Klytaimnestra's Review of "Him"

by Klytaimnestra

Well, here Buffy is revealed in her worst-case-scenario true colours as a manipulative, lying Slut-Of-The-Month poster girl ... only hey, all a spell, oops, not really her, don't worry ...

I bet that six months from now I'm going to look back at this episode and say, ohmiGod, that was so totally and utterly predictive of absolutely everything, it was a crucial element of the story arc, how could I have been so blind - but right now I'm just saying, cute. Harmless reasonably enjoyable fluff.

Things I liked:

well, most of it, in a low-key sort of way. Dawn puzzled about why anyone bothers to get involved when it's all so contradictory, complicated and irrational - and then the poor kid's teenage hormone bomb finally goes off, and oops. The scene of Buffy in the Darla Catholic schoolgirl outfit humping poor bewildered but (because a 17-year-old) horny R.J. was priceless. I thought watching the four giddy girls each doing something unbelievably dangerous, played for laughs but also for real, was not badly done, though I was having a little trouble with the suspension-of-disbelief thing watching the train stunt. I feel kinda sorry for R.J. Seemed like a pretty nice guy who's never going to figure out why the mojo isn't working anymore. But then he had no idea why it was working in the first place.

Things I'm not sure about:

okay, Spike he seems to be back to being Xander's sidekick muscle - huh? Take the most talented actor they've got and give him NO LINES?

Another thing I'm not sure about:

male rationality and violence overcomes female irrationality and evil machinations - where have I seen this before? Oh yeah, 99% of world literature, and I didn't like it there either. It was also a reprise of the warning frequently aired on BtVS, "Sex Makes You Crazy." Or "Female Desire Must Be Suppressed For the Good of Society." Which I'm also not crazy about. I know the randiness was a metaphor for the conflicting desires that people have to overcome in order to work together in a civilized society, see Freud and lots of ancient philosophers on how repression is a Good Thing. Still, does the metaphor always have to be Dangerous Female Desire? I'm beginning to get a little bored here ...

... though on the other hand, Buffy in the Catholic schoolgirl outfit was still pretty funny ...

Thing I didn't like:

last week Buffy was all Dark Slayer Buffy, Anya is a Bad Demon so I'm going to kill her now, pausing only to find my cool and well- fitted leather jacket and do my Denial Braid Hair, and incidentally I seem to be spiralling into the Dark Side myself. This week Buffy is Bad Fashion Sense Buffy, suddenly Anya's her friend and she wants to save her life and make sure she's not out there all alone, and she's busy rescuing every friendly demon of her acquaintance? And has apparently told everyone about Spike? Colour me a tad confused.

Or, in a word, continuity. It's NOT just a word from film school, guys. It can't just be dispensed with on a whim. The characters I see this week should have something to do with the ones I saw last week. Forget that too often and you wind up with big problems with "suspension of disbelief", another phrase I bet you heard in film school. It's a good thing. Don't make me lose it.

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Okay, to the meat of the episode. Apparently Spike getting a soul is no big deal. Angel can kill Jenny Calendar etc. etc. but once he gets a soul it didn't happen. Spike can try to assault Buffy and getting a soul isn't good enough? I find this depressing. I wasn't expecting Xander to change his attitude much, since he thought Angel/Angelus were pretty much the same (and I pretty much agree); but why doesn't Buffy think it's a big deal? Why does Angel get a get-out-of-hell-free card and Spike doesn't? I liked Dawn's questions on why anyone would think the soul matters. But we've been told for six years now that the soul DOES matter. They don't get to change the rules now.

But, oh well. Buffy is defending and taking care of Spike, sort of. She has rescued him from the basement and this has helped him. We know this because he used the word "sodding", so he must be sane again. Xander is letting him live in the closet and is picking up his wet towels from the floor. (Shades of S4 all round in fact.) Buffy admits she has feelings for Spike, but she doesn't love him and is not starting up with him again. She just couldn't stand to have him living in that basement.

Okay. Good enough for me. As I said last week, as long as Buffy's doing her job, and showing Spike a certain minimal respect and concern, she doesn't have to love him. She just has to be a decent human being.

And now that we know that Anya has a fully functioning moral compass we can all just get on with the good times - so, anyone for ice cream?

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Klytaimnestra