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Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"Last night was the most perverse, degrading experience of my life." - Buffy Summers
Episode 6.10, "Wrecked"
Written by Marti Noxon
Directed by David Solomon
Oh, wow. This episode was really something. What did I like about it? Let me count all the things about it that made it unforgettable.
The things that make Buffy the Vampire Slayer such a wonderful series is its unique mix of snappy dialog, great acting, balanced interaction of likable characters, original villains, irresistible comedy, and subtle allegories to real-world problems. This episode had it all:
The hilarity during, uh...
The great dialog where...
The subtly of, well, ...
OK, how about that scene where the whole gang did that ... uh...
God, I hated this episode.
For starters - I didn't laugh once. Outside of Anya's Martha Stewart crack, there wasn't a single moment of humor or joy in the entire hour. That isn't necessarily a fatal flaw - one of the best episodes ever was also the saddest. But even in the worst episodes, with nothing else to go on, you could always count on at least some comedy. Here, nothing.
Speaking of Anya - where was she? Or Xander, for that matter? I clocked it - they had exactly one scene, which lasted exactly 2 minutes and 34 seconds. Nicholas Brendon and Emma Caulfield are two of the best actors on the show, and they were reduced to outside observers. They didn't even get up from behind their table in the Magic Shop. Makes you wonder if Brendon and Caulfield bothered to put on their shoes for this one.
While the script ignores its best actors, it goes overboard with Dawn. I'll admit that I'm not a fan of the acting skills of Michelle Trachtenberg. In her defense, she doesn't get the best lines (especially in this episode), but she also doesn't do anything with them. It's usually not too bad, but this episode required a major contribution from her character, and she only half-delivered. Late in the hour, when her character was supposed to be both furious with a stoned Willow and terrified of the situation Willow created, she managed to pull off the required emotions. But scenes showcasing those kind of intense feelings aren't the hard ones. What's hard are the understated scenes, showing (for instance) the awkward interaction between characters coming home after they've been out all night doing something they're not proud of. Instead of seeing her character feeling awkward, we just saw awkward acting.
Actually, that's not fair. The performance of every major actor in that scene was just painful. The only one with any life was Amy, and that's only because she fell into that strange staccato delivery which, I'm guessing, is supposed to be a holdover from her life as a rat. Whatever its origin, it's fun to watch, except it's not consistent. One moment Amy is a candidate for speech therapy, the next she's a smooth-spoken. Then, after just two days of de-rattedness, she's a full-fledged magic junkie, complete with stealing and physical withdrawal symptoms.
Which brings up the worst part of all about this episode, magic as an addiction similar no - to, make that exactly like drug addiction. From the very first season, this show has used supernatural menace to stand in for the problems of everyday life: high-school cliques ("The Pack"), difficult relations with step-parents ("Ted"), fear of watching your friends leave you behind ("The Replacement"). But in those episodes, there was a story behind the metaphor. There was some creativity exercised in laying out the parallels between a supernatural threat and a real-world problem. There was subtlety, for crying out loud! This episode hit us over the head with its metaphor, then stood on our collective chest and shouted at us with a bullhorn to make sure we got the point.
But that's not the worst thing about it. Up until now, the there has been a clear storyline showing evidence that Willow is being seduced by the appeal of power. Not magic - power. The symptoms have not been some mystical rush, or a physical high that comes from using magic. No, the symptoms have been arrogance and dishonesty. She's been manipulating people, violating the mental integrity of loved ones, making important decisions about people's lives without permission, and, lately, and controlling perfect strangers to play with them like human puppets.
Magic was just the means by which she accomplished this - a neutral talent, to be harnessed for good or evil. But this episode turned magic into a obvious code word for illicit drugs, a practice with no redeeming value, which was at its core ultimately destructive. Forget the violation to five and a half years of continuity that this presents. To turn Willow's problem into a mere addiction is to over-simplify her behavior and cheapen the complexity of the story development so far.
Now, you've noticed that I've left out the whole issue of Buffy and Spike. Yes, I'm a big fan of Spike. But no, I'm not entirely sold on Buffy being one. The writers might well be painting themselves into a corner with this one, and Spike is still in danger of permanent, full-time wussification. But their story hasn't concluded yet, so I'm waiting to see what happens.
Was there anything to redeem this episode? Well, as unrealistic as it was for Willow to turn into an obnoxious and irresponsible stoner overnight, once she was there, the writers got her behavior right. (I've know some addicts; they are that selfish. I've been in a car with a drunk, and yes, they are that terrifying.) And in the second-to the last scene, where Willow breaks down and admits to Buffy her problem, Alyson Hannigan's performance almost made you forget the bad acting in the first half of the hour. Almost.
Episode rating: 2 out of 10. I've seen worse episodes of TV, but not from this show.
As Ultra Magnus would say, WEE!
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