graduation day, part 2

Graduation Day, part 2
7/13/99
guest stars: Harry Groener (Mayor Wilkins), Alexis Denisof (Wesley), Mercedes McNab (Harmony), Larry Bagby III (Larry), Danny Strong (Jonathan), Ethan Erickson(Percy), Eliza Dushku (Faith), Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder)
written and directed by Joss Whedon

Synopsis: not yet written.

review: Yes, I realize that Graduation Day, part 2 aired in May of 1999 (actually July of 1999 for most of us). Yes, I also realize that as of this writing it is August of 2001. It’s not entirely my fault. The WB didn’t air the damn thing right away, and I was living in New Mexico when I finally got a copy to watch, far away from computer access. And, truth be told, I was disappointed.
First of all, there was really no reason for the WB to postpone the episode, but I can understand the logic behind it. I mean, there were students with weapons at the graduation ceremony attacking the commencement speaker, and ended up blowing up the school. (Granted, the commencement speaker had morphed into a giant serpent and was eating the said students, but I have a feeling that parental activist groups would have missed that point.) If something had happened, even something which bore no resemblance to Buffy, by someone who had never watched an episode of Buffy, Parental Activist groups would still have shown clips of Sunnydale High blowing up and saying ‘this is what popular culture is telling our kids to do. We have to get trash like this off the air.” That is publicity the show really doesn’t need, and I would rather see the episode air a few weeks late and keep the show on the air.
And while I’m on the subject, Parental Activist Groups are quite possibly the worst evil inflicted on America since the Olson twins. Someone shoots up a school, let’s blame Marilyn Manson. Let’s blame Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or trench coats. Or the Matrix. Let’s just forget about kids easy access to guns, it’s certainly never the parents fault, and for gods sake we can never blame those kids themselves. Oh no, it’s the pop culture that led kids down the path to evil. Parental Activist groups are made up of people who A: don’t have any kids, or B: spend so much time worrying about what kids watch on television that they completely ignore their own kids. Both Sheila Broflofski and Sheila Rosenberg are prime examples of the parents involved in activist groups. They are the same as the people who try to ban books except so many people seem to think banning TV is okay. While it is a crude, offensive show, South Park really does present this message better than probably any show on television. If you don’t like what is on the TV, than fucking turn it off. That’s what the on/off switch was made for, not to give symmetry to the channel change and volume buttons. It’s a little button called power. Learn it. Use it. Love it. Grow a backbone and tell your kids no. Stop worrying about hurting their self-esteem or making ‘good choices.’ Use the word no. It’s a good word. Yes your kids will hate you for it. They’re supposed to hate you. They’re your kids not your friends. They’ll get over it. The TV networks are not responsible for raising your kids, they are responsible for entertaining people, including the vast majority of us who can tell the difference between television and real life. If your kids can’t, it’s your fault. Take an interest in their lives. Leave my TV shows alone.
Alright deep breath, count to ten...1...2...3
Okay, back off my political soap box. On to my Buffy soap box.
I did watch Graduation Day, part 2 the day it was supposed to air. I downloaded a copy and watched it on Real Player. It wasn’t very good, but iIfigured it was just the 4x6 screen I was watching it on. So I waited to pass judgment until I actually saw it on the TV. I was living in New Mexico and my mom taped it for me and shipped it out, since we don’t get TV reception. And I found out that it wasn’t the poor screen quality, it just really wasn’t that good of an episode. It was okay, but not up to the caliber of a season finale. The final battle against the Mayor was just so rushed, and it focused far too much on Buffy/Angel, but that was typical of season 3 anyway. But I think, truthfully, what hurt the episode the most was the months of anticipation due to the postponement. G1 had been such a good episode, and the previews were so cool, and then we waited...and waited...and waited...and then it was like that was it? That is probably the same reasons that season premiers are usually a disappointment. Because they generally hold up well over time. And G2 is the same way. The initial bang isn’t quite there, but the lasting effect is quite good.
The biggest problem with the episode with that too much was crammed into one episode. Truthfully, I don’t think it could have been done any differently, either. The poisoning of Angel was very effective, and moreover became important during his spin off when Doyle explained how his lust for blood would grow. Plus, it led to a spectacular battle between Buffy and Faith at the end of G1, which could not have been cut out. That was perhaps the major payoff of the season. G1 ended with the perfect cliff hanger, and was such a good episode anyway that moving something from G2 forward would have messed it up. Basically, Joss needed about another half hour with which to do G2. But Joss only had 48 minutes, so a two act scene had to be crammed into one.
Act 1 was superb. I was worried that the Buffy/Angel subplot would take too much time away from the episode, and at first I thought it did. But as I’ve watched the episode a few more times, I’ve come to realize that, actually, Act 1 was the perfect amount of time to spend on it. Furthermore, the Drama contained therein was spectacular. While I was really sick of the Buffy/Angel back and forth, this time it was excellent. The urgency of the scene was tangible (and real, unlike so often when they would be like ‘oh I love you but we can’t be together until you resolve your feelings for Billie.'...sorry, channelling Days of our Lives there.) Angel was going to die unless he fed off Buffy. And if he did feed off Buffy, she very possibly could die.
The scene itself: the scene we’ve been waiting three years to see...Angel drinking Buffy. One of the best scenes they’ve ever filmed. The dramatic punch as Angel gulps the blood, his desperation as she beats him, knowing she’s bringing out the demon, knowing that the demon will do what he can’t, and that he’ll be powerless to stop it, the raw intensity as the slayer blood flows into his body, the animalistic passion as it courses through his veins, giving him strength, the look of pure lust in his eyes as he drains more and more, her own pain and weakening as her life is sucked away, and most importantly, the way he stops, the way the man takes control before draining her dry. Because it proves once and for all that Angel is in control, not the demon.The entire scene left me with my eyes wide, almost disbelieving the incredible drama.
Harry Groener displays more of Mayor Wilkins tender, human side when he finds Faith in the hospital. He really does have a father’s love for the girl. Their relationship really mirrors Buffy and Giles, the whole ‘I sometimes like to kill people’ thing not withstanding. His grief at her injuries was palpable, his anger at Angel frightening. He’s turned Mayor Wilkins into a remarkably complex villain, and I’m sorry that this will be his last contribution to the series, (a brief appearance during season 4 notwithstanding) because he’s become quite entertaining and moving. I actually felt sorry for him, which is remarkable since he was about to kill every one.
The dream sequence between Buffy and Faith was suitably bizarre. I still don’t know for sure what ‘730’ means, even though the number was repeated in the season 4 finale. The idea that it was counting down the days to the season 5 finale seems to have been given some weight. Perhaps it was foretelling Glory’s day of reckoning, which of course is the day Buffy would die. Of course, I personally like the idea that the dream occurred at 7:30, and Faith/Buffy’s mind was telling her to get a move on. Or that Joss was just being silly. I stated in my last review that I thought Faith was dead, but I’m glad to be proven wrong. She has a lot of story left in her (as evidenced by the incredible four part arc during buffy’s 4th season and Angel’s 1st, as well as her brief appearance during the Angel second season premier.) Despite her growing fame as an actress, I hope Dushku continues to play a role on Buffy or Angel, because she is truly one of the most compelling characters on the show.
The scenes with Buffy and the Mayor getting ready for battle were quite effective in the way they paralleled each other. Especially the Mayor’s fatherly admonishings to the vamps about swearing and snacking. He’s such a cut up! Very witty. And it never ceases to amuse me when Angel and Xander bicker like old married people.
The best part of the way the scenes played, though, was they way they incorporated four of the main students from the previous three seasons: Harmony, Larry, Percy, and Jonathan. The continuity of such minor reoccurring players is one of my favorite parts of the show. While I would have liked to have seen a few more faces from the past (Mitch, Freddie, Owen, Devon, Nancy), it is cool that they gave the four major ones some quality action. Percy got some good moves in, I’m glad he made it through the fight. And Jonathan did okay, and I was especially happy to see Cordelia take comfort in his arms during the battle. However, it was very sad that of those four, two of them did not survive the battle. Gay Larry has really been developed as a quality character over the past two seasons, and his death, more than anyone elses, really hit home about how dangerous the battle really way. The principals may have all survived, but the casualties were not all faceless and nameless. One of them was a popular character we all liked. Gay Larry, we’ll miss you. And killing Harmony was devastating to me. She’s been around since the beginning of the series, with no character development at all. I was very sad to see her go. Although I will admit, it turned out for the best. Her appearances in seasons 4 and 5 were hysterical, and she actually got more screen time than she did when she was alive. Harmony and Spike...a match made in hell. But that is further down the line, and her death in G2 was still sad.
Also effective was Wesley’s return. I was right when I said he’d be back, not representing the counsel but representing himself. He has certainly come a long way from the snivelling weanie who wanted to keep his knee caps in BG. He acquitted himself honorably (and set the stage, I might add, for his addition to the cast of Angel where he has become quite a respected and valuable ally.) I knew he was a good guy once you got past that counsel training.
I was wrong about Snyder. He didn’t have a part to play, for good or evil. But his death is quite possibly the best death scene ever on this show. My favorite part was that he didn’t go out as a coward, he didn’t die a hero, and he didn’t die trying to protect the mayor. He died exactly as he lived: scolding people for disrupting his well-established order. He actually yelled at the Mayor for disrupting the ceremony by turning into a giant snake. He sees the Mayor morph into a giant snake in the midst of his commencement address, and his reaction isn’t to run, or hide, or shriek like a woman. I guess Snyder wasn’t a coward at all. And he certainly wasn’t worried about the mayor eating the students, his reaction wasn’t an attempt to get them to safety. He’s so anal and mean spirited that his reaction is to scold the Mayor because what was going on wasn’t orderly. And the Mayor responded by eating him. Too, too funny. RIP Snyder. We’ll sure miss you!
Willow and Oz didn’t have much to do. Oz, as usual, had great lines. “We attack the mayor with hummas.” Oz’s random sarcasm is just such a great touch. Cordelia actually had quite a bit to do in this episode. Especially her sucky ebola virus plan, and her kiss with Wesley. Which was, of course, sucky too. The building passion, all culminating in ‘so good luck in England...I’ll drop you a line sometime...that’d be neat.” Perfect way to end that awkward romance. She even staked a vampire. Good for her.
The battle itself left a little to be desired, but it wasn’t bad. It just needed to be longer. It was cool to see the entire school band together to fight evil. Xander did a good job setting it up. He was good as key guy. The biggest problem was that the Mayor just wasn’t that cool. The threat of the ascension was scarier than the reality, but that is generally typical with television. It was brilliant the way Buffy defeated the Mayor, completely logical. Using his humanity against him...his love for faith. It was his one redeeming quality (apart from cleanliness) and it got him killed. Isn’t it ironic? And perhaps the coolest line...this huge snake coming into the library, seeing a bunch of explosives, and saying, in the Mayor’s jovial voice, ‘well gosh!’ and then getting blown into bits. As the whole school did the same thing.
Giles blowing up the school was definitely the Buffy the Vampire Slayer way to end High School. Talk about burning bridges. It was cool to see the school blow up. As Xander said, ‘guys we blew up the school! It’s the best day ever!’ Truly, that is the fantasy of probably every high school student in the country. Blowing up the school.
The best scene in the episode was the scene at the end where Buffy saw Angel, and he walked away. The steam, the shadows, the two of them looking at each other, not a word spoken...and then like that, he’s gone...it still gives me chills. The perfect way to end Buffy and Angel’s relationship, and the perfect way for David Boreanaz to exit the series. I had no doubt at the point that he would have no problems carrying his own show. I’ve been proven right.
As usual, the stunt people outdid themselves and the score was fantastic, the writing witty and memorable, the acting dead on. This show really has remarkable people working on it.
Oz however, had the best line in the show, one that really speaks to everyone. Every person who has endured countless tests, ridiculous rules, overbearing teachers who are sure their class is the only one, and principals like Snyder. Every student who‘s ever been made fun of, turned down for a date, or sat at home for a party. Every student who has felt like the whole world is against them and no one really understands the pressures of being a teenager. In short, every student who ever went to High School.
“Guys, take a minute to deal with this. We survived...not the battle...high school. We’re taking a minute...and we’re done.”
High School...what a time.
9/10

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