Beer Bad (Buffy episode)
Encyclopedia
"Beer Bad" is episode 5 of the fourth season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is written by Tracey Forbes
and directed by David Solomon. It was nominated for an Emmy Award
for Outstanding Hairstyling in a Series.
is still hurting because Parker dumped her after a night together. In a daydream
during one of Professor Walsh's
classes (pointedly, about the role of the id in Freudian
psychology
) she saves Parker's life and he swears to do anything to get her back. A dialogue with Willow
later shows how much Buffy is not over him yet.
In the real world, Xander
gets a job as a bartender
with a fake ID, and has to endure the insults from students. He gets to test his empathy
skills with none other than Buffy who then proceeds to get drunk on "Black Frost" beer
with four college boys. Oz and Willow are in The Bronze
together, but he feels a strange connection to the pretty singer Veruca when she gets on the stage with her band Shy.
The next morning, Willow not only has to cope with Veruca having called her a "groupie", but also with Buffy, who seems to be suffering from "Black Frost." That evening when Buffy drinks herself further and further, it is soon revealed why: somebody has a chemical
lab
set up and is putting more into the beer than just malt. Xander finally sends Buffy home. When her four drinking buddies turn into violent Neanderthals, he finds out that the owner of the pub has been brewing the beer as revenge for 20 years of college kids taunting him. While the boys escape to the streets of Sunnydale
, Xander gets Giles to help. They find Buffy drawing cave painting
s on her dorm
wall saying "Parker bad." Giles and Xander are unable to keep Buffy in her room when she gets a craving for more beer.
Meanwhile, Willow confronts Parker with what she says he has done to Buffy. When he turns his charm on her, she reveals she has been playing along with a rant about how primitive men are, just when the four Neanderthal students burst into the room. They knock Willow and Parker unconscious and start a fire
that rapidly burns out of control. Xander catches up with Buffy and when they see smoke from the Neanderthals' fire, they rush to help. Though afraid of the flames and unable to figure out how to use an extinguisher
, Buffy saves Willow and Parker. In the end, Parker thanks Buffy for saving his life, and apologizes just the way she had dreamt — just to get knocked unconscious by Buffy's club. The neanderthal students become subsequently locked in a random van.
"Beer Bad" is written with a classic frame structure — Buffy's dream — that emphasizes her development; hitting Parker with a stick qualifies as poetic justice
. Producer Doug Petrie
says, despite the intensely negative reaction of the fans to seeing Buffy being "battered about by the forces of college" and being treated so callously by Parker, they had to "ride that out" until this episode because "we didn't want her to find her strength immediately in this new setting".
However, the most striking feature of "Beer Bad" is the twin moral
: Beer and casual sex
are bad. In a BBC
interview, Petrie states: "Well, very young people get unlimited access to alcohol and become horrible! We all do it — or most of us do it — and live to regret it, and we wanted to explore that."
A BBC
reviewer complained about its "American puritanism
"
and Slayage criticized writer Tracey Forbes for delivering a trite and obvious message in a series containing "such an abundant feminist subtext".
However, Todd Hertz of Christianity Today
used this episode of an example of the show's honest portrayal of consequences.
available to shows that promoted an anti-drug message.
Funding was rejected for the episode because "[d]rugs were an issue, but ... [it] was otherworldly nonsense, very abstract and not like real-life kids taking drugs. Viewers wouldn't make the link to [the ONDCP's] message."
Tracey Forbes
Tracey Forbes is a Canadian television writer and producer. She has worked on numerous Canadian and American television shows including Flashpoint, The Bridge, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series and Buffy the Vampire Slayer....
and directed by David Solomon. It was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Hairstyling in a Series.
Plot synopsis
BuffyBuffy Summers
Buffy Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name...
is still hurting because Parker dumped her after a night together. In a daydream
Daydream
A daydream is a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake. There are many types of daydreams, and there is no consistent definition amongst psychologists. The general public also uses the term for a...
during one of Professor Walsh's
Maggie Walsh
Professor Maggie Walsh is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Lindsay Crouse.-History:...
classes (pointedly, about the role of the id in Freudian
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
) she saves Parker's life and he swears to do anything to get her back. A dialogue with Willow
Willow Rosenberg
Willow Rosenberg is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the TV series by Alyson Hannigan...
later shows how much Buffy is not over him yet.
In the real world, Xander
Xander Harris
Alexander LaVelle "Xander" Harris is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as in numerous items in the series Expanded Universe, such as comic books, tie-in novels and video games...
gets a job as a bartender
Bartender
A bartender is a person who serves beverages behind a counter in a bar, pub, tavern, or similar establishment. A bartender, in short, "tends the bar". The term barkeeper may carry a connotation of being the bar's owner...
with a fake ID, and has to endure the insults from students. He gets to test his empathy
Empathy
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B...
skills with none other than Buffy who then proceeds to get drunk on "Black Frost" beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
with four college boys. Oz and Willow are in The Bronze
The Bronze
The Bronze is a fictional nightclub in Sunnydale, the fictional setting for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Of 144 episodes of the series, 66 have at least one scene at the Bronze, not including its appearance in the unaired pilot....
together, but he feels a strange connection to the pretty singer Veruca when she gets on the stage with her band Shy.
The next morning, Willow not only has to cope with Veruca having called her a "groupie", but also with Buffy, who seems to be suffering from "Black Frost." That evening when Buffy drinks herself further and further, it is soon revealed why: somebody has a chemical
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
lab
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
set up and is putting more into the beer than just malt. Xander finally sends Buffy home. When her four drinking buddies turn into violent Neanderthals, he finds out that the owner of the pub has been brewing the beer as revenge for 20 years of college kids taunting him. While the boys escape to the streets of Sunnydale
Sunnydale
Sunnydale, California is the fictional setting for the U.S. television drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Series creator Joss Whedon conceived the town as a representation of a generic California city, as well as a narrative parody of the all-too-serene towns typical in traditional horror...
, Xander gets Giles to help. They find Buffy drawing cave painting
Cave painting
Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest European cave paintings date to the Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...
s on her dorm
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
wall saying "Parker bad." Giles and Xander are unable to keep Buffy in her room when she gets a craving for more beer.
Meanwhile, Willow confronts Parker with what she says he has done to Buffy. When he turns his charm on her, she reveals she has been playing along with a rant about how primitive men are, just when the four Neanderthal students burst into the room. They knock Willow and Parker unconscious and start a fire
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
that rapidly burns out of control. Xander catches up with Buffy and when they see smoke from the Neanderthals' fire, they rush to help. Though afraid of the flames and unable to figure out how to use an extinguisher
Fire extinguisher
A fire extinguisher or extinguisher, flame entinguisher is an active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergency situations...
, Buffy saves Willow and Parker. In the end, Parker thanks Buffy for saving his life, and apologizes just the way she had dreamt — just to get knocked unconscious by Buffy's club. The neanderthal students become subsequently locked in a random van.
Writing and acting
Willow proves again that she can't be sweet-talked, something first shown in "The Pack"."Beer Bad" is written with a classic frame structure — Buffy's dream — that emphasizes her development; hitting Parker with a stick qualifies as poetic justice
Poetic justice
Poetic justice is a literary device in which virtue is ultimately rewarded or vice punished, often in modern literature by an ironic twist of fate intimately related to the character's own conduct.- Origin of the term :...
. Producer Doug Petrie
Doug Petrie
Doug Petrie is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Best known as a writer, director, and co-executive producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He co-wrote the screenplays for the Fantastic Four film and Harriet the Spy. He has also written for the television shows Angel, The 4400 and Tru...
says, despite the intensely negative reaction of the fans to seeing Buffy being "battered about by the forces of college" and being treated so callously by Parker, they had to "ride that out" until this episode because "we didn't want her to find her strength immediately in this new setting".
However, the most striking feature of "Beer Bad" is the twin moral
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
: Beer and casual sex
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
are bad. In a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
interview, Petrie states: "Well, very young people get unlimited access to alcohol and become horrible! We all do it — or most of us do it — and live to regret it, and we wanted to explore that."
Cultural references
- XanderXander HarrisAlexander LaVelle "Xander" Harris is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as in numerous items in the series Expanded Universe, such as comic books, tie-in novels and video games...
calls GilesRupert GilesRupert Giles is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head. He serves as Buffy Summers' mentor and surrogate father figure...
"Mister I spent the 60s in an electric-kool-aid-funky-satan-groove," reminding him his own uses of narcotics during his Ripper days. It's a reference to Tom WolfeTom WolfeThomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
's 1967 The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, a book dealing with drug-taking hippies. Althought Giles disdainfully rectifies the date, actually the early 70's, he does not contradict the facts.
Continuity
- "Beer Bad" is the episode where Buffy gets over Parker: At the beginning, she is pining for him, at the end, she is hitting him over the head with a branch, thus clearing the way for Riley.
- Oz's attraction to Veruca is built up further, setting the stage for the following episode "Wild at Heart".
- Buffy's statement of "fire bad" is reminiscent of her statements at the end of third season, "fire bad, tree pretty".
- The shot of the university immediately after the opening credits is re-used from "The Freshman" as Buffy can be seen walking among the crowd in her outfit from that episode.
- This is the eighth and final episode of the series not to feature at least one vampire, the others being "WitchWitch (Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode)"Witch" is the third episode of the first season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . It serves as the show's first regular episode after the Pilot and originally aired in the United States on March 17, 1997, on The WB Television Network...
", "The Pack", "I, Robot... You, JaneI, Robot... You, Jane"I, Robot...You, Jane" is the eighth episode of season 1 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode was written by staff writers Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden, and directed by Stephen Posey....
", "The Puppet ShowThe Puppet Show"The Puppet Show" is the ninth episode of season 1 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode was written by story editors Rob Des Hotel & Dean Batali, and directed by Ellen S. Pressman. The Scooby Gang becomes involved in the school talent show through the mechanations of new...
", "Inca Mummy Girl", "Living Conditions" and "Fear, Itself".
Reception and reviews
This episode is considered by some fans to be the worst Buffy episode.A BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
reviewer complained about its "American puritanism
Religious fanaticism
Religious fanaticism is fanaticism related to a person's, or a group's, devotion to a religion. However, religious fanaticism is a subjective evaluation defined by the culture context that is performing the evaluation. What constitutes fanaticism in another's behavior or belief is determined by the...
"
and Slayage criticized writer Tracey Forbes for delivering a trite and obvious message in a series containing "such an abundant feminist subtext".
However, Todd Hertz of Christianity Today
Christianity Today
Christianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...
used this episode of an example of the show's honest portrayal of consequences.
Controversy
This plot was written with the plan to take advantage of funds from the Office of National Drug Control PolicyOffice of National Drug Control Policy
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy , a former cabinet level component of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, was established in 1989 by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988...
available to shows that promoted an anti-drug message.
Funding was rejected for the episode because "[d]rugs were an issue, but ... [it] was otherworldly nonsense, very abstract and not like real-life kids taking drugs. Viewers wouldn't make the link to [the ONDCP's] message."
External links
- "Beer Bad" at BuffyGuide.com