A Review of Episode 9 – A Dish Served Cold
Meanwhile, back in the present, Anya receives her wedding veil, courtesy of ebay, and finds herself possessed by Magda’s vengeful spirit. While the Scoobies race to figure out how to save Anya, Sunnydale is overrun with body-snatching spirits, and Dawn is left lost and alone…until she comes across Javert.
Screams of pain and terror fill the air as we join BBtL for Episode 9, “A Dish Served Cold.” In a rare flashback sequence, we join the powerful Anyanka as she and D’Hoffryn bask in the afterglow of destruction and chaos. (And discuss the following week’s cribbage game.) While Anyanka and D’Hoffryn are pleased with the carnage, young Magda, the woman responsible for the wish, takes her own life out of fear and despair.
The crew at Buffy: Between the Lines has managed something that takes some people years to master, the art of portraying emotion without going overboard. Some people beat their audience over the head with angst and melodrama, more often than Giles gets knocked unconscious. But those over at BBtL manage to keep things a bit more subtle. They played the reunion between Giles and Jenny Calender perfectly; it was heartfelt and bittersweet without being too emotional. (Giles is British, after all.) At the same time, they also manage to capture just how alone Dawn feels without her mother or big sister around. All the while, never losing the grief that still hangs over everyone with after Buffy’s death. That’s a lot of darkness to have to balance out, but the crew does a wonderful job of keeping everything in check.
Oh, but that cliffhanger of an ending? Does anyone else wonder if writer, Alyrenee Greaves was momentarily possessed by the spirit of Joss Whedon?
Quote of the Episode Award goes to:
Xander: Willow, did you know about this?
Willow: Oh, sure Xander. At my bar mitzvah the spirit of my late uncle Sidney possessed me and made me sing Old Man River.
Xander: You sang Old Man River? How did I miss that?
