After the minor misfire that was 'Doomed',
...the writers rebound hard with...
...'A New Man',
...an insanely delightful comic romp of an episode
- continuing a 'Season 4' that I’ve been shocked in writing these to discover,
... is a lot better than I gave it credit for.
After finally consummating their relationship with a demon kill in 'Doomed',
...Riley and Buffy have let the make out floodgates open.
Willow surprises her with a birthday party,
...at which Giles is feeling profoundly out of place.
Buffy introduces her new beau to Giles the father figure
...and we can see how annoyed he is at Buffy being so taken with Walsh.
And in the following scene,
...Riley’s mother figure meets the real Buffy once and for all.
“We thought you were a myth.”
"Well,"
“...you were myth-taken.”
That's a great Espenson line
...and Buffy’s embarrassed,
.. ."did I just say that" look...
...is so human and relatable
...that I kind of want to hug her after.
Here you can really notice Walsh’s institutional hubris.
She has the might of an advanced military around her
...and Buffy has Mr. Pointy.
Of course,
...the point here is...
...she is profoundly oversimplifying Buffy.
A stake is a tool.
BUFFY is the weapon.
This season is all about...
...science....
...versus magic
...or masculine energy...
...versus feminine energy
...which has been a theme since the opening shot of the first episode,
...when Darla and her victim crawled through the window of the Sunnydale science lab.
But remember,
...the writers aren’t poo-pooing the idea of vaccinating kids or rockets to Mars.
All of these fanciful elements are symbolic aspects of the human experience.
More on that later on.
Walsh says Riley has eliminated 17 hostiles
...and asks Buffy for her “number.”
She does her best to save face for Riley,
...but we can see his hot jealousy in the following scene when he marvels over her experiences.
Of course,
...this is not an uncommon conversation for ANY couple on Earth to have,
...the metaphor here being past lovers rather than slain monsters.
And when you consider Riley’s jealousy in this scene,
...it’s clear he not only feels insecure as a fighter compared to Buffy
...but also insecure as a lover as well.
I’m sure he’ll learn to keep that impulse in check though.
Giles comes looking for Buffy in Walsh’s office
...and the two of them spar in a manner not that unlike...
...Gwendolyn Post and Giles did in 'Revelations',
...with Maggie leaving Giles completely speechless.
“What I suspect I'm seeing is a reaction to the absence of a male role model.”
Here again is the reinforcement of science vs. magic and masculine vs.feminine.
Her juxtaposition of the genders in that statement
...clearly designates herself and science as the masculine
...and Giles and magic as feminine.
And later on, during a sans-Buffy expedition of the Scoobies,
Willow and Xander stab at Giles’ last bit of dignity
...when they reveal that everyone but he knew about Riley and Walsh being in the Initiative.
As Giles mopes,
...from the crypt,
...a monologuing Ethan Rayne steps from the shadows.
“In fact, Ripper, old mate, I'd say something rather interesting was about to happ--"
[interrupting Giles]
“Did someone?”
“Oh, bugger."
"I’d thought you’d gone.”
Ethan trades information and a drink for not getting beaten
...and warns Giles about a number circulating the demon underworld
- 314.
I love that they never really attempt to hide Anthony Stewart Head’s ear piercing here.
On casual glance, Giles could be a hot librarian or a member of The Who.
Meanwhile, Riley and Buffy are sparring
...and Buffy is going half speed.
Maybe because she doesn’t want Riley to feel insecure again.
Or maybe she doesn't want to collapse his ribcage.
Back at the bar,
...booze has worn through the barriers of two old friends
...and Giles is letting his insecurity over Buffy’s new mother figure adorably show.
"Twenty years I've been fighting demons."
"Maggie Walsh and her..."
"...nancy ninja boys come in"
"...and six months later..."
“...the demons are pissing themselves with fear."
"They never even notice me."
"Who's Maggie Walsh?"
"Oh, she's awful."
Tara and Willow are hanging out together practicing spells.
The scene is...
...somehow sweet and intimate,
...underscored by a Christophe Beck piece that feels...
[Lesbian Subtext Bell]
The two of them perform the rose lifting spell, but something goes wrong.
The next day,
...Willow,
...Buffy’s metaphorical spirit,
...for some reason doesn’t tell Buffy about where she was the night before
...but describes the faulty spell.
As Buffy didn’t tell Giles about Riley.
Giles wakes up at home with the worst hangover in the history of all binges.
And this begins one of my favorite comedic romps in the series,
...in which Giles tries to get help
...not realizing Ethan’s spell prevents him from speaking English.
There are too many wonderful moments to bother listing,
...but,
...with the help of Spike,
...Giles tracks down Ethan
...and is eventually saved by Buffy
...who sees through his demon-y exterior.
As ever,
...this is an episode that appears to be about one of the Scoobies
...but is also used to comment on Buffy herself.
For example,
...the title not only refers to Giles' predicament with his demon hangover
...but also to...
...Buffy’s new, now confirmed boyfriend, Riley.
Ethan represents for Giles
...what going back to school in 'Doomed' represented for Buffy and company in the previous episode.
Rather than throttling Ethan,
...certainly the Loki of the show,
...and warding him off
...he agrees to a drink and a nostalgic talk.
The result of which are dire but comic consequences.
We’ve spoken previously
...how Ethan represents the theme of chaos on the show.
The implication here then is...
...that to go with the flow
...or to lose ourselves from our commitments or responsibilities in life
...is to abandon our cohesive identity
...and submit to the chaos of the universe.
There are many characters at a tipping point in the show
...and Giles and Xander are the most self-evidently so.
In a post-high school librarian era,
Giles is lacking a vision or direction for himself,
...watching an independent Buffy begin to grow away from him
...and not having a job to inform his days.
And it is our vision that is supposed to be guiding our choices and actions,
...and those choices and actions then informing our identity.
By the end of the episode,
...he is brought back from the brink by a Buffy who still sees the real him,
...but he still needs to grapple with an important question.
What do we now, Giles?
Funny enough,
...out of all the Scoobies
...the one that seems to have the most purpose in life right now,
...is Spike.
"I say we go out there..."
"...and kick a little demon ass!"
"What, can't go without your Buffy?"
"Is that it?"
"Too chicken?"
It’s easy to forget just how good 'Season 4' is.
We’re on the verge of a turn that tends to be the focal point of people rating this season poorly,
...but in writing these essays I’ve been astonished
...at how much better 'Season 4' is than I remember it.
Sometimes you get episodes like 'Hush' that transcend the show itself,
...but 'Season 4' is front loaded with episodes that are as good
...as a straight up episode of 'Buffy' gets.
And 'A New Man'...
...is a SPECTACULAR episode.
"I refuse to become a monster because I look like a monster."
"I have a soul."
"I have a conscience."
"I am a human being."
"Oh, stop the car!"
[Giles growls]
[Walsh wails] [Giles growls]