Buffy Episode 3.5: Homecoming

Welcome to our discussion of Buffy Season 3 Episode 5: Homecoming; Wherein a surprise date with Cordelia messes up Buffy's date with Faith. Our drinks this time are Slayerfest and The Spatula of Empowerment. 

Before we get too far, please make sure to take advantage of Plottr’s final days of it’s amazing sale before it’s gone! You can find more out about Plottr here. 

In this, our second try at recording this episode thanks to some technological epic failure, we discuss further out theories about the previous episode and just how gay it—and possibly Oz—are before we move on to bigger and better things. We talk at length about Snard’s theory about what is really going on between Xander and Willow, whether or not Angel knows he has a tattoo, more cargo for the ship of Buffy and Faith, and a whole lot more. 

As always, thank you for sticking through the rocky road of technical issues and life things this year, and please make sure to share us with your Buffy-loving friends and anyone else who might enjoy the show. Thank you for listening!

Buffy Episode 3.4: Beauty and the Beasts

Welcome to our discussion of Buffy Season 3 Episode 4: Beauty and the Beasts; wherein all men are beasts, Buffy.

Our drinks this time are the Toxic Heteronormatini and the Irish Tourist—for recipes make sure to check out our Buffytails page at www.worldwithoutshrimp.com. 

Now on to the show: after Snard reinforces her theory of episode 3 being from Angel’s point of view, we begin our long-running discussion of episode order and how they match a similar pattern on Buffy’s journey through each season. This episode is working under almost pure metaphor for all of our poor scoobies, and we realize early on that it might just be the queerest episode of Buffy—and possibly television—ever. Faith has shown up and presented herself as a possible love interest for Buffy, and so our cast and parts of Buffy suddenly halt and catch fire in their attempt at reinforcing heteronormativity. 

Please make sure to take advantage of the amazing deal on Plottr our friend Cameron Sutter is offering for National Novel writing month and help support our podcast at the same time. Also, if you want to read more about writing and track Snard's National Novel Writing Month, make sure to visit www.michelletuckett.com. 

Thank you as always, for listening, sharing, commenting, and generally being the best Gentle Listeners in all the land. Stay tuned next time for Season 3 Episode 5: Homecoming.

Buffy 3.3: Faith, Hope & Trick Part 2

Welcome to the second of our 2-part podcast of Buffy Season 3, Episode 3: Faith, Hope & Trick; wherein... OMG Faith is here!!! We pick up where we left off in our very long discussion of the introduction of one of Buffy's most enduring (in more ways than one) characters, and we are loving every minute of it. 

We discuss in greater detail the production coding showing Faith as a viable and very real romantic interest for Buffy (sorry, Scott... not), and also investigate Faith's introduction as a means by which the cast, audience, and plot can re-investigate Buffy's past as a slayer and come to new understanding and new ground. Faith is the introduction of a true shadow for Buffy, allowing her greater space to grow and flesh out as a character in ways the Scoobies couldn't accommodate. 

We also have a pretty awesome revelation at the end about the real trick in the episode and exactly how Angel returned when he did. Just listen... we think we're brilliant. 

We want to thank you so much for listening, sharing, and supporting us. We are approaching our first anniversary, and we have lots of expansions and new ideas in store. Stay tuned! 

**A note from Snard: I want to thank everyone for their comments, emails, and messages of concern and encouragement. Right before posting the last episode, I tried a new ADHD medication that disrupted the equilibrium of my normally happy brain chemicals and had to take time out for self care. We are back and ready to go though, and have been recording while I've taken a break from edits, so there's plenty more where this came from. **

Buffy 3.3: Faith, Hope & Trick Part 1

Welcome to our 2-part podcast Buffy Season 3, Episode 3: Faith, Hope & Trick; wherein... OMG Faith is here!!! Plus, Trick, some floppy-haired dink, and the return of Angel: now with more naked! We have been anticipating the appearance of Faith since our show's inception and have many, many things to say. As always, we discover deeper themes and meanings than what is meant to be seen on the surface, and we work to uncover what is really going on. 

Among the character developments as well as comings and goings around town, we discuss all that is hidden, including what Buffy's dream of Angel and the ring means (it's a trick... get it?), deeper myths that are beginning to come together, and, well.. a ton. Through Faith, we also get to discuss production coding as a way to recognize gay/bi/queer characters as discussed at greater length in The Celluloid Closet, which explains much of how we see such heavy queer themes where many have detected none: and boy, do we detect a few. 

Please remember that this is a 2-part episode, so make sure to check back this week for part 2 on this same post (in edits now). 

And as always, thank you so much for listening, sharing us with your Buffy-loving friends, commenting, and liking us on Facebook. And thank you SO very much for your patience with our schedule since things have slowed down to terribly this year. We promise we will be back to a regular posting schedule as soon as possible.  

**Please forgive us for any audio issues we have had and are having for the next few issues. Some failing equipment caused some serious anomalies that had to be edited around. We have since fixed the problems with massive equipment upgrades, but we have a few episodes yet to get past before it will get WAY better. **

Buffy Episode 3.2: Dead Man's Party

Welcome to our discussion of Buffy Season 3 Episode 2: Dead Man's Party; wherein Buffy's family and friends are incomparable assholes except for Giles who snaps off one of the funniest lines we have ever heard. We have had schnapps to wash down the bitter comments, and also work to try and understand why Buffy's friends are terrible. We postulate many ideas, among them that this episode is from Joyce's point of view, and have some very interesting ideas about the origin of Pat and where she fits into the greater Buffyverse (seriously, Snard found evidence). We also discuss the function of the mask as a reflection of Joyce's consciousness and her need to keep up appearances and activates in her absence of the ability to maintain control - a theme that feeds well into the mythological metaphors of this season. 

We have to do a lot of heavy metaphor and character gymnastics in this episode to arc Buffy from her freedom and slayer awakening back into the confines of Sunnydale and the role she is supposed to play as the hero who never shows emotion - setting her up in a way that will prevent her from opening up to Faith when she gets here, and thus creates tension in the story. Our metaphors broadcast all sorts of internal workings and conflicts, and the characters indicate many trends and issues that foreshadows upcoming actions. Love it or hate it, this is a pivotal and telling episode. Plus, Gile's car rant makes it all worth it.  

As always, thank you fro much for listening and all you do for the show. Make sure to like us on Facebook, go to our website to comment and see what else we're up to, and contact us at info@diogenesclubpodcast.com. Until next time, when we get to the the thing Jen has been waiting for since we began.... FAITH!! 

And because you'll need it after this episode, Richard Simmons being fabulous:

Buffy Episode 3.1: Anne

It's hard to believe we're at season 3! And boy do we start out with a bang in our discussion of Buffy Season 3 Episode 1: Anne; Wherein Buffy, Slayer of the Vampires, falls down 6 times and gets up 7. In this episode we see Buffy once again coming to terms with her own resurrection - a theme that will last throughout for all season opening for this show. Her life as she knew it was over, and she is putting the pieces back together in a spartan apartment on the “poor side of town” (Hi, Faith) while her friends and mother still manage to scapegoat her from afar. We see a lot of interesting character movements coming down the pipeline from all characters in foreshadowing and misunderstandings and we also see a glimpse of the Slayer we know Buffy can be - despite being in mourning and trying to not be the hero, she steps up and kicks ass in glorious fashion when the times comes, all while paralleling Angel’s unseen journey through the underworld and also many clues into how to interpret his words and actions once he returns. Stay tuned for some dynamite work on the Greek Myth front with this development. 

We talk a lot about the movements of all Buffy's parts here, discuss Buffy's deeper slayer self, and also inspect many foreshadowings and deeper currents illustrated by the Scoobies that will come to light as time goes by in future episodes. Plus, we get a pretty dope costuming metaphor with Lily's Rocky Horror shirt and parallels to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. This is only the beginning of an amazing season of television.

And make sure to pay attention to our new feature of the podcast: Buffy-themed cocktails created by us and tailored for each episode. 

As always, thank you so much for listening and helping us boost our signal. Even though it's been two full seasons now, we feel like we're just getting started. Please make sure to like us on Facebook, visit our website, and share us with your Buffy-loving friends.

And because we mentioned Nathan Fillion, we have to share this: 

Brian and Nick discover their outer beauty. Buy BriTANicK T-shirts!!!! http://britanick.spreadshirt.com Cast: Christian Ani Mariel Booth Amanda Crew Frankie the Bulldog Nathan Fillion Christian Guidi Director of Photography: Jay Hunter (with an alley-oop by Danny Grunes) Song: "Safari" - Teen Girl Scientist Monthly Makeup: Bebe Gene Special Thanks: Dante Fernandez Ben Joseph Sam Kirsch Chris Knauer T.J.