Okay, that's it – I want Glory to die a horrible death, and soon. I really, really like Tara and I got very upset when Glory was breaking Tara's hand. I thought that an overnight stay in the psych ward would kill her; I'm glad it didn't. At least Tara is still alive; maybe when Buffy does Glory in, her victims will recover. I want Tara back now.
Bad timing, that fight Willow and Tara had. Those lines about "Is she your sister?" "She's my everything" and "She's my girl" were so sweet, too. Willow wasn't sweet when she was trying to take down Glory, though. For the first time, I found Willow rather frightening. Gee, do you think she's just a bit more powerful? It wasn't that long ago that she was floating pencils.
It's still sometimes funny to think of Spike being one of the good guys; when Buffy was telling everyone that Dawn was safe with Spike, Dan and I both said out loud, "Dawn's safe with Spike?" But it's true. Spike was even kind to Dawn and gave her good advice about her guilt. And perceptive as always, he was right on the money about Willow going on the suicidal offensive with Glory, because he knows he'd do it if Glory had hurt Buffy. It was painful, seeing how hurt he still was from what Glory did to him.
How dare they leave us with a cliffhanger?
Bits and pieces:
— So Buffy has dropped out of school. not a surprise. But what's happening with custody of Dawn? When is Daddy Summers going to show up?
— In this week's hair report, Xander's is shorter, Buffy's seems to be much longer, and Spike's is still mussed. (I like Spike's hair mussed. Bring on those curls.)
— Willow referred to one of my favorite books when I was a child, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (that thing about Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Girls).
— It occurred to me in this episode that we've been getting glimpses of a Sunnydale High that's a lot less hell-mouthy. Or is Dawn still in junior high? She said ninth grade...
— I also noticed that since her advent, Michelle Trachtenberg has gotten taller than Sarah Michelle Gellar, and now she's gaining on Alyson Hannigan.
— Why didn't Glory's hobbit minion hear Dawn and Buffy talking about Dawn being the key? He was right outside the window eavesdropping.
Quotes:
Xander: "Whatever you choose, you've got my support. Just think of me as... as your... you know, I'm searching for supportive things, and I'm coming up all bras, so something slightly more manly, think of me as that."
Buffy: "Right. She needs me. Me, the grownup. The authority figure. The strong guiding hand and stompy foot that is me."
Willow: "So we made a triangle with our bodies, and that's when I called Xander obtuse, and he got really grumpy and then Dawn said we were 'acute' triangle, and, well, hilarity ensued."
Buffy: "It's really important that Dawn finishes her schoolwork right now."
Willow: "I know it is, and I'm a big fan of school. You know me, I'm like, go school, it's your birthday."
Willow: "I'd totally be blowing off classes if I were in Dawnie's shoes."
Tara: "Sweetie, you wouldn't blow off a class if your head was on fire."
Willow: "It frightens you? I frighten you?"
Tara: "That is so not what I meant. I meant impresses. Impressive."
Willow: "Well, I took Psych 101. I mean, I took it from an evil government scientist who was skewered by her Frankenstein-like creation before the final, but I know what a Freudian slip is."
Giles: "I hope this isn't a return. Everyone wants petrified hamsters and they're never happy with them."
Xander (in the hospital): "Man, words cannot express how much I hate this place."
Giles: "It's dreadful."
Anya: "It's like communism."
Spike: "I'm a vampire. I know something about evil. You're not evil."
Dawn: "Maybe I'm not evil. But I don't think I can be good."
Spike: "Well, I'm not good, and I'm okay."
Let's go with two out of four stakes, and I want Tara back,
Billie
---
Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.
This is such a depressing season.
ReplyDeleteI love Tara and I always remember this just for how well acted and awful - as in, it's meant to be awful, it's really good TV - her getting got by Glory is.
ReplyDeleteI'd forgotten some of the dialogue though - love the callback to Professor Walsh!
Spike is just awesome. I love the way he talks to Dawn without being condescending or talking to her as if she is a child. Nor does he negate her feelings.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, I love the way that Dawn is with Tara. For someone so young, she shows a great deal of compassion and caring.
Loved Giles in this - making Buffy do what she needed to do and going all Ripper on the minion. And I admire Buffy because it is hard enough to give up everything for your little sister but she has an out - as in, she isn't really her sister.
ReplyDeleteIt's so sad that Willow and Tara's final conversation was a quarrel. It seems as if as Willow's strength as a witch grows, she's become more assertive, and not always in a positive way. She's been bickering with the others a lot lately, particularly Anya (remember the argument that led to the troll release?). I'm not sure what she was up to with guiding Dawn toward the resurrection magic in a previous episode--did she want Dawn to raise a Mombie. And I was surprised that her first thought was using magic for revenge on Glory rather than hunting for magic to heal Tara.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure Tara's demise was as powerful as it could have been, and their quarrel and Willow's power came a bit out of the blue for me
ReplyDeleteDid it seem like a long scene at the beginning when Buffy was talking to her professor? I wondered what I should be noticing; that it was hard for Buffy to give up her classes? That the word the professor was searching for was carousel? That Buffy liked poetry? (Go Buffy! One more thing she has in common with Spike, eh Pet?)
ReplyDeleteGlory is one of my favorite Big Bads, right after the Trio, lol. She was powerful, evil, completely convincing and had a lot of great lines.
I love the scene where Spike is comforting Dawn. Love how he looks at her sitting there all alone and forlorn, with her long, shining hair, so like Buffy’s except in color. He reaches out to stroke it, then jerks back his hand when she turns. It’s striking how Dawn owns being the cause of Tara & Spike’s pain. Sad. And nice that the first thing Buffy does to comfort Dawn when she arrives is to stroke her hair.
Willow was pretty scary, with the floating and the earthquake. But good thing Spike laid it out to Buffy what Willow would do. Poignant scene, where Buffy says, “I told Willow it would be like a suicide mission,” and Spike replies, “I’d do it. Right person, person I loved. I’d do it.” The look Buffy gave him……
Great lines: Buffy, on poetry: Those Japanese ones that sound like a sneeze.
Xander: An, how’s about we try being a bit less prejudiced and a bit more inclusive. Not us, just you..
Tara: Tell me if I said something wrong. Otherwise, I know I’ll say it again, probably often and in public.
Spike: Nothin’ to be worried about, kid. No one’s gonna hurt you.
Dawn: Oh yeah? Same no one who did that to you?
Spike: Hey, chin up, Platelet. (Haha, is that the only time he calls her Platelet?)
Glory: Girl like Buffy’s just got so many friends. All I gotta do is rip through them one by one….
Great episode.