Um ... no comment.

das

I'll comment, from nine years in the trenches at the under the Golden Arches no less.

1. Training video
Never showed the processing, just the brainwashing to make you believe that what you were doing was the best thing in the world for your future and the economy.

2. Meat grinding on site, nope.
Maybe at a smaller place, but Buffy indicated this was a statewide chain. The meat comes frozen, preformed into patties. Same with the buns, they came in big bags, not packs of 12 like at the grocery.

3. Dehydrated pickles, nope.
Close, the small onions on the hamburgers, and Big Macs come dehydrated, but the larger ones on the 1/4 pounders are "fresh", as in they come presliced in big bags.

4. Secret sauce
The Big Mac sauce is no secret, it's basically ketchup and thousand island.

5. The three part bun
From the top down: crown, club, heel

6. Free food
Not unless you want a one way ticket to fired-ville, population: you.

7. Picture menu
I wish it were that easy, I pushed for years for that. And it would be size>drink, not drink>size.

8. Hat
Gotta wear the hat, supposedly to keep the hair out of the food.
Funny thing though, 9 times out of 10, my hair was cleaner than the hands of most of the customers.

9. Grease
Won't clog up your ears (unless you never bathe), but it did cause skin problems from hell. And the smell, it wouldn't come out of your uniforms, wash after wash after wash.

10. Putting Buffy on the register so soon. I know they were just moving things along for the sake of the story, but proper training would have newbies running drinks, fries, and cleaning the lobby for sometime to get acclimated to the flow of things before
throwing them to the wolves. Usually.

11. The grill
Put meat down, push the button. This was pretty dead on, except several years ago, McDonald's went to a double sided grill that cooked the meat on both sides at once. Nifty. And hot. Burnt many knuckles in those days.


Also, kinda funny seeing Wendy's commercials during the show, esp with the passing of dear old Dave, creepy.

The characterizations of the managers were dead on, especially Lorraine (the woman at the end)
You may think it's a worthless job, but you get that ketchup in your veins, and it consumes you. Nothing else matters, but the store.

I'm not sure if I can review this episode objectively otherwise, kinda like how war vets have trouble with war flicks I guess
Not a whole lot of revelations, but I get the feeling they've just been putting little pieces here and there like a puzzle, and then we'll get the one piece that will reveal the big picture like next week is supposed to do:

You forgot

12:REAL old ladies don't have large tentacle-mouth things coming out of the top of their heads. (BOY, someone should be fired for THAT one).

Sorry, I'm just anal retentive like that.

Was anyone else reminded of the long necked critter from Evil Dead 2? The could have had Xander (who looks disturbingly like Bruce Campbell) come in and go all bad-Ash on her

Let me just say....I LOVE BUFFY...but, yes there is a but here, This particular show

I thought the episode was semi-enjoyable, not up to Buffy standards, but better than no Buffy. However, after watching Season 1 again on DVD I have to say that SMG looks TERRIBLE. How hot was she in that first season when she had a figure. Her hair is terrible I don't care what anyone says and the lipstick is way too bright. Please, PLEASE make her put on some damn weight already.

Otherwise Xander of course funny in all his scenes as expected. Oh and Soylent green is people.

...

So... Boring...

The whole episode was just... Ugh.

Maybe I'm just jaded, but a fast food joint that serves up people patties is pretty dull stuff. Add to it that they weren't even really serving up people, and...

The Willow stuff was somewhat interesting, but I wish they would have taken a scene away from "Buffy suspects something suspicious afoot at the Doublemeat Palace" to show her actually having fun with Amy's gift. 'Cause, all we saw was her randomly misfiring, and then suffering the shakes afterwards. And, while I'm at it, how did she get inside the DMP to save Buffy? Maybe she used magic, but I have a sinking suspicion it needs to be added to the 'random plot resolution' pile.

The Buffy/Spike sex is getting old and inconcisistent. Last episode, she's loving it. This episode, it's all "meh".

Really, the episode had potential. I just wish they would have switched the Doublemeat Mystery to the background plot, and let the Willow and Xanya arcs take the foreground.

I never did like the Buffy / Spike sex thing. Now it's just looking like a filler. So unnatural and not essential to the story. Hope it's going somewhere and end SOON!

The penis looking worm from the lady's head is straight from those Japanese hentai's.

They stories are just getting more boring day by day. It's just sad. It does look like Amy might have something to do with the big bad this season.

So is Buffy gonna be flipping burger, like everyday now? How is she going to slay any vampires? Oh yeah, she hasn't done that for a looooong time. Guess they're all dead. Wait they are all already dead! Oh well.

I tell ya, it's just getting painfull sitting thru the show these days. The demon / vampire slaying seems to be just an afterthought nowadays. Maybe SMG is getting "old" and just can't move so much anymore.

And this semi-real world experience is just plain boring. She should've asked for a big payout from the burger chain instead of just keeping her job. How UN-real is that!

I thought the plot is still moving rather slowly. This felt like another filler episode, even though a few things happened.

Looks like Amy to the dark side - how soon before she gets recruited by the 'arch nemesis'?

I wish they would do something about the Spike/Buffy thing. Does she like it or not? Same deal with Dawn. Is she a brat or not? In this episode she seems to have calmed down but was a total freak in the last.

As someone mentioned, almost everyone seems to have shiny lips. Ok, I'm nitpicking there. But it is noticable.

"Once again, I say, 'HUH?'

Oy! I think almost everyone but Anya slept-walked through their roles in last night's episode.

SMG did look pasty last night (yep, too much lipstick too). Her dialogue delivery was really flat. The "sex" break looked really unappetizing, talk about going through the motions. At least Spike brought up that Buffy has been transformed into a demon of some sort, though Buffy keeps denying it. Maybe Skip will show up on Buffy at the end of the season...

The whole faux soylent green angle was pretty gross. That old lady with the "Alien" head was also plain yuck. I can't see Buffy holding down this job (can you imagine the night shifts when she needs to be on patrol? Oops, sorry, have to serve the 10 Billionth Double Meat Medly!)

Dawn better be cracking on the books so she can support Buffy.

Xander's reactions to consuming the burgers got small guffaws from me.

Anya looked pretty good going the platinum blonde look, but Helfrak was one scary looking vengeance demon (I share Xander's concerns. Heh).

Splike and the flourescent lights comment. Chuckle. Exactly how much of a break did Buffy have for their quickie? That was a strange, sad, disturbing scene of them bopping against the outside wall. Buffy did look so far away during coitus with Spike.

Willow's near contempt for plain science when doing the analysis of the "beef" seems to say to me that she'll always fight her true nature, and it will come to a head, and I don't Willow is ever going to be happy again until she takes up magic again.

I think Buffy is going to whack Amy by accident if we're to believe the previews for the next episode. Somehow Buffy will have to sentence herself to the "Phantom Zone" like Superman did when he took an innocent life. But perhaps they'll cop out by explaining Amy has been turned into a demon, and thus fair game for the slayer.

Overall a poor episode for a Buffy episode, but still mildly entertaining in its social commentary on the fast food industry.

Well,..... I liked it! Maybe I was just happy to see a new one. I thought is was funny - I don't overanalyze this show - I just find it entertaining. BUt, the BUffy/Spike break sex, was kind of weird and out of place, no build up, it just happened.

Buffy/Spike sex - I think that's the point, it's just become this physical activity, there's no love going on between them. In an ideal setting, sex is an expression for the love between 2 people, but with Buffy and Spike, she's just going through the motions because she has nothing better to do. That scene gets sadder and sadder in my eyes the more I think back on it.

I can't imagine what could be worse than having sex with someone you don't like, but are compelled to because there's absolutely no one else who "gets" you.

Agreed. This was really the only part I liked about this episode. It reminds me of Mallrats. "I sit in the bathroom, and I cry ... because I have nothing better to do than **** you." I liked that scene and the way it played like she really wasn't particularly enjoying the sex, it was just something she was compelled to do to take her mind off the fact that her life has little meaning right now. I'm still very fond of the Spike/Buffy thing, as long as it's not played up as love, just like I'm fond of the Willow magic storyline as long as it's an addiction to the power, not the magic itself.

das

This was so poorly done I’m not gonna post in this thread.

Definitely filler material. I actually like SMG's new look with her short hair, it makes her look more mature.

I certainly hope this series hasn't jumped the shark yet, but I'm starting to think it jumped right after the Musical episode. That episode combined all the feelings from the previous seasons and looked toward a bleak, but hopefully interesting future after all the feelings were laid out. Now we have Giles gone, Dawn being used very little considering she was the center of attention last year, Spike and Buffy finally giving into carnal desires, etc.

Where's the supposed reappearance of ? Where is the Big bad? The 3 geeks are great, but the season is getting short and we need a Big bad. Amy isn't going to cut it in that role and I doubt Willow is going that way.

Is the Spike/Buffy thing going to lead somewhere or are they just going to have sex here and there and never talk about it. Spike tries to talk about it, but Buffy blows him off. It's obvious this relationship will not pan out and Spike will probably end up dying in the end.

They must put the "Buffy not right" storyline onto the front burner instead of letting it simmer in the back. This whole season is out of whack in terms of pacing. The show gets going and then it sputters. Maybe Whedon should have held off on the musical, I think he may have tapped any semblance of the show after that.

Maybe I'm the only one thinking this. Buffy has been my favorite show since it started and I'm starting to feel it going downhill ever since the musical. That may be the penultimate episode of the series and everything's downhill from there...I hope not though.

Maybe the Angel/Buffy split on networks has hurt this show as well. Maybe that dynamic is what is missing. Angel still has a good storyline going, and Buffy just seems to be stuck in neutral. Ah well, I think I've said enough...looking forward to something sparking up next week hopefully.

Agreed. However, it's been played as a magical addiction which I can't stand. It had/has the potential to be so much more and I thought it would be after the great Giles confrontation. It hasn't materialized though.

I agree, more attention needs to be paid to "Buffy Not Right", you can't just mention that then forget about it! I was espectiong more on that last night...

I liked this ep. Some good stuff going on. Especially the Willow stuff. That was the best. Her withstanding Amy's gift and then telling Amy off at the end. That really set up a nice way for Amy to become a big threat as well. I could see her teaming up with the Troika and they all go after the Scooby Gang. That would be cool.

I hope Willow goes back to science/computer girl and leaves magic alone. What she SHOULD do is get back together with Tara. Then we could still have some magic when we needed it, but not from Willow. I really hope Willow stays clean and doesn't "fall off the wagon". I'm tired of her being the bad guy.

Anyway, next weeks looks sort of interesting, except that we already went through this back in Season 3:

We had a whole two-parter about this sort of thing. So I hope it doesn't get rehashed again. That would be bad. But I'm always the optimistic sort, so I'll just wait and see. Oh, and the person in the promo didn't look like Amy to me.

X

In-N-Out is not real because it cuts it's own fries on site whereas only real fast food chains get their fries pre cut in frozen packages.

--HN

It would be hard to sell a thirst for power as an addiction. The concept is universal and has been done too many times. But using magic as the “drug” with the withdrawal and can’t-ever-touch-it-again consequences of addiction, as with alcohol and drugs, is a novel one. Outside of totally uninspired writing, what’s wrong with the idea?




____________________
The above post is a figment of your imagination. Any similarity between this and an actual post is coincidental.

5 years of back story. I have no problems with the idea of magic being a "drug" with all the pros and cons associated. I think it's an interesting concept and certainly not tired. But that's not the way they developed Willow's character. Doing magic was never a problem for her. Calling upon dark forces to change things she wasn't supposed to mess with is what's screwed her up. The power she got from going all black-eyed was addictive. She started playing more and more with forces that were not for her, and calling on "dark" magic in everyday situations. They've abandoned that entire arc and just washed it away with a simple "ho-hum ... she's addicted to magic ... magic's bad, mmkay." "Magic" is not her problem ... it's her inability to face reality and face her pain. She's always tried to change the bad things in her life instead of simply facing them. This has been the growth of her character for 5 years - her feelings of inadequacy, her fear of being average, her inability to face the difficult things in her life - and it seems (for the time being) that they've tossed all of that character development aside for a much more superficial story that's black and white, cut and dry "Magic = Bad."

das

Totally agree.To fully treat an alcoholic, one must address the reasons for drinking in the first place.

It seems that you don’t get the connection, but by changing just one word in your statement you’ve described many who are problem drinkers. And done it very well, BTW.

A very forgettable episode, I thought. Kind of a throw away. The Buffy story should've been the B plot, I think.

Yee-haw, nothing was actually happening at the fast food place (aside from the scary customer/demon.) Yippee.

Some props to the 'it's people' but it wasn't done very effectively. The make up for the old lady when the thing came out of her head was horrible. It looked like it was flaking and falling off in places.

I guess life isn't always interesting when you live on the hellmouth.

Yeah ... I get the connection ... and I had started typing some stuff about the differences (and similarities) between an alcohol addiction and other substance addictions, pointing out someone like Tara who can have a drink with friends every night and it not be a big deal, but for Willow, there's no such thing as just having one drink with friends. But I got lost and couldn't remember what my original point was, so I just snipped it all out. It seems like they're jumping back and forth between alcoholic and crackwhore. I've always thought of Willow as being addicted to the power that magic gives her, not the substance of magic itself. It's never been the "shorter highs, deeper lows" addiction you see with some substances and that they played up in that afterschool special from a few weeks ago. The magic isn't the problem, it's just the instrument. She is the problem. And simply stripping magic from her life is not the solution.

Anyway, I'm getting of track ... it seems we both agree that they've glossed over the back story that's brought us to this point. I think (hope) they'll get back to the real root of her troubles at some point, but for now, it just seems so hollow, and that's where my frustration is building from. There could be so much depth to what they're trying to do, but they've just tossed it aside. In the end, our use of words like "addiction" become somewhat a semantics battle, because you hit the nail on the head with the real root of the problem: uninspired writing. This story could play out a few different ways and be compelling and fit with Willow's character. But we're being treated to none of that. Yet?

das