Earshot

"I didn't see you so I should have known you were there"

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***Note: These files are linked to my page. They are not hosted here and I don't know the people who encoded them.

    This episode was supposed to air originally on April 27th but because of the Colorado massacre, the WB deemed it in poor taste to release it so soon after the murders.

    I finally got to see it on June 10th, more than a month after its supposed air date and more importantly, after I'd seen Graduation 2. I'd somewhat dimmed to the whole BtVS after all these postponements and frankly did not expect to see Earshot or be impressed by it.

    When I finally downloaded it from http://www.buffyunlimited.com, I was in shock and amazement! This unaired episode provided one of the best Buffy episodes all season and despite its serious subject matter was filled with jokes, humor and the individual characteristics that made BtVS my favorite show.

    Despite Joss' claim immediately after the episode was cancelled, I feel we missed out on a lot by watching it so late. Plenty of questions were answered and a lot of suspense was created (even though it was all solved in less than ten minutes during the season finale).

    The show starts out with Buffy fighting two "scabby demons" in the park. They're both suspiciously quiet and look like swamp creatures - in fact they remind me of the monsters from "Go Fish." They fight very well, coordinating with the other's moves (at one point one ducks so the one behind him can throw a knife at Buffy). Buffy manages to kill one eof the mouthless creatures before the other one runs away. As he lies prostrate on the park bench, some of the white liquid (I suppose blood) which splattered on Buffy's hand seems to melt into her skin.

    Next thing we know, its a new schoolday and everyone is concerned about the lack of mouths on the demons from the night before. Buffy is content to just add a "big check in the slay column" for the one she did get and move on. Meanwhile Giles and Co have been researching the "Ascension" and haven't come up with much either. Xander called him a "cross referencing fool," which was pretty funny and got a weird look from the Gilesman. Wesley walks in after Giles is done speaking and very huffily interrupts (he was detained with "official council business") and says he has important info on the Mayor. It turns out he doesn't know anything and the Gang walks out on his tedious meandering.

    It was so nice to see the gang united against Wesley - there was something almost sentimental in their rolling their eyes and walking out - especially since I saw Graduation last week.I admit I got nostalgic 0;-)

    Anyway, later on, Buffy heads back to the library where Giles asks if she touched one of the demons "a good touch, not a bad touch" she explains while examining her hand where the liquid was absorbed the night before. Turns out its been "itching like crazy" and Giles reads in one of his books that this type of demon can "infect the host with an aspect of the demon." Buffy immediately wigs but Giles doesn't seem very concerned, explaining that even fabric softener could be the cause for her itchy hand.

    Cut to the pep rally outside where the gang is watching the cheerleaders, led by the bouncy Cordelia. *eg* "Is it me or is this really lame?" asks Buffy. "I don't know, I usually enjoy lameness and this is leaving me kind of cold," Oz says while lounging on the steps.

    Willow reads in Freddy's column that the Pep Rally is just "a place for pseudo prostitutes to provoke men into a sexual frenzy" "and the downside being?" Xander quirks without tearing his eyes away from the cheerleaders. Willow asks if anyone else has noticed how the paper is "edging on the depressing" lately and Oz answers "I don't know. I always go straight to the obits." with a perfectly deadpan face. *lol* You have to love Oz!

     Meanwhile Buffy is still wigging over the aspect which she might gain any minute and keep checking for horns. Willow - the ever patient sidekick tries to reason with her:

Willow: "augh you know  Buffy, I don't even think Giles is right about you becoming like a demon. I mean he's totally burnt! You know, dealing with Faith and this Ascension thing...between you and me he's not doing his best work."
Buffy: "What if he is right? I'm suddenly going to grow this demon part and we don't even know what it is. It could be claws or scales..."
Willow suddenly looks terrified and Buffy grabs her head.
Buffy: "WHAT???"
Willow: "Was it a BOY DEMON?"
Buffy then looks just as scared. *rofl* This has got to be one of my favorite scenes!

Meanwhile back at the Pep Rally, Oz and Xander are watching the girls.
Xander: "They really are very girly!"
Oz: and their spelling's improved"
Xander: "You know Oz, I look at all this beauty in all these healthy young women and I wonder why I ever wasted my time on Cordelia. I mean look at her! She's not better looking than the rest of them."
Oz: "None of them are really my..."
Xander: *cutting him off* "OH MY GOD HE'S LOOKING AT HER! He's got his adult, piercing eyes all over my Cordy."
Cut to the steps above the rally where Wesley has stopped to watch (presumably Cordelia).
Oz: "You're a very complex man, aren't you?"

But getting back to this episode. Buffy finally gets her aspect of the demon which turns out to be the ability to hear other's thoughts. At first she's pretty excited and gets a happy when she's walking down the hall and hears some guy think "Look at Buffy. She’s so beautiful. Look at that body." she stops to pose for a second before she keeps hearing his thoughts: "Oh, I’d love to just shove her against that locker and ... Oh!" Buffy gives him a weird look and runs away to the library where she excitedly describes her new powers to the skeptical Giles.

She tells him of how Principal Snyder has "Walk Like an Egyptian" stuck in his head and all the boys at the school are seriously disturbed. *lol* Poor Giles just looks at her as she explains how he though "Look at her shoes. If a fashion magazine told her to she’d wear cats strapped to her feet.” just as she walked in.

He cautions her to be careful and Buffy runs off to class where she abuses her powers by copying the answers from the smart girl in class and saying them out loud before anyone else has a chance to answer. The teacher is very impressed - especially when Buffy feeds her back a piece of her own college dissertation. *lol* What can I say? I would probably do it too.

When Buffy tells her friends they are naturally less than enthused and each worries in their particular way. But before then she tries to read Angel's mind and see what he's thinking about Faith. The funniest thing was when Buffy cut out of school to go by the old mansion - she opens the door just as Angel is walking by and he jumps back to keep from being burned *rofl* I'm amazed that its season 3 and they never made a play on that before.

Anyway - it turns out that Buffy can't read his mind - Angel explains: "It’s just like the mirror. the thoughts are there but they cast no reflection in you." *sigh* Then they had a big conversation about how much they cared about each other and how Angel didn't want a "bad girl" He'd gone that way before and in his "243 years loved exactly one person." It was incredibly romantic and just made me so sad about how things eventually became between them. *sigh*

So after a while Buffy's powers become a curse as she can't tune out anyone's thoughts - it was excellently done and I loved watching her try to tune out everyone's thoughts - especially Xander who can't seem to stop thinking about sex! *rofl* Oz was great he worried about "we think, therefor Buffy is" proving that he is much more than a cute, mysterious guy. 0:-) I love Oz.

Probably the most important funny thing to happen in Earshot occurred after Buffy went home sick and Joyce was taking care of her. Buffy's lying down in bed and she wants her mother to take care of her. The problem is that Joyce is trying as hard as she can to avoid her by getting more pillows, offering to make soup, claiming to need laundry, etc. She's clearly perturbed and its hilarious. Just as she's about to do her getaway, Buffy jumps up from the bed and screams "YOU HAD SEX WITH GILES????????" Joyce looks really embarrassed and tries to leave again. "It was the candy. We were teenagers Buffy!" Just as she's at the door Buffy screams again: "ON THE HOOD OF A POLICE CAR??????" Joyce hides her face: "I’ll be downstairs. you feel better." and as she's down the hall you hear Buffy's indignant voice: "TWICE???"

It was one of the funniest scenes to date and finally explained just what occurred between the two during Band Candy 0:-) I mean I had my reservations but 0:-) Wouldn't it be cool if Joyce were pregnant now with a second slayer? 0;-)

So anyway, Buffy overhears this plot and wants to stop the bad guy cause - well she's the slayer 0;-) but can't because the thoughts are driving her crazy. According to Giles the only other man to suffer from what she has went into isolation because he couldn't stand to be around people any longer. The only cure requires the heart from the second demon. Angel of course gets it for Buffy and makes some sort of potion for her to drink. It was funny because he tried to deliver the drink in the middle of the day to her house. HE started pounding on the door and when they opened it a smoking Angel ran in under the shelter of his jacket. I couldn't believe they subjected him to the sun twice in one day! *rofl* it was hilarious!

Anyway - the Buffy was cured, the slayerettes figured Jonathan was the one trying to slaughter the school and when Buffy saw him in the bell tower they were convinced. She talked him into handing over the gun with a wonderful speech which should air every morning at every public American school.

BUFFY- No, I think you’re just up in the clocktower with a high powered riffle cause you want to blend in. Believe it or not, Jonathan, I understand about the pain.

JONATHAN- Oh. Right. The burden of being athletic and beautiful. That’s a crippler.

BUFFY- You know what? I was wrong. You are an idiot. My life, on occasion, sucks beyond the telling of it. Sometimes more than I can handle. And it’s not just me. Every single person down there is ignoring your pain because they’re too busy with their own. Beautiful ones, popular ones, the guys that pick on you. Everyone. If you could hear what they were feeling. The loneliness. The confusion. It looks quite down there. It’s not. It’s deafening.

So she finally takes the gun from him and Jonathan explains that he wasn't planning a mass murder but a suicide. Buffy looks shocked and the cameras cut to the cafe where Xande has found the lunchlady trying to poison the whole school with rat poison. She tries to attack Xander with a meat cleaver but Buffy stops her. "Vermin! You’re all vermin! You come in here and you eat and you eat. Filth!" she yells at Buffy. It was pretty weird and makes you wonder if anyone in Sunnydale runs background checks. I mean the mayor is over a hundred years old, the old principal was eaten, the zoo guy became possessed...I could go on but that could take several seasons 0:-)

Anyway, Buffy saved the day, Jonathan will live another day and Larry is so out of the closet that even his grandma is setting him up with guys *rofl*

It was a great episode and I will definitely watch it when it comes on TV - unlike other *cough*graduation2*cough* episodes.