Reviewed by Adam Bardwell
Rating: 5/10
Before I get to the episode I have say that I was very annoyed by the presence and length of the recap at the beginning of the show. Some of the clips went back to "Living Conditions" and with the exception of the Oz recap the rest was about Parker who you would have thought even a casual fan would know something about. There wasn't an on-running recap on the Buffy/Angel relationship now was there? If there had been there would have been no time for any new story.
Alcohol is an important aspect of college so it adds to the realism of the show (I know vamps. and demons do erode some this realism but they are metaphors for life's demons) and so basing a episode on it makes sense. Turning those who drink too much beer into unconvincing stone age man is a pretty obvious metaphor for the effects of alcohol can have on otherwise intelligent students. Buffy's producers have said that all the vamps. etc on the show are metaphors for everyday teenage problems and generally these metaphors work well for they a subtle and with most episodes you can enjoy the show on face value. In this episode things go a bit wrong for to explain why the beers is having the effect it is on drunkards the metaphor is dispelled and the show starts telling you what to think.
The series in general seems to be very anti alcohol. Another example of this comes in "Something Blue" when the gang frown on Willow for having a bottle of light beer. This seems like an over reaction. It is true that the legal age to drink in the States tends to be 21 (I think it varies from state to state) and so the show doesn't want to be seen as encouraging an illegal activity. I concede that this makes it difficult for the writers who want to depict college as accurately as possible - which means alcohol.
It actual depiction of drunk students and prehistoric man were poor. I've been a designated driver enough times to know how drunk people act and it usually involves slurred speech, an inability to walk straight, jumping up and down uncontrollably and saying completely the wrong things (oh and there can be puking!). OK I admit I have plenty of first hand experience of being drunk! My point is that none of this stuff was shown in the episode. As for the cave men where do are start. They were completely unbelievable! The way they acted was so off and I really don't think pre-historic man could speak English - even if it was only the standard found in The Sun!
Beyond the moralising metaphor issue this episode does have some plus points. The Willow/Oz intrigue is good and it sets things up for the pay off in the next episode, "Wild at Heart". I also like the scene between Willow and Parker where she asks him how gullible he thinks she is. Parker come off as a very manipulative womaniser and this does increase ones sympathy for Buffy but I still feel that Buffy was irresponsible. Xander provides the usual humour and his "PENIS" outburst was side splitting - although it was obviously dubbed on which was a pity. As a whole "Beer Bad" lacked real drama and there was not enough humour to carry the episode.
Great Buffy Moment: Willow thinking Buffy had group sex.
In a nut shell: A very average show but average Buffy is still better than anything else on TV.