Buffy ep by ep; AFTER LIFE-hitchikers and home truths

S

saturn5

Scooby
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Sep 13, 2009
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AFTER LIFE

The Good;
Buffy rediscovers her life and confesses to Spike the truth

The Bad;
Not bad but lacks lustre

Best line;
Anya (on a books and coffee joint becoming just a coffee joint) "It's like evolution only without the getting better part"

Women good/men bad;

Jeez!;
Spike self-harms a recurring theme in the series.

Kinky dinky;
Xander says he feels the need for some 'vigorous doing'.

Captain Subtext;
Buffy glances at Joyce's picture. Was she with her in heaven? Dawn bathes and dresses Buffy although you wonder how she didn't notice her bloodied knuckles before? Contrast the hug Buffy gives Dawn in 'Bargaining' and the one she gives her at the end here, obviously she's adapting to life again and has rediscovered her love for her sister.

Guantanamo Bay;

Scoobies to the ER;

Missing scenes;

Apocalypses; 6

Wheldon Cliches (with kind permission from Boo)

Scoobies in bondage:
Buffy: 8
Giles: 4
Cordy: 5
Will: 3
Jenny: 1
Angel: 4
Oz: 1
Faith: 3
Joyce: 1
Wes: 1
Xander; 1
Dawn; 3

Scoobies knocked out: Anya, Dawn, Xander
Buffy: 16
Giles: 10
Cordy: 6
Xander: 9
Will: 5
Jenny: 2
Angel: 6
Oz: 3
Faith: 1
Joyce: 3
Wes: 1
Anya;2
Dawn; 1

Kills: 1 demon for Buffy
Buffy: 96 vamps, 36 demons, 6 monsters, 3 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot
Giles: 5 vamps, 2 demon, 1 human, 1 god.
Cordy: 3 vamps, ½ a demon
Will: 6 vamps + 1 demon +1 fawn.
Angel: 3 vamps, 1 demon, 1 human
Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie
Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans
Xander: 5 vamps, 2 zombies, 1½ a demon,
Anya: 1 vamp and 1½ a demon
Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons
Spike; 3 vamps and 2 demon
Buffybot; 2 vamps
Tara; 1 demon

Scoobies go evil: Anya (who is VERY Evil Dead when she's possessed) Dawn, Xander
Giles: 1
Cordy: 1
Will: 2
Jenny: 1
Angel: 1
Oz: 1
Joyce: 1
Xander: 4
Anya; 1
Dawn; 1

Alternate scoobies:
Buffy: 6
Giles: 3
Cordy: 1
Will: 2
Jenny: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 2
Joyce: 2
Xander: 3

Recurring characters killed: 10
Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce

Sunnydale deaths;
89;

Total number of scoobies: 6
Xander, Willow, Buffy, Anya, Tara, Spike

Xander demon magnet: 5(6?)
Preying Mantis Lady, Inca Mummy Girl, Drusilla, VampWillow, Anya (arguably Buffy & Faith with their demon essences?), Dracula?

Scoobies shot:
Giles: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 4
Riley; 1

Notches on Scooby bedpost:
Giles: 2; Joyce & Olivia, possibly Jenny and 3xDraccy babes?
Cordy: 1?
Buffy: 3 confirmed; Angel, Parker,Riley, 1 possible, Dracula(?)
Angel: 1;Buffy
Joyce: 1;Giles, 2 possible, Ted and Dracula(?)
Oz: 3; Groupie, Willow & Verucca
Faith:2 ;Xander, Riley
Xander: 2; Faith, Anya
Willow: 2;Oz and Tara
Riley; 3; Buffy, Sandy and unnamed vampwhore

Spike; good or bad?
Spike hints at Darkwillow. His confrontation with Xander is entirely justified. Buffy starts once again to turn to Spike

Questions and observations;
According to Dawn Joyce used to say 'Wash your neck or plant potatoes'. Not sure if it's deliberate but Kristine Sutherland is from Idaho 'The Potato State' so maybe this is something she really did say? Here we have Dawn taking care of Buffy to a huge extent, emotionally and physically. Great scene where the rest of the Scoobs are crowding Buffy and she tells them all to back off.
Spike claims to have clawed his way out of a coffin but we see no evidence of this in 'Fool for Love' or 'Lies my parents told me'.
Marks out of 10; 6/10 the season still trying to find it's feet
 
I just wish Giles was in season 6 more...but then if he was around, he'd never let Willow resurrect Buffy.

This episode is ok, I wish we knew if Buffy was with Joyce in heaven.

6/10.
 
I really love this one, that opening scene with Dawn, Spike and Buffy is just amazing. 9/10
 
Angel's Avenger said:
I just wish Giles was in season 6 more...but then if he was around, he'd never let Willow resurrect Buffy.

This episode is ok, I wish we knew if Buffy was with Joyce in heaven.

6/10.
Click to expand...

I always think of the way Buffy looks at Joyce's picture as Dawn shows her around. I think she was and she and Dawn will be again one day
 
Tranquillity said:
I really love this one, that opening scene with Dawn, Spike and Buffy is just amazing. 9/10
Click to expand...

I agree. You could see from this episode how she was going to relate to Spike versus her other friends, when they all come running in being overly helpful, and how he walks off and she's all overwhelmed. I noticed it even more my 2nd time through.

This episode, IIRC, is the one where I started to really dislike Xander. Sadly, it only got worse from here.
 
Ah, S6, how I love thee! This one has some of my favorite Spuffy moments. They're so sweet. And Dawn was being not-annoying, which is always a good. I thought the demon was kind of lame and even annoying, but that wasn't really the point of the episode, anyway.
 
S
Spikefan31
[No message]
Dawn is perfect with Buffy in this episode, this one of the very rare episodes where I actually like Dawn's character!

There is something I don't like in this episode and that we find back in many episodes to come in season 6!
The scoobies seem to be never happy with the Buffy they have...When she just went out of her grave, they are a bit crowding her, even if their intentions were good, they wanted Buffy to be a lil bit more...reactive?
Then the Scoobies sometimes tell her things like "You are not large with the range of human emotion" and are worried that she seems so depressed.
Then, when she tries some Buffy humour, they look at her like she had gone completly mad.
It looks so much like they don't "appreciate" the efforts she makes, it makes you feel even worse for Buffy who was dragged from Heaven and tries to make everything okay, but is always too something for her friends...
 
VisionGirl
VisionGirl
[No message]
Chocoslayer said:
Dawn is perfect with Buffy in this episode, this one of the very rare episodes where I actually like Dawn's character!

There is something I don't like in this episode and that we find back in many episodes to come in season 6!
The scoobies seem to be never happy with the Buffy they have...When she just went out of her grave, they are a bit crowding her, even if their intentions were good, they wanted Buffy to be a lil bit more...reactive?
Then the Scoobies sometimes tell her things like "You are not large with the range of human emotion" and are worried that she seems so depressed.
Then, when she tries some Buffy humour, they look at her like she had gone completly mad.
It looks so much like they don't "appreciate" the efforts she makes, it makes you feel even worse for Buffy who was dragged from Heaven and tries to make everything okay, but is always too something for her friends...
Click to expand...

I completely agree, I actually like Dawn here!
And agree on the Scoobies too.
I do dislike how the treat her here, their displeasure if you will, but I think that has to do with their own feelings and that they don't know how to react (actually bringing someone back from the dead must be a bit of a trippy feeling I suppose)
 
I feel that same way, like they aren't happy with Buffy version 3. (Third time she's been given life.) I mean, even if she was in a hell dimension, we all saw how Angel reacted to that! And they expect her to be peppy. That always really bothered me. It's no wonder she turned to Spike for comfort. He didn't expect her to be perfect, just Buffy.

And I actually do like Dawn here. She's very gentle and selfless here, which is so unlike her character.
 
S
sisterofmercy
Well said, I agree
I have a lot fo time for this episode, it's full of emotion and Dawn is just amazing in it. A very good episode of S6 me thinks. From Bargaining up till Tabula Rasa what a streatch of amazing episodes bar All The Way.
 
Willowmylove said:
I feel that same way, like they aren't happy with Buffy version 3. (Third time she's been given life.) I mean, even if she was in a hell dimension, we all saw how Angel reacted to that! And they expect her to be peppy. That always really bothered me. It's no wonder she turned to Spike for comfort. He didn't expect her to be perfect, just Buffy.

And I actually do like Dawn here. She's very gentle and selfless here, which is so unlike her character.
Click to expand...

Dawnie is always selfless and gentle. Here we see exactly why she means so much to Buffy and gives her the will to live
 
I dislike the Scoobies reactions here as well. They expect her to be instantly grateful and acclimate to being back quickly (which she actually does, all things considering). It reminds me of their reactions in Dead Man's Party.

I love this little moment between Spike & Buffy, where he takes her hands. I like her reactions to him in the beginning of season 6, that trusting friendship. He accepts her where she's at, unconditionally. Anya possessed is definitely the creepiest in this ep.

And her conversation with Spike at the end is epic. Yeah, this is not the most exciting episode, but the ending really makes it. I remember being so shocked & moved by it when I first saw it. My 6 yr old watched this with me yesterday, and he agrees! 😉

My favorite quote is Spike: "Uh ... I do remember what I said. The promise. To protect her. If I had done that ... even if I didn't make it ... you wouldn't have had to jump. But I want you to know I did save you. Not when it counted, of course, but ... after that. Every night after that. I'd see it all again ... do something different. Faster or more clever, you know? Dozens of times, lots of different ways ... Every night I save you." :cry3: Gah!!
 
S
sisterofmercy
That quote is beautiful :)
I will admitt to being kind of freaked out by this episode. I'm not sure why but the idea of being posessed freaks me. I was watching it in the dark lying down staring up at the screen and I kept getting shivers. But it did kind of drag for me. But the ending of the madness was one of those sudden endings and I was like, breathing a sigh of relief. I like the end though.
 
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