Review
Rob
It may not have Britney, but I Was Made To Love is still a hit with me. Shonda Farr's portrayal of April is endearingly cute without become sickly.
Just when we think Buffy is to make yet another boyfriend faux-pax with Ben, the Slayer wrong foots the audience and calls the whole thing off.
As for the episode's ending, it still send a chill down my spine. Devastating.
By the way, isn't it always the same with sex toys? Just when things get interesting, the batteries run out.
James
It's odd how even a fairly standard episode of Buffy can still be incredibly poignant. This obeys the structure of all too many Season Five episodes (madcap monster chase), only it suddenly takes a tangent, as we realise that this particular monster is a poor, abused creature.
The scenes between Buffy and the dying robot are especially poignant, and bring to light a growing dissatisfaction for Buffy with her "I slay, therefore I am" ethic. Suddenly, we have Buffy pummelling this week's threat to death, and then sitting down for a chat with it. The robot only did what it was told to do - the person Buffy should really be going after is the unhappy inventor.
Thought-provoking as all this is, there are still moments with the love robot on the rampage that are just plain daft, and appear to have wandered in from a dumb episode of Lois and Clark.
Ann
A film I’ve always detested above all others is the 80’s teen "comedy" Weird Science, in which two bratty American kids build themselves a perfect woman - and get away with it. The horrible message this sent out made me want to give all the characters a slap, but of course I couldn’t. Well, now I can get over it, because I Was Made to Love You does exactly that.
Starting off as a light-hearted look at the nature of relationships, it ends up as one of the creepiest Buffys. Though the only threat is a cheerful, pleasant girl-robot, her naïve, obsessive stalking is somehow scarier than the filthiest fiend from the pit, because it touches on reality.
Warren is even worse, unable to even understand what he’s done let alone take responsibility for it. Not only has he created a love-slave, he’s created one who actively embraces her slavery - Buffy should have slapped him sideways into next week!
Like all the best of the series, this episode makes serious points but keeps it light - at least until that shocking last scene.
