There are a lot of things that Buffy did very, very well teen melodrama that didnt feel like it was written by a nine-year-old, tongue-in-cheek urban fantasy, witty metatextual dialogue, lesbian love stories but one of those things is definitely not being scary. How could it be scary, when everyone was so cuddly? Hush, popping up halfway through the otherwise disappointing fourth season, is the exception that proves the rule the exception that proves two rules actually, since part of the unique selling point of the episode is that the shows trademark banter is almost completely absent. Written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon, the story sees a group of monsters out of fairy tale the Gentlemen appear in Sunnydale, intent on carving out peoples hearts. No ones entirely sure why: but their MO when arriving in a town is to steal the voices of the populace so that their victims cant scream, and so that their grisly surgery cant be interrupted. Written by Whedon as a direct response to comments that the reason for the shows success was the snappy dialogue, the lack of voice for the majority of the episode allows for some ironic character development (several of the protagonists have things they desperately need to talk about but cant speak) and a truly eerie backdrop to the most sinister villains/monsters in the shows history. Tall ghouls gliding along instead of walking, dressed like undertakers, with fixed, evil, skeletal grins full of metal teeth and a mocking sense of politeness and etiquette, the Gentlemen are right out of a childs nightmare. Apparently the actors hired to play the creatures were completely terrifying in broad daylight, so god knows what it must have been like to act opposite them at night.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
