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Post by Clare on Sept 26, 2008 11:12:16 GMT -5
6.13 Dead Things - Episode #113
When Warren accidentally murders a girl, the trio plot to pin the death on Buffy, whose mental state is rapidly collapsing.
Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.
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Post by cyclica on May 30, 2009 12:06:54 GMT -5
Tonight on ‘The Nerds’ – the nerds decide to use a spell (once again in a crowded room, but no one notices)to rape an innocent girl, only to become horrified when it turns out to be warren’s ex, because *that* would be messed up, but hypnotising girls for sex is ok. And there’s dissention in the ranks as jonathan discovers warren isn’t just a rapist, but a murderer too, and andrew is too much of a sycophant to go against him. The nerds try to pin the blame on recurring character buffy, who also spends the episode having sex with spike, getting into fights with spike, and being helped by spike.
I seriously cannot remember anything willow, xander, anya or dawn said or did in this episode.
If I were to view this episode purely as a villain-centric ep that intentionally only has cameos from the other main characters, then it’s not so bad. I actually don’t mind having a one-off villain episode like this. But factor in the endless spuffy, the confusing time-altering demon scene, and the fact that we are encouraged to sympathise with jonathan only moments after learning he is pro-rape, and it becomes yet another sucky season six episode.
I give it a 4.
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Post by partcynic on Dec 8, 2010 12:40:59 GMT -5
6x13 “Dead Things”
Episode Rating = 0
One of the problems of rewatching and reviewing S6 is that as you get accustomed to its typically low quality, you start thinking an episode’s good when it features even the slightest attempts at character insight and development. Unfortunately, it usually becomes hard to justify a positive response when you step back and consider all the sludge you have to wade through to get those fleeting moments; “Dead Things” being one such example. Although I wanted to applaud this episode for both progressing the nerds’ arc (finally!) and forcing Buffy to confront the consequences of her actions, it’s so poorly written that there’s almost nothing I’d call uniformly good – just a line here or there, or an intriguing concept that somehow didn’t translate to the screen. Either way, cloning a prior episode is never the best way to go about making an interesting story, and the messy plotting and characterisation are enough the make this another of the show’s worst offerings.
What I Liked about “Dead Things”:
- I don’t enjoy the nerds when they’re used for comedy, but they were quite watchable here (well, as watchable as scenes involving attempted rape can be), and it was good to see Jonathon and Andrew’s loss of innocence as they looked behind the ‘supervillain’ veneer and realised what they were actually doing. Warren also deserves special credit – he’s an absolute scumbag (and that’s a good thing, as he’s so easy to despise), and I love that in his own way, he’s far more evil than any of the supernatural big bads we’ve had in the past.
- Ever since their excellent chat in “The Body”, I’d hoped that we’d get some more Buffy/Tara scenes, and I liked the two shown here. It made sense that Buffy would turn to Tara (both because of Willow’s current problems with magic; and the fact that she’s a Scooby outsider, so any potential judgement from her wouldn’t possess the sting it might have coming from the others), and Tara’s responses to her revelations were excellent. The ending was particularly touching (though it had major problems), and it was great to see Tara provide Buffy with emotional support when she needed it most.
- The Buffy stuff was theoretically interesting. I liked the idea that she’d convinced herself that she’d come back ‘wrong’ and was using it as a way of justifying her behaviour, and her breakdown at the end was genuinely saddening (after all, when your self-hatred is so great that you’re begging someone not to forgive you, you’ve truly hit rock-bottom). It’s a shame that it all came to nothing, but the concept was definitely good.
What I Disliked about “Dead Things”:
- Even if he’s willing to participate in super-villain activities, I can’t ever see Jonathon being clueless enough to not realise that the cerebral dampener was a tool for sexual assault. Though I’ll concede that we haven’t been shown enough of him to make any certain statements about his approach to women, I personally found his participation in the plan to be out of character, and it was ridiculous that he got upset upon learning that Warren had hypnotised his ex-girlfriend, yet had no problem with the idea of partaking in gang rape.
- Andrew’s jokes continue to be unfunny, and I don’t understand why mediocre gags like his reaction to drinking champagne were shown twice.
- So, Warren is one of the most gifted human beings to have ever lived (he can make freeze rays, realistic robots, time disruptors, and with a little help, invisibility guns), yet he can’t think of a way to get rid of a body? Seeing that the nerds have been shown to have whatever skill the plot seems to require, it’s strange that they can’t think of basic things (like simply burying Katrina), and instead resort to a hideously convoluted plan.
- Let’s talk about that scheme now. The nerds decide to call in time altering demons (haven’t they already done multiple things relating to temporal disturbances before?), and get Jonathon to pose as Katrina. Somehow, they’re able to figure out where Buffy is and set up their complex plan (including getting the real Katrina’s body to the right spot), and are able to perfectly control demons whose mere presence causes big problems for humans (yet for some reason, not Jonathon). Despite being messed up with time, Buffy believes she killed Katrina (instead of wondering if the demons were responsible), and neither she nor Spike – who has seen thousands of corpses – realise that Katrina isn’t a fresh kill (she’s been dead for 24 hours, and would have gotten cold by then).
- For a guy with a long history of dealing with dead bodies, Spike does a terrible job with Katrina, and it’s a huge coincidence that the police find her when they do (and then announce this in Buffy and Spike’s earshot). The rest of the alleyway scene is equally ludicrous – despite police officers being outside the station, none of them hear the Buffy/Spike brawl, and when Buffy enters the station, the guy at the counter just happens to get Katrina’s ID and mention it right in front of her (and Buffy realises who she is almost instantly). As I’ve said before, no plot can be foolproof, but this is simply half-assed writing.
- The biggest issue for this episode is that a huge chunk of it is repeated from “Consequences” – scenes like the nerd’s post-killing panic, Buffy’s over-the-top statements about how what had happened was destroying her inside, and the Buffy/Spike alleyway conversation were all total rewrites of things we’d seen before, and even some of the dialogue was duplicated. I don’t know what inspired the writers to retread a three-year-old plot, and I can’t believe that they didn’t try to acknowledge its predecessor. This can’t even be considered self-referencing or homage, as the characters all act as though Faith never existed.
- Flowing from the last point, the character development for Buffy is incredibly poor. Even in her current self-loathing state, Buffy should be aware that her chosen method isn’t the best way of dealing with things (having been through it all before), and it’s nonsensical that she’s suddenly forgotten a major event from her past.
- Dawn’s an absolute nightmare, and I don’t think I’ve ever disliked her more than at this point. At the start, she’s just a bit myopic and whiny (“it’s not like you’d be around” – has she forgotten that the reason Buffy’s out most evenings is because she’s working to keep them sheltered and fed?), but her behaviour later on is unforgivable. You’d think the news of her sister accidentally killing an innocent person would make her think about someone besides herself, but no, she just screeches about how it’ll affect her and runs off. Then, we get her bratty actions in the Magic Box towards the end of the ep. I’m mystified as to how the writers think this is good behaviour, as well as at their apparent belief that she’s sympathetic.
- The Xander/Anya and Willow/Tara scenes were boring, and contributed nothing to those couples’ respective stories. Just how much more time needs to be devoted to wedding plans or Willow’s addiction?
- The Buffy/Spike sex scenes have generally been nasty, but the one on the balcony outdid them all with its repulsive overtones. I hate the way the series is portraying the idea that ‘no means yes’, and that it’s perfectly fine to fondle and abruptly penetrate(!) someone who’s said no based on the fact that you’ve slept together in the past. Sarah Michelle Gellar has said after the fact that she hated that scene – and I really don’t blame her. It was disgusting, degrading, and tried to eroticise rape (and is thus far more terrible than the actual assault in “Seeing Red”).
- The sequence with Buffy and Spike ~sensing each other~ with their hands on the crypt door was laughably cheesy – though I’ll credit it for providing me with some vague amusement.
- As much as I hate to say this, SMG’s acting in the final scene is poor. She doesn’t seem to understand the mindframe Buffy’s currently in, and her attempt at crying just makes her look like she’s smelled something unpleasant.
Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?
I enjoyed bits and pieces of this episode a little more, but also had a harder time digesting everything surrounding it. Even though I thought a couple of things had real potential (and there was an effort to develop the characters that’s not present in many other S6 shows), it doesn’t change the fact that the plot is a vastly inferior rehash of something that wasn’t that great to begin with, and the brief moments of coolness are only accessible by sitting through an awful lot of scenes that are either offensive, completely dull or full of whining. As such, I can’t award “Dead Things” even a single point, though I will say that it’s at least better than “Wrecked”.
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Post by cyclica on Jan 20, 2011 16:25:34 GMT -5
I'm afraid once again I have very little to say, as I mostly agree with your points, though as I've said before I don't have as big of a problem with the 'nerd humour' as you do. For me the problem with this episode was that, once the pin-katrina's-death-on-buffy portion of the episode starts, my brain keeps turning off.  It's the only way I can get through it. I actually didn't notice that jonathan wasn't affected by the time-altering demon, and I forgot about dawn's self-absorbed reaction to finding out buffy may have killed someone. The scenes with the nerds are pretty much the only parts of the episode that I find worth watching. For that reason I've decided to bump this one down to a 3. Certainly it deserves a lower grade than 'older and further away', which did at least hold my attention all the way through. |
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Post by partcynic on Jan 24, 2011 11:49:15 GMT -5
I can't believe I didn't notice that. Another silly error in an episode stuffed full of them. Yep. You'd have thought at least Jonathon would be smart enough to realise that. lol. (There needs to be a proper laughing smiley). I suppose not remembering is better than recalling all the dreary, go-nowhere scenes they had. And in Dawn's case, it's a huge blessing. I wouldn't have minded if the plot wasn't a photocopy of something we already had before, but with all the characters behaving in over-the-top soap-opera ways. Agreed. Cool. Though the humour is a very minor thing here. It's all the other sucky things that drag this ep down for me. It's your unconscious trying to protect you from the badness.  Lucky! That sounds like a fair decision. |
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It's the only way I can get through it. I actually didn't notice that jonathan wasn't affected by the time-altering demon, and I forgot about dawn's self-absorbed reaction to finding out buffy may have killed someone. The scenes with the nerds are pretty much the only parts of the episode that I find worth watching.