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Post by Clare on Sept 24, 2008 6:34:30 GMT -5
3.09 The Wish - Episode #043
When Cordelia makes a wish to new student Anya, she unleashes an alternate Sunnydale in which vampires rule.
Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.
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Post by cyclica on Oct 1, 2008 12:16:12 GMT -5
Anya!
In her first appearance, she is very different to the anya in later eps, from doppelgangland onwards. In this ep her powers come from her necklace, and they are gone when it is smashed. When she regains her powers in 'entropy', she no longer has that necklace, presumably because she had learnt her lesson about easy-to-destroy power centers, and had found a better alternative (maybe she kept it in a safe?).
The world anya created may be seen as an 'alternative timeline', however, if she hadn't been stopped, it would have remained that way forever. With all the thousands of wishes she has granted over the years, wishes that were never 'undone', it seems likely that the 'real world' is an alternate timeline in its self, and the world would not have turned out this way if she had never granted any wishes.
There are a lot of good bits in this ep - an alternative scooby gang (oz would have become a monster fighter even if he had never met B,X&W, that shows what a great guy he is), the surprise of cordy being killed (considering the ep started off all about her), and of course the 'everyone dies' ending. I'm gonna give this ep a high 8.
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Post by jennf10 on Dec 3, 2008 14:12:24 GMT -5
A CLASSIC Buffy episode and we meet Anya for the first time.
Cordelia has been gone for a week, mending from her injuries. In that time, she has not seen or spoken with Xander at all. She is grieving hard, but knows she has to return to school.
When she does return, it is in a brown leather outfit designed to make a statement "I'm hot, and I'm moving on." However, truth is, Cordelia is still in a lot of pain. She meets Anya through Harmony. Anya immediately starts enticing Cordelia to wish something bad to happen to Xander. "But, Xander, he's an utter loser." However, Cordelia makes a different wish. Looking at Buffy, she starts to blame her for all that had happened where Xander was concerned. Buffy made Xander cool to Cordelia. Cordelia wishes that Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale. As Anya tells her "done." Cordelia joins a BRAVE NEW WORLD.
Sunnydale without Buffy is a vampire's heaven. The Master rose without anyone to stop him. Angel was captured. Willow and Xander have been turned into vampires. Giles is battling the vampires on his own. Cordelia does not understand the difference and ends up convincing Giles to call for Buffy. "She's supposed to be here."
In the end, this episode rocks because each of the main characters, including Buffy herself, are killed. (Remember the prophecy involving Buffy and the Master!) Excellent episode!
My score: 9/10.
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Post by partcynic on Jan 2, 2010 13:18:44 GMT -5
3x09 “The Wish”
Episode Rating = 8
One of my favourite S3 episodes, “The Wish” is a brilliant showcase of ”Buffy” doing a truly ‘dark’ story, and a welcome return to form for Marti Noxon after her less than stellar performances on her last two offerings. Presenting one of the grimmest perspectives on life the show's portrayed, this edition conjures a wonderfully disturbing atmosphere, and its sense of oppressiveness gradually builds to one of the finest ‘misery climaxes’ I can think of. Considering how frequently the fan community dismisses standalone (or ‘filler’) stories, “The Wish” is a perfect rebuttal – with the exception of Anya, nothing this episode features has any major arc impact, but it’s still one of the finest offerings of both the season and the series.
What I Liked about “The Wish”:
- All of the characters react believably to the events of “Lover’s Walk”, and the narrative does well in treating everyone fairly. I liked how Buffy was unwilling to turn against Cordelia, and Willow felt appropriately remorseful after her prior actions. I also thought that Oz’s early material was written beautifully – he let Willow down firmly, but without malice, which was very much consistent with the emotional maturity he’d demonstrated before. Even Xander was in character with his attempts at getting even with Cordelia and shifting the blame onto others (sad that his reaction is the most childish, but what else would we expect?), and I ended up feeling for everyone’s predicaments.
- Considering her one-dimensional, antagonistic status in early S1, it’s amazing to see how Cordelia has bloomed into a sympathetic, engaging character (and without losing her more negative traits). I understood her pain as she torched her photos and was mocked by her friends, and the episode managed to make the leap from her upset with Xander to criticism of Buffy believable.
- This is a miniscule thing, but I liked seeing Jonathon again. I felt bad for the poor guy as he was once again the target of ridicule, and his continued presence is wonderful set-up for “Earshot”.
- Anya Version One is a welcome addition to the show, and I love her original personality. In this episode, she came across as intelligent, cunning and frightening, and the idea that a random statement you made to someone could result in the entire world being transformed is a genuinely creepy one. While I didn’t like what the writers did to her in S4 and beyond, I’m pleased she was brought back for later episodes, and it’s funny to think that she’ll go from trying to gruesomely kill Xander to falling for him.
- The reality shift caused by the wish works well, and the slow change in tone is very effective. The atmosphere gets gradually darker as we go from seeing Cordelia jubilant to realising something’s very wrong, and Harmony’s statement that Willow and Xander are dead remains chilling on repeat viewings.
- The eventual confrontation between Cordy and the vamp versions of Willow and Xander is great, and I liked her exasperation at realising they were still together. The vamps themselves are beautifully twisted versions of their real world counterparts, and Willow is especially creepy and funny (not to mention sexy). It’s even cooler when they head to the Bronze and meet the Master, who’s nicely witty and in-character (I also liked the daintiness with which he took his espresso cup of blood, and later the wine glass).
- Alternate Giles is effective as the lead monster-hunter, and having him recruit Larry and Oz was a nice touch. I wouldn’t have minded if the girl had been another character we’d seen before, but given that I can’t think of any who’d be available (the obvious one would be Amy, but she’d still be trapped in her mother’s body), it’s not an issue.
- The big twist with Xander and Willow murdering Cordy was an excellent closer for the second act, and an awesome surprise upon first viewing. I smiled at the dark humour as Oz and Larry discussed her death, with the latter’s comment that “the world sucks because some dead ditz made a wish?” being both concise and funny.
- After eight-odd episodes of Angel serving no purpose but angsting over Buffy, it was refreshing to see him doing something different, even if it was being sadistically tortured (in another top-notch scene for Vamp Willow).
- Buffy’s eventual arrival is interesting, and it’s a clever touch that the new, friend/family-free version of her is very much like Faith. It’s a cute foreshadow/character commentary moment, and testament to the thoughtfulness with which the series was being written.
- As far as the episode’s theme goes, the interaction between Buffy and Giles was successful, and it was fun to see their S1 roles reversed, with Giles being (comparatively) more optimistic and Buffy being the dismissive, stone-hearted one. Their chat on the nature of wishing and its relationship with reality was solid, and communicated the main concepts here effectively.
- The final scenes at the factory are all superb. The Master’s scheme is delightfully fiendish (and I love his glee as he says that the victims will be kept alive “for the freshness!”), and it’s unsettling to see people being herded like animals and drained of all their blood. However, that becomes almost insignificant in light of the other material, with the closing montage being one of my favourite “Buffy” sequences ever. Witnessing the main characters die one by one as that gorgeous musical theme plays is haunting, and it’s powerful to witness Buffy’s lack of reaction to Angel’s death, as well as the way she calmly dusts Xander. Her own murder at the hands of the Master is also upsetting, and points out just how important her friends are to what she does.
What I Disliked about “The Wish”:
- Universe-changing magic is a concept the show generally doesn’t have the ability to support, and the wish shown here isn’t excluded from that. It hurts my head to think that a being could be capable of transforming reality so easily, not to mention the fact that when Giles smashed Anya’s amulet, all of her wishes were undone, meaning that thousands of people may have suddenly appeared in (or been wiped from) reality.
- Thinking more about Anya’s amulet, what exactly was going on with it? She gives it to Cordelia before Cordy makes her wish, and Cordy sports it until her murder, at which point Giles takes it. However, when he summons Anya, she’s wearing the pendant, despite the fact that she shouldn’t have it. Or does she give it to everyone she’s granted wishes to, leaving them with a harmless copy while she keeps the original?
- If Cordelia wished that Buffy never came to Sunnydale, that means that the Master escaped at the Harvest. However, since he was tied to the Hellmouth, his freedom should have led to it opening and monsters overrunning the Earth. Why didn’t that happen?
- If all of Sunnydale’s populace is aware of its vampires, why are people even staying in town? You’d have thought that they’d be scrambling to get away from the place. Has it been quarantined? And does the government (be it the local legislature with the Mayor, or on the national level) even know what’s going on?
- When Vamp Willow and Vamp Xander arrive at the library, why doesn’t Cordy respond? There had to be at least a second or two between their entering through the doors and grabbing her, and she could easily have screamed to alert Giles in that time. It’s also a little weird after she dies – the vamps drop her body to the floor and it makes no sound, yet Willow dropping the key makes a clear clanging noise.
- I’m not keen on the insinuation that there are multiple Hellmouths. If they do exist, you have to wonder why the demons always choose to go to the one that’s guarded by a Slayer, instead of bringing the apocalypse forth from elsewhere.
Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?
I still think this episode is excellent, despite the fundamental plot flaws/contrivances that serve to bog it down. However, the bulk of the story is so wonderfully dark and hopeless (and on occasion, morbidly amusing) that it’s easy to dismiss those criticisms in favour of positively assessing its glorious majority. As is, “The Wish” is certainly a highlight of S3, and a clear contender for one of those elusive ‘Top 20 Overall’ positions, earning it an excellent score of eight out of ten in my ratings.
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Post by cyclica on Jan 4, 2010 12:56:08 GMT -5
Anya! Harmony! Jonathan! Larry! The master! Dark willow! It's awesomecharacterpalooza! So the ep starts with buffy killing a demon, then wondering whether to bury it. This seems like the kind of scene that belongs in season 1, not the middle of season 3. Surely she's fought demons before and knows what to do? So willow is trying to get back together with oz (in a nice little scene where he tries to get her to give him some space), and xander is trying to deal with cordelia dumping him. This leads to an amusing scene in the bronze where he decides to stop wallowing in pain and enjoy life again, and buffy and willow join him on the 'joy train'. After about 5 seconds they realise ignoring their pain doesn't work, and instead decide chocolate is the answer.  But the main focus of the episode is from the point of view of cordelia, who's still hurt from both her breakup with xander, and from being impaled (she touches the area she was impaled several times this episode, clearly still in pain, nice continuity there). She tries to go back to her old life, only to find guys don't want to be with her unless it's in private, and her old friends make fun of her, with even harmony joking that she'd be happy with jonathan (vampire harmony was funnier). We also see a now-familiar face mixed into harmony's gang - anya, who claims that her dad owns a utility, or something. This background is fine as a cover story, but knowing what anya would be like in later episodes, that line just sounds weird. So anya befriends cordy, and patiently waits for her to make a wish. The first time watching this episode you wouldn't notice how bored anya looks in her scenes with cordy in the bronze, because it's only after the second watching you realise she doesn't want to hang out with her, she's just waiting to make a wish and cause chaos. After a while anya gives cordy her pendant and tricks her into making a wish. Later on we find out the pendant is anya's power source, so it would imply cordy needs to wear it to make the wish. But when anya and cordy first met anya tried to get codry to make a wish with no exchange of jewellery, so the 'put this one, make a wish' scene later doesn't make total sense. Once cordy wishes buffy had never come to sunnydale, it almost turns into a different episode, as the 'scooby gang dealing with their pain' plot ends and the 'life without buffy' plot begins, the only constant being cordy. It's pretty interesting to see how important buffy was, as there are clearly fewer students, and everyone lives in fear. Though there are a few plot holes and things needing explanation. Like why did buffy never come to town in this reality? How did xander and willow die? Presumably they were killed during the events of Welcome to the hellmouth/The harvest, but then where's jesse? Where's luke and darla? Why did cordy survive? She was about to be killed by luke in the bronze until buffy saved her, she should be dead in this reality. And why are xander and willow the master's closest 'disciples'? Surely the master would want servants who are part of his ancient order rather than teenagers who've recently died. This world also has 'white hats'- giles, jonathan, larry and some new girl called nancy. I would have liked to have had some backstory for nancy, or at least seem her in some episodes in the 'real world'. I also wonder if her line about vampires being attracted to bright colours also applies in the real world, since this is the only time on the show it's been mentioned. So cordy asks giles why he's there if buffy's not, which is a good question that we never get an answer to as dark willow and dark xander appear and kill her. It's a huge shock since up to this point the episode's been from her point of view. Giles calls buffy in cleveland and asks her to come to sunnydale. (What is buffy doing in cleveland? Is there a hellmouth there? You have to wait one hundred and one episodes to find out!  Buffy shows up, and it seems she's a different, battle-hardened buffy, who presumably fought vampires alone, like faith does now. She tells giles she's leaving the magic stuff to him as she's just a fighter, and she goes to the bronze and runs into the 'puppy' angel. She asks him why he's there, another good question we don't get an answer to. He says he waited for her, presumably after watching her in LA, then came to sunnydale expecting her to arrive. But surely in the real world angel in LA would have followed buffy to sunnydale, not gone on ahead. How would he have any way of knowing where she'd be? If he'd overheard her parents talking about going to sunnydale, then he would have heard them talk about going to cleveland instead. Giles summons anya, who threatens him in what may be her scariest scene on the whole show. She has a totally different personality than the one she has later, and there are many things about her here that don't add up. Like when it's revealed that anya is the patron saint of scorned women. Since when could a demon be a saint? And I find it strange that the fact that anya is a saint is never mentioned again in later episodes. Also, she appears wearing the pendant which up to this point was in giles's posession. How did she get it? And why would she wear it knowing how easy it would be for someone to grab it and rob her of her power? Before giles undoes the wish though, we get a massacre in the factory, as the master reveals his plan to drain people of their blood in a machine (starting with some oriental girl who also appeared in the movie 'bring it on', along with eliza dushku and clare kramer, making that movie kinds of a mini buffy reunion). How is using the machine better than simply grabbing someone and drinking their blood directly, when it's warm? Buffy and angel sneak in, with none of the other vamps recognising angel or telling buffy's human from her scent. This is where the massacre begins, and since cordy's already dead and the audience knows it will all be undone, they writers decided to just go nuts and kill off everybody. Giles smashes anya's power source, the world returns to normal, and we are left with the happy ending that is cordy cheerfully wishing horrible things upon her smiling friends, even though they are all presumably still in as much pain as they were at the start.  I guess the moral of the story is 'it could be worse', though it's a moral for the audience only since the characters remember nothing that happened. Or maybe the moral is 'buffy is awesome and life is better with her', which is kind of obvious. There's also surprisingly anti-feminist message snuck in, as the heroic man defeats the evil, strong empowered woman and robs her of her power, thereby making the world a better place. This scene is horrible if you view anya purely as a 'patron saint of scorned women', but knowing she'll be back as a wacky sidekick somehow makes this ok.  I realise I've been filling this review with negativity, pointing out every flaw I can find, but that doesn't mean I don't love this episode. The flaws are overlookable and the story is fun, original, inventive, and fascinating, as we get to see what life without buffy would be like and what would become of our favourite characters without her. I'm giving this ep a rating of 8.5. I'm awarding an extra half point just because it's the episode that gave us anya. |
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Post by cyclica on Jan 4, 2010 14:14:22 GMT -5
However, that becomes almost insignificant in light of the other material, with the closing montage being one of my favourite “Buffy” sequences ever. Witnessing the main characters die one by one as that gorgeous musical theme plays is haunting, and it’s powerful to witness Buffy’s lack of reaction to Angel’s death, as well as the way she calmly dusts Xander. Her own murder at the hands of the Master is also upsetting, and points out just how important her friends are to what she does. For me, once the main characters started dying I stopped caring what was happening, since I knew they were about to undo it all anyway. - If Cordelia wished that Buffy never came to Sunnydale, that means that the Master escaped at the Harvest. However, since he was tied to the Hellmouth, his freedom should have led to it opening and monsters overrunning the Earth. Why didn’t that happen? Maybe it did. Maybe the whole world has changed. - If all of Sunnydale’s populace is aware of its vampires, why are people even staying in town? You’d have thought that they’d be scrambling to get away from the place. Has it been quarantined? And does the government (be it the local legislature with the Mayor, or on the national level) even know what’s going on? It's possible the mayor has been killed (he's not invinsible yet), and everyone sent in to rescue the townspeople has been killed too. Though that doesn't explain why harmony and the others haven't run away. Maybe they just don't want to abandon their family members who had been captured? - I’m not keen on the insinuation that there are multiple Hellmouths. If they do exist, you have to wonder why the demons always choose to go to the one that’s guarded by a Slayer, instead of bringing the apocalypse forth from elsewhere. It's possible there are other demon hunters in cleveland. What annoys me is that the one in sunnydale is always referred to as The hellmouth and not A hellmouth. In the end, this episode rocks because each of the main characters, including Buffy herself, are killed. (Remember the prophecy involving Buffy and the Master!) I realise jennf10 won't reply to this, but I'd still like to point out that this is a good point, and one I missed. I guess no matter how much reality may be altered, a prophecy must still take place. Speaking of prophecys, wouldn't buffy, no matter where she was, still have had dreams about the master rising in sunnydale? |
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Post by partcynic on Jan 6, 2010 15:20:03 GMT -5
Since the Cordy we saw was the one from our reality 'forced' into another existence, that doesn't matter. The wish would have rewritten the alternate universe to accommodate her. If they're highly skilled and willing to obey him, why would he care? He could always have inducted them into the Order. It's the later episodes at fault here. Nothing about Anya in S4 and beyond makes sense with her characterisation in S3. He was being figurative, not literal. I guess the machine would get all of the blood, which could then be stored. Vamps tend to be pretty wasteful - they take a couple of sips and let the rest go to waste. And who wouldn't want food on tap, instead of having to go and hunt for it? Anya's less a feminist than she is a misandrist. She just wants to hurt men, regardless of whether the punishment fits the crime. A proper feminist would never agree with that. Couldn't you say that about the whole episode, though? Except it didn't. We didn't see any non vampire monsters in the Wishverse, and the fact that institutions like the school are still running suggests humans still have some power, control and normality. That's not very consistent with the 'end of the world' the show described in "The Harvest". Hmmm... but the show acts as though only Sunnydale is affected. I can't see the government not trying some kind of action, or anybody willingly staying in the town. And could you see Harmony sticking behind out of compassion? The only person she's ever cared about is herself. That's true, but then we get into the Holtz/Justine problem of wondering why Slayers are even necessary. I prefer the idea of there only being one - it makes things more important and Buffy's work more valuable. |
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Post by cyclica on Jan 7, 2010 19:27:35 GMT -5
And who wouldn't want food on tap, instead of having to go and hunt for it? Vampires! They love hunting. What would they do all day if they stopped hunting and fighting? Just sit by the fireplace, sipping blood? Couldn't you say that about the whole episode, though? Well yeah ok, but when the massacre started you knew it was all just about to be over. And by the time buffy had her neck snapped, half the cast had already been killed off and it wasn't a big shock for one more person to die. Except it didn't. We didn't see any non vampire monsters in the Wishverse, and the fact that institutions like the school are still running suggests humans still have some power, control and normality. That's not very consistent with the 'end of the world' the show described in "The Harvest". Perhaps giles and the other 'white hats' managed to fight the monsters off and close the hellmouth after the master rose. I prefer the idea of there only being one - it makes things more important and Buffy's work more valuable. I agree. I didn't mind the mention of another hellmouth at the end of chosen because it allowed the story to continue, but it had been mentioned here, it would have bothered me. |
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Buffy shows up, and it seems she's a different, battle-hardened buffy, who presumably fought vampires alone, like faith does now. She tells giles she's leaving the magic stuff to him as she's just a fighter, and she goes to the bronze and runs into the 'puppy' angel. She asks him why he's there, another good question we don't get an answer to. He says he waited for her, presumably after watching her in LA, then came to sunnydale expecting her to arrive. But surely in the real world angel in LA would have followed buffy to sunnydale, not gone on ahead. How would he have any way of knowing where she'd be? If he'd overheard her parents talking about going to sunnydale, then he would have heard them talk about going to cleveland instead.
I guess the moral of the story is 'it could be worse', though it's a moral for the audience only since the characters remember nothing that happened. Or maybe the moral is 'buffy is awesome and life is better with her', which is kind of obvious. There's also surprisingly anti-feminist message snuck in, as the heroic man defeats the evil, strong empowered woman and robs her of her power, thereby making the world a better place. This scene is horrible if you view anya purely as a 'patron saint of scorned women', but knowing she'll be back as a wacky sidekick somehow makes this ok. 