4/28/08 - 5/5/08 Episode Discussion: Homecoming

[SpikedBuffy]

Sorry for the lateness everyone... let's start it up again!

Time to discuss our next episode!

Episode title: Homecoming
Season: three

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I give this episode 5 stakes. It has all the classic Buffyness. Witty lines, fights, dealing with the 'monsters' of everyday life...

I just love Buffy in this ep. "I look good in a tiara"


And this is the first ep were we get some Xander/Willow action. I'll have to say that when I first saw this episode when it first aired, I was just awed by the fact that they finally got together. :)

[Blondie Bear]

I enjoy Willow/Xander as well, but I hated the timing. I think my notorious Xander dislike speaks for itself here. It was just a terrible time to decide he wanted Willow. But I think I've complained about this enough already.

[Joyce Summers]

I do enjoy this episode, but strangely enough it always seems to drag for me. There were some fun and/or exciting moments but the storyline itself seemed to take a little long. Perhaps because the action didn't really begin until the end.
I remember seeing the Willow/Xander smoochy and thinking it was entirely natural and normal and then my brain went 'OH MY GOD! It's Xander and Willow kissing! XANDER! And WILLOW! They're not supposed to be doing that!'.
I did like Faith embarrassing Scott for Buffy's sake ("The itching and the swelling will go down, we just gotta keep using the ointment"). It was a really nice example of how Faith actually liked Buffy. You know, before the evil.
And Giles presuming at the Homecoming Dance that Buffy was going to win ("I want to be here when Buffy w-....well, however the things turn out"). It was such a sweet, fatherly thing for him to presume. I adore Giles whenever he does the Pseudo Father thing whether it's beating up Snyder or celebrating her victory before it's happened. I just love it.

Mr Trick is always fun to watch though I find; his lines really glide. I love when he's listing whose in Slayerfest and he comes to that demon and merely says 'and whatever you are. You got the spiney lookin' head things, I ain't never seen that before'.

And has anyone ever bothered to read all the strengths and weaknesses Buffy lists on the Homecoming Queen contestents board? A very amusing read. Michelle apparently has dandruff, while Cordy's main weakness is Xander. Harsh. Haha

[day walker]

I
And has anyone ever bothered to read all the strengths and weaknesses Buffy lists on the Homecoming Queen contestents board? A very amusing read. Michelle apparently has dandruff, while Cordy's main weakness is Xander. Harsh. Haha

no never thought to >.<

could you post those up :)

[Joyce Summers]

could you post those up

I just fell right into that 'Let's get Joyce to do the hard work for us' trap didn't I? Haha.

::big sigh:: Okay...

Michelle Blake
Weakness include: Bad skin, wears polyester, PB crazed, dandruff, too much make-up, never studies
Strengths: Popular cheerleader, Athletic, Yearbook editor (I thought this was weird to be put as a strength considering what Buffy said in The Witch about the yearbook staff 'Nerds pick on them'), friendly, good cook, nice

Cordelia Chase
Strengths: Popular with boys, makes friends easily, has money to buy votes, expensive clothes, perfect teeth
Weakness: Manipulative, two-faced, bad-in-sports, superficial, no sense of humor, fake smile, brie, Xander

Holly Charleston
Weakness: Few friends, new student, no boyfriend, rovert, way too much studying
Strengths: Debating skills, straight-forward, drill team, good in sports, always studies

There ya go. Haha. I only ever caught the info myself when I paused the DVD to do something and that was the shot I paused on. I bet the prop people would be just that little bit happier that someone bothered to read their hard work. ;)

[Cangel]

Cordelia Chase
Strengths: Popular with boys, makes friends easily, has money to buy votes, expensive clothes, perfect teeth
Weakness: Manipulative, two-faced, bad-in-sports, superficial, no sense of humor, fake smile, brie, Xander


How is Cordy bad in sports? She was a cheerleader, and on Angel she never looked like she wasn't good at sports either.


I really like this episode. It's really fun, has a lot of Cordelia and shows Buffy a bit more from her girl side, you know, the wants-to-reach-something-at-highschool girl, not slayer girl.

Plus, who didn't laugh when Giles made a joke about Buffy being in danger? I had such a lmao moment.

[Joyce Summers]

Plus, who didn't laugh when Giles made a joke about Buffy being in danger? I had such a lmao moment.

What adds to it is the line that was cut from the airing of the episode.
In response to this joke, I think it's Willow that says 'Giles is developing a sense of humor' and Xander replies 'I know. Scary'.

[Blondie Bear]

^ That is funny. But I agree with the editors in taking it out. It seems a bit out of character for two people so sunk in misery to notice humor at all.

[Joyce Summers]

Yeah, I think that was why they did take it out. I mean they were the Depressing Crew for that entire scene so for them to not only notice humor, but to crack a semi-joke themselves. It would have been a bit out of place. Any other day though...

I do love when Cordy and Buffy turn up though and Xander is like 'Dear God! What did you two do to each other?!'

[Nabila]

This is one of my favourite episodes in this my favourite season.

I enjoyed seeing Faith wearing a long black dress with her hair up. We will never see her glammed up again. And I never get tired of watching the adventures and bickering of Buffy and Cordy in the slayerfest. Did anyone wonder why Buffy asked for toilet paper? LOL

I believe that both Cordy and Faith love Buffy in their own special way. However that is. I wonder sometimes if even through her evil spell, Faith was struggling with the memories of Buffy's efforts to make Faith feel that she belonged. She did spend time at Buffy's house and Joyce welcomed her.

I didn't like the Willow and Xander thing because as Blondie Bear has already mentioned, it was really bad timing. Besides, the reason Xander noticed Willow is really shallow. Willow is a beautiful, kind girl and Xander never sees that. He only sees her as smart. She wears a long black dress and he sees her in a different light.::huh1:: If this happened before Cordy and Oz then maybe I would be thrilled. I have a rant ready for this betrayal but that would be for another episode.:: vampire

And yes, Mr Trick is a joy to watch!

[The Ferg]

I absolutely LOVED the idea of the SlayerFest. I just thought it was brilliant. Oh, and the yellow demon with big knives was friggin awesome. Also, the other storylines of Willow/Xander and Buffy vs. Cordelia were great too. When Willow and Xander were changing together, I was like, "Oh, crap, they're gonna kiss." Then: "Oh sweet, it's beautiful". Finally: "WOH!!! What about Cordelia and Oz". I think my reaction was the same as Willow and Xander's.

Blondie Bear, you hate Xander!!! *sits in corner cowering silently*

(Do I rate this ep? idk, I'm kinda new) I'd rate it 4.5 stakes. Great epy!

[day walker]

one of my faverites as well:biggrin:

5 stakes

and thanks Joyce Summers for what the board said:) (don't own the discs:whistle:)

[caitaintdead]

I wouldn't say it was the greatest episode in the world, but I loved some parts of it as well. The montage with Buffy campaigning was awesome. I don't think we really get many more montage style scenes in the rest of the series do we? And I gotta admit, I like a good montage.
I thought Mr Trick was an underrated villain, I wish they'd had him stick around a little bit longer.
Everyone looked really cute all dolled up.
I hated that Xander and Willow kissed. I guess it was the writers way of reminding us that they're human and make mistakes... but I really hate cheating, makes me sick to my stomach, even watching it on TV!
Every time I see Buffy putting up her campaign posters I have to cringe. They look so professional, not at all what Buffy would seriously be able to have done! Maybe Cordelia would be able to afford professional photography, but I highly doubt Buffy or Joyce would do that... But that's just me nitpicking...

[Joyce Summers]

In the script directions they purposefully said Buffy's campaign poster was 'MTV-y'. It had to look stunning because her friends had bailed on her I think but as for how she got that done, you've got a point there.
Maybe a photographer was currently showing his work at Joyce's gallery and they drew him in to do a favor for Buffy? Okay, I'm reaching but....

[Giants Rule 04]

I was one of those who didn't like the idea of Xander and Willow together. They both were in great relationships, and Oz and Cordelia really cared about them. I can understand them kissing once, "by accident", but then they continue to do it over and over and over again (though not in this episode). Once they realized that they had those type of feelings, they should have been able to control themselves to avoid it happening again. They couldn't, and as a result, Oz and Cordelia got hurt.

Having said that, there are some really good things about this episode. Giles' joke was hilarious, Mr. Trick was great, and the whole episode theme was reasonably entertaining. Not my favorite, but a fun episode to watch.

[caitaintdead]

Did I miss something with the MTV-ness of it? Would you be able to expand on this please, you've got me all interested now about something so little *blushes*

[Joyce Summers]

You mean the campaign poster? Not too much to miss. They just wanted it MTV-esque in the sense of the graphic design of it, the slanted angle of the shot of Buffy and her look to be very music star pouty. Also the colors were done boldly in an MTV-esque fashion.

[caitaintdead]

But why did they want it MTVish... I just don't understand... Oh well, thanks for letting me know anyway!

[Joyce Summers]

Ah, I don't know why they wanted it MTVy. Who knows what goes on in their crazy minds? Haha

[Spikes FFL]

I actually never thought of the poster being too MTVy one way or the other...

I'm a fan of this episode. Joyce Summers is right though... it doesn't really do too much for the story and the action was really lacking until the end. To me, it seems like a filler episode, and every school has to have "Homecoming" don't they?

But I did like this episode mainly because of the Buffy/Cordy scenes.

BUFFY: Sorry, Cordy, but you have no idea who you're messing with.
CORDELIA: What? The Slayer?
BUFFY: I'm not talking about the Slayer. I'm talking about Buffy. You've awakened the Prom Queen within. And that crown is going to be mine.

Classic! Then again, when they're in the limo, and fighting in the cabin. Clearly for humor, this a great episode, and there are some great lines.

I absolutely HATED the Xander/Willow thing. It did blaze the trail for the future turmoil between Oz and Willow, which snowballs into Willow being with Tara... So it had reason to be there... but I don't like the way it was done. I definitely agree with everyone who said that Xander should have been noticing her all along, not just because a "clothes fluke"...

Giles was funny in this episode, too. His attempt at humor while Xander and Willow were sad was just great....

I would totally give this episode 3 Mr. Pointy's :: vampire

[Legate Damar]

I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. One thing I noticed that no one has commented on is that Buffy broke the "gun = bad" rule while in the cabin. I was also a little... something (surprised? disappointed?) by her treatment of Hunter/Trapper Guy. I figured she would pummel him unconscious, then release him from the trap. It makes sense that she didn't (as that would be somehat time intensive) but I still expect her to do it every time I watch it.

And isn't this the Cordy/spatula ep? That was a funny bit.

And I thoroughly enjoyed Trick in this episode. Am watching through the second half of this season and he's nowhere near as entertaining once the Mayor strongarms him.

[Spikes FFL]

I completely forgot about the "gun=bad" rule. It was never actually stated outright, we just know they are all anti-gun... HOWEVER, in "Earshot"... she takes the gun away from Jonathan and says, "these things never work" then bends it in half...

Did she even shoot the gun at all? I don't remember if she shot it or if she just held it and hit someone with it...

The Cordy/spatula moment was classic. :)

[Joyce Summers]

Cordy attempted to shoot the gun and the bullet went haywire while Buffy never had a chance to shoot it at the demon as the spiny-looking-head-creature grabbed and fought for it before she had a chance I believe.

[SpikedBuffy]

Cordelia: She's a Slayer. I'm a Homecoming Queen!

I love that part!

[Blondie Bear]

I LOVED the Faith and Scott scene. Back when Faith actually looked out for Buffy and cared about her rather than resenting her. This is still one of my favorite Faith scenes ever.