Highly unlikely… that was Angelus’ MO. It’s what he did to Dru before turning her. It’s what he attempted to do to Buffy when he lost his soul. I don’t think they would go that route again but with Spike this time.
This isn’t technically a spoiler, because it doesn’t have to do with plot, but I think we can count on Spike being around in some fashion next year because he’s contracted to come back.
It was in his reactions to comments and treatment of women. Yes he wasn’t with it before but he is did it to a greater degree this episode. I do not disagree with the fact the portrayl was influenced by anti-gun thought. I just think he is insane and not heavy in common sense. He is someone a gun is very dangerous in the hands of.
Personbally I would have prefered a trap set in her yard. It could still send out a stray bullet and his rant could be played on a screen or something.
I hope next episode has something about what exactly his plan was, as it will have to be part of how he is going to evade the police now.
Still I don’t find it that big of a fault in the episode. He really is a misognistic lunatic and Buffy crushed his orbs. An irrational revenge is not that surprising.
You know why I didn’t like the episode? The Scene. You see, I didn’t buy it. Idon’t care if she did hurt her back, there is no way in hell Spike could overpower her for more than a few seconds. She is the goddamn slayer.
Look, I don’t mind emotional whiplash. I don’t mind being manipulated, used, and abused. I don’t mind the roller-coaster of emotions. But I do mind when they make us go on this ride for something that doesn’t even make sense.
Up to this point it was two mythical, powerful warriors doing battle. This scene degraded both of them but especially Buffy. And I’m not talking about what Spike did…I’m talking about what the writers did.
I want to be absolutely clear about something. I am not upset because Spike was being evil. I’m not moaning and bitching “how could they do this to perfect Spike!?” I’m upset because I do think it’s absolutely pivotal scene in the whole season (more on that later) and it was handled by the writer and director badly. All of a sudden, she wasn’t a HERO anymore. This is the woman who came back from the dead to defeat the Master, sent Angelus back to hell, destroyed an Ascended Demon, kicked the ever-living shit out of a Goddess, and I’m supposed to believe she’s laying helpless in the bathroom frightened of Spike? I couldn’t feel anything except confusion.
I’m also confused about Spike’s reaction. Traditionally the “flashbacks” indicate remorse. Before he attacked Buffy he went an apologized even though he knew it wouldn’t matter anymore. He even said, “I’m sorry…not that it matters anymore.” This mirrors the scene in Hells Bells when his first reaction was to apologize to her. He looked like he was in genuine pain. He expressed that he wished Xander and killed him. Afterwards it looked like he felt remourse. But the whole thing was rather ambiguous.
What’s even more confusing? After she kicked him she was still vulnerable, and yet, he didn’t try again! Why not? He can fight her…she was obviously weakened…it won’t cause him physical pain. So why didn’t he fight back? Why didn’t he try again? Isn’t that something an evil creature would do?
And of course, his chip wasn’t hurting him yet he felt at least discomfort, if not pain. He blamed it on the chip. Yet we know it wasn’t the chip…so what the hell was it? Can we assume it was remorse, or just that the writers decided to mess with our heads some more?
What do the writers want us to think? Again, I can handle the emotional abuse…but for the love of God, can’t things be a bit more cut and dry? Can’t thinks make a bit more sense?
So now he’s going to Africa to get the chipped removed somehow.
Why? He could destroy the slayer already…he comments that he can’t be a monster or a man. That’s reason enough, I suppose.
My pet theory? This is it. This is the endgame. He’s either going to become Completely Evil–I’m talking Season 7 Big Bad Evil, or something’s going to happen and he’s going to become human somehow. There is no way we’re going to sit here in this middle ambiguous, confusing, ground anymore. Not after tonight.
I’m going to miss Tara. And Xander…I like him again. But next week the writers will probably have “Stupid Jerk Head Xander” as opposed to “Intelligent, Funny-Good Xander”.
Oh, man. Oh, MAN! Holy… Wow. Just, yeah. Wow.
The next episode looks fantastic. Evil Willow. EEEVIL Willow! Bwahahahaha! It’s almost worth losing Tara.
[sub]Almost. <sob>[/sub]
So who wants to take bets on what Spike is going to get removed: the chip, or the demon?
Caught on preview:
Warren’s been getting crazier and crazier. When he killed his ex, for example, it was a big step closer to outright psychosis. In this episode, he’s started openly plotting the death of one of his closest friends (Or did that start last episode? I missed last week’s show.) When he’s smashing up the bar in this ep, he’s really going around the bend. I’m pretty sure he’d have killed Xander if Jonathan hadn’t stopped him. And even if he isn’t crazier than “normal” let’s examine exactly where normal lies with this guy. He was, after all, originally introduced as the guy who built himself a girlfriend. I think they’ve been pretty clearly leading him up to a total psychotic break, such as running in waving a gun around. Which, it should be noted, was way more effective than any of his “evil genius” plans to kill Buffy.
Marti Noxon, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and anyone else relevent can feel free to suck my metaphorical dick.
They took the best, most realistic, longest-running lesbian relationship on television and larked it up. Put Amber in the credits then kiss her goodbye, let’s slap the fans in the face yet again for watching this travesty of a sixth season.
Gah.
pepperlandgirl: The location you mentioned in your spoiler space: did you get that from this episode, or is this an internet spoiler about an unaired episode? Just wondering if I missed something.
LaurAnge clings to andy for support
Miller, it’s from a spoiler page not the episode.
Now, this pissed me off. Royally.
Yeah, Warren is a guy who should never be within ten feet of a gun. But he should never have been within ten feet of a freeze ray, an invisibility device, a mind control device, and nobody should have let him be invulnerable and super-strong either. And yet, what happens when he has all those? Nothing. He’s totally ineffectual.
Give him a gun, and in a moment of complete loss of control, he accomplishes what all his machinations couldn’t do.
Now, the simplistic guns-r-evil stance bugs me some. But that’s not the worst of it for me.
This, for me, completely invalidates the basic concept of the show. If guns are so all-powerful, then what the heck has everybody been dicking around with magic for six seasons for? If one gun can help a bad guy take out a Scooby, when all the magic and technology he’s been able to put together can’t, then why bother? Get a couple of uzis, some shotguns, a few good handguns, and a truckload of ammo, and in the Buffyverse, you rule.
So, to sum up… if you’re a misogynistic loner, and nothing you do seems to work, get a gun and go to town. Works great.
And next week… oh, my god. They’re going to do it. The ancient, tiredest fictional recovery cliche. The old, hey, recovery is great until something bad happens, then you have to ditch it to get through. She’s going off the wagon and kicking butt. Whee. Another great message.
This just sucks. A major character dies, and it’s not a huge battle, it’s not a sacrifice, it’s not even a fight. It’s just a stray shot. It feels like the writers are just being manipulative for the hell of it, and if after this misery of a season, I cared at all about these whiny, self-important idiots, I’d be really pissed.
As it is, it’s just become unwatchable. I’m gonna get the Season 2 DVD when it comes out, and reminisce about what used to be the best thing on TV, and try and forget how badly things can go when a show gets delusions of grandeur.
Bleah.
Andy, Laur, I know how you feel. 
I’m going to miss Tara. She and Will were my two favorite characters.
Now I just fuckin’ hate Warren. Willow, I liked the thing you did with his mouth in the promo. You go, girl! 
I’m of the opinion that Spike comes back totally evil. I also think that “Intelligent, Funny-Good Xander” will be featured more prominently in the future given some things Whedon has said in interviews.
3 episodes, 2 weeks to go! :eek:
I second everyone who has responded with an :eek:
Because I knew what was going to happen, this episode was just painful. Willow and Tara so happy to be together, Dawn happy to see them back together-and it was all going to come crashing down. When I first read the spoiler pages, I envisioned some sort of goodbye scene, but there wasn’t even that. Just a stray bullet out of nowhere ending everything.
I hoped against hope that Tara would get to survive this season and remain a Scooby to the end. Prior to the ridiculous magic-addiction storyline, she and Willow had the best relationship on the show. It was great to watch her come out of her shell and grow more confident around the Scoobies, to the point she could tease Spike about his “muscle cramp.”
It should be really interesting, in a train-wreck way, to see how Willow takes revenge on Warren. I can’t think of any torment I wouldn’t wish upon him. Watching the preview of next week’s episode, I could only shrug and say “That’s what you get for picking the wrong person to %^& with.”
If they had to kill someone off, I really glad it was Tara. Didn’t like her from the beginning. Didn’t see a bit of redeeming quality to her character other than being sweet. Couldn’t stand her voice. Just plain didn’t like her and thought she brought the level and energy of the entire group down.
The only thing I did like about her was what she brought out in Willow. She gave Willow a lot of depth and brought her a lot further in her evolution from cute geek into a beautiful, intelligent and strong woman.
Now, of course, we’re going to all Willow’s good qualities get transformed into blind rage, and THAT will be interesting in the extreme. It’s gonna be a neat couple of episodes.
Used to hate Tara. Drove me nuts. Just starting to like her and…WHAMMO! (Even though I knew it was happening). Damn.
Well, as long as they don’t make Spike the Big Bad for next year, I’m happy. I’d rather see him be a real boy.
Oh, and ** andygirl, ** my sympathies on the whole blotto lesbian storyline thing. What a rip…at least they finally had the decency to show physical intimacy between them, even if it was just to make Tara’s death that much more awful. (I also kinda wonder about the almost-certainly-unintended message contained in one of the lesbians getting killed. If they were the sort to even watch the show, I’m sure certain folk would be cheering that on…)
I loved this episode! This is the kind of show I’ve been waiting for all season. The Spike-Buffy thing really creeped me out. I can’t wait for him to come back without the chip and whoop ass. I always hated the “nutered” Spike, he was best when he was able to be evil and love it.
Also, these last two shows were the first where I didn’t wish painful death on Dawn. I actually liked her, which is big for me because I’ve hated that character from the start.
Sorry to see Tara go, but evil Willow looks to be awesome. I think Warren is in for some serious pain. I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more.
Counting the minutes until next Tuesday…
and…
Well, I think that this plot twist succeeded greatly, not unlike that episode where Buffy’s mom died. Tragedy usually drops from the sky totally unexpectedly. And after (what? Six, seven seasons now?) of vampires, demons, wrathful Gods, vengeful spirits, black magic, warewolves, etc. how can we really scare you? Oh yeah! The horrors of Real Life[sup]TM[/sup]!
What could be scarrier than the fact that a wingnut with a pistol can totally ruin somebodies entire life? The fact that it happens every day.
This episode actually actually provoked a response from me.
"I’m gonna just walk into the Slayer’s yard, rant at her and then fire a bunch of random shots while running away."
From what I understand of these situations, that’s usually the scenerio, yep.
pepper, I thought Buffy wasn’t fighting back because she couldn’t believe it was happening. But, I’ve not seen much of this season, and definitely none of it with her and Spike together, so YMMV.
Thanks a LOT for killing Tara, Joss. My wife’s so upset that she’s gonna start smoking again…
The first thing I thought was that the question of Spike good vs. evil has been definitively answered as evil. The Spike apologists would have a hard time explaining this one away. Of course, if Spike was played by an uglier actor I somewhat doubt this agrument would be taking place at all- but hey that’s what STMB is for.
I liked the Tara-Willow together thing. Very cute, as was Dawn’s happy reaction (I liked her in this episode-- does that make me a bad person?).
As far as Jonathan getting busted- he was happily committing crimes until the last 4 episodes. Those crimes do not go away. While he tried to do the right thing (and maybe secured himself from some severe payback) he still was a willing participant in all of the earlier crimes and anti-Buffy machinations. Hence, off to jail with you magic boy.
The ending . Tara getting it was a forgone conclusion- as she was in the only functioning relationship on the show (oh why oh why couldn’t it have been “designed for our ten year old fans” Dawn instead). Plus it allows Willow to go back to magic. Heh heh heh- Warren you dumb M.F. you are not going to like what happens to you buddy . . .
I found the gun thing believable- Warren was unbalanced and dropped all of his careful schemes for his hate-filled revenge with the closest means at hand. If Buffy had not let her guard down while having a very difficult talk with Xander, she would do have been hit at all. However, the stray bullets from a shaky and panic-striken Warren (no super powers mean his butt gets killed if she grabs him- hence the driveby style attack) acted appropriately. Accurate pistol marksmenship by a rank amature while moving is next to impossible- that’s why drivebys are so dangerous. However, while I do own 2 firearms I don’t support the gun lobby at all, so it’s hard to give a damn- after all it’s a show about vampires- not a PBS special.
Overall, good stuff. They almost had me thinking that a happy relationship on the show might last (at this rate there is a lot of late night Cinimax in these people’s futures). A special thanks to ** pepperlandgirl ** for using the spoiler code so that the later ep’s surprises were not ruined for us-- thanks! 
-me
it just struck me as wierd that after all the crap warren cooked up over the last season, all he really needed was a .45 and a couple slugs to take out the slayer and one of the scoobs.
but it makes sense. after all the supervillain posturing, warren finally gets down to some real depravity and hate and gets himself a gun.
but it was wierd, right before it happened i was thinking that it was a decent episode even though nothing happened. and then, wow, talka bout something happening.
but it’s off and popping now. spike is off to make changes, hopefully he’ll come back as evil as ever, but i have a suspicion he’s going to try to become human. but we can hope it goes horribly wrong. willow finally gets off this “no magic” sh*t and tees off. damn, willow is going to mutilate warren.
and thought anya was going to grant a wish or two last episode, but she was too caught up in her own stuff. i wish she’d go evil or get killed or something. the whole marriage thing just always seemed dumb to me.
Here’s my protest – the Triad had spent considerable time avoiding the Slayer, except when they had (or thought they had) the upper hand. Despite their doofiness and grandiose thinking, they were not morons. And Warren was clearly the smartest of them – he built a robot, for cryin’ out loud.
When Warren had a freeze ray, did he just walk into the Slayer’s yard and randomly fire freeze bolts while running away? No. He had a plan.
When Warren had an invisibility ray, did he just walk into the Slayer’s yard and randomly fire invisibility bolts while running away? No. He had a plan.
When Warren had a mind-controller, did he just walk into the Slayer’s yard and randomly fire mind-control bolts while running away? No. HE HAD A PLAN. And even when that plan went horribly awry, he turned it into… you guessed it, ANOTHER PLAN.
Even when he had the Orbs of Strength and Invulnerability, did he just walk into the Slayer’s yard and randomly start beating people up? No. PLAN PLAN PLAN.
But he gets a mean, nasty ol’ PISTOL in his hand, and he turns into Jojo the Random Idiot.
Guns do not make you stupid. Guns give already-stupid people the ability to do stupid and tragic things. Warren was not already stupid. He was no crazier nor nearer his wits’ end in this episode than any other. He could have used a spell, or some other sort of weird science, or virtually anything else, had it backfire and kill Tara. But no. The writers had to make a cheap political point that even amidst spells and demons and vampires, it’s HANDGUNS that are reeeeeeally dangerous.
ARGH ARGH ARGH.