episodespodcasts

Season 2, Episode 12: Bad Eggs

In this episode!

Katherine opened by saying this episode is almost universally hated.

  • Mark’s immediate reaction is to understand that reaction and to point out the chief reason for such hatred is (drumroll)… that Buffy misuses the term “begs the question.”
  • Mark further says that this episode is “gross.”
  • Katherine shocks the world and says that she didn’t hate it. Why Katherine, why?
  • It was scary. The monster was centipede-y, in a good way.
  • She loved the banter between Cordy and Xander. (Mark admitted he did too.)
  • She loves the advancement of the Cordy/Xander relationship.
  • Katherine said what didn’t work for her is what didn’t work for Mark in last episode: the feeling that this was an isolated episode. Katherine believes she heard that this was meant to be a season 1 episode, and that is why it doesn’t fit in the arc. Does anyone out there know?
  • Katherine also likes the advancement of the Buffy and Angel relationship. That sexual tension will have some significance later.
  • Katherine also really enjoys the Gorch brothers.
  • Mark and Katherine debate Texas.
  • More vampire rules&emdash;becoming a vampire does not mean you lose all your personality. You are you and not you at the same time. Cool.
  • Mark’s Fashion Report:
    • Willow is wearing smiley PJs when she turns evil
    • Katherine points out that Xander is wearing golfing or bowling pants. Katherine makes an astonishingly good observation that Xander often dresses like a guy in his 50s who would fit in nicely as a guest on All in the Family.
    • Mark likes that Joyce’s wardrobe is described by Buffy as being from Muumuus are Us. Mark also revels in Joyce’s perfect curls.
    • Katherine loves Cordy’s leather mini-skirt.
    • Katherine and Mark agree that Giles has a uniform.
    • Mark loves Buffy’s purple eye-shadow and how it coordinates to her shirt.
  • How do you feel about Joyce as the mean mother? Katherine and Mark are split on this. Katherine reveals a not very interesting secret from when she was 16.
  • Mark says he will create the sucks-rules-o-meter for Buffy. Let’s press him on this.

Shout out to Jessica Branch, who once explained to me that men can’t do color but women can. I told her that I can’t. Anyway, I believe she will be able to decide if Mark is right by his claim about the color of Buffy’s eye shadow.

episodespodcasts

Season 2, Episode 9: What’s My Line, Parts 1 and 2

In this episode!

  • Mark wonders if Angel is the sexiest man in the world; Katherine says even in the universe of the show, maybe not…
  • We love Kendra, but Mark wonders about her accent.
  • Katherine is the grammar police and explains slay vs. slew.
  • Mark says Buffy the show is all about toxic masculinity; Katherine says but what about Xander and …
  • Mark says vampires aren’t sexist; rather, vampires are racist and/or speciesist.
  • Mark points out that not only is Spike emotionally fragile, Mark thinks that the Big Bads in Buffy are basically bad at being bad. They lack focus and are too impulsive.
  • Destiny and fate vs. free will: on which side does Buffy the show land? Katherine leans toward free will.
  • Have any of you noticed that people who love Buffy, the Vampire Slayer are really cool and interesting?
  • Katherine loves Drusilla and Spike; Mark, not so much.
  • We both love Oz.
  • Career talk—note that Buffy is told she should be in law enforcement and Xander a prison guard. Buffy worries she doesn’t have a future, and this episode makes it clear that Xander doesn’t think he has a future either.
  • Mark says there is a Beauty and the Beast feel to this episode, especially the scene at the skating rink.
  • Mark is a little concerned about who the Big Bad of the episode is going to be. If it’s Spike then what are we waiting for?

Shout outs and interesting tidbits

Shout out to Jessica Branch who suggested that the Hellmouth is in University Circle, more specifically, under the Cleveland Museum of Art and CWRU. She argues this has to do with Jane Jacobs’s theory about urban spaces that are deserted at night. Mark takes this on in the episode. Katherine argues the Hellmouth is probably in Old Brooklyn under Rhodes High School.

Shout out to Tony Martin whose photographs of West 3rd and Quigley make the argument that the Hellmouth is there.

Shout out to Cathy Podojil.

episodespodcastsUncategorized

Season 2, Episode 3: School Hard

In this episode

  • “Squee! Spike!” said Katherine.
  • Mark is not as innocent as he appears.
  • Mark observes that “Snyder knows something.”
  • Katherine says that the Hellmouth is a really great place if you are evil or magically inclined.
  • Questions for the listeners: Does Drusilla really hate Sunnydale? Does Buffy have blinders on? Does anyone know if Whedon is an atheist?
  • In a moment of crisis, people want someone who will take charge. Mark shares a story of when he became “the Buffy person.” Katherine’s Buffy Moment was the GOTV for the 2008 Obama campaign.
  • Sometimes, we both agree, Joyce sucks as a mom.
  • Mark notes that it is SPIKE (squee!!!!) who gets that Buffy doesn’t do this alone.
  • Katherine points out yet again that Xander always has Buffy’s back.
  • Katherine filled Mark in on the reason behind the Buffy writers getting rid of the Anointed One. Katherine and Mark then ponder, what would have high school been like if the the Anointed One had been enrolled? Good times.
  • Mark, fashion police: Big hair look on Buffy is bad. Cordelia looked good and mature.
  • Katherine  talks about the significance of crosses since vampires precede Christ. Hmmm.
  • Mark is interested in the competitiveness between Angel and Spike, esp. the Uncle Tom reference.
  • Vampires have a very complex culture, and we love the complications.
  • Mark makes a discovery that I haven’t seen elsewhere. One of the books in the library is Reunion by Tom Hayden.
  • Katherine talks about Carol Gilligan and how it can be used as support that Buffy is a feminist text.
  • Mark says: You might see Giles as lawful good; Spike as chaotic evil; and Buffy as chaotic good. Katherine loves this, but challenges Mark on Spike and Buffy. What do you think, listeners?

Resources

Carol Gilligan In a Different VoiceReunion by Tom Hayden

Shout outs

Jessica Branch and Paula Corrao

episodespodcastsUncategorized

Season 2, episode 2: Some Assembly Required

Friends of this podcast! We are now available on Itunes!

In this episode:

  • Has anyone out there read Frankenstein? If so, do you have any thoughts or questions about it? We are hoping to have a little extra episode that discusses this great novel.
  • Mark sings the Temptations!
  • We liked (even possibly loved) this episode despite all the haters in podcast land. Katherine thought it was perhaps the funniest Buffy episode ever!
  • We do not think this was an anti-feminist episode.
  • Mark thinks that Buffy could be attracted to Xander. He bases this on “When She Was Bad” and continuing to the chemistry between Buffy and Xander in this episode. Katherine is strangely silent on this issue. 😉
  • Katherine has said all along that Xander is her favorite character so far. Mark seems to concur when he says, “What is sexier then rescuing someone from a burning building?”
  • We love Giles and Jenny’s first date, and Giles’ slur on American masculinity.
  • Katherine’s favorite moment in this episode and one of her favorites for the show thus far is the crackling, tension-filled exchange between Xander and Angel in the library.
  • Mark questions Angel’s “obvious” attraction to Buffy and argues that it is creepy. He is, Mark states, frankly too old for her. “What can Angel possibly see in her?” queries Mark.
  • Katherine argues that what Buffy the show is doing is deconstructing the horror genre.
  • Does Daryll have a soul or a conscience?
  • Mark did consider medical school but gave up on the idea when he realized he would have to have his own cadaver. Katherine never thought about medical school. However, she did dissect a frog in high school that she then kept in a desk drawer to keep her sisters out of it. It worked, too.
  • Shout out to Kris Roth!

Resources:

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.  If you can, get an annotated version at the library. I love annotated versions. They explain all sorts of information readers will miss since we are 21st century readers. But you can also read it free here: http://literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/

episodespodcastsUncategorized

Prophecy Girl

In this episode!

  • Dr asks what can possibly happen now that The Master is gone. Mark suggests the show can turn into Scooby Doo.
  • Gotta say here, if you actually know us in real life there’s way more subtext.
  • All of w’s kvetching aside, it’s not Mark’s fault that he got lost (again!) in subordinate clauses.
  • A vampire who won’t deign to drink your blood? That’s some hard core disrespect.
  • The prophecy of Hosea was fulfilled by “more or less an Uber ride that you didn’t care for.”
  • For some reason, it’s kind of funny that Giles has a horseshoe over his doorway.

And so much more! This is the last Buffy episode of Season One. Watch the show first, then listen in here, and come back next week for the season summary. Shout out to Dr’s sister Becky and our mystery fan in Germany!

episodespodcastsUncategorized

Out of Mind, Out of Sight

In this episode!  Crush, Kill, Destroy!

  • Katherine and Mark think that despite the fact that most podcasters hate this episode, we love it, and think it has some interesting messages
  • We think this might be a true horror episode. Do our 6 listeners think so? Why or why not?
  • Mark thinks Whedon is prophetic, and points out Cordelia’s “All Lives Matter” stance and the teacher’s critique of it
  • Katherine points out the significance of the “the anger of the outcast” and says this was a large part of Whedon’s rationale for creating the Buffyverse
  • Mark (Fashion Police)noticed that Harmony and Cordelia were wearing matching colors, and he wonders if it is a cult. Anyone else notice?
  • Katherine and Mark have a dispute that only YOU can solve, listeners. Mark says that Marcie begins disappearing a few days ago; Katherine insists the disappearance happened months ago. Who’s right? The winner gets Indian food, so this is high stakes.
  • We do have a very serious question we can’t answer: Why doesn’t Angel want Buffy to know he saved Giles, Willow, and Xander? We have a weak answer but are mainly stumped on this.
  • Shout outs to Just Laurie,  Nina Ryerson, and of course, all Lost in Space fans!
  • How long is the list of missing, dead, and disappeared?
  • Katherine asks, whose responsibility is it that people don’t fall through the cracks?

Resources:

Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare

“Happiness Is a Warm Gun,” The Beatles

Katherine mentioned that when Marcie looks at her book at the end of the episode, she sees it is about assassination. Here is some further incredibly fun information. The information was taken from the Buffy Wiki and from Wikipedia:

“Underneath the manual headline of “Assassination and Infiltration” are the lyrics to the Beatles song ” Happiness Is a Warm Gun“, but with a few small changes; any repetition in the lyrics is removed, the line ‘happiness is a warm gun’ is changed to ‘joy is a hot revolver,’ and the last line of text that is visible is not part of the song. What it says is ‘because joy is a hot revolver, and he is afraid of the monkeys who are in'”(Buffy Wiki)

“The body copy of the book Marcie opens at the end of the episode is the lyrics to the Beatles’ song “Happiness Is a Warm Gun.” However, the titular lyric is altered to “Joy is a hot revolver” and the text ends as follows: ‘Joy is a hot revolver, and he is afraid of the monkeys who are in possession of digital skeletons of Swiss cheese.”‘ (Wikipedia)

 

episodespodcastsUncategorized

Nightmares

In this episode!

Listeners—for this very unusual Buffy, the Vampire Slayer episode, we have a very unusual podcast. For this week’s show, we welcome Just Laurie as our special guest to discuss dream interviewing and dream incubation. IF you like the idea of Salons and dream groups, enjoy the discussion which lasts until 21:56, but the intense Buffy talk begins at 28:36.. We then talk about the nightmares of our main characters.

  • Mark provides a list of dream archetypes. Did we miss any? This is one of those episodes that needs a close look
  • Katherine says that many experts believe that this is the episode that Xander grows up. What do you think?
  • Mark says it is vital that one not accept the dream on its own terms. Don’t comply.
  • Laurie says that you must interrogate what terrifies you.
  • Mark notices that Whedon is playing with light throughout the episode, and that it is growing darker and darker until Buffy reveals the monster in the end. Did anyone else notice this playing with light?
  • Shout outs: To our fan in Germany! Heather Miles! Sheila Strong! Gabriella Sagnes! Becky Clark!
  • Mark points out that nightmares only work (in this episode) if others are aware of your discomfort
  • Laurie asked where the Hellmouth is in Cleveland, and Katherine said that as one of the podcast episodes we will all go in search of it. Laurie says it has to be done in daylight; Katherine said it would be so much more interesting at night. Who’s with me?!
  • Katherine wonders if Buffy Superfans caught the huge foreshadowing for Willow (Shhh. Mark didn’t get it).
  • None of us on this podcast are horror fans. How come we love Buffy so much?

Resources:

Breakthrough Dreaming by Gayle Delaney

The William N. Skirball Writers’ Center  at Cuyahoga County Public Library- South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch

episodespodcastsUncategorized

I Robot, You Jane

In this episode!

Housekeeping

  • We’re concerned—did Katherine use the word “actually” enough times?
  • Is Bella our biggest fan?

The show itself!

  • Mark reminisces about old computers and computer programs.
  • Listeners—where is Sunnydale in Jenny’s internet circle? Is it in the middle or on the circumference? This could change everything!
  • Katherine and Mark debate Buffy’s comment about her hair. Mark thinks it’s either a joke or superficial. Katherine says there is nothing superficial about a teenage girl’s concern about her hair. We need our two listeners  to decide if Buffy is joking or not.
  • Mark likes Jenny Calendar in that she overturns the cliché of the anti-spirituality computer programmer.
  • Katherine is excited by the idea in Buffy that there have always been good people who fought and now fight against evil; it isn’t just our valiant cohort.
  • Mark asks: Why Buffy? Why is it important from the pop culture standpoint? Why is it important from a literary standpoint?
  • Katherine responds with: she loves the feminism and the female protagonists, but her favorite thing is the friendships. We’d love to know why you love Buffy.

Resources

Katherine commented about a terrific essay she read. She read it in the book Seven Seasons of Buffy:Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Discuss Their Favorite Television Show, edited by Glenn Yeffeth, which has been referenced on this show before; however, the essay is available on line. It is called “A Buffy Confession” by Justine Larbalestier.

In this essay, Larbalestier creates what she calls “Buffy Mini-Festivals” for those times you want to watch Buffy but don’t feel like binging the whole show. Her suggestions for episodes to pull together is inspired. Perhaps it is needless to say (but I’ll say it anyway), this is for those of you who have watched Buffy already.

episodesUncategorized

Never Kill a Boy on the First Date

In this episode!

  • Who has the right take on religion? Katherine and Mark debate what is Scripture
  • Shout out and a take down of Dusted, a great Buffy podcast that Katherine says gets Owen wrong!
  • Mark mansplains how to do air quotes on a podcast
  • OK Cleveland Hellmouth Fans, you choose–
    • Betty or Veronica?
    • Ginger or Marianne?
    • Katherine and Mark fight about  Cordelia
  • Mark makes TWO awesome statements this episode. Some sort of prize that is amazing to the listener who can spot them
  • Katherine says, some day we’ll rank Buffy’s boyfriends. Right now, Owen is at the top!
  • We like Velvet Chain and their trip hoppy, space jazz music, and this leads us to ask, anyone out there in Buffy fandom want to come on the podcast and talk about the music with us?
  • Shout outs to Becky Clark, Tony Martin, and Warren Shaver
  • Mark impresses Katherine by remembering Knox’s rules, and Katherine gets to talk about Agatha Christie

Resources: If you are interested in following up on some of what we discussed, check out the following. Katherine would love to talk to you about the mystery genre anytime

  1. Father Knox’s rules for mysteries: http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/triv186.html
  2. If you haven’t read Agatha Christie, you should read
    1. And Then There Were None
    2. The Murder of Roger Akroyd
    3. Murder on the Orient Express
  3. Dusted, Katherine’s favorite Buffy podcast after her own. This is a terrific podcast, but I need to warn you that they do sometimes give spoilers. It is a good podcast for writers. Katherine sometimes disagrees with them, which makes for a fun time. http://storywonk.com/category/podcasts/dusted/