PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A SPOILER-RICH ZONE

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A SPOILER-RICH ZONE. If your diet requires you to dine on television spoiler-free ... good luck with that.

REVIEW ARCHIVES

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Flock of Hobbits

Episode 5.18: Intervention. Original Airdate 4.24.01


"A weary Buffy seeks to regain her focus by embarking on a quest with the Primitive; Spike cavorts with his very own 'Buffybot'; and Glory instructs her minions to spy on Buffy's friends in the hopes of ascertaining the Key's true identity."



Zelda's Thoughts:


  • IT'S BUFFYBOT TIME, YOU GUYS. SMG COMEDY AT ITS FINEST.
  • "Some minutes are harder than others." Buffysads :(
  • "I mean, I can beat up demons until the cows come home. And then I can beat up the cows." I love that line. If I didn't know the amazing Buffybotness to come, that might be my favorite line, because I use it a lot.
  • "Riley left because I was shut down." No, Riley left because he got his panties in a twist that Buffy didn't need him the way he wanted to be needed in order to feel like a valid man, and didn't have the language skills to communicate that without an ultimatum. ["Crossfire" - D]
  • And in the land of Inconsistent Characterization of Dawn: Dawn, who was mad at Buffy for emotionally abandoning her last episode, and who sometimes acts like she's 10 and sometimes like the age she actually is, is now stable and healthy and telling Buffy to go off on her vision quest with no pouting. So, you know, WHATEVER, writers.
  • Okay, so I love the Buffybot because SMG is hilarious, but we're all still acknowledging the grossness of Spike having her made in the first place.
  • It's also just kind of weird because ... part of what he loves about Buffy is her fight, and the fight in the bot is all facade-y and acknowledged as such. *shrug*
  • So I'm vaguely curious. Before Glory and co knew the Key was a human ... how were they going to open the portal in the first place? Since it's Dawn's blood that does the trick. If the Key had been a suede jacket, would they have had to tear out the seams? The things I think about as Giles and Buffy hike through a dessert in turtlenecks, sweaters, and warm winter jackets. Happy California April! (yes, I know it gets cold at night. this is not night)
  • "I jump out of the circle and then jump back in it, and then, um ... I shake my gourd." // "I know this ritual! The ancient shamans were next called upon to do the hokey pokey and turn themselves around." // "Go quest." I love love love this scene.

And that's what it's all about.

  • Buffybot is like...if Spike wrote slashfic for himself.
  • WE KNOW THIS DESERT. IT'S FROM RESTLESS. WE SEE YOU, SHOW.
  • "Darn your sinister attraction!" Buffybot is like the TBS version of smuttytalk.
  • "No programs, don't use that word. Just be Buffy." *Buffybot smiles an entirely un-Buffylike smile*
  • Seriously, though, SMG has the prettiest smile here and I'm glad Buffybot gets to use it, since Buffy doesn't much this season.
  • "Time to slay. Vampires of the world, beware!" I fucking love that he programmed this into her. Because it backfires spectacularly but also like yes of course that's part of Buffy.
  • Parking lot graveyard! I've missed you!
  • "I don't understand that question, but thank you for asking. You're my friend, and a carpenter."
  • "Spike! It's Spike and he's wearing the coat." Buffybot is the best. SMG is clearly having so much fun as she bounces around Spike.


  • Wow and from Spike's knowing look, he clearly programmed her to be extra-horny post-slaying. It's gross again.
  • Oops. Spike got abducted.
  • At least they let the First Slayer speak for herself this time. She has a gorgeous voice, too.
  • "Love. Give. Forgive. Risk the pain."
  • Gay 1999-Present. Nice of him to track that, I guess?
  • BEST LINE EVER. (see favorite lines below)
  • Buffybot's run out of helpful Willow facts, recycling "You're my best friend." and non-segueing into "You're recently gay."
  • Shenanigans! They were at Xander's apartment at night, and left to go get weapons at Buffy's home. When they arrive at Buffy's house, it is broad freaking daylight. Same with when they get Spike to Glory's place - again broad daylight, when he was taken in the middle of the night. Do they want us to think it suddenly takes hours to get across town?
  • "Death is not a gift. My mother just died. I know this."
  • Mention of Glory. Buffybot accesses her files. "She's a god. She wants the Key." Good job, Buffybot!
  • "The who whatting how with HUH?"
  • "It's understandable. Spike is strong and mysterious and sort of compact but well-muscled-" // "I am not having sex with Spike! But I'm starting to think you might be." slashfic!
  • "Say, look at you. You look just like me. We're very pretty."
  • Buffy's righteous outrage they couldn't tell her apart from a robot is completely legit.
  • "But I really think we should be listening to the other Buffy, Guy-les."
  • "You're right, he's evil. But you should see him naked. I mean really."
  • Why don't they do a locator spell for Spike? Isn't that a thing they know how to do?
  • The Minions watch The Price is Right. Of course they do. "We will bring you the limp and beaten body of Bob Barker." A hilarious line except that they were like DON'T BREAK THE KEY when they abducted Spike. But Bob Barker they can beat up?
  • I really hate the fight choreography here. I don't believe the Minions would know how to fight like this at all. It all feels contrivey and isn't even interesting visually.
  • "She seemed to be everywhere at once!" oh hey now because TWO BUFFIES
  • JM very good at acting like every movement hurts.
  • "Willow fixed me. She's gay!" Question. Do we think Spike was dumb enough to program knowledge of the Key into the bot?
  • I really love this final scene. It's a clever move on Buffy's part, to get the info out of Spike, and to say thank you for what he did, while making it clear that the OTHER thing he did is gross.
  • And I love Spike's realization mid-kiss that this is not his bot. 


  • "That thing, it wasn't even real. What you did, for me and Dawn, that was real. I won't forget it."


Daniel's Thoughts:



  • This conversation is weird. Buffy feeling like she’s turning cold and that’s being the slayer’s fault.
  • “Weird love’s better than no love.” Is it?
  • Gross, it’s Warren.
  • Buffybot!!
  • Sarah is wobbling like a human having to stand for too long, not like a robot who doesn't care about standing for too long.  My only gripe about her performance as Buffybot.
  • Hot LA desert. So much that there are wavy lines. Buffy & Giles? Wearing coats.


  • Giles looks so embarrassed to be doing the hokey pokey ritual. I love it.
  • Ugh, Gross Spike.
  • Oooh, Dawn’s starting to steal.
  • “Darn, your sinister attraction.”
  • I love the whole terminator view that Buffy has when she views her friends.
  • “Anya, how is your money?” “Fine! Thank you for asking.” It’s so nice how happy that makes Anya. But it's also sad that people don't regularly ask Anya about her interests.
  • “You’re my friend and a carpenter!”
  • Anya killed a vamp!
  • Man, Xander has such a huge apartment.
  • “Sometimes in the movies when they go crazy, they slap ‘em”
  • (Gay, 1999-present). Love it.
  • They really can’t tell that this is a robot?
  • SHENANIGANS! All the sun that hits Spike.
  • Also, convenient that you can’t brain suck a vampire.
  • “Maybe change your clothes, something more fight-y” She’s fought in worse. I remember a pair of leather pants…
  • This whole conversation is amazing.
  • “We’re very pretty.”
  • You can tell how far the visual effects have come.  Buffy & Buffybot in the same room is much better done than Willow & EvilWillow in Season 3.
We're very pretty.


  • “You guys couldn't tell me apart from a robot?” HA. Exactly what I was thinking.
  • I love that Buffybot can’t pronounce Giles.
  • “We will bring you the limp and broken body of Bob Barker.”
  • Xander’s really learned how to fight this year.
  • This whole last scene is one big SHENANIGAN. Buffy is pretending to be Buffybot to find out if Spike told Glory about the key. But why would Buffybot even know about the key? Warren wouldn't have programmed it into her because he didn't know. And if Spike told her, he’d be betraying Buffy and Dawn right there. So why would Buffybot say, “I’ll tell her” and Spike say, “No.” That should be a dead giveaway that Buffybot wasn't Buffybot.

Crossfire!
Dawn: Hey, I was like five then?
Daniel: No, you weren't.
Zelda: You didn't exist.

Favorite Lines:
Zelda: "Angel's lame. His hair goes straight up and he's bloody stupid." - Buffybot, delivering the BEST LINE IN THE ENTIRE SERIES
Daniel: 
She's just so cute here.



Arc/Continuity Stuff:
First appearance: Buffybot
Recurring: Warren, Glory, Minions, the Primitive, Tara
Not counting her spell-stealing last episode, this is the first time Dawn starts stealing 


Stats:
Anya's Hair - honey-colored, loose waves, just past the shoulders
Dead Humans - 0
Dead Undeads - 3
Dead Flashbacks - 0
Giles Unconscious - 0
Giles Cleans His Glasses - 0
Buffy Breaks a Door - 0
Evil Reveal - 0
Unevil Reveal - 0
Shenanigans Called - 3
Apocalypse Called - 0

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Bitty Buffy







Episode 5.17: Forever. Original Airdate 4.17.01






"With some help from Spike, Dawn attempts to bring Joyce back from the dead."








Daniel's Thoughts:

  • Buffy skulking around coffins usually has a different feel.
  • "Fine choice, it speaks of your great feeling for the deceased." Fuck you.
  • This whole business of profiting over death is disgusting.
  • Just cremate me and let me be food for the fishes. Even cremating costs a lot. But also, instead of sprinkling me over the ocean, can you sneak me into Disney World and sprinkle me over my favorite rides? I'll ride the Haunted Mansion forever! This...just got weird. [Done. - Z]
  • So nice that Giles is helping so much.
  • It's weird that Dawn's never actually met her dad despite her memories.
  • Spike vs. Xander....I don't care?
  • "There's no card," says Willow? Who cares? His plan wasn't to just leave it. It was to give it to Buffy directly.
  • I don't remember Xander's hair being this long.
  • Buffy is fine, Tara. She's going to wait there until nightfall...so someone else can pay their respects.
  • Hi Angel. You're what she needed. For now. Angel always trumps Spike. Always. [Them's fighting words! - Z]
  • Sex is not just about two bodies schmooshing. Wise words, Anya.
  • Tara would have made a good mom. She tells Dawn how it is. Willow is trying to reason with Dawn. Tara is just saying, "No. This is bad. This is why. Don't even think about it."
  • "Mom was the strong one in real life. She knew how to make things better; just what do say." Did she? Cause I have a whole blog full of things that makes me think not. Sorry, Joyce, not to speak ill of the dead, but...
  • Ugh, Ben. He's so bad at this. 'Uh, no...forget I said that.. it's not a person!"
  • Oh, Willow. You mean well, but just stop.
  • Sometimes I think Giles is the only one who understands how to talk to Anya.
  • "She gets to fondle the money?" Oh, Anya.
  • Aww, Giles is reminiscing about Joyce with the albums they listened to during Band Candy.
  • Aww, poor Jinxy is hurting so much he can't think of compliments for Glory.
  • Hey, it's Joel Grey!
  • All these warnings, Dawn. All the movies you've seen, the books you've read about this all going wrong. And you still do it. Nothing good comes from bringing someone back from the dead. (Unless they're Buffy. Always bring back Buffy.)
  • Ghora looks like a dinosaur. Like a fake fake dinosaur.
  • Why isn't it charging at her? Ugh, this is really badly done. It's like the Dinosaur ride at Disney World but less realistic.
  • Sassy eggs!
  • Tara is so smart, really. I love her in this episode.
  • I wonder if this is really Kristine Sutherland. They never show her face. I know that's on purpose for the mood of the scenes but they could have just used another actress. She's not listed in the credits.
  • Again, with the "Mommy?" It's even better than the first one because there's such hope.


Zelda's Thoughts:

  • This aired seven weeks after The Body, in case the fans had gotten through their grieving for Joyce, GUESS WHAT THERE'S MORE.
  • I was thinking last episode that Dawn was suddenly looking older. She's in braids and a t-shirt now and is younger and smaller - a reminder that Buffy's the only one who can take care of her now. (side note: fuck you, Hank Summers)
  • Even though so much sad, I'm glad they didn't do a hard tonal reset right after The Body in terms of Joyce's death and the season's plot. This is a grief that keeps going, something you still have to deal with.
  • Oh Spike. We forgot all about you.
  • I like that they're acknowledging Spike and Joyce did have a bit of a relationship, even outside his Buffy obsession. Everyone misses Joyce.
  • God. This shot of Buffy and Dawn, sitting alone on their beds, isolated, unable to move.
  • I've never been to a funeral that was held at the grave site. Is that a real thing or just a TV/film thing? [Me neither! -D]
  • Dawn can't watch Joyce's coffin be buried. And Buffy can't look away.
  • I love that Angel shows up. Whatever my feelings about him, this is right.
  • Interesting touch, Willow's in Sunnydale High colors. I wonder what the significance is.
  • I held off on this last episode because of the sads, so I'll do it now - shenanigans on the queen-size bed in Willow's and Tara's dorm.
  • "It's tomorrow that I'm worried about." // "What's tomorrow?" // "That's exactly what I don't know. Up until now, I've had a road map. Things to do every minute, having to do with Mom." // "Tomorrow the stuff of everyday living resumes." // "And everybody expects me to know how to do it, because .. I'm so strong."
  • "If I had just gotten there ten minutes earlier." Buffy's still obsessing over whether she could have saved her mom. She's still trying to bargain her way out of this.
  • The return of the Buffy/Angel love theme. Haven't heard this music in a while.
  • So Buffy sat vigil with her mom (and with Angel) all night.
  • Ugh fucking Ben and the minions. You guys suck.
  • Ben you moron. Now they know the Key is human. And you're so bad at trying to lie to cover up.
  • Goddammit Willow. Why are you showing Dawn a book with dangerous spells? Nothing about this plan is good.
  • Daniel's face while Anya's being funny is so fond and sweet. It's like he's watching his kid or something, all "I JUST LOVE EVERYTHING YOU DO."
  • "She gets to fondle the money?"
  • GILES IN A DRIVE-BY GLASSES CLEANING while Dawn steals from the Magic Box
  • And we've got more "well-meaning" adults letting Dawn do really fucking stupid things. This time it's Spike helping Dawn with her spell.
  • "I just don't like to see Summers women take it so hard on the chin, is all." Reinforcing that he's formed an attachment to more than just Buffy. (even if he still can't stand the other Scoobies)
  • Glory you are a terrible actor and I do not enjoy your presence.
  • Oh hi Joel Grey! Is it time for a song?
  • Such weird random casting, Joel Grey showing up on Buffy.
  • He's humming "Hall of the Mountain King" I think that counts as a song.
  • relatively weak line readings from MT this episode. AB too, for that matter. should I blame the directing when all the weaker actors are acting especially weak this episode? they were fine in the last episode
  • Ah, they found the Cave of Contrivance where the Ghora lives with its MacGuffin eggs.
  • "Hey, Ghora, heads up!" *Ghora raises its three heads* "Right, heads it is."
  • Wow that was like a close up shot of stunt Spike.
  • Also pretty sure they looped the same Spike line "Come on, bastard!" twice in the same fight. #awkward
  • The scene between the sisters at the end is everything, though. It's just brutal and heartbreaking.
  • "I have to do these things, 'cause when I stop, then she's really gone."
  • "Who's gonna take care of us?" Buffy's face.
  • Fuck and then the silhouette of Zombie Joyce outside the window.
  • And Buffy's voice, childlike and hopeful again. "Mommy?" Because for all that she was trying to stop Dawn, the thought that her mom might be at the door, no matter what form - it's the same thing that drove Dawn all episode.
  • And then they hold each other, sobbing. This fucking show.

Favorite Lines:

Daniel: "I can stay in town as long as you want me." // "How's forever? Does forever work for you?" - Angel/Buffy
Zelda: "I have to do these things, 'cause when I stop, then she's really gone. And I'm trying, Dawn, I am. I am really trying to take care of things, but I don't even know what I'm doing. Mom always knew." // "Nobody's asking you to be Mom." // "Well, who's gonna be if I'm not? Huh, Dawn? Have you ever thought about that? Who's gonna make things better? Who's gonna take care of us?" - Buffy/Dawn


Arc/Continuity Stuff:

  • First appearance: Doc
  • Recurring: Tara, Angel, Ben, Minions, the chicken feet that the Magic Box can't get rid of, Glory
  • Joyce is still dead.
  • Hank is still a deadbeat dad - the line he left in Spain is disconnected.
  • Shoutout to the toxicity of Xander's family.
  • Ben accidentally reveals to the minions that the Key is in human form.
  • First time Dawn steals from the Magic Box!
  • The song Giles listens to, "Tales of Brave Ulysses," is one he listened to with Joyce in Band Candy.

Stats:

Anya's Hair - honey colored, loose curls, shoulder-length
Dead Humans - 0
Dead Undeads - 0
Dead Flashbacks - 0
Giles Unconscious - 0
Giles Cleans His Glasses - 1
Buffy Breaks a Door - 0
Evil Reveal - 0
Unevil Reveal - 0
Shenanigans Called - 1
Apocalypse Called - 0

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

The Body

Episode 5.16: The Body. Original Airdate 2.27.01


"Buffy, Dawn, and their friends deal with the aftermath of Joyce's death."


Note:  We apologize for the delay.  We decided to watch this episode separately because of all the emotion involved with it.  And then....we kept putting it off.   


Zelda's Thoughts:
  • no more putting this off, we've got to do this. I don't know what this post will be, or how we can talk about this episode.
  • I'm so sad already.
  • It's that short pause between "Mom?" and "Mom?" and the longer one before "Mommy?" Already crying.
  • Per the commentary, this Christmas scene was done so there wouldn't be credits running over any of the devastation.
  • And it's a nice reminder of how good things could be. And that Joyce had people who loved her, that she was mother to, even if not genetically, hosting the dinner for all the Scoobies.
  • This unbroken take, some of SMG's best acting work ever.
  • her voice gets so small and young "No I don't remember."
  • "I know this. I can do this." So many things Buffy can solve. And not this one.
  • God, Joyce's lifeless face during the CPR.
  • That pause before "The body's cold?"
  • "Should I make her warm?" That small denial she's still clinging to. Buffy's seen death. She knows what it looks like. She knows what it feels like. But it's still not real because it's her mom.
  • "She had an operation and she's fine now. She's been fine."
  • the framing in this is so good. Buffy's so small and young, no one else quite real or in focus
  • that need to be polite. "Thank you." "Good luck." trappings of how to be human, the gestures of habit, as if anything is real right now
  • how not even the violence of throwing up has any effect on her daze. it's just another unreal thing.
  • and the light outside is too harsh.
  • okay and the moment of horror when Buffy finally calls Joyce "the body." the horror of naming the thing. I don't have long periods of denial in my own grief, but they consist of not being ready to name the thing. once you've said it - the body, dead, she's gone - it's real, it's incontrovertible, you can't take it back. once you've said it, you can't shield yourself from it any longer.
  • the scene with Dawn and her friend and petty high school drama, a reminder that the rest of life keeps happening, oblivious that the world has ended
  • "the spaces around, the space in between." everything around the real thing, the thing we're not naming. the negative space around the body itself but not the body itself
  • why are there random students loitering in the hallway? they'd all have detention in my school
  • "Mom had an accident, or something went wrong from the tumor." talking around it, the negative space around the object
  • "Is she okay? Is she ... but she's okay?  But ... it's serious, but ..."
  • and we don't hear Buffy say the words. we watch from the outside as Dawn's world collapses
  • Anya, on the edge of the frame. not understanding this human experience
  • Willow, the perfectionist, the girl who must have control, if she can find the perfect thing to wear, that's something she could fix, something she could control. but nothing she wears will actually fix anything, nothing would work even if she found the shirt she wanted
  • "What will we do? What will we be expected to do?" Anya, saying the things we all wonder but don't voice - trying to figure out what the steps are, how you do this thing.
  • they're all standing, alone, holding themselves, all arms crossed protectively.
  • I almost don't have the strength to point out Willow's got another fluffy pink sweater. But for the record, she does. #14 for those keeping track at home.
  • "Things don't happen. I mean, they don't just happen." This too. Where it doesn't fit in with reality as we know it. Death doesn't make sense. A sudden lack of existence. It can't just be an arbitrary thing that happened.
  • "Am I supposed to be changing my clothes a lot? Is that the helpful thing to do?"
  • "Nobody will tell me. ... But I don't understand."
  • Fuck, Anya's speech. "No one will explain to me why!"
  • "We don't know ... how it works ... why."
  • So many things happening off screen or out of frame in this ep. So we see the moment around the thing without seeing the thing itself. We don't see Xander punch the wall, we hear it, we see Willow and Anya react, we see the hand stuck in the wall. The negative space around Xander's anger.
  • "We'll go, we'll deal, we'll help. That's what we do. We help Buffy." When you run out of things to do, you do more things. You keep busy. You fill the negative space around the object.
  • "Can we see her?" Dawn's seen only the negative space around the thing. She needs to see Joyce for it to be finally real. Buffy had to say it for it to be real; Dawn has to see it.
  • One last quick flash of the what if - if Buffy had been there to catch it, to save her, to fix it, to go back and fix it, last minute, just in time
  • And even if we haven't all been Buffy and Dawn, we've all been Tara. A bit on the outside of the grief, a sympathy grief. And a memory of your own, perhaps.
  • "Obviously, I've never done this before." // "I have."
  • Just letting her know that what she's feeling, whatever it is, is valid.
  • "I know it's different for you, because it's always different."
  • "Was it sudden?" // "No. And yes. It's always sudden."
  • Dawn looks at the sheet over Joyce. Another negative space around the thing. Still not quite a reality.
  • And because life doesn't pause just because your world ended, a vampire. A naked, grotesque vampire. And so Buffy's work must continue. Keeping busy is a way to survive when the world ends.
  • "Is she cold?" // "It's not her. It's not her. She's gone." // "Where'd she go?"
  • And the episode ends before Dawn can actually touch her. Before she can bridge that final bit of negative space. Before it's finally real.


Daniel's thoughts:


  • And it starts.  That red shirt that Z was talking about in the last episode.  That shirt we know and associate with this episode.
  • And then you just see her in the background.
  • And then you see her up close.  And you know.
  • And that "Mommy".
  • And I like that we start with a flashback. It's a breather instead of getting straight into it.  And we have out usual funny scoobies that are doing their usual scooby things.
  • Yay, Willow mentions that she's Jewish.  We should have had a stat for that.
  • Anya, re: Santa: "It's a myth that it's a myth.  He doesn't traditionally bring presents so much as, you know, disembowel children but otherwise..."
  • And then the sudden cut back to Joyce's face.
  • Oh god, the break.  The rib.
  • The lack of music, the sudden realizations.  It's just filmed so well.  Buffy turning to see her mom all over again.
  • And that part gets me everytime.  I know it's fake.  I know the waking up and the ambulance ride and the hospital scene is all fake - but that one cut back to reality just gets me.  Every. Fucking. Time.
  • Buffy's got like 4 earrings on.  Weird thing to notice.
  • "We're not supposed to move the body."  - Another powerful realization.
  • And I knew Dawn wasn't crying about this.  From the first time I saw this episode.
  • I love Dawn's friend.  Who really couldn't give a crap about her teenage problems.
  • And I don't think it's a coincidence how much Dawn's art teacher looks like Joyce.
  • Dawn wants the pretty emo kid so bad.  They're so cliche, it's gross but accurate.
  • And Dawn's reaction - Michelle T is doing an awesome job.
  • And the focus on her mom's teacher's face.
  • Xander, "Let em give me a ticket."  They, will, Xander.
  • And shut up about your shirt, Willow.
  • Willow has a powerpuff girls t-shirt!  Cause of course she does.
  • "Why do all of my shirts have stupid things on them?"  - Best self-realization of Willow ever.
  • Xander and Willow hug.  Anya & Tara nod at each other.  The writers/directors of this show know their characters well.
  • This is not the time, Willow.  Stop being so fucking condescending towards Anya.
  • I like Xander's anger.  Someone had to react that way and it would be him. [I like too that this episode plays to its actors' strengths - Aly is the best crier so she gets the tears, etc. - Z]
  • "Am I supposed to be changing my clothes a lot?"
  • Anya's whole speech.  I mean, man.  This is the thing with Anya.  The whole thing with Anya.  She doesn't act the way she does to be an asshole. Not most of the time, anyway.  She just simply doesn't know.  And no one, Xander included, thinks to fill her in.
  • Hey, Xander mentioned the Avengers!
  • Anya hugging Giles is the best.
  • "I have to lie to make you feel better."  I love the dubbed in line, there.
  • "I wish that Joyce didn't die.  Because she was nice and now we all hurt."  - "Anya, ever the wordsmith."  Stop  making excuses for your girlfriend. She's not doing anything wrong. Buffy gets it.  Buffy says 'thank you' because that's what you say when you can see someone is trying.
  • It's nice that Buffy and Tara get a moment since Tara's the only other one who's gone through this.
  • I never understood why Dawn wanted to go into the morgue until this time I noticed Buffy telling everyone that she doesn't think Dawn quite believed her.  She had to see it for herself.
  • And of course, a vamp...because this is the show.
  • Le sigh.


Favorite Lines:

Zelda: "Is she cold?" // "It's not her. It's not her. She's gone." // "Where'd she go?" - Dawn/Buffy
Daniel: "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 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." - Anya

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

  • Recurring: Joyce, Tara, Dr. Kriegel
  • Shout-out to Band Candy


Stats:
Anya's Hair - golden, loopy curls, shoulder length
Dead Humans - 0 (we got Joyce last ep)
Dead Undeads - 1
Dead Flashbacks - 0
Giles Unconscious - 0
Giles Cleans His Glasses - 0
Buffy Breaks a Door - 1
Evil Reveal - 0
Unevil Reveal - 0
Shenanigans Called - 0
Apocalypse Called - 0