It's a Whedon tradition to bring back a character just when we don't want them to come back. Oz's return is timed for just the most awkward moment imaginable, with Willow's relationship with Tara growing more public and physical. Parts of this story worked for me, notably the interaction between Oz and Willow and her conflicted emotions over his return, but it annoyingly got wrapped up in the Initiative hoodoo, and that road led to nothing but annoyance.Oz's behavior was reasonable. His anger towards Tara was a little extreme, but I'm assuming that was more the wolf talking, and not Oz himself. I also loved that, in the end, all he wanted was for Willow to be happy. That is the happy ending for him, not necessarily one where he and Will drive off into the sunset together. Alyson Hannigan beautifully conveyed her turmoil, from her shocked expression at Oz's initial arrival, to her first 'coming out' scene with Buffy. Buffy's reaction was a lot of fun from the initial awkwardness to her eventual understanding. I like Willow and Tara as a couple, too, and the show has done a great job of deepening their obvious 'connection' over time. Amber Benson is crazily annoying during two moments of contrived stuttering, but I still generally enjoy what she's bringing to the show.
Like so much of the Initiative arc this year, Riley's characterization felt really weak here. It's like the writers draw from two extremes with him, Riley at first depicting insane levels of demonic bigotry, and then later entirely switching it around and becoming an Initiative renegade. And his big action hero moment ("No, sir... I'm an anarchist") was more comedic than anything else. I still feel like the show doesn't know how to write for his character, and that's probably a result of the Initiative arc being similarly messy.
On a related note, Adam and Spike's team-up is unexpected, but makes sense from Spike's perspective. He just wants to be terrifying again, and that's a perfectly reasonable explanation for his decision to pull together with the big bad. I kind of wish that the Scoobies could do something other than stand around talking about how tough Adam is, though. It's really evident that the writers had no clue where they were going with this particular villain.
New Moon Rising is an important episode for the series, but I would have preferred it if the Oz, Willow and Tara triangle was given more screentime. The involvement of the Initiative felt like an unnecessary distraction, when it really should have been Willow's conflict that took center stage, even if that would have meant a lack of monster action this week. B-
Credits
Guest stars Amber Benson (Tara Maclay); Leonard Roberts (Forrest Gates); Bailey Chase (Graham Miller); Robert Patrick Benedict (Jape); Conor O'Farrell (Colonel McNamara); George Hertzberg (Adam); Emma Caulfield (Anya); Seth Green (Oz)
Writer Marti Noxon Director James A. Contner
This episode was sweet, and I really enjoyed all the Willow/Oz/Tara stuff (I'm glad we agree on that!), there was something so beautiful about Tara an Willow as a couple, and I think was how well it was depicted throughout her 3 years on the show. She also fit in far better with the rest of the Scoobies than Oz ever could have. Like you said a few reviews back, he was just so awkward around some of them.
ReplyDeleteI liked Tara in season four, too, but then completely turned off her in season five. She sort of won me over again in season six, but during this re-watch I began to think she isn't a great character in general. Obviously a ton of people would disagree since they both had a huge fanbase, but she wasn't developed all that much...
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Panda.
I think the two sides of Riley are quite understandable, they've put a lot of emphasis on his conditioning and I thought the first interaction with the senior solider (when he first got detained) was a realistic sowing of the final seeds and they had to deal with the initiative at some point.
ReplyDeleteFinally all the characters are in agreement that the initiative are scumbags! I thought Sarah was great when she gave that look of shock to Riley when it sounded like he didn't want to escape, you could tell she would let him stay out of love but was still bewildered why he'd would want to- quite cathartic that there aren't any ties with them now! satisfaction, revolution (whoo and hoo)
I had really had enough of that irritating friend of Riley's.
I'm going to miss Oz (again).
Oz is a great! Personally I really like watching him on screen because of his differences. I love that he really is a certified zen master now, the beads were a great touch!
Tara is okay. It was good that they gave each character respect through it. I've always liked how Willow is written with a humble confidence, she's always willing to admit to mistakes and even though she has her doubts she's ultimately quite self assured, so if she wants Tara, I'm willing to let it go lol. But yes, contrived stuttering haha
A few doors closing and opening hmm
The Initiative story is one of the more polarizing Buffy arcs, and I definitely fall on one side of the fence in regards to that. Interesting to hear that you sort of like it, and Riley.
ReplyDeleteAnd Tara's a mystery. Sometimes I really like her, and then other times I find her crazily annoying. I go off on her in one of my season five reviews, so beware of that. Heh.