So I'm finally guest blogging for Snark Squad. I feel accomplished. That probably tells you all you need to know about me.
I love The O.C. and on first watch, I was completely #teamryan. On a later watch, #teamseth. So when I watch now, I find myself conflicted. It's a hard place to be. I'll keep a tally as I go to see where I'm at today.
Marines: This is kind of how my Myers Briggs has shifted a little as I get older. Like that, but way more awesome.
Sweeney: It says a lot about how we're not this show's target age demographic anymore that you're contextualizing it with Myers Briggs.
First I need to share that when I realized I would have to recap this episode, I yelled out, “NO!” That should be enough to let you know how I feel about it.
Lorraine: A common Snark Lady problem. In fact, Kirsti was known to work out who would get what episode during entire seasons of Buffy. That moment of realization that an episode is yours is best drowned in Goblets of Win.
Sweeney: Not knowing what trauma lies ahead is one of the occasional perks of Snow Life.
Lorraine: A common Snark Lady problem. In fact, Kirsti was known to work out who would get what episode during entire seasons of Buffy. That moment of realization that an episode is yours is best drowned in Goblets of Win.
Sweeney: Not knowing what trauma lies ahead is one of the occasional perks of Snow Life.
Necessary disclaimer: we know nothing about Batman. I've maybe seen all of the Batman movies made in my lifetime, occasionally watched the 90's cartoon as a kid, and love Batman The Ride. I also just remembered that I suppressed memories of thinking Chris O'Donnell was dreamy when I was in the 4th grade, thanks entirely to Batman Forever. That is my entire Batman CV. My comic book IQ is pretty low, in general, and Batman is definitely not on the list of superheroes whose stories I could feign competency in. To the best of my knowledge, this is also true of Lorraine (L: Yep.) and Alex, who agreed to join us for her first series recapping gig with the internet equivalent of a shrug and nervous laughter (A: Thanks again for the invite! And I think I've only seen two Batman movies ever).
So my first experience with The O.C. came during a very lonely summer in my life, after I'd graduated high school. See, I graduated a semester early which meant I couldn't really hang out with my high school friends anymore because it was weird but also that I couldn't make any college friends because I was the mid-semester starter and didn't know anyone. So I worked at Blockbuster every night and spent my two free rentals a week on old TV shows. This is the story of how my love affair with The O.C. started. I stayed up until 3 AM every night for weeks and missed many, many 8 AM English classes because of this shit.
Lorraine: I know this is the first recap, but I can already tell this will be my favorite, "The O.C. and me" story.
Lorraine: I know this is the first recap, but I can already tell this will be my favorite, "The O.C. and me" story.
After the previouslies show us Sarah trying to process the, "HEY THE GIRL WHO TRIED TO KILL YOU ISN'T JUST YOUR CLONE BUT YOUR CLONE TWIN!" bomb, she's tucking her sleeping daughter into bed. Downstairs, Sarah's getting ready to let her biological mother see said crazypants. Mrs. S isn't sure that any of this womb-providing and womb-sharing constitutes good reason for the serious endangerment of this little get-together, but Sarah's not hearing any of this. Sarah and the bio-mom head to the Basement of Don't Go In There: Canadian Edition, where Helena is tied to a post. Bio-mom pulls Sarah aside to say that she needs to speak with Sarah somewhere privately so that she can share something with her. As soon as Helena catches sight of this black woman claiming to be her birth mother she starts laughing because she's crazy and racist. Always a classy combo.
One of these days, I'll stop making KFC references in the title. BUT NOT TODAY. Chez Summers. Buffy wanders around in the dark, turning off lights, picking up books and generally checking on sleeping Potentials. Upstairs, she sees one girl, Chloe, crying in the corner of the hallway and heads towards her. But something jumps out at her and knocks her down the stairs. She lands at the bottom, the First Slayer above her. "It's not enough," the First Slayer hisses, and Buffy wakes with a start. Cue wolf howl.
Lorraine: I'm going to admit that I'd previously been confusing the First and the First Slayer in my head. #Snowproblems.
K: Awkward...
Lorraine: I'm going to admit that I'd previously been confusing the First and the First Slayer in my head. #Snowproblems.
K: Awkward...
Lorraine: Sunnydale Bus Station. A young woman of color (LOOK KIRSTI) (K: Season 7, otherwise known as "that one time Sunnydale had POC characters who survived more than two episodes...) who is wearing some Overalls of Overall Sadness gets off a bus. I don't actually know if she's sad, but it's been a while since we've had overalls and I wanted to call them that again.
Sweeney: Season 7 has a lot of nostalgia to deliver and those overalls were definitely plucked from early season Buffy's closet.
Kirsti: Plus, it lets us bring back a tag that's been languishing unused since season 3. HURRAH.
Sweeney: Season 7 has a lot of nostalgia to deliver and those overalls were definitely plucked from early season Buffy's closet.
Kirsti: Plus, it lets us bring back a tag that's been languishing unused since season 3. HURRAH.
In a nutshell: Things are changing for Cath and very quickly. She's spent her whole life holding the hand of her twin sister Wren, but now they are starting college, and Wren doesn't even want to be her roommate. Wren has also abandoned their long time joint hobby of writing Simon Snow fanfiction. Cath is completely out of her element, but still, she's got to learn to navigate her new life, which includes a brutally honest roommate and her always cheery boyfriend, a Fiction Writing class where fanfiction is not welcome, a twin sister who keeps drifting away and the father they left behind, who she can't quit worrying about.
Plus, she's determined to finish her latest fanfiction story before the final book in the series is released.
Plus, she's determined to finish her latest fanfiction story before the final book in the series is released.
We begin the episode in the Summers Basement, an ominous sounds warn us of Buffy's foe...which turns out to be a leaky water pipe. Dawn suggests calling a plumber, which Buffy declines. Naturally, the pipes explode in a rather comic book fashion.
Kirsti: Oh, Buff. Don't use Slayer Strength on the pipes, honey. It was bound to end badly.
Lorraine: Pipes and ice cream machines, remember?
Sweeney: Indeed, though I wasn't a big fan of the ice cream machine bit. This silliness feels strange but also welcome. Don't worry, the show will cut that out soon enough. Roll credits.
Kirsti: Oh, Buff. Don't use Slayer Strength on the pipes, honey. It was bound to end badly.
Lorraine: Pipes and ice cream machines, remember?
Sweeney: Indeed, though I wasn't a big fan of the ice cream machine bit. This silliness feels strange but also welcome. Don't worry, the show will cut that out soon enough. Roll credits.
We start with a classic Buffy beginning: our titular character is fighting off a vampire. We quickly see that the Scoobies are with her, being helpful where they can be and pointing her in the direction of a vampire who scurried away. They follow him into a crypt and find a nest of vampires who are all busy noisily slurping on a person. It's funny to me that sometimes vampires seem to insta-drain someone, but here we get more of an extended meal. I wonder if the quick slurp ever gives them vamp-indigestion.
Sweeney: I feel like this line of thinking can't go anywhere good.
Sweeney: I feel like this line of thinking can't go anywhere good.
We open in the Bigger on the Inside Dorm Room where Buffy and Riley are making out on her bed and the background music suggests that the show has been relocated to Capeside. I fully expect Joey Potter to climb in the window any minute (#TeamPacey). (L: #duh) Riley asks if she's expecting anyone (yes, Joey Potter. We just established that, dude), and she says that Willow's going to be at the library all night. He starts to pull her shirt up and Willow, cockblocker extraordinaire, bursts through the door to rescue us all from the need for brain bleach (which is an excellent thing, because I know what's coming in episode 18, and we'll need to hoard that shit like it's gold).