Some Quality Time with Mr. Gordo

Sseason 2 EpisodeWhat’s My Line Part 1 and 2This episode is written with no consideration for plausibility and every consideration for forwarding character’s emotional storyarcs. Jane Espensen, a writer for Buffy, has a great website that gives advice to would-be TV writers on how to write a spec script to get into the business. In one post she advises that writers should start with an emotional moment or action that a character is not likely to have and then write the spec script to answer the question “what would have to happen for x to happen?” So, it seems like the script for this two part series was written sort of like that — there are a LOT Of payoffs in this episode in terms of the buffyverse mythology, characters emotional lives, and actions. Many many things happen and that kind of distracts you from the fact that it’s all just a little too neat.To my mind, the main story arc here, the one that doesn’t feel contrived — is that Spike finally figures out how to get Drusilla cured of her wasting sickness. Of course she needs the blood of Angel (her sire), thus emperiling Buffy’s main emotional support. We also find out that there’s a second slayer b/c of Buffy’s brief death. But the way they introduced her was completely contrived. It’s as though the question was: what would have to happen for the second slayer and Buffy to get in a fight? Make her think Buffy was a vampire which means Buffy has to kiss Angel in vamp face while Kendra (the 2nd slayer) sees them. Kendra is completely stiff and unbelievable and I’m glad they killed her off at the end of the season. I blame this on the fact that they were trying to show that slayers were a worldwide phenom while at the same time giving her this bookish character.  So they made her Jamaican (the actress had listed on her resume that she could do Jamaican accents) but also someone who only has one shirt.  Now, I found out recently that this actress was originally cast as Cordelia(!) but couldn’t take the part for whatever reason. I suppose she must actually be a good actress, and as I watched the episode again, I tried to imagine what her lines would have been like if they’d been played by someone more nerdy, someone not completely stilted b/c they were trying to stick to this crappy accent and it made the episode a lot better.2. Xander and Cordelia kiss — I actually love this, and I think that they set it up pretty well in some of the preceding episodes, having them seek each other out to bicker, almost, and also having them realize that the two people that they are actually really attracted to (Buffy and Angel) were completely into each other (in Halloween). Of course, the only thing that would make Cordelia and Xander kiss is to trap them in a basement after attacking them with a “man of bugs”. This actually foreshadows Buffy and Angel’s sexual encounter where they are so freaked out by their encounter with the Judge that they have to have sex (hey man, Joss said it, not me).3. Willow and Oz finally meet — and we find out that they are basically the two smartest people in the school and therefore, meant for each other.  I love Oz.  The final thing that I found annoying about this episode was that the Order of Tarraka, or whatever, was set up to be this enormous juggernaut that would never stop coming for Buffy. But then, they kill three of them, and they stop coming.  Why?  It’s one of the problems with the show is that each successive villain has to be so much more dangerous in order to get us to be afraid or to put Buffy in peril that when it is defeated, it’s a little of a let down.  Hence the brilliance of making the next villain be Angel.