One of the most successful aspects to Phases is in how the episode itself takes on board the relaxed, dazed feel of Oz himself. I loved how both his conversation about Cousin Jordy and the final revelation that he's a werewolf were ridiculously casual. No other show could do something like that, but there's a knowing sensibility to Buffy the Vampire Slayer that makes it work. Equally systematic of this show is how Oz, introduced only a couple of episodes ago, already experiences his own character development. He's not just the reserved, quiet and observant guy anymore, he's the secret werewolf now, too.There's also a lot of humor here that works incredibly well. Xander's interaction with big gay Larry is hilarious, likewise Giles' awesome levels of glee over the possibility that there's a werewolf on the loose. There's also something wonderfully endearing about unlucky-in-love Buffy snooping around a bunch of horny teenagers in cars with stuffy old Giles towing along. Aww.
But Phases isn't a perfect episode. You would be facing an uphill battle to follow Innocence, regardless, but there are certain elements at work here that don't work. There's a weird commentary on gender politics that appears at certain moments that doesn't really say anything at all in the long run. Buffy is forced to be that 'weak girly-girl" while in self-defense class, Cain repeatedly remarks how weak Buffy is due to her gender, and Cordelia and Willow bond over their mutual annoyance with guys. These parts feel at odds with the rest of the episode, and I can't understand what point the show was trying to make in this context. Eh.
And while I hate to bring up Angelus, especially since I already mentioned that it's not entirely the fault of Phases that it had to follow up Innocence, it feels a little odd for the Scoobies to be acting so naturally, especially Buffy. I guess it has more to do with when the episode was first aired, but the Angelus arc probably deserved a long run of episodes dedicated to it, like the arcs in seasons five and seven. Seeing Angelus sparingly in small cameos feels like a waste.
Phases works best in the context of Oz and Willow, giving the former a wonderful piece of character development, and giving the two of them together a truly engrossing romance. The two of them are so cute together, having an interesting post-modern chemistry and a relaxed, easy banter. Phases has a couple of problems, but it's heart is in the right place. B-
Credits
Guest stars Seth Green (Oz); Camila Griggs (Gym Teacher); Jack Conley (Cain)
Writers Rob Des Hotel, Dean Batali Director Bruce Seth Green
I think the gender role aspect was to highlight that you can't judge on what you see- relating to Oz's situation also, therefore a basic universal truth. Plus sexism is terrible!
ReplyDeleteYou could be right. I always thought Buffy as a show tackled gender politics really well, but Phases just didn't work for me in that regard.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, reading and commenting, by the way. Feels great to know that folks are out there.
I hope that your ‘could be right’ comment is about the gender politics rather than sexism. Coz sexism is terrible. No ‘could’ about it
ReplyDeleteI always felt like once Angel ‘went bad’ he kind of disappeared until the final episode. When I look back, he was around more than I’d realised, though maybe not as much as he could have been. I totally agree with everything you say about that arc, but it can’t be easy to have that same villain week in and week out, and Buffy not defeat it. Especially when he’s just a vampire. As Buffy herself would say, her job description is pretty specific. The people behind Buffy have always been really careful to not have their villains seem silly or pathetic, and I think if Angelus came up against Buffy every week or two, but there was never an outcome, it would have started to feel a bit pointless.
"I hope that your ‘could be right’ comment is about the gender politics rather than sexism. Coz sexism is terrible. No ‘could’ about it"
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if you're kidding or not, or whether I should be offended. I don't think my comment even read like that, to be honest.
I'm sorry, I certainly meant no offence. It was just a badly worded joke. Unfortunately the smiley face didn't copy into the comment box.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, it didn't really read like that. But when you read the comments together, she says it's terrible, you say you could be right. Again, I really really meant no offence and I'm sorry if it seemed that's what I was doing.
No, I'm sorry. People read me badly, and I do the same to others. It's so lame, but emoticons and stuff like that are really necessary sometimes, and yours went all kabluey for some reason. That actually makes sense, because there's that weird squiggle at the end of your sentence. Heh.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yeah, sorry if I jumped on you. I just consider myself hugely feminist and tolerant, so I guess I just got a little weirded.
Gah, anyway. It's all good :)
I'm glad all is good :-) And if you thought I was being literal, then your reaction was actually pretty tame. I'd be more than a little weirded if someone accused me of sexism or intolerance. Anyway, this is all way off topic now. I assume you can edit / delete comments? I'm more than OK if you want to remove all of this
ReplyDeleteI'm currently re-marathoning Buffy and Angel and am using your reviews to debrief in a sense. Thanks heaps for all the time and effort you've put into them :). You make a lot of interesting points!
ReplyDeleteI really liked this episode. Oz-centric episodes might nit be popular with the fans but I love them. I've always thought it was a big shame Seth Green left the show.
I'm not sure how to take Xanders reaction to Larrys coming out. In one sense I think Xander just doesn't want people to assume he's gay, but on the other hand I'm getting serious homophobic vibes. It sucks that either show doesn't have an authentic male gay voice (Lorne is too ambiguous in this respect).
Generally speaking, I'm finding that I'm not liking Xander as much as I used to during this current rewatch. Not sure why.
Thanks again for the reviews. I'll try to comment more often :)
I think the purpose of the weirdness had less to do with a gender commentary and more to do with this: There was a subtle thread established by the episode at the beginning (via the gym teacher and Giles —"the phases of the moon do seem to exert a great deal of psychological influence, and the full moon seems to bring out our darkest qualities") and then again at the end (via Buffy's offhand comment to Xander) about the full moon bringing out some things in people that might not otherwise come out, regardless of the fact that this isn't supported by science.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of slightly off-balance/uncharacteristic moments that escalate as the ep progresses to support this, especially when it comes to exaggerating Buffy's latest bitterness with romance, Willow's resentment toward Xander and frustration with Oz, Xander's possessiveness, and Cordelia's annoyance with Xander. I.e. — Buffy's surprised reaction when Willow makes her vehement skanky hoe comment, Xander practically shouting across the bleachers at Oz instead of just complaining to Cordelia, Buffy aggressively flipping Larry in class even though she usually knows better than to publicly expose her strength, Giles uncharacteristically laughing at Xander's dumb moon pie joke for quite a bit as everyone stares, Buffy's "typical male" comment, Willow and Cordelia complaining about guys together and then spending more time together later when they're usually at odds (Willow especially recently), etc.
That said, they didn't really do much with it or directly spell out what was happening, so I think it was supposed to be more of a fun background hijinks thing. The way it was incorporated was subtle and fun enough from a character standpoint, but I generally hate "full moon makes people wack" plotlines, even in Buffy.