Some Assembly Required: Discussion

[CowboyGuy]

"Into every generation there is a chosen one, she alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness...she is the slayer."

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy returned from summer vacation with a major attitude and recurring nightmares involving the Master - even as the Anointed One and his followers plotted revenge.

It's Buffy Day, and today's episode is the second episode of Season Two!

"Some Assembly Required"

:CLICK HERE TO STREAM EPISODE:

**Using Hulu is great, as it allows you to make the video a pop-up...so you can still view the forum if you want to while watching!**

Buffy lives, on SlayAlive! Enjoy Buffy in all her Season Two era glory. Watch. Discuss, here.

[Saturn 5]

Some assembly required;

The Good;
We have our first sympatheitic monster/villains and the show is all the better for it. Love the grave-digging sequence, the fiery rescue, the kids telling Giles how to date Jenny and the date itself, especially Giles' opinion of American football. The twist that the villains are doing it for Daryl rather than themselves. And if you're a guy or girl-who-likes-girls Cordy in her cheerleader outfit. Giles dealing with Cordy's pain.

The Bad;
Angel wears a hideous tan jacket which makes him look like a used car salesman. Was all his black leather being dry cleaned or something? We thankfully never see it again. Jenny uses the word 'disses' which I normally negatively associate with people who wear their trousers around their knees and regularly stab each other.

Best line;
Buffy; Sorry, I'm an old fashioned girl, men dig up graves and women have the babies

Questions and observations;
Of course this resembles Frankenstein but also Wes Craven's horror film Deadly Friend starring the original Buffy Kristy Swanson
Chris and Eric's plan is just creepy in the extreme although a lot more understandable when you meet Daryl, they're doing it for him rather than just creating their own yucky sex toy. Once again Cordy is knocked out and tied up. Jenny again and more and more part of the group.
We have the first example here of the Hellmouth genius, that the supernatural energy of the Hellmouth can make certain people smarter, Chris Epps, Willow, Ted's creator, Warren so despite being in high school they can do things that have eluded scientists for centuries. Despite Willow's complaint in Doomed it actually seems to be Cordy who always seems to be finding the bodies. We see Cordy beginning to come around to Xander's better qualities.
I rather like to think that Chris goes home, pulls back the curtains, switches the TV off and takes his mother to Daryl's grave to say goodbye. As for Eric he has a picture in the Sunnydale High Class of 1999 yearbook where therapy seems to have done him a lot of good. A shame we don't see either of them again but there is only so much room in the show
Good ep; 8/10

[Just Willow]

To be honest, i'm really not a fan of this episode. Yeah, it's got it's moments, particularly every Giles/Jenny scene, and when Giles and Xander are digging graves while Buffy and Willow watch. The ending was touching, with Daryl refusing to leave his half-finished girlfriend while she's burning in flames, but all in all, i think the whole buildup is a little slow. Chris and Eric never really caught my interest. It's got some great bits, but i just never really loved this episode.

3.5/5

[gumgnome]

I remember approaching this episode with mrkittyfantastico the last time it came up in a marathon and both of us kind of groaning a bit. But when we watched it we were both pleasantly surprised. The first 25 minutes in particular are dialogue heaven - there are so many funny lines crammed in. Giles asking the chair out on a date while Buffy and Xander walk in on him has me in stitches every time. Also:

Giles: Grave robbing? That's new. Interesting.
Buffy: I *know* you meant to say gross and disturbing.
Giles: Yes, yes, yes of course. Uh, terrible thing. Must, must put a stop to it. Damn it.

Cordelia: Hi. Sorry to interrupt your little undead playgroup, but I need to ask Willow if she'll help me with my science fair project.
Willow: It's a fruit.

Cordelia: Darn, I have cheerleader practice tonight. Boy, I wish I knew we were gonna be digging up dead people sooner. I would've canceled.

Willow: By the way, are we hoping to find a body, or no body?
Xander: Call me an optimist, but I'm hoping to find a fortune in gold doubloons.

Cordelia: It was horrible. Angel saved me from an arm. God, there were so many parts, they were everywhere. Why are these terrible things always happening to me?
Xander: Karma!

There are many more, but you get the idea. The main plot of Chris and Eric trying to raise the girl for Daryl is a little tame, I think, but it actually takes up hardly any screen time anyway - most of the ep is devoted to the Scoobies making wise cracks with Cordy at the centre of it. Thumbs up from me. Plus as numerous people have mentioned we get Giles and Jenny on a date, Angel and Buffy start to warm up and Cordy becomes more a member of the gang. So i liked it!

[Saturn 5]

We'll discuss it when we get to the ep but I believe that Cordy only officially becomes a Scooby in the next ep, School Hard

[iamthewalrus]

i really don't like the story of this episode with Chris and Eric, but there are a lot of funny moments

even so, whenever this episode comes up in a rewatch i get a little annoyed

[ligeia]

I don't like the story of this episode at all, it's disgusting. I mean, we see many things on Buffy, but this episode goes very far. This is the first bad episode for me.

[Saturn 5]

Ligea is that a pentagram Willow is wearing in your avatar or is it supposed to be the Star of David?

[Rebecca]

Is it supposed to be a star of david (which has 6 sides)? I don't think she really identifies with her Jewish faith anymore

[Midnight Butterfly]

Its a resonably okay episode. Im not going to say I didnt like it as I like all Buffy episodes but it was one of my least favourites.
They guy (I think he is called Daryl) reminds me of Adam a little lol ;D)
I feel so sorry for the guys mom but she has to move on. I hate how she doesnt care about her other son, its terrible.
Should have know that they would go after Cordy lol. Wouldnt be as funny if they didn't.
I wrote a longer review for the next episode. When is it going to be up. It should have been up yesterday I think?

[Secret Scoobie]

I agree with Gumgnome! I LOVE alot of the dialogue - Especially those lines, I love you for the quotes

Overall I'm in agreeance with pretty much all of you, the story was a bit lame. Well, I mean it had it's moments - in theory it's kind of 'cool' but it just didn't work for me. And Daryl was seriously gross! Haha, makes me queasy when I see him cos I think "OMG a dead guy" and I imagine he smells really bad.

I love the Ginny love though! It's so cute to watch and Jenny is like Giles polar opposite in thought/language/behaviour.

[urnofosiris]

I never really liked the episode. I enjoy most of the witty lines in it, but not the episode itself.
I usually skip over it when I'm watching the series over again.

[Randi Giles]

I'm happy someone else notice that random tan jacket Angel had on in this episode. Ugh.

[Saturn 5]

In fairness it's not the worst fashion we ever see on Buffy, I think Williow's horrible yellow tights win that award

[Randi Giles]

Jul 26, 2009 4:12:20 GMT -5 Saturn 5 said:

In fairness it's not the worst fashion we ever see on Buffy, I think Williow's horrible yellow tights win that award

This is true.

[buffyfan21]

I am currently doing a rewatch of S2 and watched this ep last night. I think this ep is really underrated and under-appreciated for it's many funny moments. Yes, the overall story is one of tragic loss (also, quite gross and disturbing), but there are moments of pure comedy gold as well. Not bad for an early S2 ep.

Love the opener, Buffy sitting alone in the graveyard playing yo-yo as she waits for another vamp to rise. Angel sneaks up and startles her from her reverie (was she thinking of him, perhaps?) "Are you crazy?! You don't just sneak up on people in a graveyard! You stomp or...yodel (Angel strolling through the graveyard yodeling is a very funny image, btw).
Love the fight that ensues between the two of them. Angel's jealousy of Xander is cute/funny. He tells Buffy that she is "just a kid." She later says, "I didn't come here to fight...oh right I did."

I also noticed that when Buffy stakes the vamp with the shovel, the shovel disappears as well, lol. Buffy runs after Angel (proving that she is not so easy to get away from ), and falls into an open grave (possible foreshadowing perhaps? Buffy eventually having to dig herself from her own grave?).

Love the scene where the gang walks in on Giles in the library, practicing his pickup lines on a char. Quite possibly my fave scene of the whole ep. The kids giving Giles dating advice is priceless. His nervousness at attempting to ask Ms. Calender out is adorable. Love that when he finally does succeed in getting a date with her (although, not exactly as he had planned), he is so happy that there is a bounce in his step, as he does a slight skip when turning to leave. Anyone else notice this? .).

Also, can someone please explain this line? Giles says, "Ms. Calender" to which she replies, "Jenny's fine, Ms. Calendar's my father." I have just never understood this line.

Giles and Jenny together are a twosome of cuteness. I love that at the football game, Xander and Willow are so clueless that these two want some alone time.

Another moment of cluelessness for Xander would definitely be the ending scene where he and Willow are wondering aloud why they never get dates. In the midst of this, Cordy comes up, expressing her heartfelt gratitude for Xander saving her life. She is telling him that she would like to repay him and he just interrupts her in the middle of her sincerity (a rare moment of genuineness from Cordy, and foreshadowing to the fact that these two will end up an item as the season progresses. Xander being the valiant, knight-in-shinning armor, saving Cordy from a burning building is obviously the beginning of her seeing him in a new light).

Also, the scene where Eric says, "check out those legs" to which Will replies, "no thank you" is yet another thing that lends credence to the whole, "Willow actually bi theory" (but who needs labels anyway?)

And love the ending scene where Buffy and Angel have made peace and are walking hand and hand in the graveyard.

Overall, a solid ep with lots of comedic gems thrown in.

[gumgnome]

Agreed! I will now no longer consider this episode to be a under-average one and will anticipate it's fine dialogue.

As to your question about "Ms. Calendar's my father". The only meaning of the line that makes any sense to me is that Giles sounds like Jenny's father when he calls her Ms. Calendar. But that would mean that her father called her Ms. Calendar, which is...strange. But then, isn't Jenny Calendar a made up name anyway? I thought her father was more likely to address her by saying:
"You are Jana, of the Kalderash people! A gypsy!"

[Saturn 5]

Maybe Will doesn't have to check out CC's legs, probably seen the whole deal in the school showers