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Death is Only the Beginning

I’ve been asked to write a review of last night’s Buffy episode, “The Body”. It’s been almost 18 hours since I’ve seen it, and I will have to watch it again, but I will give you my take on it. Many of you already know what I think, but I will elaborate more.

I have to wonder if the promo from last week had to be so dramatic. It talks about the loss of a loved one, as if we didn’t know that Joyce wasn’t the one they were talking about. But it did leave me with a large of amount of anticipation, which is rare these days. I made sure I finished up all the housework well before 8pm just so I wouldn’t miss it.

I know I had asked people earlier, but I wasn’t sure if this was indeed a Joss penned/directed episode. Five minutes into it however, I knew that it definitely was. There’s a certain quality to the dialogue and plot that just screams Joss. He has this unique style about him which makes it so much more magical.

I was impressed by how well Joss was able to capture the emotion of the moment. It seems like nowadays, directors seem to use BGM (background music) as a crutch to aid a shallow, weak script. Too often in a dramatic scene do we hear a sudden influx of strings and synthesizers, seemingly out of place, as if to tell us to pay attention because something important is happening. Joss’ use of silence throughout the episode, along with the clarity of the sounds (footsteps, doors opening/closing) made me feel as if I was actually listening to what was happening, for at least in my life, I don’t get snazzy BGM whenever anything happens to me.

The direction of the episode was amazing as well. Although some shots were a little strange (Buffy-level camera aimed toward the paramedic’s chest) they were for the most part excellent. They gave me the feeling as if I was actually in the house when Buffy was with Joyce’s body. The use of realistic camera angles (and what I mean by realistic is human perspective filming) added to the audio qualities mentioned above only made me feel more involved in the episode. I felt as if I were running through the home and sitting in the car. A lot of new and established directors could learn a lot from this episode. Blair Witch showed us that filming without uses of cranes and trolleys could be an effective tool in involving an audience.

For me, I found the dialogue between the characters to be extremely well done. Many shows on television deal with the idea and occurance of death and many of those deal with it very well. However, one thing that I have noticed is that many times the dialogue in these episodes bear no real resemblence to how people actually speak (i.e. Dawson’s Creek). The writers seem to believe that people react in two polar ways: one of utter hysteria and the other of complete stoicism. This can be farther from the truth. The way Buffy was in shock when she first saw her mother and acted in a way showing that was wonderful. She barely heard what the parametics were trying to tell her and her expression of complete emptiness couldn’t be closer to the truth.

One particular piece of dialogue really got to me though. As the episode was progressing, I was wondering how they would fit Anya into this episode. I had confidence that this would be done right, but with her character I couldn’t be sure. It had to be done delicately, allowing her bluntness to properly mix with the situation at hand. When she first asked if they were going to see the body, I groaned internally and cringed. But then when had that great speech about how she didn’t understand what was going on, and how she didn’t understand why everything was happening, it choked me up. It sadly reminded me of my own friend’s death. She was asking aloud the questions I asked myself internally. It almost brought tears into my eyes and well, you know how it goes. It was perhaps, the part that sealed the episode for me.

The plot was well developed as well. Buffy’s initial reaction of shock soon evolved into raw emotion. All of the characters’ reactions from the neurotic way Willow was so concerned about what she was wearing, the way Tara tried to be strong, the way Dawn was in denial and angry, the way Xander manifested his emotions into physical action and the way that Anya couldn’t understand what was happening somehow connected me to each of them. It also demonstrated the wide range of human emotions and coping mechanisms. The only thing that I didn’t really felt belonged in the episode was the final scene with the vampire. I think the episode could have ended with Dawn just seeing the body.

I am very curious to see what will happen in the upcoming weeks. I am a little disappointed to see that there will be reruns for the next two Tuesdays and I’m still wondering why the WB keeps calling it “New Tuesday”.

If you managed to read down this far, I’ve come across a lot of press regarding the negotiations between the WB and 20th Century Fox. It doesn’t look that good. Here’s a report on CNN by Reuters.

Things to Come?

Another earthquake on the West Coast.

If you forgive the pun, things here have been shaky lately. Last Sunday there was a 4.4 magnitude earthquake 30 or so miles east of San Jose. And just about 2.5 hours ago, there was a magnitude 7.0 earthquake 35 miles SW of Seattle. Luckily there were few injures and damage widespread but not catastrophic.

Is it time to get out?

Great Expectations

A wise man once said, “Hold no expectations, for then you can never be disappointed.”

If you think about that statement for a while you’ll see that it’s pretty much true. Disappointments arise when something that you expect or hope never arrive. While following the above philosophy would indeed lead to fewer disappointments, I also believe that it would leave to a rather cold, harsh and unfulfilling life.

We need something that we can take comfort in. People are creatures of habit, used to some sort of routine. I, for example, follow the same basic routine in the mornings. I wake up, turn off my alarm, feed my cats, make my tea, take a shower, eat breakfast, get to work and read my email. Rarely does any of that actually change. The only fluctuations are when I arrive at work and what I have for breakfast. For the most part, it’s day in, day out.

I myself have some basic expectations. When I pick up the phone, I expect to hear a dialtone. When I come home from work, I expect to see my cats waiting by the door for me. When I get into work in the morning, I expect to read certain emails. And when someone tells me that they’re going to do something, I expect that they do it. It upsets me when these things do not happen, especially the last. I expect promises to be kept.

I’ve always believed that if you don’t intend on doing something, then don’t say you will.

Jack is a Dull Boy

Looks like another long day in the office for me again.

I have a very strange work schedule. Well, maybe not very strange but strange enough that most people ask about it. Since I live almost 12 miles away from my office, you can imagine what my commute must be like. It’s not really that long but it can be at times stressful. There’s nothing to get your day off to a crappy start like sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on your way in.

So I adjusted my work schedule to get in a little after 7am. This allows me to leave here usually around 4:15pm - 4:30pm which lets me avoid the heaviest traffic. However, if I’m stuck at work for a meeting or in this case, a video teleconference with a subcontractor down in Australia, then I’m usually faced with a dilemma.

I could have, for instance gone straight home after leaving the VTC around 5:15pm. However, I would have been extremely aggravated by the time I get home. So I am opting to stick around here until about 6:45pm - 7pm to finish off what work I’ve been doing. Maybe I’ll use the extra hours to go home earlier on Friday. We’ll see.

*looks at watch* 1+ hours to go.

Elaboration

A couple of people have asked me about my maturity comment I made from last week.

So here’s an example of what I mean. It is not necessarily the reason I came to that conclusion, but an example nonetheless.

Caroline was travelling overseas on a buisness trip. While over in London, she attended a show (Chicago) with Andrew, her boss and Chris, a coworker. Chris is 44 and Andrew is 32. Both are married. Well, all three of them went out the night before and drank their hearts, wallets and stomachs out. Well, except for Caroline, but that’s besides the point. Anyway, Chris is really hungover and about to fall asleep when Andrew nudges Chris and says rather loudly, “you gotta rip one?” referring to, of course farting. Apparently they spent the night before acting like teenage boys, belching, farting, making comments towards hot girls, etc. There’s more to the story, but I have a meeting I need to get to, plus it’s not important to this example.

That’s my example.