"'Do you like my mask? Isn't it pretty! It raises the dead!'" Before I talk about the character-driven 'juice' of the episode, I need to mention how insanely awesome the zombie scenes were in this episode. The final act, filled with zombie carnage in the Summers home and all the cast fighting the undead, was hugely impressive. They clearly had a budget increase this year. The story itself is ridiculously goofy, the presence of the zombie mask on Joyce's bedroom wall so silly, but in general it's pretty hilarious. I guess in tone Dead Man's Party is all over the place, but the humor saves the episode from being an angtsy melodrama-fest. And Buffy's inherent fear of nutty Pat was equally hilarious, especially her desperate shriek of "Mom!" as soon as she was forced to be around her.In an admittedly clumsy metaphor, Dead Man's Party is all about the inability to bury past mistakes. Buffy's decision to cut ties and flee Sunnydale can't be swept under the carpet, and her actions have expected consequences. You can understand pretty much everybody. Buffy feels once again lost because everyone at home is acting so hostile towards her. Of course, they aren't completely aware of why Buffy fled the city, so it's another level of sadness for her. She can't tell her friends about killing Angel, since she hasn't yet come to terms with it herself. You understand Willow, too. Her life is rapidly changing and she didn't have her best friend around to help her deal with all of that. Joyce is another character who went through hell over the summer worrying about her daughter. It's not easy, and it takes Buffy a while to realize that.
The only person that truly comes off badly this week is Xander, who's douchier than ever. Maybe it's because he didn't get a similar kind of monologue to Willow, but his attitude was just obnoxious here. It's made worse by the fact that Angel's death could have been somehow avoided if only he had told Buffy about Willow's curse. Ugh.
In the end, it's Giles who is the star of the episode. Whether he's delivering that awesome quote at the top of this review or confronting Snyder or being quietly overjoyed at Buffy's return, he's really wonderful here. Dead Man's Party isn't an easy episode, even with the zombie carnage, because it involves characters attempting to work through difficult problems that can't be casually dismissed. But, in general, the script hangs together well. And the zombie scenes are, as I already said, freakin' awesome. B+
Credits
Guest stars Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers); Nancy Lenehan (Pat); Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder)
Writer Marti Noxon Director James Whitmore Jr.
Mmm, something tells me that you liked the zombie scenes? I quite like this ep, even with (or maybe because of) the goofiness. I thought the balance between goofy zombie story and teen angsty friend I can’t relate to was really well done. As already said, Giles and Willow were awesome. Buffy’s casual dismissal of her return (I pretty much remembered the address) and then Giles in the kitchen with his secret relief were just beautifully played out.
ReplyDeleteBut I also kinda liked Xander. I thought his relationship with Cordelia was nicely done, and considering that he now has this fun, hot girlfriend, I’m not surprised that he’s acting a little obnoxiously towards his other friend that abandoned him all summer.
And while I’m not thrilled that Xander never told Buffy about Willow retrying the spell, I always felt that it wouldn’t have made any difference. Angel got the portal open, and Buffy wouldn’t have been able to stall long enough to prevent that. Or maybe that’s what I tell myself because if I had to blame poor Xander, I’d never be able to forgive him
See, I don't like Xander very much in general, which is probably why it's easier for me to write him off as obnoxious. And it's funny you mention the thing about Xander not telling Buffy everything, because it is brought up again, but not at all where you would expect. Heh.
ReplyDeleteXander was a horrible sexist tool.
ReplyDelete