Through "Beneath You"

[snick_backup]

Housemate reports that she is sad that Spike is out of his mind, because since he went and got his soul she'd just gotten around to maybe liking him again. Also, she's mystified by the zombie talisman in "Lessons" (does that ever get explained?) and thoroughly creeped out by the zombies themselves (whom I'm fairly sure we never see again, right?).

Also: Is Nancy in "Beneath You" - she of the wormy boyfriend - the same Nancy as in "The Wish"? It's not exactly a common name, but I'm curious to go back and check actress names. There was Sandy, after all...

Also, I'd totally forgotten we got revisits from all the Big Bads at once there at the beginning. It made me sort of nostalgic.

Wow, that Run, Lola, Run homage wasn't subtle, was it? Or else my idea of Germany has far fewer pink-haired girls sprinting to electronic rock than is actually the case. I'm much amused, though.

And, finally: portentous portentousness. Sigh. And broken Spike. I gotta say, these first two episodes have not changed my previous opinion of this season.

Comments

[deird1]

Nope - three Nancy's, three separate actresses. It's confusing.


I actually really liked Spike going crazy with the new soul. Why do you not like it?

[snickfic]

Wait, who's the third Nancy? The Wish, Beneath You, and...?

Hmm. Big question. I don't remember objecting the first time I watched this season, but if anything I'm more attached to the character now than I was then, and I hate seeing him so broken and off-balance. I'm not saying it doesn't make sense, or that the church scene (and Marsters in it) isn't still brilliant. My reaction is more visceral than that - a sort of violent empathy that won't be reasoned with.

Which I guess means it's well-done? I dunno.

[deird1]

...and Earshot. Nancy is the girl Buffy's cheating off in the Othello discussion.


My reaction is more visceral than that - a sort of violent empathy that won't be reasoned with.

Fair enough. I get more "Oh, poor boy, want to cuddle him..."

[dragonpaws.livejournal.com]

I have a love for well done craziness, so I'm a complete fan-- in this case, I remember thinking Ha! They recognize that having a soul is a BIG FREAKING DEAL. It's not on par with getting Buffy really exotic roses (even if Spike thought it was, initially).

Of course, then they have to go and make it stupid with that idiotic The First and hypnotic suggestion plot. BLARG.

[snickfic]

I say it with you: BLARG. Because good grief, wasn't there enough tension and drama already? Was the soul!crazy not enough, now we need insanity with intent?

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I'll probably have more thoughts later, but for now:

I do like the insanity thing. I think they drag it out for too long (and the First's minion thing), but I think it establishes just how profound a change the soul is, just how remorseful he is, etc. without having to subject us to a century of eating rats and wallowing in sewers. Plus, I like watching JM play crazy.

And I also want to cuddle the poor boy.

Oh, yeah. No more zombies. That was stupid writing. And the Run, Lola, Run thing was way OTT.

[snickfic]

I think it establishes just how profound a change the soul is, just how remorseful he is, etc. without having to subject us to a century of eating rats and wallowing in sewers.

I s'pose. I don't enjoy it, thogh. And you're right, in the unlikely event we had any doubts about JM's range, the craziness (and especially the church scene) absolutely blows them out of the water.

I dunno; I kinda liked the Run, Lola, Run thing - probably just for the pleasant shock of recognition. :)

[rahirah]

Rumor at the time was that the writers didn't know what to do with him now that they'd given him a soul and wanted an excuse to keep him offstage as much as possible, and Spike only got uncrazied as soon as he did because of network pressure to bring a popular character back to a more active role. I can't swear to the accuracy of that, but I wouldn't be awfully surprised if it had elements of truth.

[snickfic]

I'd well believe that. Which means, I suppose, that I ought to be grateful for the First brainwashing plot, as cheap and muddled as I thought it was. Fah.

[rahirah]

There's a lot of stuff about S7 which makes more sense if you know what ME was doing behind the scenes. Since they were pretty sure SMG wasn't going to stick around for another season, they tried pitching no less than three separate ideas for spinoffs/sequels to Fox over the course of the season. All of which fell through, but each time, you'd get a couple of episodes which were intended to build up the potential new series.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

I always like neon hair. It's just so cheerful! To me, it says "girl power". It's anti-meek. I'm probably gonna go see Kick-Ass just because the little girl has electric purple hair. *iz shallow*

[next_to_normal]

Also, she's mystified by the zombie talisman in "Lessons" (does that ever get explained?) and thoroughly creeped out by the zombies themselves (whom I'm fairly sure we never see again, right?).

That would be a no and a no.

As for crazy basement Spike, what penny_lane_42 said.

[snickfic]

More cuddles to basement!Spike, then. :)

[norwie2010.livejournal.com]

Interesting tidbit: The electronic rock during that scene with the pink-haired potential in Frankfurt/Main (banker's capital of germany) had lyrics, in german no less "from beneath you, it devours".

[snickfic]

Very interesting! I assume the song (and lyrics) was written for the episode, then?

[norwie2010.livejournal.com]

I would assume so. But then, the soundtrack is a bit generic - so it is also possible that only new lyrics were recorded and put over the existing soundtrack.

I found that to be very careful and clever - something that not many shows would have done (contrast that with the way certain countries are depicted in the comics...).