Spoiler Slayer

First, the Buffy Formula was temporarily pulled. I'm going to be moving it over to it's very own site, especially since I just have the address lying around. It will remain the same, but I needed to make room in the index for the News and Update page. Should be back in business by the end of the week.

Tyche (Kitten Board) was kind enough to transcribe 'yet another Marti Noxon interview', which appears in Dreamwatch magazine. You can read it at the Kitten Board. Just culling some of the more interesting statements.

What about evil Willow? I don’t think of her as being genuinely evil, especially not at this point. Tara, she can use magic and she’s okay. But Willow is finding out she’s an addict, and what you do about that really defines who you are. If magic takes her to an evil, dark place, it’s really of her own making. A lot of times, the bad stuff that happens to a character is really external, and this season most of the characters are making their own problems.

Dawn seems really struggling to figure out where she fits in...
I think the next frontier for Dawn is trying to forge her own identity. I think that’s a question for the show and for her; what’s her place, as she gets older and isn’t just a kid anymore? I’m eager for her to sort of shed the TV kid job. You’ve seen hints of trouble in her world right now, but I think we’ll start to go there this year - and then I think next year it’s going to be a major theme.

What about Xander and Anya’s wedding?
There’s going to be a big, big sweeps wedding. It’s going to be episode 16. We’ve often said that romance in Sunnydale never goes well for very long, but they have the best shot of being a happy couple I’d say, of all of them.

She also comments that she will be writing the first part of the two-part Season Finale.

There was also an interview with Joss posted at Fangoria (thanks to Karen for the link).

It's going to be a short review for DoubleMeat Palace, if only because it was a nice little filler episode. I'm not saying it was a bad episode, but as it represents the second-half of the bridge, I wasn't expecting anything earth-shattering. It was supposed to be a 'fun' episode, which would set up some more of the arcs for the second half of the season. I certainly think that they did a great job of doing just that. We have the beginnings of the Xander/Anya wedding arc picking up steam, with a new 'little bad' coming on board for a few episodes. We see that Willow's not going to have an easy time of going cold-turkey, plus Buffy and Spike are still dancing around what exactly is their 'relationship'. Well, Buffy's doing most of the dancing, Spike's just along for the ride. But it's good to see the concern for her is still there.

Of course, what everyone wants to talk about is the 'alley scene', which to me was overhyped. I think Buffy's bored and distant look had nothing to do with feelings or non-feelings towards Spike. No matter how hard she might have sung about finding the fire, she's still going through the motions. Her fall isn't only being reflected in her current physical relationship, it's being reflected in the drive-thru window of DoubleMeat Palace. Spike is right, Buffy is better than that job. But sometimes, we're forced to take positions we normally would never want to consider. It's sad how Buffy is trying so hard to feel like she's a part of the world again, even sadder when you consider that Spike is the only one who realizes how she truly feels. Spike is the only one who cares and is going out of his way to try and bring her back. The gang drops by to visit, and lets a cash-poor Buffy buy them a meal. Plenty of encouragement, but no recognition of what she's going through. Spike, on the other hand, is genuinely worried about her. True, he's not helping things by taking advantage of her emotional state. Then again, we should remember he's evil, which is why he probably doesn't think twice about getting some gratification while he's at it. However, even he knows that it's wrong and recognizes that she's slowly drifting further and further away from everyone.

I really enjoyed the episode, it just shows how talented the writers are at making us laugh one second and gasp the next. I especially liked the homages to 'Soylent Green' and 'Jurassic Park' (which probably some people didn't catch, but it was during the chase scene at the end). I also think I may have caught a little bit from the classic 'Eating Raoul', but it's been years since I've seen that so I can't be positive. You have to give them credit for nailing those 'training videos' as well. I almost started to have McDonald's flashbacks. I could almost catch the scent of deep fryers wafting through the air. But that's not what you're here for, you're all dying to know what I think this all means for the second half of the season.

Tomorrow for the PM Update, lots of fun for the speculation fans. Topic of discussion: 'After The Wedding: Where Do We Go From Here.' I can guarantee it's going to controversial.