Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 1x10 Full Reaction
Added 2023-05-19 12:20:13 +0000 UTC
Comments
I'm here for your reactions "cass' reactions" There is no need for you to adjust to what people are saying about Joyce. I would suggest that you only read the remarks after each seasons.
Thomas
2023-06-12 22:18:55 +0000 UTCFirst a quick technical note. Plz check the volume level of the show, especially during the titles sequence it becomes really hard to hear what you're saying because your voice is covered by the music. The topic of the episode is clearly exploring the characters' fears as you pointed out well in your comment, I would just like to add a couple of things. While some of the fears shown in the episode are quite generic or superficial, like being naked, forget how to read, or having an exam and not remembering a thing, others are more deep and can reveal interesting aspects of the characters. Giles' fear of losing Buffy shows how the connection between him and the Slayer is changing, what initially he probably saw just an assignment or a job is turning in something more personal. Willow is clearly shy and don't want to find herself under the lights, at the center of the attention, but I don't think it's just that. In the episode we see her on stage, not as herself, but playing a part, wearing a costume, with everyone expecting a performance from her. Deep down she is afraid to be a bluff, not as smart and capable as others think she is, and that she will eventually let them down and they will see her for what she is. Obviously I'm not saying that she is but only that it's what she fears. Xander, well, he doesn't show any deep hidden fears and that's interesting in itself. It could be that, at least at this point, his feelings are rather shallow and he lacks self-awareness. Buffy's fears are probably the most interesting, no surprise being the protagonist. The two really big fears are her being responsible for her parents divorce, relatively common among children of divorcees, and the Master, understandable. Both look quite clear and straightforward but what I find interesting is this: in the first case Buffy faces the materialization of her fears and it's clearly painful, but she manages to go through her fears and when, at the end, she meets her father she smiles and she's confident, she has overcome this fear. In the case with the Master it's different, she doesn't fight back, she's paralyzed as she is in the other dreams she had before the events of the episode. All the others things, being buried alive, turning into a vampire, I see them not as standalone things but different representations of her fears about the consequences of facing the Master. By the end of the episode it's only because Billy, and not Buffy, is able to face his fears that things return to normal. If you were to then wonder how Buffy could know what the Master looks like even if she's never met him … well, Slayers' relationship to dreams, the dream world, and their way of perceiving the world, is all a story of its own. For now just accept that she can, and for the future, when there's something about Buffy's dreams, it's something you'll probably want to pay close attention.
G.Un.
2023-05-21 10:42:14 +0000 UTCI guess the thing is everyone who was in Sunnydale and experiencing their own nightmare (and later other people's nightmares when they all started bleeding into one another), remembers what happened (and rationalizes it if needed). Hank in Buffy's nightmare was just, you know, a figment of her imagination, so he wasn't actually here during the event hence why he couldn't possibly remember it.
angelcakes
2023-05-19 23:48:44 +0000 UTCI always count this episode as Buffy's first meeting with the Master. It seems that most of Sunnydale forgot what happened (or rationalized it) but Xander and Willow remembered that Buffy had become a vampire. Which means that Buffy should remember she was buried by the Master. Alive in her nightmare and as a vampire in Gile's. So they met in this episode.
Bud Haven
2023-05-19 23:36:08 +0000 UTCMany people are grumpy about Joyce's relationship with Buffy in the early portion of the series.
Bud Haven
2023-05-19 22:18:57 +0000 UTCI really liked your point about children's dreams/nightmares and how having all this stem from Billy made sense. I'd never connected those two before, so I appreciate that.
indaeo
2023-05-19 21:35:18 +0000 UTCThis is one of the many "Fear itself" themed episodes of the Buffyverse, and Joss Whedon and the writers come back to the idea of trauma causing supernatural derangement of the real world, as a reflection of the internal derangement and damage that it does to people. This episode was kind of a carnival ride of mild jump scares and even funny scenes of awkwardness, but in the end it did veer off into some actually scary ideas. The scene with Buffy's father was cruel as hell, and Sarah's tears looked real, she reached deep there. The girl in the hospital bed scene was actually really good, I noticed how tender they were with her, but they had to find out what she could tell them. The way Buffy and Giles worked together there was -- well, they are a solid team now, united in purpose and on the same page mostly, getting better at this weird job they have.
spikeysnack
2023-05-19 19:34:01 +0000 UTCThey are already aware of the supernatural Hank is not so they remember but like most others in town he probably does not
Stephen Knueppel
2023-05-19 17:24:04 +0000 UTCYou're right about the characterisation of Joyce and the points you make were all valid - don't worry about it! In fact, it's really cool to get that insight from you. But seriously, we stan Joyce in this community. She is our collective mum. If you come for her you come for all of us :-P
Shandler
2023-05-19 15:42:40 +0000 UTCIt seems to me that anyone brought into reality from your dream is just another version. Otherwise there'd be a killer clown out there somewhere driven crazy by his lack of balloon skills. Plus the conversation between Buffy and The Master is never mentioned again.
Tim Pierce
2023-05-19 15:15:16 +0000 UTCI don't know if everything is forgotten. At the end, Willow asked Xander about Buffy being a vampire. If they remember that, is everything remembered? Also, I enjoy your insight and teasing out what's going on. Finally, they should have used a boy that looked a bit more different than the anointed one - you're not the first to be confused by them.
Ross43
2023-05-19 15:00:18 +0000 UTCHey Cassie loved your reaction. This is not part of official lore or cannon but I've thought that the Hellmouth must affect people in Sunnydale to make those that are not already aware of the supernatural forget or not notice what is happening around them. The Master and Hank didn't actually do those things in our "reality" just in the nightmare that temporarily existed. So Hank doesn't remember what he said to his daughter thankfully. It's weird because you can suffer physical harm in the nightmare even if it's not actually real.
Stephen Knueppel
2023-05-19 13:49:26 +0000 UTC
