Newsgroup: it.fan.tv.buffy
Titolo: The Killer Inside: In Excess

spoiler
http://www.scoopme.com/tv/articles/default.asp?article_id=91052
by Hunter Maxin
2/4/2003
I hoped never to do this, friends, but I have to. Frankly, it's time, and,
honestly, I need it.
I'm calling one in.
Let me explain.have you ever had that dream where you're just falling
through space. You fall and fall, your stomach clenching upwards into your
throat, and, even though you are sure that it's just a dream, the fear
creeps in. Maybe, this time, it's for real. I don't know how I got all the
way up here, or why I fell (or was pushed) off, but damn if this doesn't
feel like the real thing.
And just when the fear takes hold, just when your denial is overcome by
doubt, when you realize that oh my god! you are actually going to die.
That's when you wake up.
You bolt upright in your bed, and thank whomever it is you thank for these
kinds of things. Later you feel silly that you even fell for it, but we've
all been there. We've all had the dream, in one form or another, and most of
us will again.
Thing is.I'm having that dream now.
In mine, I'm falling through a Bespin vanilla sky with orange-purple clouds.
At first I ride the air, without fear, enjoying the novelty of the descent.
Even as the fear kicks in, as I close my eyes and grit my teeth, I know it
is all just a dream. I know I will wake up as soon as I become too scared to
deal with the illusion.
The funny thing is, I'm not waking up. In my version, I open my eyes, and
instead of the comforting surroundings of my bedroom, I see rock bottom
rushing up towards me.
Quickly.
Sometimes the seams rip, people. Sometimes the whole of it all collapses
beneath its own weight. Sometimes, you realize that you've been smoking
cigarettes a full decade longer than you've ever intended. Sometimes, your
debt outstrips your earnings. That you are alone. Sometimes, there are more
reruns on television than new material. Sometimes, work becomes so
ridiculously unbearable that you awake to the sounds of your own screaming.
Every morning.
And maybe, sometimes, you just don't have the faintest clue about how to
even begin thinking about how to fix it all.
Granted, I never flayed alive the man who shot my lesbian lover - at least I
have that going for me, right? - but that doesn't make it any easier.
So, I'm calling one in. I want a do-over, people. I want forgiveness and a
second chance. I want to take the lessons I've learned in my life - the hard
way - and put them to good use in a good clean life. I want to make all the
right choices now that I know what the wrong ones are. I want to know my
limitations and I want to atone for all the excess.
And I think the answer is out there. I think one of you has it, or knows
about it. Show me the path, friends, and let me make you proud. Because,
these days, all I have is some good friends and the written word. It is the
written word that I have to offer - and it is my sincere desire that both
their show and my word is why you still come around here - and it is the
written word that is going to have to get me over this.
You see, life doesn't work like it does on television. We may have evolved
quite a bit as a broadcasting community - wherein all of life's problems
aren't solved with 22 minutes of "golly gee, Beave" to undo whatever mess
Jack Tripper's gotten himself into this week - but TV still knows a bang-up
morality play when it sees one.
Even on our Buffy.
Even for our Willow.
Only on television, can a girl watch her lesbian lover get shot by an
egomaniacal computer nerd, go on a murderous rampage that includes the
flaying alive of her lover's killer AND the attempted destruction of the
entire planet, go through magical English countryside retreat rehab, kiss
another girl who just happens to be in line to become a superhero in the
midst of a war fought against ultimate evil, get turned into the same
aforementioned homicidal nerd via a spell cast by a witch said girl once
kept as a pet rat for three years, and then be redeemed and reformed by a
second kiss - and implied love - from the superhero chick.
Read that again.
It may not be ridiculous, but it is definitely excessive.
We already had enough going on this season without the need for tonight's
Willow developments. Despite the everyday absurdity of most of the above, it
was also predictable after a fashion.
Yeah, I get it, Willow could not really be counted on in the coming battles
without letting go of both the guilt and fear she has carried around since
she went Carrie on everyone. I also understand that Willow needs to realize
that the devil inside of her, this unimaginable reservoir of dark magic that
wells deep within, is not only a liability. To win this war, the Gang is
often going to have to fight fire with fire - big flaming evil in this
case - and Willow is going to have to step up and reclaim her place as the
biggest baddest female on the planet.
But not like this.
Not now.
We already have enough to deal with on BtVS. We have great material to work
with as it is.
Riley Finn giving Buffy the Sophie's choice of how to save Spike from his
failing chip could have been, should have been, an episode in its own right.
Throw in a healthy helping of the is he is or is ain't with Giles and some
funny Warren and/or Anya asides, and you've got a kick-ass episode. You
could have even given me some hot Kennedy-Willow fireworks as an after
thought coupled with a serious Willow-Xander heart to heart about letting go
and moving on, and we would have all been right there.
We've been rolling for awhile. Buffy's been tearing it up, dramatically
speaking, and we've been doing our part to eat it all up. We have arguably
the best season of the best show on television. We definitely have the most
focused season of a mythology driven serial that I'm aware of.
So spare me the histrionics. This I can't get on board with, and, hopefully,
this is the last we'll speak of it. Do you hear me, Willow? Because this is
an affront to rock bottom. It's insulting to bottoming out.
And to me, because, while I'm certainly not there, I can see it from where I
stand.
And this 
excess.it
 ain't it.
The Other Side of Tuesday.my life has been taken over by my iPod. Seriously,
it is all that I do now. For those of you not in on this little genius
device, do yourself a favor and look into it. I am convinced - convinced -
that it is the next technological leap that we have all been waiting for.
The one that will single-handedly alter the way in which we organize our
lives, like the Model T or microwave popcorn. And don't even think about
waiting for Bill Gates to get it right.we both know he won't give us
anything more than the Edsel.
Just imagine.a life where all the music you could ever want is literally at
your fingertips. ALL OF IT. No discs, no cassettes, no removable pieces of
any kind. Just a little plastic and chrome box carrying around the history
of the world.
It plugs into headphones. It plugs into the car. It plugs into stereo. It
plugs into the computer.
I have to stop now, before I really start to rage on this topic.
Just get one.
Trust me.
In other news.
I'm happy to see that Giles is neither dead nor evil.
Andrew might be funnier, pound for pound, than any character to precede him.
A great number of you have expressed concern that last ep's contention that
the slayer line runs through Buffy undoes all that previously made sense.
While I agree, of course, all I can say right now is that we need to have
some faith (no pun intended) that either (a) this was always meant to be a
red-herring, (b) Joss knows exactly what he is doing, or (c) all of the
above.
In any event, patience is the order of the day.
And finally.please, no suicide watch emails. I have way too much of an ego
for that, personally (not that I am belittling the topic in any fashion),
and, quite honestly, I'm definitely not in that league of rock bottom
anyway. In advance, I appreciate your concern, but I didn't write this for
that reason.
In fact, I am aware of just how excessive my words are. Rather than being
ironic, let me just say that was the point.
Or at least one of them.
I am, however, fielding job offers.
Additionally, Pearl Jam has released the tour dates for their soon-to-begin
tour. If you have yet to see them live and in-person, do yourself the favor,
and make sure you catch at least one. Years from now, if you don't go, you
will regret it. My baby sister gave up tickets to see the Dead the tour
before Jerry Garcia passed. It would have been her first (and only show),
and she still talks about it as one of her top five mistakes in life.
Personally, I am gunning for the leg-ending show at Penn State University at
the end of April. I hope to see you there.
And to close.a shout out to the Kid Rock - Sheryl Crow duet "Picture." Who
says music in this next millennium is dead?
-- 
Jolan Tru
Filippo "Hytok" Simone
Vice Oracolo Ufficiale di Sunnydale
http://www.ussexcalibur.it/
http://www.startrekitaliamagazine.it/
http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/hyterdeflok/

 
http://www.scoopme.com/tv/articles/default.asp?article_id=91052
ok, lo ammetto... stavo cercando il threa su questo episodio ma non l'ho
trovato... e quindi riciclo questo di Hytok... insomma, ho finalmente visto
anche questo episodio.... e a me questo episodio e` piaciuto. fossaltro
perche` non essendo spoilerata me lo sono gustato per bene.
me lo sono gustato per bene, e non sapevo come sarebbe andata a finire per
Giles e le Slayer in allenamento.
non so cosa scegliera` Buffy per quanto concerne il futuro di spike (uhm,
pero`, che tempestivita` anche lo scorretto funzionamento del chip)
Non mi aspettavo la presenza di Amy (ovviamente) ne che non fosse the First.
con questo voglio dire che l'episodio in se mi ha piacevolmente trascinata.
ho seguito con attenzione lo sviluppo delle SIT, un po' meno la parentesi
con spike. e molta attenzione a Willow-Amy-Kennedy.
(nota: Andrew mi diverte sempre piu, mentre Warren fatico a ricordarlo come
fidanzato di April).
--
Tristano
ICQ #117306256