Living Conditions

This episode reminds me of some of the early David Greenwalt monster episodes. Just fun, self-contained plot, little character development...just a story, essentially, establishing the new place and dealing with stabilizing the characters in their new environment.

The main thing that caught my attention is that the theme of "soul" came up. Buffy's demon roommate is stealing Buffy's soul (in a graphic that looks amazingly like what dementors do in Harry Potter--should check dates to see who did it first), and Buffy gets cranky and paranoid and self-centered when her soul is being siphoned nightly by Miss Happy. Considering that with Angel, losing soul=turning evil, and with Spike, gaining soul=being recognized as good (I could argue that spike was good before he got the soul--and probably will argue that later). and that conscience and soul seem intertwined, Buffy's petulant displays and plan to kill her roommate on what seems to be spurious evidence do not seem to fit with the usual definition of soul in the Buffyverse.

One other quick observation, which may not be on track: this episode and last, the shooting angles are some scenes have emphasized Buffy's height, far more than usual, I think. She's feeling small, etc, and I think the directors have used Sarah Michelle Geller's size to subtly make that point--usually, she and Willow seem to be about the same height, but Alyson Hannigan has been notably taller in some scenes, and Buffy's giraffe-like roomie and Parker (and Riley) have made that even more pointed. Will watch to see if this continues or is stopped as Buffy acclimates.

This is a light hearted episode, with Xander and Oz bungling holding Buffy captive, Giles being slightly awkward, and sappy pop music permeating it. Buffy meets Parker, then goes all crazy-reaction-girl because he was talking to the roommate (a bit of foreshadowing--Parker's normal MO where females are concerned starts with light conversation).

I haven't watched early season 4 much, so I don't know when it starts getting heavier; thus far, it's glib and clever and fun, but not quite jelled yet.