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Post by Clare on Sept 26, 2008 10:03:29 GMT -5
5.16 The Body - Episode #094
Buffy's life changes forever when she arrives home to find her mother lying dead on the sofa.
Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.
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Post by cyclica on Feb 9, 2009 17:05:39 GMT -5
This episode goes for a unique style, and I think it works. They filmed it with just a few long scenes, and with no music. It made the whole episode very stark and really conveyed the atmosphere of being there.
I loved the scene where buffy imagines joyce getting better, and it quickly snaps back to reality. And later on when buffy imagines the doctor saying 'I have to lie to make you feel better'. I can relate to those scenes, and I'm sure everyone who's experienced a death can relate to at least part of this episode, if not all of it. And like I said in another thread, I think it was a good idea to have a vampire at the end.
I give the body an 8.
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Post by partcynic on Sept 16, 2010 11:51:50 GMT -5
5x16 “The Body”
Episode Rating = 8
The third of Joss’ ‘Big Four’ experiments, “The Body” is the most dramatic of the bunch, and one that I feel is slightly overrated. Although it’s an excellent episode, it’s one whose impact turned out to be wholly negative; forcing the Buffy character into a role she couldn’t handle, and bidding a firm goodbye to the flippant worldview that made the first four seasons enjoyable even when the characters were despairing. Granted, it’s not fair to blame “The Body” for bad things that happened later, but this was the first time that “Buffy” had exuded a ‘we are serious, deep television, and must be given an Emmy’ vibe – when the truth was that it had always been deep television, and it’s not the writers’ fault that many people couldn’t look past their ignorance to see that. Instead, the show’s staff ended up doggedly adhering to this episode’s template (slow pacing, no plot, no humour, and a tacked-on supernatural entity) for most of S6 - and we all know how that turned out. Still, the one thing “The Body” did to differ from its imitators was have an abundance of emotion, and there’s no denying that it’s a superbly acted and constructed story that approached the subject of death in a manner never seen on television before.
What I Liked about “The Body”:
- I love how this episode is structured, with each act being a discrete entity and dealing with a different point in time and character reaction to Joyce’s death. They almost feel like their own mini-stories, and each one is powerful in its own way.
- I was really pleased that there was no incidental music. Its absence enhanced the episode’s emotional punch, and emphasised the cold cruelness of what had happened.
- A little thing, but I’m glad this ep broke the ‘title sequence characters must appear in every episode’ rule. It would have been stupid for Spike to feature in this story (as he’d have nothing to contribute to it), so it’s good that he didn’t.
- The Buffy act is incredibly harrowing. Sarah Michelle Gellar does a fantastic job of portraying the fear and numbness that overwhelm her character, and the single-shot sequence of Buffy desperately trying to revive Joyce is one of the most upsetting things the show ever did. The act is also filmed beautifully – little touches like the close-up on the phone pad; the camera movement when Buffy encounters Joyce for the second time; and how she sees only the bottom half of the paramedic’s face when he talks all convey her sense of confusion, and pull the viewer completely into her mind. Many of the other touches are highly emotional; with numerous lines hitting hard (“She’s cold... should I make her warm?”) and the fake-out with Joyce’s ‘revival’ being heartbreaking when it cuts back to reality. Finally, I also loved that Giles was Buffy’s first port of call – it made perfect sense that she would turn to ‘dad’ above all others, and her childlike reaction upon referring to Joyce as ‘the body’ was deeply moving.
- This is one of the few episodes where Dawn completely works, and she fits the part of the grieving teen well. I liked the juxtaposition between her upset about being called a ‘freak’ and the real problems that came after, and I wouldn’t have minded seeing her friend pop up again – teasing Dawn by writing ‘he wants you!’ on the easel was one of the few lighter moments, and she was more likeable than Janice. The tonal change once Buffy arrived was tangible, and Michelle Trachtenberg did well portraying Dawn’s reaction to the news. As in the first act, the scene construction was excellent, and the contrast between Buffy/Dawn in the corridor and the students in the classroom was a fine visual metaphor for outsiders’ responses to grief.
- Tara and Anya are both perfect in act three. Tara nicely fills the ‘understanding and accepting’ role, and her interactions with Willow and Xander (and then her excellent chat with Buffy at the hospital) show that she’s the most emotionally mature of the non-Giles characters – in fact, it’s almost as if the show has set her up to take the maternal position Joyce’s passing vacated. Anya also gets her single finest moment here – her speech about mortality and her inability to understand it is a tear-jerker, and Emma Caulfield proves that she can excel in drama as well as comedy. It’s a hugely affecting moment, and probably the most powerful and convincing manifestation of the episode’s theme.
- Act four is pretty solid – besides the aforementioned Buffy/Tara conversation, it featured great moments like Anya’s wish that Joyce didn’t die (and Buffy’s understanding that despite the clumsy phrasing, it was an honest expression), as well as Buffy ‘mishearing’ the doctor and the cute bit where Willow, Xander and Anya returned with armfuls of food. I could understand Dawn’s feelings and what drove her to go to the mortuary, and the final scene with she and Buffy was brilliant.
What I found to be a mixed bag about “The Body”:
- Having listened to Joss Whedon’s commentary, I would agree that the Christmas dinner scene was a necessary evil, in order to prevent the credits from playing while Buffy tried to resuscitate her mother. However, I also agree that it would have been better for Joyce to play a stronger role, rather than being an abstract presence. It’s not that she and Buffy should have been having some cheesy heart-to-heart, but she could have been more in the foreground, doing some normal ‘mum’ things.
- I have mixed feelings about the vampire fight. On one hand, I liked the symbolism of Buffy being able to save Dawn from a supernatural monster, but not the harshness of reality; however, I also found the scene’s inclusion intrusive.
What I Disliked about “The Body”:
- The episode’s theme is too young for where the characters (and show) are at this point. Fundamentally, “The Body” is a tale about a group of children coming to terms with death through the loss of their collective mother figure, but there are two big problems with this concept. Firstly, it ignores that for most of the characters, death is not a new thing; and secondly, it overestimates how close the non-Summers Scoobs were to Joyce. Of course, Buffy and Dawn’s familial tie means they’ll be devastated, and Anya’s upset is also understandable (and now I think about it, nicely foreshadowed by “The Replacement”). However, Willow’s histrionic crying and Xander putting his fist through the wall were over-the-top. It’s fine for those two characters to be distressed and sympathetic/empathising with what Buffy’s going through, but they’re acting as though their own parents died. At the end of the day, Joyce was a friend’s mother, and not one they’d spent an excessive amount of time with. It’s especially weird that they’re more traumatised by her passing than that of a best friend of multiple years (Jesse, who was also the first real death they’d encountered), a teacher and fellow Scooby (Jenny), or the countless school and college mates that have perished over the years. It’s an unfortunate case of characterisation being sacrificed for theme, and one that significantly weakens act three in comparison to its predecessors.
- There’s some poor blocking in places. If you look to the left of the screen during the first shot of the Christmas dinner scene, you can see one of the crew members standing there(!), and there are other incidents in which there’s visible camera equipment.
- How did Dawn know which trolley had Joyce on it? She gravitates towards the one on the end with no indication as to why. Was it just intuition?
- Just how strong was that vampire? Even an emotionally-crushed Buffy shouldn’t have struggled to wrench him from Dawn (especially since she had no problem summoning the energy to decapitate him with the bone saw).
Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?
I would say a tad less, but not enough to change my grade. While my review might give the impression of my having big problems with this ep, I do really like it – it’s just that this is a textbook case of ‘show-er, not a grower’. While I can watch other experimental eps like “Restless” and “Hush” over and over and get new things from them, “The Body” plays all of its cards instantly, and has little to offer besides its (admittedly excellent) emotion. Now, anyone who’s read my reviews knows that I love the powerful, emotional shows, but the big difference is that pieces like “Prophecy Girl”; “Innocence”, “Passion” and “Becoming” all have emotion in conjunction with plots and humour, both of which this one sorely lacks. In addition, those other editions don’t give me the icky impression of “Buffy” trying to make a big, grand statement that’s beyond its reach. However, it remains that “The Body” is a definite classic that deserves to be lauded, and I’m consequently scoring it an eight out of ten.
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Post by cyclica on Jun 3, 2011 18:41:27 GMT -5
The third of Joss’ ‘Big Four’ experiments Aside from Hush and Restless, what would be number four? Once More With Feeling and Conversations With Dead People were both pretty experimental, I'm guessing you're referring to one of these? - I love how this episode is structured, with each act being a discrete entity and dealing with a different point in time and character reaction to Joyce’s death. They almost feel like their own mini-stories, and each one is powerful in its own way. I loved that too. Even if it wasn't an emotional episode, I still would have loved that kind of experimenting with the format (and it worked for Life Serial). - I was really pleased that there was no incidental music. Its absence enhanced the episode’s emotional punch, and emphasised the cold cruelness of what had happened. Agreed. Though I almost always prefer to have no incidental music anyway. - The Buffy act is incredibly harrowing ... little touches like the close-up on the phone pad; the camera movement when Buffy encounters Joyce for the second time; and how she sees only the bottom half of the paramedic’s face when he talks all convey her sense of confusion, and pull the viewer completely into her mind. Many of the other touches are highly emotional; with numerous lines hitting hard (“She’s cold... should I make her warm?”) and the fake-out with Joyce’s ‘revival’ being heartbreaking when it cuts back to reality. Agreed. Especially that insight into what's running through buffy's mind, picturing joyce being ok, as though that's what she was hoping and expecting would happen, then snapping back as she realised how unrealistic that would be. The tonal change once Buffy arrived was tangible, and Michelle Trachtenberg did well portraying Dawn’s reaction to the news. As in the first act, the scene construction was excellent, and the contrast between Buffy/Dawn in the corridor and the students in the classroom was a fine visual metaphor for outsiders’ responses to grief. Yeah, that scene when dawn finds out is probably the hardest to watch in the episode. I'm really glad we didn't have to hear the whole conversation, in a way that would have been unbearable. Anya also gets her single finest moment here – her speech about mortality and her inability to understand it is a tear-jerker, and Emma Caulfield proves that she can excel in drama as well as comedy. It’s a hugely affecting moment, and probably the most powerful and convincing manifestation of the episode’s theme. I actually didn't think very much of that scene. It was emotional, 'in the moment' as you watch, but I find it hard to believe that anya would feel that way. She's over a thousand years old, she must have had experience of dealing with death before, even if she had been spending most of that time with immortal demons. She must have outlived her family, for one. And then there's all the deaths she's caused. - Act four is pretty solid – besides the aforementioned Buffy/Tara conversation, it featured great moments like Anya’s wish that Joyce didn’t die (and Buffy’s understanding that despite the clumsy phrasing, it was an honest expression), as well as Buffy ‘mishearing’ the doctor and the cute bit where Willow, Xander and Anya returned with armfuls of food. I could understand Dawn’s feelings and what drove her to go to the mortuary, and the final scene with she and Buffy was brilliant. Agreed. All of those little moments throughout the episode were great, they were realistic and moving, even when providing a little bit of humour. - Having listened to Joss Whedon’s commentary, I would agree that the Christmas dinner scene was a necessary evil, in order to prevent the credits from playing while Buffy tried to resuscitate her mother. However, I also agree that it would have been better for Joyce to play a stronger role, rather than being an abstract presence. It’s not that she and Buffy should have been having some cheesy heart-to-heart, but she could have been more in the foreground, doing some normal ‘mum’ things. I had no problem about the dinner scene (I love any time anya provides demon knowledge), though now you mention it, it should have featured more from joyce. I assumed it was supposed to be buffy's memory, what was going through her mind for a moment as she found joyce, but it doesn't make sense to have that scooby scene that neither joyce nor buffy were in. - I have mixed feelings about the vampire fight. On one hand, I liked the symbolism of Buffy being able to save Dawn from a supernatural monster, but not the harshness of reality; however, I also found the scene’s inclusion intrusive. I liked how it made vampires in the buffy universe more of a threat. They're not just people who wander around cemeteries, they don't wait for opportune moments to attack, they can go after you when you least expect it and when you are least prepared. And by that late in the episode, the ep had made it's point, the vamp scene didn't ruin it for me. However, Willow’s histrionic crying and Xander putting his fist through the wall were over-the-top. It’s fine for those two characters to be distressed and sympathetic/empathising with what Buffy’s going through, but they’re acting as though their own parents died. At the end of the day, Joyce was a friend’s mother, and not one they’d spent an excessive amount of time with. Agreed, though I still became caught up in their emotions. It’s especially weird that they’re more traumatised by her passing than that of a best friend of multiple years (Jesse, who was also the first real death they’d encountered), a teacher and fellow Scooby (Jenny), or the countless school and college mates that have perished over the years. Well that's more of a problem for past episodes. - There’s some poor blocking in places. If you look to the left of the screen during the first shot of the Christmas dinner scene, you can see one of the crew members standing there(!), and there are other incidents in which there’s visible camera equipment.  I've got to watch out for that! - Just how strong was that vampire? Even an emotionally-crushed Buffy shouldn’t have struggled to wrench him from Dawn (especially since she had no problem summoning the energy to decapitate him with the bone saw). It just goes to show you just how affected buffy was, that she struggled to defeat an ordinary vampire. Now, anyone who’s read my reviews knows that I love the powerful, emotional shows, but the big difference is that pieces like “Prophecy Girl”; “Innocence”, “Passion” and “Becoming” all have emotion in conjunction with plots and humour, both of which this one sorely lacks. Well like you said earlier, this episode was an experiment. And as such, I didn't have a problem with the lack of humour or plot (though there was still the occasional humorous moment). I'm bumping my grade up to a 9. Upon reflection, this is probably my second favourite episode of the show, and I love it more every time I watch it. |
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Post by partcynic on Jun 5, 2011 9:02:52 GMT -5
Agreed to all of this.
You're right with the first one - OMWF rounds the the four out. I agree that CWDP is also experimental, but I don't include it with the Big Four because it's not a Joss double-header (writing/directing).
Definitely. It was easily the best Dawn moment in the season (heck, maybe the show). Cutting away to the class was a great decision, and SMG and MT both got the acting spot-on.
I think you can see it either way. Although Anya will definitely have lost people she cared about, that was over a millenium ago, and all of the pain and death she caused as a demon was done as an immortal outsider with a contempt for humans (mainly men, of course) looking in. Since losing her powers, she's been reimmersed into real people's lives, and I think knowing that she will now also age, get sick and die would hit her extra hard. Following her reaction to getting her arm broken in "Real Me"/"The Replacement", I thought the scene here flowed very nicely as part of her development.
I agree with the first part here, though the vamp still pulled me out of the episode, which is a problem for something that had immersed me so completely. I concur that it didn't hurt the episode's theme at all, but I found it unnecessarily jarring (and not in a good way).
Really? With the major exception of Jesse, I never had a problem with how the characters reacted to death before - it was almost always appropriate in intensity and duration for the story and theme. If an episode like this one comes along and proves anomalous, I'm more inclined to believe it's the one with the issue, rather than the 90+ that came before it. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying this ep made a major error, just that it penned Willow and Xander as 'younger' and less familiar with grief and loss than they actually are.
I'm the opposite on this one. It was (and still is) affecting, but it has so little to offer besides that that it falls a bit in my estimations (though it's still a top 15/20 episode, no doubt).
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