To my everlasting relief, the constant pitter-patter of teenage girlie feet departed long enough to give us a really terrific episode, with cliffhangers even.
I'll admit that I cried during that scene where they re-created the season six shooting in the back yard. It makes sense that Willow felt more guilt about moving on after Tara's death than she did about killing Warren. Having her turn into Warren when she kissed Kennedy was a great plot idea, and Adam Busch did his usual good job. I always thought Warren made a great villain, and he still gives me the creeps.
This was certainly a big episode for Kennedy, and Iyari Limon did well, too. I particularly liked the Bronze scene with the two of them talking about "lesbi-dar" and how Kennedy knew she was gay when she was five ("It was Gone with the Wind. I saw that and I knew I wanted to sweep Scarlett off her feet.")
But wait a moment. How old is Kennedy? Aren't the Slayers-in-Training all teenagers? We've been given the impression that Kennedy is the oldest, but is she old enough for alcoholic drinks with umbrellas, and gay love with a 21-year-old woman?
We got the beginning of a season five re-visitation, as Giles took the (thankfully off-camera) Slayerettes to quest in the desert. I'm so relieved that Giles isn't dead... but dammit, we still don't know what happened with the axe. All we know is that Robson survived the attack, and Giles is corporeal, and possibly ticklish. Will we be seeing the hokey-pokey again, and the First Slayer? Will the First Slayer be helpful in defeating the First Evil? (With them both being Firsts and all, that would make sense.)
Amy is back, and wow, is she pissed. What's Amy's story, really? Did the First put her up to the "standard penance malediction" somehow? I think it did; it must have. Amy said the First's theme phrase, "This is not about hate. It's about power." And if Amy isn't allied with the First, how did she know that Kennedy was a Slayerette?
Spike's chip has degraded and is causing him terrible pain. After an intimate little scene in the basement with the manacles and the cot and the blood, Buffy and Spike went a-bonding down in the Initiative cave (a big season four flashback) which clearly was not filled in with concrete, fought one of Adam's body-part half monster half soldier specials, and got back in touch with the government conspiracy guys.
Leaving us with the big question: Will Buffy choose to keep Spike on his plastic leash, or will she set him free? I personally think that it's time for the chip to come out. Spike has more than proven himself, when he is himself, and the chip doesn't have any effect on the First, anyway.
Bits and pieces:
-- Did Gellar have a cold? She sounded stuffed up and hoarse in a couple of scenes.
-- Aqua Man underoos? Don't ever tell us.
-- It was fun to see the bake sale college Wiccans from season four again.
-- Kennedy spent more time kissing "Warren" than Willow. More network homophobia, perhaps?
-- Riley referred to Spike as "ass-face." Jealousy rears its ugly head again, so to speak.
-- It just occurred to me. Spike has a soul now, and Angel doesn't.
Quotes:
Anya: "Rona won. You should probably let Molly out of the trunk."
Spike: "Give us all a chance for a breather, eh?"
Buffy: "From Giles?"
Spike: "From the constant pitter patter of clomping teenage girlie feet."
Willow: "Hey. How is he?"
Buffy: "Oh, in the 'goes' part of 'comes and goes'."
Buffy: "Remember when things used to be nice and boring?"
Willow: "No."
Buffy: "Well, we'll fix it. We'll hit serious research mode."
Spike: "Good. Try Behavioral Modification Software Throughout the Ages."
Andrew: "I know who you are now. I know what you made me do. Your promises of happy fields and dancing schnauzers and being demigods won't work on me anymore."
Andrew: "Okay, well, if you leave me here alone, I'll do something evil, like burning something or gluing things together."
Giles: "You think I'm evil if I bring a group of girls on a camping trip and don't touch them?"
Any episode that makes me cry gets a four out of four stakes. That's my new rule.
Billie
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Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.
I agree; any episode that still to this day makes me shed a tear gets a high rating. It is however a shame that Amy's arc was left open (in televised format at least). It's interesting reading your views that it was perhaps The First that put Amy up to hexing Willow. That would have been an exciting thread to explore.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the overall continuity in this episode and Aly's performance is as touching as ever.
Yes I thought Buffy had a cold too as her voice was so gravelly in the begining scenes but when it wasn't addressed I guessed that perhaps it was SARAH who had the cold and they were hoping it wouldnt be obvious.
ReplyDeleteIf Buffy chooses to keep the chip in then Spike would never forgive her. I hope she lets them remove it. Spike is able to hurt her anyway and he hasnt (except for the attempted rape incident!).
Also - Angel has no soul?!
ReplyDeleteI noticed about Sarah having a cold and that the initiitive wasnt filled with concreate and how old is Kennedy it did occur to me about her age and her antics with Willow
ReplyDeleteCONCERNING SPIKE'S CHIP -
ReplyDeleteI always thought that beside the obvious moral reasons for removing it (which Buffy clearly stated to Giles), there are some very practical ones too.
Barring him being staked, beheaded, engulfed in flames, or thrown out into sunlight with no way of finding shelter, Spike is practically immortal. At that point there is every reason to believe that he'll outlive every single person in the initiative, and possibly anyone with any ability to repair, replace or remove the chip if it were to malfunction again.
Even if such people with the knowhow would exist in the future, Buffy has no guarantee of knowing whether her links to the initiative will continue, and if something were to happen to her and the scoobies and the chip malfunctioned again, what would happen to Spike.
Then we have the Hellmouth making people all crazy, so having Spike unable to even hit someone without intense neurological pain would be a bit of a hindrance (and obviously something he needed to do in the episode, "Storyteller").
It's not just a moral decision. It was actually very practical.
Not a Kennedy fan at all. I feel like they pushed too hard to make her a love interest for Willow, plus I really miss Tara. I also wasn't buying that Amy cast a spell on Willow out of jealousy. I mean I know they didn't stay friends, but all of a sudden she hates Willow and wants her to suffer? I'm guessing we may see more of Amy in relation to The First.
ReplyDeleteGood point about Spike's chip, Anonymous! I really hope she takes it out. Spike has a soul now, which will hopefully keep him in check.
I wish they had used Felicia Day more, of course back then she wasn't really known.
@Tommi: "Also - Angel has no soul?!"
ReplyDeleteHaha I'm glad I made the extra effort to follow along the broadcast schedule. I mean I knew about this particular event but there are other things I forgot that I don't want my memory jogged about before reaching them.
Kennedy is still fine for me so far, "I don't want Willow to move on from Tara" does not suddenly make Kennedy unbearable (I'm not sniping about other fans, to be clear, just my own conflicting feelings) but I'm still hoping to turn on her. The age thing doesn't bother me because it's Willow lol, she's hardly an adult to me... I know how disrespectful that is to say.
Amy sucked, poor woman's still somehow the most blatant plot device character on a show that has s5 Dawn and, well, Tara, as much as I love her. But it was a great episode, and outside of the Buffy-Spike filler (it crushes me to consider him as such now, but the writers are still isolating him with her and I want a group thing going again instead..) it was all pretty gripping. Yes even the Kennedy date though it can never match Tara's initial disturbing submission to Willow that I found so new and interesting.
Why are the geek moments still almost always followed by a disparaging remark? I don't get any catharsis from it because even when I don't catch the references (especially Star Wars crap) they're pretty cute and harmless. I've never seen this kind of disdain IRL when different people get along. Well maybe there's underlying affection and I'm being oversensitive.
Great to see Warren's actor again.
My, how Buffy’s changed. Yeah, that’s what owned me from this episode. This episode that I think was supposed to be more about the quest of Giles & the potentials and the pain of Willow/Kennedy/Amy. Turns out I couldn’t care less about that, and loved, loved, loved the Buffy & Spike subtext. Interesting how many of their scenes were so dark I had to strain to see them.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing Buffy does when Giles leaves is to go to the basement to see Spike. Their interaction made me think of a question from the past - “Are we having a conversation?” Why yes, yes you are. Easily. Until the chip flared and the pain came.
It’s sweet how worried she is for him when she brings him the washcloth. Also neat how the light in that scene focused on their joined hands. Foreshadowing?
In the living room Buffy listens to Willow/Warren’s problem while Spike collapses in the background. If she assumed Warren was the First, like everyone else did, why try to punch him? Kinda like Spike tackles Giles in the next episode. Lol. Buffy was pretty quick to move on from Willow and let her solve her problem alone. (Which Kennedy disagreed with.) Sweet how Buffy ran to kneel by Spike and tell him she was there.
I liked how the darkness, flashlights and shadows dominated the search in the Initiative. I loved the story told in shadows of Buffy descending into the hole, then Spike falling down after her, she helps him up and he staggers into her arms for support. Really hard to see the fight with whatever demon/soldierguy that was until Buffy kills it & then finds the prostrate and out of commission Spike. To quote his season 11 self, “Still.. Undead. Barely.” Cue the lights.
Interesting that we aren’t allowed to see any conversation between Spike & Buffy about removing or repairing the chip. Or maybe it was just Buffy’s decision. I guess after all that hinting and allusion the PTB thought we’d figure it out. For Buffy & Spike, I think it was a no brainer, no pun intended.
Spike’s soul didn’t change only him.
- Sorry this got rather long, Hope that’s ok.
Måge, no comment is too long. Well, that's not true, there's a length limit. Some commenters have gotten around that one by posting multiple parts. :)
ReplyDelete