Cassie is one of my favorite guest characters on Buffy. It was so sad to watch everyone fight so hard to keep her from dying only for a natural death to sneak up on us again. 😢 I thought the actress did a wonderful job in her role.
A tale over 3,000 years old, Cassandra was blessed with the gift of foresight by the god Apollo and cursed so no one would believe her visions were true. I seem to remember she foretold that her city of Troy would fall to the Greeks and she was laughed at for such a preposterous idea.
Fun fact about this episode is that it's the first time in tv (and possibly all media) history that Google is used as a verb when Willow asks Buffy if she'd googled Cassie yet. It was so new that Xander didn't know what it meant and says she's only 17 and it hs to be pointed out Google is a search engine.
They mention it once in Season 6 of Charmed too and one of the characters was like “what’s googling?” but I think that was after this episode aired. Yeah, like a year after.
I agree with you-the show is amazing. the fact that people engage and continue to analyze it all these years after it finished is how you know it’s sooo good.
This episode is actually one of the saddest episodes to me. Because that is one of the big and haunting issues you have to deal when you work counseling, the fact that you cannot "actively" help people, despite the fact that this is the one reason you chose that job. And similar to what Dawn said in the end, you have tried and you offered help, but yes, then there are so many factors that do not, and actually should not, lie in your hands. And in the end, your work feels pretty pointless and you feel quite powerless in what you do and it is a constant effort to persuade yourself to do the job. This is what this episode encapsulates to me.
The meatiest fiction is able to examine humanity without the restrictions of real life. Parts of the Bible, Ulysses, any Shakespeare, Frankenstein, Alice in Wonderland, Star Trek... FICTION designed to better understand human REALITY. That's Buffy. I like to ask myself what's the REAL demon in an episode, what struggle of humanity are we really dealing with?
Buffy, the king and queen of how to tie the life cycle to metaphors (Angel as the guy who says he will see you once he gets in your pants)...Interpretations, of course, have to be grounded in the empirical text...See the DVD extras for how the writing room works...
Funny I hadn’t thought about this before but Cassie telling Buffy didn’t save her life but possibly saved the lives of the boys who assaulted her. They were definitely going down a dark path. This may have derailed that for some at least. Had they been successful they would’ve been guilty of murder. They could’ve gotten caught and gone down for that. Or worse benefited from it and started a replacement Reptile Boy cult leading to a lot more murders. Perhaps down the line the world is actually better off because of Cassie’s and Buffy’s intervention. The boy who got bitten, well, I don’t want to say he’s actually a lost cause but if he got infected and died or got a horrendous case of an aspect of the demon, I might be slightly amused. He strikes me as someone coming from a family most likely to try to sue the school for him getting bit by the demon he raised. Wouldn’t be surprised if they chose WR&H to represent them in that case.
In terms of the writing, at this point Joss had largely left the writing to the writers as he was supervising Buffy, Angel and setting up/shooting Firefly at this point. Struggles with networks and other drama going on meant Marti Noxon was running the show. They knew it was going to be the last so the choices were...more deliberate.
You mean that they connect personal issues of characters with the supernatural plot? Well, they should do that. The show is about it and of course their lives will be a combination of their personal stories and issues and supernatural element. You don't even need to go far. Even Charmed that was broadcasted at the same time and mostly on the same network has it. And people consider it the light version of supernatural, more comfort show than Buffy. But in every episode they have it. When the main idea is a personal problem and it develops and reflects in supernatural world. And every time there is a lesson at the end.
Well that was some quite deep commentary there at the end. I can always tell when you actually LIKE what you’re reacting to because you’ll go on a passionate rant about it. I’m the very same. When I am ambivalent to art/entertainment I engage in, I won’t talk much about it. But when I DISLIKE or LIKE it, I’ll go on passionate rants about it. You may not say you like or dislike something either way. But I can tell whether you do or don’t based on your commentary about it. ‘Help’ is one of the better episodes of Season 7. For much of the reason you’ve just said.
If you ask me. Willow just needed therapy. A lot of therapy. But then,… so does probably every main character in this show. ‘Cause they’re all fucked up to all hell. 😂 But hey - that’s why we love them, right?
I like the fact you bring up that people's interpretations can differ. I agree. So many threads go on about "This is what the writer meant..." Art is open to at least some degree of interpretation.
To me, this episode is a metaphor for the very real tragedy of a child experiencing terminal illness. They know they won't go to college and get married. They won't sit on their back porch watching their grandchildren play in their golden years. They know they won't even make it to prom. And yet, they still put on a brave face and listen to everyone around them try to help.
All of what you just said about this show, I wrote about the FROZEN franchise on my Tumblr last night. Honestly the Frozen franchise is just an excellent and easy to follow and understand exploration of a thematic narrative of emotional trauma and strength. Anyone with any mental disorder or neurodivergence whatsoever will be able to relate to Elsa and Anna. Resonate with their struggles and their hardships and therefore rejoice in their triumphs and developments. The only other children’s movie I can think of that’s done anything anywhere near this is ‘Inside Out’. Where again - the whole point is mental/emotional assessment and exploration told through a physical and supernatural thematic narrative. It’s very clever when you understand what’s behind the metaphor. They’re talking about depression and anxiety and fear but they’re talking about it in a fantastical way. Frozen even goes as far as involving the theme of death. Briefly. But nevertheless, it doesn’t sugarcoat. The supernatural abilities might not be real but the serious implications of using them and how they affect the psyche are. On the flip side, what’s going on in the psyche is what manifests those supernatural abilities. It’s all the same thing. It really is clever how they do it. When you understand the purpose of theme and tone in art/entertainment - you’ll understand the narrative much better than you would if you didn’t understand. I think that’s what I love about the Frozen franchise. They just know what they’re doing with the storytelling and I hope they continue to know what they’re doing with the 3rd movie and don’t just cash cow it. I won’t lie when I say I’m worried about it. I don’t know if the right people will be behind it. Metaphor and analogy and nuance is always a compelling route to take in storytelling. The Buffyverse does very well with metaphor most of the time. But sometimes I do think they go a little too far with it. And the addiction arc is a good example of when they know what they want to say about it, but they don’t exactly know how to say it.
Help was interesting episode we start off with comedy regarding Buffy's new Counsellor role, but then Cassie says she is going to die. We also have Willow reaching the acceptance stage of grief with Tara's death. Very funny again when Wood says to Buffy about where he came from and she says The Hood, and he says no Beverly Hills. Very interesting when they are all researching on the internet and jump to conclusions about her father, showing how this too can be dangerous where many innocent people get targeted in such activity. When Cassie meets Xander and Buffy outside it's very sad when she starts to list all the things she wants to do in her life but wont be able to because she knows she is going to die. We then switch to the cult with Cassie's photo in the middle of some ritual. Powerful scene again when Buffy seeks out Spike and he starts to self harm. Funny scene too when Buffy says to student asking my sister and she was your second choice. The coins come back again, and Buffy notices the strange markings on it. Buffy after threatening the student manages to infiltrate the ritual. When Cassie is freed by Spike she says to him 'she'll tell you' perhaps the most prophetic line in the whole series. A great powerful ending when Buffy catches the arrow from the booby trap, but Cassie just collapses and dies of natural causes. Terrific episode building towards the finale of the show.
"she'll tell you" is, we hope, a meaningful line, but by no means the "most prophetic" in a show that was teasing dawn's arrival and buffy's death years before they happened.
There "might" be a bit of foreshadowing here, but if I told you what it is, it would be an out-and-out spoiler. I think you will see it when it comes, though. This is a heartbreaking episode with not actual explanation for what powers might have been involved in the girl who saw her own death.
As for the ‘addiction’ storyline and Willow’s arc. It’s half-an-half in terms what is good and what is unfortunately not so good about it. It’s clever what they do with it with it being about ‘addiction’ in general. But the “drug” and “substance abuse” comparisons don’t work for it and just confuse it. I mean if you’re gonna talk about addiction - even through metaphor - you don’t have to involve drugs or substance abuse of any kind really… But then you do have to think about whether the audience will get the message if you don’t directly relate it to something that’s easily recognizable. And I think that was probably the problem in the writer’s room when it came to conceiving of the addiction arc. They didn’t know how to translate it to the screen so that it could be easily understood. They struggled to tell a story about addiction without comparing it to drugs or substance abuse. The times when it’s just talking about ‘addiction’ in general, it works very well and emotionally hits and it’s profound. But as soon as the imagery and dialogue about drugs and substance abuse comes into it, it just ruins it. Not completely but… enough that it turns people off. I mean I personally don’t mind it because I can interpret for myself and that’s enough for me. But there’s many that don’t like the addiction arc point blank because of the heavy-handed drug/substance abuse comparisons that don’t work for it. That make it seem like a PSA of “Hey kids, don’t do (drugs) magic.” Behavioural and emotional addiction was always Willow’s problem when it came to her use and abuse of magic. It was never a drug or substance physical addiction. Or shouldn’t have been I should say. It was power corruption and co-dependency and other forms of addiction not related to drugs or alcohol or any external substance of any kind. When the show takes the arc down the route of external sources - that’s when it gets messy and clunky and confusing to understand her condition. It was a very internal mental health identity crisis thing going on with her that they never resolved. She certainly got addicted to the power that magic gave her but not the magic itself. Because that just doesn’t make sense. Magic is a force not a thing. The complexity of Willow as a character and what she goes through and overcomes in her shows-long arc is something I’ll always love and will never be able to stop talking about. But I do feel they made some grave mistakes and wrong turns in it. And turning her dependence on magic into a blatant drug addiction is one of them. I don’t hate it. I just think it’s a shame because it just confuses it. Anyway, Five By Five Takes explains all this way better than I do. I recommend you check out their analysis video about it. It’s really good and in-depth.
I completely have no memory of whatshername from Freaks and Geeks coming in this episode talking about beating up some guy in the parking lot wtf how don't I remember that??
Willow "I wrote some pretty intense poetry, myself, in my day."
Xander "Oh? About who?"
Willow "I'm over you now, sweetie."
Cassie is one of my favorite guest characters on Buffy. It was so sad to watch everyone fight so hard to keep her from dying only for a natural death to sneak up on us again. 😢 I thought the actress did a wonderful job in her role.
azura really brought it. very memorable episode due to her performance.
A tale over 3,000 years old, Cassandra was blessed with the gift of foresight by the god Apollo and cursed so no one would believe her visions were true. I seem to remember she foretold that her city of Troy would fall to the Greeks and she was laughed at for such a preposterous idea.
Fun fact about this episode is that it's the first time in tv (and possibly all media) history that Google is used as a verb when Willow asks Buffy if she'd googled Cassie yet. It was so new that Xander didn't know what it meant and says she's only 17 and it hs to be pointed out Google is a search engine.
They mention it once in Season 6 of Charmed too and one of the characters was like “what’s googling?” but I think that was after this episode aired. Yeah, like a year after.
That actor will always be Brad from Home Improvement to me
Lol yea. He does play a good villain though.
I agree with you-the show is amazing. the fact that people engage and continue to analyze it all these years after it finished is how you know it’s sooo good.
This episode is actually one of the saddest episodes to me. Because that is one of the big and haunting issues you have to deal when you work counseling, the fact that you cannot "actively" help people, despite the fact that this is the one reason you chose that job. And similar to what Dawn said in the end, you have tried and you offered help, but yes, then there are so many factors that do not, and actually should not, lie in your hands. And in the end, your work feels pretty pointless and you feel quite powerless in what you do and it is a constant effort to persuade yourself to do the job.
This is what this episode encapsulates to me.
Wow, Azura Skye (Cassie) and Dakota Fanning could be twins.
One of the most memorable episodes for me. I love this one.
The meatiest fiction is able to examine humanity without the restrictions of real life. Parts of the Bible, Ulysses, any Shakespeare, Frankenstein, Alice in Wonderland, Star Trek... FICTION designed to better understand human REALITY. That's Buffy. I like to ask myself what's the REAL demon in an episode, what struggle of humanity are we really dealing with?
Buffy, the king and queen of how to tie the life cycle to metaphors (Angel as the guy who says he will see you once he gets in your pants)...Interpretations, of course, have to be grounded in the empirical text...See the DVD extras for how the writing room works...
"Sharpest apple in the barrel" is a mixed metaphor. It's an attempt at humor and aimed a smarty pants.
This episode is the perfect representation of the theme of this season. The coming of age story is over and the characters are grownups now.
She is like Drusilla
Spike 😢❤ She
will tell you …
Funny I hadn’t thought about this before but Cassie telling Buffy didn’t save her life but possibly saved the lives of the boys who assaulted her.
They were definitely going down a dark path. This may have derailed that for some at least. Had they been successful they would’ve been guilty of murder. They could’ve gotten caught and gone down for that. Or worse benefited from it and started a replacement Reptile Boy cult leading to a lot more murders. Perhaps down the line the world is actually better off because of Cassie’s and Buffy’s intervention.
The boy who got bitten, well, I don’t want to say he’s actually a lost cause but if he got infected and died or got a horrendous case of an aspect of the demon, I might be slightly amused. He strikes me as someone coming from a family most likely to try to sue the school for him getting bit by the demon he raised. Wouldn’t be surprised if they chose WR&H to represent them in that case.
In terms of the writing, at this point Joss had largely left the writing to the writers as he was supervising Buffy, Angel and setting up/shooting Firefly at this point. Struggles with networks and other drama going on meant Marti Noxon was running the show. They knew it was going to be the last so the choices were...more deliberate.
You mean that they connect personal issues of characters with the supernatural plot? Well, they should do that. The show is about it and of course their lives will be a combination of their personal stories and issues and supernatural element.
You don't even need to go far. Even Charmed that was broadcasted at the same time and mostly on the same network has it. And people consider it the light version of supernatural, more comfort show than Buffy. But in every episode they have it. When the main idea is a personal problem and it develops and reflects in supernatural world. And every time there is a lesson at the end.
Xena too. Just not so much with the “supernatural” element. More mythical… I guess.
Well that was some quite deep commentary there at the end.
I can always tell when you actually LIKE what you’re reacting to because you’ll go on a passionate rant about it.
I’m the very same.
When I am ambivalent to art/entertainment I engage in, I won’t talk much about it. But when I DISLIKE or LIKE it, I’ll go on passionate rants about it.
You may not say you like or dislike something either way. But I can tell whether you do or don’t based on your commentary about it.
‘Help’ is one of the better episodes of Season 7. For much of the reason you’ve just said.
If you ask me. Willow just needed therapy. A lot of therapy.
But then,… so does probably every main character in this show.
‘Cause they’re all fucked up to all hell. 😂
But hey - that’s why we love them, right?
I like the fact you bring up that people's interpretations can differ. I agree. So many threads go on about "This is what the writer meant..." Art is open to at least some degree of interpretation.
To me, this episode is a metaphor for the very real tragedy of a child experiencing terminal illness. They know they won't go to college and get married. They won't sit on their back porch watching their grandchildren play in their golden years. They know they won't even make it to prom. And yet, they still put on a brave face and listen to everyone around them try to help.
I agree about the show does good with other issues webbed into the shows ...
All of what you just said about this show, I wrote about the FROZEN franchise on my Tumblr last night.
Honestly the Frozen franchise is just an excellent and easy to follow and understand exploration of a thematic narrative of emotional trauma and strength.
Anyone with any mental disorder or neurodivergence whatsoever will be able to relate to Elsa and Anna. Resonate with their struggles and their hardships and therefore rejoice in their triumphs and developments.
The only other children’s movie I can think of that’s done anything anywhere near this is ‘Inside Out’.
Where again - the whole point is mental/emotional assessment and exploration told through a physical and supernatural thematic narrative. It’s very clever when you understand what’s behind the metaphor.
They’re talking about depression and anxiety and fear but they’re talking about it in a fantastical way. Frozen even goes as far as involving the theme of death. Briefly. But nevertheless, it doesn’t sugarcoat. The supernatural abilities might not be real but the serious implications of using them and how they affect the psyche are. On the flip side, what’s going on in the psyche is what manifests those supernatural abilities. It’s all the same thing. It really is clever how they do it.
When you understand the purpose of theme and tone in art/entertainment - you’ll understand the narrative much better than you would if you didn’t understand.
I think that’s what I love about the Frozen franchise. They just know what they’re doing with the storytelling and I hope they continue to know what they’re doing with the 3rd movie and don’t just cash cow it. I won’t lie when I say I’m worried about it. I don’t know if the right people will be behind it.
Metaphor and analogy and nuance is always a compelling route to take in storytelling. The Buffyverse does very well with metaphor most of the time. But sometimes I do think they go a little too far with it. And the addiction arc is a good example of when they know what they want to say about it, but they don’t exactly know how to say it.
Help was interesting episode we start off with comedy regarding Buffy's new Counsellor role, but then Cassie says she is going to die. We also have Willow reaching the acceptance stage of grief with Tara's death. Very funny again when Wood says to Buffy about where he came from and she says The Hood, and he says no Beverly Hills. Very interesting when they are all researching on the internet and jump to conclusions about her father, showing how this too can be dangerous where many innocent people get targeted in such activity. When Cassie meets Xander and Buffy outside it's very sad when she starts to list all the things she wants to do in her life but wont be able to because she knows she is going to die. We then switch to the cult with Cassie's photo in the middle of some ritual. Powerful scene again when Buffy seeks out Spike and he starts to self harm. Funny scene too when Buffy says to student asking my sister and she was your second choice. The coins come back again, and Buffy notices the strange markings on it. Buffy after threatening the student manages to infiltrate the ritual. When Cassie is freed by Spike she says to him 'she'll tell you' perhaps the most prophetic line in the whole series. A great powerful ending when Buffy catches the arrow from the booby trap, but Cassie just collapses and dies of natural causes. Terrific episode building towards the finale of the show.
"she'll tell you" is, we hope, a meaningful line, but by no means the "most prophetic" in a show that was teasing dawn's arrival and buffy's death years before they happened.
There "might" be a bit of foreshadowing here, but if I told you what it is, it would be an out-and-out spoiler. I think you will see it when it comes, though.
This is a heartbreaking episode with not actual explanation for what powers might have been involved in the girl who saw her own death.
I love your videos they are the best thank you so much!!!!😁
As for the ‘addiction’ storyline and Willow’s arc.
It’s half-an-half in terms what is good and what is unfortunately not so good about it. It’s clever what they do with it with it being about ‘addiction’ in general. But the “drug” and “substance abuse” comparisons don’t work for it and just confuse it.
I mean if you’re gonna talk about addiction - even through metaphor - you don’t have to involve drugs or substance abuse of any kind really…
But then you do have to think about whether the audience will get the message if you don’t directly relate it to something that’s easily recognizable.
And I think that was probably the problem in the writer’s room when it came to conceiving of the addiction arc. They didn’t know how to translate it to the screen so that it could be easily understood.
They struggled to tell a story about addiction without comparing it to drugs or substance abuse. The times when it’s just talking about ‘addiction’ in general, it works very well and emotionally hits and it’s profound. But as soon as the imagery and dialogue about drugs and substance abuse comes into it, it just ruins it. Not completely but… enough that it turns people off. I mean I personally don’t mind it because I can interpret for myself and that’s enough for me. But there’s many that don’t like the addiction arc point blank because of the heavy-handed drug/substance abuse comparisons that don’t work for it. That make it seem like a PSA of “Hey kids, don’t do (drugs) magic.”
Behavioural and emotional addiction was always Willow’s problem when it came to her use and abuse of magic. It was never a drug or substance physical addiction. Or shouldn’t have been I should say.
It was power corruption and co-dependency and other forms of addiction not related to drugs or alcohol or any external substance of any kind.
When the show takes the arc down the route of external sources - that’s when it gets messy and clunky and confusing to understand her condition.
It was a very internal mental health identity crisis thing going on with her that they never resolved.
She certainly got addicted to the power that magic gave her but not the magic itself. Because that just doesn’t make sense. Magic is a force not a thing.
The complexity of Willow as a character and what she goes through and overcomes in her shows-long arc is something I’ll always love and will never be able to stop talking about. But I do feel they made some grave mistakes and wrong turns in it. And turning her dependence on magic into a blatant drug addiction is one of them. I don’t hate it. I just think it’s a shame because it just confuses it.
Anyway, Five By Five Takes explains all this way better than I do. I recommend you check out their analysis video about it. It’s really good and in-depth.
I completely have no memory of whatshername from Freaks and Geeks coming in this episode talking about beating up some guy in the parking lot wtf how don't I remember that??