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Post by Clare on Sept 24, 2008 13:08:41 GMT -5
5.02 Real Me - Episode #080
Trouble brews between Buffy and her little sister Dawn - which is only made worse when Dawn accidentally invites Harmony into the Summers' home.
Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.
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Post by cyclica on Feb 9, 2009 17:36:57 GMT -5
Not too bad of an episode, but it lacks something. Like an explanation of where dawn came from.  This ep marked a big transition from the last one, from this point of there will be more focus on the magic box, the summer's home and on dawn herself. Like I've said before, I don't mind dawn. In her scenes with buffy I find myself taking her side against buffy, which isn't really a good thing. I didn't want to see buffy the star of the show acting so bitchy. It was great seeing harmony again (she's my second favourite character) but it wasn't all that beleivable that she would have had minions, especially as they are so willing to turn on her. Everyone else is ok in the episode, but not memorable. I give this ep a 6. |
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Post by partcynic on Jul 31, 2010 11:55:18 GMT -5
5x02 “Real Me”
Episode Rating = 5
The first post-Dawn episode, “Real Me” is a respectable standalone with some great humour and reasonable plot progression for Giles, Buffy and Harmony. However, it also serves as a microcosm of the writing and character problems that would eventually spoil the series, focusing on a one-dimensional, generic teen and having its plot be driven by whining and stupidity. Sadly, the problems aren’t just limited to Dawn herself, with Buffy beginning her slow metamorphosis into a bitter, self-centred shrew and spending ninety percent of the episode rolling her eyes and complaining. It’s fortunate that the writing for the rest of the characters is solid, and this helps maintain a sense of balance against the more grating, soap-opera shenanigans.
What I Liked about “Real Me”:
- Bits and pieces of Dawn’s material are good, and her comments on Giles, Willow/Tara and Xander were enough to compensate for her less impressive aspects.
- I like that Buffy is getting back into a proper training regimen, and her handstand scene with Giles worked. Things feel instinctively ‘right’ now that they’re relating to each other again, and I loved the acknowledgement of how bored Giles must have been during S4 (“I watched ‘Passions’ with Spike. Let us never speak of it again”).
- It’s good to have Riley back in boyfriend mode, and his living room conversation with Buffy was the wittiest he’d been in a long time.
- The Harmony plot organically introduced the Magic Box, and the decision to have Giles take control of the business was a fantastic way of both giving him a purpose and creating a new Scooby meeting point. In general, the character was at his warmest and funniest (he hasn’t been this good since “A New Man”), and the scenes with his new sports car and wowing over the shop’s profit margins were really enjoyable.
- Tara is beginning to come into her own, and we can see the emergence of her motherly personality. Her scene with Dawn nicely conveyed both characters’ sense of exclusion from the Scooby core, and I also liked her later chat with Willow. It brought up the issue of her feeling like an outsider without being accusatory or self-pitying, and her discomfort when Willow said she was “one of the good guys” was a neat reminder of her possible demonhood.
- Harmony’s scenes are entertaining, and cutting to her after Giles wondered what kind of monster would want tasteless statuary was hilarious. Building on the self-help-book reading persona she demonstrated back in “Pangs”, her decision to get in touch with her ‘real me’ was effective in making the character more threatening, yet didn’t dilute her comedic potential. Her general treatment of her vampire gang as a teen clique, insistence on note-sending and “plans”, and writing her ‘i’-s with smiley faces were excellent, and proved the highlight of the episode.
- Xander and Anya are both charming as they babysit Dawn, and Anya’s line about trading her children in for cash when they play the Game of Life is a classic.
What I found to be a mixed bag about “Real Me”:
- The ‘Dawn’s diary’ segments were novel and an imaginative way of introducing her to the audience, but they weren’t done as well as they could have been. Dropping a new person in to the Scooby gang could have offered us new perspectives on well-known characters, but Dawn’s observations aren’t particularly clever or insightful, and tell us what we already know. In addition, the tone is off – she comes across as being far younger than her fourteen years, and I didn’t feel as though her material was intended for my own, personal viewing. It came across like a cynical attempt at pulling young teen girls in to the show, and I while I don’t have a problem with the series wanting a bigger audience, it should try to do this without simplifying itself and alienating its existing fans.
- The theme is odd. The ‘real me’ concept made sense with regard to Harmony, but less so with Dawn. After all, we don’t know her at all, let alone whether she’s in touch with her true self. I suppose there was some validity to her feelings that the gang didn’t treat her like a grown-up, but I thought that the others’ behaviour was in perfect sync with her childish behaviour.
- Xander deriding Harmony and her gang was very funny, but has he forgotten that they could just burn the house down?
- I loved Buffy’s response to Harmony et al, but Sarah Michelle Gellar’s laughter was unconvincing. I also didn’t understand why Riley appeared amused – I get that humour is infectious, but it’s not like he’s ever met Harmony and seen what she’s like. I can’t even think of a reason for Buffy to have ever mentioned her to him, either.
- The ending is okay, but I didn’t like the implication that Dawn was aware of her ‘special’ status. It’s not that her final statement is a sign of bad writing, but this kind of cheap misdirection is something the show has usually avoided.
What I Disliked about “Real Me”:
- The ‘previously on’ was too long. This episode didn’t really need to be preceded by a continuity explanation.
- In the first half of the episode, Dawn is mildly annoying in that special ‘younger sibling’ manner, but she becomes really bad towards the end. While inadvertent, her invitation to Harmony was stupid, and delivered through the kind of ‘my dad can beat your dad up’ dialogue that really needs to go away once a character hits seven or eight. After that, we had her irritating shrieking and squealing as she ran away (leaving Xander and Anya to clean up her mess and possibly die in the process), and then throwing a strop when Buffy was understandably upset by what had happened. I hated her bratty behaviour as she stormed out and was disrespectful to Anya; which was the first big hint that she was going to be detrimental to the series’ quality.
- The argument between Buffy and Joyce was bizarre. Joyce was being completely unreasonable, and I don’t understand why she was acting as though Buffy willingly and deliberately took Dawn to a murder scene.
- This ep is a bit slow in places. Segments like the Spike/Harmony graveyard chat dragged for me.
- If listening to Dawn’s petulant outbursts (“I’m not a kid!”x10) wasn’t irritating enough; we also got subjected to Buffy’s. While being okay to watch and making some reasonable points, they held no meaning (since Dawn is a fabrication and things haven’t “always been this way”), and it was hard to be engaged by scenes that feature a character I want to like mindlessly ranting about things I have no interest in.
Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?
I feel mostly similar. I liked the good things more, but had an equal increase in dislike for its negative aspects. Taken in isolation, I wouldn’t have much of an issue with “Real Me” (though I still wouldn’t give it a top rating), but it’s more problematic knowing that its watery writing style, emphasis on contrived interpersonal drama, and frequent moaning would become the series’ eventual template. Still, “Real Me” also has a substantial number of things to commend it, and these make it good for a grade of five out of ten.
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Post by cyclica on Aug 30, 2010 15:37:58 GMT -5
- I like that Buffy is getting back into a proper training regimen, and her handstand scene with Giles worked. That handstand scene was pretty pointless, but there was something relaxing about it that made it work for me. - The Harmony plot organically introduced the Magic Box, and the decision to have Giles take control of the business was a fantastic way of both giving him a purpose and creating a new Scooby meeting point. In general, the character was at his warmest and funniest (he hasn’t been this good since “A New Man”), and the scenes with his new sports car and wowing over the shop’s profit margins were really enjoyable. Agreed. - Tara is beginning to come into her own, and we can see the emergence of her motherly personality. Her scene with Dawn nicely conveyed both characters’ sense of exclusion from the Scooby core, and I also liked her later chat with Willow. I didn't really like the idea of the scooby gang having outsiders. I preferd it when the scooby gang were the outsiders. I never really got why tara would feel so excluded, though at least with dawn I can buy that it's the age difference. - Harmony’s scenes are entertaining, and cutting to her after Giles wondered what kind of monster would want tasteless statuary was hilarious. Building on the self-help-book reading persona she demonstrated back in “Pangs”, her decision to get in touch with her ‘real me’ was effective in making the character more threatening, yet didn’t dilute her comedic potential. Her general treatment of her vampire gang as a teen clique, insistence on note-sending and “plans”, and writing her ‘i’-s with smiley faces were excellent, and proved the highlight of the episode. Agreed, though like I said before I'm not fully buying that harmony would have all these vamps working for her to begin with. Perhaps it would have been more beleivable if she had bitten the girls she hung out with in school (minus cordy), and got her old clique back together. - Xander and Anya are both charming as they babysit Dawn, and Anya’s line about trading her children in for cash when they play the Game of Life is a classic. And so beings the anya-loves-money subplot! - The ‘Dawn’s diary’ segments were novel and an imaginative way of introducing her to the audience, but they weren’t done as well as they could have been. Dropping a new person in to the Scooby gang could have offered us new perspectives on well-known characters, but Dawn’s observations aren’t particularly clever or insightful, and tell us what we already know. In addition, the tone is off – she comes across as being far younger than her fourteen years, and I didn’t feel as though her material was intended for my own, personal viewing. It came across like a cynical attempt at pulling young teen girls in to the show, and I while I don’t have a problem with the series wanting a bigger audience, it should try to do this without simplifying itself and alienating its existing fans. My biggest problem with dawn at this point is that were meant to assume she'd been there this whole time. I'm so glad they gave her an actual reason for suddenly appearing, but we'd have to wait a few eps for that. - The theme is odd. The ‘real me’ concept made sense with regard to Harmony, but less so with Dawn. After all, we don’t know her at all, let alone whether she’s in touch with her true self. I suppose there was some validity to her feelings that the gang didn’t treat her like a grown-up, but I thought that the others’ behaviour was in perfect sync with her childish behaviour. I love how in a later episode she admits that in her diaries she sometimes just makes stuff up. Thereby calling into question everything she 'writes' in this episode, and killing the dangling mystery of the 'real her' she mentions at the end. It's a cheap ploy to get the viewers to expect something interesting is going on with dawn, and I found it hilarious that they ended that subplot with one line, that you m ight have missed if you weren't paying attention. So much for that subplot! - I loved Buffy’s response to Harmony et al, but Sarah Michelle Gellar’s laughter was unconvincing. I also didn’t understand why Riley appeared amused – I get that humour is infectious, but it’s not like he’s ever met Harmony and seen what she’s like. Agreed. I can’t even think of a reason for Buffy to have ever mentioned her to him, either. Well she might have mentioned harmony while discribing her dream after the events of Restless. - The ending is okay, but I didn’t like the implication that Dawn was aware of her ‘special’ status. It’s not that her final statement is a sign of bad writing, but this kind of cheap misdirection is something the show has usually avoided. I didn't think she was aware about the fact she was a key, I thought it was something she just made up. - The argument between Buffy and Joyce was bizarre. Joyce was being completely unreasonable, and I don’t understand why she was acting as though Buffy willingly and deliberately took Dawn to a murder scene. Agreed. - If listening to Dawn’s petulant outbursts (“I’m not a kid!”x10) wasn’t irritating enough; we also got subjected to Buffy’s. While being okay to watch and making some reasonable points, they held no meaning (since Dawn is a fabrication and things haven’t “always been this way”), and it was hard to be engaged by scenes that feature a character I want to like mindlessly ranting about things I have no interest in. Buffy did get a little annoying at times. Though it was still more watchable than angel stretching without a shirt on. Or s7. Still, “Real Me” also has a substantial number of things to commend it, and these make it good for a grade of five out of ten. I'm sticking with my 6. |
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Post by partcynic on Oct 5, 2010 8:29:39 GMT -5
The notion that the Scoobs were outsiders has always been fallacious, though. For a bunch of 'losers', they made it through high school with minimal bullying, all bagged attractive partners (and in the case of Willow and Xander, dated people who were higher up in the school social circle than they were), were all sexually active at 17/18, and got to go out and party with each other every other night. That sounds more like the teen experience of cool kids than outsiders to me. And as for Tara feeling excluded - I thought it was totally understandable. While they're close with each other, the Buffy/Willow/Xander trio isn't renowned for being accomodating of others, and Oz, Anya, Tara - and to a lesser extent, Cordelia - didn't form significant Scooby relationships with anyone besides their partner (though Buffy/Tara did become closer in S6). And given that B/W/X have all looked down on true social outcasts (Jonathon, Andrew), I can understand how a painfully shy character like Tara - who came from a psychologically abusive family and didn't seem to have any friends besides Willow in S4 - could feel alone in this instance. Can you name a single S4/early S5 instance in which a non-Willow Scoob made any effort to get to know Tara? Instead, Buffy and Xander just gossiped about how weird she was. (Of course, Tara should also have made an effort - but friendship works both ways). Agreed on both points - though I find that kind of thing annoying. Cheap misdirection is always a sign of lazy writing. Well, being more enjoyable than gratuitous shirtlessness or S7 isn't exactly setting the bar high. |
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Post by cyclica on Oct 7, 2010 17:19:03 GMT -5
The notion that the Scoobs were outsiders has always been fallacious, though. For a bunch of 'losers', they made it through high school with minimal bullying, all bagged attractive partners (and in the case of Willow and Xander, dated people who were higher up in the school social circle than they were), were all sexually active at 17/18, and got to go out and party with each other every other night. That sounds more like the teen experience of cool kids than outsiders to me. They're 'tv losers', not real losers.  |
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This ep marked a big transition from the last one, from this point of there will be more focus on the magic box, the summer's home and on dawn herself.
