Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 20 Review: Go Fish
Go Fish
Original Airdate: May 5, 1998
Writer: Elin Hampton
Director: David Semel
As mentioned in the previous review, only one episode between “Passion” and the “Becoming” two-parter was worth keeping. That one was; this one isn’t. For the penultimate episode before the big finale, this episode reeks of being out of place, as if they had it originally earlier in the season (or another season one leftover), but had to move it here. Because of that, little capitalization is made on the major character moments from the last episode, and the episode suffers. Other shows like “The X-Files” did better intertwining self-contained episodes with ones that cover the larger story arc.
Despite the emotional showdown between Buffy and Angel under ghostly possession, it doesn’t amount to anything in this one. Angelus’ only scene doesn’t address it, but rather is a plot device to clue in the gang to the doping on the team. Any vampire could’ve filled in. One could imagine Spike doing the same pre-“Innocence” without altering much.
Xander has the closest to something workable, in being on the swim team causes him to face his insecurity about his manhood. But it doesn’t translate to more than eye candy for the ladies and gay men. This is another episode to show that Nicholas Brendan is way better looking than Xander ever should be, but is because it’s a TV show.
The monster of the week is another classic horror staple; the Creature from the Black Lagoon, only the twist is that they are not mutated fish, but humans. While the make up is solid, these episodes tend to be below average since they use paint-by-numbers plotting with little character development. The metaphor is obvious: steroid abuse, still a major topic nine years later, and special treatment student athletes get. However, what does this have to do with the characters? It would’ve fit better to have Buffy try something in hopes of improving her own strength going into the big fight with Angelus and having it backfire, fitting her self-destructive arc.
How the fish monster takes over its human host doesn’t make sense. As seen, the parasite will hollow out its host until only its skin remains, at which point it’ll shed. However, how can this happen when the victims act completely normal until less than a minute before the skin falls off? Shouldn’t there be a transition where they become sick as their human selves waste away, since right before their skin falls off the fish is already fully grown? Granted, the make up is well-done, but that’s not enough.
One problem with an earlier episode, “Bad Eggs” (seems these obvious puns related to the monster of the week tend to lead to bad episodes), was that there was no explanation for the teacher’s motive. Unfortunately the reasoning here doesn’t work. The coach’s motivation, something about fish-DNA and secret government testing, would work better on “The X-Files”. The writer, who only wrote this episode, seems not to have a good enough grip on what type of show this is and thought any fantasy would do.
Despite that, there are some good moments in the episode. Because of the school emphasis, we have plenty of great nasty Snyder moments, from him wanting to determine how Cameron’s broken nose is all Buffy’s fault to convincing Willow to change Gage’s grade without explicitly saying so.
Ultimately, this episode’s only noteworthy in that it is Wentworth Miller’s first TV acting gig, but considering his breakout in “Prison Break” was still over 7 years away, that doesn’t mean much. It may have worked better at another point in the season, but after Spike got out of the wheelchair, it’s best to skip this one and go straight to “Becoming”, which luckily redeems the sins of this episode.
Overall Score: 5/10
Despite the emotional showdown between Buffy and Angel under ghostly possession, it doesn’t amount to anything in this one. Angelus’ only scene doesn’t address it, but rather is a plot device to clue in the gang to the doping on the team. Any vampire could’ve filled in. One could imagine Spike doing the same pre-“Innocence” without altering much.
Xander has the closest to something workable, in being on the swim team causes him to face his insecurity about his manhood. But it doesn’t translate to more than eye candy for the ladies and gay men. This is another episode to show that Nicholas Brendan is way better looking than Xander ever should be, but is because it’s a TV show.
The monster of the week is another classic horror staple; the Creature from the Black Lagoon, only the twist is that they are not mutated fish, but humans. While the make up is solid, these episodes tend to be below average since they use paint-by-numbers plotting with little character development. The metaphor is obvious: steroid abuse, still a major topic nine years later, and special treatment student athletes get. However, what does this have to do with the characters? It would’ve fit better to have Buffy try something in hopes of improving her own strength going into the big fight with Angelus and having it backfire, fitting her self-destructive arc.
How the fish monster takes over its human host doesn’t make sense. As seen, the parasite will hollow out its host until only its skin remains, at which point it’ll shed. However, how can this happen when the victims act completely normal until less than a minute before the skin falls off? Shouldn’t there be a transition where they become sick as their human selves waste away, since right before their skin falls off the fish is already fully grown? Granted, the make up is well-done, but that’s not enough.
One problem with an earlier episode, “Bad Eggs” (seems these obvious puns related to the monster of the week tend to lead to bad episodes), was that there was no explanation for the teacher’s motive. Unfortunately the reasoning here doesn’t work. The coach’s motivation, something about fish-DNA and secret government testing, would work better on “The X-Files”. The writer, who only wrote this episode, seems not to have a good enough grip on what type of show this is and thought any fantasy would do.
Despite that, there are some good moments in the episode. Because of the school emphasis, we have plenty of great nasty Snyder moments, from him wanting to determine how Cameron’s broken nose is all Buffy’s fault to convincing Willow to change Gage’s grade without explicitly saying so.
Ultimately, this episode’s only noteworthy in that it is Wentworth Miller’s first TV acting gig, but considering his breakout in “Prison Break” was still over 7 years away, that doesn’t mean much. It may have worked better at another point in the season, but after Spike got out of the wheelchair, it’s best to skip this one and go straight to “Becoming”, which luckily redeems the sins of this episode.
Overall Score: 5/10
posted by Matt @ 5:37 PM
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