This was a very good episode, but I'm rating it even higher because of how damned effective it was at pulling at my heart strings. There are genre shows, some enjoyed as a guilty pleasure, with Mary Sue or Gary Stu-ish protagonists, and sometimes they're just tolerable, but that's not at all the case here. I absolutely love Buffy and relate to her despite being far from a girl in high school myself, and that's something that Joss's shows have all seemed to triumph in-- making female leads/main casts that anyone can relate to and become emotionally invested in due to their depth and humanity.
The gang-- Angel included this time --are perfectly in character and work together seamlessly. It may be funny coming from someone watching Buffy later in life, but I'm usually not big on single-episode romance plots, but I actually teared up a little for Buffy this episode, on a second watch after forgetting I'd seen it before. I fully empathized with Buffy and was on the edge of my seat as she was trying to juggle everything, and wanted to see her happy with Owen. SMG gets to put on an array of emotions this episode, and it was at turns delightful and painful to go on the journey with her.
Review by LNeroBlockedParent2022-05-08T08:41:21Z
This was a very good episode, but I'm rating it even higher because of how damned effective it was at pulling at my heart strings. There are genre shows, some enjoyed as a guilty pleasure, with Mary Sue or Gary Stu-ish protagonists, and sometimes they're just tolerable, but that's not at all the case here. I absolutely love Buffy and relate to her despite being far from a girl in high school myself, and that's something that Joss's shows have all seemed to triumph in-- making female leads/main casts that anyone can relate to and become emotionally invested in due to their depth and humanity.
The gang-- Angel included this time --are perfectly in character and work together seamlessly. It may be funny coming from someone watching Buffy later in life, but I'm usually not big on single-episode romance plots, but I actually teared up a little for Buffy this episode, on a second watch after forgetting I'd seen it before. I fully empathized with Buffy and was on the edge of my seat as she was trying to juggle everything, and wanted to see her happy with Owen. SMG gets to put on an array of emotions this episode, and it was at turns delightful and painful to go on the journey with her.