I just read his "School Hard" piece, and came across the warning.
A note on commenting about this particular episode: I know you are going to want to call Spike “crazy” to describe his behavior or characterization, so I’m going to just go ahead and ask you not to. First of all, if you’re not familiar, it is considered a slur and I don’t allow it on the site to be used except in a reclamation sense. I don’t care if you use it in your life and I’m not interested in telling anyone how to talk in their own life or own communities. But this is a large, public community here and it’s fairly diverse. I’m just trying to look out for those who might be marginalized. Can we all try to do this around here? THANK YOU I LOVE YOU ALL YOU’RE THE BEST.
My first reaction was absolute puzzlement -- why on earth would anyone call Spike crazy? There are many ajectives that apply to Spike, but crazy isn't one of them.
I followed the link he supplied to explain why "crazy" is considered a slur. The link doesn't provide an alternative phrase to use in the eventuality that a person really does have mental problems (and although the site states at the top that it isn't intended to tell people what words they can and can't use, obviously Mark uses it that way).
This is my first exposure to his site. Has he never come across characters before who have mental problems? Does he have the same delicacies about physical issues?
It feels like someone warned him that a problematic character would be showing up in School Hard that has a mental illness and somehow he thinks it's Spike. That last paragraph is rather odd.
I'm a bit baffled at his lack of attention to Drusilla, too.
As P-Cow notes, Mark doesn't do a typical, comprehensive review but records his reaction to whatever he's watching (sort of like Pauline Kael, now that I think of it). As such, he doesn't always latch onto what's immediately in front of him and there's a bit of catch-up in later reviews as he assesses the importance of new characters.
Remember, he's almost totally unspoiled (which is a big part of the appeal of his reviews) so he doesn't always know what's going to be significant going forward. In this episode he's mostly focusing on (a) Joyce being awesome; (b) Spike has arrived.
I'm with the others though, Dru left a significant impression on me my first time through and I was unspoiled.
I get that he will catch up though. It will be interesting to see how he treats Dru. Especially when he gets over to Angel. Man oh man.
Okay, I finally clicked over to Mark Watches. ZOMGWTFCAPSLOCK.
Think I'll stick to reading Buffistas Read Mark Watches over here.
Buffistas Read Mark Watches
Ha! We should totally start a new site.
Yet there's also a certain enjoyment when Mark gets something -- half right. Like the way he's figured out that Spike will be important in S2. But doesn't have a clue about Angelus in S2 or the chip in S4 and after.
And oh, how "The Body" is going to tear him up. Even more than it does most people, if that's possible.
Mark just got to Inca Mummy Girl. Funny how I had completely forgotten about that episode.
I'm up to S4 now, and I think I'm going to rewatch S1 Angel, too.
