Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Dirty Girls Rewatch
May 12, 2016 5:30 AM - Season 7, Episode 18 - Subscribe
Willow returns to Sunnydale with Faith in tow. A new agent of the First, Caleb, also appears, and Buffy leads an assault on him with devastating consequences.
In many ways, the death of Firefly was very fortuitous for the show. It meant Whedon paid it a bit more attention toward the end, and we got the compelling presence of Nathan Fillion. It's a great intro, and to be honest Caleb gets less scary as he appears more, but his intense intro, sending a message via a potential, then the fight in the courtyard is really good.
While Buffy charging in is quite stupid, it is the sort of behaviour she has traditionally engaged in, and it's something which needed to happen: when she charged in on her own only she was at risk, now everyone is. And yeah, losing two potentials, one of whom we know the name of is pretty scary, plus, finally, some genuine pain to the core gang around Buffy. There's a threat, much more tangible than anything that's turned up before, and suddenly the gloominess that has hung over everyone's shoulders all season is justified.
Unfortunately, this episode is going to be followed by Empty Places, which will kill all the momentum the show had, but for one moment it really looked like this was going to work in the final stretch, just as Season 5 does.
This episode also... somewhat... benefits from the presence of Faith. Faith is a really good and interesting character, but I do think her introduction here is a bit muted given her impact. Willow's constant apologies to Faith feel really weird when the last time Buffy only viewers saw Faith, she was being mean to Willow's girlfriend. Still, I'm glad to have her here the finale, even if her presence means the roster of characters has got even larger.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 2:08 AM on May 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
While Buffy charging in is quite stupid, it is the sort of behaviour she has traditionally engaged in, and it's something which needed to happen: when she charged in on her own only she was at risk, now everyone is. And yeah, losing two potentials, one of whom we know the name of is pretty scary, plus, finally, some genuine pain to the core gang around Buffy. There's a threat, much more tangible than anything that's turned up before, and suddenly the gloominess that has hung over everyone's shoulders all season is justified.
Unfortunately, this episode is going to be followed by Empty Places, which will kill all the momentum the show had, but for one moment it really looked like this was going to work in the final stretch, just as Season 5 does.
This episode also... somewhat... benefits from the presence of Faith. Faith is a really good and interesting character, but I do think her introduction here is a bit muted given her impact. Willow's constant apologies to Faith feel really weird when the last time Buffy only viewers saw Faith, she was being mean to Willow's girlfriend. Still, I'm glad to have her here the finale, even if her presence means the roster of characters has got even larger.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 2:08 AM on May 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
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posted by wabbittwax at 6:38 AM on May 12, 2016 [1 favorite]