The Season Seven Showdown: Episode 8 - "Season 7, Time for a Wedding!" vs. "Sleeper"

Thank you for joining us for another entry of the "Season Seven Showdown." See, all TV season long we've been trying to determine if Supernatural's seventh season is going to turn to poopy the way that Buffy did in it's seventh season. Will it leave me feeling sad and alone with nary a Joss Whedon Eric Kripke in sight? Will I not understand why Buffy Sam & Dean can't kill a single damn Ubervampire Leviathan? Will the lack of Giles Cas leave me frustrated and throwing popcorn at my television in a fit of rage? So far it's been a bit touch and go but we're not quite there yet. Funny enough, Supernatural seems to be in my little game here, referencing their own demise with this week's title: "Season 7, Time for a Wedding." Cute! Let's get to comparing episode 8 of each series:

Supernatural Episode #8 - "Season 7, Time for a Wedding!"
Episode Synopsis:
Sam gets married to one of us fans, much to Dean's horror, and it's fricken' hilarious. Since Sam and his new bride are off in the honeymoon phase, Dean's left all alone...so he takes Bobby's advice of teaming up with a hunter named Garth (played by Road Trip's DJ Qualls).

The Deets:
The episode begins with Dean in a strip club pouring his heart out to a cocktail waitress. Apparently the boys make a yearly event out of partying in Las Vegas and even though it's a little annoying this has never been mentioned before, it's kind of fun that the boys do this bit of brotherly bonding. This year, however, the bond has been broken because as Dean exposits to the waitress, Sammy has bailed on him to go camping in the woods or something. Seconds later, Dean gets an alarming text from Sam to meet him quickly and "WEAR FED SUIT".

Later, we see Dean in said Fed suit looking spiffy as ever. He's on his guard with gun in hand, looking for the perp, or monster or whatever when a door flings open to reveal a smiling Sam who pins a boutonnière on Dean and says he's getting married! What follows is a hysterical mix of Dean's shocked and disgusted expressions along with a mysterious veiled bride sloowwwly walking down the aisle. When she finally reaches them, she is revealed to be none other than Wincest fanfiction writer Becky Rosen! Ugh. Cut to a well designed, modern wedding cake exploding into the normal Leviathan Goo title card. I really hope there are some Leviathans in this ep, despite the shenanigans.

So I'm smelling a love spell. Also, side detail: the music is really wacky in his ep. It's like it has to sit down and explain to us in great detail that the episode is wacky. No need, Season Seven score...you had me at "wedding." Moving on, Becky's tweeting up a storm how she's now married to Hotness #2 and Dean's still hilariously flipping out. He leaves to call Bobby and gets into the temporary car. I do miss the Impala but this smurf blue hunka's kinda fun. So Sam and Becky are off to Delaware to start their Newlywed life together, but not before Becky stops into her High School Reunion set up to show off her hot new husband to the girls who were mean to her. Since it's now an obvious love spell situation, we are introduced to Becky's spell-in-a-vial supplier named Guy, who's helping to plan the Reunion. Dean's been tailing them this whole time, but also notices that separate supernatural hijinks are afoot in Pike Creek, Delaware. Hijinks such as local townsfolk running into a string of good luck followed by a string of bad luck and death. Hmmm.

At Becky's house, Sam and his bride are about to get it on (what with the lingerie and the champagne and whatnot) when Sam gets blaring headache as the spell starts wearing off. Becky notices and makes sure to quickly re-hex him with some more potion. Meanwhile, we're shown a hooded figure watching a guy in a random baseball field. There, the hooded figure uses so dark magicks to pelt the guy in the face with some automatically dispensed baseballs, killing him dead. And scene! Back at Becky's house, Dean thankfully interrupts the date-rape currently underway, arriving with a waffle iron of a wedding gift. It's then that he learns Becky & Sam are conducting their own investigation of the Pine Creek hijinks. Because this is both annoying and infuriating, Dean throws a hissy fit and finally unleashes his feelings on the whole marriage matter. Those being that "people's dreams are coming true in this town" including what one would suspiciously assume is Becky's. Sam's having none of it, though, so Dean storms out.

Outside, Dean calls Bobby again but since he's indisposed and Sam's got the love-whammy, Bobby suggests Dean call a local hunter for an assist. This hunter turns out to be Garth played by the adorably geeky DJ Qualls, you know the skinny kid from Road Trip.

Suffice it to say, these 2 hunters don't really have much in common but Dean needs the help...so they end up at an insurance company where something suspicious is going on. There, they run in to Sammy and his blushing bride. They also learn that the while the new CEO of the place seems lucky, he actually didn't even want the new promotion that he got. It becomes pretty clear that the CEO's bitchy wife Marsha manipulated the whole promotion in some supernatural manner, when Dean has to save her from a killer chandelier dropped by the same hooded figure from the baseball stadium. Marsha then admits to selling her soul for her husband's promotion.

Meanwhile, Sammy's spell is wearing off again back at the house and Becky's shit out of luck because the contents of the spell-in-a-vial have spilled out into her bag. So she instead decides to whack Sam over the head with Dean's waffle iron wedding gift, somehow drag him to a remote log cabin, and tie him to the bed, Misery stylee. There, Sam wakes up sans-pants and overhears all the details of Becky's relationship with Guy the spell-supplier. He appropriately freaks out to the point where Becky gags him with a stinky sock and leaves. Now that's love. Becky meets up with Guy at the Reunion location where we finally learn he is actually a Crossroads Demon responsible for all of the deals-gone-wrong in this episode. This time, however, he is prepared to give her an exclusive deal of a full 20 years married to Sam in exchange for her silence and her soul.

So Becky goes back to the cabin to lay the whammy back on Sammy, or so we are to believe, during which there is some hilarious sock talk coming from Sam...I'm pretty sure there was a "Fuck You" in there somewhere. Becky then goes BACK to the Reunion location to seal the deal with Guy. Right before she kisses him though, she drops a lighter on the carpet and it ignites into a Devil's Trap shaped symbol, courtesy of some Blueberry Stoli. Hee! While Guy is trapped there, Sam, Garth and Dean reveal themselves (the latter 2 having found Sam's location via Twitter) and Dean readies himself to stab Guy with Ruby's demon slaying knife. Guy then admits to strategically capitalizing on a loophole in the Crossroads Contracts. See Guy can't breach the normal 10 year deals himself, but his crony, the hooded guy we've seen throughout the ep, can make sure the victims meet an early demise...thus allowing Guy to collect early on their payment. Of course, the hooded crony is there right now and proceeds to kick the boys asses.

Long story short, they fight, and fight some more, and just at the right moment Becky saves the day (and Sam's ass) by picking up Ruby's knife and sticking the hooded guy with it. Dean then readies himself to stab Guy with said knife once again, when yay! It's Badger Crowley!! Crowley is there and he is pissed that Guy damaged consumer confidence and the integrity of the Crossroads Deal. This is Hell, after all, not Wall Street, and if word of the shady deals gets out no one will deal with them. Gotta love Crowley. He agrees to call off all of Guy's crooked deals and punish Guy appropriately in Hell - not out of the goodness of his heart, but because he wants the boys to "squash 'em all", Leviathan that is. And in case they haven't noticed, this is the reason they haven't been encountering many demons of late, because Crowley has instructed Hell's creatures to steer clear of the boys while they try to rid the world of Leviathan. Finally, we're getting somewhere here. And dammit, they better pick up the pace next episode with this exciting turn of events!

In the end, Becky and Sam's flash-in-a-pan marriage is swiftly annulled, and I swear I do have the willpower to resist a lame Kim Kardashian joke that's clear as day here. Feel free to let your own mind wander, though. Sam tries to pep talk Becky, but it's kind of weird.

There are a few things to note about this episode. Yes, this ep was pretty mean to the batshit fangirl who maybe represents all of us fans. Am I mildly perturbed that we are maybe thought of as ugly, pathetic, loser rapists? A bit. Luckily, it's revealed that Becky and Sam never consummated their marriage, so she's technically not that type of criminal...not a huge comfort. Further, the actress that plays her is certainly not that ugly at all and even if she were, it's all in the eye of the beholder. The thing that does suck about Becky is since she IS a 4th wall breaker and knows as much about the 'verse as we all do, she really should've known way better. I'd like to believe most of us would know better. Also, yes, the monster-of-this-week has been hailed as weak and recycled, but I actually liked Guy and the gang. I would've preferred more Leviathan, but I would rather a sassy Crossroads Demon with a bonus of Crowley over some red dirt or a hexed mannequin any day. In general, the ep made me laugh, was fun and entertaining.

Buffy Episode #8 - "Sleeper"

This episode of Buffy starts right off where "Conversations" left off, except for the fact that Xander was of course missing from the last episode. Buffy goes to Xander's place looking for Spike since she just learned the shocking fact that he sired now-dusted vampire Holden. Cut to Spike digging a fresh grave for his latest kill humming along during his handiwork. Oh man, this is where season 7 really starts to lose me. It's times like these that I can't fathom why Spike, who I really am a big fan of, wasn't dusted years ago. He's became such a liability to the gang. I guess Angel's in the same boat but at least he's not living with them. I don't know, it's such a mess.

Cut to London, England as then title card reads - and as soon as my hopes dart up that we going to see Giles, I learn that NO! We are not. Instead we find a man finding a women dead and bloody on the floor. Back in Sunnydale, Willow enters the Summers home finding Dawn and her post "Conversations" trauma and mess all over the damn place. Dawn tells Willow she saw her mom but Willow sets the record straight that it was really "The Big Bad". Dawn's desperately holding on to the Joyce theory for now, though. At Xander's, Buffy is in similar denial, defending Spike while Xander brings up the attempted rape again. It's really fun! Ugh. Spike walks in and Buffy tries to quiz him about his whereabouts, but learns nothing. She asks Xander to watch him but since he's got a big meeting in the morning, he passes the buck to a reluctant Anya.

Buffy finally gets home and freaks out when she sees what happened to the house. Willow had just put Dawn in bed and explains everything that happened - what with her seeing fake Tara at the Library and The Big Bad seeming to know them all personally, trying to fake them out. Willow's hair looks fantastic and Buffy has a pimple on her chin. Buffy tells Willow how she is shaken over the whole Spike thing. Back at Xander's, Anya nervously goes through Spike's things for evidence while he sleeps. He catches her in the act, but she covers by claiming she was in there to offer some kinky-stake related sex. Luckily (or unluckily if you 'ship the Spanya) he denies her and she fakes being outraged and insulted and accuses him of thinking her skinny ass is fat. It's a little funny. A little. He leaves and Anya calls Buffy to alert her of his exit.

Immediately after, we see Buffy following Spike through the uncharacteristically crowded streets of Sunnydale with tons of street vendors and harmonica players. Spike picks up a random girl and Buffy frantically loses them as they turn into an alley. They make out and Buffy approaches...but we quickly realize it's not Buffy at all since she instructs Spike to bite and kill the random girl. Once he realizes what he's done he runs off and "Buffy" morphs into "Spike".

Back at Xander's, Buffy wakes Spike up from his sleep and asks if he "killed the girl last night" so I guess it's now the following evening? I'm definitely confused by this timeline. Anyway, they argue and Spike explains that he wouldn't hurt someone now - not because of the chip, but because he can't live with what he's done. I guess it's important that they beat us over the head that rape is wrong episode after episode, but I definitely already knew that so I wish I didn't have to keep thinking about that awful series-changing scene. I'm 100% certain at this point in my life that it didn't enhance Buffy the series in any way and we all would've been better off without it. In other words, it was a huge mistake. Sorry for the rant, see this is one of the many reasons I think this show should've ended in it's Season 5 prime.

Aaannyway, Buffy's interrogating Spike about what the hell he was doing last night and why Holden said he sired him but Spike, although pissed, can't really explain WTF is going on. Back at the Summers home, Willow finds that there is a total of 10 missing people in Sunnydale, mostly girls. Loving the fact that Willow is useful in this ep, a rare treat in Season Seven. Back to Spike, he's getting flashes now of the gaps in his memories...a blonde girl dead on the floor. He goes to leave for the evening and punches Xander in the face when he tries to stop him from leaving. His chip sets off, giving him a brain jolt...so that's still functioning. Spike goes to the Bronze where Aimee Mann is performing and interviews some people, looking for evidence of his innocence. Instead he finds a vampire girl who reminds him of their recent hook-up. They fight. He ends up staking her with a piece of Bamboo from an incense holder centerpiece and I'm surprised that worked! It's not really wood, right?

Buffy talks to a bouncer about Spike at what I guess is another hopping Sunnydale club? Yeah, ok. Whatever. The bouncer informs Buffy that this guy is a real player since "chicks like Billy Idol" and that he's been leaving with a lot of different girls lately. Buffy then gets a call from Spike, who realizes that he has in fact done "some very bad things." The Not!Spike says that he shouldn't have made the call as it's not time yet, but that they can "make it work". Buffy meets Spike in a house and she's reluctant to go down the stairs. He explains that he thinks he killed the woman that lived in the house amongst others and buried them in the basement. He doesn't know how or why. Not!Spike starts singing a tune at which point actual Spike vamps out and cuts Buffy with a piece of glass. They fight and all the victims Spike has buried now emerge from the ground as vampires. As Spike's about to bite Buffy he remembers everything and Buffy stakes the whole lot of the vamps.

Spike tells Buffy to "do it fast", meaning stake him. For some asinine reason she refuses. She tells him about The Big Bad and how it's messing with them, as Not!Spike watches from the corner. So we don't know it's The First at this point? Man this season sucks. Since Spike's now a full on out-of-control serial killer who's been recently feeding on human blood, Buffy feels he should be as close to them all as possible...much to the Scoob's dismay. But none of that matters now because YAAYY!! IT'S FINALLY GILES! Giles finds "Robson" dying on the floor who tells Giles "It's started". With that we see a hooded figure swing an axe towards Giles' and once it's within an inch of his neck the screen turns black. Thus setting up one of the biggest (and most frustrating) still-as-yet unfinished mysteries of the Whedonverse.

How do the eps compare?

For some horrific reason, both episodes seem to think we want to our prime time entertainment to feature attempted rape in some form. Thanks for that guys! Sheesh. 

Mini Battles!!:
Best Self-Referencing Quote - "I hate playing vampire towns" - Aimee Mann, Buffy vs. "Supernatural's not exactly popular" - Becky, Supernatural. Winner: Supernatural
Cas/Giles sighting?: Winner: Buffy
Best Episode Villains - Not!Spike vs. Guy the Crossroads Demon - Winner: Supernural

Final Ruling:
Buffy's "Sleeper" didn't necessarily have bad writing, acting or production of any kind. In fact, the episode looked great. The problem is the thing is just such a downer and it's not how I want to be entertained...with characters I used to love killing innocent people while other characters I used to love acting like a bunch of idiots in denial or just all around absent. This is why Supernatural is winning this season so far. The episodes aren't the best and aren't featuring the best writing of the series - Hell I'm getting full on infuriated at the lack of plot movement, not to mention lack of Cas! - but at least the episodes are entertaining and I don't feel depressed after or like there are better things I should've be doing with an hour. Supernatural is taking this one.

Season tally so far:
Supernatural=5
Buffy=3

Exclusive *Something* From Dark Horse: But What Is It?

Dark Horse isn't saying quite just yet, but Scott Allie teased a peek of this gorgeous Faith Image courtesy of Jo Chen's hand on Whedon Wednesday. Then, their official Facebook furthered the mystery with this Willow image earlier today.

So in the spirit of a ritual sacrifice with pie, Dark Horse figured they'd torture us all just a bit more with a final piece of this Jo Chen puzzle:

Guess we'll find out soon! Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Whedonverse Ornament Swap Lists Have Gone Out!

Group lists have all now gone out for the 4th annual Whedonverse Swap! Every participant in this year's swap should have their group recipient list at this time. If you signed up but didn't receive the email, please let us know asap.

So it's time to get crafting on those ornaments and remember to ship out by Dec 5th (we recommend even earlier if you're outside of the US or shipping outside of the US, so that everyone gets the packages in time for the holidays). If you still have questions refer to the full details in the original post here or email us at buffyfest@aim.com. Happy swapping!

A big "thank you" to all the participants. Some of the fabulous crafters in the swap are affiliated with the following websites and blogs:
http://serenityscreeningvan.blogspot.com

www.cinemawesome.tumblr.com

www.tiltcreationstoo.blogspot.com

www.macobbshatshoppe.com

www.fadingendlessly.etsy.com

www.Geekygamergirl.blog.com

http://kaarensblog.blogspot.com/

www.lexieannmalfoy.polyvore.com

www.SpyKittenSparkles.com

www.squishtestedbiffleapproved.tumblr.com

www.dcom.ca

www.castlecast.net

www.nothingoutsidethetext.blogspot.com

http://www.tumblr.com/blog/usagianddarien

And follow these swappers on facebook and twitter:
www.facebook.com/kristinaaaaah
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@ODonWhedon
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and us!

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Yes! Whedonverse Comics Finally Gone Digital!

Dark Horse has finally announced what so many have been waiting for, their Whedonverse Comics are going Digtal! Simply log on to Digital.DarkHorse.com or download the app to create an account to get cracking. Full press release and release date schedule below.

BUFFY, ANGEL, AND DOLLHOUSE COME TO THE DARK HORSE DIGITAL STORE!

JOSS WHEDON’S BEST-LOVED CHARACTERS ARRIVE ON YOUR iPAD, iPHONE, AND LAPTOP!

The wait is finally over, as Dark Horse and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products announce the arrival of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse and Angel in the Dark Horse digital store! As rave reviews and support for Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 and the all-new series Angel and Faith continue, casual and hardcore fans will now be able to experience previous Buffy, Angel, and Dollhouse comics on all-new platforms! Buffy, Angel and Dollhouse are licensed through an agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products.


Now, fans are encouraged to head over to Digital.DarkHorse.com to download issues of all three of these titles today, with multiple issues available for purchase! Fans can now download the first twenty issues of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #1-20, as well as Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 9 #1,2 &3.
“This marks another important turning point in Dark Horse’s digital initiative,” said Dark Horse president and founder, Mike Richardson. “Joss Whedon’s incredible characters have become some of our most popular, and now fans from all over the world can see them like they never have been seen before!”


“Our history with Dark Horse has been incredibly successful, giving fans of these characters all new ways to enjoy their stories,” said Jeffrey Godsick, president of Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products. “This transition opens a whole new chapter in our relationship and will give readers an exciting opportunity to experience the comics on some of the hottest digital platforms."
Going forward, Dark Horse will release a mix of new and backlist titles weekly. Stay in the know on all of your favorite titles, and sign up for the Dark Horse Digital newsletter at https://Digital.DarkHorse.com today!

**Updated release dates**

11/16/11
Buffy Season 8 #1-20
Buffy Season 9 #1, 2 & 3
11/23/11
Buffy Season 8 #21-25
Angel #1-9
Angel & Faith #1 - 3
11/30/11
Dollhouse one shot and #1-5
Buffy Season 8 #26 - 30
12/7/11
Buffy Season 8 #31- 35
12/14/11
Buffy Season 8 #36-40

Reminder: Last day to sign up for the 4th Annual Whedonverse Holiday Ornament Swap!

If you'd like to join the dozens of people who will be creating and receiving Whedonverse themed ornaments this year, follow the instructions below before midnight tonight! We'll be sorting the groups immediately and you'll receive your list of recipients tomorrow.

If you're not sure what this is, read full details here. To sign up for the swap, send an email with the subject "MERRY WHEDON" and the following information to buffyfest@aim.com:

- name
- address
- email address
- your website or blog (if you have one)
- whether your are willing to ship internationally

The Season Seven Showdown: Episode 7 - "The Mentalists" vs. "Conversations With Dead People"

2 in a row! Yes that's right, 2 showdowns in a row. That's because I tried to catch up before last Friday's Supernatural and failed. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, that's because you missed the first 6 entries of this here blog series, known as the "Season Seven Showdown." It's where we're trying to determine if Supernatural's seventh season is going to go down the same dark path that Buffy did in it's seventh season. So far, most signs are pointing to "Yes" and yep, that's a reference to this week's episode so let's get to it!

Supernatural Episode #7 - "The Mentalists"
Episode Synopsis:
After being estranged for a few weeks off camera, the brothers reunite in the "Psychic Capital of America" where seers, psychics and spoon benders are being murdered.

The Deets:
Episode begins with a psychic having her throat sliced by a Ouija Board Planchette during a seance. I never knew that thing was called a planchette! Guess I'm rusty on my Ouija. Dean goes to investigate in the half smurf blue run-down classic car he swiped and bumps into Sam, who's also working the case in this psychic themed town known as Lily Dale. Fun side fact: Lily Dale is a real life town in New York State with real life founders Margaret and Kate Fox (villiannesses of this episode), being known for their psychic talents. It really is the most psychic town in America and almost everything and everyone referenced in this episode are true! Creeepy.

So the boys are together again in their hot FBI suits, not that Sam's happy about it since he's still upset about Dean killing Kaylee. They know that all of these townfolk are phonies and buffoons, but there must be someone with real power behind the killings. After an awkward moment in a hippy dippy restaurant where someone recognized them from their doppelganger's murderous spree a few episodes back, they meet Nikolai Lishin, a spoon bender who later gets killed by his own cutlery.

So Sam and compare notes and learn that both Imelda Graven and Grandma Goldy (the planchette victim) both owned the same necklace. Thinking we have a cursed object on our hands, they visit Goldy's granddaughter Melanie, who's a local celeb as well, but doesn't really believe in all this psychic business. She uses the skill of reading body language and can immediately see that Dean and Sam are having brotherly problems. Anyway, she says a local store owner named Jimmy Tomorrow inherited it and when they arrive at said store, they are informed that the necklace is actually an "Orb of Thessalay." Poor Jenny Calendar. I'd like to point out that this seems like both a Buffy and an Angel reference. It not only shares the name of the famous soul-binding object from the Buffy series as a whole, but also because this Orb turns out to be a "made in Taiwan piece of crap", much like "made in China" piece of crap that Angelus blindsides Fred with in the Season 4 episode "Release". Just saying!

So the boys bounce back to Melanie's to tell her that ghosts are real. Skip to a Miss Cleo-esque performer giving a "reading" with a fake islandy accent. Shorlty after, Miss Cleo has a real life premonition of her own death, so Melanie pops by with Dean in tow to help. It's then and there that we finally meet this episode's villianness who is captured on Miss Cleo's surveillance video. It is Kate Fox, famous psychic who along with her sister is honored in the local museum and real life town founders. At the Museum, the curator pulls Dean aside and says he has a message from an "Eleanor or Ellen". The message is "If you don't tell anyone how bad it really is, she'll kick your ass". How bad what is? The Kaylee guilt? The worry over Sam's Lucifer hallucinations? Losing Cas? What already?!

You know, this whole business about Dean being a mess of life, or whatever, is really getting draining. WTF are they even talking about? I mean specifically? They better get to a point because the writers aren't really showing us anything here, either blatant or subtle. People just keep saying Dean's a mess, but is it really more than what we're normally used to seeing?

Aaanyway, the boys burn Kate's bones but that doesn't do the trick. Turns out that particular villianness wasn't the bad guy after all. Back at Miss Cleo's apartment, she's being attacked by another ghost, which forces Melanie to call the boys back for help. They tell her to grab some salt and iron pokers and stuff, but it's all for naught as Margaret Fox, who is the real villianness, decapitates Miss Cleo anyway. Next morning, the boys go to burn Margaret's bones in broad daylight, which Dean doesn't like at all...but the bones are gone. Jeez this episode is complicated. So Dean finally puts 2+2 together that everyone who was killed was supposed to headline a festival and unfortunately for Melanie, she'd be the natural next replacement. After visiting Jimmy Tomorrow at the store again, Sam is sent on a wild goose chase to a Lamaze class after which HE finally puts the 2+2 together than the REAL, real villianness of the episode is actually Jimmy Tomorrow, who as it turns out has some kinky ghost relationship with ghost Margaret.

So Sam goes to Jimmy Tomorrow's apartment and after a scuffle, finally finds Margaret's bones in his bed! But what? This episode is random and weird. During this whole thing Dean is doing his damn best to try and to protect Melanie from ghost Margaret at her place, but man is Margaret putting up a fight. Finally, back at Jimmy Tomorrow's apartment, Sam is forced to shoot Jimmy dead. It's in self defense, but I get the feeling that this is the moment where Sam realizes Dean was right to kill Kaylee or whatever. Anyway, Sam burns Margaret's bones and the bed they were resting in, and Dean and Melanie are finally safe.

In the end, Sam basically forgives Dean for killing Kaylee, despite the fact that Dean said earlier in the episode that Sam was "acting like a little bitch" over it. It was kind of rude, imo, but Sam's all understanding and stuff. He puts his bags in the trunk of the stolen smurf Blue run-down classic car and off they are again, to save people and hunt things. You know, the family business.

Well, I didn't really love this episode like so many others I know did. I actually thought it was kind of boring. Another kind of funny monster-of-the-week with nary a Leviathan in sight. The reconcilliation of the brothers was underwhelming at best. Sam agreed that Dean is right about Kaylee, but I'm still not sure that I do or that I even care. Maybe I would care more if they'd introduced Kaylee earlier in the show, I don't know. Either way, the Kaylee arc seems to have begun and finished with a fizzle, hopefully we can move on to the amazing pace the season started with now.

Buffy Episode #7 - "Conversations With Dead People"
In this music video-esque opening, a band plays at the Bronze and a title card reads: November 12, 2002 8:01 PM. Over the dreamy ballad, we see Buffy walking through a graveyard, Spike sitting at a bar, Willow falling asleep at the library and Dawn coming home to an empty house. When a hand finally forces itself through a fresh grave, the song ends and Buffy says "Here we go."

Here we go indeed, for this is a fan-favorite episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's not in my top 10 (or even 20, 30) but it's definitely a good one...especially in this season.

After the opening credits, we see Jonathan and Andrew for the first time since the events of season 6. They're driving back from Mexico, where they've been hiding out. They've also been having nightmares featuring this season's lame-ass tag line "from beneath you it devours" but Andrew has BabelFish style mistranslated it in "Mexicoan" to "It eats you, starting with your bottom." Ha! See? Even the writers think it's stupid. Meanwhile, Dawn's at home doing things a 10 year old would do rather than a high-schooler such as singing songs about Anchovies and blowing up marshmallows in the microwave. She's also on the phone with her friend, during which a thumping sound is heard followed by strong wind that blows through the front door, nearly knocking Dawnie on her ass. She runs to try and shut the TV, going so far as unplugging it, but it stays on. Creepy! Things start exploding, electronics are turning on and off and Dawn nearly takes an axe to a radio when she hear's her dead mom's voice coming through. Double creepy.

Back at the library, a recently dead Cassie just walks on in purple streaks and all. She sits across from Willow and tells her she's speaking to Tara from the other side. Willow tears up and I don't blame her, but this bitch is acting shady from the door.

In the graveyard, Buffy's fighting the freshly risen vamp at when he suddenly stops mid-fight to make with the pleasantries. Turns out, he's actually Holden Ward from SHS. They reminisce a bit (it's right then and there that we find out that Scott Hope is gay!) when his face turns back to human and she schools him on the vamp, slayer, chosen one scenario. Unfortunately, Buffy's cell phone is by a tombstone so she can't hear Dawn's desperate call for help. She's being attacked all over the place and makes a connection with Joyce, who she believes is in danger.

Joanthan and Andrew are breaking and entering the new Sunnydale High. Poor Jonathan thinks they're on a mission for redemption, but Andrew has other plans. You see, he's been communicating with Dead Warren who's pulling the strings so they will become Gods. And it's this episode that seals the deal of the character of Andrew for me. Tom Lenk may play him with charm and grace but the fact is, he's pretty evil and shouldn't have been rewarded for it. To make my point, it's very sad that Jonathan says here "Do you think they'll really let us join their gang?" in reference to the Scoobs, when in actuality Andrew's going to kill more people and still be the one to get to undeservingly join the Scooby Gang. I'm just not very forgiving with regards to the character of Andrew.

Aanyway, Willow's full blown crying at this point in the library, as Dead Cassie tries to calm her down. At the same time Holden "psych 101s" Buffy about relationship issues, her superiority complex, etc. They finally get somewhere, focusing on how poorly she treated Spike all while allowing him to take her over completely. It's at this moment of vulnerability that Holden smashes her in the face with a tombstone statue and successfully bites her! Not many can say they did that. Flash to Dawn who sees her mother in the spot where she dies, all creepy and white eyes and begging for help. The demon or ghost or whatever it is is trying to kick Dawn out of the house, but she stand strong, refusing to leave her mother.

Then it's quick scenes, Buffy and Holden are back to their in-depth conversation about Buffy's relationships with vampires, Spike is walking down back from the Bronze with a girl he met, and Cassie tells Willow she can't ever use magic ever - good or evil. She passes on Tara's message that she's not going to be ok, that she's going to kill everybody.

After the commercial break what's left of the Evil Trio are digging up something in Spike's former residence, the School's basement. Jonathan hopes that "Buffy will be able to destroy it" and reveals to Andrew that he actually misses High School and all of the people that were in it. Andrew poo poos all over this, saying that nobody cares about him...but Jonathan's having none of that since he still cares about them and that's why he's there. At this, the camera reveals a huge symbol in the subfloor of the basement.

Dawns casting a spell against the evil and while it looks like she's succeeding, I swear she's throwing regular ole' glitter around. Back to Buffy who's telling Holden that she feels beneath her friends and family, and better than them at the same time. Superior. He actually helps her a lot, explaining that it's ok to feel alone just like everyone does. They decide to resume the fight when Buffy mentions Spike again. Holden stops her mid-sentence and reveals that it was Spike to sired him! Flash to Spike biting the girl, Joyce telling Dawn Buffy won't be there for her and Dead Cassie telling Willow to kill herself.

In the final moments Andrew guts Jonathan over the symbol and Buffy finally drives a stake through Holden's heart, all set over the same music from the opening scene. Well done. And hey, is this the only episode that Nicholas Brendon wasn't in?

How do the eps compare?

Well, we have dead loved ones reaching out from the other side (Ellen/Faux Tara). Besides that, they are pretty different except, of course, for still with the "where the eff is Cas/where the eff is Giles." I'm going to keep mentioning it until it changes. Bastards.

Mini Battles!!:
Best Eighties referencing quote: "Think, Mcfly" - Andrew vs. "Geraldo'd" - Dean - Winner: Buffy
Best Orb of Thesulah/Thesulay: Winner: Buffy
Best Episode Villains - Ghost Margaret vs. The First - Winner: Buffy

Final Ruling:
This is one of the few times that The First was actually scary and not a head-scratcher or a total parody of itself. The creepy-calm tone of "Conversations" is also part of what made it fantastic to watch. So much so that compared to "The Mentalists," you'd think Seasons Sevens were good for a series. So Buffy's taking it again!

Season tally so far:
Supernatural=4
Buffy=3

The Season Seven Showdown: Episode 6 - "Slash Fiction" vs. "Him"

Will Season 7 of Supernatural tank like Buffy season 7 did? Before you get yourself all up in a huff listen, Buffy's coming up in this race. It won the last 2 in a row! Shocking. But I just want to make something very clear: if Buffy wins this thing at the end that doesn't mean that we took a time machine and fixed all the problems that were Potentials and Uber-vamps and all that shit. All it will mean is Supernatural did something very, very wrong. Sorry to break it that way.

I also want to mention that long time tweep @TheGingerPire said way back when we first started this showdown, in reference to these episodes: "I know SPN is going to beat the episode "Him". If it doesn't I will lose all faith in the show. lol." Fear not, Ginger friend.

I'm behind 2 weeks, so let's get cracking on this Episode 6 Showdown!

Supernatural Episode #6 - "Slash Fiction"
Episode Synopsis:
The boys pull a Pulp Fiction and start shooting up the joint, but alas it's just their evil Leviathan twins taking a murderous Season 1 tour across the country. Also, Bobby almost makes sexy time with Officer Jody, but ends up giving the Leviathan tied up in the basement a sudsy bath and then chopping his head off. Poor Bobby.

The Deets:
This week's episode starts off with 2 hot boys shoving all the patrons of a bank into a vault and brutally murdering them via machine gun. I'm oddly conflicted because of their hotness and all. Let us not forget that Jensen Ackles was on a little show called Dark Angel playing both a hot killer and later a hot hero, with the exact same face. They like to mess with my morals, these shows.

Aaaanyway, the boys kill everyone and wink at the security camera while doing it. Next, the surprisingly calm versions of Sam & Dean are hanging out at the cabin while Bobby tortures that Cheese-loving Leviathan that James Marsters zapped last episode. Unfortunately, nothing's working and the dude's just working our boys' last nerve by letting them know of the bank murder. See, it wasn't our precious boys who did the killing, it was more Leviathans who doppelganged them by swiping some of Sam & Dean's DNA at some point this season. How Cheese-loving Leviathan knew that I'll never get....wasn't he in the back of the Impala all night? Plausibility Strike 1.

Either way, Bobby's very annoyed when he hears the boys want to go and confront the unkillable, untortureable monsters with their cute faces head on, but sends them to see an old frenemy anyway, Frank Devereaux, for an assist. See lunatic Frank is going to give them some new identities for a fee, but they have to ditch all of their fantastic Rock & Roll aliases from over the years and Gasp! The car. This makes Dean so sad. Frank also gives them a map detailing all of the spots that LeviaSam & Dean have hit so far and it turns out to be a pattern of Season 1 episode spots in order. Fun!

Enter two FBI agents hot on the trail of LeviaSam and LeviaDean. End Scene. Meanwhile back at the ranch, the cheese-loving Leviathan pisses Bobby off so much that he lops his fricken head right off. That shut him up real quick. Bobby's onto something, but he's interrupted by a rapping at the door courtesy of Sheriff Jody Mills. How the hell she found them when the monsters and FBI agents couldn't I'll never know. Plausibility Strike 2. Aww, she likes him! Jody and Bobby make with the googly eyes but he takes a break to go decapitate Cheese-fan once again, since his head magically crawled up his body and re-attached itself. Plausibility Strike 3. Eh, that's ok.

Then the hilarious happens. The real Sam & Dean, driving a stolen hoopty since the Impala had to be stashed, try to find some tunes on the radio to calm Dean's nerves. Sam lands on a radio station playing "All Out of Love" and quickly makes with the kibosh since he knows his brother is a classic rock only guy, thank you very much....but Dean tells him to leave it. As soon as Sam gets distracted enough what with the maps and such, Dean seizes the moment and starts lip synching the hell out of that bitch. I mean he's reeeaally getting into it and it's hysterical. Side note: Actress Kim Rhodes who plays Sheriff Jody tweeted about the script "The only thing re: Air Supply was "He's into it." There ya have it" confirming that the scene was all Jensen Ackles, baby. That's some improv for ya!

So the boys figure out that the next spot on the Leviathans list would be that burger joint Dean loves in St. Louis. We see that the Leviathans are already there eating said burgers with disgust and bashing every little thing about the real Sam & Dean's personalities. Before the real Sam & Dean can get there, Bobby tells them what we already know: the Leviathans already shot up the place and ruined the day. Dean doesn't even get his burger, poor thing. So they re-route to Iowa where they finally end up getting busted by the cops for their doppelgangers killing spree.

Meanwhile, the cheese-fan that Bobby's been torturing all episode got a piece of him and is now wearing Bobby's face. He's really psyching him out too as we learn some tidbits about Bobby's past. His father was a drunk and an abuser, yadda yadda yadda. And buwhat?! This episodes interesting but a little complicated, no? Anyway, just as Bobby's about to lop that head off once again, a lucky twist of events occurs. Seems Sheriff Jody is cooking and cleaning upstairs (strange) and some sudsy mix that contains Borax drips through the floorboards to burn the skin right off the Leviathan's body. At this discovery, Bobby plants one right on Jody's lips. Cute!

The boys are now jailed in Iowa. Dean manages to get a phone call and Bobby quickly informs him of the Borax/Head Lopping discovery. The sheriff of that town thinks Dean's a psycho killer, of course, but gets a glimpse of the doppelgangers who are just now joining them and realizes that something Supernatural is afoot. He trusts Dean and releases him...off to find something containing Borax, stat. Unfortunately for Dean, his doppelganger has already reached Sam and blurts out what Dean has been guiltily keeping secret  - the killing of childhood demon-sweetheart Amy Pond at his hands. At this point, Dean has Boraxed and decapitated both doppels and for saving his life, the sheriff agrees to cover the whole thing up and fake their deaths once again.

To wrap things up, Sheriff Jody leaves without any sealing the deal with Bobby. Around the same time, the FBI agents that were tailing the boys reveal themselves as more Leviathan and kill the sheriff that helped the boys in Iowa. They call Edgar's boss who's a high-profile business man type, Richard Roman, to confirm the Winchesters are still alive and it's at that point that we're treated to an unexpected visit by Crowley! Yay! He wants to make a deal with the new order now that Cas is taken care of (where are you Cas!!) but Richard Roman is having none of it. In fact, he tears our favorite king of hell a new one. So Crowley skidaddles all pissy, not that I blame him.

In the end, Sam let's Dean know how he feels about his brother's betrayal. And by "Let's Dean know" I mean he kind of looks mildly perturbed and then walks off calmly. What the hell kind of break up is this? What happened to the great, screaming angst rages, full of emotion and brotherly turmoil on this show? Eh, at least the episode was very entertaining and moved things along. I would've loved it if this episode came directly after Ep 3 with some adjustments.

Buffy Episode #6 - "Him"
Grr to "Him". And double Grr to "Him" following the ray of sunshine that was "Selfless". See this is what I'm talking about when I rant about Season Seven Demise. Eh, let's get to it:

Everyone and their mother is angry at Spike for trying to rape Buffy and it's a leeetle uncomfy to watch, just saying. Fact is, the basement is making Spike mental so he's living in Xander's closet from now on.

Later at school, Buffy and Dawn are chatting on the school bleachers when Dawn gets hit with the love whammy by some dude in a letter jacket. Because she's already madly in love, Dawn makes a total ass out of herself, trying to get this boy named RJ's attention when he's talking to his jock friends. Then she makes an even BIGGER ass of herself the next day, when she falls all over the floor in Buffy's outdated Season 1 cheerleading uniform during tryouts. Ugh. I feel like I'm being tortured. This is Buffyfest. I want to like my show and instead I'm being tortured. Starting to get flashbacks of the first time....

Forgot to mention the 2 painfully thin girls fighting off a demon named Buffy and Anya. Wow, the weight thing seems way more jarring to me this time. Anyway, turns out D'Hoffryn isn't too happy about Anya's resignation from the demon business after all and there aren't enough sandwiches on set.

Later, Buffy and Xander are on the other side of the bathroom door where Dawn is flipping out. Buffy, seeing her cheerleading uniform cut to shreds, goes to confront Dawn but ends up trying to console her major freak out about knowing RJ's soul and all this crap. So much so that she pushes RJ's teammate down the stairs for replacing his spot on the team, or whatever. This gets her in trouble with Principal Wood, but earns her points with her precious RJ.

At the Bronze, everyone is still bitching about Spike. Also more icky, unintentional early Xawn, due to the fact that she's over there acting like a big ole' "slut-bag hussy." Buffy bitches, Dawn storms off and has a cat fight with a jealous girl outside. Back at the house, shades of Ringer as Buffy shadily manipulates Dawn into thinking she's come on too strong....but it's really because Buffy's been hit with the whammy too. Oh brother. "Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered" this is not. Next day Buffy proves how true that statement is when she seduces and eventually makes out with RJ. At school. Where she's on faculty as a counselor. Dawn catches them and it's on.

What happens after this is so gross I wish I could just stop here. In a nutshell, Xander tries to console Dawn, Xander goes to find Buffy, Xander finds Buffy GRINDING RJ on top of the still life in the art room with her shirt falling off. Poor Buffy's character...I can't.

At home, Dawn rips Buffy a new one over what's she's done and Buffy all "he's my lover" and Anya, Willow and Xander have had just about enough of this as I have at this point. They point out the spelliness of it all, which of course the Summers sisters deny. While the unaffected Scoobies do research, they learn that RJ's brother has a link to all this. So Xander and Spike goes pay the brother a visit and find that he's kind of lame. Once inside, Spike notices that the brother, Lance, is wearing RJ's jacket in a photo and it's revealed that the jacket comes from a long line of desperate losers trying to be popular with the ladies in high school.

Back at the Summers home, RJ stops by and hits the remaining females with the jacket whammy. Now everyone is fighting over the kid and Buffy's particularly annoyed about Willow, since she's gay. At one point Anya notes that"His physical presence has a penis," but Willow's down with working around it. Dawn's pissy, what the hell else is new, and Buffy insists that everyone must be under a spell but her. They're all fighting and while trying to prove who loves RJ more the following list is made:

- Anya is going to kill for RJ or rob a bank or something
- Buffy is going to specifically kill Principal Wood for RJ
- Willow is going to magically gender re-assign him.
- Dawn is going to kill herself for RJ

Now we get to probably the only real funny part of the episode (at the expense of our heros performing murder, suicide and other heinous crimes, but still.) A 70's style quartering of the screen showing what the girls are up to, complete with Buffy holding a humungous weapon that I don't know the name of. Rocket launcher? When Xander and Spike find out what's happening, they thwart Willow's castration spell to Hecate and decide to stop Buffy next. So we see Principal Wood is cozy at his desk listening to a CD and when Buffy turns to blow him to bits, Spike flies out of nowhere, tackling her to the ground. They both come back into the window frame, Buffy on Spikes back. Then Spike runs away with the weapon with Buffy on his tail. All while Wood is obliviously turning the pages of his appointment book. Heh.

So the whole gang gets to Dawnie, who is lying on train tracks, just as the train's arriving. Buffy saves her in the nick and flips out on her, saying "No guy is worth your life, not ever." They all finally realize they're under a spell. Next scene, Spike and Xander make with the planning and funnily tear the jacket off RJ using their hands and that is all. Another funny moment, I'll give it that. They burn the jacket. Dawn feels stupid and turns out, Anya actually burglarized a bunch of places. The End! Thank the gods.

How do the eps compare?

Well, they both kind of showed our main characters "Not as themselves". Story wise, on one hand you have an episode that advances the plot, albeit only slightly, and gives us an answer on how to kill the big bads of the season, Acathala Stylee. On the other, we got a slightly funny but still dumbass spell-of-the-week episode that degrades all of our favorite heroines and makes Buffy look like a desperate, predatory cougar at the ripe young age of 21. Digging out her ancient cheerleading uniform didn't help.

Also, still with the "where the eff is Cas/where the eff is Giles." Blerg.

Mini Battles!!:
Best Throwback: Buffy's Uniform vs. The Winchester's Season 1 tour - Winner: Supernatural
Best Episode Villains - LeviaSam and LeviaDean vs. The Girls of Buffy - Winner: Supernatural
Best Final Scene: Sam sleepily storming off vs. Anya buying ice cream with stolen money. Winner: Buffy, by a teensy bit

Final Ruling:
Not much to say here, the Leviathans are back and so is Crowly. Buffy disturbed me greatly. It's going to Supernatch.

Season tally so far:
Supernatural=4
Buffy=2

Reminder: Live Twitter Chat with Buffy S.9's Andrew Chambliss Tomorrow!

Fans of Buffy's season 9, do you have burning questions for head writer extraordinaire of the season Andrew Chambliss? Like is Willow going to crack and go "black eyes of evil" even in a world without magic? Is Buffy pregnant with a demon (or human) love child? Will Spike and Buffy just make out already? And what in the hell is up with Xawn? Ask all this and more at the live Twitter Chat taking place tomorrow Nov. 10th at 9am Pacific Time/12 pm East Coast.

Not only that, but Dark Horse will be giving away 5 copies of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 9 #1 signed by Georges Jeanty during the chat.

Make sure to use hashtag #Buffy9Chat

http://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/710/buffy-live-twitter-chat-andrew-chambliss

Buffyfest's 4th Annual Whedonverse Holiday Ornament Swap!

Holy smokes! Is it really that time of year again? We're happy to announce the 4th Annual Whedonverse Holiday Ornament Swap. Wooo! We're so excited to do this every year and have witnessed such amazing Whedony Holiday creativity. See for yourself the several hundred photos of festive craftiness from years past:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/buffyfestholidayswap/

Wasn't that awesome? If you're new, this event is about crafting 4-6 Holiday ornaments with a Whedonverse theme and sending them to 4-6 different recipients. In return you will receive 4-6 completely different handmade ornaments from around the globe to adorn your tree or Holiday Ritual Object of choice. As you can see from the photos, you really can make them out of anything: Wood, knit, sew, paint, draw, sculpt, paper craft, recycle old ornaments (earth friendly!). It's all about imagination!

If you'd like to join us, sign-ups begin right now and will end one week from today, November 15th at 11:59 PM U.S. EST. And please be willing to go through with this entire thing before signing up! Deadbeats ruin the holiday fun. Here are the guidelines in 6 easy steps:

1. Sign up for the swap by sending an email with the subject "MERRY WHEDON" and the following information to buffyfest@aim.com by November 15th.
- name
- address
- email address
- your website or blog (if you have one)
- whether your are willing to ship internationally*

2. On November 16th you'll receive an email from us containing the addresses and email addresses of 4-6 swap participants for you to send your ornaments to. (Again, you will have access to each others home addresses, as well as email addresses. Please contact each other with any questions, disputes or praise.)

3. Design and create the multiple Whedon themed ornaments!

4. Package your ornaments well - especially if you create anything fragile. (Note that most international shipping requirements do not allow for any plant life or food type stuff.) and send one ornament to each person on the list of 4-6 other swap participants in your group by Monday, December 5th.

5. Sit back and relax as you wait to receive 4-6 lovely Whedonverse ornaments in the mail!

6. Then, share photos of the ornaments you make and receive by uploading to the swap flickr group here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/buffyfestholidayswap. You will need a flickr account to upload photos, which is easy to set up.

*A note on international shipping: Please only select international shipping if you are willing to ship at least 2-3 of your ornaments overseas. Take the cost of shipping into account when you design your ornament. Lighter and more compact ornaments are cheaper to ship.

Any questions? Email buffyfest@aim.com

(Spoilers) Buffyfest Exclusive: Angel & Faith #7 Covers and Big News!

What we have here on this glorious Monday are here the two covers for Angel & Faith #7!  Variant with Faith in picture by Rebekah Issacs and regular with Dru by Steve Morris. And that's right, we're excited to confirm exclusively that Dru is going to be part of Angel & Faith #6-9! She'll first appear in #6. Cannot wait!

Angel & Faith #7 is on sale February 29th, 2012.

Solicit Text:
Horrors across the London landscape have led Angel and Faith to a certain hot new vampire in the underground scene . . . Drusilla. She is back in her homeland and feeling better than ever!

While Angel indecisively deals with Dru, Faith must sort out an unexpected guest of her own who promises to rile up her inner turmoil with fun-filled stories from the past.
Angel & Faith series writer Christos Gage (Avengers Academy) and series artist Rebekah Isaacs (DV8) are bringing the blood and the pain!

Drusilla returns to the Buffyverse!

Executive produced by Joss Whedon!

Angel returns to Dark Horse!
Follows the events of Buffy Season 8!

Update: The Drusilla cover has been updated to reflect the final draft, via Steve Morris.

#MyBuffyLife Contest Winner announced!!

First off, thanks to all of the creative Whedonites who entered the vidding contest and to Dark Horse for trusting us with such a task! The vids were all fun, but Dark Horse decided some were so good that they did the unprecedented and picked 2 recipients of fantastic prizes!

The top dog is getting an INCREDIBLE prize pack full of some of the best and rare collectible stuff out there. We're talking the entire collection of the Buffy Season 8 trade-paperbacks, a hardcover of Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Tales, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lunch box, a signed copy of Buffy Season 9 #1 25th Anniversary cover from Georges Jeanty, a very special Buffy/Angel & Faith Trifold - signed by Joss Whedon, Andrew Chambliss, and Jo Chen AND a 7' tall amazing Buffy Banner! Whew! Without further ado, the Grand Prize winner is:

Erin Gabbard and her PrimEVILution Cosmetics ad!

This vid is awesome. I totally lol'ed when she said "we have surgeons from all 5 dimensions" with the photo of Scott Allie, Sierra Hahn, Joss Whedon and everyone else shown. Hysterical. Check it out below:



And because The Gomez Twins did such an amazing job with their high quality vid and original song with kick-ass vocals, Dark Horse decided to go rogue and give them a runner up prize! They won a signed Buffy #1 and some fab Buffy barware. Check their vid out below. Congratulations to both winners! Enjoy your Buffy loot :)