red's the color of mourning
a review of buffy the vampire slayer episode, "seeing red"
original Philippine TV premiere, april 28, 2003.
must've shocked the freaking hell out of Filipino censors
operating in Studio 23.
so yeah, technically, they chopped off the entire first scene,
the one with the bed and the red sheets and the tons of kissage.
and so, for the sake of those unfortunate ones - in fairness,
there was vital dialogue here (ugh, i hate homophobic societies.)...
Open in Willow's bedroom, daylight. Overhead shot of the
room, various items of clothing strewn across the floor.
Pan across the floor. Sound of giggling.
Pan further to reveal Willow and Tara snuggling together on the bed, under
red sheets.
(okay, scandalized yet? not even half.)
WILLOW: When did morning happen?
TARA: After the moon went down.
Willow giggles, leans up and they kiss for a while. Then Willow lies
back down with her head on Tara's stomach. Tara caresses her shoulders.
WILLOW: Mmm, I forgot how good this could feel. Us. Together. (pause) Without
the magic.
TARA: There was plenty of magic. Willow smiles, then sighs.
WILLOW: It's getting late.
TARA: (small frown) Wanna get up?
WILLOW: No! (Tara laughing) Oh god, no. (quietly) I was just thinking about
Buffy.
TARA: (frowns) Oh. She still isn't back?
WILLOW: I didn't hear her. She wouldn't talk about what happened at the
magic shop when she got home last night. She just wanted to know how close
I was to tracing the camera signal back to the Empire of the Nerds. And
then she left again.
TARA: I'm sure she'll be okay.
WILLOW: Yeah, I'm not really worried about her going up against Warren and
the others. I know this is going to sound crazy, but ... I think something
might be going on. With Spike and Buffy. (Pause) I mean, she looked so hurt
when she saw him with Anya. I think maybe-
TARA: They've been sleeping together.
WILLOW: (laughs) No. I wouldn't go that far.
TARA: No, I mean she told me they've been sleeping together.
Willow sits up to stare at Tara.
WILLOW: Sleeping together? You mean like the naked kind of together?
(and what did i say about vital dialogue? willow didn't know
buffy was sleeping with spike, for crying out loud. this scene was goddamned
important.)
TARA: (sighs) I'm sorry I didn't say anything, but I, I promised
her I wouldn't.
WILLOW: (shocked) Does everybody else know? Am I the only one she didn't-
TARA: God, no. She, she didn't even mean to tell me, it just came out.
WILLOW: (still shocked) How could she hide something like this from me?
TARA: I think she was afraid of the look you'd get on your face. (Willow
staring at her) Kinda like the one you're wearing now.
WILLOW: Oh, no, I'm not ... I'm just trying to understand.
TARA: So is she.
WILLOW: Wow, she probably really needs someone to talk to.
TARA: Probably.
Willow continues absorbing the news as Tara strokes her hair.
TARA: We've been kinda busy, maybe we didn't hear her come home.
Willow nods uncertainly.
that was the beginning of the episode. originally. but NO.
they even cut the ending of the teaser short... remember, flashback to the
ending of entropy? yeah, they cut *everything* short.
the episode begins now with:
Cut to the hallway. Willow, wearing a large football shirt,
knocks on a closed door.
WILLOW: Buffy?
and Tara coming out of the room wrapped in a blanket with
the line, "That's my cue to put some clothes on." and there, implying
what should've been showed.
and since when did the CBCP monitor Buffy episodes, huh!?
anyway, from my view, since Tara died at the end of the ep
and all... well, it was really hard to fully grasp the implications of Tara's
death *without* the first scene.
sure, there were some considerable amount of kissage that
managed to slip past... but i think the censors just got lazy in trying
to fish them out of the ep itself.
horrors, i'm actually thinking, had they indeed edited the
scenes out:
1) the one with buffy and dawn - no wait, that *was* edited...
minus the "we're better than good" dialogue;
2) the other one on the bed, shorter one though, but still on the bed, with
the line, "foiling evil schemes";
and
3) the one before Tara gets shot.
had they edited those scenes out... we would've had a *very*
damned short buffy episode last night.
but despite the little snippets of lovey-doveyhood they allowed,
the incompleteness of last night's episode was disappointing.
the first scene was crucial, not only in at least appreciating
the pain of the death itself, but also in understanding succeeding episodes
where... Willow would turn all evil. she'll even try to end the world. she
WILL NOT BE able to bring tara back to life, which was ironic, considering
what they did to buffy... and then, the bitterness, and the grief, and the
addiction to power.
and yeah, willow would dye her hair black. which i totally
dislike, btw, totally irrelevant, but i did love her red hair.
anyway. i'm mourning.
moving on... spike trying to rape buffy. god that was... i
don't know, i'm kinda thinking she kinda deserved it, i mean, leading him
on like that, and stuff... she kinda deserved it. kinda psychotic, i know,
nobody deserves to be raped, but then again... but then again, WHO THE FUCKING
HELL WOULD DARE RESIST JAMES MARSTERS!
(again, let me insert the "i know i wouldn't" line
here.)
xander and anya. that scene where xander looks through the
blinds of the magic shop... and his reflection on the window and the image
of anya cleaning inside (well, it was kinda symbolic, the whole cleaning
up... like cleaning up one's life, but not really getting the dust out...)...
now, i never was a shipper much, but... awwww, heartfuckinwrenching.
the trio. well, to hell with Warren, the antifeminist, sonuvabiaaaatch.
i love andrew. (he was the one who catapulted himself against
the roof via rocket.) so cute. kinda stupid, but yeah, cute.
other developments..
oh yeah. spike leaving sunnydale. and i confirmed i have less
reasons to watch buffy now. arrrggghhh...
(i had three reasons:
1) willow's red hair
2) amber benson
3) james marsters.
and now, they're all freaking gone! christ almighty, is this the end of
an addiction?!)
amber finally being in the credits. first and last. this is
a fact, there's no disputing joss whedon's evilness. arrrrggghhh.. i was
downloading the screencaps of seeing red over @ just
imagine, and there were caps of tara on the opening credits... the one
in tabula rasa, the one in normal again, the one in wrecked, the one in
dead things... and i really felt like i got cheated, or something. sure,
she was on the credits, but she was killed off three minutes before the
end credits rolled. it was very disturbing, and her last line, "Your
shirt..." goddamned haunting, but hey. that's life.
amber was a fantastic actress... the least the freaking censors
could have done was allow the ep to be shown full. if not during the premiere,
in one of the replays. the filipino viewers deserve that. in essence, they
kinda owe us something.
