|
|
Post by Clare on Sept 24, 2008 8:48:46 GMT -5
3.14 Bad Girls - Episode #048
Buffy takes a leaf from Faith's book and starts embracing the dark side of being a Slayer - with tragic consequences.
Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Oct 1, 2008 11:58:29 GMT -5
The thing about these arc episodes is they are best when viewed all together, a single episode alone such as this usually feels like a bit of a drag. So even though I love the whole story, and the part of it thats in this episode, that doesn't necessarily mean I love watching this ep by itself. I give it a 6, just because it had a few good moments.
I did enjoy seeing a demon who looks out of the ordinary, even if he did look gross. And new watcher wesley was funny, although unrealisticly prissy. And its a little strange to see giles being mr cool in all his scenes with him.
The mayor is great as always. I liked the scene where he lets the vampire chop his head in half. Though I can't help but wonder how much his invulerability extends to. What if the vamp had cut him totally in half, down the middle?
|
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Jan 30, 2010 12:43:33 GMT -5
3x14 “Bad Girls”
Episode Rating = 5
One of the best things about S3 is how amazingly consistent it is, and how even its less successful episodes are engaging and well-written. As a single story “Bad Girls” is a decent entry with some intriguing character happenings occurring over a respectable (if basic) plot, and it does a good job of propelling both the Faith character and the seasonal arc towards their end-of-year climaxes. As such, I don’t have any real issues with this episode, even though it lacks the extensive development or intricacies that would usually grab one a place in my favourites.
What I Liked about “Bad Girls”:
- It goes without saying that this is a pivotal Faith episode, and both the character and the actress shone. While Faith’s recklessness had been foreshadowed long before, we hadn’t really got to see how her perspective on life would play out in reality, and this episode effectively remedied that issue. As Buffy’s ‘shadow self’, it was interesting to see Faith lure her in to a world of consequence-free hedonism, and Buffy’s progression from initial bashfulness to embracing the ‘bad girl’ lifestyle was handled well (and nicely demarcated by the symbolic baptism she got in the sewers).
- Beyond the theme and character interaction, the individual Buffy/Faith moments were all enjoyable. The lesbian subtext worked throughout, and was shown without being tawdry or sensationalist (you can certainly see how a Buffy/Faith pairing could work). Their opening chat about Xander was like the ‘edgy’ version of what Buffy and Willow used to discuss, and I liked how their interactions were half-camaraderie, half antagonism. Other highlights included Buffy skipping the chemistry test to go out slaying, the sexy dancing at the Bronze, and the store break-in (I loved Faith’s disrespect for the law).
- Wesley is an utter twit, but he’s an amazing twit, and serves to facilitate the rebellion plot while highlighting how much Giles has developed. Even in his most pedantic, curmudgeonly days, Giles was never this ratty or dense (such as in Wes’ slimy acquiescence to Balthazar), and it shows just how important his character is. I loved everyone’s reactions to Wesley’s arrival (especially Faith’s nonchalant “screw this” and Giles’ constant passive-aggressiveness), and the character’s spinelessness makes him a good love-to-hate figure.
- The wedge Faith placed between Willow/Buffy was nicely shown and written, and conveyed Willow’s feelings of upset and rejection succinctly. I’m pleased that this aspect of the narrative was handled without undue angst, and the prompt resolution it gets next episode is fine (though Willow needs to work on her protection magic. After “I Only Have Eyes For You”, “Gingerbread” and this episode, it seems that her attempts at safety spells guarantee misery!)
- Balthazar is a fun demon-du-jour, and his extreme obesity (and need to be constantly moistened) makes him enjoyably disgusting. It also helps that the actor portraying him was hammy in the best way possible, and he over-acted to perfection. I was also intrigued by the concept of vampires working for a demon – it’s a concept we’ve not seen before, and permitted the episode to have two converging mini-threats. I think I would have liked it more if the vamps had been equals rather than subordinates (as though they and Balthazar had teamed up in spite of differences to stop the Mayor, which would have made the latter’s Ascension even more intimidating), but Balthazar’s final lines to Buffy were still chilling.
- As the comparative ray of sunshine in this episode’s gloom, the Mayor worked brilliantly. As always, he was charming and funny, and the delight he takes in being evil is very infectious. I was particularly fond of his little checklist towards the end (PTA meeting. Become invincible. Haircut.), but any scene with him is a good one. In addition, the episode also had strong arc development for him, with the introduction of the Ascension and lots of exciting build-up towards it.
- The deputy mayor’s death is shocking and saddening, and it stills comes across viscerally (though that may be because my first exposure to it was in the edited BBC2 version, which removed all of the blood and his dying struggles). As a plot device, it was a fantastic way of splitting Buffy/Faith without making either of them a true bad guy (after all, it was an accident, no matter how awfully Faith acted afterwards), and the final scene between them is as brilliant a closer as ever.
What I Disliked about “Bad Girls”:
- The series needs to be wary of the ‘ancient artefact lying around town’ plots. We’ve already had it used not long ago in “Revelations” (interesting to see that said episode was written by the same guy who wrote this one), and it’s flimsy. It’s a bit irritating that all of these trinkets granting power are randomly scattered around Sunnydale with no guardianship or protection, and it gives the show the vibe of a clichéd RPG.
- As I’ve mentioned before, Cordelia’s presence is becoming increasingly tacked-on. Now that she no longer serves as an antagonist for Buffy or girlfriend for Xander, she doesn’t really have a role anymore. Her head-to head with Xander was certainly amusing, but she could still be excised from the episode with no loss of meaning or content. In all honesty, Xander and Oz could probably have gotten the chop too, but at least they had plausible reasons for being part of the discussion about university.
- I understand that Wesley’s supreme incompetence is a deliberate stylistic decision, but it adds to the continued implausibility of the Watcher’s Council. For Buffy’s later repudiation of them and their methods to have meaning, they need to actually have power and influence, but they (and their non-Giles members) are continually shown to be useless. I wouldn’t hurt to depict them having a hint of intellect, and it would avoid silliness like Wesley coming to Sunnydale/Buffy and not knowing who Angel is.
- The scene where Buffy hides in the sarcophagus should have been re-edited. Faith appears too soon to have believably entered the mausoleum without attracting the attention of the vampire gang.
- Buffy and Faith’s altercation with the police should have had some proper consequences. They were caught red-handed having broken into and stolen from a store, then assaulted the arresting officers and ran off... yet nothing comes of it. Since the hurt cops would remember what the girls looked like, why wasn’t some kind of warning or mandate given to other officers in the area (like in “Becoming”)? I know that Buffy was specifically checking the paper the morning after to see if her escapades had made the news, but a proper explanation for why they didn’t would be appreciated.
- What happened to the deputy mayor was horrible, but how dumb do you have to be to approach Slayers in the manner he did? Since he was probably aware that Slayers are used to having monsters leap out from the dark at them (and are therefore likely to act first, think later), why did he decide to loiter in an alleyway and randomly grab Buffy’s shoulder? Couldn’t he have called out to her and Faith first?
Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?
I think I like this one a little more, though my score remains the same. I think that the plotting and pacing are tight, and the character interactions are all good, from the Buffy/Willow issues to the amazing Buffy/Faith material and the continued progression of the Mayor’s plot. However, this episode just doesn’t create as much of an impact on me as many others, and I think that’s because it’s more of an arc-progressing connector than a full-fledged standalone story (and thus lacks the narrative cohesion I like). However, I still enjoyed “Bad Girls”, and I’m consequently scoring it a strong five out of ten.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Feb 4, 2010 16:44:54 GMT -5
This is one of those rare episodes that I've enjoyed more upon rewatching (and analysing). The main plot, about faith being a bad influence on buffy and leading her to the 'dark side' was thrilling- buffy goes from slaying as normal to 'finding the fun' as she slays, to ditching class and her friends, to stealing and kicking cops, and it takes being an accessory to murder to make her snap out of it. My only complaint is that the story might have worked better with a bit more set-up in previous episodes. As it is, it seems like buffy has never patrolled with faith before, you'd think if they'd been patrolling together all the time buffy would have been influenced before now. The ending was pretty shocking, with faith killing finch, then going back and robbing him, and admitting to buffy she doesn't care. Though I don't see how faith could have mistaken finch for one of the vamps, even in the 'heat of the moment'. My guess is she was venting some pent-up anger, and for a moment there didn't care who she killed. The other 'plot' is the introduction of wesley. His interaction with giles is hilarious, my favourite moment being when they simultaneously clean their glasses, and giles is a little startled to discover he and wesley have that habit in common. There's also a great line that always makes me laugh every time I hear it, when giles is getting fed up with wesley and says "If you want to criticize my methods, fine. But you can keep your snide remarks to yourself. And while you're at it, don't criticize my methods." ;D Again I have a little complaint though, namely that wesley is a little too prissy and giles is a little too 'cool', and again I think the problem could have been solved with more of a set-up in past episodes (in giles' case anyway). Ever since the stuffy giles of s1 he's been becoming less of an academic, but in this ep he's handling a sword like a pro and making jokes in the face of death. It's a bit much. The other scoobies have little to do with cordy and oz only having token appearances. Though I did like how the xander and faith's 'encounter' in the previous ep is brought up here, as xander get's a twitch when faith's name is mentioned, and faith talks to buffy about whether she's dated a friend. Actually, that conversation has shades of fuffy too, as do a few other moments in this ep, such as the heart drawn on the window. In fact I'd say this is probably the fuffiest episode of the show.  There's also some nice bangel scenes. Usually I don't like bangel, but in this ep they were actually doing something, rather than just gazing into each other's eyes or talking about their relationship. The bad guys were good too, balthazar was interesting, and the mayor was hilarious like always.I especially loved his list of things to do, with 'become invinsible' written alongside such mundane things as 'meeting with pta' and 'haircut'. Overall, I didn't find this episode as much of a drag as I did the last time I watched. It was exciting, had some humerous lines, and marked a big change in the show. The only flaws I could find were minor and overlookable, and I could only find one real 'nitpick' (buffy looking into balthazar's warehouse, seeing 3 vamps and saying there's ten or twelve guys in there). I'm bumping this one up to a 7. |
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Feb 7, 2010 16:06:05 GMT -5
- As the comparative ray of sunshine in this episode’s gloom, the Mayor worked brilliantly. As always, he was charming and funny, and the delight he takes in being evil is very infectious. I was particularly fond of his little checklist towards the end (PTA meeting. Become invincible. Haircut.), but any scene with him is a good one. Snap. - As I’ve mentioned before, Cordelia’s presence is becoming increasingly tacked-on. Now that she no longer serves as an antagonist for Buffy or girlfriend for Xander, she doesn’t really have a role anymore. Her head-to head with Xander was certainly amusing, but she could still be excised from the episode with no loss of meaning or content. Agreed, but I'd still rather have a token cordy scene than none at all. - The scene where Buffy hides in the sarcophagus should have been re-edited. Faith appears too soon to have believably entered the mausoleum without attracting the attention of the vampire gang. Yeah I noticed that too. The way it's timed, you'd think faith passed the vampires on the way in. - Buffy and Faith’s altercation with the police should have had some proper consequences. They were caught red-handed having broken into and stolen from a store, then assaulted the arresting officers and ran off... yet nothing comes of it. Since the hurt cops would remember what the girls looked like, why wasn’t some kind of warning or mandate given to other officers in the area (like in “Becoming”)? I know that Buffy was specifically checking the paper the morning after to see if her escapades had made the news, but a proper explanation for why they didn’t would be appreciated. All police related plot-holes on the show can be explained away thanks to one little line from snyder- "the police of this town are deeply stupid". |
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Feb 14, 2010 9:18:05 GMT -5
I think the prompt for Buffy's change was less Faith and more Wesley. With the Watcher power shifting from someone she cares about to an annoying twit, I think it would have made her that bit more willing to rebel when Faith presented the opportunity. I think it really was just an accident. When you're fighting for your life, action tends to precede thought. To be fair, he was wielding a sword with skill back in S2 (I can recall him messing around with one while alone in the library, and getting embarrassed when Buffy and Willow walked in on him). And cracking jokes in a grave situation/undermining Wesley is a combination of spending three years with Buffy and harbouring contempt for both the Watcher's Council firing him, and its willingness to endanger his 'daughter'. That's true, but they've now gotten too stupid. At least in "Becoming" they acted like anyone with half a brain would. |
|
There's also some nice bangel scenes. Usually I don't like bangel, but in this ep they were actually doing something, rather than just gazing into each other's eyes or talking about their relationship.