The bit when Buffy asks Cordelia to drive her home and she instantly drops her Cordy-ness and says "sure" is so touching. You see how beneath all the material superficial stuff, she has a real heart, a caring soul. It's a moment which I think neatly anticipates how caring she is in Angel.
+defrostedrobot77 To be fair that was more banter, and Buffy and Xander (even though they dated) weren't close friends with Cordelia. There personalities were always clashing.
+Alistair Drennan +Passion of the Nerd I felt that Cordelia's showing up to drive Buffy home in this episode is another reference to Cordelia being the 'hero' in the situation once again.
I agree it's kind of sad how Joss never had Cordy cross over with the scoobies in the later yrs and interact with any of them. The closest was the Harmony conversation with Willow over the phone I don't count season 4/7 when Cordy is possessed
+The810kid probably because it wouldn't be very crucial to see Cordelia's reunion with the gang considering her role in Sunnydale had passed. But I understand where you're coming from, we could've used Cordelia's wit to end the perpetual tension and sense of maturity of Season 7.
Jason Sobotka I just wanted to see the gangs reaction to Cordy becoming such a different person. I think her and Xander could have worked by both series end with Anya gone and her never getting with Angel.
There's a great subtle moment when Buffy walks into the room with the dead guy and she barely flinches. Giles was so disgusted he almost vomited, but Buffy has seen so much that she just moves on
this episode is so important to the series. it solidifies the father/daughter relationship between buffy and gilles. it briefly highlights the inner workings (and pointless-ness) of the council. it also shows that in spite of buffy's fears and anxieties about being the slayer in the first two seasons, she is now not only accepting, but taking pride in, her role as the slayer. when the possibility of not being the slayer presents itself, buffy panics and doesn't know what to do. being the slayer is no longer an unchosen path. it's who she is, and more importantly its who she wants to be.
I like this episode because the point of view changes. Up until now, we kinda saw vampires as pussies and relatively weak, but that's only because we see them through Buffy who is especially designated to make them look as such. In the episode however where she takes a backseat to what being a normal person would look like, they actually are quite frightening.
Equally interesting is the general conflation of the word "pussy" (female body part) with the word "weak". Not too far a cry from "I throw knives like--" "A girl?"
@@BTTFMovie It’s shortened from another word. Pusillanimous (adj) - showing a lack of courage or determination; timid. Pussy also means “small kitten”, and if that’s an issue, maybe men should take issue with our body part being conflated with the male equivalent of the chicken, which is used to call someone “easily scared”.
When I first watch I thought they were forcing her to use her brains. Made sense to 12 y/o me "as she gets older she needs to prove she's also smart or else she'll die with age." Wtf, 18 isn't a sudden degeneration of the body. If a slayer gets this old then she's got a lot going, this "test" would just speed the process. Plus Buffy grants them the opportunity with 2 slayers. This is only about power over young girls. Soldiers over vets. Not over ability but the deeper understanding of their ability.
"If I was at full slayer power I'd be punning right about now." Love these self-effacing meta moments in the script where the writers basically tell the audience they're well aware of the tropes they're disseminating - in this case, Buffy's constant puns as she fights. It seems to me as a way of neutralising any feelings of "isn't this getting a bit cliché?" - they're quite happy to admit to it and slipping in a meta joke is the perfect way of handling it
Hey...I'm new here. I'm currently on a marathon of your videos. I had planned on saying something once I finished, but I had to say...you're doing a great job! You're making me love a show I already loved, even more. Thank you so much for these videos. You are doing fantastic!
Jeff Kober seems to do the whole 'supernatural villain' thing very well. He's in Buffy twice obviously, and he also appears as the ghost of a serial killer in the first season of Charmed. The guy does unsettling far too well.
+Max Yes, that's right -the group upon which Darryl found himself. He had a mad rule of "claimed" and then killed whoever lied -at all. He, of course, was the one determining 'truth' -much like the Watcher's Council.
He's a great character actor, I agree. Remember him on the X-files (although, he wasn't a villain there). He was on New Girl too a few times, as a creepy but strangely endearing landlord.
I just realized that within the show, the council saw the slayer as more of a tool to fight evil, not as an individual. the test is used as a way for the council to maintain their control of the slayer. Giles' slip when he says if in regards to the slayer is teling. as we see later in the show, slayers have shortened life spans due to the dangerous nature of their calling. in regards to the test, the council seems indifferent to buffy or any slayer failing it. a new one is called. a younger one that they can control. an object not a person.
And as we see, it's Buffy's friends, family - her contacts to the mortal world that keeps her from loosing her connection to the rest of humanity. We even get to see he die in that Alternate Timeline with Cordelia and the Necklace. THAT Buffy is scarred, Hardened, Lost her sense of empathy, etc. She is the slayer and nothing else.... The sad part is that this is also where her weak point is - she has nothing that makes her fight with a passion for staying alive, nothing to return to after dealing with the big bad.... just more slaying. Spike also makes mention of this, that it's how he'd managed to kill Slayers in the past.
Instead of young girls with lives the Council just sees the Slayers as expendable soldiers. Which is why their reactions to Slayers dying is "Eh. A new one will just get called anyway." They're as bad as the evils they get the Slayers to fight. The fact that Travers didn't care whether Buffy, her mother and her friends were all killed by Kralik only about whether Buffy could kill a vampire without her powers shows what an asshole he is.
They mention that again in Checkpoint in season 5. They say that the slayer is the instrument with which the council fights evil. Giles then responds with 'she's not your bloody instrument and you have no right to do any of this'. Any of this referring to the council holding vital, world-saving-or-ending information hostage, and whether or not they share it being contingent on Buffy passing their review. It also comes up when Wesley shows up, later in season 3. He's so blown away by the idea that Buffy wants to leave Sunnydale to attend college, that Buffy actually has to remind him that she's also a person.
I absolutely love this episode. It's so incredibly well-acted by everybody, Sarah Michelle Gellar especially. You can just feel how lost she is without her slayer identity without her even having to say anything. And the way she played out the two suspenseful horror scenes where Kralik chases her is so incredibly convincing that she is so terrified about being powerless. There are a lot of moments in the series where Buffy only feels useful when she can fight. She feels like she's not good at anything, has lost the ability to be special outside of being a Slayer. As much as she absolutely hates being the Slayer, she still defines her self-worth on how well she can protect and defend both herself and other people. And I think this is the first episode in the series that truly puts a spotlight on that.
"The length of time something has been done the wrong way is never a good argument for continuing to do it". Thank you for that line, I'm probably gonna use it myself quite a bit. Fun piece of trivia: The original script for the episode had Giles fired around the middle of it, and then re-hired by the end. But when Joss read it, he loved the idea of firing Giles and decided to make it permanent. Oh, Joss. It's interesting that Faith never goes through the same trial. It's almost like the council doesn't see her as a true Slayer. How old is Faith anyway? I have no idea. Also, if you ever have a terrible birthday - Just remember it's still better than most of Buffy's. What else? Oh! The new opening title. Love it. Good job on that. And this review in general, it was great. Next week's (heh, I wish) episode should be a really fun one. Highly looking forward to it
+Rupti Doolooroodoo Well, considering the fact that Buffy was called as a Slayer about 2 years before Faith (Faith was called when Kendra died, in 'Becoming', 2x21), I think it's safe to assume that Faith is at *least* slightly younger than Buffy. My bet is that she is a year younger, so the lack of a test for Faith makes sense.
+Guy R Faith has so little trust in the Council by this point that she'd never sit still long enough for them to drug her and if they tried it she'd be much quicker to suspect them.
Angry rant here--Faith is a MINOR in season 3 who the adults leave alone in a filthy, unsafe motel room. Nobody checks on her. Nobody gives a shit. Is it any wonder that when the mayor offered her a nice apartment, gave her cookies and milk and showered her with affection, she turned completely?
This episode does what I think so many of the best horror stories do. It takes relatable fears of things that can really happen, and then makes them that much worse. Buffy fears not being her best, not being what she once was. More importantly, she fears being helpless, even in the face of normal misogynistic humans. Then comes Kralik.
+Glitch_Crazed As the nerd says, "The objective of a debate is to win. The objective of a conversation is to understand." Please help me understand why this is one of your favorite episodes ever.
+Melody Clark As I agree with Glitch, I'll offer my opinion. There are very few one-off villains that are acted convincingly, that are legitimately scary (The Gentlemen notwithstanding, of course), and there are very few occasions where Buffy has to rely on her wits as opposed to her powers. Add to that the fact that Giles' relationship to Buffy drastically shifts after this episode from "Father in control of the child" to "Father advising an adult," and have a cocktail of awesome that explains why I love this episode. I don't care about the "Council as Patriarchy" subplot, or the subversion of masculinity that runs throughout, but I do love the rest of it.
I liked it because it put Buffy in a situation where she had to rely on something other than her slayer powers to defeat the vampire here. She used her mind and not her strength to defeat the vampire here. It was a cool situation to put her in as its one of the times I liked seeing what lengths Buffy would go to in order to save someone she loved despite not having her slayer powers and her going up against one of the strongest villains ever in the show.
Yay, you're back! Thank you for another amazing review, and I love the new title sequence. HELPLESS is one of my absolute favourite episodes, for a number of reasons: 1) The acting. Seeing ASH being manipulative and creepy is great, and SMG's breakdown when she learns of Giles' betrayal is heartbreaking 2) The development of the father-daughter relationship between Buffy and Giles, and how much this is frowned upon. I LOVE their dynamic; I think this is the first time Buffy tells Giles (albeit in a roundabout way) that she sees him as a father figure, and he proves by the end that he feels the same way about her. 3) Buffy's intelligence. That she doesn't need her strength to win the day, but it's also such a telling moment for her as she realises how much she relies on it. She doesn't tell the jock that he's being a dick and to leave Cordy alone, she tries to physically separate them. 4) The history of the Slayers and the Council. This is something that we will get further into over the course of the series. 5) The Red Riding Hood parallels. It's one of my favourites. 6) The tension. I'm a sucker for it. As a UK viewer, I can add a tuppence in the 18th birthday comment: Traditionally this is when you become independent of your parents. On your 18th birthday you would be given your own key to the home, allowing you to come and go as you please (in years gone by). You can drink, vote, and work in any field you choose (under 18s are not allowed to serve alcohol and earn a lower wage). I like the idea that the Council would choose this milestone to essentially prove to a Slayer that she still needs them, or to dispose of her under the guise of a test. Kendra mentions that she was taken from her family at a young age to train, so I think the US might be an exception to the way Slayers are treated. We know from Season 7 that they know how to find Potentials, and Buffy does the exact same thing that the Council did to Kendra -- she takes the girls from their families and teaches them to fight the good fight. I could go on about this episode for hours. Maybe I should just make a response video instead of forcing everyone to read this ESSAY of a comment!
From my understanding, when feminists refer to "The Patriarchy", we mean not a shadowy cabal of men determining how the world is run, but the amorphous unwritten "traditions" by which society conducts itself- usually these conventions benefit men, though not always. With that in mind, I reaaly like the Council as Patriarchy theme in this episode. The "we do this because we always have" mindset is a good reflection of certain parts of society.
agreed. While there are a lot of things about feminism as movement that make me deeply uncomfortable (we'll get into that), it is more about the system. That said, as someone that's been in a lot of rights groups, they're sometimes part of systematic oppression themselves. Rights work tends to attract certain types of people, and not all of them are helpful (some are very toxic personalities), it also tends to be the more privileged people (the 1% of their group so to speak). This can result in a dynamic where the rights group itself becomes used as a way to increase and cement the rights of the most privledged members of the group on the backs of everyone else. Now, in rights groups that are willing to accept this as a real problem, its manageable...but not all rights movements are, and this can make that darker side of rights work go unchecked or even proliferate. And once that happens, its very hard for everyone else to get concepts cause we learn by example. So, to circle back to feminism, I think there's a bit of that. And obviously this isn't a criticism of feminism as an ideology or of individual feminist as I know many are not like this, but is a criticism that as a movement (or, more realistically, set of movements) its something that needs to be worked on.
I agree. Excusing a critique or objection of the way things are in the present simply by saying that "this is the way it's been for x amount of time" is a terrible reason to maintain the status quo. ANd the Metaphore for the Watcher's Council being the Patriarchy is really just a perpetuating theme that rings true throughout the entire show, except for S5Ep12 Checkpoint.
Nobody thinks there's a shadowy cabal of men. The patriarchy is so much more out in the open than that! It's all around us, which is why it is often unnoticed.
Thank you. While every feminist will have a slightly different interpretation of a vague descriptor, all those roads lead to Rome in one way or another. For me, "the patriarchy" is the system in place with all its inherent, subtle, systemic discriminations. Things that aren't necessarily malevolant, but at least ignorant. It's how for centuries, medicine has treated women like "men with bothersome hormonal aspects" instead of a distinct group - which is why nowadays pretty much every lay person knows the indicator for a heart attack in men while even a large number of doctors don't know those indicators for women. Even Whedon himself is part of the patriarchy, because his strong female characters tend to be strong in a masculine interpretation of strength - which is inherently patriarchal. In Firefly, Kaylee is a mechanic, Zoe is a soldier. Add to that Buffy, who is a slayer, they are all women who are portrayed to be strong by virtue of being more masculine than "other girls". That's not to say it's entirely bad and all those characters are still very feminin - but why do we live in a society where we herocize the wrong virtues? Shouldn't we celebrate teachers (who are predominantly female) who fulfill probably the most important role in a society based around intellect and ingenuity instead of soldiers (who are predominantly male) who perform violence when violence is decidedly the primitive aspect we should shed? That's the bottom line of the patriarchy. It's a lack of reflection on how the world works and that it should work differently. It's people thinking that the unfairness visible on the surface (say, the wage gap) is a result of something fair, disregarding the underlying unfairness that leads to it. So, no. Joss Whedon is not the person to tackle this issue. He is however someone who crawls, so others in the future can run. He is a dude throwing buckets of paint at the wall but we still need more refined approaches to come with a finer brush.
Thank god! I was going through serious TPN withdrawal. Very insightful review! "The length of time something has been done the wrong way is never a good argument to continue to do it." I swear if I was still in college I would plagiarize the heck outta you.
I didn't even realize half the things you said in this video. I love how BtVS is still teaching me new lessons after all these years. It's also a nice subtle touch how Buffy is shown helping Angel become a better fighter by training with him.
No more bad episodes in season three from here on out. This episode has always been a top favorite of season three. I never considered his pill popping as a habit. I always thought it was a vampire who was physically ill. I shouldn't have considering vampires wouldn't actually need to take them and can now forgive the writers for this mistake that actually wasn't. I agree with the type of love Angel represents because of Buffy's own age (SPOILER ALERT and her trying to recreate it with Riley, who represents failed attempts to move on later on in the series. And as another side note of love, Spike, with every season; including the comics; represents true love and it's up's and downs). This episode's soundtrack always reminds me of nails on a chalkboard and it works. A nightmare cat and mouse was the perfect way to describe the episode climax. I always liked that when Joss Whedon was pitched the idea he loved the moment that went against the shows reason for existing (a blonde goes into an alley and is ready for her attacker) enough to approve it. Her running and calling out for help is part of what he loved about the idea behind it. My favorite part of this episode was the look on Buffy's face when Travers unintentionally repairs the rift between Buffy and Giles by saying that Giles, "has a father's love for the child."
There's a whole lot of stuff about Cordelia in this episode too - like Buffy comparing herself to her explicitly, Cordy saving Buffy in a reverse of the status quo, and Cordy offering her a ride home after Giles reveals the truth. Any ideas on what that indicates for the series' symbolism?
You said that you wanted a conversation, but I find myself speechless after the apt and deft analysis you have of this episode. I always enjoy your breakdowns, but this one is a particular favorite of mine. Thanks so much for all of your hard work.
I just finished watching Buffy for the first time I'm currently in my "it can't be over I need more" phase. While looking for behind the scenes and fan made videos I found your channel, I have just finished binge watching your videos and I can say you have earned my subscription. I will say Spike is my favorite character and you will soon start reviewing my favorite seasons. I'm a little worried how your reviews will change my opinion, but I remember you saying season 6 was your favorite so I remain hopeful, if nervous.
Great Video! I've seen some other commenters mention it, but I love the moment where Buffy asks Cordelia to drive her home, and Cordelia agrees without question, without asking for an explanation, even though the two girls have never been close friends, and Cordelia has probably become more distant from the Scoobies again since her break up with Xander. You get the sense that Cordelia understands what Buffy's going through without needing to know the details, and it leads to a lovely moment of solidarity between two female characters who don't usually interact. As such, it fits nicely into the episode's thematically.
I often find when I'm watching your videos, particularly as of late, that I really don't have much to add. You pretty much bring up everything that needs to be said and I agree with the entirety of it. That said, the one thing about this episode that always stood out to me the most is how Giles's betrayal contrasts with him being mad at Buffy several episodes ago for keeping Angel's return a secret. This season as a whole is not particularly kind to their relationship, but I think it ends up strengthening quite a bit as a result of the hardships on both sides.
+BillyTBum Good catch. I hadn't made that connection. All of this (Dead Man's Party included) is isolating her and leading up to Bad Girls. Whenever I get to the scene where Giles believes her when she says she didn't commit the murder, I'll mention your observation here. Cheers.
Killer intro. What you said about debates and conversations was smart. Many of us forget that sometimes our opinions don't have to be right and the only ones that matter. Others opinions whether we agree or not can still be insightful. Also. What you did with your channel intro is a mass improvement and just cool. :D
10:29-10:48 I like what you said here especially, the length of time something has been done the wrong way is never a good argument continuing to do it "
This episode is Terrifying and I love it. The crazy vampire definitely brought back the fact that vampires are scary in this show something we havent seen since season 2 with Angelus. Also I would like to add and I"m surprised you didn't talk about it is that Buffy made the comment in this episode that she couldn't go back to being a "normal girl" She NEEDED to be the slayer. And we've seen in the past that being the slayer is something she would have given anything to give up or give away. Also Angel with all of his stalkerish tendencies let her walk at night by herself. I was a little surprised by that.
+gogetta159 Well THAT massive improvement (the intro) was due to someone who watched the channel. Thanks be to AM. Asad is crazy talented. But thank you for the kind word.
About half a year ago I watched "Why you should watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Why You Should Watch Angel", and thought they were brilliant videos. TH-cam has recommended a fair amount of your other videos to me, and they've looked good, but I never actually watched any until this one. ...And _holy crap_. I need to watch this entire episode guide now. This is so effing good.
Love the new little intro part! and another fantastic episode by you good sir! still horrified that you don't have more subscribers yet, you're one of my favourite youtubers.
Yeah its something I always look forward to seeing in my subscription box I really enjoy listening to your point of view and you always seem to point out details I've missed
This episode was and still is an absolute favourite of mine. Many different pieces just seem to slide together perfectly. And while I agree with you in that it Isn't an episode to frequently return to, it will always stay with me due to how powerful each moment is. As a 20 year old now, this episode still unnerves me, but I first watched it when I was 15 or 16 and I remember being terrified by every little thing it continued to throw at me. Also, excellent review. I never get tired of hearing you talk so passionately about this amazing series. :)
I just want to tell you I really enjoy these, and they help me get insight to my favorite show of all time. Also I think its time for a re-watch, I just want to cry more I guess.
Thanks for this. I've literally just watched Chosen having started watching the series from the beginning. What a ride! I really enjoy your videos. Thanks for the work.
I hate Quentin Travers the leader of the Watcher Council so much. Even in that one episode in Season 5 when he comes back because Buffy left the Watchers and they're mad because they serve no purpose anymore and they're just desperate, I'm so glad she called them out on that by the end and I cheered with the rest of the Scooby Gang.
I love the way both of Buffy's father figures 'betray' her in this episode- her dad blowing off seeing her on her birthday and Giles drugging and lying to her. The fact that Giles atones for this mistake and earns back her forgiveness almost seems like a definitive solidification of him as her father figure. Her letting him attend to her wound at the end of the episode feels like her choosing Giles over her dad, since her dad really doesn't have any presence in the series at all after this point.
I love your episode guides. Such a great way to keep interacting with the buffyverse without having to actually re-watch the episodes. The new intro is awesome btw!
I just watched another TH-camr's reaction to 'Helpless' and came back here because I had a lightbulb moment. If we guesstimate the Slayer has been around for 200,000 years, that half of all Slayers lived to 18, and that 1 in 10 of these was killed during the Cruciamentum, the Watchers Council have murdered *at least* 550 of their own Slayers (likely more given what we know about the, uh... "wet works" team). Buffy's power is inherited from all the previous Slayers. Her saying "bite me" to Quentin Travers isn't just lowering him to the level of a vampire, but it's essentially her speaking for the *hundreds* of girls murdered by the Watcher's Council throughout history, AS the Slayer TO the institution who killed them.
I was just wondering when the next episode of this would get here. This was a pretty powerful Buffy episode. It really set the tone for the Watcher's Council and Wesley's introduction in general. Amoral and incompetent, that's how they get things done!
I always get so excited when I get the notification you've uploaded a new video! Excellent analysis, as always. I love this episode so much for two reasons. First, the emotional gut punch and shock of Giles betraying Buffy left me completely speechless the first time I watched it. And secondly, while the show has always been about womanhood and growing up, this one is the first episode to very explicitly touch on the issues of female autonomy, institutional patriarchy, and the way these things affect teenage girls. Also the new intro looks fantastic!
3 things to say. One, I love your opening, a much needed addressing of our conversation about this cherished series as a whole. (PS. Not only am I really enjoying your guide, i'm really looking forward to when you cover the even more meatier 4 seasons to come.) Talking of which... Thank you. You've got me watching all of Buffy for a second time. I watched all once around the time of original airing, since which I've only rewatched my favourite eight episodes, and many times. A great piece of art always has greater depths to offer on second, third, and subsequent viewings. With my favourite TV show I've missed this. Until now. Because of you. Sincere thanks. I'm glad you're enjoying the rewatching. I quite enjoyed rewatching this episode recently (so I was prepared to watch this guide). And I'm also not normally into horror (I'm not a great fan of Hush, shock gasp, err, horror---no pun intended).
Ian! This is one of my favorite reviews of yours. I love it when I forget all about you for a couple of weeks -- I mean this in the nicest possible way -- because then I get to watch a video or 3. This equals "yay".
Great review! This episode scares the bejesus out of me on the basic 'horror movie' level but mostly on the 'oh my god we can't trust Giles' level. So pleased to see this review, too: I hope you're well.
One of my favorite eps, and you're quite right that Jeff Kober is FANTASTIC as Kralik. He's really menacing, frightening, and just over-the-top by the right amount. Harris Yulin is also great as Travers, playing him as an utterly despicable prick. Watching him and the Council lose their power over Buffy in later eps was very satisfying.
Awesome review as always, thank you so much!! This is one of my favorite episodes in the show and I think it paves the way for the plot and ending of season 7. I think Joss Whedon masterfully adresses gender issues in all of his shows!
I check the channel every day, and HUZZAH!!! here it is. As always, great stuff, and I look forward to your next episode! Thank you. And kudos on the new intro.
First off, the new intro looks amazing! Secondly, I always look forward to your video analysis - these can't come fast enough. I really appreciate all the work you put into these! Helpless isn't one of my favourite episodes either but seeing these snippets of Kralik again, makes me want to revisit it again. The reason I'm not particularly fond of the episodes in this season is the presence of Angel. Your assessment of angsty teen Hot Topic love is a spot on description of their dynamic and the clip you used, in which Angel confesses to basically stalking a younger Buffy, gave me horrible flashbacks to Twilight. Edward is basically the worst character aspects of Angel having been kidnapped by Myers(?) and then she runs off into the hills, cackling crazily. Blergh. Thank God, Whedon and the writers had more common sense (and tons more talent!).
I saw a lot of the parallels with Little Red Riding Hood as well, some of them I wasnt sure if I was just looking into it too much. And with Whedon being a feminist, and the whole idea behind the show, a girl who can beat the crap out of the monsters who attack her, the council could very much represent some sort of patriarchy. I do think this is a good episode, but like some other people are saying its not one that stands out for me. I didnt know you werent much of a horror fan, Ian, I myself am a huge horror fan but the great thing about Buffy is it can be looked at like as a horror, comedy, drama, sci fi, fantasy, so many different things are incorporated into this show and I think thats why almost 20 years later its still relevant and still holds up
Thank you for your channel. Always very interesting, informative and entertaining. And thank you for turning me on to Mark Field's book. I finished it about two weeks ago and now have a much deeper appreciation of the show. Particularly season four. Which I had never really understood. At least now I understand, why I didn't understand. I have had minimal exposure to Camus and Sartre. although I was aware of the central place that "Nausea" holds in Joss Whedon's heart. (I swear it was unplanned that the last sentence ended up that way.) But several works by both authors are in my kindle library now, along with "Sonnets From the Portuguese". All to be read soon.
This was worth the wait, stellar review! I think it's interesting how much you qualified the term "patriarchy" for the intro, I would use it much more liberally in regards to the WC. However, the contrast you made between patriarch/patriarchal/patriarchy was super fascinating considering the WC's role throughout the rest of the series. Makes me excited for Wesley coming up soon and then jumping all the way to Checkpoint in season 5! Keep up the good work, man! I'm really enjoying your work :) p.s. The new intro graphic looks awesome!
Thanks again for such a brilliant review! I've always despised the Watcher's Council, and this episode was the beginning of my hatred for them. In each episode of Buffy where they appear, they do awful things and just generally act like complete jerks, but you hit the nail on the head by comparing them to the patriarchy. I actually just watched the episode 'Lineage' in season 5 of Angel (SPOILERS) with Wesley's "dad", which made me feel really sorry for Wesley, and reinforce my loathing of the Watcher's Council. Thanks again!
YESSSSSSS in regards to the cruciamentum test that's what my thoughts were about it as well. The test has no purpose other than reinforce the councils power over the slayer.
I've never actually considered the Watcher's Council in the important role they play -and to this extent. In my head I substitute Slayer's Council or whatever word or concept 'applies' except I didn't realise the fact (and it is one) that they survive by keeping these girls disempowered if not dead by the time they're 18. Seemingly, the younger the better. They exist to keep the Watcher separate from the Slayer: so the Parent/Child relationship cannot grow. They prefer the Slayer eviscerated. Interesting how ultimately Buffy might feel distanced from Giles at this point subsequent to the episode where she's reminded by Giles how Angel tortured him "for days". Now, the table's turned. He *is* positively destroyed about The Test and yet is willing to go along in the first place. An interesting connection with Buffy's need to hide Angel: she at least has an excellent excuse: Giles, I'm not so sure. He redeems himself ultimately and yet it's almost too late. Each 'parent' in this season is flawed: not just more obviously the Mayor, Faith's boss and parent substitute, but also Giles. I think this is the first 'chapter' beyond 'Ripper' Giles where we see a complex relationship developing with Buffy.
Amazing as always -- def worth the wait. I recently noticed the Red Riding outfit of Buffy but didn't make the full connection of what it meant. Thanks for the extra fat to chew.
I've never liked this episode precisely because the test made no sense to me and I never believed that Giles would betray Buffy like that. Your take on it is a profound revelation. Placed in the context of the series, including the comics, as a whole you can even see how the old patriarchal Watcher's Council destroyed itself by refusing to change fast enough and was replaced with something far more based on equality and feminism.
Okay I’m just glad you or at least some people are starting to acknowledge the statutory-ness of Angel. Even if he was human he wasn’t turned at 16 or even 18. He was turned in his mid to late twenties so either way he’s a creeper who “fell in love” with a 15 yr old girl at first sight. Looking at angel when he saw Buddy for the first time. If I was a mother I wouldn’t want my child anywhere NEAR him.
+Passion of the Nerd....totally agree with the debate point...whats cool about Buffy and Angel and other symbolic TV shows is that they invoke conversation. Though unfortunately what I have found in the area where I live is that people that are fans of this stuff either don't have much to say about it or uses their fandom to impose superiority to others who like the show as well but may not be on that same level fandom. If we are truly fans of a show, any chance to talk about it should be welcome and an opportunity to connect and learn not only more about the show but about each other. That's what art does, it connects and shows a mirror on humanity and society. Which make no mistake, I believe Buffy and Angel is art. (imperfectly perfect meaningful art) I hope you do this kind of production for Angel as well! Angel is my all time favorite TV show. Also if you like this stuff I would totally suggest bring human (strictly UK version, do not touch the US...it just doesn't have the. same meaning as the UK's does) and Penny Dreadful. Keep up the good work...I look forward to your next episode!
One of the greatest Lore episodes. Cordelia is the MVP as she first fights off the lout that shoves Buffy, and then when she's "You're Buffy...BU-ffy." instantly helpful.
Another piece of evidence that the test is just a method of controlling Slayers and keeping them young and inexperienced is the fact that the WC never pays Buffy for what she does, even later when she has to survive under her own steam. Sure, Buffy herself never seems to expect them to pay her, but surely if enough Slayers reached her age, one of them would begin to question why she has to take on some menial job just to cover her basic necessities when she's performing all their world-saving for free.
As much as I like this episode I felt the tension was under the rug. I would be curious to see Xavier and Willows attitudes towards Giles after. I know drama can drag and I'm glad that they moved on past this quickly but it almost felt too quickly. Giles should have had to work a little harder to gain everyone's love and trust back in my opinion.
The bit when Buffy asks Cordelia to drive her home and she instantly drops her Cordy-ness and says "sure" is so touching. You see how beneath all the material superficial stuff, she has a real heart, a caring soul. It's a moment which I think neatly anticipates how caring she is in Angel.
+defrostedrobot77 To be fair that was more banter, and Buffy and Xander (even though they dated) weren't close friends with Cordelia. There personalities were always clashing.
+Alistair Drennan +Passion of the Nerd I felt that Cordelia's showing up to drive Buffy home in this episode is another reference to Cordelia being the 'hero' in the situation once again.
I agree it's kind of sad how Joss never had Cordy cross over with the scoobies in the later yrs and interact with any of them. The closest was the Harmony conversation with Willow over the phone I don't count season 4/7 when Cordy is possessed
+The810kid probably because it wouldn't be very crucial to see Cordelia's reunion with the gang considering her role in Sunnydale had passed. But I understand where you're coming from, we could've used Cordelia's wit to end the perpetual tension and sense of maturity of Season 7.
Jason Sobotka I just wanted to see the gangs reaction to Cordy becoming such a different person. I think her and Xander could have worked by both series end with Anya gone and her never getting with Angel.
There's a great subtle moment when Buffy walks into the room with the dead guy and she barely flinches. Giles was so disgusted he almost vomited, but Buffy has seen so much that she just moves on
this episode is so important to the series. it solidifies the father/daughter relationship between buffy and gilles. it briefly highlights the inner workings (and pointless-ness) of the council. it also shows that in spite of buffy's fears and anxieties about being the slayer in the first two seasons, she is now not only accepting, but taking pride in, her role as the slayer. when the possibility of not being the slayer presents itself, buffy panics and doesn't know what to do. being the slayer is no longer an unchosen path. it's who she is, and more importantly its who she wants to be.
The act of doing that to buffy literally kills the 'stereotypical watcher' in Giles. He becomes a Caretaker, not a watcher after that.
I like this episode because the point of view changes. Up until now, we kinda saw vampires as pussies and relatively weak, but that's only because we see them through Buffy who is especially designated to make them look as such. In the episode however where she takes a backseat to what being a normal person would look like, they actually are quite frightening.
Good point
Especially Kralik in this one since he was a serial killer even before he was turned into a vampire.
Equally interesting is the general conflation of the word "pussy" (female body part) with the word "weak". Not too far a cry from "I throw knives like--" "A girl?"
@@BTTFMovie It’s shortened from another word.
Pusillanimous (adj) - showing a lack of courage or determination; timid.
Pussy also means “small kitten”, and if that’s an issue, maybe men should take issue with our body part being conflated with the male equivalent of the chicken, which is used to call someone “easily scared”.
@@alexman378 Touché.
The tradition to kill off slayers before they get a mind of their own. Wow, that's really, really good!
Given how corrupt the Watcher's Council seems to be that's probably exactly what they do.
@@KyleTranel Indeed. One simply needs to imagine Kendra's reaction to this so-called trial to see your point.
I was today years old when I realized this
When I first watch I thought they were forcing her to use her brains. Made sense to 12 y/o me "as she gets older she needs to prove she's also smart or else she'll die with age." Wtf, 18 isn't a sudden degeneration of the body. If a slayer gets this old then she's got a lot going, this "test" would just speed the process. Plus Buffy grants them the opportunity with 2 slayers. This is only about power over young girls. Soldiers over vets. Not over ability but the deeper understanding of their ability.
What if the slayer is already older than 18 when they become the slayer?
"If I was at full slayer power I'd be punning right about now." Love these self-effacing meta moments in the script where the writers basically tell the audience they're well aware of the tropes they're disseminating - in this case, Buffy's constant puns as she fights. It seems to me as a way of neutralising any feelings of "isn't this getting a bit cliché?" - they're quite happy to admit to it and slipping in a meta joke is the perfect way of handling it
hands down you hand the best Buffy channel
Ikr! He's such a genius.
I wonder if Buffy had intended to hit Giles with the case when she threw it at him and missed because she didn’t have her normal Slayer skills.
Hey...I'm new here. I'm currently on a marathon of your videos. I had planned on saying something once I finished, but I had to say...you're doing a great job! You're making me love a show I already loved, even more. Thank you so much for these videos. You are doing fantastic!
My pleasure. Welcome.
Great video! I love that this episode shows that Buffy is more than just her physical powers. She can use her mind too!
+KCfan7989 Buffy's intelligence is constantly overlooked and underappreciated IMO. (the comics are doing the character no favors on that account)
Jeff Kober seems to do the whole 'supernatural villain' thing very well. He's in Buffy twice obviously, and he also appears as the ghost of a serial killer in the first season of Charmed. The guy does unsettling far too well.
Kobe plays villains in general well he plays a crooked politician in sons of Anarchy and the head of small group of goons in the walking dead.
+Max Yes, that's right -the group upon which Darryl found himself. He had a mad rule of "claimed" and then killed whoever lied -at all. He, of course, was the one determining 'truth' -much like the Watcher's Council.
He's a great character actor, I agree. Remember him on the X-files (although, he wasn't a villain there). He was on New Girl too a few times, as a creepy but strangely endearing landlord.
It's no sci fi but pretty sure he was in burn notice as the bad guy of the week too
I just realized that within the show, the council saw the slayer as more of a tool to fight evil, not as an individual. the test is used as a way for the council to maintain their control of the slayer. Giles' slip when he says if in regards to the slayer is teling. as we see later in the show, slayers have shortened life spans due to the dangerous nature of their calling. in regards to the test, the council seems indifferent to buffy or any slayer failing it. a new one is called. a younger one that they can control. an object not a person.
And as we see, it's Buffy's friends, family - her contacts to the mortal world that keeps her from loosing her connection to the rest of humanity. We even get to see he die in that Alternate Timeline with Cordelia and the Necklace. THAT Buffy is scarred, Hardened, Lost her sense of empathy, etc. She is the slayer and nothing else.... The sad part is that this is also where her weak point is - she has nothing that makes her fight with a passion for staying alive, nothing to return to after dealing with the big bad.... just more slaying.
Spike also makes mention of this, that it's how he'd managed to kill Slayers in the past.
Instead of young girls with lives the Council just sees the Slayers as expendable soldiers. Which is why their reactions to Slayers dying is "Eh. A new one will just get called anyway." They're as bad as the evils they get the Slayers to fight. The fact that Travers didn't care whether Buffy, her mother and her friends were all killed by Kralik only about whether Buffy could kill a vampire without her powers shows what an asshole he is.
They mention that again in Checkpoint in season 5. They say that the slayer is the instrument with which the council fights evil. Giles then responds with 'she's not your bloody instrument and you have no right to do any of this'. Any of this referring to the council holding vital, world-saving-or-ending information hostage, and whether or not they share it being contingent on Buffy passing their review. It also comes up when Wesley shows up, later in season 3. He's so blown away by the idea that Buffy wants to leave Sunnydale to attend college, that Buffy actually has to remind him that she's also a person.
I absolutely love this episode. It's so incredibly well-acted by everybody, Sarah Michelle Gellar especially. You can just feel how lost she is without her slayer identity without her even having to say anything. And the way she played out the two suspenseful horror scenes where Kralik chases her is so incredibly convincing that she is so terrified about being powerless. There are a lot of moments in the series where Buffy only feels useful when she can fight. She feels like she's not good at anything, has lost the ability to be special outside of being a Slayer. As much as she absolutely hates being the Slayer, she still defines her self-worth on how well she can protect and defend both herself and other people. And I think this is the first episode in the series that truly puts a spotlight on that.
"The length of time something has been done the wrong way is never a good argument for continuing to do it". Thank you for that line, I'm probably gonna use it myself quite a bit.
Fun piece of trivia: The original script for the episode had Giles fired around the middle of it, and then re-hired by the end. But when Joss read it, he loved the idea of firing Giles and decided to make it permanent. Oh, Joss.
It's interesting that Faith never goes through the same trial. It's almost like the council doesn't see her as a true Slayer. How old is Faith anyway? I have no idea.
Also, if you ever have a terrible birthday - Just remember it's still better than most of Buffy's.
What else? Oh! The new opening title. Love it. Good job on that. And this review in general, it was great.
Next week's (heh, I wish) episode should be a really fun one. Highly looking forward to it
+Rupti Doolooroodoo Yeah, this episode makes me think Faith is younger than buffy.
+Rupti Doolooroodoo Well, considering the fact that Buffy was called as a Slayer about 2 years before Faith (Faith was called when Kendra died, in 'Becoming', 2x21), I think it's safe to assume that Faith is at *least* slightly younger than Buffy. My bet is that she is a year younger, so the lack of a test for Faith makes sense.
+Guy R Faith has so little trust in the Council by this point that she'd never sit still long enough for them to drug her and if they tried it she'd be much quicker to suspect them.
Faith’s date of birth is shown as December 14, 1980, or 1982.
Most fan sites show 1980 (one has it as 2007 {Wtf???}).
Angry rant here--Faith is a MINOR in season 3 who the adults leave alone in a filthy, unsafe motel room. Nobody checks on her. Nobody gives a shit. Is it any wonder that when the mayor offered her a nice apartment, gave her cookies and milk and showered her with affection, she turned completely?
This episode does what I think so many of the best horror stories do. It takes relatable fears of things that can really happen, and then makes them that much worse. Buffy fears not being her best, not being what she once was. More importantly, she fears being helpless, even in the face of normal misogynistic humans. Then comes Kralik.
This is actually one of my favorite episodes ever. Thanks for the video man
+Glitch_Crazed
As the nerd says, "The objective of a debate is to win. The objective of a conversation is to understand." Please help me understand why this is one of your favorite episodes ever.
+Melody Clark As I agree with Glitch, I'll offer my opinion. There are very few one-off villains that are acted convincingly, that are legitimately scary (The Gentlemen notwithstanding, of course), and there are very few occasions where Buffy has to rely on her wits as opposed to her powers.
Add to that the fact that Giles' relationship to Buffy drastically shifts after this episode from "Father in control of the child" to "Father advising an adult," and have a cocktail of awesome that explains why I love this episode. I don't care about the "Council as Patriarchy" subplot, or the subversion of masculinity that runs throughout, but I do love the rest of it.
I liked it because it put Buffy in a situation where she had to rely on something other than her slayer powers to defeat the vampire here. She used her mind and not her strength to defeat the vampire here. It was a cool situation to put her in as its one of the times I liked seeing what lengths Buffy would go to in order to save someone she loved despite not having her slayer powers and her going up against one of the strongest villains ever in the show.
Yay, you're back! Thank you for another amazing review, and I love the new title sequence. HELPLESS is one of my absolute favourite episodes, for a number of reasons:
1) The acting. Seeing ASH being manipulative and creepy is great, and SMG's breakdown when she learns of Giles' betrayal is heartbreaking
2) The development of the father-daughter relationship between Buffy and Giles, and how much this is frowned upon. I LOVE their dynamic; I think this is the first time Buffy tells Giles (albeit in a roundabout way) that she sees him as a father figure, and he proves by the end that he feels the same way about her.
3) Buffy's intelligence. That she doesn't need her strength to win the day, but it's also such a telling moment for her as she realises how much she relies on it. She doesn't tell the jock that he's being a dick and to leave Cordy alone, she tries to physically separate them.
4) The history of the Slayers and the Council. This is something that we will get further into over the course of the series.
5) The Red Riding Hood parallels. It's one of my favourites.
6) The tension. I'm a sucker for it.
As a UK viewer, I can add a tuppence in the 18th birthday comment: Traditionally this is when you become independent of your parents. On your 18th birthday you would be given your own key to the home, allowing you to come and go as you please (in years gone by). You can drink, vote, and work in any field you choose (under 18s are not allowed to serve alcohol and earn a lower wage). I like the idea that the Council would choose this milestone to essentially prove to a Slayer that she still needs them, or to dispose of her under the guise of a test. Kendra mentions that she was taken from her family at a young age to train, so I think the US might be an exception to the way Slayers are treated. We know from Season 7 that they know how to find Potentials, and Buffy does the exact same thing that the Council did to Kendra -- she takes the girls from their families and teaches them to fight the good fight.
I could go on about this episode for hours. Maybe I should just make a response video instead of forcing everyone to read this ESSAY of a comment!
From my understanding, when feminists refer to "The Patriarchy", we mean not a shadowy cabal of men determining how the world is run, but the amorphous unwritten "traditions" by which society conducts itself- usually these conventions benefit men, though not always.
With that in mind, I reaaly like the Council as Patriarchy theme in this episode. The "we do this because we always have" mindset is a good reflection of certain parts of society.
agreed. While there are a lot of things about feminism as movement that make me deeply uncomfortable (we'll get into that), it is more about the system. That said, as someone that's been in a lot of rights groups, they're sometimes part of systematic oppression themselves. Rights work tends to attract certain types of people, and not all of them are helpful (some are very toxic personalities), it also tends to be the more privileged people (the 1% of their group so to speak). This can result in a dynamic where the rights group itself becomes used as a way to increase and cement the rights of the most privledged members of the group on the backs of everyone else. Now, in rights groups that are willing to accept this as a real problem, its manageable...but not all rights movements are, and this can make that darker side of rights work go unchecked or even proliferate. And once that happens, its very hard for everyone else to get concepts cause we learn by example. So, to circle back to feminism, I think there's a bit of that. And obviously this isn't a criticism of feminism as an ideology or of individual feminist as I know many are not like this, but is a criticism that as a movement (or, more realistically, set of movements) its something that needs to be worked on.
@@annegrey3780 Damn. Well said.
I agree. Excusing a critique or objection of the way things are in the present simply by saying that "this is the way it's been for x amount of time" is a terrible reason to maintain the status quo. ANd the Metaphore for the Watcher's Council being the Patriarchy is really just a perpetuating theme that rings true throughout the entire show, except for S5Ep12 Checkpoint.
Nobody thinks there's a shadowy cabal of men. The patriarchy is so much more out in the open than that! It's all around us, which is why it is often unnoticed.
Thank you. While every feminist will have a slightly different interpretation of a vague descriptor, all those roads lead to Rome in one way or another. For me, "the patriarchy" is the system in place with all its inherent, subtle, systemic discriminations. Things that aren't necessarily malevolant, but at least ignorant. It's how for centuries, medicine has treated women like "men with bothersome hormonal aspects" instead of a distinct group - which is why nowadays pretty much every lay person knows the indicator for a heart attack in men while even a large number of doctors don't know those indicators for women. Even Whedon himself is part of the patriarchy, because his strong female characters tend to be strong in a masculine interpretation of strength - which is inherently patriarchal. In Firefly, Kaylee is a mechanic, Zoe is a soldier. Add to that Buffy, who is a slayer, they are all women who are portrayed to be strong by virtue of being more masculine than "other girls". That's not to say it's entirely bad and all those characters are still very feminin - but why do we live in a society where we herocize the wrong virtues? Shouldn't we celebrate teachers (who are predominantly female) who fulfill probably the most important role in a society based around intellect and ingenuity instead of soldiers (who are predominantly male) who perform violence when violence is decidedly the primitive aspect we should shed?
That's the bottom line of the patriarchy. It's a lack of reflection on how the world works and that it should work differently. It's people thinking that the unfairness visible on the surface (say, the wage gap) is a result of something fair, disregarding the underlying unfairness that leads to it. So, no. Joss Whedon is not the person to tackle this issue. He is however someone who crawls, so others in the future can run. He is a dude throwing buckets of paint at the wall but we still need more refined approaches to come with a finer brush.
From that introduction, I can already tell that Season 6 is gonna be lots of fun
Thank god! I was going through serious TPN withdrawal. Very insightful review! "The length of time something has been done the wrong way is never a good argument to continue to do it." I swear if I was still in college I would plagiarize the heck outta you.
Oh my God! I love your account name.
I didn't even realize half the things you said in this video. I love how BtVS is still teaching me new lessons after all these years. It's also a nice subtle touch how Buffy is shown helping Angel become a better fighter by training with him.
No more bad episodes in season three from here on out.
This episode has always been a top favorite of season three.
I never considered his pill popping as a habit. I always thought it was a vampire who was physically ill. I shouldn't have considering vampires wouldn't actually need to take them and can now forgive the writers for this mistake that actually wasn't.
I agree with the type of love Angel represents because of Buffy's own age (SPOILER ALERT and her trying to recreate it with Riley, who represents failed attempts to move on later on in the series. And as another side note of love, Spike, with every season; including the comics; represents true love and it's up's and downs).
This episode's soundtrack always reminds me of nails on a chalkboard and it works.
A nightmare cat and mouse was the perfect way to describe the episode climax.
I always liked that when Joss Whedon was pitched the idea he loved the moment that went against the shows reason for existing (a blonde goes into an alley and is ready for her attacker) enough to approve it. Her running and calling out for help is part of what he loved about the idea behind it.
My favorite part of this episode was the look on Buffy's face when Travers unintentionally repairs the rift between Buffy and Giles by saying that Giles, "has a father's love for the child."
One of the more gut-wrenching episodes when Buffy finds out what Giles has done to her. How many more betrayals by loved ones can she endure?
+mmoochable It's certainly isolating...
There's a whole lot of stuff about Cordelia in this episode too - like Buffy comparing herself to her explicitly, Cordy saving Buffy in a reverse of the status quo, and Cordy offering her a ride home after Giles reveals the truth. Any ideas on what that indicates for the series' symbolism?
I have been waiting 3 weeks for this video and I am so glad that it's here. I was afraid I dreamed this moment.
You said that you wanted a conversation, but I find myself speechless after the apt and deft analysis you have of this episode. I always enjoy your breakdowns, but this one is a particular favorite of mine.
Thanks so much for all of your hard work.
_Love_ the new intro, man. Very nice.
Also, very insightful commentary, and a fresh perspective on this episode. Can't wait for next time!
I just finished watching Buffy for the first time I'm currently in my "it can't be over I need more" phase. While looking for behind the scenes and fan made videos I found your channel, I have just finished binge watching your videos and I can say you have earned my subscription. I will say Spike is my favorite character and you will soon start reviewing my favorite seasons. I'm a little worried how your reviews will change my opinion, but I remember you saying season 6 was your favorite so I remain hopeful, if nervous.
Jesus CHRIST that credits sequence is beautiful!
Great Video! I've seen some other commenters mention it, but I love the moment where Buffy asks Cordelia to drive her home, and Cordelia agrees without question, without asking for an explanation, even though the two girls have never been close friends, and Cordelia has probably become more distant from the Scoobies again since her break up with Xander. You get the sense that Cordelia understands what Buffy's going through without needing to know the details, and it leads to a lovely moment of solidarity between two female characters who don't usually interact. As such, it fits nicely into the episode's thematically.
I often find when I'm watching your videos, particularly as of late, that I really don't have much to add. You pretty much bring up everything that needs to be said and I agree with the entirety of it.
That said, the one thing about this episode that always stood out to me the most is how Giles's betrayal contrasts with him being mad at Buffy several episodes ago for keeping Angel's return a secret. This season as a whole is not particularly kind to their relationship, but I think it ends up strengthening quite a bit as a result of the hardships on both sides.
+BillyTBum Good catch. I hadn't made that connection. All of this (Dead Man's Party included) is isolating her and leading up to Bad Girls. Whenever I get to the scene where Giles believes her when she says she didn't commit the murder, I'll mention your observation here. Cheers.
The new intro is amazing and every time you upload my day immediately gets 68% better. This is fact. I've done the math.
Killer intro. What you said about debates and conversations was smart. Many of us forget that sometimes our opinions don't have to be right and the only ones that matter. Others opinions whether we agree or not can still be insightful. Also. What you did with your channel intro is a mass improvement and just cool. :D
10:29-10:48 I like what you said here especially, the length of time something has been done the wrong way is never a good argument continuing to do it "
This episode is Terrifying and I love it. The crazy vampire definitely brought back the fact that vampires are scary in this show something we havent seen since season 2 with Angelus. Also I would like to add and I"m surprised you didn't talk about it is that Buffy made the comment in this episode that she couldn't go back to being a "normal girl" She NEEDED to be the slayer. And we've seen in the past that being the slayer is something she would have given anything to give up or give away. Also Angel with all of his stalkerish tendencies let her walk at night by herself. I was a little surprised by that.
I look forward to these videos more than I care to admit :) Thanks for the upload!
Loving the new opening. Your Episode Guides improve the further you go. Keep it up.
+gogetta159 Well THAT massive improvement (the intro) was due to someone who watched the channel. Thanks be to AM. Asad is crazy talented. But thank you for the kind word.
Ooh I love the new intro! looks lovely! 😊
One of few things tht I must drop everything to watch is this channel. Also nice new intro
About half a year ago I watched "Why you should watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Why You Should Watch Angel", and thought they were brilliant videos. TH-cam has recommended a fair amount of your other videos to me, and they've looked good, but I never actually watched any until this one.
...And _holy crap_. I need to watch this entire episode guide now. This is so effing good.
Love the new little intro part! and another fantastic episode by you good sir! still horrified that you don't have more subscribers yet, you're one of my favourite youtubers.
Yeah its something I always look forward to seeing in my subscription box I really enjoy listening to your point of view and you always seem to point out details I've missed
I sprayed my drink everywhere upon seeing that new intro!!! BEAUTIFUL. And fantastic analysis / review as always.
Also I had no idea she staked Angel with a baguette. I thought it was a blunted stake for the longest time. Lmao.
YAY! The budget is increasing
Thank you for your definition of the difference between debates and conversations. I appreciated it.
This episode was and still is an absolute favourite of mine. Many different pieces just seem to slide together perfectly. And while I agree with you in that it Isn't an episode to frequently return to, it will always stay with me due to how powerful each moment is.
As a 20 year old now, this episode still unnerves me, but I first watched it when I was 15 or 16 and I remember being terrified by every little thing it continued to throw at me. Also, excellent review. I never get tired of hearing you talk so passionately about this amazing series. :)
I just want to tell you I really enjoy these, and they help me get insight to my favorite show of all time. Also I think its time for a re-watch, I just want to cry more I guess.
I am really enjoying your commentary! I've been a huge BTVS fan since it's debut and this channel is great!
Thanks for this. I've literally just watched Chosen having started watching the series from the beginning. What a ride! I really enjoy your videos. Thanks for the work.
I hate Quentin Travers the leader of the Watcher Council so much. Even in that one episode in Season 5 when he comes back because Buffy left the Watchers and they're mad because they serve no purpose anymore and they're just desperate, I'm so glad she called them out on that by the end and I cheered with the rest of the Scooby Gang.
I love the way both of Buffy's father figures 'betray' her in this episode- her dad blowing off seeing her on her birthday and Giles drugging and lying to her. The fact that Giles atones for this mistake and earns back her forgiveness almost seems like a definitive solidification of him as her father figure. Her letting him attend to her wound at the end of the episode feels like her choosing Giles over her dad, since her dad really doesn't have any presence in the series at all after this point.
I love your episode guides. Such a great way to keep interacting with the buffyverse without having to actually re-watch the episodes. The new intro is awesome btw!
Omg this is awesome. Love your reviews and always look forward to the new ones. My favourite videos on TH-cam!
I just watched another TH-camr's reaction to 'Helpless' and came back here because I had a lightbulb moment. If we guesstimate the Slayer has been around for 200,000 years, that half of all Slayers lived to 18, and that 1 in 10 of these was killed during the Cruciamentum, the Watchers Council have murdered *at least* 550 of their own Slayers (likely more given what we know about the, uh... "wet works" team). Buffy's power is inherited from all the previous Slayers. Her saying "bite me" to Quentin Travers isn't just lowering him to the level of a vampire, but it's essentially her speaking for the *hundreds* of girls murdered by the Watcher's Council throughout history, AS the Slayer TO the institution who killed them.
Giles behaves like a monster. Amazed Buffy can ever forgive him.
Ill never forgive Giles for not taking Buffy to the icecapades 🙌
I was just wondering when the next episode of this would get here.
This was a pretty powerful Buffy episode. It really set the tone for the Watcher's Council and Wesley's introduction in general. Amoral and incompetent, that's how they get things done!
Dawns scenes in "Conversations with dead people" are also pretty fucking terrifying.
Love the new Intro by the way ;)
I always get so excited when I get the notification you've uploaded a new video! Excellent analysis, as always. I love this episode so much for two reasons. First, the emotional gut punch and shock of Giles betraying Buffy left me completely speechless the first time I watched it. And secondly, while the show has always been about womanhood and growing up, this one is the first episode to very explicitly touch on the issues of female autonomy, institutional patriarchy, and the way these things affect teenage girls.
Also the new intro looks fantastic!
"Bite me"... Never thought about the double meaning. Brilliant!
I love your episode guide! Keep it coming!
Cheers, from Jerusalem.
3 things to say. One, I love your opening, a much needed addressing of our conversation about this cherished series as a whole. (PS. Not only am I really enjoying your guide, i'm really looking forward to when you cover the even more meatier 4 seasons to come.)
Talking of which... Thank you. You've got me watching all of Buffy for a second time. I watched all once around the time of original airing, since which I've only rewatched my favourite eight episodes, and many times. A great piece of art always has greater depths to offer on second, third, and subsequent viewings. With my favourite TV show I've missed this. Until now. Because of you. Sincere thanks.
I'm glad you're enjoying the rewatching. I quite enjoyed rewatching this episode recently (so I was prepared to watch this guide). And I'm also not normally into horror (I'm not a great fan of Hush, shock gasp, err, horror---no pun intended).
+Warren Day Thanks for the kind word.
Great episode if for no other reason than it creates the reason for my favorite character in all of fiction to exist.
Ian! This is one of my favorite reviews of yours.
I love it when I forget all about you for a couple of weeks -- I mean this in the nicest possible way -- because then I get to watch a video or 3. This equals "yay".
I love your new intro!!
Great review! This episode scares the bejesus out of me on the basic 'horror movie' level but mostly on the 'oh my god we can't trust Giles' level. So pleased to see this review, too: I hope you're well.
One of my favorite eps, and you're quite right that Jeff Kober is FANTASTIC as Kralik. He's really menacing, frightening, and just over-the-top by the right amount. Harris Yulin is also great as Travers, playing him as an utterly despicable prick. Watching him and the Council lose their power over Buffy in later eps was very satisfying.
I love these videos, there the highlight of my day whenever there posted :)
+Rebecca Deaton Mine as well. Thanks for the kind word.
I absolutely love Helpless, its such an intense epsiode! thanks for the awesome review.
Awesome review as always, thank you so much!! This is one of my favorite episodes in the show and I think it paves the way for the plot and ending of season 7. I think Joss Whedon masterfully adresses gender issues in all of his shows!
Just found your channel. Bookmarking so I can binge watch all your episode guides this weekend :)
I check the channel every day, and HUZZAH!!! here it is. As always, great stuff, and I look forward to your next episode!
Thank you. And kudos on the new intro.
First off, the new intro looks amazing!
Secondly, I always look forward to your video analysis - these can't come fast enough. I really appreciate all the work you put into these!
Helpless isn't one of my favourite episodes either but seeing these snippets of Kralik again, makes me want to revisit it again.
The reason I'm not particularly fond of the episodes in this season is the presence of Angel. Your assessment of angsty teen Hot Topic love is a spot on description of their dynamic and the clip you used, in which Angel confesses to basically stalking a younger Buffy, gave me horrible flashbacks to Twilight. Edward is basically the worst character aspects of Angel having been kidnapped by Myers(?) and then she runs off into the hills, cackling crazily. Blergh.
Thank God, Whedon and the writers had more common sense (and tons more talent!).
I saw a lot of the parallels with Little Red Riding Hood as well, some of them I wasnt sure if I was just looking into it too much.
And with Whedon being a feminist, and the whole idea behind the show, a girl who can beat the crap out of the monsters who attack her, the council could very much represent some sort of patriarchy. I do think this is a good episode, but like some other people are saying its not one that stands out for me. I didnt know you werent much of a horror fan, Ian, I myself am a huge horror fan but the great thing about Buffy is it can be looked at like as a horror, comedy, drama, sci fi, fantasy, so many different things are incorporated into this show and I think thats why almost 20 years later its still relevant and still holds up
i just finished watching all seasons, damn I CANT WAIT FOR YOUR SEASON 5 REVIEWS 😍😍
Missed this soo much! Nice intro
Pills...PILLS!!!!! Pills.
Thank you for your channel. Always very interesting, informative and entertaining.
And thank you for turning me on to Mark Field's book. I finished it about two weeks ago and now have a much deeper appreciation of the show.
Particularly season four. Which I had never really understood. At least now I understand, why I didn't understand.
I have had minimal exposure to Camus and Sartre. although I was aware of the central place that "Nausea" holds in Joss Whedon's heart.
(I swear it was unplanned that the last sentence ended up that way.)
But several works by both authors are in my kindle library
now, along with "Sonnets From the Portuguese". All to be read soon.
Hi Nerd! Thank you very much for this video, I've enjoyed your review. Don't stop doing what you're doing! It's amazing!!
the new intro! holy moly it's gorgeous!!
and i really loved the episode!
This was worth the wait, stellar review! I think it's interesting how much you qualified the term "patriarchy" for the intro, I would use it much more liberally in regards to the WC. However, the contrast you made between patriarch/patriarchal/patriarchy was super fascinating considering the WC's role throughout the rest of the series. Makes me excited for Wesley coming up soon and then jumping all the way to Checkpoint in season 5! Keep up the good work, man! I'm really enjoying your work :) p.s. The new intro graphic looks awesome!
Thanks again for such a brilliant review! I've always despised the Watcher's Council, and this episode was the beginning of my hatred for them. In each episode of Buffy where they appear, they do awful things and just generally act like complete jerks, but you hit the nail on the head by comparing them to the patriarchy. I actually just watched the episode 'Lineage' in season 5 of Angel (SPOILERS) with Wesley's "dad", which made me feel really sorry for Wesley, and reinforce my loathing of the Watcher's Council. Thanks again!
I was just thinking today, "when is the next episode coming out!?" I look forward to every episode, keep up the great work!
missed this and soo glad this is up!! forget sleep and stay up to watch this. XD
LOVED THE NEW INTRO!!!
YESSSSSSS in regards to the cruciamentum test that's what my thoughts were about it as well. The test has no purpose other than reinforce the councils power over the slayer.
Ian, I love your analysis! Thank you very much! I’m rewatching the show with your videos and it’s a totally new experience! 😘
Am I the only one who re-watches these multiple times?
I've never actually considered the Watcher's Council in the important role they play -and to this extent. In my head I substitute Slayer's Council or whatever word or concept 'applies' except I didn't realise the fact (and it is one) that they survive by keeping these girls disempowered if not dead by the time they're 18. Seemingly, the younger the better. They exist to keep the Watcher separate from the Slayer: so the Parent/Child relationship cannot grow. They prefer the Slayer eviscerated. Interesting how ultimately Buffy might feel distanced from Giles at this point subsequent to the episode where she's reminded by Giles how Angel tortured him "for days". Now, the table's turned. He *is* positively destroyed about The Test and yet is willing to go along in the first place. An interesting connection with Buffy's need to hide Angel: she at least has an excellent excuse: Giles, I'm not so sure. He redeems himself ultimately and yet it's almost too late. Each 'parent' in this season is flawed: not just more obviously the Mayor, Faith's boss and parent substitute, but also Giles. I think this is the first 'chapter' beyond 'Ripper' Giles where we see a complex relationship developing with Buffy.
Amazing as always -- def worth the wait. I recently noticed the Red Riding outfit of Buffy but didn't make the full connection of what it meant. Thanks for the extra fat to chew.
Thanks for continuing to point out things I never noticed the billions of times I've watched the series.
I've never liked this episode precisely because the test made no sense to me and I never believed that Giles would betray Buffy like that. Your take on it is a profound revelation. Placed in the context of the series, including the comics, as a whole you can even see how the old patriarchal Watcher's Council destroyed itself by refusing to change fast enough and was replaced with something far more based on equality and feminism.
Okay I’m just glad you or at least some people are starting to acknowledge the statutory-ness of Angel. Even if he was human he wasn’t turned at 16 or even 18. He was turned in his mid to late twenties so either way he’s a creeper who “fell in love” with a 15 yr old girl at first sight. Looking at angel when he saw Buddy for the first time. If I was a mother I wouldn’t want my child anywhere NEAR him.
Before I even finish the video, I wanted to say that I love the new title card.
+Passion of the Nerd....totally agree with the debate point...whats cool about Buffy and Angel and other symbolic TV shows is that they invoke conversation. Though unfortunately what I have found in the area where I live is that people that are fans of this stuff either don't have much to say about it or uses their fandom to impose superiority to others who like the show as well but may not be on that same level fandom. If we are truly fans of a show, any chance to talk about it should be welcome and an opportunity to connect and learn not only more about the show but about each other. That's what art does, it connects and shows a mirror on humanity and society. Which make no mistake, I believe Buffy and Angel is art. (imperfectly perfect meaningful art) I hope you do this kind of production for Angel as well! Angel is my all time favorite TV show. Also if you like this stuff I would totally suggest bring human (strictly UK version, do not touch the US...it just doesn't have the. same meaning as the UK's does) and Penny Dreadful. Keep up the good work...I look forward to your next episode!
One of the greatest Lore episodes.
Cordelia is the MVP as she first fights off the lout that shoves Buffy, and then when she's "You're Buffy...BU-ffy." instantly helpful.
Another piece of evidence that the test is just a method of controlling Slayers and keeping them young and inexperienced is the fact that the WC never pays Buffy for what she does, even later when she has to survive under her own steam. Sure, Buffy herself never seems to expect them to pay her, but surely if enough Slayers reached her age, one of them would begin to question why she has to take on some menial job just to cover her basic necessities when she's performing all their world-saving for free.
+Brooke Bookworm So true. They seem to have limitless resources but never help out Buffy financially or Faith either for that matter. What bastards.
Been checking twitter incessantly for this video. And the time difference between me and TPN is 8 hours.
i love the bit where buffy picks up her bag full of weapons, and instead of shouldering it confidently like she usually goes, she has to limp with it.
As much as I like this episode I felt the tension was under the rug. I would be curious to see Xavier and Willows attitudes towards Giles after. I know drama can drag and I'm glad that they moved on past this quickly but it almost felt too quickly. Giles should have had to work a little harder to gain everyone's love and trust back in my opinion.
You included my favourite bit from ET! Awesome.