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Season 3, Ep 18 (Patreon)

Published:
2022-02-22 17:00:05
Edited:
2023-07-01 15:33:57
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

oh boy … i'd never ever ever want to hear thoughts 😳

Files

Buffy Season 3, Ep 18 - Earshot

Vidyard video

Comments

Holi117

During the classroom scene when buffy is reading thoughts for answers, you noticed how the teacher talked about everyone having internal insecurities, how the characters in othello were quick to believe the orher was unfaithful etc (you said “ah i wondered how this would link in…”) but did you also notice the part about the characters in discussion being a shadow of othello, the darker half, not a “real” person? In Buffy, Kendra represented the rules and regulations of the slayer side of Buffy, how Buffy could have been if she were like most slayers have been (taken from any family they have, no friends or social life), and how that rigidity, only having her slayerness to fall on, ultimately seemed to leave Kendra unprepared. She didnt last very long. Now we have Faith, who is also alone like Kendra was, but she wasnt taken in by a watcher as a young girl. She had a troubled past, an abusive home, so she is alone for entirely different reasons. She is wild, has no structure to her life or slaying, the total opposite of Kendra. She represents the darker side of being the slayer… Buffy’s shadow-self. “Kill me, you become me.” Faith is all that Buffy COULD be without friends, family, school, love, trust. We saw a little of these elements of the two slayers in The Wish episode - the buffy of the wish universe was cold, hard, unmoved by seeing dead bodies in cages at the bronze, not worried about fashion or how she looked (wearing clothes that are comfortable and utilitarian, ideal for slaying but not necessarily nice looking; hair tied back in a braid out of the way.) she was Kendra in that her whole world was being the slayer, and Faith in that she trusted nobody but herself and didnt let anyone in or get close… I love how this season dives into the metaphor and the literal of what can effect people (who by all rights have the same destiny and power). And I love seeing how the “different versions” or elements of charcaters play off one another. Its just such smooth, clever, deep writing when you really think about it.

Jessica Roth

Episode: Over-rated. Darcie: doubtless a joy. Me: shutting up, off to watch.

indaeo

This episode didn't air in the expected spot in the US because the Columbine shooting that took place a week before. It was the first time I ventured onto the internet to download an episode because I believe it still aired in Canada (and boy did it take forever to do that back then). The WB ended up airing this episode later in September, just before Season 4. However, all that aside, it's one of my favorites from the season.

ghostofdurruti

Angel (deadpan): "I'm a funny guy." Probably the funniest thing you've ever said, buddy. Yes, it's such a missed opportunity that Buffy didn't go to spy on Faith to find out what she was thinking! Though to be fair I think us *not* knowing what she's thinking and having to speculate about it is a big part of what makes her story so intriguing, so from a storytelling perspective it's probably a good thing that she didn't. And hey, no reason to be haunted by the fact that Rupe and Buffy's mom slept together, because I'm pretty certain that they didn't... sleep, that is. :D Good episode overall--I especially like the callback to Willow's interrogation of Jonathan in "Go Fish". There's some spots where characterization is kind of sacrificed for the sake of a joke, though (Xander's "ooh, Jello!" moment sticks out as a really bad one), and I don't like how Buffy's need for a "break" from her relationship with Angel is framed as more a matter of her worrying that he was into Faith than a matter of her being shaken by seeing how easily he was able to channel Angelus. Still, I feel like it's a good, relatively-non-spoilery episode to show friends if you're trying to get them into the show and you don't want to just start with the pilot, since it "shows off" both the comedic and dramatic aspects of the show really well. (There are mentions of the ongoing season arc e.g. Faith's betrayal and the Mayor's ascension, but they're brief, and hopefully by the time they would be relevant they would also be forgotten. Other than that the main thing it spoils is the fact that Angel is a vampire, which people often already know just through cultural osmosis. That and which characters are still around at this point, I guess.)

Jennifer Feikert

Crossing fingers, that you feel better soon Darcie.

Jessica Roth

So sorry to hear about your setback, Darcie. Hang in there. :( So, yes, this is the episode that was delayed by the Columbine (Littleton CO) massacre. The show had been in reruns since "Enemies" (aired March 16th) and was due to come back with this on April 27, but the shooting happened the week before and the network pulled the episode, only showing it in September, before the start of Season 4. Because it was impossible for Americans to see the episode (this was before file-swapping, so helpful Canadians couldn't be that helpful), there was a lot of hype when it came back, the "missing" episode, one last nostalgic look back, etc. It got to almost cult status, with people calling it "perfect" and giving it 10/10 ratings. When, in reality, it's just another Jane Espenson joke-fest. Not so hot, IMO. 7/10…if I'm generous.

Jessica Roth

And yes, school shootings were indeed getting "trendy". (Because the US is *DROWNING* in penis-substitutes, aka "guns", and we didn't have the brains to get rid of them like Australia did after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. So there was shooting in Paducah KY (3 dead, 5 injured…the shooter was only 14 years old), and one in Pearl MS (killed 2, injured 7; the shooter had killed his mom before going to school) and Springfield OR (a lousy shot; he only killed 2 but wounded 25 others. Killed BOTH parents, though) and doubtless others I've forgotten. With thanks to Wikipedia for the details,

Jessica Roth

I just spent the second half of the episode agog at how badly the show is now treating Xander. According to Jane, Xander • is constantly preoccupied with sexual thoughts • can't do 4th grade multiplication • doesn't know that you're expected to the reading in English class • runs out on Buffy when she's having a health crisis • uses the threat of a mass-shooting as an excuse to chat up girls • when the danger gets imminent, he gets distracted by JELLO, of all things. Oh, and he's also obsessively jealous of Cordelia's dating life, even though HE cheated on her, and he's had sex with another woman since their break-up. Okay, then. Seriously, I can't think of a single episode in S1 or S2 that made Xander look this pathetic. Not even when he was under Natalie's pheremone spell in "Teacher's Pet". I get it; the frothing Buffy/Angel 'shippers HATE Xander and Joss is pandering to them. I just wish he'd take a break. (After all, last season the B/A 'shippers wanted Angel "fixed" immediately so that we could get back to the kissing. But Joss properly ignored them and told his story. What happened to that Joss? Sigh.)

cruzinbosco

One of my favorites of the series and probably one I've seen the most. Yeah, I don't think I'd want that "power" either. I was a newly 10-year-old in California when this episode aired and that year was different for sure. Yeah, we had school shootings before and even one near where I went to kindergarten (Arkansas) just the year before, but I didn't know that. We were kids who didn't grow up with what American kids today do, we didn't have shooting drills so when Columbine happened and schools across the country were being targeted, it was intense and new. For my school, it was bomb threats where we were evacuated and lied to (the staff didn't want to scare us but we were kids, not stupid), rushed out on buses to be taken elsewhere. It was crazy. Now that I am older and have looked up the past before Columbine, it's shocking to know what I didn't know then. So many shootings. And more every week since. :(

SK Elkins

I can't imagine not having voices yammering away in my head. I studied meditation for years just to learn how to get them to shut the hell up every once in a while. I used to go for weekly floats in a sensory deprivation tank to help out with that (as well as with a medical condition that the floats really help to alleviate), but the pandemic has pretty much put the kibosh on that routine for now. Which sucks. On a related topic, did you know that some people never visualize anything in their heads? Like, when they read a book, they don't actually form mental images of anything that's described in the text. They don't even bring up any mental imagery when they remember things or events. It's called aphantasia. My housemate has it. And he's a professional artist, too, which you would think would be a problem, but he claims that it's actually advantageous in some ways (although I think that he does need to work from photographs and models far more often than most artists do). Go figure. . One thing that possibly gets lost these days about this episode is that in the days before Columbine, a student with a rifle in a tower was THE iconic image associated with mass school shootings, due to the 1966 University of Texas tower shooting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas_tower_shooting Given how frequently we see school shootings these days, it may seem weird now that an event from 1966 should still have been seared into people's minds as the ur-example all the way in 1999, but it very much was. So much so, in fact, that "figure with a rifle in a tower" was pretty much an instant visual shorthand for the entire idea of a mass shooting at a school. I remember when this episode finally did air in the US, in September, I went into it expecting to think that the decision to delay its broadcast had been utterly absurd. I thought it might have a hint of gun violence, or something like that, something only tenuously connected with the Columbine massacre. The instant I saw Jonathan in that tower, though, I was like "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Okay, yeah, I can see why they decided to delay this one now." . The classroom scene in this episode seems like it was specifically written as an attempt to assuage my problems with Faith's characterization in _Enemies_ (which I think I refrained from ranting about last week, since I didn't want to Yuk all over everyone's Yum). Iago's motives are spurious, eh? Because he's not a real person, but merely a dark shadow of Othello? Well, okay then! But...I don't know, show, can you maybe make up your mind on this point? Am I supposed to react to Faith as if she's actually a psychologically viable character, or am I just to accept her as a flat manifestation of Buffy's shadow? Because this attempt to have it both ways is really weakening the entire season arc for me. . I have some issues with how Jane Espenson writes Xander, but she does have a great memory for just how absurd teenagers can sometimes be. Freddy Iverson and Nancy Doyle are keen caricatures of such instantly recognizable types. I went to school with those kids. In fact, I've a really awful suspicion that I might have...well, kinda *been* Freddy Iverson for a while there back in high school. It's okay, I grew out of it. I hope. . The costuming in this show drives me crazy sometimes. Buffy must be in premature perimenopause or something, because she's always wearing tank tops and spaghetti straps and plunging necklines while the rest of the cast is done up in long-sleeved flannels and turtleneck sweaters. Seriously, is it so much to expect that the cast be dressed as if they're living in the same climate zone? (It's particularly awful in Amends, in which we keep being told that there's this heat wave going on, and yet everyone is dressed up in wool pea coats and snuggly scarves and the like. There's even one scene in which Xander verbally complains about how hot it is while wearing some long-sleeved sweater thing. I mean, c'mon!) . Sorry to hear that Covid has been playing its up-and-down games with you this week, Darcie. With luck it will leave you alone soon.

Jessica Roth

You asked why they brought Buffy outside? Well, so that Jane could make Cordelia look shallow by complaining about the cold. (Never mind that she doesn't actually SAY that, so Jane just invalidated her previous joke about how Cordy just blabs whatever's on her mind.) And of course Cordelia is completely right that moving an injured person is the LAST thing you should do. (Not to mention it makes the detective work a lot more difficult if they leave the scene of the psychic incident, but of course Buffy hasn't told them about that yet.) Cordy does get a classic line ("Like shame is something to be proud of?") but she too gets to be incompetent in a crisis. Gone is the girl who subtly interrogated Don the Sexy Security Guard in "Killed by Death" (and she was only supposed to be covering for Xander in that instance; she went above and beyond), instead CC just flato-ut asks Mr. Beach if he's planning the massacre. Surrrrrrre, Jane. And then when Cordelia accidentally finds the "killer's" confession, she ignores what Jonathan wrote and kvetches about cheerleading instead. Oh, whatever, Jane. Just go away.

Jessica Roth

Jane does a half-decent job on Willow; her instructions to her "students" when she distributes the questionaires is cute, and Willow gets points for noticing that Giles has been kind of useless since he got the sack. But I can't say I'm thrilled with Willow kind of rubbing it in Buffy's face about the game; that's not the Willow I know. (It's also stupid, since Buffy doesn't patrol all night long. There's no reason she can't go to the game and then patrol. If she was that much of a slave to patrolling, she'd never go to the Bronze, or see Angel, or have dinner at home. So Jane is trying to make Willow look like a bad friend for the sake of an unearned "oh, poor Buffy!" moment. Get stuffed, Jane.)

Jessica Roth

Angel, of course, is still lacking manners; not only does he sneak up on Buffy on the street (and she just asked him for space, so that's kind of intrusive), but I can't think why he's all silent when she starts rambling about Faith. I know, I know, if Angel was talking we'd be distracted from Buffy trying to hear his thoughts, but it just looks silly that he's sitting there like he's giving her the silent treatment. That said, Angel certainly has form for that sort of behavior, so I can't really complain. And Jane does arguably the best character work on Oz that we've seen to date. Not necessarily the "deep thoughts" telepathy scene (what we mostly learn there is that he's so uncommunicative that the girl he's been dating for over a year finds him a complete mystery, which can't be a healthy relationship), but we see that he can actually gauge Hogan's neuroses (and perhaps he has some resentment of the jocks), that he's got a sense of humor about his lack of expression, and that he's still a bit abashed at his band's lack of skill. Good work…I just wish there was more of it.

Noah

Some random thoughts, somewhat coherent. * This is an odd episode. I don't enjoy most of it, but there are a couple of moments it hits out of the park. I am a sucker for both a clever bit of world building and a clever turn of phrase, so I loved Angel's explanation of why a telepath can't read a vampire; they took a long-established bit of vampire lore and turned it a few degrees to the left. Didn't feel forced at all. Unlike...well, most of the rest of the story. * I thought it felt as though there were some good kernels on which to build a good story, the writers just couldn't make it jell (pun absolutely intended; I am a bad man.) * There is a very tenuous (though multi-strand) connection between this episode and the season 3 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation "Tin Man". In the interest of keeping TNG spoiler-free for any who haven't seen it, that's all I'll say. * I honestly don't think I ever noticed before that that demon threw a knife at her head.

Claire Eyles

So as I think someone else has pointed out this episode wasn't aired at its scheduled time due to Columbine. That was 1999, prior to that there was the Stockton schoolyard shooting in 1989, which killed 5 and wounded 23; the University of Iowa shooting in 1991, which killed 4 people an wounded 1, the Lindhurst High School shooting in 1992, which killed 4 people and wounded 9; the Thurston High School shooting in 1998, which killed 4 and wounded 23; and the Westside Middle School shootings in 1998 which called 4 and wounded 10.

Claire Eyles

I love Giles calling Wesley a berk as well. Lotta people don't know that 'berk' is shortened rhyming slang for berkshire hunt, and hunt rhymes with....:D

Jessica Roth

In checking up on the clothes (see my reply to SK Elkins, above), I noticed that the timeline seems to be screwy, too. Apparently, on the 2nd day (starting at the end of Act I), Buffy goes to English class, then books it over to Angel's, tries to interrogate him, comes back to school, and has a general Scooby meeting in the Library, all before lunch. Really? Especially since Buffy specified (in "Becoming Part 2") that Angel's mansion is outside the city limits. ("That abandoned mansion on Crawford St.., outside the city."). I mean, talk about effective time-management, but… And it's all the same day, since nobody changes any clothes. I'm half convinced that Cynthia just slacked and didn't bother to get another set of outfits, but it's more likely to be a script error.

Jessica Roth

Speaking of people not doing their jobs, Jeff Pruitt isn't having his finest day, either. I mean, that's a lovely shot of Sophia Crawford when "Buffy" chins herself to the roof, but normally you're supposed to hide the double a little better than that. (For example, when Buffy breaks through the window to get into the tower, that's also Sophia, but Jeff has her land with her face looking at the floor and in shadow, so it's much harder to see.) And can we talk about that "stunt lady" for the final fight? First, it's a guy. Second, he's short and scrawny (did you lose the number of whomever did the stunts for Daryl Epps? Stick a wig on him and that would be better than this). Most importantly, the stunt guy is way too visible in the fight, when "she" and Buffy exchange punches before Buffy knocks "her" down. You can put it on the editor somewhat (but with Regis Kimble directing, there a substitute in the editing room), but at the end of the day, Jeff's job is to choreograph the fights so this doesn't happen. Don't slack, Jeff. Boo.

Jessica Roth

Back to the script, a key problem is that it's so flaccid and wastes so much time before the plot actually starts. I mean, what's the purpose of that scene where the gang discusses the Mayor (who isn't in the episode) and Faith (also not in the episode, but at least the Buffy/Angel relationship scenes later on are necessary to their personal arc) and the Ascension, where they don't know a thing, and don't make any progress. Utterly useless scene. I used to get on Marti Noxon for writing pointless scenes, but those were just Giles speaking into the phone or a quick exchange of dialogue between two characters. This is six characters sitting around doing nothing for a whole 2:00, which is an eternity in TV time. Angel chasing and killing Jenny, in contrast, takes just 1:39 from "Oh, good. I need to work up an appetite, first." to "I never get tired of doing that." You can see that David Greenwalt (whom we haven't seen since he directed "The Wish") is busy preparing for the spinoff, because he was the guy who made sure the episodes were well-paced. In S1 or S2, Buffy would discover her telepathy at the end of the teaser, and would hear the murder threat at the end of Act 1, and we'd go on from there. This is just too slow to get started. To be fair to Jane, one reason the scene is so content-free is that not only do the characters not know what the Ascension is, JANE didn't know. She reveals on the commentary (which I mostly found insipid; I don't care that you think Wesley looks like Pierce Brosnan) that Joss himself hadn't worked out the finale yet, so the writers were just name-checking and stalling at this point. Lovely. Sigh.

Jordan Haddow

After watching reactors watching this episode, I always find it funny how many never knew Joyce and Giles had sex in Band Candy. After watching Band Candy, I figured it was just a fact. I guess I tend to forget how younger people grew up watching shows that had sex scenes in them. Back when I was a kid, there were lots of movies that couldn't show sex scenes, or even blood from bullet wounds. So, to give the audience a cue that the scene was leading towards the characters having sex, they would pan the camera away just as the kissing was getting passionate. If you go back and watch that scene, you can see it do that. Of course, I can't say I wasn't totally surprised, as I hadn't expected them to do it on the cop car. Especially not twice. I tell you, that Ripper is a wild one. Actually, I'm fairly sure of this, but I think the same pan maneuver was used when Angel and Buffy had sex too. The camera panned away and later showed them sleeping in the bed. Just an odd note about how older shows told the audience what was happening because they couldn't show it.

Jessica Roth

Regis Kimble does a good job for a first-time director (I like the low-angle shot when we cut to Cordelia cheerleading), but there is one egregious fluff: when Angel is giving Buffy the antidote, David's back is positively BATHED in sunlight. Dude should have gone up like a Roman candle. It's particularly egregious because Jane makes sure to include TWO separate "Angel can't be in the sunlight moments in her script: when Buffy quickly pulls back the blackout curtain at his mansion and when Angel enters with the antidote, smoking. I agree with you that just using the blanket is dubious. I mean, it can't cover everything, and if any part of Angel catches fire (as we saw with Spike in "Lovers Walk"), that blanket is flammable, too. (I suppose that, while Angel couldn't have run all the way from his mansion, he might have gone through those handy "electrical tunnels", popped out at the street corner, and just sprinted up the front walk to Joyce's door. But still.)

samantha

This episode meant so much to me when I first watched it as a teen. Still one of my top favs of season 3 and even the first 3 seasons. I love when Darcie says the aspect of the demon might take Buffy's mouth and then Buffy says "at least I still got a mouth." This is also probably my favorite Oz episodes of all Oz episodes - everything he say says is somehow both thought-provoking and funny at the same time. According to Wikipedia ( i looked at this awhile and was very surprised) school shooting have been occurring since the mid 1800's with an average of 1 fatality or so until about the mid 1980's. The Colombine High shooting in CO however was the most notable, which occurred the same week this episode was suppose to air in April 1999. I was 11 at the time and remember seeing it on the news. Then of course 2 years later was September 11th 2001 and I experienced my first and only school lock down - kinda crazy to think about, though I knew we weren't in any real danger living in MN.

Jessica Roth

One final gripe about the timeline: when Angel shows up with the antidote, we've already seen lots of scenes at the school (Willow and Nancy, Xander and Larry, Freddie hiding from Oz) and it's almost at the noon deadline. Sooo…what kept Angel? We saw him hunting the demon at night…if it takes so long to get through the electrical tunnels, maybe he should have call Giles for a ride? (Angel can ride in the trunk to avoid the sunlight.) [OT Canadian question: do y'all say "boot" as well, or is that just a British thing? And yes, that "y'all" is completely gratuitous…I've only been in South Carolina since 2018, lol.] [While I'm OT, I should squeeze in that the Xander/Larry conversation is the one REAL Xander scene in the script. He thinks about his past experiences, as he did with the Army in "Innocence" or with the Hyena in "Phases", and tries to quietly connect with Larry, even though he felt really awkward with him last time. If only I could be convinced Jane didn't just do it to make a punchline out of Xander's gay panic, ha-ha. I mean, still better than what "Friends" was doing at the time, but…]

Jessica Roth

Speaking of getting a ride from Giles, how does Buffy get back to the school? Even with her superspeed, it's asking a lot to have her run all the way there. (Again, remember the geography. Buffy lives near downtown…we see her walk there in "Dead Man's Party" and "Lovers Walk" and so on. It's Willow and Xander who live near the school.) Plus, shouldn't Giles or Wesley be looking after the Library? Even if students rarely come in there. I know that eight heroes is a lot to keep track of, but it's silly that apparently the Watchers stayed behind to have a hot foursome with Angel and Joyce. (I meant they PLAYED BRIDGE, of course! You pervs! :P ) (Or maybe Joyce had a squash court installed in the basement, and they're having a round-robin doubles tournament? Who's Rupe's favorite teammate, do we think? The man who took his job, the demon who killed his girlfriend, or the woman he boinked on the hood of a police car? Lol.)

R J Walker (FumblesMcStupid)

I do enjoy this episode but here's a couple of nitpicks... Twice? I know Giles THOUGHT he was 16 but he was physically 40 something. How long did they lie on that cop car smoking cigarettes ffs? ;) I have always had to assume that it was once on the cop car and once later but Joyce wasn't thinking about it QUITE clearly enough for Buffy to get the specifics (thank god!). But more seriously, they should have had the 'can't resist a run and stumble' opening in another episode. These demons are TELEPATHIC! Could that one not read Buffy's mind and see her plan? (I have watched this episode many times and this is the first time I realised this)