Buffy ep by ep; HELL'S BELLS-matrimony and misery

S

saturn5

Scooby
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HELLS BELLS

The Good;
Love Buffy's stalling (who knew SMG could juggle?). How beautiful is Anya in her wedding dress? Although her facemask makes her look like some sort of matrimonial superhero?

The Bad;
What a shame we don't get to see Xander and Anya's bachelor/bachelorette parties. Surely all of Anyanka's magic was undone when Giles smashed her necklace. By it's nature a depressing episode due to it's ending.

Best line;
Buffy; "So anyone here from out of town?"

Women good/men bad;
Anya's vows don't promise to obey Xander because he's not a sea Captain (Hello sailor!). Xander's dad has a nastily misogynist rant against his wife in particular and women in general.

Jeez!;
Xander killing Anya which thankfully isn't real

Kinky dinky;
Uncle Rory latches onto a nubile young waitress. Virginal Dawn is offered "Hymen's greetings" by D'Hoffryn. Dawn describes Spike's date as a '"Total skank!". Xander's dad likes Buffy's 'chassis' and wonders what's under the hood? Anya wants to be Xander's 'sex poodle'.

Captain Subtext;
Willow refers to noted bi actress Marlene Deitrich. Will says that Xander looks great in his tux but quickly adds that she realised she was gay. Halfrek and Anya seem to compete for D'Hoffryn's affection like two little girls with their father but he informs them 'I love all my demons equally'. Willow and Tara end up under the table together (and they haven't even been drinking)

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:
Buffy: 17
Giles: 12
Cordy: 6
Xander: 11
Will: 8
Jenny: 2
Angel: 6
Oz: 3
Faith: 1
Joyce: 3
Wes: 1
Anya;3
Dawn; 2

Kills: 1 demon for Xander
Buffy: 104 vamps, 55 demons, 6 monsters, 3 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot
Giles: 8 vamps, 2 demon, 1 human, 1 god.
Cordy: 3 vamps, ½ a demon
Will: 6 vamps + 3 demons +1 fawn.
Angel: 3 vamps, 1 demon, 1 human
Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie
Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans
Xander: 6 vamps, 2 zombies, 2½ a demon,
Anya: 1 vamp and 1½ a demon
Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons
Spike; 8 vamps and 4 demons
Buffybot; 2 vamps
Tara; 1 demon
Dawn; 1 vamp

Scoobies go evil:
Giles: 1
Cordy: 1
Will: 2
Jenny: 1
Angel: 1
Oz: 1
Joyce: 1
Xander: 4
Anya; 1
Dawn; 1

Alternate scoobies:
Buffy: 7
Giles: 4
Cordy: 1
Will: 3
Jenny: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 2
Joyce: 2
Xander: 4
Tara; 1
Dawn;1
Spike; 1

Recurring characters killed: 11
Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce, Katrina

Sunnydale deaths;
93

Total number of scoobies:
Xander, Willow, Buffy, Anya, 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: Spike has a very goth date for the wedding, a parody of the Spikettes?
Giles: 2; Joyce & Olivia, possibly Jenny and 3xDraccy babes?
Cordy: 1?
Buffy: 4 confirmed; Angel, Parker, Riley, Spike. 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; 1 Buffy

Spike; good or bad?
Tries to make Buffy jealous but eventually leaves with some dignity

Dawn in peril; 8

Dawn the bashful virgin; 7 "Hymen's greeting!"

What the fanficcers thought;
What were the bachelor/bachelorette parties like? The Last Night, a Buffy: The Vampire Slayer fanfic - FanFiction.Net

Questions and observations;
We finally meet Xander's family. Unlce Rory is a drunken letch (Irish coffee for breakfast?) but quite likeable as is cousin Carol and her daughter, his parents by contrast are wretched. Dawn's notoriously big mouth once again makes an appearance. Is the demon right? He was a philanderer but that's hardly worthy of being tortured in hell dimension?
Buffy wears an 'I survived' T-shirt in the final scene with what looks like a dragon on it? (although technically she didn't survive the dragon, she died and was brought back). What about Giles? Surely he at least sent them a card? What about inviting Tito or Oz or anyone?
One interesting theory I did hear is 'Was D'Hoffryn behind it all?'. Did he secretly want Anya back in the fold and bring the demon to ruin her wedding deliberately?
Marks out of 10; 5/10 not too good
 
This is the end for me and Xander. I already had come a long way towards not liking him in season 6 and this was just the final straw. I feel for him, with his screwed up parents, but hey, we've all got screwed up parents. I feel for Anya much more. Regardless of whether they should've gotten married or not, leaving someone at the alter is not ever okay. Probably if I hadn't already started thinking of him as a big jerk, I might have been able to be more forgiving but he was already losing me.

There were some pretty funny moments, and sad ones. I liked the episode overall.
 
Ha i always skipped this episode whenever i was watching s6, it was too sad LMao.
I watch it now though, ha tasha's grown up now to handle it. LOL.
Broke my heart when they never got married, i was so xanya when i was younger. 🙂
 
Each time I watch this episode, I always hope it ends differently. Poor Anya. I felt so bad for her. 🙁

thevikingsgirl said:
This is the end for me and Xander. I already had come a long way towards not liking him in season 6 and this was just the final straw. I feel for him, with his screwed up parents, but hey, we've all got screwed up parents. I feel for Anya much more. Regardless of whether they should've gotten married or not, leaving someone at the alter is not ever okay. Probably if I hadn't already started thinking of him as a big jerk, I might have been able to be more forgiving but he was already losing me.
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Agreed 100%. This is where my Xander love completely burned out. S6 Xander was already making his way onto my "You bug me" list. Like you, this was the final step onto that list xD. I understand why he had second thoughts with parents like his, but this is something you should take into account BEFORE the big day. I'm pretty sure he saw his parents arguing with each other way before the wedding, thus having time to really think about what he was getting himself and Anya into.

Overall, I do like the episode. A lot of cute, funny moments. And it contains my overall favorite BtVS quote 🙂 (Anya's final version of her vows). 7/10
 
Anya looks so beautiful in her dress! This episode is so sad, but I still enjoy it.
I know what Xander did was wrong, but it's better that he did it then than after they had've gotten married.
 
This is my favourite episode of season 6, mostly because it's Spuffy free, and Xanya related. It is sad, but I loved Anya's speech, how she said she understood love, but I felt bad for her.

I knew SMG can juggle 🙂 I saw it on TRL many years ago 🙂 Yep, I agree Anya is beautiful in her wedding dress, once again I love her hair 🙂

Umm, I'm still wondering did Xander did the right thing. I know he did something he belived was right, but was it realy right? I think we'll never know.

9/10
 
I don't mind this episode, but it's not a favourite of mine. I was never big on Xander/Anya, but I felt bad for her here. That said, it was better to break things off before they got married, than after.

I love the Spuffy scene in this ep, it's so sweet. One of my favourite Spike/Buffy moments, definitely.
 
thevikingsgirl said:
This is the end for me and Xander. I already had come a long way towards not liking him in season 6 and this was just the final straw. I feel for him, with his screwed up parents, but hey, we've all got screwed up parents. I feel for Anya much more. Regardless of whether they should've gotten married or not, leaving someone at the alter is not ever okay. Probably if I hadn't already started thinking of him as a big jerk, I might have been able to be more forgiving but he was already losing me.

There were some pretty funny moments, and sad ones. I liked the episode overall.
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Although I don't LOVE Xander either, I disagree with the "leaving someone at the alter is never OK" part. If you don't think that you should get married, then going through with the wedding isn't good. True, he should have realized and acted on it sooner, but it would have been worse if he'd gone through with the wedding despite his insecurities. Getting married when you don't think you should can ruin somebody's entire life. It's better to do what you think is right.

Besides, he's too young to be getting married. Engaged before you can legally drink? It's crazy, IMO. 😀 Who would want to settle down that early in life?

Overall, pretty good episode. I loved the Anya/ Willow/ Tara moments, and the bridesmaids dresses were hilarious. Anya looked beautiful. 🙂
 
Seeing Buffy doing charades is one of my biggest laugh out loud moment ever.
Almost fell on the floor laughing when I saw it the first time, just brilliant.

/SK
 
Love Xander and whilst his jilting Anya is heartbreaking he did it for all the right reasons
 
I was never really a fan of Xander. I created a thread to vent my dislike towards him once. But this episode made me hate him. Such a coward and Anya really loved him! Poor Anya.
 
Wishing Oceans said:
Although I don't LOVE Xander either, I disagree with the "leaving someone at the alter is never OK" part. If you don't think that you should get married, then going through with the wedding isn't good. True, he should have realized and acted on it sooner, but it would have been worse if he'd gone through with the wedding despite his insecurities. Getting married when you don't think you should can ruin somebody's entire life. It's better to do what you think is right.

Besides, he's too young to be getting married. Engaged before you can legally drink? It's crazy, IMO. 😀 Who would want to settle down that early in life?

Overall, pretty good episode. I loved the Anya/ Willow/ Tara moments, and the bridesmaids dresses were hilarious. Anya looked beautiful. 🙂
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I got married before I could drink the first time. Big mistake! No doubt. But honestly, I would much rather get married and get a quick annulment than be left at the alter. It doesn't get much more humiliating than that.
 
I think the point was Anyanka was the avenger of scorned women and now she becomes the ultimate scorned woman, thrusting her back into D'Hoffryn's arms
 
thevikingsgirl said:
I got married before I could drink the first time. Big mistake! No doubt. But honestly, I would much rather get married and get a quick annulment than be left at the alter. It doesn't get much more humiliating than that.
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Yeah, so did my mom. 😀 She didn't want to, but she felt she had to because she had already used some of the wedding gifts. It completely ruined her life until they got divorced six years later. 🙁 So if we're looking at it from Anya's perspective, NOT getting left is better than anything, but looking at it from Xander's perspective, it would've been worse if he got married. 🙂
 
I don't know. I think Anya was the best thing that ever happened to him, and he let nerves and a demon scare him and he ruined everything. I think if they'd gotten married, they would have worked through it. Though I guess since Joss apparently has issues with happy relationships, that is probably not what would have happened!
 
thevikingsgirl said:
I don't know. I think Anya was the best thing that ever happened to him, and he let nerves and a demon scare him and he ruined everything. I think if they'd gotten married, they would have worked through it. Though I guess since Joss apparently has issues with happy relationships, that is probably not what would have happened!
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Maybe, maybe not. But we all saw how quickly Xander moved on; He loved her, but they weren't like soul mates or anything.
I'm sure that our Joss, if anybody, would be able to come up with an even MORE morbid way of breaking them up! 😀
 
T
thevikingsgirl
I don't believe in soul mates.
Wishing Oceans said:
Maybe, maybe not. But we all saw how quickly Xander moved on; He loved her, but they weren't like soul mates or anything.
I'm sure that our Joss, if anybody, would be able to come up with an even MORE morbid way of breaking them up! 😀
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I always think of Tabula Rusa, when everyone has lost their memory. Buffy and Dawn work out they're sisters, Willow and Tara work out they're lovers, Spike and Giles know they don't like one another. But Anya and Xander don't feel their connection, Anya shacks up with Giles and Xander seems to feel more for Willow. Maybe something was implied their?
 
Awww, I actually felt more for Xander in this episode. Throughout the episode, he was caught in an emotional rollercoaster. He really wanted to marry Anya, but he was scared he would hurt her, "It wasn't you I was hating." Implies he's hating himself because he knows how he's going to end, and he wasn't wrong, in later episodes he WILL become his father.
 
thevikingsgirl agrees: I don't believe in soul mates.
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Neither do I. 🙂

I always think of Tabula Rusa, when everyone has lost their memory. Buffy and Dawn work out they're sisters, Willow and Tara work out they're lovers, Spike and Giles know they don't like one another. But Anya and Xander don't feel their connection, Anya shacks up with Giles and Xander seems to feel more for Willow. Maybe something was implied their?
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Firstly, I don't really think that Xander felt something for Willow. 🙂 Secondly, it was all from a perception. Like, Giles and Anya THOUGHT they were in love, so their mind created the illusion that they were. It was all a perception.

Besides, I don't think that you could really love someone without your memories of them. You wouldn't be able to trust them or know anything about them, so I wouldn't expect anyone to someone know who they used to love.
 
S
sosa lola
Good point about Tabula Rasa.
Another funny episode! The demons and Harris family arguing and fightning throughout was hilarious. Particulary like when Xander's dad tell the demon with the tentacles not to touch him again, and he does right away :lmao::lmao::lmao:

Is it me or there is quite a few scenes with Xander and a girl(either Willow or Buffy) where he's dressing up and they help him out?! Lucky Xander, haha.

Spike with the gothic girl, that was lame! I like the exchange between Buffy and Spike though. Buff showing she's not totally indifferent to Spike eh??

Now about the serious part of this episode. Xander and Anya! I think they always were fitting for each other. I actually believed for a good time(watching this episode the first time) that the old man was really Xander from the future. The things Xander saw were most likely entirely built from his own inner fears i'm guessing, so i'm not surprised he left Anya at the altar. It's sad but true that quite often childrens imitate their parents on multiple things in their life, and he was afraid he'd be like his dad. So I don't see what he did as wrong, but I completely understand Anya sadness. She had all the rights to be, but I think the lack of explaination from Xander concerning his fears didn't help the whole situation. He should have told her exactly why he was backing out. All in all, it was a hard decision, marry her and take the risk his fears might come to realization or just back out and not risk it at all(but at the same time hurting her a lot on the spot). I feel bad for both, but taking a decision like that sure is not easy =/
 
S
sosa lola
Wonderful post :)
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