7.3 - Same Time, Same Place

Willow is back in Sunnydale, but something goes wrong.


***

Hmm..Not sure what I think about this one yet.

Willow comes back from England, but when she gets to the airport, no one is there to greet her. We see Xander and Buffy and Dawn at the airport waiting for her, but she doesn't get off the airplane. Something's up.

I'll let you in on it now. Willow did some spell by accident that shifted her out and made her invisible to them. Now, if you ask me, if she's able to do something like that on accident, maybe she has no business being back in Sunnydale. but I digress.

Spike gets a really cool scene here where he has invisible Willow talking to him on one side and invisible Buffy talking to him on another side. you don't realize it yet because of the way it's shot. You see him have a crazy conversation with Willow that doesn't seem to make much sense. Then you see the conversation from Buffy's perspective and it all clicks. I think Marsters did a really good job with this scene. But I gotta be honest, this crazy stuff he's doing is going to get old really quick.

There's also a scene I loved where Willow and Anya take out a map of Sunnydale and do some magic-fu on it to show all the demons in Sunnydale as little lights. There are A LOT of little lights. I thought it was cool, and I guess I never really thought about how over run Sunnydale really was.

So Willow goes to this cave where this monster lives (oh yeah, this dude turns up skinned, and people think Willow did it. It was really this monster guy), and I tell you, this thing looks, acts, and talks just like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Not from the movie, per se, but from the books. He lives in a cave, he talks out loud to himself, he sings songs, and he walks around all froglike. I think Jane Espenson was rocking some LOTR when she wrote this.

Anyway, Gollum paralyzes you when he scratches you, so he gets Dawn with his claw and paralyzes her, which is funny, because she gets to play it for cuteness, not annoyingness. Then Gollum stabs Willow and gets her frozen, and actually starts carving her skin out of eating it. I couldn't believe they got away with this on television. Pretty gross stuff, but really I couldn't believe that they were letting it happen to one of the main cast.

Anyway, Buffy figures it all out with the help of Anya, kills Gollum (my precious!) and Willow appears to them all. Then Buffy gives Willow some of her strength so that she can heal using magic.

Awww. It's a Kodak moment.

Rating: 8/10

7.2 - Beneath You

Anya has caused trouble by wreaking vengeance.

***

We again open with a girl, this time in Germany, running from men in black cloaks. Again, they kill her.

Buffy wakes up and we find that she has been dreaming this. It's probably a vision, Slayer style. So Buffy now works at the high school as a...well, just someone for the kids to talk to, but it works for me, because it's a reason to get back into the high school.

There's this big worm/rancor/sarlacc pit/monster from Tremors thing that is scooting around under the ground and trying to hurt this chick, so Xander helps her out. As it turns out, it's Anya's fault. She turned the girl's ex boyfriend into the wormy monster because the chick made a wish. Turns out Anya isn't liking being a vengeance demon so much. Man, they sure are getting a lot of mileage out of the whole Xander/Anya breakup. As evil Willow would say, "bored now."

What really confuses me is Spike. He's here and he's cleaned himself up, wearing blue instead of black, and for most of the episode he seems completely in control and compassionate. Then a switch gets flicked and he goes nuts. He hits Anya, he hits Buffy, and he makes a douche out of himself. I'm confused. I hope they explain before too long. Anyway, Buffy finds out that he has his soul back.

They also give us a cool catch phrase.

From beneath you it devours.


Rating: 7/10

7.1 - Lessons

It's Dawn's first day of High School at the new Sunnydale High.


***

Joss has written his first episode in 10 months of the show, and all is right with the world. He didn't direct, but that's fine, he had Firefly going on now, he was a busy man. It doesn't even matter, because if Joss is writing, that's enough.

We open in Istanbul, where a girl is running from men in black cloaks, who catch her and stab her. Then we're back in Sunnydale.

Sunnydale High School has been rebuilt, right over the foundation of the last high school that was destroyed at graduation.

Things have immediately changed since last season. Dawn is patrolling with Buffy and Buffy is letting her get her hands dirty, teaching her to stake vamps. Dawn gets to wear black, a promise Whedon made to Michelle Trachtenberg between seasons. Spike is back, with his soul, but he's completely nutters. More on that later.

So with the new High School, a new cooler principal, played by DB Woodside, and a new attitude, Buffy season 7 already has me happier than season 6 did. The bad guys here are some ghoulies that have been resurrected to exact revenge on students...kind of like zombies. So here we have Buffy, in Sunnydale High, with teenagers, fighting monsters. There's an old school beauty about it. It just feels right. For me, Buffy will always belong in high school. That's where the show started, that's where it should end. It's full circle, and it's appropriate.

Willow is in England being trained by the coven that gave Giles the power last season. She's come to see her power as good and white, and looks at nature as the source for her power now.

So Spike is crazy. I'm not sure what to think about this. Is it the soul that drove him crazy or is it the big bad evil who we meet at the end of the episode and is tormenting him? Speaking of the big bad, it's very cool. They've gone back to the evil entity that we met in season 3, the first evil (though they haven't explained it again yet) who was tormenting Angel when he came back. This bad thing starts off with the bad guy of season 6 and morphs into each baddie from each season until he stands before Spike as Buffy. We get to see Warren, Glory, Adam, The Mayor, Drusilla, and the Master again. It's a VERY cool scene.

I'm back on board with season 7. If they can maintain this level of balance, I think the show will be much more accessible.

Rating: 8.5/10

Season Six: Looking Back

Season 6 was a departure from what I have come to love about the show, and I found it to be too dark and depressing. The big question to me is: Where was Whedon? He only wrote and directed one episode this year, which was, of course, quite awesome, but his presence has never before been this scaled back. Why was he so absent? What was he doing?

On the special features of the DVDs is a panel that took place after the filming of season 6 had completed, and Whedon is joined by Marti Noxon, the principal cast (with the exception of Gellar, of course, who doesn't seem to do these things) and some behind the camera guys. Whedon seems like he was present and aware of exactly what was going on with the show, mentioning that they had weekly play readings with the cast at his house on the weekends.
So if that is the case, why did he only write one episode? Why is his presence in the scripts largely absent?

We've had dark on this show before. Season 4 was dark, and I'd say that season 5 had some terribly dark moments. But Buffy has always managed to leverage the darkness with funny moments. For instance, in season 4, Buffy is in college, she's floundering, Giles is unemployed and miserable, none of the Scoobies are on the same path at all. The group isn't really together anymore, but we still get some fun episodes like Giles being turned into a demon, Harmony and Spike playing off of each other with wacky bitterness, and the Jonathan episode, Superstar. Where is that stuff here?

Really, it's not here. There were some laughs from time to time, but this season started dark and only got darker. Uncharacteristically, too, if you ask me. When the moderator of the panel I watched asked Joss Whedon what he thought about people's complaints that the season was too dark, he answered "Oops." But it was clear, between he and Noxon, that they didn't realize that things were going to be this dark until it was already too late.

So I've got some real problems with this season. After Once More With Feeling, everything went downhill. This show doesn't work without Giles. It just doesn't. He's as crucial to the dynamic as Buffy is. Dawn seemed like she had no direction. They wrote her like she was 10. Buffy hated herself and wanted to be dead. Spike was a fool for love and made himself miserable because he couldn't leave Buffy alone. Xander leaves Anya at the alter. Tara gets killed. Willow goes evil. Any of these things would have been fine if they had been going on along with a more traditional season long arc, but by having them all running concurrently, it's just too much. And I think that Whedon knew that when it was all said and done.

There are very few highlights for me in this season. I love the musical episode, of course, and I love Willow going evil at the end of the season. Honestly, that's about it.

Joss said that the villain of this season is life. Well, they made that very clear. They made characters that I love act like completely different people, and they made a show that was addictive and impossible to miss VERY hard to watch. I don't think that's the goal of a show, to make their viewers so miserable that they don't want to watch.

I really hope that season 7 is better than this one was, or else I will have to become a believer in my theory that maybe Buffy should have ended at season 5 when the Slayer died.

6.22 - Grave

Willow is going to end it all.


***

Willow and Giles fight for a long time, then Willow makes a giant fireball that is going to track down the nerds with Xander and Dawn. This effectively splits up Giles and Buffy, with Buffy having to go save her friends.

Willow sucks out Giles' power and soon realizes that she is now the most powerful thing on the earth. She feels the pain of everyone, and decides to end that pain. She's going to end the world.

Buffy is trying to protect her friends when the ground opens up beneath her and Dawn and they end up in a catacomb fighting dead things made from the earth, or something like that, that Willow has set upon them.

Willow has raised an evil church from underground that she is going to use to channel her power into and end the earth. Xander shows up and tells her he loves her. We cut back to Giles, who is wounded on the ground telling Anya that the power he had came from a council of magic type users who's power comes from the true place of magic, that of love. So by her taking his power, she has opened herself up to be vulnerable to love again. So by Xander telling her he loves her, he basically talks her down and Willow goes back to her old self and cries a lot.

I think this is just a little lame, the explanation they gave us, but it's okay. It's better than it could be. Buffy realizes, as they are fighting bad guys underground, that Dawn can take care of herself. She tells her that from now on she wants to show Dawn the world, not protect her from it.

Then she says she's so sorry about how dark things have gotten. I'd like to think that this is the writers telling us as an audience that they are sorry for how dark the season got, but we'll never know. If they were sorry, they lied, because season 7 was pretty dark too.

Anyway, it's a relatively satisfying end, but it's really awesome when we get to the cliffhanger. Spike is in the cave, and has completed the last of his trials. He is lying on the floor when the monster he has come to approaches him and tells him he has done well and passed every trial that has been put to him. Therefore, the monster picks him up, puts his hand on his chest, and says "I will restore your soul."

say wha-huh? This is going to make for a verrrrrrry interesting season 7.

Rating: 10/10

6.21 - Two to Go

Willow goes after the other two nerds in the Trio.

***

My boy Doug Petrie does it up real nice.

Spike is in Africa doing his test. He beats this flame fisted guy and thinks he's done when the creature he has come to for help tells him that he has passed the first test. Then a new test beings.

Willow tracks the nerds to their prison cell, where Anya has appeared to try to get the cops to let them out. Willow starts dismantling the thing from the back wall, but Buffy shows up in time to bend the bars and get the guys out.

Next we have a cool car chase with Willow riding on a semi truck's hood as it chases the guys down, but she taps out of power. Where can she go to get more power? Remember Rack, the creepy drug dealer magic dude? She goes to him and takes it all, leaving him dead.

Then she turns on Dawn and seems like she's about to turn her back into the mystical energy that Dawn came from Before Buffy shows up. What follows is a knock down drag out fight.

Just when it seems like Buffy is going to get her butt kicked, something happens. Willow tells Buffy, "there is no one in the world with the power to stop me now." Then green energy blasts Willow across the room. She looks up, and Giles is standing in the doorway with in a hero pose, looking pimp. He says "I'd like to test that theory." Boom! Credits!

It!

Is!

On!

Rating: 10/10

6.20 - Villains

Willow's out for justice. Like Walker, Texas Ranger, but all gothy.


***


After Tara was killed last episode, Buffy is rushed to the hospital. Willow finds out that Warren did it, goes to the magic shop, and ingests everything on dark magic there is. her hair goes black and her clothes change too, and now she looks like she's been listening to My Chemical Romance and has joined the Black Parade.

She goes to the hospital, uses magic to heal Buffy, then they get in the car to track down Warren. They find him on a bus in the desert, but it's one of Warren's robots. Willow is pretty ticked off now, and she disappears. Later, we find her in the woods hunting Warren. It's here that we see how powerful she is now. She ties him up, tortures him with the bullet she took from Buffy, and then, when she's about to get caught, she skins him alive. It's the most gruesome yet coolest thing I think we've seen on Buffy.

Meanwhile, Spike has left town because he's going to get what he needs to give the slayer what she deserves. Seems like he's going to try to make himself not so much of a wimp, right?
He has to endure a series of trials before the monster he has gone to for help will grant him his wish. The trials begin.

Meanwhile, back in the woods, Willow has killed Warren. When her friends try to stop her, she says "One down," and disappears. Cue the credits.

What's awesome is that the title of the next episode is "two to go." Stuff like that is awesome.

By the way, you know why this episode was so good? Marti Noxon wrote it. Marti's back!

Rating: 10/10

There are spoilers in the comments below.

6.19 - Seeing Red

Warren takes the Trio too far.


***

It's all fun and games and jet packs for most of this episode, but it's got a kicker.

So the Trio, as they seem to be called now, have gotten some orbs that make them super powerful. Warren, being the self proclaimed leader of the group, uses them first and gets into a bunch of trouble. Buffy kicks his butt. Warren runs away. The other two members of the Trio are taken into custody and put in jail.

Meanwhile, Willow and Tara have been doin' it all day.

Warren comes into Buffy's yard the next morning with a gun, shoots Buffy, and a stray bullet hits Tara in Willow's room. Tara falls dead, and Willow, in grief and anger, looks up to the sky and her eyes flood with magic.

It's on, mutha humpa!

On a more insightful level, it took a commentary from Espenson for season 5 (I Was Made For Loving You, to be exact) to point something out to me that is sadly true. In that season 5 episode, Warren has built a female robot who he abandoned and who is now searching for him. When the Scoobies are sitting around the table discussing how sick Warren is and judging him, Tara says that she can understand, that maybe he's just sad and lonely. She has no ill will toward him and is the only one in the group willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Ironic, then, that he is the one responsible for her death a year later.

I am really going to miss Tara. She really fit in and brought something fresh to the dynamic. She was kind, she was quiet, and she was, above all else, incredibly insightful. She saw the good in people, and never seemed to have an ill word about anyone.

Rating: 8/10

6.18 - Entropy

Anya is back after the events of Hell's Bells.


***

Anya is back, and she's a vengeance demon again. She's trying to get the Scoobies to wish bad things on Xander so that she can curse him, but he's Xander and they love him, so no curse.

Spike and Anya meet in the Magic Box on happenstance, start drinkin', and lo and behold, later that night, they do the wild naked monkey dance. The kicker is that the evil nerd trio has cameras everywhere that Buffy has found, and Willow is tracing the feed. In short, Buffy and the gang see it all. It hurts Xander because it's his fiancee, it hurts Buffy because it's Spike (MAKE UP YOUR MIND, BUFFY!), and it just kind of freaks everyone else out.

The real meat of the episode for me is that Willow and Tara get back together at the end of the episode. Everyone else is left hurting.

This is better than the last few have been. This one actually feels like the show I love.

Rating: 7/10

6.17 - Normal Again

Buffy gets drugged up and thinks that maybe her life in Sunnydale is all in her mind.

***

Yawn.

That's my honest opinion. I was so freakin' bored. Every show does this, from soap operas to Smallville to Supernatural, to ALF. The old "what if reality isn't really reality and I'm somewhere else dying or crazy?"

I don't even have much else to say about this. I didn't even hate it, I'm just completely apathetic at this point. Someone put this crap out of it's misery.

Rating: 3/10

6.16 - Hell's Bells

It's Xander and Anya's wedding day.


***

How do I hate thee, episode? Let me count the ways.

A) Fake old Xander. I want to punch you in the face. We've known Xander for 6 years now. He's not the type to beat a woman with a skillet. Puh-lease.

B) Spike and Buffy seem to immediately be circling each other again. Spike should not have been seen for a couple of episodes after the events of last week. Well, Marsters is an actor with a contract, he probably had to be here. But I don't have to like it.

C) Xander leaving Anya at the alter? Yeah, right. How selfish can you get? first off, like I just said, we've known Xander for 6 years now. The greatest character trait he has is his loyalty. Once he's said he'd do something, he'd do it. I just don't buy him doing this. He would have said something earlier. I see this as sloppy soap opera writing that betrays the character development we've come to know over the last 6 seasons. I've watched this stuff in less than a month, and the Xander I've seen would not do this.

It's just lazy to me. If you really want to shock your audience, have them actually go through with the wedding. Everyone and their brother had to have expected that this wedding would not succeed (they never do on genre shows), so throw a monkey wrench in the works and have it really go on. But no, we have to put our characters through hoops so that we can extend angst for a few more episodes and have more pain and misery for the rest of the season. I've said before that this show doesn't feel like a TV show. It feels like people's lives. Well, for me, this didn't. This felt like an episode of Smallville. It felt like a story line, and I saw it coming, and I am not used to feeling like this show is predictable, because it rarely is.

This is symptomatic of what I've seen since Giles left the show. Pain pain pain and more pain, but it's not teaching anyone anything and it doesn't seem to be building to anything. It's just angst for the sake of it with no greater goal. I've never been bored with this show until a few episodes ago, but now I really am struggling to keep my mind on what is going on.

Rating: 5/10

6.15 - As You Were

Riley's back--

***

--But he's married.

Riley comes back to town to get the help of the Buffster in tracking down some nasties that could annihilate the human race. Of course. But with him comes his new wife of 4 months. The bad part is, she's a great person and they seem perfect for each other.

You know why this episode is awesome? 2 words. Doug Petrie. He is one of my trinity of writers (Petrie, Espenson, and Noxon) who I completely trust outside of Joss. I believe this is his directorial debut, as well, and he did a fantastic job. I just love the guy. He comes from a comics background (as in loving them, not writing them, though he has done that as well) and his episodes frequently reference something that a geek like me picks up on. He also never seems to tread water with his scripts, but instead writes powerful episodes that always seem to move things forward without feeling like they are bogged down with narrative. He makes it fun.

Buffy gets the closure that she (and we) needed when Riley left suddenly last season. It's also weird, because having him back really casts a light on how dark things have gotten. And they've gotten really, really dark.

I love that Buffy dumps Spike at the end (well, I don't love that she does it, but I love how she does it) by speaking to him like a man. She calls him William, his name. He finally gets it when she says this.

Not that it matters, because we're back to the will they or won't they almost immediately. But Doug tried.

Rating: 8/10

6.14 - Older and Far Away

The gang finds themselves trapped in Buffy's house by Halfreck.

***

Basically, Dawn makes a wish to Halfreck the vengeance demon, not knowing what Halfreck is, and because of it, Buffy's birthday party lasts for a couple of days because no one can leave.

This is alright on the surface, but the deeper I dig and think about it, the more upset I get thinking about it. I ranted last episode about how these characters just don't feel like the ones I'm used to. I don't know if it's bad writing, but something is off. On second thought, yes, I think it's bad writing. It's inconsistent.

They don't know what to do with Dawn, so they write her as way younger than she actually is, have her be really annoying, and serve to move the plot along. It's pretty bad. She's at the age now that Buffy was at when she was called. I can't see Buffy stealing a bunch of stuff and then when she gets caught going "Get out get out GET OUT!" It's just absolutely atrocious to me. It makes me want to throw up because it's so mediocre.

I'm getting fed up with the "will they or won't they" of Spike and Buffy. He loves you Buffy. He's saved you, he's saved Dawn, he's helped you in all the ways he can, he's not hurt anyone in over 2 years now, and he would do anything for you. You are using him because you feel dead inside, and you've been doing it for what feels like ages, even though it's only been a few episodes. I'm tired of it already. Get with it or move on.

Can you tell that my patience is wearing thin with so many of these characters? It is. I'm starting to get really bored during my viewings. Magazines and comics are starting to look really appealing to me when I'm supposed to be focusing on the story.

I don't think it's me, I think it's the writing on the show. It's just dragging everything out.

There were some good points to this episode. I love Spike's "muscle cramp," I love Tara knowing about Buffy and Spike, and I love Clem, the loose skinned demon who we previously saw playing poker with kittens.

but the rest of them...to quote Once More With Feeling, it's just going through the motions.

Rating: 6.5/10

6.13 - Dead Things

The three nerds take things to the next level.

***

Man, this crap is getting too dark. I guess it's necessary, but it's not done with the balance of humor that I'm used to. This season has taken a decidedly darker direction for the last few episodes, and if memory serves, it's not going to get any better. Not this season, at least.

Warren basically commits murder in this episode, and then the rest of the episode is them trying to pin it on Buffy and almost getting away with it. I'm not sure I like where all this is going. Spike loves Buffy, but she hates herself for letting him get so close to her, so she beats the ever loving crap out of him. He didn't even do anything wrong!

All I'm saying is, it's kind of bad when you find yourself not liking any of the main characters in a show like this. I'm not sure what the problem is. I know Joss had Firefly cooking in the background, but it wouldn't come out for another year. Was he just done with this show and had moved on to other projects in his mind? One way or the other, there's a lack of the qualities that made this show so spectacular. I also think that it's got to do with the writing.

Whereas the show up until this point has been written by series mainstays like Espenson, Doug Petrie, and Marti Noxon, with Joss writing and directing two or three episodes each season, this one is a veritable list of nobodies to this show from here on out: Steven S. DeKnight, Drew Z. Greenburg, Rebecca Rand Kirshner, Diego Gutierrez...who are these people? Joss comes in to direct one episode only this season, and I know I said it earlier, but it just feels like he's not really involved anymore.

I'm guessing, but for every season before this, he rewrote and punched up every script that came across his desk, changing dialog to make it more Buffy-like, putting his own lines in, giving it that X-factor. I don't feel that X factor anymore, and I wonder if he's even around at this point. It makes me sad. The show is not bad, but it's darker and largely more humorless than Buffy should be.

Rating: 7/10

6.12 - Doublemeat Palace

Buffy gets a job at a burger joint. But people keep disappearing!

***


This is kind of fun. Buffy's new job is terrible, and to make matters worse, the employees keep turning up missing. Are they the secret ingredient?

More interesting to me, is the subplot of bringing in Halfreck the vengeance demon as Anya's old cohort. She's going to be trouble for Xander and Anya, I can just tell.

This one is pretty fun, not too deep, but I will be honest. I'm starting to notice a lack of Whedon-like charm and magic on the show.

6.11 - Gone

The three nerds zap Buffy with an invisibility ray.

***

Buffy gets turned all invisible like by the Warren, Andrew, and Jonathan, and uses it to her advantage. She does things that she wouldn't normally do and really embraces the ability to let herself go. There's really not too much to say about it. She boinks Spike some more, she freaks Dawn out, and it's a metaphor for how she feels inside since she came back from the dead.

Willow gets kidnapped by the nerds, who hold her hostage. Buffy beats them and finds out who they are. It's a fun little jaunt. Nothing too terribly deep.

Rating: 7/10

6.10 - Wrecked

Willow delves into the darker side of magic.

***

Freakin' Willow! Amy takes Willow to a guy named Rack who juices her up on dark magic. The whole thing is played as a drug metaphor, like she's addicted to the high and can't come down. She endangers Dawn and almost gets them both killed. Buffy steps in and says that it can't go any farther. Willow vows to go cold turkey on magic and Buffy vows to herself to stop doing the nasty with Spike.

Rating: 7/10

Frustration factor with Willow: 10/10 (she should have known better and it really annoyed me)


Warning: There are spoilers for the rest of the season in the comments posts.

6.9 - Smashed

Buffy, I'm gonna get freaky with you.

sincerely, Spike


***


Holy geez!

Well, first off, Amy is back. Willow, now being all super powerful, has figured out how to transform the rat back into Amy. It's been 3 years. I applaud them for not letting this go and always having the rat cage around and for bringing back such an old plot point.

Willow and Amy do some naughty magic, and it just goes to serve as an example that they are bad, naughty witches who are going to have to be stopped.

Spike thinks his chip doesn't work anymore, but what's really going on is that it doesn't work on Buffy because she came back different after she died. He gets in a big knock down drag out fight with le Buff, and lo and behold, right in the middle of it, she unzips him and they have the most graphic non nude sex scene I ever did see on what was basic television. I don't know how that got that past the censors.

Maybe the FCC thought that they were doing Pilates.

Rating: 8/10

6.8 - Tabula Rasa

Willow uses magic to wipe Tara's memory again. Bad things happen.


***

Man, Willow, you just don't learn. She promised Tara that she'd go a week without magic, but she doesn't even make it a day. She casts something to make Buffy forget that she was in heaven and to make Tara forget that she was mad at Willow. It goes wrong, and every one of our main actors ends up in the Magic Box with their memory wiped. It's an awesome and hilarious episode that gives our cast a chance to play outside the box.

Spike thinks he's Giles son, Giles thinks he's with Anya, etc.

Of course, it can't last, and after all the hilarity, real consequences exist for Willow. Tara leaves, Giles goes back to England, and Michelle Branch sings. It's a moving montage.

Stupid Willow.

Best line, from Spike, thinking his name is Randy:

"Randy Giles? Why didn't you just name me 'Horny Giles, or Desperate for a Shag Giles?!" I knew there was a reason I hated you!"

Rating: 9/10

6.7 - Once More With Feeling

This is the musical episode of Buffy.


***

Well, what can you say about something as mind blowing as this?

It's maybe the coolest episode of Buffy ever? Because it is.

That the songs are not only incredibly catchy and well crafted, but that they serve to move the plot along by revealing each character's hidden secrets? Because they are.

That this is one of the funniest and most shocking episodes of Buffy? Because it is.

It's perfect in every way.

Rating: 10/10

6.6 - All the Way

It's Halloween, and Dawn gets cozy with a new boy. Who's a vampire!

***

It's time for the annual Halloween episode again. This one doesn't do a whole lot for me, but it's still fun. Dawn runs off by telling a lie and hangs out with Joan of Arcadia, gets in trouble with some vampires, and has to be rescued.

Willow's magic use is getting out of hand, and Tara has a fight with her. Willow uses magic to make it go away. Bad Willow. No cauldron for you.

Rating: 7/10

6.5 - Life Serial

The nerds are testing Buffy.


***

Oh, man, this episode was hilarious. From the start with the Death Star on the van ("I based it on the plans from the Empire's revised schematics!") to the poker game where kittens are used as currency, I was never bored.

Buffy's experience of trying out all the jobs her friends have found was fun. My favorite was the magic shop job, where she has a groundhog day experience over and over again.

Sarah Michelle Gellar was just incredibly cute and likable this whole episode. She's been gloomy since she came back, but here she gets to have some fun, and I welcome it. The thing she does when she drinks is funny, too. After each swig, she goes "bleurgh!" and sticks her tongue out. My wife does the same thing, and most women I've met do that too. It's a nice touch that adds realism and is also just plain funny.

When Buffy confronts the van, Jonathan transforms himself into the visage of a huge demon to allow the others to escape, and it cracked me up. When she hits him, he says "I am well struck! I call on the misty portal of my demon dimension, where I will lay my head and gently die!" Then he throws a smoke bomb down, turns around and books it. Comedy gold.

Rating: 9/10

6.4 - Flooded

Buffy's reunion with Giles, plus the introduction of the super nerds.

***

Well, the reunion between Giles and Buffy was fantastic for me. Their relationship is the one that I think the whole show hinges on. They are the father and the daughter, and seeing them happy and together again makes me really fuzzy and stuff.

Giles confronting Willow on how foolish she was to delve into such dark magic was awesome. He's absolutely right, too. She's meddling with powers too great for her. Even I can see that! Why don't you see, Willow? And when he gets firm with her, she threatens him! Woman, I know you didn't! This is some really compelling stuff.

And the Super nerds! I don't know if they have an official title. Anyway, they are Andrew, Warren, and Jonathan. They live in a basement and are the embodiment of comic book nerds. It actually scares me a lot that I get every single geek reference they make, from Star Trek jokes to James Bond references. I'm such a freakin' nerd.

Great episode. Jane Espenson and Doug Petrie writing together is like peanut butter and chocolate. It's meant to be. They came up with a hilarious line too, when Dawn is trying to pronounce the name of the demon M'Fashnik. She says "it's got an M then an apostrophe, like Mmm, cookies!"

Rating: 9/10

6.3 - Afterlife

Buffy copes with being brought back.


***

Not much to say, really. Something came back with Buffy, a hitch hiker of sorts. The gang beats it and there's some character moments. The big moment comes at the end when Buffy is talking to Spike, who is now the person she relates to the most. She tells him that when Willow brought her back, she wasn't in hell, but she was in heaven. She was warm, safe, and she knew everything was okay. Being brought back is like being in hell.

I want to address this, though. Why does everyone assume she was in hell? If they believe in hell, then they believe in heaven too. Buffy died saving not just her sister, but saving the whole world. Surely they'd at some point consider that maybe she'd go to heaven? It just bugs me that they assume this hero is rotting in flames.

Rating: 7/10

6.2 - Bargaining Part 2

Buffy is back. But is she the same as when she left?

***

I can tell from what is going on that we are in store for a darker season. You can't go through what Buffy has and not have some issues that are going to last your whole life.

Willow's spell worked and Buffy is awake, but she has to claw her way out of her coffin and through 6 feet of dirt to get out.

She's cold, frightened, and weak. Something has happened to her, and she is not the same.

Rating: 7/10

6.1 - Bargaining Part 1

The Scoobies are coping with life without Buffy. Willow is planning a resurrection spell.

***

What jumps out to me the most here is that Willow is messing with some seriously dark stuff. That poor baby deer! And the scene where they actually do the spell calling upon Osiris was pretty freaky. A snake from her mouth? Seriously? How may ways can you say the word "evil?"

This episode is really here to set the pace and to set into motion the chain of events that lead to what happens at the end of the episode, which is Buffy, turning from a corpse into a living being in her coffin, then waking up.

Rating: 7/10

Season Five: Looking Back

Season 5, in all honesty, has been one of the highest points of this show. Season two is the only other season I can point to and say that it affected me as much as this one did. I like them for different reasons, but I think they accomplish the same thing.

Season two was Buffy growing up in a way, dealing with the love of her life turning evil, and realizing that only she could stop it. It was a little bit like her closing the door on her own childhood when she killed Angel. It was also the season that really affected me emotionally. I'd come to love those characters so much, and seeing them put through so much trauma was hard to watch. Buffy left town at the end, and it felt like my world was ending. I was constantly reminding myself "it's just a show!"

Season three, with the Mayor and Faith, was great storytelling, but the emotional core was not there for me like it was in season two. Similarly, season 4 had no emotional impact as they were trying not to repeat themselves, and in turn told a completely different type of story. A James Bond/military vs Magic type of story.

But oh, season five, you've ripped out my heart. I have thoroughly loved every episode that I've been given here, and I think it's no coincidence that it was the season that Joss decided to bring it back to family. It feels like these characters love each other again, and it feels like I am part of them. When Joyce died, I felt it like she was a real person. When Riley left, that hurt too. The end of this one, though, beats them all, I think. Buffy has given the ultimate sacrifice.

I think there was not a single wasted episode here. Everything that was introduced seemed to serve some purpose. I love Dawn as a new addition to the show. It's tighter and feels more like family than it ever has for me.

And if the show had gone off the air after this, as sad as I would be that this is the ending we got, it would be fitting in more than one way that Buffy went out not just saving the world, but saving her family.

5.22 - The Gift

Buffy and Glory make their final stand.

***

My lord, what an episode.

Whedon has blown me away yet again.

First, let's start at the beginning.

Buffy in an alley way, saving a kid from a vampire. It feels like ages since we've seen her slay a vampire. I think it had to have been at the beginning of the season when Riley was still around. For television viewers, it'd been months.

Now, let me tell you this before hand. Joss had contemplated ending the series here. He obviously didn't, but while he was thinking of doing that, these ideas came to him. This was the 100th episode of the show, and he wanted it to serve as the perfect ending to the journey in the lives of our Slayer and those around her.

So he started the episode where it all began in season one. A tiny girl killing a vampire. The whole scene actually gives me goosebumps for the beauty of it. She kills the vamp and rescues the kid, who says "How did you do that? You're just a girl!" to which Buffy replies, "That's what I keep saying." It's the mission statement of this series, really. The tiny girl that saves people. And in this episode, the world. Again.

So throughout the episode, we see how these characters have grown. Willow restores Tara, and they have each other again. She's also an incredibly powerful witch. Xander proposes to Anya. Giles sees Buffy as his greatest success and as a daughter.Even Spike, the once great villain, is now trying his hardest to do the right thing. We see how our characters have grown.

I am in awe of what Giles does here, realizing that Buffy is not strong enough to kill Ben, as he is innocent, but realizing that this mistake would one day come back and hurt her. So he does what she cannot do, and he says it all in his dialog. Buffy is what they can never be. She is a hero. And then he kills Ben.

So Buffy beats Glory with the help of her friends. She runs to the top of the tower where Dawn is to be sacrificed and manages to free her, but not before the gateway has been opened. It is then that she realizes that Dawn and Buffy carry the same blood, Summers blood, and that Buffy can take the place of Dawn and avert the end of the world. As she realizes this, monsters are emerging across Sunnydale. A dragon flies in the sky above. And Buffy whispers her goodbye to Dawn, turns, and jumps into the portal, closing it, and sacrificing herself, all set to the beautiful and haunting score of Chris Beck, the series' composer.

And then we have the most moving scene that I've seen since the end of season 2 as all her friends look down upon her dead body. They all are weeping openly, even Spike. Joss has completed his story. Even though there will be more to come, the tale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer had every right to end here. His work, and hers, is done.

As we see this, we hear what Buffy told Dawn.

"Dawn, listen to me. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles I figured it out, and I'm okay. And give love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world...is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."

And then we see her tombstone.

Rating: 10/10

5.21 - The Weight of the World

Buffy, feeling like a failure, has retreated into herself, reliving the same moments in her mind.

**

After Glory got away with Dawn last episode, Buffy had a bit of a collapse. She has retreated into her own mind, and she is going through the same memories over and over. Willow, in an effort to save Buffy, uses magic to go inside Buffy's head and sees what is going on.

Buffy feels completely responsible for Dawn and at the same time, she keeps remembering what the first Slayer told her, that her gift is death. In her mind, she has failed Dawn and thus caused her death.

Willow snaps Buffy out of it and they regroup with the team, where Giles tells her that Dawn is to be bled dry to open a gate into Glory's home dimension. By opening this gate, all dimensions will collapse into one and every evil will spill into our reality. The only way to stop this is by the death of Dawn. One way or the other, Dawn has to die.

Rating: 9/10

5.20 - Spiral

Buffy takes the gang on the run.


***

Realizing that Glory is too powerful for her, Buffy takes her friends (including Spike) and hits the road in a Winnebago, on the run from both Glory and the Knights of Byzantium.

Now, I gotta nit pick here a little bit. These knights, from an ancient order, seem like they are pretty smart guys. How about you update with the times and carry guns instead of swords and get some jeeps instead of horses? It seems like it would be more effective to help you accomplish your needs. I know, you want to go for that old school vibe...

Another great episode here. Giles gets hurt, Ben turns out to be dangerous, and Glory gets Dawn. It's all coming to the inevitable conclusion very soon.

Rating: 9/10

5.19 - Tough Love

Glory comes after the person that she thinks the Key is...Tara.

***

Buffy is trying to be tough on Dawn because she knows that if she falters and Dawn slips, Dawn will be taken away. So she goes over board and is hard to be around. Meanwhile, Glory tracks down Tara, thinking she's the key, and does her mind sucking thing, leaving Tara a crazy shell.

Willow gets pissed and goes all witch-Rambo, tracking down Glory and we get some of the coolest Willow imagery to date. She really is powerful! With black eyes, she unloads on Glory. Plus, after the fight, Glory finds out that Dawn is the key. It's on!

Best line:

Willow summons a bag to her in the fight.

Glory: What's this? Bag of tricks?

Willow: A bag of knives.

Rating: 9/10

5.18 - Intervention

Spike gets him a robot.

***

Man, I needed this episode after the last two. Warren has finished building Spike his Buffy robot and wackiness ensues. We get Buffy on patrol, Buffy around her friends, and Buffy banging Spike in some really racy I-can't-believe-the-WB-allowed-that sex scenes.

The real Buffy is out in the desert having one of those Young Guns vision quests, you know, the ones where the great spirit horse comes? So she meets the first Slayer again in her vision, and the first one tells her that she is full of love but that her gift is death.

Speaking of love, I think it's funny and cool that Buffy is telling everyone that she loves them, including Giles. You should love him, Buff, he's like your father.

But anyway, Glory gets to Spike and thinks that he knows about the key, which he does, so she proceeds to beat the everloving crap out of him, but he still won't give up Dawn. He tries to escape, and as he's about to get captured again, the real Buffy and company walk through the door and save him.

Later, Buffy comes to him in his crypt, disguised as the robot, and asks him why he did what he did. Thinking it's his robot, he confesses all to her, that he knows that if something ever happened to Dawn, it would tear Buffy apart and he couldn't let that happen. He'd let Glory kill him before he told her anything. Then Buffy leans forward and kisses him. It's then that he realizes it's not his robot, but the real Buffy. When this happened, I got all emotional again, because I've been waiting for her to throw him a freaking bone (not in a dirty way) for episodes now. All he's tried to do is help, even if he isn't always great at doing the right thing. Spike is evil, but he's in love and he's not going to hurt her. The fact that he showed up with flowers in the previous episode for Joyce just goes to show that he's got a decent side.

So Buffy tells him that she won't forget what he did for her. I think this is awesome. I really have been waiting for this to happen.

And this was written by Jane Espenson, who I have no problem with at all anymore. I think she's really come into her own as a writer and really gets the tone. No morals, just good storytelling.

This also has a great line that occurs when Spike tells Glory and her goons that the Key is the guy who hosts that game show where people guess the price. The goons tell Glory:

"We will bring you Bob Barker! We will bring you the limp and beaten body of Bob Barker!"

Rating: 9/10

Hopefully Spike will get some more payoff soon. He's like Rodney Dangerfield. He gets no respect.

5.17 - Forever

After the funeral, Dawn does something drastic.


***

Marti Noxon is awesome. She is so in tune with Joss that sometimes I can't tell their dialog apart. Same goes with Doug Petrie. And yes, even Jane Espenson, who at this point is one of the best and most competent writers on the show.

Marti writes and directs here, and she does a fantastic job. We have the funeral, and the mundane details again, showing us that no matter how much pain we are in, not everyone is going to be aware that they aren't being helpful. Take the coffin salesman here, for example. Clearly Buffy is upset by having to pick this, but the guy acts like he's selling her a toaster.

What I loved was that Angel came to the funeral and sat with Buffy in the cemetery all night long, until the dawn. He just spent time with her and showed her his support. They come from different worlds now, but he was there for her in her time of grief, and once again I couldn't help but feel like they are made to be together.

By the way, while I'm on the subject of Angel, I feel I should say that season 5 for me has been the best season since season 2. It's the first one that has the emotional plot points that get me so invested. Seasons 3 and 4 had some great character pieces in them, but this season has the great character pieces AND makes me all girly again. Having Angel back and kissing on the Buffster just feels natural and right.

So then Dawn goes and decides that she's going to resurrect Joyce using magics. She gets away with it too, with the help of Spike. Now, if you ask me, I think that this whole resurrection thing went a little too far. I don't think she should have gotten away with it, but I think the point that Marti was trying to make is that Buffy wanted Joyce back just as much as Dawn did if not more, and I like that it was Dawn who ripped up the picture, canceling the whole spell. I don't know, tough, having the body come back...it felt a little gaudy and wrong. Then again, that's probably the point.

Rating: 9/10

5.16 - The Body

Buffy and her friends must deal with a personal tragedy.


***

What do you say about an episode like this? How can you even talk about it?

I guess I should try. This is an incredibly difficult 45 minutes of television to get through. From the opening scenes where Buffy walks in and finds her mom dead...you know it's going to be terrible.

Is it weird that I wished they could have run this episode without the opening credits? It just seems gaudy and loud when dealing with this sort of thing. But also, I think that's one of the points here, that life goes on around you even when you are at your lowest.

We see how each of the Scoobies deal with this tragedy. Buffy, first with shock, then with blaming herself, then by kind of shutting it out. Willow keeps changing her clothes. Xander uses anger (I am most like him and have put my fist through at least one wall). Anya doesn't understand, really, but her speech about what death means to her is moving in it's own way and got me all worked up again. Dawn is angry about it, doesn't believe Buffy, and needs to see the body to believe it.

Of course, this is excellently written and shot by Whedon. He's intercut some scenes that take us back to when Joyce was alive, and he's also made some interesting choices here, such as showing Buffy's thoughts about her mom waking back up, saying it's a miracle, and being okay, but we instantly snap back to the reality of the body on the floor.

Also, he's gone for some tight close ups that are almost uncomfortably close. The scene where Buffy vomits, then gets up and looks out the door, the camera is way too close, and she's pasty and pale. I think that's the point. It's supposed to be awkward. He focuses the camera on mundane details, like the paper towels soaking up the puke. And throughout the episode is the message, for me, that no matter how bad you are hurting, the people around you are living their lives as they always do. Just because your world is falling apart doesn't mean anyone else that isn't affected by it is going to understand.

Michelle Trachtenberg is EXCELLENT in her meltdown at school when she finds out. That got me pretty upset, seeing her upset.

We also have the first on screen kiss between Willow and Tara. I think they did it well by not making a big deal out of it. If their goal is to portray these two not as token lesbians but as real people who also happen to be in a relationship, I think they did a good job.

In the end, this was a really important episode, and we can all relate, or will be able to relate at some point, because we've all got to deal with this. This was a very real depiction of the emotions and experiences that we go through when affected by a death.

Rating: 10/10

5.15 - I Was Made to Love You

A robot is looking for Warren.


***

A lot happens in this episode, and I just watched it, so I'm going to try to get through it without getting choked up. You know what happens at the end.

So...this is the first appearance of Warren, who plays a huge part in season 6. He's built a robot to be his girlfriend and when he decided it wasn't working out, he just left her, so now she's looking everywhere for him.

Again, it's sad. There's a theme going on lately about unreturned love. It's rough. Sad part of life that you don't want to think too much about because it's painful.

So that happens, but what surprised me was how much I actually felt sympathy for the robot as her power is fading. Robots aren't alive, but it's the illusion of life...or maybe put it this way. What is life? Is life flesh and blood, or is it feelings and thoughts? Was there some part of the super hot robot chick that was alive, even though she was programmed to be what she was?

Then we have the revelation of Spike going to Warren and telling him to make him a Buffy robot. That's going to be interesting.

But the real event here is...the death of Joyce Summers. Off screen. By no obvious evil thing. No vampire did this to her, no demon, or monster. She was sick...and now she's dead. Eyes open, staring into nothing. Man, I'm about to cry typing this. It's weird, you know? You get so attached to these characters. Yes, I know they are actors and that it's not real, but sometimes it feels real. It'd be so much easier to cope with it if you knew she was taken out by something evil. Then there'd be the quest for revenge. Some closure. We don't get that. We just get Buffy standing over her mother's body, reverting back to a little girl, calling for her mommy.

Rating: 8/10

5.14 - Crush

Spike confesses his love to Buffy. Meanwhile, Dru is back in town.


***

What a great episode! First off, Spike has been in love with Buffy since the beginning of the season, but he confesses it to her here. I said in the last post, who can blame him? But I can't help feeling really bad for him because at this point, she has not given him anything but rejection and pain. It's not really fair. He's bad, yeah, but he really is trying to change for her. He's so smitten that he's pathetic. And I think it resonates because we've all been there. We've all had that girl that you wanted to impress but who never even noticed you.

And Drusilla is back! Man, I love Drusilla. And she is as hot as the day is long. I think this may be some of the coolest Drusilla ever, because she's not super crazy here. She's still nuts, sure, but she's confident, she's going out and getting what she wants, and she's a complete vampire again, not a fractured shell of one like in season 2. And Juliette Landau (daughter of Martin) plays her so great! She's funny, she's sexy, and she's scary. I can't say enough about her.

And the way they treated Harmony in this episode was pretty awesome too. She calls Spike really funny pet names like "my boo boo."

I think this episode was great, but I really do feel bad for Spike.

Rating: 8/10

5.13 - Blood Ties

Dawn learns her true nature.


***

Poor Dawn. I've really come to love her on this show. I think that Michelle Trachtenberg is a pretty amazing actress to be so young as she is here. She's played the annoying, bratty sister, but here she gets to delve into a world of pain, and she really sells it well.

So Dawn finds out that she's the key. We also find out that Ben, the doctor dude that has been nice to Buffy in the past, shares a body with Glory. I don't remember this stuff at all, and I wonder how it's going to be explained.

Anyway, great performances here from all around. Spike is hopelessly in love with Buffy, but really...who can blame him. More on that next.

Rating: 8/10

5.12 - Checkpoint

There's a group of Watchers in town, led by Quentin Travers, the man who just about got Buffy killed last time, and who fired Giles.

***

What a great episode. Doug Petrie and Jane Espenson turn in a pretty awesome story here that offers a lot.

First off, the Watchers are nasty and they are the embodiment of everything cold and clinical that we perceive "the establishment" to be. They are meant to be intimidating. They come into Giles' magic shop, close it down, and confiscate lots of his stuff.

The reason they are in town is because they have information about Glory to give to Buffy, but only if she can pass the tests and prove herself worthy.

Buffy basically jumps through their hoops for most of the episode, but comes to a realization after Glory drops in on her at her house. When she confronts the Watchers the next time she sees them, she flips the script on 'em and tells them that she's the one with the power and that they are not going to be ordering her around anymore. She has Giles reinstated with all pay retroactive from the time he was fired. It's really a pretty awesome scene.

And it's then that we learn for the first time what Glory is. She's not a demon, she's not a vampire.

She's a god.

Rating: 8/10

5.11 - Triangle

Willow and Anya's bickering leads to them manifesting Olaf the Troll, who happens to be Anya's Ex.


***

At last, a Jane Espenson episode that I can find no fault with whatsoever. In fact, it's full of funny. Great lines in here. Olaf talking about drinking lots of ale and eating babies is hilarious.

Olaf challenges Xander, who goes to bat for his girls Willow and Anya, and gets beat up. Buffy gets lots of cute moments here playing hurt by love.

Hm...really not too much to say.

Cliffhanger moment comes at the end when Dawn overhears Giles, Buff and Buff-Mom talking about how Dawn isn't really their kid. Oh noes!

Rating: 8/10

5.10 - Into the Woods

Buffy learns where Riley has been spending his nights.

***

Oh man. Not like this.

Spike leads Buffy to where Riley is getting a "suck job" from a vampire, and things go to pot.

Riley confesses what we've been seeing for over a year now, that Buffy doesn't need him, she doesn't let him in, and she keeps him almost like a pet. I have to say, what he did was wrong, but the way he feels is totally understandable. See my previous comments about why Riley was doomed to fail on a show like this.

He tells her that he's leaving at midnight unless she gives him a reason to stay.

Buffy walks out and we see one of the coolest slaying scenes in the series so far, where she takes on a whole gang of vamps, killing them all in a matter of seconds.

Then Xander comes along and speaks the truth to her about how she's been treating Riley and how he's good for her. She sees the truth and races to stop him from getting on the helicopter and back into the military, where he may never be seen again because the work is so deep cover.

And she doesn't make it.

Man, this is rough. Like I said, not like this. But that's why I love the show. It's a reflection of life. We don't always get to say the things we need to say to the people we want to say them to until it's too late and they are gone.

Just as powerful is Xander learning from what he's just told Buffy and telling Anya everything she needs to know about how he feels about her. Go, dude.

I have to mention, excellent writing and debut direction from Marti Noxon.

Rating: 9/10

5.9 - Listening to Fear

There's an alien in Sunnydale that feeds on crazy people!


***

Buffy's mom is allowed to go home before her surgery, but the pressure on her brain is making her a little crazy. Turns out, coincidentally, there's also an alien (a first for the show, I think) that is in town who feeds on crazy. Wackiness ensues!

I think the only thing this episode accomplishes is opening up doors for Riley to go back into the military. It's a bit of a filler episode, but it's really not bad.

Go Dawn, for actually smacking the alien with a lamp post instead of running.

Rating: 7/10

5.8 - Shadow

Joyce learns what's wrong with her, and Glory comes closer to discovering Dawn.


***

Good stuff here. First we learn that Joyce has a brain tumor. This is pretty serious stuff for a show about slaying vampires, right? This is one of the reasons I love this show. You have a giant snake coming for Dawn, but at the same time, you are worried about the mom on the show and her brain tumor. It's so soap opera, but it works so well.

I think the CG snake work here looks pretty good for TV special effects, and I even like the practial rubber one for close ups.

Riley does something pretty naughty in this episode and starts fooling around with vampires, letting them feed on him.

Again, I gotta stick up for Riley. What he does is wrong, but he feels alone and not needed. I don't think what he did was out of the realm of understanding.

Rating: 7.5/10

5.7 - Fool For Love

Spike recounts his tale, including his origin and his account of killing two slayers.

***

This is what I'm talking about! Doug Petrie is awesome!

Buffy gets stabbed by one of her own stakes in battle and decides she needs to know more about how her predecessor slayers have been killed.

So she goes to Spike, who has killed two himself, for a first hand account.

Now, something I may or may not have mentioned before is that I am a huge Highlander fan. Not as much the movies as the television show where they really boiled down how much it could both rock and suck to live forever.

This episode captures what I love about Highlander and transplants it into something else I love...Buffy. We get a flashback of William (Spike) in the 1880s and see him approached by Drusilla. We see his evolution, see the rivalry with Angel, see Darla, all in their heyday. I wish we could have had hours and hours of this stuff, but it's fine as it is.

This episode also gives us one of the coolest images of all of Buffy. I wish I could have found a decent jpeg of it, but I looked for a long time and nothing came up. We see Angel, Darla, Spike, and Dru in China, early 1900s, walking in slow motion out of the fire that is burning the city to the ground. It's so powerful as a visual.

Then we get to see Spike killing the slayers. The first one is a Chinese Slayer, and it's a pretty cool fight. The second one is awesome, Spike looking like Billy Idol on the Subway in New York talking out a 70s blacksploitation type slayer (and this will come back to haunt him later) and then stealing her coat, which is his trademark black leather duster.

This also seems to have been a crossover episode with Angel where we find out the history of Darla and more about her and Angel's side of this stuff, but since I am on a Buffy marathon, Angel is going to have to wait until I'm finished with the Buffster. Shouldn't be too long, though.

What really sealed the deal on this episode was at the end when Spike vows to kill Buffy, gets a shotgun and goes to her house. She is on the front steps crying because her mom is going into the hospital. In a split second, Spike goes from wanting to kill her to asking her what's wrong and what he can do to help. He's so in love with her that he's forgotten his motive. He sits next to her and gently pats her on the back. He doesn't know how to comfort someone...he's evil. But he tries, and you can't help but love the character for it.

Rating: 10/10

5.6 - Family

Tara's family comes to take her home.

***

This one, even though it was written and directed by Whedon, didn't do a whole lot for me. I'm not going to spend much time on it other than to say that I thought it was a bit less subtle than he usually turns in. Tara's family is bad. Buffy and the gang are her new family. And she's not any part demon, like her family says.

Worth noting is Amy Adams as Tara's cousin, who would later go on to be in the hit Disney movie Enchanted, where she plays a squeaky clean princess. Not here, though. She's nasty! And cute.

Rating: 6/10

5.5 - No Place Like Home

We meet Glory for the first time, and Dawn is explained.

***

You know, Douglas Petrie wrote this episode, and I've decided that he is one of the top 3 writers for this show for me. It's Whedon, Marti Noxon, and Doug Petrie for me. I think those three really get the core of the show and don't make many mistakes. Listening to the commentaries as I've been doing, you learn that Joss Whedon literally punches up and rewrites every script that the writers turn into him and has them change lots of things, even adding his own trademark dialog to the show to give it that special something, but Douglas Petrie and Marti Noxon seem to have the most "Joss-like" voice without him changing it.

Anyway, we meet Glory, the big bad for the season. I don't think they've really explained what she is too much at this point, but she's tough and she's pretty. It's already a huge change from the dreary James Bond environment of last season. And I love it.

Dawn is also finally explained. Who'd have thought that we'd have to wait 5 episodes into the season to find out who she is? Turns out she's "the key." A being of energy made flesh and made human, but she doesn't know that she wasn't born to Joyce Summers and doesn't belong. She's just a girl, and must be protected.

I tell ya, I'm really digging this season. I think it's on par with season 2 as my favorite. It just feels right, tight, and cohesive. It's back to the family, and again, everyone, while on a different path, is heading down those paths together. If that makes sense.

This season is really blowing me away, that's all I'm saying.

Rating: 8/10

5.4 - Out of My Mind

Joyce is getting sick, Riley's body is pushing itself to far, and Spike comes to a realization.

***

The biggest plot point here is that Joyce is getting ill and must be taken to the hospital. Spike tries to capitalize by kidnapping the doctor and having him remove the chip. The doctor doesn't do it, but does open up Spike's head.

The major revelation comes at the end, when we learn, along with Spike, that he's falling in love with Buffy. Ruh-roh!

Let me address the Riley thing, too. Riley, to me, is a good character, and he's a likeable guy. The problem comes in when he's just an average guy. On Buffy, it's clear that she needs more than just an average guy. Average guys don't bring the pain and the angst. They don't make the stories interesting. I think the writers saw this and started to write him out accordingly somewhere around here. It's not the actor's fault, it's just the nature and the dynamic of the show.

Anyway, I'm rating this a 7/10.

5.3 - The Replacement

Xander gets split into two seperate Xanders.

***

Jane Espenson delivers a solid episode here that's a good bit of fun. Xander gets hit by the demon Toth's doubling rod and it splits him into two different versions of himself: one with the slacker side, and one with the responsible side. Shenanigans ensue.

The double was played by Nick Brendon's twin brother, and you can actually see the difference in the scenes he was used in. Nick doubled himself a lot, but the scenes that they were both in, you can tell his bro.

The biggest revelation comes at the end, when Xander is moving out of his parent's basement. Riley tells him that he knows Buffy doesn't love him. It's a shock, but when you think about it...it's true.

Rating: 7/10

5.2 - Real Me

Buffy's sister Dawn causes all sorts of trouble. Wait, huh?

***

Whedon, you clever dude! Dropping a sister into the mix like she's been there all along and NEVER acknowledging that she's not supposed to be there save one line from a drunken hobo guy. "You don't belong here!" No she doesn't, but I'm glad she's here.

And this is why. In Buffy season 4 I think we only saw Buffy's house two or three times. She was always away at college, Riley's place, the Initiative, the Dorm, etc, but the place that was a home for the first three seasons was largely absent. Well, with Dawn around, we're finally going to get back to something I missed tremendously: the family dynamic.

Buffy, as a show, needs that dynamic. The core gang, they are family. Giles, Willow, Xander, everyone, they are just like a family now. Joyce, Dawn and Buffy are a family too. The show, really, is largely about this family. This group. People will come, and people will go, just like in a real family, but there will always be that core dynamic.

Something just feels right about having a young teenager on the show. I love it. I love Dawn. I love that she screws up so much but doesn't mean to. She's just a kid, and she makes the mistakes of a kid.

I think she's a great addition.

Some highlights of this episode:

-Giles going through a mid life crisis and getting the red convertible.

-Giles going through a mid life crisis and buying The Magic Shop.

-Harmony throwing the note through Buffy's window that says "come out and die" with the "i" dotted with a smiley face.

- Dawn's line in her diary about Tara and Willow. "They do spells and stuff, which is so much cooler than slaying. I told mom one time I wish they'd teach me some of the things they do together. She got real quiet and made me go upstairs."

Oh, I loved this one. As strange as it may sound after using the word family and home so many times, I have to say it. This episode feels like coming home.

Rating: 9/10

5.1 -Buffy VS Dracula

The title says it all.

***

I know this is going to sound potentially crazy, but there's something about starting this season that just feels right. I think maybe Joss and Co. learned a thing or two from some of their missteps on season 4 and have tried to right the ship.

It feels..more fun? Comfortable? I don't know...First of all, there's no Initiative sneaking around in dark corners. Now I know this season is not all lollipops and bubble gum, but I think we've gotten back to the core dynamic. It's a core group again! Yeah, that's what it is! In season 4, everyone was off doing their own thing, but here we start out, and it's the Scooby gang again, minus some members, plus some new ones, but everyone feels like they are treading the same path again.

Dracula as a villain is awesome, too. Spike says Drac owes him money. Great line. And I love that Giles was about to leave, but right before he announced it to Buffy, she gave him what he needed most. A purpose. Too bad he had to flounder so badly in season 4. Giles is a Watcher. It's what he does, and it's his purpose on the show. I remember very little about this season. I was busy doing other things at this point in my life, and I saw them on DVD years ago, but I don't remember most of it. I'm looking forward to the season.

And great cliffhanger ending, introducing the sister.

Rating: 8/10

Season Four: Looking Back

Season four, even by the accounts of Joss Whedon and company, was a very schizophrenic season of television. It had it's strong points and it had it's weak points. Either way you look at it, it was very different from the show it had been in the three previous years.

The weakness first, so I don't end on negatives. Adam and the science vs. magic season long arc...I think was a failure, and ill executed. Anyone who loves Buffy can tell you that the secret to it's success is the rich characters. Building them up, tearing them down. Taking them through triumphs, and then dragging them through hell. And we had lots of that this season, but the overall storyline didn't focus on that. Instead, it focused on the concept of the Initiative, the military sanctioned group of demon hunters who used science instead of magic.

For me, every time the Initiative was on screen, I found myself checking out. Same for Adam. Riley is a likable guy, but I could care less about his military background. I liked him much better when he was just the T. A. in Maggie Walsh's Psychology class. Again, it's the characters.

And speaking of the characters, that was the strength of this season. Taking these characters out of the environment of high school that we've known them in for the duration of the show was a risk. It could have been so foreign that people lost interest, but the characters were too strong for that. Joss and his crew lovingly put these characters through hell.

Giles as a demon. Oz killing Veruca and leaving for the far east. Buffy's mistake with Parker. Willow finding refuge in the arms of a woman, the most unexpected occurrence of the season. Xander and Anya. Giles being directionless and becoming slightly unhinged. These are the things that drove this season. Not the Initiative. not Adam. It's always about the people, and we had some great stuff this year.

It also brought us two revolutionary episodes, Hush and Restless. Both were and still are cutting edge and unconventional. Hush remains one of the best television episodes ever in my mind. Restless was an experiment, and while I do not care for experimental film or writing, it works so well here that I can't help but be on board. Joss always challenges us as viewers. He doesn't give us what we want. He gives us what HE wants. That's why it's so tough to watch some of these shows.

But again, in life, we don't always get what we want. Sometimes you just have to hold on for the ride.

4.22 - Restless

After the events of the last episode, Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles are haunted in their dreams by a dark entity.

***

Amazing.

Simply amazing.

We've had the big fight. We've had the resolution. For seasons one and two's finale, we had two part episodes that tugged on our heartstrings and really amped things up emotionally. Where do you go from there if you don't want to repeat yourself?

You go here. Joss Whedon has written and directed an extremely important episode of television. Maybe one of the most important ones that this show has ever done. By showing us the dreamscape of our four main protagonists, he's done something that I don't think has ever been done on television before. This is the territory of someone like David Lynch, but Joss owns it and makes it accessible as well as fun.

He pulls back the curtain, both literally and figuratively, on what makes these characters tick. By going into their heads, we see their fears, what motivates them, and what they aren't even able to admit themselves. This is the ultimate character episode. It's one thing to have your characters have dialog that tells you about them, but now we've skipped that step and you are in their heads finding out their deepest secrets and fears.

Giles sees Buffy as a daughter, but at the same time feels that he is always prodding her too much. Xander feels directionless (and likes lesbians). Willow is afraid of underperforming and she's also worried about how her friends are going to perceive her new lifestyle decisions.
This single 45 minute episode shows us where they've been and where they are going.

Giles singing that awesome bit of exposition in the form of a 70s rock opera song was AWESOME. Can't wait to get to the musical episode.

And the foreshadowing for season 4 is just immense. Pay special attention to a line that Tara tells Buffy.

"Be back before Dawn."

I remember being confused immensely by this episode when it originally aired. It's the antithesis of the cliffhanger amped up season finale. But what he's given us is something even better. He's given us a view at these characters souls, and he leaves us with a mystery.

And the final line, that Joss left us with for months...spoken by Tara in narration as Buffy turns out the lights.

"You think you know. What's to come. What you are.

You haven't even begun."

Rating: 10/10

4.21 - Primeval

Adam plans to create a race of human/demon hybrids. Plus, the ultimate showdown.

***

Basically, Buffy takes the fight to Adam. Xander, Willow, and Giles do a spell thingy that makes them be there to help her fight in her body or something. Spike had made a deal with Adam, but it backfired.

Shout out to my buddy Mike (m-batz) for pointing out how ridiulously obvious the stunt double for Adam was in the final showdown. It looks nothing like him! It's hiliarious.

At the end, Buffy enters the Matrix, uses some bullet time stuff, stops bullets with her mind (thanks Wachowski brothers!) pulls out Adam's power source, and we cut to the big bad men in suits as they talk about shutting down the Initiative, as it was a total and complete failure.

If this had been the finale, I would have been pretty disappointed. Luckily, there's still one to grow on.

Rating: 7/10

4.20 - The Yoko Factor

Spike turns the Scooby Gang against one another from the inside.

***


So what we need to know before we even get started is that Buffy went to LA on Angel to see the big guy and he had moved on a bit and told her that they lived in different worlds now. Which they do. She gets upset and he follows her back to apologize.

First off, it's great to see Angel back on Buffy in a real capacity, not just lurking in the shadows outside of windows. Boreanez seems very confident in his role now and really oozes charisma and self assuredness on the screen. I love his line about not liking Riley. Compared to you, Angel, I don't like him either.

Also, there's some GREAT stuff with Tony Head playing drunk, again playing the acoustic guitar, this time "Freebird," which turns out to be pretty important as a song choice for him very soon.

Adam continues to bore me to tears, though.

Willow and Tara now have a cat: Miss Kitty Fantastico.

Rating: 8/10

4.19 - New Moon Rising

Oz returns to Sunnydale.

***


*sniff*

Oz is back...but he's too late.

This episode has, for me, the most gut wrenching stuff of season 4. It was rough when he left, but you always knew he could come back. There's no coming back from this. It's pretty definite that he's leaving and that Willow brings the wolf out in him.

Lots happened here. Willow comes out to Buffy, makes up her mind that she's most definitely gay, and we have the whole thing with Riley leaving the Initiative. Great stuff. Absolutely gut wrenching.

Turns out Oz has been to Thailand where he has learned that through chanting, some herbs, and some charms, he can beat the wolf and not change. I felt so happy for him. But it can't be. Willow being with Tara causes so much emotion in him that he turns.

And at the end of the episode, we have one door closing as another door opens for Willow and Tara. This one really gets me choked up. So they want Willow to be gay, I understand. You want to diversify your show. But it was Oz! He's so cool. He's as much a part of the show as any other character. This episode is one of those that feels like real life. Just because you want something to happen doesn't mean that it will happen. Sometimes people just miss their window. Sometimes it's too late.

Rating: 9/10

4.18 - Where The Wild Things Are

Buffy and Riley do it so much that they awaken some supernatural force.

***

Really? Seriously, you give me this as an episode?

The ONLY thing I liked about this one was Giles singing The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes."

I thought it was going to be a sex demon, but it was even dumber than that.

This is the worst episode of season 4 for me. I loathed it.

Rating: 3/10

4.17 - Superstar

Jonathan is a superstar!

***

Poor Danny Strong. For every appearance he's been on the show, he's been a pathetic dork. The way he dresses, the way he talks, does his hair...he's pathetic. But in real life, Danny Strong is as cool as he is in this episode. He's confident and self assured, he's got a major in theater, and he's a successful screen writer and producer, most notably for the HBO movie Recount, which stars Kevin Spacey and a plethora of other Oscar caliber actors.

When I see the guy in this episode or on any of the special features on the DVDs, he's always pretty cool, and I'd just as soon hang out with him as someone like Xander. But to be fated to constantly have to play the dork is kind of sad. He's hilarious, and as I found out in this episode, he's a good singer, too.

So score two for Jane Espenson now. I loved this episode, even if it did have her trademark preachy moral at the end (you can't rush some things and you can't force things to happen...some things have to develop on their own. I got it from the story, I didn't need it to actually be broken down for me like that). If she could just get the art of the subtle moral, giving it to us without saying "you just learned something" at the end, like a very special episode of "Blossom," she'd be on par with everyone else.

Look for all the Jonathan posters throughout the episode. They're hilarious. My favorite is the Basketball one on Riley's door, although I also think the Jonathon.com one is funny.

Also, at this point, I skip through the opening credits, but they need to be seen on this episode, because Jonathan is in them.

Rating: 9/10

Edit: In listening to Jane Espenson's commentary for this episode, she points out that it was Joss who wrote the moral at the end of the episode, where everything is back to normal and Buffy has a heart to heart with Jonathan. Jane, I owe you an apology.

I also found out that this is not Danny Strong singing, but an actor, who I think did the singing voice for Alladin.

4.16 - Who Are You

Faith switches bodies with Buffy.

***

What we have here is your standard body switching story which we who read comics have seen over and over again.

Well, Joss takes the reigns on this one and makes it a lot of fun.

Sarah Michelle Gellar gets to act like Eliza Dushku's portrayal of Faith, and she actually does a really good job. She's got the mannerisms and the speech pattern down. Dushku, on the other hand, does a pretty good job of acting like Gellar herself. It's episodes like this that point out how much of the characters comes from the dialog. In this case, when Faith stands before Giles and explains that she's really Buffy, the lines sound just like something Buffy would say, but it's coming from a totally different character.These writers, Whedon especially, really know how to write for their characters.

And I like the journey that Faith went on. She started out thinking that Buffy was just a spoiled princess, and when it was over, I am sure she still thinks of Buffy as that princess, but she's seen what it's like to be loved and have friends who care about you, and she's not sure what to do with that. She is actually a better person (hopefully) for having walked a mile in the Buffster's shoes.

And Willow and Tara pretty much consumated their relationship with that spell, I think. If that wasn't a sex metaphor, I don't know what is.

My favorite moment in this episode comes with Faith/Buffy standing in front of her mirror after getting a bath. She's testing out Buffy's face in the mirror and trying out the line "because it's wrong!" over and over. Gellar is pretty freaking cute here.

Rating: 8/10