3.11 - Gingerbread

Joyce finds two children dead and leads the town on a witch hunt.

***

This little piece of trash really frustrated me. I almost didn't make it through. For the first time since watching this series again, I had to get up and take a break because it pissed me off so much. I don't blame the actors, I blame the writer. Jane Espenson, who I believe was the co-executive producer at this time, commits some real crimes to these characters.

First off, none of the characters act like they should or would. Joyce should know better, after all she's seen and all she's done. And when Buffy asks her why she's listening to talking dead kids, she doesn't answer. I can only assume she was under their spell, which is sort of hinted at, but not to my satisfaction.

And then there's Willow's mother, who I don't think we've seen on the show before, but suddenly we're supposed to care that she's being mean to Willow? I'm not that gullible and I'm not that accepting.

The last thing that happened in the story that made me want to choke the writer was an exchange that Buffy has with Angel after her mom tells her she's not making a difference. Buffy says something to the effect of "is this town really any better off than it was before I came here?" I suppose this is supposed to be a serious question that makes us think, but considering two episodes ago we actually saw what the town would be like if she'd never come, there's no drama there for me. I spent 40 of the 45 minutes feeling like every character in this episode was not acting like themselves and waiting for it to be over.

Plus, is Buffy really going to let all this stuff go on? Is she really not going to be able to break away from that pole she's tied to at the end? She's the Slayer!

This is not even mentioning the goth wannabe witch boy with his black eye liner and lipstick. I would have beat him up too, even if I wasn't under the spell of some Hansel and Gretel demon. Act like a man!

I think this was coming out at a time when religious groups actually were blaming Buffy for some crime, and they may have even had a point (I consider both the current Wiccan craze among college students AND the late 90s popularization of Goth to be a direct side effect of this show)
but, as Cordelia would say..."heavy handed much?" Seriously, beat me over the head with an analogy why don't you.

I think the only thing good that came out of this was Amy being turned into a rat.

I think this episode is atrocious. Really rough to sit through. Lazy, dull, and utterly frustrating.


Rating: 3/10