Re: "Seeing Red" (was re: Emmy nominations)

["mudrat_26" <mudrat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey Dan,

I'll have to go back thru the posts to find your scene. I remember 
when you posted it, but I didn't read it at the time (not having seen 
the actual ep at that point).

Actually, reading your comments made me think back over S6 as a 
whole, and I realised what is it that's annoyed me the most: in 
previous seasons, the story arc was just that - an arc. Even the 
overlapping subplot arcs were relatively smooth. S6 has 
been...disjointed? I think that's an accurate way to put it. The 
flow was uneven, inconsistent...to use a colourful phrase of my 
dad's, it was "up and down like a bride's nightie". 

As you pointed out, many of the earlier eps set a very slow pace, so 
the occasional high points (OMWF, Tabula Rasa, etc) really stand 
out. Then it seems like you hit Normal Again, and they've suddenly 
realised they've got all this stuff they want to fit into the 
remaining eps. That was my main criticism of SR - again (as you 
mentioned) the flow was uneven, so much so that the second half of 
the ep seemed rushed. OK, so all of it was rushed, but the second 
half especially so. I think that's why there was so much focus on 
W/T in the first half - to lay a bit if groundwork , and try and 
ensure a more emotional reaction at the end. 

For mine, though, the bullet angle did work. Given all the 
discussion on the list when it first aired (and my own curiosity) I 
taped SR and ran that scene back and watched it several 
times...couldn't really see a problem with the angle. But then again, 
while many people said they didn't think it worked, I can't recall if 
anyone mentioned the specifics of *why* they think it didn't 
work...am I missing something? For me the key for working out who 
was where in relation to whom is the preceding W/T scene, where Tara 
looks out the window and sees Xander and Buffy (note the position of 
the bench)...if there is something I've missed, let me know, yeah?

As for the whole Spike thing.....urgh. Sick of it. He was never one 
of my favourite characters anyway...but does anyone else feel like 
they keep changing his personality because they're not quite sure 
what to do with him? He's sorta been floating aimlessly since S4 - 
no definite direction or intent for the character...being slotted in 
as a plot device when they need one...

The way I percieve it, this season Willow and Buffy have been running 
kinda parallel - Will's magick addiction, and Buffy's...*thing* (I'm 
not gonna use the word "relationship") with Spike.
They both had to hit rock bottom before starting to heal...but you 
would think that Buffy might have woken up a little sooner...well, 
even if they'd given her actual issues, aside from the whole 
(repetetive and increasingly annoying) "ooh, he's evil, it's wrong - 
but I just can't stay away" line (which I seem to recall discussing 
with you previously, with regard to W/A fanfic). 

There are a lot of things that can be said about why she got together 
with him in the first place - my emotions keep coming up with points 
that don't seem to make sense, then my analytical mind pipes in with 
its 2 cents worth and comes up with logical explanations. Basically 
I could debate it with myself til the cows have come home, sold the 
house and moved interstate, but it doesn't change the fact that this 
was one aspect of this season that did not sit well with me right 
from the get-go. On an emotional level, just allowing myself to react 
to it, the whole..erm.."relationship"..just felt *wrong*.

I agree - on the whole, a reasonable ep. And the main points raised 
in this discussion (the ep seemed rushed, inconsistent flow, sub-par 
writing, etc) are giving me deja vu...oddly enough, I've had 
discussions with friends citing the same criticisms of Star Wars Ep 
II...too much crammed into one film, and not enough time spent on 
each aspect to give it any depth.

Whew. There was a lot more to that than I thought there'd be. *AND* I 
thing we even agreed on several points!!

OK going to bed now as it's nearly 7am....

cheers,
mudrat

*very* tired now



--- In buffywantswillow@y..., danspector@w... wrote:
> Yeah, the story mechanics on "SR" were mostly good. DeKnight's 
usually okay with that stuff, except .....