Discussion of 1.08 "I Robot, You Jane" - Aired 4/28/1997 (WB-US)

It's amazing when you go back and you see the bit players who've since go on to make a name for themselves. I was surprised to see Chad Lindberg in it. Just one of those 'wow' moments that you missed.

The other thing I took away from it, in retrospects, are chanty monks always throwing a monkey wrench in someones plans? I mean... they trapped Moloch in some musty dusty book and then they turned Glorificus's key into a person to hide from her. Monks are the secret enemy.
 
Haha, I also reacted to Chad Lindberg.

Monks man... up to no good 😉 Though here they had a pretty solid plan I think. If they couldn't destroy Moloch themselves trapping him seems pretty good, it's not like they could forsee future scanning... Although - couldn't they have destroyed the book after trapping him?
 
Taake said:
Although - couldn't they have destroyed the book after trapping him?
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Thats my point. It's just a dusty old book.. they can burn a dusty old book. It's not like it's the necronomicon or something. Burn that sucker. I mean, if they can burn Harry Potter then surely they can burn that horny covered book!

you said:
it's not like they could forsee future scanning..
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no, but future READING, hence the, I hope no one reads this remark. Really? Old books must be read. Foolish monks.
 
I confess that I have a weakness for this episode, in the sense that I really like it, and I find it still surprisingly actual. I love that Joss wanted to explore the internet addiction. I find that he had a kind of prescience here, since at that time there was no still talk of internet addiction.

Also, speaking of monks 🙂 for once I had no need of subtitles, instead you YES 😛 The part of the monks was in fact entirely in Italian, although not perfect Italian, if you ask me.
 
Scobro said:
no, but future READING, hence the, I hope no one reads this remark. Really? Old books must be read. Foolish monks.
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But reading doesn't mean it'd bring forth Moloch. That'd take a witch wouldn't it, conjuring Moloch? I'm sure just reading it would be quite safe.

janas said:
I confess that I have a weakness for this episode, in the sense that I really like it, and I find it still surprisingly actual. I love that Joss wanted to explore the internet addiction. I find that he had a kind of prescience here, since at that time there was no still talk of internet addiction.

Also, speaking of monks 🙂 for once I had no need of subtitles, instead you YES 😛 The part of the monks was in fact entirely in Italian, although not perfect Italian, if you ask me.
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Agree, I really like that exploration of internet addiction. Especially so early on as you said.
Though I imagine any youths watching it now would wonder why Buffy had to try Willow's line all night, it being busy, just cause Willow was online 😛
 
Taake said:
But reading doesn't mean it'd bring forth Moloch. That'd take a witch wouldn't it, conjuring Moloch? I'm sure just reading it would be quite safe.
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Incorrect. The monks said, in their imperfect Italian, I hope no one reads this or they will unleash Moloch. Paraphrasing.
 
Ah, okay, sorry, didn't pay attention to that.

Well in that case they were fools not to burn it... but then, infinte is the number of fools 😉
 
OK, this episode gets a lot of flak, and rightfully so, for being a dated, nerd-shaming, anti-intellectual Luddite after school special garbage. Yeah, valid criticism, but you know what, it's still fun and if you want to understand Willow as a character, well, this is a very important episode. But let's start with Giles. Giles and his freaking books. Why does Giles receive a 15th century tome that's basically a death trap? Living on hell mouth and all that? Why does he keep all those ludicrously dangerous books? Completely unprotected? Again, in Sunnydale? He's no wizard, right? I'm asking 'cause this is not the last time this shit happens. Giles keeps a book, evil steals it or you know, Willow gets her hands on it, hell ensues. Irresponsible wanker. Speaking of Willow, there's a lot of interesting stuff here, just look at those lines:

He's so smart, Buffy, and, and he's romantic, and we agree about everything!
That's what Buffy doesn't understand, how comfortable you can make me feel.

Kinda sounds like Oz, doesn't it? Oz is smart, romantic as...as, I don't know, as a Meg Ryan movie or something and Oz and Will, they kinda do agree about everything. Tara's like that too, just minus the agreeing part, Willow finds a way to fix that though. Hey, would that be Willow's type? Smart, romantic, makes her feel comfortable, always agrees with her and never lies? ( Willow hates being lied to, like really, really hates that ) Sounds like...Spike?! Also, is Xander smart? Huh. Or this:

Oh, see, I knew you'd react like this.
I don't understand why you don't want me to have this. I mean, boys don't chase me around all the time. ( *ahem* "Phases" *ahem* ) I thought you'd be happy for me.

Yeah, Buffy means well and she's right 'cause it's her show but at the same time she's also...full of shit! No, really. I mean, Buffy has hots for an undead abomination for goodness' sake, blows off a couple of classes too and Willow is very supportive of this insanity but when Willow finds her own monstrosity to have hots for Buffy acts like she's her...mom? Buffy, you're not Willow's mom, just WTF? I get that Willow's parents are clearly not there and that Will's a seriously lonely kid but come on. Speaking of mothers, Moloch goes full Oedipus on Will. As if he wasn't repulsive enough already - ancient god, child sacrifice, Ginsberg's "Howl". Eww. And look at this:

Let me leave?
But I love you!
Don't say that! That's a joke! You don't love anything!

I have to do this. Just let me go.
I can't. I love you.
No, you don't.

You are mine!
I'm not yours! I'm never gonna be yours! Never!

That's my girl.
I am not your girl! (...) I could never be your girl!

Only in this show, you guys. One more thing, I can't get over how awesome Willow looks in this hairdo:

mr2wjr.jpg


Simple but for some reason it looks great on her. Or maybe it's just my fetish. She wears it in "Normal Again" too, just FYI. What else, yeah, nerd trio version 1.0, parallels between Scoobies and the Moloch's team and yeah, that'd be about it. All in all, a fun episode.
 
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EVIL UU said:
OK, this episode gets a lot of flak, and rightfully so, for being a dated, nerd-shaming, anti-intellectual Luddite after school special garbage. Yeah, valid criticism, but you know what, it's still fun and if you want to understand Willow as a character, well, this is a very important episode. But let's start with Giles. Giles and his freaking books. Why does Giles receive a 15th century tome that's basically a death trap? Living on hell mouth and all that? Why does he keep all those ludicrously dangerous books? Completely unprotected? Again, in Sunnydale? He's no wizard, right? I'm asking 'cause this is not the last time this shit happens. Giles keeps a book, evil steals it or you know, Willow gets her hands on it, hell ensues. Irresponsible wanker.

Yeah, Buffy means well and she's right 'cause it's her show but at the same time she's also...full of shit! No, really. I mean, Buffy has hots for an undead abomination for goodness' sake, blows off a couple of classes too and Willow is very supportive of this insanity but when Willow finds her own monstrosity to have hots for Buffy acts like she's her...mom? Buffy, you're not Willow's mom, just WTF?
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Haha, good point about Giles and the books. I was also thinking about that. Did he send for it? (Because if that's so then he's incredibly reckless with it, not even noticing it until Ms. Calendar finds it emtpy) Was it sent to him (by the Powers that Be), or are we supposed to believe that Sunnydale High thought that a medieval demon book in a foreign tongue would actually be of use to any of it's students? I suppose we're just supposed to think that it gravitated towards Sunnydale High, in mysterious ways, because of the Hellmouth.

A lot of the dangerous books he keeps around I imagine because he uses them in his Watcherly duties so he keeps them where he himself spends the most time.

Interesting point about Willow's type.

In Buffy's defense I don't think she's trying to be Willow's mom I think it's more of a knee-jerk reaction that anyone would have if a friend acts out of character. I mean from everything we've seen of Willow so far she is not the type of person who takes blowing off classes easily, whereas Buffy is the type who would do it just to go get some ice-cream, so it's not strange that this behaviour would send up a red flag to a friend and cause some worry.
 
thetopher
thetopher
'Buffy is the type to do it just to get some ice-cream.' So true! :D
Taake said:
Haha, good point about Giles and the books. I was also thinking about that. Did he send for it? (Because if that's so then he's incredibly reckless with it, not even noticing it until Ms. Calendar finds it emtpy) Was it sent to him (by the Powers that Be), or are we supposed to believe that Sunnydale High thought that a medieval demon book in a foreign tongue would actually be of use to any of it's students? I suppose we're just supposed to think that it gravitated towards Sunnydale High, in mysterious ways, because of the Hellmouth.

A lot of the dangerous books he keeps around I imagine because he uses them in his Watcherly duties so he keeps them where he himself spends the most time.

Interesting point about Willow's type.

In Buffy's defense I don't think she's trying to be Willow's mom I think it's more of a knee-jerk reaction that anyone would have if a friend acts out of character. I mean from everything we've seen of Willow so far she is not the type of person who takes blowing off classes easily, whereas Buffy is the type who would do it just to go get some ice-cream, so it's not strange that this behaviour would send up a red flag to a friend and cause some worry.
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Yes spot-on. And I think it is very realistic behavour for friends to look out for each other that way. Indeed it is also weird for someone to form a bound with someone that quickly, when they have never even met them. Oh and Evil UU I too find Willow's hair very cute, but I am more in love that jumper😛

Onto the episdode, and this certainly isn't the worst episode of S1 (Teachers Pet), and not of the whole thing. But it is an example of a good idea which just doesn't play out well on screen. It is has great a few good moments, but never comes together as a whole.

The Good Stuff:

- Giles idiot box line is very good
- Buffy wearing another killer dress🙂
- The introdution of the Jenny character is a great way to introduce her character and the back and fourth debate between and Giles over Books VS. The Internet (and BTW no matter how much time I spend online, I am with Giles all the way on this one) is the highlight of the whole episode. I also like that Jenny picks up on an racial issue.
- Xander's line about "I could say I am dating an oldy Dutch woman" I also like! His and Buffy's concern over Willow is touching.
- Buffy trailing Dave in a tranch coat and glasses having told Giles she wouldn't is a nice touch.
- Two more great lines, Buffy: "My Spider sense is tingling" and Xander's "To read makes our English speak good"😀

The Bad Stuff:

- The plot is just very weak. Also the idea has been done before on shows like the X-Files.
- The bit in the shower with the electrity looks very bad.
- The demon is cartoonish (although the name is amusing)
- The pace is too slow
- Wasn't really convinced with Jenny's explaination for believing Giles about the demon😵(but I guess that is partly because she was covering for what we later find out about her character).

That many of the great moments are one liners, or nice little moments between the characters which feel outside of the main plot highlights the problem of this episode. It has enough good moments to be functional, but not a lot else.

5.5/10
 
I really love this episode, but then I love the entire first season. I can see why people don't like it, it's definitely a bit slow in parts and the whole demon being in a chat room is a little silly but then that's what I love about it. I loved the petty nit picking with Giles and Jenny and the '...thanks Fritz for making us all sound like crazy people' line always gets me. I also love Xander and Buffy's chat about who Malcolm is:

Xander: I could say I'm a high school student
Buffy: You are
Xander: OK but I could also say I'm an elderly Dutch women, I mean who's to say I'm not if I'm in the elderly Dutch chat room

I also love watching the episode back just cos computers seemed so scary and new back then with Buffy not immediately catching on to 'online' when Willow says where she met Malcolm and Jenny talking about how email has taken off. Things have changed so much!
 
Halfrek said:
I really love this episode, but then I love the entire first season. I can see why people don't like it, it's definitely a bit slow in parts and the whole demon being in a chat room is a little silly but then that's what I love about it. I loved the petty nit picking with Giles and Jenny and the '...thanks Fritz for making us all sound like crazy people' line always gets me. I also love Xander and Buffy's chat about who Malcolm is:

Xander: I could say I'm a high school student
Buffy: You are
Xander: OK but I could also say I'm an elderly Dutch women, I mean who's to say I'm not if I'm in the elderly Dutch chat room

I also love watching the episode back just cos computers seemed so scary and new back then with Buffy not immediately catching on to 'online' when Willow says where she met Malcolm and Jenny talking about how email has taken off. Things have changed so much!
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I think there was a strong idea for the episode and some of the smaller details were very well done. It was the bigger moments and set pieces which really let the episode down.
 
Mr Trick said:
I think there was a strong idea for the episode and some of the smaller details were very well done. It was the bigger moments and set pieces which really let the episode down.
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Oh boy did I really say that!?😱 Upon reflection this episode sucks a big one🙁 It reminds me of when they tried a similar idea in the X-Files with Ghost in the Machine and that fell flat too. It was also a wasted opportunity with Willow as she should have taken a central role instead of the computer nerds and Moloch.

The end scene with the Scoobies was sweet though, and loved Gile's speech about books smelling.
 
I don't understand why this demon wants all his followers to love him. I know it's showing the darker more obsessive side of love (but you could argue that's obsession not love). It just doesn't seem very 'corruptive' or menacing.
 
crazysoulless
crazysoulless
To quote Doctor Who, "Fear is temporary, love is slavery."
Yeah, certain demons like to feed on/need human emotions. Like the demons from 'Gingerbread' and 'AYNOHYEB'.
 
Is it just me or this episode was meant to warn people of the dangers the internet holds before most people even had computers at their own homes ?

Jenny also makes her first appearance
here and talks positive about computers. (...and calls Giles a snob...)

Speaking of Jenny, I like how Giles acts a bit awkward around Jenny 🙂
 
Smile Time said:
Is it just me or this episode was meant to warn people of the dangers the internet holds before most people even had computers at their own homes ?

Jenny also makes her first appearance
here and talks positive about computers. (...and calls Giles a snob...)

Speaking of Jenny, I like how Giles acts a bit awkward around Jenny 🙂
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Think so yes although of course other shows such as the X-Files had done similar episodes, but then I guess this was more ahead of the curve on social media and things like that. The idea for the episode was a good one it just wasn't carried out very well IMO.
 
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