Graduation Part II

Snippet from the USA Today Web site where BtVS was chosen Second Best Show of the Year:
"This consistently surprising and enormously entertaining comic morality play from the incredibly talented Joss Whedon is one of the wittiest, smartest series on TV. Too smart for WB, maybe, which insulted its audience's intelligence and the show's integrity by shelving the season finale for airing later this summer because of sensitivity concerns, even though no series has ever been more adept at teaching teens about responsibility and consequences."

Graduation Part II

Well, the Graduation II was supposed to air on the 25th. Then it was pulled because a bunch of high schoolers decided murder was acceptable and kind of fun. Of course the ever politically correct *rolling eyes* WB decided showing a bunch of high schoolers on their way to a massacre would be a bad idea...something about poor taste...and pulled the SEASON FINALE! As if this weren't stupid enough and completely insensitive of the average viewer's (or at least my) needs

*giggle* they aired it in Canada. This was a great idea since the Canadians have computers so they immediately uploaded the eppie for their BtVS'ian impaired American counterparts. 0;-)
THEN the WB (which is seriously losing stock in my eyes) decided that copyright infringement is a bad thing and pulled the episode off-line. I have it on my computer and at the moment don't know where you can download it. The WB is really doing a good job cracking down on these sites! If it disappears, ICQ or e-mail me and we'll try to set something up. If you prefer to read the scripts, here you go: Part 1 and Part 2
Luckily, I have a computer (and if you're reading this, so do you.) The real losers in this whole deal (besides the WB which is probably anticipating HUGE ratings when they finally do air the show) are the non-computer using fans. Thus I believe, this whole teens killing teens was just another conspiracy by Bill Gates to get people to buy more computers *nodding head* yes indeed. 0:-) We better watch that guy, he reminds me of the Mayor.

Despite all the hype, I didn't think the episode was that great. It was a nice show but just not one of the best - and definitely not even close to the Becomings.

The first thing that irked me were the quick resolutions. After spending five hours (on a 56k modem) downloading the eppie, I was left wondering when the good parts would begin.

The show began promisingly enough...Buffy looking for Faith, the mayor looking for Faith, the audience wondering where Faith was...brilliant! The emotion and genuine grieving on the part of the mayor were wonderful. I was left hoping for a large search, having to explain the body to the truck driver, maybe a "spot of violence" but "Noooooo" the WB would not come through. Suddenly Faith is in the hospital, in a coma, only a few feet from the drained Buffy and Angel is playing body guard.

The Draining...this was quite possibly the episode's redeeming quality. My mind kept racing back to various fanfic I've read as I watched Angel drain the woman he loved of her blood. Although the transformation into Angellus was not as seamless as it could have been, the amount of time and thought that went into its creation was exquisite. I loved the music, the rolling, the breaking skin, the falling, everything was wonderfully choreographed.

Then Angel's wound closed up, he raced Buffy to the hospital (in one of the few sensible acts shown by any Sunnydalian during a time of crisis) and it was downhill from there.

If this episode had been two hours long, it would have been perfect. The ideas were there but they were so fast and the delivery...I have a feeling hours of footage were cut fromt this one.

Xander kicked in with a couple of good one liners about feeding on the woman who loves you and later on about being "Key Guy" which seemed to genuinely get a rise out of Angel (jealousy in the dead *hehe*) but were reminiscent of the second season Xander. His hair even reverted to its first season yuckiness 0:-P What is with the spikes? At the end we saw him with his arm around Cordy so who knows what will happen?

Willow and Oz went at it again and were late for graduation - this time evrything was slightly faster and less endearing than the last (at least for me 0:-) The back of a van in the middle of the school parking lot barely an hour before graduation with so many people milling about is well...I don't know what that is but its not something which added to the show 0:-)

Cordy and Wesley finally kissed and it looked like dancing. There was no instant chemistry and after trying twice both decided there was nothing there *sigh* All of those episodes building up to ... nothing! It was ridiculously staged and unbelivable. Sexual attraction between Xander and Cordelia was slightly disagreeable to me but believable. So now Wesley is headed back to England, since there is "nothing keeping him here." OT but didn't Cordelia look very pale with that lipstick?

Speaking of Xander conquests - where was Enya? I suppose she split town already but I was kind of expecting her to stick around, have Xander save her life and then a nice kiss to end it all *lol* I can't help it - I'm a romantic.

But even a romantic like me can appreciate Principal Snyder's death. 0:-) Brings new meaning to that "being chewed out by the boss" eh? Although it does serve him right for trying to yell at a demon! Who in their right mind would reprimand a demon during ascension? Although his earlier comments to Xander about chewing gum and the whole speech about mediocrity were pretty good, they were so out of place at the graduation. There were parents and PTA members there for heaven's sakes! Even if he hadn't been eaten, he would have been finished at Sunnydale.

Lovely Sunnydale - now two for two in the having "principals being eaten by possessed people" department. 0:-) Yet another track record no other schoool will ever try to beat 0:-)

Buffy is now also two for two in the setting high schools on fire department, so I'm not really sure how any college is going to admit her *giggle* Maybe they'll see her leading a revolutioin against her mayor as a sign of leadership *shrug*

The Mayor/Demon looked kind of cool - it rated up their as being one of their most interesting looking monsters. Seeing him so distraight over Faith was surprising and endearing - especially after his not caring at all about Mr. Trick and his other assistant being murdered.

He finally followed Buffy into the library where she vaporised him - I kind of expected the Hellmouth to blast open but we can't have everything eh?

Then Angel split town - in one of the most unimpressive and surprisingly under dramatized scenes I've ever seen - after seeing so much happen and being wrapped and sucked into their love/unlove/dead/undead dilemma I was so disappointed. Seeing Angel fade into the tail lights and car fumes was slightly less impressive than his being sucke dinto the vortx last season.

The only thing I can say about this episode is that at least I don't have to wait until next season for some cliff hanger to happen. The only thing left to wonder about is Faith - she's still in a coma and missed out on her "big day." She and Buffy hung out in her dream and it was almost as if she symbollically gave up her life for Buffy's. I wasn't impressed although I *was* confused by the cat that kept morphing into a dead body. Confused, maybe intrigued...but we all know Faith is coming back next season so *yawn*

My summer looks like it will be pretty much BtVS-free - except of course for all of the season three reruns (which we've already seen 28 hundred times) and which the WB will doubtlessly pile on us anyway.