So Willow (and Amy) are addicted to magic and Buffy’s addicted to Spike? Interesting.
Interesting, yes. I thought the equation Magic = Drugs was presented a little to obviously and unambiguously, but no biggie.
I wish Buffy would give Spike a fuckin’ break. He’s not perfect, but he’s made himself a much better person than any other non-souled vampire we’ve ever known about. And it’s not just the chip, either.
And I must differ with the thread title. Willow hasn’t hit bottom yet.
Yeah, the whole magic~drug allegory was a little ham-fisted (I mean,really—Willow and Amy rat visiting the "Wrack House; ooh, look–Willow’s floating–she’s high!) but still interesting. I’ve been dreading the inevitable “very special episode” dealing with addiction, and at least this was a novel way to approach it.
As for Spike, can I just say–Forget Buffy! She’ll never love you like I do. Just come lounge around on my bed looking like that and Oh My God…[sub]drool[/sub]
[homer]mmm…vampire goodness[/homer]
Anyway–so who’s voting for Buffy holding onto her guns about this whole digging Spike is wrong thing? Why does she refuse to accept that he’s a different person now, chip or no chip? She’d be so much happier if she just went with it, IMHO, and could maybe work off some of that hostility she’s been brimming with lately. I’m thinking she caves. But maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part–I don’t know if I could face a Buffy that suddenly had no excuse for showing Spike’s bum…
On another note, it was good to see Dawn kicking a [sub]little[/sub] ass. A big improvement over the whole duck and shriek gig she had going on last season.
Question: Why weren’t there any trailers for next week? Is there no new episode coming up? ::cringe:: Or did my station just screw me? Anyone got any dirt on up-and-coming events?
Too heavy handed, for my tastes. Willow hit bottom much too quickly, if she has in fact hit bottom. If she cleans up after this I’ll feel cheated of the depths of Willows pathos.
It was good to see Dawn fighting back, it felt like the writers wanted to prove that she wasn’t a complete wimp. I hope they don’t abandon Amy’s story, she and Wrack still have to be involved with Willow.
From what I heard, this is the last new episode until January. Bummer large.
I think it’s a safe bet that Willow had a way to go before bottoming out. Pretty typical addict cycle, really. I hope they do something more interesting than just rehashing that.
Interesting note, I wonder who J.D. Peralta was? That “In Loving Memory Of” at the end? My guess is Whedon (or another major figure) knew someone who lost a battle with cocaine/heroin/crack and this show is dedicated to them. I’d even bet that some of te dialogue was taken from a conversation with that person, like Willow’s comments about the nosebleeds and headaches.
I liked the car wreck. Just when you expect all danger to be from demons and vampires, oops! Mundane sh*t happens, too.
Good episode overall, I think.
Justin
I thought this one was a bit heavy-handed. Drugs bad. We get it. And although Alyson Hannigan had some really good moments (her crying in the shower broke my heart) the “I’m sorry I’m sorry” in the ally seemed just too much.
Michelle was great in this ep.
And I agree- they both clearly have a lot further to fall. One, the other, or both are going to slip. My money is on at least Willow. I also think Amy’s going to get really dark really quick. She doesn’t have the support system, and she was going dark before she turned into Ms. Ratty.
All I can say is… HUBBA HUBBA!!!
I think I’ll be rewinding and rewatching Spike lying around being all sexified about a hundred times… my GOD…
Buffy needs to get over herself. I’m an FX-er, so I’m only a few episodes into Season 4, so I don’t know what other backstory there is between her and Spike, but from what I can see…damn, forigve him, honey, you DO have a thing for vamps! At least he can keep doing you, unlike pathetic ol’ Angel boy. (And speaking of Season 4… Spike with Harmony?? Oh PUHLEEZE.)
I cannot tell you how much I love it that vamps are sexually active in the Buffyverse. I can’t think of any other vampire story where this was true, and it always frustrated me. Rice tried to convince us that bloodsucking was better than sex, but I never bought it. Bloodsucking is just food.
Spike… yum!!!
I thought high on magic Willow was interesting; especially how she related to Dawn. I’m also proud of Dawn for realizing that Willow has serious problems and that Tara was completely in the right, though I’m worried that Dawn’s withdrawl combined with Tara’s is going to be a bit much for Willow. Someone getting over not just an addiction but an addiction to something that has very tangible benifits requires lots of love. I think that the pain of their drawing away is going to be the major factor in her relapse. I also think that Wrack is going to be comming to collect on her debt. I doubt he just gives away those little power trips for free. It seems to me that he sort of uses those who come to him to do spells, they have to deal with the consequences but maybe he reaps the benifits.
It seriously blows that there aren’t going to be new episodes until January. However on the plus side Hush is being shown in two weeks on UPN in the normal Buffy time slot. This is a very good thing, as that episode rocks. It also looks like it isn’t on the FX schedule and that would just suck to not get to see it in rerun and get a chance to tape it.
To finish up this post and get back to plot there has always been a bit of magic = drug = cheap thrill theme in Buffy. Giles and his friend summoning a demon into themselves for kicks, which led to Ethan becomming a worshiper of chaos and doing some very unpleasent things. Willow seemed relatively stable with it, but she started out with some seriously powerful things.
Anyway I think that this was a good episode and I really want to see what is wrong with Buffy now.
Or not. This site lists J.D. Peralta as the assistant to executive producer; production assistant.
http://members.tripod.de/lilah2603/character/full_crew_buffy.html
The Anita Blake series has very sexually active vampires. I think you’ll enjoy it. Read them in order so you get the full effect.
Also I think that Buffy is uneasy about Spike because Spike has bagged two slayers and has done some pretty perverse things (the Buffy-bot for instance). Throw on her bad experience with men in general, and the fact she now knows she came back wrong, she has a lot on her plate that’s going to push her away from Spike.
andygirl
I agree than Amy is going to get darker but I think it’s going to be in a pathetic way. I think she’s going to become a puppet of Wrack’s, probably to get Willow.
The more I think about it, the more I really don’t like a lot of this episode. I mean… Marti Noxon, the anvil that you have thrown at the viewers is resting quite uncomfortably on the tail of my cat. Sheesh.
I think the spells = drugs thing was too heavy handed.
It wasn’t clear to me just what Wrack was supplying. Or getting. He gets some of Willow’s power when he touches her? Willow gets some time lolling around on the cieling feeling good and halucinating? He supplies this how? Through his touch? And after just a few sessions she’s got a heavy habit and immediately goes into severe withdrawal? Or was the withdrawal from spell-ing as well as from whatever Wrack supplies?
I also don’t get Amy stealing what seemed to be minor stuff. For herself? For a spell? For Wrack?
I liked the bit where Buffy says this was the most depraved, terrible thing she ever did, and Spike thinks it’s sweet talk, “Yeah, me too, Pet.” And Buffy at the end of the ep, in bed, clutchine a cross, strings of garlic at every window.
I’m really wondering what Buffy is now; what change has occured.
The more I think about it the more obvious it is to me that the magic = drug thing is not even metaphor. It’s just a fact. Drugs are an escape from reality, they let you think that you can do anything. Magic lets you actually do anything. People wish to be able to wave their hands and have what they want. Drugs give the illusion of this, and magic actually gives it. Magic is the step up from drugs. There is pretty much no way that that sort of power would not be addictive. Willow could do mind boggling things and why not just solve problems by short circuiting the normal route? Also magic has a creeping influence like drugs, but an easier in. Magical solutions are the only ones for certain problems. So you start doing a few spells to help people and get interested in the intellectual puzzle it presents. Then you get to be super powered. Your whims can be reality. I mean the psychological factor alone is overwhelming.
I agree if this was less a drugs are bad m’kay episode it would have been better. But Willow was hooked on something that no drug can match. It didn’t just provide an escape from reality but a fix for it.
I think that the spells Wrack was doing were similar to the one that Buffy did to see if there was something supernatural afflicting her mother. He was putting the individuals that came to him into alternate conciousnesses that perceived other things that were real. I can only guess what he got out of it, but I’m assuming it includes a supply of magic using lackeys (not a bad thing) as well as a bunch of little batteries should he need extra magic. Not to mention that Willow apparently summoned a demon while under the influence, maybe he had some use for that demon. As for her withdrawl I’m thinking that it is a direct side effect of what Wrack did to her, probably to keep people comming back. Either that or it’s mana burn (stop laughing at my geekiness).
I think Buffy’s addiction is more interesting because it isn’t something with as independently strong hooks as Willow’s. Also it has a better fit with Buffy’s personality, with or without her being not exactly human now.
I really want to see the episode when the scoobs find out about her buffing Spike.
I think Buffy and Spike have to get serious. They just have to… it’s too perfect. I think one of Joss’ meany strokes of genius was in making the Slayer hot for a vampire, first with Angel, now with Spike.
And good lord, I cannot remember a sexier man on screen than Marsters. VERY believably played…
hot hot hot… I want more!
I’m guessing that Buffy had the garlic and crosses because if Spike’s chip doesn’t prevent him from hitting her, would he be prevented from entering when she doesn’t invite him? She un-invited him before and it worked just fine, maybe that doesn’t work anymore since she’s not “right”.
Who was the actor who played Wrack?
Umm, hello? Better person? What’s the very first thing he did when he suspected his chip might have been broken? Continue to live a life of semi-virtue to prove his worth to Buffy, in spite of the fact he can hurt her now? Tested it by throwing a rock at somebody else? Punching somebody? Nope.
He went straight for the throat and tried to kill an innocent person. In the not-many-gray-areas Buffyverse, Spike is a Bad Guy. In spite of the fact that Willow just did more to endanger and hurt Dawn than a great many now-dead-because-of-it demons, she’s still breathing. That’s your gray area. Spike isn’t within ten miles of it. He’s evil and always will be. Like the demon who summoned Holtz said of Angel last week, “He’s got a soul. So did Attilla the Hun. So what?”
Telemark–yes, Spike got uninvited before. By Willow and Tara, who aren’t exactly available right now for minor spellcasting…
Looked like Jeff Kober, the guy who played Dodger on China Beach and Daedalus on Kindred: The Embraced. Typecast much?
It’s worth noting that the “protection” Buffy used against Spike seemed to be just garlic and crosses- the weakest defenses in the Buffyverse. If she was serious about him not getting in to see her, she could have easily gotten one of the witches to do it. Even though Tara’s avoiding Willow, I can’t imagine her saying no to the request.
True, but then she’d have to explain to Tara why she wants Spike out, and Tara being super-protective of Dawn may not want Spike protecting Dawn anymore. I think Buffy just doesn’t want to tell anybody at any cost.