EMPTY PLACES
Created | Updated Apr 29, 2005
Before I can even begin to write my review, I'm gonna have to let off some steam to prevent myself exploding in the middle of it. Hold tight.
When she first got off the bus, I felt some sympathy for this tough cookie, who had clearly no idea what she was getting into, but seemed to have a fighting spirit, and wasn't whining and panicking like some of the other potentials. But the longer she stayed in Sunnydale, the more irritating she became. Talking back at Buffy, doing the "It's a black thing" act, questioning every decision that was made. Last week she broke up Xander's private moment to make him fix the toilet -more like demanding him to- putting a stop to the funniest scene of the episode (well, that and Andrew's introduction of Faith to the potentials). Now she's the first potential to jump on the 'ditch Buffy'-bus with that completely out of line "I'm sick of your deal with this Spike guy." Her "Ding dong, the witch is dead" is definately the last straw: go, sonar-killers, finish the dungareed bitca, and make it snappy!
Now for the Mutiny on the Buffy.
Sure going back to ther vinyard without further knowledge or a change of tactics wasn't the right decision. It would just have led to another massacre, as Caleb seems to be firmly in control of the situation. You wonder how much of Buffy's order was motivated by her own frustration rather than advancing the fight. On the other hand, it could be sheer desparation: she hasn't got a clue how to go on, let alone beat the enemy. She must already have felt terrible about being responsible for the death of the potentials and Xander losing an eye. Then she bumped in to the once so jolly Clem, who's clearly a friend, but has lost all faith in a happy ending for Sunnydale. As if that wasn't enough, Kennedy made her slip about the preacher rendering the slayer useless in just one punch. And to top it off, Caleb caught her in the one moment she let her emotions out, scoffed at her female weakness, and made it clear who's on top.
But the way the the others questioned their leader resulting in a complete rift seemed also the wrong way to go. The start of it was understandable enough, and easy to follow: Faith protesting and entering into argument with Buffy, each presenting their case and bringing valuable points to the discussion. Things got out of hand the minute Giles took Faith's side, which seemed lieke the sign for the others it was OK to mutiny, and one by one her friends dropped her. Within five minutes they unanimously decided to dismiss their leader and promote someone with a record the size of Sunnydale's phonebook general. Someone most of them hardly know and the others don't trust. Someone who's less than willing to take command. Her friends didn't take her apart to discuss the situation away from the potentials. Her sister, who last week wanted to send Faith to a hotel and hasn't got a scratch yet, didn't stick up for her (she could have defended Buffy without backing up her decision). Of course Willow -last week still striving to ease Buffy into the situation- and Xander didn't agree with going back (he was hardly fit, even if he would have), but they could have rejected the decision without rejecting their best friend. And Giles putting Faith in charge? What was that line again, "No time for personal vendetta's"? Would this have happend wit Spike around? (Interesting idea: he'd have been forced to choose between the slayers.) It all lends a shocking sense of foreboding to both Faith and Buffy's words from Dirty Girls:
Faith: Are you the bad slayer now? Am I the good slayer now?
Buffy: He fights on my side, which is more than I can say for some of us.
The slayer force falling apart by internal conflicts. If we didn't know better, it would have sounded like Caleb using good old divide et impera -tactics. But he doesn't need to. Efortlessly weeding out potentials ('cause that's what they must be to him: nasty weeds) and kicking two slayers about like ragdolls, he's master of the game. He orchestrates the moves and determines what wil happen next. All he needs to do is make up his mind and push the right buttons. But why? Why didn't he just kill them all and get it over with? Why has the First been stalling the battle since Beneath You? Buffy's theory sounds logical enough, but doesn't make sense if you think about the ramifications. Yes, it's strange that Caleb leaves the seal unguarded. Yes, there might be a powercentre in the vinyard -wouldn't that be appropriate for a 'holy' man? But why would the hellmouth suddenly be of no importance; it's power is clearly raising and affecting the whole of Sunnydale society. And Caleb could just as well cut open the potential on the road and knock Buffy out in school, so he has plenty of power of his own, just like the bringers and the Ubervamps. (By the way, musing on that name; it does seem to make an appropriate couterpart for the slayer. In the show's final season, Buffy's feelings of superiority have repeatedly been addressed, and this week Anya contributes her mite. If she's superior, not just to other people, but also to other slayers -something you could argue, as she's the only one who rose from the death. Twice. Whoops, there's that biblical connection again.- she should meet a superior race of vamps. So the Uberslayer going head to head with Ubervamps seems a fitting end.) Faith is right, we need more proof. By now we have all available information about the First and the Ubervamps, but Caleb still remains very much a mystery. From what we've seen, he's a psychopath in a celergyman's robe, a religious fanatic with a past of kiling girls. His misogynist attitude gave way to a twisted vision of the church, in which "God is a little man". His words to Buffy might tell us more:
Folks work so hard at keepin' the Lord out, and look what happens in return. He abandons you. Not that he could do you much good anyway.
Was he abandoned once? what's his obsession with purifying the earth of man's dirt? Cleansing women? All we know is that he's now an instrument of the First, executing it's orders:
First: Did you lay the proper groundwork?
Caleb: That I did. Reckon she's got the message, even if she doesn't know it yet. [] All we have to do is give her that one final gentle nudge.
But to what end?
One more thing about the superiority-issue. It wil be interesting to compare Faith's leadership-qualities with those of Buffy. We don't know wether her attitude will change now that she's been forced to take command, but so far the contrast with Buffy in her relationship with the potentials has been striking. She jokes with them about ditching slayer-class, takes them out to let off steam, and literally lets her hair down. The dark, sultry (just look at the one-on-one conversations she's had with the two men in Buffy's life. Smoky!), smart mouthed, tough Faith will cross any bridge when she comes to it. Whereas the blond, fragile, troubled Buffy has visibly been carrying the weight of the world for far too long. Down-to-earth Faith is "kind of reformed" and "reads people pretty well" without getting judgemental (after all, how could she, with a past like hers). Ripped-out-of-heaven Buffy has distanced herself from the world and her friends once again and would rather not have anyone know about her 'physical episode'. So, is it a question of superiority versus humanity? We shall see what strategy works best, while keeping in mind Faith's words:
Maybe you should have a little more confidece in 'em, let them mess up sometimes, you know, get down and DIRTY.
Two observations on Spike before I close with this week's minor comments and questions.
Clearly, he has a bone to pick with Giles after what happened in Lies. Now that he's lost all authority and been reduced to just a member of the army, what better way to get to the ex-watcher than belittling him by calling him by his first name? "What's up...Rupert?", Spike asks sarcastically. But Giles won't take the bait. A watcher needs to supervise, delegate, investigate. And keeping his stiff upper lip, that's just what he does. He knows what matters, and pairing Spike with the most unlikely candidate, he sends the two of them off on a mission.
And oh, the benefits of a classical education! Non scholae, sed vitae discimus, as the saying goes. It's no surprise Spike is able to translate the inscription in the convent. Having seen the house he grew up in, we can safely assume his upbringing involved learning Greek and Latin.
The chaos the overactive hellmouth is wrecking now affects the whole of Sunnydale: there's an exodus going on (ooh, another biblical reference?), schools are closed, and the police out of control. Interesting premise: the scoobies having to fight the mother of all evil in their by then completely deserted hometown. All efforts of keeping up appearances, of clinging to a daily routine, trying not to let the job overrun family life are now thrown to the wind. No more sending off Dawn to class, her help is needed in the good fight. All the more puzzling the potentials are just draped on the couch the moment they're no longer supervised.
There was only one funny scene bringing a little light into the darkness of Empty places: A&A, the only comedy-couple left in the buffyverse instructing the potentials on the Ubervamps (obviously Buffy told them of her vision), Anya rattling on, while Andrew, trying to keep up with her, was drawing like mad, constantly correcting himself (steak, anyone?). But still there's this heavy undercurrent, not only the desparation leading to apathy as voiced by Amanda: "Why bother? Nothing works. Nothing will." But also Anya's worries about Xander. Clearly, she's "doing what [she] can do, contributing any way [she] can", but her heart is in another place. Just the realisation he needs some space to himself keeps her from rushing off to the hospital to sit at his bedside. Besides making amends by doing the right thing, instructing the girls is her way to keep busy, take her mind off her ex-fiance, and not fall apart.
What is it with Andrew and the food theme? In Storyteller we saw him filming "the women of command central, fortifying themselves for the day ahead". Now he keeps moaning about his hot pockets (?!) and bonds with Spike over a fried onion. Do they properly feed the boy?
Apparently Dawn has special dance-hair. The moment they got to the Bronze, she sported the same curls we saw earlier in Him.
Am I right in thinking Willow stayed in the hospital with Xander for most of the episode?
When she first got off the bus, I felt some sympathy for this tough cookie, who had clearly no idea what she was getting into, but seemed to have a fighting spirit, and wasn't whining and panicking like some of the other potentials. But the longer she stayed in Sunnydale, the more irritating she became. Talking back at Buffy, doing the "It's a black thing" act, questioning every decision that was made. Last week she broke up Xander's private moment to make him fix the toilet -more like demanding him to- putting a stop to the funniest scene of the episode (well, that and Andrew's introduction of Faith to the potentials). Now she's the first potential to jump on the 'ditch Buffy'-bus with that completely out of line "I'm sick of your deal with this Spike guy." Her "Ding dong, the witch is dead" is definately the last straw: go, sonar-killers, finish the dungareed bitca, and make it snappy!
Now for the Mutiny on the Buffy.
Sure going back to ther vinyard without further knowledge or a change of tactics wasn't the right decision. It would just have led to another massacre, as Caleb seems to be firmly in control of the situation. You wonder how much of Buffy's order was motivated by her own frustration rather than advancing the fight. On the other hand, it could be sheer desparation: she hasn't got a clue how to go on, let alone beat the enemy. She must already have felt terrible about being responsible for the death of the potentials and Xander losing an eye. Then she bumped in to the once so jolly Clem, who's clearly a friend, but has lost all faith in a happy ending for Sunnydale. As if that wasn't enough, Kennedy made her slip about the preacher rendering the slayer useless in just one punch. And to top it off, Caleb caught her in the one moment she let her emotions out, scoffed at her female weakness, and made it clear who's on top.
But the way the the others questioned their leader resulting in a complete rift seemed also the wrong way to go. The start of it was understandable enough, and easy to follow: Faith protesting and entering into argument with Buffy, each presenting their case and bringing valuable points to the discussion. Things got out of hand the minute Giles took Faith's side, which seemed lieke the sign for the others it was OK to mutiny, and one by one her friends dropped her. Within five minutes they unanimously decided to dismiss their leader and promote someone with a record the size of Sunnydale's phonebook general. Someone most of them hardly know and the others don't trust. Someone who's less than willing to take command. Her friends didn't take her apart to discuss the situation away from the potentials. Her sister, who last week wanted to send Faith to a hotel and hasn't got a scratch yet, didn't stick up for her (she could have defended Buffy without backing up her decision). Of course Willow -last week still striving to ease Buffy into the situation- and Xander didn't agree with going back (he was hardly fit, even if he would have), but they could have rejected the decision without rejecting their best friend. And Giles putting Faith in charge? What was that line again, "No time for personal vendetta's"? Would this have happend wit Spike around? (Interesting idea: he'd have been forced to choose between the slayers.) It all lends a shocking sense of foreboding to both Faith and Buffy's words from Dirty Girls:
Faith: Are you the bad slayer now? Am I the good slayer now?
Buffy: He fights on my side, which is more than I can say for some of us.
The slayer force falling apart by internal conflicts. If we didn't know better, it would have sounded like Caleb using good old divide et impera -tactics. But he doesn't need to. Efortlessly weeding out potentials ('cause that's what they must be to him: nasty weeds) and kicking two slayers about like ragdolls, he's master of the game. He orchestrates the moves and determines what wil happen next. All he needs to do is make up his mind and push the right buttons. But why? Why didn't he just kill them all and get it over with? Why has the First been stalling the battle since Beneath You? Buffy's theory sounds logical enough, but doesn't make sense if you think about the ramifications. Yes, it's strange that Caleb leaves the seal unguarded. Yes, there might be a powercentre in the vinyard -wouldn't that be appropriate for a 'holy' man? But why would the hellmouth suddenly be of no importance; it's power is clearly raising and affecting the whole of Sunnydale society. And Caleb could just as well cut open the potential on the road and knock Buffy out in school, so he has plenty of power of his own, just like the bringers and the Ubervamps. (By the way, musing on that name; it does seem to make an appropriate couterpart for the slayer. In the show's final season, Buffy's feelings of superiority have repeatedly been addressed, and this week Anya contributes her mite. If she's superior, not just to other people, but also to other slayers -something you could argue, as she's the only one who rose from the death. Twice. Whoops, there's that biblical connection again.- she should meet a superior race of vamps. So the Uberslayer going head to head with Ubervamps seems a fitting end.) Faith is right, we need more proof. By now we have all available information about the First and the Ubervamps, but Caleb still remains very much a mystery. From what we've seen, he's a psychopath in a celergyman's robe, a religious fanatic with a past of kiling girls. His misogynist attitude gave way to a twisted vision of the church, in which "God is a little man". His words to Buffy might tell us more:
Folks work so hard at keepin' the Lord out, and look what happens in return. He abandons you. Not that he could do you much good anyway.
Was he abandoned once? what's his obsession with purifying the earth of man's dirt? Cleansing women? All we know is that he's now an instrument of the First, executing it's orders:
First: Did you lay the proper groundwork?
Caleb: That I did. Reckon she's got the message, even if she doesn't know it yet. [] All we have to do is give her that one final gentle nudge.
But to what end?
One more thing about the superiority-issue. It wil be interesting to compare Faith's leadership-qualities with those of Buffy. We don't know wether her attitude will change now that she's been forced to take command, but so far the contrast with Buffy in her relationship with the potentials has been striking. She jokes with them about ditching slayer-class, takes them out to let off steam, and literally lets her hair down. The dark, sultry (just look at the one-on-one conversations she's had with the two men in Buffy's life. Smoky!), smart mouthed, tough Faith will cross any bridge when she comes to it. Whereas the blond, fragile, troubled Buffy has visibly been carrying the weight of the world for far too long. Down-to-earth Faith is "kind of reformed" and "reads people pretty well" without getting judgemental (after all, how could she, with a past like hers). Ripped-out-of-heaven Buffy has distanced herself from the world and her friends once again and would rather not have anyone know about her 'physical episode'. So, is it a question of superiority versus humanity? We shall see what strategy works best, while keeping in mind Faith's words:
Maybe you should have a little more confidece in 'em, let them mess up sometimes, you know, get down and DIRTY.
Two observations on Spike before I close with this week's minor comments and questions.
Clearly, he has a bone to pick with Giles after what happened in Lies. Now that he's lost all authority and been reduced to just a member of the army, what better way to get to the ex-watcher than belittling him by calling him by his first name? "What's up...Rupert?", Spike asks sarcastically. But Giles won't take the bait. A watcher needs to supervise, delegate, investigate. And keeping his stiff upper lip, that's just what he does. He knows what matters, and pairing Spike with the most unlikely candidate, he sends the two of them off on a mission.
And oh, the benefits of a classical education! Non scholae, sed vitae discimus, as the saying goes. It's no surprise Spike is able to translate the inscription in the convent. Having seen the house he grew up in, we can safely assume his upbringing involved learning Greek and Latin.
The chaos the overactive hellmouth is wrecking now affects the whole of Sunnydale: there's an exodus going on (ooh, another biblical reference?), schools are closed, and the police out of control. Interesting premise: the scoobies having to fight the mother of all evil in their by then completely deserted hometown. All efforts of keeping up appearances, of clinging to a daily routine, trying not to let the job overrun family life are now thrown to the wind. No more sending off Dawn to class, her help is needed in the good fight. All the more puzzling the potentials are just draped on the couch the moment they're no longer supervised.
There was only one funny scene bringing a little light into the darkness of Empty places: A&A, the only comedy-couple left in the buffyverse instructing the potentials on the Ubervamps (obviously Buffy told them of her vision), Anya rattling on, while Andrew, trying to keep up with her, was drawing like mad, constantly correcting himself (steak, anyone?). But still there's this heavy undercurrent, not only the desparation leading to apathy as voiced by Amanda: "Why bother? Nothing works. Nothing will." But also Anya's worries about Xander. Clearly, she's "doing what [she] can do, contributing any way [she] can", but her heart is in another place. Just the realisation he needs some space to himself keeps her from rushing off to the hospital to sit at his bedside. Besides making amends by doing the right thing, instructing the girls is her way to keep busy, take her mind off her ex-fiance, and not fall apart.
What is it with Andrew and the food theme? In Storyteller we saw him filming "the women of command central, fortifying themselves for the day ahead". Now he keeps moaning about his hot pockets (?!) and bonds with Spike over a fried onion. Do they properly feed the boy?
Apparently Dawn has special dance-hair. The moment they got to the Bronze, she sported the same curls we saw earlier in Him.
Am I right in thinking Willow stayed in the hospital with Xander for most of the episode?
