Competition is the Path to FAILURE...and Buffy Proves it | "Homecoming" Reaction & Commentary (3x5)

[@Duraffinity]

I can't WAIT to see your analysis of the next episode! 'Band Candy' is one of the most fun from this season.

[@th3phoenix]

28:03 “Guys, it’s light” In the remaster it is, sure, the same way every dialogue scene is overly bright and flat. The people who did the remaster were working with the raw footage, and they didn’t do a good job of recreating the original colour grading.

[@tanyaisonYT]

I love all the light touch mentions of the mayor in season 2, only for you to finally meet him and it’s more interesting than (at least I) expected. Especially when so many other shows overhype things that can never live up to it. It’s a real treat to try to suss out his intentions in these two scenes.

[@NicolaColey-nx2wq]

I loved your analysis yet again just to add as you had touched on it Cordelia was always a reflection of Buffy, she is what Buffy was and would be if Buffy was never the Slayer so this episode really allows Buffy to confront her past self values and realisation she no longer is that person and never will be again and Buffy/Cordelia coming together towards the end shows Buffy has now got closure on that past persona

[@dutchkel]

Wow that's bang on and I hadn't thought of it that way in the context of this specific episode.

[@Henrik_Holst]

The scene with the Germans is light because the remaster didn't apply the post effects that the original did (aka night scenes where filmed at day since that make the cameras work better and then they digitally changed it into night) since it was a "no efforts was made" type of remaster.

[@Steef_Lee]

I share your views on competition. Never been a huge fan, but I love teamwork and striving for a shared goal. Literally just talked about this for a whole session with my therapist.

[@johnmoreland6089]

Ah, Mayor Richard Wilkins III has entered the chat. LOVE this character, both the writing and acting are superlative. Love this season! 🤎

[@Whalewraith]

You're an interesting guy. I've never watched people do reaction videos like you. The going off on a tangent and doing a deep dive into something another Tuber would fly straight past is interesting.

[@Ebbagull]

Yes, I agree! I love his tangents and analyses! He's so different, and really pays attention and thinks deeply about themes and events - it's great! 😊

[@dees3179]

Hands down my favourite reactor. I don’t skip any episodes because there’s always something new on this channel. Not just waiting for someone to be shocked or cry. His investment in everything is incredible.

[@alooncnej4696]

The HD version don't respect the light's work from Whedon and the show's direction

[@ms_scribbles]

To be fair to Scott, it's not fair to expect him to stay in a relationship if he feels like he's the only one in the relationship. He's not really blaming her, he's just pulling himself out of the equation.

[@pinkylittleme]

Plus they've only been dating a couple weeks (and the fact that he's gay ahah).

[@sonyabunkum6212]

Plus the previous episode his two friends of his whole life just died.

[@kcmurdarasi]

But it is unfair to agree to go to the dance with her and then dump her just before it.

[@Ylyrra]

@@kcmurdarasi He was pretty much peer-pressured into asking her though. He was clearly already thinking of breaking up with her and then put in a spot where he either asked her, or broke up with her in front of her friends - which would have been horrific. He appeared to choose the lesser evil in a no win situation.

[@kcmurdarasi]

@@YlyrraI suppose that's true. I still think he should have waited until after the dance, though. Or at least apologised.

[@ernesthakey3396]

"I thought she was going to kiss him." Not very much later...

[@andrewdunn8778]

The book "People's Republic of Walmart" points out that the Sears company, a century old, incredibly successful corporation, failed because they decided on a path of interstore competitiveness instead of cooperation

[@leahwalko145]

The moment you said hot paper I knew what you were going to say because I agree with you 100%. That's a great smell. Also great reaction and analysis as always! Love to see Buffy Cordelia bonding time and the introduction to the mayor

[@lynnevetter]

Yes.. hot paper for the win🎉

[@dees3179]

Combination of ink and ozone I think.

[@caseyhart4999]

I know you didn’t show it here but Cordys comment that if the competition was about “blood and innards” Buffy would be a shoe in cracks me up every time. Cordy is great.

[@kilian-one-l]

This intro to the mayor is so good

[@x_rhi_x2772]

Haha i love every time you say "KICKEEEHHHHN"

[@wolervine]

True fact - there's a very fun, long-running queer-led Buffy podcast called Slayerfest98

[@tilltab]

I have sympathy for Scott’s decision to break up with Buffy. Lets face it, she’s keeping him in the dark about a LOT, so why would he be understanding of her change? I totally agree with you on the hot paper comment. You’re good. Another thing about competition, it doesn’t work as a motivator for everyone. I have low self-esteem, and so my instant assumption if I’m pitted against anothers is that I’ll fail, so I don’t try. It’s a de-motivator for me. Not everyone wants to win. I just want to do good in my own right, without comparison to others.

[@samanthas8340]

I agreed with your point about Scott in the past, but still.... It also feels like he just dumped her once he knew that he could get another girl to go with him to the dance. Which is pretty crappy since they had seemed to be exclusively dating for some weeks. Perhaps the right and mature thing to do would've been to at least follow through with his commitment to take her and then dump her, But I guess that's high school for you.

[@JhadeSagrav]

I also have low SE but hot dang competition sets a fire under my tail like you wouldn't believe. I exercise never, but there was a company challenge thing and suddenly holy smokes... my team got first place twice and i almost died (metaphorically).

[@tilltab]

@@JhadeSagrav that’s truly great for you, and I do like it when competition helps people towards something positive. I wish it did work for everyone. The flip side of that is that I’m genuinely feeling anxious as I consider the possibility of my work place trying something similar because being pitted against others brings all thoughts of being less than to the forefront. I have health conditions that make exercise difficult, so there’s no way I could compete with others. And as you mention teams, I’d be letting down others too. The above is a personal issue, and I have work to do to keep myself from being so negatively affected. I’m not saying competition is inherently bad. But the good it offers for some is offset, I feel, by the harm it does to others. I wonder, does personal goal setting work for you? Because I find that’s what works for me best. Like, I set a goal to read 100 books this year, and I sure am reading a bunch (currently on 70).

[@treyokelly9662]

Toxic competition is awful. There is healthy competition, but your point holds true

[@salyx]

Aww yeah, he likes the Mayor! Life is good, folks.

[@lynnevetter]

One of the best characters of the series.🎉

[@butterflypooo]

I agree with your “unpopular opinion” about competition. It’s better to be driven by passion.

[@jdb101585]

@10:34 You're talking about the difference between internal validation and external validation. A shocking number of people have no sense of self outside of their desire for external validation.

[@TheCrayonMaster]

The mayor is such an interesting and fun character! He's one of my favourite things about this season ❤

[@gennytun]

I'm 100% with you on competition, Tyler. I've never in my long life (60 next week!) been interested in it - one reason I have zero interest in sport, and I hate competitive reality shows like Bakeoff etc. I am very interested in pottery and ceramics, and would love to watch the Great Pottery Throwdown, if all the participants stayed in throughout the series, so you get to see them all challenged, learning new skills, demonatrating their different approaches. It just seems so unnecessary to eject one person at the end of each episode, rather than give them all the opportunity to improve and flourish. A system where one person is a 'winner' and everyone else is a runner up or 'loser' isnt just unfair, it does not do justice to the infinite variety of peoples capabilites, gifts and passions.

[@Talisguy]

It's a bad lesson to teach - the idea that you get one shot to get something right and there's nothing you can do if your best effort at that time isn't above a line set and measured by someone else is teaching the wrong lesson in a world where mastery is achieved by persistence and repetition.

[@caseyhart4999]

I definitely am a person who is more in line with your way of thinking for sure. Still I do see the value in competition as Mr Trick points out in this episode. It can motivate at least some people to strive for greatness in a way they and other maybe otherwise wouldn’t.

[@kohlrabi4342]

As a huge fan of Top Chef, I completely agree. My dream is a season with all the first "losers" just so the world can see their amazing skills I know they have. In the very least, I wish these types of shows didn't cut people on the first episode.

[@jdb101585]

@@caseyhart4999 The real question is, "Should people who only put value on external metrics at the expense of everything actually *be* encouraged to strive?" Seems like a recipe for disaster, honestly.

[@caseyhart4999]

@@jdb101585 well yea my view on it is that if you are striving to be better than others or “win” simply for the sake of it at the expense of everything else then that is very bad. I do believe there is such a thing as healthy competition though.

[@glennwelsh9784]

The Mayor is one of the best characters in the entire series.

[@edwarmulfo363]

I’m a debate coach and a competitive person by nature. What I’ve learned in my decade as an educator, and what I try to demonstrate to my students is absolutely what you are talking about here. Competition is not a constitutive element of passion or success, and debate is often a terrible method of persuasion or learning. I still find immense value in what I do, and in my competitive nature. But the conditions of success cannot solely be defined by the defeat of others. There are collaborative forms of success and innovation. There is a productive challenge in defining “winning” based on our aspirations, rather than a lazy, universal metric.

[@jdb101585]

"Winning" against another person also does not constitute having actually done a good job either. Someone could have lost for numerous reasons outside of their opponent's skill and if the opponent lacks a level of self-awareness they now think that their skills are better than they actually are; especially if they're a person who only uses external metrics.

[@zemoxian]

The first thing I noticed was how terrified Alan was when talking to the Mayor when all he’s discussing is hand hygiene. I’m curious why no one seems to pick up on that? I wonder if I did on first viewing or did I pick it up on later viewings? Though I think this is the first episode I ever watched. Landed on it while channel surfing (ask your parents if you don’t know what that is) So I probably didn’t see this full episode until TiVo (a pre-cloud based home DVR) caught up with all the reruns. I wasn’t in the habit of watching shows in order back then.

[@desarae9778]

Being a person who has watched Buffy dozens of times over the years, I appreciate when reactors share a perspective I have not considered before. Glad you find the Mayor interesting. He is one of my favorite characters.

[@blurften]

The fellow with the knives in his arms? He directed all of the john wick movies. You can Google that without spoilers

[@Bills_Place]

I never caught on that the paper sniffing was about dirty fingers - I'm old enough that I remember mimeograph duplicating. When copies came off the machine ALL the kids in school sniffed the warm pages. Haven't smelled that ink in decades, but I bet I could identify it still now in a half-second.

[@jdb101585]

Same, and that smell was my first thought, lol.

[@ravenlord7144]

I'm....with you on the hot paper. I always thought I was alone in that, LOL.

[@corgiluver9718]

Really enjoyed your analysis to this fun episode that adds a lot to the season: meeting the mayor, development of Buffy & Cordy's relationship/characters, and the Xander/Willow attraction. The latter is something many people wanted early on in the show but we're given it only when we don't want it. A wish may be a dream your heart makes but in the Buffyverse wishing can be a dangerous thing leading to as you say "messy" consequences.

[@grkpektis]

when they announced the Homecoming Queen was a tie I knew they were both going to lose

[@slayervision2484]

Man the HD remasters looks atrocious, the lighting is nothing like the original. Please get the dvd version.

[@Buffy8Fan]

RIP Ian Abercrombie, who played the old man, but is more known as Chancellor Palpatine in _The Clone Wars._ The winner of Slayerfest 98. I liked that Cordelia and Buffy bond, but I dislike how they got to that point AKA Xander and Willow deciding to fix Buffy and Cordelia's issues rather than face their own and in the process, make Faith feel alone at a dance of a school she knows no one else except the people who are currently ignoring her and haven't been treating her as the friends they were treating her as when their friendship with Buffy was rocky. I look at Faith calling Buffy's date names as her realizing this about Xander and Willow for the first time. They oued their no-longer friendship (but professional relationship) with Faith due to their guilt. It's an interesting conundrum between five people. Cordelia has never really deserved Xander. Even in Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered when she dumped him for her friends opinion, she was struggling with the change in school hierarchy and what that meant (going so far as showing how much she liked him even after the breakup) while Xander intended revenge by attempting a love slave before dumping her. So when it comes to Xander, it is hard to feel sympathy, while with Willow, her feelings for Xander don't make the cheating excusable. So, now I'm not positive Willow deserves Oz, either. While I understand Scott's perspective of Angel and how Buffy's emotional state is affected by him (AKA not knowing how, why, or what has changed Buffy's attitude), it's still wrong for him to dump her just before Homecoming only to show up to the dance with someone else. I think it said a lot about him. I think Buffy ran for the crown because Cordelia was in part responsible for Buffy not getting her school picture. She looked at the crown as a last chance to get recognized for being a normal kid instead of just for slaying (it wasn't her last chance, but in her being upset Buffy viewed it that way). It wasn't about screwing Cordelia over or wanting fame/popularity. I love the fact that neither Buffy or Cordelia get the crown. I've always wondered if it was because the school voters saw the outcome of their issues playing out around the school leading up to the dance. Buffy is possibly responsible for two human deaths in this episode. Although, I have seen other theories of the guy with guns being non-human. Buffy didn't pull the trigger, but she is the reason she shot themselves.

[@nuffyj8614]

I think what Cordelia said about splitting the vote was accurate. Plus Cordelia isn’t Queen B anymore. She chose Xander. I think Buffy gets a self defense pass. They literally killed each other trying to kill her.

[@Buffy8Fan]

@@nuffyj8614 With the first comment, Buffy stated exactly why she did what she did to Cordelia in the cabin. It had nothing to do with recapturing glory days to splinter a vote. With the second comment, that is why I stated the last sentence. Not pulling the trigger (and therefore being self-defense) doesn't mean she isn't the reason they shot themselves.

[@nuffyj8614]

@@Buffy8Fan I wasn’t saying that was Buffy’s intention. Your comment wondered if the voters didn’t vote for them because they knew the outcome would be bad. I don’t think it’s that deep. High schoolers in general wouldn’t be in on the personal situation with Buffy and Cordelia. I think Cordelia’s voting pool would have been the same ones that might go for Buffy, so the vote splintered. And the Buffy is responsible for killing some guys thing - it’s similar to Disney’s strategy. We need our heroes to win, but they can’t directly kill their enemies, so we’ll finagle it to where the villains are…put in a position where they take themselves out. Then it’s not REALLY on the hero’s hands.

[@colej.banning2419]

I know Ian Abercrombie mainly as Alfred from the short-lived Birds of Prey TV series.

[@MoonStruckBunnyIRL]

The Mayor is a fun part of this season, personally I think this is the best season out of the whole show. The others have great episodes and good developments but something about everything that happens this season is really just perfect. And Band Candy should be next, so that's going to be great.

[@jdb101585]

On the rewatch I feel a bit bad for Cordelia here. From her point of view, she's just barely starting to integrate into a new group of friends, she is genuinely trying hard to be nicer (which she has no past practice doing) and the head of that group suddenly, without warning, decides to try to take away one of the few things that Cordelia has that gives her a sense of self worth.

[@ernesthakey3396]

@@jdb101585 yep. But that stems from a simple moment of offering to tell Buffy about the yearbook pictures...and then getting distracted and forgetting to do so. Cordy's history of self-absorption reared its head and derailed the good deed she intended to do - which means that, amusingly, if she just been more her old self and not even offered to tell Buffy, so that one of the Scoobies would have had to do it, she wouldn't have indirectly caused Buffy to miss out on the pictures and thus decide to challenge Cordy for the crown as payback. 🤷‍♂️ 🤦‍♂️

[@josephirizarry5195]

“It’s light” you’re watching the shitty remaster, which completely ruins the darkness of the show.

[@lesleymaroquin5777]

The mayor!

[@leniloubettyboopbossyboots247]

Hot paper smell? 1000% yes. Although not sure why I love it as it instantly transports me to my first assortment of temp jobs where I was basically chained to the photocopier.

[@Ylyrra]

My all time hate competition line is the whole "you didn't want it badly enough" one. Yeah, I didn't want to win badly enough to destroy someone else's sense of self-esteem, and you know what? I'm fine with that. Or I'm not willing to be as obsessed with winning something to the detriment of everything else in my life as the next person... again, I'm fine with this. Maybe I prefer to direct the energy in my life into endeavours where people haven't purposefully created an artificial scarcity in terms of who can be successful, and instead direct it into things where everyone's efforts combine to elevate everyone, without it being at everyone else's expense. Sometimes winning is deciding to play a game that isn't rigged to make the players competitors.

[@serinas4465]

First I need to say: you are absolutely right and it is not weird to say it, freshly printed paper feels and smells GREAT! And to the theme of competition: I hate it that there are people who think it is the best motivator. Because it's not. I'm zero driven by competition or the will to win. But when I tell that people they are always surprised, because I did competitive gymnastics in school, at university I was the most hard working person in a dancing class, to the point where I got to be the sub dance teacher. I'm good at my work and can get very invested in the project. But all of those things are and were creative things and I just thrive on those. If you set me against a person to compete, I just will not do it. It doesn't motivate me at all, it just stresses me to a point where I rather rescind than compete. So, I very much feel your answer that I would rather be a solid mid person than enhance something about me to win. It wouldn't feel like winning at all. Of course it feels good to win sometimes. But to set your whole life just for that fleeting high? No thank you. I rather relax and do things just because they make me happy in themselves.

[@artman2oo3]

The point you're making right around 10:00 about sports and performance enhancing drugs can also apply to what a lot of "writers" are doing getting help from A.I. like ChatGPT. I have been writing a series of YA scifi novels, and publishing them, and I've used ProwritingAid to help with line editing, which is sort of A.I. and other writers use A.I. as an editing tool, or to get feedback, or to ask for advice on certain things, which I feel are fine, but some writers just use A.I. to write some, or, insanely, all of the story, and to your point, even if you accomplish something, was it really YOU? In my example, no, no it wasn't.

[@JhadeSagrav]

You hear about the guy that used AI to make a bunch of songs on Spotify, then used more AI to play them millions of times and get a ton of money, and he got arrested? This is not the dystopia i expected! 😅

[@cherdiane]

The spider (Charles) was the moment I liked this video.

[@ThammuzBabylon]

Hot Paper (freshly photocopied) and fresh cut grass is an amazing smell. I see you & feel you.

[@roonarific1086]

for me it's the smoky smell when you blow out a candle or match

[@ThammuzBabylon]

@@roonarific1086 another good one

[@kohlrabi4342]

For me it's about the warm soft bundle of paper you carry back to your desk.

[@mathias6185]

Great reaction, as always. Agree with your thoughts about competition. In moderation it can be good, but taking drugs to win doesn't make sense (to me, at least). I played table tennis competitions for a few decades and loved the competition, but it was (almost) always fair and if I won, I knew it was earned, and if I lost, then probably I didn't train enough. Luckily, table tennis is pretty much the fairest sport out there. But generally, I do think a reasonable amount of competition can be good. E.g. if I play board games with people who don't care at all if they win or lose, then it's no fun at all. The best board game experiences I had was when people wanted to win, but were also graceful in losing (or winning). Anyway, I'm excited about your reaction to the rest of Season 3. *SO* many good episodes coming up, Season 3 is really fantastic overall.

[@davewolf6256]

Lazer toner does have an intoxicating smell. Like victory. And napalm.

[@olived9560]

nah fresh printer paper does smell really good xDD amazing commentary/analysis as always!!

[@gungho1284]

This form of campaigning, as part of a pseudo hierarchy is like a low-level form of training for political campaigns, which are definitely toxic, but is how we do things. I don't remember any of that stuff from school. I had nothing to do with it as it's not hard to ignore.

[@HorrorMovieSyllabus]

I love your Beatles album on the wall but it’s killing me that it’s crooked… 😂

[@vyselocke756]

Passion did indeed make Buffy great!

[@ernesthakey3396]

Cordy did mention Buffy splitting her vote...heh.

[@staceyj-z4t]

I LOVE the mayor! So excited

[@michaelkenner3289]

No, you're right. Hot paper really does have a nice smell.

[@alexie5201]

Not to sound dramatic, but Cordelia's remark about Buffy's parents is what made me instantly despise her and never genuinely sympathize with her character again. There is a difference between being straightforward and being mean.

[@gungho1284]

That guy with the high-tech gadgetry was Elaine's boss on Seinfeld, Mr. Pitt, who ate his Snickers bar with a knife and fork. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZq3iaWffbd_jsk

[@Super00Specs]

I'm interested in your take on the mayor and his relationship with the other characters as the season progresses. How a lot of reactors see him seems to differ from long time Buffy fans and I'm curious to see where you fall (or if you have a completely different take from everyone else).

[@maidden]

I think I've said it before, but I hope you will re-watch Gingerbread later this season. It'll be interesting to see how you feel about it then in the context of the show.

[@andrewdunn8778]

In The Office (the main one, not the British prequel) has a talking head scene where Pam has refused to do the copying because she doesn't want to pigeonhole herself as the secretary because she's a salesman now, and she says it sucks because she genuinely enjoys making copies because the paper comes out all warm

[@skloak]

I have no useful comment about your analysis… it’s fine, I have no quarrels, I agree with most of it. But my ND brain is being heavily distracted by the ever-changing background, I have no idea what’s going on and it’s throwing me off 😂 Hopefully it stabilizes soon so that listening is easier (also because constantly having to move your recording setup around must be a *pain*, and as the kids would say, I don’t love that for you)!

[@killianlpc]

I thought this was a good, but not one of the best episodes of S3. We have two competitions running side by side Slayerfest 98 and The Homecoming Queen as well with Buffy and Cordelia becoming obsessed by it. We see some interesting reveals with Willow and Xander begin to have actual real feelings for each other now, when he sees Willow in her dress and dance slowly, and kiss. Cordelia facing down the Cowboy Vampire is a great scene, and the Mayor ( one the the most entertaining characters in the show ) and Trick now working together as well, we just know there is gonna be trouble with these two. Get ready for E6 it's a fan favourite and hilarious banger!

[@williambowman2326]

Excellent thoughts and you do a great job stimulating ideas. One of the themes is how most everything is competitive in America and the culture exists to have winners. The Mayor has authority from winning elections. The power is one for him to have control. In this episode alone we see his power over society norms ( the police do his bidding getting Mr Trick), the Administrative State( the assistant and last year Schnider) and surveillance state( he had the info on the assassins and Trick). The political competition has allowed him to take granted power. The entire Homecoming Queen competition is to keep the rules and roles of order for teens. The students are involved in a non essential event to give relevance to a function that lauds patents and ex students at a party for neither. The teen students like the politicians to achieve a granted social authority. The Homecoming contest is also a larger example of the daily competition for social standing. The girls in most of the episodes are striving for their place and position. The last contest is Slayerfest. It’s a “ sporting” contest where the goal is death. The competition is like the sort of hunting. The Slayers were to be unarmed like animals being pursued by armed hunters. The Slayers are physically superior, like a lion, but they are evened out by weapons. Overall it’s fitting that both Buffy and Cordy leave together. They know they are defined by being Homecoming Queen but are mad they don’t win. Both do not take losing well. And that is American culture. Show me a gracious loser and I will show you a loser.

[@ernesthakey3396]

@@williambowman2326 with you up until that last sentence. I understand it's a comment on American winner vs loser values, but there are some endeavors, even in America, where a gracious loser is not a "loser" in the sense of being worthless because they didn't win, but rather a "good sport" because they might have lost this time but they know that they are still skilled and competent, and they may well win next time. A true loser might stop competing. A good sport keeps striving to be better, and that is a characteristic of winners, even if not victorious every time

[@williambowman2326]

@@ernesthakey3396We Americans love to congratulate the second place/ runner up but deep down it’s superficial. The much lauded non winner of the competition gets a brief moment and is forgotten. I have never heard in an introduction, “ please welcome this non winner”. It’s not loser in the sense of the value of the individual it’s the lack of being the champion of an agreed upon contest. That’s for not just sports and politics but social groups, business, and even board games. The real American spirit is best told in the fantastic opening to the movie Patton in 1970. It was true then, before, and despite the attempt of present media culture today.

[@ernesthakey3396]

@@williambowman2326 but in board games, at least in groups like mine, we play lots, and everyone wins some of the time. It isn't like someone loses once and never plays again. In baseball, most teams win some and lose some vs some of the same opponents over the course of the season. Sure, we celebrate the "World Series" winner, but people don't stop rooting for their home teams just because they "only" won their league or whatever.

[@williambowman2326]

@@ernesthakey3396 I must be in redneck country. The energy for Fantasy Football leagues is such every player knows who won and everyone else loses. The dynamics of Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit and the worst ,Risk , is like that of the floor of the Chicago exchange. Mothers trying to hire hit men to take out their daughter’s rivals Mothers, bribing Traveling Team coaches to play their child, pay offs to judges so their middle school gyms must wins… on and on. I have not played a round of golf in 43 years that was friendly. Never heard a parent talk about their child competing unless they win. I have heard most of my life, it’s not for fun if you keep score. Sad but I play alone to have a fun round of golf. Even when I play with strangers it’s always soon after the introduction the question of the stakes comes up.

[@zenithquasar9623]

It might be in Mr. Trick's name ;)

[@alooncnej4696]

I hope you dont read too much comments and be spoiled. This season is so great

[@maidden]

Hot paper is really good

[@shadowjewel]

Bit of a test comment - does this channel have a censored comment section or is something weird going on with my account? Last video I tried to comment on some of the points made - I wasn't insulting, or nasty, I was talking from my own experiences and intellectual musings. It was a "yes but no, and these are my reasonings why for both" comment, but after I posted it, it just vanished.

[@Henrik_Holst]

YT in general have some "AI" anti spam algorithm that is notoriously known to misinterpret and falsely flag comments. And this happens long before the channel even sees the comments.

[@ernesthakey3396]

@@shadowjewel I've had that occasionally happen to me on YT in general. I think there are bots that react to specific words. I've also had comments fail to post. 🤷‍♂️

[@renae_understandz]

I blocked out that the Willander liplock was this soon. Booooooooo i hate it. I hate it so much.

[@stuartcooper8886]

Sorry to say your video at points has a really subtle high pitched squeak.

[@davewolf6256]

Hey, man. There's nothing wrong with lifting natty. Honestly, people who are natty look better--biased I might be.

[@Raven_Luna_Tick]

I'm with you Tyler, Hot paper freshly printed, 😍 Stationary can be sexy.

[@fanmagicks]

Get argh! Dump the remastered trap & stick to stream if you don't have the original dvds. I'm surprised you haven't regretted it. The horribly job of "remastering" was the WORST case of ineptitude ever! You are missing out on the mood the carefully crafted scenes were meant to be portraying. It's quite literally night and day, given the scenes were shot day for night then adjusted in post. Still loving your comments tho.

[@iluvlafferty]

I have two things to say about this episode: 1) this is an unpopular view, but I don't blame Scott for breaking up with Buffy. She was always distant until it was too late, obsessing over Angel. 2) The Xander and Willow sudden romance here was VILE. It totally shows that Xander always wants the unattainable. He loved Buffy, then Cordelia; now he's in relationship he's BORED? He friend-zoned Willow the whole time, but now she appeals to him because Oz makes her seem cooler to him? VILE.

[@ernesthakey3396]

@@iluvlafferty agreed, on both counts. As to Xillow, I would have forgiven them the one kiss - the power of a suit and a dress is hard to deny. Acknowledge that it was a mistake, and don't keep doing it! They know it was wrong, they get one pass for hormones, but after that it is outright wilful cheating. If you can't stop after that one mistake, then break up with your other partner. That's how monogamy is supposed to work, right? Personally I'm a fan of ethical non-monogamy. The ethical part being paramount.

[@Scarlett404]

Can you react to the movie moulin rouge? It had Nicole kiddmen and ewan mcgreggor in it.

[@lilywong9672]

I'm team no one here. Cordelia was the worst ever in this episode but it wasn't her job to remind Buffy of Buffy's own schedule. Sure, she volunteered to remind her, but at the end of the day, it's still on Buffy to set reminders for her own schedule.

[@Henrik_Holst]

the thing is that the scoobies asked Cordy to tell Buffy and she agreed to do it.

[@lilywong9672]

@@Henrik_Holst But Buffy, at the end of the day, is responsible for her own schedule.

[@Henrik_Holst]

@@lilywong9672 how can she be responsible for something that she wasn't made aware of? Here is the transcript of the scene: Oz: I don't think she was here the day they announced them. Did anybody tell her? Cordelia: Oh, I'll tell her now. I have to go to the nurse's office for an ice pack anyway. So no one had told Buffy which day the photos where supposed to be taken and Cordy takes it upon herself to inform her of it and then decides not to (I even forgot that she wasn't even asked to do it, so this is even worse). This is 100% on Cordy.

[@insrtcowjoke]

I don't know why this popped up for me, but I saw the title and laughed. Competition is the path to failure... Because a fictitious show about teenage vampires proves it? It's crazy how many people see fictional movies or TV shows, and mistake that stuff for reality.

[@TylerAlexander]

Oh my sweet Summer child 😂

[@mathias6185]

Did you actually watch the reaction? Tyler likes to discuss cultural topics in his reactions, and he doesn't use TV shows as prove for his views/discussions, but as a sort of inspiration to talk about various topics. And although I don't always agree with him, I enjoy his thoughtful commentary a lot. His reactions are quite unlike other Buffy reactors, and I appreciate the fresh take.

[@samanthas8340]

I a lot of people like this episode. For me, it's my least favorite of the season. I guess this also means I can be excited because it's all uphill from here, lol.

[@Talisguy]

He's not wrong. We see with the hunter guy the downsides of making this a competition - namely, that the hunters, who outnumber their targets and could easily have killed them if they worked together, are actively incentivised to work against each other instead of cooperating. ...Also, it's the KZbin algorithm. Your titles and thumbnails need to be geared towards attracting attention if you want people to watch your video. It's just a fact of life at this point.

[@mathias6185]

@@Talisguy Yeah, in the SlayerFest, working as competitors instead of a team did lead to failure. But if there hadn't been a competition, there would have been nobody there to try to kill Buffy in the first place. The competition was what Mr. Trick used to motivate all those hunters/killers to show up. If he had asked all those hunters "would you like to join a team to kill Buffy", probably they would all have said "what's in it for me? nothing? no thanks". Sharing the price pool would probably not have been enough. The competition was the key motivation for them to show up. And to be fair, if Buffy weren't Buffy, the competition would likely have been successful. So I'd argue competition *CAN* lead to failure. But it can also lead to success. As usual, things aren't always so clear cut... One could also argue that without competition, even if people might be motivated at first, after a while they might become lazy and bored. Competition is a way to keep people motivated and sharp, because nobody likes losing all the time. So even if competition can be bad (especially if done badly), it has proven to be a successful method of overcoming human laziness. Maybe there are alternative approaches that work just as well (or even better), but competition can be effective, IMHO, if used well.

[@nomohakon6257]

Need a way to skip unrelated speech. Also, can you stop injecting your worldview into content you react to? It is annoying.

[@krthompson7519]

The entire point of watching a reaction is to hear someone else’s view of the show. If you don’t want that, you can watch Buffy without the commentary on your own any time you want!

[@ernesthakey3396]

@@nomohakon6257 dude, if you don't appreciate his reactions, why are you here? Nobody is forcing you to watch them. And why should he change the way he reacts - it is HIS channel, you're just a guest, and there are LOTS of us who ENJOY his tangents and analysis.

[@ernesthakey3396]

@@krthompson7519 don't you just love people who watch free content and then try to tell the content creator they should change how they do stuff? 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️