4.10 Hush

[Clare]

4.10 Hush - Episode #066
Sunnydale is left speechless when a group of demons steal everyone's voices.

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

[cyclica]

One of my favourite episodes. I give this one a high 8.

The gentlemen were scarier than most bad guys, especially when cutting open the chest of some kid who can't even scream. They never did explain why the gentlemen need hearts, or who their lunatic helpers were, but that can be overlooked.

Theres lots of great scenes in this ep, my favourite being the slide show. You may or may not have noticed, but the song in the background was the theme song to 'jonathan creek', a tv show that anthony stewart head appeared in for its first episode. Perhaps this was an intentional reference.

Giles close (orgasm) friend olivia is back, she was last seen in the freshman. I'm surprised they brought in an english actress, considering how little she had to do.

[partcynic]

4x10 “Hush”

Episode Rating = 10

I don’t know why it is, but I always find it more difficult to write reviews of things I like than those I’m less fond of, though I’m obviously more keen of re-watching my favourites. However, “Hush” is one of those eps that it’s hard to stop praising, being one of the most amazing achievements of the show’s run (and when you think about it, a hugely innovative and creative exercise for television itself). It’s a real challenge to find many “Buffy” eps that can top this one for sheer imagination (“Restless” is the only true contender), and its execution is near-flawless. In fact, it gives the season a welcome shot in the arm after a sequence of good-but-insubstantial comedy-oriented stories, and serves as a brilliant rebuke to the ‘S4 is the worst’ squad, singlehandedly raising it above the quality level of seasons six and seven (and at a push, one and five).

What I Liked about “Hush”:

- The theme (of how talking often impedes effective communication) is excellent, and thoroughly explored through the plot and character development. Its set-up (with Walsh discussing the subject in Buffy’s dream-class) comes quickly, and eloquently shows us what’s going to be examined during the course of the story.

- The Gentlemen are the best single-episode villains the show has ever done. Their looks, mannerisms and movements are wonderfully creepy, and the twisted politeness that characterises their interactions is darkly funny (especially the applause after the first night’s heart collection, and the leader’s ‘aww, shucks’ response to it).

- The episode couldn’t have been paced better. A lot of stuff happens during its 42 minutes, and the story builds a genuine atmosphere of dread (and then resolves it) without anything feeling rushed.

- The development for Buffy and Riley is interesting – the awkwardness in their early chats is believable thanks to their double-lives and Riley’s presumed inexperience, and their mutual frustration at not being able to be completely honest is tangible. Their first kiss worked in every way (and I’m very grateful it was kept to that – the original intention was for them to sleep together for the first time here), and the Slayer/commando confrontation at the end of act three was a great surprise. It was fun to see them working together to deal with the Gentlemen, and their final, unproductive ‘we have to chat’ talk was perfectly ironic in its use of silence.

- I loved the introduction of Tara, and it’s fitting that such a quiet character would make her first appearance in an episode that emphasised the importance of actions over words. Her first scene showed a lot about her basic personality, and I liked how her interest was clearly piqued upon realising that there was another genuine witch in the otherwise-vacuous Wicca group. On first viewing, her motivations were intriguing (why’s she so keen to find Willow? Does her introduction have anything to do with the arrival of the Gentlemen?), and the moment where she and Willow link hands, move the vending machine and discover the strength of their connection is a powerful one. It’s even more impressive that it was all shown without dialogue, and the sweet conversation they have at the end is a knowing precursor of things to come.

- Xander and Anya are in a believable place in their fledgling relationship, having a strong sexual bond but being a little more uncertain emotion-wise. Despite Xander referring to her as his girlfriend in “Pangs”, it’s still been up in the air if his feelings run as deep as hers, and he’s often been a little curt and inconsiderate of her feelings. This episode remedied that, raising the issue with classic Anya humour (“All you care about is lots of orgasms!”) and showing the extent of Xander’s caring when he thought Spike had attacked her (in a case of hilarious-but-touching misinterpretation, capped off with Anya’s excellent hand gesture). This is the first step in the show portraying the two as a real couple, and it’s an appropriately-timed progression.

- There’s a truckload of humour in this episode, and it’s all funny. Besides the aforementioned material, there’s Spike’s reaction to having to board with Xander; the comments about blood and Weetabix; ”an orgasm friend?”; the ridiculous contrast between the Wicca group's spiel and subsequent actions; “nowadays every girl with a henna tattoo and a spice rack thinks she’s a sister to the dark ones”; the brilliant slideshow scene; Riley smashing the glass instead of the box during the big battle (and Buffy’s reaction), and the awesomeness of the exploding heads.

- Christophe Beck had done a consistently great job with composing the show’s incidental music, and his work here is exceptional. With very little dialogue to construct atmosphere, the music played a huge role in providing it, and was enthralling and evocative throughout.

What I Disliked about “Hush”:

- The Gentlemen are brilliant villains, but I would have liked more information regarding their motivations. We know they need seven hearts – but what for? And given their number and collective power, shouldn’t they have been to obtain all of them in one night, instead of staggering the task out over several? Were they selecting victims at random, or only killing those who fit certain criteria? Finally, if their heads explode upon hearing a ‘live’ human voice, how are they even able to enter Sunnydale in the first place? I’m hoping they were very stealthy/lucky in descending on the town, and then promptly used their silencing magic.

- Giles’ book on fairytales is a bit conveniently placed. Granted, the gang has fought monsters with roots in this type of story before, but would that be enough for Giles to keep such a book available for instant access? It’s not like his apartment has the same storage capacity as the high school’s library.

- The Willow fake-out when the Gentlemen are pursuing Tara doesn’t work. Since the astute viewer would know that Willow and Buffy live in room 214, it’s obvious that Tara isn’t knocking on their door, and it’s consequently no shock when a Gentleman emerges.

- It was nice to see Olivia again, but her ‘break-up’ with Giles would have had more impact if their relationship had actually been developed. Besides, if she’s just a friend-with-benefits, would realising that monsters/the supernatural exist be that much of an impediment to the occasional hook-up with Giles?

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

“Hush” has been one of my favourite episodes ever since I first saw it, and my perspective hasn’t changed over time (all eleven years of it!) When going through the series and giving episodes ratings, I eventually decided that I would only give two ‘ten’ scores – one for the best arc ep (“Passion”), and one for the best standalone – and “Hush” is definitely deserving of a top-tier score. It’s one of the few pieces that could work as a story completely divorced from the Buffyverse, yet succeeds completely as an integrated part of it, effortlessly progressing multiple character arcs in context of a monster-of-the-week narrative and doing so with humour, emotion and strong horror elements. These factors make the episode my second favourite of the lot, a highlight of the series as a whole, and a definite ten out of ten on my scale.