence/weapons depicted on school grounds - this was the year of the Columbine massacre, and Earshot was initially scheduled to air the week after. Luckily, there's not much continuity for the season arc, aside from the Bangel relationship.
• Recurring: Wesley, Percy, Larry, Joyce, and Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning Jonathan.
• Buffy now knows Giles and Joyce had sex in Band Candy. On the roof of a police car. Twice
• Willow's second time interrogating Jonathan.

Stats:

Oz's Hair - blonde 

Dead Humans - 0

Dead Undeads - 2

Giles Unconscious - 0

Giles Cleans His Glasses - 0

Buffy Breaks a Door - 0

Evil Reveal - 1

Unevil Reveal - 1

Shenanigans Called - 1

Apocalypse Called - 0