Shippy Moment of the Day: "Let Me Worry About the Neediness" (Buffy)

Angel Visits Buffy at Her Mother's Grave
"Forever" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5

Recap: Buffy's mom has just died and been buried. She's inconsolable.

Note: This got really pic-spam-y, but I couldn't help it. I love them so much!

The Moment:

Angst Face! She's all alone.

And then...

He's always there for her.

Angel: I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner.

...Time Passes...

They're just so natural with each other. No inhibitions.

Buffy: The funeral was...It was brutal. But what I'm really worried about is tomorrow.
Angel: What's tomorrow?
Buffy: That's what I don't know. Up 'til now I've had a road map--things to do, every minute, that had to do with Mom.
Angel: And tomorrow the stuff of everyday living resumes.
Buffy: Which everybody expects me to know how to do because I'm so "strong."

Usually, I'm not a fan of Buffy!Angst. But in this moment, in these
episodes following Joyce's death, you just can't help but feel for Buffy.
She's 20 years old and has a teenage sister to take care of, not to mention
her day job of saving the world.

Angel: Not right away. I'm sure everybody understands that you need time.
Buffy: Time's not the issue. I can stick wood in vampires, but Mom was the strong one in real life. She always knew how to make things better, just what to say.
Angel: You'll find your way. I mean, not all at once but...

Buffy: I don't know. I keep thinking about it, Angel. When I found her. If I'd gotten there ten minutes earlier--
Angel: You said they told you it wouldn't have made a difference.

And then she shares with him what she can't share with anyone else.

Buffy: No. Probably wouldn't have made a difference. The exact thing they said was probably. I haven't told anyone that--
Angel: That doesn't make it your fault. You couldn't have done anything different.
Buffy: I didn't even start CPR until they told me to. I fell apart. That's how good I am at being a grown up.
Angel: Buffy--
Buffy: I would be okay if it was just me that I had to worry about. But Dawn...

Angel always knows what to say.

Angel: It's okay. It's okay. You don't feel like it now, but you are strong, Buffy. You're going to figure it out. And you have people to help you. You don't have to do this alone.
Buffy: It's going to be light soon.
Angel: I can stay in town as long as you want me.
Buffy: How's forever? Is forever good for you?

She makes an offer and, before she can take it off the table, he accepts it.

Buffy: That's a bad idea. I'm seriously needy right now.
Angel: Let me worry about the neediness. I can handle it.

And then...

And THEN...

Kiss!

Scratch that. Smoking hot making out!

And like every Bangel moment, it gets too hot too fast and they
have to pull back. It's crazy. They know how strong their feelings
are and they try to resist, but whenever they reunite, there is
almost always a kiss.

Buffy: Told you. You'd better go.
Angel: I'm sorry.

Buffy: Don't be. I'm so grateful you came, Angel. I didn't think I was going to make it through the night.
Angel: We have a few more minutes until I have to go.
Buffy: Good. Good.

And for the first time in the past two episodes, Buffy looks content.
Or, at least, she finally lets it all go, even for a moment.

LOVE THEM.

Thoughts:

I love this scene because it perfectly encapsulates the Buffy/Angel relationship. There's the support system, where Angel comes to Buffy in her time of need as soon as he can. There's the trust, where Buffy can tell Angel things she can't tell anyone else (I'm still pissed that we never got to see their scene together after she came back from the dead the second time). There's the slight delusion, where they think they're stronger than their feelings. There's the passion. And, finally, there's the love, where they don't even have to talk or be passionate. They can just be together and, in doing so, leave the outside world.

I love that this scene exists. I think it would have been easy to have Buffy never refer to Angel again once he left for his spin-off. But, instead, we get a great sense of continuity where the writers honor the characters and what they would do, logistics be damned.

Also, this is further proof that we don't need MOMENTS! We just need two characters who care deeply about each other, left to their own devices. And beautiful, heart-wrenching shippy-ness happens.

A Thought on Graduation

My dad asked me today why I don't graduate after the end of junior year if I have enough credits. I explained to him the whole "three majors with a minor" thing and he still didn't seem to get it. Whatever. My parents said I could go anywhere and promised to pay for undergraduate. So I'm staying for the whole four years, goshdarnit.

But, despite my inner family financial angst, the talk made me think about graduation.

Sometimes I think about how I'm going to graduate in a purple robe and I die a little inside. Sometimes I remember graduating in a red flimsy gown of cheapness and I cringe. Here's a little dedication to the graduation attire of our favorite teen shows.

All graduations are high school unless noted.

Also, I've cataloged where their tassels are in respect to their status as graduates, since we all know there's no consensus on that little detail.

Red

Felicity (High School)

To pull a Topanga or not pull a Topanga...that it the question.
Graduated: Left

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer

I remember Buffy's diploma being a little more scorched
in canon. Love Willow's shoes.
Graduated: Left

Roswell

I didn't watch this show. I probably should at some point
since it's right up my alley (romantic angst + aliens). But I
remembered that their robes were red and they were!
Graduated: Right

Smallville

Chloe: Where's Lana?
Clark: Probably hiding in Lex's mansion after killing her boyfriend's mom.
Chloe: At least she won't outshine me in the graduation photos.
Not Graduated: Left

Blue

Dawson's Creek

Katie! Before she popped out her dress-like-me Barbie.
Not Graduated: Left

Felicity (College)

Oh, Felicity. With the rarely-seen college graduation.

Graduated: Left (Good in-show continuity!)

One Tree Hill

And then Haley has her baby! NALEY 4-EVA.
Not Graduated/Graduated: Right (They didn't move their tassels.)

Black

Gilmore Girls (High School)

Chilton's colors were blue and white, but they're classy
and college-prep, so they have cool black robes.
Not Graduated: Left

Gilmore Girls (College)
Wow. I guess despite where I left off with Rory as a petty
criminal living in her grandparents' boathouse,
she did manage to graduate.
Graduated: Left (BAD in-show continuity!)

Green

Veronica Mars

Oh, my sassy little detective. Our only grad in green.
Graduated: Left

Random Crap

The O.C.

If I were forced to wear a lei to my graduation...there would
be blood. Notable also for the different colors for each gender.
Not Graduated: Right

Really just makes you think if they bought some of these robes in bulk and handed them off to multiple shows, especially the red. Although it's interesting to see how their graduation bling differs, with medals and stoles, etc. At my school, you could have an NHS tassel or a Maine Scholar stole and that was it. How rocking would it be to have a fricking medal?

Also, this study further proves how ridiculous the whole tassel thing is and how no one can get it right.

According to the Academic Costume Code and Ceremony Guide, there is no regulation on how to wear your tassel. However, they also state that typically, the tassel is worn to the right until the degree is received; then the tassel is switched to the left. Some say it started for ceremonial reasons; another, more practical reason for it being on the right is because the tassel won't be in front of the graduate's face during photos (as graduates usually cross the stage from house right to house left). That means every one of our graduates is a-okay, even the self-contradicting Gilmore Girls, since it can be assumed that Chilton and Yale have different tassel procedures (but why Chilton would purposefully differ from the Ivies is a far more pertinent question).

So...what color do you want to wear?

I Went to a Stupid CW Prom and All I Got Was This Lousy Dress

After re-watching Smallville's prom episode, "Spirit," I've decided to do a little CW prom dress cataloging. Because, let's face it. For a network that is supposed to be up with the trends and what the young people wear, most of their shows have awful formal wear choices.

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer

What a fabulous photo. If only Buffy's dress could have been half as fabulous.

Ug. I think if there had been no build to the dress ("Angel's gonna lose it!"), I wouldn't dislike it as much. The color is nice and shimmer-y, if not eye-catching. But then you start looking at it. It gathers in weird places and it doesn't look like it fits right around the bust, as if it's about to fall off of her at any second and expose her. And then it has that awful brooch that's been pinned lopsided.

And that weird train. To top it all off, the material ends up looking a little cheap. I read somewhere that it was a Vera Wang dress; I guess it just proves that even the almighty Vera can mess up.

Willow has a more traditional prom dress and she looks lovely. Plus cool hair. And spiffy-looking Oz.

I like Anya's dress because it has a very vintage feel with the lace and the patterned red. You really believe that a vengeance demon who lived through the Bolshevik Revolution would see that in a store and come to terms with it as an appropriate compromise of the fashion of all her times.

But the best dress?

That, dear Buffy, is how you wear a show-stopping dress. One that is in-character and gorgeous with a total wow-factor.

Eat it up, Wesley.

One Tree HillOh. My. God. Ta-cky. Haley, the pregnant valedictorian in go-go boots, Peyton in a nice-color, but unremarkable dress post-kidnapping, and Brooke in what Nina Garcia calls the ultimate tacky sin: shiny, tiny, and short. I can get behind the short prom dress thing. Kind of. But if you're gonna wear it with hooker boots or sequins, I'm just going to have to stamp "FUGLY" on it.

And let's not even start on the men. I mean, I can get behind Skill's leather or Mouth's powder blue retro look ensemble because they both fit the characters. But Lucas has that poorly-cut, poorly-accented white jacket and is that a velvet coat on Nathan? What's wrong with a plain black tux with an accent matching your date's dress? Nothing, I say! It's a classic for a reason.

Why was the tackiness of this cast's entire ensemble not kept in check? *le sigh*

Edit: Apparently there was a reason for the tackiness. Since I didn't watch the fourth season of OTH, I didn't know the prom episode followed a trip to a vintage store for their ensembles. I still say that there are ways to do vintage and mean business. See Mouth. But even if it's 70's, they're dressed more for clubbing than prom-ing, as evidenced by That 70's Show.

Floor-length! Muted Colors! Floral! Prom's an effing big deal no matter what decade you're in and you don't go dressed like a tramp or an Emma Peel Wanna-Be. To conclude: WB/CW shows should showcase awesome dresses, even if they are from a 70's vintage shop, that every teen girl will drool over. That, and the customary awww! romantic dancing! parts.

Also, I will never excuse Nathan or Lucas' jackets. Or their hair. Eek.

Smallville
What's great about this prom episode is that we get the spirit of a Super-Prom Supporter and thus we get, when she inhabits Lois' body, the most cliched prom dress ever:

It's like the nightmare prom dress that mated with your Miss Junior Tacky formal wear selection. And for that reason, it's fabulous. Good job, Smallville costumers for finding the worst prom dress ever. It's hot pink and it's shiny and I love it.

Chloe has a halter dress. It's very nice, modern with the criss-crossed banding, although a bit strange when the banding leaves gaps. It highlights what fans of Smallville call her "Chloevage."

Yay, prom queen.

But, my friends, Smallville also features the motherload of sincere prom awesomeness in the form of Miss Lana Lang.

Lana! For as much as I hate her character, she does look stunning 99% of the time. And here she is just gorgeous. Just beautiful. This is a dress and an entrance that will make your commitment-phobe, super-powered love interest "lose it." Admittedly, it's a fairly simple sweetheart-cut A-line dress. But what really sells it is that it's expertly styled and fits her perfectly. WIN. And best prom look I've seen on TV or in real life.

(Side Note: Kristin Kreuk is the halfie that I want to be. Or, you know, Michaela Conlin from Bones. Whatever.)

Do You Remember When...

...the WB had awesome promos for each new season? With cross-show cast interactions? Not like the CW's now where it's basically cast cut-outs swirling around green backgrounds with trendy music?

Case in point:



Featuring David Boreanaz-Shannon Doherty eye-sex! Jamie Foxx, pre-Oscar! And, the cast of the next-to-be-featured canceled-but-not-forgotten show, Popular!

Why I Love "The Prom"

Mr. Giles. I'd like your opinion. While the last thing I want to do is model bad behavior in front of impressionable youth, I wonder if asking Miss Chase to dance would--

For God's sake, man, she's eighteen. And you have the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone. Just have at it, would you, and stop fluttering about.