Ragnarok

Since we aren't going to have new episodes to discuss, we're going to have weekly episode discussion threads for old episodes. New threads will, of course, appear each Tuesday.

Phases

Willow is worried because Oz hasn't tried to make a move on her yet. Xander and Cordy are making big with the smoochies in her car, when they suffer a case of lupus interuptus. There's a werewolf in town, and tracking it is Gib Cain, an unreconstructed great white hunter. That night, Buffy and Giles track the wolf, but run into Cain instead. He tells them the werewolf is attracted to sexual tension, so Buffy goes to the Bronze to try and capture it. There, she sees the beast, but it escapes. It goes to the woods to sleep, and awakens the next morning as a bemused Oz. Larry complains of being bitten by a huge dog the previous week, which makes the gang think that he is the wolf, so Xander confronts him, but finds out instead that Larry is gay. Willow is still concerned that Oz doesn't like her, so she goes to his house that night. He wolfs out and chases her, but Buffy arrives with a tranquilizer gun, which Willow shoots him with. Willow and Oz (later, as a human) finally kiss.

RtS: Lost to Consequences in the first round.

Willow finally gets her man, and it turns out he's a werewolf. Geez, must be life on the Hellmouth. I wasn't crazy about the Great White Hunter, but he served his purpose. A really nice slice of W/O, topped by the very funny Xander/Larry scene and just enough Angelus to remind us that the season arc was still very much up and running. And who but Willow would bring a kiddie lunchbox to the morgue?

Please feel free to post your comments, screencaps, favorite scenes and quotes.

Next week: 2x16, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.

Scythe

I loved this episode I had to wait an extra year for it and the following episodes, because only half of season 2 was shown in England for some reason that year and I didn't realise, until I started getting into Buffy and I realised there were all these episodes I had somehow missed I went crazy, I bought becoming on video and I thought it was amazing and then I hate to wait for the rest to come on tv



I love it when she flips Larry over her shoulder he used to be such a jerk until xander found out his "secret" then I grew to love him poor Larry



I also thought it was really sweet when Xander comforts Buffy over her 'gift' from Angel



Willow: Great. I'll give Xander a call. What's his number? Oh, yeah, 1-
800-I'm-Dating-A-Skanky-Ho.

Buffy: Meow!

Willow: Really? Thanks. I've never gotten a 'meow' before.





I was happy for Willow, that she finally had a real boyfriend who really cared about her.

Oz: I spoke to Giles. He said I'll be okay. I just have to lock myself
up around the full moon. Only he used more words than that. And a globe.

I thought that was really funny, Giles kept using that globe



Giles: And, uh, while there's absolutely no scientific explanation for
lunar effect on the human psyche, uh, the phases of the moon, uh, do
seem to exert a great deal of psychological influence. And th-the full
moon is, is, seems to bring out our darkest qualities.

Xander: And yet, ironically, uh, led to the invention of the moon pie.

Giles: Oh... Yes, the moon pie. Y-you see, uh, the-the
werewolf, uh, is such a, a potent e-e-extreme representation of our
inborn animalistic traits that it e-emerges for three full consecutive
nights: the full moon and, uh, the two nights surrounding it.

Joke getting Giles was just too funny!

Jaime Bee

Hey Guys!

This isn't really one of my favorite episodes for some reason. I have no idea why?

It does have some funny moments. Willow and Oz are cute in there scenes. I didn't like the hunter either.

lesleykj

This is my favorite episode of the season, mainly because it focuses on Oz and I love him. My favorite part was when Willow goes, "Oh you're special boy, with...chains and stuff..."
Oz was the best boyfriend ever, too cute.

Scythe

The fact that Oz was so quiet... was kinda disturbing. You never knew what he was really thinking

AlexEvans

Need to see this again... Oz was great. He and Willow had a really great relationship.

saturn5

Phases

The Good
Wonderful opening scene, Oz's reaction to the news he's a werewolf, the burgeoning Oz and Willow/Xander and Cordy relationships, the mislead with Larry is hilarious and a nice subplot with Theresa as Angelus and co are not forgotten.

The Bad;
Very little, excellent ep

Best line;
Willow; "Three days a month I'm not much fun to be around either"
Is just beaten by;
Giles "Let's not jump to conclusions"
Buffy "I didn't jump, I took a tiny step and there conclusions were"

Questions and observations;
Willow and Cordy seem to be bonding despite Will's reference to CC as a 'skanky ho', their disparaging of men smacks mightily of subtext. That said Willow says she 'Wants smoochies' and seems less alarmed by Oz's possessing chains than intrigued. He doesn't wear them however unlike Buffy who finds herself helpless once more, caught in Cain's net. Cain's suspicion of Buffy and Giles in a May-to-December romance seems incredible but what else would the pair be doing in lover's lane at mignight? Buffy's comments on the male nature of the werewolf are positively misandrist (and later we'll see the female werewolf is deadlier than the male). Cordy refers to the things she can't tell her father about because he still thinks she's a good girl? It's pretty clear Xander doesn't have sex until The Zeppo so how far do they go?
The scene where Angelus offers to walk Theresa home is just chilling. I think what makes it so effective is that he seems so plausible, the devil with the Angel's face.
Much better werewolf than we'll see later, note they switched back to the more traditional image for Nina on Angel. Oz is shot for the second time and knocked out for the first whilst Xander kills his second vamp. It had to be pointed out to me at the time but now it seems hard to miss the 2 guys pushing Giles' car as it arrives at the Bronze.
So presumably Oz's cousin bit him whilst human? So a werewolf can infect someone even in human form? Willow better not let Oz give her any lovebites. And did Oz's cousin get bitten or does being a werewolf run in famillies, Teenwolf style? How come Oz wakes up the second night naked and wondering what happened but not the first? Probably the best ever example of Slayer strength, Buffy bending the barrel of Cain's rifle in her bare hands, totally impossible for any human to do.
I always thought the Owen who Buffy spots cheating on his girlfriend in Lovers Lane was the same Owen from Never Kill A Boy on a First Date but it's not (nice to see that despite her own heartache Buffy still likes romantic gossip). Nice reference to The Witch too with Oz examining the cheerleader trophy. Larry and Xander is a wonderful scene, one of my favourite of the entire series. Surely even the most fervent of Tara's kittens can't fail to be charmed by the Willow/Oz romance?
The series just hitting a series of straight sixes right past the boundary every time, 10/10