Dead Man's Party

Dead Man's Party
10/6/98
guest stars: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Nancy Lenehan (Pat), Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder),
written by Marti Noxon
Directed by James Whitmore Jr.,

synopsis: coming later.

...... Review:   Take some action, a little angst, a lot of emotion, and powerful acting, stir well, and you've got the recipe for an excellent episode of BtVS. Unfortunately, Marti Noxon forgot that last part when she wrote DMP.
     It's not that this was a bad episode. But it had the potential to be a great episode, along the lines of Passion or Prophesy Girl. Unfortunately, an entirely unnecessary subplot about the walking dead took away a lot of the power.
     The beginning was slow and awkward, exactly like it was supposed to be. Buffy's first meeting with Xander showed a lot of emotion bubbling right below the surface, and SMG and Nick Brendon played it well. ASH was tremendous in his first interaction with Buffy this season. Giles proves that he'll always be there for Buffy, no matter what. It's a shame that, for the most part, he was apart from his slayer since they probably have a few things to discuss as well, although I would suspect Giles understands more than anyone why Buffy had to leave. I did like the hint of Ripper at the end. I really want to see Principal Snyder get his, and having Giles threaten him helped to take a little of the sting out of the end of the episode.
     The other players were good. I like Seth Green as a regular more and more. I was afraid he'd somehow make the gang too big, but I find that he adds a rational and humorous presence that is welcome, and his stepping between Buffy and Xander to try and diffuse the explosive situation worked well. Charisma Carpenter did a good job as always, and I was pleasantly surprised that she of all people defended Buffy's actions, albeit in a rather tactless way. Armin Shimerman is effectively smarmy as Snyder. In fact, he's one of the few things that are still keeping me in suspense about the show. I want to know who he is.
     This episode featured especially powerful performances from Alyson Hannigan and Kristine Sutherland, in addition to Gellar and Brendon. The fight at the party had perhaps the most raw emotions of any scene since the death of Jenny Calendar.
     On one side, you had Willow, Xander, and Joyce. On the other, Buffy.
     Kristine Sutherland gave the best performance in her entire run as Joyce in this episode. I actually liked her. And I'm not the Joycie fan. But she was right. Buffy had make some mistakes and now had to deal with them. She was doing her best to help put all the pieces back together. She went to Snyder, she arranged the dinner party, and always kept in mind Buffy's fragile state and the things that she's been thru. But Buffy had hurt her by running away. Joyce owned up to her mistakes, and needed her daughter there to support her.
     Xander and Buffy have been on the in and outs since Jenny died over the handling of the Angelus affair. At the same time, he's always been there for her, and he's the one who'll say the unpleasant things she doesn't want to hear. It takes a powerful friendship to tell the other person they're wrong, and it's a testament to his character and devotion to her that he's willing to hurt her and jeopardize their friendship when, in the long run, it's what is best. Brendon showed the most depth and maturity in his entire run in this scene, and the tension between the two of them was awesomely played out.
     Willow had perhaps the most beef with Buffy. Joyce had kicked her out, and Xander had made his feelings clear on the Angel situation, but Willow had stood by Buffy no matter what. And in return, Buffy left without a word. As her best friend, Willow deserved better. Willow needed not only for Buffy to be there for her, but also to be there for Buffy. Willow would stand by her no matter what, but Buffy didn't let her.
     That being said, Buffy wasn't wrong for what she did. They didn't feel responsible for the deaths of two people they loved. They didn't fell responsibly for putting the rest of thru so much suffering. They weren't kicked out of school and out of their house. They didn't have to make a deal with a hated enemy because they had no other allies. None of them were in that mansion when Buffy had to fight Angelus. None of them saw Buffy stop his advance by her complete loss of everything as a weapon. None of them saw Angel's soul returned to him just as the vortex opened. None of them saw Buffy stab the sword into the chest of the only man she ever loved, condemning him to eternal torment in hell. None of them saw the hurt, confusion, and betrayal on Angel's face as the vortex pulled him in and closed around him, and none of them saw the utter despair and anguish on her face when the vortex closed, and she was left alone. The events of B2 utterly destroyed Buffy emotionally, and she really had no choice but to leave. Only Giles really understood that, and he was conspicuously absent at that party.
     That one scene was perhaps the most moving, most gripping, most intense scene's I have seen on this series. It was just starting to get really good, and I sat riveted by what I was seeing, and amazed at the talents of all the participants.
     And then, dammit, the zombies came, and spoiled everything. That's not to say the zombie fights weren't entertaining. I liked that plot, the fight was well done and entertaining, and all the principles, even Joyce, got some great moves in. But it's like pizza and milk. I like pizza. I like milk. But I don't like them together. In Anne, Buffy's trip into hell was necessary for her. The demons there were symbolic of the demons she was facing, and she had to face them to remember her identity as a demon slayer anyway. The zombies here were gratuitous violence. They added nothing to the plot, and interrupted one of the most emotional, best acted, gripping scenes since Innocence. To me, it seemed like a far too cheap cop out. I felt gypped.
     In addition, the character of Pat served no purpose whatsoever except to die. I thought she was completely useless, in fact, on a scale of 1 to 10 I would say she ranks right behind, or even right in front of, the Annoying One as pointless. I don't even know why Noxon bothered spending time introducing her just to kill her off. The thing is, she could have been a neat character. She could have been used from time to time to give a little insight into the mind of Joyce. Instead, she got a shovel through the eyes. Something just didn't strike me as right about her, and I felt she was extraneous and pointless. Even all of the depressive Buffy scenes in Anne were better, since they were necessary to advance the storyline. Here, too much time was wasted on monsters when a fascinating dynamic was taking place in the Summer's living room.
     This show had potential to be as good as Passion. The thing about Passion was that it focused solely on the Angelus/Buffy/Jenny angle, and didn't waste time with a subplot. This episode was almost wonderful in dealing with the pent up feelings and three months worth of leftover emotion and unanswered questions, but instead of fully having it out, it regressed into a fight with zombies and then pretty much all was forgiven. I felt there should have been more. This episode was good, but it should have been great. However, should is not was, and close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. 7/10

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