Buffy Kitten Poker
A 'Multiple Crossings General' fan-fiction story. Mostly 100 word Buffy and Angel crossover drabbles with The Shield, Deadwood, Hellboy, Rounders, The Drew Carey Show, The Sopranos, and Star Trek. Detailing my peculiar obsession with kitten poker. 'The Kitten Poker Drabbles', chapter 8 by trinfaneb. Clips from Season 1 to Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don't claim to own any of the clips. If you repost this video plz give me credit.
Summary: It all starts with Kitten Poker and gin, but that night leads to a series of events that Buffy and Spike didn't see coming: foul smelling demons, friend drama, and actually communicating about feelings for a change. Kitten poker was played in the back room. After shooting Buffy, to which he wrongly thought killed her, Warren Mears celebrated at a demon bar only to discover that Buffy survived the attack. Buffy and Spike took Kennedy, Rona, Vi and Molly to a demon bar as part of their training. Some good quotes from btvs.
Buffy: 'Yes, and then I'm going to marry Bob Dole and raise penguins in Guam.'
This one was really wonderful, and I sure couldn't tell it would be from the preview. We had Buffy making three attempts to enter into a normal life, and all three screwed up by our trio of supervillains. The time slip at school was fun and the construction site thing was okay, but they paled next to Buffy's experience in retail. I thought the whole mummy hand sequence was one of the funniest things I've ever seen on this show.
I absolutely loved our villain trio this time. What frightened me was that I got every single geek reference: the Death Star, the Logan's Run references, the specific X-Files and Next Gen episodes they mentioned; I even got the Monty Python reference. (Dan and I were actually saying 'This is an ex-mummy hand!' before it came up.) Talk about funny? 'Stop touching my magic bone!' Dan and I were also howling over the Connery/Moore/Dalton controversy.
Buffy was more like Buffy in this episode – except for the drinking. But I loved Buffy getting drunk with Spike. Buffy is still Buffy, but she's going through some heavy changes right now and I totally believed her getting drunk. I also loved the sound Buffy made every time she chugged one down. Was this their first real date? Is it official that Buffy is now dating a neutered vampire who cheats at kitten poker?
My only complaint about this one is why didn't Buffy rescue the kittens?
Bits and pieces:
-- In the 'not as good as a crossover bit but at least it's something' department, Buffy said that it was intense seeing Angel. That was more than we got from him on Monday night.
-- Knowing Giles is always going to be there makes Buffy feel safe. But he isn't going to be around for long, is he?
-- The construction boss called Buffy Gidget, Britney, and Princess, all in the space of about three minutes. Sexist much?
-- It was probably for the best that Buffy's retail experience didn't work out because truthfully, who'd want Anya as a boss?
-- The effects and makeup got better, didn't they? Must be all that new UPN money.
Quotes:
Willow: 'You're not dumb. Just rusty.'
Buffy: 'Maybe I should ease back in with some non-taxing classes, like, introduction to pies, or maybe advanced walking.'
Jonathan: 'I need you to hold hands.'
Andrew: 'With each other?'
Warren: 'Well, you know what homophobia really means about you, don't you?'
Jonathan: 'Stop touching my magic bone!'
Female customer: 'I need something for a prosperity spell. I heard you have it. The mummy hand?'
Buffy: 'Uh, yeah, actually, I saw one downstairs. It's kinda hairy, though. Maybe it was a daddy hand.'
Buffy: 'And you get the dagger of Lex for free with it! See the inlaid mother-of-pearl underneath the black oozing goo?'
Female customer: 'This hand is dead. The power is gone, I'm not giving you money for this!'
Buffy: 'Oh, it's just playing dead. (swats the mummy hand) Little scamp.'
Anya: 'Don't worry, don't be nervous. Do what I do. Just picture yourself naked.'
Buffy: 'Fingers sold separately.'
Spike: 'You're not a schoolgirl. You're not a shop girl. You're a creature of the darkness. Like me.'
Buffy: 'Look at stupid Buffy. Too dumb for college. And freak Buffy, too strong for construction work. And my job at the magic shop? I was bored to tears even before the hour that wouldn't end! And the only person I can even stand to be around is a neutered vampire who cheats at kitten poker.'
Warren: 'I mean, there's a shot of, like, pigeons doing double-takes when the gondola blasted by. Moonraker is inexcusable.'
Very funny. Loved it. Four out of four stakes,
Billie
---
Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.
- Next episode
- More of the Groundhog-esque
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 6
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer home
| 'Life Serial' | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 5 | ||
| Directed by | Nick Marck | ||
| Written by | David Fury Jane Espenson | ||
| Production code | 6ABB05 | ||
| Original air date | October 23, 2001 | ||
| Guest appearance(s) | |||
| |||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 6) | |||
| List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes | |||
'Life Serial' is the fifth episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Plot[edit]
Buffy returns from her visit with Angel, but doesn't want to talk about it. Instead, the Scoobies discuss Buffy's future plans. Not knowing what she wants to do in life, Buffy agrees to audit the classes Willow and Tara are taking until the next semester starts.
The Trio prepares for its competition to test Buffy, setting up their van with high-tech monitoring equipment.
At school, Buffy finds herself overwhelmed by a class she takes with Willow. Buffy later meets up with Tara for Art History, but before class begins Warren tags her with a tiny device that causes time to fast-forward. Buffy is dazed as the world whizzes around her; when she finally notices the device Warren planted on her, it self-destructs and puts Buffy back in normal time.
Buffy works with Xander at his construction job, telling him about the time situation at school before she is introduced to Tony, the boss. Andrew summons demons from the van, which trash the construction site before Buffy kills them. Unfortunately, Buffy knocks Tony unconscious and the construction men she saves refuse to admit they were saved by a girl. Xander gets mad at Buffy for bringing slaying to his work place but understands that something is happening. However, he is still forced to fire her.
Buffy learns about working at The Magic Box from Giles and Anya as Jonathan begins a spell to loop time until Buffy satisfies a customer. Buffy assists a man with a candle sale and then goes downstairs to fetch a live mummy hand for a female customer, but the hand attacks her and she is forced to kill it, which also kills the sale. Events start to repeat as Buffy must help the customers and fight the mummy hand over and over again, being reduced to tears out of frustration. She is stuck in an unsolved dilemma, but soon Buffy is able to end the spell by telling the woman she will order the hand instead of going downstairs to fight with the one they already have. Stressed out by the repeating time and the job itself, Buffy walks out. All the while, the three villains keep scores on their Buffy attacks.
Later that night, Buffy gets drunk with Spike at his crypt. Completely hammered, Buffy goes with Spike to a bar where he plays poker (using kittens as currency) and searches for information. After the poker game ends badly, Buffy rants to Spike about the new low her life has reached with her inability to understand school or get a decent job. Buffy and Spike notice a black van; the Trio notices Buffy approaching with alarm.
A fake demon appears from behind the van and threatens Buffy, but it is beaten down while the van drives away. With the use of smoke to confuse the slayer and vampire, the demon (Jonathan in disguise) runs away and complains to the Trio who realize they now have much information on Buffy's fighting style that can be used against her. Buffy begins to recover from her drunken state and complains to Giles about her life. He consoles her and offers her a cheque to help pay for all the expenses. Buffy says she is happy that Giles will always be there, but the look on Giles's face suggests that he might not always be.
Cultural references[edit]
- The title of the episode is a pun on the breakfast cereal Life.
- Logan's Run: When Warren plants the time dilation device on Buffy, he uses the codename 'Logan 5' and refers to Buffy as 'the runner.'
- Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch: During the time loop sequence, the Trio references the famous sketch with 'This mummy hand has ceased to be!' 'This is an ex-mummy hand!' This same sketch is also referenced when Buffy attempts to sell the stabbed mummy hand to the woman. The woman says the hand is now dead, only for Buffy to respond that it's just 'playing dead,' mimicking the shopkeeper's insistence to the customer in the Parrot Sketch that the parrot is still alive.
- Groundhog Day: The sequence in the Magic Box is similar to the film's main plot.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: Andrew describes the time loop they have put Buffy into as being 'like that episode of TNG' in which the Enterprise-D continually explodes ('Cause and Effect').
- X-Files: Warren responds, 'Or Mulder, in that X-Files where the bank kept exploding' (Season 6 episode 'Monday').
- James Bond: The Trio has a protracted argument over actors who have played James Bond: Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton. Warren insists that Moonraker was inexcusable. Dr. No, the first film of the Bond series, is also mentioned.
- Star Wars: Andrew spray paints a mural of the Death Star from Return of the Jedi on the side of the Trio's van, and the van's horn plays the Star Wars main theme.
- Tara makes reference to watching SpongeBob SquarePants with Willow to Buffy during Buffy's speed problems at college.
- The sculpture shown in the pages of Tara's 'Renaissance book' before her art appreciation class is called the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa, and is more accurately described as Baroque.
- Black vans similar to the one used by The Trio were used in Joss Whedon's other project Dollhouse.
Continuity[edit]
Arc significance[edit]
- Crossover with Angel: A meeting between Buffy and Angel takes place immediately before this episode (between the corresponding Angel episodes 'Carpe Noctem' and 'Fredless'). It is the subject of Jane Espenson's Buffy/Angel comic, Reunion.
- The good demon Clem, who will later befriend Buffy and the other Scoobies, appears for the first time playing kitten poker. He is credited as 'Loose Skinned Demon'.
- Buffy shows how she would rather hang out with Spike than the other Scoobies. The two now share common interests which will lead to their physical relationship later in the season.
- Though it could have been inferred from previous episodes, the specialties of all of the Trio members are established; Warren's is technology, Andrew's is demon summoning, and Jonathan's is magic.
- Although Buffy is back with the Watchers' Council, which pays its Watchers (including Giles) and appears to have financially supported other Slayers such as Kendra, no one appears to think of asking them to put Buffy on their payroll. This may be because Kendra was a one-off, or the show's creators wanted Buffy more grounded; to face financial crisis with no true 'happy ending'.
Reception[edit]
The Futon Critic named it the 15th best episode of 2001.[1]
References[edit]
- ^Brian Ford Sullivan (January 4, 2002). 'The 50 Best Episodes of 2001 - #20-11'. The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
External links[edit]
| Wikiquote has quotations related to: Life Serial |
Buffy Kitten Poker Book
- 'Life Serial' on IMDb
- 'Life Serial' at TV.com