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3.11 Gingerbread

Xander: "Oh, man. It's Nazi Germany and I have Playboys in my locker."

I thought I wasn't going to like this one because it started out (1) way too serious with child murders, and (2) looking like it was going to be a Wiccan attack show, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. How silly of me to think that BtVS would attack Wiccans and white witches, when our sweetest character actually is one.

This episode had an interesting premise -- that fairy tales have a basis in fact. (Actually, as someone who has worked extensively with children's books and fairy tales, I'm certain that the original Hansel and Gretel and the older Babes in the Wood stories were cautionary tales intended to keep kiddies from wandering around in the forest, just as the delightful book I encountered about the girl playing with matches who burned herself up was intended in the same way. But I digress.)

Joyce, originally in character and trying to be Slayer Supportive, started acting like a villager in "Frankenstein" as she organized MOO (Mothers Opposed to the Occult -- and wouldn't that work better as MOTTO?). I didn't think that Joyce could turn into a book burner overnight, and I was somewhat relieved when it turned out that she was under a demon influence. Buffy, with her usual wit and candor, went right to the heart of the wrongness of book burning with "what if the anti-hell-sucking book isn't on the approved reading list?"

Bits and pieces:

-- We got to see Willow's absent mother for the first time, and her absence makes a lot of sense now. Willow deserves a better mother than that.

-- I liked that the third witch/warlock was a guy, and a guy that wears makeup; it showed some implied support of diversity. And it was nice to see Buffy striking fear in the hearts of a gang of (male) high school bullies, as well she should.

-- Giles' attempts to do research on the Internet and the uncoordinated multiple rescue attempts were a hoot. I liked seeing Cordelia jump in and save the day; it showed she still cares (but we knew that she did).

--"How many times have you been knocked out?" Just a small acknowledgement of the number of knocks the Slayerettes pick up every week. If this weren't the magic of television, they'd all be in permanent traction.

--Giles and Joyce were still embarrassed about their encounter in "Band Candy." Perhaps a lot more happened offscreen than I originally thought. How delightful.

-- In this week's hair report, Buffy's finally went back to its original shade; the neon highlighting was gone. Better.

Foreshadowing:

-- Willow mentions floating a pencil.

-- Amy turns herself into a rat. Better get used to that cage, Amy.

Quotes:

Willow: "Makes me grateful that my mom's not interested in my extra-curricular activities. Or my curricular activities."

Joyce: "Are you embarrassed to be hanging out with your mother? I didn't hug you."
Buffy: "No. It's just... This hall is about school, and you're about home. Mix them, my world dissolves."

Snyder: "This is a glorious day for principals everywhere. No pathetic whining about students' rights. Just a long row of lockers and a man with a key."

Snyder: "I love the smell of desperate librarian in the morning."

Willow: "Mom, how would you know what I can do? I mean, the last time we had a conversation over three minutes, it was about the patriarchal bias of the Mr. Rogers Show."

Buffy: "My mom said some things to me about being the Slayer. That it's fruitless. No fruit for Buffy."
Angel: "She's wrong."
Buffy: "Is she? Is Sunnydale any better than when I first came here? Okay, so I battle evil. But I don't really win. The bad keeps coming back and getting stronger. Like that kid in the story, the boy that stuck his finger in the duck."
Angel: "Dike. It's another word for dam."
Buffy: "Oh. Okay, that story makes a lot more sense now."

Xander: "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm still spinning on this whole fairy tales are real thing."
Oz: "So what do we do?"
Xander: "I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go trade my cow in for some beans."

Giles: "It's about, uh, lifting a veil. Um, it should, uh, make the demons appear in their true form, which with any luck, will, uh, negate their influence. And, uh, drop a toadstone into the mixture."
Cordelia: "(picks it up) This? (sniffs it) It doesn't look like a toad."
Giles: "No reason it should. It's from inside the toad."
Cordelia: "I hate you."

Buffy: "Mom, dead people are talking to you. Do the math."

Buffy: "Maybe we should get her one of those wheel thingies."

One out of four stakes,

Billie





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