Eerie flute music is a Sunnydale staple, so it'd be a crime not to listen to some as we take A Tour of Sunnydale.
Today, we're taking on Season 1 Episode 11 of Buffy, titled Out of Mind, Out of Sight. The second of the two Buffy scripts written by Ashley Gable & Thomas A. Swyden, Out of Mind, Out of Sight is directed by one-time Buffy director Reza Badiyi, and is ranked 97th on The Phi Phenomenon. The closest episode that's ranked above that we've seen so far is The Puppet Show at 94, and below is Never Kill A Boy On The First Date at 122. This is a marked improvement for Gable and Swyden, whose previous script, I Robot, You Jane, is the second lowest rated Buffy episode of all time, at number 143.
For once, I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with the way things pan out on the big Phi Phenomenon list. Out of Mind, Out of Sight is at the lower end of season 1, but decidedly above the crap episodes of the season. It's probably not going to be the lowest ranked episode that I like in the season, but it's close enough to be somewhat of a dividing line. Instead, this is (ironically enough) a forgettable but solid little episode of television.
I think the big problem with Out of Mind is precisely that. It's not got either any good or bad enough moments to be very entertaining. When watching these episodes I've been taking notes, just little thoughts that cross my mind as I go through. Some of them are realizations about what works or doesn't work in the episode at a larger scale, but most of them are just moments that do or do not work. These help me construct my review, as I'll usually stare at these notes for a couple minutes before starting to write, and look for patterns in them. An episode like The Pack had a lot of moments where I was amused, so that was a funny episode. The Puppet Show had notes on all sorts of things, most of them positive, and I had a lot of notes regarding clever manipulation of my expectation in the plot. Hell, even Never Kill A Boy had a bunch of notes about how nothing worked. All in all, it takes usually a side to a side and a half of paper per episode. Out of Mind took me a quarter of a side.
This doesn't mean that Out of Mind isn't good. It's competent in almost every respect. I stayed engaged the entire way through, and the few notes that I took are all positive. This is the episode that finally makes Cordelia make sense. We finally get to see her as more than the rich mean girl, and realize that she's also going through some stuff. Her bitchy facade is just that, and she's actually smart enough to understand how vapid she is and how unsubstantial her friendships are, but keeps being this way because of a crushing fear of loneliness. It's neat stuff, and it justifies Cordelia's presence in the show. Out of Mind is also kind of unique in how it just subtly puts out this feeling that Buffy is also lonely and kind of depressed, and doesn't neccesarily touch it, just getting it across through the cinematography and acting. It's also cool how the circumstances the characters find themselves in feel more deadly than ever before - particularly Willow, Xander and Giles in the boiler room being gassed.
There's legitimately great stuff in Out of Mind, Out of Sight, but there's just not enough of it. It has a strong central premise, and a fairly well constructed plot, a few decent character beats and that's really about it. In a way, Out of Mind, Out of Sight is a perfect representation of Season 1 as a whole. It's appropriate, with a few shining moments, but largely fairly disposable. When it does shine it's through unexpected character depth and a level of darkness that's surprising for network TV in the 90s.
Here's ranking and rating: The ranking is of all episodes of Buffy and Angel I've watched so far, with 1 being the best one, and the rating is out of ten in context of the quality of the show: I'm essentially trying to decide what 10% of quality of that particular show the episode belongs in. Because both shows are so good, this means negative ratings are not neccesarily a diss on the episode - I just think it's one of the show's weaker ones.
I start at last week's episode, Nightmares as a comparison. I think this is definitely better, since I wasn't bored for most of the run. Unlike Nightmares, I don't think Out of Mind, Out of Sight is flawed. I look at Angel, and I'm a bit stuck. On the one hand, Angel is more memorable and is legitimately pretty good. On the other, Out of Mind doesn't have the crutch of being pivotal, and it is very similar in quality. It's forgettable, sure, but it's also pretty competent. I think they have a similar amount of high points, but Out of Mind's are higher. As such, I think Out of Mind just edges it out.
Ranked List
Rating: 4/10 this whole block of episodes is roughly at the 4/10 rank, so that's what Out of Mind gets.
Today, we're taking on Season 1 Episode 11 of Buffy, titled Out of Mind, Out of Sight. The second of the two Buffy scripts written by Ashley Gable & Thomas A. Swyden, Out of Mind, Out of Sight is directed by one-time Buffy director Reza Badiyi, and is ranked 97th on The Phi Phenomenon. The closest episode that's ranked above that we've seen so far is The Puppet Show at 94, and below is Never Kill A Boy On The First Date at 122. This is a marked improvement for Gable and Swyden, whose previous script, I Robot, You Jane, is the second lowest rated Buffy episode of all time, at number 143.
For once, I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with the way things pan out on the big Phi Phenomenon list. Out of Mind, Out of Sight is at the lower end of season 1, but decidedly above the crap episodes of the season. It's probably not going to be the lowest ranked episode that I like in the season, but it's close enough to be somewhat of a dividing line. Instead, this is (ironically enough) a forgettable but solid little episode of television.
I think the big problem with Out of Mind is precisely that. It's not got either any good or bad enough moments to be very entertaining. When watching these episodes I've been taking notes, just little thoughts that cross my mind as I go through. Some of them are realizations about what works or doesn't work in the episode at a larger scale, but most of them are just moments that do or do not work. These help me construct my review, as I'll usually stare at these notes for a couple minutes before starting to write, and look for patterns in them. An episode like The Pack had a lot of moments where I was amused, so that was a funny episode. The Puppet Show had notes on all sorts of things, most of them positive, and I had a lot of notes regarding clever manipulation of my expectation in the plot. Hell, even Never Kill A Boy had a bunch of notes about how nothing worked. All in all, it takes usually a side to a side and a half of paper per episode. Out of Mind took me a quarter of a side.
This doesn't mean that Out of Mind isn't good. It's competent in almost every respect. I stayed engaged the entire way through, and the few notes that I took are all positive. This is the episode that finally makes Cordelia make sense. We finally get to see her as more than the rich mean girl, and realize that she's also going through some stuff. Her bitchy facade is just that, and she's actually smart enough to understand how vapid she is and how unsubstantial her friendships are, but keeps being this way because of a crushing fear of loneliness. It's neat stuff, and it justifies Cordelia's presence in the show. Out of Mind is also kind of unique in how it just subtly puts out this feeling that Buffy is also lonely and kind of depressed, and doesn't neccesarily touch it, just getting it across through the cinematography and acting. It's also cool how the circumstances the characters find themselves in feel more deadly than ever before - particularly Willow, Xander and Giles in the boiler room being gassed.
There's legitimately great stuff in Out of Mind, Out of Sight, but there's just not enough of it. It has a strong central premise, and a fairly well constructed plot, a few decent character beats and that's really about it. In a way, Out of Mind, Out of Sight is a perfect representation of Season 1 as a whole. It's appropriate, with a few shining moments, but largely fairly disposable. When it does shine it's through unexpected character depth and a level of darkness that's surprising for network TV in the 90s.
Here's ranking and rating: The ranking is of all episodes of Buffy and Angel I've watched so far, with 1 being the best one, and the rating is out of ten in context of the quality of the show: I'm essentially trying to decide what 10% of quality of that particular show the episode belongs in. Because both shows are so good, this means negative ratings are not neccesarily a diss on the episode - I just think it's one of the show's weaker ones.
I start at last week's episode, Nightmares as a comparison. I think this is definitely better, since I wasn't bored for most of the run. Unlike Nightmares, I don't think Out of Mind, Out of Sight is flawed. I look at Angel, and I'm a bit stuck. On the one hand, Angel is more memorable and is legitimately pretty good. On the other, Out of Mind doesn't have the crutch of being pivotal, and it is very similar in quality. It's forgettable, sure, but it's also pretty competent. I think they have a similar amount of high points, but Out of Mind's are higher. As such, I think Out of Mind just edges it out.
Ranked List
Rating: 4/10 this whole block of episodes is roughly at the 4/10 rank, so that's what Out of Mind gets.
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