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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tabula Rasa

Spike: "We kissed, you and me. All Gone With The Wind, with the rising music, and the rising... music, and what was that, Buffy?"

I may cry.

We just lost two major characters in one episode — although I don't think Tara is gone for good. But Giles is, and I wonder if Buffy the Vampire Slayer will ever be as good without him. Is it wrong of me to hope that Giles' BBC series fails very quickly and he comes back?

Willow just didn't get it. It chilled me how she outright lied, without a moment of hesitation, to everybody. She didn't even try to give it up. She's addicted, and now Tara won't enable her any more. Good for Tara. Bad for Willow.

The whole group amnesia thing was just wonderful, very clever, very funny. They didn't know who they were, but Buffy still protected everyone: especially Dawn and, of all people, Spike. Spike still followed Buffy around. Willow and Tara were still strongly attracted to each other. What was really interesting was Anya assuming she was with Giles, and Xander doing the same with Willow. What did that say about the state of the Xander/Anya relationship?

Buffy always seems to be out of sync with her friends. She spent most of the last year without a guy while Xander/Anya and Willow/Tara were all coupled up — and now that Willow and Tara have broken up so painfully and Xander and Anya obviously have a problem, Buffy is getting seriously involved with Spike. The last two episodes have ended in Buffy/Spike smoochies. If it had just been last week, we could say it was just the musical comedy evil, but now we can't.

And I loved them standing in the Bronze kissing, so lost in each other that they were oblivious to all the people around them. Yum.

Bits and pieces:

— "Tabula Rasa" means "wipe the slate clean" in Latin. I think.

— There were lots of fun references to previous episodes, like "Wicked strong," "And I think I'm kind of gay," and "I smell fear." God, I'm a geek.

— Loved the loan shark. I kept thinking, "Candygram!"

— Didn't Spike wear that ridiculous suit in "Restless"?


— The song at the end, "Goodbye to You," was beautiful, moving, and so appropriate.

— I'm sorry, but Buffy absolutely has to do something about this kitten trafficking.

Quotes:

Anya: "Do you think she walked around on clouds, wearing, like, Birkenstocks and played a harp? Because those are just not flattering. You know, the clonky sandals, not a harp. I mean, who doesn't look good with a harp? What? I'm just saying what everyone's thinking, right, baby?"
Xander: "You are attractive and have many good qualities."

Xander: "I just feel weird feeling bad that my friend's not dead. It's too mind-boggling. So I've decided to simplify the whole thing. Me like Buffy. Buffy's alive, so, me glad."
Tara: "Not to be Miss Psycho Pep Squad, but we have got to stop obsessing about what we did and start trying to make things better for Buffy."


Giles: "We'll all get our memory back, and it'll all be right as rain."
Spike: "Oh, listen to Mary Poppins. He's got his crust all stiff and upper with that nancy-boy accent. You Englishmen are always so... Bloody hell. Sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, bollocks, oh God, I'm English."
Spike: "'Made with care for Randy.' (looks at Giles angrily) Randy Giles? Why not just call me 'Horny Giles,' or 'Desperate for a Shag Giles'? I knew there was a reason I hated you."

Buffy: "Any suggestions on how we're gonna get there?"
Spike: "Dad can drive. He's bound to have some classic midlife-crisis transport. Something red, shiny, shaped like a penis."

Spike: "I must be a noble vampire. A good guy. On a mission of redemption. I help the hopeless. I'm a vampire with a soul."
Buffy: "A vampire with a soul? Oh my god, how lame is that?"

Giles: "Come down, and we will go about fixing this in a sensible fashion."
Anya: "Sensible! You think it's sensible for me to go down into that pit of cotton-top hell, and let them hippity-hop all over my vulnerable flesh?"

Dawn: "How are you?"
Willow: "A little confused. I mean, I'm all sweaty, and trapped, no memory, hiding in a pipe from a vampire... And I think I'm kinda gay."

Shark Demon: "You're an odd duck, Mister Spike. Fighting your own kind, palling around with a Slayer. And whoa, that suit. Chutzpah must be your middle name."

Excellent. Four stakes out of a possible four.

Billie
---
Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.

7 comments:

  1. Was excellent. I love the funny episodes. My favorite part was when "Joan" is fighting the shark's crew and says "Don't mess with Joan the....stops frozen as she remembers, and then gets knocked to the ground. Also loved Giles sword fighting the skeleton while being surrounded by bunnies. Anya and Giles were very good together. I loved it in the musical episode when she patted him on the shoulder and he gave her the strangest look. They are comedy gold. The kissing at the end was nice too. I'm team Buffy/Spike (Spuffy) all the way.

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  2. I'm sorry, but Buffy absolutely has to do something about this kitten trafficking.

    Agreed!

    I used to love this episode, but now I feel as if something is missing. It's a great followup to the musical, getting the group back under the same roof and displaying their wonderful chemistry. But it doesn't go as far as it could.

    The final montage is great, but maybe a proper Giles goodbye would've been better. He leaves without checking on Willow after the temporary memory loss?

    Tara is so brave here. It breaks my heart to see her leave, but it was the right thing to do. And Spike is cute with that suit.

    "Can we talk?"
    "Vocal cord wise? Yes. With each other? No."

    I love that the episode opens with a witty dialogue. BtVS. <3

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  3. Agreed. Four out of four stakes, or should we call them Spikes? Love Tabula Rasa.

    Wow, Willow really was awful in her deception and denial. So sad. I miss the old Willow, and felt really sorry for Tara. And Umad, er, Dawn. Buffy’s heartbreak at Giles’ coming departure was painful to watch as well.
    I thought the relationships that bled through the amnesia were interesting, too. Giles and Spike were funny as dad and son. Giles and Anya were unexpectedly good together. Tara and Willow were predictable but sad, and Zander? He seemed rather alone, but Dawn was watching out for him and threw him that stake. Good on Dawn. Buffy and Dawn were very much sisters. And Buffy took the name of the tragic heroine, Joan of Arc.

    Buffy and Spike were, well, Buffy and Spike. They had each other’s backs, but Buffy was conflicted, while Spike was committed. I loved Spike’s “From dust…to dust,” finishing the fight. And Buffy’s, “Hey. Stay away from Randy!” It was also pretty funny (and telling) in the beginning when Buffy told Spike she would never kiss him or touch him ever, ever again, then promptly tackled him to save him from the thrown stake. Lol.

    I loved the closing song, “Good-bye to You,” and all the good-byes it voiced. But, I wasn’t sure how it spoke to Buffy and Spike. Theirs was more of a hello than good-bye. Unless it was a good-bye to their old relationship and hello to a new one. “The one thing that I tried to hold onto.”

    But what I’d really like to know is how they got from Buffy turning away from Spike at the bar, with Spike walking out, to their deep and passionate kisses under the stairs.

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  4. Oh rats. I forgot to comment on the kittens. They definitely need to be addressed. Poor kittens. Will Spike ever learn his lesson?

    (IS there a way on this site that one may comment in light of future seasons? I’m thinking no. If there is such a place here it could be called Billie re-Doux.)

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    Replies
    1. Måge, afraid not. Unless you want to post it on the series finale review. When we were doing a group re-watch, we had spoiler posts, but sadly, we never got to season six.

      https://www.douxreviews.com/2001/01/buffy-season-one-spoilers-and.html

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    2. Thanks for your quick reply. I’ll check out the link. But, I am hoping someone will come along who will review seasons 9-12, at least. That would be fun.

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    3. Another great episode. I’m enjoying this season so far a lot more than I remember. Maybe it starts to drag down in the middle of the season? (I know from memory the final 3 are intense and ends on a high.) im not a huge trio fan (although tolerating more this time around?. But I enjoyed these last two episodes particularly so much since they weren’t involved. And spike and Buffy…so on board with it. It’s totally different from her relationship with Angel, even though they are both vamps. And it was chilling how willow could just flat out lie to Tara with no intention of stopping despite her promise. After Tara explained what a violation of her mind it was she goes and tries to do the exact same thing again. WTF. I know her magic is treated like a drug addiction the more the season progresses but it totally is already taking shape. The lies and manipulation. And her inability to stop. Couldnt even last a day. Tara did the right rhing leaving. I was sad to see Giles go though. Can’t remember if he returns again this season but I’m hoping so.

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