BtVS S8.14 Wolves at the Gate III

[hazelk]

That what show are you watching meme?

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - the “when Sarah met the very scary robots” show. Or for the last episode the James Ellison/Johnny Cash on a white horse show.

Heroes - in the first season I think the only thing I wasn’t watching was the “Sylar is the only character worth vidding” show. Three episodes into the second I really have no idea. Possibly the “Angela Petrelli back in the day Company Chronicles” but hopefully not the “West is really annoying but I can’t put my finger on exactly why” show.

Battlestar Galactica - the “note to self, religion freaky and where have all the real Cylons gone” show. Plus the “Mary McDonnell/Tricia Helfer/Katee Sackoff” is totally awesome show.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer S8 -

Death is what she dreams of when she sleeps
Aiko’s dream is over like so many before and to follow. Chloe’s death in S7 and Loo being brought home in Fray both referenced here. I don’t know the significance of wrapping Aiko like a mummy but the differences with Chloe’s death scene are instructive. “Help me cut her down” not “Dawn get that knife.” Dracula breaks the spell but still has problems adjusting to the modern world. Toru and co thrive in it and seem to wield some W&H style clout, owning their own building and a workforce in the thousands. Kumiko hanging from the ceiling remains the silent partner.

The cover for the first issue drew the three of them in a way that recalled the earlier unholy trinity of Drusilla, Angelus and Spike but although Kumiko seems to fufill a Drusilla-like role in within the group that’s as far as the comparison really goes. Also on the spurious connection front, I meant to point this out in the last issue but the giant red lens is awfully like the red egg thing that was broken in the vision of Buffy’s betrayal. Something about the colour, is it blood red or setting sun? Red is the colour of the Twilight symbol on the cover of Radon’s book.

She makes it with her hands
Renee playing dumb tourist schoolgirl is pretty funny. Buffy showing no mercy and the four of them power walking away lit by the explosion is pretty serious. I’ve seen comparisons to the disastrous Dirty Girl raid but Faith’s sortie on the underground armoury would be a more direct model. Satsu of course has no such points of reference, I really like the argument she has with Buffy because Satsu’s right but can’t know what a big thing it is for Buffy to ask her to lead those left behind and help bury Aiko the way she couldn’t for Chloe. Also Buffy’s reaction to having ma’am flung at her like a gauntlet suggests there’s more to this relationship than experimentation/desparation on her side.

Xander and Renee sitting in a tree. Which Dracula would never climb, not if they begged.

I am Dawn. Hear me roar!

Death is her gift
Final page, did Joss/Drew just make his very own ‘Woman in a Refrigerator?’ His very own black woman in a refrigerator? In the later sense of woman brutally murdered solely to motivate the male hero. I mean it’s different from Fred or even Jenny dying because we only really knew Renee as a Xander love interest. Although that’s not entirely fair, she was one of the gang as well. And it really depends on what happens next. She’s been stabbed through the chest but is she dead or just fatally wounded (and we know there are cures for that)? If it is fatal is the point for Xander to turn Conan or betrayer or to trigger a revolution in the ranks? And what’s the point of the trap, if they were going to humanize all the Slayers next morning why lure them in now? I guess that’s why they call them cliffhangers.

Comments

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

the giant red lens is awfully like the red egg thing that was broken in the vision of Buffy’s betrayal. Something about the colour, is it blood red or setting sun? Red is the colour of the Twilight symbol on the cover of Radon’s book.

And of the scythe.

Renee playing dumb tourist schoolgirl is pretty funny.

And a decent-sized hint that she is/was American. ("Clueless Algerian exchange student" isn't really enough of a cliché to fool anyone.)

Final page, did Joss/Drew just make his very own ‘Woman in a Refrigerator?’ His very own black woman in a refrigerator?

I've seen people ask that (and, as a not very frequent comics reader, had to look it up) and while I do think it looks (so far) like a pretty cheap way to set up something for the next issue (was all of that characterization of Renee just so he could kill her off?)... I must say I don't buy it completely. Renee's not a helpless victim; like Aiko, she has shown herself to be both resourceful and competent, but she's in a dangerous profession. The fact that she's black shouldn't make her invulnerable. Personally, I'm more interested in how come not ONE of these supposedly experienced fighters thought to keep look-out when they entered the bad guy's lair... Christ, even *I* never fell for that hologram trick back when I used to play Duke Nukem 3D. :-)

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

EDIT: I could have made that clearer. I mean to say that I don't buy that Renee fits the WIaR cliché perfectly.

That said, Dracula did spend most of the last issue essentially calling her a slave, so...

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

And of the scythe.
Yes and it’s such a very distinctive shade of red. But next thing you know I’ll be basing whole plot scenarios on Willow’s shifting eye colours.

I don't buy that Renee fits the WIaR cliché perfectly.
I don’t either to be honest and I’m probably misusing the term anyway (as happens when you use wikipedia as a substitute for actually knowing about stuff). I think what’s pricking the “Joss please don’t be going there” thumbs is more Renee’s race than her gender – I give Joss a pass on writing women as people not plot devices/steroetypes but his track record on race is a lot more questionable. There are pretty few non-white characters with speaking parts in Sunnydale and it took until S7 for any of them not to die, be evil or be evil and die. S8 was doing a good job of returning diversity to the ‘verse until (possibly) now.

I'm more interested in how come not ONE of these supposedly experienced fighters thought to keep look-out when they entered the bad guy's lair..
Maybe they were relying on Willow and she’s been fooled by technology before. Also hard to lookout for fog – did they fogify the Scythe?

[rowanda380.livejournal.com]

I hope that Renee isn't dead, Xander disserves a little good lovin.

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

I like her too. And we had so little time with her.

[rowanda380.livejournal.com]

agreed, I was just starting to get to know her...and now she may be gone :0(

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

I just remember when Renee got stabbed during the zombie outbreak in, I think, issue 3, and people were all "SHE'S DEAD AND JOSS KILLED HER FOR BEING A SLUT OVER XANDER! MISOGYNY!!!"

So I don't think people should be assuming she's dead this time. It looks a bit more serious but, hey, Slayer healing.

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

I hope so, I like her. This time at least part of the reaction seems to be "good she's dead, now Xander can be all manly and vengeful about it," which is a little off-putting.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, I hate it when fans justify feminists' worst fears.

[owenthurman.livejournal.com]

Renee doesn't l dead to me, yet. Willow has held together people wounded worse than that.

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

True and even if she is dead there are ways to come back from that.