"Gingerbread" [3x11] Review by Mikelangelo "MikeJer" Marinaro Posted by MikeJer on December 4, 2005 Writer: Jane Espenson and Thania St. JohnDirector: James Whitmore, Jr. Quick Links Spoiler Warning! This is a retrospective review and may contain spoilers from anywhere in the series. Read at your own peril. Review This is not a great episode, but as is Buffy tradition the dialog and occasional character insights keep it from floundering. It's still very entertaining and, as a bonus, Amy turns herself into a rat and stays that way until "Smashed" (6x09, aside from that brief moment in "Something Blue" [4x09]). Buffy says, "Maybe we should get her one of those wheel thingies." Kind of like "Go Fish" (2x20), this is a lot of fun if you're in the mood for it. The episode begins with Joyce finally going out with Buffy to see what she's been doing every night for the last three years. It's sweet that Joyce brings food and drinks for her. While she gets distracted by a vampire, Joyce wanders off and finds some dead kids in the playground. This brings up something that's always annoyed me. People somehow rationalize that a child's death is so much worse than any other person's death. If the person is innocent then it's only slightly more tragic when a child dies (because of age). It should still be extremely tragic when innocent older people die as well. Buffy points this out when talking with Angel. Later on, after tons of people begin acting strange, Joyce and Buffy have an important conversation about the work Buffy does. Yes, Joyce is under the influence of a demon, but some of her points are still interesting to consider. She tells Buffy that her work is fruitless. On a certain level it can appear fruitless because of the nature of evil -- it will always exist. The fact that she stopped the world from being overrun by demons in "Prophecy Girl" (1x12) and prevented the world from being sucked into hell in "Becoming Pt. 2" (2x22), proves otherwise though. As Buffy said to Angel in "Amends" (3x10, and he reminds her of here), it's not about winning or losing, it's about fighting. The ending battle scene is hilarious. The way Buffy breaks the wooden pole, bends over, and puts it through the demon's neck, even though she can't see it, is wildly fun. She asks, "Did I get it!?" I also loved how Oz and Xander crash through the vent after all the action is already over. Oz says, "we're here to save you." There's unfortunately a handful of problems that need to be addressed. The entire episode is simply too inconsequential and irrelevant to the main arc of the season. The fact that the town is just "under a spell" takes the punch out of the story. I would have really enjoyed seeing an episode that really dealt with the way the town's populace looked at Sunnydale, and for some of them to make a genuine attempt at exposing the supernatural threat. Yes, a lot of people turn a blind eye to things they don't understand (or don't want to understand), but not everyone is like this. Some people would be open to and search for the truth. Overall, though, this is a pretty solid stand-alone which ends up with Amy being stuck as a rat. Combine that with a good number of great lines along with some interesting themes and you have a respectable, but very unnecessary episode in the same arena of "Go Fish" (2x20). Yet another thing I love about BtVS is how only a few of these type of episodes are in each season. That fact makes me able to enjoy them as a one-shot break from the season's primary arc. Minor Pros/Cons (+/-)
Quotes XANDER:Yeah. She's in the bathroom. But the fact that I know that doesn't change that I have a genuine complaint here. Look. I'm getting sick of the judgment, the innuendoes. Is a man not innocent until proven guilty?BUFFY:You are guilty. You got illicit smoochies, gonna have to pay the price. BUFFY:(holds up the notebook) What is this? WILLOW:A doodle. I do doodle. You, too. You do doodle, too. WILLOW:Mom, I'm not an age group. I'm me. Willow group! SHEILA:You're upset, I hear you... WILLOW:(stands up) No, Ma, hear this! I'm a rebel! I'm having a rebellion! SHEILA:(smiling) Willow, honey, you don't need to act out like this to prove your specialness. WILLOW:Mom, I'm not acting out. I'm a witch! I-I can make pencils float. And I can summon the four elements. Okay, two, but four soon. A-and I'm dating a musician. SHEILA:(disgusted now) Oh, Willow! WILLOW:(thickly sarcastic) I worship Beelzebub. I do his biddings. Do you see any goats around? No, because I sacrificed them. SHEILA:Willow, please! WILLOW:All bow before Satan! SHEILA:(leaves the room) I'm not listening to this. WILLOW:Prince of Night, I summon you. Come fill me with your black, naughty evil! JOYCE:It's not your fault. You don't have a plan. You just react to things. I-i-it's bound to be kind of fruitless. BUFFY:Okay, maybe I don't have a plan. Lord knows I don't have lapel buttons... JOYCE:(exasperated) Buffy. BUFFY:...and maybe next time the world is getting sucked into Hell, I won't be able to stop it because the Anti-Hell-Sucking Book isn't on the approved reading list! CORDELIA:How many times have you been knocked out, anyway? I swear, one of these times, you're gonna wake up in a coma. GILES:Wake up in a... Oh, never mind.
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Comments (59) All Comments | Link2 | da magicmanFeb 24, 2007 i thought this episode was a stroke of genius as it brote in stories of many eras and stories such as the fairytale 'Hansel and Gretal' and the phase 'Never again' used by the MOO (Mothers Object to Occult) was used to talk about the burning of witches in the late 1700 and the early 1800 which is a great contrast as they try to burn who they belive are witches All Comments | Link4 | AustinAug 23, 2007 Chlorophorm has been around since at least the 1800s, plenty of time for the demon to hear about it. Plus while the demon may have been controlling Joyce, he way have left it to her own problem solving abilities to figure out how to subdue buffy, she knew that she couldn't take her by force like they did Willow, so he had her come up with an alternate plan. All Comments | Link5 | NixOct 21, 2007 I find the big burning scene almost too upsetting to watch. Not because of people being staked or anything, no, because they're burning *books*. *Irreplaceable* books. Do these people have no humanity in them? (Burning people, OK, it's unpleasant but there are always more around. There won't be more of those books; once they're burnt, they're *gone*.) All Comments | Link6 | buffyholicOct 23, 2007 Good episode with very good dialogue and character interaction. But I find the episode a little unnerving. All Comments | Link7 | Plain SimpleNov 29, 2007 @Nix: Well, I won't go so far as to claim that burning books is worse than burning people, but they should have dealt with this and I don't think they ever did, did they? There should have been at least one episode where the Scooby gang can't solve the mystery in time because the relevant books were burned. All Comments | Link8 | jkalderashJan 29, 2008 I would argue that Earshot is the least important, seeing as it didn't even air until well after Graduation Day Part II and at the time we didn't really notice the difference (except for the lack of resolution to Giles/Joyce in Band Candy). Whereas this episode sets up Rat!Amy, at least. Anyway, I think this episode is just awesome, because I completely fell for the red herring of Willow's spell. OK, perhaps I was not so quick on the uptake, but I was very worried that Willow had somehow killed those kids! And then the Hansel and Gretel twist was brilliant and fit perfectly. It could have been a generic "oh, a bad demon cast a spell" twist, but instead it was an interesting solution that tied into well-known folklore. We also get some great Buffy/Joyce interaction, Giles yelling at a computer, Snyder being a jerk, Willow's mom... All Comments | Link9 | MikeJer | CREATOR/ADMINJan 29, 2008 Don't forget the relevance on Jonathan giving Buffy the Class Protector award. "Earshot" gives that moment a much bigger emotional pull. Additionally, I simply feel that "Earshot" sports more bits of continuity-based character development than "Gingerbread." Plus, "Earshot" is, quite simply, the better episode of the two -- in terms of execution, theme, and relevance. All Comments | Link10 | Suzanne Feb 28, 2008 I enjoy how the Buffy writers inject Europy things in the all-American atmosphere of Buffy. (OK, to be honest, I suppose they use other cultures as well - the Inca Mummy Girl, Native Americans, Jamaican (or where the hell Kendra was from...) but I recognise the Europy things better, being European (half Dutch, half German, to be precise.) I also like the fact that in this episode, European didn't automatically translate as 'British'- (honestly, wouldn't they have French or Czech Watchers at the Council? Or Romanian? Or do english Watchers primarily deal with english-speaking Slayers? Why do watchers always go punting at their retreats -couldn't they go skiing in the Alps? Or is it primarily the German/Swiss/Austrian/French/Italian Watchers that do this? Funny, I could so imagine Scandinavian and Dutch Watchers going ice skating together - but I digress...) As has been pointed out, the written German seen on the computer screen is faulty, (Apart from grammar issues,I think that Hänsel and Gretels full names would more likely have been Johannes/Hans and Margarethe.) but Giles' spoken German was correct and understandable. (yay!) So far no Dutch things in Buffy yet, but I'm not blaming Joss & co for not having studied every bit of folklore in the history of mankind. At least my German fangirl side has had the opportunity for a bit of a squee, which is always nice. All Comments | Link11 | NixFeb 28, 2008 One might speculate (without *any* basis, but that's what comment threads are for!) that the English Watchers staged an internal takeover when the British Empire was at its height, and being such conservative people are still running the place a century after the Empire ended. (Given the *degree* of their traditionalism they should probably be sited in Rome and speaking Republic-era Latin, but that might be hard for most viewers to comprehend!) All Comments | Link12 | this year\'s girlFeb 29, 2008 -Nix, I feel the same way about the books! I like to think Giles protected them from harm early on with a "magical scotch guard", but we'll never know for sure ;) All Comments | Link13 | SerenaMar 10, 2008 The reason why a child's death is more tragic than an adults is not just because they're more innocent, its because they haven't had a chance to live like an adult has. All Comments | Link14 | NixJun 9, 2008 You said 'people somehow rationalize that a child's death is so much worse than any other person's death' but this is exactly backwards. It's not rationality at all: it's raw emotion, and you can see the same behaviour in e.g. female chimps (a really nasty aggressive species) and male and female bonobos and gorillas (much less nasty sorts with males that aren't utter swine): to some extent the whole community mourns dead children and works to protect them, although the parents are obviously most affected. I've noticed this as I've passed into my thirties: in a year or so children have gone, emotionally, from 'bleah, not very interesting' to being emotionally red-flagged as critically important and automatically cute no matter what they're doing or how annoying they are. (My understanding is that if you actually have children, especially if you're female, this effect becomes much stronger.) It makes sense, when you think about it: K-selectors like humans and other primates *must* consider individual offspring critically important, because we have so few of them and they cost so much to raise. (Actually in current industrial societies it really only matters that we consider our *own* offspring critically important, but when you consider the environments we evolved in, all visible children were likely to be in our own tribe and thus valuable, because a tribe that shrinks too far is dead: so valuing all children we know about makes a lot of sense). If we were frogs your point might be more valid, but we're not. btw, very nice theme changes (plus your captcha is actually readable now). All Comments | Link15 | MikeJer | CREATOR/ADMINJun 9, 2008 Thanks for the comment Nix. I'm curious as to what you mean by "captcha" though. :) All Comments | Link16 | NixJun 10, 2008 The security code thing at the bottom is called a 'captcha', a backronym of 'completely automated process to tell computers and humans apart'. As the torrent of spam from hotmail and gmail makes clear, it doesn't always do that. (It used to be very hard to differentiate between e.g. P and D and 7 and F in your captchas. It's not quite as hard now.) (As luck would have it I got the damn thing wrong this time.) All Comments | Link17 | MikeJer | CREATOR/ADMINJun 10, 2008 Haha. Ok, cool. For some reason I wasn't aware of that term. Additionally, if you ever have any comments or suggestions with things like that in the future, please feel free to shoot me off an e-mail detailing it. I might make a change. :) All Comments | Link18 | NixJun 13, 2008 To get back on topic: A nice touch in Joyce's nicely-done speech (all of which is true, even though demon-triggered): she says `... plagued by unnatural evils...' at the exact moment that the camera just *happens* to focus on the Mayor. That demon really did pick the wrong town. It's amazing that it was able to penetrate the choking clouds of Sunnydale Syndrome to whip up any hysteria at all. All Comments | Link19 | WorldWithoutShrimpJun 13, 2008 I do think there is a perfectly good reason to rationalize that a child's death is more tragic than an adult's. You write off age as only slightly mattering, but the bottom line is that when an eighty-year-old dies, that person got to live eight times longer than a ten-year-old who dies. Eight TIMES. There's also something significant about a person dying before he or she reaches adulthood. When a child dies, every single life experience that person might've been able to have after maturing is gone as a possibility, forever; but when an adult dies, we can always console ourselves by knowing that he or she at least got to spend SOME time messing up in the adult world. All deaths are tragic, but when someone dies extremely young, it is worse because that person was denied the opportunities which even those who die in their forties and fifties managed to have, opportunities which most people take for granted. All Comments | Link20 | TonyJun 17, 2008 Off topic here, but I am so glad someone else aggrees with the hilarity of Buffy killing that demon. "DID I GET IT! ... DID I GET IT?" Awsome. Also, I found Cordelia really funny this episode too. I'd wish you'd mention her more. She's way to underated. Like when she keeps slapping Giles in the face while unconscience, and still continues when he wakes up. All Comments | Link21 | TonyJun 17, 2008 Oh can't forget this one line. Cordelia: One of these days Giles, you're going to wake up in a coma. Giles: Wake up in a... nevermind. All Comments | Link22 | RekidkNov 21, 2008 I thought this episode was a very funny, mildly creepy, and much-needed break from the emotionally heavy arc that preceded it. No, it wasn't the greatest episode of all time, but it was a lot of fun. All Comments | Link23 | DaleDec 26, 2008 I quite like this episode. There's heaps of great dialogue, the bit where Joyce mothers all over Buffy's patrol is amazing, and I enjoyed the theme of parental oppression based on paranoia because they're buy into stereotypes and think themselves informed on the matter. And then they end up doing more harm than good in their actions to "protect the children," and they simply can't be convinced that they're wrong. Okay, so it's not being very nice to parents, but it happens. I can say first-hand that there are parents who are like that, and the only reason they're all behaving like this in the episode is because of the demon. All Comments | Link24 | MoogyLouFeb 12, 2009 Heey :D Just wanted to point out something about the child death thing. I think it is more tragic for a child's death in a way because they've had less time in the world whereas an adult has had some kind of life.... But it's still tragic when innocent people die whatever age they are. Awesome reviews :D Keep it up :P x All Comments | Link25 | LiylrnaFeb 22, 2009 In my opinion, child's death leaves more devasating impression because first of all it means adults' failure. Adults have obligation to protect their chilsren, so their incompetence in this matter makes them feel very bad. All Comments | Link26 | EmilyMar 19, 2009 So was it really a possession or a spell that the people of the town were under? Or were they just over reacting? Because this episode was another one of my reasons that I don't like Joyce this season at all, but if she was under a spell.....well, that's something totally different. The funniest part was when Cordy said, "One day, you're gonna wake up in a coma." I agree with Tony- Cordy is very underrated. No one pays attention to her after the break up with Xander until she's in AtS. All Comments | Link27 | PaulaMar 21, 2009 Emily: Well, I thought it was rather obvious that everyone was under a spell/possession of some sort. Their reaction to the dead children was sort of realistic at first, but things then go rapidly very much over the top, not to mention that the people see and hear these "dead" children talking to them. All Comments | Link28 | NixApr 4, 2009 As further evidence of unnatural influence, once the demon's disguise is lifted, everyone snaps out of it at once. All Comments | Link29 | ChristianJun 15, 2009 This was a good ep. It had some funny parts to it as well as some boring ones. One thing I didn's like was Xander's reaction to the locker opening. So what if he had Playboys... he's a teenager... how could he think thats more important than Willow getting caught with magic related things... not a good friend Xander! All Comments | Link30 | RaskolnikovAug 9, 2009 Just re-watched this one. Pretty nice, I think a 70 is far too low. The whole episode was a nice turning around of a familiar fairy tale, as well as a creepy illustration of how fascism can work in the very cautious, very respectable middle class community. Buffy's exaggeration of the issue allowed it to be relevant without being preachy, and the overall momentum was good. Plus, Amy and Shelia Rosenberg made good additions to the show and the setting, fitting believably into the wider background. Plus some great lines and little moments. I like most episodes where Snyder and Cordelia are relatively prominent, the insults here were rather delicious. In terms of continuity, in addition to continuing the Joyce-Giles tension and launching the Amy Rat saga, this episode also saw a continuance of the Xander-Willow fallout, both in Xander and Oz's interactions and his tension with the larger group. Not a major part of the episode, and someone skipping this wouldn't feel lost, but it's a broader connection. All Comments | Link31 | NixNov 2, 2009 @ 1:39pm This episode is actually unusual in that it marks one of the few occasions when Buffy is *not* affected by a spell that affects others. Normally she seems to be like flypaper to them... probably she's 'defended' by being one of the spell's *targets*. All Comments | Link32 | VictoriaNov 8, 2009 @ 3:51pm Does anyone else think irony behind Cordelia's "wake up in a coma" comment to be sad and hilarious all at once. Technically, in AtS she does wake up in a coma. She's awake, but technically still IN a coma. Oh Cordy... <3 All Comments | Link33 | Katie J Dec 1, 2009 @ 6:17pm Not a huge fan of this one. There seems to be a bit too much to explain- the symbol, the fairy tale reference and the community action and goth prejudice. The overriding theme of mob mentally that feeds fear offers a solid homage to the Twilight Zone's "The Monsters are Due at Maple Street." I appreciate Joss's intelligent humility regarding ways his topics have already been successfully executed. Dialogue, as usual, saves the day: Willow:...mom the last time we had a conversation over three minutes, it was about the patriarchal bias of the Mr. Rodgers show! Willow's Mom: Well, with King Friday lording it over all the lesser puppets. nice. All Comments | Link34 | Smallprint84Mar 15, 2010 @ 3:14pm @ Suzanne, well there was a very small Dutch reverence. When Buffy says: "like that story with the boy stucking his finger in a duck". Angel: "You mean dijk, that's another word for dam". Buffy: "Oh, that makes a hole lot of sense more". (I am Dutch) And isn't it cool that Angel knows all these foreign languages. He travelled a lot I guess. All Comments | Link35 | JenniferMay 10, 2010 @ 5:53pm I agree this is a pretty funny episode, but it had the potential to be highly disturbing. After all, Willow and Buffy's mothers try to publicly burn them at the stake! Spell or no spell, that's not something you easily come back from, even by Sunnydale standards. One of the many reasons I love this show is that they demonstrate the effects of the trauma that the Scoobies face as the show progresses, but the only apparent after effect from this episode is that Amy is now a rat. On a slight side note, it's interesting that in the early parts of the episode there is some parental role reversal, when Buffy has to comfort her mother after seeing the dead children. This reversal happens again in the very next episode, when Buffy, having no super powers, risks her life to save her mother (even though Joyce had just tried to kill her the week before!). All Comments | Link36 | MerryMay 26, 2010 @ 9:14pm 70...hmmm, methinks this score is a little low! This episode is my go-to Buffy episode when I'm in the mood for Buffy. It's got some of the funniest dialogue all season, and it actually feels very 90s Halloween-ish...maybe that's because it kind of reminds me of Hocus Pocus and I love anything that feels 90s fantasy, but I digress. I this episode gets underrated because it's kind of campy (which I love when done well, which I think this episode is). It deals with something very relevent in Buffyverse, the occult, and how a society could potentially react to the truth. Of course this is an exaggerated case because it's a spell, but it's still interesting. All Comments | Link37 | LizzieJun 30, 2010 @ 6:48pm Mike, I enjoyed your review very much. I agree with everything, except the part where you said that there wasn't a difference between an innocent child dying (well, two children) and an innocent old person. Think there is. I did some community service time at the morgue for my high school requirement and when I saw an adult's case it wasn't the same as a child's. It think it's got something to do with the fact that you wonder what their lives would've been like and how they are never going to live them. I don't know, there's just a difference there. Can't exactly say what it is, but a child's death is always taken more seriously. All Comments | Link38 | nathan.taurusAug 20, 2010 @ 11:23pm The Good: Giles and Joyce meet again. "There's a rumour going around." "About us!" The no-neck footballers are afraid of Buffy. Willow's mum is more shocked at her saying she is dating a musician. Giles yelling at the computer."You stupid fad! Yes I said fad and I'll say it again!" The intelligent plot of censorship and how fairy tales are really violent. "Did I get it!? Did I get it!?" The Bad: All the fuss for two children. Hundreds die and no one cares. Joyce suggesting that students can get ideas from books. I hate how people throw out personal responsibility for actions. All Comments | Link39 | nathan.taurusAug 20, 2010 @ 11:29pm Foreshadowing: Cordelia tells Giles one day he might wake up in a coma. In "AtS" episode 'You're Welcome', Cordelia does in fact wake up while in a coma. Victoria #32, you are correct. All Comments | Link40 | John RobertsOct 7, 2010 @ 1:56pm I'm in the 70 camp. This one slid into Star Trek mode for me, as I was beaten about the head with the notion that mob rule inciting violence against unpopular minorities is bad. (You don't say.) Done with a lighter touch and more humor than a bad Star Trek episode, mind you, but winceworthy nonetheless. The demon story didn't work for me, either. I liked the initial notion of subtle demons who plant the seeds of destruction and watch the humans blow themselves up. But no, it turns out that these are superpower demons who can mind-control Moms into burning their only children. Silly demons. Should have mindcontrolled everybody into suicide, that would be a lot easier. But I did say 70, not zero. The mob scenes were done with a wink and a smile, which helped a lot. Good dialogue as usual. The end was quite well done, nice to see Cordy as the heroine with Oz & Xander as the Keystone Kops, and Cordy/Giles is a great comic pairing. Now that Cordy came through for her lame loser nonfriends, will she once again start to be a Scoobie? You people know ... but I don't. :-) Joss has me wondering. All Comments | Link41 | LovingMeIsntHardApr 16, 2011 @ 10:17am The matter at hand is the essence of death and who is it more pitiful to loose.It is a grievance to loose a child and a senior citizen.Both the child and the senior citizen are the natures of the world.A child's life is perceived more upsetting because the time that they've lived is short and so differently viewed.There is an innocence that a young child posses because unless its been abused or mistreated or something of that nature they see it all so simple.One thing that comes to mind is how children can notice the color difference in skin but it doesnt limit the way they feel about someone else as it might be a child who is taught that they,whoever it might be,wether its religious or racial,is corrupt in nature or unethical,only then,it changes how they view the world.As opposed to a 85 year old man or woman The older people have come to see the way the world is corrupt and how humanity in man is questionable because they've lived it or seen it happen.They may think with the child's innocence of why does there have to be a difference in the way we treat each other.There are things we cant prevent and death is one of them but as i see it we should be remorseful in any lose of ,innocent and maybe even guilty, life. I,personally,have experienced mistreatment because of things like race and the stereotypes of what i am suppose to be or behave like,because i am a African-American teenage girl who grew up in the "wrong side of town".I am considered a traitor to my community and race because i supposedly act "white" but its a matter of educating yourself.I wont go anymore off topic but its sorrowful for anyone to loose their life. Take it from me,an 14 year old girl from miami florida, that lose of life is a sadness that is to be dealt with and treated with the same respect for the lose of anyone,old or young. All Comments | Link42 | LovingMeIsntHardApr 16, 2011 @ 8:54pm I took a nap,more like sleep,and the witches sign shown above and another witches sign a more commonly known one both appeared in my dream.I started to question what it meant.Some people say dreams are the things that are on our minds that come out in pictures but in this dream my younger brother and sister who i haven't seen since i was 6 came to me but they weren't the children i once loved they were older. something bout this dream creeped me out and until a moment ago i didn't know what it was."My children",as it is i raised them from infancy up til they were toddlers, had so much hate and aggression but so much compassion and as i came face to face with my sister i realized the girl i was seeing was me. how strange is that after only my shortly lived life i could have aggression and hate but being tormented by your own mother does it to you.I realized that seeing this episode bought up something i had never began to question.What if all this time ive spent on trying to hate and do away with the people who hurt me or others its really been hurting me instead of trying to deal with the way life is and how i cant go back and change it and look for a new bettere day in this time. You may be wondering how this comes together with this episode but what i mean is ive tried to prevent and change and reshape something that cant ever be reshaped.Trying to do away with the problems only hurt me as opposed to helping me. I cant change what happened nd i wont ever be the same again but i need to face the reality of it,it happens and we cant destroy ourselves trying to destroy and change the unthinkable,life itself.This episode shows that we will go too far to try and change the way things happen but we should deal with it and be sensible about it. All Comments | Link43 | DanNov 11, 2011 @ 11:05am I thought Joyce was the most compelling part of this episode. I thought her attempt to wrest some kind of control from this situation felt very natural--I almost wish there hadn't been anything supernatural involved. This has happened a couple times in BtVS; it seems like normal human reactions are unnecessarily excused by demons/spells. The girlfriend-beating episode comes to mind. I think this would have been better if this had been a real story arc rather than just a single-episode. I would have loved to see Joyce in particular acknowledge the necessity of Buffy's work and really come to peace with what she discovered in Becoming. Oh well. Still love the show, and I still liked this episode. All Comments | Link44 | MikeJer | CREATOR/ADMINNov 11, 2011 @ 11:24am I agree with you Dan, at least when it comes to this episode. I think a more serious arc that covered this topic could have been really compelling, and would have fit in with what Season 3 was trying to do with identity and authority quite nicely. All Comments | Link45 | Gemma Jan 7, 2012 @ 2:51pm This episode reminds me a little of the episode structure established in season one, which is ok in my book i loved the inaugural season!! I enjoyed this episode in particular Joyce's pivotal role, endeavouring to find a cohesive place in Buffy's world, going with her to slay was a nice subtle touch to the theme of this episode, Joyce wanting to help? I agree with you Dan and your good self Mike regarding the somewhat contempt for the whimsical theme of a wish rather than the episode addressing the 'adult' and rest of the town's behaviour to the evil out there. You mentioned Joyce and Buffy's exchange of her 'job' being fruitless, i thought this exchange was compelling. It can sometimes be apparent that what Buffy does make a lot of difference with all the evil, even at the end of season 7 there is still evil because evil is in everyone of us but i agree with your review, she saved the world a lot, and Amends as you said addressed her stance on fighting the good fight. I enjoyed the fluency between Xander and Oz and the fact that Willow's mum remembers that she is dating a musician! I loved the scene with Giles on the computer, it was a little of the essence between him and Jenny again ...sort of! Mike, i was wondering are you or are any Buffy fans watching Ringer? All Comments | Link46 | MikeJer | CREATOR/ADMINJan 7, 2012 @ 4:11pm I've seen some of Ringer, Gemma. There's a thread on it in the forums, actually. All Comments | Link47 | Rob WSep 3, 2012 @ 2:14pm "I would have really enjoyed seeing an episode that really dealt with the way the town's populace looked at Sunnydale, and for some of them to make a genuine attempt at exposing the supernatural threat." Great point, it does seem like throughout the series that people forget or repress the supernatural events they've witnessed a little too conveniently. There's an occasional acknowledgment like the one here, or at the Prom, and then once again it's forgotten. I suppose it would complicate things greatly were it not so. Gotta say though that Joyce saying "the monsters and the witches and the slayers" is one of the most chilling moments in the whole series. I love the look on Giles's face in particular. All Comments | Link48 | Rob WSep 3, 2012 @ 2:24pm I also find it interesting that the Mayor is no less thrilled about Joyce's speech. It doesn't have the betrayal aspect that it does for Buffy, but it suggests that the demon-aligned and the Slayer-aligned forces both want to suppress information about what's really going on so that it doesn't reach the general public. All Comments | Link49 | R MartinOct 17, 2012 @ 11:24pm Man this episode was so much fun i forget about eps like tehse some time but Buffy really forgot how to make good stand alone stories. The high school setting was so important i feel. All Comments | Link50 | LatecomerNov 30, 2012 @ 5:45am I'm somewhat confused about precisely which characters actually were under the demon's spell/influence/thrall and which were just weak-willed/weak-minded enough to get sucked in to the mob mentality. We know Joyce was under the demon's influence because she was the one who found Hansel and Gretel, she was the one who kept conversing with Hansel and Gretel, and (perhaps most importantly) her actions in this episode would have been completely unforgivable had she not been under the demon's influence. We also know, however, that the "targets" of the demon's spell were not the only ones immune to it, since Cordelia of all people managed to remain rational. What, then, do we make of Willow's mother? Under the demon's spell, or just weak-willed/weak-minded enough to get sucked in to the mob mentality? I'd like to reach the former conclusion, but I'm not sure I see much evidence for it. All Comments | Link51 | Ryan ONeilNov 30, 2012 @ 6:07am *in reply to Latecomer (#50) Personally, I liked the ambiguity for reminding us that we don't always need demons to be evil for us.All Comments | Link52 | AlexNov 30, 2012 @ 6:21am *in reply to Latecomer (#50) Oh, as I was writing this I saw that Ryan had beaten me to it, but nevertheless...I think it's deliberately left quite vague. It's terrifying to think that people could have been so eager to burn teenage girls at the stake without being under the demon's thrall, but that's exactly what a mob mentality is, and it feels like something that really could happen if people got emotional and excited enough. I don't think it needs to be spelled out one way or another, and indeed I'd like to think that Willow's mother wouldn't actually want to kill her daughter purely because she got swept up in the excitement... but I think it's great that we're left to wonder about what exactly happened there. All Comments | Link53 | LatecomerNov 30, 2012 @ 8:07am Good points about the ambiguity being deliberate and useful, Ryan and Alex! All Comments | Link54 | SummerDec 21, 2012 @ 10:02pm haha that was the longest awkward silence in the world All Comments | Link55 | Brad G.Jan 15, 2013 @ 6:24pm If anyone is still around, it is frightening and prophetic to me how this episode seems to be depicting real life in today's American political show. The Sandy Hook shooting, while tragic and evil, has created an over-reactive uproar by those in power and the press to ban guns and ammo for law abiding citizens, all but ignoring the 2nd amendment. I can't help but think of this episode of Buffy where a senseless and tragic murder of children (or so they think) creates a riot against the very tools that can, has, and does save lives and even the world. Scary when life imitates art (or cool if looking from the artist point of view). All Comments | Link56 | MikeJer | CREATOR/ADMINJan 15, 2013 @ 8:12pm *in reply to Brad G. (#55) Good observation!And don't worry, I always have a watchful eye on what's happening around here. There are some regulars as well. :) All Comments | Link57 | Gemma Jan 16, 2013 @ 10:12am To me this episode is one of the few under-rated ones. Its about censorship, Joyce and the other parents removing books from the school library and i can imagine other such places. It has the going back to the times of Luther and Calvin when some books and ideas or realities were opposed. One of the superior moments for me is Giles on the computer! Has anyone noticed that the title Gingerbread contains the word Danger? I would if it is suppose to be a subtle message? All Comments | Link58 | SeeleJan 30, 2013 @ 8:25am Gingerbread: WILLOW: Prince of Night, I summon you. Come fill me with your black, naughty evil! ... it worked All Comments | Link59 | Rob WApr 10, 2013 @ 5:01pm Great moment with Buffy showing up to defend eyeliner kid in the school hallway. Love how the jocks back off. Post a Comment
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Latest News  Delays... MikeJer - Feb 24, 2013 Hey all!I just wanted to let you all know that I'm looking forward to getting going on my Season 2 review updates. I recently started a new job, so life has been extra bu... View Full Post Latest Comments Other Scott [Tabula Rasa] I really like this episode (it would have been the second A+ in a row from me). I especially... View CommentMay 15, 2013 Adeline [Dead Man's Party] *in reply to Pippa Hall (#58) I have to say, I agree with just about everything you've said... View CommentMay 12, 2013 Craig [Hush] I like this episode, but I find it to be probably the most overrated of all of Whedon's epis... View CommentMay 9, 2013 Latest Forum Posts Ryan ONeil [Ordering the Seasons] ...That made a lot more sense than I thought it would View PostMay 18, 2013 Iguana-on-a-stick [Xander Harris] I agree. It was very much a spur of the moment decision, I thought. View PostMay 18, 2013 MikeJer [Alyson Hannigan's interview] I think Season 3 can seem underrated here, but I do think most people here still really like... View PostMay 18, 2013 |
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I thought Willow's sarcastic line about "Do you see any goats around? No! Because I sacrificed them!" during her angry rant was an interesting piece of foreshadowing, because she does, in fact, sacrifice a baby deer in the first episode of season six, "Bargaining", as part of her spell to bring Buffy back.