2.12 Bad Eggs

[Clare]

2.12 Bad Eggs - Episode #024
Another school project - but this one has a twist

Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.

[cyclica]

Another great filler episode. I don't know why some don't like it, there was nothing really bad in this episode. I give it a 7.

I love it when on buffy (or any tv show) there are 2 unconnected threats at once. It makes it more realistic than always having problems come one at a time. The cowboy vampires were funny, and were a completely different kind of threat than the possessing demon creatures.

Though the idea of demon creatures is a bit silly. I mean, has that big pink blob demon been just sitting there since they built the school?

[jennf10]

Buffy's Mom-sponsored shopping trip to the mall is interrupted by Lyle Gorch, one of two vampire brothers from the Wild Wild West. The next day in school, Xander and Cordelia continue to keep their relationship secret, and the class are given raw eggs to look after as an exercise in responsibility. The eggs are not chickenspawn, but contain mind-possessing facehugger creatures which are taking over the school. Xander avoids being taken, by the simple expedient of boiling his egg to make it easier to look after. Buffy stabs her facehugger with a pair of scissors. The rest of the gang are taken, and knock the two of them out. There is a giant Bezoar demon under the school, which is laying the eggs. Buffy and Xander fight their way into the chamber where the Bezoar lives, but the Gorch brothers arrive as well, and fight some of the possessed as well. Tector Gorch is eaten by the Bezoar, Buffy kills it and Lyle wisely bugs out.

My review:

Another really bad episode. Between this and Ted, I don't know how I made it through to "Surprise" and "Innocence."

After the excellent "What My Line" episodes, this episode was just dumb. It really had no plot development, again, and just a weird concept. This is an episode I skip and only watch if I happen to catch it on the TV.

My score: 1/10

[partcynic]

I had a free couple of hours, so I rewrote another lost review. I know these are out of sync and off-schedule, but I'm paranoid about losing them again and will thus be posting as I write.

***

2x12 “Bad Eggs”

Episode Rating = 4

After the not-so-great edition that was “Ted”, anything would have been a return to form, and “Bad Eggs” sees “Buffy” making a smooth recovery in returning to the type of story it does best. However, that’s also this episode’s most noteworthy facet – and when your primary strength is being an improvement on something poor, you’re in a bit of trouble. While “Bad Eggs” does a fine job of incorporating elements of humour and B-movie scares in its light-hearted homage to “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, it follows “Ted”’s lead in featuring both a heavy-handed theme and a plot in desperate need of hole-filling. Still, it remains a cute little episode, if not one that will be troubling my top ten any time soon.

What I Liked about “Bad Eggs”:

- Most of the early shopping scene was fun, with good dialogue between Joyce and Buffy (“but a thin streetwalker”; “Why don’t you just go to ‘Muu-Muus R Us’?”), and I loved the introduction of the Gorches. It was smart to introduce the episode’s minor threat as its major foe, and having Buffy recognise the older brother’s vampirism via the escalator mirror was clever plotting.

- The Gorches themselves were fine villains, with some great lines (“I’ll beat you like a red-headed step-child!”) and unique, memorable personalities (ironically, more memorable than the Bezoar themselves). Other top-notch moments included the library discussion about them (slaughtering the Mexican village before they were vampires), and the cool way they went from fighting against Buffy to working with her to stop the Bezoar. I can’t say I was preoccupied with the surviving brother’s fate after the episode was done, but it was a fantastic touch to bring him back in “Homecoming”.

- All of the early reactions to the egg task were good, and the assignment itself was believable given that many schools actually do it. I was particularly fond of Buffy’s horror at being a single mother, as well as Giles’ bewildered “why do you all have eggs?” and his later statement about Xander’s "machiavellian ingenuity" (with the latter being offended before realising it’s a compliment). I also thought that the Scoobs’ parenting reactions flowed nicely from who they were as people, with Willow’s protectiveness and Xander’s laissez-faire attitude feeling like natural extensions of their existing behaviour.

- The two scenes with the Bezoar offspring were pleasantly disgusting, from those unsettling tendrils on the first night to the actual hatching on the second. The latter scene was surprisingly tense, and I liked seeing Buffy kill the creature with extra gusto (she certainly went for it with those scissors). In a related, neat moment, I also liked the shot of Cordy’s egg hatching, and how the tendrils came out through her bear-bag’s eyes (and let’s not forget the awesomeness of Xander almost eating his ‘child’).

- Everything with Cordelia and Xander works well. Developing believably from “What’s My Line?”, they have the right amount of apprehension and disgust about their newfound ‘relationship’, and their bickering is consistently funny (especially the classroom chat with the "heartbreak of halitosis" and "hoover technique"). Then there was the excellent bit with their missing teacher being "in a closet" (and the way it took Xander so long to get what Cordy really meant), and how he was reluctant to hit her possessed form until she whacked him on his already-sore head.

- Maybe this is a stretch, but there’s some neat foreshadowing in the Buffy and Angel scenes, such as the pan from their kissing to a headstone marked ‘in loving memory', and the end chat where Buffy calls to Joyce, says she’ll go to bed soon, and resumes kissing Angel (in itself, a cute finale that was the perfect way to end the episode).

- File this under ‘so bad it’s good’, but I always laugh at the moment when possessed-Giles places a hatchling on Joyce. Her over-the-top screams combined with the slow camera pan towards his ‘evil’ face is (unintentional) comedy gold.

What I Disliked about “Bad Eggs”:

- In general, I try to go easy on Joyce, since she often ends up having to play the thankless role of clueless mother trying to do right by her child. Unfortunately, this episode decided to use her as the mouthpiece for its theme, and wouldn’t stop bludgeoning the viewer over the head with it. I was fine with her first exasperated statement about Buffy needing to be more responsible (and the theme itself works as a prelude to the sexual metaphor in “Surprise”/”Innocence”), but I was gritting my teeth by the time its third gratuitous repetition came round. What’s more, Joyce’s actions at the end spiral into the realm of the unbelievable – why on earth would she be chewing Buffy out for not being in the library when as far as she knows, there’d been a gas leak at the school? She doesn’t even give Buffy a chance to explain herself, and that’s plain stupid.

- The performance of the Gorch brother’s pick-up girl was terrible. I know she was only a minor character, but it would have been cool for the producers to cast someone who could act.

- I wasn’t too fond of the cut from Cordy and Xander making out in the closet to the sex-ed classroom, as it implied that the two were doing more than kissing (which they weren’t, if we’re to believe Xander’s statement that he’s a virgin in “The Zeppo”). If anything, I wonder why exactly the two didn’t sleep together at some point – from Cordy’s anecdote about her ‘friend’ in the car, I don’t get the impression that she was a virgin at this point, and it’s not like Xander would turn her down if she were interested and willing to go further with him.

- I understand why they’re there, but there are too many scenes of Buffy and Angel kissing. These moments are fine as an indicator of their increased closeness and desire for one another, but I didn’t need to witness three extended make-out sessions to get the point.

- It helps knowing that Willow was possessed at the time, but the logistics of Buffy’s phone call don’t make sense. Willow is remarkably cheery for someone still awake at three in the morning, and Buffy’s very fortunate that she didn’t get answered by either of Willow’s parents - who probably wouldn’t appreciate being woken so early on a work night.

- This problem’s the biggie – and it’s that the plot has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese. I liked the narrative for the disposable romp it was, but that doesn’t mean that its numerous loose ends were acceptable. Off the top of my head: what was the mother Bezoar doing beneath the high school? How long had she been there? Why was she only making her presence known now? How did the Bezoar eggs get into the classroom for use in the sex-ed program? Was the teacher being controlled right from the start, or did it only happen on the day he went missing? What were the Bezoar doing with their tentacles on the first night the gang had them? Were they leeching energy from their human caretakers in order to grow further? If so, why were Buffy and Willow tired and achy the next day, when Cordelia wasn’t (Xander being okay makes sense, as he unwittingly killed his)? Who put the egg that was on the library shelf (and presumably got Giles) there? Why do Willow and Buffy’s eggs hatch around the same time, but Cordelia’s not do so until the next day? And what would have happened once the mother Bezoar got free?

- What was the purpose of the Gorch brothers’ arrival at Sunnydale High (besides a plot contrivance)? How did they know that Buffy would be there late in the evening (wouldn’t her being at home make more sense?), and why did the younger brother wait several minutes before joining his sibling in fighting her?

- If the mother Bezoar was able to instantly kill a vampire upon consuming it, wouldn’t she be able to do the same to the (theoretically less sturdy) body of a human being?

Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?

Overall, I’d say I actually enjoyed it a little more – though I had to adopt the “Ted” viewing style of shutting my mind off and allowing myself to be vacuously entertained. When I previously rated this episode, I gave it a score of four out of ten to show that while I enjoy it and would have no problem seeing it again, it has too many glaring problems to be considered better than ‘below average’ when looking at “Buffy” as a whole. I think that was a fair assessment, so I’ve ended up keeping my score the same, and am looking forward to sinking my teeth into something more substantial with the next pair of episodes.

[cyclica]

[comicbookguyvoice] Most. Flaws. Ever. [/comicbookguyvoice]

I have always enjoyed this episode. It's fun, original, and like I said before I loved having two seperate plots going on at once, not to mention the subplot of joyce being hard on buffy, and buffy being unable to reveal her slayer side even if it gets her out of trouble. (actually buffy did reveal she was saving the world from vampires, and joyce pretty much shrugged it off... the writer of 'normal again' really needed to actually watch the show).

The gorches were some of the most interesting vampire characters on the show, and it was a good idea to bring lyle gorch back in season three. And the issue was raised of buffy and angel having children, which will be expanded upon next season.

But then there's the demon-egg plot. Where do I begin?

- Buffy is upset about being a 'single parent' because she was late and not paired up with anyone. But it looks like xander and willow are single parents too, their partners are never seen or mentioned, and it seems like the demon's plan was for every student to have an egg, so there's as many as possible of them to dig it up.
- When buffy was asleep a bunch of tendrils in the shape of a hand (sort of) comes after buffy. There's no way all those tendrils can fit inside that one egg.
- When buffy wakes up, the egg is intact again. How?
- The effect of the 'hand' was just to make buffy (and willow) sleepy all day? What point would that serve, and why did it not just possess buffy?
- How did an egg get onto the bookshelf in the libraby?
- When it's revealed that willow's egg is empty, it's covered in blue goo. But no other eggs are ever seen with blue goo.
- When buffy is attached by the demon animal thing, it doesn't have the 'hand' from earlier.
- How do the eggs control you by being attacked to the back anyway? Shouldn't they be on the head/brain?
- After buffy and xander are knocked out and put into the closet, why were they left with eggs? Why not just put two demons on them, thereby guaranteeing they'll be posessed?
- Why was the door locked? Did the possessed kids want buffy and xander to be possessed too... but remain trapped?
- The gang were disecting the demon baby in the morning, as soon as they arrived at school. But when buffy & xander were knocked out and woke up, it was at the end of they day, as joyce was about to pick buffy up, and it was dark out. Were buffy and xander unconscious this whole time, and what was everyone else doing?
- If giles was possessed, why did he wait until joyce arrived before getting to work underground? He couldn't have been waiting for her, he didn't know she was coming.
- Buffy and xander go into the library, and the book they want is conveniently open on the right page for them. Did giles leave it for them, because once he was possessed, you'd think he'd close the book so as not to leave clues for them.
- How long has that big pink monster been down there? And why is it only deciding to resurface now?
- If it lives underground, how did it first get its eggs to the surface? Did it lay eggs back when it was completely underground, because there couldn't have been much room for the babies to grow down there.
- If the school day is over, what is jonathan doing there? Was he just waiting around for baby demon to attack him?
- The demon is clearly close to the surface, but when buffy jumps in the hole, she goes so far down you can't see her anymore. Was she in the demon's mouth? Why jump in its mouth when you can just chop it up from above?
- If the demons attached themselves to everyone's bodies, presumably spreading tendrils inside them so as to possess them, wouldn't it be intensely painful, and leave a permanent scar? Even if you didn't remember what happened afterwards, you should still feel the pain.
- Gas leak? And everyone just bought that?

Wow 19 flaws. We have a new contender for 'most flawed episode ever'.

But unlike most flawed episodes, this one is still entertaining. I feel I have to bump this one down after discovering all those problematic scenes, so I'm giving this one a high 6. But really, unless you go looking for problems (as I did) it's an ok episode.

[cyclica]

Nov 2, 2009 11:27:59 GMT -5 partcynic said:

(and let’s not forget the awesomeness of Xander almost eating his ‘child’).

Meh, I didn't like this scene. It implied xander must have been looking the other way while cracking his egg, which is possible I suppose, but I for one always check that I'm not about to eat eggshell before raising the egg to my mouth.

Nov 2, 2009 11:27:59 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- Everything with Cordelia and Xander works well.

Agreed. They are a much more fun couple to watch than buffy/angel.

Nov 2, 2009 11:27:59 GMT -5 partcynic said:

-What’s more, Joyce’s actions at the end spiral into the realm of the unbelievable – why on earth would she be chewing Buffy out for not being in the library when as far as she knows, there’d been a gas leak at the school? She doesn’t even give Buffy a chance to explain herself, and that’s plain stupid.

I guess she was still annoyed from earlier, when she caught buffy about to sneak out her bedroom window (as far as joyce knows). But I agree she was over-the-top at the end, she should have listened to buffy.

I was reminded of the end of school hard, when joyce realises buffy saved her and can look after herself, and forgave all the bad buffy had done. If only she was aware buffy had saved her from a big pink blob demon, she might have lifted buffy's punishment this time too.

Nov 2, 2009 11:27:59 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- I don’t get the impression that she was a virgin at this point, and it’s not like Xander would turn her down if she were interested and willing to go further with him.

I assumed cordelia was ok enough with xander to kiss him, but still disliked him enough to not want to sleep with him.

Nov 2, 2009 11:27:59 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- I understand why they’re there, but there are too many scenes of Buffy and Angel kissing. These moments are fine as an indicator of their increased closeness and desire for one another, but I didn’t need to witness three extended make-out sessions to get the point.

Agreed. Maybe we should just be glad we didn't get to watch buffy and spike make out quite so much.

Nov 2, 2009 11:27:59 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- It helps knowing that Willow was possessed at the time, but the logistics of Buffy’s phone call don’t make sense. Willow is remarkably cheery for someone still awake at three in the morning, and Buffy’s very fortunate that she didn’t get answered by either of Willow’s parents - who probably wouldn’t appreciate being woken so early on a work night.

And why would possessed willow be awake that early anyway?

Nov 2, 2009 11:27:59 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- This problem’s the biggie – and it’s that the plot has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese. I liked the narrative for the disposable romp it was, but that doesn’t mean that its numerous loose ends were acceptable. Off the top of my head: what was the mother Bezoar doing beneath the high school? How long had she been there? Why was she only making her presence known now? How did the Bezoar eggs get into the classroom for use in the sex-ed program? Was the teacher being controlled right from the start, or did it only happen on the day he went missing? What were the Bezoar doing with their tentacles on the first night the gang had them? Were they leeching energy from their human caretakers in order to grow further? If so, why were Buffy and Willow tired and achy the next day, when Cordelia wasn’t (Xander being okay makes sense, as he unwittingly killed his)? Who put the egg that was on the library shelf (and presumably got Giles) there?

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed all the flaws.

Nov 2, 2009 11:27:59 GMT -5 partcynic said:

Why do Willow and Buffy’s eggs hatch around the same time, but Cordelia’s not do so until the next day?

Perhaps she left the egg in the bear, and it hatched inside, and waited until she put the bear on and went to school before attacking? But then the demon baby would have had to have known what cordy was going to do, so... never mind.

Nov 2, 2009 11:27:59 GMT -5 partcynic said:

And what would have happened once the mother Bezoar got free?

Went to disneyland?

Nov 2, 2009 11:27:59 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- What was the purpose of the Gorch brothers’ arrival at Sunnydale High (besides a plot contrivance)? How did they know that Buffy would be there late in the evening (wouldn’t her being at home make more sense?), and why did the younger brother wait several minutes before joining his sibling in fighting her?

The gorched were following buffy, I guess they were waiting outside the school for her to come out, and went in when she didn't. And I guess the younger gorch was hit by buffy and needed a moment to recover (even though he was hit harder earlier on by his brother and didn't need to recover back then).

Nov 2, 2009 11:27:59 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- If the mother Bezoar was able to instantly kill a vampire upon consuming it, wouldn’t she be able to do the same to the (theoretically less sturdy) body of a human being?

Well buffy had a weapon, I'd imagine she started hacking right away from the inside. And we don't know the vamp was kill instantly, he could have been trapped inside and was digested slowly.

[partcynic]

(actually buffy did reveal she was saving the world from vampires, and joyce pretty much shrugged it off... the writer of 'normal again' really needed to actually watch the show).

Yes! I really dislike how that episode blatantly ignored five-odd years of canon for its lame plot. Would it have killed the writers to watch S2 or the start of S3 to ensure they wouldn't contradict established fact?

Agreed. They are a much more fun couple to watch than buffy/angel.

I like all of the couples at this stage, but Xandelia is certainly a highlight. Though Ginny is my favourite.

Agreed. Maybe we should just be glad we didn't get to watch buffy and spike make out quite so much.

But instead, we got all of those horribly OTT sex scenes. Hmm.. suddenly the B/A kissing doesn't look that bad!