Thursday, September 1, 2011

Buffy: The Freshman (4.1)

Buffy is lost in the world. The Freshman is the fourth season premiere in a row where Buffy experiences some deep personal crisis. Season one saw her trying to avoid her calling in a new town. Season two saw her alienating her friends via her attitude problem. Season three opened with her on the run. Now, as the series settles into season four, Buffy has hit a wall of sorts while she starts college. Not only does she struggle in battle, unable to hold her own against a group of everyday vamps, but she experiences that expected feeling of being thrust into new, uncomfortable surroundings and finding it hard to handle. It's made worse by how easy Willow and Oz seem to have transitioned, Buffy instead feeling overcome by her current predicament.

Visually, the series has changed. There's an obvious scope and larger-than-life feel to the enormous UC Sunnydale campus, and I adored the way Joss Whedon photographed the interiors and exteriors throughout. The huge library is stunning to see appear on screen, while the shots of Buffy at the center of a sea of freshman students reflected her emotions to a tee. Buffy experiences almost every negative event that could happen on your first day. She has to wait in line for her ID, she gets called out by a horrible professor, she has a nutty roommate, she feels completely overwhelmed by the size and strangeness of her new digs. It's all hugely relatable.

Everybody has changed this year, too. Xander is embracing his loser-dom; Giles has become a housebound bachelor with a hot younger girlfriend over the summer; Willow appears to be thriving in her new surroundings. Buffy feels out of place in this since she hasn't changed. Just notice how Riley reminds himself that she's "Willow's friend", such a jarring turn of phrase for the star of the series. I loved how Buffy only truly found solace when she ran into Xander again, him being a reminder of the simpler, more relaxed existence she had before. Xander, too, was adorable here, his extensive narrative about what he did over summer vacation hilarious.

The vamp gang were crazy fun. From their icy chemistry to that awesome face-off between the Klimt and Monet posters, they pretty much rocked. Katharine Towne, in particular, gives one of the best one-shot performances in the history of the series, making Sunday one badass bitch you wish didn't have to die. Then again, her dusting was ridiculously awesome, anyway. The vamp's M.O. was also unusually affecting for this show, at least in terms of standalone antagonists. I felt a lot for Eddie, since he was the only person who seemed to understand Buffy here, and it's such a horrible yet believable idea for this group of awful people to capitalize on the fears of freshman students.

I've always really loved this episode, The Freshman being another Buffy hour displaying every element of what makes the series so great. The characters are still growing but are still relatable, the monsters are a lot of fun, and the script is soaked in dry humor. And there are mysterious military guys in the trees! Huzzah! Great opener. A

Credits
Guest stars Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers); Marc Blucas (Riley Finn); Dagney Kerr (Kathy Newman); Pedro Balmaceda (Eddie); Katharine Towne (Sunday); Lindsay Crouse (Maggie Walsh)
Writer Joss Whedon Director Joss Whedon

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