"Bad Girls" REACTION - Buffy 3x14 Commentary (Early Access YouTube)
Added 2024-12-13 01:04:13 +0000 UTC
Comments
I'm so pleased you reviewed this one! You're absolutely right about the ableism, it's a real shame as it does draw focus from an otherwise very interesting character analysis and juxtaposition of Buffy and Faith, plus how seductive Faith's outlook on slayer-ism can be. It's also fascinating to hear how sympathetic you are towards Faith because she really is a product of her environment and is clearly putting on a brave face at the end, I think it's a tragic turn of events but also somehow felt inevitable.
Millie H
2024-12-16 18:31:57 +0000 UTCGreat reaction, and love the new posters! Yeah, the ableism and fatphobia really sours an otherwise great episode here. There's not a lot that can be said about the character moments without spoilers, since this is the first of an unofficial two-parter, but fab commentary on Buffy and Faith's circumstances and different attitudes. They're similar in so many ways, but we've learned just enough about Faith's past to know that her support systems were all either taken away instantly or non existant.
Lucy
2024-12-16 00:26:12 +0000 UTCPosters unite!
Tyler Alexander
2024-12-15 16:45:10 +0000 UTCπ
Tyler Alexander
2024-12-15 16:41:54 +0000 UTCThank you! :)
Tyler Alexander
2024-12-15 16:40:46 +0000 UTCI knew you were gonna love this episode. Faith is a great character and, all we have seen from her until now, was here to lead her to this moment. How she will (or won't) go through it is fascinating to me. Once again, the main strength of BTVS is it's a character-driven show. Each character has an arch (for one episode, one season or the all show) that makes sense and doesn't come from nowhere. And, even if I also like the mythology and a lot of other things, I always come back to the show for the characters. Personally, I am happy with you highlighting every moment that deals (or sadly doesn't deal) with discrimination, no matter what kind it is. A lot of people react solely when it is a discrimination that they suffered from and seem to ignore all the rest because it doesn't concern them. It proves that you are a very empathetic person and I think the world will be a better place if your way of thinking and feeling was more prevalent nowadays. I'll stop there cause I am starting to talk like an old folk and I'm only in my 30s. But I will always stick to it. We should be more understanding and nice with each other and especially with the ones who are different from us. Great video as always. Take care of yourself.
Aurelius 19
2024-12-14 16:21:31 +0000 UTCAlso love your commentary on Faith! And the background looks great - love the Buffy poster!
Shannon
2024-12-14 00:49:34 +0000 UTCI really enjoyed your speculation on Mr. Trick, but I gotta say, pretty sure the only reason he was hidden away and can come out when the mayor closes the blinds.. is because heβs a vampire.. and itβs daylight. π
Shannon
2024-12-14 00:33:08 +0000 UTC10:08: I know, right? No matter how many times I watch this episode I am distracted by how lovely Buffy looks when she should look more like a drowned rat (how is her hair almost dry? why is her eye makeup not running?). As for the depiction of Balthazar, the bad guy - yeah, definitely a sign of the times. As you mentioned, the show is well in the trenches of the "supermodel era". Thinness was hightly prized in Hollywood (still is, ahem) and "fat fear" was not something anyone was ashamed to admit (ok, that has changed. It's no longer ok to say it aloud). To your point, physically "undesirable" traits such as bigger waistlines- and noses- were often given to the villans in cartoons and in live action alike. Thank you for pointing it out, Tyler. It should be called attention to. On a different note, I like the use of Buffy's clothing in this episode. At the beginning and end of the ep, she dresses very "good girl"- brighter colors, girly dresses and headbands. In the middle scenes, when she is the "bad girl", she dresses more like Faith- in jeans, strappy camisoles and dark colors. This is something to keep an eye on throughout the series.
StephanieB
2024-12-13 19:01:04 +0000 UTCAll great points. and further to your point about the underlying sexuality of this episode is how much more sexually open and free Buffy appears to be with Angel at the Bronze, litterally jumping into his lap when she sees him.
StephanieB
2024-12-13 18:18:52 +0000 UTCyour discussion revolving around privilege and trauma and how these manifest themselves in buffy and faith is SO on point.
Belle GC
2024-12-13 05:47:04 +0000 UTCThe way I get so happy every time you drop a buffy episode!
Tiffany
2024-12-13 05:08:24 +0000 UTCLoving the Buffy season 1 poster! Also, great reaction I hate spoilers, so I won't say anything other than the end of an era is upon us. Enjoy!
Mayra Martinez
2024-12-13 05:00:03 +0000 UTCI am so happy about that we reached this point! Several comments. First, love the hair cut. Second, you have a Buffy poster! Yay! Third, yeah the ableism is a bit cringe but we saw that too with Spike and Angel a season ago. It's something that is worthy of commentary even if this episode is from about 30 years ago. We don't watch "Gone with the Wind" and say "Oh the racism in this isn't important to talk about because the film was so long ago." I think that applying these lenses to older works helps us understand how certain messages can be perpetuated and carried forth through time. Fourth, I know I have made a lot of comments on Faith. She is one of my ultimate favorite characters for numerous reasons. But I love your sense of empathy for her and it doesn't surprise me that you caught how her accidentally killing a man affects her despite her attempts to repress it. I love that you point out Buffy's privilege over Faith's. But I also see themes or perhaps the concept of "nature vs. nurture" at play in the juxtaposition of Faith and Buffy's characters in this episode. Buffy may have it tough, she does, but she also has a powerful support system, something "Zeppo" show too by showcasing how Xander comes into his own and literally saves everyone's lives. That web of symbiosis between the characters with Buffy having that nurture to fall back on is quite noticeable in comparison to Faith. Faith doesn't have any systems that nuture her at all and is forced to rely on herself. I'm not saying that nature always takes a destructive turn. But I think Faith represents nature in this episode. She is a force to be reckoned with in her own right but she's like a hurricane or a tornado, nothing to reel her back from her own strength. Whereas Buffy is nurture. She is nurtured, has a history of being nurtured, and she provides nurture to people. I love that we are here. I can't wait to see your analysis on future episodes and the direction this season is going.
Tanya TMS
2024-12-13 04:27:48 +0000 UTCThe way I clicked on this reaction so fast. Bad Girls is one of those episodes that no matter how many times you watch it, you notice even more amazing subtext. It's honestly a foundational episode in the show to understand not only Faith's personality but to more fully see a side of Buffy that's been teased here and there since the pilot (sorry about the comment length in advance). You touch on a lot of the main points, but I want focus on something else: sex. Bad Girls is a fairly deep sexual episode despite having no sex scenes. The opening scene where Faith wonders why Buffy isn't having casual sex with Xander, all the talk about "itching to give a vamp a good *grunting noise*, or talked about Slaying getting Buffy "juiced", the "tell me you don't get off on this" and then the heart on the window and the very sexualized Buffy and Faith dance at the Bronze. Recall that one of Faith's first ever lines in the show was whether Slaying made her "hungry and horny." But Buffy being repressed at the time only says she craves some yogurt - but we know that's not exactly true and we know why Buffy can't admit it to herself (let alone in front of her friends). There's honestly a lot of lesbian subtext between the two here with Faith almost acting as a seduction to Buffy, who as we know has been basically in self imposed (sexual) repression since sleeping with Angel. She's had to compartmentalize and block out that overtly sexual part of her life because she can't have that with Angel - lest he go evil and start killing everyone again. But Faith awakens some dormant part of Buffy, note her expression when she killing the vamps in the nest or when Faith says "I've seen you. Tell me staking a vamp doesn't get you a little bit juiced." And Buffy smiles, and deliberately looks away as if to confirm it and Faith laughs and says "You can't fool me." But, of course, Buffy letting loose and trying to have fun and not to be so repressed all the time literally causes a man to die. It's not unlike how Buffy still blames herself for "killing" Angel by sleeping with him, even though, neither one of those killings are her fault. And the way the show reinforces it for Buffy is awful - although incredibly consistent from a character continuity writing perspective. And she reverts to being "repressed" again - she places her duty and humanity above all else but she's forced because of the kind of person she is to wear it as a burden. Faith kind of functions as the shadow "bad" version of Buffy, in a similar way that Angel and Angelus and Giles and Ripper are two sides of the same coin. It's also interesting to compare Faith with the version of Buffy that existed in The Wish. A Buffy that didn't have all of the privileges of friends and family or Giles as a watcher would have probably turned out just like Faith.
Land Howard Johnston
2024-12-13 03:33:11 +0000 UTCThe next episode is called "Consequences", and is part 2 of this double episode arch - I hope you review it soon, can't wait to hear your thoughts! You banged the nail on the head with this, spot frikking on. Shows how lucky Buffy is to have the support network she has, and how though they both went through the trauma of watching a loved one die (Faith's watcher, Buffy when she "killed" Angel at the end of season 2), everyone responds to trauma differently, and when Buffy was ready to deal with it, she had her inner circle (and in particular Giles) to face her trauma head on and talk about it with someone.
Crystal Racklyeft
2024-12-13 02:41:41 +0000 UTCwe have the same buffy poster! also, if buffy had taken the amulet off of the skeleton and the vampires didn't find it there they would look into the other tomb and buffy's hiding spot would be exposed
esme
2024-12-13 01:58:09 +0000 UTC
