"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Hush (1999)

User Rating:

9.5/10   

Director:

Joss Whedon

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator)
Joss Whedon (written by)

TV Series:

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997)

Original Air Date:

14 December 1999 (Season 4, Episode 10)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

The creepy demons "The Gentlemen" capture the voice of the population of Sunnydale, to steal human hearts without scream...

Plot Keywords:

Lesbian | Fairy Tale | Female Protagonist | Voice | Heroine

Cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon	...	Xander Harris
Alyson Hannigan	...	Willow Rosenberg
James Marsters	...	Spike
Anthony Head	...	Rupert Giles (as Anthony Stewart Head)
Marc Blucas	...	Riley Finn
Emma Caulfield	...	Anya
Leonard Roberts	...	Forrest Gates
Phina Oruche	...	Olivia
Amber Benson	...	Tara Maclay
Brooke Bloom	...	Nicole
Jessica Townsend	...	Cheryl
Lindsay Crouse	...	Professor Maggie Walsh
Doug Jones	...	Gentlemen
Camden Toy	...	Gentleman

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-PG | Australia:M

Trivia:

Joss Whedon claimed he wrote this episode as a challenge to himself. Critics had hailed him for his deft use of banter and witty wordplay, so he decided to see if he was a good enough writer to craft an episode which was largely lacking any dialog at all.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: At 22:46, in the wide side-view of the Gentlemen floating down the street, if you look closely you can see traces of the wires used to suspend them showing against the upper floors of the buildings in the background, and in the following shot the wires suspending the two Gentlemen floating in the distance are similarly visible against the roof at the right of the clock tower.

Quotes:

Little Girl Singing Rhyme: Can't even shout, can't even cry / The gentlemen are coming by / Looking in windows, knocking on doors / They need to take seven and they might take yours / Can't call to mom, Can't say a word / You're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard.

Soundtrack:

Danse Macabre

The Essence Of Why BUFFY Is Brilliant

Having seen the movie years ago and been disappointed by its squandered potential, when I heard that it was becoming a TV series, I flatly refused to watch it. My best friend became a rabid fan immediately, and knowing my love for horror movies, could not believe that I wouldn't watch a single episode. I told him that the movie had scarred me for life as far as anything BUFFY was concerned, and he told me to forget that the movie even existed. He insisted that I give two episodes a shot: "Once More With Feeling" and this one.

Both of them are why I am a BUFFY fan today. He was right - I was hooked immediately. I have never seen a show with the guts to dare try an episode that has next to no dialogue, and nothing else could've pulled it off with the panache and the pure creativity of BUFFY. I think X FILES might've gotten away with it if they'd thought of it first, but I'm glad that BUFFY did it instead.

It is a credit to everyone involved that you are riveted for the entire hour, sometimes hanging onto the edge of your seat. And when it was all over, I craved to know more about every character. So I went out and bought the Season One boxed set. And the rest is history...

I guarantee you that if you've never seen it, either, you'll want to see more if you make this episode your first.

The only reason I'm not giving it 10 out of 10 is because I'm reserving that score for "Once More..."