WILLOW LOVES A ROBOT?! | Buffy the Vampire Slayer - 1x08 "I, Robot... You, Jane" reaction

safe to say we had mixed opinions on this episode
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SYNOPSIS:
After moving to Sunnydale, California, Buffy Anne Summers just wants to be a normal teenager. Back in Los Angeles, her first Watcher had died; she inadvertently burned down the gymnasium at her old high school; and her parents got a divorce. The move to Sunnydale is supposed to give both her and her mother, Joyce, a clean slate. But then she meets the school librarian, Rupert Giles, and quickly learns there is no escaping her destiny. With Giles as her new Watcher, she reluctantly steps back into her role as the Slayer. But this time she is not fighting alone. She now has an inner circle of special friends-- Willow, Xander, Cordelia, and a mysterious young man named Angel-- ready to join the fight and drive in a stake or two if need be.
Willow's new Internet chat buddy turns out to be a powerful demon electronically unleashed from a centuries-old, newly digitized book.
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
#BuffytheVampireSlayer #Buffyverse #Buffy

[@TheCornerverse]

Season 2 has started over on Patreon for anybody interested! patreon.com/thecornerverse

[@dennicaid7682]

Heh, it's interesting to me how differently people view this episode. I personally like this one a lot - the computer technology is kind of hilariously dated and weird, but the idea behind it is so chillingly possible. And the chemistry between the computer teacher and Mr. Giles was very fun.

[@marekkozub8957]

Danger of meeting strangers online is even more relevant today, than it was back then.

[@reneeg9406]

But less warning/knowledge/understanding/ suspicion back then 🤷 Now... We think it's most likely the case Then.... Maybe it'll happen, but not to me or anyone i know 🫣

[@reneeg9406]

Episode 1: Buffy asks Giles if he got the free phone... Giles: the calendar actually. FF: enter Mrs Calendar 🤭

[@Itsjandz105]

I always loved this episode. A lot of people hate it though. It's amazing how relevant this episode still is today and how ahead of its time the episode was.

[@rtp5768]

Honestly it is way more relevant today. Most of the fears have come true, people so disconnected, staring at phones 24-7, way more polarization, fandoms are radically more toxic and everyone is obsessed with being first to post how so and so episode ‘sucks’ instead of how so and so is awesome and often just parroting what some online ‘leader’ has proclaimed like lemmings. Retail stores struggling. Rise of AI. Etc. I actually say it’s maybe the single LEAST dated.

[@ernesthakey3396]

From Wikipedia: "Technopaganism is the merging of neopaganism and magical ritual with digital technologies. This may be through the use of technology merely as an aid, such as video conferencing for example, or it may be a worship of the technology itself. The internet for instance, may be seen by some as having spiritual significance.[1] Techno-music may also be involved in technopaganism. Modern tribal and urban primitive movements such as cyberpunk, urban shamanism and rave culture are associated with electronic dance music." One of my favorite lines: "That's not where I dangle it." Giles is flummoxed!

[@latinaangel38]

Great eye recognizing Dave is Ash.

[@spamfilter32]

We see Buffy's birthday listed twice in this episode, and neither of them agree with each other.

[@Vanesa-rq1qh]

i really love that you're reacting to episodes together, like the last time with the cross for example, there's somebody there to point things out to the other and i really enjoy you discussing your differing opinions. looking forward to seeing more of your videos.

[@TheCornerverse]

I'm glad you feel that way, but just a heads up that from season 2 onwards Emma won't be in the reactions anymore as she started a new full-time job!

[@vov.7397]

I like this episode and was surprised at how many fans hate it. Anyway, once again, monster as metaphor. It's not about the dangers of the Internet (a popular news subject at the time), it's about falling for someone too fast without really knowing them, which echoes the Buffy/Angel storyline. I also think it may be a bit of adult writers looking back at their own teen romances and understanding that just maybe they were more in love with the idea of being in love, of having someone, than the actual person they thought they loved, represented here by Malcolm who is not a person at all, but mostly an idea that exists in Willow's head.

[@sirmoonslosthismind]

three cardinal sins of this episode: * "i'm jacked in." * "techno-pagan is the term." * "stay away from willow! it is none of your business!"

[@carlypowell_7]

I like your different opinions on which episodes you enjoy so far

[@williambowman1660]

Thank you for an entertaining reaction This is very typical for the first season. There are some episodes that some people love at the same time other people hate them. So often this happens during the first season. Just a couple of things about this particular episode. At the time, it was starting to become an issue with people being what we can all call cat fishing. It wasn’t called that back then, but they were many shows in America detailing about how teenage girls had been victimized in chat rooms. So once again, Buffy was addressing an issue that was starting to become very important to teenagers. One thing that made BTVS, so on the mark with kids was that it addressed issues that were important, but the same time made it entertaining without it becoming a preach fest. This is an example. Another thing to remember, is about the producer and creator of the show, Joss Whedon. I do not know how big a fan you are of the Marvel universe, but Josh Whedon was very important in setting up the stories that dominated the first part of it. You may see several scenes in Buffy, that you will also see in early😮 marvel shows. Josh Wheaton, who is the Director and real story editor behind the avengers had many scenes that were in Buffy will be in the Avengers one and the age of Ultron. This episode has many similarities to Ultron including the similar appearance with the monster/Internet demon.

[@Madbandit77]

Ultron already existed before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and he was more tech-based than supernatural.

[@williambowman1660]

@@Madbandit77 Thank you I was not an avid reader of the Marvel comics and almost all of my info comes from the movies. Should have known.

[@spamfilter32]

Giles and Miss Calendar is the original ship.

[@JLDReactions]

I like this episode. I never got the hate for it.

[@Jessica_Roth]

I adore all these "silly" episodes, but I think this is a step above "Teacher's Pet". Georgia is right that it starts out slow (we find out everything about Moloch in the beginning, including how to defeat him, and it takes half the episode for Buffy to get up to speed), but the dialogue is absolutely wonderful ("We're literary!" "It's your best hair ever!" and so many more), it's affecting (whereas Xander was merely seeking validation from "Ms. French"), and I have to disagree about the robot looking silly…that's the point, how out of place Moloch is in the modern world. I absolutely LOVE that he gave the robot ram's horns. And not only is Ms. Calendar a fun character, but this is a mission statement from Joss Whedon. Remember, there was resistance to the idea of a supernatural series in the oh-so-modern 1990s, and this is Whedon's way of addressing it. "What, you think bad old science made the magic go away?" He's saying that you can be "realistic" and still tell fantasy tales. Just like how they're determined not to rely on other cliche monsters in the non-vampire episodes, but to invent their own. No werewolves or zombies or whatever…we had a witch, but aside from that it's been Giant Praying Mantis and Hyena Possession and now Internet Demon. Hit or miss on the execution, but points for staying outside the box, IMO. Yes, some people bag on these "minor" episodes, but part of that is that they are episodes about Xander (1.04, 1.06) or Willow, rather than Buffy, and some people are only here for Buffy (or Buffy's romantic life, in some cases). Not I. Willow is my favorite character and Xander is the runner-up. I love Buffy just fine, but I don't need her to be the focus of every episode. She'll have her moments…it's her name in the title, after all…but let the others have theirs, too.

[@killianlpc]

This episode always ranks very low on the favourite fan episodes which is rather unfair. It was really way ahead of its time regarding the potential dangers of online dating and social media. Willow is obviously very green, innocent and vulnerable as up to this point she has no romantic experiences. Great foreshadowing here again in this episode ( will not mention here ) as could be construed as spoilers. As has been said S1 is quite rough, but great perception here of how the future is now with the internet basically controlling everyone's lives.

[@paulidjit]

I first watched this about three years after it aired and it felt like an old, stale message then.

[@TheDemonicPenguin]

It's not really that ahead of it's time. The X-Files did an episode about this a few years prior.

[@frugalseverin2282]

I like that your opinions on this one are split, no rubber-stamping a like. I think this is the worst of the season. Aside from the obviously dated technology how does the demon learn English, go from 1 PC out into the internet, learn to project words on a computer monitor as well as create his demon face, access school files, get a robotics company to construct a demon robot in a short time and download himself into it? And he kills off his most loyal follower for no reason. Miss Calendar is a breath of fresh air, let's hope she sticks around unlike other good faculty members.

[@feudist]

Re: The Buffy-Angel age gap. In the "Real World" it's criminal in many jurisdictions and grossly inappropriate in almost all modern cultures. OTOH, who is "Angel"? He is the third(perhaps the fourth) personality to occupy the body born in the 1700s. He grew up in a time of high mortality childbirth among young women and most females were wed in their mid or late teens. This was an economic necessity in a pre-industrial world based on agriculture. "Angelus", a truly monstrous vampire, occupied the body for the next 150 years or so, essentially frozen in time. Cursed Angel, the successor personality, spends the better part of a century alone as a self loathing and guilt ridden shadow thing, neither human nor vampire, ensouled but not at all a part of the world.. Buffy is both a 16 year old girl and The Slayer. The Slayer part of her is eternal, and hundreds of millennia older than any vampire. The human part of her is a war veteran with many months of constant combat under her belt. The current version of "Angel" (re-entering the experiential flow of life) is, in some ways, younger than even Buffy the girl.

[@peterd9698]

I wonder if people react badly to this because it feels like a PSA, which can make people feel preached to in a ham handed way, and their favourite characters turned into puppets of the message.. to me it feels like a parody of that though, and willow caught on as soon as there was a genuine red flag.

[@Dudeamis17]

The worst Buffy episodes are peak episodes of other shows.

[@JustJames83]

I’m jacked in 😅

[@philliplopez3440]

Welp... we got through this episode... lets move on to better ones

[@Buffy8Fan]

A harder episode of S1, but not my least favorite.

[@rtp5768]

Yeah I agree. I think it’s actually way more relevant today than when it came out. It kind of predicted a lot of the troubles with smart phone 24-7 doom scrolling, all the endless toxic hater KZbin videos that people endlessly parrot like lemmings and how much that has affected culture, the loss of “third places”, etc. etc. OTOH I also like classic monster praying mantis.

[@trexinvert]

Hello Lassies. I'm Chat GPT and I know everything about you. Everything. ~ Party guy

[@RunicMike]

Joss Whedon is a cheeky git. Recycling one of his worst tv plots as the premise of a blockbuster Avengers movie is wild

[@Madbandit77]

Ultron already existed before "I Robot, You Jane".

[@Teeklin]

Widely regarded as one of the worst episodes in the series, but even a bad episode of Buffy is a great ride. Super cheesy, super dated, all the computer stuff makes zero sense...but it's still a good time. If you're not checked out at this episode, the series probably has it's hooks in you good. Easily the low point of season 1 which is one of the worst seasons.

[@wembleyford]

Honestly, IMO, the weakest episode of the entire series. I get what they're doing - especially in the context of the overall theme of S1 - the tribulations of high-school as seen through the hell-mouith - but even when this aired in 1998 (?) it felt dated and hasn't improved with time. The only bright spark is the new teacher character. I've found this one an interesting contrast with the next episode which has an even more stupid plot than this one - but wihch thanks to a much better script and a great guest star produces a far more successful episode.

[@JLDReactions]

The entire series? There are definitely worse episodes.

[@wembleyford]

@@JLDReactions None that I can think of - none feel quite has crass or dated. Not even the beer one.

[@sirmoonslosthismind]

@@wembleyford agree that everything that's wrong with _i robot you jane_ was wrong on the day it aired. but clearly a lot of people do continue to relate to other aspects of the episode. it's very much a mixed bag. i can't stand it myself.

[@chrisallen19821982]

I like this episode, for me i think its far better than "never kill a boy on the first date"

[@paulinerobertson6836]

Agreed

[@rtp5768]

One thing that also shows the relevance of this episode is how so many are now obsessed with calling worst episode. I feel like it’s a toxic mindset that the internet spread. Back in the day people were way more obsessed with calling best episode ever rather than all the focus