Bargaining (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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"Bargaining"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x01.jpg
Buffy climbs out of her grave after Willow's resurrection spell is successful
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 1 & 2
Directed by
David Grossman
Written by
Marti Noxon (Part 1)
David Fury (Part 2)
Production code
6ABB01 & 6ABB02
Original air date
October 2, 2001
Guest actors
Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Franc Ross as Razor
Geoff Meed as Mag
Mike Grief as Klyed
Paul Greenberg as Shempy Vamp
Joy DeMichelle Moore as Ms. Lefcourt
Bru Muller as Mr. Davis
Robert Vito as Cute Boy
Harry Johnson as Parent #1
Kelly Lynn Warren as Parent #2
Hila Levy as Pretty Girl
Richard Wharton as Homeowner
Episode chronology
← Previous
"The Gift" Next →
"After Life"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Bargaining" is the two-part season premiere of the sixth season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, consisting of the first and second episodes. They are also the 101st and 102nd episodes of the show overall. The two constituent episodes were both aired on October 2, 2001 on UPN. The episodes were written by Marti Noxon and David Fury and directed by David Grossman.
The Scooby Gang resurrect Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), after her death in the previous episode. Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) returns to England, and a group of biker demons wreak havoc on Sunnydale.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot 1.1 Part 1
1.2 Part 2
2 Production details
3 Trivia
4 Reception
5 Continuity 5.1 Errors
5.2 Arc significance
6 References
7 External links
Plot[edit]
Part 1[edit]
With Buffy having been dead for five months, the Scooby Gang continue to patrol, led by Willow, whose power is progressing steadily. They use the often-imperfect Buffybot to conceal Buffy's death from any lurking enemies, as well as from social workers who believe Buffy to be Dawn's guardian. Meanwhile, at the magic shop, Giles is packing up his items in preparation for his return to England.
Willow announces plans to resurrect Buffy by magic, having found the last mystical artifact she needs on eBay. She conceals her intentions, however, from Giles, Spike and Dawn. A vampire survives his encounter with the Buffybot and realizes the real Slayer is gone. He tells a demon biker gang, which sets out to attack Sunnydale. Willow slaughters a baby deer in preparation for her ritual of resurrection. Giles leaves for England.
Willow, Xander, Anya, and Tara gather at Buffy's grave and Willow begins the ritual. As it progresses, the demon bikers wreak havoc in the town and damage the Buffybot when it intervenes. They trail the Buffybot as it tries to find Willow, interrupting the ritual at its conclusion. After the bikers destroy an essential artifact of the resurrection spell, the Scooby gang members flee in multiple directions from the attacking demons, convinced the ritual has failed. Unbeknownst to them, Buffy has resurrected and awoken, still buried in her coffin.
Part 2[edit]
Xander carries Willow to the magic shop where Tara and Anya are to meet them. The demon bikers batter the Buffybot. The resurrected Buffy breaks out of her coffin and claws her way to the surface, confused and traumatized. Spike steals a motorcycle from a demon and rides off with Dawn, intent on escaping the demons still rampaging through Sunnydale.
The disoriented Buffy roams through the town, coming upon demon bikers as they complete the destruction of the Buffybot. As she flees them, she stumbles across Willow and her allies, but runs from them as well. As they pursue her, they are attacked by the demons, but Buffy turns and defeats them. Spike and Dawn find the head of the destroyed Buffybot. As Spike tries to reassemble it, the head suggests to Dawn the real Buffy has returned; distraught, she runs away.
Still in shock, Buffy returns alone to the site of her death, the top of Glory's tower. Dawn finds her there and climbs the unstable structure in pursuit. Buffy prepares to restage her death, but Dawn interrupts and tries to convince her to come down. Undissuaded, Buffy asks if she's in hell. As the tower collapses, Buffy's instinct to protect Dawn takes control, and she carries her sister down a rope to the ground.
Production details[edit]
This episode was the first time Anthony Head is credited as a "Special Guest Star". He had been a series regular for the previous five seasons, but now his character has left for England. He would return later in the season and for much of the next. Alyson Hannigan is now credited as "And Alyson Hannigan as Willow".
Depending on how the two-part episode is split Buffy Summers may not appear in Bargaining Part One . Buffy doesn't appear until 46 minutes into the episode, which would be considered to be Part Two, as each individual episode is about 42 minutes long. On Netflix, Part One ends with Buffy's first appearance, and the opening credits from Part Two are omitted.
The front of Long Beach International Airport was used for the establishing shot for "Sunnydale Airport", from which Giles departed.
This episode marked the first time the show aired on UPN. It had aired on the WB for the previous five seasons until it was cancelled by them but picked up by UPN. UPN aired Buffy until its conclusion at the end of season seven.
Trivia[edit]
In this episode Giles is given a small monster by Tara. Tara, before giving it to Giles, says "Grr. Argh," a reference to the Mutant Enemy Productions logo.
Anya hands Giles a parting gift, an apple pie, "We brought some lovely parting gifts. It's American. Get it? Apple pie." This is an oblique reference to Alyson Hannigan's movie, American Pie 2, which came out on August 6, 2001, two months before the airing of this episode.
Reception[edit]
The 2-hour season premiere of "Bargaining, Parts One and Two" on UPN attracted 7.7 million viewers,[1] the 2nd highest viewership the show has ever received, behind only Season 2's "Innocence".
Continuity[edit]
Errors[edit]
After Buffy is resurrected she is seen wearing 3 kinds of shoes: strappy heels when she is walking in town, chunky heels when she is on the tower and sneakers when she is jumping the fence.
In the last three minutes of the episode (Bargaining Part 2) when Dawn and Buffy are on the tower, Buffy looks down after the tower shakes. Dawn stumbles and at that point, a man in a red sweat shirt and blue jeans, with his hood pulled up, is casually walking across the concrete in the upper left hand corner of the scene.
Arc significance[edit]
The episode sees the Scooby Gang performing a spell to raise Buffy from the dead, a decision which will have consequences for Buffy and her friends throughout Season Six, and which eventually allows the First Evil to exploit the vulnerability in the Slayer line in Season Seven.
Willow's increasing power is also shown in this episode, as she is able to endure the tests required to bring Buffy back. Willow's secrecy and attitudes towards magic also play a major part of Season Six, particularly in the episodes "Smashed", "Wrecked", "Villains", "Two to Go", and "Grave".
According to Willow in part 1, some of the Scoobies believe that Buffy's soul was trapped in a hell-dimension because she died within Glory's mystic portal. At the end of Season Two, Buffy killed Angel while he stood within Acathla's similar portal and Angel's soul did indeed go to a hell dimension, so their belief, although in error, is understandable.
When Buffy was brought back to life, it is like she feared it would be in the first-season episode "Nightmares", when she is buried alive.
The episode shows Buffy's uncertainty and confused feelings about being back from the dead. She asks Dawn, "Is this hell?", which is a view that the Slayer will express throughout the season as she tries to adjust to normal life.
The Buffybot, which first appeared in Season Five, is destroyed in this episode, and does not make any further appearances on the show, until its comic book continuation in Season Nine.
There are also some hints about the different attitudes that Willow and Tara have towards magic, with Tara fearing that the Scoobies were wrong to meddle with the laws of nature, while Willow seems sure that they are doing the right thing.
The second part of the episode is also the first in the series without Anthony Head as Giles.
Tara makes her first kill in this episode when she axes Razor in the back as he tries to strangle Willow.
The episode shows Spike stealing a motorcycle from one of the biker demons, which he will keep and use all the way up through Season Seven.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Top Ten Genre Broadcast TV Ratings (Oct. 1-7)". Mania.com. October 11, 2001. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bargaining, Part One
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bargaining, Part Two
"Bargaining (Part 1)" at the Internet Movie Database
"Bargaining (Part 1)" at TV.com
"Bargaining (Part 2)" at the Internet Movie Database
"Bargaining (Part 2)" at TV.com
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After Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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"After Life"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 3
Directed by
David Solomon
Written by
Jane Espenson
Production code
6ABB03
Original air date
October 9, 2001
Guest actors
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Lisa Hoyle as Demon
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Bargaining" Next →
"Flooded"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"After Life" is the third episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Production details
3 Continuity 3.1 Arc significance
4 References
5 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
The Scooby Gang rushes to find Buffy and figures she is at her house. The bikers are on the run now that Razor has been destroyed. At the house, Buffy is confused and acting strangely as she surveys the changed scenery of her house and is told by Dawn that Giles has left. Spike arrives, angry and looking for Dawn, though when he realizes the real Buffy is back he softens and helps to clean up her wounded hands. They talk about how long she's been gone; Spike has counted the days, all 147 of them. When the Scooby Gang arrives and focuses on the Slayer, Spike slips out.
Unable to stand all the concern, Buffy goes upstairs while Xander and Anya leave for food. Outside, the two find a hurt Spike who's furious that he wasn't told about the plan to resurrect Buffy, despite having helped the gang all summer. He realises that his love of Buffy would have made him an obstacle if Buffy returned as something that would have had to have been destroyed. He warns Xander of the consequences they'll have to face, because they always exist with magic.
After notifying Giles of Buffy's return, Willow and Tara go to bed and talk about the spell and changes in Buffy. In her room, Buffy looks at the pictures surrounding her and they briefly turn to pictures of skulls. During the night, Willow and Tara are visited in their room by a Buffy who yells at them and hints at Willow killing the deer in "Bargaining, Part One". When the girls get up to investigate, Buffy's asleep in her room and neither knows the source of the incident. A moving lump appears in the ceiling, motivating Willow to call Xander. In the background while Xander talks, Anya enters the room with a knife and smokey eyes, slitting her cheek before collapsing as the lump travels across the floor.
The gang gather the next day for brainstorming, but no one is sure what this thing is and Buffy is still very closed off. At the Magic Box, Buffy still seems out of place and leaves to patrol alone. With Buffy gone, the demon has taken over Dawn who shouts at her friends and breathes fire before collapsing. Buffy finds Spike at his crypt and the two talk, rather awkwardly at first. Spike opens up to her, expressing his guilt for not saving her or Dawn. He explains that every night afterwards, he thought up better ways to rescue her and he wishes so much to have been able to do it for real.
Led on by Spike's hinting that Willow knew her spell might do something bad, Xander questions whether either of the witches knew the dangers but is quickly quieted. Willow reveals that this creature was created by the spell that brought Buffy back. The demon currently does not possess a body, which is why it has been possessing members of the gang. A reversal of the spell will cancel out the creation of the demon, but it can't be done without also reversing Buffy's resurrection. After Dawn panics about the idea of losing Buffy again, Willow discovers that the demon can only survive if Buffy is killed. The demon, which had been housed in Xander's body while Willow shared this information, thanks Willow for the tip and heads for the Slayer.
Buffy is attacked by the formless demon which she can't hurt, but which she can be hurt by. Willow and Tara cast a spell to make the demon solid. Buffy kills the demon with an axe. Normality is somewhat resumed as Dawn heads to school the next day and Buffy sees her off. Buffy visits her friends at the shop and tells them that she was in Hell and she appreciates that they brought her back.
Buffy goes outside behind the shop to be alone, where she finds Spike hiding in a patch of shade. He tries to talk to her and offers to help her in any way he can. She admits to him that although she wasn't initially sure where she was, she knows that she wasn't in Hell. She was in Heaven and was happy, and her friends pulled her out. Spike is shocked as she tells him that this reality is her Hell as she wanted to go back to heaven, and she stresses that her friends can never know the truth.
Production details[edit]
The scene in which Anya is possessed by the demon ghost and slashes her face several times while laughing maniacally was trimmed by SkyOne for the UK broadcast to show her laughing and then collapsing, editing out the face-slashing.[1]
Continuity[edit]
Arc significance[edit]
This is not the only unseen force to "hitch a ride" with Buffy. In season 7 it is revealed that the resurrection spell is the key to the First Evil being able to attempt an apocalypse, which will put the entire world in danger and become Buffy's ultimate foe in season 7.
When Buffy is out patrolling she passes by an angel statue which the camera focuses on further shadowing her status as being in heaven.
In this episode, Buffy reveals that her friends' decision to perform the resurrection spell has resulted in her being torn out of heaven. This makes the Slayer feel isolated, alone and depressed throughout most of Season 6.
Willow calls Giles to tell him that Buffy is alive, which results in his return to Sunnydale in the next episode.
Spike is shown to be the second person to be worried about Willow's magic strengthening (the first was Tara, in season 5, and again seen worried during the resurrection), foreshadowing Willow's magic addiction throughout the season. Spike's parting words are "The thing about magic - there's always consequences - always!", which is the theme for many episodes of the show, as early on as "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" in season 2.
Spike shows great concern for Buffy. He identifies that her injured hands come from climbing out of a coffin, an experience he has also had to deal with. This is the first example in Season 6 of Spike being able to relate to Buffy more closely than her human friends, which eventually leads to their physical relationship.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0533385/alternateversions
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: After Life
"After Life" at the Internet Movie Database
"After Life" at TV.com
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Flooded (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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"Flooded"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x04.jpg
Giles hugs Buffy as he returns to Sunnydale after learning she is alive
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 4
Directed by
Doug Petrie
Written by
Jane Espenson
Doug Petrie
Production code
6ABB04
Original air date
October 16, 2001
Guest actors
Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
Adam Busch as Warren Mears
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Todd Stashwick as M'Fashnik Demon
Michael Merton as Mr. Stavitsky
John Jabaley as Tito
Brian Kolb as Bank Guard
Episode chronology
← Previous
"After Life" Next →
"Life Serial"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Flooded" is the fourth episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Continuity 2.1 Arc significance
3 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
Buffy attempts to repair a leaky pipe in her basement only to have it burst and flood the basement. At breakfast, the gang discusses the damage while Xander and a plumber examine the damage caused by the pipes. The plumber advises Buffy that a full re-piping is necessary and hands her a very large bill. The size of the cost leads to Buffy finding that with hospital bills and funeral costs, the Summers girls are pretty much broke. Anya suggests charging for slaying which leads to an argument with Xander about telling the others that they are engaged, but Buffy manages to keep her cool and is determined to find a way around the problem.
Buffy goes to a bank to consult with a loan director, which is hardly a positive experience as Buffy finds that without a job and with no real collateral, she can't get a loan. A demon breaks through the office window, interrupting the meeting, and Buffy fights it despite her conservative clothing. While money is stolen from the bank, a security guard tries to intervene in the fight, but is unable to help the situation. The demon escapes and Buffy returns to the loan officer to discuss the possibility of getting paid for saving his life.
Later that night, Willow tries to upset Buffy purposely in order to get her to express some real anger but Buffy doesn't fall for it. Anya continues to try to force Xander to announce their engagement and he's ready to but not until everyone has arrived. Dawn wants to help with research, but Tara thinks she's too young and that fact is proven when Dawn looks at a picture in one of the books. Buffy isn't pleased that Dawn is researching with the gang but Dawn is able to identify the bank-robbing demon that Buffy encountered earlier. Giles returns to have a happy reunion and intense discussion with Buffy before meeting up with the rest of the gang.
The bank robbing demon, a M'Fashnik, throws a fit in front of his "controllers," Jonathan, Warren and Andrew (brother of Tucker from "The Prom") complaining that the Slayer still lives even though they got the money from the bank. The three men argue with both the demon and each other, then Jonathan, Warren and Andrew think up a way to accommodate the demon without killing Buffy. Giles takes the couch at the Summers home and talks with Buffy, telling her he'll help her take care of the financial problems in the morning. The three guys discuss their mission - taking over Sunnydale - and somewhat agree unanimously that none of them wants to kill Buffy, but Warren secretly provides Buffy's address to the M'Fashnik demon so he can kill her.
Later that night, Giles asks Willow for specifics regarding the spell she cast to bring Buffy back to life. Willow, seeking Giles' praise, begins to boast about how scary the spell was, but Giles quickly takes the wind out of her sails by reminding her why such spells aren't practiced, including the possible consequences. He notes that he left her in charge of the group because he thought she was the most responsible, which he now sees is clearly not the case. Although he maintains a stereotypically British calm through most of his speech, Giles ultimately loses control and thunders that Willow is lucky to be alive after casting such a spell, calling her a "rank, arrogant amateur." Failing to see that Giles' anger is at least partially motivated by his deep affection for her, Willow stands up for herself, even threatening Giles, however he reminds her that the gang still has no idea where Buffy has been or what she has been through. Spike finds Buffy on the back porch and the two exchange small talk about life and money. Giles and Dawn both have trouble sleeping and go for a snack. The M'Fashnik crashes their late night cereal party, but Buffy catches him. A fight ensues with Buffy and Spike working together against the M'Fashnik.
The fight ends up in the basement where the demon latches on to one of the pipes and Buffy immediately attacks as the expensive pipes are threatened. The "supervillain" guys consider their future plans and agree that hypnotizing and making Buffy their willing love slave is a priority. The Scooby Gang regroups after the demon is taken care of and hopelessly attempts to save the furniture that was destroyed in battle. A phone call off camera reveals that Angel (currently in Los Angeles) needs to meet with Buffy and she needs the same so she leaves to meet him at an intermediate location.
Continuity[edit]
Buffy wrestles a gun from a bank security guard saying, "These things, never helpful," a remark that she will repeat to Riley later in the season.
Arc significance[edit]
Crossover with Angel: The episode ends with Buffy receiving a phone call from Angel. Having learned about her resurrection, he wishes to speak with her, and so Buffy leaves to meet up with him. While this meeting is the subject of Jane Espenson's Buffy/Angel comic, Reunion, the details of the meeting are never revealed, the comics only depicting speculations made by the Scooby Gang.
Crossover with Angel: Anya's idea of Buffy charging for slaying is not dissimilar to the concept of Angel Investigations in Angel. Unlike Angel and Doyle's reaction to Cordelia making such a suggestion in season 1 of Angel, the 'Scoobies' scorn such an idea. Nor do they or Giles suggest getting the Watchers' Council to pay the Slayer a stipend as they do for their Watchers.
Warren, Andrew, and Jonathan are introduced as the Trio, part of this season's Big Bad.
Giles returns from England, having moved back before Buffy's resurrection in "Bargaining, Part One."
Willow's worrying attitude towards her power, a main theme of the season, is shown in her argument with Giles. Giles calls Willow a "rank, arrogant amateur" during their argument in this episode, and Dark Willow references his comment when they battle in "Grave."
Warren's attitude with the M'Fashnik demon establishes that he is easily the most amoral of the trio.
After receiving the phone call from Angel, Buffy turns down Giles' request that they look over the bills before she goes, beginning the process of Buffy continually pushing more of her adult responsibility onto Giles through Season Six. Ultimately, this will lead to Giles's departure later on in the season.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Flooded
"Flooded" at the Internet Movie Database
"Flooded" at TV.com
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Life Serial
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Life Serial"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Life Serial.jpg
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 5
Directed by
Nick Marck
Written by
David Fury
Jane Espenson
Production code
6ABB05
Original air date
October 23, 2001
Guest actors
Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
Adam Busch as Warren Mears
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Paul Gutrecht as Tony
Noel Albert Guglielmi as Vince
Enrique Almeida as Marco
Jonathan Goldstein as Mike
Winsome Brown as Woman Customer
Christopher May as Male Customer
David J. Miller as Rat-Faced Demon
Andrew Cooper Wasser as Slime-Cover Demon
Richard Beatty as Small Demon
James C. Leary as Clem
Jennifer Shon as Rachel
Jabari Hearn as Steve
Derrick McMillon as Ron
Clint Culp as Bartender
Mark Ginther as Horned Demon
Alice Dinnean as Mummy Hand
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Flooded" Next →
"All the Way"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Life Serial" is the 5th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Cultural references
3 Continuity 3.1 Arc significance
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
Buffy returns from her visit with Angel, but doesn't want to talk about it. Instead, the Scoobies discuss Buffy's future plans. Not knowing what she wants to do in life, Buffy agrees to audit the classes Willow and Tara are taking until the next semester starts.
The Trio prepares for its competition to test Buffy, setting up their van with high-tech monitoring equipment.
At school, Buffy finds herself overwhelmed by a class she takes with Willow. Buffy later meets up with Tara for Art History, but before class begins Warren tags her with a tiny device that causes time to fast-forward. Buffy is dazed as the world whizzes around her; when she finally notices the device Warren planted on her, it self-destructs and puts Buffy back in normal time.
Buffy works with Xander at his construction job, telling him about the time situation at school before she is introduced to Tony, the boss. Andrew summons demons from the van, which trash the construction site before Buffy kills them. Unfortunately, Buffy knocks Tony unconscious and the construction men she saves refuse to admit they were saved by a girl. Xander gets mad at Buffy for bringing slaying to his work place but understands that something is happening. However, he is still forced to fire her.
Buffy learns about working at The Magic Box from Giles and Anya as Jonathan begins a spell to loop time. Buffy assists a man with a candle sale and then goes downstairs to fetch a live mummy hand for a female customer. The hand attacks her and she is forced to kill it, which also kills the sale. Events start to repeat as Buffy must help the customers and fight the mummy hand over and over again. She is stuck in an unsolved dilemma, but soon Buffy is able to end the spell by telling the woman she will order the hand instead of going downstairs to fight with the one they already have. Stressed out by the repeating time and the job itself, Buffy walks out. All the while, the three villains keep scores on their Buffy attacks.
Later that night, Buffy gets drunk with Spike at his crypt. Completely hammered, Buffy goes with Spike to a bar where he plays poker (using kittens as currency) and searches for information. After the poker game ends badly, Buffy rants to Spike about the new low her life has reached with her inability to understand school or get a decent job. Buffy and Spike notice a black van; the Trio notices Buffy approaching with alarm.
A fake demon appears from behind the van and threatens Buffy, but it is beaten down while the van drives away. With the use of smoke to confuse the slayer and vampire, the demon (Jonathan in disguise) runs away and complains to the Trio who realize they now have lots of information on Buffy's fighting style that can be used against her. Buffy begins to recover from her drunken state and complains to Giles about her life. He consoles her and offers her a cheque to help pay for all the expenses. Buffy says she is happy that Giles will always be there, but the look on Giles's face suggests that he might not always be.
Cultural references[edit]
The title of the episode is a pun on the breakfast cereal Life.
Logan's Run: When Warren plants the time dilation device on Buffy, he uses the codename "Logan 5" and refers to Buffy as "the runner."
Monty Python's Parrot Sketch: During the time loop sequence, the Trio references the famous sketch with "This mummy hand has ceased to be!" "This is an ex-mummy hand!" This same sketch is also referenced when Buffy attempts to sell the stabbed mummy hand to the woman. The woman says the hand is now dead, only for Buffy to respond that it's just "playing dead," mimicking the shopkeeper's insistence to the customer in the Parrot Sketch that the parrot is still alive.
Groundhog Day: The sequence in the Magic Box is similar to the film's main plot.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Andrew describes the time loop they have put Buffy into as being "like that episode of TNG" in which the Enterprise-D continually explodes ("Cause and Effect").
X-Files: Warren responds, "Or Mulder, in that X-Files where the bank kept exploding" (Season 6 episode "Monday").
James Bond: The Trio has a protracted argument over actors who have played James Bond: Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton. Warren insists that Moonraker was inexcusable. Dr. No, the first film of the Bond series, is also mentioned.
Star Wars: Andrew spray paints a mural of the Death Star from Return of the Jedi on the side of the Trio's van, and the van's horn plays the Star Wars main theme.
Tara makes reference to watching SpongeBob SquarePants with Willow to Buffy during Buffy's speed problems at college.
The scene where the Trio summons the demon from the side of the van is mimicked in an Alltell Wireless commercial where three nerds summon a wizard who is painted on the side of their van to attack a sales clerk.
The sculpture shown in the pages of Tara's "Renaissance book" before her art appreciation class is called the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa, and is more accurately described as Baroque.
Black vans similar to the one used by The Trio were used in Joss Whedon's other project Dollhouse.
Continuity[edit]
Arc significance[edit]
Crossover with Angel: A meeting between Buffy and Angel takes place immediately before this episode (between the corresponding Angel episodes "Carpe Noctem" and "Fredless"). It is the subject of Jane Espenson's Buffy/Angel comic, Reunion.
The good demon Clem, who will later befriend Buffy and the other Scoobies, appears for the first time playing kitten poker. He is credited as "Loose Skinned Demon".
Though it could have been inferred from previous episodes, the specialties of all of the Trio members are established; Warren's is technology, Andrew's is demon summoning, and Jonathan's is magic.
Although Buffy is back with the Watchers' Council, which pays its Watchers (including Giles) and appears to have financially supported other Slayers such as Kendra, no one appears to think of asking them to put Buffy on their payroll.
Reception[edit]
The Futon Critic named it the 15th best episode of 2001.[1]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Brian Ford Sullivan (January 4, 2002). "The 50 Best Episodes of 2001 - #20-11". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Life Serial
"Life Serial" at the Internet Movie Database
"Life Serial" at TV.com
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All the Way (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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"All the Way"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy 6x06.jpg
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 6
Directed by
David Solomon
Written by
Steven S. DeKnight
Production code
6ABB06
Original air date
October 30, 2001
Guest actors
Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Amber Tamblyn as Janice Penshaw
Kavan Reece as Justin
John O'Leary as 'Old Man' Kaltenbach
Dave Power as Zack
Charles Duckworth as Glenn
Dawn Worrall as Christy
Emily Kay as Maria
Adam Gordon as Carl
Steven Anthony Lawrence as Chunky Kid
Sabrina Speer as Girl
Chad Erikson as Guy
Dominic Rambaran as Paramedic #1
Anthony Sago as Paramedic #2
Lorin Becker as Witch Woman
Lily Jackson as Witchy Poo
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Life Serial" Next →
"Once More, with Feeling"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"All the Way" is the sixth episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Cultural references
3 Continuity 3.1 Arc significance
4 Reception
5 References
Plot synopsis[edit]
It is Halloween and Anya has set the gang to work in the magic shop. She sends Buffy to the basement, where she runs into Spike. At his suggestion, Buffy attempts to leave to go patrol with Spike, but Giles points out that Halloween is an inactive day for most evil creatures, and engages Buffy in helping with bagging products.
An elderly man, Kaltenbach, is seen walking down the street humming "Pop Goes the Weasel" while carrying a bag of what appears to be groceries. He enters his home, peers out of a window at the children in costumes walking by, and says he's going to give them something "special" this year. He then pulls a large knife out of his kitchen drawer.
The Magic Box has enjoyed its busiest day ever, to Anya's delight. Xander decides that the time is right to announce his engagement to Anya, and the group makes its way back to Buffy's house to celebrate. Back at the Summers home, Willow conjures up decorations for the party, but Tara now shares Giles's concerns about Willow's frivolous use of magic. Willow brushes off these concerns.
Dawn tells Buffy that she is going to her friend Janice Penshaw's house, but really meets Janice and two older boys: Justin and Zack. Dawn becomes attracted to Justin. When the foursome stops in front of "old man" Kaltenbach's house, Dawn, on a dare, walks up to the porch to smash a pumpkin. She is caught by Kaltenbach, who warns her not to mess with them, then laughs and invites them all inside for a "special treat". Inside, Justin volunteers to help Kaltenbach with his preparations in the kitchen. The old man is about to cut into a baked dish when Justin, now revealed as a vampire, bites and drains him. Justin then returns to the others and announces that they need to flee because he stole the man's wallet.
Meanwhile, at the Summers home, Xander, who was already nervous in response to Giles's serious talk with him about his and Anya's future plans, becomes even more nervous when Anya chatters with Giles, Buffy and Xander about the wedding and plans for children.
On patrol, Buffy runs across an accident scene with a corpse that was left behind by Zack while he was stealing a car. While she is tracking the culprit, she encounters Spike, who passes on a message from Giles: Dawn has misled the adults regarding her plans for the night. Now the whole gang is on the case. At The Bronze, Willow wants to use an extremely risky spell to locate Dawn, but Tara stops her, and an angry argument ensues.
In the stolen car, Justin drives Dawn and the others out into the forest and stops. Zack and Janice depart, leaving Justin and Dawn alone in the car. Justin kisses Dawn – her first kiss – and then reveals his vampire face. Dawn attempts to escape from Justin, but he catches her. Giles is quickly on the scene to help, but vampires emerge from several cars, ready to fight. As they close in, Spike and Buffy show up to assist. Dawn runs away from the fight, but Justin finds her. He attempts to change her, but as he is leaning in to bite her neck, Dawn stakes him with a crossbow bolt, fired earlier in the melee.
The gang returns home, where Buffy is quick to leave the job of chastising Dawn to Giles, who is unhappy about how Buffy is relying on him so much. Meanwhile, Willow casts a spell on Tara to make her forget their quarrel.
Cultural references[edit]
Anya is dressed up as a Charlie's Angel for Halloween.
Star Wars: Upon seeing a couple dressed as Luke and Leia dancing in the Bronze, Willow asks, "Do they know they're brother and sister?"
Xander references Henry V (a Shakespearean play) with the words "once more unto the breach," from one of the more famous speeches in the play.
In one scene Dawn is wearing a letterman's jacket and being hunted in the woods, a visual reference to Michael Jackson's Thriller video.
Zack references a scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark with the line "Pumpkins. Very dangerous. You go first." - a play on Sallah's line about asps in the Indiana Jones movie.
Continuity[edit]
While arguing with Giles about patrolling, Buffy references "Halloween" and "Fear, Itself", the two previous Halloween episodes.
When asked to get more Mandrake Root from the basement, Buffy comments that it wouldn't be her fault if they have the same conversation over and over and over again, in reference to the time loop in the previous episode.
This episode reveals the full extent of Spike's dislike for Halloween, when he takes personal offense to the vampire "rebels" hunting on Halloween. This would be further explored in the Angel episode "Life of the Party", wherein he constantly criticizes Wolfram & Hart's annual Halloween Bash.
When Xander tells Buffy I'm gonna marry that girl, Buffy misunderstands him, thinking he's talking about Dawn before realizing that he's talking about Anya. In season 8, Xander and Dawn start dating.
Arc significance[edit]
In this episode, Giles sees that Buffy is becoming too reliant on him; this leads to his decision to leave Sunnydale in the next episode.
Willow erases Tara's memory in this episode, which will influence her decision to end her relationship with Willow over the next two episodes and is another example of Willow's escalating magic use.
This episode also contains the first signs that Xander is unsure of his decision to marry Anya, something that later reaches its climax in the episode "Hell's Bells".
At the start of the episode, Dawn steals a gold coin from the magic shop which is a sign of her growing kleptomania. Also she tells Justin that she has stolen lots of things.
Reception[edit]
At Imdb, "All the Way" was given a rating of 7.2 out of 10.[1] TV.com scored the episode 7.9 out of 10.[2]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' All the Way (TV episode 2001) - IMDb". Internet Movie Database. Imdb.com.
2.Jump up ^ "Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 6, Episode 6: All the Way - TV.com". CBS.
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Once More, with Feeling (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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"Once More, with Feeling"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
OnceMoreWithFeelingPoster.jpg
Adam Hughes' poster for the episode included visual elements that highlighted its unique appearance, evoking an Old Hollywood feel also reflected in several pieces of music.[1]
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 7
Directed by
Joss Whedon
Written by
Joss Whedon
Editing by
Lisa Lassek
Production code
6ABB07
Original air date
November 6, 2001
Running time
50 minutes
Guest actors
Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
Hinton Battle as Sweet
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Episode chronology
← Previous
"All the Way" Next →
"Tabula Rasa"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Once More, with Feeling" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003) and the only one in the series performed as a musical. It was written and directed by the show's creator, Joss Whedon, and originally aired on UPN in the United States on November 6, 2001.
"Once More, with Feeling" explores changes in the relationships of the main characters, using the plot device that a demon—credited as "Sweet" but unnamed in the episode—compels the people of Sunnydale to break into song at random moments to express hidden truths. The title of the episode comes from a line sung by Sweet; once the characters have revealed their truths and face the consequences of hearing each other's secrets, he challenges them to "say you're happy now, once more, with feeling".
All cast members sang their parts, although two were given minimal lines by request. "Once More, with Feeling" is the most technically complex episode in the series, as extra voice and dance training for the cast was interspersed with the production of four other Buffy episodes. It was Joss Whedon's first attempt at writing music, and different styles—from 1950s sitcom theme music to rock opera—express the characters' secrets in specific ways. The episode was well received critically upon airing, specifically for containing the humor and wit to which fans had become accustomed. The musical format allowed characters to stay true to their natures while they struggled to overcome deceit and miscommunication, fitting with the sixth season's themes of growing up and facing adult responsibilities.[2][3] It is considered one of the most effective and popular episodes of the series, and—prior to a financial dispute in 2007—was shown in theaters with the audience invited to sing along.
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Plot
3 Production and writing
4 Themes
5 Music and style
6 Reception 6.1 Soundtrack
6.2 DVD releases
6.3 Influence on television
7 Public showings
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
11 Bibliography
12 External links
Background[edit]
Throughout the series Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), in her role as the Vampire Slayer, is assisted by her close friends, who refer to themselves as the "Scooby Gang". These include Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), a young man without particular strengths or talents, but devoted to Buffy and her calling, and Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), a young woman who has grown from a shy but gifted student into a strong woman and powerful user of magic. They are mentored by Buffy's "Watcher", Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), a paternal figure since the first season, when Buffy moved to Sunnydale after her parents' divorce. Xander is engaged to Anya Jenkins (Emma Caulfield), a former vengeance demon who is newly human. They have struggled with disclosing their engagement to the rest of the group and individually doubt their impending marriage.[2]
Buffy died at the end of the fifth season ("The Gift"), sacrificing herself in place of her younger sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) to save the world. In the first episode of the sixth season, Willow, believing Buffy to be in Hell, used magic to bring her back from the grave. Buffy was in fact at peace, in what she thinks was heaven, but she has kept this a secret from her friends. Since her resurrection, Buffy has been lost and without inspiration to perform her duties as a Slayer. Willow is romantically involved with Tara Maclay (Amber Benson), a powerful but ethical witch. Tara has previously expressed concern at Willow's use of her emergent magical powers for trivial or personal matters. In the preceding episode ("All the Way"), Willow cast a spell to make Tara forget an argument about her abuse of magic. In the same episode, Dawn, who has been stealing from stores, including Anya's magic shop, lies to Buffy and goes on a clandestine and almost deadly date. Left to take care of Dawn after the death of their mother in the fifth season ("The Body"), Buffy has come to depend more heavily on Giles. Following Dawn's date, Buffy asks Giles to shoulder responsibility for disciplining her, to his discomfort.[2][4]
Buffy's former nemesis is Spike (James Marsters), a vampire. In the fourth season the Initiative, a secret military organization whose mission is to evaluate and eliminate demonic beings, rendered Spike harmless by implanting a microchip in his head that causes him intense pain when he attacks humans. The chip does not affect him when he harms demons and he now often fights on Buffy's side, after at first fighting just for the pleasure of brawling. His motivations changed when, in the fifth season, Spike realized he had fallen in love with Buffy. She initially rejected him, but after and just before her death they had begun to form a friendship of sorts. She has been confiding in him; prior to this episode, he is the only one to whom Buffy has revealed that she was in heaven.[2]
Throughout Buffy the Vampire Slayer, music serves as a narrative tool, integral to character development and action. The mood is set by music, characters discuss it, and writers use it to emphasize differences between generations. In an essay on the use of music in the series, Jacqueline Bach writes that in conjunction with the sixth season themes of growing up, "Once More, with Feeling" gives music a central role instead of keeping it in the background.[5]
Plot[edit]
On a routine nighttime graveyard patrol, Buffy laments in song about how uninspired her life has become ("Going Through the Motions"). The next morning at the Magic Box, Buffy's friends reveal that they also sang that evening. Led by Giles, the gang theorizes about the cause of the singing, sensing no immediate danger but agreeing that by working together they can overcome anything ("I've Got a Theory/Bunnies/If We're Together"). Buffy learns that the whole town is affected when she looks outside the shop to see a large group (led by series writer and producer David Fury) singing and dancing about how a dry-cleaning service got their stains out ("The Mustard").
Tara and Willow leave to research at home, but dally along the way while Tara muses about how much Willow has improved her life ("Under Your Spell"). The next morning, Xander and Anya perform a duet about their secret annoyances with each other and their respective doubts about their impending marriage ("I'll Never Tell"). They realize that the songs are bringing out hidden truths, and later insist to Giles that something evil is to blame. As they argue, they walk past a woman (series writer and producer Marti Noxon) protesting a parking ticket ("The Parking Ticket"). That evening, Buffy visits Spike, who angrily tells Buffy to leave him alone if she will not love him ("Rest in Peace").
Dawn tells Tara she is glad that Tara and Willow have made up after their argument. Since Tara has no recollection of an argument, she suspects that Willow has used magic to alter her memory. She goes to the Magic Box to consult a book, leaving Dawn alone. Dawn starts to bemoan that no one seems to notice her ("Dawn's Lament"), but is seized by minions of Sweet (Hinton Battle), a zoot suit-wearing, tap-dancing, singing demon. They take Dawn to The Bronze, where her attempt to escape transforms into a dance with the minions ("Dawn's Ballet") before she meets Sweet. He tells Dawn that he has come to Sunnydale in response to her "invocation", and he will take her to his dimension to make her his bride ("What You Feel") when his visit is complete.
At the Magic Box, Giles recognizes that he must stand aside if Buffy is to face her responsibilities to Dawn instead of relying on him ("Standing") and Tara finds evidence of the spell Willow used on her in a book. Giles and Tara separately resolve to leave the people they love, respectively Buffy and Willow. In the case of Buffy, for her own good, and in the case of Willow because Tara has become disgusted by Willow's magical manipulation of their relationship ("Under Your Spell / Standing—Reprise"). Captured by Spike outside the store, one of Sweet's minions challenges Buffy to rescue Dawn from The Bronze. Giles forbids the gang to assist Buffy so she goes alone, despite feeling nothing; eventually Giles and the Scoobies change their minds and leave to catch up. Spike begrudgingly decides to help Buffy, despite thinking things would be better for him if she were dead, and Sweet opines that Buffy is drawn to danger ("Walk Through the Fire").
Meeting Sweet at The Bronze, Buffy offers a deal to Sweet to take the place of her sister if she can't kill him. When asked by Sweet what she thinks about life, Buffy gives her pessimistic take on its meaning ("Something to Sing About"). When the others arrive, she divulges that Willow took her from heaven and Willow reacts with horror at finding out what she's done. Upon divulging this truth, Buffy gives up on singing and dances so frenetically that she begins to smoke, on the verge of combusting as other victims of Sweet have been shown to have done, until Spike stops her, telling her that the only way to go forward is to just keep living her life. Xander then reveals that he, not Dawn, called Sweet, hoping he would be shown a happy ending for his marriage plans. Sweet tells the group how much fun they have been ("What You Feel—Reprise") and disappears. The Scoobies realize that their relationships have been changed irreversibly by the secrets revealed in their songs ("Where Do We Go from Here?"). Spike leaves The Bronze, but Buffy follows him out and they kiss ("Coda").
Production and writing[edit]
A bearded man, wearing a garnet shirt, speaking in front of a microphone. Behind the man is an out-of-focus white and yellow background.
Series creator Joss Whedon spent six months writing for the episode, the first time he had ever written music.
Joss Whedon had wanted to make a musical episode since the start of the series. This was heightened during the fifth season when he hosted a Shakespeare reading at his house, to which the cast was invited. They began drinking and singing, demonstrating to Whedon that certain cast members had musical talents.[6][7] Whedon knew he would have to write an entire score, which would take weeks or months. During the first three seasons of Buffy, he was unable to take more than two weeks off at a time, and the constraints of writing and directing the show precluded him from putting forth the effort of preparing a musical. Whedon spoke to the show's producer, Gareth Davies, about his idea; they agreed that a musical episode would be written.[8]
Whedon spent six months writing the music for "Once More, with Feeling".[8] When he returned after the end of the fifth season, he presented Davies with a script and CD, complete with notated and orchestrated music, which Davies found "mind-boggling".[9] The actors were initially bewildered; in 2012, James Marsters commented that "it's obvious now that they were good songs but the thing was Joss and his wife Kai, they don't sing very well. And they don't play piano very well. The songs sounded really cheesy and horrible... We were saying, 'Joss, you're ruining our careers.'"[10]
Preparing for the episode was physically difficult for some of the cast members, most of whom had little experience singing and dancing. They spent three months in voice training.[8][note 1] Two choreographers worked with Whedon and the cast on dance sequences. Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn), who is trained in ballet, requested a dance sequence in lieu of a significant singing part,[9] and Alyson Hannigan (Willow), according to Whedon, begged him not to give her many lines.[6][12] Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) told the BBC that "It took something like 19 hours of singing and 17 hours of dancing in between shooting four other episodes" and she was so anxious about singing that she "hated every moment of it".[13] When Whedon suggested using a voice double for her, however, she said, "I basically started to cry and said, 'You mean someone else is going to do my big emotional turning point for the season?' In the end, it was an incredible experience and I'm glad I did it. And I never want to do it again."[14] Davies was so impressed with Hinton Battle's performance on Broadway in The Wiz that he asked Battle to play the demon Sweet. Battle, a three-time Tony-winner, wore prosthetic make-up for the first time to give him a demonic red face. Sweet was portrayed as "slick", smooth and stylish; in contrast, most demons on the series were designed to be crude and ugly.[9] The set for The Bronze was used frequently throughout the series, but stairs were built from the stage to maximize floor space for Battle's dance.[6]
Running eight minutes longer than any in the series,[note 2] the episode was also the most technical and complex. Whedon, who has stated this is one of his favorite Buffy episodes, used a widescreen letterbox format for filming (the only episode in the series to get this treatment),[12] different lighting to bring out the sets more vibrantly, and long takes for shooting—including a complicated shot with a full conversation, a song, and two choreographed dances that took 21 attempts to get right. These were designed to give viewers all the clues they needed to establish all the nuances of the relationships between characters.[6] Davies commented that the intricacies of filming this episode were "infinitely more complicated than a regular Buffy" episode,[9] and Whedon stated in the DVD commentary that he was ambitious to prove what television is capable of, saying "it just depends how much you care".[6] UPN, the television network that aired Buffy's last two seasons, promoted the episode by displaying Gellar's face on billboards with music notes over her eyes, and held a special premiere event. Network president Dean Valentine remarked he thought it was "one of the best episodes of television I ever saw in my life".[15]
Critics hailed the episode as successful in telling a complex story about all the characters in a unique way, while retaining the series' effective elements of writing and character development. Throughout the show—as in the rest of the series—the characters self-consciously address their own dialogue and actions. Anya describes her own duet "I'll Never Tell" as "a retro pastiche that's never gonna be a breakaway pop hit". With a characteristic dry demeanor, Giles explains that he overheard the information about Sunnydale residents spontaneously combusting as he was eavesdropping upon the police taking "witness arias".[16] In her opening number, "Going Through the Motions", Buffy sings that she feels as though she is playing a part: "nothing here is real, nothing here is right". The song introduces the character's emotional state but also removes the barrier between the actor and the audience, as Gellar the actor portrays Buffy, who feels she is merely playing the part of the Slayer. This hints to the audience that the episode's musical format is strange to the actors and characters.[7] According to Buffy essayist Richard Albright, the lack of polish among cast members' singing voices added to the authenticity of their breaking out into song for the first time in the series.[7][note 3] Whedon included self-conscious dialogue and references about the characters being in a musical and showed their reluctance toward song and dance, so that the audience would feel more comfortable with the improbability of such a thing happening on the show.[6]
Themes[edit]
It is part of the fascination of "Once More, with Feeling", that we can, if we wish, choose to select our relationship with the text and dwell on a happy ending—or we can share the struggle of the characters.
Rhonda Wilcox, 2005[17]
The dynamic nature of the characters was a unique element of writing in the series at the time. Once they were established in the twelve episodes of the first season, characters began to change and relationships were developed in the second. This continued through the series to the point of unpredictability that sometimes became unsettling to fans.[18] Buffy essayist Marguerite Krause asserts that the monsters and demons faced by the Scoobies are thin symbolism for the show's true focus: relationships and how to maintain or ruin them.[19] Common among most of these relationships—romantic, platonic, and familial—is, according to Krause, a "failure to communicate, lack of trust, [and the] inability to envision or create a viable future".[20] Miscommunication is worsened or sustained through multiple episodes and seasons, leading to overwhelming misunderstanding and critical turning points for the characters, some of whom do not recover.[21]
"Once More, with Feeling" propelled the story arc for season six by allowing characters to confess previously taboo issues to themselves and each other.[22] Whedon commented that he was "obsessive about progressing a plot in a song, about saying things we haven't said", comparing the musical theater format to the fourth season episode "Hush", in which characters begin communicating when they stop talking.[6] According to Buffy essayist Zoe-Jane Playdon, earlier episodes' "false saccharine behaviour" impedes the characters so crucially that it summons a demon to force them to be honest.[23] The consequences in the episode of concealing truth, spontaneous combustion, is an allusion to Bleak House by Charles Dickens—of whom Whedon is a fan—where characters also face immolation for being deceitful.[24] For Buffy, however, truth is slow in coming, as she continues to lie to the Scoobies, claiming to forget what she sang about in the graveyard during "Going Through the Motions". At first, the songs are innocuous: Xander and Anya say they argued, sang, and danced about Monkey Trouble; Willow and Tara shared a duet about dinner. Buffy continues her charade in the chorus number "If We're Together", beginning the song by persuading others to join in one by one, as if each is convinced that she is still invested and in charge, and their strength as a group is infallible. Although she asks in verse "Apocalypse / We've all been there / The same old trips / Why should we care?", all the Scoobies join her, including Giles despite his suspicions that Buffy is no longer interested in her life.[6][25]
Secrets reveal themselves steadily throughout the episode. Xander fears that his future marriage will turn him into an argumentative drunk like his father. He attempts to avoid his fears through the song "I'll Never Tell", singing "'coz there's nothing to tell", after summoning Sweet to Sunnydale to show him that he and Anya will be happy. Amid the various annoyances Xander and Anya express through this song, some verses are clear-sighted observations of behavior, such as Anya's accusation that Xander—once in love with Buffy—uses Buffy as a mother figure to hide behind.[26] Anya also avoids the truth by burying herself in wedding plans without thinking critically about what being married will entail; instead she considers Xander an accessory to her desired lifestyle.[27] Of all the characters, Anya is the most preoccupied with the style of singing and songs, demanding to know if Spike sang "a breakaway pop hit, or a book number", and asking Dawn if the pterodactyl she facetiously says she gave birth to also broke into song. Anya and Xander's duet is the only song in the episode to address the audience directly. During the long single-shot scene when she and Xander talk over each other insisting to Giles that evil must be at play, Anya refers to the audience, saying "It was like we were being watched ... Like there was a wall missing ... in our apartment ... Like there were only three walls and not a fourth wall." Albright asserts that Anya's constant preoccupation with her and others' performances indicates that she has serious doubts about her future supporting role as Xander's wife.[7]
Giles's truth, according to Whedon, is that he realizes he must not "fight my kid's battles or my kid will never grow up",[9] which he sings in "Standing" while he throws knives at Buffy as part of her training. Whedon remarked that this touch "is the kind of complete turnaround that is a staple of the Buffy universe".[6] Tara's heartfelt love song also has an ironic subtext; although she appears to mean that she is fulfilled by her relationship with Willow, the lyrics include multiple allusions to Willow working her manipulative will over Tara, overlaid with Tara's euphoric singing about her pleasure in their union.[7] In Sex and the Slayer, Lorna Jowett calls the song between Willow and Tara the transformational event in their relationship, from Tara's subservient bearing towards Willow, into a relationship of equals.[28] Two Buffy essayists note that Willow and Giles sing together at the start of the episode, but later Tara and Giles share a duet to express the diminished part each plays in their respective relationships.[29]
Although "Once More, with Feeling" allows all the characters to confess truthfully, with the exception of Willow, it does not resolve the behavior that demanded confession in the first place. At the end of the episode, Buffy kisses Spike, initiating a romance that she hides from her friends. Their relationship lasts until the end of the series, marked for a time by Buffy's loathing of him because he has no soul. Her relationship with Spike, however, allows her to feel lust and attraction, which she yearns for after being pulled back from a heavenly dimension.[30] In The Psychology of Joss Whedon, Mikhail Lubyansky writes that, although Buffy's first step toward re-engaging with her life is telling the Scoobies the truth in the song "Something to Sing About", she does not find meaning again until the end of the season.[31] In his essay "A Kantian Analysis of Moral Judgment in Buffy the Vampire Slayer", Scott Stroud explains that Buffy, as the central character throughout the series, is torn between her desires and her duty, in a Kantian illustration of free will vs. predeterminism, symbolized by her responsibility as a Slayer and her adolescent impulses. In earlier seasons, this takes the form of simpler pleasures such as dating and socializing, interspersed with defeating evil forces. It reaches a climax in the ultimate sacrifice when Buffy offers to die to save the world. However, "Once More, with Feeling", according to Stroud, is the turning point at which she begins to face her responsibility to the community, her friends and her family. Not only does she continue her Slaying despite a lack of inspiration, but for the rest of the season she works at a humiliating job to provide for her sister and friends.[32]
Music and style[edit]
"Once More, with Feeling" was Joss Whedon's first attempt at writing music, which he had always wanted to do. He learned how to play guitar to write several songs. Christophe Beck, a regular composer for the series, filled in the overture and coda and composed "Dawn's Ballet". Whedon is a fan of Stephen Sondheim, and used him as the inspiration for much of the music, particularly with the episode's ambiguous ending.[16] Cast member James Marsters (Spike) said, "Some of Joss's music is surprisingly complicated. Maybe it's a Beatles thing. He doesn't know enough to know what he can't do and he's smashing rules."[14]
The episode's musical style varies significantly. Buffy's opening number, "Going Through the Motions", was influenced heavily by the Disney song "Part of Your World" sung by Ariel in The Little Mermaid. Whedon wanted to use a similar opening in which the heroine explains her yearning. While singing her song, Buffy fights three vampires and a demon who themselves break into a choreographed dance; Whedon wanted this to be fun but not distracting. The song ends with chord influences from Stephen Schwartz's Pippin and a visual tribute to Disney: as Buffy stakes a vampire, it turns to dust that swirls around her face.[6][33]
Amber Benson stands, smiling, with her left forearm over her waist. Behind her is a green banner that reads "Now leaving Sunnydale. Come back soon."
Amber Benson's performance was a surprise to many critics and scholars, who have interpreted her starring role in the episode as representing the quiet strength of her character Tara.
Whedon chose the most complicated scene, with the most dancers and choreography in the classic style of musical theater, to accompany an 18-second song ("The Mustard") "to get it out of the way" for more personal numbers later in the episode.[6] Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com considers this "brilliant because it frees even people who hate musicals to settle into the story without getting hung up on the genre's conventions".[34] The musical styles span from a jaunty 1950s sitcom theme in the opening credits—the only episode in the series to begin without the theme song and full cast roll, signifying a genre shift[7]—to Anya's hard-rock version of "Bunnies". Whedon assigned Emma Caulfield the rock-opera format because Caulfield often sang in such a way to him on the set.[6] Spike's version of "Rest in Peace" is also a rock song, which Whedon wrote after completing the episode's first song, Tara's "Under Your Spell", a contemporary pop song with radio-play potential. Xander and Anya's duet—the most fun to shoot but difficult to write, according to Whedon[6]—is inspired by Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers comedies as evidenced by the silken pajama costumes and art deco apartment setting.[35] Musically, the song uses influences from Ira Gershwin, a Charleston rhythm, and jazz-like chord slides.[36] Giles' "Standing" is a ballad to Buffy that she does not hear, unlike the songs revealing truths elsewhere in the episode.[37] Whedon shot the scene so that Giles moves in real time while Buffy works out in slow motion, to accentuate Giles' distance from her. Buffy's not hearing his song was intentional; Whedon explained, "you can sing to someone in musicals and they can never know how you feel or how much you love them, even if they're standing right in front of you".[6]
"Under Your Spell" received attention from Buffy studies writers because it presents a frank and unflinching expression of lesbian romance. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the first show in U.S. television history to portray a long-term lesbian relationship among the core cast of characters.[38] Previous televised depictions of lesbian relations were primarily limited to single "coming out" or "lesbian kiss" episodes, showing lesbian-identified characters as affectionate but not erotic.[note 4] Tara and Willow demonstrate throughout the series, and specifically in "Once More, with Feeling", that they are "intensely sexual", according to Buffy essayist Justine Larbalestier. Near the end of Tara's song, she sings, "Lost in ecstasy / Spread beneath my Willow tree / You make me / Com — plete", as Tara levitates off the bed while Willow tacitly performs cunnilingus on her.[39] Lorna Jowett called the song "the most erotic scene" of the series.[40] Whedon admitted on the DVD commentary for the episode that the song is "pornography" and "probably the dirtiest lyric I've ever written, but also very, very beautiful".[6]
Buffy essayist Ian Shuttleworth writes that Amber Benson (Tara) has "the sweetest singing voice of all the lead players", referring to "Under Your Spell" as "heavenly and salacious"; author Nikki Stafford concurs, writing that Benson "has the most stunning voice, showing a surprising range".[12] Whedon acknowledged that the "lyrical, heavenly quality" of Benson's voice led him to assign her the episode's love song.[9] Alyson Hannigan (Willow) was unwilling to sing much and her performance is "apprehensive", according to Shuttleworth. He considers this an example of Tara's quieter strength coming out in front of Willow's showy demonstrations of powerful magic.[41] Buffy studies scholar Rhonda Wilcox interprets Willow's diminished role representing the show's silence about Willow's descent into addiction and darkness through the rest of the season.[42] Benson remarked that Tara's story arc is significant within the episode, starting out with ecstasy but soon recognizing the illusory circumstances surrounding her bliss and that "life can't be perfect all the time".[9]
The most complicated song, "Walk Through the Fire", leads all the characters to the climax from different locations for different reasons, reminiscent of the "Tonight Quintet" from West Side Story.[43] When they all sing the chorus at once to the line "We will walk through the fire / And let it — burn", two fire trucks race behind the Scoobies as they proceed to the Bronze. Whedon called the shot the "single greatest thing we ever did".[6] Each of the singers in this song, which "marries soft rock to the function of a dirge", connects musically to earlier songs while foreshadowing Buffy's next number and the final chorus, providing an ominous anxiety.[44]
File:Once More With Feeling clip.ogv
Whedon's use of "literal choreography" in "Where Do We Go from Here?" expresses the anxiety of the characters in relation to the group after they have all divulged their secrets.
Buffy's numbers are the most complex, changing key and tempo when she begins to reveal the secrets she swore she never would.[12] This appears specifically in "Something to Sing About", which starts with uptempo platitudes: "We'll sing a happy song / And you can sing along: / Where there's life, there's hope / Every day's a gift / Wishes can come true / Whistle while you work ..." While singing, she kills Sweet's minions with a pool cue. Whedon attempted to make the song tuneful yet chaotic to express the main point of the episode.[6] It transitions suddenly into her desire to be like normal girls, then changes again, slowing the tempo as she challenges Sweet not to give her a song, but "something to sing about".[45] Musicologist Amy Bauer categorizes the tempo shifts as "rock ballad to punk polka to hymn" that indicates Buffy's turmoil. The key and tempo slow again, as Buffy finally reveals "I live in hell / 'Cause I've been expelled from heaven / I think I was in heaven" with the chord changing from B minor to B diminished, each time she repeats "heaven".[46] When replying to her, Spike has the same shift from minor to diminished each time he repeats the word "living."
The episode nears the end with "Where Do We Go from Here?", as the Scoobies stand dazed and disoriented, facing different directions. As they sing "Understand we'll go hand in hand / But we'll walk alone in fear", they line up, hold hands, then fling each other's hands away in a piece of what Whedon calls "literal choreography".[6] Each of the eight characters in this line wears a color in the visible spectrum, a conscious decision by the costume designer. The couples in the group wear complementary colors, and Rhonda Wilcox interprets the color-coding and choreography to represent the "tension between the individual and the group".[47] The characters as a chorus sing "The curtains close on a kiss, God knows / We can tell the end is near", moments before Buffy runs out to kiss Spike and the show closes with actual curtains. As Spike and Buffy kiss, a swell of music accompanies them, similar to the ending of Gone with the Wind. Lyrics sung moments before, however, forecast the uncertainty of the relationship between Spike and Buffy.[42]
Reception[edit]
When the episode was originally broadcast in the United States on UPN on November 6, 2001, it received a Nielsen rating of 3.4 and a share of 5. This placed the episode in sixth place in its timeslot, and 88th among broadcast television for the week of November 5–11, 2001. It was the most watched program on UPN that night, and the third most watched program that week, trailing episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise and WWF SmackDown.[48] This was a decrease from the 3.7 rating received by the previous episode a week prior.[49]
"Once More, with Feeling" received positive praise from media and critics when it aired, during overseas syndication, and in reminiscences of the best episodes of Buffy after the series ended. Although Salon.com writer Stephanie Zacharek states "(t)he songs were only half-memorable at best, and the singing ability of the show's regular cast ranged only from the fairly good to the not so great", she also asserts that it works "beautifully", paces itself gracefully, and is "clever and affecting".[34] Zacharek's unenthusiastic assessments of the music and cast's singing abilities were not shared by other writers. Debi Enker in Australia's The Age writes, "Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) and Tara (Amber Benson) are terrific, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) struggle valiantly, and Willow (Alyson Hannigan) barely sings a note".[50] Tony Johnston in The Sunday Herald Sun writes that Gellar "struggles on some of her higher notes, but her dance routines are superb, Michelle Trachtenberg's Dawn reveals sensual dance moves way beyond her tender years, and James Marsters' Spike evokes a sort of Billy Idol yell to disguise his lack of vocal proficiency [...] The rest of the cast mix and match like ready-made Broadway troupers." Johnston counts "I'll Never Tell" as one of the episode's "standout moments".[13] Connie Ogle in The Miami Herald calls the songs "better and far more clever than most of the ones you'll hear on Broadway these days".[51]
Writers agree that the episode was risky and could have failed spectacularly. Jonathan Bernstein in the British newspaper The Observer writes "What could have been, at best, an eccentric diversion and, at worst, a shuddering embarrassment, succeeded on every level [...] It provided a startling demonstration that creator Joss Whedon has a facility with lyrics and melody equal to the one he's demonstrated for the past six seasons with dialogue, character and plot twists. Rather than adopt the 'Hey, wouldn't it be wacky if we suddenly burst into song?' approach practised by Ally McBeal, the Buffy musical was entirely organic to the series' labyrinthine progression." [52] Johnston in the Sunday Herald Sun says, "There is just so much to this marvellously cheeky episode that suggests the show can take any route it pleases and pull it off",[13] while Debi Enker in The Age comments, "Whedon demonstrates yet again what Buffy aficionados have known and appreciated for years: that his wit, playfulness and readiness to take a risk make his television efforts rise way above the pack."[50] Steve Murray in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution characterizes the episode as "scary in a brand-new way", saying "Once More, with Feeling" is "as impressive as Whedon's milestone episodes 'Hush' and 'The Body'"; the episode is "often hilarious", according to Murray, and acts as "(b)oth spoof and homage, [parodying] the hokiness of musicals while also capturing the guilty pleasure and surges of feeling the genre inspires".[53]
Writing in the Toronto Star, Vinay Menon calls "Once More, with Feeling" "dazzling" and writes of "Joss Whedon's inimitable genius"; he goes on to say "(f)or a show that already violates conventions and morphs between genres, its allegorical narrative zigging and zagging seamlessly across chatty comedy, drama and over-the-top horror, 'Once More, with Feeling' is a towering achievement [...] The show may be anchored by existential weightiness, it may be painted with broad, supernatural brushstrokes, but in the end, this coming-of-age story, filled with angst and alienation, is more real than any other so-called teen drama [...] So let's add another line of gushing praise: 'Once More, with Feeling' is rhapsodic, original, deeply affecting, and ultimately, transcendental. Quite simply, television at its best."[54]
The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Direction, but the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) neglected to include the title on the ballots for Emmy nominations in 2002. NATAS attempted to remedy this by mailing a postcard informing its voters that it should be included, but the episode did not win. NATAS' oversight, according to the Washington Post, was "another example of the lack of industry respect afforded one of television's most consistently clever shows".[55] Ogle in The Miami Herald vigorously protests this omission, writing, "[T]he most astonishing, entertaining hour (hour plus, actually) of TV in the past year slips by virtually unnoticed. Nothing here is real; nothing here is right. Buffy the Vampire Slayer's musical episode, 'Once More, with Feeling', registers a paltry outstanding music direction nomination. Nice for the musical directors. A stake through the aspirations of writer/director Joss Whedon, the beating creative heart of Buffy, the only TV writer brave and clever enough to use horror as one great big wonderful metaphor for growing up [...] 'Once More, with Feeling' is TV of a different sort, something that comes along once in a lifetime and should not be buried but celebrated and rewarded."[51] The episode was also nominated for a Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo Award and a Best Script Nebula Award, both given for excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing.[56][57] In 2009 TV Guide ranked the episode #14 on its list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time".[58]
Soundtrack[edit]
An album including all 14 songs in the episode, with Christophe Beck's scores for three other Buffy episodes, was released by Rounder Records in September 2002 as season seven premiered. John Virant, president and chief executive of Rounder Records, told the Los Angeles Times, "I remember watching the episode when it aired last October, and after it was over, I said to my wife, 'That's the best hour of TV I've ever seen. Someone should put that [soundtrack] out.' I inquired at Fox, just following up, and they said, 'Well, we tried, it didn't happen. If you want to take a run at it, feel free.'"[59] Allmusic gives the album five out of five stars, stating that the music is "every bit as fun as the episode itself", praising the voices of Benson, Marsters and Head. Reviewer Melinda Hill states it is "a must-have for Buffy fans, but it wouldn't be out of place in anyone's collection".[60]
Chart (2002)
Peak
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[61] 97
DVD releases[edit]
In addition to featuring on the sixth season box set, "Once More, with Feeling" was individually released on DVD in Region 2 format on April 14, 2003,[62] the only episode to be individually released.[63] In Region 1, the episode was released on the sixth season box set on May 25, 2004, over a year later than the Region 2 release.[64]
Influence on television[edit]
Since the musical episode of Buffy aired, several other series have worked musical format into episodes, including Scrubs ("My Musical") in 2007[65] and an episode of Grey's Anatomy entitled "Song Beneath the Song" in 2011.[66] The musical television episode was declared a genre, a gimmick, according to Mary Williams at Salon.com, for series that had run out of interesting story lines and characters. Both Williams and Margaret Lyons at New York magazine, however, declared "Once More, with Feeling" the "gold standard" for musical episodes.[67][68] Despite this, Joss Whedon recognized the influence "Once More, with Feeling" has had on other shows, but denied that it was primarily responsible for the rise in musical television episodes or series such as Glee, citing the popularity of High School Musical instead.[69]
Public showings[edit]
Buffy the Vampire Slayer developed an enthusiastic fan following while it aired. Following its series finale, fans continued their appreciation in theater showings of "Once More, with Feeling" where attendees are encouraged to dress like the show's characters, sing along to the musical numbers, and otherwise interact in the style of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.[70] Clinton McClung, a New York-based film programmer, got the idea for a sing-along from audience-participation showings of The Sound of Music in 2003. The next year, he began putting on sing-alongs to "Once More, with Feeling" in Boston's Coolidge Corner Theater, which became so popular that it went on the road. Audience members received props to use during key scenes, as well as directions (for example, to yell "Shut up, Dawn!" at Buffy's younger sister), and a live cast performed the episode alongside the screen.[71]
Buffy sing-alongs received growing media attention as they spread. At the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival, a special screening and sing-along was held that featured both Marti Noxon and Joss Whedon giving brief speeches to the audience.[72] In October 2007, after a dispute with the Screen Actors Guild over unpaid residuals, 20th Century Fox pulled the licensing for public screenings of "Once More, with Feeling", effectively ending official Buffy sing-alongs. Whedon called the cancellation "hugely depressing" and attempted to influence the studio to allow future showings.[73]
See also[edit]
Portal icon 2000s portal
Adam Shankman, choreographer for the episode
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
"Dream On", Glee episode directed by Joss Whedon
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Anthony Stewart Head and James Marsters were exceptions. Head had musical theater experience in Godspell, The Rocky Horror Show, and Chess. Marsters had experience singing in a band.[11]
2.Jump up ^ This episode is the longest only as it was originally broadcast and on DVD. When re-runs were aired, several verses of songs were cut.[12]
3.Jump up ^ The one exception was Anthony Stewart Head, who sang in "Restless", "Where the Wild Things Are", and "The Yoko Factor".
4.Jump up ^ Other series portrayed lesbian relationships among secondary characters (Friends), one-time encounters, or relationships that lasted through several episodes (Ellen), but did not show the characters touching (HeartBeat). Willow and Tara's relationship is noted for its longevity, the youth of the characters, the fact that both Willow and Tara are considered primary characters, and that the relationship was broadcast on network television during prime time. (Newcomb, p. 359, Tropiano, p. 44, Castañeda and Campbell, p. 269, Walters, p. 116, Sweeney, p. 33.)
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Attinello, p. 194.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d Kaveney, pp. 13–42.
3.Jump up ^ Stafford, p. 24.
4.Jump up ^ Stafford, pp. 284–285.
5.Jump up ^ Dial-Driver, et al, pp. 38–50.
6.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Whedon, Joss (2008). Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Sixth Season; DVD commentary for the episode "Once More, with Feeling". [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Albright, Richard (2005). "Breakaway pop hit or ... book number?": "Once More, with Feeling" and Genre, The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies. Retrieved on June 5, 2010.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c Stafford, p. 286.
9.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Fury, David (2008). Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Sixth Season; David Fury's Behind the Scenes of "Once More, with Feeling". [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
10.Jump up ^ Norton, Al (March 10, 2013). "411Mania Interviews: James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel)". 411mania. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
11.Jump up ^ (Stafford, pp. 64–65, 95).
12.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Stafford, p. 288.
13.^ Jump up to: a b c Johnston, Tony (April 14, 2002). "Something to Sing About", The Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia), p. X06.
14.^ Jump up to: a b McCabe, Kathy (April 14, 2002). "Buffy Hits a High Note", Sunday Mail (Queensland, Australia), p. 6.
15.Jump up ^ Keveney, Bill (November 6, 2001). "Joss Whedon Gets the Cast Vamping", USA Today, p. 12D.
16.^ Jump up to: a b Kaveney, pp. 271–272.
17.Jump up ^ Wilcox, p. 204.
18.Jump up ^ Stafford, pp. 9–16.
19.Jump up ^ Yeffeth, p. 97.
20.Jump up ^ Yeffeth, p. 103.
21.Jump up ^ Yeffeth, p. 104.
22.Jump up ^ Attinello, et al., p. 209.
23.Jump up ^ Kaveney, p. 185.
24.Jump up ^ Wilcox, p. 192.
25.Jump up ^ Wilcox, pp. 198–199.
26.Jump up ^ South, p. 248.
27.Jump up ^ Kaveney, pp. 38–39.
28.Jump up ^ Jowett, p. 52.
29.Jump up ^ Attinello, et al., pp. 198–201.
30.Jump up ^ South, pp. 177–178.
31.Jump up ^ Davidson, pp. 181–182.
32.Jump up ^ South, pp. 190–191.
33.Jump up ^ Wilcox, p. 198.
34.^ Jump up to: a b Zacharek, Stephanie (November 7, 2001). "The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of ... Vampire Slaying!", Salon.com. Retrieved on June 7, 2010.
35.Jump up ^ Wilcox, p. 201.
36.Jump up ^ Attinello, et al., pp. 210–213.
37.Jump up ^ Stafford, p. 289.
38.Jump up ^ Mitchell and Reid-Walsh, p. 392
39.Jump up ^ Kaveney, p. 207.
40.Jump up ^ Jowett, p. 51.
41.Jump up ^ Kaveney, p. 253.
42.^ Jump up to: a b Wilcox, p. 202.
43.Jump up ^ Wilcox, p. 199.
44.Jump up ^ Attinello, et al., pp. 230–231.
45.Jump up ^ Attinello, et al., p. 226.
46.Jump up ^ Attinello, et al., pp. 226–227.
47.Jump up ^ Wilcox, p. 200.
48.Jump up ^ Ray, Kenneth (November 19, 2001). "BroadcastWatch. (Programming).(television network ratings, November 5–11, 2001)(Statistical Data Included)". Broadcasting & Cable (Reed Business Information, Inc.).
49.Jump up ^ Ray, Kenneth (November 12, 2001). "BroadcastWatch. (Programming).(television network ratings, October 29 – November 4, 2001)(Statistical Data Included)". Broadcasting & Cable (Reed Business Information, Inc.).
50.^ Jump up to: a b Enker, Debi (April 11, 2002). "Buffy serves up musical feast with plenty of bite", The Age (Melbourne, Australia), p. 19.
51.^ Jump up to: a b Ogle, Connie (July 23, 2002). "Something's Fangtastically Wrong in Emmyland", The Miami Herald, p. 1E.
52.Jump up ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (November 17, 2001). "The Guide: Aerial view of America", The Observer, p. 98.
53.Jump up ^ Murray, Steve (November 6, 2001). "' Buffy ' and friends fight fiend with a song in their heart", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, p. C3.
54.Jump up ^ Menon, Vinay (November 13, 2002). "Brilliant Buffy still slays us", The Toronto Star, p. D01.
55.Jump up ^ Harrington, Richard (July 2, 2002). "Unsung 'Buffy': Props for A Magical Musical Moment", The Washington Post. p. C07.
56.Jump up ^ 2002 Hugo Awards, Hugo Awards. Retrieved on June 7, 2010.
57.Jump up ^ 2003 Nebula Awards, The Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards. Retrieved on August 2, 2010.
58.Jump up ^ "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time" TV Guide; June 15, 2009; Pages 34–49
59.Jump up ^ Randy Lewis (September 23, 2002). "In The Know; Musical 'Buffy' Finally Lands in Stores", Los Angeles Times. p. F6.
60.Jump up ^ Hill, Melinda Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More with Feeling [Musical Episode Soundtrack], Allmusic.com. Retrieved on June 29, 2010.
61.Jump up ^ "The ARIA Report: Issue No. 664" (PDF). AriaNET. November 18, 2002. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
62.Jump up ^ "BBC – Cult – Buffy Stuff – DVD and VHS". BBC. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
63.Jump up ^ Pateman, p. 181.
64.Jump up ^ Pierce, Scott (May 25, 2004). "Will Buffy-verse expand?". The Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT).
65.Jump up ^ Cohn, Angel (January 18, 2007). "Why You Must 'Tune' In to Tonight's Scrubs Musical!". TV Guide. Retrieved July 6, 2007.
66.Jump up ^ Gallo, Phil (March 11, 2011). "'Grey's Anatomy' Musical Episode to Feature Cast Singing Fray, Snow Patrol". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
67.Jump up ^ Lyons, Margaret (2011). Grey’s Anatomy’s Doctor/Horrible Sing-along, New York. Retrieved on April 18, 2011.
68.Jump up ^ Williams, Mary (March 29, 2011). Musical TV episodes: The gimmick that won't die, Salon.com. Retrieved on April 18, 2011.
69.Jump up ^ Itzkoff, David (April 18, 2011). Once More, With Feeling: Joss Whedon Revisits ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’. The New York Times. Retrieved on April 18, 2011.
70.Jump up ^ Fangs for the memories at the Wayback Machine (archived June 5, 2008), Associated Press (January 19, 2007). Retrieved on June 8, 2010.
71.Jump up ^ Schwartzapfel, Beth (February 25, 2007). Sing Out, Buffy!, The New York Times. Retrieved on June 8, 2010.
72.Jump up ^ "Buffy-oke" does it once more, with feeling, Variety (June 28, 2007). Retrieved on June 8, 2010.
73.Jump up ^ De Leon, Kris (October 16, 2007) FOX Pulls the Plug on 'Buffy' Sing-Along, Buddy TV. Retrieved on June 8, 2010.
Bibliography[edit]
Attinello, Paul; Halfyard, Janet; Knights, Vanessa (eds.) (2010). Music, Sound, and Silence in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7546-6042-2
Castañeda, Laura; Campbell, Shannon (2006). News and Sexuality: Media portraits of diversity, SAGE. ISBN 1-4129-0999-6
Davidson, Joy (ed.) (2007). The Psychology of Joss Whedon: An Unauthorized Exploration of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, Benbella Books. ISBN 978-1-933771-25-0
Dial-Driver, Emily; Emmons-Featherston, Sally; Ford, Jim; Taylor, Carolyn Anne (eds.) (2008), The Truth of Buffy: Essays on Fiction Illuminating Reality, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-3799-3
Jowett, Lorna (2005). Sex and the Slayer: A Gender Studies Primer for the Buffy Fan, Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 978-0-8195-6758-1
Kaveney, Roz (ed.) (2004). Reading the Vampire Slayer: The New, Updated, Unofficial Guide to Buffy and Angel, Tauris Parke Paperbacks. ISBN 1-4175-2192-9
Mitchell, Claudia; Reid-Walsh, Jacqueline (2008). Girl Culture: Studying Girl Culture: A Readers' Guide, Volume 1, Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-33909-0.
Newcomb, Horace (2004). Encyclopedia of Television, Museum of Broadcast Communications, ISBN 1-57958-394-6.
Pateman, Matthew (2006). The Aesthetics of Culture in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, McFarland and Company. ISBN 0-7864-2249-1
South, James (ed.) (2003). Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale, Open Court Books. ISBN 0-8126-9531-3
Stafford, Nikki (2007). Bite Me! The Unofficial Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55022-807-6
Sweeney, Kathleen (2008). Maiden USA: Girl Icons come of Age, Volume 3, Peter Lang. ISBN 0-8204-8197-1
Tropiano, Stephen (2002). Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV, Applause Theater and Cinema Books. ISBN 1-55783-557-8
Walters, Suzanna Danuta (2003). All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America, University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-87232-7
Wilcox, Rhonda (2005). Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1-84511-029-3
Yeffeth, Glenn (ed.) (2003). Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Discuss Their Favorite Television Show, Benbella Books. ISBN 1-932100-08-3
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Once More, With Feeling
"Once More, with Feeling" at the Internet Movie Database
"Once More, with Feeling" at TV.com
"Once More, with Feeling" at BBC.co.uk
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Tabula Rasa (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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Jump to: navigation, search
"Tabula Rasa"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Tabouliandriza.jpg
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 8
Directed by
David Grossman
Written by
Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Featured music
"Goodbye to You" by Michelle Branch
Production code
6ABB08
Original air date
November 13, 2001
Guest actors
Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
Raymond O'Connor as Teeth, the Loan Shark
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Geordie White as Vamp #1
Stephen Triplett as Vamp #2
David Franco as Vamp #3
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Once More, with Feeling" Next →
"Smashed"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Tabula Rasa" is the eighth episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It explores the characters not as they are, but as they could be, after they lose their memory to a spell gone awry.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Writing
3 Production details 3.1 Music
4 Continuity 4.1 Arc significance
5 Notes and references
6 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
Spike confronts Buffy about their kiss at the end of the previous episode and she tells him it will never happen again, then defends him from an attack by a demon loan shark. Willow, Xander, Anya and Tara talk about their discovery that they called Buffy back from Heaven, not Hell. Willow suggests fixing the mess with a spell and Tara confronts her about her excessive use of magic.[1] At the threat of losing Tara, a desperate Willow pledges to go a week without magic.[2]
At the Magic Box, Giles tells Buffy he is leaving for England so she can learn to stand on her own and Buffy takes the news very badly. With the gang on the way to the Magic Box for a meeting with Giles, Willow hangs back and begins another spell in the fireplace using a crystal and some Lethe's Bramble (the forgetting herb) that will make Tara and Buffy forget their troubles. Pocketing the crystal, in her rush, she accidentally leaves a full bag of the herb on the hearth.
At the shop, Giles informs the Scoobies, including a disguised Spike on the run from the loan shark, that he is leaving, and Buffy tearfully reveals that she feels deserted by everyone. Back at the Summers' house, a spark from the fireplace sets the entire bag of Lethe's Bramble on fire, causing the whole gang to fall unconscious. They wake up that evening with no knowledge of who they are. Spike suspects Giles is his father (because they're both British and Giles feels a gut-wrenching disappointment towards him), Anya assumes she is getting married to Giles (because she is wearing an engagement ring and they jointly own the magic shop) and Willow and Xander think they are a couple (because they woke up next to each other and Willow is wearing his jacket). Giles, Anya, Xander, Willow and Tara figure out their names from their IDs and Dawn's from her necklace. Spike assumes his name is "Randy" because of the label inside his coat, and Buffy, with no evidence to her identity, names herself "Joan".
A pair of the loan shark's vampires attack the shop, looking for Spike, and frighten the gang. Buffy discovers she has super strength when she stakes one of the vampires and saves Spike. Anya and Giles remain at the magic shop to work on spells, while Buffy and Spike head outside to fight more vampires and the rest of the Scoobies retreat to the sewers in an attempt to get to a hospital. Unfortunately, they are menaced by a vampire, too.
When attacked, Spike unknowingly assumes his vampire visage, which sends Buffy running away in fear. When he catches up with her, Buffy attacks him and informs him that he is a vampire. He is confused, but assumes he is a good vampire because he doesn't want to bite her. The loan shark and his minions attack the two and a fight ensues.
Back in the shop, Anya tries spells from a book and conjures numerous bunnies, frightening her and exasperating Giles. Giles and Anya fight while hiding behind the counter and Giles reveals that he found a one-way plane ticket in his pocket for London, assuming he must be abandoning Anya. Anya begs him not to leave her and they kiss passionately. In the sewer, Xander fights with the vampire chasing them and finally stakes it, but then accidentally steps on Willow's crystal, which fell from her pocket during the commotion. The crystal shatters and the spell is broken, finding Giles and Anya kissing, Willow atop Tara after a fall, and Spike and Buffy deep in mid-action conversation. Tara and the others in the sewer realize that Willow used magic despite her promise.
With the spell broken and her memories rushing back, Buffy is momentarily too stunned to duck a few painful hits. Spike finishes off the rest of the vampires and promises to make up his debt to the intimidated loan shark.
Back at the house, Tara packs her belongings and leaves as Willow cries in another room. Giles takes his plane back to England. Spike finds Buffy at The Bronze, but she turns her face away and he stalks off. Later, however, they are shown kissing passionately beneath the stairs.
Writing[edit]
While the Scoobies generally have no memory upon waking up, they do retain certain aspects of their personalities.
Buffy, who does not find any identification card and so calls herself Joan, retains her semi-maternal protectiveness towards Dawn, who finds out her name by looking at her "Dawn"-necklace, even before guessing they may be related.
Xander is immediately the first to panic and is blatantly attracted to Willow (which she partially rebuffs), and he later guesses that because her jacket has his last name on it, they're in a relationship. The other two romantic couples (Buffy and Spike, Willow and Tara) are drawn to each other despite their memory loss. After Xander's initial panic, Anya also appears to check him out.
Willow and Tara gradually realize their attraction to each other.
Spike doesn't realize he's a vampire immediately, and when he does he rationalises that he must be a vampire with a soul; whether this is a hint at his eventual destiny or an ironic spin on his disgust at Angel is unclear. He does, however, maintain an antagonistic relationship with Giles (based on the assumption they are father and son), and much of his colourful vocabulary. He also, not knowing the tweed suit he's wearing isn't his own, assumes his name is Randy Giles, which he balks at ("randy" being British slang for someone who is sexually aroused).
Anya maintains her phobia of bunnies and love of money, but presumes her engagement ring was given to her by Giles (with whom she co-owns the Magic Box), who in turn later assumes that his one-way plane ticket to England was to get away from her. Also worthy of note is that after she finds this out, she feels "compelled to take some vengeance" which alludes to her days as a vengeance demon and foreshadowing her return later in the season.
Production details[edit]
Music[edit]
Michelle Branch - "Goodbye to You" - The dialogue-less scene at the end is accompanied by a performance in The Bronze by well known singer Branch, one of the most famous musical guests on the series, singing her song "Goodbye to You". The version used on the show was slightly different from the radio version.
Continuity[edit]
Spike's entire rationalization speech for why he's a vampire helping the good guys is an almost direct description of Angel's life and motives.
In 2007's Angel: After the Fall #3, Brian Lynch reintroduces Loan Shark as the "Lord of Santa Monica."[3] Lynch also jokingly comments that should Joss have major plans for him in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, then you are to imagine it is his brother.
Spike's clothing and relationship to Giles in this episode was first hinted at in the season four finale, "Restless".
Arc significance[edit]
Even with their memories gone, certain things crop up; Buffy, even before she realizes she's Dawn's sister, has the instinct to protect her.
As in "Doppelgangland", Willow suspects that's she's gay, even using the same line, "... and I think I'm kinda gay."[4]
Tara and Willow are attracted to each other.
Xander is immediately attracted to Willow.
Xander and Anya fail to sense any mutual connection, foreshadowing their doomed engagement.
Anya is still afraid of bunnies.
Anya alludes to being a vengeance demon when she says she should enact vengeance on Giles for leaving her, foreshadowing her return to being a vengeance demon later in the series.
Although Buffy retains many of her Slayer instincts, she and Spike feel no instinctive animosity towards each other, foreshadowing the significant change in direction of the relationship between the two in that season.
Upon realizing that he is a vampire and not, like Buffy, a "superhero", Spike remarks that he must be "a good guy, on a mission of redemption.... A vampire with a soul"...."to help the helpless". This is a reference to Angel, of which "helping the helpless" is a catchphrase.[5] Whether or not he ever seeks redemption is handled in Season 5 of Angel, but Spike does in fact regain his soul at the end of this season of Buffy.
Spike (as Randy) suggests that Giles must own some midlife crisis form of transportation, a 'shiny red' vehicle shaped like a part of male anatomy, referring to the red BMW convertible Giles drove in season 5.
Giles leaves Sunnydale until the final showdown with Willow at the end of the season.
Tara finally leaves Willow, who continues her downward spiral into magic addiction.
Notes and references[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Marinaro, Mikelangelo (July 2, 2007). "6x08: Tabula Rasa". Critically Touched Reviews. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
2.Jump up ^ Murray, Noel (December 10, 2010). ""Tabula Rasa"/"Quickening"". The AV Club. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
3.Jump up ^ Brian Lynch (2008-01-24). "Your Qs Totally A'd, part one!". http://www.angrynakedpat.com/ (Podcast). Retrieved 24 January 2008.
4.Jump up ^ Kirshner, Rebecca Rand (November 13, 2001). "Buffy Episode #108: "Tabula Rasa" Transcript". BuffyWorld. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
5.Jump up ^ South, James B. (2003). Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Open Court Publishing Company. p. 242. ISBN 0-8126-9531-3.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Tabula Rasa
"Tabula Rasa" at the Internet Movie Database
"Tabula Rasa" at TV.com
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Smashed (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2012)
"Smashed"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x09.jpg
After two previous kisses, Buffy finally embraces Spike before having sex with him for the first time
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 9
Directed by
Turi Meyer
Written by
Drew Z. Greenberg
Production code
6ABB09
Original air date
November 20, 2001
Guest actors
Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
Adam Busch as Warren Mears
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Elizabeth Anne Allen as Amy Madison
Patrice Walters as Woman
John Patrick Clerkin as Man
Jack Jozefson as Rusty
Rick Garcia as Reporter
Kelly Smith as Innocent Girl
Jordan Belfi as Ryan
Adam Weiner as Simon
Melanie Sirmons as Brie
Lauren Nissi as Girlfriend
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Tabula Rasa" Next →
"Wrecked"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Smashed" is the 9th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Production details
3 Writing 3.1 Euphemisms
4 Cultural references
5 Continuity 5.1 Arc significance
6 Reception
7 References
8 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
Willow, sad and lonely without Tara, figures out a way to turn the metamorphosed Amy from a rat back into human. Feeling newly liberated, they decide to go out and have some fun. At The Bronze, a couple of guys try to intimidate them. They perform a spell on the boys to make fun of them, but soon they begin to perform more and more complex spells, filling the Bronze with strangely dressed people, sheep, mutations and so on. Willow is beginning to have a taste of her real power and she likes it.
Warren, Jonathan and Andrew steal a large diamond from a museum, in a comical scene resembling a famous sequence from the Mission: Impossible films, leaving its sole guard frozen by their freeze-ray.
Spike discovers that the chip in his head gives him no pain when he punches Buffy. After verifying, with Warren's help, that the chip appears undamaged and still causes him agony when he harms humans, Spike tells Buffy that she "came back wrong" and that she "has a little demon" in her. In furious disbelief, Buffy assaults Spike and they battle until Buffy unleashes her desire and kisses him, initiating such passionate sex that the abandoned house in which they were fighting collapses around them.
Production details[edit]
Steve Tartalia, James Marsters' stunt double, says he knocked himself out during the last scene, in which Buffy and Spike fall through the ceiling. "On that fall," he says, "our legs got tangled in the breakaway ceiling, and it caused us to tilt at an angle so that my head would be the first thing to hit the ground. And it did, and it knocked me out. Basically, I came to with some flashlights and smelling salts."[1] Stunt coordinator John Medlen also hurt himself during this episode, while demonstrating how Spike should swing from the chandelier. The chandelier broke, he fell 7 feet, and the chandelier landed on his face, breaking his nose.[1]
A longer, more intense lovemaking scene was originally filmed for the finale of the episode, but was cut out.[2]
Writing[edit]
In his DVD commentary, writer Drew Z. Greenberg says that in his original conception of Willow's confrontation with the homophobic men at The Bronze, he intended for Willow to cast a spell on the men so that they couldn't stop kissing each other. Joss Whedon vetoed the idea because he did not want to portray people's sexual orientation as changing in an instant and he did not want to portray same-sex kissing as a punishment.
Euphemisms[edit]
Three consecutive episode titles in the sixth season are euphemisms for drunkenness or being under the influence of narcotics in American English: "Smashed", "Wrecked", and "Gone". Willow's descent into her addiction to magic becomes dizzying and frightening.
Cultural references[edit]
Star Wars: Spike forces the Trio to help him by threatening to break their Boba Fett action figure.
Star Trek: Spike tells Warren that he can "play Holodeck another time." He also says to Warren, "Help me out here, Spock, I don't speak loser."
Murder, She Wrote: When Spike tries to attack the muggers, Buffy says, "Yeah, way to go with the keen observiness, Jessica Fletcher."
James Bond in film: It is claimed that a James Bond musical cue enters the soundtrack as police officers wheel Frozen Rusty out of the museum on a dolly.[3]
Doctor Who and Red Dwarf: When commenting on Spike's English nationality, Andrew remarks that he has seen every episode of Doctor Who, but none of the episodes of Red Dwarf, because the latter has not been released on DVD yet. These references elicit little response from the confused Spike.
Amy mentions the 2001 divorce of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, asking Buffy, "... and did you hear about Tom and Nicole?"
A rude young man at the Bronze calls Willow "Ellen," referring to Ellen DeGeneres.
Continuity[edit]
Willow's comment to Amy about sewing her name in her clothes before doing any forgetting spells references the previous episode, where ID and clothing labels told most of the gang who they were.
Arc significance[edit]
This episode marks the beginning of Spike and Buffy's sexual relationship, which would very likely never have happened if she did not truly believe Spike when he says she "came back wrong" (if she's somehow wrong, then she can allow herself to do wrong things).[3]
Amy is returned to being human after being a rat since the middle of the third season. Amy provides Buffy with a recap of events that she has learned occurred while she was a rat, marveling, "Snyder got eaten by a snake, high school got destroyed... Willow's dating girls..."
Spike learns that he can hit Buffy without his chip activating.
Foreshadowing: When Amy is watching television downstairs, a commercial talking about a doublemeat medley can be heard. Buffy winds up working at "Doublemeat Palace" three episodes later.
After Willow and Tara's breakup, Tara's conversation with Dawn echoes many typical conversations between a divorced parent and their child. Willow and Tara's quasi-parental relationship with Dawn will later be mentioned in Buffy Season Eight when Dawn says that "Willow is like a mom (to her)."
Reception[edit]
In an unscientific poll, readers of the Television Without Pity's recap gave the episode a B-.[4]
Kevin Fallon cited the sex scene as one of "TV's 13 Dirtiest Sex Scenes" in a column for The Daily Beast.[5]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b G, Maria (18 July 2007), The Job - This Month's Victim: Steve Tartalia (James Marsters' Stunt Double), retrieved 2007-10-20
2.Jump up ^ Original Smashed Ending, Season 6, Youtube.com (video)
3.^ Jump up to: a b Marinaro, Mikelangelo (July 12, 2007). "Smashed [6x09]". Critically Touched Reviews. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
4.Jump up ^ Sep (2001). "Smashed". Television Without Pity. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
5.Jump up ^ Fallon, Kevin (Oct 11, 2012). "'The Good Wife' Ice Cream Shocker & TV's 13 Dirtiest Sex Scenes (VIDEO)". The Daily Beast. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Smashed
"Smashed" at the Internet Movie Database
"Smashed" at TV.com
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2001 television episodes
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Wrecked (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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Jump to: navigation, search
"Wrecked"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x10.jpg
Willow begins her addiction to dark magic
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 10
Directed by
David Solomon
Written by
Marti Noxon
Production code
6ABB10
Original air date
November 27, 2001
Guest actors
Elizabeth Anne Allen as Amy Madison
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Jeff Kober as Rack
Fleming Brooks as Mandraz
Mageina Tovah as Jonesing Girl
Michael Giordani as Jonesing Guy
Colin Malone as Creepy Guy
Francesca Ryan as Magic Box shopper
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Smashed" Next →
"Gone"
"Wrecked" is the 10th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Episode titles
3 Dedication
4 Continuity 4.1 Arc significance
5 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
Tara and Dawn wake on the couch and find that neither Buffy nor Willow returned home the night before. Buffy wakes up naked with Spike to find that the building around them fell down as she remembers what they did. Spike tempts Buffy as she tries to leave and reminds her of everything they did the night before. He angers and disgusts her, but while she searches for her clothes Spike asks her to stay. Buffy appears on the verge of agreeing before Spike makes a comment about their night together, and she leaves, threatening to kill him if he tells anyone about what happened between them.
Amy returns home with Willow and rambles about Willow's amazing magic – in front of Tara and Dawn. Tara leaves as Buffy returns, and after a chat, Amy leaves and Buffy and Willow go to bed after their long nights. Willow tries to shut the drapes of her room with magic, but she is too exhausted to manage it. Anya reads bridal magazines instead of researching the freezing demon. Xander gets frustrated, finding bridal magazines in every research book he checks. At the magic shop, Xander, Anya and Buffy discuss Willow's behavior and Buffy comes to Willow's defense.
Amy suggests that she and Willow visit a warlock, Rack, who can give them great spells that last without any recovery time. The house is cloaked and filled with the magically addicted, seeking a fix. Rack takes a "tour" of Willow's body before giving her what she came for. Amy spins about the room wildly as Willow hangs out on the ceiling, seeing spots and weird images. The next morning, Willow wakes in her own room and cries in the shower. She manipulates some of Tara's clothes to form an invisible body and curls up against it.
Dawn plans to see a movie with Willow. Buffy returns home to find Amy stealing some of Willow's magical supplies. Buffy scolds her as Amy behaves obsessively about the supplies and tells Buffy about Willow's whereabouts. Willow and Dawn talk about food and Tara, then take a detour to Rack's place so Willow can get a fix. Dawn waits impatiently in the waiting room with a freaky man. Meanwhile, Willow floats in Rack's room and sees herself flying in space before a demon holding a limp body makes her scream.
Buffy wakes a very naked Spike and demands his help in finding Willow and Dawn. Dawn is mad that Willow left her for so long, and Willow's carefree attitude makes Dawn nervous and eager to return home. Buffy refuses to admit she likes Spike and he again reminds her how much she really wants and needs him. A demon confronts Willow, claiming that she summoned him with her magic. The demon cuts Dawn and the girls run. Willow uses magic to take over and drive a car, but it crashes and both are wounded.
Dawn has a broken arm. Willow is knocked out against the steering wheel. The demon catches up with their wrecked car and Dawn tries desperately to fight it off. Spike and Buffy, who heard Dawn scream, come to the rescue. Buffy fights the demon while Spike takes care of Buffy's wounded younger sister. Suddenly the demon explodes into flames as a result of a killing spell cast by Willow.
Despite Willow's sincere apology and tearful regret, Buffy tells her to stay back and Dawn slaps her away in anger. Spike takes Dawn to the hospital and Buffy screams at a sobbing Willow who's frightened and begging for help. At the house, Buffy talks with Willow about her abuse of magic and the consequences. Willow says she's giving up magic for good and Buffy agrees with that. She also senses the connection between Willow's magic use and her own situation with Spike. Later, Willow fights the symptoms of withdrawal in her bed while Buffy hugs a cross and surrounds her bedroom with garlic.
Episode titles[edit]
Three consecutive episode titles in the sixth season are slang for drunkenness or being under the influence of narcotics in American English: "Smashed", "Wrecked", and "Gone". Willow's descent into her addiction to magic becomes dizzying and frightening.
Dedication[edit]
As noted in the credits, this episode was dedicated to the memory of J.D. Peralta, assistant to executive producer and showrunner Marti Noxon who died of cancer in November 2001 (the month in which this episode aired) [1].
Continuity[edit]
Dawn references a previous episode in which Faith and Buffy comment about being hungry after slaying.
When Dawn and Willow first meet the demon Willow summoned in the alley, Dawn kicks him to the ground and they run away. In the following shot he is standing up to the left of frame, then in the next shot he is still on the ground, scrambling back up.
When Buffy mentions Rack to Spike, Spike immediately recognizes the name and is visibly alarmed by the knowledge that Willow and Dawn are in his company, demonstrating that, as part of his interaction with Sunnydale's supernatural "underworld," he has heard of and perhaps even encountered Rack before. Spike demonstrated similar familiarity with the demon Doc in "The Weight of the World."
Although this is Rack's first appearance, Amy's acquaintance with him indicates that he has resided in Sunnydale since at least mid-Season Three, before Amy became trapped in rat form in "Gingerbread."
Arc significance[edit]
The rest of the Scoobies become aware of the seriousness of Willow's addiction and begin to take steps to combat it.
In this episode, the cracks in the friendship between Buffy and Willow begin to show, causing Buffy to turn even more to Spike for comfort.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Wrecked
"Wrecked" at the Internet Movie Database
"Wrecked" at TV.com
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Gone (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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"Gone"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Gone (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).jpg
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 11
Directed by
David Fury
Written by
David Fury
Production code
6ABB11
Original air date
January 8, 2002
Guest actors
Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
Adam Busch as Warren Mears
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Daniel Hagen as Frank
Susan Ruttan as Doris Kroeger
Jessa French as Cleo
Kelly Parver as Girl in Park
Jeffrey Jacquin as Meter Man
Dwight Bacquie as Security Guard
Lyndon Smith as Little Boy
Melinda Webberley as Little Girl
Elin Hampton as Co-Worker
Francesca Holland as hairdresser
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Wrecked" Next →
"Doublemeat Palace"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Gone" is the 11th episode of season 6 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Continuity 2.1 Arc significance
3 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
Buffy feels life spinning out of control. In the previous episode, Willow got high on the magic (so much so that her eyes are almost permanently dilated and darkened to black) and crashed a car, breaking Dawn's arm. Willow is still distraught. Dawn is ignoring Buffy. Dawn resents Buffy because Buffy was off secretly having sex with Spike during the crisis, so Dawn is only talking to Xander. Dawn is further irritated because Buffy is gathering up everything in the household even slightly magical and hiding it so Willow can avoid magical temptation, including a statue of the Hopi god Kokopelli, which Dawn treasures because it belonged to their late mother Joyce.
The social worker comes round to check on how Buffy's doing (at the worst possible time) – while the living room is scattered with Willow's old spell ingredients and objects. Buffy digs herself into a deep hole by saying "It's magic weed." Spike, in the daytime but using a blanket to cover him, comes over to her house wanting his lighter back. Then he leaves after worsening the situation, calling Buffy Goldilocks.
In a state of depression and determined to become a grown-up, Buffy cuts her hair up to her shoulders, and makes a trip to the hairdresser to have it styled. As she leaves, the Trio pulls up to a tanning salon nearby. Warren has modified his freeze ray into an invisibility gun, and they are about to make themselves invisible. However, Andrew and Jonathan fight over who gets to use the gun first and accidentally overload it, sending beams over the parking lot; a beam hits Buffy (now with a new pageboy hairstyle), making her vanish (along with a dumpster, traffic cone, and fire hydrant).
Anya and Xander are talking about their upcoming wedding at the Magic Box. The door opens but no-one enters. Buffy's voice comes out of nowhere, along with picking up two magical circular items and making them look like eyes. Upon discovering this, Xander immediately believes that Willow may have suffered a relapse and confronts her, but Willow is offended and insists that she is not responsible. Buffy continues her invisible adventures in Sunnydale. "I'm the ghost of fashion victims past," she moans to a civilian, who is wearing a studded cap. She then drives off with a parking inspector's cart.
Buffy drives to the workplace of the social worker who had made that morning's inspection to the Summers' home. Using her invisibility to its full advantage, she tricks the social worker into behaving in a bizarre manner and replaces the Summers' report with pages consisting entirely of repetitions of "All work and no play make [sic] Doris a dull girl", an allusion to The Shining. Doris also tells her supervisor that "There was a voice. It made my coffee dance", not knowing that invisible Buffy was teasing and moving the coffee cup to make Doris react and appear insane. The supervisor believes that Doris is having a mental break with reality and sends her home, saying that he would send someone else to inspect the Summers' home the next day.
Buffy then heads to Spike's. She initiates foreplay with Spike while she's invisible, surprising him. "I told you to stop trying to see me," she finally jokes and then she and Spike go downstairs to have sex. In the meantime, Xander and Anya discover that the invisibility ray was causing the structure of the traffic cone to break down, and realize that the same thing would happen to Buffy if the invisibility wasn't reversed. Xander runs to Spike's crypt in search of Buffy, where he finds Spike in bed, naked and appearing to be alone. In reality, however, Buffy and Spike are making love. After Spike claims he's "doing push-ups", Xander has a chat with him, wanting to know where Buffy is, and Spike honestly says that he hasn't "seen" her. Throughout the conversation, invisible Buffy embraces and affectionately teases Spike, making him laugh despite Xander's presence. Spike tries to act normal, somewhat unsuccessfully. Xander finally leaves, puzzled by Spike's odd behavior, telling Spike that he really needs to get a girlfriend.
Buffy wants to continue their physical activities, but Spike tells her that he is tired of being with her and not really having her. He asks her to leave if she isn't really going to be with him. He is frustrated with her carefree attitude and doesn't appreciate the way she seems to be using the invisibility as an excuse to escape her real life. She protests, but eventually leaves. She doesn't do too well at home when she scares Dawn, who has the same frustrations as Spike, combined with extreme worry for her sister. The bad stuff keeps on coming when she gets the message from Xander and Anya on the answering machine. "Tell her about the pudding" says Anya, referencing the way the invisible traffic cone found by Willow had started to disintegrate into mush. However, before Buffy can head back to the Magic Box, Jonathan phones her up (disguising his voice so Buffy doesn't identify him) and tells her that the Trio has kidnapped Willow and tells her to meet them at the arcade.
Buffy does so. However, the Trio have also made themselves invisible, and Warren is holding Willow hostage. Warren lies to Buffy, telling her that he is going to reverse the invisibility. But Willow points out that he's put it on a setting that is going to kill her. Warren knocks her to the ground and aims the gun at Buffy, telling her that she can't see them. However, Buffy's Slayer training (and possibly her experiences in "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" and "Family") provide her with some ability to sense the invisible villains. A scuffle ensues. Warren ends up in the ball-pit, Andrew ends up in the pinball machine and Buffy is holding Jonathan. Willow, who has changed the frequency, aims at Buffy, Jonathan, Andrew, and Warren, and all four are visible again. Buffy finally sees that the Trio are human, rather than demons as she had been expecting. After a brief stand-off, a smoke-bomb goes off and the Trio - despite an embarrassing scuffle to open the arcade door - escape.
Buffy and Willow sit on the curb outside and talk. The two then discuss the events of the day, and Willow admits she nearly used magic but didn't; Buffy also admits that while she's still not happy about being alive, when faced with death she realised she didn't want to die. The two then contemplate their small but notable steps towards dealing with their respective problems.
Continuity[edit]
Sarah Michelle Gellar had requested to cut her hair, so the writers made her haircut a plot point of this episode.
Buffy is whistling "Going Through the Motions", a song from "Once More, with Feeling" as she is leaving the Social Services building.
Xander references the Season One episode "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" when questioning Buffy as to how she got invisible. Buffy goes on to refer to that episode's antagonist, Marcie Ross (Clea DuVall) by name.
When Buffy takes the hat off the girl on the bench, she refers to herself as the "Ghost of Fashion Victims Past", a reference to the original "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" movie.
Arc significance[edit]
Buffy discovers the identities of the Trio.
Spike begins to question the nature of his relationship with Buffy, a change that will eventually lead to his quest at the end of the season.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Gone
"Gone" at the Internet Movie Database
"Gone" at TV.com
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Doublemeat Palace
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"Doublemeat Palace"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x12.jpg
Buffy in her Doublemeat Palace work uniform
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 12
Directed by
Nick Marck
Written by
Jane Espenson
Production code
6ABB12
Original air date
January 29, 2002
Guest actors
Elizabeth Anne Allen as Amy Madison
Pat Crawford Brown as Old Lady
Brent Hinkley as Manny Rocha
Kirsten Nelson as Lorraine Ross
Kali Rocha as Halfrek
T. Ferguson as Gary
Marion Calvert as Gina
Douglas Bennett as Phillip
Andrew Reville as Timothy
Kevin Carter as Mr. Typical
John F. Kearney as Elderly Man
Sara Lawall as Housewife Type
Victor Z. Isaac as Pimply Teen
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Gone" Next →
"Dead Things"
"Doublemeat Palace" is the 12th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Production details
3 Cultural references
4 Continuity 4.1 Arc significance
5 References
6 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
Willow reports to Xander and Anya that the supervillains seem to have abandoned their basement lair. Meanwhile, Buffy, having found out that she is deeply in debt, gets a new job working at a fast food restaurant called Doublemeat Palace. She soon believes something strange is going on.
Buffy is offered the Doublemeat Medley, a burger consisting of typical ingredients and layers of beef and chicken. She reluctantly takes a bite, then questions what the secret ingredient in the meat is, but gets no clear answer ("It's a meat process."). Buffy watches as a coworker, Gary, waits on a woman wearing a wig who is a regular at the Palace. After his demonstration, Buffy takes the next customer, but is lost quickly in the process as the family's order is too complex for her to follow.
During her break, Buffy sneaks around in the back rooms, searching for the truth behind the secret ingredient, but is caught by Manny. At the counter, Buffy finds her friends have come by to visit her and she treats Xander to a Doublemeat Medley. Anya goes on a rant about how behind the wedding plans are, partially blaming Willow for the complications. Later, Buffy receives a surprise visit from Spike at the restaurant. He teases her and tries to persuade her to leave the job and be with him, warning her that this job could kill her. He offers to do everything in his power to take care of her and help her with her money problems. She remains determined and turns away. Gary goes out to the alley behind the restaurant and encounters someone/something that he recognizes; then that someone or something attacks him.
The next day, with Gary not there to work, Buffy is assigned to the grill. As Timothy demonstrates the process, Buffy asks again about the secret ingredient, but still can't get an answer from anyone. Manny then assigns Buffy to a double shift because of the reduction of employees.
At the apartment, a vengeance demon appears suddenly before Xander, threatening to tear him into pieces. Fortunately, Anya enters the room and recognizes the vengeance demon as her old friend Halfrek, and the girls greet each other gleefully. Anya clears up the confusion, explaining that she invited Halfrek to the wedding, not to seek vengeance on Xander. Xander quickly gets out of their way.
At the Doublemeat Palace, Buffy spots Spike outside through a window and they look at each other wistfully. She spends her break having sex with him in the alleyway out behind the restaurant.
Amy pays Willow a visit, wanting her rat cage as a souvenir, and talks with Willow about her progress with avoiding magic, something which Amy isn't very encouraging about. Wishing to get Willow back on to magic, Amy gives her an unasked-for gift that provides Willow with uncontrollable magical powers.
Buffy watches the grinder grind meat, but discovers a human finger in the processed meat. Appalled at the idea of human meat being the secret ingredient, Buffy confronts Manny about it, but he doesn't agree with her suspicions. Buffy charges out into the dining area, attempting to stop all the patrons from eating while shouting that the meat is made of humans. The outburst gets her fired.
Over drinks, Anya and Halfrek talk about Anya's relationship with Xander and Anya begins to reevaluate her situation with Xander after Halfrek repeatedly insists on addressing the issue.
Buffy brings the severed finger and a Doublemeat Medley to The Magic Box, but Xander eats the burger before Buffy explains her concerns. Willow arrives late, ready to begin researching, although she's still under Amy's gift spell and lacks control over her use of magic. Buffy leaves to investigate Doublemeat Palace after hours, while Willow uses chemistry to test a leftover piece of meat from the Doublemeat Medley.
Buffy breaks into the Palace and finds clues: blood and Manny's severed foot.
Willow struggles to avoid using magic while Dawn and Xander talk about the kind of future life Buffy will have because she's the Slayer. Anya shows up late, after Halfrek's departure, and a tense argument develops between her and Xander over the less-than-attractive appearance of a vengeance demon. Willow's analysis reveals that the "meat" is mostly cellulose (vegetables treated with beef fat).
While continuing to snoop, Buffy encounters the regular customer, "Wig Lady", without her wig. A demonic lamprey emerges from the lady's head and sprays a paralyzing liquid at Buffy. The lady advances on Buffy and talks about eating Doublemeat employees as the Slayer struggles to escape.
Willow shows up and tries to inform Buffy of the Doublemeat Medley which is not made of humans, but processed vegetables, then begins to confess to her about Amy's magical gift. Buffy is unable to respond to the information as she continues to try to get away from the lamprey, which manages to latch onto her shoulder and start to feed. Inside, Willow tries to stop the woman/lamprey and uses a large blade to cut the lamprey from the woman's body. That doesn't immediately kill the lamprey and Willow quickly shoves it into the meat grinder. The next day at the Summers' house, Amy pays Willow a visit, needing to borrow a few necessities. Willow denies her entrance into the house and angrily suggests that Amy stay away from her before shutting the door in her former friend's face.
Buffy returns to the DMP to return her uniform to the new manager, Lorraine. After revealing her knowledge of the Doublemeat Medley's composition, she is sworn to secrecy. She gets her job back and resigns herself to working there, at least for now.
Production details[edit]
During the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences panel discussion that occurred between seasons six and seven, Joss Whedon revealed that this episode was the first episode that caused sponsors to threaten to pull support due to the portrayal of the fast food industry. Buffy working at Doublemeat Palace "made the advertisers very twitchy"; as Whedon joked, "the most controversial thing we ever had on Buffy was a hamburger and chicken sandwich."[1]
Cultural references[edit]
Willow tells Xander and Anya that there were "pictures of the Vulcan woman on Enterprise" in the Trio's lair.
Buffy freaking out and yelling that the "Double Meat Medley is people!" is an homage to the film Soylent Green, which was previously referenced in the Angel Season Three episode "Carpe Noctem".
In Andy Barker, P.I. episode "Fairway, My Lovely," also co-written by Jane Espenson, the character Guy Helverson owns a business named Doublemeat Enterprise.
Continuity[edit]
Arc significance[edit]
This episode marks the beginning of Buffy's employment at Doublemeat Palace, a place which will remain a fixture for the rest of the season.
Buffy mentions this is not the first time she worked as a waitress, having previously worked in a diner in Los Angeles when she ran away from home in "Anne".
Technically this is not the first appearance of Halfrek, but it is the first time she appears undisguised, as a vengeance demon. Cecily, Spike's pre-vampire love interest in "Fool for Love", was actually Halfrek, at least according to the comic Spike: Old Times and the episode "Older and Far Away" where Halfrek recognizes Spike as William, and Spike has an unspoken recognition.
Taken together with "Provider" (aired a week earlier), this explores both Buffy and Angel dealing with the suddenly critical issue of money.
In a recurring motif throughout the season, the friendship between Buffy and Willow is hampered by circumstances preventing them from confiding in each other. In "Smashed", a serious conversation was interrupted by Amy's intrusion. The disturbing element for this episode was the "wig lady" demon that was eating while Buffy and Willow are talking through the drive-thru microphone. Willow doesn't try again to talk to Buffy about what Amy did to her.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "10 Questions for Joss Whedon". New York Times. 2003-05-16. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Doublemeat Palace
"Doublemeat Palace" at the Internet Movie Database
"Doublemeat Palace" at TV.com
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Dead Things
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Jump to: navigation, search
"Dead Things"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Dead Things.jpg
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 13
Directed by
James A. Contner
Written by
Steven S. DeKnight
Production code
6ABB13
Original air date
February 5, 2002
Guest actors
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
Adam Busch as Warren Mears
Amelinda Embry as Katrina Silber
Marion Calvert as Gina
Rock Reiser as Desk Sergeant
Bernard Addison as Cop #1
Eric Prescott as Cop #2
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Doublemeat Palace" Next →
"Older and Far Away"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Dead Things" is the 13th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Production details
3 Continuity
4 Arc significance
5 References
6 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
After a wild round of sex on the bottom floor of Spike's crypt, Buffy and Spike carry on a real conversation about decorating and Buffy's feelings for Spike. Spike asks Buffy if she even likes him, to which she replies, "Sometimes." Pulling out a pair of handcuffs, Spike then asks Buffy if she trusts him to which she replies, "Never." Meanwhile, The Trio, now hiding in a rented house after being forced to flee their lair, have put the finishing touches on a new gadget, the Cerebral Dampener, which will turn any woman of their choice into their pseudo-willing sex slave.
Buffy takes a break at her job to talk in private with Tara. While nervously rubbing at her handcuff burned wrists, Buffy reveals that Spike is now able to hurt her, but not other humans. Suspecting that the resurrection spell brought her to life "wrong", Buffy asks Tara to do some research to see if she can find out just what is "wrong" with her.
Warren Mears browses a bar for attractive women while Andrew Wells and Jonathan Levinson watch through a camera in Warren's tie, pointing out various women they would like to have as slaves. Irritated by the suggestions, Warren removes his earpiece and approaches someone familiar: his ex-girlfriend, Katrina. Katrina wants nothing to do with Warren, but after he uses the Cerebral Dampener she addresses him as "Master".
Buffy returns home after a long, hard, dirty day at work to find her friends preparing for Xander and Anya's wedding by teaching Dawn to waltz. Buffy becomes upset when she learns that Dawn is spending the night at her friend Janice's house, but she decides it is better for her to go to the Bronze with her friends than to stay at home and brood.
The Trio enjoy champagne served by Katrina, who has been dressed in a maid's outfit, and admire Warren's selection. Warren takes Katrina to another room for sex, but the Dampener's control fades. In her fury, Katrina reveals to Jonathan and Andrew that she is Warren's ex-girlfriend; they think that is messed up. Katrina goes on to tell The Trio that what they were planning to do to her constitutes rape, a revelation that shocks Jonathan and Andrew. Katrina then tries to leave the confines of the basement, but Warren hits Katrina with a champagne bottle and she falls to the stairs, dead. Warren formulates a plan to get rid of the body, though Andrew and Jonathan are not eager to take part in covering up the accidental murder.
At the Bronze, Buffy and Willow talk about Willow's recovery while watching Xander and Anya dance jubilantly together. Willow joins the couple on the dance floor, but Buffy wanders up to the balcony, where Spike soon joins her. Hidden away, Spike and Buffy have sex while he speculates on how her friends would react to the truth about the two of them. Buffy closes her eyes at the thought, but Spike tells her to open them, to watch her friends while she gets away with it right under their noses. He urges her to remain in the shadows with him.
The next day, Willow and Xander are on their way to The Magic Box when they meet Tara, leaving the shop with a book. Willow and Tara talk about the magic book Tara holds, and about Willow's success with staying away from magic. They part ways.
That night, Buffy is supposed to be on patrol, but she finds herself in front of Spike's crypt instead. He senses her arrival, but when he opens the door, she has already bolted.The song that plays in the background is "Out of this world" by Bush.
As she resumes her patrolling duties, Buffy hears a woman screaming and follows the sound. She is soon disoriented as time seems to jump between the crying woman, an attack by several demons, and Spike finding Buffy in the woods. In the end, Buffy strikes out at something and instead of hitting one of the demons, she hits the woman whom the viewer recognizes as Katrina. Katrina's body rolls down the hill as Buffy rushes behind trying to catch her. When Buffy finally does catch up, she realizes that Katrina is dead and assumes that the blow she dealt killed her. Behind a tree, another Katrina watches.
Spike escorts Buffy away from the scene and back to her house.
Warren is pleased with the success of their scheme. The Katrina double returns to the van and shifts appearance to reveal a very bitter Jonathan.
That same night, Buffy dreams of Spike joining her and comforting her in her bed. Her dream shifts and they're in his crypt with her on top and Spike bound by the handcuffs. With Buffy still on top, Spike becomes Katrina and the crypt becomes the woods. Her dream shifts again and Buffy lowers a stake to Spike's chest. When Spike becomes Katrina again, Buffy asks her, "Do you trust me?" Katrina's eyes open wide as the stake is shoved into her chest. Her eyes are cloudy, as though she's been dead for several hours.
Shaken by her dream, Buffy wakes and dresses and then goes to Dawn's room. She professes her love to her sister and then admits that she was involved in an incident earlier that night and that she has to go to the police about it. Dawn is alarmed at the possibility of losing her sister and lashes out, accusing Buffy of running away and deserting her loved ones.
Spike catches Buffy outside the police station and tries to stand in the way of her turning herself in to the police. He says that he took care of the body, but then two cops passing by reveal that the body was found washed up by the river. Despite the failure of his attempt at a cover-up, Spike is still determined to stop her from admitting guilt. He tells Buffy that, having saved thousands of lives, she shouldn't have to pay for accidentally taking one. As Spike vamps out and attempts to physically restrain her from going to the police, Buffy takes out her frustration and anger on Spike, and he does not retaliate, saying that she should "put it all on him". She punches Spike repeatedly in the face, declaring that he is evil and soulless, and that there is "nothing clean in (him)". After beating him senseless, Buffy is shocked by what she had just done, and walks dazedly away from Spike.
She enters the police station and overhears that the girl in the woods was Katrina Silber, whom she now recognizes as Warren's ex-girlfriend. Immediately guessing the truth, Buffy leaves without discussing the incident with the police.
The Scooby Gang research and find that the demons Buffy encountered in the woods caused the time shifting, concluding that Katrina was dead for at least a day before Buffy even encountered her. Buffy knows Warren is connected to the incident, and wants The Trio found and dealt with.
The Sunnydale Police rule Katrina's death to be suicide or accidental drowning. Warren and Andrew are pleased with their overall success, disappointed only that Buffy didn't actually take the fall for Warren's crime. However, Jonathan is not pleased at all.
After researching the resurrection spell, Tara reports to Buffy that the spell didn't bring Buffy back "wrong". Tara explains that the only effect the process of re-materializing had on Buffy's body and soul was something akin to a molecular suntan. This effect didn't make Buffy more or less human, she's as human as she ever was, but it was just enough of a change to "fool" Spike's chip into wrongly categorizing her as non-human. Buffy then confesses to Tara that more than just an exchange of punches has been going on between her and Spike. Tara is supportive, first asking Buffy if she loves Spike because if she does, it's okay, since Spike did a lot of good the previous summer, and Tara (unlike the other Scoobies) believes he truly loves Buffy. Buffy does not reply. Then Tara tells Buffy that if it isn't love that Buffy feels, that's okay too, but Buffy states that she does not agree with Tara on that point because that would mean that she is just using Spike. Caught between the unsavoriness of either loving Spike or using Spike, Buffy begins to desperately plead for something to be "wrong" with her so that she can blame her "wrongness" for how she feels about Spike, what she does with Spike, how she treats him and how she lets him treat her. She breaks down crying in Tara's lap, unable to accept that she's actively decided to love or to use Spike.
Production details[edit]
Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played Buffy, disliked the way her character was treated in this episode, telling Entertainment Weekly, "I had trouble with the one where Buffy had sex with Spike on the balcony while watching their friends. I really thought that was out of character. And I didn't like what it stood for. That was the moment that I had the most problems with."[1] Writer Steven S. DeKnight says, "I totally understand why that part made her uncomfortable... I wish that I could say it was my idea but it's something Joss Whedon had in the back of his head for a year. It just so happened that it happened in my episode." Despite Gellar's dislike, this episode is DeKnight's personal favorite because "it had humor at the beginning and then it had that great twist where [the nerds] accidentally killed Katrina and then it got dark, dark, dark, dark. We really wanted to highlight how unhappy Buffy was with herself and really show why she was mistreating Spike because she hated herself."[2]
Continuity[edit]
Tara finds out about Spike and Buffy's relationship
Arc significance[edit]
Buffy beating up Spike is similar to Faith's fight with Buffy in the episode "Who Are You", where they let out their anger and disgust at their own inadequacies on others. Faith sees herself from Buffy's point of view (and also in Buffy's body) that she is a "murderer"; Buffy beats up Spike in a proxy of herself because she feels "dead inside" as though she is a soul-less vampire.
It is revealed why Spike is able to hurt Buffy without his head bursting into severe pain.
The Trio commit murder for the first time, and get away with it.
Upon Buffy seeing Xander and Dawn dancing in practice for Xander and Anya's wedding Buffy asks in surprise, "Is there singing?! Are we singing again?". This is a reference to the musical episode "Once More, with Feeling", as Buffy is wondering if Sweet, the musical demon, has been called again.
In "Becoming, Part One," Principal Snyder noted that the Sunnydale Police are "deeply stupid." Their classification of Katrina's death as a possible accidental drowning seems to confirm that; having been dead for perhaps a half hour or more before Spike put her in the river, Katrina could not have had any water in her lungs to support a diagnosis of drowning, and a coroner could probably have determined that she suffered the actual cause of death, a blunt blow to the head, prior to immersion. It cannot even be reasonably presumed that Spike took the precaution of filling her lungs with water, since he clearly did not expect her body to be found at all.
In "Consequences," it was revealed that previous Slayers have caused collateral deaths through accidents in the past, and that the Watchers have a procedure to investigate them and determine guilt. Buffy disregards this, despite the fact that she has rejoined the Council, and instead attempts to go to the police.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Jensen, Jeff (March 7, 2003), The Goodbye Girl, Entertainment Weekly
2.Jump up ^ DiLullo, Tara, Inside Out: An Exclusive Interview with Writer Steven S. DeKnight
External links[edit]
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Older and Far Away
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"Older and Far Away"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 14
Directed by
Michael Gershman
Written by
Drew Z. Greenberg
Production code
6ABB14
Original air date
February 12, 2002
Guest actors
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Kali Rocha as Halfrek
Ryan Browning as Richard
James C. Leary as Clem
Laura Roth as Sophie
Elizabeth Cazenave as Teacher
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Dead Things" Next →
"As You Were"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Older and Far Away" is the 14th episode of season 6 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Cultural references
3 Continuity
4 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (December 2008)
Buffy apologizes to Dawn for having to leave to hunt down a dangerous demon, promising that they'll soon spend time together. In the cemetery, Buffy fights the demon and stabs it with its own sword; it is sucked into the blade which she takes with her. At the magic shop, the gang talk about Buffy's upcoming birthday party. Dawn goes shopping for a birthday gift at the mall, and returns with a new leather jacket hidden underneath her coat. The next day at school, Dawn is called to see a guidance counsellor who tries to get her to reveal her problems. Dawn says she wishes that people would stop leaving her.
While Anya finishes preparing food for the birthday party, Buffy lets Tara in and the two talk secretly. Buffy explains that Spike wasn't invited because he wouldn't behave around her friends, however, having heard about the party from Willow, Spike shows up with beer and Clem, the loose skinned demon with whom he plays kitten poker. Before Buffy can deal with this, Xander introduces Richard, a friend from work, who he and Anya invited to the party for Buffy.
Buffy opens her birthday presents which include a portable back massager from Willow and the shoplifted leather jacket from Dawn. Buffy spots the security tag still attached but as Dawn nervously tries to explain, Xander and Anya's gift - a custom weapons chest - is wheeled into the room and distracts Buffy. Sophie, Buffy's colleague from work, arrives shifting Buffy's attention from her disgruntled sister who angrily closes the door. As the door closes, the guidance counsellor steps out of the shadows and reveals herself as the vengeance demon Halfrek saying, "Wish granted."
The party continues into the following morning, and the partygoers gradually realize they're unable to leave the Summers' house. The gang discuss the dilemma, anxious about missing classes and work. Dawn snaps at them, hurt and angry that they want to leave. Suspicious, the Scooby Gang asks Dawn if she has anything to do with the situation, but she angrily denies. Magic seems to be the only solution but Tara doesn't have any supplies with her and is the only one who can do it. Willow reveals that she still has a few items; Tara requests the materials but makes it clear that Willow must keep her distance from the spellcasting.
Tara performs a spell intended to release them from the house but instead it releases the demon from the sword Buffy brought home. It attacks the group and Richard takes a cut to the chest before the demon retreats into the walls. While the wound is tended, noises can be heard in the walls and Anya begins to show signs of claustrophobia. Xander comforts her, then is also attacked. Buffy and Spike fight the demon back into hiding; Xander, though injured, shows more concern for Anya's state of shock than his own physical well-being. Buffy and Dawn finally talk. It appears that only Willow's magical skill can save the day. Xander and Anya both press her to act but Tara is opposed, and Willow is scared that if she starts using magic again, she may not be able to stop. Upset by the impasse, Anya goes upstairs to find her own solution. Dawn tells Buffy that she recently talked to a guidance counsellor and may have inadvertently made a wish. Meanwhile, Anya searches Dawn's room, convinced that she has something to do with their entrapment. Dawn enters with her sister and is freaked out by the invasion of privacy, but Anya uncovers Dawn's secret stash of stolen jewellery and objects from the Magic Shop, stunning everyone.
Dawn tries to bolt but Anya delivers her a stern lecture on theft, particularly upset that Dawn has stolen from the Magic Shop. Buffy tries to place the blame on the guidance counsellor and Anya realizes Halfrek is responsible so Anya summons her because only Halfrek can lift the spell. Halfrek appears but is stabbed by the demon. Spike, Anya, and Buffy battle the intruder, and Buffy plunges the sword straight through the wall into the demon, trapping it in the sword again and breaks the sword over her knee. The only problem is destroying Halfrek's pendant so they can be freed. Halfrek, only slightly harmed, explains that vengeance demons aren't limited though some "specialize" in certain types of vengeance (Anya's was exacting vengeance for scorned women; Halfrek's is "bad parents"). She informs the Scooby Gang that Dawn's pain and desperate plea for attention was more severe than she'd seen in a long time but the gang was oblivious. Halfrek thinks the gang deserves to be cursed and confined to the house for eternity. But when Halfrek tries to leave she falls victim to her own curse so is forced to lift it.
As Tara cleans up after her spell, she and Willow talk. Tara understands why Willow kept some magical supplies and is proud that she didn't fall for the temptation of using magic even in a desperate situation. She makes it clear that Willow has to cope without the safety net from now on. Richard is escorted to hospital while most of the remaining gang depart. Dawn stays behind but is surprised and overjoyed when instead of leaving Buffy shuts the door and stays with her.
Cultural references[edit]
The plot of this episode bears some resemblance to Luis Buñuel's The Exterminating Angel (1962), which concerns a group of wealthy socialites who find they are psychologically incapable of leaving their hosts' music room following a lavish dinner party.
Similarly, Episode 11 of Season 1 of the TV series Eureka, in which the Smarthouse S.A.R.A.H. (named after the actress Sarah Michelle Gellar) locks several inhabitants of Eureka inside herself to prevent them from leaving her, very closely follows this episode, including several lines of near-identical dialogue.
Continuity[edit]
The Scooby gang find out about Dawn's kleptomania
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Older and Far Away
"Older and Far Away" at the Internet Movie Database
"Older and Far Away" at TV.com
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As You Were (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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Find sources: "As You Were (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)" – books · scholar · JSTOR · free images (June 2011)
"As You Were"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x15.jpg
Riley returns to Sunnydale on a mission, and asks for Buffy's help
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 15
Directed by
Doug Petrie
Written by
Doug Petrie
Production code
6ABB15
Original air date
February 26, 2002
Guest actors
Marc Blucas as Riley Finn
Ivana Miličević as Sam
Ryan Raddatz as Todd
Adam Paul as Skanky Vamp
Marilyn Brett as Lady
Alice Dinnean as Baby Demon Puppeteer
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Older and Far Away" Next →
"Hell's Bells"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"As You Were" is the fifteenth episode of season 6 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Critical reaction
3 Production details
4 Cultural references
5 Continuity 5.1 Arc significance
6 References
7 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (July 2008)
On the way home from work, Buffy is attacked by a vampire, but the smell of Doublemeat Palace makes him lose his appetite; Buffy stakes him all the same. At home, Buffy finds Spike waiting in front of her house. She knows what he's there for, but with Dawn waiting inside, she refuses to let him follow her into the house. He persuades her to stay outside with him instead.
Later, Buffy apologetically presents a squashed Doublemeat burger to Dawn for dinner. Dawn, hating the thought of another Doublemeat Palace meal, is relieved when Willow arrives to take Dawn to the Bronze. Tired and a bit depressed, Buffy allows her sister to go, but doesn't join them.
At the Bronze, Anya and Xander snack on chips while agonizing over the seating arrangements for the wedding reception. Dawn and Willow have drinks while discussing the wedding and Willow's evolving relationship with Tara. Though they are not back together, there's communication.
The next day, Buffy learns that her application to re-enroll in UC Sunnydale has been rejected because she missed the deadline. At work, Buffy tends to the grill like a depressed robot, and so is sent up to the counter. Her first customer is unexpected: Riley.
Buffy leaves her job to help Riley. They fight a monster on the streets of Sunnydale, but it escapes. Riley and Buffy pursue in his car. A brief interlude show Xander and Anya having a spat while sitting in traffic. At a dam, Riley and Buffy have further battles and lose the demon yet again. Buffy meets Riley's wife, Sam.
Sam quickly jumps into a fight with the Suvolte demon. Buffy recovers from the shock of Riley being married and Riley catches her up on his life since he left. The demon strikes Sam and Riley rushes to help her as Buffy approaches the demon from behind and snaps its neck. Riley's shocked that she killed it and Buffy soon finds out from Sam that they weren't trying to kill it. Improvising, Sam takes a knife from Riley and cuts into the demon's gut as Buffy watches on, still confused. Sam observes that they're too late and the three head for Buffy's home where it should be safe. Riley mentions that Sam's cutting skills are good because she's a doctor and promises Buffy that he'll take the time to fill her in on everything.
At the house, almost everyone greets Riley with open arms; Dawn is still angry over his sudden departure a year ago. Sam and Riley begin to describe the gory details of the demon and the mission; although Riley is concerned about letting Dawn hear about it, Sam sticks up for the teen and she gets to stay with the "grownups". Sam explains that the Suvolte demon, which multiplies quickly and can destroy towns full of people in no time, has come to the Hellmouth to lay a nest full of its offspring. A demonic dealer in Sunnydale by the name of "The Doctor" is suspected of holding the eggs for a fee.
Riley directs Sam and Buffy to search for the nest while he investigates the dealer. In the kitchen, Sam tells Willow about a couple of shamans she knew that got addicted to magic and didn't survive it. Buffy and Sam patrol and talk about Buffy's honorable reputation as the Slayer and, of course, about Riley.
Buffy suggests they split up and as Sam heads off to find Riley, Buffy aims directly for Spike's crypt. Upon arrival, she questions him about "The Doctor," but when he has no immediate answers, she changes the subject to his feelings for her and eventually pulls him to her for some physical comfort. Later that evening, Buffy and Spike sleep under a blanket together and Spike wakes to find Riley has walked in on them. Riley then identifies Spike as "The Doctor" and demands to know where the eggs are.
Spike denies knowing anything, but Riley is confident in his information and finds that the eggs are indeed there. Spike and Buffy exchange harsh words and as Spike leaves, the eggs begin to hatch. Little demons crawl out and begin to attack Buffy and Riley. The two escape and Buffy throws a beltful of grenades back into the lower level, destroying the demons and wrecking much of Spike's lair.
With family and friends causing mayhem in the apartment, Anya and Xander huddle together in the bathroom. Xander reassures her that while he's scared of the wedding, he's confident that the marriage will be great and last forever. Buffy and Riley talk privately and Riley asks her if she wants "The Doctor" to be taken out. Buffy declines his offer and accepts the fact that her life sucks and her ex-boyfriend is there to see it.
The whole gang gathers to say goodbye to Sam and Riley. While Riley describes to Xander where and how his wedding took place, Sam and Willow confirm that they have each other's e-mail addresses for future contact. A helicopter arrives and carries the couple off into the night. The next day, Buffy finds Spike at his crypt. She tells Spike that she is not going to go into the wrongness of dealing with the Suvolte eggs because, as he said, that's just who he is. Instead she has come to tell him that although she wants him, she can never love him so it would be wrong to keep using him the way she has been, so it is over. Spike thinks that this is her usual routine of playing hard to get, but Buffy is serious and walks out with a final goodbye.[1]
Critical reaction[edit]
The AV Club called this "one of the most entertaining—and unexpectedly emotional—Buffy episodes in a good long while". Their reviewer noted that the show finds Buffy at a low ebb, and similarly Spike is particularly creepy, her attraction for him reflecting her low self-esteem.[2]
TheTVCritic.org noted that it succeeded to hit the emotional points it was aiming for, and particularly praised Riley's speech about how great Buffy is.[3]
Production details[edit]
Alice Dinnean, the puppeteer who operates the baby demons, also operated the living mummy hand in the episode "Life Serial" and the Angel puppet in the Angel episode "Smile Time".
Pacoima Dam, near San Fernando, California, was featured in this episode.
Cultural references[edit]
Buffy references the tribble creature from Star Trek when Riley is explaining to her that the demon they are facing is a breeder. Tribbles were a harmless creature that multiplied at an alarming rate, nearly threatening to overrun the USS Enterprise completely.[4]
Xander calls Riley and Sam "Nick and Nora Fury", a double reference to both Marvel Comics character Nick Fury (whom Xander references himself in Season Eight) and husband-and-wife detectives Nick and Nora Charles from the 1930s/40s film series The Thin Man.
Riley says "love the hair" referencing Gone episode 11, season 6 when everybody seemed more interested in the fact that Buffy cut her hair rather than the fact that she was invisible.
Continuity[edit]
When Buffy breaks up with Spike, she calls him "William" for the second and last time, the first time having been in "No Place Like Home", when she finds Spike lurking outside her house.
When Riley catches Buffy in bed with Spike, Spike quips, "What can I say? The girl just needs a little monster in her man." This is almost the same thing Spike said to him in "Into the Woods": "The girl needs some monster in her man, and that's not in your nature."
Riley and Sam refer to their target as a "demon", a term that The Initiative avoided using.
Buffy says her house is a safe house and that "Sometimes, you can't even leave!", a reference to the previous episode, "Older and Far Away"
Arc significance[edit]
Riley is married. His marriage helps steady Xander's resolve to get married.
Buffy ends her affair with Spike.
This episode is Riley Finn's last appearance.
In this episode Buffy decides not to reveal to Riley outright that she actually did rush to the landing platform to keep him from leaving but failed to arrive in time, in "Into the Woods". Instead, she simply tells him that she was sorry for how things ended between them; earlier, she had vaguely revealed to Sam that she wished things had turned out differently between her and Riley.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "That Old Spud of Mine (episode recap)". Television Without Pity. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
2.Jump up ^ Murray, Noel (February 18, 2011). "As You Were/Loyalty". AV Club. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
3.Jump up ^ "As You Were". TheTvCritic.org. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
4.Jump up ^ "As You Were - trivia". BBC Cult. September 2005. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: As You Were
"As You Were" at the Internet Movie Database
"As You Were" at TV.com
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Hell's Bells (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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"Hell's Bells"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x16.jpg
A heartbroken Anya walks back down the aisle after Xander tells her he believes they shouldn't get married
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 16
Directed by
David Solomon
Written by
Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Production code
6ABB16
Original air date
March 5, 2002
Guest actors
Casey Sander as Tony Harris
Kali Rocha as Halfrek
Andy Umberger as D'Hoffryn
Lee Garlington as Jessica Harris
Jan Hoag as Cousin Carol
George D. Wallace as Old Xander Harris
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Steven Gilborn as Uncle Rory
James C. Leary as Clem
Daniel McFeeley as Warty Demon
Rebecca Jackson as Tarantula
Mel Fair as Tentacle Demon
Nick Kokich as Demon Teen
Robert Noble as Night Manager
Julian Franco as Young Bartender
Susannah L. Brown as Caterer Girl
Joey Hiott as Josh age 10
Abigail Mavity as Sara age 8
Chris Emerson as Josh age 21
Ashleigh Ann Wood as Sara age 18
Megan Vint as Karen
Episode chronology
← Previous
"As You Were" Next →
"Normal Again"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Hell's Bells" is the 16th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Production details
3 Awards and nominations
4 Series continuity
5 Arc significance
6 Quotes
7 References
8 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
Buffy and Willow criticize their bright green dresses and talk about the rehearsal dinner from the night before. It was explained that Anya's friends are circus people, which explains their very odd appearances and surprisingly, the Harris family bought it. Willow has the honor of best man and Buffy, Dawn, and Tara are bridesmaids. Anya hugs both girls in excitement about their gowns, which she of course loves.
Xander tries to get dressed with his family and Anya's demon friends invading his apartment. Xander's parents arrive and Mrs. Harris rants about not being in the wedding pictures and Mr. Harris bluntly expresses his distaste for the "circus people" on Anya's side. Xander's cousin Carol asks Xander if Anya's demon friend Krevlin would be interested in dating her. Outside on the streets of Sunnydale, an old man appears out of thin air and walks off, a purpose in mind.
Buffy forces Xander into his cummerbund and works on his bow tie while offering her happy wishes to Xander on his special day. Tara and Willow button Anya into her dress while the bride-to-be rehearses her vows, excitedly talking about how happy she is. Xander's Uncle Rory (formerly an unseen character about whom Xander occasionally related anecdotes) shows off his "date" to Dawn, but his date is actually just one of the caterers. D'Hoffryn arrives along with Halfrek and Dawn greets them at the door. D'Hoffryn offers his very alive wedding gift in a box to Dawn.
Dawn continues to mingle through the crowd and encounters Spike with a goth date. Finally ready, Buffy and Xander proceed toward the crowd of mingling guests while reviewing the tasks necessary to keep Xander's parents out of trouble. Xander greets people and is suddenly assaulted by people complaining about problems. Xander's drunken father offers a toast to the waiting wedding attendees and insults the demons on Anya's side of the "family." Clem and another demon talk about how annoying the man is, but before a fight can break out between Mr. Harris and one of the demons, Buffy pulls the drunk man away.
The old man in a trench coat drags Xander away from the others and explains that he is Xander Harris from the future, and the wedding cannot take place. As proof, he shows the younger Xander a crystal ball that will show Xander his future. In a view of the future, Xander sits watching TV, yelling at Anya while their son runs around teasing their daughter, who is clearly part demon. Anya explains that she's going to make money while he sits around wounded and worthless. An argument breaks out as they talk about how he got injured helping Buffy, although that didn't save her life.
In a later scene, Xander, Anya and their two now-teenage kids eat at a restaurant while the teens fight and Anya bitterly notes Xander's drinking. Years later, in their kitchen, Anya yells at Xander for ruining her life and blames him for her misery. He yells back, raising a frying pan - but the vision of the future abruptly ends as he hurls the pan at her. Xander, shocked by the visions, is warned by the old man not to marry Anya.
Buffy finds Spike alone and the two talk about the wedding and Spike's attempt to make her jealous with his date. After he finds that his efforts worked, Spike realizes it's best to just leave and takes his date away.
Willow runs into Xander in the kitchen and offers the final "best man" talk then leaves him to practice his vows. Anya continues to go over her vows in front of Tara, who advises against using the term "sex poodle". As the music begins, Buffy arrives to get Anya, but Willow pulls her out of the room and breaks the news that Xander is gone. Stalling while Willow looks for Xander, Buffy uses the excuse that the minister is also a doctor and the ceremony will be delayed while he performs an emergency c-section.
Anya tries her vows one more time while elsewhere, Xander walks away in the rain. Mr. Harris and Mrs. Harris head back to the bar, complaining about Anya ruining the wedding. Buffy tries to stall the crowd with charades and juggling as Dawn chats outside with a teenage demon and both compare their embarrassing family and friends. Impatient, Anya heads out towards the wedding crowd, determined to get on with the wedding. The news that Xander is gone is accidentally spilled to Anya as Dawn talks to the demon teen and Anya freaks out.
Mr. Harris and other demons begin to argue and then a huge fight breaks out between the two sides of the wedding guests. Tara gets caught up in the battle, but Willow rescues her. Cousin Carol directs Anya to the man in the trench coat and Anya talks to him about what he did to scare Xander off. She finds that he is really a man whom she transformed into a demon many years ago, who now seeks revenge against her. He showed Xander false images about his future to ruin Anya's wedding.
She begins to cry and the demon strikes out at her, prompting Buffy to get involved. Buffy starts to attack the demon and Xander arrives to help save Anya. Anya explains to Xander that he saw only lies in those visions, but Xander isn't exactly relieved. Buffy and Xander finish the demon off and the crowd cheers. Fighting continues, but Anya breaks it up and everyone returns to his or her seats. Xander and Anya talk privately before the ceremony and Xander explains that he can't marry her. Motivated by the fear of turning into an abusive drunk like his father, Xander refuses to allow himself the opportunity to marry Anya and ever hurt her in that way. Anya tries to convince him otherwise, but fails, and sadly, the two part ways.
Buffy, Willow and Dawn sit around at the house and talk about what happened with Xander and Anya. They feel sorry for both of them and wonder where Xander is. Meanwhile, Xander checks into a motel by himself. Devastated, Anya sits alone until D'Hoffryn offers her sympathy, comfort, and her job as a vengeance demon back.
Production details[edit]
Rebecca Rand Kirshner reveals in her DVD commentary of this episode that Anya's reference to herself as a "sex poodle" was a reference to colleague Jane Espenson who had been using the name herself.[1]
Amber Benson said in an interview to Buffy magazine that "I'm the biggest klutz on the set. Remember Emma in that wedding dress? I got that dress off of her at least four times, because I'd be following her and I'd step on the dress and she'd be pulling it back up. But she looked gorgeous in that dress."[2]
Awards and nominations[edit]
This episode was nominated for three Emmy Awards, the most for a year in the show's history:
Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series
Outstanding Makeup Series (Prosthetic)
Outstanding Makeup for a Series (Non-prosthetic)
Series continuity[edit]
Despite being mentioned and heard many times through the series this is the first time that Xander's parents are actually shown (though a silhouette of Xander's father portrayed by a different actor appears in "Restless").
After Willow and Xander see each other in formal wear she jokes that it's a good thing she realized she was gay, referring to a previous occasion ("Homecoming") where she and Xander saw each other in formals and shared an illicit kiss.
Xander's uncle Rory scares a woman at the wedding by informing her that a moose head on the wall is stuffed incorrectly. This is a reference to the Season 2 episode "The Dark Age" in which Xander mentions that Rory is a taxidermist.
As seen in the closing credits, the names of Xander and Anya's children in the vision, are Josh and Sara. They are identified to be 10 and 8 in the first scene, and 21 and 18 in the second.
Although Buffy and Willow express surprise that Xander's family believed the claim that Anya's demon friends are merely circus performers, Sunnydale residents, such as the Harrises, have a long history of ignoring or explaining away supernatural occurrences, as Willow's mother did after "Gingerbread". As recently as the preceding episode, Riley Finn and his wife convinced Sunnydale residents that a clearly visible demon, mere yards away from some of them, was actually a rogue bear.
Arc significance[edit]
Xander jilts Anya at the altar, which has major implications for Anya's character arc. At the end of this episode, D'Hoffryn suggests that she should reprise her role as a vengeance demon.
Quotes[edit]
The Watcher's Guide 3 reveals cut dialogue which explains Giles' absence:
Dawn: "I thought Xander and Anya couldn't afford flowers."Willow: "Giles sent 'em. Aren't they gorgeous?"Dawn: "Yeah. I wish Giles was here."Willow: "Me too. And I'm sure he'd much rather be here than fighting that nasty demon—"
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Writer Rebecca Rand Kirshner's commentary for the episode on the season 6 DVD.
2.Jump up ^ http://www.buffy.geek.nz/thearchive/amber8.html
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Hell's Bells
"Hell's Bells" at the Internet Movie Database
"Hell's Bells" at TV.com
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Normal Again
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Normal Again"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x17.jpg
Buffy in the mental institution
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 17
Directed by
Rick Rosenthal
Written by
Diego Gutierrez
Production code
6ABB17
Original air date
March 12, 2002
Guest actors
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
Adam Busch as Warren Mears
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
Dean Butler as Hank Summers
Michael Warren as Doctor
Kirsten Nelson as Lorraine Ross
Sarah Scivier as Nurse
Rodney Charles as Orderly
April Dion as Kissing Girl
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Hell's Bells" Next →
"Entropy"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Normal Again" is the 17th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The Trio summon a demon whose hallucinogenic venom makes Buffy believe that her implausible and nightmarish life as vampire slayer has actually been her own elaborate hallucination as a mental patient, catatonic in a hospital for the past six years.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Production details
3 Connections to culture
4 Cultural references
5 Reception
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
Buffy searches newly rented houses for the Trio's hideout and the three discover her on their surveillance equipment, when she gets a bit too close. While they hide in the basement, Andrew Wells calls on a demon that attacks Buffy and starts a fight. The demon grabs Buffy and stabs her with a needle-like skewer from his forearm (similar to the Polgara in season 4). In a mental hospital, Buffy cries out as she's held by two orderlies and stabbed with a needle. Buffy wakes up alone outside the Trio's house with no demon to be seen, hurt and confused and walks home.
Willow prepares herself for talking to Tara, but spots Tara greeting another woman with a quick kiss (on the cheek) and Willow walks away, wounded. Tara notices her retreating, but it is too late to chase after her. At the Doublemeat Palace, Buffy works like a zombie, and flashes to the mental hospital where a doctor announces it is time for her drugs. Willow and Buffy talk about Xander's disappearing act and Willow's attempt to talk to Tara. Xander surprises the girls by showing up at the house, and wonders about Anya and how to repair his relationship with her. The girls tell him Anya left a few days ago and try to reassure him that everything will work out in time.
Buffy runs into Spike at the cemetery and they talk about the events of the wedding that didn't happen. A confrontation begins between Xander and Spike and as Willow tries to break it up, Buffy gets weak and collapses. Xander manages one punch to Spike before his attention is drawn by Buffy. At the mental hospital, a doctor informs Buffy that she's been hallucinating in the hospital for the past six years and everything she knew to exist in Sunnydale isn't real. She's shaken and confused, especially when both of her parents appear, and then Buffy falls back into the Sunnydale world.
Willow and Xander get Buffy home and she recounts what she saw and was told at the mental hospital. While Willow organizes a plan to research, Buffy falls back to the 'reality' of the mental hospital, where her doctor explains to her parents that she has been catatonic from schizophrenia for all of the past six years (except for the brief period of lucidity which Buffy dimly remembers as her time in "heaven") and that her life as the Slayer has been an elaborate improvised hallucination she has constructed for herself in her mind, explaining what Buffy realizes is its extreme improbability and illogicality compared to the 'mental patient' scenario.
In Sunnydale, Warren Mears and Andrew Wells return to their hideaway with boxes after leaving Jonathan Levinson alone. Leery, Jonathan questions the contents of the boxes and tries to leave the house himself. Warren doesn't agree with that idea and convinces Jonathan to stay in the basement.
Willow shows Buffy a picture of the demon that stung her and tries to comfort her friend. Buffy confesses to Willow that in the beginning of her Slayer life, she told her parents about vampires and was put in a clinic for her supposed insanity. Buffy wonders if she's still there and Sunnydale really doesn't exist, but Willow assures her that isn't true. Xander and Spike patrol for the demon that hurt Buffy and between the two of them, they subdue the demon with force and tranquilizer darts.
Dawn comforts Buffy who dazedly notes that Dawn has been misbehaving and the problems need to be dealt with before 'coming to' in the hospital, where her mother reminds Buffy that Dawn does not exist. Dawn realizes through Buffy's babbling that she's considering this, and rushes from the room. Xander and Spike manhandle the demon into Buffy's basement chaining it while Willow breaks off its stinger to make the antidote which she must synthesize without using magic.
Later, Willow presents the antidote to Buffy in a mug and leaves her to drink it as Spike delivers a monologue urging her to abandon the life that's grown so hellish for her and choose peace with him. This misfires, convincing Buffy to reject the antidote (which she pours unnoticed in the trash) and with it, the 'delusion' of being a Vampire Slayer. In the hospital, Buffy tells the doctor and her parents that she wants to be healthy and rid of thoughts about Sunnydale. The doctor tells her that she has to do what is necessary to destroy the elements that draw her back there, like her family and friends, in order to truly be healthy.
Willow and Buffy are talking in the kitchen. Xander arrives at the house and finds Buffy alone in the kitchen. He talks to her about Spike and his obsession; then she knocks him out cold and drags him into the basement, where Willow is already bound and tape gagged. Buffy finds Dawn upstairs, after first opening a door and not finding her there, and chases her through the house as Dawn pleads that she is real. Dawn is bound and tape gagged in the basement with the others and with the chained demon.
In the mental hospital, the doctors urge Buffy to make her task easy on herself, so Buffy unchains the demon in the basement to kill her friends for her. Xander pleads with Buffy to free his hands, but she retreats under the stairs. Meanwhile, Tara shows up at the house and finds everyone in the basement. She uses magic to free Willow and Dawn and attack the demon, but the demon is too strong for them. Buffy grabs Tara, making her fall down the stairs and knocking her unconscious. At the hospital, Joyce encourages Buffy to fight against the Sunnydale reality, telling her that she has the strength to fight against the harshness of the world and must fight it because she has people who love her. Buffy, inspired by her mother's mis-chosen words, takes her advice to "believe in" herself literally, and embraces a life of suffering in the nightmarish Sunnydale reality, thanking her mother and saying goodbye to her forever.
Buffy wakes up in Sunnydale to save her friends. She dispatches the demon easily and then reconciles with her friends, urging them to quickly make her that antidote while she stays on guard against relapsing again, completely resolved. Back at the hospital, Buffy is still sitting in her corner of the room, now completely unresponsive as the doctor shines light into her pupils. He tells Buffy's heartbroken parents that she's "gone", as the camera pulls away out of the room; Buffy has succumbed to her illness.
Production details[edit]
According to Joss Whedon, this episode was the "ultimate postmodern look at the concept of a writer writing a show", as it questioned fantastical or inconsistent elements of the show "the way any normal person would". Whedon added that the episode is intentionally left open to interpretation; the actual cause of the delusions, either the poison or Buffy's return to "reality", is not made explicitly clear. "If the viewer wants," Whedon says, "the entire series takes place in the mind of a lunatic locked up somewhere in Los Angeles... and that crazy person is me." Although, "Personally, I think it really happened."[1]
Connections to culture[edit]
In his DVD commentary, director Rick Rosenthal says that he was a little intimidated working with Sarah Michelle Gellar at first because she has the habit of jokingly saying to directors, "You're not the boss of me!" or "Don't tell me what to do!"
Cultural references[edit]
The Trio look at the schematics for a vault and Andrew says, "I still say we're gonna need eight other guys to pull this off." This prompts Warren to reply, "I never should've let you see that movie," referencing Ocean's Eleven.
Andrew says being trapped in the basement is causing him to be like Jack Torrance, the main character in the film The Shining.
Reception[edit]
The Futon Critic named it the 35th best episode of 2002.[2]
See also[edit]
Far Beyond the Stars, a television episode that takes the similar approach of an entire series being a mental construction by a science fiction author
Tommy Westphall, another approach that the entire series (and linked ones) are imagined by an autistic boy
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "10 Questions for Joss Whedon". New York Times. May 16, 2003. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
2.Jump up ^ Brian Ford Sullivan (January 7, 2003). "The 50 Best Episodes of 2002 - #40-31". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Normal Again
"Normal Again" at the Internet Movie Database
"Normal Again" at TV.com
http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Asylum_Buffy
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Entropy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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"Entropy"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x18.jpg
Willow and Tara kiss as they begin to repair their love
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 18
Directed by
James A. Contner
Written by
Drew Z. Greenberg
Production code
6ABB18
Original air date
April 30, 2002
Guest actors
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
Adam Busch as Warren Mears
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Kali Rocha as Halfrek
Edie Caggiano as Mother
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Normal Again" Next →
"Seeing Red"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Entropy" is the 18th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Cultural references
3 Continuity 3.1 Arc significance
4 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
The Trio, riding ATVs, pursue two vampires through a cemetery; one of them throws a tree branch at Andrew, causing him to fall off and the others to crash. The vampires encounter Buffy and they fight. One vampire drops the mysterious disk that the Trio were after; Warren snatches it and the Trio escapes, unseen by the Slayer. As Buffy fights, Spike seizes one of the vampires and offers to stake him, provided that Buffy agrees to tell the Scooby Gang about their sex life. Buffy rejects the deal and stakes both vampires without Spike's help. She dares Spike to spill the beans; since her friends have forgiven her attempt to kill them a little dalliance is unlikely to make them hate her.
Xander mopes alone at his apartment but eventually can't stand it anymore and leaves. As he walks away, Anya watches him from behind some bushes.
The next day, Willow waits for Tara outside of her classroom and the two talk and plan a coffee date. Buffy and Dawn stroll downtown, but there are very few stores where Dawn can show her face: she has confessed to shoplifting at most of them. They chat about all of the things Dawn stole and how they're working to remedy the whole problem.
Jonathan works on a project involving the disk they stole as Warren watches over, eager for it to be complete. While Jonathan finishes his work alone, Warren and Andrew Wells talk about their inability to trust Jonathan and how soon they won't need him anymore.
That evening, Xander comes home from work and finds Anya at his apartment waiting for him. Xander tries to apologize for walking away from their wedding. There is a glimmer of hope for them until Xander says he wanted to stop the wedding before it happened. Taken aback, Anya asks Xander what he meant by that remark. Xander, as he's done before, tries to change the subject by telling a sarcastic story until Anya cuts him off by asking if he still wants to marry her. Xander admits to loving her dearly and wanting to be back with her, but he's still too afraid of himself to marry her. With her back turned to Xander, she reveals her vengeance demon face and angrily begins to wish him physical harm – but nothing happens. Anya morphs back into her human face and, upset that her powers didn't work, she leaves while a confused Xander looks on.
The next day, Anya has coffee with Halfrek and the two demons talk about Anya's attempts at vengeance. Halfrek reminds Anya that she can't grant her own wishes and must get someone else to wish Xander harm.
At the Summers house, Buffy makes pancakes for Dawn. Dawn realizes she's trying too hard to make up for what happened when she was crazy, and eventually Buffy catches on to that reality as well. Dawn proposes the idea of joining Buffy on patrol so the two can spend some time together, but Buffy isn't interested in that.
On their coffee date, Willow fills Tara in on all of the supernatural activities that Tara has missed over the past months. Anya interrupts them and tries to maneuver them into wishing harm to Xander. She does the same with Dawn at the Magic Box and with Buffy at home; but no one takes the bait. Xander shows up at Buffy's house and Anya leaves in a huff. Buffy talks him out of following Anya and he takes his aggressions out by kicking a lawn gnome on Buffy's front lawn. When Buffy doesn't recognize the decoration as something she put there, Xander examines it and finds that it contains a small camera. They guess that it was placed by Spike, who has more than once been caught watching the house in the past.
Buffy confronts Spike at his crypt with the mini camera she found. Spike denies planting the mini camera, and he further insists that he would never do anything like that to hurt Buffy, because he believes that the love between them is real. Buffy concedes that it is, for him; this hurts Spike deeply.
At the Magic Box, Anya complains to Halfrek that all the women she knows still love Xander too much to wish him harm, despite what he did to her. Halfrek tells Anya that she needs to find someone who hates Xander to make the wish – and at that moment Spike appears, seeking something to ease his pain. Anya remembers that Giles left something appropriate: a partial bottle of Evan Williams whiskey. Halfrek leaves and wishes Anya the best of luck.
At Buffy's house, Willow uses her computer to try to trace the camera's signal. Given that it was not Spike, they correctly assume that the Trio are behind it.
Jonathan completes his work with the disk, and uses it to highlight a spot on a map of Sunnydale. The Trio are delighted, until the map catches fire. This distracts them from a red light, flashing to announce that their network has been penetrated.
Anya and Spike drink the whiskey and complain to each other about their respective relationship problems. Spike reiterates how he despises Xander, but Anya cannot get him to make a wish. Spike also tells Anya that he likes her forthrightness.
Willow finds more camera feeds: the Trio are watching her classrooms, the Bronze, Xander's and Buffy's workplaces. Buffy wants to find them even more urgently now.
Spike and Anya seek comfort in each other's arms. Anya feels guilty about what happened with Xander and Spike consoles her, which leads to much more. The two kiss and undress. Andrew belatedly sees the intrusion alarm. Willow stumbles upon the Magic Box feed as Spike and Anya are having sex on a table. Warren directs Andrew to shut down the surveillance network, but they are captivated by the action on the Magic Box camera.
Willow fails to keep Buffy, Xander and Dawn from seeing what is going on at the Magic Box. Xander is enraged. Buffy, stunned, goes to sit in the back yard. Dawn follows Buffy and they begin to talk about Buffy's affair with Spike. Their bonding moment is cut short as Willow informs them both that Xander is gone – with an axe.
Spike and Anya get dressed and act awkwardly and embarrassed about their impulsive behavior. As Spike leaves the shop, Xander attacks him. Xander is about to stake Spike when Anya comes outside, trying to stop him; she distracts him long enough for Buffy to knock him out of the way. Xander and Anya yell at each other. Xander is disgusted that Anya had "let that evil, soulless thing touch [her]"; Spike quietly remarks that he was good enough for Buffy. Xander tells Spike to leave Buffy out of it – then he and Anya see Buffy's startled face and connect the dots. This is too much for Xander; he drops the stake and walks away stunned. Buffy also walks off, angry at Spike for revealing their secret. Spike finally starts to make a wish, but Anya stops him, and they part ways.
Willow is sitting in her bedroom when Tara appears, saying that repairing their love will be a long process – which she'd rather skip. They kiss.
Cultural references[edit]
Referencing Indiana Jones, Warren calls Jonathan "Short Round", a character in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
The scene where they use the disk to find the spot on the map references a similar scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Summing the episode's "Entropy" theme, Tara paraphrases William Butler Yeats' The Second Coming, saying "Things fall apart, they fall apart so hard."
The disk is inscribed with unknown symbols in a spiral, loosely resembling the Phaistos Disk.
Xander references the famous quote by George Mallory when arguing with Anya about her sleeping with Spike. When she says she slept with him "because he was there," Xander replies, "What is he, Mount Everest?" The original quote was when Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest. He replied, "Because it's there."
Andrew refers to Jonathan saying, "He's got that same look on his face, though. The one he had that time I highlighted in his Babylon 5 novels..."
Continuity[edit]
Anya mentions Xander's "beady eyes", as she did when magically compelled to sing her true feelings in "Once More, with Feeling".
Willow's outfit from the musical episode can also be seen on the door while she and Tara reconcile.
Buffy jokes that technically Dawn is only one and a half years old, and thus much too young to go fighting demons, because she was created as a teenager at the beginning of season five.
Xander and Anya's fight at the end of the episode mirrors some things that were said in Xander's false visions of his future in "Hell's Bells", including telling Anya that she disgusts him and yelling to "leave her (Buffy) out of it".
Anya and Spike previously bonded over their problems in "Where the Wild Things Are".
Xander previously believed Buffy and Spike were sleeping together in "Intervention".
Halfrek notices Spike as his human self, William, however Spike doesn't seem to remember, Cecily, (Halfrek's human name) After being ridiculed by his peers and rejected by the love of his life, as Cecily declared him "beneath her," the same night Drusilla sired him.
Arc significance[edit]
Willow and Tara are reconciled.
Buffy's relationship with Spike is revealed to Dawn, Xander and Anya.
Halfrek reminds Anyanka that Vengeance demons cannot enact their own wishes.
The Scoobies learn that the Trio have been watching them with hidden cameras.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Entropy
"Entropy" at the Internet Movie Database
"Entropy" at TV.com
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Seeing Red (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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"Seeing Red"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x19.jpg
Willow holds a dying Tara in her arms after she is shot by a stray bullet
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 19
Directed by
Michael Gershman
Written by
Steven S. DeKnight
Production code
6ABB19
Original air date
May 7, 2002
Guest actors
Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
Adam Busch as Warren Mears
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Amy Hathaway as Christine
Nichole Hiltz as Diana
James C. Leary as Clem
Garrett Brawith as Frank
Tim Hager as Administrator
Stephan Marks as Guard #1
Christopher James as Guard #2
Kate Orsini as Girl in Bronze
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Entropy" Next →
"Villains"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Seeing Red" is episode 19 of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In North America, this episode was transmitted to UPN affiliates a week early by accident. Although none of them broadcast the episode by mistake, the episode was leaked onto the internet more than a week before it was meant to air. The episode was also noted for its extreme content, being the only episode of the series to air at an alternate time on the Canadian family network YTV.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Writing
3 Cast 3.1 Starring
3.2 Guest starring
3.3 Co-starring
4 Cultural references
5 Continuity 5.1 Arc significance
5.2 Timing
6 References
7 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
Willow and Tara snuggle in bed together after their reconciliation, discussing the possibility that something is going on between Buffy and Spike. Tara confirms Willow's suspicions, adding that Buffy feels ashamed of her sexual relationship with Spike. Willow is hurt that she was never told, but simply puts it aside when she remembers what Buffy is going through. Willow goes to check on Buffy, but instead encounters Dawn in the hallway. When Tara appears wearing just a sheet, Dawn is thrilled to see they are back together.
Buffy meanwhile has decided to take care of the Trio once and for all and breaks into their lair, but finds the place deserted and dangerous traps waiting for her. She escapes, managing to grab a few items before large saw blades tear apart the house. Buffy, Dawn, Willow and Tara gather to go over those items, realizing sadly that the rest of the group won't be helping since they all have other priorities or lack interest. Anya sits with a young scorned woman who wants to wish vengeance on her cheating boyfriend, but Anya is too busy talking about her own relationship problems to notice the young woman's wish. Dawn visits Spike at his crypt, informing him that she knows he had sex with Anya and Buffy. She lectures him about hurting Buffy when he supposedly loves her and leaves him pondering the thought of how he shows his love to her.
Meanwhile in a cave, the Trio kill a large Nezzla demon who is guarding the Orbs of Nezzla'khan. Warren and Andrew make Jonathan wrap himself in the dead Nezzla's skin to cross a barrier that can only be passed by one of the demons, and as he fetches the orbs the other two conspire against him. Warren tests the power of the orbs and is pleased when he can easily kill another demon.
Xander, aghast that Buffy could have been involved with Spike, storms out of an argument with Buffy. He walks the streets alone, pausing briefly to secretly look in on Anya as she works at the magic shop. He ends up at The Bronze drinking away his sorrow over Anya and Spike, when the nerds enter. Orb-enhanced Warren hits on a former schoolmate's girlfriend, and when the woman's boyfriend steps in Warren fights off the boyfriend and several others with ease. Xander tries to intervene but is tossed aside.
Later, at home in bed, Willow reviews some files on her laptop, but is quickly distracted by Tara. Buffy, badly injured from patrolling earlier, runs a bath for herself to soothe her aching back. Spike shows up uninvited and tries to convince her that she loves him and just needs to admit it. She protests as he forces himself on her, his attempt to make her feel love for him again. With her back injured, Buffy barely manages to stop his advance on her. Immediately horrified by his behavior, Spike attempts to apologize, but Buffy knows he only stopped because she made him. When Xander notices Spike's coat on the stairs, then finds Buffy on the floor in the bathroom with a large bruise on her leg, he realizes what happened. His desire to go after Spike is thwarted when Willow and Tara arrive to tell Buffy they found plans indicating the Trio are planning to steal a large amount of money. After Xander warns her of Warren's new strength, Buffy rushes off to stop them.
Returning to his crypt, Spike thinks back on his attempted rape. He pours himself a drink, but when memories of the attempted rape haunt him he becomes so upset and furious that he crushes the glass in his hand. Just then Clem comes by, and Spike begins to wonder exactly what he is. He becomes distraught both that he attacked Buffy and that he backed off - something the pre-chip Spike would never have done. He questions whether his feelings for Buffy really are love. He realizes he is not a monster, yet can't be a man. Clem tells him that things change, and Spike suddenly gets an idea, and tells Clem that things do change... if you make them.
Warren overturns an armored car loaded up with money from a big weekend at an amusement park. Buffy shows up and fights him, but quickly finds herself outmatched against Warren's strength; Warren taunts Buffy with his supposed mastery. Jonathan jumps on Buffy's back and appears to be fighting her, but he quietly informs her that she needs to smash the orbs in order to defeat Warren. Buffy smashes the orbs on Warren's belt. No longer strong, Warren uses a hidden jet pack to escape freely into the sky. Andrew reveals he too has a jet pack, but when he tries to escape, he only knocks himself out on the overhanging roof above him. As the cops haul Jonathan and Andrew off to jail, the jetpack-less Jonathan realizes that the two were about to betray him. In jail, Andrew insinuates that he was in love with Warren.
Meanwhile at the city limits, Spike boards his motorcycle and leaves Sunnydale. He promises that when he returns, things will be different.
Willow and Tara get dressed and while hugging, Tara notices Xander and Buffy in the backyard together. Buffy and Xander begin to discuss Buffy's relationship with Spike, and the two make up and reaffirm their friendship. As the two hug, Xander spots Warren entering the backyard with a gun. Warren rants about his recent defeat and declares his intentions of revenge. He pulls out the gun, fires directly at Buffy, then shoots randomly over his shoulder as he runs away. Buffy and Xander topple to the ground as the window to Willow's bedroom is broken and a bullet strikes Tara in the back as she's facing Willow. The blood from her wound splatters on Willow's shirt. Tara stares at the stain and manages to say "Your shirt..." before she collapses and dies. Xander tries to staunch the bleeding of Buffy's chest wound, while in the house, Willow cries out as she holds Tara's lifeless body and her eyes turn magically dark red with pain and fury.
Writing[edit]
The episode continues the emphasis on the consequences of actions. Spike takes the time to explain to Dawn that what he and Anya did was wrong. Also, guns make another appearance on the show.
By the end of the filming of Tara's death scene, Gellar and Benson were crying.[1]
In the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences panel discussion that took place between seasons six and seven, Alyson Hannigan revealed that getting the shot of Tara's blood spraying onto Willow's shirt was incredibly difficult. Because they only had two shirts, the wardrobe department kept washing the shirts but did not have time to dry them, so the shirt was wet in most of the takes. Hannigan joked that when they finally got the take she wasn't sure what she was doing acting-wise, she was just concerned with, "Was that blood good? OK, good. Let's move on."
In the DVD commentary, James Marsters said that filming the scene in which Spike attempts to rape Buffy was one of the hardest he ever had to do. He has since said that he will never do such a scene again. That scene has also generated controversy between fans and the writers,[2] but writer Jane Espenson says that moment was necessary to set up a powerful motivation for Spike's quest to gain a soul.[3] As James Marsters points out, "How do you motivate him [to] make a mistake that’s so heart-rending that he’d be willing to do that?"[4] Marsters would later say in 2012 that he understood the idea to have come from "a female writer, [who] had a situation in her life where she was and her boyfriend were breaking up and she decided if she just made love to him one more time, that they wouldn't break up. She ended up trying to force herself on him and decided to write about that. The thing is, if you flip it and make it a man forcing himself on a woman, I believe it becomes a whole different thing... I'm not really sure it expressed what the author was intending and on that score it was not successful." [5]
In her essay on sex and violence in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gwyn Symonds calls the scene itself "technically and emotionally intricate" in that, unlike most depictions of attempted rape, it "encourages a complex audience engagement with both... the perpetrator and the victim."[6] The action was "very carefully choreographed" according to James Marsters,[4] with the camera alternating between close-ups of Buffy and Spike separately to reinforce the audience's shifting empathy with both Buffy and Spike.[6] Writer Rebecca Rand Kirshner agrees that the viewer "could feel how [Spike's] very innards were twisted into this perversion of what he wanted," and she found that experiencing the scene from his perspective was additionally disturbing.[7]
This is the first and only episode where Amber Benson (Tara) appears in the main title credits, and is also her death episode. Joss Whedon had long wanted to kill off a major character the first time they joined the main credits. Originally he indicated that he wanted Eric Balfour who played Jesse in Welcome to the Hellmouth, and The Harvest to be added to the beginning credits to add the shock that a main cast character could die unexpectedly. But due to budget constraints he could not be added at the time.
Cast[edit]
Starring[edit]
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay (Benson's only appearance in the main cast credits)
James Marsters as Spike
Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
Guest starring[edit]
Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
Adam Busch as Warren Mears
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Amy Hathaway as Christine (Blonde)
Nichole Hiltz as Diana (Beautiful Woman)
Co-starring[edit]
James Charles Leary as Clem (as James C. Leary)
Garrett Brawith as Frank
Tim Hager as Administrator
Stephan Marks as Guard #1
Christopher James as Guard #2
Kate Orsini as Girl at Bronze
Cultural references[edit]
"It's Klingon. They're love poems." — Xander talks about an alien Star Trek race.
Clem suggests that Spike use a wet cloth to cancel the effects of his chip, a reference to Total Recall.
Warren says to Andrew "Just stay frosty.", a quote from the character Cpl. Hicks, in the 1986 film Aliens
The figurine Buffy looks at with disgust in the Nerds' lair is a model of Vampirella, a sexy comic book figure who kills vampires.
Andrew calls Jonathan a "skin job," a reference to the film Blade Runner.
The saws in the Troika's lair were placed like the ones in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Continuity[edit]
Arc significance[edit]
The Trio's skinning of the demon foreshadows Warren's flaying by Willow. Also, Andrew calls Jonathan a "skin job," a reference to the film Blade Runner. This theme also appears in the season 7 episode Same Time, Same Place.
This episode takes a violent turn along the season's plot and sets the stage for its final episodes. The Trio has appeared thus far to be the Big Bad, but they will be no match for Dark Willow.
Willow's withdrawal from magic fails spectacularly when she loses the love so recently regained. She will complete her turn to the dark side.
Spike leaves Sunnydale in this episode, for reasons that will be revealed in the season finale.
Timing[edit]
From Tara's gravestone (shown in the Season Seven episode "Help"), the episode's final scene (and her death) occurs on May 7, 2002.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ BBC: Amber Benson web chat, retrieved 6 September 2007
2.Jump up ^ Symonds, Gwyn (March 2003), "Bollocks: Spike Fans and Reception of Buffy the Vampire Slayer", The Refractory: a Journal of Entertainment Media 2, retrieved 6 September 2007
3.Jump up ^ "Transcript of a Jane Espenson Interview by the Succubus Club", Slayage, 22 May 2002, retrieved 6 September 2007
4.^ Jump up to: a b Bernstein, Abbie (June–July 2003), "Blond Ambition", Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Official Magazine (8): 18–23
5.Jump up ^ 411mania Interviews: James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel), 10th March 2012
6.^ Jump up to: a b Symonds, Gwyn, ""Solving Problems with Sharp Objects": Female Empowerment, Sex and Violence in Buffy the Vampire Slayer", Slayage, 11-12, retrieved 6 September 2007
7.Jump up ^ Rand-Kirshner, Rebecca ( 2003) in Life as the Big Bad: A Season Six Overview in Special Features, Season 6 DVDs Collectors Edition, Disc 6. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Seeing Red
"Seeing Red" at the Internet Movie Database
"Seeing Red" at TV.com
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Villains (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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"Villains"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x20.jpg
Willow absorbs the dark magics from the books, consuming her in darkness
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 20
Directed by
David Solomon
Written by
Marti Noxon
Production code
6ABB20
Original air date
May 14, 2002
Guest actors
Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
Adam Busch as Warren Mears
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Jeff Kober as Rack
Amelinda Embry as Katrina Silber
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
James C. Leary as Clem
Steven W. Bailey as Cave Demon
Tim Hodgin as Coroner
Michael Matthys as Paramedic
Julie Hermelin as Clerk
Alan Henry Brown as Demon Bartender
Mueen J. Ahmad as Doctor
Jane Cho as Nurse #1
Meredith Cross as Nurse #2
David Adefeso as Paramedic #2
Jeffrey Nicholas Brown as Vampire
Nelson Frederick as Villager
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Seeing Red" Next →
"Two to Go"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Villains" is the 20th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot summary
2 Cultural references
3 Themes
4 Continuity 4.1 Arc significance
5 References
6 External links
Plot summary[edit]
An ambulance arrives at the Summers' house to treat the wounded Buffy. Upstairs, the distraught Willow calls upon Osiris to bring the murdered Tara back to life, but the god cannot, because the death did not involve magic. She leaves, learning from Xander that Warren Mears had shot Buffy, but does not tell him that Warren had also killed Tara.
Warren celebrates at Willie's bar, bragging about killing the Slayer. The demon bartender tells him that TV news reports Buffy is still alive. Warren visits black magician Rack, seeking protection from Buffy, but Rack tells him Willow is who he should be worried about; terrified, Warren pays for Rack's help, but Rack warns him that the enraged Willow will likely overwhelm his defenses.
Willow goes to the magic shop. Despite Anya's attempt to stop her, she absorbs great power and transforms herself into a dark magician. She appears at the hospital, magically healing Buffy to help her capture Warren. Dawn returns home and finds Tara's body.
Xander and Buffy accompany Willow in her pursuit; Buffy tries to dissuade Willow from using magic, but Willow argues that Buffy's life was preserved only through her sorcery. They catch up to a bus on which Warren is apparently fleeing; Willow attempts to kill him, but finds "he" is only a robotic duplicate. She finally reveals Tara's death to Buffy and Xander. When they refuse to cooperate in Warren's execution, warning that the magic might corrupt her beyond redemption, she lashes out at them and vanishes.
Buffy and Xander return to the house, finding Dawn with Tara's body. After the body is removed, they debate Warren's fate, with only Buffy unconvinced that he should be killed; but all agree Willow's intended vengeance will end up destroying her as well. Buffy seeks Spike's aid, but learns he has left Sunnydale without explanation.
In Africa, Spike approaches a cave-living demon, seeking to undergo an ordeal to win his greatest desire: to be restored to what he once was. He feels that things have not been right since he had his chip inserted. The demon agrees, although he considers it pathetic that feelings concerning the Slayer have led Spike to this.
Buffy and Xander ask Anya for help, and learn she has once again become a vengeance demon and is able to sense Willow's thirst for vengeance. Willow uses magic to locate Warren. She pursues him through a forest; he ambushes her and plunges an axe through her back. She recovers immediately, negates his magical defenses, and immobilizes him. As he taunts her, she realizes Warren has killed a woman before, and becomes more determined to execute him. She magically inflicts the pain of Tara's death on him by forcing a bullet through his chest. While Buffy and her companions approach, Warren begs for mercy. Willow silences him, then, as Buffy arrives, she kills Warren by flaying and incinerating him. She disappears, proclaiming her intent to kill Warren's jailed partners.
Cultural references[edit]
When Willow magically seizes control of Xander's car, he sarcastically refers to her as "Puppet Master."
The destination of the bus in which Willow finds the robot-Warren is "Further," a reference to the colorful bus of 1960s icon Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters.
This episode is Tara's last appearance on the TV show (she later appears in the Buffy comic Goddesses and Monsters).
Themes[edit]
In Televised Morality, Gregory Stevenson uses this episode to support his claim that Buffy surrenders to authority, provided it does not conflict with her moral responsibility as the Slayer. Warren is human, and killed Tara with a human weapon; therefore from Buffy's perspective he should be punished by the human legal system. When Xander argues that they cannot rely on the legal system because it is inefficient and flawed, Buffy says "We can't control the universe."[1] Despite Buffy's morality speech, Xander, Dawn, and Anya continue to maintain that Warren should be killed for his crimes, and they later quietly support Willow for her choice to kill Warren.
Continuity[edit]
As Buffy recovers, Xander jokes that "the dying thing is funny once, maybe twice." Buffy previously died in Season One's finale Prophecy Girl, and Xander resuscitated her in the same episode. She died a second time in Season Five's finale, The Gift, and was resurrected by the Scoobies (including Xander) at the beginning of Season Six. Later, in Season Seven's penultimate episode End of Days, Xander jokes to Buffy, "If you die, I'll just bring you back to life. That's what I do."
Just before she flays Warren, Dark Willow says "bored now", an oft-repeated complaint of Vampire Willow in season 3 episodes "The Wish" and "Doppelgangland".
After flaying Warren, Dark Willow says "One down", leading to the title of the next episode "Two to Go"
Arc significance[edit]
This begins the arc of Anya's loyalty after Buffy and Xander find out she's a vengeance demon. This arc continues until the Season Seven episode "Selfless".
This marks Willow's turn to evil, revealing her as the true Big Bad of the season, which will last until the end of the season.
This marks the last appearance of Tara.
While everyone believes that Warren is dead, events of the Season Eight comic book arc "The Long Way Home" will show that he was quickly resurrected, and kept alive, by Amy Madison. It is also reveals that he and Amy had been concocted plans against Buffy and Willow since. Warren would later die again in the eighth arc "Last Gleaming."
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Stevenson, Gregory (2003), Televised Morality: The Case of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Oxford: University Press of America, pp. 136–137, ISBN 0-7618-2833-8
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Villains
"Villains" at the Internet Movie Database
"Villains" at TV.com
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Two to Go
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"Two to Go"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x21.jpg
Willow uses her dark magics to try to kill Jonathan and Andrew
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 21
Directed by
Bill L. Norton
Written by
Doug Petrie
Production code
6ABB21
Original air date
May 21, 2002
Guest actors
Anthony Head as Rupert Giles
Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Jeff Kober as Rack
James C. Leary as Clem
Steven W. Bailey as Cave Demon
Jeff McCredie as Officer
Damian Mooney as Patrol Cop
Michael Younger as Truck Driver
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Villains" Next →
"Grave"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Two to Go" is the 21st episode of season 6 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The name of the episode is a reference to the previous one, which ends with Willow saying "One down" after killing Warren. Despite the death of Tara Maclay, she remains in brief scenes that are part of the opening credits.
This episode, and its second part, "Grave", were shown, back-to-back, as a two-hour feature on its original airing in both the USA and UK – consequently, the presentation of this episode on DVD includes credits such as "Grave" Written by...
Joss Whedon uses a credit technique after the final scene. He doesn't put Anthony Stewart Head's name in the opening credits at all, and instead appear at the end as a "Special Guest Star", so as to keep the character's appearance a surprise. Whedon also does this in Angel for Julie Benz in "To Shanshu in L.A.", Eliza Dushku in "Judgment", Juliet Landau in "The Trial" and Alyson Hannigan in "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb".
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cultural references
3 Continuity 3.1 Arc significance
4 External links
Plot[edit]
Buffy, Xander, and Anya try to pursue Willow, who has killed Warren to avenge his murder of Tara and now plans to execute his two jailed accomplices. They discover that Willow has damaged Xander's car to prevent them from catching her. Buffy continues her pursuit on foot.
Anya teleports into Jonathan and Andrew's cell shortly before Willow arrives. Anya and Buffy manage to evade Willow's attack and slip away with the two men. As Xander drives them away in a stolen police cruiser, Willow attacks them with a truck she is wielding magically; but her overuse of magic has drained her power, and they escape.
In a cave in Africa, Spike continues to pass stages in his ordeal.
Dawn and Clem decide to go to the dark magician Rack's lair, expecting Willow to try to deal with him to recharge her powers. Buffy, Xander and Anya regroup at the Magic Box and debate their course of action. Buffy believes she can convince Willow to relent, but the others disagree; Buffy heads for Rack's, alone. Xander admits to Anya that he might have been able to stop Warren before he fired on Buffy and Tara, but was afraid to intervene, unarmed.
Willow meets with Rack, who attempts to seduce her. She rejects his advances, seizes him, drains his power, and kills him, just as Dawn arrives. Dawn's effort to calm the much more powerful Willow prove futile and serve only to annoy her, but Buffy arrives before she acts against Dawn. Buffy tries to talk with Willow, who replies that nothing in the world matters anymore since Tara's death. Willow teleports the group back to the Magic Shop, where Buffy and Dawn collapse. As Willow attacks, Anya fires up a protection spell to shield Jonathan and Andrew. As Willow intensifies her attack, Buffy tries a physical attack, allowing all but Anya to escape.
Willow subdues Buffy, then disables Anya and negates her protection spells. As she declares her victory, she is struck down by a bolt of energy from the just-arrived Rupert Giles.
Cultural references[edit]
Andrew: "We've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa burgers, and not one of you bunch has the midi-chlorians to stop her." — This line contains three different Star Wars references.
Andrew compares Willow to Dark Phoenix, alluding to a storyline in X-Men comics: Jean Grey, a psychokinetic mutant, is taken over by a cosmic entity in moments of great emotional stress.
In the scene right after the opening credits, Andrew tells Jonathan, "Laugh it up, Fuzzball", another Star Wars quotation.
Spike, when confronted with the flaming-fists opponent in Africa, says "Here we are now, entertain us", a line from "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
As Xander, Dawn, Jonathan and Andrew are running from Willow, Andrew asks if they are just going to wait for "Sabrina" to show up.
Continuity[edit]
Arc significance[edit]
Giles returns to Sunnydale (again).
Rack, the warlock who was at the helm of Willow's downward spiral into magic addiction, is killed and his hideout is not seen again.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Two to Go
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Grave (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
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"Grave"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Buffy6x22.jpg
After Xander stops Willow from destroying the world, he comforts her as the dark magic drains from her
Episode no.
Season 6
Episode 22
Directed by
James A. Contner
Written by
David Fury
Featured music
"Prayer of St. Francis" by Sarah McLachlan
Production code
6ABB22
Original air date
May 21, 2002
Guest actors
Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Steven W. Bailey as Trucker
Brett Wagner as Cave Demon
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Two to Go" Next →
"Lessons"
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
"Grave" is the sixth season finale of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This episode is the second highest rated Buffy episode ever to air in the U.K., Sky One aired the episode which reached 1.22 million viewers on its original airing.
This is the only Buffy season finale not written and directed by Joss Whedon.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Production details 2.1 Music
3 Post-production
4 Series continuity 4.1 Arc significance
5 External links
Plot synopsis[edit]
Dark Willow tries to resist Giles' attack, rebuffing his attempts to help her. He is forced to bind her physically and magically. He informs Buffy and Anya that he has been endowed with power from a powerful coven in England, which sent him to combat Willow. As Buffy and Giles talk, Willow suborns Anya telepathically, so that Anya breaks Giles's binding spells. She throws down Buffy and resumes her magical duel with Giles.
Xander and Dawn continue to protect Jonathan and Andrew. Xander is becoming overwhelmed by guilt over his failure to act when Warren shot Buffy and murdered Tara. In Africa, Spike continues to complete stages of his ordeal.
Willow and Giles continue to duel. As she begins to overpower him, Willow also directs a magical attack at Xander, Dawn, and the others, forcing Buffy to leave to protect them. Willow then defeats Giles and drains his magical strength; the power breaks down her emotional shields. Overwhelmed by her pain and all the pain she senses, she announces she will end it by ending the world.
Buffy manages to partially block Willow's attack, but she and Dawn are thrown underground while Xander is knocked unconscious. Andrew and Jonathan flee, planning an escape to Mexico.
At the Magic Box, Anya comes to and finds a weakened Giles on the ground. He can feel Dark Willow's presence and knows that she's going to end the world. Buffy tries to climb out of the hole by pulling coffins out of the surrounding dirt walls to stack and try to escape on. After Xander comes to, Buffy sends him to find some rope to help them get out.
Buffy and Dawn quarrel over Buffy's protective behavior. Anya appears, telling Buffy that Willow is raising a satanic temple of dark magic from underground, and intends to use its artifacts to end the world by draining its life energies. She declares that Willow cannot be stopped by any magical or supernatural powers, and that Giles is likely dying, then teleports away. Xander hears the conversation, and leaves to confront Willow. Willow speaks to Buffy telepathically, telling her she deserves the right to die as a warrior, and raises earth-creatures to battle Buffy and Dawn.
Willow begins her final ritual of destruction. Xander confronts her and physically tries to stop her from completing the ritual. She repels him with magic force, but, wounded, he renews his efforts. He tells Willow he loves her, that if she destroys the world she kills him as well, and that he will stay with her until she does. Willow's emotional barriers collapse, her dark powers drain away, and her physical transformation is undone. She collapses in tears.
Giles revives and tells Anya that the magic Willow stole from him overpowered her emotional shields and gave Xander the chance to reach her. Anya is shocked to find that Xander saved the world. Buffy and Dawn reconcile as they clamber out of the pit.
In Africa, a severely bruised and bloodied Spike successfully completes his ordeal and demands his promised reward, his greatest desire. Accordingly, his soul is returned to him.
Production details[edit]
Music[edit]
Sarah McLachlan - "Prayer of St. Francis" - As Buffy climbs out of the ground with Dawn. - The song appears on the U.S. version of the Radio Sunnydale (12 songs), but not on the UK version (21 songs).
Post-production[edit]
In the DVD commentary for this episode, director James Contner says that while filming the scenes with Willow and Xander on the cliff, the wind churned up dust, which blew into Alyson Hannigan's eyes. Because of the dust, Hannigan removed her black contacts and her eyes were blackened digitally in post-production.
Series continuity[edit]
The hill where Willow attempts to invoke Proserpexa is the same hill where Angel attempted to commit suicide by sunlight in "Amends", though it is first named here as "Kingman's Bluff".
Arc significance[edit]
The Magic Box is destroyed.
The "Big Bad Willow" story arc ends with Xander, the show's everyman, saving the world through love and friendship rather than violence or supernatural power.
This episode once again establishes Xander as the "heart" of the group, the one that can always grant emotional support to the others in the hard times, a role that was previously established in the Season 1 finale "Prophecy Girl" when Xander, who at the time had a crush on Buffy, revives her through CPR and in the Season 4 episode "Primeval" when Buffy, Willow, Giles and Xander all merge their psyches together in a spell with Xander representing "Animus", the heart.
Buffy's own grief, which started in the middle of Season Five with Joyce's death and was aggravated by Tara's, is finally resolved as she completes the process of accepting life that she began in "Normal Again".
Dawn proves herself to be a capable fighter and Buffy agrees to stop being overprotective of her, which will become important in Season Seven.
Andrew and Jonathan leave town and head to Mexico.
Spike receives his soul, with important consequences in Season Seven of Buffy and Season Five of Angel.
Willow once again responds to Xander when he says "I love you" previously done in Becoming Part 2 where Willow awoke from a coma.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Grave
"Grave" at the Internet Movie Database
"Grave" at TV.com
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