Buffy for Beginners 3.2: Dead Man’s Party
Star TrekStargate:AtlantisFireflyBy Sabrina Boyer
Okay all you teenage comet zombies, Buffy’s back and ready to….be shunned. And made to feel guilty. And be treated like a flight risk, again. All I’m sayin’ is that if the Scoobies plus Joyce knew what Buffy had to do to Angel, maybe they’d be singing a different tune. That’s what’s always bugged me about this episode; the Scoobies are whining about Buffy not being around, how they miss her, wondering what she’s doing, and then she comes back to face her demons and they are all “talk to the hand.” Whatevs. I think I’m just partial and I like the fact the ep is named after an Oingo Boingo song. Back to School anyone?
The episode begins with Buffy, now super blonde and super tan unpacking and immediately deciding to head out to find the gang. Meanwhile, Joyce is hanging a very angry mask from Nigeria. “It’s angry at the room mom, it wants the room to suffer.” Also, we see Joyce trying to cope with the whole slaying thing. We know Buffy’s back in Sunnydale because there are weird things lurking in the night….weird things like…Xander, who’s all ‘Nighthawk’ with the substitute slayage. The scoobies have stepped up their game in taking over for Buff while she’s been gone. Oh, and they looked a little shocked to see her. Here comes the blame game. And they take her to see Giles. “What if he’s mad?” “Mad? Just because you ran away and abandoned your post and your friends and your mom and made everyone worry about ya?” Xander quips. Okay, okay, good point. Giles was obviously worried, and now happy that she’s back. She just wants to get back to her life, slayage, kid stuff.
After an appointment with His Ugliness (aka Snyder) Buffy is still not allowed back in school. Joyce suggests private school and Buffy counters with homeschooling; “It’s not just for scary religious people anymore.” After being stood up by Willow, Buffy walks home and meets Pat, her mom’s new book club friend. Also, Joyce invites the Scoobies over for dinner and while getting the plates from the basement, Buffy finds a dead cat. They bury it for a fun mother/daughter activity, and Joyce says “goodbye stray cat who lost its way, we hope you find it.” Talking about Buffy or the cat? Either way, the mask Joyce hung in her room to make it all cheery glows red eyes and then the cat is raised from the dead, now a zombie cat. An angry zombie cat. Giles comes over to the Hellmouth petting zoo to collect dead cat to see if he can determine its exact origin.
As the gang plays with the dead cat, they try to figure out if this dinner thing is a gathering, a shindig, or a hootnaney. A gathering is brie, mellow song stylings, a shindig has dip and less mellow song stylings, and a hootnaney, full of hoot, just a little bit of naney. It’s obvious Buffy is nervous,and first there is Pat and then there is the band, Dingoes ate my Baby. (BTW, Best. Band. Name. Ever.) What the happening party, Buffy tries to talk to the Scoobies, but Will is watching Oz, Xander is making out with Cordy, and Giles is still in research mode. When Buffy tries to confront Will on the one on one sense, Will forfeits her chance to tell Buffy how she really feels and meanwhile, the dead are coming back to life. It’s a zombie apocalypse! Holla! A zombie apocalypse with a mask. Buffy overhears Joyce telling Pat that having her home is awkward, and worse than not having her home. I’m sorry, but if I heard that I’d be on the next bus outta there. That may be a childish response, but Buffy comes home and everyone is weird; I know she’s expecting things to be normal, but it’s also up to the gang to let her know what’s the what. And while all of this is happening, zombies are headed for the Summer’s household and the mask.
In case you hadn’t guessed the metaphor for this episode, it’s that you can’t bury stuff because it’ll just come back to the surface. Everyone is wearing a mask in the episode, a metaphorical one, and no one is talking about what’s really bothering them. Lesson learned? Buried emotions = zombies. That’s serious. While zombies take over the town a la Thriller, Joyce and Buffy have it out in front of all of her non-friends. I know that Buffy taking off probably wasn’t the best idea, and it was selfish move. But let’s be real here; she’s seventeen. She got kicked out of school, her mom told her not to come back, and she was wanted for murder. Oh yeah, and she had to kill her honey after he got his soul back. Is that the worse thing Buffy could’ve done? I think it was pretty mild. But the issues begin to get worked out as the house is attacked by zombies, and I’m screaming at the screen (I’m always screaming at the screen in zombie movies) to destroy the brain! Hello! Go for the head! And the Summer house gets trashed. Again. Oh, and before Pat could get even more annoying, she dies and is a zombie. Joyce joins the Scooby squad, and Buffy defeats Pat, aka mask demon; she destroys the eyes with a shovel and says “Hey Pat, made ya look.” Nothing like imminent death to work out personal emotional issues.
Also, Giles proves once again why he’s the Ripper; he threatens Snyder to let Buffy back into school. He’s uber sexy. Damn. No worries; the dead are dead, staying dead. I’d say all is well in Sunnydale.
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About Sabrina Boyer: As a kid my dad would sneak scary movies past my mom and let me indulge in his horror movie fetish. I grew up watching V, Alien Nation, The Thing, The Fog (all originals) and then, in 1992 when Buffy the movie came out, I became obsessed with vampires, girl power, and all things gothic. I once stayed home from school, faked sick, and watched BTVS: the movie 6 times in a row. I know the beginning cheerleading dance by heart (still). Currently, I’m obsessing over Laurell K. Hamilton novels, and dream about Anita Blake being my best friend.
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