Entropy character review (SPOILERS)

[Jason Rune <winter_herald@xxxxxxxxx>]

Last time I posted an instantaneous reaction; now for
a bit more reflection. This is a review of Entropy
focusing on the characters/interactions. Spoilers for
the ep but not the promo.

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Where to start? Well, DAN wrote a great review of the
episode :) It may have taken a bit longer (and been
posted in the wee hours of the night) but it was a lot
more complete than anything I thought of :)

BUFFY is back. She seems to have finally found some
measure of peace... though while she didn't care if
her friends found out about BS, she didn't want to
tell them either. Hmm. I just hope she doesn't take
the fact that her friends didn't wig after she tried
to kill them to mean she can try it again ;^)

SPIKE is a jerk. But whereas recently he's been
turning into Just A Jerk, he seems to be going back to
his original state of being a Hellishly Amusing Jerk.
His seduction of Anya (something I've been expecting
for a while now) had me laughing out loud. And that
curt nod he gave her afterwards cracked me up again.
I know, I know, poor Anya, but... it was funny.

THE TROIKA were not as funny or as good as I expected
them to be. Their *cameras* stole the scene away from
them. They've been shaping up a bit recently, and
Warren has been displaying a nice penchant for evil.
But in this ep the cuts to the troika were just
annoying, except maybe for the two seconds of
amusement from their reaction to the Spanya show. I
hope JONATHAN turns against them soon.

WILLOW was cute as always. Nice to see her hacking
some more. And the way she covered Dawn's eyes was
rather motherly. But leaving without talking to Buffy
about Spike OR to Xander about Anya? Just to wait for
Tara smoochies? Tsk.

I used to really like TARA. But she's rapidly losing
my respect. And while I still like Amber Benson, her
shy characterization doesn't really seem to mesh with
Aly's Willow. It's like Willow and highschool-Willow
except without the cute-babble factor. And wanting
immediate smoochies after leaving Willow for over a
month and not helping her get through major withdrawl
symptoms? Tsk. Kiss was kinda nice, though... hmm,
red hair blonde hair...

XANDER is pathetic. I mean, I like the guy, and I
mean this in the nicest possible way, but he's
pathetic. And an idiot, but he seems to have realized
that.

ANYA is Anya is Anya. Her attempts to get everyone to
wish bad things about Xander were hilarious.
Particularly trying to convince Will and Tara that
they hated men... and Buffy's quick correction about
the number of men she's been with ("Four... no,
three!") So she doesn't mind counting Parker, but is
still in denial about her behavior with Spike ;)

I still wish they would have paid attention to the
necklace. Not only did she not give it to anyone, but
you could barely even see it. If I hadn't been
watching closely I would have missed the thin gold
chain about her neck... it might not have even been a
vengeance demon pendant. Are vengeance, excuse me,
justice demons undergoing major retcon? First the
switch from scorned demons to everyone, now the
necklace thing. Or maybe Anyanka was just a little
peculiar...

GILES needs to come back. Didn't even send a card for
Buffy's birthday or the wedding. We need you, you
bloody sod. Maybe next season he'll come back as a
vampire and turn Dawn and they'll rule the hellmouth.
Um, sorry, fanfic moment.

DAWN was actually decent. I have a theory: since the
Key has probably taken all sorts of forms over the
millenia (log, bicycle pump, etc.) perhaps there is a
sort of multiple personality disorder built in? :)

BUFFY/WILLOW was sadly lacking. Not much to say :(
They do seem to be almost deliberately keeping apart.
Maybe it's more obfuscation from our favorite writing
team. Maybe they're keeping the two apart so that
when they finally get together it'll be all a surprise
and stuff. Or maybe I'm just dreamin'.

WILLOW/TARA was rather abrupt. Then again, the space
of almost a month in which Willow apparently made her
*off-screen* recovery (with no help whatsoever from
Tara) was also rather abrupt.

XANDER/ANYA was supposed to be the relationship with
the best chances? Whazzat?

BUFFY & DAWN had some nice moments. The Dawnster
stole a toothbrush? Dental hygiene is important?
Heh, you rascal you. And kudos for non-wiggyness and
non-brattiness. Which will probably last until right
before the beginning of next ep ;)

ANYA/SPIKE was amusing as hell. The look Anya got
when she realized she'd been played was sort of sad,
but I had laughter momentum built up. I couldn't
stop. OTOH, when Xander said he was disgusted, yadda
yadda, because she'd slept with that soulless thing,
and Buffy got that sort of faraway wide-eyed look
she's been doing so much this season... ouch. Just
ouch.

I kept expecting Spike to wish for something, though.
He almost seemed like he was going to wish for the
chip out for a minute there. That would have been
very, very interesting. Maybe later.

Finally, just a note about the season as a whole. I
subscribe to the Primeval theory of the Core Scoobies,
i.e. the Heart, Mind, Hand, and Spirit. And this
season, all of them have been having problems related
to their symbolic representations:

Xander is well on his way to a broken heart.

Willow is having spiritual problems, if you see her
dark magic addiction that way.

Buffy... needed to learn to use her hands more? ^_^

Giles was the Mind. He left. 'Nuff said.


Yours in Wuffydom, I reman,

Jason Rune

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