LIFE SERIAL

Episode 105, #5 of Season 6

Previously on Buffy the Vampire…

Missed most of the recap but we all know what it was; Buffy's dead, Buffy's alive, Buffy wasn't in hell after all.  Cut to...

Okay, you can tell it wasn’t a great show when it takes me almost two weeks to talk about it and doesn’t inspire me to watch the next episode. Which is still sitting on the tape.

Overview:
Buffy needs money and focus so Buffy tries to go back to school and work. Seems harmless enough. Ah, but the Brotherhood of Evil Geeks (BEG) have other plans. They know that only the Slayer stands between them and ruling Sunnydale so they must test the Slayer and find her weaknesses so that they can be exploited and Buffy defeated.

Someone’s been reading too many comics books and it ain’t BEG.

Test 1:
Buffy returns back to college and audits some courses with Willow and Tara to try to see if she wants (or can) go back. After attending one class with Willow she starts to think that maybe she lost a few too many brain cells while dead.

Warren, the electronics whiz, develops a small device that removes Buffy from our time stream. When activated Buffy seems to freeze in place as the rest of the world whizzes around her. For her, a second passes but for the rest of the university it’s a whole class. Buffy finds the little device and Warren blows it (and therefore her evidence) up.

Test 2:
Buffy joins the manual labour work force working with Xander. The fellow construction workers all think that it’s really cute to have a little girl in pigtails and a hardhat until she begins to show them up with her super strength and strong work ethic. After all, they’re paid by the hour, not the ton.

Andrew, the demon piper, summons a bunch of demons that Buffy beats up. However, because the fight does some anti-construction and because the demon bodies disappear and because none of the construction workers want to admit to cowering behind drywall while a girl saved their butts Buffy is fired.

Test 3:
Buffy joins the retail labour force working for Anya. A picky customer comes in and asks for a mummy’s hand but Buffy has a very hard time getting the hand without damaging it and, thereby, rendering it useless.

Jonathan, the sorcerer’s wannabe, creates a time loop spell which will trap Buffy in a continual loop until she successfully serves the client and she leaves satisfied. Buffy quickly clues in to the parameters but still has a hard time winning until it occurs to her to have the mummy’s hand delivered. The curse is broken.

The Rest of the Show:
Buffy is sad and despondent about being a failure so off she goes to drink with Spike. Spike offers to sit in on a poker game at Willy’s to try to find out the demon responsible for these tests but, after winning a basket of kittens, comes up empty. Buffy leaves and spots the van that BEG is using. Pissed in more ways than one she advances on the van but is too drunk to do more than give Jonathan in a demon suit a sore stomach.

Summary:
BEG is happy and silly. They have all the information they think they need to defeat the slayer.

Buffy is now sad, despondent and hungover. She still owes a ton of money for the plumber and the tunnel looks pretty dark and without much light at the end. Giles, however, as token adult, saves the day by handing Buffy a cheque that should see her clear and give her a bit of breathing room. Buffy thanks him, telling him that the cheque makes her feel safe and that he makes her feel like her mom was still there.

The show ends as Giles looks guiltily on, knowing that he is soon returning to England.

Fade to black.

Random Quotes

No quotes. Sorry, but it was, for me, an unquotable show. Although BEG’s True James Bond argument and Jonathan’s Magic Bone were amusing.

Random Notes:

• Let’s see, Buffy attends a second year course outside of her previous field of study, two months into the school year with superbrain Willow and feels stupid because she can’t keep up. Willow is a moron.
• Let’s see, Buffy stands frozen for 20 minutes and Tara doesn’t notice. Tara doesn’t notice when she leaves a Buffy statue and goes into class. Tara doesn’t notice when Buffy just stands there until Tara gets bored and wanders off. Tara is a moron.
• Let’s see, what was Xander thinking by not giving Buffy a little advance warning about how to dress and how to act on the construction site. Xander is a moron.
• Do you sense a theme here?
• Anya and Giles are probably morons as well but you do get the idea.
• The pitch for Test 3? Okay, the Addams Family meets Groundhog Day.
• Is the past tense for ‘hangover’ hungover or hangedover?
• One thing bothered me about the movie Alien. Why didn’t they just put on their space suits and vent the ship to space? Suck/blow the monster right out. I know, I know. An hour and a half of blank screen. So why didn’t Buffy, when she figured out the problem, didn’t just tell Giles or Anya to get the damn hand and explain when the loop was over? Other than five minutes of blank screen.

Angel Notes:
Appearing in this episode of Angel a set of creatures never before seen on either Buffy or Angel. Concerned, loving, non-demon infested parents. Pretty cool ones at that. And, as a bonus, Fred leaves her room in more than the obvious way.