Is this the greatest episode of television ever?

[lirazel]

So I just finished watching “The Body.”  And I don’t think there are any words to describe it except to say that I think every single decision Joss made was absolutely the right one.

I know I’ve never seen anything like this on television.  And I can’t think of anything like it in the movies either.  The thing it comes closest to is A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis which is the most honest, real view of mourning that I’ve ever read.  No frills or forcing lessons into it.  Just pain.

The silence.  Oh, y’all, the silence.  The complete lack of music and the consciousness of simple sounds in the middle of all of this—how does Dawn’s teacher put it?—negative space.  It’s the opposite of, a counterpoint to, “Hush” and I don’t know that I’d ever approved of a technical decision by a director so much.  I just feel like there’s so much integrity in the idea of Joss not manipulating us emotionally by using music—that’s so brave, and he was so very right.

And the long shots.  I hate that the things that I focus on most are the technical, but I feel like it has to be that way.  The taking of the time, the way that nothing moves fast, that there’s so little editing, that we have time to suffocate, is just so right.  I love long shots more than maybe anything in film because when it is, it’s all real acting and not just skillful editing. 

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s acting in that first insanely long shot—I do not know how that was possible.  It’s one of the most painful things I’ve ever seen in my life—I entered into that scene in a way I never have with a show.

The contrast between the real tragedy and the little misdirect of Dawn’s high school drama and the buildup to the moment when Buffy tells her was genius.  And the fact that we don’t actually hear Buffy telling Dawn—I don’t think there are words for how right of a decision that was. 

But I think the scene that is the most mindblowing was the scene with the four Scoobies in Willow’s room.  Alyson Hannigan has always been able to make me cry like none other—her pain is tangible.  And the way she is so frantic and fixating on choosing her clothes—gah.  There are no words.  And Tara and Xander are fantastic, too.  But I cried the absolute most at Anya and her questions and—she just doesn’t understand.  She just doesn’t get it and that’s her most human moment because nobody really does and that is so incredibly beautiful.

The awkwardness at the morgue and the not knowing what to do and the restlessness and the disconnect.  I’m so frustrated that I don’t have the words to describe this! 

 And all these little moments that are almost funny but not quite, ironies and misconceptions—they didn’t feel tacked on to keep up with the typical standards of the show—they arise from real life, and they work.

And that she just dies.  There isn’t any big dramatic death scene—we don’t see it—Buffy doesn’t get to say goodbye.  It’s a natural death, unlike all the others on this show so far, and that was the right decision because this is what everyone has to deal with—in this, unlike nearly everything else in her life, Buffy is just a regular girl dealing with this in exactly the way a regular girl would.

 And that there’s no payoff.  This isn’t about learning something or sacrifice or any of those things that inevitably come along with death in the world of art—yes, those things sometimes happen and they’re important, but not this time.  This is just about dealing.  And even though I personally believe in more hope than Joss does, this just all feels so incredibly realistic.

I know that this is petty because I really believe this is one of the greatest, most realistic moments in television history and I should just be glad that it exists, but it really is a travesty that 1) SMG did not get an Emmy for best actress and 2) Joss did not win every award in the history of the universe for directing and writing and being a human being.

A reaction post to Season 3 and 4 is forthcoming with lots of squeeing and anger and other such fun stuff, but I felt like this episode deserved its own post.  Because it just is that powerful.