Something I've noticed about Joss Whedon, he marches directly at a cliche, then at the last moment, sidesteps the cliche and makes fun of it while passing.
I love that Buffy's mom gets to be a complex character. There are times she's not there for Buffy, like with not knowing about the cheerleading tryouts. (The show doesn't dwell on it much, but the older I get, the more sympathy I have for Joyce: just divorced, just moved, mom to a troubled teen, and trying to get a new business off the ground! No wonder she's stressed.) But we also see her trying to connect to Buffy and doing her best, and failing through no fault of her own, in a way that's pretty familiar to teenager-parent relationships even if there aren't secret superpowers involved.
Joyce Summers is really an excellent mom, it is just that during most of the first season, she was going through the mixed transition of a divorce and moving from Los Angeles to Sunnydale.
Great episode. This is the one where I was convinced that Buffy was a unique show where they would try to defy expectations when the story called for it. I love the twist in this episode and I pretty much locked this show as a must-see from this point on.
That was exactly my reaction. This was the episode where I went from being a fan to a fanatic. After so many movies and TV episodes with an evil ventriloquist's dummy, here was something that turned it around and caught me off-guard. i was hooked.
@@DanielOrme Quite right. This show and Veronica Mars were the two shows where I could never guarantee what was going to happen episode to episode because they managed to go against the usual tropes constantly.
As Snyder is new, he was a perfect red herring for the demon. Plus he gets the great last line. I liked the Xander with the dummy zcenes. I like how Willow talked Xander and Buffy into the dramatic scene, and she ends up being the one who really can't handle it.
In the first episode Giles said people rationalise what they can and forget what they can't, like a collective suppression of trauma because obviously vampires and the supernatural don't exist so all the deaths and weirdness must have a reasonable explanation.
Oh man... you missed the after credit scene. So... the way I explained everyone being ok with the deaths is it's part of the mystical energy surrounding the hell mouth. Like sort of a perception filter making everything seem normal.
Also, the amount of deaths is only new to people that just moved there. For anyone growing up in Sunnydale, this is always what it's been like, so it is normal to them.
Yep. He is the cold-eyed dead-voiced little dictator of all our nightmares/memories. (Actually, my high school principal was OK. But my junior high principal ...☹)
Joyce and Buffy's relationship is a very good example of the parenting of that time. Buffy's Gen X and this is how the majority of parents were back then. It was very hands off.
The fact that you don't like dummies or dolls helped make one of your best moments. The look on your face when you saw the dummy. It was great. It's not always how much you like an episode but how you react to an episode that can be entertaining. Your face said "Oh shit, it's a dummy". Great reaction.
funny thing, at the end of the video you said no Netflix in 1997, so I googled in because I new Netflix was a thing around then....the company Netflix started in 1997 but rentals from them started in 1998
You were wondering why students didn't find it odd that Morgan brought his ventriloquist doll to class. While I can't answer that, I do have an interesting story related to that. Jeff Dunham, the noted ventriloquist, once had a routine in his act in which he talked about his life growing up. One thing he mentioned, and he had photos to prove it, was that he he always knew that he wanted to be a ventriloquist. So much so that he would bring his dolls to class. You can see this act in one of the many dvds that he has released.
It's far too easy to judge the mom but you're forgetting that Buffy goes out of her way to hide her other life from her. also she's a single mom who has to pay all of the bills and so has a full time job that often keeps her busy after hours in order to pay for what she and Buffy both need. When you only have one parent taking care of the child, that parent simply won't have enough time to dig into and see every aspect of everything. Having been a single mom I can tell you we beat ourselves up for it as much as our kids do. but we HAVE to pay the bills. There's no choice. The stress of trying to keep up with bills, food, child's clothes, child's life, child's school and everything involved in all of that all by yourself can be completely overwhelming. Mom's are humans too. :)
This is one of my favourite eps in S1. I love that final scene ("I don't get it" lol) when Sid's body is carried in triumph as a real tragic hero. R.I.P. Sid, he wasn't a dummy
If only Buffy thought to tell her mom that she plays Dungeons and Dragons with Willow and Xander and Mr. Giles is their Dungeon Master, then she could get away with not only the late hours away, but also telling her of the day's events. Great review! I especially liked how you reacted in the first few minutes of the episode, looking at "us" knowingly! So fun!!
I also enjoy this episode more than most do, the twist doesn't get me anymore because I've seen it a million times but there are soo many funny little moments with Giles, Cordelia, and Principal Snyder especially. Fave line: "My predecessor would have said _kids need understanding, kids are human beings._ That's the kind of woolly-headed liberal thinking that leads to getting eaten."
Regarding all of the deaths, I can’t remember when but somewhere in the Buffyverse somebody came up with the medical condition “spontaneous neck rupture “.
I thought the reversal of Sid from creepifying Chucky villain to tragic, though acerbic("Don't get sniffly on me, sis...") hero was well conceived. His character implies a lot of backstory(and even Slayer Lore) in a very brief screen time. In a later season, with a higher budget, better production values and more settled characters, it might have been a fan favorite. And Snider''s ears stole the show.
Little fun story: this was the first episode of Buffy i EVER watched and i was like 7 years old and it SCARED ME to death. I was shocked by it and refused to watch it again up until i was like 14. And when I did i LOVED IT and came to find it was actually one of the most fun and comedic buffy episode ever. Great reaction by the way
I love your analysis. I think sometimes comedic characters are just comedic characters. With Joyce, I think she both serves the purpose for the plot, and part of her character is she has her own life and stresses.
Back in the day I lent my friend's girlfriend my Buffy VHS tapes (yep, it was that long ago!) because I knew she'd love the show. When watching this episode she paused it, sat at the bottom of the stairs and kept calling my friend to come down and watch it with her because she was so freaked out! He sarcastically thanked me the next day at work for giving her nightmares. lol
I knew when you said you would hate this episode because of the doll, that you would love this episode. As to all the deaths and so forth, many of your questions will find a resolution at some point. (Maybe not in this season . . . or the next . . . etc. Wait for it . . . ) In the meanwhile allow yourself to enjoy what they're bringing to the table.
you-" Ow!" me, "hmmm, if that was intentional or unintentional, it was still hilarious!" regarding the comment made after the dummy said " You know what they say, once you go wood, nothing's as good"
Loving your reactions, and this one is one of my favourites (from S1). Such a well executed episode. Regarding Joyce, then as a mum of 3 daughters (the youngest is 17) she is incredibly relatable. You remember that there is _something_ happening, but the details escape you, because there are many things happening, and within the past week they have probably needed their bus pass renewing, extra money for lunch, and then there were forms and more money for some trip or activity, they had a sleepover with a friend, they have drama after school one day and band another day (but one of those days has changed!) and there is something happening at the school (parents evening or a show or some type of other event) that you have to go to - and that is on top of your own life of work and bills and everything else. So remind me - what thing was your child doing today? 🤔
A LOT of the fandom is not enamored with this episode. Being a child teen that survived the high school experience in the late '70's though, this was one of my favorites. Guilty confession, from my sophomore year onward, I participated in all the talent shows, and can identify with the really bad acts (though we never had anyone trying a "dramatic reading" from Oedipus Rex. And OH CRAP! You did not react to the post credits, so you have no idea what I am talking about. Think about "The Avengers" that Joss would later create. You NEVER leave the theater until the credits have run!) The acts I was in were "good" acts - trust me! My mom told me so! This is once again (and no spoilers, but you might already sense a pattern) a prime example of the "Whedon misdirection of audience expectation." Also, those halcyon days before HIPPA - when every medical record could be accessed by hacking some computer somewhere! Dramatic license even for those days, but needed to advance the plot. Finally, and glad I didn't post before watching the entire reaction, Xander saying "REDRUM! REDRUM!" while wielding the dummy is an homage to Stanley Kubrik's classic horror film "The Shining". Not sure if you have seen that, but it would be entertaining if you reacted to it if not.
In Italian Xander doesn't say that...he says:"Look at me...I'm completely inanimate. I'm souless! Sooouuuuleeesss!!"(Which sounds better in Italian because"soul"is"anima"and "inANIMAto"means"without soul".)
Cass asks, "Is the whole town unaware of the crazy things that are happening?" My answer to that is go back to what Principal Snyder said in this episode and what Cordelia said after she was saved at the end of the Harvest episode. Both acknowledge there are weird things that happen in their town but to them its just a nuisance in their daily lives and choose to ignore it and hope the issues go away. And then there's people like Giles, Buffy, Willow and Xander who really know what is going on in town, know the kind of world they live in and know the school is on a Hellmouth. I don't like dolls either. I had fun cutting all of my sister's Barbie dolls hair off when we were little and used a marker to mess up their lips and eyes lol. But dolls don't scare me one bit. They're small, I can smack them across the room 😂. I'm not kidding when I say that whenever I hear Chucky angry and cursing up a storm, I die laughing my butt off. I think he's hilarious. This was a fun episode. I love the end credit scene with them when they're doing their part in the play 😂. Good times ♥ 👍.
yea, the twist in this episode is really good. Also the end credit scene. Also, they did a play with in a play with out you realizing that is what they did. And when I said "you" I don't mean you specifically but rather you the audience.
ohno you missed the credit scene you could actually assume he was not the actual monster of the week from the first scene where they show it from the POV of the monster looking at the puppet. The puppet mentioned that if the monster gets all of the body parts, he's human for seven years so... In 1990 there was a lot of mudered kids in sunnydale i guess
You missed the ending. So funny. Also you should know the show has a somewhat rare Easter egg you should be watching out for. At the end of the credits they have the production logo along with a monster that roars. A a rare occasion, it will so something different and it usually has something to do with the episode. So, you should hang through the credits for his scene go catch them all. It's small and rare, but it's pretty fun when you catch them.
Best thing about this episode is our introduction to Snyder, one of the great characters in the show who has really got it in for the Scoobies straight off. Again S1 is hard going for newbies to the show, as many of the storylines are fairly weak, love the fact that you really enjoy these early episodes. You really seem to be loving this show as the Series progresses, and believe me from mid Season 2 onwards it improves leaps and bounds.
I’m. Did you stop watching at the same time you stopped the RUclips reaction??? There is an after credit scene on this episode. Hint. Watch them all until the grrr arg every time.
Love your Powerpuff girls t-shirt! The actor who plays Principal Snyder was also the Quark, the crooked, Ferengi barkeeper in Star Trek:Deep Space Nine. Shame the RUclips reaction doesn't have the 'Nothing in here but old issues of Scientific American. Ooh I haven't read this one!' love Willow so much.
Regarding whether Marc was a demon or if a demon possessed a student named Marc, I think we need to head canon some stuff in Buffy, for things to turn out semi-logical. (Not a knock on the show. Every story is, by definition, a contrivance, and Buffy isn't any different, just super fun, and moving, and sometimes even profound). So, if Marc were a human teenager that was possessed by a demon, then it would mean the out come of this episode had Buffy et al guillotining a kid, in order to kill the demon. Not necessarily unreasonable, I mean sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, and demons are the worst. But it's still pretty harsh, given the vibe of the show. Now, we're gonna do some assumin here. But I think it's a little more reasonable to go with the notion that 'Marc' was the identity that a demon took on, to blend in with society, in order to do what it wanted. Syd tells us he was hunting the demon back in the 30s(?), so for 60ish years, the demon has been disguised (via prosthetics or some magic fake human skin) and it goes around committing mischief. But the catch is, it needs actual human organs (a brain and heart) to keep going. (Not having the brain in time seems to cause the skin on the back of his hand to degrade and expose the green demon skin underneath, so maybe not prosthetics). Now, whether you want to assume 'Marc' has been the demon's only disguise since the 30s, or its used other disguises, is up to you. I think the fact that Syd's been chasing this demon since the 30s suggests it's been pretty elusive, (also considering that there were six other demons Syd was after). Even if you factor in Syd's preexisting condition of being a dummy, 60 years is a long time to be hunting somebody, and not catch them. So, based on that, my guess is the demon had multiple disguises, and the 'Marc' identity was only the last link in a long chain.
I always find this a really fascinating episode - it's is, on the surface, an even more stupid plot that the previous episode with the demon/AI.. But instead it really works quite well, despite the obvious wackiness. It just goes to show how much wit and good characters can add to a story. Here we have Giles being nearly as subversive as the kids and a wonderful performance by the new principal leading to a much more entertaining story - even if it's as daft as a brush.
Fun fact. The end scene during the final credits wasted more film than the other scenes combined. People just couldn't help laughing at the actors trying to be bad at acting.
If you like this episode watch the film Magic, it's got a few elements from that film. Oh boy when you ask about if Sunnydale is noticing the deaths and how are they explaining it, well keep watching Season 2 and 3 begin to answer. Principal Snyder is such a great character to hate. The actor playing him played Quark on Star Trek Deep Space Nine the Ferengi who loves money.i love how early the little pieces to this shows mythology starts to form.
My grandma collected porcelain dolls and they creeped me out. Not even at just a young, but all the way up to the last time I stayed at her house before she passed away. And I was 29 then.
Regarding Joyce - at least we've met her! Have we seen either of Xander's or Willow's parents? Not yet... :) Of course the show is Buffy-centric, but neither Xander nor Willow even talk about their parents much...
Joyce has a lot on her plate being a single mom moving to a new town where she is trying to start her own business. There's also the fact that normal people just don't seem to register or remember supernatural events in order to protect their sanity.
i think "netflix documentary" is no different to than any other documentary that existed way before netflix. just on a different "channel" so to speak.
So can I assume we won't see any Annabelle or Childs Play movie reactions on this channel? lol. One thing about Buffy is that it's very self referential. Usually Cordelia points out truths under the guise of sarcasm Principal Snyder pointing out recent freak accidents shows they don't go unnoticed. I won't say anything more, but your instincts are right that Sunnydale's unexplained mortality rate will be addressed late on.
Sid the Dummy is one of my favorite one-shot characters. He is the first demon hunter that Buffy meets, and so her first role model. Wisecracking, but fearless and dedicated to his mission, even when he knows it will cost him his own life. The climax 19:59 ,as Buffy gently cradles the now-lifeless body of Sid, is a travesty of a pieta, but a pieta nonetheless.
I hate ventriloquist dummies in movies and TV shows with a passion and can't believe they actually made me feel sad for Sid's death. Sign of great writing.
I honestly don't remember if the dummy got me first time round, it's literally been 25 years since I saw this season for the first time (at 6pm on BBC 2 after I got home from school) but my gut feeling is no, he didn't get me. Ever since "The Witch" did the old "Freaky Friday" twist, I distinctly remember just expecting it every episode & that (more than any mysteries) is what ended up getting me a few times down the line. That is to say, sometimes I would expect a twist that wouldn't come & I'd end up totally out-thinking myself :D
@@TheRealGSmith I'm making a joke that you have to explicitly mention your metaphors when talking about a show like this. There are zero spoilers here.
Развлечения
PSA: Patreon told me about the post credits scene and I went back and watched it😊 I got in another copyright pickle with this one; sorry for the delay
We were anxiously awaiting!
Did you catch the after credit scene or is that not in your copy?
@@wildoneizzy She said she went back and watched it.
Something I've noticed about Joss Whedon, he marches directly at a cliche, then at the last moment, sidesteps the cliche and makes fun of it while passing.
@@docsavage8640 During.
I'm surprised some people don't like this episode that much. It's one of my favorites from Season One!
I agree its a great episode in season one but in the total seven seasons its not even in the top 20
I agree!Just as"I Robot,You Jane"this is another unfairly underrated episode!!
Mine too. There are only 3 episodes in season 1 that I like better than this one.
Some people just don't find ventriloquist dolls scary even though they are truly creepy.
@@Dunybrook My little brother got a Charley McCarthy doll when he was 9 or 10 & that thing always creeped the hell out of me.
I love that Buffy's mom gets to be a complex character. There are times she's not there for Buffy, like with not knowing about the cheerleading tryouts. (The show doesn't dwell on it much, but the older I get, the more sympathy I have for Joyce: just divorced, just moved, mom to a troubled teen, and trying to get a new business off the ground! No wonder she's stressed.) But we also see her trying to connect to Buffy and doing her best, and failing through no fault of her own, in a way that's pretty familiar to teenager-parent relationships even if there aren't secret superpowers involved.
The show doesn't always take itself seriously. That's part of the charm, in my opinion.
Joyce Summers is really an excellent mom, it is just that during most of the first season, she was going through the mixed transition of a divorce and moving from Los Angeles to Sunnydale.
I get the people who are afraid of dummies disliking the episode, but Sid not being evil is a rarity in pop culture to this day.
The best principal has joined the show.
Snyder is one of my favorite characters in the Buffyverse. He's hilarious. Armin Shimmerman plays him perfectly.
@@willsofer3679 I liked Principal Snyder well enough, but Quark is still one of my all-time favorite Star Trek characters...
“Omg Giles! That was so mean…. I kinda liked it” 😂
Great episode. This is the one where I was convinced that Buffy was a unique show where they would try to defy expectations when the story called for it. I love the twist in this episode and I pretty much locked this show as a must-see from this point on.
That was exactly my reaction. This was the episode where I went from being a fan to a fanatic. After so many movies and TV episodes with an evil ventriloquist's dummy, here was something that turned it around and caught me off-guard. i was hooked.
@@DanielOrme Quite right. This show and Veronica Mars were the two shows where I could never guarantee what was going to happen episode to episode because they managed to go against the usual tropes constantly.
As Snyder is new, he was a perfect red herring for the demon. Plus he gets the great last line.
I liked the Xander with the dummy zcenes.
I like how Willow talked Xander and Buffy into the dramatic scene, and she ends up being the one who really can't handle it.
In the first episode Giles said people rationalise what they can and forget what they can't, like a collective suppression of trauma because obviously vampires and the supernatural don't exist so all the deaths and weirdness must have a reasonable explanation.
This. The whole town just doesn’t want to talk about all the weird… so if they ignore it & rationalize… it’s not real.
I love that when she gets scared in the night superhero Buffy runs into her mother's arms?
Oh man... you missed the after credit scene.
So... the way I explained everyone being ok with the deaths is it's part of the mystical energy surrounding the hell mouth. Like sort of a perception filter making everything seem normal.
Also, the amount of deaths is only new to people that just moved there. For anyone growing up in Sunnydale, this is always what it's been like, so it is normal to them.
I'm glad you were clued in to the end credits scene. 👌🏻 And I really like Buffy teaming up with her fellow monster fighter, Sid. ✊✊
Got to go back and watch the credits. Grrr Arrrg
snyder's personality is just being a pain in the ass 😂
Principal Snyder is here to provide the existential villain that students see in the authoritarian principal of their high school tenure.
Yep. He is the cold-eyed dead-voiced little dictator of all our nightmares/memories.
(Actually, my high school principal was OK. But my junior high principal ...☹)
Joyce and Buffy's relationship is a very good example of the parenting of that time. Buffy's Gen X and this is how the majority of parents were back then. It was very hands off.
The fact that you don't like dummies or dolls helped make one of your best moments. The look on your face when you saw the dummy. It was great. It's not always how much you like an episode but how you react to an episode that can be entertaining. Your face said "Oh shit, it's a dummy". Great reaction.
“That’s the kind of woolly headed liberal thinking that leads to being eaten “ 😂😂😂
"Kids. I don't like 'em."
He's not wrong though.
@@TheRealGSmith 😂😂😂
funny thing, at the end of the video you said no Netflix in 1997, so I googled in because I new Netflix was a thing around then....the company Netflix started in 1997 but rentals from them started in 1998
I googled it too.
Netflix was a thing back then, but you rented videos there, they sent it to you and then you'd have to send them back.
"It could be anyone. It could be me! ... It's not." Oh Willow!
You were wondering why students didn't find it odd that Morgan brought his ventriloquist doll to class. While I can't answer that, I do have an interesting story related to that.
Jeff Dunham, the noted ventriloquist, once had a routine in his act in which he talked about his life growing up. One thing he mentioned, and he had photos to prove it, was that he he always knew that he wanted to be a ventriloquist. So much so that he would bring his dolls to class.
You can see this act in one of the many dvds that he has released.
"When I grow up, I want to be a ventriloquist with a bunch of racist dummies!"
As soon as a ventriloquist dummy appeared on the screen, you looked so over it. :) Fun reaction.
It's far too easy to judge the mom but you're forgetting that Buffy goes out of her way to hide her other life from her. also she's a single mom who has to pay all of the bills and so has a full time job that often keeps her busy after hours in order to pay for what she and Buffy both need. When you only have one parent taking care of the child, that parent simply won't have enough time to dig into and see every aspect of everything. Having been a single mom I can tell you we beat ourselves up for it as much as our kids do. but we HAVE to pay the bills. There's no choice. The stress of trying to keep up with bills, food, child's clothes, child's life, child's school and everything involved in all of that all by yourself can be completely overwhelming. Mom's are humans too. :)
This is one of my favourite eps in S1. I love that final scene ("I don't get it" lol) when Sid's body is carried in triumph as a real tragic hero. R.I.P. Sid, he wasn't a dummy
If only Buffy thought to tell her mom that she plays Dungeons and Dragons with Willow and Xander and Mr. Giles is their Dungeon Master, then she could get away with not only the late hours away, but also telling her of the day's events. Great review! I especially liked how you reacted in the first few minutes of the episode, looking at "us" knowingly! So fun!!
Angel is old enough (looking) that Buffy introduced him as a tutor from the local community college.
I also enjoy this episode more than most do, the twist doesn't get me anymore because I've seen it a million times but there are soo many funny little moments with Giles, Cordelia, and Principal Snyder especially.
Fave line: "My predecessor would have said _kids need understanding, kids are human beings._ That's the kind of woolly-headed liberal thinking that leads to getting eaten."
Regarding all of the deaths, I can’t remember when but somewhere in the Buffyverse somebody came up with the medical condition “spontaneous neck rupture “.
I love this episode. Buffy is really good with it's plot twists
@@docsavage8640 Why come to a reaction of a show you don’t like & leave snarky comments? That’s just sad.
I also love this episode and how at the end of it the Principle is just revealed to be a total weirdo lol
"Horrible murders with hearts being cut out...and ALSO smoking"
One of the best episodes of Season 1. Make sure to watch the credits too.
Keep watching and you will be surprised as to who notices the "unexplainable deaths/disappearances" and how they address them.
FINALLY someone thats being real about Joyce! everyone on the internet acts like shes mom of the year but shes so checked out and neglectful.
I thought the reversal of Sid from creepifying Chucky villain to tragic, though acerbic("Don't get sniffly on me, sis...") hero was well conceived. His character implies a lot of backstory(and even Slayer Lore) in a very brief screen time. In a later season, with a higher budget, better production values and more settled characters, it might have been a fan favorite.
And Snider''s ears stole the show.
Little fun story: this was the first episode of Buffy i EVER watched and i was like 7 years old and it SCARED ME to death. I was shocked by it and refused to watch it again up until i was like 14. And when I did i LOVED IT and came to find it was actually one of the most fun and comedic buffy episode ever. Great reaction by the way
I love your analysis. I think sometimes comedic characters are just comedic characters. With Joyce, I think she both serves the purpose for the plot, and part of her character is she has her own life and stresses.
Back in the day I lent my friend's girlfriend my Buffy VHS tapes (yep, it was that long ago!) because I knew she'd love the show. When watching this episode she paused it, sat at the bottom of the stairs and kept calling my friend to come down and watch it with her because she was so freaked out! He sarcastically thanked me the next day at work for giving her nightmares. lol
I knew when you said you would hate this episode because of the doll, that you would love this episode. As to all the deaths and so forth, many of your questions will find a resolution at some point. (Maybe not in this season . . . or the next . . . etc. Wait for it . . . ) In the meanwhile allow yourself to enjoy what they're bringing to the table.
The pilot explained how people deal with the deaths and weirdness
you-" Ow!" me, "hmmm, if that was intentional or unintentional, it was still hilarious!" regarding the comment made after the dummy said " You know what they say, once you go wood, nothing's as good"
Loving your reactions, and this one is one of my favourites (from S1). Such a well executed episode.
Regarding Joyce, then as a mum of 3 daughters (the youngest is 17) she is incredibly relatable. You remember that there is _something_ happening, but the details escape you, because there are many things happening, and within the past week they have probably needed their bus pass renewing, extra money for lunch, and then there were forms and more money for some trip or activity, they had a sleepover with a friend, they have drama after school one day and band another day (but one of those days has changed!) and there is something happening at the school (parents evening or a show or some type of other event) that you have to go to - and that is on top of your own life of work and bills and everything else. So remind me - what thing was your child doing today? 🤔
I'm loving your commentaries. You read between the lines. This is going to be so much fun!!!
A LOT of the fandom is not enamored with this episode. Being a child teen that survived the high school experience in the late '70's though, this was one of my favorites. Guilty confession, from my sophomore year onward, I participated in all the talent shows, and can identify with the really bad acts (though we never had anyone trying a "dramatic reading" from Oedipus Rex. And OH CRAP! You did not react to the post credits, so you have no idea what I am talking about. Think about "The Avengers" that Joss would later create. You NEVER leave the theater until the credits have run!) The acts I was in were "good" acts - trust me! My mom told me so!
This is once again (and no spoilers, but you might already sense a pattern) a prime example of the "Whedon misdirection of audience expectation."
Also, those halcyon days before HIPPA - when every medical record could be accessed by hacking some computer somewhere! Dramatic license even for those days, but needed to advance the plot.
Finally, and glad I didn't post before watching the entire reaction, Xander saying "REDRUM! REDRUM!" while wielding the dummy is an homage to Stanley Kubrik's classic horror film "The Shining". Not sure if you have seen that, but it would be entertaining if you reacted to it if not.
In Italian Xander doesn't say that...he says:"Look at me...I'm completely inanimate. I'm souless! Sooouuuuleeesss!!"(Which sounds better in Italian because"soul"is"anima"and "inANIMAto"means"without soul".)
Cass asks, "Is the whole town unaware of the crazy things that are happening?"
My answer to that is go back to what Principal Snyder said in this episode and what Cordelia said after she was saved at the end of the Harvest episode. Both acknowledge there are weird things that happen in their town but to them its just a nuisance in their daily lives and choose to ignore it and hope the issues go away. And then there's people like Giles, Buffy, Willow and Xander who really know what is going on in town, know the kind of world they live in and know the school is on a Hellmouth.
I don't like dolls either. I had fun cutting all of my sister's Barbie dolls hair off when we were little and used a marker to mess up their lips and eyes lol. But dolls don't scare me one bit. They're small, I can smack them across the room 😂. I'm not kidding when I say that whenever I hear Chucky angry and cursing up a storm, I die laughing my butt off. I think he's hilarious.
This was a fun episode. I love the end credit scene with them when they're doing their part in the play 😂.
Good times ♥ 👍.
yea, the twist in this episode is really good. Also the end credit scene. Also, they did a play with in a play with out you realizing that is what they did. And when I said "you" I don't mean you specifically but rather you the audience.
Great reaction! Did you see the end part in the credits?
I love the end credit scene with the dramatic scene. Very funny .
The dread caused by the school talent show is certainly something worth revisiting.
This is probably my favorite episode of season 1
"Bye-bye now! I'm completely inanimate!" is such a funny line
This episode has another scene after the credits - be sure to check it out!
ohno you missed the credit scene
you could actually assume he was not the actual monster of the week from the first scene where they show it from the POV of the monster looking at the puppet.
The puppet mentioned that if the monster gets all of the body parts, he's human for seven years so... In 1990 there was a lot of mudered kids in sunnydale i guess
You missed the ending. So funny. Also you should know the show has a somewhat rare Easter egg you should be watching out for.
At the end of the credits they have the production logo along with a monster that roars. A a rare occasion, it will so something different and it usually has something to do with the episode. So, you should hang through the credits for his scene go catch them all. It's small and rare, but it's pretty fun when you catch them.
Best thing about this episode is our introduction to Snyder, one of the great characters in the show who has really got it in for the Scoobies straight off. Again S1 is hard going for newbies to the show, as many of the storylines are fairly weak, love the fact that you really enjoy these early episodes. You really seem to be loving this show as the Series progresses, and believe me from mid Season 2 onwards it improves leaps and bounds.
I’m. Did you stop watching at the same time you stopped the RUclips reaction??? There is an after credit scene on this episode. Hint. Watch them all until the grrr arg every time.
Netflix was actually founded in 1997, but I guess they didn't do documentaries back then ;)
You’ve got to get in the habit of going through the end credits… even in fast forward. And there can even be variations in the Grrr Argh cartoon.
Love your Powerpuff girls t-shirt!
The actor who plays Principal Snyder was also the Quark, the crooked, Ferengi barkeeper in Star Trek:Deep Space Nine.
Shame the RUclips reaction doesn't have the 'Nothing in here but old issues of Scientific American. Ooh I haven't read this one!' love Willow so much.
Regarding whether Marc was a demon or if a demon possessed a student named Marc, I think we need to head canon some stuff in Buffy, for things to turn out semi-logical. (Not a knock on the show. Every story is, by definition, a contrivance, and Buffy isn't any different, just super fun, and moving, and sometimes even profound).
So, if Marc were a human teenager that was possessed by a demon, then it would mean the out come of this episode had Buffy et al guillotining a kid, in order to kill the demon. Not necessarily unreasonable, I mean sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, and demons are the worst. But it's still pretty harsh, given the vibe of the show.
Now, we're gonna do some assumin here. But I think it's a little more reasonable to go with the notion that 'Marc' was the identity that a demon took on, to blend in with society, in order to do what it wanted.
Syd tells us he was hunting the demon back in the 30s(?), so for 60ish years, the demon has been disguised (via prosthetics or some magic fake human skin) and it goes around committing mischief. But the catch is, it needs actual human organs (a brain and heart) to keep going. (Not having the brain in time seems to cause the skin on the back of his hand to degrade and expose the green demon skin underneath, so maybe not prosthetics).
Now, whether you want to assume 'Marc' has been the demon's only disguise since the 30s, or its used other disguises, is up to you. I think the fact that Syd's been chasing this demon since the 30s suggests it's been pretty elusive, (also considering that there were six other demons Syd was after). Even if you factor in Syd's preexisting condition of being a dummy, 60 years is a long time to be hunting somebody, and not catch them. So, based on that, my guess is the demon had multiple disguises, and the 'Marc' identity was only the last link in a long chain.
Wooden you know, it's a good episode!
I can’t help but feel like this episode was two episodes crammed together
Neck Rupture is a fatal congenital medical condition. It's tragic, but really nothing that can be done about it.
Snyder is hilarious!
I always find this a really fascinating episode - it's is, on the surface, an even more stupid plot that the previous episode with the demon/AI.. But instead it really works quite well, despite the obvious wackiness. It just goes to show how much wit and good characters can add to a story. Here we have Giles being nearly as subversive as the kids and a wonderful performance by the new principal leading to a much more entertaining story - even if it's as daft as a brush.
Your reactions are always fun.
Fun fact. The end scene during the final credits wasted more film than the other scenes combined. People just couldn't help laughing at the actors trying to be bad at acting.
Really enjoying your reactions and analysis! 😊
Not to spoil much, they do explain why people don't question the massive random death rate in the town... eventually.
If you like this episode watch the film Magic, it's got a few elements from that film.
Oh boy when you ask about if Sunnydale is noticing the deaths and how are they explaining it, well keep watching Season 2 and 3 begin to answer.
Principal Snyder is such a great character to hate. The actor playing him played Quark on Star Trek Deep Space Nine the Ferengi who loves money.i love how early the little pieces to this shows mythology starts to form.
Giles is really smart - but sometimes he is rather...unwise.
Good episodes coming up.
I particularly enjoy the next 47 episodes. I can't wait to see what you think.
My grandma collected porcelain dolls and they creeped me out. Not even at just a young, but all the way up to the last time I stayed at her house before she passed away. And I was 29 then.
You missed a little funny bit in the titles when it shows the three of them doing the dramatic reading 😂
Regarding Joyce - at least we've met her! Have we seen either of Xander's or Willow's parents? Not yet... :) Of course the show is Buffy-centric, but neither Xander nor Willow even talk about their parents much...
End credit scene! 😜😎🇬🇧
Don't know if you caught it, but there was a credits scene at the end of this episode.
Cute eyeliner!
Joyce has a lot on her plate being a single mom moving to a new town where she is trying to start her own business. There's also the fact that normal people just don't seem to register or remember supernatural events in order to protect their sanity.
Did you miss the after-credits scene?
Actually Xander got in some action finally last episode.
Did you miss the post credit scene. A real pity if you did!
I can forgive subpar makeup effects for a 90s tv show budget
I honestly never heard anybody call a doll a "dowel" before. That a Canadian thing?
i think "netflix documentary" is no different to than any other documentary that existed way before netflix. just on a different "channel" so to speak.
yes! just wasn’t sure which channel would’ve been the biggest back then:)
You missed the final scene, after credits.
So did this work as therapy for puppet phobia?
A great question
So can I assume we won't see any Annabelle or Childs Play movie reactions on this channel? lol.
One thing about Buffy is that it's very self referential. Usually Cordelia points out truths under the guise of sarcasm Principal Snyder pointing out recent freak accidents shows they don't go unnoticed. I won't say anything more, but your instincts are right that Sunnydale's unexplained mortality rate will be addressed late on.
Hey Cass, did Sid help your talking doll phobia.
Sid the Dummy is one of my favorite one-shot characters. He is the first demon hunter that Buffy meets, and so her first role model. Wisecracking, but fearless and dedicated to his mission, even when he knows it will cost him his own life. The climax 19:59 ,as Buffy gently cradles the now-lifeless body of Sid, is a travesty of a pieta, but a pieta nonetheless.
I hate ventriloquist dummies in movies and TV shows with a passion and can't believe they actually made me feel sad for Sid's death. Sign of great writing.
Hello Cass
Did u miss the end credit scene in this one?
Did you miss the post credit scene?
I honestly don't remember if the dummy got me first time round, it's literally been 25 years since I saw this season for the first time (at 6pm on BBC 2 after I got home from school) but my gut feeling is no, he didn't get me. Ever since "The Witch" did the old "Freaky Friday" twist, I distinctly remember just expecting it every episode & that (more than any mysteries) is what ended up getting me a few times down the line. That is to say, sometimes I would expect a twist that wouldn't come & I'd end up totally out-thinking myself :D
wasn't the ending
I love Snyder, he's such a slimy worm, metaphorically of course.
Spoiler-ish, kinda.
@@TheRealGSmith I'm making a joke that you have to explicitly mention your metaphors when talking about a show like this. There are zero spoilers here.