Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997) - Why Welcome to Hellmouth Changed Horror TV Forever

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Hello horror fans and welcome back to the Script
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to Screen podcast, where we delve into the spine
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-tingling world of horror cinema. Each week we
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look at the scariest scenes, unmask the deeper
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meanings behind your favourite horror films,
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and explore the psychology of fear that keeps
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us coming back for more. From script analysis
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to scene breakdowns, we'll be dissecting your
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favourite horror movies to see just what makes
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them tick. So whether you're a seasoned horror
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aficionado or just starting to explore the genre,
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join us as we unravel the spying, tingling stories
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that haunt the silver screen. I'm Will. And I
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am Lee. So for those of you who may be new to
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the show, why not check out our website? That's
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scriptascreenpodcast .com where you can find
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a lot more insight into the scripts and the films
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that we cover. We've added scarology graphs to
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illustrate the scares in each of the films and
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annotated script excerpts to highlight some of
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the ideas and concepts we cover when dissecting
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the screenplays. So if you want to go deeper
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on your favourite scripts, there's more to interest
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and entertain over at scripttoscreampodcast .com.
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Also, if you like what we're doing here on Script
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to Scream, please like and share the episodes
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if you can. It only takes a moment, but it really
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helps us reach new people. And if you're enjoying
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the show and feel particularly generous, leaving
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a review is amazing for us. So that would be
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awesome as well. Indeed it would. I'm in the
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praise of random strangers on the internet. It's
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what I live for. So indulge me, please. Okay.
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It sounds a little sarcastic. I think there's
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a troubling truth there somewhere, Lee, maybe.
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Anyway, all talk of indulgence aside, how have
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you been, Lee? What have you been watching, dude?
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So I think, well, like you in the previous episode,
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I checked out the new Master of the Universe
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movie and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. Not as
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much as I was hoping I would enjoy it, but the
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kid in me still got a kick out of seeing these
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characters so beautifully realized on the big
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screen. I see what you meant about the tonal
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shifts and a sizable chunk of the humor did kind
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of miss the mark for me, but I am a notoriously
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miserable bastard. So, you know, it could have
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just been me, but seeing... I don't think it
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was Lee. Yeah. Seeing the likes of Trapjaw and
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Beastman and Skeletor and seeing these guys done
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proper on the big screen was it was it was it
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was a special moment for me as an 80s kid. So
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that was great. And there were some really clever
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touches in there. I loved the way that characters'
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really stupid names were explained as just being
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the imagination of this 10 -year -old boy who
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gets taken to another world and he just remembers
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the guy with the big fist as Fisto and the guy
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who headbutts stuff as Ram Man. I thought that
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was really clever. I do have to say, it looked
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great, I thought. The design elements were fantastic.
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But yeah, one of two things didn't work for me.
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Totally get you on that one. I've also been enjoying
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Creepshow on Shudder, the series on there. It's
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a delightfully kind of low budget, cheesy, but
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there are some decent names that pop up. And
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I was genuinely delighted to find that they have
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a full blown Evil Dead episode complete with
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Deadites and Ted Raimi and a Necronomicon. I
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had no idea that was coming. So that literally
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just put a smile on my face for a week. Fantastic.
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Very chuffed about that one. I also really enjoyed
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the trailer for Whalefall, based on a book by
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the amazing Daniel Krauss and adapted for the
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big screen and directed by a script -to -screen
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favourite, Brian Duffield. I don't know if you've
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checked that trailer out yet. I haven't seen
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the trailer. I mean, I know the film's coming,
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but yeah, I haven't seen it. I've seen one or
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two production stills, but that's about it. What
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did you think of the trailer? Did you think it
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was good? I thought it was amazing. I thought
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it was absolutely amazing. because i've read
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the book the book is really good uh but this
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was uh the trailer exceeded my expectations so
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i'm very excited for the film and i love krauss
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i love duffield so i'm really hoping that this
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film is a huge hit when it comes out because
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they both deserve it nice nice Well, I watched
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a few things this week. I watched Mississippi
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Burning, which is a great Alan Clark film about
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the sort of real life killings of three civil
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rights campaigners in Mississippi. So William
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Defoe, Gene Hackman, they sort of team up as
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FBI agents on the case. And there's like this
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wonderful dynamic between the two. You know,
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Defoe is really earnest and kind of committed
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sort of civil rights advocate. And Gene Hackman's
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a former sort of Mississippi sheriff turned FBI
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agent. He's much more. Not cynical so much, but,
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you know, he's knowledgeable about the local
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customs and attitudes and all their prejudices
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and so forth. But it's a good film, really sort
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of quite powerful. So definitely worth a watch.
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And Alan Clark's just such a great director.
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I don't know if you've ever seen that, Lee. I
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can't say I have. It's worth a watch, worth a
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watch. Now, I also watched something, a bit of
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a random pick this one. I was sort of trawling
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through the platforms looking for something to
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watch, you know, late one evening. and fancied
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a westernly and i came across man of the west
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with gary cooper um and this is probably his
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last kind of really great role you know and i
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sort of knew this one already because it's directed
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by a favorite of mine guy called anthony mann
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who's such an amazing director and To be honest,
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I thought this one might be a bit bland. But,
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you know, another reason I sort of went for this
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was because it has Lee J. Cobb in a supporting
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role. I don't know if you know Lee J. Cobb at
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all. He's probably a face that you'd recognize,
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but he plays the antagonist in this. And yeah,
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do you know anything about Lee J. Cobb at all?
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I must confess I do not, but I await your inevitable
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enlightenment. Oh, Lee, I feel bad about talking
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to you about it now. He came out of this kind
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of New York theatre group called The Group Theatre.
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Ilya Kazan was an actor and director there too,
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came out of the same sort of place. He's obviously
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really well known. But I absolutely love Cobb's
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work. I mean, he is just... in some absolute
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bangers. You probably sort of know him most from
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12 Angry Men, maybe on the waterfront. The Dark
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Past is an amazing film as well, with William
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Holden and Lee J. Cobb in the lead. Anyway, amazing
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kind of character actor. And he absolutely steals
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the show here, Lee. He makes everyone look kind
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of wooden in comparison. I mean, to be fair,
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Cooper's meant to be sort of slightly kind of
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stilted at first. But yeah, really, really enjoyed
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this one. And one of the things that stood out,
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it has this, like a lot of man films, it has
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sort of a slightly darker edge to it. it and
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there's this amazing fight scene between cooper
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and this guy who's his cousin in the film and
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cob is kind of watching on as the whole thing
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unfolds but it's such a powerful scene like in
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the context of the film dude i was just completely
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blown away that this scene kind of appeared in
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this film like at this time and it's there's
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a lot of kind of shame wrapped up in this fight
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and it's it's just absolutely amazing um and
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yeah i was completely kind of unexpecting this
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to happen and it's really really powerful scene
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in the context of the film and based on other
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things that are happening but um yeah totally
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amazing it was really really a great great movie
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i really enjoyed it But yeah, if you love a kind
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of older Western, I'll stop rambling now, Lee,
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but if you love an older Western and want something
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with some slightly unexpected kind of bite, you
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know, Man of the West is a really great thing
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to watch. Awesome. I do love a Western. There's
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a guilty pleasure of mine. So what is strapped
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on the table for dissection this week, my man?
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OK, well, this week, Lee, it's time for our regular
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trip into the world of TV horror. And it's back
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to the glorious 90s, Lee, the glorious 90s, as
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we take a deep dive into the first episode of
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the cult smash Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Oh,
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man, I still cannot believe you've never, ever
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seen a single episode of Buffy. I mean, this
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show was everything to me in my teens. You know,
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I was I was fully obsessed. And it's been a rough
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couple of years for Buffy fans. You know, we've
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lost Michelle Trachtenberg, Nicholas Brendan,
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and just recently the great Anthony Stewart Head.
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Not to mention the canning of the recently announced
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reboot series. It's a tough time to be a Buffy
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fan right now. You know, the blows are coming
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at us from all directions. Yeah, I mean, you
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have my genuine sympathies, Buffy fans. It's
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always hard when your heroes pass on and certainly
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having sort of series cancelled, you know, is
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not fun either, you know. OK, so Buffy. The series
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premiered way back in the last millennium, Lee,
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on March 10th, 1997. It was quickly welcomed
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by a ravenous fan base and a slew of awards,
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including two Emmys. The show would run for seven
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seasons in total, with the finale Chosen hitting
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on May 20th, 2003. It would also spawn a successful
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spin -off, of course, Angel, which ran for five
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seasons itself, three of which ran concurrently
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with Buffy and led to several memorable crossovers.
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Nice. And we'll be comparing the first episode
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with a copy of the script dated January 1997
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and weighing in at 64 pages. is titled Welcome
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to the Hellmouth and is written, of course, by
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Joss Whedon. All right then, buckle in and enjoy
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the ride as we strap down and dissect Buffy the
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Vampire Slayer, Welcome to the Hellmouth. After
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moving to Sunnydale for a fresh start, teenager
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Buffy Summers discovers her new town sits atop
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a hellmouth, attracting vampires and supernatural
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evil. Determined to leave her slayer destiny
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behind, Buffy is drawn back into the fight when
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a powerful vampire plot threatens her classmates
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and the townly. Oh, OK. So before we even start
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on the premiere episode and and the script itself,
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I want to take a quick minute to talk about what
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came before. In other words, the 1992 Buffy the
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Vampire Slayer movie. Yeah. Now, I am aware of
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this, Lee, but I mean, how does the the film
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fit into the to the picture here? OK, so way
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back before the series was greenlit, Whedon had
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the chance to bring Buffy to the big screen.
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Yeah, and I'm assuming you've seen it, but is
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the movie any good? Depends who you ask. I mean,
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I fucking loved this film when it first came
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out, but it hasn't aged anywhere near as well
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as the show has. In the film, it was Christy
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Swanson, who took up the stake as Buffy, alongside
00:11:10.690 --> 00:11:13.350
the likes of Luke Perry, Donald Sutherland, Rutger
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Hauer, and a scene -chewing, scene -chewing Paul
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Rubens. And this is one of the few... where the
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script is actually so much better than the film.
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Okay, what a cast, though. I mean, a hell of
00:11:25.860 --> 00:11:28.340
a cast. Yeah, I mean, I'm assuming this is completely
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separate from the series. Would that be right?
00:11:31.610 --> 00:11:34.190
Yes and no. I mean, the film, while not strictly
00:11:34.190 --> 00:11:37.509
canon, is a pretty accurate account of what happened
00:11:37.509 --> 00:11:41.090
to Buffy before moving to Sunnydale. During its
00:11:41.090 --> 00:11:44.090
kind of prime popularity, Whedon re -released
00:11:44.090 --> 00:11:46.570
the original story as a comic book miniseries
00:11:46.570 --> 00:11:49.210
called The Origin, which just kind of ties things
00:11:49.210 --> 00:11:52.230
up a little and aligns it better to the established
00:11:52.230 --> 00:11:55.669
TV show timeline. Right. So the film is like
00:11:55.669 --> 00:11:58.669
a prequel. Yeah, absolutely. And it's quite fun
00:11:58.669 --> 00:12:01.980
just to kind of take it as such. Nice. OK, so
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with that out of the way, Lee, let's get cracking.
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We open on what would become a staple of the
00:12:08.139 --> 00:12:10.639
series, especially in its early years, Sunnydale
00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:13.580
High School. But it's nightly and as we'd expect,
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the school is eerily quiet and deserted as we
00:12:16.059 --> 00:12:18.980
drift through its dark corridors. A window is
00:12:18.980 --> 00:12:21.519
smashed and a couple of college kids break in.
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They aren't named other than boy and girl, but
00:12:24.539 --> 00:12:26.019
we'll get to know one of them a little better
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later. The boy is all swagger and leads the nervous
00:12:29.269 --> 00:12:31.370
girl through his old high school with the goal
00:12:31.370 --> 00:12:34.909
of taking her up to the roof above the gym for
00:12:34.909 --> 00:12:38.309
some undoubtedly unsavoury acts, Lee. She's too
00:12:38.309 --> 00:12:40.690
nervous to go any further, though, so our swaggering
00:12:40.690 --> 00:12:43.629
douchebag starts to work his mojo right there
00:12:43.629 --> 00:12:46.409
in the corridor. Now, our nervous girl is startled
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by something, a strange noise, Lee, but douchebag
00:12:49.330 --> 00:12:51.230
assures her that there's nothing to be afraid
00:12:51.230 --> 00:12:55.950
of except maybe him. Is it a bear? Which one
00:12:55.950 --> 00:13:00.289
is it? Okay, that's when Bamley, our demure little
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blonde, reveals a demonic visage and chops down
00:13:03.429 --> 00:13:06.049
on the unsuspecting fool's neck at around the
00:13:06.049 --> 00:13:09.429
two minute mark and cue 90s opening credits.
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And what glorious 90s goodness they are. Fun
00:13:13.980 --> 00:13:15.659
fact for you, completely unrelated, but when
00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:18.279
my son was a toddler, every time he'd hear the
00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:20.500
Buffy theme music, he'd drop whatever he was
00:13:20.500 --> 00:13:22.159
doing, sprint to the middle of the room, lift
00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:24.360
his shirt up and start dancing his little butt
00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:28.000
off. It was great. It was a bit of a banger,
00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:31.379
to be fair, isn't it? It is, isn't it? So this
00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:34.840
opening is great because it sets up so much of
00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:37.100
the show. We're going to be spending a lot of
00:13:37.100 --> 00:13:39.340
time at Sunnydale High. So it's fitting that
00:13:39.340 --> 00:13:41.720
our first scene takes place here. And then we
00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:43.820
have the whole kind of play on horror tropes.
00:13:44.059 --> 00:13:46.840
The boy leading a seemingly defenseless girl
00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:49.279
to her doom only for her to reveal hidden strength
00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:52.019
and kill him, which incidentally was Whedon's
00:13:52.019 --> 00:13:54.779
inspiration for the whole concept of Buffy itself.
00:13:55.179 --> 00:13:57.600
You know, what if that timid girl walking alone
00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:59.820
down a dark alley could kick the ass of whatever?
00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:02.320
monster was stalking her and what an opening
00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:04.940
image this kind of hideous vampire face is and
00:14:04.940 --> 00:14:08.019
it's a real Real shocker, too, I think. As a
00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:10.360
whole, the vampire effects in Buffy did a really
00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:13.899
good job of bringing out the demonic aspect of
00:14:13.899 --> 00:14:15.940
a character without taking away their ability
00:14:15.940 --> 00:14:19.720
or all of their ability to fully emote to the
00:14:19.720 --> 00:14:22.919
camera. And Buffy regularly plays with these
00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:25.519
horror tropes, especially ones that it is confident
00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:27.899
the audience will be familiar with. And what
00:14:27.899 --> 00:14:30.720
it will do is it will subvert or play with them
00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:33.120
whenever possible. And this is the first and
00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:35.309
one of the greatest examples of that. Another
00:14:35.309 --> 00:14:38.490
one that springs to my mind is in season one,
00:14:38.509 --> 00:14:41.090
we had a ventriloquist dummy that was possessed,
00:14:41.330 --> 00:14:43.409
but it turned out that the dummy was actually
00:14:43.409 --> 00:14:46.870
a good guy and he was trying to kill some demon.
00:14:47.190 --> 00:14:49.529
But it's just really cool. But it doesn't flip
00:14:49.529 --> 00:14:51.690
that switch until about halfway through the episode.
00:14:51.789 --> 00:14:54.509
It's really clever. And another interesting thing
00:14:54.509 --> 00:14:57.110
about the script here is that we won't have to
00:14:57.110 --> 00:14:59.929
ponder the act breaks because they are labeled
00:14:59.929 --> 00:15:02.850
for all to see. And this shocking act is the
00:15:02.850 --> 00:15:05.850
end of the teaser. And after the credits, we
00:15:05.850 --> 00:15:10.470
roll right into Act One. Yeah. So after a rip
00:15:10.470 --> 00:15:12.690
-roaring ride through its glorious 90s -style
00:15:12.690 --> 00:15:15.049
opening credits, we're introduced to the titular
00:15:15.049 --> 00:15:18.149
Buffy Ann Summers. Now, she's sleeping Lee, but
00:15:18.149 --> 00:15:20.350
not peacefully, as her dreams are haunted by
00:15:20.350 --> 00:15:23.289
nightmarish visions of vampires, ghouls, and
00:15:23.289 --> 00:15:26.049
one particularly striking vampire at around the
00:15:26.049 --> 00:15:29.019
four -minute mark. In the script, there's a moment
00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:32.000
of Buffy actually walking through this vampire's
00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:35.220
lair. But on screen, we just get the clip show
00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:38.120
sort of montage. And there's also some dialogue
00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:41.080
from this vampire called the master in the script.
00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:49.600
And it goes like this. Angle, a girl in bed,
00:15:49.779 --> 00:15:52.120
tossing and turning as the camera moves down
00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:55.100
to reveal the shadow of someone, something. approaching
00:15:55.100 --> 00:15:58.259
her and we hear an impossibly low voice voice
00:15:58.259 --> 00:16:02.500
off screen i'll take you like a cancer i'll get
00:16:02.500 --> 00:16:08.460
inside you and eat my way out pretty sinister
00:16:08.460 --> 00:16:12.600
i would say yeah so buffy wakes from her nightmare
00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:14.320
but doesn't seem particularly bothered by it
00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:16.820
she seems more unnerved by her mother's reminder
00:16:16.820 --> 00:16:20.419
that it's her first day at a new school always
00:16:20.419 --> 00:16:23.470
a nerve -wracking prospectly oh yeah half empty
00:16:23.470 --> 00:16:26.169
moving boxes are some nice little mise -en -scene
00:16:26.169 --> 00:16:28.710
to let us know the uh the summers family is new
00:16:28.710 --> 00:16:31.269
in town Yeah, and a short while later, Buffy
00:16:31.269 --> 00:16:33.850
is dropped off at school by her mum Joyce, played
00:16:33.850 --> 00:16:36.970
by Christine Sutherland. Joyce encourages Buffy
00:16:36.970 --> 00:16:39.870
to make friends, but also not get kicked out,
00:16:40.009 --> 00:16:42.690
which is a nice little hint at backstory, whilst
00:16:42.690 --> 00:16:45.710
also saying a lot about their often strained
00:16:45.710 --> 00:16:49.190
relationship. We also meet lovable dork Xander,
00:16:49.350 --> 00:16:52.389
played by Nicholas Brendan, and super sweet nerd
00:16:52.389 --> 00:16:56.370
Willow, played by Alison Hannigan, and Xander's
00:16:56.370 --> 00:16:58.889
best bud and fellow dork Jesse, played by...
00:16:58.919 --> 00:17:02.059
Eric Balfour. And they come together. They all
00:17:02.059 --> 00:17:05.920
discuss the new girl on campus. I'll speak later
00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:08.400
about how good Whedon's characters are, but this
00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:11.319
little intro immediately gives us a clear, concise
00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:13.539
picture of these kids. You know, Xander is somewhat
00:17:13.539 --> 00:17:16.779
clueless. Willow is obviously very intelligent
00:17:16.779 --> 00:17:18.980
and shy and seemingly has something of a crush
00:17:18.980 --> 00:17:22.269
on Xander. Yeah, now Buffy has a meeting with
00:17:22.269 --> 00:17:24.529
the school principal where we learn a little
00:17:24.529 --> 00:17:27.210
more of her backstory and how she burnt down
00:17:27.210 --> 00:17:29.990
the last school's gymnasium. But it's still a
00:17:29.990 --> 00:17:32.210
somewhat positive meeting, even if the principal
00:17:32.210 --> 00:17:34.490
isn't willing to entirely disregard her troubled
00:17:34.490 --> 00:17:37.369
past. Love the principal with this, Lee. I thought
00:17:37.369 --> 00:17:40.049
that was really fun. And as soon as she leaves
00:17:40.049 --> 00:17:42.609
the office, we get a classic oops, I've been
00:17:42.609 --> 00:17:45.339
bumped into and dropped my shit moment. Yeah,
00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:48.000
OK, so there are still some of the classic tropes
00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:51.359
at play here. And, you know, if I were you, I
00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:52.700
wouldn't get too attached to that principle.
00:17:53.539 --> 00:17:56.819
Well, they're classics for a reason. He's not
00:17:56.819 --> 00:18:00.140
going to be around for long. Okay. Well, thankfully
00:18:00.140 --> 00:18:02.920
Xander is on hand to help out. Bumbles every
00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:05.119
attempt to play it cool and introduce himself
00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:08.240
as anything other than an awkward nerd. Buffy
00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:11.099
heads off, but she's forgotten her wooden stately.
00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:14.640
As a confused Xander ponders its potential uses.
00:18:15.549 --> 00:18:17.970
It's off to class now for Buffy and lacking the
00:18:17.970 --> 00:18:20.490
relevant textbooks. She's taken under the wing
00:18:20.490 --> 00:18:24.289
of Cordelia, the teen queen of Sunnydale High,
00:18:24.490 --> 00:18:27.349
played by Charisma Carpenter. What a great name
00:18:27.349 --> 00:18:30.230
that is. Yeah, you kind of have to go into showbiz
00:18:30.230 --> 00:18:32.089
or stripping with a name like that, I think.
00:18:33.769 --> 00:18:36.109
Incidentally, Carpenter had the biggest real
00:18:36.109 --> 00:18:38.750
life age difference between herself and her onscreen
00:18:38.750 --> 00:18:42.109
character, clocking in at 11 years older than
00:18:42.109 --> 00:18:46.089
her 16 year old character in the show. Now Cordelia
00:18:46.089 --> 00:18:48.509
gives Buffy the grand tour, stopping off to bully
00:18:48.509 --> 00:18:50.930
and humiliate Willow on the way, something which
00:18:50.930 --> 00:18:54.089
clearly doesn't sit well with Buffy. And here
00:18:54.089 --> 00:19:01.849
is that scene for you. Cordelia. Willow, nice
00:19:01.849 --> 00:19:04.670
dress. Off Willow's smile. Good to know you've
00:19:04.670 --> 00:19:08.250
seen the soft side of Sears. That hurt. Buffy
00:19:08.250 --> 00:19:10.569
says nothing, surprised by Cordelia's sudden
00:19:10.569 --> 00:19:13.750
viciousness. Willow says, almost apologetically,
00:19:13.950 --> 00:19:17.000
Willow. Well, my mom picked it out. Cordelia.
00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:20.500
Wutheringly. No wonder you're such a guy, Magnet.
00:19:20.539 --> 00:19:24.380
Are you done? Willow. Oh. She vacates the fountain.
00:19:24.619 --> 00:19:27.619
Cordy steps up to it, looking at Buffy. Cordelia.
00:19:27.980 --> 00:19:30.200
You want to fit in here, the first rule is know
00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:32.799
your losers. Once you can identify them by sight,
00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:35.359
they're a lot easier to avoid. She bends down
00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:37.759
to drink. Buffy looks at the departing Willow,
00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:43.140
unhappily. So there's some great - character
00:19:43.140 --> 00:19:45.160
beats for the two of them here instantly draws
00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:47.900
us to buffy while painting cordelia as something
00:19:47.900 --> 00:19:50.619
for biatch although and i'll say this now as
00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:52.799
the series progresses these characters change
00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:56.039
and evolve wonderfully and the bitchy cordelia
00:19:56.039 --> 00:19:58.660
of season one would prove almost unrecognizable
00:19:58.660 --> 00:20:01.420
years later down the line as a firm fan favorite
00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:04.019
Yeah, and it's interesting that there's a little
00:20:04.019 --> 00:20:06.440
link here, isn't there, between Cordelia's kind
00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:10.000
of idea about knowing your losers at first sight,
00:20:10.059 --> 00:20:14.400
being able to identify them, and the chat that
00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:16.339
Buffy has with Giles a little bit later about
00:20:16.339 --> 00:20:17.980
being able to identify vampires. Yes, there is.
00:20:18.220 --> 00:20:21.740
It's a great little seed that's going to sort
00:20:21.740 --> 00:20:24.299
of flower a little bit later. Anyway, Cordelia
00:20:24.299 --> 00:20:27.519
drops Buffy off at the library where we meet
00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:31.119
the final piece of the puzzle, the last main
00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:34.559
character. For season one, at least, one Rupert
00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:38.059
Giles played to absolute perfection, British
00:20:38.059 --> 00:20:41.400
perfection, Lee, by Anthony Head. Now, Buffy
00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:43.920
is here for schoolbooks, but it seems that Mr.
00:20:44.059 --> 00:20:47.420
Giles has been expecting her and produces a massive
00:20:47.420 --> 00:20:50.359
tome on the vampire. Is that how you say it,
00:20:50.380 --> 00:20:51.960
Lee? That's how I'm saying it. I guess so, yeah.
00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:54.519
That's how it's pronounced from now on. Yeah.
00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:57.619
Something Buffy decidedly doesn't want to see.
00:20:58.119 --> 00:21:02.539
And she bails out ASAP. Hmm. And this is in a
00:21:02.539 --> 00:21:05.660
lot of ways another play on classic movie tropes.
00:21:05.660 --> 00:21:09.920
You'd expect this to be kind of a mentor -teacher
00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:12.960
relationship where Giles educates Buffy on her
00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:15.559
duty to slay vampires. But what Wheaton does
00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:19.160
here in this pilot that is so genius is Buffy
00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:22.359
is already past that stage in her life. She is
00:21:22.359 --> 00:21:24.480
a seasoned warrior at this point. She's battle
00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:26.859
-hardened. She's trying to leave that old life
00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:29.220
behind. And that's not to say that there isn't
00:21:29.220 --> 00:21:31.890
a significant mentor -student. father -daughter
00:21:31.890 --> 00:21:34.049
relationship that develops between the two of
00:21:34.049 --> 00:21:36.890
them later. But you can tell Giles is expecting
00:21:36.890 --> 00:21:39.130
to rock up to Sunnydale and train this naive
00:21:39.130 --> 00:21:43.029
young kid in the ways of slaying monsters. But
00:21:43.029 --> 00:21:44.829
in a lot of ways, you know, she is already more
00:21:44.829 --> 00:21:48.230
experienced in this than he is. Yeah. We head
00:21:48.230 --> 00:21:50.809
into the girls' locker room now and some bitchy
00:21:50.809 --> 00:21:53.470
students gossiping about Buffy open their lockers
00:21:53.470 --> 00:21:56.450
only for the dead guy from the intro to topple
00:21:56.450 --> 00:21:59.789
out and cue Screams Lee at the 12 minute and
00:21:59.789 --> 00:22:02.809
40 seconds. And if it wasn't clearly apparent
00:22:02.809 --> 00:22:05.430
by the commercial handy fade to black, the script
00:22:05.430 --> 00:22:08.170
does clarify that this is indeed the end of Act
00:22:08.170 --> 00:22:11.390
1. Yeah, and we're powering straight into Act
00:22:11.390 --> 00:22:13.950
2. No time for ad breaks, Lee, in the streaming
00:22:13.950 --> 00:22:17.109
DVD generation, and Buffy locates Willow in the
00:22:17.109 --> 00:22:20.150
courtyard and asks her to help tutor her for
00:22:20.150 --> 00:22:23.269
classes, something the shy bookworm is all too
00:22:23.269 --> 00:22:26.109
happy to do. They are then joined by Zonda and
00:22:26.109 --> 00:22:28.289
Jesse, who attempt to get to know the new girl
00:22:28.289 --> 00:22:30.329
a little better. We do learn through some handy
00:22:30.329 --> 00:22:32.789
exposition that Mr. Giles, the librarian, is
00:22:32.789 --> 00:22:36.089
new and arrived only shortly before. And Zonda
00:22:36.089 --> 00:22:39.900
returns Buffy's steak here, Lee. Now, the gang
00:22:39.900 --> 00:22:42.359
hang is interrupted by Cordelia, who informs
00:22:42.359 --> 00:22:45.460
Buffy that Jim is cancelled due to the dead guy
00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:48.700
found stuffed in a locker. Buffy is immediately
00:22:48.700 --> 00:22:51.579
on edge, Lee. After Cordelia proves to know nothing
00:22:51.579 --> 00:22:53.779
about the corpse, she takes it upon herself to
00:22:53.779 --> 00:22:56.660
break into the locker room and check things out
00:22:56.660 --> 00:23:00.559
for herself. Before this, in the script, we get
00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:02.940
an additional scene where Buffy first attempts
00:23:02.940 --> 00:23:10.430
to interrogate the principal. Check it out. Interior,
00:23:10.589 --> 00:23:13.829
hallway outside locker room, continuous. Mr Flutie
00:23:13.829 --> 00:23:16.390
closes the door quietly. He turns to see Buffy
00:23:16.390 --> 00:23:20.049
before him. Mr Flutie. Oh, Buffy. Um, what do
00:23:20.049 --> 00:23:23.130
you want? Buffy. Um, is there a guy in there
00:23:23.130 --> 00:23:26.150
that's dead? Mr Flutie. Where did you hear that?
00:23:26.529 --> 00:23:29.470
Okay, yes, but he's not a student. Not currently.
00:23:29.970 --> 00:23:33.789
Buffy. Do you know how he died? Mr Flutie. What?
00:23:34.690 --> 00:23:37.069
Buffy. I mean, how could this have happened?
00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:40.019
Mr Flutie, well that's for the police to determine
00:23:40.019 --> 00:23:42.500
when they get here. But this structure is safe,
00:23:42.619 --> 00:23:44.960
we have inspections, and I think there's no grounds
00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:47.819
for a lawsuit. Buffy, was there a lot of blood?
00:23:48.299 --> 00:23:51.420
Was there any blood? Mr Flutie, I would think
00:23:51.420 --> 00:23:53.180
you wouldn't want to involve yourself in this
00:23:53.180 --> 00:23:57.519
kind of thing. Buffy, I don't. Could I just take
00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:01.240
a peek? Mr Flutie, unless you already are involved.
00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:06.210
Buffy, never mind. Mr Flutie, being nicer. Buffy,
00:24:06.329 --> 00:24:08.710
I understand this is confusing. You're probably
00:24:08.710 --> 00:24:10.970
feeling a lot right now. You should share those
00:24:10.970 --> 00:24:14.569
feelings with someone else. Buffy smiles wanly,
00:24:14.690 --> 00:24:19.049
backs off. So she quickly locates the corpse
00:24:19.049 --> 00:24:22.490
and finds two distinctive puncture marks in his
00:24:22.490 --> 00:24:26.609
neck. Her reaction, mild annoyance -ly. She heads
00:24:26.609 --> 00:24:28.490
to the library where she confronts Giles about
00:24:28.490 --> 00:24:30.869
the dead kid and they discuss the presence of
00:24:30.869 --> 00:24:39.819
vampires in the town. Giles. Will he rise again?
00:24:40.359 --> 00:24:45.000
Buffy. Who? Giles. The boy. Buffy. No, he's dead.
00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:49.319
Giles. Can you be sure? Buffy. To make you a
00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:51.420
vampire, they have to suck your blood, and then
00:24:51.420 --> 00:24:53.339
you have to suck their blood. It's a whole big
00:24:53.339 --> 00:24:55.859
sucking thing. Mostly they'll just take all your
00:24:55.859 --> 00:24:58.160
blood and then you'll just die. Why am I still
00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:02.660
talking to you? We also get some handy rule clarification
00:25:02.660 --> 00:25:06.279
about how people become vampires. It's a handy
00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:09.460
little expo drop with some critical lore attached.
00:25:09.900 --> 00:25:12.500
It's delivered really well here because the scene
00:25:12.500 --> 00:25:16.160
has that all -important buzzword. conflict. Buffy
00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:18.759
and Giles, there are odds, but really the conflict
00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:21.700
for Buffy here is internal. She knows what she
00:25:21.700 --> 00:25:24.019
is supposed to do, what she was quite literally
00:25:24.019 --> 00:25:26.839
born to do, but she's fighting it here because
00:25:26.839 --> 00:25:29.039
it is conflicting with her want, which is to
00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:33.420
live a normal life. Yeah. Now Buffy storms out
00:25:33.420 --> 00:25:35.680
of the library, but Giles isn't giving up this
00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:39.079
time and gives chastely, revealing a confused
00:25:39.079 --> 00:25:42.240
and bewildered Xander lurking in the book stacks.
00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:45.019
Giles catches up to Buffy in the hallway, where
00:25:45.019 --> 00:25:47.279
he informs her that something big is coming,
00:25:47.400 --> 00:25:50.900
some cataclysmic event. But Buffy shrugs him
00:25:50.900 --> 00:25:53.539
off. After all, this is Sunnydale, and how bad
00:25:53.539 --> 00:25:57.099
could it be, Lee? Well, right on cue, we head
00:25:57.099 --> 00:26:00.200
below ground to the underground ruined cathedral
00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:03.339
we glanced in Buffy's dream. The place is full
00:26:03.339 --> 00:26:05.680
of vamps, but one in particular has our focus,
00:26:05.720 --> 00:26:09.720
a large, ugly bloodsucker named Luke. He's chanting
00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:12.980
that the sleeper will awaken and the world will
00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:17.599
bleed. Hominous much? Yeah, you're really vibing
00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:19.420
the whole, we didn't speak today, aren't you,
00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:23.140
Lee? Hell yeah, boy. Genre fans will recognise
00:26:23.140 --> 00:26:27.000
this buff beast as Brian Thompson, star of many
00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:29.559
a horror sci -fi adventure and probably best
00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:32.079
known for his role as the alien bounty hunter
00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:35.220
in The X -Files. And right on cue, we are out
00:26:35.220 --> 00:26:37.200
of Act 2 and we're going to move straight into
00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:40.309
Act 3. Yeah, so act three kicks off with Buffy
00:26:40.309 --> 00:26:43.069
attempting to choose an outfit in which to meet
00:26:43.069 --> 00:26:45.910
Cordelia at the local club. I'll give you the
00:26:45.910 --> 00:26:53.430
passage from the script here. Check it out. Interior,
00:26:53.650 --> 00:26:57.009
Buffy's bedroom, night. She's in the agony of
00:26:57.009 --> 00:27:00.450
outfit choosage, getting ready to go out. She
00:27:00.450 --> 00:27:03.250
has two, one scanty, the other somewhat plain.
00:27:03.670 --> 00:27:06.170
She holds them alternately in front of her, looking
00:27:06.170 --> 00:27:09.619
in the mirror. Buffy holding up one. Hi, I'm
00:27:09.619 --> 00:27:12.940
an enormous slut. The other. Hi, would you like
00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:15.579
a copy of The Watchtower? Throws them both down.
00:27:15.799 --> 00:27:19.940
I used to be so good at this. So the reason I
00:27:19.940 --> 00:27:22.519
highlighted this one is because Whedon has been
00:27:22.519 --> 00:27:24.980
quoted as saying there was some pushback from
00:27:24.980 --> 00:27:27.599
the network about the use of the word slut as
00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:29.599
they didn't know what time slot the show would
00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:32.059
have. So apparently they championed the line
00:27:32.059 --> 00:27:34.539
because it stresses that being a slut is a bad
00:27:34.539 --> 00:27:38.670
thing and Buffy is not one. Yeah, boo for the
00:27:38.670 --> 00:27:42.029
unnecessary slut -shaming, I think. So after
00:27:42.029 --> 00:27:44.069
a sweet little heart -to -heart with her mum,
00:27:44.210 --> 00:27:46.650
Buffy heads out to the club but quickly becomes
00:27:46.650 --> 00:27:49.089
aware that someone or something is following
00:27:49.089 --> 00:27:52.390
her leak. She ducks down an alley, seems sensible,
00:27:52.589 --> 00:27:56.809
but finds herself in a dead end. What follows
00:27:56.809 --> 00:28:06.000
is a cool little scene. Exterior. An alley, a
00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:09.099
moment later. Buffy turns in. She looks about
00:28:09.099 --> 00:28:11.759
her. A pipe runs across the narrow alley some
00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:14.619
ten feet above her. Garbage cans cluster at the
00:28:14.619 --> 00:28:17.940
other end. Angle, Buffy, doing a handstand on
00:28:17.940 --> 00:28:20.579
a pipe overhead. The figure turns into the now
00:28:20.579 --> 00:28:23.740
empty alleyway, starts down it. Buffy suddenly
00:28:23.740 --> 00:28:26.299
drops down on him, legs locked over his neck.
00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:29.759
She throws herself back, tipping him over, rolling
00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:32.180
herself and slamming his body onto the ground.
00:28:32.680 --> 00:28:34.900
He's on his feet quickly, but she grabs him and
00:28:34.900 --> 00:28:38.079
throws him against a wall. She closes in, but
00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:40.579
he makes no move to attack. He puts up his hands.
00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:44.079
Angel. Is there a problem, Mum? He seems faintly
00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:46.819
amused. Buffy eyes him suspiciously, getting
00:28:46.819 --> 00:28:49.619
her first good look at him. Angel is strikingly
00:28:49.619 --> 00:28:52.160
handsome, with intelligence and a kind of distance
00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:55.640
in his eyes. Moves with a fighter's grace. Buffy.
00:28:55.980 --> 00:28:58.039
There's a problem. Why are you following me?
00:28:58.359 --> 00:29:00.900
Angel. I know what you're thinking, but don't
00:29:00.900 --> 00:29:04.339
worry. I don't bite. She backs off a bit, perplexed.
00:29:04.460 --> 00:29:07.519
Angel. Truth is, I thought you'd be taller. Or
00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:10.700
bigger. Muscles and all that. You're pretty spry,
00:29:10.700 --> 00:29:14.519
though. Buffy. What do you want? Angel. Same
00:29:14.519 --> 00:29:17.900
thing you do. Buffy. Okay, what do I want? The
00:29:17.900 --> 00:29:20.960
amusement leaves his face. Angel. To kill him.
00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:25.380
To kill them all. Buffy. Game show. Sorry, that's
00:29:25.380 --> 00:29:27.940
incorrect. But you do get this lovely watch and
00:29:27.940 --> 00:29:30.859
a year's supply of turtle wax. What I want is
00:29:30.859 --> 00:29:34.309
to be left alone. Angel. You really think that's
00:29:34.309 --> 00:29:36.490
an option anymore? You're standing at the mouth
00:29:36.490 --> 00:29:39.730
of hell, and it's about to open. He reaches into
00:29:39.730 --> 00:29:41.849
his coat for something. It's a jewellery box.
00:29:42.069 --> 00:29:44.990
He throws it to her. Angel. Don't turn your back
00:29:44.990 --> 00:29:47.990
on this. You've got to be ready. Buffy. What
00:29:47.990 --> 00:29:52.210
for? Angel. For the harvest. He starts out. Buffy.
00:29:52.369 --> 00:29:55.430
Who are you? Angel. Let's just say I'm a friend.
00:29:56.049 --> 00:29:58.970
Buffy. Exasperated. Well, maybe I don't want
00:29:58.970 --> 00:30:02.660
a friend. Angel. I didn't say I was yours. He
00:30:02.660 --> 00:30:05.720
goes. Buffy watches him go, then opens the box.
00:30:06.140 --> 00:30:10.019
Angle in the box is a cross, small, antique on
00:30:10.019 --> 00:30:14.920
a gold chain. So here we have our first introduction
00:30:14.920 --> 00:30:18.900
to David Boreanaz's Angel. And while he's a side
00:30:18.900 --> 00:30:21.259
character through the first season, he proved
00:30:21.259 --> 00:30:23.799
popular enough to move to the main cast for seasons
00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:26.700
two and three before being given his own spinoff
00:30:26.700 --> 00:30:28.980
show, which ran for another five seasons. So
00:30:28.980 --> 00:30:32.400
effectively, Angel's been around in TV for longer
00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:35.319
than Buffy has. And there's also a line from
00:30:35.319 --> 00:30:37.599
Buffy here that deliberately states her want
00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:40.140
for anyone not paying attention. What I want
00:30:40.140 --> 00:30:43.180
is to be left alone. Yeah, it's a pretty clear
00:30:43.180 --> 00:30:47.170
declaration there, isn't it? Yeah. We also have
00:30:47.170 --> 00:30:49.089
a scene on the page that doesn't make it to the
00:30:49.089 --> 00:30:57.069
screen here. So check it out. Wide angle, Buffy
00:30:57.069 --> 00:30:59.710
alone in the alley. Buffy looks at the cross,
00:30:59.789 --> 00:31:02.410
at the departing figure of the mysterious man.
00:31:02.910 --> 00:31:05.210
And as she walks slowly away, the camera tracks
00:31:05.210 --> 00:31:07.650
past the corner, past another group of garbage
00:31:07.650 --> 00:31:10.630
cans. In front of them, right before us, but
00:31:10.630 --> 00:31:13.599
unseen by Buffy, are two figures. the poor man
00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:16.559
we saw in our dream, and a vampire. The beast
00:31:16.559 --> 00:31:19.079
has its face burrowing in his neck as the last
00:31:19.079 --> 00:31:23.700
of his life shudders out. Yeah, so any thoughts
00:31:23.700 --> 00:31:26.680
on why they didn't put this in, Lee? I'm not
00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:29.619
sure. I mean, I know TV Land has a whole lot
00:31:29.619 --> 00:31:31.920
more restrictions when it comes to violence and
00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:34.980
death and apparently slut -shaming, but I think
00:31:34.980 --> 00:31:36.539
the show could have used a little more horror
00:31:36.539 --> 00:31:39.990
at this point, personally. Yeah, I mean, my only
00:31:39.990 --> 00:31:41.890
thought was that it could sort of distract a
00:31:41.890 --> 00:31:44.650
little bit from the Buffy angel meat. But I also
00:31:44.650 --> 00:31:46.230
wonder if it's something which just was sort
00:31:46.230 --> 00:31:48.710
of deemed unnecessary. It doesn't really move
00:31:48.710 --> 00:31:51.009
us on anywhere and raises questions about Buffy's
00:31:51.009 --> 00:31:54.730
prowess in a way. You know, Vamp just ran the
00:31:54.730 --> 00:31:57.950
corner sort of chowing down. But I guess in a
00:31:57.950 --> 00:32:01.990
way it could kind of set up, as I mentioned earlier,
00:32:02.069 --> 00:32:04.049
Giles and Buffy's talk about her being able to
00:32:04.049 --> 00:32:07.529
sort of spot or detect vampires maybe. But anyway,
00:32:07.730 --> 00:32:11.410
it was jettisoned and Buffy at this point locates
00:32:11.410 --> 00:32:14.670
Willow in the club and the two bond over Boysley.
00:32:15.529 --> 00:32:18.910
So this location is known as the Bronze and it
00:32:18.910 --> 00:32:20.630
would prove to be a crucial meeting place for
00:32:20.630 --> 00:32:23.210
the Buffy crew or the Scoobies, as known to some.
00:32:23.450 --> 00:32:25.990
It also allowed the show to regularly feature
00:32:25.990 --> 00:32:28.549
new bands, you know, for the hip teen demographics.
00:32:29.289 --> 00:32:33.009
Like a young Lee, no doubt. I may have technically
00:32:33.009 --> 00:32:35.839
been a teenager, but I was woefully unhip. My
00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:38.059
much hipper daughters are Buffy fans, though,
00:32:38.119 --> 00:32:43.180
so I guess coolness must skip a generation. So
00:32:43.180 --> 00:32:46.180
Willow admits she's crushing on Xander and that
00:32:46.180 --> 00:32:48.359
they've been friends since they were wee childrenly.
00:32:48.700 --> 00:32:50.920
Buffy gives her some boy -related advice. Life
00:32:50.920 --> 00:32:53.240
is short. Seize the moment. All sounds good.
00:32:53.519 --> 00:32:56.559
Then she spots Giles lurking in the upper gantries
00:32:56.559 --> 00:33:03.500
and heads off to confront him. Oh, well, it looks
00:33:03.500 --> 00:33:05.579
like it's that time again, folks. Time for another
00:33:05.579 --> 00:33:10.619
random page check. Alrighty. So it's common screenwriting
00:33:10.619 --> 00:33:13.259
law that one page equals one minute of screen
00:33:13.259 --> 00:33:16.059
time. There's always a little bit of leeway here,
00:33:16.160 --> 00:33:19.400
but to be honest, it usually measures out. And
00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:21.519
this is the part where we put that rule to the
00:33:21.519 --> 00:33:24.880
test. Nice. So where are we minutes -wise and
00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:28.640
where are we on the page, Lee? We are on the...
00:33:29.819 --> 00:33:35.839
28th minute of the episode and on page 42 of
00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:40.400
the script. Ooh, well, that's a 14 -page difference,
00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:43.079
isn't it? And for something this short, you know,
00:33:43.099 --> 00:33:46.859
that's quite a mismatch. Any thoughts on that,
00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:49.880
Lee? It's quite big. Yeah, I've got a few thoughts
00:33:49.880 --> 00:33:52.059
on this one. I mean, to start with, the first
00:33:52.059 --> 00:33:55.339
couple of pages of the shooting script are reserved
00:33:55.339 --> 00:33:58.799
for cast listings and locations, not to mention
00:33:58.799 --> 00:34:01.039
the cover page. So that drops the variance down
00:34:01.039 --> 00:34:04.039
to 11 pages, which is, to be fair, is still a
00:34:04.039 --> 00:34:07.200
hell of a jump. We did have the cut scene where
00:34:07.200 --> 00:34:09.920
Buffy asks Principal Flutie about the corpse.
00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:12.239
So we'll say we'll give that another page. That
00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:15.539
puts us down to 10 pages out. Some of the act
00:34:15.539 --> 00:34:19.039
breaks in the script kind of cut half the page
00:34:19.039 --> 00:34:22.280
off. So that's another, say, another page gone.
00:34:22.860 --> 00:34:25.619
And on one page, there is just a single word
00:34:25.619 --> 00:34:28.460
of dialogue. So that's another two, which takes
00:34:28.460 --> 00:34:31.500
us down to around about an eight -page difference.
00:34:31.579 --> 00:34:34.360
We've lost a few lines of dialogue here and there.
00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:37.480
And we also lost the opening dream sequences
00:34:37.480 --> 00:34:40.820
longer in the script. We get the extra scene
00:34:40.820 --> 00:34:42.699
of a vampire attack on the page. I think that
00:34:42.699 --> 00:34:44.920
kind of balances out. So I think in truth, we're
00:34:44.920 --> 00:34:48.019
probably, I say only, but I think we're realistically
00:34:48.019 --> 00:34:51.639
about seven pages out of sync. So I'm going to
00:34:51.639 --> 00:34:54.820
put this down to the show's fast and snappy dialogue.
00:34:55.079 --> 00:34:58.579
I mean, it really does flow thick and fast. And
00:34:58.579 --> 00:35:01.460
I believe, I reckon that's why we're so far ahead
00:35:01.460 --> 00:35:05.510
on page to minute count. Yeah, the dialogue does
00:35:05.510 --> 00:35:08.369
skip along, doesn't it? Good shout. Okay, so
00:35:08.369 --> 00:35:10.630
Buffy checks in with Giles, who looks like he's
00:35:10.630 --> 00:35:13.170
having about as much fun in a club full of teenagers
00:35:13.170 --> 00:35:16.690
as you or I would. I think it's a rite of passage
00:35:16.690 --> 00:35:19.130
for every male Buffy fan when you realise you've
00:35:19.130 --> 00:35:21.750
effectively outgrown Xander, were never cool
00:35:21.750 --> 00:35:24.150
enough to be Angel, and you've basically become
00:35:24.150 --> 00:35:29.599
Giles. He again tries to warn Buffy of the severity
00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:32.780
of upcoming events, but Buffy somewhat blindsides
00:35:32.780 --> 00:35:36.340
him with Angel's talk of harvests and hellmouths.
00:35:36.909 --> 00:35:38.829
But Giles isn't just a dithering Englishman.
00:35:39.030 --> 00:35:41.710
He's smart enough to know when to change tactics,
00:35:41.789 --> 00:35:44.130
and he suggests that maybe things won't go to
00:35:44.130 --> 00:35:46.449
hell as long as Buffy hasn't been having any
00:35:46.449 --> 00:35:49.570
prophetic dreams or the like. The look on Buffy's
00:35:49.570 --> 00:35:52.449
face is quite telling here, Lee. We take a brief
00:35:52.449 --> 00:35:55.409
time out to check in on Cordelia, who mercilessly
00:35:55.409 --> 00:35:58.050
shoots down Jessie's attempts at asking her to
00:35:58.050 --> 00:36:00.510
dance. And that's a particular pain I'm sure
00:36:00.510 --> 00:36:05.739
we're all sharing, Lee. Nah, not me, dude. No,
00:36:05.780 --> 00:36:07.800
you never got turned down by a girl for a dance?
00:36:08.519 --> 00:36:10.920
If you don't ask, you don't get rejected, right?
00:36:11.039 --> 00:36:14.559
And my record remains unbroken. Zero rejections.
00:36:15.880 --> 00:36:19.800
Tactics, Lee. Like it. So Jars keeps on nudging,
00:36:19.800 --> 00:36:22.460
challenging her to hone her senses and seek out
00:36:22.460 --> 00:36:25.510
any vampires in the crowd. She almost immediately
00:36:25.510 --> 00:36:28.789
pings one, more due to his dated fashion sense
00:36:28.789 --> 00:36:31.530
than his supernatural gift. But all playfulness
00:36:31.530 --> 00:36:33.730
quickly evaporates when we see that the girl
00:36:33.730 --> 00:36:37.150
the untrendy bloodsucker is chatting up is none
00:36:37.150 --> 00:36:40.309
other than Willow Lee, who is in no doubt seizing
00:36:40.309 --> 00:36:43.369
Buffy's advice to seize the moment. Buffy heads
00:36:43.369 --> 00:36:46.070
off in pursuit, snapping the leg off a chair
00:36:46.070 --> 00:36:49.070
in preparation for the staking. The back rooms
00:36:49.070 --> 00:36:51.730
of the bronze are surprisingly quiet until Buffy
00:36:51.730 --> 00:36:54.449
is startled by Cordelia and pins her against
00:36:54.449 --> 00:36:58.469
the wall, stake raised, before sheepishly scooting
00:36:58.469 --> 00:37:00.889
off to continue her search, but not before saying
00:37:00.889 --> 00:37:03.449
goodbye to any potential social life as Cordelia
00:37:03.449 --> 00:37:07.289
goes full gossip girl on her. That Whedon speak
00:37:07.289 --> 00:37:12.269
is infectious, no? So Buffy heads off to continue
00:37:12.269 --> 00:37:14.829
the search while Giles heads to the library to
00:37:14.829 --> 00:37:18.710
consult his books. What a nerd. Both oblivious
00:37:18.710 --> 00:37:21.230
to the fact that Jesse is putting the moves on
00:37:21.230 --> 00:37:23.849
the vampire girl from the opening sequence, whose
00:37:23.849 --> 00:37:27.750
name, incidentally, is Darla. We head back underground
00:37:27.750 --> 00:37:30.750
now where vamp Luke kneels before a pool of blood
00:37:30.750 --> 00:37:33.869
from which slowly rises a particularly ancient
00:37:33.869 --> 00:37:37.489
looking vampire whom Luke refers to as Master...
00:37:38.380 --> 00:37:42.079
And this all happens at the 34 minute and 40
00:37:42.079 --> 00:37:45.900
second mark. So why does this guy look more sort
00:37:45.900 --> 00:37:49.139
of vampy than the others, Lee? It's sometimes
00:37:49.139 --> 00:37:51.699
referenced in the show that the older a vampire
00:37:51.699 --> 00:37:55.300
is, the stronger and less human looking they
00:37:55.300 --> 00:37:59.519
become. We get one. vampire later in the show
00:37:59.519 --> 00:38:02.500
that has hooves he's so old um and if memory
00:38:02.500 --> 00:38:05.039
serves at some point in the show darla mentions
00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:07.840
that the master has evolved beyond human features
00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:11.000
or something to that effect okay well he is one
00:38:11.000 --> 00:38:13.139
ugly motherfucker lee that's what i'm going to
00:38:13.139 --> 00:38:16.599
say and like clockwork we arrive at the end of
00:38:16.599 --> 00:38:20.090
act three So Act 4 kicks off and we're straight
00:38:20.090 --> 00:38:23.010
back in with Luke and the Master. We learn that
00:38:23.010 --> 00:38:25.269
the Master is weakened and seemingly trapped
00:38:25.269 --> 00:38:28.650
by some mystical barrier until the upcoming harvest
00:38:28.650 --> 00:38:31.690
brings him back to full strength. Luke assures
00:38:31.690 --> 00:38:34.170
him that his minions are bringing him food and
00:38:34.170 --> 00:38:37.590
the old vampire asks for something young. Dirty
00:38:37.590 --> 00:38:40.989
bastard. Yeah, I mean, is it wrong if you're
00:38:40.989 --> 00:38:42.889
literally just going to eat them? I mean, obviously,
00:38:42.949 --> 00:38:48.980
yes, but... Veal over venison, I suppose. We
00:38:48.980 --> 00:38:51.500
catch up with Willow and her vampy beau, but
00:38:51.500 --> 00:38:54.440
as yet she's unharmedly. Probably not for long,
00:38:54.460 --> 00:38:56.940
though, as he leads her on a shortcut through
00:38:56.940 --> 00:39:00.820
Sunnydale Cemetery. Another staple location for
00:39:00.820 --> 00:39:02.920
the show. Yeah, it does seem rather fitting.
00:39:03.079 --> 00:39:06.139
A desperate Buffy bumps into Xander, who initially
00:39:06.139 --> 00:39:08.579
ribs her about her vampire -slaying delusions
00:39:08.579 --> 00:39:11.659
before being swayed by his genuine concern for
00:39:11.659 --> 00:39:14.619
Willow. Yeah, it's a cool beat for Xander who
00:39:14.619 --> 00:39:17.460
hasn't really had a lot going for him up until
00:39:17.460 --> 00:39:20.159
this point. In the script, the scene runs a few
00:39:20.159 --> 00:39:22.599
seconds longer with Xander leading Buffy to wherever
00:39:22.599 --> 00:39:30.380
he thinks Willow may be. So check it out. Buffy
00:39:30.380 --> 00:39:33.460
looking around. Where would they go? Xander,
00:39:33.599 --> 00:39:36.019
why? You know something about Mr. Goodbar that
00:39:36.019 --> 00:39:38.719
she doesn't? Oh, hey, I hope he's not a vampire
00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:41.519
because then you'd have to slay him. She turns
00:39:41.519 --> 00:39:44.400
back to him, surprised and miffed. Buffy, was
00:39:44.400 --> 00:39:46.460
there a school bulletin? Was it in the news?
00:39:46.699 --> 00:39:48.739
Is there anybody in this town who doesn't know
00:39:48.739 --> 00:39:51.559
I'm a Slayer? Zanda, I only know that you think
00:39:51.559 --> 00:39:53.679
you're a Slayer, and I only know that because
00:39:53.679 --> 00:39:56.579
I was in the library today. Buffy, whatever,
00:39:56.760 --> 00:39:59.760
just tell me where Willow would go. Zanda, you're
00:39:59.760 --> 00:40:02.699
serious? Buffy, we don't find her, there's going
00:40:02.699 --> 00:40:05.139
to be another dead body in the morning. A beat,
00:40:05.340 --> 00:40:08.280
as he looks at her, sees she isn't kidding, isn't
00:40:08.280 --> 00:40:14.110
wrong. Zanda. Come on. Willow, meanwhile, is
00:40:14.110 --> 00:40:16.929
still in the graveyard, but is getting understandably
00:40:16.929 --> 00:40:20.230
freaked outly. Things aren't helped when the
00:40:20.230 --> 00:40:23.909
vamp drags her into a mausoleum. Things get worse
00:40:23.909 --> 00:40:26.190
for Willow as Darla rocks up with a bloody and
00:40:26.190 --> 00:40:29.159
disorientated Jesse in tow. Now, Willow tries
00:40:29.159 --> 00:40:31.960
to leave with him, but Darla goes full vamp face
00:40:31.960 --> 00:40:34.840
a little after the 38 -minute mark, and it's
00:40:34.840 --> 00:40:37.179
the first time we get to see the actual morph
00:40:37.179 --> 00:40:39.860
effect, which, while very dated now, was probably
00:40:39.860 --> 00:40:42.820
pretty freaky back in the day. Thankfully, Buffy
00:40:42.820 --> 00:40:45.539
and Xander arrive just in the nick of time, and
00:40:45.539 --> 00:40:48.539
we finally get to see Buffy do her thing as she
00:40:48.539 --> 00:40:51.159
effortlessly stakes Willow's blood -sucking boy
00:40:51.159 --> 00:40:54.420
toy, and we get this cool turn -to -dust effect
00:40:54.420 --> 00:40:58.679
with a wicked kind of scream sound effect. That
00:40:58.679 --> 00:41:01.159
sound effect is really more important than you
00:41:01.159 --> 00:41:03.719
think, because in the future of the show, it
00:41:03.719 --> 00:41:06.519
basically allows them to dust vampires off screen
00:41:06.519 --> 00:41:09.460
with a recognisable audio tag, which obviously
00:41:09.460 --> 00:41:11.380
is going to save them significant money on special
00:41:11.380 --> 00:41:15.199
effects. Yeah, genius. So Buffy also makes short
00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:17.679
work of Darla, but seems to hit a bump in the
00:41:17.679 --> 00:41:20.260
road when Luke arrives on the scene. He's clearly
00:41:20.260 --> 00:41:22.659
much more capable than the others, and Buffy
00:41:22.659 --> 00:41:25.019
has a hands full, but at least the others have
00:41:25.019 --> 00:41:28.699
managed to escape. Or not, as they run headfirst
00:41:28.699 --> 00:41:31.659
into a cohort of vampires, Lee. Things aren't
00:41:31.659 --> 00:41:33.840
going much better for Buffy either, as Luke seems
00:41:33.840 --> 00:41:36.780
to be manhandling her somewhat, tossing her into
00:41:36.780 --> 00:41:39.440
an open crypt before looming in for the kill
00:41:39.440 --> 00:41:44.280
and freeze -frame Lee to be continued. Dun, dun,
00:41:44.300 --> 00:41:48.400
dun! Awesome. So come on, man, what did you think
00:41:48.400 --> 00:41:50.619
of this one? Oh, yeah, I thought this was very
00:41:50.619 --> 00:41:52.460
enjoyable, Lee. I thought it was a lot of fun.
00:41:52.539 --> 00:41:55.199
I mean, you know, Whedon's dialogue and his sort
00:41:55.199 --> 00:41:58.440
of subverting of tropes is a real joy. And I
00:41:58.440 --> 00:42:00.969
think the cast is really well put together. I
00:42:00.969 --> 00:42:03.250
could totally see why this was such a kind of
00:42:03.250 --> 00:42:05.909
phenomenon back in the day. And it does have
00:42:05.909 --> 00:42:09.849
that kind of 90s high school thing. But I think
00:42:09.849 --> 00:42:12.150
with a kind of swagger that we've come to expect
00:42:12.150 --> 00:42:14.710
from Whedon, you know, now sort of looking back,
00:42:14.769 --> 00:42:17.710
I thought there's some really funny lines. I
00:42:17.710 --> 00:42:20.789
assume the kind of the cast grow into their roles
00:42:20.789 --> 00:42:22.889
a bit more as the series kind of progresses.
00:42:22.969 --> 00:42:25.449
This is the pilot, isn't it? But yeah, man, had
00:42:25.449 --> 00:42:28.670
a blast here, dude. What about you? I mean, I've
00:42:28.670 --> 00:42:30.750
mentioned throughout that this show is a really
00:42:30.750 --> 00:42:32.989
big deal to me in my youth, and it still holds
00:42:32.989 --> 00:42:35.489
a really special place in my cold, cold heart
00:42:35.489 --> 00:42:39.090
now. You know, it's hard to really get across
00:42:39.090 --> 00:42:42.250
just how good and groundbreaking this show was
00:42:42.250 --> 00:42:44.809
back in the day and just how great it will become.
00:42:44.889 --> 00:42:46.889
Because as you pointed out, the first series
00:42:46.889 --> 00:42:49.570
was still really good. It was a little rough
00:42:49.570 --> 00:42:52.789
around the edges in places. But trust me when
00:42:52.789 --> 00:42:54.929
I tell you this show deserves every ounce of
00:42:54.929 --> 00:42:57.210
love and adoration it gets. It was absolutely
00:42:57.210 --> 00:42:59.590
amazing. absolutely fantastic i think for me
00:42:59.590 --> 00:43:01.969
it kind of peaked season two was probably the
00:43:01.969 --> 00:43:05.929
best season out of all of them um but every season
00:43:05.929 --> 00:43:08.750
has its you know has its positives and negatives
00:43:08.750 --> 00:43:12.150
but you know it it is an amazing show absolutely
00:43:12.150 --> 00:43:16.110
brilliant nice dude okay then lee let's break
00:43:16.110 --> 00:43:23.590
this baby down So let's begin the breakdown by
00:43:23.590 --> 00:43:25.789
looking at the biggest differences, if indeed
00:43:25.789 --> 00:43:28.210
there were any, between the screenplay and the
00:43:28.210 --> 00:43:32.429
episode. OK, so we had a few minor cuts and we
00:43:32.429 --> 00:43:35.349
lost one significant scene with Buffy and the
00:43:35.349 --> 00:43:38.250
principal talking. But apart from that, everything
00:43:38.250 --> 00:43:42.329
is pretty much down to the word. Nice, nice.
00:43:42.610 --> 00:43:44.489
OK, so let's look at our characters. Are there
00:43:44.489 --> 00:43:46.670
any introductions that stood out to you as particularly
00:43:46.670 --> 00:43:49.289
effective or memorable? Oh, man, there's some
00:43:49.289 --> 00:43:51.389
very good ones in here. I'm going to go with
00:43:51.389 --> 00:43:55.630
Xander's, I think, and that goes like this. Angle,
00:43:55.630 --> 00:43:58.670
a skateboard. Weaving along the road, on it is
00:43:58.670 --> 00:44:00.789
Xander. Dressed with the shaggy indifference
00:44:00.789 --> 00:44:03.170
common to skateboarders, he is bright, funny,
00:44:03.269 --> 00:44:05.409
and will one day be suave and handsome. Till
00:44:05.409 --> 00:44:07.469
that day arrives, he'll do the best he can with
00:44:07.469 --> 00:44:11.170
bright and funny. How about you? I enjoyed that
00:44:11.170 --> 00:44:13.190
one too, dude. Funny enough, I picked that one
00:44:13.190 --> 00:44:15.619
out as well, but I picked a few others. I thought
00:44:15.619 --> 00:44:17.159
that was really good. I thought Buffy's intro
00:44:17.159 --> 00:44:18.739
was actually kind of interesting because it's
00:44:18.739 --> 00:44:20.800
really short and sparse. There's barely anything
00:44:20.800 --> 00:44:23.800
there. So with all of that in mind, I picked
00:44:23.800 --> 00:44:27.880
out Willow's intro, which goes like this. Willow.
00:44:28.239 --> 00:44:31.059
She's shy, bookish and very possibly dressed
00:44:31.059 --> 00:44:33.699
by her mother. The intelligence in her eyes and
00:44:33.699 --> 00:44:36.559
the sweetness of her smile belie a genuine charm
00:44:36.559 --> 00:44:39.440
that is lost on the unsubtle high school mind.
00:44:39.719 --> 00:44:42.260
It's certainly lost on Xander, though he brightens
00:44:42.260 --> 00:44:44.500
considerably to see her, the new face forgotten,
00:44:44.739 --> 00:44:47.719
at least for now. So I enjoyed this because it
00:44:47.719 --> 00:44:50.420
seems to kind of just perfectly encapsulate Willow.
00:44:50.659 --> 00:44:53.099
And I like the line about being dressed by a
00:44:53.099 --> 00:44:55.659
mother. I thought it was funny. Yeah, I just
00:44:55.659 --> 00:44:57.619
thought it was a sort of really kind of sweet
00:44:57.619 --> 00:45:00.719
intro for Willow, who seems like a sweet character,
00:45:00.940 --> 00:45:04.329
you know. OK, are there any sort of notable lines
00:45:04.329 --> 00:45:07.150
of dialogue in here that stood out for you, Lee?
00:45:07.610 --> 00:45:10.550
Oh, my God. I mean, the script is rife with really
00:45:10.550 --> 00:45:13.869
fantastic dialogue, quippy one liners. And in
00:45:13.869 --> 00:45:16.170
fact, this whole way of speaking and writing
00:45:16.170 --> 00:45:19.730
dialogue literally spawned its own subgenre in
00:45:19.730 --> 00:45:22.710
the equally loved and hated Whedon speak that
00:45:22.710 --> 00:45:25.889
we've kind of touched on before. Yeah. OK, so
00:45:25.889 --> 00:45:27.889
explain that one for our listeners, though, Lee.
00:45:28.489 --> 00:45:33.389
obvious much okay um so we didn't speak or we
00:45:33.389 --> 00:45:37.610
Denise is a highly stylized dialogue rhythm associated
00:45:37.610 --> 00:45:40.969
with Joss Whedon shows especially Buffy Angel
00:45:40.969 --> 00:45:44.070
and Firefly and later some of his film work you
00:45:44.070 --> 00:45:46.130
can kind of feel its influences in the first
00:45:46.130 --> 00:45:48.670
two Avengers movies specifically for example
00:45:48.670 --> 00:45:52.210
it's uh it's a very quippy self -referential
00:45:52.210 --> 00:45:55.650
pop culture infused way of speaking and it has
00:45:55.650 --> 00:45:57.719
a lot of a lot of positive points you know it
00:45:57.719 --> 00:46:00.559
makes for humorous listening it frequently defies
00:46:00.559 --> 00:46:02.960
audience expectation it's great for livening
00:46:02.960 --> 00:46:05.579
up otherwise dull exposition dumps and it just
00:46:05.579 --> 00:46:07.960
kind of hits a rhythm that is pleasing to the
00:46:07.960 --> 00:46:11.320
ear you know um you know how sorkin writes dialogue
00:46:11.320 --> 00:46:13.900
to a certain beat you know whedon would do the
00:46:13.900 --> 00:46:17.559
same but to a different drum uh which since this
00:46:17.559 --> 00:46:19.559
cancellation we're probably probably never going
00:46:19.559 --> 00:46:22.710
to hear direct from the source again Yeah. So
00:46:22.710 --> 00:46:23.849
that's something I was wondering if we should
00:46:23.849 --> 00:46:26.550
touch on. I mean, Whedon's actions and the sort
00:46:26.550 --> 00:46:29.610
of ramifications thereof. Yeah. OK. I mean, I'll
00:46:29.610 --> 00:46:32.050
be the first to admit I'm not overly versed in
00:46:32.050 --> 00:46:34.550
the allegations against Whedon and I have no
00:46:34.550 --> 00:46:38.309
particular insight into them. But, you know,
00:46:38.309 --> 00:46:41.389
from an observer kind of standpoint, things started
00:46:41.389 --> 00:46:44.230
to kick off when Ray Fisher made allegations
00:46:44.230 --> 00:46:47.550
about Whedon on the set of the 2017 Justice League
00:46:47.550 --> 00:46:51.070
movie. Gal Gadot, too, had less than flattering
00:46:51.070 --> 00:46:53.530
things to say about him. And surely afterwards,
00:46:53.869 --> 00:46:56.090
Charisma Carpenter went on record with accusations
00:46:56.090 --> 00:46:59.530
of toxicity, which were then backed up by several
00:46:59.530 --> 00:47:01.829
cast members from Buffy and Angel. I mean, this
00:47:01.829 --> 00:47:05.050
all led to Whedon stepping back from his his
00:47:05.050 --> 00:47:07.429
most recent TV related role on a show called
00:47:07.429 --> 00:47:11.460
The Nevers, which was. quite swiftly cancelled
00:47:11.460 --> 00:47:14.119
and this kind of led to his enduring fall from
00:47:14.119 --> 00:47:16.820
grace which is both kind of tragic and ironic
00:47:16.820 --> 00:47:19.440
because in his heyday he was regarded as something
00:47:19.440 --> 00:47:22.840
of a groundbreaking feminist icon known for his
00:47:22.840 --> 00:47:25.960
strong well -written female characters and now
00:47:25.960 --> 00:47:29.420
he's kind of regarded as something as a misogynistic
00:47:29.420 --> 00:47:33.909
bully but I hope. But back to the dialogue. Let
00:47:33.909 --> 00:47:36.530
me throw out some of my favorite lines from this
00:47:36.530 --> 00:47:39.369
first episode. You know, if I was going to do
00:47:39.369 --> 00:47:41.309
the whole series, the whole show from start to
00:47:41.309 --> 00:47:44.510
finish, I would literally be here all day. OK,
00:47:44.630 --> 00:47:46.449
before you get started with that, Lee, I'm going
00:47:46.449 --> 00:47:48.710
to put you on the spot. What's your favorite
00:47:48.710 --> 00:47:52.150
line from the whole show? You've got 10 seconds.
00:47:53.030 --> 00:48:01.320
You bastard. OK. OK, OK. Out for a walk. Bitch.
00:48:01.320 --> 00:48:03.400
And without any context, that will mean nothing
00:48:03.400 --> 00:48:06.019
to you. But hopefully some Buffy fans are nodding
00:48:06.019 --> 00:48:10.199
their heads right now and smiling. So back to
00:48:10.199 --> 00:48:12.639
this singular episode. Here are some of my favorites.
00:48:13.360 --> 00:48:15.639
First, I'm going to use this one as an example
00:48:15.639 --> 00:48:18.360
to show how well Whedon builds character through
00:48:18.360 --> 00:48:20.139
dialogue. So I'm going to focus on Willow for
00:48:20.139 --> 00:48:22.440
a moment. So first we have this little exchange.
00:48:23.119 --> 00:48:27.500
Buffy. Hi, Willow, right? Willow. Why? I mean,
00:48:27.500 --> 00:48:30.960
hi. Did you want me to move? And then this next
00:48:30.960 --> 00:48:33.920
one, Cordelia. Are these people bothering you?
00:48:34.139 --> 00:48:36.420
She's appeared behind Jesse, all this stain on
00:48:36.420 --> 00:48:39.659
her face. Buffy. Oh, no. Willow covering for
00:48:39.659 --> 00:48:43.420
her. She's not hanging out with us. So I really
00:48:43.420 --> 00:48:44.940
like that because I think in just like a couple
00:48:44.940 --> 00:48:46.659
of lines of dialogue, we immediately know so
00:48:46.659 --> 00:48:48.519
much about her. You know, she's nervous. She
00:48:48.519 --> 00:48:50.820
has no self -esteem. She's totally without ego.
00:48:50.900 --> 00:48:54.219
And she's also sweet as a button. Yeah. But that's
00:48:54.219 --> 00:48:56.519
that side. Let's look at some of the some of
00:48:56.519 --> 00:49:01.170
the better one liners. Here's one. Joyce, will
00:49:01.170 --> 00:49:04.429
there be boys? Buffy, no, mom. It's a nun club.
00:49:05.469 --> 00:49:08.650
And this one, Buffy, you're like a textbook with
00:49:08.650 --> 00:49:14.030
arms. I know this. And last one, Xander. And
00:49:14.030 --> 00:49:17.670
to return this, he produces the steak. Xander,
00:49:17.789 --> 00:49:19.650
the only thing I can figure is that you're building
00:49:19.650 --> 00:49:23.829
a really little fence. That just cracks me up
00:49:23.829 --> 00:49:27.320
every time. And it's also, I think, worth pointing
00:49:27.320 --> 00:49:29.800
out that much of the time these characters aren't
00:49:29.800 --> 00:49:32.320
quipping just for quip's sake. For Buffy especially,
00:49:32.719 --> 00:49:36.239
it's largely something of an emotional avoidance
00:49:36.239 --> 00:49:39.780
technique. How about you? Yeah, man. I mean,
00:49:39.800 --> 00:49:42.400
the script is just it's chock full, isn't it?
00:49:42.400 --> 00:49:45.500
Of great lines. But I picked out a few bits which
00:49:45.500 --> 00:49:48.139
I thought were cool. And the first is where Whedon
00:49:48.139 --> 00:49:50.099
is playing with kind of kind of playing with
00:49:50.099 --> 00:49:52.780
irony a bit, I think. And it's it's quite subtle,
00:49:52.840 --> 00:49:55.320
but I think it's pretty funny and clever and
00:49:55.320 --> 00:49:58.380
stood out to me. And that goes like this. Girl
00:49:58.380 --> 00:50:01.079
one, the new kid. She seems kind of weird to
00:50:01.079 --> 00:50:03.679
me. And what kind of name is Buffy? Girl two.
00:50:04.139 --> 00:50:07.920
Hey, Aphrodisia. Girl one. Hey. So I just thought
00:50:07.920 --> 00:50:10.539
this was kind of, it's very subtle, isn't it?
00:50:10.539 --> 00:50:13.000
But I thought it was such a cracking little joke.
00:50:13.159 --> 00:50:16.099
It doesn't really draw attention to itself as
00:50:16.099 --> 00:50:18.679
some of the other kind of dialogue does. But,
00:50:18.679 --> 00:50:21.340
you know, I thought it was fun nonetheless. And
00:50:21.340 --> 00:50:24.500
I also enjoyed this exchange between Buffy and
00:50:24.500 --> 00:50:26.659
the headmaster, Mr. Flutie. And we did cover
00:50:26.659 --> 00:50:29.159
this earlier. But again, that goes like this.
00:50:29.880 --> 00:50:33.199
Mr. Flutie, being nicer. Buffy, I understand
00:50:33.199 --> 00:50:35.219
this is confusing. You're probably feeling a
00:50:35.219 --> 00:50:37.170
lot right now. You should share those feelings
00:50:37.170 --> 00:50:42.150
with someone else. I just thought it was a great
00:50:42.150 --> 00:50:44.690
kind of character beat. And Flutie is such a
00:50:44.690 --> 00:50:48.230
fun, convention -defying character. And this
00:50:48.230 --> 00:50:50.989
line really does a great job at making him more
00:50:50.989 --> 00:50:53.489
interesting and amusing, I think, than he possibly
00:50:53.489 --> 00:50:56.130
could have been. He could have been quite flat
00:50:56.130 --> 00:50:59.369
and quite sort of conventional. And then lastly,
00:50:59.409 --> 00:51:01.210
I picked out this exchange between Buffy and
00:51:01.210 --> 00:51:04.130
Giles, where we get this wonderful kind of just
00:51:04.130 --> 00:51:06.590
aside in the dialogue. And it's, you know, I
00:51:06.590 --> 00:51:08.829
see this as something of a feature of maybe sort
00:51:08.829 --> 00:51:11.929
of early to mid 90s. It reminds me of Tarantino
00:51:11.929 --> 00:51:14.590
a little bit, too. But the dialogue goes like
00:51:14.590 --> 00:51:18.449
this. Giles, like werewolves, zombies, succubi,
00:51:18.530 --> 00:51:20.989
incubi, everything you ever dreaded under your
00:51:20.989 --> 00:51:23.250
bed and told yourself couldn't be by the light
00:51:23.250 --> 00:51:26.269
of day. Buffy, what did you send away for the
00:51:26.269 --> 00:51:30.840
Time Life series? Giles. Uh, yes. Buffy. Did
00:51:30.840 --> 00:51:34.239
he get the free phone? Giles. The calendar. Buffy.
00:51:34.480 --> 00:51:37.659
Cool. Remembering her agenda. Okay, first of
00:51:37.659 --> 00:51:40.059
all, I'm a vampire slayer, and secondly, I'm
00:51:40.059 --> 00:51:42.519
retired. Hey, I know. Why don't you kill them?
00:51:42.860 --> 00:51:45.019
So, yeah, I mean, again, I just thought this
00:51:45.019 --> 00:51:47.199
was a wonderful little sort of tangent in the
00:51:47.199 --> 00:51:49.320
dialogue that just appears in the middle of this
00:51:49.320 --> 00:51:52.500
kind of scene. And they do reveal something of
00:51:52.500 --> 00:51:54.980
the characters in a world as well, which I think
00:51:54.980 --> 00:51:58.820
is sort of amusingly presented. So I enjoyed
00:51:58.820 --> 00:52:01.559
that. I thought that was good. OK, so before
00:52:01.559 --> 00:52:03.980
we break down the the scarology, did you have
00:52:03.980 --> 00:52:07.489
a scariest moment? I think for me, it's our first
00:52:07.489 --> 00:52:10.150
glimpse of a vampire, that being Darla during
00:52:10.150 --> 00:52:13.889
the cold open. I mean, Julie Benz is such a beautiful
00:52:13.889 --> 00:52:15.670
woman that when her face gets kind of twisted
00:52:15.670 --> 00:52:19.199
into that. genuinely horrific visage it's a real
00:52:19.199 --> 00:52:22.639
face punch you know um as we spoke about before
00:52:22.639 --> 00:52:24.780
the opening sequence plays so well on twisting
00:52:24.780 --> 00:52:27.679
our perception of relying on horror tropes and
00:52:27.679 --> 00:52:30.099
and to me that's that's the scariest moment i
00:52:30.099 --> 00:52:32.099
mean don't get me wrong i love the master i think
00:52:32.099 --> 00:52:34.400
he's really cool but the fact that he is for
00:52:34.400 --> 00:52:37.800
the most part imprisoned for this first season
00:52:38.199 --> 00:52:40.699
it takes some of his edge away i think but it
00:52:40.699 --> 00:52:43.199
does make him very cool when he finally does
00:52:43.199 --> 00:52:46.619
you know break free from his his ethereal prison
00:52:46.619 --> 00:52:49.440
um but throughout the series as a whole there
00:52:49.440 --> 00:52:51.440
are some genuinely frightening villains that
00:52:51.440 --> 00:52:53.780
even now run a little shiver down my spine i
00:52:53.780 --> 00:52:56.179
mean everyone will rave and rightly so about
00:52:56.179 --> 00:52:58.980
the gentleman from the season four episode hush
00:52:58.980 --> 00:53:01.260
that's kind of the one everybody knows about
00:53:01.260 --> 00:53:02.880
and it's a great episode you should check it
00:53:02.880 --> 00:53:05.139
out even if you don't watch it any other episodes
00:53:05.139 --> 00:53:07.320
of buffy just watch that one um there's like
00:53:07.320 --> 00:53:10.559
the waif like vampire drusilla the the freddy
00:53:10.559 --> 00:53:14.059
like demon kinderstod there's so many cool like
00:53:14.059 --> 00:53:17.619
genuinely quite creepy examples of monsters throughout
00:53:17.619 --> 00:53:20.760
this show oh nice nice i mean for me the most
00:53:20.760 --> 00:53:23.059
effective scare was actually the window smash
00:53:23.059 --> 00:53:27.199
right at the start it's pretty simple but yeah
00:53:27.199 --> 00:53:30.159
it's a good good little jump The dollar scare
00:53:30.159 --> 00:53:31.820
is good, too, though. I think, you know, because
00:53:31.820 --> 00:53:34.420
it is sort of trope -defying, makes it more effective,
00:53:34.639 --> 00:53:38.139
too, you know. All right, then. Let's talk about
00:53:38.139 --> 00:53:40.199
the scareology, Lee. First of all, yes or no,
00:53:40.340 --> 00:53:43.139
does the show more or less conform to the 10
00:53:43.139 --> 00:53:47.000
-minute rule? No, but, you know, being 90s syndicated
00:53:47.000 --> 00:53:49.360
TV, I don't think there's any surprises there.
00:53:49.679 --> 00:53:51.480
Yeah, cool. OK, so break it down for us, dude.
00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:54.400
OK, so we get our first scare at the end of the
00:53:54.400 --> 00:53:56.940
teaser, which hits around about the two minute
00:53:56.940 --> 00:53:59.639
mark and our next at the beginning of act one,
00:53:59.719 --> 00:54:01.679
which is two minutes later, just after the credits
00:54:01.679 --> 00:54:05.079
roll. Then our next scare comes in the body coming
00:54:05.079 --> 00:54:07.159
out of the locker, which is about 12 minutes
00:54:07.159 --> 00:54:10.159
and 40. And from there on, the scares are largely
00:54:10.159 --> 00:54:13.380
on hold in favor of world building now as we
00:54:13.380 --> 00:54:15.519
don't really hit the throttle again until we
00:54:15.519 --> 00:54:19.519
meet the master at just before 35 minutes. And
00:54:19.519 --> 00:54:21.619
then Buffy does what she does best at the 38
00:54:21.619 --> 00:54:24.639
minute mark, which leads us into that cliffhanger
00:54:24.639 --> 00:54:28.179
finale. Nice. OK, well, let's break down those
00:54:28.179 --> 00:54:30.380
acts for you. So the majority of the scares hit
00:54:30.380 --> 00:54:33.500
early on with three in the first act and then
00:54:33.500 --> 00:54:36.739
round the episode off with two in act four. Now,
00:54:36.760 --> 00:54:38.980
there are some creepy moments in between. And
00:54:38.980 --> 00:54:41.579
as always, the scareology is somewhat subjective.
00:54:41.820 --> 00:54:44.400
But I think we've we're sort of pretty much on
00:54:44.400 --> 00:54:47.539
the mark here. Fantastic. And did you have any
00:54:47.539 --> 00:54:50.400
thoughts on the themes that were at work here?
00:54:51.239 --> 00:54:54.099
Yeah. So I think, you know. Desire for order
00:54:54.099 --> 00:54:55.739
is probably the most prominent of our sort of
00:54:55.739 --> 00:54:58.480
Parker themes. You know, Buffy wants to escape
00:54:58.480 --> 00:55:01.300
all the sort of slaying hubbub initially and
00:55:01.300 --> 00:55:03.719
just live a normal sort of teen high schooler
00:55:03.719 --> 00:55:06.780
life. I think more broadly, the show seems to
00:55:06.780 --> 00:55:10.400
be sort of angling that Buffy has a sort of mantle
00:55:10.400 --> 00:55:14.059
of responsibility that she has to take up again.
00:55:14.280 --> 00:55:17.039
And her desire for a normal life is really in
00:55:17.039 --> 00:55:19.840
a sort of avoidance of responsibility in a way.
00:55:20.460 --> 00:55:22.639
I think Whedon does a great job of providing
00:55:22.639 --> 00:55:25.360
Buffy with motivation for this sentiment and
00:55:25.360 --> 00:55:28.219
grounding it in a way. And I picked out this
00:55:28.219 --> 00:55:32.519
little exchange to kind of highlight this. Giles,
00:55:32.639 --> 00:55:35.860
I'm a watcher. I haven't the skill. Buffy, oh,
00:55:36.039 --> 00:55:38.300
come on. Stake through the heart, a little sunlight.
00:55:38.440 --> 00:55:41.519
It's like falling off a log. Giles, the slayer
00:55:41.519 --> 00:55:45.440
slays. The watcher, Buffy, watches. Giles, yes,
00:55:45.659 --> 00:55:51.119
no, he trains her. He prepares her. Buffy, prepares
00:55:51.119 --> 00:55:53.280
me for what? For getting kicked out of school?
00:55:53.559 --> 00:55:55.840
Losing all my friends? Having to spend all my
00:55:55.840 --> 00:55:58.539
time fighting for my life and never getting to
00:55:58.539 --> 00:56:00.780
tell anyone because it might endanger them? Go
00:56:00.780 --> 00:56:03.630
ahead, prepare me. So I really like this exchange.
00:56:03.750 --> 00:56:05.789
I thought it was the most kind of heartfelt kind
00:56:05.789 --> 00:56:08.630
of exchange of the piece in a way and really
00:56:08.630 --> 00:56:10.789
shows the conflict Buffy is experiencing between
00:56:10.789 --> 00:56:14.309
this kind of having to take responsibility, you
00:56:14.309 --> 00:56:16.769
know, for her sort of slaying skills and her,
00:56:16.849 --> 00:56:19.829
I guess, her destiny and her desire for a normal
00:56:19.829 --> 00:56:22.829
life. And I think it speaks to her want and need
00:56:22.829 --> 00:56:26.030
effectively too. But yeah, what about you, dude?
00:56:26.070 --> 00:56:27.889
Do you have any thoughts on the theme? Yeah,
00:56:27.929 --> 00:56:29.469
I mean, it's an interesting point you make of
00:56:29.469 --> 00:56:32.559
the whole Slayer destiny gig. So technically,
00:56:32.719 --> 00:56:35.500
Buffy can quit any time she wants. She just has
00:56:35.500 --> 00:56:38.559
to die. And then the next Slayer in line will
00:56:38.559 --> 00:56:41.780
be activated, so to speak. Yeah, not a hugely
00:56:41.780 --> 00:56:47.920
promising thing to do. But that's interesting.
00:56:48.619 --> 00:56:51.400
So can you go into a little bit more detail about
00:56:51.400 --> 00:56:54.869
this whole sort of chosen thing works? Yeah.
00:56:54.929 --> 00:56:57.550
OK, so the way I remember it, there are any time
00:56:57.550 --> 00:57:00.090
like dozens, hundreds, thousands of potential
00:57:00.090 --> 00:57:03.769
slayers that kind of lie dormant. And then when
00:57:03.769 --> 00:57:07.429
the previous slayer dies, one of these new slayers
00:57:07.429 --> 00:57:09.909
is activated. And they play with this in the
00:57:09.909 --> 00:57:12.690
show in really interesting ways, as Buffy does
00:57:12.690 --> 00:57:14.829
kind of shuffle off the mortal coil a couple
00:57:14.829 --> 00:57:19.280
of times. Ah, yeah. So the network sort of TV
00:57:19.280 --> 00:57:21.980
slash Marvel comics attitude to death, I think.
00:57:22.059 --> 00:57:24.900
Yeah, kind of. But, you know, this is no Jean
00:57:24.900 --> 00:57:28.739
Grey here, to be fair. The show, each of her
00:57:28.739 --> 00:57:31.559
deaths is unique and critical and surprisingly
00:57:31.559 --> 00:57:35.659
impactful. And at some points we also get flashbacks
00:57:35.659 --> 00:57:38.780
of previous Slayers and the whole mythology behind
00:57:38.780 --> 00:57:41.519
it is really kind of cool. But I feel like I've
00:57:41.519 --> 00:57:44.039
diverged enough. So we were talking about themes,
00:57:44.179 --> 00:57:49.300
yeah? Okay, so. For me, the driving theme, like
00:57:49.300 --> 00:57:51.199
you, the driving theme of the entire show is
00:57:51.199 --> 00:57:53.340
kind of a desire for order. You know, you can
00:57:53.340 --> 00:57:56.980
make arguments for the usual horror staples of
00:57:56.980 --> 00:57:58.760
fear of death, fear of the unknown, and they
00:57:58.760 --> 00:58:01.639
certainly pop up, as does morality of individuals.
00:58:01.639 --> 00:58:04.179
But I think these are all secondary drivers that
00:58:04.179 --> 00:58:07.920
fall under that main, under our overarching theme.
00:58:08.920 --> 00:58:12.139
So why desire for order? You said it yourself.
00:58:12.420 --> 00:58:14.369
You know, this is all down to Buffy. Especially
00:58:14.369 --> 00:58:17.289
in these earlier seasons, all she wants is a
00:58:17.289 --> 00:58:20.949
normal life. And it is her driving motivation
00:58:20.949 --> 00:58:23.269
not to kill monsters, not to save the world.
00:58:23.349 --> 00:58:26.849
It's just to be a normal teenage girl. And yes,
00:58:26.929 --> 00:58:29.329
eventually Buffy embraces her destiny and hunts
00:58:29.329 --> 00:58:31.829
monsters because at heart she is a good person
00:58:31.829 --> 00:58:34.030
and she is driven to do the right thing. But
00:58:34.030 --> 00:58:37.230
in these early episodes, all she wants is normality,
00:58:37.289 --> 00:58:40.389
friends, school, dates. And in order to get these
00:58:40.389 --> 00:58:42.329
things, more often than not, she has to kill
00:58:42.329 --> 00:58:46.250
something to get it. So on a more dialed -in
00:58:46.250 --> 00:58:49.250
level, you have kind of destiny versus normality
00:58:49.250 --> 00:58:51.869
subplot in most episodes, especially the earlier
00:58:51.869 --> 00:58:54.550
seasons. It usually boils down to Buffy wants
00:58:54.550 --> 00:58:58.469
A, but can't have it because B. With every A
00:58:58.469 --> 00:59:01.929
being everyday teenage stuff and every B being
00:59:01.929 --> 00:59:07.250
some unsightly hellspawn that has risen up to
00:59:07.250 --> 00:59:09.329
cause difficulty. And that kind of brings me
00:59:09.329 --> 00:59:12.610
to the last point. The whole show... is a blatant
00:59:12.610 --> 00:59:15.809
and unapologetic analogy for high school is hell
00:59:15.809 --> 00:59:18.429
because in a lot of ways you know it literally
00:59:18.429 --> 00:59:21.550
is especially in this show but as the show progresses
00:59:21.550 --> 00:59:24.269
and the cast kind of age out of their high school
00:59:24.269 --> 00:59:27.730
roles uh we learn that you know college is also
00:59:27.730 --> 00:59:31.349
hell as is young adulthood relationships sisterhood
00:59:31.349 --> 00:59:33.929
work life all the tribulations of growing up
00:59:33.929 --> 00:59:37.610
are presented as literal and figurative hell
00:59:37.610 --> 00:59:40.289
and i think this is the reason why buffy hit
00:59:40.289 --> 00:59:43.139
such a note so many people and why the fan base
00:59:43.139 --> 00:59:46.059
remains so passionate today. No matter who you
00:59:46.059 --> 00:59:48.619
were, there was something in this show for you.
00:59:48.739 --> 00:59:51.019
And there is an episode of this show for everybody.
00:59:51.239 --> 00:59:54.340
I genuinely believe that if you sat every human
00:59:54.340 --> 00:59:55.980
being on the planet down and made them watch
00:59:55.980 --> 00:59:59.119
every episode, there would be at least one that
00:59:59.119 --> 01:00:02.159
would speak to them on some kind of deeper level.
01:00:02.300 --> 01:00:04.639
I was an older teen when this came out and I
01:00:04.639 --> 01:00:07.099
fucking hated school. So I instantly connected
01:00:07.099 --> 01:00:10.179
with this show. And I think that was and is the
01:00:10.179 --> 01:00:13.000
case. with a lot of fans and something that just
01:00:13.000 --> 01:00:15.960
kind of popped into my head as well and we were
01:00:15.960 --> 01:00:19.400
talking about Cordelia earlier is that before
01:00:19.400 --> 01:00:22.559
Buffy comes to Sunnydale she is basically Cordelia
01:00:22.559 --> 01:00:25.760
like in her old life before she became a Slayer
01:00:25.760 --> 01:00:29.199
she was basically who Cordelia is and I think
01:00:29.869 --> 01:00:32.510
That's why a lot of the time when she sees Cordelia
01:00:32.510 --> 01:00:35.630
talking down to Willow and basically being a
01:00:35.630 --> 01:00:38.989
bitch, it's because that was her in her old life.
01:00:39.090 --> 01:00:42.050
And she kind of realizes, oh, shit, man. I used
01:00:42.050 --> 01:00:45.489
to be like that. I used to be this bitch. But
01:00:45.489 --> 01:00:48.389
yeah, that's my two cents on it. Nice. So it's
01:00:48.389 --> 01:00:50.630
almost like the slayer kind of, you know, the
01:00:50.630 --> 01:00:53.269
mantle of the slayer gave her some humility and
01:00:53.269 --> 01:00:55.989
allowed her to see some of her faults and grow
01:00:55.989 --> 01:00:58.280
as a human being. Definitely. Yeah, definitely.
01:00:58.400 --> 01:01:00.679
And as I said about Cordelia as well, she she
01:01:00.679 --> 01:01:04.280
also grows as a character as the show shows progress.
01:01:04.420 --> 01:01:06.380
And she she spends another couple of seasons
01:01:06.380 --> 01:01:09.099
on Buffy. Then she heads over to Angel and she
01:01:09.099 --> 01:01:10.820
goes through a lot of character growth as well.
01:01:10.940 --> 01:01:12.940
You know, one thing this show is really good
01:01:12.940 --> 01:01:15.960
at is the characters very rarely stagnate for
01:01:15.960 --> 01:01:18.300
long. They're always kind of evolving, facing
01:01:18.300 --> 01:01:21.699
new challenges and just just really well, really
01:01:21.699 --> 01:01:25.000
well written. nice dude nice okay so uh what
01:01:25.000 --> 01:01:26.539
if anything do you think you've learned from
01:01:26.539 --> 01:01:30.800
the script here lee um okay so if this script
01:01:30.800 --> 01:01:33.019
teaches us one thing and to be fair it teaches
01:01:33.019 --> 01:01:35.519
us quite a lot but the biggest thing is how to
01:01:35.519 --> 01:01:38.179
build compelling characters you know every single
01:01:38.179 --> 01:01:41.019
main and supporting character here is rounded
01:01:41.019 --> 01:01:44.179
flawed and instantly identifiable you know they
01:01:44.179 --> 01:01:48.070
act unique they talk in in unique voices although
01:01:48.070 --> 01:01:50.170
the whedon speak does kind of blend them together
01:01:50.170 --> 01:01:53.369
a bit sometimes and each one is absolutely critical
01:01:53.369 --> 01:01:56.429
to the show and to buffy herself you know they
01:01:56.429 --> 01:01:59.489
all come at buffy from different angles test
01:01:59.489 --> 01:02:01.929
her from different angles and they all kind of
01:02:01.929 --> 01:02:04.130
fulfill different needs in her life you know
01:02:04.130 --> 01:02:09.469
there's no excess baggage here what about zander's
01:02:09.469 --> 01:02:13.420
best bud for life jesse Oh, yeah. His best bud
01:02:13.420 --> 01:02:16.360
for life who is never, ever mentioned again after
01:02:16.360 --> 01:02:21.199
the first two episodes. But, you know, we laugh
01:02:21.199 --> 01:02:25.019
and we mock. But Jesse also teaches us a valuable
01:02:25.019 --> 01:02:27.519
lesson, you know, that being that anybody can
01:02:27.519 --> 01:02:30.639
die, even Buffy, as we've sort of alluded to
01:02:30.639 --> 01:02:33.260
before. But interestingly, Whedon originally
01:02:33.260 --> 01:02:35.599
wanted Jesse to feature in the opening credits
01:02:35.599 --> 01:02:38.179
of those first episodes to really kind of drive
01:02:38.179 --> 01:02:41.389
home the shock value of his death. But for whatever
01:02:41.389 --> 01:02:45.469
reason, this never came to pass. And Whedon also
01:02:45.469 --> 01:02:48.050
has a really interesting way of introducing characters
01:02:48.050 --> 01:02:50.449
quickly without interrupting the flow on the
01:02:50.449 --> 01:02:53.650
page. And it goes like this. And this is where
01:02:53.650 --> 01:02:58.010
we first formally introduced Darla. And the camera
01:02:58.010 --> 01:03:00.190
comes around to show the girl he's talking to.
01:03:00.289 --> 01:03:02.590
It's the vampire from the opening. Needless to
01:03:02.590 --> 01:03:04.969
say, she has a normal face on and she'll be known
01:03:04.969 --> 01:03:10.409
from now on as Darla. Darla. Jessie. Darla, I
01:03:10.409 --> 01:03:12.090
haven't seen you before. Are you from around
01:03:12.090 --> 01:03:15.090
here? So this is really cool on the page as the
01:03:15.090 --> 01:03:18.230
action line ends with and she'll be known from
01:03:18.230 --> 01:03:21.150
now on as. And then we move straight into the
01:03:21.150 --> 01:03:23.710
character name above her dialogue. And he does
01:03:23.710 --> 01:03:26.590
something similar earlier in the script, Willow.
01:03:26.730 --> 01:03:29.869
And you kind of just got to see it to kind of
01:03:29.869 --> 01:03:31.269
figure it out. I'll put it up on the website
01:03:31.269 --> 01:03:34.630
later. But it's just a really it's a really cool
01:03:34.630 --> 01:03:37.010
way of introducing characters, something I don't
01:03:37.010 --> 01:03:39.739
really think I've seen before. Yeah, that is
01:03:39.739 --> 01:03:41.400
really cool, isn't it? The way he does that,
01:03:41.440 --> 01:03:44.440
the way he sort of crafts that. Yeah, for me,
01:03:44.480 --> 01:03:47.820
the script kind of reinforces this idea that
01:03:47.820 --> 01:03:50.559
in certain genre and sort of context, addressing
01:03:50.559 --> 01:03:53.320
the reader can be really effective. And I know
01:03:53.320 --> 01:03:56.360
we've been banging on about this recently, but,
01:03:56.400 --> 01:04:00.019
you know, here's an example of how Whedon sort
01:04:00.019 --> 01:04:02.440
of addresses the reader in the Buffy script.
01:04:03.360 --> 01:04:06.659
interior woman's locker room afternoon two girls
01:04:06.659 --> 01:04:09.539
approach their lockers talking they begin undressing
01:04:09.539 --> 01:04:12.619
and then it goes into parentheses just shoes
01:04:12.619 --> 01:04:14.980
and coats and stuff get your mind out of the
01:04:14.980 --> 01:04:19.159
gutter i think this really works really well
01:04:19.159 --> 01:04:21.199
in this script you know tonally and it probably
01:04:21.199 --> 01:04:23.619
wouldn't work everywhere but here i think it's
01:04:23.619 --> 01:04:27.159
really really effective um and here's another
01:04:27.159 --> 01:04:29.199
sort of action line where whedon addresses the
01:04:29.199 --> 01:04:32.760
reader um again with the sort of use of the parenthetical
01:04:32.760 --> 01:04:36.300
and that goes like this interior library continuous
01:04:36.300 --> 01:04:39.800
buffy enters looking about her it's elegant full
01:04:39.800 --> 01:04:43.199
of dark wood streaming sunlight and in parentheses
01:04:43.199 --> 01:04:47.139
duh books And then it goes on. But again, it's
01:04:47.139 --> 01:04:50.059
the der in sort of parentheses or brackets and
01:04:50.059 --> 01:04:52.239
then books. And, you know, I just think this
01:04:52.239 --> 01:04:55.199
type of gag is just all about the reading experience.
01:04:55.260 --> 01:04:57.619
You know, it doesn't do anything. It's not sort
01:04:57.619 --> 01:04:59.840
of saying anything about what appears on the
01:04:59.840 --> 01:05:02.559
screen necessarily, but it communicates the tone,
01:05:02.599 --> 01:05:05.960
you know, and it makes a joke just for the reader,
01:05:06.000 --> 01:05:09.559
which I think is really, really cool. Yeah, really
01:05:09.559 --> 01:05:11.199
enjoyed that, dude. So again, I think that's
01:05:11.199 --> 01:05:13.039
something that I'll sort of be trying to take
01:05:13.039 --> 01:05:15.300
forward in certain contexts and certain genres
01:05:15.300 --> 01:05:18.059
is that sort of addressing the reader in certain
01:05:18.059 --> 01:05:21.300
ways just makes the reading of a script way more
01:05:21.300 --> 01:05:23.659
engaging, way more fun. But we've banged on about
01:05:23.659 --> 01:05:25.480
that enough, I think, Leo, or certainly I have,
01:05:25.579 --> 01:05:27.019
so I'll try and pick out something different.
01:05:28.059 --> 01:05:30.539
It's a really cool technique, though, but it
01:05:30.539 --> 01:05:33.369
is very kind of... dependent on the genre you're
01:05:33.369 --> 01:05:35.230
writing like you wouldn't put something like
01:05:35.230 --> 01:05:38.510
that in shinder's list yeah yeah yeah it's it's
01:05:38.510 --> 01:05:43.449
it's it's it's it's tone yeah yeah totally internal
01:05:43.449 --> 01:05:46.289
drama specific but it works well with horror
01:05:46.289 --> 01:05:49.730
like light -hearted horror but um yeah and action
01:05:49.730 --> 01:05:52.289
movies you know things like that but it has its
01:05:52.289 --> 01:05:54.809
place but it is a really really great technique
01:05:55.760 --> 01:05:58.039
yeah nice okay well i think we're almost done
01:05:58.039 --> 01:06:00.360
here dude but before we wrap up uh talk about
01:06:00.360 --> 01:06:02.579
the next episode what would you rate the script
01:06:02.579 --> 01:06:05.599
and well i'm going to say the episode as here
01:06:05.599 --> 01:06:09.989
yeah I'm going to go eights across the board.
01:06:10.070 --> 01:06:12.969
I think the show remains one of the best kind
01:06:12.969 --> 01:06:15.829
of first episodes ever, although it is showing
01:06:15.829 --> 01:06:18.269
its age a little now. It's very rooted in the
01:06:18.269 --> 01:06:22.050
90s, and the script is a very quick and a very
01:06:22.050 --> 01:06:25.090
enjoyable read. So if I was rating the entire
01:06:25.090 --> 01:06:27.369
series from start to finish, all seven seasons,
01:06:27.570 --> 01:06:30.730
I think I would rate it as a nine. Nice, dude.
01:06:30.849 --> 01:06:32.610
I mean, funnily enough, I went with eights too.
01:06:33.570 --> 01:06:35.869
So I think we're on the same page. I mean, if
01:06:35.869 --> 01:06:38.250
anything, I would say that I enjoyed the script
01:06:38.250 --> 01:06:42.190
maybe a touch more than the episode itself, but
01:06:42.190 --> 01:06:46.389
only very slightly. And I think, you know, it's
01:06:46.389 --> 01:06:48.469
like any show that you sort of come and see for
01:06:48.469 --> 01:06:51.090
the first episode. You know, people grow into
01:06:51.090 --> 01:06:53.230
their characters and you get to know them a bit
01:06:53.230 --> 01:06:55.869
more over time. And so this has that sort of,
01:06:55.869 --> 01:06:59.650
you know, that. that kind of slight pilot weakness,
01:06:59.809 --> 01:07:01.590
if you know what I mean, but it's, it's very
01:07:01.590 --> 01:07:04.349
slight, you know? So I went with H2. Nice. Nice.
01:07:04.369 --> 01:07:06.590
So once again, we, we hit round about the same
01:07:06.590 --> 01:07:10.170
spot on the dartboard and we've got a 16 out
01:07:10.170 --> 01:07:12.829
of 20 for the script and 16 out of 20 for the
01:07:12.829 --> 01:07:16.530
episode. So nice. I think that's pretty fair.
01:07:17.389 --> 01:07:20.250
Okay. So, um, yeah. What's on the agenda for
01:07:20.250 --> 01:07:24.000
next timely. Next time, we are kicking off our
01:07:24.000 --> 01:07:27.480
next original versus remake face -off with one
01:07:27.480 --> 01:07:31.199
of our most highly requested films. We're beginning
01:07:31.199 --> 01:07:34.760
with the original Nightmare on Elm Street. Oh,
01:07:35.340 --> 01:07:39.059
it's a classic, Lee. An absolute classic from
01:07:39.059 --> 01:07:41.559
yesteryear. Have you seen this one? You know
01:07:41.559 --> 01:07:43.679
what? I saw this one when I was younger, probably
01:07:43.679 --> 01:07:51.190
12, 13 -ish. Yeah. vaguely remember sort of enjoying
01:07:51.190 --> 01:07:53.869
it but i've never seen it again since so have
01:07:53.869 --> 01:07:55.170
you seen the remake i take it you haven't seen
01:07:55.170 --> 01:07:57.329
the remake haven't seen the remake no no no uh
01:07:57.329 --> 01:07:59.050
so yeah this will be interesting coming back
01:07:59.050 --> 01:08:00.849
to it after that length of time i don't think
01:08:00.849 --> 01:08:03.630
i can sort of fully remember it to be honest
01:08:03.630 --> 01:08:06.869
yeah um other than sort of thinking it was kind
01:08:06.869 --> 01:08:10.690
of almost My sort of vague recollection is that
01:08:10.690 --> 01:08:13.610
there's a lot of kind of garish sort of colour
01:08:13.610 --> 01:08:17.130
and imagery in this movie. And that's my sort
01:08:17.130 --> 01:08:21.170
of saturated colours. That's my kind of vague
01:08:21.170 --> 01:08:24.229
recollection of it. That's a pretty good recollection,
01:08:24.270 --> 01:08:26.229
yeah. I think you're in for a treat. I'm not
01:08:26.229 --> 01:08:29.029
going mad then. That's good. Yeah, so we're kind
01:08:29.029 --> 01:08:30.510
of looking forward to it, dude. I mean, certainly
01:08:30.510 --> 01:08:32.829
looking forward to sort of having a look. It'll
01:08:32.829 --> 01:08:37.600
be interesting to see how the... sort of develops,
01:08:37.779 --> 01:08:40.819
you know, if we sort of see the sequel or maybe
01:08:40.819 --> 01:08:43.399
some of the other films in the, you know, Robert
01:08:43.399 --> 01:08:45.840
Englund's kind of series of Freddy films, how
01:08:45.840 --> 01:08:49.239
the sort of humour builds throughout those films.
01:08:49.359 --> 01:08:50.420
I don't know if it develops. Yeah, there's definitely
01:08:50.420 --> 01:08:53.539
not a lot, not as nowhere near as much humour
01:08:53.539 --> 01:08:57.300
in that original film. Yeah. That kind of comes
01:08:57.300 --> 01:09:00.960
later as Freddy is kind of turned into something
01:09:00.960 --> 01:09:04.920
very different from what he starts as. But yeah,
01:09:05.000 --> 01:09:06.319
so I'm looking forward to that one. I'm really
01:09:06.319 --> 01:09:08.060
looking forward to going through it. I haven't
01:09:08.060 --> 01:09:09.960
seen the remake since it first came out, so I'm
01:09:09.960 --> 01:09:11.880
looking forward to watching that one with a fresh
01:09:11.880 --> 01:09:14.760
pair of eyes as well. Yeah, nice, nice. Good
01:09:14.760 --> 01:09:17.840
stuff. OK, looking forward to that. So if you
01:09:17.840 --> 01:09:20.819
enjoyed the podcast, horror fans, please hit
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like and subscribe. And if you're feeling generous,
01:09:23.579 --> 01:09:26.239
please leave us a review on your podcatcher of
01:09:26.239 --> 01:09:28.199
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01:09:28.199 --> 01:09:31.239
us and is hugely gratifying to see if you're
01:09:31.239 --> 01:09:34.319
enjoying the show or not. Do check out our socials.
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We're on Facebook and Blue Sky and can be reached
01:09:36.359 --> 01:09:38.840
there. We also publish to YouTube so you can
01:09:38.840 --> 01:09:41.560
listen to us there. There's no real visuals currently,
01:09:41.699 --> 01:09:44.699
but plenty of audio. goodness. And always feel
01:09:44.699 --> 01:09:48.159
free to drop us a line with any thoughts on our
01:09:48.159 --> 01:09:52.039
website. That's www .scripttoscreenpodcast .com.
01:09:52.119 --> 01:09:54.939
We genuinely always love hearing from you guys.
01:09:55.079 --> 01:09:57.159
And we have much more content there that you
01:09:57.159 --> 01:09:59.359
can check out. So as Lee mentioned, script samples,
01:09:59.899 --> 01:10:02.779
scarology graphs, all sorts of additional information
01:10:02.779 --> 01:10:05.640
on the films and the scripts that we cover. We're
01:10:05.640 --> 01:10:08.460
now also offering script reading services, where
01:10:08.460 --> 01:10:10.779
we will analyze your scripts and give you tailored
01:10:10.779 --> 01:10:13.739
feedback on your work. And we're also creating
01:10:13.739 --> 01:10:17.119
pitch decks for projects now. We will collaborate
01:10:17.119 --> 01:10:19.460
with you to create a stunning pitch deck for
01:10:19.460 --> 01:10:21.359
your project, which you can take out into the
01:10:21.359 --> 01:10:24.819
world and get pitching. And it's worth mentioning,
01:10:24.840 --> 01:10:27.340
I think, that we do not rely on generative AI
01:10:27.340 --> 01:10:30.420
when creating pitch decks. We are sort of very
01:10:30.420 --> 01:10:35.250
strict on that fact, aren't we, Lee? So if that's
01:10:35.250 --> 01:10:37.210
something of interest, just go to the website,
01:10:37.329 --> 01:10:39.869
navigate to the script reading page, and you
01:10:39.869 --> 01:10:42.630
can get all of the information there. And of
01:10:42.630 --> 01:10:44.489
course, you know, any listeners out there, please
01:10:44.489 --> 01:10:46.949
do let us know what your favourite Buffy episode
01:10:46.949 --> 01:10:48.970
is. It'd be interesting to see, wouldn't it?
01:10:49.569 --> 01:10:52.449
Just drop us a line or drop us a comment, email
01:10:52.449 --> 01:10:55.829
through the website or on socials. Yeah, we'd
01:10:55.829 --> 01:10:58.369
love to know a little bit more about your take
01:10:58.369 --> 01:11:01.630
on the Buffy episodes and series. And yeah, just
01:11:01.630 --> 01:11:05.329
let us know what you think. But until next time,
01:11:05.350 --> 01:11:07.850
folks, do take care. And if the apocalypse comes,
01:11:08.090 --> 01:11:10.890
beep me and keep on writing those scares.