BtVS Season 7 Rewatch

[Grace]

Him

All I could think about during this episode was Oz's line from Inca Mummy Girl: "Well, it involves a feather boa and the theme to 'A Summer Place.' I can't discuss it here." Replace the jacket with a feather boa and Oz is in trouble. Hahahaha. I loved the soundtrack to this episode.

I liked the continued parallels between Spike and Anya. Buffy is bringing both of them back into the Scooby fold, whether they want to be there or not.

Mark Field thinks this episode is about Spike, which I think is an interesting interpretation:

The focus on R.J.’s coat (the magical effect of the coat might also suggest, perhaps, some meta-commentary on Spike fans); like William, R.J. was a poet before he became cool (note the look on Spike’s face when Lance mentions poetry); Dawn tells Buffy that she “knows R.J.’s soul” after Buffy has twice emphasized Spike’s soul to Dawn; and Anya tells Willow “I looked into him and saw his soul”, just as she did to Spike in Beneath You.

In light of that, this is kind of funny:

Note that Buffy never said she loved R.J., just that he loved her. She was certainly ready for the sex, though. 🙂

The first half of this episode is just so hard to watch. Way too cringey. The second half is hilarious, though, so it ends on a high note.

One thing I am thinking about is how the choices that the Scooby women make under the influence of the spell reflect on them. Anya robs a bank, which makes sense because she probably loves money more than RJ; Willow wants to use magic to change the object of her affection into someone more of her liking; Buffy tries to kill the principal, which seems to reflect her tendency to make all problems slay problems (though she's *usually* right); and Dawn once again thinks things would be better if she was gone, or you could also see her as emulating Buffy's tendency toward sacrifice.

(And if you want to take this a step further on the Buffy/Spike analysis, you could see Buffy being able to come to her senses when she saw that her "humanity" was in danger as reflecting back on the breakup in Season 6.)

I definitely did not put together the fact that RJ's girlfriend hurt the injured cheerleader on my first watch ("God, gross! A vending machine fell on Cheryl and all you can think about is new cheerleaders?")

Also, I've been noticing the bag that Dawn has been carrying to school this season because I had the exact same one (well, more likely a cheap knockoff of whatever bag she has) in college.

 

[Grace]

Oh, I also forgot to mention when Buffy tells Dawn: "No, of course not. I believe that you think it's real. It seems real... to you." It reminded me of when Buffy said basically the same thing to Spike in Entropy:

SPIKE: ...And no matter how hard you try to convince yourself it isn't, it's real.
BUFFY: I think it is. (Beat. He looks at her.) For you.

 

[Mylie]

@Grace This is so interesting! It definitely makes me see the episode in a different light. Do you think that R.J.'s jacket also works as a parallel to Spike's coat? Of course they mean different things, but I find it interesting how in both cases it's tied to their identity and how others perceive them.

The part about the girls dealing with it in their own special way is particularly insightful.

 

[Grace]

Do you think that R.J.'s jacket also works as a parallel to Spike's coat? Of course they mean different things, but I find it interesting how in both cases it's tied to their identity and how others perceive them.

Yeah, I definitely think that interpretation makes sense. You take the sensitive poet and put him in a badass piece of outerwear and people respond differently. 🙂 The question then becomes who is Spike without his coat? Part of me is disappointed that we're about to get into the whole trigger thing, because it seems like it would be more interesting to tackle that question without the mind-control aspect. But I'm trying to keep an open mind!

 

[Mrs Gordo]

I'm behind - need to watch two episodes before Monday! Was going to re-watch yesterday but then I felt self-conscious about my s7 reviews. I'm over that now. 🙂

Selfless

The Good:

• I love the look of the Anya/Olaf flashback. I'm noticing the cinematography of this season is really great. I wonder if that's because they had more money or just a better post production team. (Side note: Is this a real language they are speaking?)
• I enjoyed hearing Spike talking about Dru affectionately and there seems to be some sort of a realization that even in her madness she found some happiness which is an interesting insight.
• "You have a soul? Fine. Show me." Well said Buffy.
• Willow at the beginning of the episode feels like early seasons Willow. This makes me happy because I love early seasons Willow but it's also a bit out of place.
• I love the discussion between Xander and Buffy because honestly I see both sides of it?

Willow was a human so that makes her different. True.
Spike was a demon and she didn't kill him. True. (although he wasn't harmless when it came to Buffy but I don't think his capacity or ability to hurt Buffy is at issue as much as his capacity to hurt other people)
Anya chose to be a demon- twice. True.
Buffy does cut people off when she has to make difficult decisions and act like she is the law. True.
Buffy did sacrifice Angel to save the world. And Xander did cheer her on. True.

While the parallels being made her are clearly more aligned with s2's finale, I find it even more ironic to look back on Xander in s3 (after Angel returned from hell). If s3 Xander could see himself now, what would he say? Xander fought with Buffy in s3 because he believed that Angel should be killed. He called Angel a "vicious killer" and then argued that because he had killed lots of people he should be taken out because it was to great a risk for him to revert when Buffy "gave him a happy" (NOT MY WORDS... ). And now he is advocating for a demon who is actively killing to be allowed to live. And the thing is - I find this progression in Xander's character extremely believable. He fell in love with Anya, he still loves her. I just love the role reversal. And I love that Buffy uses her personal experiences with Angel to shut Xander down.

• I love Anya's bravery in the final scene. She finds it just in the nick of time too. I don't really always understand her abrupt change of heart. I don't know how she got to this decision except that she feels obviously guilty throughout the show but its nice to see her being prepared to sacrifice herself for the lives she took. And I really like that it appears to me that she isn't doing this for Xander, but I really feel like she is doing this because she thinks it's the right thing to do.
• "My whole life, I've just clung to...whatever came along." I'm seeing some Spike parallels here. Is that just me?

The Bad:

• I can't tell if hallucination!Buffy with Spike at the beginning that was telling him that they would get through it together was The First or if it was just his mind going bonkers? I feel like that is exactly what he wants to hear from Buffy so I wonder if TF is playing games with him or if he is hallucinating? Why is Spike saying he has no where to go? He can't go find a crypt? Did someone rent his crypt out?
• So Anya doesn't seemed freaked at all by D'Hoffryn when he first comes to her which is a little strange.
• I never thought of Anya and Buffy as "best friends." I really do think Xander is overselling their friendship here.
• I wish Anya was defined by more than just Xander (or previously Olaf). If her human life had been more than just Xander, if she had a purpose outside of her love for Xander, perhaps she wouldn't have been so easily tempted back into being evil. If the only thing that was keeping her "good" or fighting alongside the Scoobies was her love of Xander I don't find that all that admirable. (But she does redeem herself a bit here, see above re Anya's final scene.)

I assume that Willow and Buffy switched rooms because Willow doesn't want to live where Tara was killed. It's a small detail but I appreciate it.

More thoughts on Anya: As I said before I was trying to figure out where Anya fell on the spectrum of good/evil. Obviously there is some sort of spectrum, instead of just good v. bad now that we are in s7 and btvs is in the more grey area of what qualifies as slay worthy and what doesn't. Because I am also doing a s3 rewatch and I just watched The Prom, I noticed this line from Anya:

"When I lost my powers I got stuck in this persona, and now I have all these feelings. I don't understand it. I don't like it."

So I think this means that as a demon she didn't have human emotions? And then she became human and began to feel human emotions. And now that she is a demon has she been tainted by those human emotions? Is that why she comes around to the decision to sacrifice herself?

And I would be remiss not to mention this line which is a personal favorite (yes I know I'm predictable) and it works not just to frame the parallels between Xander/Anya story line, not just to remind us that Buffy has from the very beginning of this show had to make the difficult decisions that no one should ever have to make, but also its a validation of how important Angel was in Buffy's life: "I loved him more than anything I will ever love in this life."

Overall I enjoyed this episode a great deal.

 

[Grace]

(Side note: Is this a real language they are speaking?)

I think it’s badly pronounced Swedish. @Taake?

I love Anya's bravery in the final scene. She finds it just in the nick of time too. I don't really always understand her abrupt change of heart. I don't know how she got to this decision except that she feels obviously guilty throughout the show but its nice to see her being prepared to sacrifice herself for the lives she took. And I really like that it appears to me that she isn't doing this for Xander, but I really feel like she is doing this because she thinks it's the right thing to do.

Mark Field says he thinks Buffy believed Anya was attempting suicide by cop in their fight, and Buffy tried to draw things out with the chest stab so that the reality of the situation would sink in. Do you think Anya actually wanted Buffy to kill her?

 

[Grace]

More thoughts on Anya: As I said before I was trying to figure out where Anya fell on the spectrum of good/evil. Obviously there is some sort of spectrum, instead of just good v. bad now that we are in s7 and btvs is in the more grey area of what qualifies as slay worthy and what doesn't. Because I am also doing a s3 rewatch and I just watched The Prom, I noticed this line from Anya:

"When I lost my powers I got stuck in this persona, and now I have all these feelings. I don't understand it. I don't like it."

So I think this means that as a demon she didn't have human emotions? And then she became human and began to feel human emotions. And now that she is a demon has she been tainted by those human emotions? Is that why she comes around to the decision to sacrifice herself?

I've been thinking more about what you said here about Anya and I remembered one of @Taaroko's posts that I thought I had an interesting take (copy/pasting because I don't see the quote option on it -- maybe because of the modifications being turned off right now):

Here's where my theory veers off. She becomes a vengeance demon, and though she still has her soul, now she has to follow all of the rules of being a vengeance demon. When a human wants vengeance, she has to go to them (whether she wants to or not, though it's generally a safe bet that she wants to). She's already a vengeful person who doesn't particularly care about the suffering of others if she has her own problems to worry about. Her last act as a human was to *cause* the suffering of others (Olaf by turning him into a troll, and the rest of the village by letting Olaf run amok).

We didn't see Anyanka's entire vengeance career. I think it likely that she started out small. She may be indifferent to suffering to a certain degree, but she still probably can't inflict anything especially gruesome without getting pangs of conscience over it. But you've got to remember that she is no longer part of the human race. Her powers have elevated her above it and made her separate. Human beings are no longer her peers and equals. It will be harder to relate and feel pain for their suffering. Additionally, the only side of humanity she sees as a vengeance demon is the wrongs committed by one human to another. This is unlikely to raise her sympathies. The more time she spends as a vengeance demon, the more of these wrongs she sees, and the more her respect for humanity erodes. Her wish-granting becomes correspondingly more inventively brutal. This is all easily possible with a human soul that hasn't been tinkered with by anything more than her own choices and experiences.

Then, after eleven centuries of the slow but steady buildup of her antipathy towards mankind (emphasis on man, but she didn't particularly care about women either except when bad things were done to them by men), suddenly the thing that removed her from the humanity peer group is gone. She is now plunged back into human society without so much as a transition period to help her adjust. Her dislike of humans intensifies with the increased proximity, but she's powerless to separate herself from them now. She must endure the boring twelfth graders and the indignity of flunking her math class. She can no longer feel the souls of wronged women crying out for vengeance, so she's cut off from the one human emotion she still sympathizes with. Even if she wanted to keep trying to inflict vengeance, she'd have a hard time managing it without that extra sense.

Then her hormones lead her to Xander (or cosmic irony--one of the wishes Cordy made after Giles smashed the amulet was "I wish that Xander Harris never knows the touch of a woman"). I say hormones because that definitely started out as a regular teen crush, and I think human hormones might have been something she didn't have as a demon. Different body chemistry and all that. Anyway. She becomes interested in Xander and her sympathies, which previously included only herself, expand to include him. The Mayor could kill the rest of the school and even the whole town, but as long as Xander's okay, that doesn't bother her.

She spends the next three years with Xander, helping the Scoobies fight evil. The initial attraction to Xander develops into very powerful love (I think I'm turning into a Xander/Anya shipper as I write this), which is something she has never experienced before. Fighting evil means helping people who aren't herself (or Xander) and not for reasons of vengeance. Slowly but surely, all of this softens her towards the human race in general. Even though she still thinks they're basically all idiots, she learns that when it matters, they keep fighting. She learns that it hurts to lose people she knows, even if she wasn't all that close to them. She learns all the things she could never have learned in the 1100 years when all she saw was the worst in people, and it permanently changes her for the better.

As to why she never fell in love in all those years before Xander? Why would she? Again, I emphasize that for all that time, she saw only the crimes humans committed each other. She tells Halfrek, "Vengeance is what I do, Halfrek. I don't need anything else. Vengeance is what I am." She has no time for romance, and very likely no interest in it, considering that the only relationships she ever sees are the ones that end in vengeance. We do know that she had a few flings, but that's all they were. My guess is that either she always made it clear that they were only flings or else the guy always called it quits when he found out what a workaholic she was.

But back to the present. Xander leaves her at the alter and she feels like her world has shattered. She doesn't go to D'Hoffryn asking for her job back. He offers and she accepts. But her heart isn't in it, it's just broken. She wants Xander to suffer but is incapable of granting her own wishes, and all it takes is seeing him in pain because of her sleeping with Spike for her desire to make him suffer to disappear. She focuses on vengeance for others now, but her heart still isn't in it.

Unlike the first time she started out, she no longer has the vengeful spirit. She might still be blunt and insensitive in general, but she cares about humanity. It's upsetting to see humans suffer, and even more so when she's the one causing it--no matter what the human in question might have done. By the rules of vengeance demons, she still has to go to scorned women and grant their wishes, but she tries to minimize the damage now. No deaths, no eviscerations, and nothing inventive. This loses her the respect of the vengeance demon community. In "Beneath You" she tries to get a little of that back, but we know her heart still isn't in it because Xander is able to persuade her to turn that guy back into a human.

It all comes to a head in "Selfless". In a last desperate attempt to get her old reputation and D'Hoffryn's respect back (and probably to get herself properly back in the game again), she grants a girl's wish with a duodecuple homicide by spider demon. This is what makes her finally come to terms with the fact that she cannot continue doing this and living with herself. She puts up a (rather thin) front until D'Hoffryn asks her what she really wants, which is to take it back. Even if it means giving up her own life and soul, she just wants to take it back.

D'Hoffryn pulls a bait and switch. It's Halfrek who goes up in flames instead of her, and she is once again left a powerless human. From there on out, she never again expresses regret that she's not still in the vengeance business. She does express distaste for her physical human frailties, but I imagine that anyone who'd been free of those for as long as she has wouldn't be particularly happy to have them back.

She clearly feels immense regret for what she does in "Selfless". However, we don't know that she ever feels the same about all the vengeance she ever inflicted. In fact, if Wishverse!Giles was right about what smashing her amulet means, then all the vengeance she ever inflicted in the first 1100 years got undone (so how the heck the Buffyverse is still remotely the same place that it was before "The Wish", I have no idea), and maybe she doesn't think she needs to feel bad about things that never happened as far as this reality is concerned. She's made progress, but she isn't necessarily fully repentant yet. We do know that she's willing to die fighting to save humanity, though, and that's exactly what she does.

So, on the whole, I see the same human soul present throughout. Whatever changes her morality underwent came through a natural gradual process that was the result of how she internalized the things she saw and experienced.

 

[Taake]

I think it’s badly pronounced Swedish. @Taake?

That it is 🙂

I think Joss or something else mentions on the commentary that while it was written in Swedish it was actually supposed to be dubbed, but the actors memorized it and spoke it so "well" that they ended up liking it so much that they just didnt bother dubbing over it.

 

[Mrs Gordo]

The more time she spends as a vengeance demon, the more of these wrongs she sees, and the more her respect for humanity erodes.

Very interesting review and view good points. But I wonder if even as a human she felt cut off and alienated from humanity and that helped her fall into the vengeance game sooner? When Aud(Anya) is standing there looking at troll!Olaf and the destruction she has caused, its not with regret or with guilt, but also not with joy. There is an uncomfortable apathy. She tells D’Hoffryn how her personality keeps people from liking her and how people shun her. So if that is where she started it doesn’t seem like there is much respect in humanity to erode. It doesn’t take not having a soul to commit crimes against humanity.

But I still maintain that the script in s3 leads us to believe that there is a change in her when she “gets stuck in [her] human persona” that causes her to feel human emotion in a way she couldn’t or didn’t as a demon.

I never thought, until now, about some of the similarities between Anya and Illyria. Both confused by humanity, both sometimes feeling quite superior to it, both feeling regret over being trapped in the human world, both learning as they go about human emotions and human motivations. Anya, obviously, goes farther into her integration with humanity than Illyria on the show but Joss does love his meta “what does humanity even mean?” characters doesn’t he?

With regards to Buffy thinking that Anya was trying to be killed by suicide. I really never got that impression. And I don’t get the impression that’s actually what Anya WAS doing. She was beating the crap out of Buffy pretty good - she didn’t look like she was throwing in the towel. But I do believe that Buffy was trying to draw out the kill due to her own hesitation - maybe holding on to hope that Anya would decide to change? Give up her demon work? But I see how it can be read in such a way that Anya wanted to die. Especially because - why would she go back to the scene of the crime?

 

[Grace]

Good points, @dcai0830. I really haven’t thought much about Anya and her situation before.

If anyone out there has the DVDs and wants to listen to Drew Goddard’s commentary during the fight between Buffy and Anya, I’d love to know what he says.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

I like the jacket theory. It is just odd to see Spike compared to a jock.

That it is 🙂

I think Joss or something else mentions on the commentary that while it was written in Swedish it was actually supposed to be dubbed, but the actors memorized it and spoke it so "well" that they ended up liking it so much that they just didnt bother dubbing over it.

When I listen to it, all I hear is hurdy gurdy, but I found a transcript and was shocked to see it was modern Swedish.

 

[DeepBlueJoy]

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

That may be my favorite song from Buffy, and there are quite a few.

 

[Grace]

It is just odd to see Spike compared to a jock.

Yeah, it's like when Spike describes himself as "athletic" in Touched. I know he's being funny, and he totally is strong and fast and fit, but he doesn't come across as sporty!

 

[Mrs Gordo]

Him

LOL - Yeah. I don't really know what to say here. If I'm comparing this to episodes like Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered or Band Candy, I can't help but feel like it doesn't measure up. It has fun and funny moments. I'll just go with my favorite things first:
- I love the scene where Buffy is about to kill the principal and she is tackled by Spike. Its really hilariously shot.
- "No guy is worth your life, not ever." - LOVE this line.
- I am digging the whole Buffy in the role of Ms. Robinson thing. It's a fun play on the trope.
- Spike looks kinda hot in this episode. Maybe it's his nice shirt, or the fact that he wasn't talking all that much?
- I like the Buffy/Anya exchange. But it really seems like it doesn't take much for Anya to come around.

Other than this, the episode annoyed me.
- I really dislike just about everything about the opening scene. How is it believable that Xander would allow Spike to live with him, that Buffy is already sympathizing with him "he has been through alot" (does she even know what he has been through? Have they had a conversation I was not privy to?), I hate that they briefly acknowledge how jumpy Buffy is with Spike when he grabs her and then she assures him that it's not him "It's me" and treats it as nothing and then assures him that its all going to be ok, and even Spike realizes that he is being coddled (because he is). Don't know if you can trust Spike or you think he needs help recovering? Why don't you just go chain Spike up in an old mansion and send him daily blood? And the things that Buffy says in the bleacher scene.... I don't like them. But at least we get an acknowledgment that Buffy doesn't love Spike. I had forgotten she answered this question outright. I could go on and on and on about this but I'll just leave it there. Not my favorite part of the episode.
- Why is D'Hoffryn trying to kill Anya? What does he care about just a regular old human woman that is no threat to him? It seems strange.
- I know that Dawn is under a spell but she feels like she is reverting to s5 14 yr old Dawn who really acts more like a 13 year old? Think back to how Buffy and Willow and them acted with Xander during BBB none of them acted shrieky or petulant. I am glad we get s7 Dawn back at the end of the episode because man she was getting under my skin.

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.

This is actually a great head canon.

He is truly the father of the gang in S7.

He really is. Man how Xander has grown! I continue to very much enjoy Xander in s7.

 

[GraceK]

How is it believable that Xander would allow Spike to live with him,

I always figured it was because after the events of Selfess, Xander is trying to be more supportive despite how he feels. Buffy had a very good point about the lie and killing Angel, so I feel it’s more about Xander realizing he really doesn’t have any right to be judgemental and trusting Buffy enough that she can make her own decisions.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

Yeah, it's like when Spike describes himself as "athletic" in Touched. I know he's being funny, and he totally is strong and fast and fit, but he doesn't come across as sporty!

If there was a vampire high school, Angelus would be a jock, while Spike would be a John Travolta greaser.

 

[TriBel]

We start with Buffy's dream. This dream sequence felt very weird for me. It's really not the kind of dream sequence we're used to on this show. Her dreams are usually prophetic and cryptic, this one seemed to be happening in the present and was very clear. She can already tell that there are more girls and that they are going to die. This is possibly Buffy being more in touch with her inner slayer, but I don’t like that dream = instant telling. I prefer the BtVS dreams to be metaphorical.

It's filmic rather than oneiric. I'm pretty sure it's a homage to Tom Tykwer's 1998 film Run Lola Run. I haven't watched it for 10 years but as I recall, it's about time, choice and the ripples of our actions so there's a thematic relevance. It's also BtVS acknowledging other forms of representation that went into its making. The season abounds with reference to visual representation - not just to film and painting but to seeing and looking in all its manifestations with a view to leading the viewer to find the point of anamorphosis.

Yeah, it's like when Spike describes himself as "athletic" in Touched. I know he's being funny, and he totally is strong and fast and fit, but he doesn't come across as sporty!

.

I think it's more complicated than that. IMO, there's intimations throughout 6&7 that he's Eros. Eros (the life force) is closely related to Thanatos (the death drive) and can take both creative and destructive forms. In 6 it was the latter, in 7 the former. Eros is the god of athletes. "Good-looking" is (amongst other things) a reference to superficial sexual attraction but athletic needs to be read in the sense the ancient Greeks understood it.

"The hero Achilles, who was encouraged by his father Peleus “always to be bravest and excel over others” (Iliad, 11.780), represented the archetypal youth, ideal warrior and human incarnation of divine perfection. Athletic training, in part as preparation for military service, formed a key part of his education, along with music and song. To compete and to win are essential, timeless elements of being Greek". I think it's (tongue in cheek) foreshadowing both his role as champion and bringing together Ancient and Christian symbolism. Wood mentions Achilles about five minutes after this. If Spike is Eros then it's likely Buffy is Psyche - the Greek personification of the soul. I can't decide whether the scene when she finds him in Lessons alludes to a painting of Eros/Psyche and I can't decide whether her earrings are butterflies or resemble butterflies. I'm fairly sure Eros/Psyche is the archetype for Beauty and the Beast and Marina Warner (I think) says B&B is the modern archetype for some forms of monster narratives (monster/man). Tie Cassie into Cassandra and read his rescue in terms of Orpheus and Eurydice (shadow is important) and myth starts to come to the fore (Arthurian myth was also implied in Lessons). TBH, I haven't given it much thought recently so the argument might not be sustainable. Music and song is important in the montage as they lie on the bed. Play close attention to the lyrics.

Why is D'Hoffryn trying to kill Anya? What does he care about just a regular old human woman that is no threat to him? It seems strange.

I haven't really thought about it but I'm guessing it's for the same reason Angelus kills nuns (mothers and sisters). It's a primal father thing. If he can't have all the women then no-one can.

 

[Bop]

I'm so far behind I'll just make this quick 😳
Beneath you:
Everything must be sounding so wrong to Nancy 😀
I'm proud of Dawn for saying something to Spike, it's obvious that it upsets her but it wouldn't have made sense for her to say nothing.....if somebody had tried to rape my sister they wouldn't be getting a second chance so in retrospect Dawn is being nice.
Anya's job is sugarcoated so much, she's like yeah, I ruin or kill men but I've been left at the altar so what do you expect? 😵
It makes no sense.
Overall, this episode is alright 🙂

Same time, Same place:
This is my favourite so far, it's really interesting to see everyone's reaction to Willow coming back, and the gnarl did a good job at making life harder for Willow. It's clear that Xander never even had to forgive Willow, but Dawn and Buffy needed more conviction. Overall, this episode was well done and one of the best in season 7 🙂

Help:
Cassie was extremely effective as a character, her speech about wanting to live is so memorable and to see Buffy react to it with pride was a great moment for her considering how she felt about life in season 6.
Favourite interaction:
PETER
I was just wondering if anyone had asked you to winter formal.

DAWN
What? Oh, uh, no. not exactly.

PETER
Well, uh, I was just doing a poll. I'll see you.

And Cassie predicts the ending of 'Chosen', she would have been helpful to have around 🙁
This episode is really underrated 😀

Selfless:
I appreciate this episode a lot, it's nice that Anya's story is being treated seriously for once, but upon rewatch I feel that I've lost a lot of interest in Anya's redemption, if we could even call it that. The writers never took Anya's job and past remotely seriously until now, so I'm kind of hesitant to treat this episode seriously 🙂
That being said, it's not a bad episode at all and definitely Anya's best episode.

Him:
I'll give this episode a high rating just for this scene:

But seriously this episode, although funny, has a good message which is that it's easy to be blinded by looks and to think you're in love with someone you barely know when in reality it's lust.

 

[Mrs Gordo]

New verse - same as the first. We'll start Week Three on Monday.

Watch at your own pace and feel free to jump in any time or catch up whenever you want to join in!

Week Three:
Conversations with Dead People
Sleeper
Never Leave Me
 
@EarthLogic - mini-marathon time! 🙂

 

[Fool for Buffy]

Props if you read all of this.

Lessons
I always thought Buffy looked gorgeous at the beginning of the season, and in the first graveyard scene she looks so grown up.
Dawn pointing out a question we all should have- the martial arts skills.
Buffy chokes a vampire??? Why can the show not realize that's not a thing.
I love Buffy and Dawn's jokes about the new high school. "Nothing compared to what's coming."
I was never a fan of the Willow/ Giles scenes in either of the first two episodes. I get it, we're supposed to see Willow recovering, becoming one with the earth and magic, but it just seems off for some reason. Like they're forcing deep emotional moments. Though synchronized swimming is a tough topic, that I agree.
The show is going back to more Buffy one liners:
"Peachy with a side of keen that would be me"
"Go talk with your mouth full"
"If you see anyone that's invisible"
This is Wood's best episode and I still can't stand him. Like stop acting so macho it's creepy and weird. And the way he acts about knowing who Buffy is... so strange.
"I love you. Go away!" Talking to mom 101.
One of the ghosts says "get out get out get out" which I never noticed is a Dawn thing.
Poor Dawn, I've had my social life ruined in 30 seconds too.
"Sweetie. They are." Tough realization for Anya.
Nice callback by Dawn about it always being real.
Buffy is so obvious when she says 3 dead on the phone. It's pathetic how terrible she is at any sort of undercover.
I think the Spike twist was a great idea, his entrance is out of nowhere and that look just makes everything else stop for a while. His ranting about random stuff and being so protective of himself makes it easy to see why Buffy could have some compassion for him.
"I'm the one who dates dead guys" is badass.
Dawn's leadership with the other two is very sweet. She's so grown up. And her idea about the brick bag was quite resourceful which is something Buffy is known for.
There isn't always a talisman. There has been before but once again Buffy is a poor liar.
I get that Buffy tells the three to stick together, but it bothers me that they never come back to it.
Last scene is perfect. Everything great about every big bad rolled up into 20 seconds each, and Buffy's last line is chilling.
Overall a good episode, one of the better season premiers. 8/10


Beneath You
The phrase "From beneath you it devours" gets old very fast.
I could do away with the Spike talking to a rat.
Xander in season 7 is so good. Him telling Buffy how grateful he was for her just makes me very happy and proud of him.
Of course Buffy knows what a bastanada is. Go her.
Willow feels a little more genuine this episode, but I still feel off with her scenes.
"This is the gang." True. Disappointing.
Spike handles this scene surprisingly well.
He didn't have to be all mopey and sad. He was just straight up.
Dawn saying "you're gonna wake up on fire" is a brilliant moment.
Many say that Buffy and Spike don't actually talk and handle the situation and what they've been through. But the entire patrolling scene is exactly that. She has the vision, she tells him it's not okay, he tells her he's not asking for forgiveness, it's all what it should be.
Oh, CGI, you poor poor thing. That worm was not great.
I love The Bronze scene. Everyone's back and forth, the sleeping together jokes, Anya seeing into Spike, and the fight with Spike and Buffy with him saying "I haven't changed."
It's very clear Spike wants her to beat him up, which is definitely in character.
And I appreciate that Anya ends up listening to Xander. I loved them as a couple personally.
Buffy flying through the air is pretty awesome.
I'm saddened by Spike in the alley. He's falling apart.
And the last scene, what can I say? One of the best Spuffy scenes ever. That Buffy look when he says "Angel, he should have warned me" is so well done, because that is when she would have figured it out. I cried the first several times I saw this scene, and even though I don't now, its close for sure.
The objective me says decent, the Spuffy me says fantastic. I'll compromise and say 8.5/10.

Same Time Same Place
The use of the clock is smart. Between this episode and IWRY, clocks and the Buffyverse work very well.
Buffy, Xander, and Dawn's attitudes toward Willow coming home each mirror their relationship and experiences with Willow. Dawn's scared, Xander's loyal, Buffy is trying to be supportive but also realistic.
It's sad to see Willow "alone" when she clearly has changed and needs love. When she looks at the window and remembers Tara, it's just pitiful.
Gnarl is creepy no doubt. Every time I watch this episode I decide that he is the scariest of the Buffy villains, until I watch Killed by Death again.
Dawn is right about people blaming Willow and asking for help. For everyone, including Dawn, not asking for help was one of the worst problems of season 6.
And Anya, on the other hand, tells it how it is. She's harsh, but she's also right with everything, which is often her attitude in season 7.
Out of all the types of demons, why one that can remove skin? The world sucks sometimes.
Spike and Willow and Spike and Buffy is the best part of the episode. At first we don't know that Spike is talking to both, and we think that he is crazy. But he's actually not that out of it. Almost everything he says makes sense when you realize he was talking to both people. And he figures everything out relatively quickly for someone who spends all his time hearing voices.
Willow and Anya are doing a spell sitting cross legged across from each other, this seems very familiar...
Anya's talk about the vengeance being unfulfilling is a nice setup for Selfless.
Willow's smile to Anya after she said it's getting sexy" is the inspiration for a great fanfic pair.
Whether researching or on the walk, Dawn is once again delightful. She just has little moments throughout all of season 7 to make you say, why isn't there more? (And then she gets sliced poor thing)
Gnarl's shadow is perhaps the most terrifying part of him. Well and that he eats the skin, though that's more disgusting than terrifying.
Buffy didn't want to leave Dawn alone, so she called Anya, but then brings her with her. This makes no sense.
Really impressive kill by Buffy. Thumbs in eyes and all.
"Clem should cut back" I never noticed that line before somehow. Clever.
One of the problems is that they keep saying "see" as far as what was going on between Willow and the others, even when the spell was being described, and it was hearing and feeling too, which is perhaps just as important.
Once again I'm reminded of a scene that looks like addressing the season 6 issues, that being Buffy and Willow on the bed. This is a heart to heart directly addressing their past, and people always complain that those don't exist in season 7.
Not a very happy episode at all, but about as good as the writers could have done as far as bringing Willow back. 8/10

Help
One thing I really appreciate about the show is that they occasionally bring back Buffy just killing one vampire. It's not an always thing by any stretch, but it should be that way. She does it so much, we should see it.
She certainly is unorthodox, but Buffy is a good counselor. It's especially clear when she just sits or listens to the guy who doesn't want to talk. That's exactly what she should do, and not many would. And when she forces Cassie not to change the subject, it's just clear she gets people.
Xander pronounces "milk" like "melk." That's a Missouri accent. I'm honored.
Buffy knows about the French Foreign Legion. Of course.
Wood says he is from Beverly Hills, so I guess he moved there after his mom died in New York...? And then his "what do you mean usually?" As if he doesn't know when he knows who Buffy is, it's annoying.
Dawn is given an assignment to immediately make a friend out of nowhere in high school. She has one class with her, and it's ceramics. She really performs admirably.
How many times does Buffy call herself Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Is there any other time besides Anne and this episode? I love it.
I have a lot of sympathy for Cassie's father. No parent is perfect. And sure he's struggling more than most, but he loves his daughter and is accused of something that would be unheard of to him. But I have even more sympathy for Cassie. Her speech about everything she wants is too sad. It's little things, big things, and things everyone should get to do.
Mike is alright. I would have been okay with Dawn dating him, but I understand that it would be tough for him to make another appearance after Cassie's death.
Spike and Buffy address Spike's actions from season 6 again. Is this really a complaint? Anyway I love Buffy comforting him.
Buffy and Dawn each call each other their sister. It's adorable.
Stupid Peter. He would be lucky to get to go with a dance with Dawn. Or any girl for that matter. Of course he'll end up in prison so it doesn't really matter.
Okay the demon is pretty dumb looking. Not werewolf bad, but pretty dumb.
Way to go Spike, chip firing and all. He's right, he is a bad man. But he's a bad man who can help.
"She'll tell you"- well guess what she just did! And it was more legit! Yay!
Poor Cassie. Upon rewatches I've decided it's right that she die. The show didn't cop out. But it's still sad. Dawn softens the blow for sure.
Another good, but not great episode. I don't quite enjoy it as much as its surrounding ones. 7.5/10

Selfless
More Dawn delight with her advice to Willow. She's kinda right, which means the world is pathetic.
Yes Buffy, strong successful males can say giddy. I think I'm strong. I will be successful. And I say giddy all the time.
To use a completely insensitive analogy, Anya succumbed to peer pressure. The other vengeance demons wanted her to kill, and she wanted validation. So she did. Thinking about it that way makes me understand it.
What language is that? Other than that possible flaw, both of the flashback scenes are hilarious. Olaf and Aud's banter is strange, but very familiar. Seems as if relationships never change. Then we get D'Hoffryn, who definitely never changes. "That's where I was going with that" might be my favorite line he says on the show.
Which Buffy is the real Buffy? I've watched this episode many times, and the best clue is that Spike says "I have no where else to go" to the second Buffy, and Buffy eventually provides him with a place. But that doesn't prove anything.
Spiders freak me out in general, so I was terrified when I first saw this episode and thought Willow was about to get attacked. Now when I watch I just wait for Willow to kick the spider's ass so I can laugh at it's failure. What's interesting is that the girl doesn't calm down until Willow gives her the tough love while she's clearly acting out because she's using magic.
Anya saying "they got what they deserved" takes me back to a Wesley line that I just love, which is "We all get what we deserve." I love it because it's at times perfectly accurate, but at times it's the opposite of what we need to hear and takes people to a place they can't go, such as this episode.
To be honest the Anya and Halfreck Saint Petersburg scene seems like filler to me. We already know what Anya is like without vengeance. And we already know Halfreck and Anya are friends, so I don't think this aids in making the death worse either.
"I killed Angel." The fact that that line just shuts Xander up immediately is how it should be. It was exactly how Buffy needed to show them she was right. Though she certainly sounds a lot like season 3 Faith with the "I am the law."
They brush past the "kick his ass" like it's nothing, which, as many have said before, is a nice touch considering the deal it was back in season 2.
Lots of callbacks in this episode, Willow calls back to Something Blue with having D'hoffryn's talisman and knowing the spell.
I understand Xander seeing the best in Anya. Even though he's wrong, love is a powerful thing. And his ability to love is one of his best qualities.
Anya definitely could have died in this episode. That sword or D'hoffryn killing Halfreck could have been it. She doesn't really do enough the rest of season 7 for it to matter that she lives or not. But I enjoy her, so I'm glad she stuck around. And her death in Chosen is more fitting, because it's the "unknown soldier" type. (How she treated her victims)
Another mini mustard song and another callback. Anya's song is lovely, I think Emma has an underrated voice, (though I'm tone deaf) but it's certainly not as good as most OMWF songs.
D'Hoffryn reminds us that he's a ruthless evil demon. He may be funny and surprisingly social, but he's cruel. There's no turning him, he's a pure villain. (Oh and he tells us Anya will die and is right)
Is it just me or is Anya still wearing a necklace? That's a mistake.
"Don't be a dope." It's simple, it's cute, and Xander as he grows up develops that quality where he always knows what to say.
The second best Anya episode, only losing out to The Wish. 9/10

Him
Buffy is still really jumpy with Spike touching her at all, so once again the show is addressing their problems.
I think "I feel for him" is a really good assessment of Buffy and Spike's season 7 relationship, at least for the first half. It may not be right, and it may not make sense, but it's her compassion speaking, and it drives her.
Is RJ actually good looking? Or is it only the jacket? Because he seems unnecessarily normal looking to me.
Buffy tried to kill Anya last week, and then she's just "stopping by." I do not understand that. She isn't in Conversations with Dead People, and even though Anya is funny in this episode, she needed to be gone for a while.
Watching Dawn try to talk to RJ and then the cheerleaders is embarrassing. Watching Dawn try out for the cheerleaders is one hundred times worse. And the show doesn't really address this, but it really would have ruined her life for a while. I don't see how anyone would have talked to her after that. Yet she's almost hooking up with RJ very shortly after. That's not realistic.
High school football teams play on Fridays. College teams play on Saturday. Silly mistake.
Does Wood actually buy Dawn's lies? It's clear Buffy doesn't. But after that "At least he's still got RJ" comment it should have been obvious to Wood too.
Xander checks out Dawn. Sounds like the comics. But Willow says "right there with you." I'm not a fan of that. It seems forced.
Buffy breaks up a girl fight. Good sistering, but Barney Stinson would be incredibly disappointed.
Buffy coming on to RJ is controversial. On the one hand it's very annoying. On the other hand it's kinda funny. And on a completely other set of hands it's pathetic but somehow hot.
How is Dawn the only person in the school to look in on Buffy and RJ? And how does she know what class he's in and where he sits? Neither question has an answer that makes any sense.
Xander and Spike are working together! Every time that happens it's a privilege.
Lance has that loser life Xander was always afraid he'd have. Irony is nice.
The doorway scene is the best part of the episode, and one of the funniest scenes of the series. However from that we get the three older girls continuing to be funny, (Buffy, Spike, and the rocket launcher is especially hilarious) while Dawn is attempting suicide...? Out of place and way too dark. I do appreciate that Buffy saves Dawn instead of worrying about RJ and then realizes she's under a spell.
Disappointing episode that is slightly redeemed by humor. 6.5/10