Phases

Again, I found more than I expected. I am tired and don't have a structure for this, so I'm going to ramble my ideas. But this is another of the episodes that I want to rewatch and write about in more detail after I've seen a bit past it, just to see what develops with patterns and ideas. This episode is a big exploration of what manhood means. Whedon deals with a variety of related issues, which ties together seemingly disparate subplots.

• Xander slips up and shows that he remembers things from his time as a hyena. On the surface, it's a slightly comic moment, and even Buffy calling him on it is underplayed--BUT the reason he lies about remembering it is because he seriously tried to rape Buffy. In this episode, one aspect of manhood is the whole civilization vs primal urges; Xander is too tame to deal with primal except as a joke (eg his line to Cordy in Innocence: "I'm 17, Looking at linoluem makes me think of sex.")
• The werewolf hunter-- Kane (symbolism, anyone? killing his brother, the wolf..)--treats Buffy like a harmless little girl, demeaning her possible value and assuming that Giles' interest in her is sexual. However, Kane is a "man's man," an Indiana Jones-esque figure that could just as easily be a romantic hero. Whedon casts him as bad--power and aggression leads to the dark side.
• Larry (I think that's his name) is a sexist rude obnoxious jock. He's Xander's first guess for the werewolf. When confronted, Larry finally admits that he's gay--and he thinks X is too. Uncloseted Larry is kinder, helpful--when men tell the truth, when they engage in talking, they are better people, seems to be the message there.
  
• Oz is perhaps the least physically threatening, least sexualized male on the show. He won't even kiss Willow, and she insists she's done everything to let him know she'd like to. But even small, harmless Oz has an animal side--a time when the wolf has to howl. Note that at the end, they do finally kiss, but because of Willow running up to him, not him initiating. (That's a girl power move for Willow, though, who was worried that making any move would make her seem like a "slut." So there's a flip side to that scene, too)
• Buffy and Willow talk about how much harder it is to understand boys since they outgrew the "hit them on the shoulder to show they like you" stage. Right after that, Xander walks up to Buffy and unobtrusively, hits her on the shoulder. Later, Larry hits Xander on the shoulder as he thanks X for their conversation. Subtle, but good.
• When Cordy and X are parking, she gets irritated because he can't stop talking about Willow and Buffy. He can't figure out why Willow likes Oz, and Cordy hassles him about not being happy with her. He doesn't want Willow, but doesn't seem to want anyone else to have her. He can't have Buffy, but can't walk away either. (part of that is setting up the next episode, I think)
• In gym, they are learning self-defense. Unspoken reason: men pose a danger to women. Furthermore, when Buffy stands up to Larry (still closeted bully version), Willow grabs her and says "You're supposed to be meek and helpless like the rest of us girls." (not exact) Willow doesn't say it ironically--is it meant that way?
• Angel acts helpful, "sensitive new man" style, then kills the girl. There's a point there, but I have a hard time it's as obvious as "don't trust men when they're nice."
  

There's more about manhood, I think, but I need to rewatch to start getting it straight.