That Guy in the Jacket

Episode 7.6: Him. Original Airdate 11.5.02

"Dawn's simple crush on Sunnydale High's star quarterback RJ starts to become obsessive, leading Buffy to investigate the boy herself. When Buffy, along with all the other women who see RJ, also fall in love with him [your grammar is a mess, imdb], Spike and Xander must team up to discover the source of this attraction. But first they have to keep the women from doing anything crazy in their competition for RJ's affection."

Zelda's Thoughts: 

• This episode - which I largely don't like, for a variety of reasons - features one of my favorite non-verbal sequences in the entire series. See gifs below. So I'm holding out for Buffy and the rocket launcher.
• Aaaaaand Spike is staying in the magical didn't-exist-before room in Xander's apartment.
• Also Buffy has weird wispy bangs.
• At least Buffy is a - communicating with the Scoobies, yay, and b - getting Spike out of the basement.
• I forgot Spike actually spoke this episode.
• Dawn calling out the ridiculousness of the Scoobies. Once again, Dawn is my favorite right now WHY. (Xander already had a soul when he stood Anya up, etc.)
• Oh look time for me to start hating the episode. RJ showed up.
• Hatred aspect #1 comes from the extremely squirmingly uncomfortable second hand embarrassment I feel for Dawn in the first half of the episode (especially the cheerleading routine). I have literally no desire to ever watch those scenes again, but I'm doing it. FOR YOU.
• D'Hoffrynfeffer? Anya, always on brand.
• The length of Buffy's bangs are changing scene to scene and it's confusing me.
• "Willow's not very good with the practical strategizing - except when she's evil. And Dawn, she's not really good for anything." The amount that I adored this line on initial airing tells me that my newfound love for Dawn is a result of this watching - I still hated her when this season was airing.
• OMG IT'S THE GIRL FROM GARFUNKEL AND OATES I FORGOT SHE WAS IN THIS DID I KNOW SHE WAS IN THIS.

"Pregggnant women are smuggg"

• How come Garfunkel is wearing the cheer top but a denim skirt? why isn't she in full uniform?
• This scene is so painful, I have to fixate on Garfunkel.
• DAWN STOP.
• god god god god god make it stop I can't
• Props to Michelle for fully committing to looking like a fool.
• RIP, Buffy's old cheerleading uniform
• Xander's "I miss the much-cuter me crush" has DIFFERENT IMPLICATIONS WITH THE COMIC CANON NOW. [Com-Ic? - D]
• The letterman jacket being the magical thing that makes women fall in love with the wearer is another adorable throwback to the early seasons' high school metaphors.
• Also the fact that Xander (jokingly) identifies what's causing the obsessive love is very reminiscent right now of where I am in my X Files watch, where Mulder walks into frame, already knowing what the mysterious mystery has to be, and he's right, and it's obnoxious.
• I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaate how dumb and dizzy Dawn is right now.
• siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh
• With the eye make up and styled hair, MT looks more like her future Gossip Girl self.
• Sooooooooo how come the magic letterman jacket doesn't worked on Willow and Buffy when they see him at The Bronze? Is it that they didn't have an unobstructed view of it yet, with Dawn dancing? Because we could still see it, including the letter. How exactly does this magic jacket work? Meh. I call shenanigans.
• Come on, Dawn, with the girl fight antics, we know you're a better fighter than this now. WE SAW "GRAVE".
• Buffy's really not a good counselor, you guys.
• THERE IS WAY TOO MUCH PEDO ACTION IN THIS EPISODE. First we had Xander's (and Willow, lowkey) creepy "Daddy likey" about Dawn, and now Buffy's about to HAVE SEX WITH A MINOR WHY and then later Anya and Willow will be pedolusting too and SERIOUSLY WHY DID WE NEED TO HAVE THIS EPISODE WHY.
• I HATE IT SO MUCH.
• WHY IS THIS EPISODE.
• We even have Buffy sabotaging her sister and it hurts WHY WHY WHY.
• gross Buffy don't do this don't do it.
• headcanon that's leftover Harriet the Spy sleuthing skills that enables Dawn to find the exact empty classroom where her sister is violating RJ.
• maybe they didn't have sex. maybe they were just dry humping. maybe Buffy didn't rape a teenage boy. maybe maybe maybe this is marginally less gross than it is.
• okay now the tone shifts again into pure silliness where Buffy thinks Dawn is under a spell but is in denial that she's under it, too. the episode becomes marginally more tolerable once this tone sets in
• Also here we have the crack team of Xander and Spike, and Spike reacting and reacting and not speaking and it feels like some weird inside joke the writers had with each other, and I don't really get why? It's just random and weird.
• I actually think it's kind of cute how excited Lance (RJ's brother) is about the little boxes of raisins.
• "No Buffy for you! Leave quickly now."
• And Willow and Anya don't fall for him til they see the back of his jacket HOW DOES THIS SPELL WORK.

I love that you can see Willow go "Wait, that's a boy" mid-head tilt

• Everyone is acting like a sitcom character. They're funny actresses so they're working hard to sell it but this is just so TONALLY WEIRD FOR THE SHOW. I can't cry out of character, because love spell, but I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaate this.
• Almost time for my favorite scene though!
• But first we gotta split screen this, and show Anya robbing a bank.
• "Aw man, now I gotta start all over. Hecate hates that."
• FAVORITE SCENE TIME.

• I read that the rocket launcher Buffy used to decimate The Judge was a one time use only thing, though, oops
• "I wouldn't put it past her. She's recently evil, you know." // "Well, so am I."
• Okay, time for the other good scene from this episode, after Buffy saves Dawn - not only the affirming stuff that no guy is worth Dawn's life, ever, but also the reminder that, even under a love spell, Buffy's love for her sister Dawn is still way stronger than that. "Dawn, I would give him to you in a second if I could - that's how much you're scaring me." Even under the love spell, Dawn is more important.
• Spike's reflection is showing! Shenanigans.

• It's kind of adorable that the way they "fight evil" this ep is stealing a boy's jacket and setting it on fire.

Daniel's Thoughts:

• I don’t hate this episode as much as Zelda but I understand why she does.
• Ugh, why is Spike moving in with Xander? Odd Couple?
• Dawn’s hair is lighter. Looks good.
• “Now go to your closet”….that’s bigger than most NYC apartments.
• Hey a Dawn episode….

• Dawn: “I mean Xander had a soul when he stood Anya up at the altar.” Sing it, girl.
• Michelle T is good with the comic falling
• Aww, Buffy stopped by! Being all apologetic about trying to kill her and all.
• Buffy’s a good friend after all.
• And Anya cut her hair!
• See? It takes so little. Just Buffy calling Anya her friend makes her happy.
• “Willow’s not very good with the practical strategies except when she’s evil. And Dawn – she’s not really good for anything.”
• Ugh, this is the part that makes Z and I cringe….Dawn being embarrassed…
• OMG. It’s that Garfunkel & Oates girl! She’s so young!
• Aww, Buffy’s old uniform. It’s cute that they brought it back.
• Oh man, it’s so embarrassing.
• So Dawn’s getting all obsessive – yeah, it’s mystical and magic and all that but what about the rest of the girls at the school? No one seems to be getting all obsessive over RJ. Not the way they did with Xander when we…already kinda had this plot line.
• It’s such a set-y school.
• Hey Principal Wood!
• Man, his dimples are the size of craters.
• Hey! The Bronze! I missed that place.
• See where slut-shaming gets you, Buffy?
• OK, so one other girl seems obsessed….or just a teenage girl.
• Seriously, what’s with the bangs, Buffy?
• Ugh, I can’t even watch this lame-ass flirting Buffy is doing with this tool.
• It’s so cringe-worthy.
• This was done so much better in Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered.
• Someone called Anya? Yay.
• And why is she dressed like a lesbian comic from the 90s?

"What's the deal with airline peanuts?"
"You see it was the duck and not the man that spoke."

• Ugh. Another thing to hate about this episode. Willow is gay. The spell shouldn’t work on her. Again, they missed a huge opportunity, but instead, they went for the "gay as a punchline" laugh.
• “His physical presence has a penis!”
• I have to admit, SMG is knocking this out of the park.
• “What are you gonna do, use magic to make him into a girl?..... Damn!”
• Ugh, we get it. Love makes you do stupid things.
• This whole scene with Buffy and Spike outside Wood’s office is awesome.
• But also, what is Wood listening to? EZListening FM?
• “Hey Crazy chicks, look.” Dawn is about be killed by a train. Can we have a little more panic in your voice, Xander?
• I kinda like that Dawn’s potential death breaks the spell over Buffy.

Crossfire!

D: What is she doing?
Z: She's robbing a bank!
D: But why?
Z: Because money's the best!

Favorite Lines:

Zelda: "AJ is my best friend and dearest darling!" // "It's RJ!" - Anya/Willow

Daniel: "Willow's not very good with the practical strategizing - except when she's evil. And Dawn, she's not really good for anything." - Anya

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Recurring: Buffy's old cheerleading uniform, Principal Wood, The Bronze, Buffy's rocket launcher
• Spike is still kind of insane, but he's no longer in the whatment.
• D'Hoffryn's sending demons to attack Anya after she left the vengeance game.
• The love spell cast on the letterman jacket as a callback to "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered"
• Shoutout to Xander's dysfunctional family while we're at it

Stats:

Anya's Hair - brown, shoulder length, flipped at the ends

Dead Humans - 0

Dead Undeads - 1

Dead Flashbacks - 0

Dead Cheerleading Uniform - 1

Buffy Breaks a Door - 0

Evil Reveal - 0 (the jacket isn't sentient, nor does it have autonomy; therefore it can't be evil)

Unevil Reveal - 0

Shenanigans Called - 2

Apocalypse Called - 0

I Am Aud

 Episode 7.5: Selfless. Original Airdate 10.22.02

"Anya grants a young woman's wish, and the violent and deadly act of vengeance leaves everyone stunned. Buffy must put aside her feelings for her friend and take action before more people die. Meanwhile, flashbacks depict how Anya became a vengeance demon, and Willow returns to college."

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Omg, an Anya episode! I guess she was prepping in that last ep she wasn’t in.
• Weird advice Dawn is giving Willow, “just assimilate,” basically. This says a lot about Dawn.
• At least Xander seems worried about Anya. As does Buffy. Willow just kinda shrugs. Fuck Willow.
• Oh man, my poor Anya. She’s gone a bit too far.
• I love this fake language Anya & Olaf have made.
• And all the bunnies in the house!
• “You speak your mind and are annoying.”
• So, in her human life, Anya liked bunnies and was charitable. I like that her rabbit-fear stems from a good time in her life ruined.
• And here’s non-gelled Spike. Even in an Anya episode, we have to focus on crazy-Spike.
• Ugh, First Buffy’s arm is on Spike. No touching! SHENANIGANS. They’re so inconsistent with the first and that’s one of the many problems with this big bad.
• And here’s real Buffy.
• I do like Willow is going back to college.
• Tho, I’m surprised Willow even would say, “hey” to Anya when randomly seeing her. But, ya know, she wants to tell someone about getting back into college so I guess Anya will do.
• Hey, does Willow actually seem happy for Anya? Weird.
• You can see the blue screen getting ready to show something CGIish.
• “Hide your babies and your beadwork!”
• The dialogue in these flashbacks is just the best.
• And I love the change in film when it focuses back on “Aud” and D’Hoffryn.
• This history of Anya is so overdue. It’s so good.
• Aww, Halfrek is so proud of her friend’s mass murder.
• Anya looks really cute. I love her as a brunette.
• Anya’s apartment is so full of antiques. I love it.
• I guess? Willow is trying to help? She doesn’t understand Anya one bit – maybe if she tried earlier, this wouldn’t have happened.
• Creepy CGI spider attacking Buffy is actually not bad.
• Buffy only needs one sword, Xander.
• “I have to kill Anya.” Whatever, such bullshit.
• St. Petersburg! I was just there two weeks ago!
• I have to admit, I’m enjoying Xander’s impassioned speech. I don’t agree with Buffy at all in this.
• Though, she is right that she had to kill Angel and she did....eventually.
• And I love so much that the fake message, “Kick his ass” from season 2 finally came back to bite Xander in the….well, ass, though Buffy never truly realizes it.
• I really wish there was more of this Willow. I wish Drew Goddard wrote all the episodes. This is the Willow I can get behind. The one that cares more about herself and her immediate circle. Not the usual Willow who can’t let anyone else in.
• “Buffy’s coming to kill you.” “She’s coming to try.”
• Ugh, I don’t like this. I don’t like Buffy and Anya accepting that this is just “what we have to do”.
• Oh man, the stab. When I first watched this, I thought that was it.
• I love love love love that there’s a OMWF flashback that we didn’t see.
• SHENANIGANS. I can’t believe how badly they got her hair in this flashback.

• To be fair, her hair was all over the place in OMWF:

But the wig is still terrible and not even the same color.

• Heheheheheh, and the prequel to the mustard song. “I’ll never get it out!”
• And it’s such a fucking great song, too: “I’ll be his Mrs.”
• It’s not just a great song, musically – but it shows just how much in love with Xander Anya was and why she was so incredibly hurt when Xander stood her up at the alter. And no one was getting that. No one at all.
• “lame-ass made up maiden name.”
• Oh that beautiful dress.
• And then the jarring cut to Anya’s stabbed body. Just like the device used in “The Body” when Buffy imagines Joyce’s life being saved and then it jarringly cuts to her dead body.
• “It’s like somebody slaughtered an Abercrombie and Fitch calendar” Heh.
• And Anya is willing to die for this. Not just die, but have her soul taken.
• And Hallie dies in such a horrible way.
• “Never go for the kill when you can go for the pain.” Oh man, that’s such a good line.
• And D’Hoffryn’s ominous prediction…. We all know how that turns out.
• “What if I’m really nobody?” And that's Anya's real fear.  I can't wait til they explore that in the rest of the season. /sarcasm
• And I really hate this piece of direction here. Xander has the final word and he walks away. Anya should be the one who walks away.

Zelda's Thoughts: 

• You guys, I have exciting news. I just watched Magnolia for the first time, and I now understand the "respect the cruller and tame the doughnut" line in OMWF!
• I'm so excited for this episode! So much awesomeness PLUS SINGING.
• Dawn's little "do whatever anyone else does" instructions for Willow is absurd and doesn't seem that in character, but if we take it as a tonal set up for the theme of the episode, of Anya adopting new ideas and identities based on where and when she is, on whom she's with, then it makes a kind of forced sense.
• But then Dawn says of Anya, "She should try acting like everyone else more," and it's tragic because even if the thesis is correct, that Anya builds her identity around other people, she's still the outcast, even among her "friends" (both demon and human, especially this season), no matter her attempts to assimilate.
• I wonder why Anya stuck around to see the carnage this time. With both Ronnie the worm and Cordelia's wish in S3, she cleared out of the scene until she was pulled back in.
• AHHHHHH THE FUN BEGINS. AUD AND OLAF AND ALL THE BUNNIES.
• "Your logic is insane and happenstance, like that of a troll."
• "You speak your mind and are annoying." See? She's always been this frank and she's always been a bit of an outcast. It has nothing to do with being a former or current vengeance demon.
• Trivia: they intended to have the Swedish dialogue of Aud and Olaf dubbed in (comically out of sync), but then the actors were so kickass at actually learning it that they let them do it.
• "But she'd see the sky when we were inside, and it'd make her so happy ... Now I see her."
• So the First's agenda now is it wants Spike to ask Buffy for help - is that just to get him near her, where he can be activated with the song, and take her out of the equation?
• Real subtle costume choice, First!Buffy wears white. Real Buffy wears black.
• Both Buffys have the same little braid in the front because (more trivia!) this was SMG's wedding hair and she wore it like this the entire filming of the ep, which was right before her wedding.

• Willow's actually pretty friendly and happy to see Anya on campus. I'm assuming it's more just her general good cheer about things going well in Willowland.
• "Run! Hide your babies and your beadwork!" "The troll is doing an Olaf impersonation!" "Hit him with fruits and various meats." I just love it all so much.
• "I talk to them but they don't talk to me, except to say that 'your questions are irksome, and perhaps you should take your furs and your literal interpretations to the other side of the river.'"
• "My name is Aud." // "Perhaps. But Anyanka is who you are." The second man to whom Anya attaches herself, the man from whom she receives her new identity.
• Aw Halfrek. You'll be dead soon and we'll kind of miss you.
• Did I brag yet about seeing Halfrek (Kali Rocha) in Richard III with Peter Dinklage? Because that's a thing I did.
• The shift is immediate. With Hallie, Anya was conflicted, guilt-ridden, worried and sad. Willow shows up and Anya brittles up, turns defensive and defiant, believing what she did was right, calling out the hypocrisy of Willow coming after her.
• "I am a vengeance demon! Do you understand that?" // "No." // "Try. They got what they deserved." The desperate way she clings to that line, willing it to be true.
• I don't know why, but the way Xander says, so frustrated when he touches the webbing, "aw sticky!" is hilarious to me
• Our Buffy is the best Buffy. She throws the axe into the tree and kills the spider demon.
• Aw Anya caused the Russian Revolution. And is a communist.
• "You're talking about work." // "I'm talking about life. Vengeance is what I do, Halfrek. I don't need anything else. Vengeance is what I am."

She's like Georges Seurat, except with vengeance instead of pointillism.

• TIME FOR ANOTHER AMAZING SCENE. You guys, I remember watching this episode the first time and cheering so damn loudly when Buffy bring up Xander's "kick his ass" from the S2 finale, re: Angel. YES BUFFY YOU CALL HIM OUT. YOU ARE THE LAW AND THE LAW IS NOT MOCKED.
• Although I do have a small issue. I get that no one remembers what Giles learned in The Wish, that the way to undo the spell is to break the Vengeance Demon's talisman, not stab her through the heart, but everyone knows after Hallie failed to die in Older and Far Away. Why is it all "I have to kill Anya," and not "I have to destroy her talisman and take her out of the vengeance game"?
• Here it comes! "I killed Angel." [everything stops] "Do you even remember that? I would have given up everything I had to be with - I loved him more than I will ever love anything in this life, and I put a sword through his heart because I had to."

• Drew Goddard was such a gift to the writing staff.
• "Someone has to draw the line and that is always going to be me."
• "You get down on me for cutting myself off, but in the end the Slayer is always cut off." More set up for the season arc that (though we don't know it) is leading us to Buffy's sharing of the power, activating all the Potentials. Uh I mean spoilers and stuff.
• Willow is actually behaving waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than usual regarding Anya this episode. First she was friendly to her, then she didn't tell Buffy until she was sure, trying to reason with Anya first herself (knowing what conclusion Buffy would reach once she knew), and telling Buffy she can't go along for the fight. And then summoning D'Hoffryn, trying to find a way around this problem, a way out, that won't shatter all her friends.
• "Xander, you've always seen what you wanted to." BUT SOON YOU WILL LOSE ALL DEPTH PERCEPTION. I'm a terrible person.
• "Are there any friends of yours left you haven't tried to kill?"
• Because the writers are cruel beasts, Anya doesn't get to finish "because I'm a vengeance demon" before she gets stabbed through the heart. (and Buffy's to blame. She gives vengeance a bad name.) (I'm so sorry, you guys.)
• I know Daniel called it out, but I have to second how bad Anya's OMWF wig is.
• OH NO MUSTARD ON MY SHIRT. HOW COULD YOU SERVE MUSTARD.
• So, since they used David Fury and Marti Noxon for that bit, does that mean it's canon that the Mustard Shirt Guy is in a relationship with the underwear-less Parking Meter Gal? And that they live near Xander?
• I remember when I found out they were giving Anya a flashback ep, hoping against hope that meant a new song AND THEN IT DID LOOK WE GOT A NEW SONG. And she's delightful.
• "It makes financial sense as well."
• GOD WHEN SHE'S IN HER WEDDING DRESS. SO HAPPY. IT HURTS.
• In the commentary they talk about how important it was that, even though she gets impaled in demon face, when we cut back to her post-flashback, she's in human face.
• "You know better than that, Buffy. It takes a lot more to kill a demon."
• "Stop trying to save me, Xander!"
• Okay so I am kind of remembering an interpretation of this fight that Buffy wasn't deliberately fighting with her all, that she wasn't actually intending to kill Anya, but to get Anya to stop. I'm willing to accept this read. (found it! Snark Squad)
• "But I'm not sure if anyone's bothered to find out what Anyanka herself really wants." Good fucking question.
• "Actually, funny historical sidebar -"
• This is a great shift for D'Hoffryn - even though he's a demon, he's been kind of the cute and cuddly funny father figure demon. But with this, we see a line clearly drawn. He is not our ally, and he never will be. BECAUSE HE - AS A VENGEANCE DEMON - WENT FOR THE PAIN.
• Such a harsh death for Hallie.
• "What if I'm really nobody?"
• Ugh, such a good Anya episode, you guys. Such amazing writing, such a good performance, such good arc stuff. TOO BAD THAT'S ALL WE GET OF ANYA THIS SEASON except for comic background stuff and the horrible OOCness of her and everyone in Empty Places

I couldn't find a good place for this gif but I love it and let's end
on a high note, shall we?

Crossfire!

D: It’s weird how much I liked Willow in seasons 1-3 and how much my hatred has grown for her since.

Z: The timing works out for Anya’s entrance, doesn’t it?

D: Yeah, I guess it does.

Favorite Lines:

Daniel: "I talk to them but they don't talk to me, except to say that 'your questions are irksome, and perhaps you should take your furs and your literal interpretations to the other side of the river.'" - Anya

Zelda: "Mrs. Anya Lame-ass-made-up-maiden-name Harris." - Anya

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Recurring: Olaf, the First, UC Sunnydale, D'Hoffryn, Halfrek, "from beneath you it devours"
• Allusions to Anya's predilections include trolls, bunnies, and economic philosophy
• Shoutout to Dru watching the sky through the ceiling.
• Willow has D'Hoffryn's amulet from when he gave it to her in Something Blue
• Shoutout to that time Buffy tried to kill all her friends
• Anya is no longer a vengeance demon

Stats:

Anya's Hair - brown, shoulder length, wavy, sideswept bangs (present day only)

Dead Humans - 0 (we're not counting the 12 frat boys or the guy in the woods, since that wish gets undone)

Dead Undeads - 2

Dead Flashbacks - 5

Buffy Breaks a Door - 0

Evil Reveal - 0

Unevil Reveal - 0

Shenanigans Called - 2

Apocalypse Called - 0

Have You Googled Her Yet?

Episode 7.4: Help. Original Airdate 10.15.02    

"Buffy begins a new job as school counselor at Sunnydale High. On her first day she encounters a troubled young girl who is convinced she is about to die."

Zelda's Thoughts: 

• wheeeeeeeeeeee. I remember really liking this episode when it aired. Let's see if it holds up.
• The middle of Season Seven is where it's gonna get weird for me, recap-wise. I've rewatched the rest of the series a lot, but I think there are some eps in S7 I've seen only once or twice each, and that's super weird.
• It's also gonna get weird when we start our next show. The only other TV shows I know to the extent I know Buffy are Firefly and the first 3.5 seasons of The West Wing, and we won't be doing either of those.
• I'm talking about this too much.
• "I should be home in bed, cuddling up to my insomnia." Aw Buffs.
• Oh it's Sarah Hagan. Hi Sarah Hagan.
• "I'm really tired of everyone being so insecure." Preach, Amanda. Don't write off boys being shits to girls as growing pains.
• "Do you think I should pound on him some more?" Maybe this was our clue that Amanda was a potential.
• It's a sad/sweet mood, the reveal that Willow's walk and talk with Xander is on the way to visit Tara's grave. And the moment with the stones - one of the few nods to Willow's Judaism - lovely and sad.
• I'm glad Tara was buried in Sunnydale, where her true family can visit her grave, rather than wherever her fucked up blood kin reside. "Hey, it's me." Ow, it hurts.
• Aw Cassie. I love Azura Skye. She has such an interesting energy.
• "Because next Friday I'm gonna die." BUT NO BUFFY SAVES THE DAY ONLY ON TUESDAYS. I'm sorry you guys, that was horrible.
• Do we think Buffy was supposed to be wearing a fancier shirt? Cassie is all "I really like that shirt" and I'm all "... looks like a wifebeater idk?" 

You can get five for $10 at Hanes.

• Wood may have gone to high school in Beverly Hills, but HE SPENT HIS CHILDHOOD IN NEW YORK. #spoilers
• They have a ceramics class? With ... homework? Does Dawn have a take-home pottery wheel?
• Though I do love the continuity of Dawn taking art classes.
• Fun trivia note: apparently Willow asking if Buffy googled Cassie is the first time Google was used as a verb on television.
• Another fun trivia note: it's no longer online, but Cassie's website was a real page you could visit, with her art and poetry all over it.
• "Buffy the Vampire Slayer would break down this door." Zelda the blogger waits patiently to see if she can update her stats. She can't.
• Cassie's speech ... so well-delivered. "There's a lot of stuff I'd like to do ... I'd love to backpack across the country, or I don't know, fall in love? But I won't. I just never will."
• uhmmmm Buffy just an fyi, now that you're an employee of the school and therefore the government, maybe threatening children with physical violence is not the best plan of action? Just my five cents.
• Oh what a surprise, the dickiest dick to dick around this episode is the ringleader of the red-robed dicks. Still counts as an evil reveal.
• I can't believe these dumbasses have actual flaming torches set up in the library.
• Heh. Spike punches douche, grabs his head in pain from the chip, punches douche, grabs head in pain.
• "She'll tell you. Someday she'll tell you." Yep, right before you die.
• "See? You can make a difference." /// "And you will." *dies*
• Man, this one hurts
• "I failed her." // "Uh uh. No. You didn't, cuz you tried. You listened and you tried. She died cuz of her heart, not cuz of you. She was my friend because of you. I guess sometimes you can't help." // "So what then? What do you do when you know that? When you know that maybe you can't help?" You show up for work the next day, and you see who you can try to help next. This melancholy ambiguity feels much more like an Angel episode than a Buffy episode in that regard. very "if nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do."

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Hey look, peaceful old lady in a coffin.
• It’s weird that they’re staking ;) out a funeral home when most vamps are buried before they turn.
• Hey! Buffy at her job! These three teen actors. One’s from that stupid Tim Allen show – one is from Reaper And our very first (live) potential, Amanda (spoilers!) [from Freaks and Geeks! - Z]
• Hey! A real park! They’re both wearing a lot of clothes for fall.
• Xander with the construction analogy.
• Oh…it’s Tara’s grave…on some weird hillside…where the stones are SUPER far apart. How rich was Tara’s family? Or rather – who did bury Tara? Was it Buffy & Co? Where’d they get the money? Maybe Giles did it with the leftover money from his GIANT MANSION.
• I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Willow puts stones on Tara’s grave. It’s a Jewish tradition and I’m glad the writers didn’t forget that Willow was born Jewish.
• Hey, Cassie Newton. She’s got such a weird demeanor.
• Oh Buffy – being unintentionally racist. “The hood?” Really, Buffy?
• What an inappropriate shirt for work, Buffy.
• Hey, look, people in a library!
• Google – it’s a search engine! Man, this show feels so old sometimes.
• That’s a really weird looking browser…
• “I’m over you now, sweetie.” Heh, yeah. She’s gay now.
• Doogie Houser fan fic..and then she starred with Doogie Houser on another show!
• All these red herrings to this mystery.
• Hey, it’s that guy who’s in everything now!
• If he only has her on weekends and had her last weekend, why is she skulking outside?
• Oddly, showing the men in red hoods burning a picture of Cassie is almost comforting – because it’s something that Buffy can stop.
• Hey, there’s crazy pointless Spike. Yet – this is the first episode in the season with no Anya. Joy.
• My sister’s your second choice?? Heh.
• This is the second time one of the scoobs was all wiggy about revealing that Buffy is the slayer – but I mean, doesn’t everyone know by now? She got the class protector award, so.... [Yeah, but then half the class died at graduation, so ... - Z]
• Ok, this one guy – he’s joking about a booby trap that he set up so no one would get in. Except that booby trap is a fucking arrow that could go off in someone’s skull, so…wth, dude.
• Ugh, spike to the rescue.
• So I mean, the chip’s not really strong enough to stop Spike from actually hurting humans. Maybe he’s gotten used to it? So pretty much Spike could have been killing – just…been hurting afterwards.
• And Cassie dies anyway. Kinda a throwback to Joyce, even. This wasn’t something supernatural, so it wasn’t something Buffy could stop.

Favorite Lines:

Zelda: "You think I want this? You think I don't care? Believe me, I want to ... be here, do things. I want to graduate from high school, and I want to go to the stupid winter formal ... I have this friend, and it would be fun to go with him. Just to dance and hear lame music, to wear a silly dress and laugh and stuff. I'd like to go. There's a lot of stuff I'd like to do. I'd love to ice skate at Rockefeller Center. And I'd love to see my cousins grow up and see how they turn out cuz they're really mean and I think they're gonna be fat. I'd love to backpack across the country, or, I don't know, fall in love? But I won't. I just never will." - Cassie
Daniel: "You know, I'm really tired of everyone being so insecure." - Amanda, about bullies

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• First appearance: Amanda, Cassie
• Recurring: Principal Wood
• No Anya this episode

• The little secret demon worshiping group with the female sacrifice is a shoutout to the frat house in Reptile Boy

Stats:

Anya's Hair - invisible, apparently
Dead Humans - 1
Dead Undeads - 2
Dead Flashbacks - 0
Buffy Breaks a Door - 0
Evil Reveal - 1
Unevil Reveal - 0
Shenanigans Called - 0
Apocalypse Called - 0

Comically Paralyzed Sister

Episode 7.3: Same Time, Same Place. Original Airdate 10.8.02

"Though they seem to be in the same place at the same time, Buffy, Xander and Dawn are unable to find Willow when she returns from England. Shortly after returning to Sunnydale, people start turning up skinned alive [the grammar here is ruining your intent, imdb]. As Buffy and Xander worry that this could be Willow's work, Willow sets out to find the creature that did it."

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Tiny Tiny Sunnydale Airport…that flies from England. There better have been three stopovers.
• I love that Buffy and Dawn are making fun of Xander’s yellow crayon speech.
• Also, they made it past security to meet her? Err, post-911 shenanigans?
• “She didn’t finish being not-evil?”
• Oooh, the opening lives up to its title. They’re all there, but they can’t see each other!
• So creepy, this demon.
• They don’t open with a potential here…I kinda wish they had continued that – although even someone like Kennedy or one of the potentials that actually makes it to the house. Not all of them have to die.
• Awww, Willow remembering what happened in that room. She hasn’t been back in that house since Tara died.
• Xander does mention a layover in Chicago. But I still refuse to believe a plane goes from Chicago to Sunnydale, even. At least three layovers. Or four.
• Are they on the same couch that Willow is sleeping on? So it’s not just that they can’t see/hear each other – they’re just in slightly different dimensions. Or something?
• Oh HEY, Willow can see Anya – WHICH MEANS SHE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT ANYA. So mean. I hate that.
• “You feel really responsible? You are responsible!”
• Anya: We don't groove with the "sorry." We prefer the "Oh God, please stop hitting me with my own rib-bones!"
• I was in Brazil yesterday. They love their soccer. lol.
• Ugh, Willow is such a – 'That’s great- I don’t really care about what you’re up to, just tell me about the others.' UGH, Willow. You may not be evil anymore, but you're still kind of an insensitive bitca.
• I actually really like this scene – where Willow is talking to Spike and Spike’s dialogue makes no sense until we realize that he’s talking to Buffy and Xander too. It’s really well done.  It's like some weird David Ives play.
• “He’s talking about Willow.” NO, he’s talking TO Willow!
• “Come in! Enjoy my personal space”. Anya is on this episode. Who are we kidding, she’s on every episode. (Just not….in every episode this season.)
• “Was it you? No!” ~Willow & Anya.
• “Is it difficult or time consuming?” THAT’S ME.

• “This isn’t going to be sexy, is it?”
• See? Anya/Willow scenes could be great if Willow didn’t get in her own way. (read: the writers didn’t fall on old habits.)
• "It did get a little sexy."  hehe.
• Man, Gnarl is terrifying.
• This Spike crazy thing. It turns on and off so much/fast. His: “I’m insane, what’s his excuse?” line was so…sane. Like he has moments – but couldn’t he tell them about Willow in those moments?
• I mean Gnarl must see all of them, right? He sees Dawn because he stabs her – yet he still says, all alone to Willow…while they’re all there.
• Man, he’s so creepy.
• “It says the paralysis is permanent.” – Err, Buffy doesn’t seem all that upset about that.
• She’s poseable! “Shall I make her salute?”
• “Willow, I’m here!” – she’s so sweet.
• What would have happened if Xander’s foot was in Willow when she reappeared? Inquiring minds.
• It’s cute that Willow is in Buffy’s room and Buffy is sleeping in Joyce’s room.

Zelda's Thoughts: 

• No cold open dead potential this week.
• YOU GUYS, IT'S TIME FOR THE SECOND OF FOUR CAMDEN TOY ROLES IN THE BUFFY CANON (second of five if you count his role on Angel)
• Man. I just. This is post-9/11. It would have been so easy to shoot this lolSunnydale Airportlol scene at baggage claim where you can actually collect passengers now, vs coming directly off the plane at the gate. I know Daniel already called shenanigans, but I wanted to register my complaint too.
• Dawn's delivery: "She didn't finish being not-evil?" I STILL DON'T HATE DAWN. THAT'S A THREE EPISODE STREAK WHUT UP.
• Actually it's possible I didn't hate her in Grave. I don't remember anymore.
• Gasp Willow did get off the plane! "Welcome home, me."
• I do think this episode is pretty clever in terms of the puzzle pieces of putting this together, as well as the metaphor of the week stuff (another callback to early Buffy seasons, when the metaphors were simple and clean). And it's so sad, that Willow thinks no one cares that she's back, that no one wants her back. And sad that, when they think she chickened out of coming home, they think that could mean she went off the rails again. They want to believe the best of their friend, but they can't ignore the warning signs.
• Although I find it unnerving - as I think we're supposed to - that Willow could cast a spell of this magnitude without even realizing it. That's, you know, that's not a good thing either. I guess it's the sort of thing to expect from someone who didn't finish her courses in being not-evil.
• "So Giles is blaming Giles, and we're blaming us; is anyone going to blame Willow? Oh, don't give me shock face. I mean, will anyone around here ever start asking for help when they need it?" Dawn's making a good point you guys. OH SHIT IS DAWN MY NEW CHARACTER OF REASON, WITH GILES GONE?
• I'm having some existential Dawn-related crises over here and Daniel is just IGNORING ME.
• Daniel and I just had a great riff about Anya even though we're not at her big episode yet - how she lost her job in the human world (thanks Willow), they won't let her do her job in the demon world (thanks Xander), of COURSE she sent a spider demon to kill an entire frat house. We would too!
• It's also not lost on us that, while Willow may be afraid to see Buffy, Dawn, and Xander, she clearly doesn't care what Anya thinks of her.
• "You feel really responsible? YOU ARE REALLY RESPONSIBLE." preach, Anya
• Anya's a way better friend to you than you deserve, Willow, especially considering you completely destroyed her livelihood at the Magic Box, and therefore one of her favorite things - being a cog in the capitalist machinery.
• "Spike's what in the whatment?" // "Insane. Base."
• OH I HAVE A NEW THEORY. Because largely Willow can't see/hear Buffy/Xander/Dawn and vice versa. But there are a few exceptions - she hears the door slam, they hear her drop the planner, and they hear her scurry up the ladder at the dig site where the body is. I think these are moments when either her guard is completely down (ladder) or her longing for them is hella-intensified. Just a theory. But I mean ... the spell breaks when she knows they're there for her and she's just talking about how much she wants to see them, so clearly this spell is operating nearly entirely on the metaphor-emotions level.
• I do like the math of the dual interrogation of Spike, especially when we don't realize at first what's happening. Willow answers Spike's "You went away, you've been gone since ..." even though it's directed at Buffy.
• heh "I can't find Buffy of Xander ..." Spike looks confusedly from Willow to Buffy and Xander.
• "What's a word means glowing? Gotta rhyme." Hmmmmm maybe EFFULGENT?
• "Everyone's talking to me. No one's talking to each other." hehehehe
• ANYA IS THE BEST. "Come in, enjoy my personal space." [dead body at Sunnydale High]: "Yes, that can happen."
• "When did you get all insightful?" // "I'm surprisingly sensitive."
• Anya's really killing it this episode. "Do you have your powder?" // "Oh, I ate that." this is entirely the bratty kind of joke in which I regularly traffic
• "The vengeance itself, it's not as fulfilling as I remember." Aw Anya. "Causing pain sounds really cool, I know, but turns out it's really upsetting. Didn't used to be, but now it is." Anya deserves so much better than she gets this season. She's so great.

• Dawn's research girl. She really is the new Giles. God, is she my new favorite? I don't know what to do with this. Especially knowing how much Giles's character gets ruined this season, I may need a new favorite.
• Dawn even figured out it's Gnarl! Good job, Dawn.
• "I'm sure there's tons of stuff like this. You know, procedures we can use that don't involve magic spells. Just good solid detective work. And we can develop a database of tooth impressions and demon skin samples and  I could wear high heels more often." OH NO SHE'S MY NEW FAVORITE WHAT DO I DO.
• "I'm insane, what's his excuse?" Man, couple this with Buffy's earlier "or we could be smart" dig, and we are royally trashing Xander's intellect this episode. It's fun.
• Camden Toy is amazing, you guys. Both a fantastic physical actor (he was one of the Gentlemen) and a fantastic voice actor.
• "Gnarl loves spells! He keeps them as pets. They love him. And they leave him alone."
• Paralyzed Dawn is hilarious you guys. "Stop talking about vomit!" She's also better at keeping her face frozen than Aly is.
• "Wouldn't it be tragic if you were here being kinda silly with your comically paralyzed sister while Willow was dying?" seriously every Anya line is gold
• God I forgot how much eye gouging happens this season. And Xander is the most squicked out that Buffy did it with her thumbs. The poor future-ly blinded fool.
• "There you are! There you are!" Strangely, this inflection is another one that I lifted and use a lot.
• OH WAIT MY FEELS GOT HIT. Buffy and Willow re-bonding.
• "I wanna be the kind of person that wouldn't think that. Xander never thought it." // "He did, a little. Heck, I did a little. Xander has the luxury of not saying it. But you're the Slayer. You have to say stuff like that." I'm glad Willow gets it and the show gets it and is having Willow say it, since we know Xander will rake Buffy over the coals for this bottom line stuff in a few episodes.
• FRIENDSHIP YOU GUYS. LOOKIT THE FRIENDSHIP. OUR SCOOBIES ARE FRIENDS AGAIN. (waits for it to collapse in Selfless)

Crossfire!

Willow: *lies on couch in self-pity*

Daniel: That's a big comfy couch.

Zelda: Yeah, you could die on that couch.

Daniel: Aww. Awwwwwww!

Favorite Lines:

Daniel: Anya: Spike is insane in the basement. Willow: Spike's what in the whatment?  Anya: Insane, base.

Zelda:

(it was too hard to pick among everything Anya said,
so I swerved left)

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Recurring: Sunnydale Airport, Camden Toy as a demon
• Shoutout to Spike rhyming words for glowing
• Shoutout to Anya's fear of bunnies
• Shoutout to Willy's bar
• Shoutout to Clem and his clearly meditation-achieved baggy skin

Stats:

Anya's Hair - brown, sloppy bun/half back

Dead Humans - 1

Dead Undeads - 1

Dead Flashbacks - 0

Buffy Breaks a Door - 0

Evil Reveal - 0

Unevil Reveal - 0 

Shenanigans Called - 1

Apocalypse Called - 0

Aw Puppy!

Episode 7.2: Beneath You. Original Airdate 10.1.02 

"A giant worm-like  creature begins stalking a young girl [woman]. As the gang begins to investigate, they realize its appearance in Sunnydale may be linked to Anya."

Zelda's Thoughts: 

• Another 2002 memory for you: I remember getting super excited when I found out the title, as I immediately thought of Buffy and Spike's conversation near the end of Fool For Love, when she says he's beneath her (echoing Cecily's reproof). Here, as with the title of Lie to Me, the title of the episode operates on a number of levels (Ronnie the worm, The First, and this callback)
• Germany! Time for our Run Lola Run homage.
• Bad move, sound mixers/foley artists. The Bringers shouldn't be making grunts. They're mute.
• Heh. It's actually a fairly good bit of misdirection, planting the "from beneath you it devours" line - which is about The First and the Hellmouth - and then having the ep be about this big underground worm thing, and trick us into thinking that's the thing from beneath us, all devour-y.
• Is Spike hunting rats a callback to Angel in that alleyway in Becoming?
• "speaking for everybody who are me in the car" OMG I LIKE DAWN IN THIS SEASON I FORGOT I STOP HATING DAWN
• Seriously, DB Woodside's delivery is amazing. The post-bastinada joke stuff. "No one ever knows what that thing is."
• Can we go visit Giles (okay fine, we can visit Tony Head) in England? His place is very pretty
• Gasp Spike is here. And he got his roots retouched. And his shirt is reeeeeally tight.
• Oh look, Buffy kept Spike a secret and now everyone's mad at her. That's fun.
• Hey Dawn and Xander, stop punishing Buffy. She's the one who got almost-raped and it's up to her how she handles her trauma. Stop judging her.
• So we see later that Spike is not steady and sane, so what is this scene? Did The First leave him alone and let him focus? Or is he under the "Never Leave Me" thrall? We definitely see that he's preternaturally calm and collected in subsequent episodes when he's under thrall. But he's not trying to sabotage Buffy right now, nor is he about to go feeding, which hurts that theory. I can't really find a good in-canon explanation for this current bout of sanity, except to keep the viewers off-balance as much as possible.
• And now I'm again mad at the writers for how they - many times this season - try to deliberately keep us off-balance by basically trolling us with lies. There's misdirection and then there's this shit. *glares at Giles and his chopped off head*
• I wonder if Spike genuinely believes it was the three ghost-things in the basement that made him crazy or if he knows the truth. I mean, he doesn't know it's specifically The First who's been tormenting him, but he knows someone has, to the degree that he can't trust his own senses. Especially when it looks like Buffy or Dru. So I now have a follow up question - did The First find him right after his soul was restored, or only after he returned to Sunnydale? Did his guilt drive him a li'l bit bonkers and then The First jumped in to finish the job, or is it all The First? How did he get back from Africa anyway? Did he ride his motorcycle the whole way? Did he ride it underwater? Did he befriend the sea creatures while he did so? Are mermaids real, and if so, can they sing? SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS, YOU GUYS.
• A+ to Dawn for being awesome and scary and protective of her sister.
• "I can't say sorry. Can't use 'forgive me.'" Okay but you could maybe TRY STARTING THERE? IDK. JUST A THOUGHT.
• I get the in-canon morality that the souled demon is not responsible for the un-souled demon's actions - it's how we were able to trust Angel again in Season Three. But like. Remorse is still a thing. As is apologizing. The writers can't make the attempted rape about Spike's feels, okay? It should be about Buffy's. It's her show, it's her trauma, and this is like the last we ever hear of it, on her end.
• Man, this scene in the Bronze is a mess. All the "banter" about who used to date whom, who boned whom, feels really forced and awkwardly phrased and unnaturally placed and just flat out clumsy first-draft stuff, all for the purpose of landing on Nancy's joke about who hasn't slept with each other yet. The only bit I like is the Xander/Spike eye glance to troll the slash shippers. But the lead up is just clumsily done and it's not funny.

• I do like when Anya's able to see Spike's soul. It's just a cool touch, and I love her reaction. "Oh my god. How did you do it? I can see you!"
• Aaaaaaand Spike has snapped. Because his behavior now is definitely not that of remorseful soul-y Spike, or of out-of-his-senses Spike, or of preternaturally calm Spike. So is this thrall-Spike?
• "You don't want to see [D'Hoffryn] angry. Trust me." Oh how right Anya was.
• And then stabbing re-humaned Ronnie activates Spike's chip ... which seems to break him out of his bravado/thrall, and send him back into scattered wits Spike, full of nonsense and metaphor.

Also, I consider this a deliberate callback to the same move
 in Fool For Love

• Oh look, more undelivered promise of awesomeness to come: "This? Just the beginning, luv. A warm-up act. The real headliner's coming, and when that band hits the stage, all of this ... all this ... will come tumbling in death and screaming, horror, and bloodshed."
• The fact that Spike knows "from beneath you it devours" is confirmation that it's about The First, and not about Ronnie the Worm.
• "I know this is bad, but it could be worse." // "Oh, it will be."
• I don't care what the haters say, I love this final scene in the church. Such good acting from both SMG and JM. Really well shot too. 

• "It didn't work. Costume. Didn't help. Couldn't hide."
• "I dreamed of killing you. I think they were dreams."
• Buffy's face when Spike mentions Angel, "He should have warned me." That's when she figures it out.
• "And now everybody's in here, talking. Everything I did ... everyone I - and him ... and it ... the other, the thing beneath - beneath you. It's here too. Everybody." I remember spending so much time parsing this line, when the episode first aired. It sounded like there were three beings he was referring to, and I was sure one of them was The First, but what about the other two? And I connected it to Anya's bit about "I can see you" and my confusion as to why he was de-crazified earlier and I wondered if there was somehow some kind of personality split within Spike, and what that meant. Reading it now, it seems more clear - there's 1 - current remorseful Spike; 2 - The First; and 3 - "the thing beneath [Buffy]" - a direct callback to their conversation in Fool For Love - the thing beneath Buffy is the monster, the soulless vampire, the thing from which current crazy Spike now feels a sharp disconnect (his excuse for not apologizing about the near rape thing?). Spike still feels the monster inside him.
• The other thing I keep thinking about is, Spike got his soul because "it's what [Buffy] wanted." He spent the last season and a half using Buffy as his moral compass, his lodestone, because he had no internal one. And he's always one who's been guided by his heart that way. But in order to be a man worthy of Buffy, his moral compass needs to come from within, and that's what his soul is supposed to be. But he's too broken to know how to use it yet, and The First is feeding on that. Basically Spike is just a hot mess right now.
• "To be the kind of man who would nev- to be a kind of man." the way his voice breaks on that line, oof

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Frankfurt Germany! This will be theme for at least a few more episodes, right?
• This is about the same time as Alias and it’s no coincidence that this potential looks like Sydney Bristow, my other favorite kick-ass female hero.

Dead German Potential                            Sydney Bristow

• Buffy nightmare! I wonder if she had a dream about the Istanbul girl.
• From beneath you it devours…. Oooh.
• More crazy Spike… ok.
• Xander and Buffy talking about Anya being a vengeance demon as if…it’s not a problem…yet.
• Wood is such a dork. I love it.
• Hey, Willow is still in Westbury, England….in Giles’ MANSION. Man, his house is big. (I think that’s actually ASH’s house.)
• Random woman walking her dog and she’s a dick because she’s all like, I shoulda gotten a cat. DOGS RULE, woman.
• Nancy doesn’t even seem to care that her dog’s been eaten up.
• Hey, Spike’s not crazy since this morning and he had time to peroxide his hair.
• Why haven’t they Spike-proofed the house since he left? Since you know, he attacked Buffy.
• I mean seriously, he got over his craziness pretty quickly.
• “Something’s coming” - does he not remember speaking to all the big bads that weren’t actually there last week?
• Seriously, Nancy, your dog just died.
• Ooh, Dawn being over-protective little sis – I like it.
• There’s really no reason Buffy would be working with Spike right now. Not just because of what happened last year.  He's been MIA all summer and she just saw him acting all crazy-pants in the school basement.
• Why is Spike lying? Why not just tell her? He did this for her. And maybe it would make her less scared of him – to know that maybe he’s not a threat anymore.
• FLIRTY NANCY. YOUR DOG JUST DIED. I like the actress, though, she’s kinda funny.
• She’s kinda too pretty for Xander, though.
• What is with Anya’s clothes this season? She’s dressed like an old woman.
• Anya:

I think my grandmother had this blouse

• Awww, Puppy! THIS IS WHY ANYA IS MORE AWESOME THAN NANCY (OR ANYONE ELSE). She’s upset about the puppy. Seemingly the only one.
• Oh, yes, Anya knows! She knows about Spike! It’s such a great revelation.
• Dude, Spike punching Anya. Not cool. Why is Xander not doing anything? What the hell?
• Hey, Buffy is defending Anya’s honor. That’s nice. Fucking Xander.
• And here’s what’s weird. Angel and Angelus are such polar opposites. But Spike is just no different from err…soul-Spike. William? Nah, still Spike.
• “Sooner or later, that excuse stops working”. No, it doesn’t, Xander. That “excuse” started it all; started her on a downhill spiral and it won’t stop until it’s fixed. You, asshole.
• Hey, naked guy!
• Man, more crazy Spike. (bored now.)
• Hey, now Xander is actually being kinda nice to Anya. That’s new.
• Hey, remember those few years in the early 2000s when girls wore these like lingerie type shirts? Glad that’s over.
• Well I’m glad this wasn’t stretched out too much. I’m glad Buffy knows that Spike has his soul.
• Hugging a cross….sizzling but not burning up like another vamp would…

Crossfire!

[context: Zelda recently went full-Khaleesi with her hair]
Spike: *shows up with freshly-bleached hair*
D: (to Z) And it took you six hours to peroxide your hair?
Z: Yes, but for roots it would only take like an hour and a half.
D: So he had time after being crazy this morning.
Z: Yes.
D: And apparently stopped by H&M as well.
Z: And they didn't have his size so he bought smaller.

Crossfire, Part Deux!

Nancy: *hits on Xander*
D: Your dog just died!
Z: It's not like her husband just died!
D: No, it's worse!

Favorite Lines:

Zelda: the final scene. not a particular line, just the whole scene, acting and writing.
Daniel: 

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

First appearance: "From beneath you, it devours"
Recurring: potential and bringers, Principal Wood, Giles
Shoutout (the second) to Principal Flutie

Stats:

Anya's Hair - brown, retro flip
Dead Humans - 1
Dead Undeads -0
Dead Potentials - 1
Dead Doggies - 1
Dead Flashbacks - 0
Giles Unconscious - 0
Giles Cleans His Glasses - 0
Buffy Breaks a Door - 0
Evil Reveal - 0
Unevil Reveal - 0
Shenanigans Called - 0
Apocalypse Called - 0