>------- Original Message -------
>From    : Jamie Marsters[mailto:tallica_99@...]
>Sent    : 4/17/2008 7:31:11 PM
>To      : JossBtVS@yahoogroups.com; FivebyFive@yahoogroups.com; dontkillspikeclub@yahoogroups.com
>Cc      : 
>Subject : RE: + Five by Five + Buffy - "Him" (#7.6) Review
>

----- Original Message -----

From: jmesh@...

This reviewer is rather mean-spirited about Him -- I liked Him -- I think Michelle was both cute and sexy -- I especially liked the 24 homage with Buffy, Dawn, Anya and Willow on the split screen -- and I always wondered what happened to the money Anya "withdrew" from the bank.

>------- Original Message -------
>From    : Jamie Marsters[mailto:tallica_99@...]
>
 >From:  http://www.denofgeek.com/television/28953/revisiting_buffy_season_7_episode_6.html 

Revisiting Buffy season 7 - episode 6
Sarah grits her teeth and prepares to sit through Him, an episode she really, really hated the first time 
around. Is it any better now, all this time later?
Sarah Dobbs 

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike was insane in the basement, and D'Hoffryn revoked Anya's 
vengeance demon licence. 

Let me preface everything else I'm going to say in this review by saying this: I really, really, really, 
really hated this episode the first time round. If I'd realised I had to watch this one next, I would have 
been less eager to get my arse back on the sofa for another episode. I'd probably have tuned into E4 and 
watched a few more of their endless reruns of Scrubs or Friends, instead. Still, at least it's over now. 

So, we open with Spike being moved into Xander's flat. Because Buffy thinks that the evil in the school 
basement is what's making Spike crazy, and because she obviously can't move him into her own house, and 
because Xander clearly has nothing better to do than become part of a comedy duo with Spike, she decides 
for them both that that's what's going to happen. The only reason Xander agreed to this was because it's a 
plot device. There's no way Xander would let Spike move in with him, and even if he did, he'd stake him in 
his sleep or something. Except, I don't know, this is some weird version of Xander who just lets his living 
space be invaded by the living dead. Whatever. 

The next scene is an aerial shot of an American football game, with Buffy and Dawn talking over it, because 
I guess someone thought it was time to get some use out of that crane they had lying around. Dawn quizzes 
Buffy on her feelings for Spike, and throws in a few digs at the soul-having Xander for leaving Anya at the 
altar, because the whole point of this dialogue is to make it funny when Dawn falls for RJ, Sunnydale 
High's star quarterback. It is, otherwise, a pretty terrible bit of script. And shouldn't Xander tell 
people at some point exactly why he left Anya at the altar, so they'd all stop using it as a funny funny 
excuse for how useless men are? I mean, a demon came along, pretended to be Xander from the future, and 
told him that if he married her, he'd be ruining her life. He didn't abandon her for a laugh, people! 

Eeeesh. 

After the credits, Buffy fights off a demon sent to execute Anya, which is apparently an excuse to bring 
Anya back on side, even though, like, even when she's supposedly been off the team she was always happy to 
help out by babysitting Dawn or something. I'm not sure if I'm prejudiced because I already thought this 
episode sucked from the outset, or if it's really remarkably bad, but, wow, this episode sucks. 

Meanwhile, at school, because Buffy's not meant to be working there or anything, Dawn is pacing the 
hallway, trying to spot RJ. When she finds him, he's talking to two cheerleaders about how there's an empty 
spot on the cheerleading squad. Of course there is. Dawn embarrasses herself trying to talk to him, which 
obviously means she'll have to dig out Buffy's old cheerleading uniform and try out for the cheerleading 
team, because apparently this episode is a slapstick teen comedy. And, of course, when she does try out, 
instead of being all graceful like she was back in the day when Once More With Feeling was happening, she 
falls on her ass and makes an even bigger fool of herself. She runs home and cries, only to be patronised 
by Buffy (again: they gave her a job as a counselor? At a high school??) 

The next day, when the other quarterback manages to oust RJ from his starting position on the team (I 
totally don't understand American football), Dawn pushes him down the stairs so he won't be able to play 
any more. Buffy suspects something supernatural might be going on, but it doesn't stop her going to the 
Bronze with Willow and Xander that night. They spot RJ dancing with a girl who, according to their 
conversation, is scantily dressed, but actually Dawn (of course it's Dawn, because it's all about the 
really crappy visual jokes this week) is wearing jeans and an asymmetrical top which, okay, exposes one 
shoulder and part of her midriff, but it's no worse than she usually wears, or indeed what Buffy usually 
wears. Not that that stops Buffy going completely overboard, which leads Dawn to accuse her of jealousy. 

I think I've just about figured out that this whole episode is just designed to open up a rift between Dawn 
and Buffy that'll continue throughout the series; it goes back to that thing where they're trying to make 
Buffy really unlikeable, and I have to say, they're succeeding. She's really unpleasant in this episode. 

At school the next day, Buffy takes RJ aside to give him a good talking to about the way he treats girls, 
but when he slips on his letterman jacket she goes all gooey and flirts with him instead. Embarrassingly. 
Was she always this bad at flirting? Urghhh. In order to put Dawn off, Buffy tells her that RJ really likes 
her, but thinks she comes on too strong, so she should just sit back and let him come to her. Then, the 
next day, Buffy makes her move, dragging RJ out of math class and ... either making out with him, or 
possibly having sex with him, in an empty classroom. Because this is a slapstick teen comedy, of course 
Dawn sees them, and Xander has to come save the day by taking them both home. Interestingly, despite 
Buffy's current issues due to having been almost raped by Spike last season, this kind of sexual 
exploitation - RJ is essentially using magic roofies - is never addressed, because this is a comedy episode 
and things like common sense can't be allowed to get in the way of the LOLs. Except, really not laughing 
her. 

I've almost lost the will to rant, this episode sucked so hard. Sigh. Okay, so Xander and Spike decide to 
pay a visit to RJ's older brother, who apparently used to be a star quarterback in his day, too. It turns 
out, though, that he got old and fat and pathetic - though he does manage to tell them that it's the 
letterman jacket that's working the mojo, that he got it from his father, who used it to win his beauty 
queen wife, before passing it to his baby brother. 

While the men are out of the house, though, RJ drops by and enchants both Willow and Anya, despite Willow's 
professed homosexuality. The less one questions this, the less it hurts. Trust me. Buffy, Dawn, Anya and 
Willow enter into some ridiculous competition to prove who loves RJ the most: Buffy plans to kill Principal 
Wood for him, Willow intends to use magic to turn him into a girl, Anya... goes to rob a bank, for no 
discernible reason other than ha, ha, isn't it so funny that Anya's obsessed with money? and Dawn, well, 
Dawn decides to kill herself by lying on some train tracks. 

There's an almost funny scene viewed through Principal Wood's window, behind his head, as Buffy approaches 
with a rocket launcher only to be chased by Spike, who tackles her and takes the rocket launcher away. 
Buffy manages to get to the train tracks just in time to save Dawn, then Xander and Spike track down RJ, 
rip the letterman jacket off his back and throw it in a fire, and then it's all hilarious because Anya 
robbed a bank. 

Ugh. I'm starting to remember why I thought season 7 sucked - this episode was just an exercise in bad 
writing. It's a filler episode, with a series of goals to achieve and a fairly terrible idea at its heart. 
I feel quite hypocritical, though, because I was bemoaning how depressing and serious the series had 
become, because everyone was so damaged, and yet I hated this lighthearted episode more than all the 
others. But actually, I don't think that's inconsistency on my part - I think it's that this kind of 
slapstick doesn't work in this context. All of these people are facing deep-seated issues and problems, and 
no amount of slapstick is going to change that. It just makes a mockery of the whole season. Yuck. I've got 
a bad taste in my mouth now...

15/04/08

..jamie_marsters

Buffy / Angel "Him"/"Spin The Bottle"

20th Century Fox Andy Hallett

by Noel Murray June 24, 2011

“Him” (season 7, episode 6; original airdate 11/05/02)

“Are you telling me I don’t feel what I feel?”

For a Buffy episode that’s so silly—in a good way, I think—it’s probably inapt to begin by focusing on a line so earnest. But a large part of why I like “Him” is that it’s rooted in such a common adolescent feeling: that sense that your elders can’t possibly understand what you’re going through when you’re stricken with lovesickness. I remember talking about being “in love” at 15, and getting annoyed when my older brother said that no one who’s 15 knows what “in love” means. Now I know he was right, but at the time I thought he was being a patronizing jerk.

So I get what Dawn goes through when she suddenly develops a crush on Sunnydale High quarterback RJ Brooks. She tries to get him to notice her by asking him inane questions in the hall, and then by trying out for the cheerleading squad with a painfully awkward pro-RJ cheer. Finally, Dawn wins him over when she pushes his chief football rival down the stairs, clearing a path for RJ to regain his starting spot on the team. Soon she’s doing raunchy dances with him at The Bronze, prompting Buffy to say—rather cruelly—that she’s glad their mom’s not around to see what Dawn’s up to.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been away from Buffy for two weeks (one a vacation, and one an all-Angel week), or maybe it’s because “Him” continues the enjoyable season seven trend of recalling classic Buffy high school adventures (in particular the Xander-becomes-irresistible season two episode “Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered”), but I found all the Dawn-loves-RJ business at first kind of touching, and then very funny once all the other Scooby women become smitten with RJ too. “I bet you run a lot, huh?” Buffy coos when she’s alone with him, heightening flirtation into physical comedy. (She also notes that she’s not much older than he is, so she’s really just like him “but with the sexual experience and stuff.”) Willow and Anya meanwhile at first rebuff RJ when he comes by the house—“No Buffy for you; leave quickly now!”—but after he’s gone they pine for him, with Anya insisting, “AJ is my best friend and dearest darling.”

It turns out that RJ’s attractiveness is tied to his varsity letterman’s jacket, which Spike and Xander discover when they go to see RJ’s brother Lance, who used to be a BMOC in Xander’s day—when Lance wore the jacket—but is now just a schlubby pizza delivery guy. So while Dawn, Buffy, Anya and Willow go about trying to woo RJ—by, respectively, laying down on train tracks, killing Principal Wood, robbing a bank, and casting a spell to turn him into a woman—Spike and Xander try to defuse the crisis by tracking RJ down and swiping his jacket.

The staging of the last act of “Him” is pretty crackerjack, with the four ladies’ schemes taking place first in split-screen and then in a series of boffo gags. We see Willow interrupted during her invocation of Hecate, and grumbling, “Now I have to start all over; Hecate hates that.” We see Buffy in the back of a shot, through a window, attempting to fire a rocket-launcher at Principal Wood before Spike and Xander tackle her. And we see Spike and Xander run at RJ and take his jacket, before burning it. (When asked if he considered using it himself, Xander says, “I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it didn’t fit.”)

“Him” is a fairly inconsequential episode on the whole—aside from a couple of developments I’ll note down below—and it doesn’t hold up to close scrutiny. (If the jacket’s so powerful, why has it taken so long to drive a group of women into hysterical madness?) But “Him” has a lot of that old Buffy snap, both in the dialogue and the pacing. And per spellbound Buffy, the episode serves as a reminder these characters really aren’t that far removed from being teenagers themselves. Which means that while they’re confident that they know what they’re doing and Dawn doesn’t, there’s some 30-ish version of themselves lurking around the corner, shaking their heads.

Stray observations:

• The potentially significant developments in “Him” involve Buffy bringing some of the outcast Scoobies back into the fold. She stops by Anya’s apartment for example—while Anya’s in the middle of being attacked by a demon—and invites her to stay at the Summers house for a while, saying, “I don’t want my friends out there alone right now.”
• Buffy also places Spike in Xander’s apartment, over both’s objections. Spike says he doesn’t want to be coddled—“It’s not coddling,” Buffy says. “Now go to your closet.”—while Xander just can’t stand his new roommate. (“Do you need some kind of English-to-constant-pain-in-the-ass translation?” he asks Spike while giving him a tour of his new digs.)
• Dawn’s a little concerned about the renewed Spike interest by Buffy too, not finding Spike’s restored soul to be enough of a change to forgive his attempted rape. “Xander had a soul when he stood Anya up at the altar,” she reminds Buffy, indicating that “soul” does not equal “good.” (Xander has his own opinions about that too: “Once you get back the soul, don’t you start picking up your own wet towels off the floor?”)
• Nice music cue and cut as “Theme From A Summer Place” swells up and then end abruptly as the commercial break begins. (Also, am I the only one who hears that song and begins singing it with the title as the lyrics, a la Jasper on The Simpsons?)
• Speaking of music, the soundtrack to “Him” was especially hip for 2002, with songs by The Shins and Coldplay. Plus, the band at The Bronze is The Breeders!
• Xander and Willow both get turned on watching a young lady dance at The Bronze, and then feel disgusted with themselves when they realize it’s Dawn.
• Buffy figures Anya’s going after RJ because, “She’s recently evil, y’know.” To which Willow whines, “So am I… why should I miss out?”
• Cordelia, taking inventory of what she remembers: “I know my ABCs, my history. I know who’s president, and I sort of wish I didn’t.”
• Lorne got the bottle spell from a wraith. “Sweet girl, not overly tangible.”
• Wesley tells the post-spell Cordy that there’s no need to be snippety, and she snaps back, “This is a clarion call for snippety!”
• Thank goodness the 18-year-old Angel doesn’t speak with an Irish accent, so we’re spared David Boreanaz’s forced lilt. The character does though still think like an Irishman. When that English bastard Wesley fights Gunn, Angel says, “I’m rootin’ for the slave.”
• Nice call-back to Buffy as Wesley wonders if they’re all going through the much-talked-about Watcher test where they’re stuck in a locked building with a vampire.
• While the gang is speculating on whether this predicament they’re in is part of a government conspiracy—which is pot-head Fred’s theory—Cordelia touches her short hair and moans, “The government gave me bad hair!” (Officious Wesley dismisses her concerns, but does think the short hair could be a clue. “Perhaps the whole point of this experiment is hair!”)
• Wesley, trying to sound smart while talking about Lorne: “I know this breed is nocturnal and feeds on roots or possibly human effluvia, and, uh… It’s a horned race.” Gunn scoffs, saying that Wes doesn’t really know anything, so Wes reiterates: “They’re nocturnal…?”
• Gunn suggests they cut Lorne’s head off, but as we know from two seasons ago, that won’t really work.
• Cordelia admires her post-18-year-old body, saying, “I’ve filled out even more.” Fred checks her own out and sighs, “And I apparently ain’t gonna.”
• Cordelia, pushing the vampire Angel toward Fred: “Look at her, half of her is neck!”
• Lorne, addressing us after a commercial break: “Well those were some exciting products, am I right?”