...WTF!

The storyline for next week seems a bit far-fetched; but then, I've already
accepted the premise of a Vampire with a soul so what's a few muppets?

It had better be hilarious. My hopes are high, and the puppet looks well-
crafted.

I was kinda wondering whether this episode would feature a return of Sid, the talking dummy from very early in Buffy. I seem to recall that he already returned once, however, and was killed off..

I have to admit, when I first saw a cap from the episode, I was skeptical -- but then again, the very strangest of things tends to make the best shows..

I was kinda wondering whether this episode would feature a return of Sid, the talking dummy from very early in Buffy. I seem to recall that he already returned once, however, and was killed off..

He died (well, was releaesed) at the end of his first appearance and hasn't returned.

Pretty much a dull episode, as I expected.

My high point was the new (in 1943) gov't department, the Demon Research Initiative. Heh. Oh, and the possible ultimate origin of Spike's chip? I guess it took Maggie Walsh 50+ years to replicate the Nazi research.

I also have a big problem with Lawson's vamping. I was under the impression that a vamp's victim dies, stays dead for a while, then rises as a new vampire. As in every frickin' new vampire we ever saw on Buffy. I mean, how many times did we see her waiting by some poor schlub's grave for him to claw his way out as a vampire? But Lawson is vamped by Angel and turned in a short enough span of time to save them all from oxygen deprivation? That doesn't make any sense to me. If victims become vampires immediately, how were any of the Sunnydale victims ever buried, let alone given a funeral (as implied by their dress)?

I actually think next week's episode, while gimmicky, looks kind of funny.

If victims become vampires immediately, how were any of the Sunnydale victims ever buried, let alone given a funeral (as implied by their dress)?

Or maybe the victim must spend a certain amount of time completely hidden from the sun before rising. Hence the coffins and graveyards in the Sunnydale case. But since Lawson was stuck in a submarine for days or weeks already, he didn't require further dark time.

But Lawson is vamped by Angel and turned in a short enough span of time to save them all from oxygen deprivation? That doesn't make any sense to me.

1. No one had ever been turned by a vamp with a soul.
2. No one had ever been turned in a sub at high pressure.
3. Like the other guy said, you don't know how much blood they usually use.
4. And I'm sure Angel wasn't too worried about suffocating himself, and he's just extended the air time by making one guy not need to breathe anymore.

1. No one had ever been turned by a vamp with a soul.
2. No one had ever been turned in a sub at high pressure.
3. Like the other guy said, you don't know how much blood they usually use.
4. And I'm sure Angel wasn't too worried about suffocating himself, and he's just extended the air time by making one guy not need to breathe anymore.

While I think everyone should just breath deeply and repeat "It's only a show" to themselves a few times, there are a few things to point out:

On point 1, when Spike returned to Buffy he had a soul. When his mind was on the fritz, he created several vampires. Apparently, they either needed to be buried or took long enough that were buried in the basement. (Curiously enough, although all of them had been turned at different times, they all emerged at the same time, which suggests a trap, a very variable turn time, or the presence of a human -- or the slayer -- triggered it.)

I would also point out that this turning was very much the Anne Rice style, and that vampires have been created in Buffy and Angel in just as much time. Part of it might be based on the will of the sire to turn them; it might also be the fact that the guy was just about dead to begin with, as opposed to most of the victims who had to die first.

I also made dramatic sense, and as most of Joss's minions and himself have said, the mythos is not meant to be consistent as it is to be dramatic.

And finally, vampirism is not a science, and may not entirely be describable with particular science. Tell me exactly how long bread is going to mold, and I will show you something you left out of your calculations. The truth is, we only have evidence by what we see, and it is much more organic, much more mystical, and much more multi-dimensional than that...

Whew! I'll hop off this orange crate that someone left me.. Whooops!

Great review! Please, though - refer to the episode by it's actual title ("Why We Fight"). "1943" is yet another example of the WB redefining things to suit their needs, like they did with "Apocolypse Nowish" last year. They renamed it "Rain of Fire" in their promos to attract more viewers, which is what I'm assuming is the case with calling this one "1943."

The official WB site lists "1943" as the title. Of course, when they changed "Apocalypse Nowish," they changed it on the official site, too. I don't read the titles in advance anymore (spoilerish), so I go with whatever they list here on the night of the broadcast.