The premise of Beer Bad has Buffy and some newfound fratboy mates drinking beer and turning into neanderthals. If it was played for drama it would be dumb. It's not. It's played for laughs. And it's very funny.
I mean, come on. How can you not love the image of Buffy spinning around and around in a rolling chair? I love the idea that Sarah Michelle Gellar showed up to work and was directed to talk like a cave woman and freak out over television. And she commits admirably to the performance, silly as it is. What's wrong with being silly every now and again?
Xander is also great in this episode. I love how he romanticizes his job as a bartender. His interactions with the frat boys, in which they talk down to him because he is not a college student, represents his larger feelings of aimlessness and lack of worth compared to his friends. Even so, he's completely devoted to his friendship with Buffy. In my head, at least, he's over his romantic feelings for her by now and just wants to be a good friend. I really enjoy seeing the core Scoobies just being there for each other, no matter what. Unfortunately I feel we get less and less of this dynamic as the show goes on. Maybe that's why I vastly prefer seasons 1-3 to anything that follows.
I mean, come on. How can you not love the image of Buffy spinning around and around in a rolling chair? I love the idea that Sarah Michelle Gellar showed up to work and was directed to talk like a cave woman and freak out over television. And she commits admirably to the performance, silly as it is. What's wrong with being silly every now and again?
Xander is also great in this episode. I love how he romanticizes his job as a bartender. His interactions with the frat boys, in which they talk down to him because he is not a college student, represents his larger feelings of aimlessness and lack of worth compared to his friends. Even so, he's completely devoted to his friendship with Buffy. In my head, at least, he's over his romantic feelings for her by now and just wants to be a good friend. I really enjoy seeing the core Scoobies just being there for each other, no matter what. Unfortunately I feel we get less and less of this dynamic as the show goes on. Maybe that's why I vastly prefer seasons 1-3 to anything that follows.