Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 4, Episode 10: Hush
Written and Directed by Joss WhedonThe first 10/10-rated episode of the season, and one that puts to shame every single 10/10 episode before it (maybe I need to revise my ratings?). Hush was conceived by Joss Whedon as an antidote to what he considered to be rote television directing - at its worst, two people standing talking to each other using a simple "shot/reverse shot" structure. And it works: featuring 30 minutes of material completely devoid of dialogue, the visuals become absolutely paramount, and, for the first time, we have an episode of Buffy that looks more like a film than an episode of television (this is especially true of the UK releases, which are in widescreen, even if it's "fake widescreen"). The actors, too, are called upon to deliver much more than usual, and the deliberately theatrical performances, stressing hand gestures and facial expressions, are a delight to behold (and frequently extremely funny).
And as for the Gentleman, the episode's villains - wow. It's extremely rare that I find anything in horror movies remotely scary, and then along come these delightfully twisted creations that creep me out no end - in an episode of a show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Whedon says in his audio commentary that part of what makes them so disturbing is that they're cold-blooded killers but are 100% polite about the whole thing. Add to that the creepy Tim Burton/Danny Elfman-inspired music and you have an episode that really is like nothing else in the series. If I was to compile a life of my favourite Buffy episodes ever, this one would almost definitely be #2.
On a side note, this episode is remarkable for another unrelated reason. It marks the initiation of what was, at the time, US network television's only long-standing lesbian relationship. The interesting thing about the Willow/Tara pairing is that, unlike every other one on the show, there is no clear point at which it stops being friendship and becomes something more. For that reason, there is a level of mystery and, I must admit, believability about it that the others lack. (And the fact that the only truly "normal" relationship in the show involves two people of the same sex is not lost on me.) Of course, at the time, Fox and/or Warner were extremely edgy about the notion of a same-sex relationship on TV (they weren't even allowed to use the word "lesbian" until over a year later), so a lot of the mystery of this relationship comes from the fact that, for a considerable amount of time, it was played entirely as a metaphor, with the subtext not becoming text until episode 19 (New Moon Rising). Looking at it in retrospect, of course, it's blatantly obvious what's going on (just look at their "How long have you been practicing?" conversation near the end of the episode), but it does result in one of the best ever metaphors in the show ("doing a spell"), which is wonderfully paid off in the final episode of the season. The emergence of the hyper-shy, reclusive Tara also serves to highlight just how much Willow has changed since the beginning of Season 1 - a change that has been so gradual that it's only when we see someone close to the "original" Willow that we become aware of it.
Overall rating: 10/10.
Next time: Doomed.
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