Family

Family
Written and Directed by Joss Whedon

Original Airdate: November 7, 2000

Plot: On her 20th birthday, Tara's family arrives in Sunnydale--determined to take her back home rather than have her friends face her awful family secret. In order to hide who she really is, Tara casts a spell that doesn't allow the Scooby gang to see demons, which could prove deadly when the new evil in town enlists an army of demons to take out the Slayer. Meanwhile Buffy confides Dawn's secret to Giles. Review

Warning: If an affinity to avoid SPOILERS runs in your family, please consider turning back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead for the latest episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Family."

In short: Interesting, but not up to Joss's usual standards.

As I've said before in my reviews, I'm an opening credits reader. And I'll be honest with you--I have writers for Buffy (and just about every other show I watch on a regular basis) whose work I prefer more than those of others. Most times I try to not let my pre-conceived notions of a writer and his/her work affect my overall view of a single episode. I try to let each episode stand alone on its own strengths and weaknesses.

But, I'll be honest with you here--I see the credit "Written and Directed by Joss Whedon" flash up on my screen and not only am I sitting up in my chair a bit and that much more involved, but I'm also having warm fuzzies of such superb episodes as "Lie to Me," "The Becoming," "Innocence" and "Hush" come to my mind.

So, I'll go out here and be honest up front--while I enjoyed "Family" a great deal and found it interesting, compelling and watchable hour of Buffy, I think seeing that Joss wrote and directed the episode might have raised the bar a bit too high for me and now allowed me to fully enjoy the episode as much as I might have normally done. I'm not saying that "Family" wasn't a great episode. But it just didn't seem up to Joss's usual standards.

And that's a shame really. Because this episode really had a lot of potential to be an instant classic in the way that some of the episodes I mentioned above were.

But, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. I certainly don't want everyone to think that I out and out didn't like the episode. I enjoyed it a great deal. As with all of Joss's efforts, the good outweighed the bad.

First of all, I really, really liked the on-going plotline with Dawn. I know that there are some folks out there who consider this plotline to be an abomination, but I honestly have to say that I like the way this one is unfolding and progressing this year. And I liked the latest wrinkle, which continued the events from what we learned last week--namely that Dawn in the Key and has been sent to Buffy for protection from the Evil One (who annoyingly enough still does not have a name!). Last time around, I brought up an issue that I felt absolutely had to be dealt with and dealt with immediately--who Buffy would tell about the knowledge of who and what Dawn was. And I'm glad to see that they not only did this in the first five minutes of the show, but that we also got to see that it was only Giles who was told. I like this move for a number of reasons. The most basic one is that it actually gives our Watcher a bit of a mentor role to Buffy and it harkens back to the early days when Giles was a father-figure for Buffy (the scene where Buffy tells Giles who Dawn is had some strong echoes back to the scene in the car the end of Innocence where Buffy confesses that Angel's fall from grace is her fault). Second of all, it gives Giles a bit more of role headed into the next set of episodes as the season moves along.

Also in that one scene, they addressed another question I had--namely how far the memories of Dawn's existence to this point extend. It was interesting to see that not only Buffy had the memories but that Giles did as well. And it seems to be implied that Buffy's dad must have some knowledge of Dawn. Again, I think that we'll have to wait and see how this develops, though it does still leave the door open to such characters as Cordelia or Angel not remembering Dawn or her existence.

The other part of the plotline I liked was Buffy's protective, big-sister like attitude toward Dawn. I liked the fact that she kept the Scooby gang in the dark as to who she really was, so as to not hurt Dawn's feelings or make her feel like an outsider. (Though I must admit that if Buffy wanted this to not get to Dawn, she might have been advised to take up the issue with Giles when she was certain Dawn wasn't around. After all, we've seen examples all year long of Dawn hearing or knowing things she shouldn't necessarily know due to her ability to eavesdrop). Also, Buffy's overprotective attitude toward Dawn continued to work well and it was nicely done. I loved the over-the-top protective big sister who wouldn't let Dawn go over to the neighbors' house across the street for dinner because she feared for Dawn's safety. Obviously, there can only be so long that Buffy can be as protective of Dawn as she was here. It will be interesting to see if and how this protective big-sister attitude Buffy is sporting right now breaks down over future episodes and if that leads to Dawn's being put in danger in future stories and Buffy blaming herself for not doing enough.

The other plotline that seemed to come out of the Buffy/Dawn story was the continuing rift between Buffy and Riley. It all started a few weeks ago when we found out that Buffy didn't really love Riley. And while that was a great moment in the show and one of those slap in the face moments that makes your re-evaluate the entire series as a whole. But since that point, it seems as though the creative staff has been going to great lengths to make send this point home. And it's gone so far as to make both characters, at times, unlikable. Of course, we have Buffy becoming unlikable because she treats Riley like a doormat. And then we have Riley becoming a bit of a doormat of sorts. It was interesting to see that develop last night. And while I liked Riley blowing his top at Buffy and storming out on her, the rest of the plotline didn't gel for me. For one thing, I really, really think that Joss and company should have taken the chance with Riley and the girl in the bar. To see Riley perhaps give in and cheat on Buffy in a moment of anger would have been far more interesting that to see him confess that his heart belongs to another and then go back to Buffy like a wounded puppy at the end. I am going to really reserve too much harsh judgment on this development until I see if anything is made of it long term. But in looking at the scene in the bar, it felt like Riley was about ready to head down the path of temptation--regardless of just how much he loves Buffy.

As for the Tara plotline, I enjoyed most of it. I liked seeing the Scooby gang (outside of Willow) really struggle in their attempts to find something to give Tara for her birthday. I also loved the way that Tara felt like an outsider looking in continued a bit. To see her struggle to be a part of the group was nicely done and has been an interesting plotthread this season. I hope that while she now realized she's accepted by them and part of the group that she won't from time to time feel a bit outside. After all, at the core the Scooby gang has been through four years of tumultuous events that Tara wasn't part of. There is a bond of friendship there that can't be broke and shouldn't be. And while Tara is accepted as part of the gang now, she will always be a bit of an outsider because Buffy, Giles, Xander and Willow have such a shared history.

I also liked Tara's increasing desparation to cover up who she really was not only from her friends but also from Willow. Indeed, there were moments last night when I found myself feeling a bit for Willow because she hasn't had the greatest luck picking "normal" romantic partners. Oz was a werewolf and then you had Tara who thought she was part demon. I also found Tara's attempts to cover her tracks interesting--such as casting the spell to not allow the Scooby gang to see her demon half and then hiding from Willow emotionally. Amber Benson is to be highly commended for her work here because in every scene she was in, she superbly portrayed this conflict not only in the word that Joss wrote for her but also her body language. And you've got to give some kudos to Allyson Hannigan as well for showing us through her body language that Willow knew this. Both actresses did a superb job with the material given and really brought it to life.

And while I liked what Amber did, I have to admit that Tara's family struck me as kind of flat. The mysterious father showing up to take home his daughter in time for her birthday never gelled for me. I never felt like we got any sense of who her family was beyond the people who initiated the main conflict for the episode. None of them ever stood out as a character, which is a real shame. I think we had some real potential here. Also, based on the revelation that demon doesn't run in the family but is used by the men to control the women, the attitude of Tara's cousin, Beth seemed a bit more surprising. I had sort of hoped she'd wake up and see in the final few minutes what was being done to her in terms of manipulation, but she didn't. Also, why Beth was included on the trip to bring Tara back was an interesting question. Maybe, just maybe we'll see Beth again soon. Personally, I'd enjoy seeing Tara's family somehow figure into the season arc with the Evil One. Perhaps they would be employed to help her out since they now have a legitimate grudge against Buffy and the Scooby gang.

Also, the other question--just what happened to Tara's mother?

And, of course, the best part of the plotline with Tara was the scene in the magic shop with everyone standing up to her. While it wasn't totally unexpected, it felt exactly right. And I also liked the fact that we saw Buffy and Dawn act like sisters here--standing together when their backs are against the wall. And the comment about Dawn being a hair-puller was just perfect.

I'm also going to give Joss a thumbs up here for actually using Spike effectively. It seems like that at times he is just there because James Marsters is in the credits and is required to appear. Here, it was nice to see him used effectively. Also, to see the chip in his head used effectively was a nicely done moment. It's interesting to see Spike develop as a character. I'm still dead-set against he and Buffy getting together romantically. I sincerely hope that this crush of Spike's remains unrequited as there's far more potential there. Esp. if Dru returns to town or, even better, Angel.

Another thing that struck me while watching Family and in considering it for this review was how this year, the core Scooby gang is getting along, but recent initiates aren't faring as well. We've seen Tara struggle to feel accepted and on some levels, Riley is still finding his place there. He doesn't feel welcome in Buffy's life at times as we saw last night. Indeed, it seems as if this year the more insular the Scooby gang is becoming, the more closed off to outsiders they are. Not that they are being rude deliberately. But it's just that there is a shared heritage if you will there between the main four of the gang. Even Dawn has struggled as being on the outside looking in. I admit I loved the scene where they all stood together to defend Tara from her family and I loved the shot of the entire gang when Buffy declared they were family, but I wonder if this will continue to grow as the season goes along. Will this new-found commitment to one another prove to be a strength in the days to come as they face the Evil One?

Speaking of the Evil One, I must admit I liked her more this time than I did last time. I'm still not certain exactly what her goal is but her reaction to fighting Buffy was priceless. Also, her taking the demon prisoner to torment him and win him over to her side was nicely done. Again, I think this was meant to be a reminder of what happened and to keep the Evil One on the radar screens more than to really develop her any more. I have a feeling we may not find out too much more of what she's up to until a few more episodes have passed.

I can only hope it's worth the wait.

Well, that's about it for now, except a few small things....

--The Willow/Tara dance at the end was sweet. I found it very touching. Again both Allyson and Amber brought so much to it.

--The whole floating while dancing was sweet, though I found it very reminiscent of some scenes from Lois and Clark.

--Please, please, please somebody stake Harmony!

So, wrapping it all up, I've got to say I enjoyed "Family" but I must admit that it wasn't up to Joss's usual standards. I guess every episode can't be a home run.

My rating: 7.5 (out of 10.0)

Next up: Buffy wants to know just how Spike managed to kill two slayers....leading to flashbacks of the early days of Angel, Spike, Dru, Darla and the Master. Yes, folks, it's time for the November cross-over event!

"You're definition of narrow is kind of broad."

--Buffy