Listening to Fear

Listening to Fear
Written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Directed by David Solomon

Original Airdate: November 28, 2000

Plot: While waiting for surgery, Joyce and Buffy convince her doctors to let her spend a couple of days resting at home. Joyce's mood swings continue to intensify as the surgery looms near, putting both Buffy and Dawn on edge. Meanwhile, a mysterious meteor crashes near Sunnydale, bringing with it a new form of demon, causing Riley to secretly call in the Initiative to deal with it. Review

Warning: Don't listen any further if you haven't yet seen the latest episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Listening to Fear." There are major SPOILERS for the episode just ahead....

In short: Some good, some just OK.

After two weeks of stellar episode, I suppose that it was inevitable that we'd get an episode that would bring us back down to Earth and be just a standard, enjoyable episode of Buffy. Don't get me wrong, "Listening to Fear" was a pretty nicely done episode, but it just wasn't up to the high standards that "Fool for Love" and "Shadow" were the last two weeks. Whereas the past two weeks of Buffy have been arresting TV that made the hour pass far too quickly, this week's episode plodded at times and only really grabbed my attention in the final act--based on a couple of revelations.

Part of my problem with the monster plotline--alien creature crashes to Earth and starts killing people--is that it's a bit tired. This may be because I watch the X-Files too much (indeed, the creature that we saw reminded me a lot of season two's "The Host"). And certainly Rebecca Rand Kirschner in her second effort tried to put a new Buffy spin on this plotline but I'm not sure it entirely worked. I liked the idea that the demon has been called in to clean up Glory's mess (the insane people she has created by feeding on them) and that it is obviously attracted to people who have some kind of short-circuit going on in their brain. That actually worked a great deal more than just being a creature from space that randomly attacks and kills people and must be stopped (which is what happens a lot on say, for example, Doctor Who). But there were several points that I felt could have been explored a bit more and maybe should have been. For one, I thought for a long time the creature would follow Buffy and Dawn home because of the supernatural connection. It killed off the people that Glory fed on, and I figured that because of Dawn's connection to Glory and the power that she seeks as the Key, that would be the reason the creature followed Buffy, Joyce and Dawn home.

I also admit that I liked the Scooby gang's attempts to find out more about the alien creature and Riley's bringing in the Initiative to help out. For the first time in weeks, we've actually seen Riley be able to take charge of a situation and do something intelligent about it. Indeed, I was worried that when he brushed the gang off to do research that Riley would continue in his death-wish like ways and pursue the creature himself, alone. I'm glad to see that Riley did call for the back-up that he thought he needed. Indeed, it's interesting to note that just as Buffy's fallen back into her comfort area of working closely with the Scooby gang this year, that Riley has fallen back into his comfort area of working with the Initiative. I think this is setting up an exit for the ex-Agent Finn in the coming weeks.

Also to see Riley's self-destructive behavior continue was nicely done. I am beginning to think this boy has a strong yearning to become a vampire and that he will do whatever it takes. Indeed, this thread harkens all the way back to "Buffy vs. Dracula" this year with Riley being so concerned about Buffy being under the thrall of the dark prince and transference. But I do have one question about this--just how much time passed between "Shadow" and "Listening to Fear." Basically because Riley has let two vamps feed on him in a relatively short span of time. I can't imagine that human body could reproduce the blood that was needed to feed the vamps quickly enough so that Riley would still be strong enough and able enough to patrol and fight the creatures. Of course, it could all be some kind of by-product of the Initiative working on him and making him into a virtual superman. If anyone has any ideas or can provide me with some more information on how the body replenishes the blood supply when it is lost, I'd appreciate it.

I've also got to say this about the monster--it was a bit too cheesy for me. I have always been of the theory that less is more in some shows. And sometimes with Buffy this is true. I think the less we'd actually seen of the monster, the more effective it would have been. It was along the lines of the a bit too much to believe monster from season one's "Teacher's Pet."

As for the rest of the plotlines in motion, they mostly succeeded. Kristine Sutherland again continued to impress me as Joyce. They've given her a bit more to do this year besides be the nitpicking, worrying mother. And she's really run with the material. I can't honestly remembering Joyce having this much impact on the storyline since "Ted" or the arc when Buffy ran away. And while I liked the mood swings, I'm not sure they went far enough. Don't get me wrong--I don't want to see an "Exorcist" like ranting from Joyce. But I felt the swings weren't pronounced enough. Indeed, there was a chance here to have her not only lay into Dawn as she did, but also to turn her wrath on Buffy. I would have liked to have seen that--or maybe Joyce bring up something in her altered state about how Buffy's running away hurt her or something. Or how she didn't like Buffy being the Slayer.

Most of the time, the plotline of Joyce waiting surgery didn't click for me. I think part of the point of this plotline was to make the audience feel the frustration that Joyce, Buffy and Dawn felt at the waiting around for something to happen. I can understand. I've had surgery and even though it was minor, there is the overwhelming feeling that you want it to be done and over with so you can stop worrying about it. Also, to see Joyce want to go home and be surrounded by familiar things instead of the sterile hospital made a lot of sense (plus, you've got to think on a practical level the insurance company would want it). But it seemed as if much of the episode was in a holding pattern as we waited for plot A to meet plot B and then move forward. Indeed, the first 45-minutes of the episode felt a great deal this way. It was only in the final 15 minutes that we got the major revelations included and then got left with the cliffhanger.

I've already touched on the revelation about Ben. Interesting that he is tied to Glory somehow. I'm not sure how just yet. And I'm going to try and stay SPOILER free on that one. Of course, come Christmas time and the long run of repeats in January, I may give in. But I will try and be strong.

As for Joyce's revelation that Dawn isn't her daughter, I liked it. I really have liked the way this has developed all year. And I'm glad that Joyce is in on the secret as well. I liked the scene between Joyce and Buffy in the hospital as they discussed it. I loved the way Sarah Michelle Gellar used body language to convey that Joyce had discovered the secret and the internal debate of whether or not to tell her mother. I also liked Joyce's instructions to Buffy that no matter what she was to protect Dawn and keep her safe.

Finally, we got probably the most emotionally moving scene of the episode--Joyce's being wheeled to the surgery. For some reason, this sequence hit me hard. I had a lump in my throat as we saw Joyce head toward surgery and look back to see the entire Scooby gang there. It was an effective end to the episode and certainly an emotional note to end the November sweeps on. My only complaint is we must now wait two weeks to find out how things went. It's going to be a long two weeks....

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

--Buffy's scenes at the sink where she let loose with her emotions were nicely done. Gellar really does the emotionally intense scenes well.

--Spike in the basement was a riot. "Are those pictures of me?" was a classic line. How far is Spike willing to go to get close to Buffy? And when will she realize that he doesn't just out and out hate her anymore?

--Buffy getting the knife--I had definite visions of SMG in "I Know What You Did Last Summer" for some reason. (Could be that TNT shows the movie every ten minutes...)

--I guess one thing I didn't buy was releasing the guy who Glory fed on a few weeks ago just so he could wander around and get killed. That was a bit too much of a leap for me.

--Did I mention that Joss has insured that by the ending that it's going to be a long two weeks?!?

Well, that's about it for now. Overall, the episode was a bit of good, a bit of not so good. But the final fifteen minutes were the best part of the story.

My rating: 6.5 (out of 10.0)

Next up: A repeat of one of the season's best episodes should help make the wait for a new episode a bit more endurable. Yes, next week it's a repeat of "Buffy vs. Dracula." Easily worth a second glance.

"Are those pictures of me?"

--Buffy