BtVS – I Robot … You Jane / The Puppet Show

S1.08 – I Robot … You Jane
Written by Ashley Gable & Thomas A. Swyden
Directed by Stephen Posey

First and Last Frames

First and Last Frames of I Robot ... You Jane

Yay! A Willow episode! Also, Jenny Calendar has arrived! The writing team worked on this, and a future Season 1 episode, and this is the only episode by this director. It is the first time we see inside Willow’s house, and Xander mentions his Uncle Rory, fleshing out the world a little bit. Charisma Carpenter appears in the opening credits, but Cordelia doesn’t appear.

And for those that are paying attention, in the first 15 minutes of the episode, Buffy is wearing 3 different T-shirts with a Cat, a Rabbit & a Dragon on them. She then follows Dave to the CRD lab.

Favourite Lines

Willow: Xander, you wanna stay and help me?
Xander: Are you kidding?
Willow: Yes, it was a joke I made up.

Jenny: Oh, I know our ways are strange to you, but soon you will join us in the 20th century… with 3 whole years to spare.

Jenny: You here again? You kids really dig the library, don’t ya?
Buffy: We’re literary.
Xander: To read makes our speaking English good.

Favourite Shot

From inside the box, we see the book being sealed away into darkness as the lid is placed on top of it. And then the blackness is broken as we see Buffy lift the lid off the box 580 years later. “Oh great. A book.”

Ranking at Time of Watching

Pretty close to The Pack, but the introduction of Robia La Morte gives it the edge. 4th out of 7.

Recap Song from Buffering the Vampire Slayer by Jenny Owen Youngs & Kristin Russo


S1.09 – The Puppet Show
Written by Dean Batali & Rob Des Hotel
Directed by Ellen S. Pressman

First and Last Frames
First and Last Frames of The Puppet Show

Principle Snyder has arrived! 2 of the Season 1 story editors return with a solid script, and Ellen Pressman directs the first of 2 episodes. This episode is memorable forĀ  Armin Shimerman’s introduction, and the 3rd act twist, of setting up the puppet as the villain, and then turning that on its head. It also has an end credit scene, which is the only time it happens in the shows history.

Favourite Lines

Snyder: My predecessor, Mr. Flutie, may have gone in for all that touchy-feely relating nonsense… but he was eaten. You’re in my world now, and Sunnydale has touched and felt… for the last time.

Willow: I think dummies are cute. You don’t?
Buffy: Uuuhhh. They give me the wig, ever since I was little.
Willow: What happened?
Buffy: I saw a dummy, it gave me the wig. There really wasn’t a story there.

Snyder: Kids today need discipline. It’s an unpopular word these days: discipline. I know Principal Flutie would have said, “Kids need understanding. Kids are human beings.” That’s the kind of woolly-headed liberal thinking that leads to being eaten.

Giles: A demon is a creature of evil, pure and very simple. A person driven to kill is, is, um… It’s more complex.
Willow: The creep factor is also heightened. It could be anyone. It could be me. [Everyone looks at her.] It’s not, though.

Snyder: There are things I will not tolerate: students loitering on campus after school, horrible murders with hearts being removed, and also smoking.

Favourite Shot

Buffy and the puppet exchange barbs when they both think the other is the bad guy.

Ranking at Time of Watching

So good. Not quite better than the Pilot, so it moves into a solid 3rd.

Recap Song from Buffering the Vampire Slayer by Jenny Owen Youngs & Kristin Russo

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