Buffy S8.03

[hazelk]

Three down one to go. If last month’s was disorientating this one’s a complete hall of mirrors. The mystery man is Ethan Rayne. Excellent, I knew there was something familiar about the theatrical hand gestures and boneless over the top Englishisms but I’d forgotten that those things weren’t unique to Spike/Marsters. Buffy is sceptical at first and then gets distracted by OMG the naked, the outfit, the trains into tunnels, the lecherous cherubs, the stakes raining on the lilys, the Georgia O’Keefe lily parts, the fleshy folds of volcano erupting, THE PINK. And the whole thing looking so shrink wrapped. Porn or kitsch just move it along.

Willow takes on Amy by using her strength against her rope-a-dope style. Nice mention of Catherine because mothers are important (dead Joyce central in the puzzle cubes of Buffy’s brain) and she was her own undoing too. Willow a little overconfident, however, Amy re-groups and pixelates. I love how pixelating Willow mirrors Buffy’s dreamspace broken into jigsaw pieces in this spread. Rayne leads Buffy to the clue to her enemy’s identity but is he working for her or just for himself? Nothing he does helps her escape the dream, Willow does that and Willow already knows Amy’s name where Ethan didn’t. “I can’t see outside myself,” another self-involved villain? Sounds like the Dane, do we know any ancient Romans? Scandinavia brings Odin to mind for some reason. Twilight (of the Gods)? Janus?

Xander’s reaction to the amazing Rosenberg was joyous, Fee Fi Foe and I was still stuck on the dream reveal and thinking Englishman but no it’s giant Dawn for the win. The dreamer wakes so easily you’d think that wasn’t the big picture and so it turns out but first Xander/Renee awww and Kennedy’s dead? Willow’s awfully shifty about what she’s been doing and now they’re taking things slow, could there have been a repeat of the scare Kennedy got in GiD? I always hoped they’d follow up on that more. Not yet, now it’s Willow’s turn to be the strong woman bound. Cue Warren in the flesh, this one an excellent likeness.