Flooded

Flooded
Written by Jane Espenson and Doug Petrie
Directed by Dave Petrie

Original Airdate: October 1, 2001

Plot: When the basement floods due to leaky pipes, Buffy must accept the fact that she is a "grown up" now with "grown up" responsibilities--including the fact that she is broke. Meanwhile, Giles returns to turn to work with the newly revived Slayer, a M'Fashnik demon is hunting Buffy down and there just might be a new trio of supervillains in town...

Review

Warning: The pipes are about to burst over with SPOILERS for the latest episode of Buffy, "Flooded." If you don't want to get flooded with SPOILER info on this episode, I suggest you turn back now....

In short: A delightful change of pace.

OK, so the UPN promo department is not much better than the WB's in terms of advertising episodes. (This should come as no shock to me, having endured seven years of bad Voyager promos.) Last week's ads for this episode made it appear as though it would focus more on the "Buffy tries to slay for cash" aspect of the show than the other aspects of what we saw here. And that had me a bit worried because it appeared the show could, possibly, lose a bit of the early-season momentum that has carried it through so far.

How wrong I was.

I came to "Flooded" expecting an episode that would be more a comic relief, change-of-pace type of story but instead came away, once again, impressed at how great Buffy can be as a series. Yes, there were some absolutely hysterical moments in the show (the three super villains making the decision to conquer Sunnydale was an absolute riot), but there was so much more to it than all that.

Joss Whedon has said the theme for this season is about the characters facing the fact that they're adults now, living in the adult world. And while that can be exciting, thrilling and liberating, it comes with some very scary choices and consequences. And I think we saw the characters--at least the main core of the Scooby gang, at least--being forced to make the choices that adults have to make.

First up, we had Xander, who seems to be avoiding the entire idea that he's comitted to Anya and wants to marry her. This is a bit at odds with what we saw last year, with Xander professing his deep comitment and love for Anya. And this year, it seems as though Xander stumbled a bit in his unwilingness to tell his friends that he and Anya are engaged. But based on what we've seen, I think it all makes sense. Each time we saw Xander profess his true feelings for Anya, it was under times of stress or trauma. Indeed, I hate to bring this up in refernce to Buffy, but it's similiar to stories that I've heard since the events of September 11. I've heard stories of people calling old friends, burying the hatchet with othres and some getting married because of the reminder that life is short and we sometimes get so cuaght up in the little things that we miss what's really important. In a lot of ways, I see this as being where Xander is coming from. He professed his undying love for Anya last year after Riley left--and seeing that he and Anya could be like Buffy and Riley if not careful. He proposed to her when he felt the world was crashing around them. I don't want to say Xander thought the world would end and he wouldn't have to go through the marriage, but the way he's acted this year, it seems like that might be a big part of it. Finally, I also see Xander as being a bit of a romantic. He wants everything in his life to be perfect so that when he and Anya do marry, he can offer the best of himself to her. Xander, buddy....that day ain't never gonna happen. And the woman obviously accepts you for who you are--we're talking about the woman who loved you when you lived in your parent's basement...trust me, she cares. I think there's so much conflict in Xander because getting married means growing up and accepting adult responsibilities. And that may frigthen him. And I think we're seeing that develop.

I just hope Xander gets his head out of the sand before Anya gets fed up and leaves him. (I've got some good friends who dated for years, got engaged and then he kept pushing it back and back and eventually broke up. So I could see this happened with Anya and Xander if they're both not careful).

I really liked the arguement the two of them had outside of Buffy's house after Xander sided with Dawn on the whole Spider-Man issue. I liked it because first of all, the discussion of Spiderman and whether or not he charged for his servcies was a hoot. But I also liked it because the humor of the story drove directly into the character arc and the drama of the story. Don't get me wrong--I love a good laugh out loud episode as much as anyone. But I like it more when the humor leads to something far more important and significant, as we saw here with Anya and Xander.

The next person we had faced with grown-up responsibilites was Willow.

Boy, that scene with Willow and Giles in the kitchen was absolutely superb.

I loved Willow's enthusiasm for her spell and what she'd done, as well as Giles' raw fury at her for what she'd done--all without considering the consequences. In that scene, we saw just how young Willow really is. Indeed, it almost seemed like she was like a young girl, dressing up in mom's clothes so she's appear older and more mature. In this case, she cast a spell beyond her abilities so she'd look like she was an older, wiser witch. And she had Giles there to knock her back down a page for her arrogance at assuming that Buffy wanted to come back and needed to be saved. (Is it just me or can anyone else not wait for the revelation that Buffy shared with Spike last week to come out? I haven't been this intrigued by a "somoene is hiding a secret from the gang" so much since Angel's return in season three) And to see how Willow shrugged off Giles' anger and his speech to her, with the thinly veiled threat that she's far more powerful than Giles realizes was chilling. I have a feeling this conversation will come to mean a whole lot more as the season goes along. Each episode this year has had some overtone of Willow not really understanding that her magic has consequences and fully understanding them. I'm wondering if this year's big bad might not be brought about as a conseuqence of one of her spells--possibly even the one that brought Buffy buck.

Thirdly, we had Buffy being forced to grow-up and accept adult responsibilities. I have to admit this was probably the most obvious of the growing-up plotlines, but it also worked well. Seeing Buffy have to deal with money was a nicely done issue. And I think it's a theme that should continue. I mean, look at the fact that Buffy has to heat and cool that big house. That's gotta be a drain right there--especically when we hear all the time in the news about the California power crisises and the rates. I liked seeing Buffy go to the bank for a loan and being turned down. That all worked. Seeing her take all the trappings that she felt were important to securing a loan was nicely done. I loved the comment from the bank teller that her report cards really wouldn't help.

I also liked seeing Buffy face up to the fact that every time said demon comes in and tears up the house, it costs them money. Another thing that struck me is wondering if the basement will still be flooded in future epiosdes and how Buffy will deal with that. I am hoping it's not a one-time thing. This is something that should and hopefully will have long-term consequences.

Another thing I liked was that however far Buffy came in accepting her responsbilities, we saw that fly out the window when she said she needed to go talk to Angel. It's nice to see that as far as we've seen her come and grow-up, there is still one thing that can make you act impulsive and a bit immature. Her statement that she had to go and see Angel right now, despite having to face the responsiblities of money and possibly finding a job was a good way to end.

On the other end of the spectrum, he had our three new, self-proclaimed supervillains.

If there were ever three people who didn't want to grow-up and face reality, it's got to be the three of them. Indeed, their entire idea of "gee, let's talk over Sunnydale" while playing D&D was an absolute riot. But it also showed that these guys are stuck in the past. Indeed, their entire idea of being a league of supervillians is right out of SuperFriends. And the fact that they think they've got some kind of powers of casting spells, creating robots and flying monkeys that attack school plays is a riot. Indeed, in hearing them talk, they were all pretty much coasting through on the fact that one time they'd each done something significant. Indeed, they hadn't moved much beyond that. It should be interesting to see if and how they threaten Buffy in the upcoming episodes.

So, overall, this episode really surprised me. It had a lot more to it than I thought it would going in. Once again, let me say that Buffy is back and it's doing really, really well.

So, that's about it for now excpet a few small things...

--The part with Jonathan noting they were ready to conquer Sunnydale because the action figures were ready was hysterical.

--The demon worked well enough for me. It wasn't the entire focus of the story, but it was in there enough to be intersting.

--Loved the scene in the bank with Buffy using the letter opener to rip her skirt open to fight the demon.

--Again, the Spider-Man discussion was a riot.

--I liked the scene with Buffy and Spike on the porch.

--OK, so Buffy needs money. And from what I've gathered Willow and Tara live there. Not to be rude, but it seems like they're living there for free. So, charge 'em some rent! Seems like it'd be a way to bring in some cash flow for the short-term.

Anyway, that's it for now. Overall, another winner for season six. Keep 'em coming.

My rating: 8.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: What will Buffy's career be? And the supervillians test the Slayer.