Random styling comment... the beginning scene where all the girls, sans Buffy, are all talking over each other is filmed all NYPD Blue-like -- super shaky handheld camera work. I dunno if that was about trying to make the audience feel as lost as they were or what. It just seemed odd, and it stuck out.

After being kicked out of her own house, Buffy walks alone amidst the paniced evacuees and looters. She breaks into someone else's house to get some sleep. Spike and Andrew return with news about the Caleb and the vineyard. He quickly finds out what happened with Buffy and he's off trying to pick up her scent. He finds her quickly. They talk about the difference between quitting and being rejected. The power is still in her hands. She just has to take it back.But still feeling the hit of rejection, Buffy just wants to sleep, and she asks Spike to hold her. So he does, and they fall asleep in each other's arms. *sigh* So sweet.

Spike: You listen to me. I've been alive a bit longer than you, and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine, and done things I prefer you didn't. I don't exactly have a reputation for being a thinker. I follow my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain. So I make a lot of mistakes, a lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred plus years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of: you. Hey, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say, "I love you," it's not because I want you or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy.

The First visits Faith in the form of the Mayor, he once quasi-father figure. He taunts her and tries to unbalance her by telling her that Buffy only thinks of her as a killer, and that's all Buffy will ever consider her. Robin Wood finds her and they discuss the First and how it showed itself to Robin. They share a moment or something, and since this is the night before the end of the world... there's only one thing left to do. Yup, SEX. Then later on there is this great scene with them discussing quality of said encounter. She thinks it was stellar, he says it was a'ight. She says she's gorgeous, and he tells her he's far prettier than she is. Which is kinda true. D.B. Woodside is a very beautiful man. The eyes alone. Good stuff.

It really ends up being quite the night for the lovin'. Kennedy and Willow get it on upstairs. Xander and Anya seem pissy at all the moaning and groaning from upstairs, and eventually scratch their jealous  itches on the kitchen floor. I guess impending death will do that to ya.

The next morning Buffy goes to visit her bud Caleb at the vineyard. This time she's much more prepared for what he's capable of and she keeps making him miss. Quite cute really. It starts with a very Matrix-esque lean back scene, then proceeds to her being super fast and tiny and all avoidy. They do this for a bit, and Buffy eventually discovers a hidden room containing a weapon.

Faith and the Potentials are in the sewers, thanks to some information they managed to squeeze out of a captured Bringer. After a wee skirmish there, they realize there's not much going on down there, until Faith discovers a bomb about to explode.

Ugh. It's really started to set in. There's only 2 more episodes left. It's so sad :(

7x21 End of Days

Buffy has found what The First was keeping from her and what Caleb was taunting her about having -- a weapon. They keep referring to it as a scythe, but it doesn't really look like one I'm familiar with. Whatever it is, it's wicked cool. It's supposed to be some ancient tool, but it looks awfully new to me. It's got clean sparkly chrome looking stuff on it. Could they achieve chrome way back when? Just a thought.

Guardian: I'm sorry, what was your name?
Buffy: Buffy.
Guardian: No, really...

So, she must be like King Arthur or something, cuz she just pries the weapon out of stone where Caleb and his blind buddies have been trying to get it out of. Caleb looks quite exasperated when she manages to pick it up like any other daily household object.

Over in the bomb-land with Faith and Potentials, well, the bomb went off. It killed quite a few and left Faith unconscious. So unconscious in fact, she could go off and film her new show at the time -- Tru Calling. Decent show, but it didn't fare well. So, bomb goes off, ubervamps come out of the woodwork to attack, Buffy comes by to save the day with her new shiny weapon. I think it may have even matched her outfit. Our Buffy, always about the style.

Buffy gives Xander a task that he's most de-balled by. She wants him to run and take Dawn with him. Dawn's a slick one, so he has to knock her out to do it. Once she comes to and finds out what's going on, she manages to turn things around on Xander, what with the one eye and all, and head back to Sunnydale.

I forget what lead her there, but Buffy ends up at this tomb in the graveyard that we've never ever noticed before. It has all kinds of ancient design stuff on it, and no one ever noticed it. Hmm. In the tomb, she finds an old woman who tells her the story of the scythe and why it was created. It was made in secret and kept from the shadowmen. Just as she's reallly relaying the info, Caleb comes and snaps her neck. Oh snap, indeed.

As the two of them tussle about, Caleb appears to get the upperhand, until Angel arrives and knocks him down. But, this is Buffy's thing and Angel knows this, so he steps aside and lets her finish it. She ends up doing a nice gut move on Caleb then gives Angel a luscious liplock worthy of any hello. Well, no hello I've ever been a part of, but I'm betting I'm just weird.

Nearby, Spike is watching with a look of either disappointment or total broken heart. Sometimes it's just hard to tell. The First visits him as Buffy. Man, when they are down, the First is always just right there. Oh right, original pure evil... sounds about right.

7x22 Chosen

Buffy and Angel's reunion of the lips is interrupted by Caleb. Guess that gut-check wasn't the end-all after all. Buffy quickly dispatches him with a good slice with the scythe - starting at the man melons and goes straight up. That should take care of him now, I'm thinking. Buffy goes back to Angel to get some more lip action, but then Angel brings up the fact that he can smell Spike all over her. Buffy tells him that Spike has a soul now. This scene gets so cute, cuz Angel actually gets jealous.

Angel: That's great. Everyone's got a soul now.
Buffy: He'll make a difference.
Angel: You know, I started it. The whole having a soul. Before it was all the cool new thing.
Buffy: Oh, my God. Are you twelve?

After their cute tete-a-tete, Buffy asks Angel to go back to LA. She needs him there in case she's not successful in Sunnydale. He can be her next line of defense. Oh, he also came with an amulet that Wolfram & Hart gave him, and he thought it was meant for him cuz they said for something ensouled that wasn't human. So, I guess having that Spike around is a bit handy in those situations where you'd rather not be the one helping. Anyway, he does like his woman tells him and he leaves.

Later, Buffy comes to the conclusion that she can use the scythe to access crazy awesome power to give to all the Potentials. However, Willow is going to have to access those wicked powers that made her all evil last time. So, she's a bit worried about that. Everyone heads to the school, to the seal which they intend to open. They are taking the fight to the ubervamps. The fight ends up starting a tad early, but they manage to hold on... then pooof, Willow's magic works and all the Potentials around the globe get their powers. So, now the Potentials in Sunnydale can start kicking ass, Buffy-style. Willow didn't do all dark and veiny either. Her hair actually got super white and Kennedy called her a goddess. Guess she's learned that just cuz she has power, doesn't mean it always has to be a bad thing. Her hair quickly goes back to red though, in case you were wondering.

Buffy: I hate this. I hate being here. I hate that you have to be here. I hate that there's evil. And that I was chosen to fight it. I wish a whole lot of the time that I hadn't been. I know a lot of you wish I hadn't been either. But this isn't about wishes. This is about choices. I believe we can beat this evil. Not when it comes, not when its army's ready, now. Tomorrow morning, I'm opening the seal. I'm going down into the Hellmouth and I am finishing this once and for all. Right now you're asking yourselves what makes this different. What makes us any more than a bunch of girls getting picked off one by one. That's true. None of you have the power that Faith and I do. So here's the part where you make a choice. What if you could have that power... now? In every generation, one slayer is born... because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. This woman is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power... should be our power. Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the scythe to change our destiny. From now on, every girl in the world who might be a slayer... will be a slayer. Every girl who could have the power... will have the power... can stand up, will stand up. Slayers... every one of us. Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?

So, as they fight the ubervamps, they just keep coming. At one point they realize they can't take 'em all. They've lost a lot of Potentials and Anya has even died -- sliced from shoulder to waist, it was wicked gross. As they start to realize they are outnumbered, a big chunk of sun or something hids Spike who is wearing the amulet. He doesn't burn up though. The amulet sends numerous rays of sunshine into the ubervamp cavern which incinerates them. Only thing is, he must stay there to make sure they all get gone. Buffy and Spike have a small moment and she heads off to catch up with everyone else who's already left via school bus. Spike stays until all the ubervamps are dead, and then he is finally incinerated himself -- going out a champion. Who'da thunk?

Buffy: I love you.
Spike: No you don't, but thanks for saying it.

Buffy has to run like mad though cuz the town seems to be caving in from the school outwards. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Buffy manages to catch up with the bus. They stop once they get clear of the town, and when they turn back, it's just a huge crater. No more town.

The show ends with Buffy starting a bit of a smile, when she realizes that she's not the only Slayer anymore. She might even be able to step back and have a bit of a life. That is something for our Ms. Summers to smile about... it's only what she's wanted from the beginning.

Andrew creates a documentary called Buffy, Slayer of the Vampyres, a record of the current situation in Sunnydale to show to future generations. He manages to capture many important moments, and to annoy almost everyone in the house. But Buffy needs to tear him away from his filmmaking because the Seal of Danzalthar is active and Andrew may hold the key to closing it before it destroys the town.

Andrew: Come with me now, if you will, gentle viewers. Join me on a new voyage of the mind...a little tale, I like to call, Buffy, Slayer of the Vampyres.

This episode goes from making me laugh my ass off, to almost crying. It starts very tongue-in-cheek, with Andrew's documentary. The high school is experiencing an increase in hormonal teenage issues. Riots among cliques are starting, and the kids are just in general wanting to fight. The First manages to get some kids in the basement to start boogety-boogety chanting to open up the seal. It starts to glow... then Buffy interrupts.

So, maybe the funny stuff died off quick... but it was really funny when it was. Anyway, we then get to a point where Buffy has Andrew over the seal in the high school basement and making him admit that he did kill his friend Jonathan knowingly. He wasn't possessed by the First, he simply killed his friend. As he finally admits his part in Jonathan's death, he starts to cry. His tears drip on the seal causing it to stop glowing.

7x17 Lies My Parents Told Me

Buffy, Spike, and Wood seem to be fighting side by side quite often these days. Doesn't seem to make the evil stares Wood gives Spike any less ominous.

Giles meets Wood and Buffy at the High School. Giles insists that they have to do something to fix Spike... or get rid of him. He's too much of a liability. He has a weird stone thing that is supposed to be able to go through Spike's brain to find the trigger the First has put there. Once they find it, maybe they can deactivate it. Once they get it in his brain via his eyeball. Spike flashes back to when he was human and living with his ailing mother. He recites a poem he wrote for a girl to his mother. His mother goes into a coughing fit, coughing up blood. Poor William loves his mother so, and he hates to see her so sick. Once she stops coughing, she starts singing "Early One Morning" to him. A song that she has sang to him since he was a wee lad. He comes out of his weird flashback and tells everyone what he saw. He says he's fixed and all better now.

Another flashback shows Spike with Drusilla after she's changed him to a vampire. He now wants to make his mother a vampire so she won't be sick anymore. She doesn't seem very happy about it, but he does it anyway.

Wood and Giles have a conversation about Spike. They both still think he's very dangerous and he has to be taken care of. Buffy doesn't seem to be willing to admit what has to be done, so it falls to them to take care of the necessary.

Giles takes Buffy out to the graveyard to train and go back to the basics. A vampire attacks, and he won't let her kill it. She has to just keep fighting it while he is asking her questions and basically preaching. After quite awhile, and Giles continuing to rant about Spike, Buffy realizes Giles has been stalling her. Giles admits that Wood is off right now taking care of the Spike problem.

Wood takes Spike to his garage, and it just so happens to be covered with crosses on every surface. Well, except the floor. Wood starts up some iTunes and starts to play "Early One Morning". Spike goes all vamp. They fight, and we see another Spike flashback. His mother shows up and she looks significantly healthier than we last saw her. And, she's suddenly a mega bitch. Spike wanted to take her around the world with him and Dru, and she says she wants to finally be rid of his sniveling loser ass. Poor Spike is so sad.  He stakes her.

Back in the fight, Spike's face goes back to normal. Wood keeps beating the crap out of Spike, but it seems Spike's heart is no longer in it. He's not trying to hurt Wood, much. But he does look like he's about to bite him.

Buffy shows up at Wood's garage, and Spike is just leaving. Spike tells her that he didn't kill Wood, but if he tries that crap again, he won't hold back. Back at the house, Buffy tells Giles that Spike is alive and shuts the door on his face.

Buffy: (to Wood) You try anything again, and he'll kill you. And more importantly... I'll let him.

7x18 Dirty Girls

Willow comes back from Angel's 4x15 Orpheus episode. With her she's toting a powerful ally, Faith. However, the First has a new piece on the board as well. A misogynistic "preacher" named Caleb has come to town, and he throws down the gauntlet as soon as he enters Sunnydale. Turns out he is the one responsible for bombing the Watchers Council and the Bringers or "Ray Charles Brigade" as he calls it.  Buffy and Faith follow a Bringer straight to where Caleb's crashing, which happens to be a vineyard. With this bit of info, Buffy takes everyone there to confront him, and she ends up getting her ass knocked unconscious with one punch. Obviously, Caleb is a bit more than meets the eye. Oh, and I did not even intend for that slight pun. During the big fight, after Buffy is unconscious, Caleb pokes out Xander's left eye. Brutal. Looked cool in a really disgusting ooey gooey way.

Spike: Let me guess -- leather pants, nice right cross, doe eyes, holier-than-thou glower -- you must be Faith.

There is this really random scene in the beginning of the episode. I guess it's not that crazy, but it's a dream that Xander has of two of the potentials and he's giving them advise in his bedroom. This of course turns into a naughty dream. We then see the rest of the girls staying at his place in a big pillow fight. I guess it makes sense. Xander is around all these girls all the time, and it's not like he has much time for dating. I just thought it was odd.

Also, a not awful scene with Faith and Spike. He's shirtless! Hello, this never gets old. And their topic of conversation is sex. Wuh? Yah. Mmm. Not sex with each other, not really, but just sex in general. But who cares... Spike's partially nekkid. Woot. That's all you need to know about the episode.

7x19 Empty Places

After Buffy realizes what Caleb is capable of, she's walking around town. Looks like the entire town knows something big is happening and they are evacuating. As she's walking through the standstill traffic, she sees Clem leaving and he tells her he doesn't think anyone will be able to stop the impending doom. He tells her she should get out of town too.

Giles and Willow also see the mass exodus, and notice that everyone is acting rather odd. Especially the cops, who they manage to magick a file away from. The cops seem very eager to see justice done, for anything and everything, and then they talk of a fugitive that may be in town. Ooooh, I wonder who they could possibly be talking about?

The file they snagged from the cops is on Caleb, somehow, and they start combing through it to find out anything that will help them. They found out something about a mission, so they send Andrew and Spike to go check it out. The scene with Andrew and Spike on his motorcycle was just so funny.

Andrew: I-I bet even covert operatives eat curly fries. They're really good.
Spike: Not as good as those onion blossom things.
Andrew: Ooh, I love those.
Spike: Yeah, me too.
Andrew: It's an onion and it's a flower. I-I don't understand how such a thing is possible.
Spike: Oh, see, the genius of it is, you soak it in ice water for an hour so it holds its shape. Then you deep-fry it, root-side up, for about five minutes.
Andrew: Masterful.
Spike: Yeah. Tell anyone we had this conversation, I'll bite you.
Andrew: Right.

Faith takes the Potentials for a bit of drinking and dancing at the Bronze. However, while she's there, the cops find her. Tsktsk. When you escape prison, you can't just go being in public all willy-nilly. Even in an apocalyptic town apparently. With the help of the Potentials, Faith gets away.

Andrew: Can't? Can't is a four-letter word! I'm Andrew, I'll be your bad cop for the evening.

In a very strange move, everyone (except absent Spike & Andrew) go against Buffy and tell her she's just throwing them into the fire. They aren't ready, but she doesn't seem to care. And well, she doesn't seem to care, but she also seems to realize it's now or never and pussyfooting around the issue isn't going to do anything. But everyone basically throws her out, and tells her they want Faith in charge. Of course, this happens after Faith's field trip. She's like the cool aunt, and they like her more. Doesn't matter that she might not know what the hell she's doing, they just like her better. And in a move that truly baffles me, Giles, Xander, Anya, Willow, and Dawn all seem to support her stepping down. Dawn even tells her it would be best if she didn't stay at the house. How fuqd up is that? Seems so random to me.

Buffy and Spike begin to train the Potential Slayers. While Spike and Buffy are illustrating what a Potential should do in an attack with a vampire, Buffy realizes Spike is still hurt. They share quite the meaningful brief handholding and luscious look. Ok, maybe it wasn't luscious... but I found it to be. The lesson Buffy is trying to instill in the girls is "Know their instincts, trust yours". Good lesson. Yay Slayer teacher. As the girls are then getting a lesson in the Summers' house basement, Dawn looks in from the outside. She appears to be longing to be part of this group of special individuals.

Willow informs everyone that Giles' seers have found there is another Potential right there in Sunnydale. In an attempt to narrow down the search, Willow casts a locator spell. It appears to go straight at Dawn, and for a brief moment she believes she is a Potential. When she's out walking to get away from everything, she runs into Amanda, a girl Buffy has counseled at the high school. Amanda tells her about a weird bumpy-headed dude that attacked her at school. Dawn goes back to the school with her to help. We find out that Dawn isn't the Potential, but Amanda is. Dawn relinquishes her title with grace.

Xander: They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie, to be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody's watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You're not special. You're extraordinary.

Xander tells Dawn he knows what it's like to be in a group full of people that are different and special. Sometimes it's just as tough, if not tougher, to be normal around such a group. One of the few episodes where I feel for Dawn. She actually showed quite a bit of inner strength that she doesn't usually seem to possess.

7x13 The Killer in Me

Just a random bit of info... I've noticed that Spike has not worn his big long black leather coat since his soul was returned to him. He did kill a Slayer to get that coat, so maybe that weighs heavily on his soul.

Giles takes the Potentials out on a retreat. I guess it's meant to be like the one Buffy went on when she saw the First Slayer. Kennedy stays behind faking the flu. She really just stays behind to spend more time with Willow. They eventually kiss. It wasn't earth-shattering, but when Kennedy pulls back from the kiss, Willow is now looking an awful lot like Warren. It's still Willow in there, but the surface looks like Warren. She has no one to ask for help, so she goes to the local college Wiccan group she was once a part of. While there, she finds Amy aka Amy the Rat. She says she's realized how bad she got with the magicks and she's getting better. Amy says she will try to help Willow.

Buffy: Remember when things used to be nice and boring?
Willow: (thinks) No.

Spike is chained to the basement wall cuz they still don't know if the First can control him. While Buffy and Spike are talking, his head starts to hurt, and he manages to yell out that it's the chip causing the pain, not the First. The chip keeps firing for no reason, and Buffy realizes the only people that can help are the old Initiative military group. Buffy starts a search for them, including going to their old underground facilities. While searching in the dark gloomy-ness, Buffy and Spike are attacked by a weird demon thing that is curiously wearing fatigues. Anyway, while fighting it, it is mysteriously killed and the lights in the place are all turned on. They look above them and see a slew of army guys. They've been sent by Riley Finn to help Buffy in any way she needs where it concerns "Assface". Riley's apparent name for Spike. They give her the choice of fixing the chip or removing it.

The longer Willow looks like Warren, the more she starts to become him. She even goes to buy a gun and replay the day's events when Warren killed Tara. While Kennedy is with Amy as she is performing a spell, it becomes clear that something is up with Amy. Turns out Amy is responsible for what is happening to Willow. She's put a hex on her. The punishment was up to Willow's subconscious, and Warren was the form it seems. Kennedy runs off to find Willow/Warren, and  finally clues in and kisses Warren/Willow. This returns Warren/Willow back to Willow.

The rest of the Gang -- Anya, Dawn, Andrew, and Xander -- suddenly suspect that Giles could be the First after a phone call they receive from England. The Watcher that Giles came in on almost dead a couple eps back, says the only thing he remembers was Giles about to lose his head by one of the First's Bringers. There was no body though. Still very suspicious, they drive out to the retreat the girls are on with Giles, afraid since no one can remember him touching anything or anyone. Once they arrive, they all tackle him where he sits by a fire. That obviously means he's corporeal, so he's ok then.

This is all happening so fast. I don't want the end to come! Why did this show have to end so early? Seven years seems like nothing. Fourteen could have worked for me :D

7x14 First Date

This starts at the exact moment 7x08 Sleeper left off. Giles is in the graveyard with all the girls, telling everyone the story of how he escaped the axe-thing at the head from the Bringer in England. The gist -- he survived. Got it. In the middle of the story, Spike comes from out of nowhere and tackles Giles. He was still thinking he could be the First. Then Giles realizes that Spike's chip didn't go off. Buffy explains that she had a choice about his chip and she chose to have it removed. Giles is REALLY not happy about that. Giles reprimands Buffy about it, and the fact that he thinks she is letting her feelings for Spike get in the way of the decisions she should be making where he is concerned.

The next day, Xander is in a hardware store watching a demonstration of some kind. That just seems weird that Xander would be off living a normal life while the end of the world is coming. But I guess it's not like this is his first apocalypse. One gets jaded after the first couple, I suppose. While there, he sees a very beautiful young lady looking baffled at a display of rope. So, that is obviously a good moment to make your move. Her name is Lissa, and she's being played by Ashanti. He asks her if she needs help and they get to talking. They end up with plans for a wee coffee date later. Let us remember something here. If something seems entirely too good to be true in Buffyverse. IT IS.  Yah, she turns out to be evil, strings Xander up over that weird seal in the high school basement and tries to get his blood all over the seal to free some more of those Ubervamps.

Buffy: There he is, on the Hellmouth, all day every day. That's gotta be like being showered with evil. Only from underneath.
Willow: Not really a shower.
Buffy: A bidet. Like a bidet of evil.

Buffy is busy getting a date invitation herself. Principal Wood asks her out, and she accepts. She doesn't know if it's an evil date, a work date, or a sexy date. So she tries to plan to accomodate all three. Total weird side note... I really love the outfit she wears on her date. It's jeans, this weird lacy black sort of skirt or long jacket with a white shirt and a leather jacket. Hard to really explain properly. It's just really cute. Thought I'd share. On their way to the restaurant, that is quite handily located in the back of a creepy dark alley, they get attacked by five vampires. Buffy goes into Slayer mode, and oddly enough, so does Wood. He has a stake and everything too. They continue on their date, talk all about the fact that Wood is the son of a former Slayer and Buffy seems pretty super pumped to share her stuff with someone kinda normal. I'm sure it helps that D.B. Woodside is quite a beautiful man. He's got great eyes. You might know him from 24. He played David Palmer's brother, who then turned into the president too I think.

Andrew sees Jonathan, but duh, of course it's the First. The First wants him to kill all the Potentials. Turns out maybe he's not evil after all. He acts like he's in on it, all the while he's just stringing the First along. Willow has Andrew wired and they are trying to find out more information through what the First tells Andrew. The First finally catches on and gets super pissy.

Wow... long one here. Sorry about that. Eventually everyone finds out that Xander is in trouble. They all go to save him. In the end, the First shows itself to Wood again. He also informs Wood that Spike is the responsible vampire for his mother's death. Yow.

7x15 Get It Done

Buffy dreams of the First Slayer and she tells Buffy "It's not enough".  The house full of women is getting to be a bit much, so Anya and Spike go off to get drunk at a bar. They get attacked by a demon that says it was sent by D'Hoffryn to kill Anya I guess.

Principal Wood gives Buffy a bag of items that used to belong to his mother, the Slayer Nikki Wood. The bag contains various items including weapons, a book, and a strange sealed box. She gives Principal Wood a tour of the house. They then go into the backyard where all the Potentials are training, or doing a very bad imitation of a tai chi bootcamp. Lastly, they visit Spike's basement, and Wood is very obvious with his dislike of Spike.

One of the Potentials, Chloe, seems to be having a very hard time coping with being a Potential and the fact that the world is probably going to be ending soon. So, the First is able to convince her to hang herself. Dawn and Buffy are the ones to find her. The First, in the form of Chloe, gives all the girls another warning... "I'm coming, you're going".  Buffy buries Chloe. Question here is does Chloe not have any parents that would want to know about her death and want to bury her themselves? Just an observation. Anyway, Chloe's death actually makes Buffy very mad. She says Chloe was weak, and they can't afford to have weak people among them. She even goes off on Xander and Spike. With Spike, she tells him she wants the old Spike back. He used to be a better fighter, but now he's just being a wuss. She's very harsh, our commanding Watcher-esque Buffy.

Buffy: What I want is the Spike that's dangerous. The Spike that tried to kill me when we met.
Spike: Oh, you don't know how close you are to bringing him out.
Buffy: I'm nowhere near him.

Opening the box leads to enchanted shadow puppets that open some sort of portal. This has to be the worst looking portal ever. It looks like a big box of tv static that glows a bit more than normal. It just looked so half-ass. I guess in the scheme of things, that's not so important though. So, she goes through tacky cheesy portal and arrives in a desert area.  She runs into a few tribe men, called Shadowmen. Oh, there had to be a trade for the whole portal entrance, so a big ugly demon came through on the earth side. It attacks Spike so hard it throws him up against the ceiling so hard he goes through it to land on the second floor of the house. Neat. The demon gets away, but they know they have to have it to return in order to get Buffy back. If they can get Buffy back.

Spike is busy digging around his old digs at the high school basement. Seems he finds what he's looking for... his old leather jacket. Guess his power is in his "cape". He goes and retrieves the demon, brings it back to the house. Wood notices Spike's new attire and looks mega-pissed.

The Shadowmen are the men that created the original Slayer, and have chained Buffy to the Earth to get her more power. Seems like there is a steep price for that though. There won't be much human left in her afterwards. This price proves to be too steep for Buffy, and she refuses and kicks all the Shadowmen's asses.

Over on the other side, Willow is busy trying to get her spell on. Doing her spell, she ends up sucking energy from Kennedy cuz she's the strongest and closest person around. This completely freaks Kennedy out. Willow opens the portal, gets Buffy back. Before she left the desert alt-verse, the eldest tribe men touches her face. He gave her a glance at what she has to face... we see 100s of those Ubervamp Turok-Han under that seal in the high school just itchin' to get out.

Spike is held captive in the Summers home while the Scoobies ponder their options in the aftermath of his murder spree. Willow finds Andrew buying blood, while she is out to buy blood for Spike. She decides to take him prisoner also. Andrew is a much more talkative captive than Spike oddly enough. They eventually have to gag him to shut him up. Nerds do tend to be quite chatty. What with the whole not getting out much thing. Not that I'm speaking from total experience here. Nope, not at all. Not a clue what that's all about.

Willow: I'm talking! Don't interrupt me! Insignificant man. I am Willow. I am death. If you dare defy me, I will call down my fury, exact fresh vengeance, and make your worst fears come true. Okay?

Just as Buffy comes back in to check on how Spike's doing, she hears him talking to someone. She also hears him singing a tune. When she goes in, she finds him going total vamp, but he's not after her. He rips Andrew out from the other room and starts sucking on his neck. Then, they chain him up in the basement with metal chains. Cuz rope on a wooden chair seemed so useful before I guess.

As Buffy is talking to Spike in the basement, the whole house is invaded by the mysterious hooded figures called "Harbingers" or "Bringers" - the minions of the First Evil. Buffy and entourage manage to take care of them, but they realize too late that Spike has been taken. I'm really quite curious as to why the First feels Spike is so important. Does he really think that if "it" can manage to beat Spike down he'll be some awesome ally? Or is it just more about getting Buffy to come to "it" by way of rescuing Spike. Just an interesting side thought there.

Oh, and the Watcher's council was blown up. All the people, all the books and papers and research. Bummer.

I think the rest of the season happens in what is supposed to be a matter of days. It's full speed ahead from this point forward.

7x10 Bring on the Night

With Spike now missing, the gang tries to regroup and clear the damage done to the Summers home. This house will just never get a break. I mean, it's a good thing that Xander is this awesome carpenter/construction dude now. But really, I'd just make an abode out of cinder blocks and call it a day. Seems safer.

Giles arrives and reveals that the First Evil is trying to destroy the Slayer line by killing all the Potential Slayers. So he comes with three of the Potentials himself and he says more are on their way.

Giles: Sorry to barge in, I'm afraid we have a slight... apocalypse.

Buffy and Giles search the Christmas tree lot where she last faced the First (waaaaay back in Season 3)  and she encounters a creature out of nightmares called a Turok-Han. Now, I say nightmare loosely. Cuz I wasn't really all that scared of it. It's supposed to be the vampire version of a neanderthal and a spooky boogy-vamp. I get more scared at some of the more recent day vamps, myself. But, whatever, we'll pretend... Turok-Han, super scary.

Spike is busy in a deep dark cave with the First getting tortured by the Turok-Han, since the First can't be corporeal. So, you've got the physical thing of trying to drown a vamp... which really baffles me cuz they've said on more than one occasion that vamps don't need to breathe... and the psychological torture the First does on him by becoming people he loves. Oh, it just dawned on me that the First can become Buffy cuz she's died twice. Duh, that had me scratching my head for a second. See, the First can only become people that have died. I guess that doesn't include those that died and are still around. Mind boggling... no, not really.

7x11 Showtime

More Potential Slayers are arriving from around the world, seeking shelter in Sunnydale with the Slayer. One of them, Eve, starts to create tension among the young girls as she voices fear that Buffy isn't strong enough to save them by herself. And there doesn't appear to be anyone else to help her.

Through some witchy sources, Giles finds out that a Potential has come into town and is staying at a hotel. Xander and Buffy go to find her to bring her back, and discover her body instead. Big problem though.. it's Eve, the real one. They quickly head home and confront the First, masquerading as Eve. All the First does is laugh and smile and tell them that the Turok-Han will be coming for them at sundown. Then she goes poof, like an old school tv set. You have to see it to understand I guess. Problem I have here is why would you warn your enemies what your plans are? I guess it's one of those cocky confidence type things. But still... silly!

Willow: I felt it just surging through me, every fiber of my being. Pure, undiluted evil. I could taste it.
Kennedy: How does evil taste?
Willow: A little chalky.

Giles and Anya visit the most gawd awful looking excuse for an Oracle ever. It's like a ginormous eyeball (with eye socket too, natch) that then itself has hundreds of eyes. Yeeesh. They learn from it that the reason for all this is a vulnerability in the Slayer chain cuz of Buffy being resurrected. The First is just exploiting what is already there. Since Buffy was brought back once, at the end of the first season, her successor had already been called, and killed, and that then brought Faith into the picture. Faith is over in prison, so if Buffy dies, there is no one to succeed her. Faith would have to die for anyone to be called. But then there's the whole thing that if all the Potential Slayers are dead, who's there to activate anyway?

Without much more to aide them than a wee bit of muscle, Buffy asks if Willow can manage creating a barrier for the house. When the time comes, the barrier doesn't hold. Everyone starts to run. Buffy goes one way, the others go another way. She fights with the Turok-Han and leads him to where the rest of the gang is just waiting, Xander's current construction site. As she's fighting the Turok-Han we see flashbacks to an earlier conversation we didn't quite see, cuz it was all happening in Willow, Buffy, and Xander's minds. Willow has that power yanno, to be a mystical telephone company I guess. They had planned this whole thing. Buffy needs to instill confidence in the Potentials and this was their way. And of course, she beats it's ass, and finishes with a nice beheading via barbed wire garrote.

We see Spike in the First's cave again, and it looks like the First is messing with him again in the form of Buffy. But this time it's the real Buffy, and she's come to save Spike and take him home.

The episode starts out panning through what looks like a fraternity house. There are bodies everywhere. Looks like they all have holes in their chests too. There's blood everywhere, of course. Then we see Anya sitting there covered in blood. Elbows deep, even. She looks absolutely miserable too. She then goes and tries to wash some of the blood off. The next thing we see is Willow running into her on her way out of the frat house. Willow notices a bit of blood on her, so when Anya leaves, Willow goes in to check out the house. She finds the massacre, and also finds the girl who made the wish for it whimpering in a closet about wanting to take everything back. Willow almost gets attacked by the spider demon that was unleashed to do all that damage, but manages to throw it out of the house instead.

D'Hoffryn: (to Willow) The flaying of Warren Mears? Oh, truly inspired. That was water-cooler vengeance. Lloyd has a sketch of it on his wall.

Willow goes back to tell her pals about what she's seen and heard. Buffy and Xander go out to catch the spidery bugger pronto. During which, they have a conversation about how Buffy now has to kill Anya. Xander, being Anya's ex-fiance, takes issue with this. He wants her to find another way.

Throughout the episode, we see flashbacks to Anya's original past as a human and what drove her to become a vengeance demon in the first place. Her name was Aud back then and her man Olaf cheated on her. She cast some spell on him making him a troll, and then D'Hoffryn came a-knockin' cuz he was so impressed with her act of vengeance.

Back in the present, Buffy confronts Anya sword-style. They fight, Anya gets stabbed right through the chest. They show a weird flashback from the musical episode, but this was a song we didn't hear then. Something about her being excited to be a "Mrs."  She then wakes back up with the sword sticking out of her chest and then pulls it out. Guess it's not so easy to get rid of her. Then D'Hoffryn appears and Anya says she wants to take it all back. He tells her the price is the soul of a vengeance demon, and she says she's willing to pay. The problem here is he didn't say that she would be the one paying. He pops up her vengeance demon friend Hallie, and kills her, and everything returns to normal. Also because of this, D'Hoffryn doesn't want her as a vengeance demon anymore, and she's back to being human. And if she's human, Buffy don't kill that. So... she's off the hook now it would seem. Well, now she's all sad and remorseful though.

Not an awful episode. I really like the way the Aud flashbacks are filmed. Weird grainy thing going on and with subtitles. It just seemed very Anya. Very different from the usual Angel or Spike flashbacks. It was quite sad to see Anya be so miserable, but then again we really wouldn't have wanted her to continue on the show if she didn't show such remorse. I guess her (relatively) short stint as a human changed her to where she just couldn't bear the destruction she had to inflict on others.

7x06 Him

Ok, so we go from a kind of heavy episode, what with the attempt at killing Anya and at all that... and we move on to quite a funny episode. I was laughing my ass off during this episode. Hoooboy. So, Dawn gets what seems like a normal teenage crush on Sunnydale High's star quarterback, RJ Brooks. However, it then turns into something quite obsessive, which leads Buffy to investigate the boy herself. That turns out to be a problem too, cuz then Buffy starts to develop a thing for him. She's all over him in fact. Dawn witnesses how far it gets, and Xander manages to stop it before it goes too out of control. Dawn is crushed by Buffy's betrayal and with the man Dawn so deeply loves.. suddenly. As the Gang investigates, all the girls become quite enamored with RJ. So, it is then up to Spike and Xander to discover the source of this attraction.

Buffy: Willow, you're a gay woman. And he isn't!
Willow: This isn't about his physical presence. It's about his heart.
Anya: His physical presence has a penis!
Willow: I can work around it!

Turns out it is his letterman's jacket. It was passed to him from his older brother, who Xander had gone to school with in the past, and his older brother got it from their father. They didn't even seem to think anything was special about it. Only, that after the older brother no longer had it, the best thing that ever happened to him was getting in the manager program at the local pizzeria.

Ok, the really super funny bits was when all the girls are arguing about how much they love RJ and who loves him most. Then they decide they have to do something to prove how much they love RJ. It breaks down like so... Buffy says she'll kill the principal for him cuz he was giving RJ a hard time earlier... Willow is going to do a spell to make him a girl, cuz yanno, gay... Dawn is going to kill herself to prove for now and always she will have loved him most... and Anya just runs off and robs a few banks apparently. Not sure where the last one comes from, but whatever floats.

The really funny part was when Spike finds Buffy outside the principal's office with a bazooka. They have the shot from inside the principal's office, so we just see them through the blinds. Spike interrupts her, then we see her running away from him. Then we see her running back to try to do the deed, and that happens a couple times. Then Spike is finally able to tackle her. I just couldn't stop laughing. It's also quite funny that Buffy is able to believe that all the other girls are under a spell and she feels so sorry for them, cuz her love is so real for RJ. Just a really fun episode, that happens to be sandwiched between too very serious ones.

7x07 Conversation With Dead People

All the gang is confronted by deceased people of some degree or another. Buffy squares off, physically and mentally, against former classmate Holden Webster, who has just risen as a vampire. It ends up being this big psych session with Holden, as he was a psych major at Dartmouth or somewhere fancy schmancy like that. It was a very good way to get a lot of info about how Buffy feels. Also, the dialogue between them was awesome. They would go back and forth from shrink sessions to trying to kill each other and the juxtaposition was great. In the end, he tells her that Spike was her sire.

Back at the Summers house, Dawn is terrorized by an unseen force, while Willow is visited in the library by the ghost of Cassie Newton, who says she's been sent by Tara.

Holden: Oh, so I'm a vampire. How weird is that?
Buffy: Sorry.
Holden: No, no. Feels great. Strong. Like I'm connected to a powerful all-consuming evil that's gonna suck the world into a fiery oblivion. How 'bout you?

Back at the Summers house, Dawn is terrorized by an unseen force. She tries to do spells to cast it out, and otherwise get rid of it. She also suspects her mother is trying to get through to tell her something. In the end, her mother does show up and tell her that something big is coming and Buffy will not choose her in the end. That's just mean. What kind of mom would tell their daughter that? Dead or alive?

Willow is visited in the library by the ghost of Cassie Newton from a couple episodes back. She says she's been sent by Tara. Willow is so amazed and emotional about this encounter, until Cassie goes a little too far. She starts to try to convince Willow to never use any sort of magic ever again. She then goes a step further and says it would really be better for the world, for Willow, and for Tara if she were to just kill herself. Willow finally realizes something is not quite right here.

We also see Spike, sans dialogue, at a bar chatting up a girl. Then we see them walking the streets just lahdeedah-like. Then we see him get her to her door, but just before she goes in, he bites her, drinks her up, does the neck tango, etc. Then, we see him bury her somewhere. Uhoh. Maybe soulful Spike is not so good afterall... eeep.

7x08 Sleeper

After battling a new vampire who claimed to have been recently sired by Spike, Buffy warns the gang that they must keep a close eye on him. Since Spike is now living at Xander's place, Buffy keeps him in charge of Spike-watch. But since Xander has a job, where he's been dressing in a suit (!!!), he enlists Anya to stay at his apartment to make sure Spike doesn't do anything crazy. And since Anya is involved, we do get quite the hilarious scene here.

After a whole day of just sitting around, Anya finally gets curious and heads into Spike's room while he's sleeping. She's trying to find anything that might indicate he's gone bad. So, she starts going through his clothes, while holding a stake for protection of course. He finally wakes up while she's digging through his jacket, and she plays it off like she came in there looking for sex. I don't know what was funnier, Anya's hilarious attempt at seeming hot and bothered, or Spike's look of horror at the fact.

Anya: (to Spike) It's not like I'm snooping around for proof that you're some sort of whacked-out serial killer. I don't know why I said that. Forget I said that. It's craziness talking, it's just nerves. Nerves. Nerves and horniness. Oh, just shut up, William, and take me. Take me now.

Afterwards, Spike does go out but he seems to fall into a weird trance and then seduces and attacks a girl as the weird First Evil thing looks on. Then Spike starts to remember everything that's happened. He gets Buffy and takes her to where all the bodies are. Right after he gets her there, all the bodies he's buried suddenly and conveniently all rise together and start attacking her. He goes off to a corner to mutter to himself and cry. When Buffy finally slays all the vamps, she comes back to Spike looking ready to kill him. He also looks quite ready to be killed. But as he has a bit of a conversation with the First, she begins to see that he is being tormented by the thing that has been taunting all of them too.

Spike: You know I can't.
Buffy: Right. The Chip.
Spike: No, not the chip. Not the chip dammit. You honestly think I'd go to the end of the underworld and back to get my soul and then-- Buffy, I can barely live with what I did. It haunts me. All of it. If you think that I would add to the body count now, you're crazy.

Crazy Spike is not nearly as much fun as S&M Sexy Spike from last season, even if you just consider it all from a dialogue perspective. But of course, I'm also thinking of the fact that he was like half-naked half of the time in the previous season.

Back to the story... In London, Giles finds a young girl dead and a fellow watcher close to death. Just as the episode is ending we see one of those robed, hooded figures start to swing an ax thing at Giles' head. Cruel, cruel way to end an episode. Mean! Dammit!

We open the season with a scene in Istanbul. Yes, strange. We see a very frightened girl being chased by a couple of robed, hooded figureds. They eventually trap her, hold her down, and stab her with a really big ceremonial looking knife. Hmmm.

Next we see Buffy and Dawn in the cemetery. Looks like Buffy is keeping her word about showing Dawn the world, and that includes teaching her how to slay vamps. She doesn't do the greatest job, but she learns the lesson of the night. "It's about power", and Dawn doesn't have it.

It's a new year, which also means a new school year. In this case, it also means a brand spanking new Sunnydale High School. Since the old SHS did sit above the actual Hellmouth, Buffy and Gang realize they need to check out the new school to see how it's doing. Turns out the new principal's office is right over the sweet spot now.

Oh, and how did I forget about our evil witch Willow. Looks like she's been off in England with Giles in an evil magic rehab of sorts.

Willow: Is there anything you don't know everything about?
Giles: Synchronized swimming. Complete mystery to me.

So, back to the school. Buffy is checking out every square inch of the place to make sure the place is safe for Dawn and well, everyone else. She runs into the new principal, Robin Wood, and they get to talking. Mainly about why she's still around. They do also discuss Buffy's checkered, perhaps plaid, past at the High School. He doesn't seem too concerned with it though.  She continues her inspection, and she finds a weird doohickey in one of the bathrooms. Looks quite magical, in my opinion. Right as she picks it up, a ghost/zombie thing shows up and yells at her. Turns out that magical thing she found is a talisman. It's making some undead students and faculty rise up and blame Miss Summers for failing to protect them. The eventually figure out it's all connected to the talisman, so they destroy it. Makes everything better. Oh, and they had a couple of Dawn's new friends with them.

Later the principal sees Buffy talking to these new friends of Dawn's and he likes how she seems to get through to these trouble chillen'. So, he offers her a job as a guidance counselor of sorts. Guess no more Doublemeat Palace for her. Yay!

Oh, and during the whole thing, Buffy had stumbled onto Spike's new hangout in the school's basement. She seemed quite surprised to see him back in Sunnydale, and really quite baffled at the fact that he's now bat-shit insane.

I do like this episode, but it does make me miss Season 6. I know I'm a freak that way. Well, that might just be one of the ways I'm a freak. I'm sure the list is quite long.

7x02 Beneath You

We get another foreign scene, this time in Germany, with a scared girl being chased by robed, hooded dudes. This whole scene reminds me of an episode of Alias actually. What with the bright pink hair and fancy fighting moves. Anyway, she comes to the same end as the Istanbul girl. Stabbed and killed with a big shiny ceremonial knife/sword thing. This is obviously going to mean something in the future.

Buffy wakes from a bad dream with the warning, "From beneath you, it devours." This is probably going to be something big and something with the Hellmouth. I'm just guessing here. But I think it's a safe bet.

Buffy has her new job at the school, and before she starts her day, she goes to pay Spike a visit down in the school's basement. She doesn't find him though.

Xander meets a young woman, Nancy, who's dog was eaten by a large creature that burrowed up out of the ground. Spike mysteriously appears in a very blue shirt, and offers his assistance in dealing with the monster, but Buffy and the gang are still a little uneasy about having him around. He seems quite clear-headed this time around though.

In tracking down the monster, the Scoobies soon discover that Anya has definitely returned to her old ways. Seems like Nancy had a bit of a wish concerning her quasi ex-boyfriend. A vengeance-y type wish.

Dawn: Spike. You sleep, right? You, vampires? You sleep?
Spike: Yeah, what's your point?
Dawn: Well, I can't take you in a fight or anything, even with a chip in your head. But you do sleep. If you hurt my sister at all, touch her, you're gonna wake up on fire.

Over in England, Willow has some serious mixed emotions about returning home to Sunnydale.

Just as the big wormy creature is turning back into Nancy's boyfriend, Spike accidentally stabs him. This causes him to wig out again, and he runs off. After all is settled, Buffy goes to find Spike. She finds him in a church doing his random totally insane ramblings. As he mumbles on, she starts to catch on to the fact that he has his soul now. He wants it all to stop, and ends up hugging a cross... which of course makes his skin burn. But he looks quite peaceful while it's happening.

7x03 Same Time, Same Place

This is the episode that brings Willow back to Sunnydale. It's a really sucky episode. I'd like to think that Willow warrants a better episode for her return, but maybe it's the price she has to pay for going all dark and evil. Tsk tsk, you get a bad episode.

Anyway... Buffy, Xander, and Dawn are waiting at the airport for Willow. She never seems to get off the plane. However, same time same place, we see Willow arrive with no Gang to greet her. So, with a few more examples, we realize that they can't see each other.

While trying to find Willow, they stumble upon someone that has had their skin removed and their blood all gone too. They probably all think it, but Buffy is the first one to say it out loud. Willow is definitely capable of skinning people, isn't she? Willow sees the same skinned victim and tries to figure out what did it too. She seeks out Anya's help, which she reluctantly gets. They do a locator spell and find the cave where the thing is at. Buffy and friends also find the same cave, but with blood-sniffing Spike as their aide.

Xander: I saved the world with talking from my mouth. My mouth saved the world.

There's a fight and Dawn gets pegged by the demon which paralyzes her. Buffy and Xander take her home, then run into Anya too. Anya mentions that she helped Willow and that she was on her way to some cave. They realize that she's probably there now. They go back, with Anya in tow. She can see both parties and helps them save Willow, cuz she's been playing food to the demon while they were gone. Shortly after the demon is slain, they can suddenly see each other again. Willow realizes she may have accidentally put the spell in motion. She was so worried about seeing them again that she may have just put that out there.

7x04 Help

The day has arrived for Buffy to really do her counselor duties at the High School. She talks with some troubled teens and seems to be doing not bad. They all seem quite comfortable talking to her. Some just want to visit her cuz she's a hottie though. However, when a student named Cassie talks to Buffy, she calmly relays that she will die in a week. This appears to be one situation Buffy doesn't quite now how to address. At first she thinks she's suicidal, but that doesn't pan out. Then she thinks it might be due to her alcoholic father, and that doesn't seem likely either.

Willow: Have you googled her yet?
Xander: Willow! She's 17!

Buffy asks Dawn to befriend Cassie, and get to know her a bit better. Try to suss out what might be going on. With the help of some locker searches, Buffy finds a kid that has info about some ceremony some kids at the school are going to have. They plan on using Cassie as the sacrifice. Buffy and Spike save Cassie from the kids and the Demon they summoned. On their way out of the school, Cassie almost gets pegged by an arrow that was set as a booby trap on the door. Buffy catches the arrow in time. Right after that, Cassie falls down dead. Turns out it was her heart that was gonna be her end. Just an old-fashioned heart problem. Poor kid.

Now on the surface, I would think I wouldn't like this episode. But I did like it. I can't put my finger on why though. It definitely seems to fall into the monster-of-the-week category, and that usually just makes my skin crawl. Maybe it was that the Gang learned that they can't save everyone from everything.

The paramedics arrive at Buffy's house and try to save Buffy. While they are doing that, Willow is upstairs calling on Osiris to bring Tara back to life. He denies her because the dark magicks will not reverse a natural human death. She instantly becomes consumed with rage. Tara was her emotional anchor, and with her gone, she has gone straight back to the dark arts she had turned away from out of her love for Tara.

She goes straight to the Magic Box and absorbs all the information in all the dark magick books she finds there. The absorbing of all the information makes her eyes and her hair go black. Buffy and Xander find her, and they hunt Warren down on a bus heading out of Sunnydale. She goes to kill him, and they find out he's a robot. Buffy and Xander can't believe what she's willing to do, and they try to stop her. She blasts them with the dark magic and flees.

Back at the house, Dawn gets home from school and finds Tara's body.

With the help of Anya and the return of her vengeance demon powers, Buffy and Xander find Willow. Just as she's tortured Warren, skinned him alive, then burns him. Then she goes airborne...

Willow: One down...

6x21 Two To Go

After exacting revenge on Warren for Tara's death, an extremely powerful and vengeful Willow now vows to go after the other two members of the trio, Jonathan and Andrew.  After freeing the Duo from jail they have to escape a chasing Dark Willow. As she's chasing them with a semi, she starts to run out of magic energy. The Gang and duo escape her and they run to the Magic Box to find a protection spell. Of course, she finds them. She tries to attack the two dudes, but they've managed to get the protection spell up and running.

Willow: You're trying to sell me on the world? The one where you lie to your friends when you're not trying to kill them? And you screw a vampire just to feel? And insane asylums are the comfy alternative? This world? Buffy it's me. I know you were happier when you were in the ground. The only time you were ever at peace in your whole life was when you were dead. Until Willow brought you back...you know, with magick.

They manage to get the guys out of the shop, and distract her. Willow is willing to do just about anything to get what she wants, even if it means going through Buffy to do it. As they start battling it out, a bright green light sends Willow flying across the shop and Giles appears in the doorway.

While all this is going on in Sunnydale, Spike is undergoing a crazy harsh challenge given to him by an African demon. An Africa that looks like a California beach with a bonfire and some huts tossed on it. Very weak there. See, he's doing this challenge in hope of becoming what he once was. I'm sure we'll find out what this means in more detail later.

6x22 Grave

Giles has some new-found power given to him by a local coven to help him battle Willow. He is able to bind her, but only momentarily. She does some mind control on Anya who gets her free. Buffy and Giles go a few round with Willow, which destroys the magic shop, and weakens Giles. He still tries to get her to see her evil ways by talking about Tara, but that doesn't faze Miss Evil Thang. She sends a big magical fireball out into the world to find the nerd duo.

Xander: First day of kindergarten you cried 'cause you broke the yellow crayon and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far. Ending the world, not a terrific notion, but the thing is yeah, I love you. I loved crayon-breaky Willow and I love scary veiny Willow. So if I'm goin' out, it's here. You wanna kill the world? Well, then start with me. I've earned that.

Buffy races to save them and Xander from the fireball of death, and just barely makes it. However, she ends up trapped in a big while in the graveyard with Dawn while Xander has been knocked unconscious. The nerds take this opportunity to flee.

Willow is busy continuing her attack on Giles, and he tries to counter her, but no go. She sucks his energy out of him and into her, which hits her with a huge burst of emotion. She suddenly feel so much pain and hurt in the world and this just makes matters worse. Now she wants to end the whole world's pain. That's quite the burden there. But, she's gonna do it the easy way, by just ending the whole world. No world, no pain.

While Anya is helping Giles as he lay dying, she learns of Willow's world ending plans. She goes to find Buffy who is still stuck in the hole with Dawn. Anya gives her the lowdown on what's going on, then she goes back to Giles.

Willow speaks to Buffy telepathically and wants her to die fighting, so she makes a group of weird tree root and mud zombies from the hole they're in. Buffy is outnumbered, so enlists dawn to help. See, two swords had fallen down in the hole with them... can you say convenient? Gah. Dawn shows off some killer slayer-esque movies, and seems to impress her big sister.

Willow is busy up on the edge of a cliff bringing up an old satanic temple to help her destroy the world. However, Xander steps in her way to stop her. He starts to talk to her, trying to remind her of her past and how he will always love her. She uses magic to wound him, and he just keeps yelling at her that he loves her. The emotions he is bringing up drains her of her powers. She finally breaks down in his arms as the magic continues to drain from her. Finally making her hair red again, and the black veins disappear.

Once her powers are gone, Giles recovers. He tells Anya that the powers Willow took from him were a bit spiked. They were meant to allow her to tap into her emotions so Xander could reach her humanity. Meanwhile, back in Africa, Spike is told that he has indeed completed the challenges and has won his prize. But I'm thinking it wasn't what he was expecting. The demon slams his hand on Spike's chest and restores his soul.  Maybe he should have been more specific with the wording. Cuz he did say something like "restore me to my old self, so the slayer gets what she deserves". Oooh, next season could be very interesting.

Xander and Anya's lovely day has arrived. They have all their family around them, which in Xander's case is never a good thing. Xander's human family goes head to head with Anya's demon friends, who everyone thinks are just "circus folk". That would have to be some very odd circus.

Buffy and Willow are quite terrified at the bridesmaid/best wo-man dresses they will be wearing. They do look particularly hideous, even for bridesmaid dresses.

Willow: I'll say this for the Y chromosome: Looks good in a tux.
Xander: Your double Xs aren't doing so bad there either.

Spike shows up to the wedding with a weird goth looking chic as a date. Not all the cute IMO. He finally talks to Buffy and she admits to being a bit jealous, which really makes him feel good. Then he leaves cuz, yanno, mission accomplished there. Just as the wedding is about to start, an old man approaches Xander claiming he is future-Xander. He does some magick with a glowy ball and shows young Xander all that his life is going to be like with Anya. It looks really awful. One of their children even has demony features, so obviously Anya got it on with a demon at some point. They just fight all the time, and hate on each other. Right after he sees all this, and the fact he's been all wiggy with the idea of the wedding since they told everyone about it, he runs off and leaves Anya at the altar. Fights ensue between the demon folk and the drunk human folk, and Anya discovers the old man isn't a future Xander. He's a guy that's now a demon thanks to Anya's old vengeance demon ways, and all this was his payback for the things she did to him. Xander does finally return but only to tell Anya that he can't marry her. All that he saw might not have been real, but it could be, and that's reason enough for him to not go through with it. Can't really say this was all that shocking. Xander is always the weeny scared one of the group, and this is a weeny scared thing to do. In the end, Anya's old boss offers her her old job back.

6x17 Normal Again

After Buffy is poisoned by a demon, she starts to believe that she is actually in a mental hospital. In this alternate world of hers, her mother is alive, her parents are actually together, and that her entire existance as a Slayer has been a really long detailed hallucination.

Buffy: ...and that Sunnydale and all of this, none of it was real.
Xander: Aw, come on, that's ridiculous. What, you think this isn't real just because of all the vampires and demons and ex-vengeance demons and the sister that used to be a big ball of universe-destroying energy?

With the help of the Scoobies, she finds out what demon it is, and they go do their thing with capturing it. It also seems to have it's own antidote. Willow does the non-witch thing and makes an antidote with science. She leaves Buffy to drink it down, but Buffy decides she might like the other life better. If she does like the doctors say in her other world, getting rid of all that anchors her in Slayer-world, she can be normal again. Heh, name of episode. DING! So, she starts to gather up her friends and stuffs them into the basement where they have the poison demon tied up. It gets loose, almost kills her friends, Tara helps save them. With the help of Buffy's mother on the institutional side of things, she convinces Buffy that she needs to live her life finally. This clicks with her, and she decides to save her friends and finally gets the antidote. Oh, and this was all cuz of the nerd trio. Those buggers are getting quite dark themselves. I guess this episode is another way to get Buffy back into her more happy place. Another step out of her despair. Meh.

6x18 Entropy

Anya has taken on her old role as a vegeance demon and attempts to curse Xander for all the pain he has caused her. But she quickly realizes she can't do it herself. So, she tries to get some of her old friends, aka Xander's lifelong friends, to help her make the wish for her. But, she can't quite seem to squeeze the W-I-S-H word out of 'em. Buffy is trying to spend some quality time with Dawn after her violent actions in the previous poisoned/mental institute episode. But, Dawn's not digging on the big sister trying to tag along everywhere. Dawn would much rather just tag along with Buffy... like when she's out patrolling with the dangerous demons and such. Buffy doesn't really like that idea, it being dangerous and all.

Anya: I wish you felt the pain of a thousand searing pokers boiling your heart in its own juices!

The Gang discover that the nerd trio have been watching their every move with hidden cameras that are everywhere. With the camera they find in Buffy's front yard, Willow traces the signal to all the other cameras. They get quite a show when they find the camera at the Magic Box. They all witness Anya and Spike consoling each other on the table there. And by consoling, I mean getting it on all drunk like. Xander is beyond pissed, he's actually quite disgusted. Willow and Dawn witness Buffy's reaction to Spike's presence on the video feed, and everything starts to click with that. Xander finds out from Spike when he says something like "good enough for Buffy". He thought his world was rocked before, add that and it gets all bouldered. Willow and Tara are on the road to mending their relationship. They go out on a coffee date. Then Tara gets impatient with the journey to trusting again, and heads over to Willow and they start making out like the good ol' days.

6x19 Seeing Red

Willow and Tara are still up from the night before. They got busy and busy and busy apparently. Their love life is looking far better than anything Xander, Anya, Spike or Buffy have going on. The nerd trio, aka the Troika I think, are moving into something bigger than ever. They steal a couple mystical orbs which give the bearer crazy super strength and your basic invulnerability.  They attempt to rob an armored truck, but Buffy manages to stop them and destroys Super Warren's super balls. He manages to leave via jetpack, but the other two get taken away by the coppers. Spike feels pretty miserable about his thing with Anya. But only in so much as he still loves Buffy. He goes over to Buffy's house to apolgize to her and tries to convince her yet again that she does love him but she just can't admit it. He goes way too far this time, and almost rapes her. She manages to stop him, but not before she is completely disgusted and afraid of him. He looks pretty disgusted with himself too. He ends up leaving town, saying things will be different when he returns.

Buffy: (about Spike) Xander, you fought side by side with him when I was gone. You let him take care of Dawn.
Xander: But I never forgot what he really is.

Just as Xander and Buffy are making up from all the fighting about the Spike situations, Warren storms into her backyard and starts firing a gun to kill Buffy. He manages to hit her, and with one of his more wild shots, he hits Tara who is upstairs talking to Willow. I've noticed this before, but I noticed it again with this episode. There are a lot more daytime shots in this season. We have our Gang having conversations out in the bright beautiful sunny days or whatever. Maybe it was a way to balance the darkness of the stories themselves. Pretty wise actually. This is a pretty dark situation, and it all goes down during the day. Not the usual circumstances for our gang.

Desperate for the cash-money, Buffy gets a job at a fast food restaurant where the employees and manager are very odd folks. The high turnover rate of employees has her very suspicious. She's used to the weird, so her mind always goes to the weird. Turns out she's right though. She finds a finger in the meat grinder, and tries to figure out what's going on. Turns out to be an old lady regular customer of the place, and she eats the employees cuz they are all nice and greased up for her. It's a really gross demon thing that comes out of the old ladies head. Not the cutest or best done monster ever.

Willow is still working on staying away from the magick, but Amy makes things worse. She gives her a little gift of magick. That doesn't seem very friend-like. But, then again, Amy is quite the junkie herself.

Willow: Amy... if you're really my friend, you'd better stay away from me. And if you're really not... you'd better stay away from me.

In Anya's world, she has an old vengeance demon friend visit. Her friend keeps questioning her about Xander and their relationship which gets her all worried about their pending nuptials and future life together.

I hate seeing Buffy needing to do the whole real world thing. She's a Slayer, real life shouldn't be allowed to touch her. And, I mean, if you've worked at a fast food place, it's gross and definitely feels a bit on the degrading side. Well, you can get away with it as a teenager, but beyond that, it's just not so good.

6x13 Dead Things

The nerd trio latest scheme is a new device which will make women their mindless slaves. It all goes horribly wrong when Warren makes his ex-girlfriend Katrina the first victim. She is accidentally kissed, and the trio end up using magick to make Buffy think that she has killed the girl. And it works. The Troika's latest scheme, a new device which will make women their mindless slaves, goes horribly wrong when Warren's ex-girlfriend Katrina is accidentally killed. The trio use magick to make Buffy think that she has killed Katrina - and it works.

Buffy: We missed the bed again.
Spike: Lucky for the bed.

Buffy and Spike's relationship, or whatever you want to call it, is getting more interesting. At one point, they secretly go at it in the open at the Bronze on the club's balcony. That was just kinda weird. She looks miserable and turned on at the same time. I read somewhere that this was Sarah Michelle Gellar's least favorite episode and the balcony scene her least favorite scene. Something about it not being the Buffy they started with.

Buffy goes to turn herself in to the police for the girl she killed, but Spike tries to stop her. She manages to slip past him by beating the crap out of him. Which he kinda lets her do. While she's waiting for a policeman to talk to her, she overhears that the body found is Katrina, and that gets her wheels-a-spinning, and she leaves before anyone can talk to her. She figures out it's Warren.

This episode is odd. We start with it being kinda cute between Buffy and Spike. They actually have a bit of a conversation together. Ok, yah, Spike kinda ruins it with talk of handcuffs, but before that they almost seemed kinda coupley with the conversing. The next thing we have is Buffy all kinds of dark and brooding in the balcony scene, then the whole idea of her possibly killing a human puts her in a wicked tailspin. As odd as everything was with the episode, I still like it. Well, I like the individual sections it has. I just think all those pieces don't do so well at gelling together.

6x14 Older and Far Away

It's time to celebrate the Slayer's birthday. Which is never a good thing. This year, she's finally twenty-one, and she tries to have a low-key sort of thing. She has friends and friend of friends over. Anya and Xander bring a friend over that they are trying to set her up with. But Spike is around and he's finding the set-up quite amusing. Everything starts out peachy. But as the night turns into day, they realize that they can't leave the house. They want to, but they can't.

Spike: (to Buffy) So, you ever think about, maybe, not celebrating your birthday? Just try it, I mean.

Turns out that the neglect that Dawn has been feeling may have something to do with it. She seems to have made a wish to keep people from leaving her. The wish is answered by Anya's demon friend Halfrek, who binds the party's guests to the house. Tara tries a spell to free everyone, but she ends up making the situation much worse by accidentally releasing a demon trapped inside a sword that Buffy swiped from a demon she slayed. Anya helps get Halfrek to get make the curse go away.

Not awful episode, but nothing really memorable. Weird episode to have after the really dark nature of the previous episode. Very strange juxtoposition there. Things between Buffy and Spike actually seem to be light and cute in this one. Strange stuff.

6x15 As You Were

Riley is in Sunnydale, and it ain't for reminiscing. He's pursued a demon here, and he needs Buffy's help in killing it. He also has a bit of another surprise. He's married and he's brought her, Sam, with him. She's a fellow demon hunter and  and she gets along with the whole Scooby Gang. But Willow, being the BFF that she is, tells Buffy that she's "prepared to hate this woman any way you want." Now, girls, you know this is a sign of a deeply true friend. Makes me all misty-eyed. Now with the whole cheesy happy couple in town, this makes Buffy question her own odd relationship with Spike. Specifically, it highlights everything she doesn't have but certainly wants. Riley actually catches Spike and Buffy in the afterglow of their most recent romp, and she looks quite revolted at the situation and herself. After Riley and bride leave, Buffy breaks up with Spike. For real this time I think.

Buffy: I'm using you. I can't love you. I'm just being weak and selfish...
Spike: Really not complaining here.
Buffy: ...and it's killing me. I have to be strong about this. I'm sorry... William.

Ok... let me count the ways this episode annoys me. First, we have Riley coming in all gung-ho and with this lame-ass scar down one side of his face. Really? Was this necessary to show he's been through oh-so-much? His wife is so cheery and happy and buddy-buddy and understanding. It's quite revolting really. But I guess that fits out Riley. Next, we have the fact that our evil demon egg dealer villain person is Spike? Wuh? That just seemed kinda out of left field.

I understand the need for this particular episode and what it accomplishes. I would just it rather have been done better. I guess they wanted Buffy to be reminded that she's alive and she can have things she wants, and she can want better than what she's getting. Although, I really don't see much wrong with Spike. Ok, yah, vampire... soulless.. evil... but he's got a rockin' bod! Geeez. It's perfectly ok to be shallow, really.

After breaking up with Tara, Willow successfully de-rats Amy and the two witches begin hanging out and having fun with magic, drawing Willow further into her growing addiction. Meanwhile, Spike notices that his chip doesn't kick in when he hits Buffy, at first he thinks the chip doesn't work anymore at all. Then he tries to get friendly with a human's neck and he gets his big old brain zap. He heads over to Warren, who built his Buffybot for him, to get his chip checked out. He declares it all systems go. This makes him realize that it's just Buffy that he can hit, leading him to believe that she may not be entirely human anymore.

Buffy: Your job is to kill the Slayer, but all you can do is follow me around making moon eyes!
Spike: I'm in love with you.
Buffy: You're in love with pain!

Of course, Warren and the rest of the nerd trio have their own thing going on. They steal a big diamond from a local museum we've never heard of before, and we don't find out why yet.

Spike meets up with Buffy to tell her she's come back wrong. Since he can now hit her, he decides he wants to take advantage of it. They fight and fight and fight and end up in an old dilapidated building. As the fight gets really heated, she kisses him. Then they progress to slamming each other into the building while making out, thus destroying the building even more.  That sexual tension builds so much that Buffy jumps on Spike, unzips his pants and she goes to town, while Spike is looking at her with his moon eyes in awe.

6x10 Wrecked

Tara and Amy fell asleep on the couch and woke up the next morning wondering where Willow and Buffy are. Neither came home from their nights out. When they do return home, Buffy is ashamed of having slept with Spike and Willow is exhausted from casting spells all night. Dawn is really starting to look like she's feeling super neglected. Everyone seems to have their own things going on, leaving her in the lurch.

Buffy: Oh you're bent.
Spike: Yeah, made you scream didn't it.

As an odd observation, Anya is now suddenly platinum blonde and she's also in full wedding planning mode.

Amy takes Willow to a sorcerer named Rack who is basically dealing in some major magicks. It seems like in one trip, Willow is suddenly a junkie for the stuff. Later, in a way to make up being out, Willow takes Drew to dinner and a movie. The only problem is they never make it to the movie. Willow makes a quick stop to Rack with Dawn in tow. She leaves Dawn waiting for hours and comes out high as a kite. Then proceeds to steal a car and drive it magically when a demon thingy comes after them. She's not even physically driving and yet she's driving like she's drunk. Major problem comes when she wrecks the car with Dawn in it, and breaking Dawn's arm.  Buffy and Spike roll up on them and Buffy is pissed. Rightfully so.

6x11 Gone

Buffy and Dawn clear the house of magick items and supplies to help Willow, and Buffy has a surprise visit from a social worker checking on Dawn's home life. The meeting doesn't go well and in a fit of rage afterwards, Buffy cuts off her hair. Meanwhile, the Geek Trio have built an invisibility ray with that diamond they stole and accidentally hit Buffy with it.

Spike: (to invisible Buffy) You should leave. Get dressed, if you can find your clothes, and bugger off. Because if I can't have all of you, I... (looks down) Hey, that's cheating.

She takes great joy in this ability. She goes to the social worker's office and make her think she's going mad. She also does a quick little edit of Dawn's file so she's not at risk of losing custody of her. She steals a parking cop's little golf-cart thingy, and she head's over to Spike's to have a little bit of nekkid & invisible sex. Seeing Spike having sex in a bed, with what looks like himself, is just beautifully classic. Especially since Xander catches him in this oddness.

However, the fun must end. The Gang find that other things that were turned invisible are disintegrating and so will Buffy if they don't get a cure for her. They track down the trio's black van, and find the guys and their invisibility ray. They get it reversed, and get Buffy back to normal. They also find out that the trio is claiming to be Buffy's new archnemesisises.

Buffy decides that in order to take care of herself and Dawn she must get back to college and find herself a job. This all becomes much more difficult when the nerd Trio decide to present the Slayer with a series of challenges to determine the extent of her abilities. The nerd trio is Warren from the robot girl episode, Jonathan from the Superstar episode and others, and the 3rd guy is .. I dunno really. Another nerd.

Spike: (to Buffy) You're not a schoolgirl. You're not a shop girl. You're a creature of the darkness, like me. Try on my world. See how good it feels.

The first challenge the trio put towards her is this weird time warping thing. While she's auditing classes with Willow, they put something on her clothes and it causes time to move super fast around her. She finds the little device but they make it go kaflooey.

The second challenge happens when Xander takes her to work with him at his construction site. This is quite funny. All the guys Xander works with laugh at the idea of a girl helping them, until Buffy picks up a steel I-beam all by herself like it's a pillow. Then some of the guys get pissy cuz she's working too well, and making them all look bad. So, while she's working, the nerd trio launch a demon attack on her. She takes care of it, but with all the damage it causes on the work site, Xander has to fire her. She does notice a big black van outside that has the Star Wars theme as its horn.

Poor Buffy, trying to find her way in this.. her third life (remember she died in the first season too.. if only briefly). Her third test is while she's trying out a retail job at the Magic Box. The trio has it set that she will be in a loop until she satisfies a very difficult customer. After several attempts, she finally figures out a way to make the customer happy and her loop finally ends.

After her bad day, she heads over to Spike's crypt to get drunk apparently. I mean, if you're gonna get drunk, Spike is the guy to help you with that. She vents to Spike, and Spike says he thinks he can get more information his way, rather than Giles' way. So, he takes Buffy to a demon bar, where she proceeds to get way more drunk while he plays poker with some demons that may have information. They play for kittens! Poor little kitties. She sees that black van again too.

Giles gives her a big check to help with some of her expenses. She might be leaning on him a bit too much. She's not ever been on her own, so she doesn't know any better.

6x06 All The Way

It's Halloween again folks. They still think that Halloween is supposed to be a quiet night for the demonkind. When are they going to learn? After a super busy night at the Magic Box, Xander finally tells the whole Gang that he and Anya are engaged. Afterward, they decide to celebrate the engagement. Willow uses magic to decorate the house for the party and gets leers from Tara and Giles. They aren't liking her excessive use of magic lately. Especially since that dark stuff with bringing Buffy back. Tara and Willow start to argue about it, and they can't quite get to a point of agreement.

Buffy: Is that why you're always cleaning your glasses? So you don't have to see what we're doing?
Giles: Tell no one.

Dawn does the "i'm staying over at s0-and-so's house" and sneaks out to spend the rest of Halloween night with her friend and two hot guys.  When they are invited into the home of an eccentric old man, however, things take a turn for the weird.

During the engagement celebration, everyone's talk of perfect wedded bliss and kids, and all that, Xander starts to get quite overwhelmed by the idea of marriage.

Buffy heads out to go over to Spike's abode, but then Spike informs her of Dawn is out and missing. As all the Gang goes searching separately, Giles stumbles on to Dawn's friend getting neck sucked by one of the hot guys, who turns out to be a vampire. Dawn is busy getting her first kiss by the other guy, who's also a vampire. Giles finds her, then Buffy and Spike find him, and a big fight o' vampires ensues. It's really weird to see Giles take the vamps. It's kinda cute really.

The evening ends with Tara still quite mad at Willow for all her willy-nilly use of magic. So, Willow thinks she can fix it by using magic. She puts a spell on Tara to forget that they were arguing and what they were arguing about.

Also, Buffy expects Giles to reprimand Dawn for her Halloween pranks. Still relying on the Giles man a bit too much there Buffster.

As far as the monster of the week goes, it was weak. But, a lot seemed to happen as far as ongoing story with our main characters, so that made it all better.

6x07 Once More, With Feeling

Buffy, The Musical. No, not kidding. Okokok. I really love this episode. Just an FYI, all of the Buffy episodes are in 4:3 aspect ratio. That's non-widescreen for you non-video dorks. This episode is in wide screen, but the disk doesn't have it as anamorphic widescreen which really sucks. Why must they torture me so with the one episode that could be widescreen. Gah.

Anyhoo... as the episode starts, the credits look entirely different. Reminiscent of the old Bewitched show. Also, the show looks different. Like, the lighting or something. Softer focus, some vivid colors too.

As Buffy starts her patrol for the evening, she suddenly bursts into song. Say huh? Next morning, Buffy asks everyone if anyone noticed anything weird the night before. Everyone apparently experienced the sudden burst of song. As they talk about what it could be, the whole Gang burst into song. They check people outside and everyone is doing it. Meanwhile, Tara and Willow can't seem to keep their hands off each other. They then have a nice little duet themselves.

Spike: So that's all? Just come to pump me for information?
Buffy: What else would I want to pump you for? (pauses) I really just said that, didn't I?

The problem with these songs is that people seem to be revealing their innermost secrets while they do it. There's also another problem. Some people dance so much while they are singing, they simply burst into flame. Then it becomes very clear that everything isn't peachy.

Tara discovers what Willow has done with the forgetting spell, and runs off to find Willow. While Dawn is home alone, she is kidnapped by some weird wooden doll face meanies. There's this big dance number with Dawn cuz the little bit we hear her sing makes it clear that dancing is better for her. She's been kidnapped by this demon that's responsible for all the song and dance in the town. See, she's been stealing things everywhere she goes, especially the magic shop. She's stolen a particular necklace, and it seems to be responsible for the demon's presence.

Buffy and Giles are training, and while taking a break, Giles burst into song. He sings about how his presence is keeping Buffy from maturing and taking on life like she should be. Giles has sang on the show a couple times before and he has a pretty great voice. Him and Spike seem to have the best voices.

Spike finds one of those wooden pinocchio type men and they find out that Dawn's been kidnapped. Giles thinks Buffy should go alone. Once she arrives, she starts beating up on the bad guys while singing. Then the Gang shows up after all to help her, and they find out that they pulled her out of heaven and she's miserable, and she really does want something to sing about, but she can't seem to find it. She starts to dance out of control and smoke starts coming off her. As it gets worse, Spike shows up and stops her. Sings to her that she "has to go on living".

Turns out that after all is over, that Xander was responsible for all this. He was wanting to make sure that him and Anya were going to work out and thought it would just be a bunch of fun singing and dancing. Not so much there buddy.

While the rest of the Gang finish their last group number after defeating the demon, and saving dawn from evil queendom, Buffy follows Spike outside. She "tells" him she just wants to feel something, and then she kisses him as the old-school "The End" credits take us out. Oooooh. Buffy and Spike kiss :D NumNumNum

6x08 Tabula Rasa

Willow is devastated to learn that she pulled Buffy out of heaven, not hell, and she resolves to make things better by casting a spell to make Buffy forget her afterlife experience.  The spell is also meant for Tara because she has told Willow that she can't take Willow's excessive magic use. Especially after she messed with Tara's mind. Tara feels her mind was invaded and who is Willow to decide what is best for them as a couple.

Buffy: (about Spike) If I would just stop saving his life, it would simple things up so much.

The spell, however, backfires and causes the whole gang to wake up with no memories. The amnesiac Scoobies must piece together their lives and find a way to reverse the spell while dealing with the usual incursion of demons and vampires.

Coming from the MoW aspect, horrible. There's this loan shark type guy that Spike owes money, aka kittens, and he looks like an actual shark. A really bad rubber shark head on a dude acting like a gangster.

However, this still progresses the Buffyverse further, and that's never a bad thing. Once the spell is broken and Tara realizes what Willow has done... she realizes there's no hope for their relationship. When Buffy gets her memory back, she seems like she's remembering having been ripped out of heaven all over again. In the end, Buffy says she doesn't want anything to do with Spike, but her actions say otherwise. The episode ends with Tara packing her things to leave Willow, Giles flying back to England, and Buffy and Spike intensely snogging in the back of the Bronze.

Before I talk about the specific episodes, let me talk about this season in general. I LOVE this season. I love it so much in fact, I watched it twice. The first time I watched it, I went so fast that I had to watch 'em again to write about 'em.  Anyway, I may not like certain episodes, but I really like this season. As I've read on some fan sites and listened to some interviews on the special features of the discs, this seems to be the opposite feeling of the fans. Apparently, most people feel Season 6 was too dark. Maybe that's why I like it so much. Maybe that will tell you more about me. I guess I do tend to like dark. I am really digging on HBO's True Blood, and that is definitely dark. Like a serial killer having sex in a bomb shelter dark. It's turning out far darker than the book series it's based on too, which I'm not minding in the least. Anyhoo, maybe I just like Season 6 cuz Buffy and Spike get it on, all rough-like. Awww, sorry if I ruined that for you. It happens in episode 9, if you really wanted to know. That's on Disc 3 of Season 6.

Oh, and I also seem to cry a lot while watching this season. Maybe I just like to cry when I watch TV and that's why I like it so much. To me that seems odder than just liking the dark nature of it.

6x01 Bargaining (1) & 6x02 Bargaining (2)

It's a dark and gloomy world without the Slayer. Buffy is dead, and the Scooby Gang must do the best they can without her. But concern about the way she died leads Willow to believe that she may have been pulled into a hell dimension. Unable to bear the thought of their friend enduring eternal torment, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Tara decide to perform a resurrection spell that will bring Buffy back from the dead.

Spike: Oh, poor Watcher... has your life passed before your eyes - cup of tea, cup of tea, almost got shagged, cup of tea?

And since these things never turn out well, it doesn't. During Willow's spell, they all get interrupted by a motorcycle gang of demons that have learned that the slayer is really a robot - Buffybot. They realize the Hellmouth is open territory. The cemetery seems like an odd place to wreak havoc though. But, whatever works for the story. The gang is chased away by the demons and they leave believing the spell has failed.

But, they're wrong. She's alive, right where they left her... her coffin. She awakes, confused, and running out of air quickly. She scrambles quickly and has to claw her way out of her own grave. She doesn't realize what's going on and is stumbling around town. The town is a wreck because of the invading demons. She stumbles onto the demon biker gang, who are busy tearing the Buffybot apart. They see the real Buffy and go after her. She eventually kicks into butt-kicking mode and sees her friends. But after the butt-kicking is over, she runs away from the Gang.

Xander: Our spell. Our resurrection spell worked like a magic charm. We brought you back to life, Buffy. Right where we left her.
Willow: Oh god.
Xander: In her coffin.

The Buffybot stays online long enough to tell Dawn about seeing the real Buffy. Dawn finds Buffy at the tower where she died, and she wants to jump off of it again. Dawn convinces Buffy to not jump, and then the tower begins collapsing around them. She'may have decided not to jump, but she still doesn't seem like her usual bubbly Slayer self.

This episode certainly sets the tone for most of the sixth season. Buffy may be back, but she certainly doesn't look like she wants to be. I understand the need of this darkness. Buffy has died. How do you bring her back with a cheery Ta-Da! episode? I don't think that would be true to the show or the character.

6x03 After Life

This is really the 3rd part of the first two episodes. Weird they don't really call it that. Ok, so we start this episode with the Gang still looking for Buffy. Dawn has taken Buffy home to get her all cleaned up and dressed into her non-burial clothing. Which, let me comment on... Not really loving the outfit her buds buried her in. Seems awfully morbid and non-Buffy. But, an outfit probably isn't your main concern once your friend has died, huh? While she's trying to get used to her house again, and the fact that Willow and Tara have moved in and taken her mother's old bedroom, Spike arrives to find Dawn who he lost earlier. He gets quite the surprise when he sees Buffy walk down the stairs. At first he mistakes her for the Buffybot, until he really looks into her eyes. The look on his face was of sheer awe and love. He realizes her hands and knuckles are all mangled, and why they are that way. He tells her he's had to do the same thing, and then gives her this look, just for a moment... maybe he understands her more than anyone for that second.

The Scooby Gang arrive at her house and Spike leaves immediately. Turns out he went outside to cry. Xander and Anya start to give him crap when they go outside, and he gets angry that they didn't tell him about their plans. He reminds them that there are always consequences with magic and storms off on his new stolen motorcycle.

Looks like Spike is quite right. Bringing a Slayer back from the dead does indeed have its price. The Scoobies are being taken over one by one by some unseen spirit or ghost or something. When they brought Buffy back, apparently this demon/spirit thing was created. In order for it to stay around, it has to kill Buffy. It only appears in a spirit form, and can take over others, but does not have a form of it's own. The Gang realize they can't fight a spirit, so they have to come up with a way to get the spirit into a corporeal form.

The spirit finds Buffy, and she keeps punching and kicking the misty spirit-y thing. Bring in Willow the Witch, and poof, spirit is corporeal. Now Buffy can kick the crap out of it. With the help of some wicked weapon that Buffy keeps in her bedroom, cuz don't we all have crazy big ax things and stakes and maces in our bedrooms?

The next day at the Magic shop everyone is glad that the spirit is gone, and Buffy is still there and hasn't disappeared with the spirit she brought back. She tells everyone thanks for bringing her back, everything was so horrible where she was... boohoohoo. Then the original Scoobies all hug and bond, nut Buffy looks more depressed then ever.

She heads out to the back to be alone and runs into Spike who's avoiding the daylight in the shade. Convenient, no? They have a little heart to heart, and she admits to Spike that she wasn't in hell at all. She thinks she was in heaven, and she asks that he keep the info to himself.

Buffy: Wherever I was... I was happy. At peace. I knew that everyone I cared about was all right. I knew it. Time... didn't mean anything... nothing had form... but I was still me, you know? And I was warm... and I was loved... and I was finished. Complete. I don't understand theology or dimensions, or... any of it, really... but I think I was in heaven. And now I'm not. I was torn out of there. Pulled out... by my friends. Everything here is... hard, and bright, and violent. Everything I feel, everything I touch... this is Hell. Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that... knowing what I've lost...

6x04 Flooded

With her mother gone, Buffy finds that her months spent dead and jobless have left them without enough money to keep the house in good repair. To make matters worse, a trio of slacker sorcerers summon a demon to rob the bank for them just as Buffy is trying to get a loan.

Giles heads back to Sunnydale, and he seems very happy to see Buffy. Since I did the disclaimer earlier, I won't go through how it made me cry. Nope, won't mention a thing. However, he seems very angry and disappointed with Willow for channeling some dark magick and risking who-knows-what in the process. Willow seems like she's getting a bit too big for her britches, and actually threatens Giles for a second.

Giles: The magicks you channeled are more ferocious than anything you can understand and you are lucky to be alive. You rank arrogant amateur!
Willow: You're right. The magicks I used are very powerful. I'm very powerful. And maybe it's not such a good idea for you to piss me off.

Buffy confides in Spike again on her back porch. It seems like he's the only one she feels comfortable around.

Buffy, Willow, Tara, and Dawn narrowly escape from Glory, but only because she is hit by a truck. Which was actually quite awesome. Too bad she just pops right back up, but as Ben now. Ben was so cute before you knew he shared a body with the creepy God chica, Glory. Since Glory knows where Dawn-the-Key is and what she is, Buffy and the Scoobies leave Sunnydale. Not only do they leave, but they leave  in an RV that Spike procures. After everyone gets over the shock of Buffy asking for Spike's help. duh he's a strong vamp dude that can't hurt the humans, they all leave town without really having any other plan.

Dawn: I think Anya's gonna try to cook. Wanna come watch the tears and recriminations?

Then, these knight-type dudes, kinda come out of nowhere. Well, we've seen their kind, and we know they are all about destroying the key, which is uncool, but still... kinda out of nowhere. And they are so old school, yo. They ride in on horses, wearing chain mail and sporting swords and other renaissance faire gear. How they manage to catch up with an RV is beyond me. I guess it's just so old and so crappy it can't go very fast. Hrmph.

They pull over at an abandoned gas station to continue the fight, then Willow breaks out her black magics to block them out. They do manage to snag the main knight guy and start questioning him. He's not terribly helpful -- kill they key, kill the key, let me kill the key. Oh, and in all this kerfuffle Giles gets wounded majorly. They are allowed to call in a doc, and they call in Ben the man-nurse. *slap da head* Eeeeediots. So, after Ben takes care of Giles, he goes all weird and "get me out of here now!", and then turns into Glory. Odd thing is no one remembers that he changes into Glory. They just think she's just there suddenly. Only person who realizes that Ben & Glory are one is Spike, but he can't even tell the rest of the Gang cuz they just keep forgetting it.

In the end, Glory wipes out all the knight guys on her way out with Dawn. Buffy goes to follow, but is delayed by Willow's energy spell. By the time it's brought down, it's too late, and Buffy can't quite deal with her failure. She plops down on the ground with a look of dazed-and-confusedness. Poor Buffy cannot get a break this season.

5x21 The Weight of the World

Despite their best efforts, Glory has succeeded in taking Dawn. This failure after so much effort proves too much for Buffy and she slips into a catatonic state. Willow must use magick to enter her mind and help her work through the trauma before it is too late to save Dawn, or the rest of the world for that matter. Once she's in Buffy's noggin, she sees her as a child on the day that Dawn is brought home as a baby. Then it shifts to her in the magic shop putting a book onto a bookshelf, looking very contemplative. It then switches to Buffy in her house, where she proceeds to smother teenage Dawn with a pillow cuz "Death is her gift", or so sayeth her spirit guide.

Buffy: I wanted it over. This is... All of this... It's too much for me. I just wanted it over. If Glory wins, then Dawn dies. And I would grieve. People would feel sorry for me. But it would be over. And I imagined what a relief it would be.

After a few go arounds of this dream/catatonia cycle, Willow starts to make headway with her. She finds out the magic shop bit is a moment Buffy had where she says she quit. She realized that everyone would be better off if everything was just over and Dawn-the-Key was gone. Death is her gift and all that. You just know she's misinterpreting that whole thing. Eventually Willow gets her out of her funky state and they go to the magic shop to get a plan going.

5x22 The Gift

Glory has Dawn, and plans to use her blood to open the portal to her home dimension, even though the portal will cause all the hell dimensions to bleed into our own. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Anya, Tara and Spike go to confront a true Hell God with the knowledge that they may not all survive. They end up using Tara to get to Glory. She's been itching to leave for some place she has to be, so they finally let her go and follow her.

First wave is Willow with Glory, she even sticks her fingers in Glory's head and Tara's head and manages to get Tara all back to normal. This weakens glory up for round two... with Buffy. Or is it? It actually ends up being Buffybot. After Glory beheads Buffybot, the next round is with the actual Buffy. They go at it... badda-bing, badda-boom. They fall from the stairs of the tower that Dawn is chained to, then Buffy goes a-wailing on Glory until suddenly Ben shows up. She leaves Ben, then Giles comes up and doesn't provide him with the mercy that Buffy did. He suffocates him. Giles kills a man! Granted, it's for the greater good, cuz Glory just ain't gonna quit, but he kills Ben. Crucial.

Buffy runs to the top of the tower, and finds that demon dude that Dawn went to for the resurrection spell. He has started the portal opening but making shallow cuts on dawn. Buffy rescues Dawn, and then it starts to "dawn" on her that she knows how to save Dawn and the world. Dawn's blood is the same as hers. She was created from Buffy. So, she gives Dawn a heartfelt goodbye, and jumps off the tower into the portal.

Buffy: Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles ... tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world ... is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me.

She is suspended in the portal writhing in pain, it seems. The next thing we see is the portal is closed, and Buffy is on the ground dead. The Gang is all around her and they look at her in disbelief. Willow is a mess as is expected, but the one taking it the hardest is Spike. Maybe he does truly love her.

The next thing we see is her headstone:

Buffy Anne Summers

1981 -2001

Devoted Sister

Beloved Friend

She Saved the World

A Lot

This episode is brutal. It makes me cry just thinking about it. It's so sad. Buffy walks into her house, and she finds her mother laying on the couch dead. The way this entire episode is filmed just makes it all exponentially more brutal. The first thing I noticed is that when she calls 911 and as she's waiting for the EMS, it seems all in real time. You wait with her, quiet, her staring at the phone. Staring out the window. There's not a bit of music either. It's just the normal sounds you'd here. Footsteps, breathing, sirens. After the EMS has come and figured they can't do anything, they actually leave the body there for the medical examiner to come get. So, she is there, alone. As she's pacing the house, she stops and hurls all over the carpet. We hear that, we see her clean it up. It's all very quiet, normal, and all too real feeling.

Anya: But I don't understand! I don't understand how this all happens, how we go through this. I mean - I knew her, and then she's... there's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore! It's stupid! It's mortal and stupid! And... and Xander's crying and not talking, and... and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, "Well, Joyce will never have any more fruit punch - ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn, or brush her hair, not ever," and no one will explain to me why.

It only gets worse as we see everyone else's response to the news of Joyce's death. Again with the quiet, or the tears.. just raw anguish. And man, Alyson Hannigan's crying will just rip you through your gut. I had the same issue when Oz left her. That girl can make you feel every ounce of her sadness in the way she cries. Devastating.

5x17 Forever

Refusing to accept that her mother's death is the end, Dawn becomes obsessed with using magick to bring her back. In a weird sense of helping, Spike takes Dawn to a weird tailed magician dude to get her a decent spell. They have to steal an egg from some weird monster. The monster was so weak. It seemed to not really move much. It had three heads and they wiggled around a bit. But it just seemed strange to me. Not as menacing as I think they were trying for.

Angel: I can stay in town as long as you want me.
Buffy: How's forever? Does forever work for you?

Meanwhile, Buffy is getting some consolation of the Angel-kind. They spend an evening together and it's the first time she seems to have to slowed down. But once she realizes what Dawn has done, they have a bit of a tiff. Dawn tells her she has no one, Buffy ignores her, Buffy doesn't care, Buffy hasn't cried yet. She tells Dawn she stays busy so she doesn't have to. As a zombied Joyce starts walking onto the lawn and knocks on the door, Buffy races to the door to see her mother again. But before she can open the door, Dawn ends the spell and the porch is empty when the door is open. Buffy finally gets a good cry on.

5x18 Intervention

Buffy and Giles leave for the desert on a vision quest in an attempt to find a way to fight Glory. She gets a very vague answer from the First Slayer in a weird trippy bonfire vision thingy.

While they are gone, Spike decides to have a little fun with his BuffyBot he purchased from Warren, the other dude that had the robot. The Gang mistakes it for the real Buffy and think that she has gone absolutely bonkers.

Glory: (about Spike) WHAT is that, and why is its hair that color?

After a big vamp fight with the Gang, Buffybot, and Spike... Spike and Buffybot get it on in the cemetery. Xander and Anya actually see this and feel like an intervention is in order. However, Glory has come up with the idea that Spike is the Key and kidnaps him. The Gang needs to get him or kill him or something, since he does know who the real Key is. However, Glory realizes that he's a vampire and can't be the Key. But, she can torture him to get the information. He stays solid and doesn't say a thing. They rescue him, and in a way to figure out what he has told him, Buffy disguises herself as the Buffybot. She finds out that he didn't say a thing, and he wouldn't ever cuz he knows how much Dawn means to Buffy. So, she kisses him in gratitude, and he realizes it's the real Buffy.

5x19 Tough Love

While Buffy tries to control a motherless Dawn and bring their lives back to some sort of normalcy, Tara is captured by Glory who is desperately trying to find the Key. She's just grabbing at straws it seems. She realizes that Tara isn't the key, and does her mind sucking thing on her, making Tara a looney. This puts Willow in quite a tizzy, and rightfully so. But, instead of seeing reason, cuz who would, she tries to go after Glory by herself with black magicks. She's not quite ready for something so intense and Glory quickly gets the upperhand. Buffy comes in and saves her from Glory and herself.

Glory: A girl like Buffy's got just so many friends, all I have to do is rip through them one by one until--(Ground starts shaking) Did somebody order an apocalypse?

Buffy and the Gang just can't get a break. You know they are gonna have an end of the world sort of thing going on soon... end of the season and all... but they seem like quite a mess. How are they gonna manage?

Quentin Travers and a team from the Watchers Council arrive in Sunnydale with information about Glory. However, since Buffy no longer works for the Council, they decide that they must put her and her friends through a grueling set of tests to determine that she is worthy of their trust.

Anya: (Describing herself) Anya Christina Emanuella Jenkins, 20 years old...born on the fourth of July--and don't think there weren't jokes about that my whole life, Mr., because there were. 'Who's our little patriot?' they'd say when I was younger, and therefore smaller and shorter than I am now.

Buffy stresses over the whole test thing the Watchers do, but in the end comes to the conclusion that the test is really for them. She decides whether they are allowed back into her life. And man, do they kowtow to her once she realizes she has the upperhand.

Girl Power!

5x13 Blood Ties

Buffy finally tells her friends that Dawn is the Key and they start acting strangely when Dawn is around. Dawn figures out that something is wrong and wants the truth. She has seen that crazy people know that she is different, so she goes to the mental ward at the hospital for some answers.

Spike: (about Dawn) She's not just a blob of energy, she's also a 14 year-old hormone bomb. Which one's screwing her up more right now, spin the bloody wheel.

Ok, I believe I am remembering why I didn't like Dawn so much. Not that she doesn't have the reason to, but gawd she's a whiner. It gets a bit worse too as I recall.

5x14 Crush

Buffy notices that Dawn is spending a lot of time around Spike and assumes that Dawn has a crush on him. Dawn surprises her, however, by telling her that Spike is in love with Buffy. Meanwhile, a train pulls into the Sunnydale station with every passenger slaughtered by a vampire, and Buffy is finding it hard to concentrate on the investigation while simultaneously fending off Spike's advances.

Buffy: The late-night stakeout, the bogus suspects, the flask? Is this a date? Spike: A d- Please! A date? You are completely off your bird! I mean- Do you want it to be?

It was so cute to see Spike's attempts at wooing Buffy. He was wearing khakis and a pastel shirt. I'm not sure she even noticed, but I did. He's trying to be the type of man Buffy would want. It's so cute. He even finally tells her that he loves her. She finds it completely disgusting though. Instead of letting him think he has a chance, she goes looking for him to make it very clear how she feels, and stumbles onto Spike with his guest Dru. He fakes Dru out, and ends up having Dru & Buffy tied up. He tells Buffy that he is willing to kill Dru to prove how much he loves her. Then Harmony gets all whiny cuz she's not in the mix. In the end, she tells Spike she wants him to leave town. He also realizes she has revoked his invitation to her house. The look on his face when he sees that is just so hurt.

5x15 I Was Made to Love You

A strange girl arrives in Sunnydale searching everywhere for her boyfriend Warren. She is sweet, pretty, and strong enough to throw Spike through a window when he hits on her. Buffy and the gang decide that they must do something before someone less impervious to injury gets in her way and gets seriously hurt.

Buffy: Oh, no - love doctor Buffy is not in. I'm not qualified to give dating advice. I've had exactly two boyfriends, and they both left. Really left. Left town, left.

This girl was really good at being a overly happy cute robot chic. But overall, just kind of a  soso episode. But, it does kind of prep us for another episode involving a different robot soon.

Buffy talks to Ben the man-nurse and they plan on going out for coffee, but in the end she says she's not ready for coffee yet. Coffee is quite the commitment. We also see more of the whole Glory and Ben share a body thing. What is up with that? That is so weird.

After the big fight with the Robot at the end, Buffy comes home and sees her mom lying somewhat lifeless on the couch...

A Queller demon lands in Sunnydale in a fiery meteorite and begins killing all the mentally ill people it can find. Meanwhile, Joyce has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, and while she waits to undergo her operation the tumor is making her act increasingly unusual. Buffy must find and defeat the demon before it senses her mother's madness and makes her its next victim.

Riley: Oh, yeah. I'm sorry about last time. Heard I missed out on some fun.
Xander: Oh, yeah, fun was had. Also frolic, merriment, and near-death hijinks.

Ok, wow. I would have to rank this awful Alien-demon thing in the top 3 worst costume/make-up things ever. However, it was really gross no matter how bad it looked. So, I guess it was successful in that right.

5x10 Into the Woods

At the hospital, the Scooby Gang awaits news from the doctor about Joyce's surgery and they are all relieved when the surgery is a success. Dawn spends the night with Xander and Anya. With the house to themselves, Buffy and Riley spend a romantic evening together. In the middle of the night, Riley sneaks out and Spike follows him into an old building.

Spike: Sometimes I envy you so much it chokes me. And sometimes I think I got the better deal. To be that close to her and not have her. To be all alone even when you're holding her. Feeling her, feeling her beneath you. Surrounding you. The scent... No, you got the better deal.

Spike then takes Buffy to where Riley has been going at night. It's like a big junkie house for humans that let vampires feed on 'em. He tells Buffy he wanted to see what she saw in it. Yanno, cuz of Angel and that one bite with Dracula. Riley is such a woman. Bah. Now I remember why he annoyed me so. Cuz he spiraled down into pussy-dom. He gets offered a position back in the military, so he basically gives Buffy an ultimatum. Meet him at midnight where he will be leaving in the middle of some park or something, or he leaves her forever. She manages to get there just as the helicopter is taking off and he doesn't even try to look back.

Harsh episode for some I'm sure. But not for me. Ciao Bucko!

5x11 Triangle

While trying to create a new spell to help Buffy with her Slaying, Willow is distracted by an argument with Anya and accidentally releases a troll from a mystical prison. With Buffy in mourning over Riley leaving town, Willow and Anya may need to defeat the troll themselves before it flattens the entire town

Willow: Hello, gay now

Lame. Not worth more words.

When doctors cannot determine why Joyce is sick, Buffy is convinced that the cause must be supernatural. When she tries a spell to let her see magical influences, Buffy sees far more than she had planned. As she walks around in her spelled daze, she thinks she can't find anything, but then suddenly starts to see that her sister Dawn is fading in and out of all the photos in the house. She walks into Dawn's room and she sees Dawn's things fading in and out too. It flashes from a teenage girl's room, to a typical home's storage type room.

Ben: Hey! It's Buffy, isn't it? Ben... but you can call me man-nurse. Everybody else here does.

Earlier, Buffy found a strange orb at a warehouse, and goes back to check out the area. She finds a captured and beaten monk. As she tries to save the man, she's attacked by a girl she's never seen who has amazing strength and a bit of a temper. She manages to escape with her butt mostly in tact, and with the monk. The monk isn't in quite so good shape though. Before he dies, he tells Buffy that Dawn is the human form that his brethren made from an energy he calls "The Key". Dawn is not really her sister and all her memories have been created by the monk group. But now, Dawn is human and she doesn't know where she truly came from.

5x06 Family

As the gang get ready to celebrate Tara's birthday, her family arrives in town to take her back home. She resists, but her father insists that she come back with them before the family curse turns her into a demon on her 20th birthday.

I'm all for a Tara-centric episode but this one was lame, lame, and sucky.

Buffy: Nothing like getting your ass kicked to make your ass hurt.

In the end, Spike hits Tara in the face to prove that she's 100% human, which she is... and she sends her family on their way. How lame would it have been to grow up thinking you were going to turn into a demon at 20. And, really, it was just a way to keep the ladies in the family under control.

5x07 Fool For Love

When a run-of-the-mill vampire seriously wounds Buffy with her own stake, she begins to obsess over the deaths of previous Slayers. Desperate for answers, she turns to the only person with firsthand knowledge of how two Slayers fell in battle... Spike.

Spike: Sooner or later, you're gonna want it. And the second - the second - that happens, you know I'll be there. I'll slip in, have myself a real good day.

Ahhhhh, I love Spikey-poo episodes. We see him as quite the weeny in 1880 before he gets turned by Drusilla. He was a horrible poet in love with a woman that thought he was beneath her. It was quite heart breaking. As Spike recites the details of his killing two slayers, we learn more and more about him... even how he got his big coat. He ends up telling Buffy that the only thing that can hurt her is herself and the only thing  she truly has to worry about is her own death wish.

Also, Spike is really starting to swoon over some Buffy.

5x08 Shadow

Riley begins to suspect that Spike has feelings for Buffy, and Spike takes great pleasure in telling Riley about Joyce's illness -- and about the fact that Buffy told Spike first. Meanwhile, Glory is conjuring up a creature that will be able to locate The Key for her, no matter what form it may be in. But it ends up being this gawdawful cobra creature. Why didn't they learn that snake-type monsters never work for them? Gawd, it was so bad it was laughable. Yech.

Spike: Okay, how 'bout this one. Twice in recent memory, she's had the lover-wiccas do a deinvite on the house. Keep out specific vamps. Ever ask yourself why she's never taken my name off the guest list?
Riley: Because you're harmless.
Spike: Oh yeah, right. Takes one to know, I suppose. Least I still got the attitude. What do you got, a piercing glance? Face it, white bread. Buffy's got a type, and you're not it. She likes us dangerous, rough, occasionally bumpy in the forehead region. Not that she doesn't like you ... but sorry Charlie, you're just not dark enough

Riley is getting more and more down in the dumps about his and Buffy's relationship. He just feels that he loves Buffy, but she can never love him or need him the way he does her. We're basically back to this puss-fest he started at the beginning of the season.

So, the vamps of all vamps is in town. That's Dracula... the Count... The Prince  of Darkness.. etcetc.  He has come to check out the Buffster and is all up in her stuff. He sneaks into her house, he gets his bite on with her, he turns Xander into a Renfield. Which is so hilarious. Seriously, Xander's best ever. Anya is seriously starstruck. She's met Dracula a few times over her big ex-demon life and she just seems so giddy at the thought of seeing him again. He's like the rockstar of vampires.

Xander: Like that's enough to fight the Dark Master... bator.

Oh, Xander's Renfield-ness is used to try to lure Buffy to the castle Dracula is staying so he can do something to her. Riley and Giles go after her, and Giles falls into a room where the "Three Sisters" get at him. If they are torturing him, he's loving every minute of it. He didn't seem so happy when Riley rescued him. In the end, Buffy dusts Dracula, sorta, like 3 times. It was quite humorous.

Oh, and in regards to our ever moving storyline, Riley seems to get very jealous of Dracula's interest in Buffy. He's starting to seem awfully "woe-is-me" when it comes to Buffy.

At the end, we are also mysteriously introduced to someone who is called Buffy's "sister". Say, wuh?

5x02 Real Me

Through her diary entries, Buffy's little sister Dawn gives her views on Buffy, Slaying, and the rest of the Scooby Gang. Though she only appeared at the end of the last episode, it now seems that she has been around since before the series started. She is in the credits like all the others, she also knows about Buffy and her destined role in life. She also seems to know about all kinds of things that have gone on. But where did she come from?

Dawn: Willow and Tara do spells and stuff, which is so much cooler than Slaying. I told Mom one time I wished they'd teach me some of the things they do together. And then she got really quiet and made me go upstairs.

I do really remember not liking the character Dawn the first time around. She doesn't seem too bad this go 'round. But we'll see. Maybe she grated slowly. We see the whole episode through her eyes. She seems very much the teenager with an older sister that annoys her. I'm sure it doesn't help that her older sister is "The Chosen One" and all that. That's gotta be hard on a gal to look up to.

5x03 The Replacement

The demon Toth fires a strange weapon at the Slayer, but Xander jumps in front of Buffy at the last moment. The blast sends him sprawling into a mound of debris, but after chasing off the demon the Scoobies collect Xander who seems to be dazed but alright, and walk him home. A few hours later, a second, very confused Xander crawls out of the debris and makes his way towards home.

Buffy: Well, if this guy wants to fight with weapons, I've got it covered from "A" to "Z" -- from "Axe" to... "Zee other axe."

The Toth demon seems to have the ability to split a persons into two halves -- their strong half, and their weaker half. I guess his intention with Buffy was to make a full Slayer half and a more normal non-Slayer half. If he kills one of the halves, both die. Smart thinking, buddy.

Since Nicholas Brendon has a twin brother, they were able to use him during the shots with the two Xander's together. That had to be quite convenient. Ohohoh! There was this one part where the weaker Xander is trying to prove to Willow that he's the "real" Xander and he does the Snoopy dance. OMG. Best thing ever. Cuz it was so accurate. I never knew a person could pull that off. Now I know, and knowing is half the battle.... ;)

5x04 Out of My Mind

The increased strength and speed given to Riley by the Initiative are starting to tear his body apart. He must be operated upon immediately to repair the damage, but that will mean giving up his enhanced fighting ability and any chance of keeping up with Buffy. Talk about hard-headedness. He doesn't want to get the surgery cuz he thinks Buffy will no longer want him if he isn't strong. Why are men so men-like? Gaw, a woman can't be stronger, or make more money, or just be bold without a man getting all pissy and pussy about the whole thing. Geeez, it's quite irritating.

Spike: (to the TV) Oh Pacey, you blind idiot. Can't you see she doesn't love you?

Meanwhile, when Spike finds out there's an Army doc around ready to do surgery on Riley, he goes and kidnaps the doc. Spike wants the doc to get the chip out of his head. The doctor keeps trying to tell him he can't help him, but Spike insists. The doc tricks him and Harmony and says he got it out only to have Spike get all zonked when he tries to hit a human again. Awwww. Spike still can't hurt the humans. Which works well for the story. It wouldn't work so well with him being fully bad yanno.

So, Angel comes into town to apologize for something he said to Buffy when she was in LA. Yah, lame reason for a weak crossover. Anyway, on his way into town, he stumbles across Buffy's latest love Riley. They have a knockdown-drag out and all that. And of course, the preternatural strongman Angel has a bit of an upper hand. Really, they should have just whipped 'em out and taken a tape measure. It certainly would have entertained me. Really, when you think about the visual of that. It would probably enterain anyone. Cuz that would just be awesome.

Buffy: If I was any more open-minded about the choices you two make my whole brain would fall out.

Freak-enstein Adam has enlisted Spike to help him with the Slayer and Scooby Gang. He needs them out of his way, and since Spike is all chipped in the head, he can't physically hurt them. Instead he turns to his wiley ways and turns each of the scoobies on each other by dropping hints and doing the so-and-so said this about you sort of thing. Might seem typical, but it works quite well.

4x21 Primeval (2)

Adam gets a hold of Riley, and gets him under control. Turns out Spike isn't the only one that has a chip in him that lets someone control him. At some point, Professor Walsh put a chip into Riley's shoulder and now Adam can control everything Riley does or even doesn't say or do.

Buffy finds Spike in Adam's cave and puts 2 and 2 together and realizes that Spike was intentionally trying to split up the gang. When she goes back and tells the team, they all realize that Adam and friends area going to attack the Initiative from the inside. It explains all the sudden activity the Initiative has seen with capturing demons and vamps. The Gang realize that can't really bring Adam down with strength, so they will have to go the more mystical witch-y route.

Xander: Spike's working for Adam?! After all we've done-- Nah, I can't even act surprised.

They raid the Initiative, get their spell on, and Buffy gets all weird with red eyes and speaking all funky and getting her Matrix bullet-time bulletproofness on. It was cool. She then punches through Adam's chestal area and grabs his radioactive power source. She says some more mystical mumbo jumbo and poof goes the radioactive material. A demon crashes in on the Gang right after they finish the weird spell for Buffy, and Spike actually save 'em all. What's up with that? I guess he's just looking to get pizzzz-aid. Buffy's estrangement from her friends and Giles threatens to keep the group from stopping Adam's plan to design a master race of human/demon hybrids.

4x22 Restless

A primal animal stalks Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles in their nightmares as they each come face to face with their worst fears.

This is a very weird episode. I don't even think watching it a second time helped. It was just weird. Granted it was all weird dream speak and all that. But damn. I know! I know! A perfect way to describe this is it was like those weird dream moments in Twin Peaks... with the short dude and the backwards speaking. Yah, it was just like that! But just add a weird dude that keeps interrupting with his cheese.

Xander: Sometimes I think about two women doing a spell... then I do a spell by myself.

Let me sum up this whole season...

It sucked... It sucked balls. It was like a schizophrenic season. I wonder if maybe they thought they weren't going to get any further than three seasons, so the fourth one baffled 'em. So, it took a whole season for them to figure it out. Cuz I'm pretty sure it gets better after this season. This particular episode was like summing up all the schizophrenia with an uber-schizo episode.

It's weird when I really break down each episode. There were a lot of episodes that were good if you looked at 'em individually, but as a whole season it just makes me want to scratch my balls.

Buffy (in Faith's body) has been captured by the Watcher's council's goons. She attempts to escape them, but they are quite determined to send her to England. Faith is over in Buffy's body and she's going quite nuts. She goes down to the local club, and gets silly drunk and is flirting with everyone in the bar. She runs into Spike, and gets him all hot and bothered.

Willow attempts to finally introduce Tara and Buffy to each other. But, that ends up being very awkward seeing as Faith is in Buffy's bod. However, Tara senses that something isn't right with her. Something about her aura being all in turmoil and squeeegy or something. Faith-in-Buffy actually ends up having sex with Riley. This is not going to be good for Riley.

Faith-in-Buffy: You can't do that - it's wrong - I'll kick your ass.

The demony frankenstein dude, Adam, is out recruiting vampires for his purpose of killing and stuff. His vampire buds take over a church and both Faith and Buffy arrive to stop them. Using a magical mojo thingy that Willow and Tara conjured, Buffy is able to get her body back. Faith runs off and disappears... I think we see her again in L.A. And you know what that means right? Yup, crossovah!

4x17 Superstar

First, the credits are a bit different. Random character Jonathan is inserted into them as a badass slayer-type. This kinda lets you know that something ain't quite right in Sunnydale. Suddenly, the character of Jonathan is this major popular important person. He's great at absolutely everything. Everyone goes to him for answers.

In the middle of a patrol, where Buffy and Gang are hunting the vampires and stuff, they find themselves needing bigger guns. So, obviously that is Jonathan? He's a slayer type, he's a genius, he can sing with a big band, play a trumpet, be a badass basketball player, author and relationship therapist between Buffy and Riley too. There isn't a step in life where people aren't encountering him.

Buffy: (about Jonathan) He starred in The Matrix but he never left town. And how did he graduate from med school? He's only 18 years old.
Xander: Effective time management?

Obviously something is amiss. So, there's some crazy critter that is attacking randomly. Turns out Jonathan did some spell, shocking, and this critter is basically the universe's way of balancing the crap he's done. Tsk Tsk Tsk. They finally get rid of the beast, which gets rid of Jonathan's fame, and most people's memory of it.

4x18 Where the Wild Things Are

Buffy and Riley have been getting it on quite a bit lately. I guess they got over that whole Faith-in-Buffy having sex with Riley thing. They are certainly rabbit-like. Because of this extra passionate energy, a spirit type thing of an old orphanage gets awaken in the Riley's frat house. During a big party, Riley and Buffy end up in flagrante delicto which ends up fueling these spirits more.

Buffy: (to Riley) Okay, you get Fang, I'll get Horny. I mean...

Yah, basically, lame. But, great excuse to have an episode just full of touching and sex and stuff. Way to go with the teenage sex hormone plot line.

4x19 New Moon Rising

Oz returns to Sunnydale. He seems to be all hunky-dory, and doth claims he still loves him some Willow. He also says he has his full moon issues under control. Willow even sees the control in action while talking to him under a full moon. Awww, cute. However, bet he didn't plan on finding Willow with another love connection. And by love connection I mean her lesbianic love with Tara.

Oz: This warlock in Romania sent me to the monks there to learn some meditation techniques. Very intense. All about keeping your inner cool.
Willow: Good. 'Cause you were such a spaz before.

Ooooh, that's get him all riled up again. And not in that teenage boy-lesbian-fantasy way. But in, urgh-grumble-grumble-woof-I'm-angry, sort of way. He gets all wolfy again after he smells Willow all over Tara. Now, what I'm wondering is how did Tara get all covered in Willow-scent. Are they making with the sexy-time and we aren't being informed of it? Seems like a complete lack of detail they should be sharing with us. Fer shame.

Oh, and I'm sure something lame happened with the Adam storyline. Gaw, this season just sucked balls.