Xander with Sid the Dummy - Puppet Show

Funny and creepy: Buffy’s Puppet Show’s no dead wood

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My Buffy re-watch brings me to The Puppet Show, with spoilers. Like many Season 1 episodes it is often criticised. Some Buffy fans would even go so far as to say skip it. But not me. I am a firm believer that watching every episode helps in appreciating the relationships and humour between the key characters.

Ok, so this episode has a corny talking dummy, but the character’s reactions to it make it well worth the watch. When I first saw this episode I particularly loved the awkward final dramatic scene played out by Buffy, Willow and Xander. This was a moment when I thought, ok, this TV show is really on to something.

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I Robot… you Jane – clunky and outdated or startlingly relevant for today?

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My Buffy the Vampire Slayer re-watch brings me crashing into a world of scary new technology in Season 1, Episode 7, I Robot… You Jane. It contains spoilers and a content warning for passing references to cyberbullying and grooming.

I have to confess that in 1997 I had little knowledge of the internet and was probably further behind than Giles. As Ms Calendar encouraged Giles to join us in the 20th Century with three whole years to spare, like Giles, I felt more comfortable “back in the middle ages”.

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Buffy Pub Quiz at Literary Festival – plus my own quick bar based Buffy quiz

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It’s always good to see folks celebrating Buffy the Vampire Slayer, especially by answering lots of quizzy questions and possibly drinking beer. The Stoke Newington Literary Festival 2017 is holding a Buffy Pub Quiz on 3rd June.

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Buffy re-watch: “Angel”, how did you react to Buffy and Angel’s first kiss?

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My re-watch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1, episode 7, Angel – with inevitable spoilers – Angel’s a what now?!

How did you react when you first saw this episode with Buffy and Angel’s first kiss? Had you realised that Angel was a vampire? Or did it come as a huge shock? Were you still shipping Buffy and Angel after the initial reveal?

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Buffy re-watch: The Pack, every school has it’s mean kids…

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Continuing my Buffy the Vampire Slayer re-watch, containing spoilers for Season 1, Episode 6, The Pack. The episode sees Buffy dealing with high school bullies and a manipulative adult while another trustworthy adult is lost from Buffy’s world …

“You start a new school, you get your desk, some blackboards and some mean kids” – Xander Harris.

The Pack introduces a group of four extremely mean kids. They are mean in a different way from Cordelia and her friends, whose prime objective is to be popular. Cordelia and her friends – later known as the Cordettes – see the less popular kids as a nuisance to be mostly ignored and occasionally derided. Kyle and his friends however, actively hone in on kids to bully, and their meanness has an edge of danger and violence. When they attempt to provoke Buffy on a class trip to the zoo and get no reaction they move onto Lance, a more vulnerable student.

Principle Flutie intervenes referring to the students as “you four”. Although Kyle has been named by Lance, the group are usually not referred to individually by name, they are referred to as a group, given collective nouns – you four, the winged monkeys and eventually the pack…

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