I knew from the previous week that Spike was going to attempt a “big change”- heck, they even showed him saying it in last night’s episode, in the “previously on Buffy” bit. I had my theory…
And then last night’s episode kinda confirmed it. He never actually said anything along the lines of “I want the chip removed”. Heck, I doubt magic could affect the chip, anyway.
No, he wants to be human again, so that Buffy will love him. This plan will fail miserably, of course, since William is a tragic character.
I was also really hoping, last night, that Xander would say, “We need to kill Warren before Willow gets to him.”
After all, Warren’s death was a foregone conclusion- he had to die. But I was hoping that Xander would reason that he had to kill Warren to save Willow from herself, since it was obvious that she wouldn’t JUST kill him.
:o Arrrgh. I knew that and still messed it up. I’ve read the interviews, I listened to the comentary on the DVD, I’ve seen every episode, and I still…feh. Do I have to turn in my geek badge now?
Good point, but it still pisses me off. I hope Spike pounds him good when he gets back.
So, did it seem a little odd that Buffy left Dawn with Clem? Spike seems to genuinely like Dawn and could protect her, so I could see leaving Dawn with Spike, but with some random-ass demon she doesn’t know? Seems like a time to say, “Okay, Spike’s not here, go over to your friend’s house.” Not to mention the fact that whenever Dawn is left alone, the poor thing gets kidnapped. Wouldn’t experience prove that the safest place for her is by Slayer Sis’s side?
That was my only nitpick in an otherwise “wow!” ep.
Congratulations! You’ve just realized the weakest part of Buffy writing. Characters don’t really LEARN anything from past experiences.
Buffy had no problem wanting to kill Faith. Was it brought up? Nope.
Dawn would be safest by her sister since the record shows bad stuff happens to Dawn when she is not by her sister.
But in defense of that case, Buffy has hung out with Clem enough to trust him.
I really really dislike Marti Noxon. She doesn’t get it IMO.
I’m pretty sure that wasn’t Osiris that Willow was talking to (in one of the lamest scenes I have ever scene on television) Rather and Angel of Death or oneof her agents. Since after all Osiris is you know, a WOMAN. And not a scaley faced guy.
Mythological nitpick: Osiris is a GUY, the husband of Isis, father of Horus, and brother of Set. Since Osiris is, indeed, a good guy in Egyptian mythology, it would have been more appropriate for Willow to have called on either Anubis, Lord of the Dead, or Set, the god of evil.
I guess I’m in the minority here. I didn’t like the black hair, and the outfit didn’t do much for me (I seem to remember Vampire Willow being way hotter).
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Hey, for all we know, Clem is one bad-ass, Bugle-eatin’, lemonade-drinkin’ sonuvabitch. He can, um, whack demons to death with his ears or, um, smother them in his loose skin. Yeah, okay, that part was stupid. I guess the thought process was “Better even a floppy demon than normal people.”
Faith wasn’t normal people. She was a Slayer. Warren, despite his use of magic and robots, is normal people.
Plus Willow vs. Warren isn’t nearly as interesting a visual as Buffy vs. Faith. Rowr.
Osiris was a good guy, but he was also god of the Underworld. Anubis was more of a guide (think Charon or St. Peter). Set would have been right out, since Willow was, at her base, a good witch. Osiris makes the most sense.
Anya said she wasn’t doing vengance because Willow didn’t want her. It is possible that Anya can’t get truly involved unless a wronged party wants her to. Someone else may wish reality to be different though. The theme of this season is supposed to be back to season 1.
It was appropriate to call upon Osiris because he ruled over the dead and had himself been resurrected by Isis after Set killed and mutilated him.
Oh, and I have a question, here. We know Anya has her demon powers back, and did anyone notice Xander’s attitude about it? What is his fucking problem? Granted, I would be hurt by Anya’s actions, too. But what, he can just leave her at the altar and expect that everything is just going to be fine?? What a maroon.
Re - Faith… IIRC, Buffy had quite a problem killing Faith. It took a long time and an extreme crisis to get her to go after Faith - and if it were Warren & the trio’s death to save Tara there might have been more of a dilemma. But, an after the fact killing is an entirely different thing. (She also wouldn’t kill Ben.)
Re - Clem. I honestly don’t think Dawn was in physical danger last night, they were trying to keep her emotionally stable. The girl had just spent several hours with (another) dead body. And Spike’s crypt (with or without Spike actually in it) is a place of safety for Dawn. Possibly/probably moreso than a random friend’s house. And strangely, Clem seems like a good demon to have around to calm you after a crisis. Not a horrible choice.
Re - Faith… IIRC, Buffy had quite a problem killing Faith. It took a long time and an extreme crisis to get her to go after Faith - and if it were Warren & the trio’s death to save Tara there might have been more of a dilemma. But, an after the fact killing is an entirely different thing. (She also wouldn’t kill Ben.)
Re - Clem. I honestly don’t think Dawn was in physical danger last night, they were trying to keep her emotionally stable. The girl had just spent several hours with (another) dead body. And Spike’s crypt (with or without Spike actually in it) is a place of safety for Dawn. Possibly/probably moreso than a random friend’s house. And strangely, Clem seems like a good demon to have around to calm you after a crisis. Not a horrible choice.
Mr. Fool raised some great points. Buffy herself displayed a murderous streak when it came to Faith. Now, I don’t mind some inconsistency in the characters’ behaviors – after all, humans beings are seldom consistent – but some acknowledgement of the fact would have been great. This could have been done in this episode (by Dawn pointing out that Buffy was ready to drain Faith’s blood), or in previous episodes (with Buffy expressing regret at how close she came to killing Faith).
As for leaving Dawn with Clem, that just didn’t ring true for me. Clem would NOT be able to defend Dawn against anyone. If Buffy simply needed a babysitter, surely she could have found someone else for Dawn to hang with. (In fairness though, the crypt does make for a fairly good hiding place.)
Somebody pointed out that nobody in the Buffyverse learns from their mistakes. This reminds me of the episode in season 2 when Kendra dies. Angel draws Buffy to the cemetary and informs her, “It’s not about you Slayer, it was never about you…and she falls for it everytime!” The thing about Buffy is, she does fall for it everytime.
The more I think about it, the more I realize why Willow has gone off the deep end. It’s not just about Tara, though that’s a huge part. Willow is addicted to the power, and from the previews for the next episode, it appears she can’t get enough. Why is this? Because she has always been very powerless.
She was picked on and tormented in high school. She was in love with somebody who didn’t love her back. She had very few friends. She was ignored by her parents completely, and obviously had a difficult relationship with her Mom. (Her mom did try to burn her at the stake, after all…)) Even though she gained some power by befriending Buffy, she was still the second bananna. Spike really drives this point home in season 4…I can’t remember the name of the episode, but he’s wearing Xander’s Hawiian shirt.
Her boyfriend cheated on her and left her…again, she was powerless. Her best friend dies…and finally she has the power to bring her back…only Buffy came back different. Then, out of nowhere, the love of her life is taken from her, and she’s powerless to bring her back. But all of a sudden she has the ability to save Buffy again, skin Warren alive, and ultimately destroy the world. All of a sudden, she’s not good, sweet, reliable Willow. All of a sudden, she doesn’t have to be a second bananna. All of a sudden, she’s in charge, and she’s very comfortable being in charge.
I can completely understand and identify with her. I have a feeling there are many thousands of people who are alienated who would love to have the kind of power that Willow has now…and would easily go overboard with it.
So, what are the chances that Giles will appear in the big two-hour finale? I’d love to see him bring some English mojo to help deal with a Willow out of control. He didn’t seem to be in the scenes-from-next-week.
I’ve always wondered at the association of Osiris with resurrection. Sure, he was god of the underworld because he’d been dead himself. But those wanting to defeat death should be calling on Isis. After all, she’s the one that brought Osiris back. Heck, she was even able to have a child by him in between the time Set wasted him and she got him up walking around again.
Good call on Willow’s motivations, pepperlandgirl. It seems like she’s come to the realization that being the good, helpful, responsible one gets you screwed. Why not access those Dark Powers to get some of your own back? And I know that if someone murdered my lover, skinning them alive would seem merciful to me. (I mentioned that to him after the show. He made me promise that I would never in fact do such a thing.)
As a normal people, I resent Warren’s inclusion into my group. Normal people don’t turn their ex-girlfriends into sex slaves or rob armored cars or fire guns wildly in populated areas. By and large, I think normal people have better sense than to mess with people who can crush them.
It makes sense that Anya can only get involved if people who desire vengeance call on her. Otherwise, she’d be forever enacting petty revenge on people who drive slow in the fast lane and don’t rewind their videos and who hang around stores long past closing time.
