The Girl in Question

[indri]

I thought this episode was hilarious, even though I sometimes cried as I laughed. I'm glad they've got this out of the way: I was worried that the SoulVamps' rivalry over Buffy wouldn't be resolved until the last episode and we'd be left with the same sort of confused mess we got at the end of BtVS. Glad to see the "cookie dough" speech got the respect it deserved, i.e. none. And of course, nothing is absolutely resolved, but we have a truce and an understanding between our Lead Vamps which is all that's required. If they both survive the end of AtS then we can all happily fic away and still be in canon.

I was much amused by the flashback scenes. Normally I cringe at the combined horror of personal grooming, accent and anachronism but I did enjoy the thought of the infamous Scourge of Europe and William the Bloody being unable to gatecrash a party. Sometimes they weren't the biggest bullies on the block.

Did anyone else notice how supportive Spike was to Angel, even when he's insulting him every second sentence? "Nuns are his thing" etc. All of you, eh?

I must confess that while I adore S/A slashiness I'm finding it harder and harder to see them as anything other than big brother and little brother. (Note to self: must read more fanfic to correct this.) Temperamentally very different, yes, but with all too much in common. Angel is the dork and Spike is the prat. And I so wanted to ruffle their hair in this ep. Poor boys. Spike fought so very hard for his lady and still lost her, sniff.

Given that ME decided to introduce a new rival, I'm glad they decided to play this as a comedy. The rival needed to be of at least the same calibre as Buffy's previous suitors, which is, frankly, a tall order. So they made him way over-the-top, off-screen but ubiquitous. He climbs mountains! He has nice abs! He's good in bed! He owns Rome! Yeah, we hate him already.

Of course, the only clue as to how Buffy feels about all this is Andrew's remark that she loves both vamps. We've no idea if she's still hoping that Angel will come back to her (he's the one that left, after all) or if she's wondering why Spike hasn't called. We know she's having a Good Time; we don't know if she's happy. The bartender's implication is that the Immortal's lovers come and go. I'm just hoping she's enjoying her fling and some well-deserved R&R.

Ah, Comedy Italy! I'll have to look at superplin's post to see what she thought of it. I confess I've been perplexed by comedy versions of Australia and Britain in, for example, The Simpsons, but I've also resorted to writing a comedy Buenos Aires in Hotel Lavear, so I can throw no stones. I presume that what they were aiming for was the vision of Rome many of us have picked up from films and news reports: Rome as romantic pastiche.

Apparently an Irishman and an Englishman count as "Americanos." And the head of W&H Rome has just managed to steal the hotly-contested award for "most distracting breasts" from Cordelia in "You're Welcome". I was most impressed that Spike and Angel managed not to stare.

I'm intrigued by ME's rather lackadaisical approach to this year's apocalypse. Two episodes to go and all we have so far is Lindsey's washing-up liquid metaphor. We also have an angry Gunn, a worn Lorne, a frustrated former god-king and a Wesley who's well past the end of his tether. Nor do we have any closure on what sort of revelation Angel had last week that led to signing away the baby.

I can promise you that Fred's parents aren't too good to be true: I met Texans just that lovely when I lived there, gorgeous people.

Two standout scenes in this episode: the nightclub fight sequence with Dean Martin playing over it and the "Ciao scene". Glancing over my FL, I see that I am not the only one who thought "Ciao" was truly marvellous. Yea, I am marvelling. I might check out some screencap sites and then abuse the office printer because I want it as a poster. Hilarious, yet understated. How can Spike look so pretty then and yet so unpleasantly unwashed in 1894? Indoor plumbing is a great thing.

Now, just to remind you, I'm trying to help some impoverished fanfic writer get to Writercon (a convention I'm not able to attend myself) by writing a story for the highest bidder. So far I've raised all of $25, almost enough to get a fan from Mesquite, Nevada to Las Vegas and back by salubrious Greyhound bus.

Want to help a fan from from further away than Mesquite?

Comments

[sangpassionne.livejournal.com]

It was an extremely funny episode. And, yeah, I agree with you on the Buffy's new boyfriend front. Really they had a choice; another Riley clone who was so normal neither of the vamps could object, or this superhero/stud who just rubbed their noses in their own inadequacies. Wonderful comedy, and both actors pulled it off with aplomb.