Go Fish

Go Fish
Written by David Fury
Directed by David Semel

Original Airdate: May 12, 1998

Plot: A series of strange attacks on the Sunnydale swim team lead Buffy and the rest of the Scooby gang to investigate.

Review

> Warning: If SPOILERS leave you with an itchy feeling all over, I'd suggest you turn back now....

In short: An amusing diversion

I came to "Go Fish" in exactly the same way I came to "Bad Eggs"--not expecting too much since we are about to have a pivotal, two part story starting next week. However, whereas I walked away from "Bad Eggs" feeling less than satisfied, I find that I got a lot more enjoyment out of "Go Fish."

Not that it was perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But it was still an entertaining hour of Buffy and actually had me on the edge of my seat and interested in a way that certain other WB show that was trying to scare us last night couldn't quite achieve. (Not that I watch Dawson's Creek to be scared! I watch because, quite frankly, as cheesy as it can get, I'm hooked!)

Before I go any further, I'd be remiss in not pointing out that this episode of Buffy felt a lot like an episode of the X-Files. In fact, it seems to have borrowed heavily from the classic, second season episode, "The Host," with a Russian experiment gone wrong that produces a monster that likes to live in water. Yes, Buffy has it's own spin but the similarities were blindngly obvious to me last night.

It may have been helped by the fact that the incidental music seemed to come right out of the X-Files as well. I've got the Mark Snow soundtrack to the X-Files and I swear that several of last night's themes had been taken right off the CD and inserted into the show. It felt like the original Star Trek, where after a while you realized they were using some of the same musical tracks over and over again. It was distracting to me, but that may be because I'm such a big fan of the X-Files.

But, I'm also a big Buffy fan, which is the reason we're all here.

And I've got to admit that last night as the episode first started, I was prepared to be disappointed. After the whole scene on the beach when we see the monster shrouded in darkness, my thought was, "Great, another monster that likes to attach people for no good reason." I had flash backs of "Bad Eggs" or "Killed by Death." However, Joss and company quickly made me eat my words when it turns out the reason the monsters have targeted the Sunnydale swim team was the fact that they ARE the Sunnydale swim team. I liked that because it effectively put a new twist on the monster from the deep myth and it also gave a reasonable explanation of why nobody else at Sunnydale was attacked by the monsters.

The fact that they're a genetic experiment of some type gone wrong was a nice little touch. It seemed vaguely X-Filish with that hint of some kind of larger conspiracy. But it did bring up some questions that really, really needed answers. Such as how the coach find out about this process? What exactly was the nurse's role on the this? And did Synder know what was going on? If, as were lead to believe, he knows about the Hellmouth and it's affects, why did he allow the experiments to go on, knowing what kind of havoc the Hellmouth could have on such experiments? It's little details like this that make a good episode a great one.

Of course, Whedon and company throw in some nice red herrings long the way. From the original supsect, Jonathan (who had a wonderful interrogation scene with Willow. Once again, Alyson Hannigan delivers a superb, understated performance!) to the idea that it just be might be sterroids when Angel spits out the blood, it all kept me enough in the dark about the mystery to keep on guessing. However, upon a second look, there are clues there to let you know that the team is mutating into something else. You just have to know what you're looking for.

And while the ending was rather uneventful, with the monsters swimming out to sea, opening the door for their return, the events leading up to it were rather nice.

Of course, no episode of Buffy is complete without some nice moments from the regular cast. And they were all given a chance to shine here. (Well, except Giles who seemed strangely absent from the proceedings for some reason.)

One of the more interesting moments was in the beginning, relating to how Buffy dresses and the signals that was sending. It was an interesting plot point, and to be quite honest, one I'd wish had been further developed. Not only from the standpoint of showing just because a girl dresses in a sexy manner doesn't give guys the right to think they are going to get to do whatever they want with her, but also to see more of Buffy's reaction to it. Her dismay at this was quickly swept under the carpet so we could get to the ugly monster of the week. Honestly, I think some members of the swim team were far more deadly monsters before they transformed into scaly creatures. That whole scene in the car really had some instensity to it, in much the same way the confrontations between Buffy and Ted had earlier this year. There was some tension to be mined here, espeically from Synder's view.

But, alas, it was not to be.

Another character development angle that has me worried is the Xander/Cordy relationship. I realize that aren't going to be so mushy and gooey all the time, but there were times this week and last week that I doubted they were even dating. It seemed like we'd had a retro moment to a time before they were together or that they'd broken up. I am not saying they should be making out every minute, but you'd think the barbs and jabs might have mellowed a bit. It takes a brush with death for Cordy to be really honest about how she feels about Xander. I didn't really go for that.

I did, however, love the reaction scene to Xander in Speedos. That was probably one of the funnier sequences in the show, along with Cordy's reaction that she's dating a member of the swim team. Loved it. Also the fact that she tells Xander he can quite if he wants, as long as he plays football. I loved it. Absolutely in character for Cordy.

So, overall, it was a pretty good episode. Not that I'm not expecting next week to be better. But for what it's worth, "Go Fish" kept me interested and whetted my appetite for "The Becoming."

So, I guess that about wraps it up, except for a few small things...

--Where is Oz? He'd have fit in well in this episode. Maybe it was his time on the month! :-)

--Will we ever hear how the team did in the state finals?

--Synder's apparent giddiness at the swim team's succes was nice. He must just be relived for Sunnydale to be in the paper for a positive reason for a change!

--You could have pretty much left out the Angel scene and I wouldn't have cared. Buffy needs to just slay him and get it over with. He's pretty much beyond redemption for me at this point, even if he gets his soul back.

--So, a sewer runs under Sunnydale High now? :-)

Well, that about wraps it up for now.

Overall, it could have been far worse. Of course, it could have been better. But I have a feeling Joss and compnay have saved the best for last....

Final Rating: 7.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: Kendra's back...and Buffy decides it's Angel's time to be slayed.

"I'm undercover!"

"Not very much."

--Xander & Buffy