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Season 2, Episode 15: Phases

In this episode! (Note: there is much discussion of Catholic philosophy at the end of this. Quite interesting, says Agnostic Katherine)

  • We begin this episode as we do most with an argument. Mark asserts that Xander is homophobic, and Katherine says he isn’t
  • Katherine shows Mark that there are several callbacks in this episode. Note that Xander speaks about being part of the hyena pack, and the great scene with Oz and Willow at the trophy case (shout out to Nina)  and the connection to episode 3 “The Witch” is clear.
  • Mark points out the bands are back, and Katherine said she loved 5 of the songs.
  • Katherine is curious about Mark’s reception to Oz learning he is a werewolf. Katherine can’t find a podcast that likes this. We love it and think it is exactly the way Oz would handle any crisis.
  • Katherine also loves the Larry misdirect, that he could possibly be the one who killed Theresa.
  • So, gang, it comes to this—who is right?
  • Katherine and Mark throw down over Larry. Mark thinks Xander is being homophobic; Katherine says maybe a teeny tiny bit, but overall, it is awkwardness and the fact that Larry has been a bully to Xander his entire life. Katherine argues that Xander is noble in not sharing Larry’s coming out to him.
  • Mark is glad we finally know Xander’s phone number.
  • Mark points out the diffference between vampires and werewolves; werewolves have a soul. Katherine reminds Mark that Giles also said that werewolves don’t have a conscience.
  • We are split on Giles. Katherine thinks he was delighted by most things in this episode, even Xander’s dumb jokes. Mark agrees that Giles is in good spirits, but that he was mocking Xander. What do you think?
  • We are intrigued that Xander still can’t get his romantic act together. He is jealous of Oz and Willow, and still has feelings for Buffy. Xander, Xander, Xander.
  • Mark was initially confused about embalming vampires, but ultimately resolved this problem.
  • We agree that Theresa’s death is tragic and Katherine raises the issue of whose responsibility it is (duh, besides Angelus.) Is it at all Buffy’s fault since Buffy could have killed Angelus in the last episode but didn’t?
  • Mark thinks a key theme of the episode is that Buffy is grappling with the fact that she is a killer. In response to Katherine, Mark engages in a really interesting lecture on “proximate cause.” He argues because of this liability law, Buffy is ultimately not responsible for Theresa’s death
  • Mark next discusses the responsibility vs. Grace (jump to 37:10 into the podcast) which is fascinating to Katherine because Katherine is obsessed with issues of responsibility. One suggestion that Mark makes is that it may not be possible to keep one’s hands clean. One has to make moral decisions in the world and sometimes these decisions result in people getting hurt. This can’t be avoided, and choosing not to make a decision can actually result in greater harm. Katherine, while relistening to this podcast is stunned by this discussion. She thinks of these issues often.
  • Mark suggests that while we need to give Buffy slack, at the same time, her hope that Angelus will return and become Angel again is a dangerous belief that could lead to further problems. (Wink wink audience.)
  • Katherine and Mark end by talking about how we oppose killing werewolves because we are vegetarians, but have not problem with the killing of vampires.
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Season 2, Episode 7: Lie to Me

In this episode!

  • Mark was stunned by the cold open, and it brought back bad memories of his being a middle child. We wonder, do we agree with the Mind Robbers podcast that this kid has a bad mother?
  • Katherine makes a connection between Dracula by Bram Stoker and Buffy. Is Drusilla the Bloofer Lady? Should we have a special segment on Dracula? Hmmm, maybe around season 5? 😉  Also, Mark hates Drusilla and did a terrible imitation of her. Katherine thinks she is great.
  • Mark makes an astonishing claim that Jenny Calendar is Giles’ manic pixie dream girl. This is patently absurd. Where do our listeners stand on this?
  • Mark didn’t like Nathan Ford immediately and Katherine doesn’t remember how she felt the first time. We both agree that he is evil though.
  • Mark suggests that the vampire groupies were ridiculous. He can’t imagine why anyone would want to be a vampire. Katherine agrees with that part, but Mark continues the argument by saying that vampires aren’t happy, or rarely so., and being a vampire must be incredibly boring. What’s the draw?
  • Katherine was able to reveal something to Mark–that Ford does get turned into a vampire, and Buffy kills him. Mark said the roses that Buffy had were symbolic of a mob hit. Hmm, seems unlikely to Katherine. What do you think?
  • While one of our holy texts says that this is an episode about obsession, we disagree and think it is really more about secrets and well, lies. The only person in the end who did not lie to Buffy was Giles, until she asked him to do so.
  • On a final note, Katherine needs to remind everyone that once again, Xander was right. He usually is.
  • On a final final note, the episode was initially broadcast in the US on Nov. 3, 1997.

Shout outs

Marcia Camino who says that we are the silliest of silly butts. Sure! 😉

Mind Robbers vs. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast. Fun podcast, but beware because they love to spoil anything that Joss Whedon has written. Also, sadly, they ended the podcast before the last few seasons of Buffy. I’ve tweeted with both of them, and they don’t plan on finishing. ;-(  Still, fun podcast to listen to.

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Season 2, Episode 4: Inca Mummy Girl

In this episode!

  • We think the writers have an awesome ear for teen romance angst, and do a great job showing the awkwardness of it.
  • We love Willow’s dorkiness.
  • Mark reveals something shocking, and it has to do with The Brady Bunch. Mark says, run out and watch the Tiki episode.
  • Katherine wonders if there needs to be a Brady Bunch podcast (OK, that’s a joke).
  • Katherine likes the complexity of Xander—that he has a crush on Buffy, and at the same time thinks of her as his best friend, and at the same time, is her right hand man. What is wrong with that? So many other Buffy fans hate this about Xander.
  • The world isn’t black and white; we love that Buffy sees the gray.
  • Mark loves the guy who wonders about the girl in the Eskimo outfit.
  • Is Joyce being mean to Buffy in terms of the “not fitting in” comment? We think so.
  • What do you make of Buffy not seizing the leadership role? Katherine thinks she is the emotionally torn teenage girl, whereas Mark thinks Buffy should be pushing herself forward. Where do you stand?
  • We meet Jonathan (Danny Strong). Katherine says it is a great way to meet him.

Shout out to Warren Shaver!

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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

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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/

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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

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Angel

In this episode!

  • Mark loves Cordelia’s Bernie Sanders response to NAFTA!  Feel the Bern!
  • We don’t know if the Anointed One is human or not. Can anyone help us out? (Katherine thinks he’s probably a vampire?)
  • Mark struggles with the rules of invitation.
  • Katherine and Mark debate over the significance of Buffy exposing her neck to Angel, and Mark reveals he is probably not a vampire, even though he (Mark) did die once.
  • Mark believes Angel has a death wish. Does Buffy?
  • Mark loves the connection to Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, and Katherine loves that in Buffy it is mainly men who get punished. (Angel as Hester Prynne! Sort of.)
  • Katherine explains the significance of “sires.”
  • Mark loves the idea of Angel as addict who hasn’t been using for over 100 years.
  • Katherine winks at Buffy fans when Mark asks, do vampires have human farms?
  • Mark thinks Buffy isn’t turned on to Xander because of his jokester status–do you agree? And, what role is Xander playing? Willow?

Resources:

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The Pack

In this episode!

Cleveland Hellmouth listeners–wow, this one is tough. It is so dark, and Mark wonders if it needs a trigger warning…

(Mark here: just so you know, we talk about rape in this episode.)

  • Katherine tells Mark that this episode epitomizes Whedon’s stance that “high school is hell.”
  • Katherine and Mark talk about bullies and packs.
  • Mark says there’s no such thing as verbal abuse that doesn’t hurt.
  • Mark asks, Did the possession bring out the bad in Xander or did it make him bad?
  • Katherine shares some important rules of the Buffyverse: Never kill a human, and Vampires aren’t human. But what makes the death of the zookeeper OK?
  • Another important rule that bears remembering for those new to the show–you are never at fault if you are possessed. It will not be held against you.
  • Katherine does a shout out to The Art of Slaying, another favorite podcast.
  • Katherine says, remember this line from Xander: “Buffy, you like your men dangerous.” This will have ramifications.
  • Mark notices that a favorite Whedon tactic is to say something funny and then have something horrible happen. Is Mark getting cynical?

Resources: The Art of Slaying podcast. One caveat: it is a great podcast, but the podcasters presume you’ve seen the episodes. Countless spoilers throughout.