"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Bring on the Night (2002)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

David Grossman

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator)
Marti Noxon (written by) ...

TV Series:

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997)

Original Air Date:

17 December 2002 (Season 7, Episode 10)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

Giles returns to Sunnydale with three potential slayers, whom Buffy must protect from The First. Meanwhile, a ferocious Uber-vampire is released from the Hellmouth and Buffy must kill it before it kills one of the potentials.

Plot Keywords:

Heroine | Lesbian | Shirtless Male Bondage | Sister Sister Relationship | Female Protagonist

Cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon	...	Xander Harris
Emma Caulfield	...	Anya
Michelle Trachtenberg	...	Dawn Summers
James Marsters	...	Spike
Alyson Hannigan	...	Willow Rosenberg
Anthony Head	...	Rupert Giles (as Anthony Stewart Head)
Kristine Sutherland	...	Joyce Summers
Tom Lenk	...	Andrew Wells
Iyari Limon	...	Kennedy
Clara Bryant	...	Molly
Courtnee Draper	...	Annabelle
Juliet Landau	...	Drusilla
D.B. Woodside	...	Principal Robin Wood (as DB Woodside)
Camden Toy	...	Übervamp

Runtime:

42 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Company:

Mutant Enemy

Trivia:

When Xander says, "It's a loop... like the Mummy Hand!" he is referring to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Life Serial (#6.5)" (2001) in which Buffy is caught in a time loop and must battle a severed, magical Mummy's hand.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Spike is shown being tortured by drowning - that is, his head is held down in water and his breath bubbles up to the top - but according to Joss Whedon's canon, vampires do not breathe, or at least, they do so only for effect. This "vampire fact" was shown in Season 1, Episode 12, when Angel cannot perform CPR on Buffy, but Xander can. Meanwhile, in Season 4, Spike fakes heavy breathing as though he has been running, but it's just a trick so that he can get into Giles's house.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Xander: [repairing the house after a demon invasion] It's a loop... like the Mummy Hand! I'm doomed to replace these windows for all eternity. You know, maybe we should just board these things up until things are less Hellmouthy.

Movie Connections:

References The Exorcist (1973)

The Potentials show up and start annoying me

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Around this point in the series, I stop identifying the episodes by their titles. From season one onward, I usually think of the episodes using their actual names. But, in season seven it's like all the titles start sounding alike. Plus, for the next four or five episodes basically nothing happens. Everything's all interchangeable. So, instead of thinking of this episode as, "Bring on the Night," I usually mentally call it, "The One Where the Potentials Show Up and Start Annoying Me." I HATE the Potentials. I'd rather have a half dozen Rileys and Dawns than even one Kennedy. (The only Buffyverse character who I actually dislike as much as the Potentials is Connor over on "Angel." And at least he gets the occasional beat down.) For the rest of the BTVS, the Potentials are just... There. Constantly there. They won't go away, and they multiply like a roach infestation. They just sit in the Summers' house and talk in their horrible fake accents. Whining and complaining and taking valuable screen time away from the characters who actually matter. If you're watching the season on DVD, I guess you shouldn't skip this episode. It introduces the UberVamps, and the Potentials and it brings Giles back to town. But, honestly, it feels like it's just spinning it wheels in a lot of places.

"Bring on the Night" (or "The One Where the Potentials Show Up and Start Annoying Me") revolves around the Potentials showing up and annoying me. Giles brings them to Buffy's house for safe keeping. It seem that the First is out to destroy the Slayer line, by targeting every girl in the world who COULD be a Slayer. It's killing them one by one, so even if Faith dies no new Slayer can rise. (It's never explicitly stated, but the way I understand it, if Buffy is killed again, a new Slayer won't be called. Otherwise, there would be three Slayers after season five's "The Gift." Faith IS her replacement Slayer.) With the Watcher Council destroyed, Giles says that Buffy has to care for the Potentials. Plus, more will soon be coming from all over the world. (Apparently, none of them have parents.) These three Potentials are welcomed in to the Summers' home. There's Kennedy, an out-spoken, Pontential who already has her eyes on Willow. And Molly and Annabel, who are both English and basically interchangeable.

Meanwhile, Spike is still being held captive by the First. Buffy is desperate to save him. She heads back to the Christmas tree lot where she first encountered the First back in season three's "Amends." Going down into one of the caverns beneath it, she comes face to face with an Uber-Vamp. Buffy fights it and looses. She barely escapes with her life. As Giles' explains it, UberVamps are Neanderthal Vampires. Stronger, older and more primitive. (Although, I do think that Giles' would know that real Neanderthals had a surprisingly rich culture and weren't the mindless savages portrayed in pop-culture, but I digress...) As long as the UberVamp is guarding the First's caves, Buffy can't get to Spike. That night, Annabel (or Molly, which ever) runs away from the Summers house. She soon killed by the UberVamp. Buffy is savagely beaten by the UberVamp herself. The Scoobies find Buffy and bring her home, but they are at a loss as to how to proceed. Buffy gives a rousing speech, swearing to bring the fight to the First.

There are some good parts to this episode. I really like Dru so it's nice to see her... Even if she is the First. And I think it's pretty funny that of everyone the First impersonates, Drusilla is the only one it can't get "right." Spike is completely unimpressed with it's attempts, scoffing, "She was crazier than that." And I'm glad that nobody argues against rescuing Spike. I kept expecting Xander to vote to leave Spike in the hands of the First. But, he didn't. I guess he does kinna like Spike a little underneath all their hostility. I also love Anya, Dawn, and Buffy trying to intimidate Andrew. He insist that the First isn't a very scary name, "like Lex or Volldamort..." Andrew is such a great addition to the Scoobie gang. I just adore him.

On the down side, have I mentioned that I hate the Potentials? I have no deep insights into the creative processes of this show. I basically just like watching the episodes and then discussing them. But for the life of me, I can't imagine what the writers were thinking when they decided to clutter up the show with these idiotic, interchangeable brats. Are we really suppose to LIKE them?! BTVS is a show about friendship, and loyalty, and a small group of people (and the occasional demon) fighting to make the world better. It's always been the Scoobies vs. the Big Bad. Even when they have to enlist help, (like in season three's "Graduation Day") it's characters that we know and care about, or situations that mean something more. The Potentials add nothing to the show. They have no deeper metaphorical significance. They aren't interesting or likable. They don't even provide any new story lines beyond their "the First evil wants us dead!"-ness. Why couldn't they have gone to live in some OTHER house? Buffy could still be protecting them, just from across town. Why do they have to be in every d*nm scene, stealing screen time from Anya and Xander and -God, help me- even Dawn? WHY, WHY, WHY?!?!?! Also, was Buffy really dreaming about Joyce or was it the First? The First got into Angel's dreams back in "Amends," but it isn't really mentioned this season. Can it still do that? If so, why doesn't it do it more?

My favorite part of the episode: Willow trying to research the First on her computer. "Oh, here it is the First... Bank of Delaware. Opps, sorry."