The Body

[spuffbeste]

Hey!

The Body was such a dramatical and sad episode in Buffy so I want you to tell your feelings when you first watched it. What made this episode so sad and special?

[Nina]

At the beginning of the episode, the moment Buffy finds Joyce and the whole happening after that is beautiful. The lines, the acting and the colours. I loved it. Those scenes are the best of the episode. The fruitpunch-speech of Anya was sad but something was off, the same with the scene with Dawn.

But the 'Mommy?' scene was fantastic.

[Weredog]

I'm gonna be honest, the first time I saw this episode, it didn't work for me. I didn't get it.

I was 12, grant it, so the no-score bugged me. It felt really dead and empty. I remember when the episode ended, I was like "So.... was this all a dream?" because it had that kind of feeling, you know?
Needless to say, as I rewatched the episode (as I do with every episode) i got it.

My favourite scene is at the beginning of the third act with Willow and Tara. Willow -- or should I say Alyson Hannigan -- delivers drama and comedy at her best; "Why do all my shirts have such stupid things on them?!" for example.

[ciderdrinker]

Ok I hope I don't bum everyone out with this....

I first watched this episode about 3 months after my best friend had died of cancer, and as you can imagine it was really, really effecting on me. So much so that about a year (and a couple of viewings of S5) later I still hadn't watched it again, because I couldn't face up to the pain of remembering Lucy's loss and that episode brought it so very close to home.

I forced myself to watch it again on Lucy's birthday about 18months after she died, and along with the ocean's worth of tears came a sense of moving on, allowing her death to become a part of who I am know - never forgetting her but not stopping my life because she's no longer around. As I write that, it sounds a bit ridiculous that an episode of TV can help you get over the grief of a loved one, but it encapsulated to me that death is not a solitary experience, that I wasn't the only person who felt that bad about losing someone so close, and that sometimes you need to think about the pain, not shut it out before you can heal.

When I watch the episode now 3 years later, I can appreciate how much it helped. I still cry, (who could hold back tears through that really?) but I don't disappear into a pit of moroseness anymore. I don't watch it regularly but whenever I do I remember Lucy with love rather than regret.

It is singularly the most beautiful and effecting piece of entertainment that I have ever experienced.

[Nostalgia]

I'm not sure how someone would not find this episode beautiful.. even at 11 years old.. I loved it. I was mesmerized by the character interaction.. Anya's responses.. the beautiful acting by Michelle and Sarah. Definitely a top 20 episode. Joss put his heart into this one. What more can you ask for?

[sueworld]

As I write that, it sounds a bit ridiculous that an episode of TV can help you get over the grief of a loved one, but it encapsulated to me that death is not a solitary experience, that I wasn't the only person who felt that bad about losing someone so close, and that sometimes you need to think about the pain, not shut it out before you can heal.

Thats exactly how I felt. Having lost two parents within a short period of time I really 'felt' Buffys pain. It manages to encapsulate the whole grieving experience very cleverly indeed.

A televisual masterpiece.

[selenspuffy]

I liked the episode. It was all like gloomy and made me feel in a dark mood but it was unique,really..so different from the other eps.
Also Anya's speech was so meaninful and original, and her reflections to the death, again that way.
In addition, Tara's talk wit Buffy was also interesting, she told Buffy about her mother's death etc, that she had been in this kind of situation.
To sum up, what a nice ep!

[vampmogs]

I must admit I wasn't as moved by this episode as others, at least not in the way most people were.

When I watch this episode I can't help but focus on the more 'creative' aspects of the episode. I am in awe of the writing, Joss' brilliant directing, the interesting zooms and cuts and shots of images of the body. It amazes me, I look at all the details, feel the silence, try and comprehend how he could have displayed so much emotion with a single shot or movement of the camera. So in my respects that actually distracts me from Buffy's pain.

I still get shivers, particularly when Buffy screams "mum" because I've never heard her voice quiet like that before, or when Anya breaks down in her confused ramble. But the artistic side of this episode actually captures me more than the grief the people are feeling. Which might be the result of being a media student.

[buffyholic]

What really makes the episode so sad and depressing is more the fact about having no music. Therefore, we feel and hear things more precisely, we feel the pain of the characters more, especially Willow and Buffy.
SMG gives an amazing performance, she always chills me to the bones. But really for me, what is more disturbing is the no-music factor.

[potterfanatic]

I watch the episode at least once a month, because not only is it one of the best buffy eps ever, it also had some of the best acting I have ever seen (The fact that they weren't nominated for an emmy for best acting for this episode is a travesty). Every actor gave their all and each one of them made me cry. Buffys finding the body scene, Dawn crying in the hall, Willow changing shirts, Xander punching the wall, Anya's Fruit-punch speech, tara being the rock, Giles walking into the house. But the moment that made me cry the most was Buffys face after she yell's at Giles "We're not supposed to move the body", just look at her face when she realises what she called her mother. It's tragic and quite simply one of the best buffy eps ever

[Turnipgirl]

It made me cry lol.....it was just so upsetting that Joyce, a well known caring character died, and the fact that Buffy has saved the world so many times, but wasnt able to save her mum *sniffle*