"Pangs" | |
---|---|
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |
Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 8 |
Directed by | Michael Lange |
Written by | Jane Espenson |
Production code | 4ABB08 |
Original air date | November 23, 1999 |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Pangs" is the eighth episode of season 4 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer . It was written by Jane Espenson, directed by Michael Lange, and first broadcast on November 23, 1999 on The WB.
On Thanksgiving, Buffy encounters the restless and vengeful spirit of a member of a fictionalized portrayal of the aboriginal Chumash tribe, who, in the show's setting, were wiped out by white settlers. [1] During a tense confrontation, the Slayer fights a losing battle against her formidable foe - but a mysterious protector watches over her from the shadows.
Buffy scholar Rhonda V. Wilcox has written, "It is unquestionably one of the most controversial episodes of Buffy. It is also one of Buffy creator Joss Whedon's declared favorites." [2]
Buffy, patrolling, finds a vampire, engages, and then slays him, while Angel watches her from behind some bushes. The college's Dean Guerrero orates for the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Anthropology building, and Xander is one of the construction workers. Xander begins to dig, but the ground suddenly caves out under him, and he drops into an old abandoned building, which is soon discovered to be a long-lost Mission, buried underground in an earthquake centuries ago.
Buffy, upset that her mother is going to be out of town for Thanksgiving, decides to cook her own Thanksgiving dinner and invite all her friends. Anya arrives at Xander's house to find him incredibly sick, and right away starts taking care of him.
A green haze comes up from the old Mission and goes to the Cultural Center where some weapons are being kept. After the haze comes in contact with a knife, it turns into a large Native American man and kills the curator. Buffy and Willow later secretly investigate the murder, and wonder why the curator's body is missing an ear. They discover that a Chumash knife is missing.
After Giles agrees to look up information on the Chumash people, and Buffy leaves, Angel appears from Giles's back room, having come to Sunnydale because his friend had a vision of Buffy in danger. Willow goes to get coffee and runs into Angel. He tells her he is just looking out for Buffy because she might be in trouble. Buffy attempts to find a reverend in a church for information on the Chumash, but finds him having been hanged by the Native American man, Hus, who attacks her before fleeing. When Willow researches the Chumash, she discovers that they were imprisoned into slavery and forced labor for various supposed misdeeds, and that they attacked their accusers by severing their ears in retaliation. Buffy realizes that Hus is recreating the wrongs done to his people in vengeance. After overhearing the conversation from the bushes, Hus returns to the Mission where he resurrects his warriors.
Covered in a blanket and in terrible shape, Spike runs through the woods, trying to escape Riley and his Initiative team as they look for him. Starving, Spike tries to get food from Harmony, but she threatens him with a stake and he leaves. With only a blanket to protect him from the sun, Spike shows up at Giles's place, asking for help. Buffy is reluctant to give in, but after he offers inside information on the Initiative and Willow helps him explain that he cannot bite anyone anymore, she allows him in. Giles conjures that Hus is seeking out figures of authority as his targets, and Buffy worries that Guerrero could be next. When Willow feels bad about how their people treated the Chumash and refuses to cast a spell to kill the spirits, Spike calls the gang out on their apologetic behavior towards them. He especially points out that Hus would not accept anyone's apologies for rightfully killing his people as a conquering nation, and that Buffy must persevere and kill him in order to survive. Willow, Xander and Anya leave to warn Guerrero as Buffy and Giles prep for dinner.
The spirits attack Buffy, Giles, and Spike with arrows. Helplessly tied to a chair, all Spike can do is try to move out of the way as he gets hit with arrows. Willow, Xander, and Anya encounter Angel on their way back and they determine that the Chumash went after Buffy, realizing that she must be a figure of authority. Angel shows up and helps them out. Buffy cuts Hus with his own knife, and reaches the conclusion that his own weapon can kill him and his warriors. Hus turns into a large black bear, causing Spike to panic and knock his chair over. Buffy struggles with Hus and then stabs him, causing the spirits to disappear.
Angel walks away without being seen by Buffy, and later the gang sits down to Thanksgiving dinner, with Spike joining them whilst still tied up. Xander accidentally lets it slip that Angel was in town. [3]
Wilcox writes, "As Espenson says, "The core of it was something Joss had wanted to do for a long time, which is have a dead Indian at Thanksgiving — a very poetic illustration, I think, that we do kind of live in this country by virtue of some very ugly conquest. And the next thing you know we had a very non-threatening bear and some funny syphilis." ("Writing" 111)" [2]
Sally Eamons-Featherston comments that it stands out from other Buffy episodes for dealing with the issue of race. Its moral complexity is symbolised by Buffy's initial appearance in a black hat, traditionally the sign of a Western villain, and the program makes several references to the Western genre. The episode was however criticised in The Truth of Buffy: Essays on Fiction Illuminating Reality (2008) for stereotyping Native Americans, particularly Chumashes, who actually have a complex culture, while the Chumash warrior is portrayed here as speaking in a highly clichéd way. [4]
Vox , ranking it at #67 of all 144 episodes, writes, "Buffy takes the 'main character suddenly possessed by manic need for perfect holiday' trope and raises it a rather uncomfortable story about a Native American vengeance demon, which dances around discussing America's ugly legacy of genocide but never actually comes to any conclusions. Still, there are some funny moments ("You made a bear! Undo it! Undo it!") and the enjoyable runner of Angel being back in town and revealing himself to all the Scoobies but Buffy is capped off by the tiny, perfect clink of Buffy’s fork falling on her plate that plays over the final credits, as the ex-boyfriend-shaped cat finally comes out of the bag." [5]
Billie Doux, giving a rating of 4 out of 4 stakes, enjoys how "poor, alienated, new-to-college, post-Angel Buffy is compelled to create her own version of a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, all the while being attacked by perhaps justifiably homicidal Native American spirits. Whedon et al. continued to make Spike more sympathetic, starting with that hilarious Dickensian scene of Spike, frozen and starving, peering into a window at vampires feasting... and secondly, having him tied to a chair and hit with arrows during the second half of the episode." [6]
The A.V. Club called it "an outrageously entertaining episode", noting the many funny moments but also the complex moral debate over the Native American "evil". [7] Persephone Magazine called it the start of a run of three excellent episodes, including Something Blue and Hush . [8]
Alexander Lavelle Harris is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). He was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the television series by Nicholas Brendon and in two episodes by his twin brother, Kelly Donovan. He was conceived as an everyman and a male character for series heroine Buffy Summers to interact with, and to provide comic relief in the series. Xander is one of several friends of Buffy who assist her in saving the world against numerous supernatural events that plague Sunnydale, California, a town built over a doorway to hell.
"Once More, with Feeling" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003) and the only one in the series performed as a musical. It was written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon and originally aired on UPN in the United States on November 6, 2001.
Harmony Kendall is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. The character is portrayed by Mercedes McNab. Originally cast as a minor character, McNab's credited status elevated to guest star and ultimately series regular over the course of her tenure in Buffy and Angel.
"Doppelgangland" is the sixteenth episode of the third season of the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). It was written and directed by the show's creator, Joss Whedon, and originally aired on The WB in the United States on February 23, 1999. The episode's title is derived from the term "Doppelgänger", a German word for a lookalike or double of a living person.
"Tabula Rasa" is the eighth episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode aired on November 13, 2001 on UPN. It explores the characters not as they are, but as they could be, after they lose their memory to a spell gone awry.
"Restless" is the 22nd episode and season finale of season four of the supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), and the 78th episode of the series overall. The episode was written and directed by the show's creator Joss Whedon and originally aired on The WB in the United States on May 23, 2000.
"Innocence" is episode 14 of season two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was written and directed by Joss Whedon and first broadcast on The WB on January 20, 1998. It is part two of a two-part story. Part 1, "Surprise," was broadcast the day before.
"Chosen" is the series finale of the American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is the 22nd episode of the seventh season and the 144th episode of the series overall. It was both written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon, and originally aired on UPN on May 20, 2003. The Buffy story would not be continued beyond this point until "The Long Way Home", a comic book, in 2007 and the Buffy and Angel saga would end in the Season Twelve series in late 2018.
"Seeing Red" is the 19th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode aired on May 7, 2002, on UPN. In North America, this episode was somehow syndicated onto UPN affiliates a week early by accident. Although none of them broadcast the episode by mistake, the episode was leaked onto the internet more than a week before it was slated to air. The episode was also noted for its drastic and controversial content, being the only episode of the series to air at an alternate time on the Canadian family network YTV.
"First Date" is the fourteenth episode of seventh and final season of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode aired on February 11, 2003 on UPN.
"Grave" is the sixth-season finale of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode aired on May 21, 2002, on UPN. This episode is the second highest rated Buffy episode ever to air in the United Kingdom. Sky One aired the episode, which reached 1.22 million viewers on its original airing.
"Two to Go" is the 21st episode of season 6 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode aired on May 21, 2002 on UPN. The name of the episode is a reference to the previous one, which ends with Willow saying "One down" after killing Warren. Despite having died, Tara Maclay remains in brief scenes that are part of the opening credits.
"The Replacement" is episode three of season five of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode aired on October 10, 2000 on The WB.
"Something Blue" is the 9th episode of season 4 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Written by Tracey Forbes and directed by Nick Marck, it originally aired on November 30, 1999 on The WB. In "Something Blue", a spell by Willow goes awry, blinding Giles, making Xander a literal demon magnet, and causing Buffy and Spike to fall in love and get engaged.
"After Life" is the third episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the 103rd episode of the series. It was written by Jane Espenson and directed by David Solomon, and aired on October 9, 2001 on UPN.
"Lie to Me" is the seventh episode of the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It originally aired on The WB on November 3, 1997.
"What's My Line" is a two-episode story arc in season two of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode was broadcast separately and aired on The WB. Part one aired on November 17, 1997 and part two aired on November 24, 1997.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from 2011 to 2013. It is the sequel to the Season Eight comic book series, a canonical continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Season Nine brand also incorporates a new Buffy spin-off series, Angel & Faith, and two spin-off miniseries Willow: Wonderland and Spike: A Dark Place. The core series consisted of 25 issues and each miniseries consisted of 5 issues.
The fourth season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on October 5, 1999, on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 23, 2000. It maintained its previous timeslot, airing Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET. Beginning with this season, the character of Angel was given his own series, which aired on The WB following Buffy. Various Buffy characters made appearances in Angel, including Buffy herself; Cordelia Chase, formerly a regular in Buffy, and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, who appeared in Buffy season three.
The seventh and final season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on September 24, 2002 on UPN and concluded its 22-episode run on May 20, 2003. It maintained its previous timeslot, airing Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET.