posted 02-25-2001 23:56 EST (US)
Loey's Review follows below:
Geez, between this and "X-Files", it's just one upper after another!
Spoilers for "The Body", written and directed by Joss Whedon.
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We see a repeat of the last scene from "I Was Made to Love You". That's it for
the teaser.
[credits]
Flash back to Christmas, with everyone having dinner at the Summers home. It's
a happy scene, with Buffy and Joyce teasing each other and basically making us
all weep.
Buffy tries to wake Joyce up, then calls 911. The operator talks her through a
CPR attempt, which only results in a cracked rib. When Buffy says that her
mother is cold, the operator goes silent for a moment, then tells her to just
wait for the paramedics.
Buffy immediately calls Giles, giving him the impression that Glory is or was
there (I'm not sure if Buffy really thinks this or not). The ambulance
arrives, and Buffy sees a vision of her mother coming to and recovering
completely. It's just a fantasy, though - in reality, nothing works. They
think it might have been an aneurysm, and there's nothing anyone could have
done. One of the guys tells Buffy that he'll call the coroner, and she
shouldn't disturb the body. The paramedics have to go on another call, leaving
Buffy alone in the house.
Buffy wanders around, pausing briefly to throw up on the floor. She's trying
to clean it up when Giles arrives, panicked at the thought that Glory has
attacked. He sees Joyce and goes over to her, and it takes him about a
nanosecond to figure out what's happened, especially after Buffy yells at him,
"We're not supposed to move the body!". He puts his arms around Buffy, who
just stands there with her hand over her mouth, staring.
Dawn is in the restroom at school, crying, but not over Joyce (yet). She's
upset because some of the kids were picking on her, and one of her friends is
trying to help her pull herself together. They go to art class, and Dawn gets
to flirt with a cute guy (who sort of looks like Ben's younger brother). Buffy
arrives and takes her into the hallway. She wants to go outside, but Dawn
makes her tell what's wrong now. Buffy breaks the news, and Dawn starts
screaming and crying, then collapses.
Xander and Anya drive in silence to the college to pick up Willow and Tara.
Willow is obsessing over what shirt to wear, pouring all her pain and
frustration into finding this one blue sweater that Joyce really liked. Tara
kisses (that's right, *kisses*) her and tries to offer comfort.
Anya and Xander arrive, and they all stand around, not sure what to do next.
Xander wants someone to blame - Glory, the doctors, anybody - but soon realizes
it's useless. Willow changes clothes again, and Tara goes to the laundry room
to look for the blue sweater. While she's gone, Anya starts asking extremely
inappropriate questions, which pisses Willow off. Anya starts to cry - she's
just trying to understand what's happening and what she can do to help. This
is all tremendously upsetting to someone who isn't used to mortality. She sits
down (right on Will's blue sweater, which nobody notices, even after Anya
absent-mindedly puts it in a drawer).
Suddenly, there's a loud noise, and the girls jump. Xander has just let out
his pent-up anger by running his fist through the dorm's cheap drywall. Tara
comes back just as he gets it unstuck - it's all bloody, and he really doesn't
feel better. They decide to get it together and go to the morgue to meet Buffy,
Dawn, and Giles. They need to be there for their friend, and that's really the
only thing they can do right now.
When they get there, it's hugs all around (including Xander and Giles). Dr.
Kriegel comes out of the morgue and confirms the paramedics' theory. It was,
indeed, an aneurysm, something they couldn't really detect ahead of time,
although Joyce knew about the possibility. He assures Buffy that her mother
didn't suffer.
He also says there are forms to fill out and decisions to make. Giles offers
to handle as much of that as he can, and goes with the doctor. Dawn heads for
the restroom, while Xander, Willow, and Anya go to find food for everyone.
Buffy and Tara are left alone, and Tara tells Buffy about her own mother's
death. Tara was 17 at the time, and had thoughts and reactions that were
totally unexpected and irrational. She wants Buffy to know that this is OK,
and she'll be there for her. It's very sweet.
Dawn sees the morgue entrance and sneaks in. She walks up to Joyce's body and
starts to lift the cover, then hesitates.
On the other side of the room, a man gets up. Vampire! Dawn turns around just
as he starts toward her.
The gang returns with armloads of snacks (Willow: "We panicked.") Buffy
realizes Dawn's been gone a while, and quickly figures out where she is. She
gets there in time to catch the vampire, although she's so exhausted and off
her game, she has a hard time fighting him.
In the ensuing chaos, the cover accidentally gets pulled off Joyce's body.
After Buffy dusts the vamp, she and Dawn sit on the floor, looking up at their
mother's lifeless form. Dawn stands up and slowly reaches over to touch her
face.
The End.
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Well, that was fun. I think I'll go watch something relatively cheerful now,
like "Schindler's List".
I got the feeling this episode took place in real-time, or very close to it.
It certainly conveyed the feeling that anyone who has ever suddenly lost a
loved one knows all too well - that numb, slow-motion blankness, where you're
consciously aware of what's just happened, but aren't even close to fully
comprehending it yet. Buffy is in this state more than anyone right now, for
obvious reasons. She's the responsible one, the one who takes care of
everything, and she's trying to fulfill that role as best she can. But the
grief is overwhelming, and she looks like she could collapse at any moment.
The way Joyce died could both make things harder and easier for Buffy. I've
always liked the cancer storyline because, far from being trite and soap
opera-ish, it provides something Buffy has never really had to deal with before
- a threat to her family that she can't do anything about. There's no Cancer
Demon to go beat up, no spell to make everything better. She can't even get
revenge. There's a part of her that's going to be devastated by this
knowledge, and frustrated by the helplessness of it, especially since it's cost
her the one person she's probably most protective of. But she will also,
eventually, realize that any feelings of guilt are entirely misplaced, which
wasn't the case when, say, Jenny died. That might help her heal a teeny, tiny
bit faster.
She also has the rest of her "family", and they're rallying around her in every
way they can. Xander and Willow are taking it especially hard, since Joyce was
practically a surrogate mom to both of them, too. Xander is bottling things up
a bit, still dealing by not really dealing, and having sudden outbursts of
anger that are completely illogical, yet make perfect sense. Willow, for her
part, is constantly on the verge of a meltdown. Her fussing over what shirt to
wear is such a perfect, realistic touch - those meaningless little things
become *so* important when you're projecting your grief onto them.
Giles is currently doing the best job of holding it together, at least for the
time being. As the only remaining adult and parental figure, he's using that
British reserve of his to remain an anchor for all the kids, especially Buffy.
It was particularly nice the way he offered to take care of as much of the
paperwork and arrangements as he could. I think he truly liked and admired
Joyce, and considered her a friend, plus watching Buffy suffer like this has
got to just stab him in the heart. But he can't fall apart. Not now.
Tara could actually be the person who helps Buffy the most, at least
emotionally. She lost her mother too, and she knows all the horrible thoughts
and feelings that go through a person's head after something like this. She's
honest and compassionate at the same time, and says exactly what Buffy needs to
hear.
Ooh, and we finally got the Willow/Tara kiss! It was handled in a perfectly
natural, no-big-deal way, which was absolutely ingenious. No need to make an
Afterschool Special out of it - just slip it in there at an appropriate time,
when nobody in the audience expects anything. Beautiful.
And, bless her heart, there's Anya, who hasn't been mortal for over a thousand
years, and just can't grasp the sadness and finality of death. She's trying so
hard to understand, and she truly wants to be supportive, but it's just beyond
her. In her fumbling way, though, she does express her condolences, and Buffy
clearly appreciates it.
Poor Dawn. Not only is she dealing with the loss of her mother at the age of
14, she's still got this whole Key thing going on. She *feels* that Joyce was
her mom, and the pain is as real and terrible as it would be for anyone. But
she knows it's an illusion, and that's bound to hit her at some point.
No Spike in this episode at all, which works, actually. There's no reason for
him to find out about Joyce's death this soon, and inserting him into the
episode just to have him there would have been too awkward. He'll get the news
eventually, and it will certainly upset him. Joyce was nice to him - made him
hot chocolate and everything - and he has to respect a woman who wasn't afraid
to bean him with an axe to protect her daughter. He may make some attempt to
console Buffy, although he's pretty pissed off at her right now. The next
scene between them should be mighty interesting.
On top of everything, there's still the whole Glory threat to worry about. If
the gang thought fighting her was tough before, doing it through a haze of
grief is going to make it damn near impossible.
This episode confirmed Joyce's demise, but that's about it. We still haven't
really seen anyone deal with this at all yet - it's still too fresh. There are
a lot of loose ends to tie up, and it's going to be a long process. And we
have to wait at least a few weeks to find out what happens next (thanks,
Joss!).
Whedon certainly got the emotional tone right, even doing the episode without a
music soundtrack, which heightens the somberness and realism of it. As usual,
there's no cop-out, either - Joyce is actually dead, no question about it, and
I expect her to stay that way. Not that she won't be seen again (this show is
renowned for its post-mortem guest appearances), but it will never really be
*her*, alive and well.
And, damn, that makes me sad. Joyce has been there from the beginning (54
episodes if you count this one), doing all she could to love and support her
daughter and cope with the utter strangeness that surrounds them. She faced
her cancer with humor and dignity, and actually seemed to be getting better.
And she was Buffy's last remaining link to the "normal" world, the one person
she could come home to and talk about something besides demons and vampires.
Now she's gone. A moment of silence.
Joss did his semi-experimental thing with this one, and it doesn't entirely
work. Instead of trying to pack two episodes into one, which happens frequently
on "Buffy", he basically stretched half an episode out to full-length. The
result is unquestionably moving and gives Joyce a proper "farewell" episode,
but it's also slow as molasses. Too much time is spent on artsy touches that
stretch things out much longer than necessary, with very little apparent point
(do we *really* need endless scenes of people walking down hallways?).
So I have mixed feelings about it. I felt what I was supposed to feel, without
the sense of being played or manipulated. But I was also squirming a lot,
waiting for *something* to happen. That'll have to wait until next time, I
guess.
I'm honestly not sure what kind of ranking to give this. A 9 for content, a 7
for execution.
Guess that makes it a solid 8 out of 10.
Loey
Line of the Week: "Xander decided that he blames the wall." - Anya, with the
only funny line of the night.
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