Great episode…
Best Line–“I’m here to kill you, not to judge you.”
I loved it. It was so season 6-y that it was refreshing. Yay! 
Only one of the characters was getting a mind-fuck? I thought they all were! :eek:
Thanks for that Thea,now i know 
But i get he feeling if this is indeed the final season Spike is gonna be dusted.
I think the whole Cassie thing was forshadowing,sometimes you can’t save or redeem someone no matter how hard you try.
This is kinda spoilery for ep 8-12 (very vaguely) re: Spike
If Spike is dusted, it will be at the end of the season. Buffy’s not going to dust him next week, and in week 9 she’s not torturing/pouding on him (much) and I know he’s still alive in 10 though I don’t know if he’ll actually be in 11 or 12. But I do know that Buffy’s not going to slay him.
Damn it! Jonathon was a nice guy. sniffle And Andrew proves that he really is as stupid as I always thought he was.
I think that all of the “dead” in the 5 story lines were actually TETD. Of the 5 living/dead pairings, the dead in 3 were hands-down TETD. I’m wondering if maybe the other 2 (Spike and the shrink-vamp) weren’t also. The whole point of all 5 story lines seemed to be an attempt to undermine Buffy’s possible (if you include Jonathon) support system. Her lengthy survival goes a long way to proving that a Slayer that is not isolated (as they traditionally were) tends to be stronger.
[ul]
[li]TETD has planted a major doubt in Dawn about Buffy[/li][li]TETD tried to convince Willow to kill herself[/li][li]Buffy has had a major doubt planted about Spike, possibly by TETD; additionally, she may find herself spending more time trying to figure out “what’s it all about” and “am I really that rotten” than paying attention to business[/li][li]Something that looks like Spike is working hard to provide proof for Buffy’s doubt (since TETD can assume other forms, we can’t assume it really is Spike)[/li][li]Jonathon was killed by Andrew at TETD’s instigation.[/li][/ul]
That was a really great episode. My only quibble is that Joss seems determined that anything good that happens to his characters eventually winds up hurting them lots. I can understand that he’d want to distinguish his shows from others by not providing the happy ending; but dang it, sometimes good things happen and they don’t go bad. It’d be nice if something good happened to at least one of the gang without life kicking their teeth down their throats soon afterwards.
Wow. Easily the best episode of the season…and very likely in the Top 10 Buffy’s of all time. Great change in tone from last week, too–I love how the show can go to such extremes week-to-week.
I’m really liking that Cassie character & the actress who plays her. It’s a shame she’s dead, because I really would’ve liked to have seen her in the “Scooby Jr” Team. So I guess that’s the scene where Amber Benson was supposed to make her return cameo. At the beginning of the season there was all that talk that Tara would return for an episode, but in the end Amber Benson couldn’t come to terms with the producers (money?). I wonder how that scene would’ve played out if they actually were able to get A.B. It would have been more touching…but also more creepy, eh?
So sad to see Jonathan go. He was one of the best reoccurring characters…and Superstar is one of my fav episodes.
And to all those who think Spike will be even more dead by the end of the season, I’m just wondering what got you thinking along those lines? I can’t see it, seeing how Spike is a fan favorite & his character just keeps getting more complex as time goes by. But I’m interested in hearing why you think he’s going bye-bye…
Eh, he’s got sacrifice written on his head with giant, orange, neon letters. Look, he’s got a soul (nobody cares) he starts killing people, he doesn’t have much screen time, no character development, very little story, and there Faith is coming back this season taking even more screentime away from him.Since ME isn’t focusing much on Spike’s redemption, and I think it’s pretty obivous that he’s not going to be evil (I’m basing this on spoilers and spec) then the only way he’s going to be redeemed is with agallant sacrifice at the end. (Also ties in with all the Christ imagery surrounding him. )
OK, I’ll bite: TETD?
Spike as the bleach blond Christ. There’s a paper topic for those lucky enough to weasel Buffy into their class work.
Amazing episode. Absolutely incredible. Dawn home alone was great, especially when she gets pizza on Buffy’s clothing “Eh, she’ll think it’s blood.”
I liked how TETD tried to massively guilt trip Willow by claiming she couldn’t even see Tara because of what she did, at least not while alive. I also think that the TETD was playing to win both ways. She tried to convince Willow to kill herself but also shun magic, I’m sure a little bit of spellage will help against the thing. Now Willow will think the same probably and may go over board. If Willow had killed herself so much the better but TETD has also set her up against it with the idea that magic may be the answer.
I’m not sure if Joyce was TETD. Why would there be something blocking the message? To convince Dawn that it was really, really her and not an evil trick? Maybe the blockage was actually an agent of good, just an extreme one.
Anyway I realize I’m incoherent. An amazing freakin episode. That and “Him” are staying on the tape. They shall be treasured until DVD makes them obsolete and the tape is burnt to prevent it from being defiled by lesser programing.
11/10 (The extra point is from Dawn’s anchovy song)
Oh I also want to know the Singer/Song at that started and ended the episode. I really liked the song and her voice.
TETD =the evil that dwells (beneath)
Can we change the acronym to TTTEYSWYB?
(The Thing That Eats You, Starting With Your Bottom)
Fantastic – this is what having TV is all about!
Daniel
i say the girl spike chomped on was an agent of the evil. meaning that she was already dead, and spike can kill dead things, sort of repetitive, but you get my meaning. hey, everyone else outside the inner circle was dead, so she probably was, too. and everyone was getting played by the evil. and the vampire buffy nearly talked to death had to be part of that, framing spike and all.
dead joyce dropped a bomb on dawn.
it’s a shame the cassie character didn’t show up about 3 episodes earlier to tempt willow with suicide. it may have been a little more of a choice for her at that point. it just looked hamfisted this far along in the grieving process. you think that the ultimate evil has to be a little more cunning than that.
the writers did a decent job of skirting the contractual problems with the actor who played tara. i guess they couldn’t come to an agreement, so that had to dredge up the cassie character to act as the go-between. i guess it didn;t work out this time, but i respect the fact that joss and the writers always work in previoyus characters when possible. that attention to detail is on of the many things that really sets the show apart.
killing jonathan was pretty sad, though. he was one of my favorite characters. but hey, death never stopped anyone else from coming back to the show.
Well, the debate in this household is whether it is really Spike or not. I vote no, and the other two vote yes.
If it really IS Spike, and Spike not-posessed, I’m going to be very, very pissed.
I thought it was anice touch that in “Conversations with Dead People” the dead person in the cast never actually speaks.
Maybe he’s not so dead anymore? Maybe he’s only mostly dead? (There have been many suspicious reflections the past couple of weeks, he never specifically requested a soul, there is that pesky prophecy about a souled vampire turning human (and guess who’s losing his soul sooner rahter than later?), and the chip isn’t working so strongly. Maybe the chip is designed specifcally for vampires’ brains–I’m assuming their different.)
I think the First evil and the First Slayer are the same thing. Te Slayer is all about maintaing balance, fighting the forces of darkness. It’s two sides of the same coin, and maybe the coin has given up on the whole mess that is the mortal coil. Essentially we saw both sides tonight–Warren and Joyce. How would the Slayer defeat the source of her power? Is that why Buffy is the Law but Willow is the Power?
Stoid, are you going spoilerfree this year?
Dawn’s segment played like a compendium of a bunch of diferent horror films; there was Poltergeist, The Amityville Horror, the Exorcist… and was I the only one to be saying when Dawn was having trouble with the TV, “Before you die, you see the ring” ?
Yes! To me this was the first completely engaging episode of Buffy this season. (though the Anaya centric one a little while back was pretty good) The mixture of horror, comedy, and sadness was juuuuuuust right in this one.
Personally, I thought all of the episodes so far this season were fairly predictable, but this one really caught me off guard! I was really shocked when they killed of Jonathan. I kept thinking that he was going to narrowly escape somehow. I don’t even know what to think about Spike’s (apparent) return to his vampire nature or Joyce Summer’s ominous message. All in all, this was a great episode. The only reason that this wouldn’t go on my top ten list is the number of amazing episodes already out there (the body, once more with feeling, hush, etc.)
I was seriously starting to lose the faith for a while…. Glad to see that the slayer is back on track.
PS> Spoiler junkies, please be careful with what you reveal. I got hooked on Buffy last year, so this will be the first season that I did not read about before watching it…. And I really want to be surprised!
Dawn and the appliances was straight out of an old Twilight Zone episode. “Get out, Finchley!” The first, brief shot of Joyce on the couch was extremely well done. The audience turned with Dawn to see if they saw what we thought we saw. The actress playing Dawn does much better with scenes where she is being forceful, especially after she got popped in the mouth and was bleeding. Her acting helpless, lost, and confused is still lacking. Don’t know what to think about Joyce’s message yet. It felt like that was really her, but the message is cryptic like the one that allowed Buffy to sacrafice herself instead of Dawn.
You could see Cassie changing gears when the talk turned to suicide. Willow talking about Giles made it clear that she wasn’t going to dismiss what she learned based on this apparition. The smile before Cassie devoured herself (symbolism, ya thing?) was very Joker-esque.
I think Spike is a feeding again. Seeing him without words made me feel that it really was him. Too much of a cop-out if they showed us a shape-shift killing the girl and siring the shramp (shrink/vamp).
Buffy has issues. Frankly, I’m pretty tired of the whole thing. It seems like they are setting us up for a real downer of a finale, with Buffy sacrificing herself for the world (again) or somehow coming out of this alive but not the Slayer (cop-out). I have enough faith in Joss to believe that they’ll pull something else.
Why did they send the shramp to Dartmouth, my school? I took Psych 1 up there, we never learned that stuff.
Funny stuff:
Quoting Star Wars
The anchovy song
Buffy talking about being connected with the cell phone ringing.
Lying on the grave as if it was a shrink’s couch.
The mistranslation of “From beneath, it devours”
“Check” “Check, check” “Check, check” “Check”
OMG!!!
I can’t believe that Johnathan is dead. TETD must have needed a sacrifice to begin the devouring. As for Spike, maybe he’s possessed by TETD, and is playing with the rest of the scoobies until he/it strikes them from behind.
After tonights episode, I don’t think Buffy and Spike will ever get back together. Too bad 
, they were good entertainment.
Ok, nobody’s mentioned it, so I have to.
The girl Spike ate introduced herself by setting a pack of cigarettes on the bar in front of him.
Now, which character is the only regular on the show who smokes?
Uh-huh.
Now, which character, known to be a heavy smoker, hasn’t been seen lighting up yet, sieven episodes into the season?
Still with me?
So, an attractive woman comes into the Bronze, and singles out which character, and sets a pack of cigarettes in front of him?
No two ways about it. She was sent to tempt him, to lead him into old bad habits. She may not have been conscious of it, may have just seen a hot looking guy at a bar, looking lonely, but on an unconscious level, TETD is definitely at work.
I think TETD also steered Buffy’s “shrink” into Spike’s path for the purpose of letting Buffy know that Spike is killing again- sowing the seeds of doubt.
Also, Spike did seem reluctant to kill the girl. If he’s not actually possessed, TETD is still compelling him in some way to kill. Also, in S2 - 4, there is no mention of Spike’s ever having sired another vampire. In “Lie To Me”, he agrees to sire Buffy’s old schoolmate in exchange for delivering the Slayer to him, but ends up just killing the dude. So, soulless Spike (to the best of our knowledge) never sired another vampire, but now, with a soul, and after having been thoroughly mindfucked by TETD, has sired at least one.
I loved the whole interaction between Buffy and Shrink-vamp. I was actually sad when she staked him at the end. He would have made a most likeable nemesis. Also, something else that occurred to me. He was sired by 1) the vampire character who retained the most humanity after being sired and 2) now has a soul. And the dude actually seemed to care about Buffy, at least on the level that a psychologist would care for his patients. He seemed to have quite a bit of his humanity intact. Could that have been a trait inherited from his sire? I’ve often wondered how much of their sires vampires in the Buffyverse have in them.
pure and Revtim
TETD is actually short for TETDITB - The Evil That Dwells In The Basement, but we all got tired of typing all that, so we dropped the ITB.