The Good; The Orb theft and the wonderful battle between Buffy and the Troika. Tara and Willow getting back together and Dawn's delighted reaction to it. And Anya still looking for the vengeance.
The Bad; Not so much bad as the ending and the bathroom scene are just shocking. Contrary to common belief you can see the jetpack under Warren's jacket as he's fighting Buffy although you wonder how Jonathon didn't notice? Warren doesn't so much abandon Andrew, he flies off and expects Andrew to follow him.
Best line; Jonathon; (arrested and taken to the police station) "Uh oh. The BIG house"
Women good/men bad; Anya's latest victim had her boyfriend cheat on her with her sister. Spike forcing himself on Buffy on the bathroom floor, rape the crime that subjugates women and demeans men. Waren calls Buffy 'superbitch'.
Jeez!; I find the bathroom scene just unwatchable, Buffy's terrified, tearful pleading is just heartrending. So brutally realistic compared to what we saw between Darla and Angel in 'Reprise'. You also feel sorry for poor Buffy hurting her back. Sure she has Slayer healing but it still HURTS! Andrew actually yells "Kill her! Kill her!". Tara and Buffy shot, Willow soaked in Tara's blood.
Kinky dinky; Spike's awful ravishing Buffy on the floor of the bathroom (if we don't count the Master the 6th time Buffy has been sexually assaulted unless someone can correct me?).
Captain Subtext; Buffy seems quite intrigued by the Vampirella action figure in the Geeks lair. Andrew's desire to get his hands on Warren's orbs. You wonder who the Klingon love poems are written by and dedicated to? "He never really loved...hanging out with us". Willow and Tara give us a good idea of exactly what they got up to after the candle went out in New Moon Rising much to Dawn's delight "I love you guys!". When Willow and Tara say they'll stop kissing Dawn tells them 'Oh you'd better not'. Will says to Tara "Yes mam!". Spike and Buffy have discussion about the nature of love, Spike saying that it burns and consumes, Buffy saying that such fiery love doesn't last. Willow had an inkling something was going on between Spike and Buffy. You rather get the idea that Spike hangs around with Clem because he's lonely, Buffy might have sex with him but she doesn't actually like him, she doesn't want to talk with him or watch Knightrider marathons (Spike seems like a fan, mentioning KITT in a season 5 Angel ep). Buffy emasculates Warren by 'smashing his orbs'.
Scoobies to the ER; Xander get's pretty bloody from Warren's punch and Buffy's nasty backache and bruise. Buffy and Tara shot at the end.
Apocalypses; 6
Scoobies in bondage: astonishingly Tara gets through three years as a Scooby without being tied up even once!
Recurring characters killed: byebye Tara who finally made it into the opening titles only to leave us forever. Watched this first at a convention where people cheered when she showed up in the opening credits and wept openly when she died (oddly the previous week I'd watched Xena's last ep at another convention, I seemed to spend most of that year surrounded by crying lesbians).
Spike; good or bad? Now I was quite amazed how when this came out how many people sought to excuse Spike for the Buffyrape, they actually said things like 'Oh she led him on, she gave out mixed signals' etc and referred to the scene in the Bronze in Dead Things as proof. I actually challenged people on The Bronze by asking them was Buffy 'asking for it'? Spike tries to rape Buffy and had she been anyone but the Slayer he would surely have succeeded. As he says 'I would never..' and she correctly replies "Because I stopped you!" and "Now ask me why I can never love you!". Ultimately I think Spike loves Buffy as much as he's able to,'quite well' as Dru says in Crush and has done many heroic things but without a soul he can never be good, he is the serial killer in prison obeying the rules for his own benefit. Xander is 100% right about him. And Buffy can't truly love him not only because of what he's done but because he has no soul, he's not the full package.
Dawn in peril; 9
Dawn the bashful virgin; 9 plays the TV really loud to drown out the Willow/Tara sex
What the fanficcers thought; Needless to say many sought to bring Tara back through various literary devices (and the same with Joyce and Cordy). Personally I have no problem with that as long as there is some form of price to be paid as there's been this season for bringing back Buffy, not just Willow did a spell and there she was.
Questions and observations; Spike still has his motorcycle from Bargaining. Another numbered t-shirt for Willow. I always thought that the blonde girl Anya chats up in the bar played Tru's best friend in Eliza Dushku's series Tru Calling but she isn't. Warren refers to Jonathon as 'The Shemp' which is a term coined by Sam Rami and Bruce Campbell in The Evil Dead and Clem seems to think that wrapping a wet towel around Spike's head will disable his chip an idea he seems to have garnered from Total Recall.
Marks out of 10; 8/10 fun, powerful but ultimately tragic
The Bad; Not so much bad as the ending and the bathroom scene are just shocking. Contrary to common belief you can see the jetpack under Warren's jacket as he's fighting Buffy although you wonder how Jonathon didn't notice? Warren doesn't so much abandon Andrew, he flies off and expects Andrew to follow him.
Best line; Jonathon; (arrested and taken to the police station) "Uh oh. The BIG house"
Women good/men bad; Anya's latest victim had her boyfriend cheat on her with her sister. Spike forcing himself on Buffy on the bathroom floor, rape the crime that subjugates women and demeans men. Waren calls Buffy 'superbitch'.
Jeez!; I find the bathroom scene just unwatchable, Buffy's terrified, tearful pleading is just heartrending. So brutally realistic compared to what we saw between Darla and Angel in 'Reprise'. You also feel sorry for poor Buffy hurting her back. Sure she has Slayer healing but it still HURTS! Andrew actually yells "Kill her! Kill her!". Tara and Buffy shot, Willow soaked in Tara's blood.
Kinky dinky; Spike's awful ravishing Buffy on the floor of the bathroom (if we don't count the Master the 6th time Buffy has been sexually assaulted unless someone can correct me?).
Captain Subtext; Buffy seems quite intrigued by the Vampirella action figure in the Geeks lair. Andrew's desire to get his hands on Warren's orbs. You wonder who the Klingon love poems are written by and dedicated to? "He never really loved...hanging out with us". Willow and Tara give us a good idea of exactly what they got up to after the candle went out in New Moon Rising much to Dawn's delight "I love you guys!". When Willow and Tara say they'll stop kissing Dawn tells them 'Oh you'd better not'. Will says to Tara "Yes mam!". Spike and Buffy have discussion about the nature of love, Spike saying that it burns and consumes, Buffy saying that such fiery love doesn't last. Willow had an inkling something was going on between Spike and Buffy. You rather get the idea that Spike hangs around with Clem because he's lonely, Buffy might have sex with him but she doesn't actually like him, she doesn't want to talk with him or watch Knightrider marathons (Spike seems like a fan, mentioning KITT in a season 5 Angel ep). Buffy emasculates Warren by 'smashing his orbs'.
Scoobies to the ER; Xander get's pretty bloody from Warren's punch and Buffy's nasty backache and bruise. Buffy and Tara shot at the end.
Apocalypses; 6
Scoobies in bondage: astonishingly Tara gets through three years as a Scooby without being tied up even once!
Recurring characters killed: byebye Tara who finally made it into the opening titles only to leave us forever. Watched this first at a convention where people cheered when she showed up in the opening credits and wept openly when she died (oddly the previous week I'd watched Xena's last ep at another convention, I seemed to spend most of that year surrounded by crying lesbians).
Spike; good or bad? Now I was quite amazed how when this came out how many people sought to excuse Spike for the Buffyrape, they actually said things like 'Oh she led him on, she gave out mixed signals' etc and referred to the scene in the Bronze in Dead Things as proof. I actually challenged people on The Bronze by asking them was Buffy 'asking for it'? Spike tries to rape Buffy and had she been anyone but the Slayer he would surely have succeeded. As he says 'I would never..' and she correctly replies "Because I stopped you!" and "Now ask me why I can never love you!". Ultimately I think Spike loves Buffy as much as he's able to,'quite well' as Dru says in Crush and has done many heroic things but without a soul he can never be good, he is the serial killer in prison obeying the rules for his own benefit. Xander is 100% right about him. And Buffy can't truly love him not only because of what he's done but because he has no soul, he's not the full package.
Dawn in peril; 9
Dawn the bashful virgin; 9 plays the TV really loud to drown out the Willow/Tara sex
What the fanficcers thought; Needless to say many sought to bring Tara back through various literary devices (and the same with Joyce and Cordy). Personally I have no problem with that as long as there is some form of price to be paid as there's been this season for bringing back Buffy, not just Willow did a spell and there she was.
Questions and observations; Spike still has his motorcycle from Bargaining. Another numbered t-shirt for Willow. I always thought that the blonde girl Anya chats up in the bar played Tru's best friend in Eliza Dushku's series Tru Calling but she isn't. Warren refers to Jonathon as 'The Shemp' which is a term coined by Sam Rami and Bruce Campbell in The Evil Dead and Clem seems to think that wrapping a wet towel around Spike's head will disable his chip an idea he seems to have garnered from Total Recall.
Marks out of 10; 8/10 fun, powerful but ultimately tragic