Buffy: 2.8 ‘The Dark Age’

Writer: Dean Batali, Rob Des Hotel
Director: Bruce Seth Green

What's the sitch?

An old friend of Giles from his youth comes to Sunnydale looking for him but is found dead. He bears a mysterious tattoo, which Giles also bears. This sends Giles a bit loopy especially when he discovers all of his old gang are now dead except for him and a certain troublemaker called Ethan Rayne. Shutting himself away from Buffy and everyone else, Giles desperately tries to find out what has happened while Buffy and the gang are looking to find out what Giles has done in his past to make him act so strange. Pretty soon they discover the truth. In their youth, Giles and co had been messing with dark powers and had raised a powerful demon, which then killed one of their group. They managed to banish the demon but now it is back and looking to finish the job. Only Giles and Ethan now remain. Can Buffy discover how to save her watcher before it’s too late?


What's the sitch beneath the sitch?

Giles is having flashbacks to his drug experimenting days as a rebellious teen with the stuff he did back now coming back to haunt him. Yeah, it ain’t too subtle in the metaphor. One of their original gang OD’d on the ‘demon raising’. This is about the sins of the past and past mistakes that eventually come back to bite you with the drugs one being the most obvious. But it works pretty well as a metaphor with the whole drugs hurt those around you and not just you thing. What is great here is that basically Buffy and Giles reverse roles here. She becomes the sensible responsible one who must take control and get the truth and figure out what’s happening and solve it. She becomes the adult to Giles’ wayward, withdrawn, angry teen. And she really does step up, showing how much she cares for her watcher.


Who's giving us the wiggins this week?

The demon Eyghon who can briefly possess the dead or anyone unconscious for much longer. And Ethan as well to a lesser extent.

Why it rocks

Another metaphor show and it works pretty well.

We get to know a bit more about Giles’s past. His ‘Ripper’ years. He wasn’t always stuffy and tweed wearing. He was a full-on bad boy.

Tony Head does a great job showing Giles’s panic and emotional deterioration as he flounders about what to do and as a result pushes people away and turns to drink. Sarah matches him by Buffy stepping up to the mark and taking charge. But this is Tony Head’s show and he rocks.

The demon Eyghon is pretty darn creepy especially when it possesses Jenny Calendar. Great make-up and Fx in general.

Robin Sachs is back as Ethan. Always fun to watch.

Why it sucks

Sorry, but Giles liked the Bay City Rollers? I think not.

If the demon uses the tattoo to track and target its victim then why didn’t Ethan and Giles and the rest get it removed years ago?

It's Buftastic

Willow yells at Xander and Cordy, telling them to get out of ‘her’ library.

Dialogue to die for

Xander: "Giles lived for school. He's actually still bitter that there are only twelve grades."
Buffy: "He probably sat in math class thinking, 'There should be more math. This could be mathier.'"

Xander: "Ooh, gang, didja hear that? A bonus day of class plus Cordelia! Mix in a little rectal surgery and it's my best day ever!"

Buffy: "Don't be sorry, be Giles. C'mon, we fight monsters. This is what we do. They show up, they scare us, I beat 'em up and they go away. This isn't any different!"

And another thing

The photo that Xander finds of young Giles playing a bass guitar is actually Tony Head’s face from a photo when he was seventeen stuck over a picture of Sid Vicious.

This episode was rated as TV14 in the US although there is no blood or gory violence.

How many stakes?

I’ll give it 3.5 or else Ripper will beat me up. 3.5 (out of 5)

Buffy: 2.6 'Halloween'

The Dutchess of Buffonia and Willow the (soon to be) Sexy Ghost


Writer: Carl Ellsworth
Director: Bruce Seth Green

What's the sitch?

It’s Halloween in Sunnydale. Surely a time to fear with all the monsters and whatnot? Apparently not. The real boogeymen think Halloween is tacky and always take the night off. This allows Buffy and her pals to dress up and go out trick or treating after they’ve been ‘volunteered’ by Principle Snyder to shepherd around groups of little kids as is the High School’s tradition. However a new bad guy has come to town and has cursed all the costumes from his shop so that the wearers will actually become what ever it is they are wearing. Buffy, thinking that Angel prefers old style 18th century noblewomen to 20th century teenage girls, dresses up as one. And as the curse takes hold she actually becomes one – complete with simpering attitude and fainting fits. Meanwhile Xander becomes a soldier and Willow, despite being helped to ‘hot up’ by Buffy, goes and dresses as a ghost - and so becomes a ghost. At the same time vampire Drusilla has a vision telling how the Slayer will become vulnerable on Halloween. This leads our old friend Spike to break the monsters-staying-in-on-Halloween rule as he takes his vamp buds out on the town hunting for some fresh Slayer blood.

What's the sitch beneath the sitch?

The theme here is all about identity and the roles we play in life. It’s about what we show to the world and what the world sees in us. Primarily it’s about our insecurities over who and what we are. The two main examples being Buffy and Willow. Feeling insecure over her relationship with Angel, Buffy is convinced after reading the Watcher Diaries that Angel prefers the whole 18th century noblewoman type. So when she sees a dress like that at the costume store she has to have it and thus adopts that identity for Halloween night. Literally as it turns out. She becomes a simpering, fainting, frightened girl. Whereas Willow, even though Buffy glams her up with a sexy outfit, is deeply insecure about being seen like that and insists on wearing her ghost costume over the top. But when the bad spell takes hold, ghost costumed Willow collapses revealing actual ghost Willow in her sexy outfit. And she literally steps out of herself and takes charge of the entire situation. She is also seen later by Oz as he drives past, saying yet again, “Who IS that girl?” Eventually, after the threat has passed, Buffy discovers Angel hated the women of the past and vastly prefers modern women – especially Buffy just as she is. Her insecurity was of her own making as was Willow’s who has now gained more confidence and will very soon be getting together with Oz

Who's giving us the wiggins this week?

Giles’s old mucker Ethan Rayne, countless little kids turned in to demons and Spike and his vamp mates.

Why it rocks

Now this is more like it.

Quite simply this episode is enormous fun. The story is neat and simple, the concept smart and clever, the themes strong and the writing helps to further the evolution of the characters.

Ethan Rayne. This is the first time we meet Giles’s old friend and now chaos worshipping sorcerer. Robin Sachs is fab in the role being suitably charismatic, smarmy and sly.

Ripper. This is the first time we hear of Giles's younger, darker alter ego. We will soon find out he got up to some pretty bad stuff in his youth and garnered quite the reputation hinted at here when Giles lashes out at Ethan and physically beats him in to submission. It’s quite a shock to see bookish, tweed-clad Giles suddenly turn in to a brutal, remorseless ass-kicker. And Tony Head is splendid at doing so and is clearly having a fine old time.

The entire cast is on fine form but Ally Hannigan as Willow steals the show. Her insular insecure Willow is so darn cute with her ghostly sexy Willow being even cuter.

Sarah's perfectly timed comedy faint as noblewoman Buffy. I laughed loudly. A perfect pratfall.

The cool opening Buffy vs. vampire smackdown in a pumpkin patch while another vamp secretly films the fight with a video camera.

Spike and Dru. Woo hoo!

Why it sucks

Ethan’s motivations are never explained. What exactly is he getting out of going to all the trouble of setting up a shop and buying stock and casting spells? And why would he come to Sunnydale where he must know Giles is and then call his shop Ethan’s? That’s just asking for trouble from old Ripper.

Angel’s age gets mixed up here with Willow saying he’s older than has already been established.

A vampire sneaks in to Buffy’s house. How? Not invited.


It's Buftastic

Giles’s startled reaction when sexy ghost Willow suddenly walks out of the wall in front of him. Very funny indeed.

Dialogue to die for

Willow: Oh, I don't get wild. Wild on me equals spaz.

Xander (seeing Buffy in her noblewoman costume): Private Harris reporting for... Buffy! Lady of Buffdom, Duchess of Buffonia, I am in awe! I completely renounce spandex!

Willow (exasperated over simpering Buffy): She couldn't have dressed up like Xena?

Giles (confused by sexy ghost-Willow after she appears to him): And your costume?
Willow: I’m a ghost.
Giles: Yes. Um, the ghost of what exactly?

And another thing

A much younger Robin Sachs starred as Heinrich the vampire acrobat in the 1971 Hammer horror film Vampire Circus.

Cordelia still doesn’t know that Angel is a vampire.

How many stakes?

No trick, just one big ol’ treat. 4 (out of 5)