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Episode 4.17: Superstar | Episode 4.19: New Moon Rising
Characters:
| Buffy | Xander | Willow |
| Giles | Spike | Riley |
| Anya | Tara |
Overall (3/10)
Buffy:
This is an unconventional episode in that it's not about Buffy. In fact, she's barely in it. The most that Buffy does is have lots of sex with Riley, which fuels the haunting of the repressed spirits.
This episode gets very little fan-love, and, while it's certainly not a great episode, I don't think it's as dire as some would make it out to be. I think the fact that the title character of the show is sidelined contributes to the negative reactions toward it.
Xander:
This episode does heavily feature Xander. Specifically, his relationship with Anya.
Xander and Anya's relationship didn't start out under the most ideal of conditions. At the end of S3, it began with Anya needing a date to the prom and choosing Xander in a backhanded compliment sort of way. It developed primarily into a sexual relationship. Until now where they're getting to the point of showing true affection.
However, it seems that they haven't really defined the relationship they have yet. Anya believes that it's based on sex, and she feels she wants more. Xander, however, already views the relationship as more than just the sex and is comfortable with the nonsexual aspects.
What we're running into is a bit of a personality clash. Anya, being strangely literal, needs the terms of their union defined explicitly. Otherwise, she's going on the assumption that there's nothing more than physical. Xander, however, is more intuitive in how he defines the relationship. He can recognize there's actual affection involved, and he doesn't see the need to spell it out. Unfortunately, Anya does. They'll come into conflict over this throughout the series.
For now, though, they are able to work together to save the day and, somehow, in doing so temporarily resolve their issues. Honestly, I don't feel that the issues brought up in this episode are adequately concluded by the end, which is a failing of the episode in its handling of the strange plot.
Willow:
Well, Willow is given more to do than Buffy is. But not by much. Her relationship with Tara grows slightly more explicit, and we find out that she used to have a crush on Giles (How could a person not have a crush on Giles? He's a sexy British librarian!)
We see yet another example of Giles' midlife crisis. He's casting around for something to do to occupy his time. In this episode, we see him singing, which is a wonderful comedic scene. Also, he does have a nice voice.
Spike, like Giles, is also still trying to find his place now that he can't bite people. He's taken to using his vampface to mug people. Which is more lame than evil, so kudos to him.
Most interesting, however, is the Spike/Anya bonding that goes on. I explained in the review for The I in Team for those two are in a similar situation. In this episode, they commiserate on that, both reminiscing for the good old days when they were able to use their respective powers.
I think it's especially interesting that Spike genuinely seems to like Anya. He gives her steamy looks the entire time, yet he never overtly comes on to her. Instead, he talks to her in a friendly fashion, much like he did with Joyce in Lover's Walk. He even goes to a party with her.
It seems that Spike, now that he can't be a proper demon, is attempting to find some group to be a part of. His final scene where he quickly speaks up that he'll help the Scoobies is played for comedy. But it's telling that he leaps so quickly to help. It's an instinctive urge to be a part of this group since he can't be with other vampires anymore. This is something that Adam will take advantage of very soon. Of course, once Spike starts talking, he quickly realizes all the logical reasons why he shouldn't help the Scoobies and walks off. But Spike's desire to belong will play a large role in his development through the series.
Riley, like Buffy, doesn't have much to do except roll around naked and grab condoms from a drawer. My dad, upon seeing this episode, asked if they'd run out of their wardrobe budget for the year given that Riley and Buffy were naked for most of the episode.
Anya is the other big player in this episode.
As mentioned in Xander's section, Anya takes a literal view on life. She needs things to be explained and labeled, otherwise she doesn't understand where things stand. In this episode, she's unsure of what her relationship to Xander is. She knows it's based on sex, but she's wanting more. What she doesn't realize is that it's already moved past sex. Xander knows this, but he makes the mistake of assuming that she knows it as well. She doesn't.
So in Anya's mind, the only thing holding their relationship together is sex, so she puts all her self-worth into it. When they don't have sex one night, she thinks that they're breaking up as she believes that's all that there is to it. This is seemingly resolved by the end of the episode, though I'm at a loss as to how beyond the "they worked together" cliche.
While it may seem that this particular conflict is something that Xander and Anya went over in Hush, they didn't seem to sit down and actually define their relationship in that episode (Which, yes, was the point of the episode). However, even though Xander has proven he cares for Anya, Anya, being newly human, needs more than that which was never granted to her earlier on.
Tara gets to play the good witch in this episode by being the medium for the repressed spirits. Her relationship with Willow also seems to be progressing (Which is appropriate given what's coming up in the next episode).
The plot is where this episode falls flat. It's just a very strange episode of BtVS. Plotwise, it's a lot like S2's I Only Have Eyes for You or S6's After Life with the haunting. However, in those two episode, the external plot is immediately connected to and forwards the emotional plot of the episode. This episode does not. The plot with the repressed spirits is similar only in theme (sex) and doesn't have any relevance to the main emotional conflict, which is the Xander/Anya argument. The fact that so much time is spent on this bizarre plot and not on the development of the characters is what makes this such an uneven and, ultimately, unsuccessful episode.
Plus, the repressed sex spirits fueled by Buffy and Riley going at it? Just weird. Even for BtVS.
Well, this old lady, I suppose, who tortured the kids.
This does forward the arc by showing us that Adam is uniting demons and vampires.
I attempted to go into this episode with an open mind given the amount of derision it gets from fans. I'll agree that it's not good. The plot structure leaves it a bit of a disjointed mess, and it's definitely an atypical BtVS episode, mainly because of the lack of Buffy (the character). There is some worthy character work for Xander, Anya, and Spike, however, even if the Xander/Anya conflict is not adequately resolved by the end.
Special performance award goes to the actress who played Julie for going Felicity on her hair.
I've gone back and forth on the score on this one. I'm giving it a 3 out of 10, but I'm reserving the right to change it in the future. :)
The Spike and Anya scene in the Bronze. It's a wonderful scene for both the characters and sets up the bond between them that will culminate in S6's Entropy.
Episode 4.17: Superstar | Episode 4.19: New Moon Rising
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