Killed by Death - Buffy Episode Review by MikeJer

KILLED BY DEATH (2x18)

A review by Mikelangelo "MikeJer" Marinaro


Writer(s):	Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali
Director:	Deran Serafian

Review
Minor Pros/Cons
Foreshadowing
Quotes

Score
Awards
Screencaps

Screencaps
Post a Comment

This is an interesting little episode. The cinematography really won me over here as the events are shot in a very creepy style. There's a lot of atmosphere, and as everyone knows by now, atmosphere ranks high on 'good' list. That still doesn't change the fact that nothing important happens and that it's very weak compared to the potent "Passion" (2x17). Nonetheless, like "Inca Mummy Girl" (2x04), I find this episode decent enough.

Like I mentioned before, I really love the camera work in this episode. It succeeds in displaying the hospital as an ugly and creepy place. Everything begins in the cemetary where Buffy passes out do to the flu. The Scoobies rush her into the hospital where chaos and uncertainty run wild. The gang is really scared that Buffy's not going to be okay. Giles and Joyce quickly make it to the hospital where Buffy is stabilized but still somewhat delusional. I've got to admit, it's scary seeing Buffy delirious like this and it reminds me of the frightening "Normal Again" (6x17). Also a nice little touch is how Cordelia "looks away" in anguish when they give Buffy a sedative shot.

Also worth noting is Angelus' creepy visit to the hospital. Xander stands up to him when Angelus says, "Buffy's White Knight. You still love her. It must just eat you up that I got there first." Xander replies with the perfect comeback, "You're gonna die. And I'm gonna be there." Both come true in "Becoming Pt. 2" (2x22), although Xander doesn't get to see Buffy actually kill him.

Later on the group is taking Buffy for a stroll in her wheelchair outside the hospital. During this moment, both Buffy and Spike are in wheelchairs. How funny is that? Look at where these two, who were fighting to the death back in "School Hard" (2x03), are now: crippled and helpless. Anyway, I love the reference to Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal in the same scene. Xander says, "Ooo, if he asks you to play chess, don't even do it. The guy's, like, a whiz."

There's a couple other positives aspects to mention. One is that I'm really happy the doctor isn't the bad guy. Things stay somewhat unpredictable in every episode of this show. Another thing I liked is the final scene where Willow, Xander, and Buffy are all snuggled up on top of Buffy's bed eating snacks and watching TV. Very homely and cute.

There's only a few things I didn't care for. Even though the episode's got a creepy tone, the pace is a bit too slow in some places. The one huge complaint I have, though, is Buffy's flashbacks of her cousin's death. As soon as we find out her cousin was killed by the same demon, the said cousin then turns into a plot contrivance just there to make us more sympathetic to Buffy. This connection was completely unnecessary. Also, the young girl version of Buffy looks nothing like Buffy. So while this isn't a particularly complex or standout episode, it works well as a slow, creepy, and decent little outing with the Scoobies.

+	Buffy getting the flu. It's good to know that she can get ill like the rest of us.
+	The Giles and Joyce conversation. What Joyce says is very touching.
+	The demon is pretty creepy.
+	Cordelia pointing out that Xander often looks at Buffy's ass. She then tells him that he should start looking at her ass instead.
+	Giles complaining about getting stuck with Cordelia as a research partner.
+	Buffy wanting to discuss the demon with Giles over the phone instead of Cordelia.
+	Willow's frog fear is put to clever use here.
+	The boy's drawing of Buffy killing the demon at the end.
-	How the kids initially just walk up to Buffy and tell her about what they saw. Why would they walk up to a random girl and say that?

XANDER:

Man, Buffy! My whole life just flashed before my eyes! I gotta get me a life!

BUFFY:	The vampires! I need to kill the vampires!
GILES:	(smiling reassuringly) Yes, uh, well, we'll, uh, we'll get those, uh, vampires later. (laughs lightly, looks at Joyce) I hear it's best t-to play along.

XANDER:	(presenting five balloons) Flowers for milady.
BUFFY:	I think they call those balloons.
XANDER:	Yeah, stick 'em in water, maybe they'll grow.
CORDELIA:	Nobody told me I was supposed to bring a gift. I was out of the loop on gifts.
GILES:	It's, it's tradition among, um... people.

CORDELIA:	But you do know that you saw death.
XANDER:	Ooo, if he asks you to play chess, don't even do it. The guy's, like, a whiz.
BUFFY:	Maybe it wasn't death. Maybe it was something else.
CORDELIA:	So this isn't about you being afraid of hospitals 'cause your friend died and you wanna conjure up a monster that you can fight so you can save everybody and not feel so helpless?
GILES:	Cordelia, have you actually ever heard of tact?

XANDER:	Oh, oh, oh, (holds up an empty bag) and another bag of cheesy chips.
JOYCE:	Uh, you ate the last one.
XANDER:	No, there's another bag hidden behind the raisins.
JOYCE:	I'm on it. (leaves)
XANDER:	(to Buffy) Your mom's tryin' to Bogart the cheesy chips. What's that all about?

65/100

Noticeably flawed. The main plot is likely poor and/or hokey, but some chunks of character development and relevance make it worth watching.

<< "Passion"

"I Only Have Eyes for You" >>

1.	buffyholic Jul 25 2007
	I don`t like this episode very much either. I like some small scenes, like the last scene with the three of them together at Buffy`s house. I always like Angelus`s visit to the hospital and Joyce talking to Giles about Jenny. But I didn`t like the mosnter of the week and that flashback to Buffy`s cousin. I too felt that it came out of nowhere. One last thing: it creeps me out to see Buffy like that, so helpless and also the music surrounding the hospital.But still, this eepisode is watchable and deserves for me a 65 or 70.

2.	Austin Aug 20 2007
	The Demon Reminds me of the Joker. I love the last scene with Joyce doing the typical mom-with-sick-girl routine, it's a breath of normality among the incredibly intense Angelus Saga.

3.	Austin Sep 20 2007
	I like how they showed Buffy pretending to be a super heroine at a young age. I think it's interesting that Buffy was heroine, kind of a little extra foreshadowing that she'd always had the desire to be a heroine in her, maybe that is something that is in every potential, the desire to help and save people. That's weird to think about, that Buffy was at one point a potential.

4.	buffyholic Sep 29 2007
	That was always something that intrigued me. Buffy pretending to be a superhero, like her subconcious was saying something about Buffy`s nature.

5.	Nix Oct 3 2007
	Um, I hate to burst your popular media bubble, but playing chess with Death is not necessarily a reference to _The Seventh Seal_. It's ancient folklore repeated in countless works of fiction on and off the screen.

6.	Nix Jan 11 2008
	... but in this case, er, it was a reference to _The Seventh Seal_. I should have watched the episode again before making an idiot of myself.

7.	Suzanne May 17 2008
	Ah, some high culture reference I'd missed. But what irked me most was the demon's name. The correct German would be "Kindertod" not "Kindestod". It refers to potential death of all children: der Kinder Tod (plural genitiv) instead of des Kindes Tod: (singular genitiv) the death of one child. Even if this is supposed to refer to any given child, the plural form is used in German. Again something missed by the English speaking Watcher's Council. Are they bragging about the modern language skills of their Watchers? I thought the same when Giles was unable to communicate with Cho Ahn about potential Slayers and Turok Han. Sure, she speaks Cantonese, but if he'd just written the thing down in Chinese characters, she would have understood him perfectly well, as written Chinese is understood by everyone in the country, or so I'm told. Oké, so the whedonverse writers don't speak every language on the planet... but they could try to check with someone before they use a language. They did that with the Chinese in Firefly.

8.	Adastra Aug 8 2008
	I admit the reference to The Seventh Seal was pretty awesome, but somehow there's no way I could ever imagine Xander watching an Ingmar Bergman movie!? How the hell did that happen? Did Willow drag him to watch one? I mean, Bergman movies are incredibly slow and you need a lot of patience to watch them. Since Xander has the attention span of a house fly, he'd probably have fallen asleep 5 minutes in. I also have to correct Suzanne; "Der Kindestod" is correct German, though an uncommon phrase. There's a real cause of death for children called "plötzlicher Kindstod" ((sudden) crib death), which is probably what inspired the writers for this demon. Kindstod is a bit of a slang or old-fashioned word for "Kindestod". While "der Kinder Tod" is also correct German, it wouldn't make sense in this relation, because if translated it means "the Children's Death" or "the Death of the Children" and sounds quaint. German is a very complicated language. BTW, I think that this is possibly the creepiest Buffy episode ever in the "normal" creepy way.

9.	Paula Nov 26 2008
	I'd have far fewer issues with this episode if the portrayal of people seriously sick with a flu, complete with that high fever and whatnot, would be a little more realistic. I'll admit that e.g. lots of coughing and a seriously husky voice would not have made a very attractive Slayer, but still. (Yeah, OK, Buffy may have special healing powers, but the kids don't appear all that sick and weak either.) Gotta love Xander standing up to Angel at the hospital, though. That's quite a chilling scene. Angel not killing people a whole lot more does feel a bit contrived from time to time in the course of the second half of this season, but I guess that vampires on their own do avoid drawing attention to themselves by doing things like killing in public and crowded places.

Name

(*** copy your comment in case of failure!!! ***)

Security Code