Episode 52 - Normal Again / Entropy (feat. Elizabeth Rambo)

“I know the world feels like a hard place sometimes, but you’ve got people who love you.”

 

We live in interesting times, my friends. So returning guest Elizabeth Rambo and I first talk about how we’re both surviving the latest apocalypse, before diving into the uplifting palate cleanser that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Six. To lighten the mood we discuss the divisive and possibly controversial(?) episodes 617, “Normal Again” and 618, “Entropy.” In the former, there’s discussion of Didgeridoo Demons,  metacommentary, and how literally to interpret the “Asylumverse.” And in the latter, scary, re-Vengeance Demonized Anya provides some much-needed humor; my Buffy-rage returns with a, well, a vengeance; and gyres widen.

 

Next: Elizabeth is back for more good fun times as we take on episodes 619, “Seeing Red” [Note: I am NOT looking forward to this one] and 620, “Villains.”

 

 

THE BREAKDOWN

Run Time: 01:32:05

00:00:55  -  Intro / Guest

00:09:20  -  Main Topic

01:28:20  -  Outro / Next

 

 

THE LIBRARY

Buffy Goes Dark: Essays on the Final Two Seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Television, edited by Lynne Y. Edwards, Elizabeth Rambo, and James B. South

Television Finales: From Howdy Doody to Girls, edited by Douglas L. Howard and David Bianculli

 

 

THE LINKS

“‘They told me Sunnydale was gonna be interesting’: Metaphorical Schizophrenia in Buffy the Vampire Slayer” by Vicki Japha, Watcher Junior 10.2 (Fall 2017)

“‘Those whom the powers wish to destroy, they first make mad’: the classical roots of madness in Buffy the Vampire Slayer” by Naomi Alderman (presented at Slayage 2004)

 

 

THE MUSIC

“Conversations (feat. Wesley Mead)” by Azura (2017)

“That Kind of Love” by Alison Krauss, Forget About It (

“I’m Going Slightly Mad” by Queen, Innuendo (1991)

 

 

THE SCHOLARS

Whedon Studies Association is a non-profit academic organization devoted to the study of the works of Joss Whedon and his associates. They put out Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies, and Watcher Junior​: The Undergraduate Journal of Whedon Studies, both blind peer-reviewed twice-yearly online publications. They also host the biennial Slayage Conference on the Whedonverses, which brings all these incredible scholars together to present papers, discuss ways of incorporating Whedon Studies in education, and basically just geek out together. 

http://www.whedonstudies.tv/