Some backstory info helps Buffy viewers that have watched after the show ended or were not in America. One of the reasons that Buffy became an overnight hit was that it dealt with real world issues and events that teens and young adults had great interest and conversation. The late 90s had many news stories and features about how adults in authority were using their societal trust and position to abuse kids. Stories about Priests, Scout Leaders, and Coaches became common. But for many of us the most memorable and talked about were the attractive woman teacher, usually late 20’s and very pretty , seducing and having an affair with a student( usually 13-16) The female teachers were all very good looking and not a student I knew could understand why . Here was the typical conversation… all the girls thought it was disgusting, felt sorrow for the boy, and said the teacher should be thrown in jail. Every boy agreed with the girls but the… when we were on our own all agreed that the boy was the luckiest kid on the world The boys all felt it unfair we did not have any teachers that looked like that and why didn’t they not keep it quiet. That divide in a nutshell is a reason Buffy and this episode worked. This was a real world subject about inappropriate sexual relations between a teacher/ student told not like an unemotional news story but about how students view things like this. It’s strange today but in the Spring of 1997 it talked to us. Season 1 is monster of the week for many reasons but we did not care. The show was fresh, funny, talked to us, and the shows are all very topical, for the times. We saw the teacher representing how adults will consume us by many different ways. The conversation was that boys can be controlled and consumed by their immature and selfish desires. Here it is about the development of the male desires without any apparent concern or guidance by a parental figure. Looking back that’s why the real life girls thought a female teacher having sex with a student was awful and all of us 14-16 year old boys wished it was us. That’s this episode in a nutshell. The First Season stories are full of these lessons and have topical backstories. Does the idea of a young man succumbing to evil because of the need for love, sex, and connection sound like a familiar theme. Men often are a fool for love and can track their beginning of bad intentions to a bad choice. At the time all of us boys thought that having a sexual relationship with a beautiful older woman was hitting the jackpot. The years have passed and when we see an update on one of these women teacher/ student relationships we understand the emotional damage caused to the boy. Like Xander we had no clue and could only understand our uninformed emotions. We did not know at the time but this basic principle is a part of growing up and part of the journey in life and BTVS. Keep up the great reviews and if this background helps, great. If it does not please share

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Really enjoying your take on these Buffy episodes. Thank you!

❤❤❤❤❤ loved it

This was a great breakdown. I really like this episode and it makes the show feel like anything could happen. Keep up the good work! 😊

Tao. Rhymes with cow. One syllable.

I really appreciated your discussion about Charlie having friends and Nick having mates. I think you captured something really important with that.

Please learn to pronounce Tao's name

Yes, Nick is feeling uncertain about the implications of his attraction to Charlie (though through this episode and the next it becomes increasingly clear that he's never been uncertain of his feelings for Charlie - just about what those feelings mean for his own sense of identity) and in the scene on the couch he is kind of testing his own reaction. But IMO the reason that Nick doesn't actually take Charlie's hand isn't that he "can't bring himself to do it"; it's that Charlie can't consent to that intimacy while he's asleep. Especially given what he knows about Charlie's history with Ben, Nick would *never*.

I love this analysis!! And only based on the movie, the book helps to understand even more all this facts about Alex, such incredible character and so rich and complex and adorable and it's impossible for me not feeling so represented by him 🥰❤️

It was only seen once before it was cut out of the episode but after Delilah is killed and Lucifer 'talks' to the killer, Lucifer walks back to Delilah's body and takes off his coat to cover the body which is why he isn't wearing his coat while talking to Chloe at the piano.

YES!!! Thank you that for that intelligent analysis. I have probably watched the whole series (both one and two) (never mind - it’s scary). The very light and comedic surface overlays a masterpiece that shows great respect for the story and its audience.

I completely agree. I’m hooked too. Well done!

I can't believe I didn't know you were British until I heard your pronunciation of "assume". It's not even that subtle. I guess I just thought that "nerding out" was an American thing. Enough to make me miss your accent.

Great analysis. I subscribe to Thom is Trans and I thought I had every nuance. Thanks for proving me wrong!

loved this vid! you're great at analysis of shows and it's great to see one done on heartstopper. can't wait for episode 2!

I've watched lots of Heartstopper reactions but I don't think anyone has explained WHY Charlie is so insistent on doing Nick's maths homework to the point that after Nick refuses his help Charlie then tries to snatch the worksheet away from Nick. It just seems excessive.

I loved this video ❤ so accurate, and the pilot episode of Heartstopper is one of the best of the series

Keep up your great work. Your breakdowns are fantastic, they are even being talked about on Tik Tok😊

Wow, this video nails it! I'm not sure if this relationship would have had a chance at all if Alex hadn't fought so passionately for their happiness. Because in my opinion, Henry was too shy and stiff to break out of his 'cage'. He kept hiding behind "being different" as a prince. He needed Alex's courage and unconditional loyalty to this relationship in order to summon up all his courage and fight for their relationship. But Henry also showed courage after the cake incident and re-established contact with Alex after he had left for the US again. Even if he tried to make light of it at first by sending one joke after another via WhatsApp. He knew that there was no other way to get Alex's attention and interest in further contact. Anyway, I adore this movie. IIt's a mystery to me how you can pull off such expressive bed scenes when you're (supposedly) not in love with each other in real life. You only have to look at Nicolas' entire facial expression (and especially his eyes) when he's making love with Alex for the first time. That really blew me away. It's crazy when you consider that they both had to stick to a precise "choreography" during this (according to their interviews), the camera was so close to them and who knows how many people were standing around them. Brad Pit also ones pulled this off masterfully in the film "Rendezvous with Joe Black". I'll never understand how one can act that expressively without having real feelings for someone. Well done! I very much hope that there will be a sequel soon.

These are going to be great. Please keep it up!

Aura was talking to Aphrodesia about something she heard from Blue. Neg! Pos! Negly!!

About the clothing, I'm not sure if I'm interpreting this right, but I find it nice that the swimming shorts Alex and Henry are wearing at the lake house are telling about who they are; Alex's shorts are purple refering the bi flag colors as he's bisexual and Henry's shorts are turqoise refering the gay flag colors as he's gay

This was a fab video. I loved your reasonings and explanations for why you think they made certain choices, especially with the deleted scenes. The only thing I'd disagree with is that when they go to the V&A, Henry's hoody is light blue, not grey.

Thank you for this video! I love to explore movie guts. ❤

yes I love rwrb with this video I loved her more

I love your investigations, not only because I get to see the boys way after the movie release, but you are so insightful. I loved how you said both you and Alex don't know how to handle Henry saying "He is"😂. And following Alex's arc down to when he starts changing. TYSM.

Excellent review! Thank you for taking the time to do that.

Great analysis! Alex travels a huge arc of emotional and intellectual development over the 14 month timeline of this film. So just to add: Alex first became intrigued by a photograph of a thirteen year old Henry in a magazine. And although he never got it out of his mind, had clearly talked himself out of his attraction to Henry as he grew up, but it remained an unrecognised yet sensitive point. So even after the misunderstandings of the first meeting, something lingered that he was subconsciously pushing back on. But he keeps giving himself away; like craning forward in the reception line to get a first view, like pushing himself into Henry's face and those juvenile insults before Cakegate. Like a teenager with a crush. And a working class kid out of his element, yet in an element that is obviously Henry's ("....actually, it's Schubert.") He may be a chaotic mess, but he looks elegant whatever he is wearing, and is aware of his attraction to others - just not Henry, typical 'not being able to see the wood for the trees' behaviour! He is at ease with being attractive to women, and can handle it with ease, but his attraction to Henry is something else. It is interesting that when they are shoved into the hospital closet Henry huffs in panic: "Get your hips off me!" and yet at the NYE party, Alex grabs Henry's hips and manipulates them, to Henry's horror. Oh yes, know it or not, Alex really does want to get hold of Henry' body and as Nora says, do the dicking down stuff. Yikes! (But Alex still doesn't realise that about himself; as a natural born politician he is too busy reading and being aware of the reactions of other people, less so his own. Henry remains his blind spot because of a never before involved level of emotion.) Henry is empowered by his attraction to Alex, acting confidently about his own needs and desires in a way that is clearly as rare as it is unusual for him. Yet he measures carefully the times he pushes to take their relationship further. He takes that first kiss in the dark, alone, away in the garden where no-one knows where they are and can see them. At the White House the two meetings are in Alex's environment, so he goes with Alex's trysts and accepts their meetings are as safe as they can be. At the Paris cafe he is confident to push with that lovely and sweet, yet challenging, "He is" because they are in an enclosed public space, and Alex must behave with propriety as he responds to it. Walking in the garden later he makes his guarded attitude, and his boundaries of behaviour in public very clear, albeit reluctantly, and Alex finally understands that. But to reverse that realisation, the privacy of the hotel room is a sacred romantic space and they can behave and act/react totally open to each other; no-one to overhear or spy, no schedule of outside forces to be dictated by in time or space. Paris is theirs and takes them further and deeper into what they are becoming. (And the most beautiful, emotional, unembarrassing sex scene on screen ever? I think so!) And you know that in Texas Alex is going to speak his heart: not just because his face says it all while Henry is singing - but also because his shirt is covered in open red lips just as delicious as Henry's own; another great costume choice, playful and indicative of what is going on. Yes, more reasons why we all love this film so much! Keep analysing; it is such fun and shows such heart!

I love your analyses. As good as a RWARB thesis! Just to add: from the very start, you can tell Henry is, and has always been, attracted to Alex because until the New Year's Eve party, he very carefully and studiously avoids meeting Alex's eyes, so his own eyes do not give him away. To give such nuance and subtle messages without direct eye contact takes some doing, Mr Galitzine. When Henry does finally kiss Alex, he lifts his wrists to graze Alex's face with the cuffs of his jacket, exactly as described in the book. When Alex finds the "It's Private" magazine in the corridor with Henry in it with a mystery brunette, he is wearing a shooting stars shirt. Is this foreshadowing the shooting star of happiness at the very end of the film? Or to indicate that he, Alex, will soon be shooting across the universe alongside Henry? Or both? Very playful costume choice either way! When the boys hook up for the first time in Alex's bedroom, there are two little figures standing together on Alex's windowsill, mirroring the exact pose the boys hold in front of the hotel room window in Paris. A sweet touch....as are the two cherubs on the mantelpiece in the Paris hotel room; cherubs are angels of love. Yes, there is a large concensus that Henry just abandoning Alex in the middle of the night is a horrible thing to do. But everyone must remember that Henry is British and royal; 'never complain, never explain' is the norm of behaviour he is both conditioned to, and is also very stiff upper lip British. His attitude would be that to leave without acrimony and angst is the kindest thing to do, relatively. And although he was running away from the situation, he would have felt he had no choice. He had taken pains from the very start to warn Alex not to fall in love with him, that he could only momentarily belong to anyone else; he had always made that clear, not just because of his social standing, but because of his own fear of and for himself. Henry was running from fear, suddenly acknowledging that Alex felt for him what he had always felt for Alex....and that he felt unworthy of Alex's love. But he was also running, as he explains very candidly to Bea, to cauterize the wound, to try and save Alex any more pain that a scene, an argument, and an emotional showdown would have caused. His logic for walking and ghosting makes absolute sense to a repressed, overthinking, over self controlled and very feeling young man. His sacrifice, or rather, his attempt at self sacrifice, is all on him, far more complex and honourable than stopping and trying to talk out his resolve to abandon Alex with Alex. A resolve which he also knew would have crumbled if he and Alex had been face to face and Henry could see Alex's hurt. That would have put Henry in an emotional showdown that his life's training had never prepared him for, especially knowing Alex was more fragile and emotionally open than he himself had ever been able to be. Henry walking away in the middle of the night is courage, not cowardice. And even more heartbreaking.

Great video. They are so fun and interesting. I really like discovering different things about this great movir.

Great movie❣️I love it!

Thank-you SO much for this one and all your videos! Hugs! tg

Thank you for sharing your view. I connected with it.

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For me, I would say the scene after the direct phone call from zahra to shaan to reconnect henry and alex, shows a very vulnerable and seriously broken henry. The way he say "hurry" signifies that. Then the scene at the stairs merges back all the broken pieces of henry together in the arms of alex. Ohhhh I am loving those scenes too much!!

I liked him from the start then he got questionable then just obnoxious, but he still goes back to likable at times. He's just a weird character to me. Then again I'm only halfway done with season 5.

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Solid review and hopefully I can add some additional information. One of the reasons Buffy became such a surprise hit program was how it addressed real issues for the 14-29 year old target market. For millions of American Suburban young adults, almost all of us either had or watched a parent (both Fathers, Mothers, and sometimes both) act like Amy’s mother. This behavior was and still common with sports teams, cheer squads, drill teams, debate… etc. Parents wanting their children to be stars and fighting with coaches and schools to get more playing time is normal. Around the time of the show there was a case about a Mother and her daughter involving cheerleading that will help you understand the impact and backstory. In a Houston Texas suburb, like Sunnydale, a woman’s daughter was the first alternate for the High School cheer squad.( BTW it’s not a cult but then it was a level of the social structure. The hot and popular girls were cheerleaders. Think top of the High School pyramid for girls)The Mother of the alternate tried unsuccessfully to get her daughter on the main squad. So her solution, she tried to hire a hit man to kill the Mother of one of the cheerleaders. She reasoned that the young girl would be so upset about her Mothers death, she would have to give up cheerleading and her daughter would be promoted Yes that happened. It was to the extreme but that hopefully will show you the pressure that parents would and will put on their children to achieve whatever in American Suburban schools. Buffy is a great show but there are many topics, meanings , and metaphors about the American experience that a non American or someone growing up today would not fully be able to relate. It’s not just High School, sports in America is impossible to understand for the rest of the world. Pull up on Goggle on the most expensive high school football stadiums. In Texas where I am from, a 60 million dollar stadium to seat 30 thousand is not uncommon. The High School playoff games are played in the college and pro stadiums and it is the norm to have 50 to 70 thousand for a non championship playoff game.That’s one reason that cheerleading and the band drill ( dance) teams are so popular. I know parents that start there little girls at 4 in dance class so they can make drill team in HS. Traveling sports teams( year round) for boys and girls in sports from volleyball to lacrosse and all other sports starts big time when boys and girls show some talent at age 10. It is big business and also big pressure. This is the back story of why this show came early and grew the audience. Kids and young adults were Amy if not cheerleading then in something.( Marching bands practice more hours than the football teams) Finally, participants need to not just be involved but the best.I will never forget making the middle school event band in 7th grade. ( in almost every school there is competition for every group and most don’t make the cut) I proudly told my Mother I had made 4th chair out of 5 total. She said that’s nice but that was too close to the bottom and she would find a teacher and get a schedule for me. I gave up the clarinet at the end of the year. That is repeated in every field. In arts, sports, and academic subjects kids are driven to be the best and in the suburbs of America after school millions of students are practicing, being tutored, or participating in something their parents want for their children. Buffy told our story and the First Season is weak for some but for us watching it told our story

I love xander too ❤️ I've done extensive research on the recent xander hate and have come to the conclusion that it stems from shipping culture and lack of philosophical writing in todays television (content over story) . The show very clearly says in season 1 that nobody will ever have a healthy relationship (I robot you Jane the last scene). And Joss is on the record saying that he is a nialist and an absurdist using philosophy to shape the stories that he is telling. He also uses the show to examine toxic behavior and how we grow and regress because of it. There is also a running theme that the whole narrative is built around where xander is buffys metaphorical heart. This means that when Buffy is dealing with matters of the heart xander will be the one to play out the metaphore that is happening. Examples: s2 becoming, xander tells buffy to kick his ass because buffy can't go into a fight against her first love and probably soul mate if she thinks he is saveable. She needs to use all her strength to fight him. The whole season was her trying to find that strength and harden her heart so she could do what needed to be done. Buffys heart (xander) knows she can't be torn between wanting to save angel and needing to stop the apocalypse. Season 3 when Buffy is confronted by everyone after xander finds her with angel he is portraying her guilt back to her. In season 6 buffy doesn't love herself and starts a toxic relationship with spike at the same time that that blows up xander leaves Anya at the alter... what buffy feels xander acts out. Basically people now a days are to focused on who they want to be with who, they neglect to see the themes the show is trying to talk about. Also people don't find Nicolas brenden as hot as James Marsters and David Boreanaz therefore focus on his toxic masculinity and overlook the other representations shown in the themes because they want to smexy time with spike and angel but not with xander 🤷🏻‍♀️. Xander is never rewarded in the narative for his toxic behavior and the show is using all the characters to highlight toxic behaviors and the consequences of our choices. "If nothing we do matters then all that matters is what we do"... and I would add to that "and how we grow" Xander grows a lot but doesn't get a lot of credit because he never becomes supernatural... hes just like us and nobody wants to see their faults reflected back to them. I love Xander 😁

In the entire movie there is one single word I would have changed. In the Garden when Henry says that "Henry Fox must belong to himself", rather than asking "Can he belong to someone else?" The question should have been "Can he belong with someone else."

I can't Xander and that's never going to change, he the most selfish, unapologetic and hypocritical character in the show

This is incredible. So insightful and perfectly presented. This is truly one of the best reviews/discussions of this incredible movie. Thank you.

I love every observation you’ve shared. Henry did say, “Grey is a color, thank you” early on, defending the conservative non-descript hue. Alternately, I am dazzled by the variety of outfits and materials that Alex looks great in every time. White henley and jeans in his confrontation with Madame President…hot stuff! Beto O’Rourke outfit in Texas, all of my friends spotted that one. I’m glad that the hairstyles were mentioned by someone in that there are a few hair discontinuities which are surely unintentionally hysterical. Nicholas did have to run off and film another movie requiring more of a close hair cut, so on returning to finish a few scenes had to wear a blond wig. It is great fun trying to spot the hairpiece! What is so great about this picture is all of the crew who knew the book by heart were gathering items that would be of significance and placing them in various scenes, sometimes unnoticed by Matthew Lopez. Sneaky!

I really enjoy these analyses of the movie. You seem to have a real handle on all the subtle things. I did hear Taylor's one comment on those deleted scenes. He said "they were deleted for a reason."

I remember seeing Henry in that baseball cap and thinking, "Who the hell is that guy... oh my God, it's the prince!!"