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More random Buffy thoughts - 'Out Of My Mind'.
Watched ‘Out Of My Mind’ last night while wonderful Mr. Darcy put the girls to bed. He came downstairs about halfway through, looked at the screen (Riley playing basketball with his chums) and said:
"Why are you watching a crappy Riley episode?"...[beat] "Or does it have naked Spike in it too?"
Sometimes he knows me far too well...
Having read a few analysis of this episode fairly recently, I'm going to skip all the stuff that people normally focus on, and just write about the few things that stood out for me.
First point I *have* to mention is the B/R sex scene! No! Come back! Please keep reading!
Buffy and Riley lying in bed, all snuggled up in sheets.
RILEY: Yeah.
BUFFY: Mm, that was relaxing.
Me (thinking ahead more than a season):
BUFFY: (panting) Uh ... we missed the bed again.
SPIKE: (looks toward the bed) Lucky for the bed.
(Suppresses urge to point at screen and say rude things about poor Riley)
Anyway, what I noticed most about this episode (and it’s about a year and a half since I last saw it, so there was loads off stuff I’d forgotten) was all the parallels between Buffy and Spike. The way they think alike and how utterly frustrated and angry they both are with each other - so, so many sparks!
Of course there’s also Riley behaving like an overexcited puppy the entire time - I almost expected Buffy to put him on a lead, because he was so hyper. He so very obviously want to be ‘super-boy’ because he thinks that's what Buffy wants, but I really don’t think she’s that bothered. Quite frankly, if anything she might like a Riley that’s mature!
Also his macho act really isn’t helping. He spends the entire episode saying how fine he is, and how he doesn’t need any attention, and at the end (after just having had heart surgery) Buffy leaves him to be with her mother, because obviously he’s going to be fine! He’s a bit thick sometime. Kudos to MB for the acting though.
Ok, I noticed this tiny little thing. So tiny in fact that I’m not sure why I’m mentioning it, but I'm just feeling in a sharing mood I guess. Towards the end of Buffy’s and Willow’s lecture conversation, Buffy mentions how much she has to do and how tiring it is. Willow says: “Aw. Poor Buffy's brain.” and does this funny, gentle little tapping thing on Buffy’s head with her fingertips. And it suddenly reminded me of how Dru tippy-taps her fingertips all around Spike’s head in ‘Crush’. I doubt that this was in any way deliberate, but it just jumped out at me. So that’s my brain for you - overanalysing everything!
Well, onto Spike again. *This* line:
SPIKE: Oh, dear, is the enormous hall monitor sick? Tell me, is he gonna die?
made Mr Darcy laugh too! And I just love the way JM delivers it! Hee! :)
Now there is the looooong and tearful B/R scene in the Initiative caves, but what I noticed was Riley hitting the wall:
BUFFY: Your hand is bleeding.
RILEY: (looks at her) Don't feel a thing.
In ‘Afterlife’ Spike punches the wall and gets hurt just like Buffy:
BUFFY: Your hand is hurt.
SPIKE: Hmm. (nods toward her hands) Same with you.
Not sure if any of that means anything, except that Riley tries to be who he thinks Buffy wants - Spike tries to be Buffy. Any thoughts welcome.
But onto Tearful!Buffy:
BUFFY: No! No. Do you think that I spent the last year with you because you had super powers? If that's what I wanted, then I'd be dating Spike.
Me: “Such nice foreshadowing.”
Darcy: “Pffft. Yeah right!”
Me (chanting in my head): “Don’t say anything, don’t say anything, don’t say anything!”
He quite simply refuses to see that the show might think more than 3 eps into the future! Grrr. Anyway, will come back to the foreshadowing later
Oh, and this exchange just kills me:
BUFFY: (firmly) You are *not* going to die.
RILEY: Bet you say that to all the boys.
Ouch!
The whole scene with Spike’s operation is hilarious and I sadly don’t have time to go into it. But now we also come to the point where the most obvious lines are being drawn between Buffy and Spike:
BUFFY: No. There is one peroxided pest whose number is up. When I get my hands on Spike, I'm gonna rip his head off, I'm gonna...
SPIKE: ...bathe in the slayer's blood. Gonna dive in it. Swim in it.
Such strong emotions! It’s so beautifully cut and it’s so clear what we’re being shown!
Also, Buffy knows straight away that Spike would not have stayed at the hospital:
BUFFY: No, uh-uh, he wouldn't do it here. It's too risky. We'll split up. Graham, get on the horn, or the ... pipe, or whatever you guys get on, I-I want you to check animal hospitals, doctors' offices...
She understands how *Spike* thinks, but fails to see how lost and disconnected Riley’s feeling.
(Afterwards, running through the cemetery, the gravestone Spike picks up and throws says: Mama. 1881.
Hmmmm.)
And then onto the dream... and how we all love the dream! I noticed something that’s probably *very, very* obvious, but just never struck me before:
BUFFY: Spike ... I want you.
SPIKE: Buffy, I love you.
She *wants* him, he *loves* her. It isn’t just foreshadowing, it’s a huge, enormous flashing neon sign! Those few words are pretty much at the centre of Season 6!
Now I have spent my whole morning writing silly musings, when I should have been doing sensible things. *sigh*
"Why are you watching a crappy Riley episode?"...[beat] "Or does it have naked Spike in it too?"
Sometimes he knows me far too well...
Having read a few analysis of this episode fairly recently, I'm going to skip all the stuff that people normally focus on, and just write about the few things that stood out for me.
First point I *have* to mention is the B/R sex scene! No! Come back! Please keep reading!
Buffy and Riley lying in bed, all snuggled up in sheets.
RILEY: Yeah.
BUFFY: Mm, that was relaxing.
Me (thinking ahead more than a season):
BUFFY: (panting) Uh ... we missed the bed again.
SPIKE: (looks toward the bed) Lucky for the bed.
(Suppresses urge to point at screen and say rude things about poor Riley)
Anyway, what I noticed most about this episode (and it’s about a year and a half since I last saw it, so there was loads off stuff I’d forgotten) was all the parallels between Buffy and Spike. The way they think alike and how utterly frustrated and angry they both are with each other - so, so many sparks!
Of course there’s also Riley behaving like an overexcited puppy the entire time - I almost expected Buffy to put him on a lead, because he was so hyper. He so very obviously want to be ‘super-boy’ because he thinks that's what Buffy wants, but I really don’t think she’s that bothered. Quite frankly, if anything she might like a Riley that’s mature!
Also his macho act really isn’t helping. He spends the entire episode saying how fine he is, and how he doesn’t need any attention, and at the end (after just having had heart surgery) Buffy leaves him to be with her mother, because obviously he’s going to be fine! He’s a bit thick sometime. Kudos to MB for the acting though.
Ok, I noticed this tiny little thing. So tiny in fact that I’m not sure why I’m mentioning it, but I'm just feeling in a sharing mood I guess. Towards the end of Buffy’s and Willow’s lecture conversation, Buffy mentions how much she has to do and how tiring it is. Willow says: “Aw. Poor Buffy's brain.” and does this funny, gentle little tapping thing on Buffy’s head with her fingertips. And it suddenly reminded me of how Dru tippy-taps her fingertips all around Spike’s head in ‘Crush’. I doubt that this was in any way deliberate, but it just jumped out at me. So that’s my brain for you - overanalysing everything!
Well, onto Spike again. *This* line:
SPIKE: Oh, dear, is the enormous hall monitor sick? Tell me, is he gonna die?
made Mr Darcy laugh too! And I just love the way JM delivers it! Hee! :)
Now there is the looooong and tearful B/R scene in the Initiative caves, but what I noticed was Riley hitting the wall:
BUFFY: Your hand is bleeding.
RILEY: (looks at her) Don't feel a thing.
In ‘Afterlife’ Spike punches the wall and gets hurt just like Buffy:
BUFFY: Your hand is hurt.
SPIKE: Hmm. (nods toward her hands) Same with you.
Not sure if any of that means anything, except that Riley tries to be who he thinks Buffy wants - Spike tries to be Buffy. Any thoughts welcome.
But onto Tearful!Buffy:
BUFFY: No! No. Do you think that I spent the last year with you because you had super powers? If that's what I wanted, then I'd be dating Spike.
Me: “Such nice foreshadowing.”
Darcy: “Pffft. Yeah right!”
Me (chanting in my head): “Don’t say anything, don’t say anything, don’t say anything!”
He quite simply refuses to see that the show might think more than 3 eps into the future! Grrr. Anyway, will come back to the foreshadowing later
Oh, and this exchange just kills me:
BUFFY: (firmly) You are *not* going to die.
RILEY: Bet you say that to all the boys.
Ouch!
The whole scene with Spike’s operation is hilarious and I sadly don’t have time to go into it. But now we also come to the point where the most obvious lines are being drawn between Buffy and Spike:
BUFFY: No. There is one peroxided pest whose number is up. When I get my hands on Spike, I'm gonna rip his head off, I'm gonna...
SPIKE: ...bathe in the slayer's blood. Gonna dive in it. Swim in it.
Such strong emotions! It’s so beautifully cut and it’s so clear what we’re being shown!
Also, Buffy knows straight away that Spike would not have stayed at the hospital:
BUFFY: No, uh-uh, he wouldn't do it here. It's too risky. We'll split up. Graham, get on the horn, or the ... pipe, or whatever you guys get on, I-I want you to check animal hospitals, doctors' offices...
She understands how *Spike* thinks, but fails to see how lost and disconnected Riley’s feeling.
(Afterwards, running through the cemetery, the gravestone Spike picks up and throws says: Mama. 1881.
Hmmmm.)
And then onto the dream... and how we all love the dream! I noticed something that’s probably *very, very* obvious, but just never struck me before:
BUFFY: Spike ... I want you.
SPIKE: Buffy, I love you.
She *wants* him, he *loves* her. It isn’t just foreshadowing, it’s a huge, enormous flashing neon sign! Those few words are pretty much at the centre of Season 6!
Now I have spent my whole morning writing silly musings, when I should have been doing sensible things. *sigh*
no subject
BUFFY: (panting) Uh ... we missed the bed again.
Heehee! That was a great choice of scenes to juxtapose.
She *wants* him, he *loves* her. It isn’t just foreshadowing, it’s a huge, enormous flashing neon sign! Those few words are pretty much at the centre of Season 6!
I think that it's really telling that even in his dream Spike can't imagine Buffy saying that she loves him. Not because it's sad that he can't imagine being worthy of her love - he *isn't* worthy, he's a mass murderer with no moral compass - but that in his subconscious he *knows* he's not worthy, and that she shouldn't love him. He's not put off by her not declaring love for him in the dream - he accepts that as a perfectly rational response. And by knowing (even subconsciously) now that he's not worthy of her love, it's the first step on the road that will one day lead to him turning into someone who will be worthy.
Heh. That last sentence just barely makes sense, but I think you know what I'm trying to say.:)
no subject
And I think I know what you're trying to say. Riley couldn't really understand why Buffy didn't love him - he'd obviously always been good at everything, but then suddenly he's not 'good enough' for this girl. (But that's another discussion). Spike, when he begins to study Buffy better and understand her morals, realises how far from perfect he'll always be in her eyes. And well - she might not love him, but he has other talents! And that moment in 'The Gift' ("I know you'll never love me...") is such a big step - one season later he's fighting to get his soul back!
no subject
I think you hit the nail right on the head. Here again we see how meaningful every word is in a whedonverse dream sequence. It's extremely fitting for him to notice this in his subconcious at this point. TO realize he is not worthy of her love. To take the first step toward redemption. It sets in very nicely for the rest of the season, and really the rest of the series, as far as Spike is concerned.
Thanks for putting it together like that. It makes that one word change mean so much more.....
no subject
I absolutely adore Whendonverse dream sequences because they are indeed so meaningful, though to be honest I had never really thought about the importance of Buffy's "I want you" in Spike's dream until I was reading Elisi's post. Which of course makes me love the dream sequences even more, because even after having watched it dozens of times, I can still find something new about it.
no subject
Beautifully said.
no subject