|
|
Post by Clare on Sept 23, 2008 8:42:43 GMT -5
2.20 Go Fish - Episode #032
Xander joins Sunnydale High's swimming team
Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Sept 26, 2008 10:38:12 GMT -5
Some people dislike this episode, it didn't follow the continuing plot, and if what you love about buffy is the ongoing story then I can see why you would find this episode annoying. But love one-off episodes, it was great to have a break from the angelus-storyline for a little while. There were a few great scenes, such as willow interrogating jonathan (until he confessed to peeing in the pool  ) and cordy beleiving xander was dead, and turned into a monster. But on the other hand, the ep did get a little 'dark' at times, and there was no real happy ending, the monsters were set free but that was it. I gave this ep a 7. I'd like to mention one more thing that I noticed, it seemed like giles was just peripheral in this episode. The scooby gang researched, planned and took action on their own with very little involvement from him. An indicator of things to come. |
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Nov 19, 2009 9:04:33 GMT -5
2x20 “Go Fish”
Episode Rating = 5
If “Killed By Death” was an example of how not to do a ‘break from the arc’ filler story, then “Go Fish” stands in great contrast. Showcasing improvements in every area, the episode stands as a litmus test for how this kind of disposable romp should be done. While not being a great edition by any means, debuting scribes David Fury and Elin Hampton (the former of whom would eventually join the “Buffy” staff full time) cram their teleplay with witty lines, and the sparkling dialogue helps to compensate for a decent-but-implausible plot. The result is a very entertaining forty minutes of television, and one that’s aged (and kept its freshness) far better than I initially thought.
What I Liked about “Go Fish”:
- Above all else, the episode was a one-liner overdrive. All of the key players get treated to some great material, with Snyder in particular being as amazing as ever (I laughed at “we’re all sorry about Gage and... that other one”, as well as his general prioritising of the swim team’s progress above both academic principle and general human decency). Buffy, Willow, Cordelia and Xander are all treated just as well (especially Xander – he was such a great character, and I’ve never understood why he was chucked on the backburner and relegated to a couple of token spotlight episodes after S3), and the quip-a-minute style gives the episode a lean, fast-paced feel. Suffice to say that what it lacked in depth or insight, it made up for in raw enjoyableness.
- Up until the silly steam/steroid/fish-DNA twist (see my criticisms), the plot here is pretty good. There are lots of early, interesting mysteries and potential solutions (is it just some kind of sea demon? Is it being controlled by someone?), and the reveal that the creatures are actually the humans transformed is an awesome one. It then leads to the cool questions of how and why the swimmers are changing, and we get some added emotional investment when Xander ends up in danger.
- Following from Willow’s suggestion in “I Only Have Eyes For You”, it was good to see Buffy consider spending time with a new guy (even if he did turn out to be a total jerk). Her incredibly bored reaction to listening to his endless prattle about the sea was funny, as was her response to his come-ons being slamming his face into a steering wheel.
- I’m not what you’d call a Jonathon fan, but his frequent mini-appearances are always good fun. It’s nice for the show to remind the audience that the school has actual social outcasts (as opposed to the Scoobs, who may get stick from Cordelia, but are left alone by everyone else). He served as a good red herring earlier in the story, and I loved Willow’s interrogation with him (and the subsequent payoff as she told the others that he’d peed in the pool, just as Xander dived into it).
- We’ve had very little in the way of Xander/Cordy snarkiness since the two officially paired up, and it was a lot of fun to see the two bickering and at each other’s throats again. Not only was all of their interaction hilarious (the speedo scene), but it also led to the episode’s one true character moment, where Cordelia thought Xander had mutated and said she’d try to give him the best life possible (granted, she stated it in the most humorous way possible, but it’s still solid character development).
- The ending (with the monsters simply heading out to sea) was very refreshing, and stands out from the show’s usual ‘kill them all’ perspective. You can add the fishmen to the praying mantis eggs as things I wouldn’t have minded re-emerging in S7 as part of the ‘back to the beginning’ theme.
What I Disliked about “Go Fish”:
- The story wusses out a bit with the opening of its second act. We close the first with Xander face to face with a dangerous monster... and then we see him in the library explaining that it just ran away. It was cute to subvert the viewer’s expectation there, but it’s still kind of lame.
- Angelus’ attack on Gage was a neat way of bringing him into the story (and having him reject his blood was both novel and a smart plot point), but his appearance was contrived. The chances of the girl Gage was criticising being Buffy were pretty slim, and it’s too coincidental that Angelus is right.
- Buffy’s reaction to Gage being bitten should have been rewritten. Giving the surprising fact that he didn’t die outright (as most people do when attacked by a vampire), you’d have thought she’d take someone with major blood vessels perforated to the hospital instead of dismissing him with a ‘goodnight’ (even though she then walked him home).
- Buffy and Giles should have been more suspicious of the swim coach after witnessing his reaction to the news that his ‘boys’ are monsters. It helps that he saw the demons with his own eyes, but he’s awfully blasé about what’s happened – and that should be a clue that he might be in on it.
- What was the point of the scene where Buffy and Giles went ‘fishing’? They head into the sewers, wade about in the darkness, and a monster watches them from a distance... and then they go back above ground. Since nothing significant or useful happened in that scene, why was it included?
- The ultimate explanation for the swimmers’ transformations didn’t sit well with me. I had a hard time believing that a small town sports coach would be able to crack a scientific secret that trained professionals working with the budget and equipment of a world superpower hadn’t been able to, and the bit with the steam was ludicrous. Were we really supposed to buy that inhaling steam containing steroids with modified fish DNA was somehow mutating the men’s own genetic code and turning them into monsters? I liked this plot for the fun homage to water monster movies it was, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s basically an excuse narrative.
- Xander’s rescue of Buffy is poorly conceived and filmed. Ignoring that fact that Buffy should be able to leap out of that hole (a la her fence jump in “The Harvest”, though I’ll concede that the water may have bogged her down), there’s no way Xander would have been able to get her out with a single arm. While Buffy would admittedly be light even when soaking wet, Xander wouldn’t be strong enough to lift her that distance without leverage. It’s even stupider when you see the following moment and find that Buffy is somehow incapable of keeping hold of the swim coach, despite (a) having Slayer strength and (b) grabbing him with both hands.
Do I Like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?
I’m pleased to say that this is one of those rare occasions where I actually change my mind, and I’ve thus raised my rating up a point from its original score of four. Although this isn’t a story I’d watch particularly frequently, the amazing dialogue (and occasional, excellent character moments) are enough to make me like it significantly more than many of the other eps I’ve scored as fours, thus pushing it into the five out of ten bracket. It’s great when you can repeatedly go back into an ep and find that its humour holds, and there’s so much present in “Go Fish” that I think it definitely deserves more recognition from the fan community.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Nov 25, 2009 16:47:49 GMT -5
I'm bumping this one down to a low 6. This ep was ok, but kinda dull at times. Aside from anything else, there seemed to be quite a few scenes were very little was happening. Some call it creating atmosphere, I call it padding. This is the last episode to use giles' 'into every generation' opening. I guess they wanted to give him some extra 'presence' since, like I said before, he did very little in this episode. This isn't a criticism, if anything it's interesting to see how the gang have managed to do so well without any contribution from him. There are a few funny scenes, such as willow interregating jonathan, cordy believing a fishman was xander, and her discovering the new guy on the team was her boyfriend (she seemed to stare at him for quite a while before realising it was xander - what part of him was she looking at, if not his face?  . My favourite scenes though are the one where gage is turning into a monster (his flesh being ripped from the inside out was a great special effect, not to mention gross and cool to look at), and the earlier scene where gage is being a jerky to buffy. He leaves the bronze, only for angel to bite him (and spit it out - interesting! why would he do that, I think to myself) and for buffy to come to his rescue. After buffy tells gage that angel is just one of the many 'something else's' in town, he asks her if she can walk him home. Nice turnaround.  This ep also has one of the more disgusting scenes on the show, when the coach dumps buffy in the water, and tells her that the boys have 'other needs'. Fortunately she gets out, and as for the coach... well he um, gets whats coming to him. I'm glad the camera stayed on buffy's reaction rather than the scene itself.  All in all it was an ok filler episode, which took a while to get going. There were a few good scenes, but nothing special. Complaining is fun- - So the russians were experimenting with combining fish and human dna? And this one guy with no lab, no assistance and presumably no background in genetics managed to turn human beings into fishmen? Seriously? - Four boys get turned into fishmen, but only three are seen swimming out into the ocean. Where's number four? |
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Nov 25, 2009 17:04:21 GMT -5
If “Killed By Death” was an example of how not to do a ‘break from the arc’ filler story, then “Go Fish” stands in great contrast. There are many far, far worse filler stories than killed by death. - The ending (with the monsters simply heading out to sea) was very refreshing, and stands out from the show’s usual ‘kill them all’ perspective. You can add the fishmen to the praying mantis eggs as things I wouldn’t have minded re-emerging in S7 as part of the ‘back to the beginning’ theme. Agreed. Knowing they're still alive and out there makes me want to see them again. But then again, how can they be brought back? Why would the fishguys have returned? - What was the point of the scene where Buffy and Giles went ‘fishing’? They head into the sewers, wade about in the darkness, and a monster watches them from a distance... and then they go back above ground. Since nothing significant or useful happened in that scene, why was it included? Why, to make a short episode longer, of course! |
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Nov 28, 2009 8:30:39 GMT -5
I think it's more that the audience was expected to know the show's basic premise at this point. If they were to keep reiterating it into the third season and beyond, it would have gotten silly (and annoying). I agree 100% - that 'plot development' was stupid beyond belief. Good thing the rest of the show was so humorous. Maybe he got caught by a fishing boat. Or perhaps there are restaurants out there that would have 'fish-person' on their menus, like the werewolf one in "Unleashed". Absolutely - but those don't start popping up until S5. For the good seasons, "Killed By Death" is a below average ep (but as I said, it's not bad). Okay - I can't think of a believable reason for them to return. But then again, in S7, it's not like realism, logic or sense matter. ;D |
|
|
|
Post by Twisted Slayer on Apr 29, 2010 15:40:54 GMT -5
Rating: 6
I love every episode of the show, even though I do think at times that some of them lack a few things.
What I Liked About 'Go Fish'
1) The sea-monsters
2) Buffy got her mind off Angel and attempted to be with another guy, even if he ended up being a total ass.
3) Buffy defended herself against a hormone-crazed jackass who's used to screwing every girl who lets him.
|
|
) and cordy beleiving xander was dead, and turned into a monster. 
. 
