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Post by Clare on Sept 26, 2008 9:59:19 GMT -5
5.14 Crush - Episode #092
Buffy is appalled when Spike admits his feelings for her; her rejection sends him spiraling into the arms of a newly-returned Drusilla.
Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.
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Post by cyclica on Feb 9, 2009 17:08:21 GMT -5
A whole episode devoted to exploring the spike/buffy relationship, to the exclusion of everything else, resulting in only tiny cameos from the scoobies.
Ther were some good scenes, especially the ending with buffy and dru tied up and spike 'at the end of his tether'. But there was something off about this episode, and I think it was drucilla. She wasn't as fun to watch as she used to be, and it was a little awkward seeing her again, like she doesn't really fit into season 5. And what's with her wanting to 'get the gang back together' after angel sets her on fire? Still, its was cool how she tried to bring old, killer spike back. For a moment it looked like he could go back to becoming a real threat again.
I give this ep a 6.
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Post by partcynic on Sept 10, 2010 15:02:16 GMT -5
5x14 “Crush”
Episode Rating = 5
David Fury can always be counted on for average-quality episodes, and “Crush” does nothing to break his trend of ‘good, but far from great’ shows. However, this is the point at which context becomes important – and when considering the highly variable quality of S5, ‘good, but not great’ starts sounding much more appealing. As you’d expect from a standard-level ep, “Crush” has an even mix of good and bad qualities, with some great material for Harmony and Drusilla counterbalancing a problematic theme and the general un-impressiveness of the Spike-loves-Buffy arc.
What I Liked about “Crush”:
- The opening Bronze scene is fun, and both the Buffy/Spike convo and Spike swiping Xander’s money were humorous. Buffy’s flirting with Ben was good set-up for “I Was Made to Love You”, and I liked Ben’s brief flash of concern when Buffy commented about his chat with Dawn (I’m guessing he’s unaware of the forget spell Glory’s cast).
- It’s a real shame that this is the last we’ll see of Harmony (at least on “Buffy”). She’s been one of the best characters during S5, and her material here was great. Dressing up as Buffy, the threesome chat (and dissing ‘Droodzilla’) and her parting shot (“and you can say goodbye to this”) were all excellent, and it’s fine character progression for her to finally ditch Spike.
- There are some good continuity references early on, such as Xander being miffed that Dawn’s no longer crushing on him, and the awesome return of Drusilla’s dolls. And is it me, or was Dru gearing up to do her hypnosis trick on Buffy just before Spike pushed her away?
- Dawn is at her best with Spike, and their interactions are always fun to watch. Without being constantly babied, Dawn gets to act with greater maturity, and Spike’s caring combined with his desire to keep up evil appearances is very funny. I loved his stunned response to hearing Dawn say he made her feel safe, as well as his edited version of the ‘coal bin’ story when Buffy walked in.
- I’m not entirely convinced that Dawn could deduce Spike’s feelings for Buffy so easily, but I suppose that they wouldn’t take a genius to work out. Buffy’s “huh?” reaction to hearing the news was amusing, as were her “hit on Giles” line and uber-defensiveness during the vampire stakeout. And while I have problems with the direction the Spike/Buffy story has taken, it’s good to have Spike’s feelings out in the open.
- Drusilla is one of my favourite Buffyverse figures, so I was very happy to see her again. Although I had qualms with the way she was presented (see negatives section), her scenes were the strongest in the episode, and her best stuff was spectacular. It was great fun to watch her try and convince Spike of his inherent evilness, and their scene in the Bronze was awesome. They look fantastic together, and exude an effortless sense of cool – especially when they killed and fed from the kissing couple. You have to wonder how much better S6/7 would have been if they’d made Spike evil again and kept he and Drusilla around – their pairing is sexier and more entertaining than Spike/Buffy could ever hope to be.
- The fourth act has lots of tension and movement, and while its theme is screwed up beyond belief, I was interested in seeing what would happen next. Every character had some great lines, and there was a real sense of uncertainty.
What I Disliked about “Crush”:
- Nicholas Brendon’s laughter when Buffy tells him about Spike’s crush is 100% fake. I know that laughing without a proper stimulus is hard, but it appears that he didn’t even try.
- Although I’m of the opinion that any Drusilla is good Drusilla, I don’t think the writing here managed to capture the character’s voice. I appreciate that David Fury wasn’t a full time member of staff until long after she’d gone, but it would have been nice for there to be more consistency. While her dialogue was decent, a number of lines sounded more like a Drusilla impression than terms and metaphors you could envisage the character truly using. This isn’t a huge issue, but it’s a bit frustrating given that her characterisation in the parallel “Angel” eps was so spot-on.
- Drusilla’s motivations for returning felt rather thin. After almost being killed by Angel, you’d have thought Darla would have insisted that she and Dru stick together and push him harder than ever before, and not let her swan off to Sunnydale. And if Dru had originally broken up with Spike because of his love for Buffy, why was she willing to overlook it now? It’s not like anything has changed in him since then – if anything, he’s gotten even more obsessed with her.
- I’ve commented before that the show’s (and Joss Whedon’s) feminist credentials are often suspect, and the handling of this storyline is a red flag with regard to how the series views male/female relationships. It’s bad enough that Spike’s prior stalking behaviour was portrayed as comedic, but it’s now gone too far. I’m not sure if it’s the writing in this specific ep that’s the main problem, or if equal blame should be placed on James Marsters. I recall an interview where he said he’d tried to make Spike as sympathetic as possible, even when such a portrayal contradicted the story/theme – and that’s strongly evident here. By making Spike appear to be a wronged party and Buffy a joyless nag, the episode ends up being a creepy endorsement of female objectification and associated rape culture. It’s awful that the ep gives the impression that Buffy is mean for rejecting a man who’s stalked her, broken into her home and stolen her things, made repeated attempts on her life, groped her, held her captive and threatened her with death unless she reciprocated his feelings, and I couldn’t believe the Buffy/Willow/Joyce scene where the characters endorsed rape myths such as ‘leading him on’. Last time I checked, Spike is a grown man who’s responsible for his own (messed-up) actions, and it’s pretty sickening that the show tries to make Buffy accountable for them.
- Flowing from the last point, this ep is the unfortunate herald of everything the Spike/Buffy plot would go on to be. Despite the characterisation problems caused by the sudden introduction of this story, it could still have been dealt with in a number of ways – but this ep chose to treat it as deathly serious, putting the writing on the wall for the issues of S6/7.
- It would be cool for the show to acknowledge its other characters once in a while. I’ve no problem with different individuals being focussed on at different times, but Buffy, Dawn and Spike are consuming too much screentime at the moment.
Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?
I like the positive aspects (Spike/Dawn interaction; Drusilla; Harmony) more, but find the Buffy/Spike material both dull and offensive – and knowing that Spuffy is going to become such a central plot, I have a hard time not feeling more negatively. However, I concede that while “Crush” does do some damage, things could still have been saved, and it’s not this specific ep’s fault that things would go so pear-shaped (even if it did set the wheels in motion). Thanks its numerous strong scenes and generally snappy dialogue, I’m willing to score “Crush” a five out of ten, though it would have been higher if it’d had some significant rewriting.
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Post by cyclica on Jan 24, 2011 15:11:47 GMT -5
- The opening Bronze scene is fun, and both the Buffy/Spike convo and Spike swiping Xander’s money were humorous. Agreed. - It’s a real shame that this is the last we’ll see of Harmony (at least on “Buffy”). She’s been one of the best characters during S5, and her material here was great. Dressing up as Buffy, the threesome chat (and dissing ‘Droodzilla’) and her parting shot (“and you can say goodbye to this”) were all excellent, and it’s fine character progression for her to finally ditch Spike. I'm glad harmony left at this point. She is my second favourite character on the show, but by this point in s5 she was about to get stuck in a rut, and having her transfered to 'angel' was the best thing for her character. And is it me, or was Dru gearing up to do her hypnosis trick on Buffy just before Spike pushed her away? Possibly, though she looked more angry than anything else. - Dawn is at her best with Spike, and their interactions are always fun to watch. Without being constantly babied, Dawn gets to act with greater maturity, and Spike’s caring combined with his desire to keep up evil appearances is very funny. I loved his stunned response to hearing Dawn say he made her feel safe, as well as his edited version of the ‘coal bin’ story when Buffy walked in. Agreed. Spike and dawn made a great duo in s5, it's a shame we didn't see so much of that after bargaining. - Nicholas Brendon’s laughter when Buffy tells him about Spike’s crush is 100% fake. I know that laughing without a proper stimulus is hard, but it appears that he didn’t even try. Yeah, that scene always stood out as odd to me too. Maybe this was one of those episodes where the actor was ill so they had to use his twin. Who doesn't know how to laugh. - Although I’m of the opinion that any Drusilla is good Drusilla, I don’t think the writing here managed to capture the character’s voice. I appreciate that David Fury wasn’t a full time member of staff until long after she’d gone, but it would have been nice for there to be more consistency. While her dialogue was decent, a number of lines sounded more like a Drusilla impression than terms and metaphors you could envisage the character truly using. This isn’t a huge issue, but it’s a bit frustrating given that her characterisation in the parallel “Angel” eps was so spot-on. Agreed, drucilla was definitely off this episode. - It would be cool for the show to acknowledge its other characters once in a while. I’ve no problem with different individuals being focussed on at different times, but Buffy, Dawn and Spike are consuming too much screentime at the moment. Anya only gets one line in this episode, and it wasn't a good one.  At least when she had a cameo in 'lies my parents told me' she got to wear that ridiculous hat, thereby providing a small amount of entertainment. - I’ve commented before that the show’s (and Joss Whedon’s) feminist credentials are often suspect, and the handling of this storyline is a red flag with regard to how the series views male/female relationships. It’s bad enough that Spike’s prior stalking behaviour was portrayed as comedic, but it’s now gone too far. I’m not sure if it’s the writing in this specific ep that’s the main problem, or if equal blame should be placed on James Marsters. I recall an interview where he said he’d tried to make Spike as sympathetic as possible, even when such a portrayal contradicted the story/theme – and that’s strongly evident here. By making Spike appear to be a wronged party and Buffy a joyless nag, the episode ends up being a creepy endorsement of female objectification and associated rape culture. It’s awful that the ep gives the impression that Buffy is mean for rejecting a man who’s stalked her, broken into her home and stolen her things, made repeated attempts on her life, groped her, held her captive and threatened her with death unless she reciprocated his feelings, and I couldn’t believe the Buffy/Willow/Joyce scene where the characters endorsed rape myths such as ‘leading him on’. Last time I checked, Spike is a grown man who’s responsible for his own (messed-up) actions, and it’s pretty sickening that the show tries to make Buffy accountable for them. I didn't think this episode on it's own was all that bad, though it's worse knowing where the buffy/spike relationship is headed. If only it would have ended with buffy slamming the door in spike's face, and have that storyline end there. Anyway I'm sticking with my 6. |
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Post by partcynic on Jan 26, 2011 11:11:16 GMT -5
A great one-sentence summary.  Yep. The fourth act was definitely the best one. Agreed on all counts. Dru really worked in tandem with Spike, but not on her own. Yeah, it's probably just as well that she left when she did. I can only imagine what she'd have morphed into if she'd stayed longer. Ha - that was probably the only good thing in that episode. |
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