Episode 6 - Band Candy
9 October 2011
Synopsis: Mr Trick hires Ethan Rayne to produce candy for Sunnydale High's band fundraiser. The candy makes the adult population of the town revert to their teenage selves. Buffy is disturbed by all the reckless behaviour and particularly by Giles and Joyce making out. Meanwhile Angel continues to recover and Xander and Willow find moments to secretly touch.
The Good: This was less crowded than the last few episodes have been. The band candy storyline was able to come to the fore and serve an important purpose.
That purpose was to give us a better understanding of the Mayor and the analogy behind him. The Mayor opens his drinks cabinet to reveal a large collection of occult items. It would seem that in order to gain and keep power he has done many deals with the demons who occupy the hellmouth. It makes sense in the Buffyverse that a human might do this in order to navigate the dangerous vampire-infested waters of Sunnydale. But the analogy is clear too. We know that politicians have to make important compromises in order to both be elected and to govern. They have to raise money, make deals, manipulate their image and cooperate with those they may not like. Some politicians might even 'make a deal with the devil' to get power and that seems like Mayor Wilkins. Here we see him literally sacrificing the children in order to stay in power. It's a clever analogy and makes the Mayor a lot more intriguing than the average demon.
The band candy story was simple and fun. I liked the way the clues appeared about the candy, particularly the way the adults began to speak differently before it was apparent what was really going on. The adults all acting out and imitating teenagers was then easy comedy. I particularly liked the shot of a mail man opening letters and reading them. Giles clearly enjoyed playing a young thug and he made the most of his role. He and Joyce's relationship was well written and suitably disturbing to Buffy. Mr Trick continues to be a fun foil for her and I like that he remains all talk and runs as soon as he can.
Angel continues to heal slowly and we got a nice scene where he and Buffy uneasily begin to think about what will happen once he doesn't need her any more. We got two nice moments where Xander and Willow's newfound affection expressed itself including a great comedy pull apart in class when Cordelia looked round at them. It was nice to remind us of normal school life with the SATs looming in the background of the story.
The episode ends on a very nice note as it would seem Giles and Joyce may have done more than kiss during their time under the influence of candy.
The Bad: The story never became more than it was. It never became exciting, interesting or dramatic. It was always a comedy plot and the introduction of babies (as the tribute) only confirmed this. There was no way the show was going to deal with a tragedy like that. I didn't feel the comedy was particularly well executed. Snyder and Joyce played their roles broadly and a lot of the antics going on strayed into "drunk acting" territory.
The Unknown: Where was Faith during all this? Ethan Rayne made a somewhat pointless return here as Mr Trick's contact. I guess it suits his background to be around providing mischief but we don't learn what happens to him. Do we assume he just ran away again? I sort of liked the idea that Giles and Joyce are scheduling Buffy's time carefully to try and monitor her. That makes sense after she ran away. However it has been several episodes since anything like that was mentioned so it felt slightly out of sequence.
Best Moment: I really liked the scene where Willow and Xander play footsy in class. Neither of them seem to want to lose their current partner and so this was one of those 'we're not doing anything too bad' moments. I thought that suited them perfectly and the way their limbs became more entangled was actually very well acted. Cordelia, sitting on the desk in front of them, suddenly wheels around and says "I can't believe this!" The two of them hastily pull apart knocking the whole desk in an unnecessary guilty motion. It was a wonderfully constructed moment.
The Bottom Line: This was better than the last couple of episodes. It felt focussed and was entertaining.
Cordia's Second Look
Band Candy
Season 3, Episode 6
Original airing: 11/10/1998
My Rating: 72
The Good: The story of people behaving strangely due to food is nothing new. But seeing some of our beloved characters get silly is always fun to me.
I especially enjoyed Giles. Anthony Stewart Head is such a wonderful actor. And Giles is such a wonderful character. His little moments always seem to shine brighter in my eyes and this episode was no exception. I love the overall reversion he has to his teenage angst years as the infamous Ripper. He plays the surly rebel so well with his little glances, his relationship with Joyce, and his penchant for violence.
Kristine Sutherland also shines here as Joyce in her insecure teenage girl years. Her attempts to engage Ripper in a discussion about records and TV are met with a seething glare, but they feel very awkward and real for that age. I also love her dismissal of Snyder and her pleased embarrassment when she brings forth the hand cuffs.
This episode gave both Head and Sutherland a chance to really play with their characters in very new ways. We saw a little more of Ripper and a nice peak into the kind of person Joyce might have been when she was younger. We have nothing to compare her to except the kind of person Buffy might have been if she wasn't the Slayer. I definitely see similarities.
The Bad: Trying to switch the story from silliness to drama didn't work out at the end. It should be a horrifying thing to think of vampires sacrificing babies to a giant snake demon. But due to the poor effects and the absurdity of it all, it just seems silly.
Snyder was also a little bit more of an annoyance than a joy. I liked some of his stuff, but mostly, he just came across as an idiot instead of a teenage version of himself.
I'm not thrilled right now by the Willow and Xander storyline. I think it's played a little heavily with Cordelia's unintentional double meanings. It's sad to see these characters playing with fire, especially when I really like all four of them involved in this love square. I also thought it was really strange for the show to play very sweet, romantic music over the footsie scene. It would be a super sweet, romantic scene - if Xander and Willow weren't both cheating on people.
Favorite Moment: I love the moment where Buffy is interrogating Ethan with Giles catching his breath behind her. He just wants her to hit Ethan. Hit him hard. When she does, he has a little celebratory moment where he jumps and fist pumps in the air. It's amazing.
The Bottom Line: This is a fun story with very fun performances. I always enjoy watching this episode, even if it comes off a bit silly in the end with the baby sacrifice.
Feedback
Add your comments on this episode below. They may be included in the weekly podcasts.
’)