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PROPHECY GIRL (1x12)

A review by Mikelangelo "MikeJer" Marinaro

Writer(s):	Joss Whedon
Director:	Joss Whedon

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Review
Minor Pros/Cons
Foreshadowing
Quotes

Score
Awards
Screencaps

Comments
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Review

This is a fantastic season finale. My only significant complaint, which I'll get out of the way right now, is that the scene in the library at the end of the episode (when that three-headed monster comes out and everyone is screaming) is done really poorly. I'm not sure if budget constraints should take all the blame for that scene, but it almost spoils the episode. Anyway, the budget does keep increasing as the seasons move along and the demons never reach this season's level of corniness again.

Now on to the tons of things I did like. Whedon wrote this episode and you can definitely tell due to the good amount of really funny lines. Unfortunately Whedon hadn't quite mastered the perfect mix of humor, drama, and action yet, but he comes pretty close. A few of the funny moments and action scenes come across as a bit hokey. The dramatic portions of the episode, however, are a resounding success. Buffy's entire "Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't wanna die" scene is brilliant and heart-breaking. I can't say enough how perfect and moving the dialog exchange from everyone in the room is.

The cartoon scene with all the dead boys was suitably creepy and even creepier when we see Willow's reaction to the mess. Xander listening to country music ("the music of pain") during much of the first half of the episode is a nice comedic contrast to the frightening stuff happening to everyone else. Also, Cordelia continuing to soften-up a bit is handled very well and is believable.

Buffy's confrontation with The Master is pretty well done. I feel that the music could have been a whole lot better here, but that's been a problem all season long. My only complaint with her drowning is that what exactly happened is not explained at all. I think I'm supposed to assume that she got bit just long enough to make her go unconscious so when The Master drops her into the water she drowns and then can later be resuscitated. It's a bit hard to buy because The Master only bites her for a second or two, hardly enough time to drain enough blood to make her go unconscious. Also, when awakened by Xander she claims that she feels "stronger" now. How and why? That's also unfortunately left unexplained.

Despite the little problems I have and that one big problem with the library chaos, I still really love this episode. From the very beginning to the very end it was superb. This is a great launching pad for S2 and is my second favorite episode of this season, barely behind Angel (1x07). This once again proves this show is going to work best when it focuses on the characters and the dialog rather than the demons and special effects. Though both of the latter improve greatly in future seasons, the core of this show will always be the characters.

Minor Pros/Cons (+/-)

+	I love the way the opening shot in the graveyard was done. It is easily the coolest scene in the show up to this point. I also love the way the vampire's grin turns to fright with the exact opposite happening to Buffy when she pulls out her stake.
+	It's good to know The Master uses all his spare time playing "give my corny speech a score" with The Anointed one.
+	Xander finally asks Buffy out!
+	Buffy rejects Xander (which is no surprise if you remember that line in The Witch [1x03]).
+	Cordelia lies about what she thinks of Willow's clothing to be kinder, lol.
+	Buffy's white dress is beautiful on her. Buffy turns from beautiful to cool when she puts the leather jacket on top of it and then from cool to hot when she's armed with the crossbow too. : D
+	Xander's "You were checking out my neck! I saw that!" with Angel. lolz.
+	Everyone, including The Master, compliments Buffy on her dress.

Foreshadowing

The first hint of Willow's possible lesbianism begins with this line from Xander to Buffy: "Well, Willow's not looking to date you. Or if she is, she's playing it pretty close to the chest."

Quotes

XANDER:

Y'know, Buffy, Spring Fling just isn't any dance. It's a time for students to choose, um... a mate and then we can... observe their... mating rituals and tag them before they migrate. Just kill me!

WILLOW:

I'm not ashamed. It's the computer age. Nerds are in. They're still in, right?

XANDER:

On a scale of one to ten? It sucked.

BUFFY:

When he wakes up tell him... I don't know. Think of something cool, tell him I said it.

BUFFY:	I may be dead, but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you.
MASTER:	You were destined to die! It was written!
BUFFY:	What can I say? I flunked the written.
MASTER:	Did you really think you could best me here when you couldn't below?
BUFFY:	You have fruit punch mouth.
MASTER:	What?

Score

90 /100

A-

Everything that an 'A' possesses, but with either a few more mistakes or slightly less power. Generally represents great episodes that are a tiny bit rough around the edges.

Awards

Most Important in S1
Most Shocking in S1

Screencaps

<< Out of Mind, Out of Sight

Season 1 Review >>

Comments (16)

1.	Amy Aug 3 2006
	I've always thought that the "What do you think? 5.1?" line from the Master was actually about rating the earthquake that had just occurred. But I could be wrong.

2.	Grounded Aug 8 2006
	Yeah he was talking abuot the earthquake.

3.	AaronJer Sep 14 2006
	I've always said that. MikeJams never listens. He is not an I/O machine, just O. I'll stop talking now.

4.	MrB Feb 26 2007
	It's definitely a reference to the earthquake. If you have lived in California for a while, it's a pop reference because everyone does it.

5.	mikejer Feb 26 2007
	Yeah yeah... my S1 reviews suck anyway (which kinda fits, 'cause S1 sucks almost as much my review of it). All of them will be completely rewritten once I'm done with S7 though. :)

6.	MrB Apr 11 2007
	Xander's "Music of Pain" line is important because it is one of the best examples of how the show treats its' pop references. Most other shows may have used the line as a cheap shot, but they would not have followed it up with the "I fall to pieces" scene - which was pitch-perfect. That shows respect and intelligence for the audience and the reference. Another example of how the show got it right - even at the beginning.

7.	Nix May 28 2007
	The `bite time' of Buffyverse vampires is a notable inconsistency across the entire series. Frequently (e.g. in Becoming Pt. 1) vampires are shown to be able to kill people through blood loss or bring them near to death in about one second of sucking (surely not long enough for normal blood flow to bring enough blood there, even allowing for dramatic license). But at other times (e.g. in Bargaining Pt. 2) lengthy periods of all-out sucking fail to bring death. I'm assuming that the effect of a vampire bite is Whatever The Writer Damn Well Wants, and need have no relation to bite time at all.

8.	Austin Sep 7 2007
	It annoys me to no end about how inaccurately CPR is portrayed in the movies today. They act like it is a magical switch that turns someones life back on, after only a few seconds of administering it. While Buffy may have many qualities that set it apart from the rest of TV, accurate portrayal of administering CPR is not one of them. A couple of points: - CPR is not supposed to revive people, it is simply a stop-gap measure to buy time and minimize brain damage while EMTs are on the way with equiptment that is much more effective at reviving victims - The proper ratio of chest compressions to breaths is 30:2, for some reason, TV seems to focus on the breathing rather than the compressions (ok, there is the "kissing" factor) when in reality the compressions are the most important factor and the breaths can even be skipped without significant impact because the chest is moving up and down which draws in a little air. - If you are lucky enough to revive a person via CPR, they will not wake up and immediately be ready to save the world. Ok Buffy has advanced healing powers but even these do not work that quickly. - A 911 operator would never tell someone to stop administering CPR and just wait for the EMTs after only a few seconds. Admitedly, Buffy did tell her the body was cold, indicating that it was probably far too late, however you should never stop until a doctor pronounces the victim dead. - On the plus side, they did mention that Buffy cracked a rib, which is to be expected if you administer CPR for any significant length of time, I myself did not know that this would happen until two years after I became a Lifeguard and I was in a refresher CPR course, I am glad that I never had to administer it before that because I probably would have stopped going when that happened. Anyways, thats my rant on CPR...just remeber never give up!

9.	buffyholic Oct 6 2007
	Although the monster shot is poorly executed, I don´t seem to care. I´m so wrapped in the emotions, with the characters that I don´t even mind the rest. My favourite scenes are the "I Quit" speech, so beautiful. And when Xander goes to Angel`s place. Talk about tension! Great review once again, mike. I can´t wait to start a new season.

10.	Andrew Dec 29 2007
	This episode annoys me intensely. Not because it's badly scripted, shot, or acted (it scores very well on all of those points, and is very watchable), but because it cheats on the whole prophecy things. First off, we have this prophecy that says Buffy is going to die. That's it. It doesn't say she won't defeat the Master while she's doing it, but she is going to die. To firm up matters further, we have Giles' (and he's never wrong about this sort of thing anywhere else) assurance that this particular prophecy is infallible. It WILL happen. And she doesn't. Really, she doesn't. Xander (who doesn't now and never will have any magical or other-worldly abilities) brings her round with CPR (the accuracy of which doesn't bother me greatly, I'm afraid- but that rant made interesting reading anyway, so cheers). Thus, she was never dead. Close to death, perhaps, but not, quite emphatically not, dead. And no attempt is made to explain this. You cannot, you just cannot, introduce a prophecy and simply have it not come true with no word of explanation. That's not playing the game. The ideal way for this episode to work, of course, would have been to have the prophecy amniguously-worded, so that it could have been interpreted differently initially to the way in which things actually turned out. Failing that, having Buffy actually ressurected by some suitably magical means, would, if convincingly supported, have worked OK. One other thing. Why do all the vampires attacking the library just disappear when the Master is killed?

11.	Nix Jan 12 2008
	Andrew, consider that 'death' in ancient myths, prophecies, and so on need not be brain-death. In most human cultures that don't have modern medicine, 'heart stopped' meant 'death': but with modern medicine a lot of these 'dead' people can be kept alive or brought back. (Doing it with just CPR is a stretch, but maybe the prophecy interpreted 'not breathing' as 'death', in which case getting the water out of her airway would suffice.)

12.	Andrew Jan 20 2008
	I see what you're saying, but I still regard it as a cheat. Telling the viewers that Buffy is going to die conjures up a certain idea in their minds, and part of that imagine is permeancy. People who die are dead. Period. Having the whole thing then NOT be permanent is cheating. And while your explanation is plausible (I should point out that even brain-dead is not "dead"- people have recovered from states of zero brain activity. The only sure confirmation of death is bodily decomposure.), it isn't proffered by the show. If Giles had convincingly explained this at the end of the episode (or even in When She Was Bad) I might have had some sympathy.

13.	Nix Jan 20 2008
	People who die are dead, period? Major characters? On episodic TV? The reason why _Passion_ is so damn shocking is because it subverts the typical oh-let's-bring-her-back-to-life of virtually every other series. (_The Gift_ does what _Prophecy Girl_ does, only much, much better. You've got a hell of a treat coming up in season 5.)

14.	Anne Jan 22 2008
	This is why I think Buffy felt stronger after Xander revived her: When she first confronted The Master, she knew that someone had prophecied or foreseen or whatever that she was going to die, so she felt that the outcome of that encounter had already been predetermined, and while she put on a tough face, she truly didn't think she could change it. After she drowned (or almost drowned, however you want to interpret it), and the prophecy no longer applied, she felt as if her destiny was in her own hands, not predetermined or foreseen, and that empowered her, gave her confidence and strength. So I think it was mostly a psychological thing.

15.	Bill Feb 9 2008
	This episode was excellent, right up until the point where Buffy dies. The haphazard explanation, or actual lack of one, given for her death is the start of the bad. The scene with them walking and the theme song playing is so cheesy that I cringe every time it comes on, especially when Buffy utters the "Look, a bad guy" line. A great episode that is knocked down quite a few pegs by the very bad ending. Also, for me it is important to note that this is the last ep where I consider Buffy to be hot, at all. After this she went the idiotic Hollywood route and lost a ton of weight and became a stick figure. Oh, how I loved the days when SMG/Buffy had some meat on her bones and the rack to go with that meat. Much better than the stick that occupied the next six seasons.

16.	Matt Jul 28 2008
	You have to consider the fact that this is a fantasy world and that magic/prophecies/etc might have different definitions of what it is to die. Maybe it means when a soul leaves the body and for all the viewing audience knows, that might happen when a person flat-lines like Buffy probably did in this episode. For all intents and purposes, Buffy died just like people who die on the operating table for just a few seconds have died.

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