Band Candy
Written and Directed by
Original Airdate: November 10, 1998
Plot: The Mayor and Mr. Trick hatch a plan to pay tribute to a demon.
Meanwhile, the school's fund raising band candy causes all the adults in town to act like teenagers....
Review
Warning: If SPOILERS for the latest episode of "Buffy, the Vampire
Slayer," 'Band Candy' make you feel a wee bit uncomfortable, I'd suggest
turning back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead....
In short: The first disappointment of season three.
On paper, there was a lot to look forward to in Band Candy. A
chance to see Buffy have to deal with all of the adults in town acting
like teenagers just seemed too good and idea to pass up. And while Band
Candy did reasonably well with this plotline, I still came away with a
sense of disappointment.
A large part of it was that Band Candy is essentail what Bad Eggs
was year--an episode that is intended to be in a holding pattern as we get
set up for major events to fall into place. Last year it was waiting
until we saw Angel's fall from grace so to speak in Surprise and
Innocence. This year, I suspect, it's a holding pattern until such time
as the Scooby gang discovers our favorite bloodsucker is back. Until
then, we've got to find an amusing, fun way to spend an hour with these
characters.
And like Bad Eggs, or even Reptile Boy last year, Band Candy tried
very hard to be a good, entertaining distractions. Don't get me wrong--I
like an episode that takes place outside the established mega-heavy events
we see each week on Buffy. But I like them when done well and with some
dash.
And in some spots, Band Candy did quite well.
Seeing Joyce, Giles, and Snyder revert back to teenagers was
really a treat. I got a major kick out of Synder's desparate urge to be
around the Scooby gang as they tried to figure out what was going on.
Armin Shimmerman turned in one of his best Buffy performances yet and I
think part of it was that we were allowed to see a different side of
Synder than we normally do. It's easy to see that he was having fun just
being a part of the gang rather than their chief tormentor. I'm not
saying we should see it every week, but this time it was fun.
Part of why it worked so well for Snyder is thta he's a one
dimensional character. So to see him playing against type is far more fun
and interesting.
On the other hand, you've got two far more three dimensional
characters in Joyce and Giles and so to see them play against type as one
dimensional characters wasn't as much fun. I think a great deal of this
comes from the fact that we know Giles has a dark past and I expected to
see more. Having him as sort of a James Dean from Rebel Without a Cause
with an accent was nice at first, but a part of me kept yearning for his
darker side to come through. To see why Ethan was truly afraid of him and
his past. Dialogue such as "Knock his teeth down his throat because
you're my slayer," fell a bit flat. It would have been far better for me
to see Giles being the one to threaten Ethan when it came time to extract
information from him.
As for seeing Ethan come back, I'm torn. Part of me liked seeing
him again (and it makes the reason for WB repeating Halloween two weeks
ago seem that much stronger), but another part of was disappointed. After
his past two appearances in Dark Age and Halloween, I found Ethan to be a
far darker, more malevolent character than we saw here. It was like Ethan
lite in a way--a way to pay tribute to the history the show has built. And
in looking back, I'm not sure if maybe having Marcy's mom be the one
behind the spell might not have been good idea. (Other than that she's
trapped in a statue, but I suppose you coudl get around that, if you
wanted)
I think part of the reason that I didn't really like Ethan's
return as much as I would have liked was that it was part of one of the
lesser monster plots I've seen since Reptile Boy or Killed by Death. In
fact, the sacrifice of the babies really reminded me of Reptile Boy, esp.
in the way once the monster appeared on screen it was easily dealt with.
I suppose I could have lived with this plotline a bit more if maybe the
implication that Trick brought the creature out to have Buffy take it out
was a bit more clear. I liked Mr. Trick when he first appeared, but I
found him a bit dull in this episode. It made me yearn for Spike and his
dark, duplicitous nature.
And it just seemed to be that idea of having to sacrifice the
babies came too far out of left field. Don't get me wrong, it was still a
shocking moment and one that made you really disguisted with our bad guys.
But it would have been a bit more shocking had we seen hints of it before.
I know that the mayor and Trick disussed the plan in his office early on,
but someone the idea they were hatching didn't seem as insidious as it
later turned out to be in that moment. Not enough foreshadowing for me
and that's something Buffy is usually really good at.
But, to say that I came away from the episode totally disappointed
would be false. There were isolated things I really liked.
For one, I loved the concept of Buffy playing all of her friends
off of each other to sneak off to see Angel. That part worked really well
as did everyone's reactions. Also, seeing Buffy and her mom's discussions
about her driving were a nice carryover not only of some of the underlying
themes for this season but also of the conversation Buffy and her mother
had in Suprise. That part really worked and clicked for me.
As did the Xander and Willow footsy scene. This provided the
biggest laugh of the night when the table jumped as their feet flew apart.
I wonder how long they will keep this going. I am not sure if I want it
resolved quickly since it's providing some really great character moments
and nice laughs along the way.
But, these points couldn't save the episode for me. In the end,
I'm forced to look on it as a good try, but not quite a cigar this time.
I can only hope that next week the show gets back on track.
So, that's about it except for a few small things...
--Thank goodness they are finding out Angel is back next week. I
can't take any more scenes like we had last night with him. Here's my
beef--just because he's in the opening credits, we don't have to see him
every week! If he adds nothing to the plot, leave him out. Star Trek
does it all the time. X-Files has had whole eps without Mulder or Scully.
Why not one without Angel?
--The only thing the Angel scene brought to mind was the Klingon
self-defense exercied Worf does on Star Trek.
--So how many favors does the mayor owe and to whom? Interesting.
--So something happened between Giles and Joyce, eh? Interesting.
I also am a bit annoyed that Joyce's anger at Giles (she said she blames
him for Buffy's leaving) has been dropped. I was hoping to see this
explored a bit more.
Well, that's about it for now. I wanted to like Band Candy a
great deal. But in the end, it's a major disappointment.
My rating: 4.5 (out of 10.0)
Next up: The gang finds out Angel's back....oh, this one looks good!
"Do you want to swap?"
"What?!?"
--Cordy and Willow
Review Copyright 1998 by Michael T. Hickerson. All Rights Reserved.
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