7.20 - Touched

Buffy and the gang prepare for the end.

***

This episode seems to really be about how our characters are coping for the end. Faith and Robin Wood get busy. Xander and Anya get busy. Willow and Kennedy get busy (eww...Kennedy is a terrible person, Willow), and Buffy gets the solace that she needs in the most unlikely of places: Spike's embrace.

It's sweet really. Yeah, it feels a lot like a storyline, but having Buffy get the motivation to go on from one of her worst enemies who now has a soul is pretty sweet and touching. I truly do love Spike. I love the duality. I love that he was incredibly evil, but as a man with a soul, while he still has the qualities that made him the big bad, he's trying to use them for good. It's the ultimate redemption.

The coolest part of this episode is at the end when Buffy finds the scythe of the slayers, which we've seen in comics form as Fray's weapon. It's pretty cool, and I want one. It's the weapon she's holding in the banner at the top of this page.

Anyway, great episode. I really feel the end coming, and it's great to have the gang back together, including Faith. Faith is a fantastic character, and I much prefer her being a rebel while working for the side of good. If anyone could have held a show after Buffy ended, it was Faith. And Spike too, but it never happened. And Spike got his second chance later, anyway.

Rating: 9/10