I Only Have Eyes For You
Written by Marti Noxon
Directed
Original Airdate: April 1998
Plot: A ghost is haunting the halls of Sunnydale. A ghost that is making people relive the tragic end of an affair between a student and a teacher from the late 1950's
Review
Warning: If you SPOILERS will haunt you until you can be at peace, I
recommend turning back now. There's more than a ghost of chance they are
just ahead for the latest epsisode of Buffy, "I Only Have Eyes For You."
In short: The perfect cure for BWS (Buffy Withdrawal Syndrome).
I'll be honest up front. I really, really enjoyed IOHEFY. And to
be honest, while it was a strong episode (and a definite improvement
on the last new episode we got, which was the horrific "Killed by Death"),
I am not sure how much of the pleasure I got out of watching it was due to
the fact that it was so strong but also the fact that it's been two
monthes since I saw new Buffy and I was just so darn happy to have it
back.
But, what a way to bring it back.
Overall, it was one of the stronger ensemble efforts this year.
I like the fact that the story had major impact on several of the
characters lives and growth and along the way gave each character a moment
to shine. I especially loved the return of Funny!Xander (tm). Don't get
me wrong--Xander usually cracks me up no matter what. But Xander here
felt more like the Xander of old with his wisecracks and sarcastic sayings
be genuinely witty and in synch with the overall story rather than funny
little quips that were added on so Xander has his funny moment in the sun.
Hoenstly, I like that Xander a lot better and hope we get to see more of
him in the upcoming episodes.
Willow was also given a few moments to shine. And I've got to say
that while I generally praise the rest of the cast, I often neglect to
offer praise to Allyson Hannigan. Her performances are always first rate
and she always shows up to give us excellent moments as Willow. It's just
at times she can get overshadowed by all of the other great performances
on the show. Not so here. She really stuck out last night--in her
scenes teaching, her scenes offering advice to Buffy, and the scenes with
Giles. Hannigan had a quiet but very noticeable presence in the show and
it worked so well. Often times I tend to overlook Willow in favor of the
rest of the Scooby gang, but last night she really came through.
About the only major Scooby gang character given the short end of
the stick on the old character development scene was Cordy. Yes, she was
there, but she didn't add much. Indeed, at times I wondered if she was
only included because the ritual to exorcise the ghost required four
people and with Giles out of action, Cordy was the next logical choice.
(It could have just as easily been Oz, but it wasn't). The only thing
Cordy really added was the great line about everyone dying in "The
Exorcist." I love that reference.
And while each of these characters were given a moment to shine,
the real focus was Buffy and Giles. And I've got to say that it's playing
to your strengths.
I am, quite honestly, just eccstatic that Joss is allowing the
consequences of storylines introduced on the show to be played out. First,
let's start with Giles.
It could be easy enough to see him move on and not acknowledge his
grief at the loss of Ms. Calendar. Heaven knows enough shows have had
major plot changing elements like this introduced and then backed away
from them. Not so here. Giles' obsession with the fact that it must be
Jenny trying to contact them, despite blinding evidence to the contrary is
wonderful. And Anthony Stewart Head's perfomrmance as Giles last night
really showed that. His stuttering and arguemenative nature was well
done. And I like the way he came to realize the truth when Willow points
out that Jenny couldn't be this mean. A wonderful quiet moment.
As for Buffy, I like that she's still really hurt by what has
happened between her and Angel. It's not somethng she's going to get over
overnight and I like that way we see her going through stages. Last night
was major denial and repressed anger coming up. I think we are on the
way to seeing her forgive herself and Angel for what's happened between
them. Not that I don't think she's not gonna try and slay him (quite
frankly, Angel deserves it!), but I think that once she is able to put
aside these feelings the job will become easier for her.
I liked the way the situations that Giles and Buffy are facing
paraleled the story of the doomed lovers from 1955. To be honest, when I
heard this was the plotline, I rolled my eyes, thinking we had just seen
it on Dawson's Creek (yes, I watch it!) a few weeks back. But whereas
Dawson left me wanting to run screaming from the room when that plotline
came on screen, here it worked better. It could be that we only got a
small snippet of what happened and didn't have to endure the weeks of
development and denial we did on Dawson. Or it could have been that we
had an outlet into understading the characters in the 50's better because
what they faced was so similar to what Giles and Buffy were going through.
For whatever reason, I liked it.
So, overall, it's a good episode. And it really played up a lot
fo the show major strenghts. And it did a good job of setting up some
things for the season finale, I think. A few balls were put into play that
I think we'll see more of soon.
One of the biggest being Healed!Spike (tm). I honestly didn't see
that one coming and it was a nice suprise and a great way to end since it
left me wanting more. I really hope that Spike makes it to next season.
He's just too cool to kill off.
Dru, on the other hand, is just getting annoying...
Well, that's about it for now, except for a few small things.
--Did anyone else keep wanting to shout "Look between the desks!"
when Giles and Willow were talking in Jenny's classroom. That yellow disk
has got show up again soon!
--So, Principle Synder knows about the Hellmouth, eh? Which begs
the question of why he was assigned to be principle there. Please don't
leave me hanging on this question. I honestly think it was one of the
more intersting insights we had last night into a character.
--I loved the effect of the gun rippled out of existence. A very
nice visual. In fact, the direction of the episode overall was quite
striking.
So, the wrap it all up, a good return. A definite keeper and one
that's erased the bad taste of Killed By Death from my mouth. Let's hope
we get three more solid eps before we bid Buffy farwell for the summer...
Rating: 8.5 (out of 10.0)
Next up: Don't go near the water! (BTW, did anyone think this ep looked
a lot like the X-Files episode, "The Host" when you saw it?)
Review Copyright 1998 by Michael
T. Hickerson. All Rights Reserved.
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