I apparently like "Anne" a lot more than fandom does - and in fact I might even love it (1/?))

[red_satin_doll]

The first time I watched "Anne" a few months back (which I apparently enjoy more than the general fandom does?  With possible exception of norwie2010, I dare say) I remember seeing a blink-and-you'll miss it image of Buffy with a hammer and sickle and thought "Did I just see what I thought I saw?"



I didn't take it to mean that JW was espousing communism, but in the context of the imprisoned workers throwing off their masters in the factory, it was simply a clever steal and a bit of a joke.  (Or painfully obvious and on the nose, depending on your POV.) But I still love that ridiculously and I think Buffy's fight in that factory is one of her most awesome, kick-ass battles in the entire series. I hadn't been able to find a screencap of that moment until today, from http://twitter.com/whedonesque/

Of course there's the emotional context of the episode, that of Buffy is fighting to reclaim her identity after the tragedy/trauma of Becoming: "I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.  And you are?" SMG is wonderful in that episode, parsing through all the layers of Buffy's emotions: numbness, grief and despair giving way to fierce determination, hope and love, leaving behind a self-imposed hermitage to reconnect with friends and family. "Anne" packs into a single episode what Season 6 takes 22 episodes to unspool; the final image of Joyce embracing her prodigal daughter will be called back in Buffy and Dawn's embrace in "Grave".

Glorious Buffy, indeed. (With apologies to norwie for stealing the phrase, and to readerjane for finding the photo.)



I have so much love for this episode I cannot contain it to one post, so....Part two of my "Anne" meta HERE.

Comments

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

People don't like Anne? I always thought it was one of the better season openers, though the Bangel of it all makes me gag (and as Reb says, no Spike is to its detriment!) But if you think about it, the episode also is a statement of where the show is at that point: it's before things get complicated and messy, before the moral grayness of the later seasons. At that point in the series Buffy's confidence isn't broken by abandonment issues, so she can look danger in the eye and say "I am Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Later on things will be harder, it will take effort for her to make that kind of self-identification, but at the beginning of season 3 things are still black and white, Buffy is still the bearer of absolutes. This is something that goes away as the series continues (again, abandonment issues tear our girl apart, thank you very much, Angel and Riley!), but for now it's something that she can state without question. She is the vampire slayer. The end.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I recall reading negative opinions of it on the ATV Club threads (although maybe I'm confusing it with "when she was bad"? But I don't get the sense of Anne being loved in that corner of fandom, although S3 was generally considered the best season (aka, the "we love the early seasons and everything else was shit" faction.)

But if you think about it, the episode also is a statement of where the show is at that point: it's before things get complicated and messy, before the moral grayness of the later seasons. At that point in the series Buffy's confidence isn't broken by abandonment issues, so she can look danger in the eye and say "I am Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

*nods* I've also read comments that AtS was morally greyer than BtVS but they are very different shows; Buffy is a coming-of-age story, and AtS gets to build on the back of that.

In terms of being broken, she's very close, closer than I was aware of at the time. She's utterly distraught when Angel returns in Beauty and the Beasts.

(again, abandonment issues tear our girl apart, thank you very much, Angel and Riley!),

WORD to recognizing Riley's role in her abandonment issues! At the ATV Club he was just dismissed as "boring"; and I don't find a lot of discussion about how he added to her emotional trauma (it's always about Angel.) Angel may have got there first - actually Hank did - but I think that his leaving her had huge repercussions, or much more than generally acknowledged as far as I've seen. Riley is a lot more like Angel IMO than not, in terms of how he regards and treats Buffy (as opposed to exterior looks.)