BtVS Season 7 Rewatch

[Mrs Gordo]

Same Time, Same Place

Willooooooooooow!

This episode was excellent. You guys were right. I had just forgotten how great it was. I'll review first and then go back up and read some comments.

The good:

• I also love the Xander/Dawn/Buffy dynamic.
• Have I already mentioned how much I love Dawn this season? She doesn't feel like she did in s6 which was mainly a plot device. She contributes and she is sweet and funny. She has good ideas!
• Buffy is great in this episode. With some small exceptions, she feels like s3 Buffy. Leading the charge, executing a good plan, talking through her concerns with Xander.
• The Willow/Buffy stuff just melts my heart. Like I was literally teary eyed. I love their friendship. I love that Willow acknowledges that it's Buffy's job to be suspicious of even her best friend. Even if she loves her friends, she understands that's part of her job and she understands that Xander doesn't have that same burden that Buffy does. That level of understanding - is really big of Willow. The last scene where Buffy offers her strength to Willow is a very strong way to end it.
• I love Spike's small moments of comedic clarity - "I'm insane. What's his excuse?"
• The scene with Spike and the Buffy/Xander & Willow is pretty genius. This is such a very clever episode.

The bad:

• I know we are going to deal with this in a few episodes but why is Buffy letting Anya go around exacting Vengeance? She knows she is actively in the game, she just saw her turn a guy into a worm that nearly got him killed. I think its clumsy to ignore it until Selfless. I am also confused as to Anya's position on the good v. evil continuum. She appears to feel guilty... I'll wait and see how Selfless goes.
• I think one of the problems I have is how do we handle Willow? I mean what she did was pretty horrible right? She tried to end the world. It's probably worse than what Faith did. It's on par with what Angelus did but he has the excuse of not having a soul. I think there is some indication that I'm supposed to believe that Willow's power was controlling her not the other way around. I like Willow alot and I want her to be easily forgiven and everything to go back to normal but I don't know that this is the morally right thing. Is it enough that she is tortured by this demon? That she feels guilty and she thought her friends would abandon her? Can Willow rest now? I don't know if this is a "bad" as much as a - I'm conflicted point.
• Screw that demon though - he is creepy and I never want to see him again. This is the 3rd creepiest demon IMO. #1 is Der Kindestod #2 The Gentlemen and #3 Gnarl. I guess this isn't a bad - because they succeeded in freaking me out but can we go back to penis metaphor worms now?

Good stuff over all and I give this episode very high marks.

The Scoobies follow Spike, and then Xander pretends to smack into Spike's back. Spike grabs Xander, pulls him close, and whispers "I love you" in his ear. Xander looks at Spike shocked. Buffy is jealous. Sigh.

I literally went back to watch to see if I had missed this.... lol.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

It's probably worse than what Faith did.

No, no, no! This cannot stand. Willow made the rash (and cowardly) decision to consume a whole bunch of dark magic, knowing it would eat her from the inside. She did this during a moment of extreme despair. Ending the world was a compulsion that came after Giles tricked her into taking his empathy magic. Faith was complicit in turning the Mayor into a giant snake that would eat the world. Willow backed down after Xander reached out to her. Faith could not be swayed from her path of joy-stabbing and boyfriend-poisoning.

 

[sosa lola]

I literally went back to watch to see if I had missed this.... lol.

LOL! Sorry about that. My Spander-goggles do make my episode reviewing a bit unreliable.

 

[Grace]

We'll start Week Two on Monday. Again, watch episodes at your own pace, and if you still need to catch up on last week's episodes, please continue to post about them. We don't care about "messing up the order" or anything like that!

Week Two:
Help
Selfless
Him

 

[Mylie]

Help

My thoughts on this episode are going to be a bit all over the place...

This is such a sad episode, definitely the saddest death for a 1 episode character. The actress was very good and I wish we could have seen more of Cassie. I also really enjoyed the small friendship with Dawn. It was fun to see Dawn interact with someone her age and who I feel she really could have been friends with. Of course I really felt for Dawn at the end. She made me tear up.

Ok so the beginning of the episode... Buffy hiding in a casket? REALLY? I would have thought she'd never want to get close to one again after having to get out of one in Bargaining. That felt a bit OOC to me.

The Willow/Xander scene was really sweet and Willow visiting Tara's grave was an emotionally filled moment. AH didn't need to say much, I really felt Willow's pain.

Google and fanfic!! 🙂

This is an interesting episode to look at thematically and it brings back a lot of philosophical questions that the show has already touched upon, but in a much darker and depressing way. I think this is possibly the closest to determinism (or fatalism? I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but hopefully you all understand what I'm trying to say) I've ever seen from the show. Of course they balance it out by Cassie having a heart condition but it stills feel like it to me, because of the prediction element to it. Buffy though tells Cassie to fight and she replies that there is no point. At first glance, this is the conclusion of the episode because Cassie does end up dying. But Buffy of course refuses to accept that and fights for Cassie's life. Then there's that scene with the scoobies at the end where Buffy asks "So what then? What do you do when you know that? When you know that maybe you can't help?" and we see Buffy going back to work the next day. The answer is of course to keep fighting. Though this isn't the first time we've been told this by the buffyverse, to me, this is the most depressing way it has ever been done. I know there's some sort of inspirational message hidden underneath it all, but right now I don't know that I can find it.

Overall... I enjoyed it a great deal. I can't say that I absolutely loved it because it's a bit too pessimist for my taste. But it made me feel A LOT. And I think it brought a new twist to themes that had already been explored in the buffyverse. I'm just left feeling a bit depressed and that's usually not what I go to BtVS for. I just have to hang on to Cassie's "and you will" and Buffy going back to work and everything should be okay, right? Right!

My ranking so far :
Same Time, Same Place
Lessons
Help
Beneath You
 
@Grace Same!!! I could have written a lot more about her, but decided to restrain myself given how much there is to say about the episode in general.

Wasn't she cute when she was being all detective and trying to explain to the scoobies why they should look into Cassie's friend?!

And of course her being all supportive and trying to make Buffy feel better while being heartbroken herself over losing a new friend. It's even sadder considering that she has a hard time making friends 🙁

 

[sosa lola]

Help

This episode is a typical season one episode. The Scoobies are hiding in coffins. And I wonder why do Buffy, Xander and Dawn, who became Willow's replacement apparently, go through all this trouble for one vampire. Potential vampire even. They're taking the whole returning to the basics to extreme. Remember season one? Everything was a big deal back then.

Buffy's first day at work! I was actually very excited about this, and I've enjoyed the several talkies with the students. Especially the one with Dawn.

Aw. Xander and Willow. Best friends 4eva. I'm glad the writers wrote this scene. In the last episode we didn't get a Xander/Willow scene. And I'm glad we had Willow visiting Tara's grave. Nice scene. Except when Xander said "From beneath you, it devours." The word lost its punch.

I like Buffy sending Dawn on missions. I agree that Dawn is the best thing about the episode.

The original Scoobies doing detective work together in Buffy's living room is everything. Willow who's sitting in front of the computer! Look at them. The three of them. So cute. Oh why writers? Why? *sniff* *cries*

Now comes the scene that bugs me. Buffy and Xander went to see Cassie's father with his repetition of being an alcoholic. Now think about it. Father. Drunk. Abuses his child. And Xander is in there with Buffy, and what does he do? Nothing. A big fat nothing. What a wasted opportunity. I mean why have Xander there if he's not gonna say a word? They could have had Xander yell at the father that he's lying, that he's abusing his daughter, have him say something. Xander and Cassie have the drunken father in common, of course Xander will assume her father would abuse her. But what do these writers do? Waste it. Why? Because it's Xander. Grrr!

Cassie telling Spike "She'll tell you" is just too lame. I'm sorry, I get what the writers are trying to do but it's just lazy and eyeroll worthy. I'm very sure they only created the Cassie character just to say this line.

I loved that after all the trouble that Buffy went through, Cassie died. That was so unexpected and it was nice seeing Buffy fail once in a while.

PS: There's a deleted scene in the ep about Anya trying to grant a wish to some girl but fails. I understand why the writers would cut the scene as it doesn't flow with the episode but, this scene would have helped building up for Selfless' events. Besides, Emma is one of the cast, she should appear in all the episodes.

8/10

 

[Grace]

I struggle a little bit with Help. I like it overall, but I'm too conscious of being emotionally manipulated to lose myself in the story. (This is the same problem I have with A Hole in the World, though in Help it's a much more minor issue for me.) Also, I like Cassie and she's a very sympathetic character, but her resigned reaction is hard to watch. I don't know how long she's known she was going to die, but not being angrier or trying to do anything out of the ordinary just seems off to me. Shouldn't she at least be seizing the day with Mike if she likes him back?

But I love the scene with Willow at Tara's grave (I had forgotten about it and was not prepared at all!) and I love Xander's hammer analogy and I love Dawn.

I also really enjoyed the small friendship with Dawn. It was fun to see Dawn interact with someone her age and who I feel she really could have been friends with. Of course I really felt for Dawn at the end. She made me tear up.

And of course her being all supportive and trying to make Buffy feel better while being heartbroken herself over losing a new friend. It's even sadder considering that she has a hard time making friends 🙁

The thing that stuck with me the most from this episode was Dawn's line: "She was my friend because of you." And @Taaroko brilliantly titled her review of this episode "All That Matters Is What We Do." I think several of us in this rewatch thread particularly appreciate the line from Angel's Epiphany speech when he says, "Because, if there is no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness - is the greatest thing in the world." Dawn's friendship with Cassie, Buffy listening to her and trying to save her, even them all mourning her -- those things really are important in and of themselves.

It goes back to what Buffy said about her job: "I'm a counselor here because I wanna help. I know what it's like to walk these halls and feel lost, alone. I just want to make things better, connect." And she did connect. Dawn sees the value in that, even if Buffy feels like a failure.

Ok so the beginning of the episode... Buffy hiding in a casket? REALLY? I would have thought she'd never want to get close to one again after having to get out of one in Bargaining. That felt a bit OOC to me.

I totally agree with you on this! She seemed way too casual about it. Setting that aside, I do really like Mark Field's take on that scene, though, based on Buffy's line, "Vampire by vampire. It's the only way I know how."

In the context of the season as a whole, this is a key moment -- it defines Buffy’s problem for the season arc just as Glory’s introduction in episode 4 of S5 defined Buffy’s problem that year, Flooded introduced the Trio, and Fear, Itself showed Buffy and the Scoobies separated by their fears but united at the end. (Are we seeing a pattern here?) Much of the season will explore possible solutions. Help isn’t intended to make you give up, or to slog on in existential despair, it’s intended to make you think about the problem a little harder. And Cassie’s last words are, indeed, prophetic.

I had to stop the episode to figure out where I knew that blond kid from (Home Improvement!) and I laughed when Spike started punching himself, which is probably not the reaction they were going for.

 

[Mylie]

Selfless

I've been waiting for this one! I'm really enjoying Anya in this rewatch. This episode helps understand her character (and give her more depth) a lot and brings her to the right place for the last season. I think it was very much needed.

Random thoughts :

• I loved the contrast between the Buffy Spike images in light and the real Buffy in black.
• Season 6 always left me with the impression that Buffy kept saying over and over again that "Spike is different now because he has a soul" so hearing her so "You have a soul? Fine. Show me" was a satisfying line for me.
• The CGI for the spider was kind of bad, I hated it.
• I missed Dawn this episode. She's had a lot of screentime in previous episodes and I get why she had less in this one so I'm not really complaining. I just felt her absence.
• Buffy's choice of weapon was a sword. It might seem random, but it reminded me of Becoming part 2.
• Anya's song was beautiful but it lasted a bit too long. I became impatient for it to end at one point.

The infamous scene :

I'm confused as to why Xander is upset at Willow for not telling them sooner? It basically JUST happened. Willow called Buffy to warn her about the spider and Buffy and him went to kill it and THEN Willow told them straight away. The urgence was obviously the spider and Willow never intended to hide what Anya did. It just wasn't the first priority.

Buffy’s "I am the law speech" is still so poignant and there’s so much to unpack there. It’s just such a loaded and meaningful scene. What did get to me during this rewatch though is Buffy’s “Do you remember cheering me on? Both of you. Do you remember giving me Willow's message: Kick his ass.” which isn’t even really about The Lie itself for me this time around. I’m over it (well not really, I won’t ever not be pissed off about it but I’m also not going to continue getting worked up over it) but how much that line must have been haunting Buffy. What I love about this is the resentment, the feelings coming to the surface. She’s kept this for herself for all this time and it just shows how much she has sacrificed of herself to be a grown up and move on. It’s just so sad how much that hurt her and she’s never said a word about it until now.

The ending :

The twist is still very effective. And that Xander/Anya scene is very sweet. “Don’t be a dope. I’m a dope? Sometimes.” I loved the simplicity of it. It reminded me of “I do. Sometimes. Think that far ahead. Sometimes is something”. This is a very interesting way to end the episode for Anya and she can only grow from now on.

Overall, a very strong episode. I'm still undecided on if I'd rank it above or below Same Time, Same Place so I won't post my ranking just yet and think about it some more.
 
I just read Mark Field’s essay and the comments on his blog and my mind is blown! The comparisons to Becoming are so interesting and while I didn’t catch up on everything while watching the episode, I’m glad I noticed the sword (and blow) thing. I might post about it later when I have more time unless @Grace wants to talk about it. She’s a lot more eloquent and versed in those essays/theories etc. and now I’m kind of excited to read what she has to say about the episode.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

For me, Selfless shows Willow being really amazing for the first time since Bargaining. I love that girl so much, because despite not being strong or naturally brave, she comes through when it matters and achieves the impossible. There's no person you'd rather have in a crisis.

 

[sosa lola]

Selfless:

The first scene is cute with Dawn teaching Willow how to fit in in college even though Willow had been in school longer than Dawn. The conversation between Buffy and Xander about Anya is well written too. Seems that Xander and Buffy are getting a lot closer. They seem to talk about their problems… or Xander talking about his problems to Buffy more than he does with Willow. As for Buffy, she still keeps her problems to herself, even when her friends reach out to her.

I love the Aud/Olaf scene and that language which I didn't understand. Loved the medieval set. Looks very realistic.

Willow's red outfit is cute. And I love her pony tale, wish she wears her hair like that more. It looks better on her. Willow sees Anya and is all happy… the Wanya in S7 is going strong. Anyway, Willow notices Anya's wrist which has blood on it, and Willow is concerned. Slashy awwws everyone. Later we see Willow lose control over her dark side 'cause Willow hadn't finished 'not being evil'. I liked it.

More on the Buffy/Xander closeness. I notice that Buffy tends to take Xander with her on slaying missions a lot.

I have a confession to make: I love the intense Buffy/Xander fights. Even the ones in Revelations and Dead Man's Party where Xander is a huge jerk. So many emotions in them. The mention of "The Lie" upsets me more than pleases me. I don't get why it wasn't dealt with in S3. It's just so many years have passed, it's not the same as if it was dealt with right when the issue mattered.

I also agree with @Mylie that Buffy remembering the exact words "Kick his ass" all these years meant that they cut her deep. Honestly, the person I feel the most sorry for here is Willow. Buffy believed all these years that Willow had said "kick his ass" when Willow was the most faithful friend to her back then. First of all, "kick his ass" doesn't sound at all like Willow. Buffy clearly was in a bad place then and couldn't think straight, but when Willow had revealed later that she did succeed doing her spell, shouldn't Buffy have figured it out? This is why bringing up "The Lie" annoys me. There's just no way that Buffy or Willow wouldn't have figured it out earlier.

Also, Buffy's phrasing "Do you remember giving me Willow's message: Kick his ass." sounds more like fans arguing in fan forums than the actual characters.

Now which side do I pick: Buffy or Xander? I see where Xander's coming from, I agree with some of his points like Anya being their friend and how hypocritical of them to help Willow out and not Anya, but Anya wasn't listening to anyone. She was killing and killing and killing. Just because Xander dumped her on her wedding day, doesn't means she has to kill him and go granting deadly wishes. No matter how angry and hurt she was! She had a conscience, she had humanity, she had a *choice*, and she chose to kill. Buffy was doing her job. So, I guess I'm siding with Buffy.

I loved Willow helping Anya out. Everybody gets on Willow's case when it came to Anya. Willow doesn't love/respect Anya, but I disagree completely.

I loved how they addressed Anya's issues in a song. Her identity was all about Xander all these years. Anya wanted to be somebody, and when she finds something she clings to it. Like vengeance, she kept clinging to it, giving it her heart and soul until she lost it and found a human boy as a substitute. Loved Xander's as a former clingee comment, so sweet and true.

And D'Hoffryn has managed to annoy me when (he said "from beneath you it devours") I get it alright! Must they repeat it in every single episode! I wonder whose turn to mention it in the next episode.

I hated Hally's death, she died before we got to know if she were Cecily or not. A plot between Spike and Hally would have been more fun than the whole Wood/Spike bit.

This episode is my favorite season seven episode. A wonderful Anya character study. A wonderful Xander/Buffy fight. Wonderful Wanya action. Sadly Spike didn't appear in this ep…. (Oh he did. The First/Buffy wearing white while Real Buffy wearing black) Joss going all Bernard Shaw on us with the color symbolism.

10/10

 

[Mylie]

Him

Okay so this is a very ridiculous (and fun!) episode. I don't have a whole lot to say and most of what I have to say are just random thoughts.

I absolutely love the scene with Dawn on the bleachers being all confused not only about Buffy/Spike and Xander/Anya but love/relationships in general and why people even bother trying. I didn’t remember that scene at all but I’m adding it to the list of reasons why I relate to her so much.

That Buffy/Anya scene is cute. I love that it’s Buffy who goes to see her. It shows she cares about her and that Anya isn’t just Xander’s ex to her.

Ok I would lie if I said I’m not always endeared by Dawn (she’s always a cutie), but seeing her in this episode gave me a lot of secondhand embarrassment. It was fun to watch but I'm very glad that this isn't the real Dawn and that we only got 1 episode of it.

Dawn trying out for the cheerleaders with Buffy’s uniform was fun and cute.

I loved that Xander called it early on, without even knowing it. "It’s the jacket."

Buffy saying how it’s a refreshing change that Spike is showering reminds me of all those conversations about Spike always wearing the same clothes and how he must smell of cigarettes.

Buffy trying to kill Principal Wood was hilarious, I legit burst out laughing at that part.

Dawn almost killing herself for R.J. makes me so sad. But the fact that this is what brought Buffy back to reality and made her realize that she must be under a spell is kind of lovely and meaningful. I enjoyed their conversation a lot. And of course "No guy is worth your life - Not ever" is a great quote.

I don’t understand how the jacket works. All the scoobies girls seem to get affected in a very intense way, but the other girls (other than R.J's girlfriend), all seem to act normal? So it doesn't seem to work like the one from Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.

Overall, a fun episode to watch, but one that I don't think about much in general. It has its flaws but it also doesn't take itself very seriously (which is probably why I don't take it too seriously myself).

My ranking of the episodes so far : (still undecided about Selfless)
Same Time, Same Place
Lessons
Him
Help
Beneath You

 

[Mrs Gordo]

Help:

The Good:

• Way to kill me with the Tara stuff. Very emotionally resonant.
• I love the cinematography of the Willow graveyard scene; its really nice. The tilt of the camera. The scenery of the trees. It's very pretty. In general, I think this episode looks pretty (goes to see who directed).
• LOL @ Dougie Howser fan fiction!

The Bad:

• Amanda is annoying. Sorry.
• Ok I feel like I missed an episode here. All of the sudden Buffy is wiggy about the "big bad" and Willow and Xander are talking about "From beneath you it devours" but aside from a few slayer dreams that Buffy had and Spike's ramblings, how do the Scoobies all magically know there is a some big bad out there? Is it just years of experience? I feel like they went from "hmm strange slayer dreams" to "we have a big bad we need to figure out" and I feel like I missed the connection. I guess I'm supposed to assume that Willow filled them in based on her vision of the hellmouth?
• I'm not moved by Cassie's monologue about wanting to live. Am I made of stone? Perhaps.
• So this episode is a call back to Reptile Boy right? Right down to Spike serving the Angel role of coming in to help Buffy with the demon but Buffy finishing off the demon herself.

What I'm about to say is not going to be a very popular opinion but I'm going to say it anyway. I love Buffy more than anything. But I don't think this counseling thing is a good gig for her. When has she been good at the talking thing? She isn't a great communicator. And of course add to this that she isn't trained. This is evident from the fact that she threatens to punch one of the kids. I get that this is just a plot device to get her into school so that she can be around and learn about Amanda and Cassie etc. But I just feel the need to say - I don't think Buffy would be good at this. Sooooo many other things she would be good at but I don't think she would be good at this. Buffy is more with the action less with the talking.

Strangely enough, I was thinking about s1 of AtS today (because of a different thread) and this episode reminds me of a s1 episode of AtS (a detective episode). It's rare that the Buffyverse expands into the mundane world of characters outside of the main cast in the real world (they did this occasionally in the high school years but it was usually within the confines of high school). And here Buffy is doing research on a girl, and tracking down her potentially abusive father, making a house call, taking Xander with her (which also - strange because he doesn't work for the school right?). It feels weird. I'm not sure I like it... but then they go back to form with the demon and the ritual so I'm back in home territory where a Buffy episode belongs.

Overall the episode is just kinda meh for me.
 

I know there's some sort of inspirational message hidden underneath it all, but right now I don't know that I can find it.

I think as @Grace commented above I did get the vibe that they were going for the Angel message in this episode. (or maybe I just read the Angel message). But I agree that it left you hanging a bit at the end. It was almost too quiet and too sad.

Cassie telling Spike "She'll tell you" is just too lame. I'm sorry, I get what the writers are trying to do but it's just lazy and eyeroll worthy. I'm very sure they only created the Cassie character just to say this line.

I would like to think that they had this great idea for a character that could see her own future and her own demise (I desperately cling to the hope that they were not all that obsessed with the Spuffy arc so as to contrive a character just for this revelation but in reality...who knows) but I do feel like the line is wedged in there. And maybe I've just seen 1,000 gif sets of this and the s11 ILY now that I'll join you in a little eye roll.

 

[Grace]

Selfless

Man, Selfless is so good. It totally left me shaking at the end. I teared up more than once, but especially when Buffy gave her "I am the law" speech. I kind of can't believe how many threads this episode goes back and picks up, from Willow getting D'Hoffryn's talisman to The Lie, of course. And as @Mylie mentioned there are lots of parallels with Becoming.

Willow's brilliance definitely shines in this episode, though the solution again had its costs. The world / all the frat boys were saved, Angel got his soul back / Anya got to take her wish back, but Buffy still had to be responsible for sending the manpire she loved to hell and Anya now feels responsible for the death of her friend. Like Buffy, she feels the need to deal with what happened on her own at the end.

But it did seem like there was a very pointed contrast between Buffy in Becoming and Anya in Selfless:
"No weapons... No friends... No hope. Take all that away... and what's left?" / "Me."
"Xander, you can't help me. I'm not even sure there's a me to help."

Since Spike and Anya are paralleled in this episode, being self-less becomes a question about him too. Does Spike have a self? Has he, like Anya, solely defined himself around whatever has come along (Drusilla, Buffy)? We even hear Spike talk about Drusilla to First Buffy. When Anya lost Xander, she fell back on old habits, but we see that she really had fundamentally changed since she didn't enjoy it anymore.

I somehow manage to love this episode even though I don't really like the flashback scenes. The emphasis on Anya's lack of self almost feels like the writers making a meta-commentary on their own lack of attention to her character.

Buffy clearly was in a bad place then and couldn't think straight, but when Willow had revealed later that she did succeed doing her spell, shouldn't Buffy have figured it out? This is why bringing up "The Lie" annoys me. There's just no way that Buffy or Willow wouldn't have figured it out earlier.

I'm not so sure. In Season 3, everything really seemed to get swept under the rug after the big blowup in Dead Man's Party. Willow completing the spell in and of itself did not have to mean that she was on Buffy's side, because they had agreed to do it in the first place as a tactical decision. They didn't go ahead with it to get Angel back; they did it because it was their last best chance to stop Angelus from ending the world if Buffy wasn't able to kill him in time. And Buffy blamed herself for Willow getting injured during the first attempt. So it's possible Buffy thought Willow was angry enough to say, "Kick his ass" and yet still do the spell as a last-ditch effort. And then all of it got mixed up with Buffy leaving town and Angel coming back. So it seems possible to me that Buffy would never have brought it up with Willow, and there's no way Willow could have known what Xander said.

I don’t think Willow and Buffy’s friendship was ever the same after S2, but there were lots of factors.

I might post about it later when I have more time unless @Grace wants to talk about it. She’s a lot more eloquent and versed in those essays/theories etc. and now I’m kind of excited to read what she has to say about the episode.

I feel like I'm letting you down here! You should post more about it!

 

[Mylie]

@Grace You're not letting me down at all! Some of what I had to say you mentioned but I didn't catch the "Me" thing so I'm glad there's even more to parallel. And I feel the same about Anya's flashbacks.

Some parallels :
-Buffy having to kill a friend/loved one because they went evil (the obvious one)
-The sword and the way Buffy stabs Anyanka resembles the way she killed Angel.
-Willow performing a spell at the same time as the fight (without Buffy knowing) to prevent Buffy from having to kill. In the first case, it worked but was too late and this time the timing was just right.
-Becoming/Selfless as in the titles being about identity and the struggle to build one/not have one.

This is one of my favorite bits that I read in the comments of Mark's blog :
"...in Becoming she fought her heart's love, and in Selfless, she fought her "heart's" love. " (by Aeryl)

 

[Grace]

All good stuff!

Willow performing a spell at the same time as the fight (without Buffy knowing) to prevent Buffy from having to kill. In the first case, it worked but was too late and this time the timing was just right.

It’s also possible that Willow saved the world with her timing in Becoming. Because it seemed like Buffy was about to behead Angelus, which would have dusted him, leaving no blood to close the portal. Hee! 😉

It’s interesting to think about what Willow thought D’Hoffryn would do. It seemed like Anya knew she would have to die to take back her wish. Did Willow know that too? Did she think he would just let Anya go?

 

[sosa lola]

Him:

This episode is kinda a Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered rip-off, but nonetheless I enjoy it a lot. Also, Spander working together! Always a win in my book.

I feel that Buffy and Xander had an agreement after the events of Selfless. Both Buffy and Xander must feel guilty (Buffy for attempting to kill Anya, and Xander for "Kick his ass"). So, Buffy is to protect Anya from D'Haffryn's minions and Xander is to house a crazy Spike in his apartment.

Dawn and Buffy doing their sister thing in school, even though Dawn had demanded she and Buffy must not talk in school. I didn't like Anya saying that Dawn is useless. Dawn proved to be useful with her computer research skills in early episodes and was helping the team, unlike Anya who used to grant wishes and causing trouble.

Those early S7 episodes show Buffy and Xander as the parental figures for Dawn, they are in a way the mother and father of the other characters this season. When in S6, it used to be Giles and Tara.

Where is Willow? It's more convenient if Willow was with Buffy trying to cheer Dawn up since she lives in the same house.

Willow finally shows up at the Bronze, and Buffy, Xander and Willow are hanging out like the old times. Xander and Willow being attracted to Dawn made me laugh.

Xander's tone when Buffy was on top of RJ, "Now get off the boy, Buffy. We're going home," has a very fatherly undertones in it. He is truly the father of the gang in S7.

I like the Xander/Spike team up to save the others, but I miss the snark. Spike is so quiet.


8/10

 

[Taake]

Willow finally shows up at the Bronze, and Buffy, Xander and Willow are hanging out like the old times. Xander and Willow being attracted to Dawn made me laugh.


8/10

That scene is amazing! Love it.
Good point about Buffy and Xander being the parental figures this season.

 

[sosa lola]

Good point about Buffy and Xander being the parental figures this season.

Made by marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer

 

[Mylie]

I didn't like Anya saying that Dawn is useless. Dawn proved to be useful with her computer research skills in early episodes and was helping the team, unlike Anya who used to grant wishes and causing trouble.

Yes, I didn't like that either, but I put it on Anya hasn't been around much in early season 7, to witness Dawn's contributions. So she doesn't really know what she's talking about.

 

[Holden Webster]

Favourite episode coming up! "Warm skin, wolf grin ... I fell into the moon. Can I make it right? Can I spend the night?"