Don’t pretend that the scar doesn’t make me more attractive
“As You Were” is one deft piece of storytelling. Not an exceptionally good episode or even an exceptionally good story, but a clever one. Much like in Angel’s second season, the writers have been painting our protagonist into a progressively darker corner. It’s been entertaining to watch her fall but it’s also been getting harder to see how she’ll get back to the Buffy we love without some sort of narrative cheat. “Epiphany” was a huge success for Angel but not only has Buffy already slept with her unhealthy love interest, that trick’s been done. BtVS’s solution isn’t quite as brilliant, but it’s still a good one. By tying Buffy’s redemption to Riley’s the series is able to get away with the easy answer that people can and do get better. That’s not nearly as profound as Angel’s life lesson, but this episode’s still able to make it feel satisfying, and that’s impressive. Continue reading
Critical Viewing 