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Post by Clare on Sept 26, 2008 10:51:33 GMT -5
6.06 All the Way - Episode #106
On Halloween, Xander and Anya announce their engagement; Tara is concerned by Willow’s magic abuse, and Dawn has her very first kiss.
Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.
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Post by cyclica on May 30, 2009 11:57:05 GMT -5
This episode was just kinda dull. Basically dawn falls for a guy who turns out to be a vampire. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of story there.
The scary old man at the start wasn’t scary at all, so he’s got a knife, so what. I’m glad he just turned out to be a red herring.
There was some good in this episode, like the revelation that giles cleans his glasses so he doesn’t have to see what the kids are doing (which seems to make sense when you watch him clean his glasses in earlier episodes). And we get a foreshadowing of xander wearing an eye patch and of dawn being a thief.
This is also the ep where willows starts abusing magic. What I don’t get though is why willow in the bronze is told off for attempting to shift people to an alternate dimension for a moment, yet tara is allowed to just make everyone mute. But that’s nothing compared with the end of the episode, where willow makes tara forget the fight, which in a way is more evil that her rampage against warren later on, because she is messing with the mind of someone she loves, someone who trusts her.
That end scene was so horrible it guarantees a bad score from me, but I’m also deducting points for the awful dialog at times (giles calling xander a ‘teeny pirate’, anya is a ‘special kind of angel called a charlie’, and I still am not sure what infested roots are, or why they would be a turn on). I’m giving this ep a 3.
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Post by cyclica on Oct 31, 2009 14:00:48 GMT -5
Upon rewatching this episode... it’s still a load of crap. It’s just no fun to sit through and watch, and I just wanted it to be over.  My last review was fairly recent though, and I don’t have much more to say, besides pointing out a few more problematic scenes I noticed- - There was a reference to the fear demon from ‘fear itself’, only they referred to it as an irish demon. I just watched that episode, and I found no reference to it being irish.  - Why is it when giles threatened the second vampire justin all the vamps got out of their cars to come to the justin’s assistance, but they did nothing when giles killed the first vamp, which was close by? - Buffy decapitated a vampire with a car door! That wouldn’t work with a human, so why would it work with a vampire? I’m bumping this one down to a low 3. |
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Post by partcynic on Nov 10, 2010 15:20:50 GMT -5
6x06 “All the Way”
Episode Rating = 1
Even after just rewatching this, I’m pressed to come up with any summary extending beyond ‘it was a waste of time’. Thinking of how the show’s episodes used to be structured stories with themes and character development (okay - not all, but most), it’s disappointing that they’re now 40-minute trips to Sunnydale, and we’re merely watching the characters go about their lives as opposed to getting something with substance and meaning. I understand that this edition was mainly created in order to provide a stopgap for the “OMWF” sessions (hence its focus on Dawn, who only had a bit part in the musical), but that’s little excuse for it being so dull. We get miniscule advances of established plots coupled with a wholly uninteresting story about Dawn’s first kiss, and the net effect produces what is probably the worst ep of the show so far. I could find value even in the likes of “Spiral” and “Dead Man’s Party”, but “All the Way” has so few positives that it might as well have none.
What I Liked about “All the Way”:
- The first few scenes (Scoobs at the Magic Box; the engagement announcement) are generally well written, and have some nice lines here and there. Things like Willow getting frustrated with a customer dressing like a stereotypical witch; Anya doing the ‘capitalist dance of superiority’; and Giles revealing just why he cleans he glasses so regularly were neat character moments, and all amusing in their own ways.
- It’s good that Xander and Anya have announced their engagement, as we won’t have to hear Anya complaining about it being a secret any more.
- Buffy and Spike continue to have good chemistry. Their scenes together weren’t particularly important in terms of character or plot, but they did have a spark, and some of their banter was funny (“... so much easier to talk to when he was trying to kill me”).
- The battle in the woods was a welcome change from the dreary teenybopper stuff. Most of the fight was nicely choreographed; the special effects were respectable, and there was a decent amount of action. We also got a couple of good humour moments, though they were either stupid (the human couple mixed with the vamps) or stolen from other eps (the “can we fight now?” line, which was originally from “The Freshman”).
What I Disliked about “All the Way”:
- As I’ve stated in every S6 review so far, I’m getting increasingly fed up with the lack of plot in these episodes. Unless you’re specifically striving to ignore convention, narrative is crucial in drama, and the story is the framework upon which everything else is constructed. Looking at this ep, we can see that nothing significant happened until the very end. As a result, this felt like a disposable connector, and one that could easily be cut from the season (as ninety-five percent of it is irrelevant).
- Too much time was spent on Mr Kaltenbach, given that his presence was just a red herring. Since his scenes weren’t written well to begin with, there’s little incentive to sit through them again (after all, they’re filler to pad the so-called story), and his lines about ‘the accident’ were gratuitous. In addition, I can’t even say I found him interesting or threatening on first viewing – for me, his stuff has always been dead time.
- I’ll ‘fess up and say that no Dawn-centric ep is ever going to climb high on my list, but that’s because editions that focus on her never bother to analyse or develop her character. The Dawn we had at the end of this ep was no different to the one at its start, except for the fact that she’s now been kissed. That’s a real shame, as this could easily have taken the opportunity to explore her a little. Perhaps it could have examined her rebellion as a response to her comparative freedom now that she’s no longer the Key, or alluded to her feelings about Buffy’s post-resurrection behaviour, or even her desire to be treated like an adult without understanding what that really means? Those are just three options, all of which could have been more insightful than having her make out with a charisma-free vampire, which told us nothing and wasted valuable screentime.
- The non-Dawn teen characters were terrible. Janice had one or two decent lines, but was otherwise a stereotype, and the guys were either annoying (Zach) or mind-numbingly boring and generic (Justin). It was especially problematic for Justin, as I couldn’t understand why Dawn liked him (thanks to his lack of personality); and found him to be more like an undead Dawson Leery than a believable Buffyverse vamp.
- Xander and Anya’s engagement party was a bit of a snooze, and went overboard on the ‘look, Xander obviously hasn’t thought about the true implications of marriage’ stuff.
- The sudden concern about Willow’s magic struck me as overdone. While “Flooded” did raise an alarm about her approach, we haven’t been given any other indication of the attitude Tara claims to be witnessing. I also have to say that I hate the drug analogy that’s starting to pop up (“Willow, you are using too much magic!”), and think that it’s pushing her out of character. I certainly don’t have a problem with her messing up and doing nasty/selfish/irresponsible things, but the Willow on screen feels like a brand new character, instead of the person we’ve known for five-plus years succumbing to a dangerous addiction.
- If temporarily shifting a club full of people into an alternate dimension is wrong, shouldn’t rendering them all mute be an issue too?
- Buffy’s ‘couple angst’ (the sad gazing at Anya/Xander and then the anonymous pair on the street) was an unnecessary retread of something that was fully dealt with in “I Was Made to Love You” – in fact, even the music that played over the scene was duplicated.
- I don’t get why Buffy was perturbed by the ambulance going by and decided to follow it. Why didn’t she assume it was going to a non-supernatural medical emergency (after all, Halloween is supposed to be a quiet night)? Or does she just go after any and every ambulance she sees, on the chance there might have been a vamp or demon involved?
- When the action shifts to the woods, the plot becomes heavily reliant on coincidence. First, we have Giles randomly hearing Janice scream and managing to save her in time. Despite having no clue where Dawn is in the large stretch of woodland, he also makes it to her before Justin can bite her. At that exact moment, all of the other vamps pull up in their cars... but that’s okay, because Spike and Buffy have teleported to the scene, despite having no idea where Dawn had gone. I understand that no story can ever be airtight, but this is just bad writing.
- Willow’s memory spell on Tara is the point at which she crosses the line. Though I don’t have an issue with it in terms of plot (since it was the only thing of note that happened in this episode), I can no longer like the character, and think this act was far more evil than her torturing/killing Warren. I also couldn’t believe the magic’s mechanism – how can simply holding a piece of plant and saying ‘forget’ have the power to wipe someone’s mind of a specific event occurring at a specific time? Magic is getting more and more unbelievable as a Buffyverse construct.
Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?
I like it less. I can’t actually remember what my old score for this episode was – I know that I once had it as a ‘2’ (too high), and once as a ‘0’ (fair, but I think that this is still qualitatively better than the likes of “Empty Places”). Therefore, I’ve decided to split the difference and award it a whopping one out of ten, in acknowledgement of its decent fight and watchable opening scenes. Still, there’s no denying that “All the Way” is thoroughly rotten, and it thus gets to wear my ‘worst ever’ crown; at least until a certain drug parable rears its ugly head, and redefines bad “Buffy” in the process.
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Post by cyclica on Dec 1, 2010 18:20:38 GMT -5
Even after just rewatching this, I’m pressed to come up with any summary extending beyond ‘it was a waste of time’. I think that says it all.  Thinking of how the show’s episodes used to be structured stories with themes and character development (okay - not all, but most), it’s disappointing that they’re now 40-minute trips to Sunnydale, and we’re merely watching the characters go about their lives as opposed to getting something with substance and meaning. I understand that this edition was mainly created in order to provide a stopgap for the “OMWF” sessions (hence its focus on Dawn, who only had a bit part in the musical), but that’s little excuse for it being so dull. We get miniscule advances of established plots coupled with a wholly uninteresting story about Dawn’s first kiss, and the net effect produces what is probably the worst ep of the show so far. I could find value even in the likes of “Spiral” and “Dead Man’s Party”, but “All the Way” has so few positives that it might as well have none. Agreed. - The first few scenes (Scoobs at the Magic Box; the engagement announcement) are generally well written, and have some nice lines here and there. Things like Willow getting frustrated with a customer dressing like a stereotypical witch; Anya doing the ‘capitalist dance of superiority’; and Giles revealing just why he cleans he glasses so regularly were neat character moments, and all amusing in their own ways. Meh, the giles glasses scene was the only one of them I liked. - As I’ve stated in every S6 review so far, I’m getting increasingly fed up with the lack of plot in these episodes. Unless you’re specifically striving to ignore convention, narrative is crucial in drama, and the story is the framework upon which everything else is constructed. Looking at this ep, we can see that nothing significant happened until the very end. As a result, this felt like a disposable connector, and one that could easily be cut from the season (as ninety-five percent of it is irrelevant). Yep. - Too much time was spent on Mr Kaltenbach, given that his presence was just a red herring. Since his scenes weren’t written well to begin with, there’s little incentive to sit through them again (after all, they’re filler to pad the so-called story), and his lines about ‘the accident’ were gratuitous. In addition, I can’t even say I found him interesting or threatening on first viewing – for me, his stuff has always been dead time. I think he was meant to trick you the first time watching so you'd think he's up to something, and you'd be surprised when the guys turned out to be vampires. But I spoiled myself and found out in advance that this week's villains are the two guys, and so the old man turned out to be a total waste of time. ... Perhaps it could have examined her rebellion as a response to her comparative freedom now that she’s no longer the Key Good point. I really wish the fact that she was still a key would be mentioned in later episodes, but all we got was a brief mention in bargaining and storyteller. We never get to find out if she is still capable of opening portals, if anyone else out there is after her like glory was, or if she still counts as human, or even if she has a soul or not. The key subplot served it's purpose, and got buried. - The non-Dawn teen characters were terrible. Janice had one or two decent lines, but was otherwise a stereotype, and the guys were either annoying (Zach) or mind-numbingly boring and generic (Justin). It was especially problematic for Justin, as I couldn’t understand why Dawn liked him (thanks to his lack of personality); and found him to be more like an undead Dawson Leery than a believable Buffyverse vamp. Agreed. - If temporarily shifting a club full of people into an alternate dimension is wrong, shouldn’t rendering them all mute be an issue too? Yup. - I don’t get why Buffy was perturbed by the ambulance going by and decided to follow it. Why didn’t she assume it was going to a non-supernatural medical emergency (after all, Halloween is supposed to be a quiet night)? Or does she just go after any and every ambulance she sees, on the chance there might have been a vamp or demon involved? Well she was especially on edge because it was dawn she was looking for. And if sh sees an ambulance, well of course she's gonna follow it, she has no reason not to. - Willow’s memory spell on Tara is the point at which she crosses the line. Though I don’t have an issue with it in terms of plot (since it was the only thing of note that happened in this episode), I can no longer like the character, and think this act was far more evil than her torturing/killing Warren. Yep. I also couldn’t believe the magic’s mechanism – how can simply holding a piece of plant and saying ‘forget’ have the power to wipe someone’s mind of a specific event occurring at a specific time? Magic is getting more and more unbelievable as a Buffyverse construct. It goes to show how powerful willow's magic has become, she's grown beyond the need to use magic incartations or elaborate spells. |
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Post by partcynic on Dec 8, 2010 12:54:57 GMT -5
I completely agree with you on all of these points. I think that the book featured in the episode was written in Irish Gaelic, so that's where the connection comes from. Gachnar's being Irish was never explicitly stated, but sort-of hinted at. Weren't they have supposed to have just pulled up at that moment, as opposed to having been there the whole time? I'd go lower.  If it's a load of crap that's no fun to watch, even a low three sounds high. Hand out one of those 0s, 1s or 2s and give "Showtime" some company.  Yep. Considering that her arrival had been planned for quite some time, it's shocking that the writers didn't bother developing any kind of long-term story for Dawn. I mean, I didn't love the Key plot, but it at least gave her a role in the show, and it was ridiculous that it was swept away after "The Gift". It's one ambulance in a city with a large population. If Buffy was that concerned about Dawn, she would have done the practical thing and called the local hospital(s) instead. I think that explanation works for stuff earlier in the season, but not here. If it were a general amnesia spell, it would work, but what Willow did was too precise for me to believe. |
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Post by cyclica on Dec 12, 2010 17:41:06 GMT -5
I think that the book featured in the episode was written in Irish Gaelic, so that's where the connection comes from. Gachnar's being Irish was never explicitly stated, but sort-of hinted at. It's still bizarre that anya would mention it as being irish, or that the writers put that in at all. Weren't they have supposed to have just pulled up at that moment, as opposed to having been there the whole time? Hmm. I remember them as being there the whole time, but I'd have to watch it again to be sure of that. ... I'd rather just take your word for it. I'd go lower. If it's a load of crap that's no fun to watch, even a low three sounds high. Hand out one of those 0s, 1s or 2s and give "Showtime" some company. I'm always reluctant to hand out very high or very low scores, though in this case perhaps you're right. I also forgot to give my new rating upon rewatching, which I've been doing for all of your reviews I've been commenting on so far. So here it is- 2 out of 10. But it still isn't nearly bad enough for me to give it the same rating as showtime. It's one ambulance in a city with a large population. If Buffy was that concerned about Dawn, she would have done the practical thing and called the local hospital(s) instead. That would make sense, but I'm ok with the idea that buffy might not be thinking clearly at this moment. Anyway, I thought sunnydale was meant to be a small nown, not a big city? |
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Post by partcynic on Dec 14, 2010 13:58:41 GMT -5
I don't know - she showed clear thought with regard to planning when Dawn ran away in "Blood Ties", and at the point the stakes were considerably higher (what with Glory being out there).
It was, back in S1. Once they added the university, Sunnydale stopped being believable as a small town, and the additions of the airport/huge local dam/30th super-secret demon bar killed the original concept.
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My last review was fairly recent though, and I don’t have much more to say, besides pointing out a few more problematic scenes I noticed-
If it's a load of crap that's no fun to watch, even a low three sounds high. Hand out one of those 0s, 1s or 2s and give "Showtime" some company. 