Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 19: I Only Have Eyes For You
Written by Marti Noxon; Directed by James Whitmore Jr.(a.k.a. In Which Buffy Learns That Love Is Forever)
One thing that never fails to get on my nerves in television is when an episode starts with one character saying to another "Remember when..." I'm not sure whether or not the show was using Giles' "Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer" recaps at this stage (I have the US DVDs of Seasons 1-3, which routinely removed these), but if they were, that would have been a far better way to remind audiences (as if they needed it) that Angel had lost his soul. I Only Have Eyes For You contains a major example of this, and that's just one of the many problems with the script for this episode. Another is that Willow, who is now taking the computing class, tells Giles that "Ms. Calendar had good lesson plans... on her computer". Given that we saw Angel trashing the machine in Passion, I'm not sure how this can be.
Maybe I'm nitpicking, but I don't think this episode is as good as many people seem to think. The actual plot itself is rather a good one, and I like the way in which the relationship of the 60s couple parallels that of Buffy and Angel, but it seems designed simply to get various characters to externalise their internal feelings. As such, it's all a bit heavy-handed (not that that's necessarily anything new) and the constant repetition, while sort of the whole point of the episode, gets a bit tiresome. I appreciate the overall intention of the episode, but it just doesn't wow me. I did appreciate the foreshadowing for Season 3 with the mention of the Mayor, though... although Principal Snyder's awareness of the Hellmouth's existence is never, to the best of my recollection, brought up again. And it occurred to me, watching it again, that this is the episode that started Willow's interest in magic.
Overall rating: 7/10.
Next time: Go Fish.
1 Comments:
Yeah, I had pretty much the same reaction - it's not as powerful as it thinks it is.
One thing I found a bit irritating is that we're clearly meant to think that's Buffy's being irrational over the ghost's torment. Actually, she has a point - if we're talking about unforgiveable crimes, shooting a harmless woman ranks pretty high.
By Baron Scarpia, at 18:50
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