The Body by NoVaGrAsS

BUFFYVERSE

The Body

POSTED BY: NOVAGRASS
UPDATED: Monday, June 10, 2002 12:20
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VIEWED: 4023
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Thursday, June 6, 2002 9:32 AM

Being my favorite episode of Buffy, and seeing that it was on FX last night, I thought I'd comment.

This episode may be, by far, the best episode of television ever produced. This episode is the *only* piece of entertainment, be it movie or tv or book, etc, I have ever seen that captures the feeling of death in a family so realisticly. It is a truly amazing episode in this regard... the directing is stark and elegantly simple, but still passionate and rugged, fitting the story of death so perfectly... the writing is *brilliant*, and even if I weren't a Joss Whedon fan would consider this one of the finest pieces of work ever produced. The editing/post-production work may be the highlight in envoking the atmosphere of death (outside of the writing and directing), in that in the entire hour, not one piece of BGM is used, and the almost stream-of-consciousness feeling of the editing fits the initial unreality of experiencing the sudden death of someone you are so close to.

The acting was *amazing* as well, in particular, Sarah Michelle Gellar's performance. In the beginning of the episode, her performance is one of the best I've seen on television.

The small details of the show are brilliantly executed as well. From the subtle depictions of bodies throughout the episode to the fisrt on-screen kiss between Willow and Tara to Anya's revelation on the mortality of humanity... everything is perfectly done.

I am offended that the Emmy organization did not recognize this in their award show last year... and Joss should be as well. The episode is so passionatly crafted and brilliantly executed... so much so that it certainly transcends the medium for which it was designed. This lack of an Emmy nod proves that no matter how decent a show is, it will not be recognized for what it's worth simply because it is not a popular hit. I have the same feelings for many independent films, but that's a whole different rant

.

So... that about sums that up

How does everyone else feel about this ep?

--Dylan Palmer, aka NoVaGrAsS--

"Blood just kept pouring out of them, you'd slip in it half the time, find out bloodbath is not just a figure of speech."
-Zoe; Firefly, "Serenity" Shooting Script.

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Thursday, June 6, 2002 9:38 AM

VOIDPRIME

Yes, the Body is the best episode of Buffy. No way is Joss going to have an episode that has much emotional impact as The Body. There are other great Joss episodes like Hush and Once More With feeling. Have a better one.

Be Seeing You,
David Blackwell

http://enterline2.tripod.com/enterline

http://enterline2.tripod.com/andromeda

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Thursday, June 6, 2002 10:17 AM

NOVAGRASS

That's the part that bugs me...

Hush was nominated for an Emmy for best writing, and while it was an amazing episode, it was far from the quality of The Body.

Joss' Buffy episodes are *by far* the best, though there have been some amazing episodes by the other writers...

--Dylan Palmer, aka NoVaGrAsS--

"Blood just kept pouring out of them, you'd slip in it half the time, find out bloodbath is not just a figure of speech."
-Zoe; Firefly, "Serenity" Shooting Script.

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Sunday, June 9, 2002 5:54 AM

PANDORA

Now, I can't claim to be all that familiar with the way that these sorts of things work- I am neither a member of the Academy nor a nominee. However, it seems to me that both the Oscars and the Emmys (and possibly other awards, I'm not sure) are as much about politics, if not moreso, as they are about recognizing achievements in the television/film/whatever arts and sciences.

Something important to recognize about that is people have never taken sci fi (or really fantasy for that matter) as a genre. (This probably stems from sci fi's rise in popularity through pulp comics and the like.) It seems to me that it would make sense that "Hush" would be nominated because it was an achievement within the realms of sci fi- the episode was eerie and frightening in a very different way than we've seen before. The acting that sprang from that was superb, it's true, however it was the writing that was recognized.

The Body, though a superb episode (and I agree with Nova's estimation that it is an example of the best episodic television has to offer), might not have been taken as seriously as say, an episode of the Sopranos or the West Wing, because it's in the sci fi genre.

Unfair? Absolutely. True? Probably. I don't think it's so much about what's popular as bias against genre.

Just some thoughts.

Pandora

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Sunday, June 9, 2002 5:57 PM

ZICSOFT

All I can say is that this episode was shockingly, almost unbearably real. I've never seen the pain of loss portrayed so unflinchingly.

My only question is this: how come the only show with the guts to do something like this is a damned fantasy?

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Sunday, June 9, 2002 6:15 PM

MOJOECA

A crime that it wasn't nominated for *anything*. Give it best key grip, or something...

The Academy will nominate that wretched ER year in and year out, but when it comes to original, daring fare, the Academy runs.

Give him something for the Musical! Best original song, at least.

--- Joe

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Sunday, June 9, 2002 7:04 PM

PANDORA

Quote:
Originally posted by Zicsoft:
All I can say is that this episode was shockingly, almost unbearably real. I've never seen the pain of loss portrayed so unflinchingly.

My only question is this: how come the only show with the guts to do something like this is a damned fantasy?

Well, the simplest answer to that is that fantasy doesn't thrive on human moments such as those, and therefore isn't constantly trying to exploit human emotion to get ratings. Human emotion happens naturally, because the shows are about the events that happen to the characters, not just the angst of the characters.

That being the case, when you bring something raw and real and human and utterly relatable to the table in a fantasy, it hits eight times as hard, because a)it's a fantasy, you're supposed to be safe from that kind of real life pain (kind of an odd metaphor for how many of us spend most of our lives) and b)in this particular fantasy, the writer(s) is/are so effing talented that he/they blow(s) most writers in 'regular drama' away.

The next time we'll see something that good is when one of the Sopranos dies (Tony, Carmela, Meadow, or Anthony, Jr.).

But again,

JMO.

Pandora

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Monday, June 10, 2002 6:27 AM

HJERMSTED

Quote:
Originally posted by Zicsoft:
All I can say is that this episode was shockingly, almost unbearably real. I've never seen the pain of loss portrayed so unflinchingly.

My only question is this: how come the only show with the guts to do something like this is a damned fantasy?

ALL TV is a fantasy.
Even the news.

That said, having gone through a very similar cancer death with my mother several years ago, I found The Body to be a fiction based on very strong truisms. This was a very powerful drama, the kind of stuff the Emmy folks usually eat up. The Emmys truly dropped the ball by not (at least) nominating BTVS's finest hour.

mattro

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Monday, June 10, 2002 11:20 AM

BOBKNAPTOR

Quote:
Originally posted by Zicsoft:
All I can say is that this episode was shockingly, almost unbearably real. I've never seen the pain of loss portrayed so unflinchingly.

My only question is this: how come the only show with the guts to do something like this is a damned fantasy?

All I can say is that I watched this episode for the first time the other day on FX, and found myself weeping and sobbing, not just at a sad TV show or even a gut-wrenching movie, but as if it had been my own mother that had passed unexpectedly. I was heartbroken by the simplest aspects of this episode: Willow not being able to make the smallest decision about what to wear, Anya's revelation that Joyce would never again have fruit punch or eggs...

I don't know that I've ever been so devestated by anything I've watched in a TV show or movie.

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Monday, June 10, 2002 12:20 PM

NIGHTFLY

The body was a one of the best episodes of BTVS, but not the greatest. It is affecting because it touches that core in all of us when death becomes personal. The paradox like in so many episodes of BTVS is that here is group that deals with death rather casually almost everyday and they are never affected by it more than nano second.

The best performance of this episode was that of Anya - who as demon is trying to figure out how a human deals with death and in the end portrays the gamut of confusion and emotions that humans experience.

Being a pretty philosphical person I just love show for all it's complexness and simpleness ..it's ying and yang....

"Some are guilty. But all are responsible" Unknown?

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