Review
Rob
For a series that was built almost entirely on the premise of demons and monsters as allegories for teen angst, Wrecked curiously didn't quite work for me. Maybe because it felt like the conclusion to a a two-parter, and one that had begun so brilliantly in the hands of Drew Greenberg?
All the humour dissipated, to be replaced by the trademark Marti Noxon pain-fest. Willow's descent into addiction was an interesting avenue to explore, but wrapped up (for the time being) in far too obvious a way for my liking.
Hooray for Dawn, however. Her slapping of Willow was exactly what the doctor ordered. I bet that made her sore arm and cut head feel a whole lot better. I know I enjoyed it.
Ann
Well, what this wrecked for me was the fun I alway had from Buffy - previously a light-hearted show full of witty lines and cunning juxtapositions. Suddenly it's a grim soap-opera with a thick vein of public-service announcement running through it. Don't go out partying all night, kids! You'll pay for it big-time in the morning, as well you should.
What's worse is, it doesn't even ring true. The heavy-handed magic/drug addicition analogy madly shoehorned into this episode makes Willow's behaviour violently unconvincing - one minute she's okay, the next she's a raging mana-junkie with a serious case of cold turkey, man. And as for Buffy - so she made a mistake of passion. Big deal. Get over it girl - it's not like you couldn't do worse. Not every man can boast such good abs, and their own crypt too.
Enough with the angst! I want fun-Buffy back. Please.
Jelena
If you are a fan of Willow, you get to see her in cool and sexy mode, wearing a leather jacket, showing a bit of flesh and generally being a bit of a bad girl. This is definitely an episode where Alyson gets to show off what she can do.
If, on the other hand, you are a fan of the whole show, you might be disappointed by the overly simplistic messages... sex - bad, addiction - bad, entering disused buildings - bad, driving without due care and attention - bad... This sort of simple moralising is not what I have come to expect from the show, although the effects in this episode were impressive (spectacle over substance?)
Overall, a disappointing episode that will leave fans of the series asking why has everything been so heavily signposted.
