20A) The Dark Age. WHAT'S IN A NAME?: "The Dark Ages (usually plural) is an English historical term for the period running roughly from the Roman withdrawal from Britain in circa 407AD until the Norman Conquest in 1066. The term implies not moral darkness but mystery due to a relative lack of surviving written sources. The use as the episode title puns on both uses of the word ‘dark’ - it reveals a previously unknown period of Giles's life that was also a morally dark one."--KdS, Mon, 02/10/03 at 15:04:11
"The title might also refer to the tendency of Buffy and her friends to regard Giles (and any adult, really) as being positively medieval--straight from the Dark Ages. And of course, to Buffy and the Scoobies, age is a mystery, and therefore dark."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 20:49:18
Teaser
20B) He pounds on it and yanks at the doorknob, but it's locked. CONTINUITY CHECK: "If there is a door leading directly from the outside to Giles' library office, why do they always run through the school to escape attack in the library? And why does the library always seem like a dead-end where they get trapped?" (Editor's Note: To my knowledge, this door is never mentioned again.)--Tyreseus, Mon, 02/10/03 at 21:36:33
20C) "I know music. Music has notes. This is noise." GENERATIONS: "It's an old saw that adults can never stand the music of the young. In this episode we get to see Giles' music preferences. Not surprisingly he calls Buffy's music noise. More extreme people always say pop music is harmful. In this case pop music kills. Because of it, Buffy and Giles can't hear Philip's cries for help."--Cactus Watcher, Mon, 02/10/03 at 08:38:40
20D) "You work on your muscle tone while my brain dribbles out of my ears." LINKAGE: "A pretty accurate description of what happens to the dead bodies after the demon leaves them."--Tyreseus, Mon, 02/10/03 at 21:36:33
20E) "And the rest is silence." MASTERPIECE THEATRE: "Giles is, of course, commenting on the loud music which has just ended, but 'the rest is silence' seems to comment on Philip Henry's murder by the zombie Deirdre. It is a quotation from Hamlet's death speech in Hamlet, Act V, Scene ii. Here is the entire speech:
HAMLET: O, I die, Horatio;
The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit:
I cannot live to hear the news from England;
But I do prophesy the election lights
On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice;
So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less,
Which have solicited. The rest is silence.
[Dies]
The speech follows pretty closely what has happened. Death has overcome Philip Henry--and it is a peculiarly spiritual death, leaving his corpse animated, if not alive. He has not lived to hear the 'news from England' about Eyghon and the others in his group of friends, and another will be 'elected' to the responsibility of dealing with it. Philip Henry's body in the morgue will tell Giles--more or less--what events have occurred. And silence becomes a motif here; absence of noise, silence between friends regarding trouble or danger, the fact that Eyghon possesses only the silent (the dead or the unconscious), the fact that Deirdre chokes Philip so that his last scream is cut short, and the silence of Philip and Deirdre once they die and become zombies."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
Act One
20F) He has visions of rituals and tattooing. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "INT. GROOVY 70'S PAD - NIGHT...FLAMES FILL THE SCREEN and deafening seventies PUNK MUSIC plays as various IMAGES overlap in a STYLIZED way: JERKY CAMERA MOVEMENTS, QUICK ZOOMS and RAPID CUTS...1) CLOSE-UP of a NEEDLE administering an ominous, SYMBOLIC-LOOKING TATTOO on someone's arm. We'll see this tattoo again; 2) A CREEPY CULT GUY -- sort of a cross between Jim Morrison and Charles Manson -- dressed in seventies' style clothes with reflecting sunglasses on, smiles at us...; 3) The flames BURN BRIGHTER; 4) Six hands join in the center of a circle. Painted on the floor is the same mark as the tattoo; 5) Creepy Cult Guy again, only now he is POSSESSED. His face thrashes back and forth, and through the BLUR we catch glimpses of a DEMON: blue skin, rotted and pocked flesh, ridges on his forehead."--"The Dark Age" by Dean Batali & Rob Des Hotel, available through Pocketbooks, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Two, Volume 2
MAGIC HIGH: "Giles experiences the magic equivalent of acid flashbacks; magic is used as a metaphor for hallucinogenic drugs, with Giles being someone who's kicked the habit, whereas Ethan is still addicted and whose addiction has led to crime."--slain, Mon, 02/10/03 at 08:27:55
20G) "...and Gavin Rossdale's massaging my feet!" POP CULTURE TIME: "Composer-actor Gavin McGregor Rossdale composed the music for songs for two movies that fit Buffy's world perfectly--The Crow: City of Angels (1996) and An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20H) "Uh, I'm in Florence, Italy, I've rented a scooter that's parked outside, and I'm in a little restaurant eating ziti..." POP CULTURE TIME: "Willow's turn at 'Anywhere, But Here' is very reminiscent of a Walt Disney Presents mini-series set in Florence, first shown in the early 1960's. Willow's part was played by the sexy teen idol of the day, Annette Funicello."--Cactus Watcher, Mon, 02/10/03 at 08:38:40
20I) "...and it's John Cusack!" POP CULTURE TIME: "John Cusack [is a film actor who] normally plays unconventional heroes. Ironically, by October 2, 1997, when this episode first aired, Cusack had been in the following movies whose titles resonate eerily with Willow's progression through relationships: The Sure Thing (1985), Better Off Dead (1985), Stand By Me (1986), One Crazy Summer (1986), True Colors (1991), Shadows and Fog (1992), Map of the Human Heart (1992), Floundering (1994) and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20J) "Amy Yip at the waterslide park." POP CULTURE TIME: "Here's how www.imdb.com describes Amy Yip: 'Probably the most famous Hong Kong Category III actress in history even though she hasn't made a film since 1997 when she quit the industry to get married. Famed for her tiny, slim body and disproportionately large implanted breasts, and the lengths she goes to to hide her assets. Her film roles often show self depricating humour. She knows why she's there, she know's what you want to see, but through cleverly contrived camera angles you never ever see what she promises you might - the famed "Yip Tease".'
Many of Yip's movies have titles that reflect the supernatural, often sex and the supernatural/death: Ghost Fever (1989), Ghostly Vixen (1990), Blood Demon (1990), Legend of the Dragon (1990), Erotic Ghost Story (1990), Haunted Jail House, aka Jail House Eros (1990), My Neighbor's Phantoms (1990), Blue Jean Monster (1991), Robotrix (1991), Erotic Ghost Story 2 (1991), Vampire Kids (1991) and Indian Fetish Cult aka Orgy Deities (1997). A definite eros/thanatos connection. And interesting, in view of how many times Xander will get involved with strong, supernatural and potentially dangerous women."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20K) "C'mon, you don't think he ever got restless as a kid?" PERCEPTIVE WILL: "Willow--the brain of the group, the student, the one who genuinely does well at school--is the only one perceptive enough to see that a younger Giles could have gotten tired of his geek persona...possibly because Willow wants to be seen as more than just a geek, herself. We saw some evidence of this in Halloween with...Willow...[opting to wear the] 'skank' outfit [at the end (see 18Kx4)]."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20L) "Are you kidding? His diapers were tweed." DECEIVING APPEARANCES: "Buffy is making a key mistake here--the same one that she made in Halloween. She is assuming that the outer person is all there is to another person, that even someone she genuinely cares for has always been only the person she sees."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20M) "...tonight is very important..." FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: A brief bit of dialogue from here was cut out of the original script, which further stressed the kids-believing-Giles-was-always-stuffy theme:
"BUFFY: (still looking at his outfit) You know, Giles, I realize the Henry Higgins bit may have been the mod look for your generation, but a lot has happened since then. Like the 20th Century, for example.
GILES: As an educator, it behooves me to set myself apart from you students by my mode of dress and demeanor.
BUFFY: Is it stuffy in here, or is it just you?
GILES: Laugh all you want, but the problem with this culture is its disregard for decorum, which I believe has led to the current pursuit of feel-good nihilism.XANDER: What have I been saying for years?
WILLOW: That you'll die a virgin? Oh. The nihilism thing. Sorry. Missed the funny there."--"The Dark Age" by Dean Batali & Rob Des Hotel, available through Pocketbooks, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Two, Volume 2
20N) "Vampire Meals-On-Wheels." OUTREACH PROGRAMS: "On http://www.meals-on-wheels.net/aboutus.html, Meals-On-Wheels is described this way: 'Meals on Wheels is a world-wide concept with organizations everywhere, who provide nutritious meals to people who are homebound and/or disabled, or would otherwise be unable to maintain their dietary needs. Meals on Wheels seeks to provide the best quality food and nutrition for the least price to its clients.' Put that way, the blood delivery DOES sound like vampire Meals-On-Wheels."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20O) "Willow's helping out for extra credit." FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: This is the second time we see Willow helping Jenny out for extra credit, and is one of the factors that eventually leads to Willow being chosen as Jenny's replacement after her untimely death in Passion.
20P) "Those poor schlubs have to attend school on Saturday!" OY, IT'S YIDDISH!: "Schlub is Yiddish, and is usually spelled zhlub or zhlob. It's from the Slavic word zhlob (a), which basically means 'canal' or 'gutter'. It's a short step from there to meaning something dirty or foul (b). A schlub, according to Leo Rosten's The Joys of Yiddish, is a) 'an insensitive, ill-mannered person'; b) 'a clumsy, gauche, graceless person'; or 'an oaf, a yokel or a bumpkin.' I'm not sure where Xander picked up this word. From Willow, perhaps? See 16B and 24Q. (a)"--(a) Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36; (b) Cactus Watcher, Mon, 02/10/03 at 08:12:29
20Q) "Well, Cordelia's gonna meet us." IF THE SHOE FITS: "Nice connection to Xander's schlub comment--if anyone is insensitive and ill-mannered, it is surely Cordelia."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20R) "Thank you so much for loaning me the Forrester book." LITERARY FAUX PAS: "This author may be misspelled in the script, as I believe Jenny is talking about E.M. Forster. We aren't told which book Giles loaned her, but titles of certain books by Forster are intriguing, in view of this episode: the novels Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905) and The Longest Journey (1907), and the short story collections The Eternal Moment (1928) and The Life to Come and Other Stories (posthumusly, 1972)."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20S) "Did anyone ever tell you you're kind of a sexy fuddy-duddy?" SEXY GILES: Jenny is among the few people who can see beyond Giles' proper exterior and understand his youthful energy. See 1R.
20T) "Detective Winslow." WHAT'S IN A NAME?: "Winslow means 'from the friend's hill,' and it is Winslow who guides Giles to the morgue where he learns of his old friend's death."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
POP CULTURE TIME: "A surprisingly common name for fictional police. A brief search showed a character named Detective Winslow appeared on Early Edition, Touched by an Angel, and as a lead character in Family Matters. There was also a character named Chief Winslow in some of the famous Hardy Boys stories."--Tyreseus, Mon, 02/10/03 at 21:36:33
20U) "There are books on computers? Isn't the point of computers to replace books?" NIGHTMARES: Cordy here is, as usual, telling it like it is, or at least how she sees it. Notice how casually she expresses the realization of one of Giles' worst fears. See 8RR and 8SS.
20V) "Can you help me with a ticket? It's totally bogus. It was a one-way street. I was going one way." VINTAGE CORDY: "Undoubtedly the WRONG way. Cordelia doesn't even hesitate to ask the cops, in front of Giles, to 'fix' a ticket for her. This is Cordelia's neo-fascism at work again--that 'certain people are entitled to special privileges. They're called winners.'"--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36 See 23RRR.
20W) He sees the tattoo on Philip's right arm near the inside elbow. VISUAL SYMBOL: "An example of the regular use of tattoos and body modification in ME shows as a mark of the evil and/or doomed [as with the tattooed frat boys in Reptile Boy]."--KdS, Mon, 02/10/03 at 06:19:54 See 5Q, 32O, and 35R.
20X) "'Don't be late.' Sheesh." TURNING TABLES: "Giles is usually annoyed with Buffy for being late. Here the tables are turned, and Buffy finds she doesn't like waiting for and worrying about Giles any more than Giles likes waiting for and worrying about her."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20Y) "All's well that ends with cute ER doctors, I always say." MASTERPIECE THEATRE: "All's Well That Ends Well is, of course, a play by William Shakespeare. The play contains a quote which may be relevant to this episode:
Our rash faults
Make trivial price of serious thing we have,
Not knowing them until we know their grave.
- (Act V, scene iii)--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20Z) "Hey! No sampling the product!" LINKAGE: "Mr. Trick will repeat this line later in Band Candy."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20AA) Angel just nods, not insulted by the query. BLOOD DRIVE: "Angel shows up unexpectedly at the hospital on blood delivery day. Buffy still entrusted him with seeing the blood into the hospital safely, though. Why was Angel there? 'Ockham's Razor be damned, complex characters defy simplicity, and that's part of what makes them interesting... Angel stealing blood. ... the blood is necessary for his survival... instead of taking lives for his survival (by killing people), he is taking blood willingly donated... now this may add to a blood shortage, but there has been no mention of a blood shortage in Sunnydale, so it looks like he has taken the route of least damage to society (Chrissy, Jun 9 12:20 1998).'"--Masquerade, "The Dark Age" Analysis from http://www.atpobtvs.com
20BB) "Giles? Who counts tardiness as, like, the eighth deadly sin?" SIN CITY: "The canonical seven being pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth."--Vickie, Mon, 02/10/03 at 23:26:04
20CC) Giles opens the viewport and looks out at her, then opens the door. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "Buffy knocks. A couple of beats, then Giles opens the door a CRACK, stares out at Buffy. He's unshaven, in shirtsleeves, looking a good deal more rumpled than we've ever seen him."--"The Dark Age" by Dean Batali & Rob Des Hotel, available through Pocketbooks, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Two, Volume 2
AT A GLANCE: "Giles' dishevelment is the clearest expression of his emotional upset in this scene. Though he is trying to be calm verbally, he's no longer maintaining (at least not fully) the outward persona that he's always displayed in Buffy's presence."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20DD) "I-I'm just in the, uh, middle of something extremely important..." WITHHOLDING INFORMATION: Here, Giles is pushing Buffy and the others away due to a dark secret the same way that Buffy will do time and again in the future (see 17LL).
20EE) He gulps the rest from the glass and sets it back down. DRUNK GILES: "We will see more of Giles' drinking in Something Blue, A New Man, and the remainder of the fourth season."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20FF) Thomas Sutcliff, Philip Henry, Deirdre Page... WHAT'S IN A NAME?:
Thomas Sutcliff. "Thomas Sutcliffe Mort was notable in Australia's development of refrigeration works. According to a website about the town of Lithgow, 'Mort's links to Lithgow relate to his attempts to develop a refrigeration works for the export of meat. As a part of his refrigeration works, Mort developed a large abattoir where sheep and cattle were driven in from the west, slaughtered and refrigerated for later transport. In 1875, to mark his achievements in the refrigeration techniques, Mort arranged a picnic for 300 guests. He organised a special train from Sydney and fed his guests food that had be refrigerated at his plant for over 18 months.' (http://www.lisp.com.au/~lithtour/tmort.htm) That's pretty much what happens in the series. After Thomas Sutcliff's death in England, Deirdre Page is 'slaughtered' and 'put on ice' as a corpse. Philip Henry is 'driven' west to California, where he, likewise, will be 'slaughtered' in 'a large abattoir,' or slaughterhouse, called Sunnydale, California.
Philip Henry. There doesn't appear to be any famous person named Philip Henry, though there are a great many with Philip as the first name and Henry as the second. It does, however, perhaps echo the name of Patrick Henry, famed for saying, 'I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!' And of course, Philip does struggle for liberty and is, in the end, given death. Another quote from Patrick Henry's Speech at the Virginia Convention in Richmond on March 23, 1775 might be relevant, in view of this episode: 'I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging the future but by the past.'
Deirdre Page. Deirdre Page doesn't appear to be the name of anyone of historical significance. However, 'Deirdre' is the name of a tragic character from Irish legend and folklore who dies a painful death rather than be parted from the man she chose and loved. The name itself means 'woman of sorrows.' The legendary and literary connections of the first name might explain why she was the only woman present at the raising of Eyghon. A 'page' is several things--a leaf of a book, periodical, and so on, an episode that might fill a page in written history, a memorable event, a person in livery, employed to run errands, attend to a door, etc. a young person employed as a personal attendant of a person of rank, a boy in training for knighthood and attached to a knight's service. To 'page' someone in hotels, airports, etc., is to summon by making an announcement or sending a messenger. Because of Deirdre Page, an episode and a memorable event in her and Giles' history come to light. The zombie Deirdre does run two errands for Eyghon--it finds Philip Henry, then kills him, giving the demon the opportunity to jump from one corpse to another. Considering the demon's attitude toward itself, it might well regard itself as a being of rank and the zombies as its attendants. Finally dreams of this 'Page' send a message to Giles, summoning him to take action against the demon from his past--forcing him to 'turn over a new page' in terms of honesty with those whom he loves."--Rhys, Tues, 02/11/03 at 01:37:41
20GG) "So. You're back." RIPPER: An interesting line, as Giles confronts his past by literally calling himself by his former name, as if Ripper were a different person, similar to how Angel delineates between himself and Angelus.
Act Two
20HH) ...but Philip is too strong for him. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "TILT BACK UP and REVEAL PHILIP, standing behind the attendant in a very un-dead way. Philip is shirtless and, presumably, corpse-naked. He looks like shit, being dead and all."--"The Dark Age" by Dean Batali & Rob Des Hotel, available through Pocketbooks, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Two, Volume 2
20II) "When are we gonna need computers for real life anyway?" REAL LIFE: This is a clever parody on the oft-heard lament from high school students, usually regarding math, history, and science "When are we ever going to have to use this in real life?" The joke, of course, is that computers actually are things that they will definitely use, probably on an everyday basis, in real life.
20JJ) "And the abacus." THAT MATH THINGY: Dictionary.com describes an abacus as "a manual computing device consisting of a frame holding parallel rods strung with movable counters."
20KK) "Yeah, you know, you don't see enough abaci." GRAMATICALLY SPEAKING: "Strangely enough, this is an acceptable plural, as is abacuses."--Vickie, Mon, 02/10/03 at 23:26:04
20LL) "Nobody can be wound as straight and narrow as Giles without a dark side erupting." FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: "Of course...[this] could equally apply to Willow."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
GRAMATICALLY SPEAKING: "Gee, Xand, need another metaphor for that mix?"--Vickie, Mon, 02/10/03 at 23:26:04
20MM) "My Uncle Rory was the stodgiest taxidermist you've ever met by day." THE HARRIS FAMILY TREE: "The first reference [by name] to Xander's Uncle Rory, who will have off-screen problems with the law in The Zeppo and finally appear in the flesh in Hell's Bells." In I, Robot...You, Jane, Xander mentioned an uncle who may or may not have been Rory. See 8Z.--KdS, Mon, 02/10/03 at 06:19:54, with additions by Rob
20NN) "Something about...a homicide." CONTINUITY CHECK: "Actually, the cops mentioned that BEFORE Cordy came into the library, but I suppose she could have overheard them discussing it before she entered." Knowing Cordy, her self-centeredness is even more funny when you realize that even after hearing the cops discuss a homicide with Giles, she plows right in to ask her questions.--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36, with additions by Rob
20OO) "I know you! You were in that costume shop." CONTINUITY CHECK: Buffy is referring to the events of Halloween (see 18MM).
20PP) "It's one of my virtues. Not really." LIAR, LIAR: "Ethan is exhibiting a variant of the Liar's Paradox. He claims honesty as one of his virtues and then denies that it is a virtue of his. Clearly, both can't be true. Buffy has reason to know that Ethan is a habitual liar--his lies, as she said, almost got them all killed on Halloween. But if a habitual liar admits to being a liar, isn't he telling the truth? And if he IS telling the truth, isn't he displaying honesty as one of his virtues? But he denied that it was one of his virtues, so that would mean he lied...and if he lied, then honesty ISN'T one of his virtues...and isn't he telling the truth?"--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20QQ) Cut to Giles' nightmare. The tattoo on his arm. Visions of a demon, of Deirdre in her rotted state, of eyes glowing yellow. NIGHTMARES: "Giles displays psychic abilities here--clairvoyance (seeing what Deirdre looked like as a zombie, seeing Philip becoming re-animated) and precognition (seeing the pane of glass in the library shattering). The dream, plus the information that Buffy is with another marked person, is enough to get Giles to warn her of the danger she is in. Buffy doesn't listen, but he does try. Giles will have another clairvoyant dream later in which he will see Buffy, newly marked, and the monster about to attack her."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
LINKAGE: "The visual effects here and Giles's collapse are remarkably similar to Doyle's, and later Cordelia's, visions in AtS. Do they come from the same source?"--KdS, Mon, 02/10/03 at 06:19:54
20RR) Giles grabs Ethan by the hair on the back of his neck and lifts him out of his chair. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "Giles grabs Ethan. Pretty roughly. The gang's never seen him like this before."--"The Dark Age" by Dean Batali & Rob Des Hotel, available through Pocketbooks, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Two, Volume 2
20SS) He scrambles to her aid. LOVING GILES: "This is an extremely loving and protective action for the normally very proper Englishman to take. That he cares deeply enough for Jenny to display his affection publicly before a group of teenagers (who see him as Mr. Stuffy) and an evil sorcerer and worshipper of chaos says a great deal about how serious his love for Jenny is."--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36
20TT) "Lean on me." MUSICALLY SPEAKING: "Lean On Me is a song. The lyrics, by Bill Withers, seem to be relevant, in view of the theme of this episode:
'Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow
Lean on me
When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on...'"--Rhys, Mon, 02/10/03 at 05:05:36