Sarah Michelle Gellar is a truly gifted comedic actress. Her performance throughout Pangs is flawless, as Buffy tries to put together the perfect Thanksgiving dinner. The scrunching up of her face, the urgent speediness of her delivery, the frequent asides to others about basting or how much brandy to use. She's really, really fantastic here, displaying the same versatility and sense of cutesy nuttiness that she explores whenever Buffy is overwhelmingly distracted by something (like in Living Conditions, for instance).Spike's chip has entirely revitalized his character. His interaction with the Scoobies is hilarious, and James Marsters truly has a knack for comedy. His delivery while strapped to a chair with four or five arrows stuck through his chest was truly great. Spike, along with Anya, adds a lot to the group dynamic. Both are blunt and inappropriate, and it's obvious the writers have a lot of fun with them and the dialogue they're allowed to give them. Jane Espenson's script is unsurprisingly wall-to-wall funny. One scene I always loved was that great shot of Willow, Xander and Anya on bicycles racing back to Giles' apartment. Such a cute little moment.
Angel's involvement in the episode is a little superfluous, but he does get a couple of fun scenes with Giles and Willow. The crossover feels a little contrived here, but it makes a lot more sense watching I Will Remember You straight after.
While the characterization was great, I'm not sure the Chumash story entirely worked. I liked the depiction of modern-day guilt for past crimes, but some of the yelling dragged a little, especially around the middle. Likewise, there was something uncomfortably Charmed-ish about Hus and the Chumash in general, especially with the random murder victims and Xander's sort of contrived involvement in the story. However, Xander's syphilis did inspire one of the greatest Buffy lines (or, you know, lyrics) ever, so it can't be all bad. In general, Pangs is a lot of fun. A-
Credits
Guest stars Marc Blucas (Riley Finn); Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall); Emma Caulfield (Anya); Leonard Roberts (Forrest Gates); Bailey Chase (Graham Miller); Tod Thawley (Hus); David Boreanaz (Angel)
Writer Jane Espenson Director Michael Lange
I just don't get how anyone can hate the fourth season when it housed episodes such as this one. Definitely one of my favourites, but I have to agree about the Chumash thing. It was the one sore point in an otherwise genius episode. Great reviews as usual. =)
ReplyDeleteI think season four has some incredible standalone episodes, but as a whole the year falls off in a major way with the flawed Adam/Initiative arc. I went into my re-watch with a fresh perspective of that storyline, but it still ended up not working for me. Love Pangs, though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading.