Hellmouth Podcast

Here is the Hellmouth Podcast for the Buffy The Vampire Slayer series Season 2 Episode 6 titled “Halloween.” One of my favorite Buffy episodes and I had a lot of fun with this episode of the podcast. (an mp3 version of the podcast can be found here) A big thanks to Bob, the new editor for the Hellmouth Empire for editing this podcast episode!

Willow is a sexy vixen.

Buffy passes out.

Ripper makes an appearance.

Charisma Carpenter in a cat-suit!

UPDATE: Here is Jenny’s translation of Ethan’s spell (Thanks Jenny!):

Janus, hear my (plea/prayer). Take this as your own. Come forth and show us your truth. The mask is made flesh. The heart is twisted by your holy presence. Janus, this night is yours.
-Jenny

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:58 — 24.7MB)

• HMPC 0206 “Halloween”  – Buffy The Vampire Slayer

• Welcome to the Hellmouth Podcast for the Buffy The Vampire Slayer Series, Season 2 Episode 6 titled “Halloween”
• I want to remind everyone about all of the ways that you can be a part of the Hellmouth Podcast.
  • Twitter @hellmouthcast
  • Facebook page – search for Hellmouth Podcast
  • you can email me at hellmouthpodcast@gmail.com
  • you can call the Hellmouth Hotline at 1-888-818-8941
  • or head on over to the hellmouth podcast blog at www.hellmouthpodcast.com
• I want to say a quick thank you to Juliet Landau who was nice enough to do an interview with the Hellmouth Podcast in the last episode.
  • If you haven’t already seen Take Flight then I strongly encourage you to go see the film.
  • The film is available at www.julietlandaustakeflight.com
    • It is $2.50 to see the film, streaming online. You get three viewings of the film for the $2.50 cents.
    • Remember, there is a contest involved folks. If you see the film and send me a short review, as short as you like but no longer than 200 words then the best review gets an autographed photo of Juliet.
• February Goals Update
  • If you remember, I said that I wanted to have 20 surveys completed on the website and 20 iTunes reviews.
  • We had 21 surveys completed on the website and 15 iTunes reviews.
• As I stated in the last podcast, this is a huge episode of the series. It is a masterfully written and has far-reaching implications. There is a lot about this episode of the show that comes up in later episodes and seasons. Most notable many of you will remember that Xander utilizes the soldier knowledge that he picks up in this episode pretty frequently throughout the rest of the series.
• Sunnydale Pumpkin Patch
  • Buffy is fighting a vampire, throwing pumpkins at him.
  • She is being video taped by another generic vamp
• Opening Credits
• Snyder is rounding up volunteers for the Halloween safety program.
  • Kids are escorted by students for trick or treating.
  • Snyder has Xander, Willow and Buffy sign up
  • Costumes are mandatory.
  • Halloween is supposed to be quiet for Sunnydale
    • Dead for the undead
    • This is a concept that is recurring throughout the series. Halloween is traditionally a quiet night in terms of monsters.
    • The great thing, or perhaps not so great thing is that for Buffy and the group, Halloween is never a quiet night. There is always something horrible happening to them.
    • Giles says this will be a quiet night.
• Larry approaches Xander at the coke machine.
  • Xander is mad that Buffy just destroyed his manhood
• Buffy and Willow decide to read up about Angel in the Watcher diaries to find out more about Angel and what his taste in women is like. To find out if he would ever fall for cordelias type.
• Costume Shop – Willow gets a ghost costume but Buffy convinces her to dress as you aren’t.
  • Xander is going to be a soldier.
  • Buffy tries to apologize for the episode this morning when she saved Xander from Larry.
  • Buffy sees a beautiful costume that looks like the women that were in the Watcher Diaries in the Angel entries.
  • First appearance of Ethan Raine. He let’s Buffy have the costume, he owns the costume shop.
• Spike is reviewing the footage of Buffy fighting the generic vamp
  • Buffy is tricky, resourceful.
  • Drusilla shows up and her and Spikes discussion is brief but very revealing. Spike reminds Drusilla that Halloween is a quiet night for them but she says “Don’t worry everything is switching outsides to insides”
    • Foreshadowing what is going to happen with the costumes. Please insert mental bookmark here.
• Halloween is getting underway and Ethan is in his shrine at the back of the costume shop performing a ceremony to the god chaos.
  • Ethan worships Chaos, he is a servant of Chaos. He comes to town from time to time strictly to try and stir things up.
  • It is important to note that this statue of Janus that he is kneeling before has two faces to it.
• Buffy and Willow getting ready for trick or treating.
  • Willow is Sexy Girl
  • Buffy is plantation girl
• Xander thinks Buffy looks amazing.
  • Willow comes down dressed as ghost not sexy girl.
• So here it is folks. This is the discussion that I have been alluding to.
  • We have Buffy telling Willow that Halloween is a chance to dress as you aren’t.
  • Drusilla tells spike that something is happening tonight that turns insides to outsides.
  • Xander’s altercation with Larry in which his manhood is called into question.
  • I originally thought that each of the Scoobies (Xander, Willow and Buffy) had chosen costumes that represented who they wished that they were but I was talking with my wife about the episode. My wife is my personal literary expert. I don’t remember if I have mentioned this on the podcast before but my wife has a degree in humanities, her major was classical literature and obviously has a very keen eye for everything that is happening beneath the surface in any form of writing; so she is often times subjected to being my sounding board for what I think is happening in the Buffy series and really any and all things that we watch both TV and movies. I digress, it was during my discussion with my wonderful wife that she helped me realize that the Scoobies have not chosen costumes that represent who they wish they were, they have chosen costumes that represent who they actually are on the inside even if their insides (as Drusilla put it) have not yet been fully realized.
    • Let me explain by talking about each of them individually.
    • Xander – Xander has dressed up like a soldier a warrior if you will. I have talked with all of you before about Xander’s strongest personality traits in my mind. Let’s recap them quickly shall we?
      • Courage – the only scoobie with no supernatural power so to speak yet he is often the first one to jump into the fray.
      • Loyalty – the friend who is always watching out for the others and is will to do anything to protect the people he loves.
      • Xander throughout the series will grow into this warrior in so many ways. He will become the heart of the Scoobies and will over time make big sacrifices for the sake of the group. He will even be seriously wounded in battle trying to protect his loved ones when he loses an eye in season 7.
      • Willow – Willow has dressed up like a sexy vixen.
        • Willow is the total package. She is funny, intelligent, beautiful, sexy everything a guy could want.
        • She goes from being a ghost, invisible to the outside world going largely unnoticed to being this gorgeous woman once the spell is cast.
        • We will see Willow go through what I consider to be the most dramatic character development in the series. She will become powerful, confident, she will learn a lot about herself, this costume just represents that she is not the timid, meek, wallflower that she seems to be she is a vibrant woman on the inside, again, not fully realized.
        • Buffy –Buffy wants to be a normal girlie girl. Not a slayer, not a fighter, just a girl who wants to fall in love and marry a nice man. She wants to be normal.
• Trick or treating with kids.
• Oz sighting
  • Oz talks to Cordelia about Devon and then bumps into ghost Willow
• Ethan Raine casts a spell here in latin and for those of you who remember from the last podcast. Jenny one of our Hellmouth Podcast listeners is fluent in latin. I have asked Jenny to translate this spell for us so that we can see what he is actually saying and I will post her translation in the show notes.
• I don’t really see Ethan Raine as being the typical villain. This is getting way ahead of myself here but lets talk about Ethan.
  • What was Ethan’s goal in casting this spell? What did he hope to gain? I use gain very specifically. Ethan wasn’t trying to use this spell to help him achieve something. The spell itself was the achievement.
  • I think this reveals a lot about Ethan and his role in the series. Ethan is a sorcerer. We will find out later in the series that he got into sorcery as a young man. Ethan strikes me as a man who never really grew up mentally.
  • While Ethan has a little more focus or direction than that, I really see Ethan as a childish sorcerer who just wants to see what happens when he casts these spells.
  • That is why I say he is not the traditional villain. Most of the time it is money, power, glory, etc. Ethan is not that sophisticated.
• Spell is cast and turns everyone into the costumes they are wearing.
• Willow is a ghost she remembers who she is but she tries to explain to Xander what is going on.
• Funniest moment, Buffy faints when she sees the monsters.
• Xander, Buffy and Willow are hold up in Buffy’s house. Being attacked.
  • Xander and Buffy don’t remember who they are/were but the evidence in Buffy’s house indicates that Willow is telling the truth about them having some kind of amnesia.
• Cordelia who was dressed as a cat can be heard screaming outside.
  • She is being chased by a demon.
  • Xander saves her and gets her inside Buffy’s house.
  • Cordelia is not affected by spell because she bought her costume at a different costume shop. Party Town
• Willow goes for help.
• Spike is walking through Sunnydale “Well this is just neat”
• Xander is barricading the house.
• Angel shows up and is glad they are all right.
• Giles is in the library and hears the commotion outside.
  • Willow walks in through a wall and scares the crap out of him.
• Angel is with the group trying to figure out what is going on.
• Angel is guarding the back of the house in the kitchen with Buffy when he makes the comment that he didn’t leave the back door open.
  • The two of them are attacked by a vampire?
  • How did vampire get in without being invited? When Angel fights him in the kitchen he asks for a stake so we have to assume he is a vampire.
• Willow and Giles are trying to research.
• They realize that Cordelia didn’t transform. Party Town, the pieces fit together, they got their costume at Ethan’s according to Willow
  • You can see on Giles’ face that he knows what happened.
• Buffy is running through the mess outside from Angel because when he was fighting the vampire in Buffy’s house he vamped out himself and so now the Scoobies, Angel and Spike are all looking for defenseless Buffy.
• Larry, Pirate Larry finds her and now he is chasing her too.
• Giles and Willow show up at Ethan’s
  • Willow finds Ethan’s temple/shrine
  • Janus statue. Represents the division of self.
  • Giles sees Ethan and tells Willow to get out now.
  • Ethan calls Giles Ripper!!! This is the first time we hear Giles referred to as Ripper.
• Xander saves Buffy from Larry, what he wanted to happen at school earlier.
  • A little bit of a baby step for Xander as we see him taking his courage and warrior-ness from the monster realm and somewhat bridging the gap to his “normal” life.
• Buffy tells Cordelia that Angel is a vampire.
  • Cordelia is sarcastic and blows her off, she still doesn’t believe that Angel is a vampire.
• Willow finds the group and alerts them that Spike is coming.
  • Spike has a mob posse.
• Ethan and Giles conversation gives us a lot of insight into Giles.
  • Giles is not the champion of the pure and innocent.
  • Ethan knows who he is and what he is capable of.
  • The others don’t know where he came from.
  • Giles threatens to kill Ethan if he doesn’t reverse the spell then starts to kick the crap out of him.
• The group holds up in a warehouse.
• Spike and the others break in.
• Spike catches up to Buffy, she is terrified.
  • Once again Spike is almost infatuated with Buffy especially in the state she is in. He talks to her and toys with her, almost reminiscent of Angelus and the way he treated his victims or his prey.
• Giles gets Ethan to tell him how to break the spell, break the Janus statue.
• The spell is broken and Buffy kicks Spike’s butt.
• Buffy says, “it’s good to be me.”
• Ethan gets away, Spike gets away.
• Willow wakes up back in her body.
  • Decides not to put ghost costume back on again, baby step for Willow.
  • As she is walking to the group she passes in front of Oz.
  • “Who is that girl?”
• Buffy and Angel back in her bedroom.
  • They talk about why Buffy dressed up like that.
  • She wanted to be a real girl.
  • Angel didn’t like those girls.
    • They were incredibly dull.
    • Wanted someone exciting, interesting.
    • They kiss
• Giles returns to the costume shop and Ethan has vanished.
  • There is a note
  • Be Seeing you…
• What an episode. All of these characters have revealed so much about themselves and so many of them have taken a step in terms of character development to be on the outside more like who they are on the inside!
• End Episode.
• Rate the episode
  • Well if you couldn’t already tell this episode
    • Point for Sexy Vixen Willow
    • Point for Giles kicking the crap out of Ethan and the introduction of Ripper
    • Point for the Tony Robbins moment near the end
    • Point for Halloween my favorite holiday.
    • Point for Oz and Willow creeping closer
    • Point for Charisma Carpenter in a cat suit
    • Should I keep going this episode starts at a 10 out of 10 all the bonus points we must be up to about 16 by now and I could probably keep going. Great, great episode.
• Listener Emails
• I wrote a comment to you on the Hellmouth Podcast Facebook page, but I also wanted to e-mail personally to let you know once again that you did a wonderful job interviewing Juliet Landau. When you first gave an indication that you may have landed an interview with a Buffy cast member, I first thought that it might have been Amber Benson. She has been making the rounds in some local comic book shops here in New York promoting her book Cat’s Claw. Then I saw that you had landed Juliet and I was very intrigued to see what kind of questions would be asked.
  I am glad that you started out with asking her about what she was doing NOW in her career as opposed to jumping right into her role in BTVS. You mixed up the questions very well. I felt that YOU were comfortable interviewing her and you made HER comfortable in answering your questions. I thought you were very calm and collected. You obviously did your homework. Your questions were interesting. I have to tell you, I learned a great deal about her in that interview. I always saw her as the evil and demented Drusilla, and it was great to see just how down to earth she really is and how involved she is in the various projects that were mentioned. I really hope you get to interview many more members of the show and I plan on being along for the ride.
• Listener Voicemail
  • No voicemails since the last podcast episode so that brings us to the end.
• Thanks to everyone for tuning into another episode of the Hellmouth Podcast. I want to say a big thank you to Oaktree who has been providing new content for the website that is seeing a lot of traffic. I also want to say thanks to Bob who edited this podcast for me allowing me to spend more time prepping and with Bob helping out with the editing I should be able to get podcast episodes out faster since I won’t have to spend time working on the editing side so a big thanks to the new members of the Hellmouth Empire. Remember if you want to find out about all of the ways that you can become a member of the Hellmouth Empire just go to the website at www.hellmouthpodcast.com and click on the about the show link and then the cast and crew link to find out more information.
  • Remember www.hellmouthpodcast.com
  • hellmouthpodcast@gmail.com
  • Hellmouth Hotline – 888-818-8941
  • See you guys next time for the episode titled “Lie To Me”, Stay Classy Sunnydale.

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