Fister’s Random Buffy Review “Hush”

Article by FisterRoboto of lefthandhorror.com

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Four, Episode Ten “Hush”

Written & Directed by Joss Whedon

The creepy demons “The Gentlemen” capture the voice of the population of Sunnydale, to steal human hearts without scream. Giles find that in accordance with a legend, the creatures will be destroyed if a lady screams, but Buffy’s gang plus Riley must fight the monsters voiceless.

I love when Buffy episodes start with a dream. You never know if it’s just a plain ‘ol dream, a prophetic vision, or something else entirely. If you haven’t seen this episode *snicker* you might be interested to know this was an Emmy Nominated episode based on an entire town losing their voices and performed mostly by a silent cast. This is without a doubt my favorite stand-alone episode of the entire series. Can your favorite show sustain your attention with 75% of the dialogue removed? The answer in this case was a deafening YES.

“Can’t even shout, can’t even cry, The Gentlemen are coming by..”

How much of your day do you go through in complete silence? By the time I’m ready to leave for work every morning I’ve already spoken to the cat and the dog, maybe a word or two to my cute and probably unconscious wife. Then there’s traffic to cuss out, baristas to thank, Ween on the iPod to scream along with and that’s all between 7-8am. Factor in an eight hour day at the office, a probable trip to Kroger after work, and then an evening of  super high-brow conversation with my now (mostly) awake wife.

So back to the original question – How much of your day do you go through in complete silence? Not much, huh? What if you were forced to? Enter: Hush.

The Gentlemen are Buffy’s Darth Maul; visually striking, totally bad ass, mysterious, and gone just like that. Seriously, look at these guys.

The Gentlemen are such a horror success story. The eerily hovering monsters were played by mimes, bringing a unique elegance to their silent performances. Whedon dreamed of a floating monster as a child, finally bringing the nightmare to life in The Gentlemen.

There were some moments of grand discovery and comedy, all the more effective under the cloak of silence. In one of the several action scenes, Buffy and Riley discover their mutual secrets when they come face to face in a brawl with the footmen. Being less than a fan of Riley, I found his silence refreshing. He generally sucks.

WIllow and Tara encounter the footmen as well, discovering their dormant and powerful magic. Holding hands they launch a soda machine across a room to block the door. They also find a blossoming affection for each other.

During Gile’s impressively illustrated lesson on The Gentlemen, Buffy makes a hand motion obviously meant to be perceived as Mr. Pointy staking monsters, the gang clearly sees a handjob instead. The confused glances are fantastic. Anya has a sexual hand gesture as well, suggesting her and Xander leave the room and get it on.

Always clever, Hush takes the show to a new level of greatness. If you haven’t seen this Emmy nominated episode, please add it to your must-see list.