Buffy ep by ep; OLDER AND FAR AWAY-witches and wishes

[saturn5]

OLDER AND FAR AWAY

The Good;
Everything with Halfrek who I really like for some reason. Clem really comes into his own as a character here for the first time. Tara and Willow start to get back together and I also adore Sophie. Once again contrast Tara standing up to Spike and Anya here with the shy girl in 'Hush', she really has grown tremmendously.

The Bad;
Note there's a Sunnydale High Razorbacks pennant behind Halfrek in her office. But Dawn doesn't go to Sunnydale High (yet). The potion that Tara mixes up to try to break the spell looks like she's trying to make a chocolate cake.

Best line;
Spike; "I had a muscle cramp, Buffy was helping"
Tara; "A muscle cramp. In your pants? You might want to put some ice on that"

Women good/men bad;
Anya implies that Halfrek has 'daddy issues'

Jeez!;
Upsetting to watch Anya have her panic attack.

Kinky dinky;
Richard, the handsome guy Xander has set Buffy up with, even Tara thinks he's cute. Dawn not only in leather for the first time but check out her miniskirt, fishnets and knee boots at the party, Joyce's little girl all grown up! (Eliza Dushku always complained that she got a lot of fanmail from guys in prison and couldn't believe that they showed a TV series full of hot teenage girls to incarcerated criminals. You shudder to think what kind of letters MT must have recieved). Spike asks Buffy if she'd like to 'blow out his candle'? Willow's back massager present for Buffy is certain to provide 'Instant gratification for all aches' (anyone else think of Samantha and her 'back massager' from Sex and the City?)

Captain Subtext;
Clem also thinks Richard is cute. In many ways he comes to resemble Buffy/Dawn's gay/demon male friend. Tara calls Buffy 'Sweetie'. They also refer to telling everyone their big secret and deciding it's time to 'Come out'. They probably mean Buffy's affair with Spike but what really happened after Buffy collapses into Tara's arms at the end of 'Dead Things'? Might she have jumped on the sapphic bandwagon a few years before Satsu? Taffy anyone? See missing scenes.

Guantanamo Bay;

Scoobies to the ER;
Xander cut but Richard is the only one to go to hosptial.

Missing scenes;
Reputedly a scene was filmed where Buffy and Dawn run out of the house at the end but I prefer the subtle implication of the ending we have. Also Buffy tells Tara how much she loves her and Tara reminds her "I'm a fag sweetie"

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: Buffy kills one demon
Buffy: 103 vamps, 43 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, 1½ 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;
95

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:
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?

Dawn in peril; 8

Dawn the bashful virgin; 6

Questions and observations;
Another appalling Buffy birthday, if I was her I'd just hide under the bed all day and have Dawn bring me the occasional cup of tea until midnight. The title is a quote from Empire of the Sun (the book not the band) which Dawn is discussing in class at the beginning of the ep. Xander refers to Children of the Corn, Nic Brendon having acted in one of the sequals. Halfrek refers to vengence demons as 'justice demons' FYI. What does 'Total JD' mean?
Spike and Halfrek, hmmmm? Question is did Cecilly become Halfrek as Aud became Anyanka? OR was there NEVER a Cecilly, was there only ever Halfrek?
Subtle but very interesting final scene. Everyone leaves but Buffy and Dawn. They bid their friends goodbye then look at each other and smile. Because although they didn't want to be trapped there's no reason for them to leave because this is their house, this is where they belong together. Dawn wanted Buffy to spend more time with her and now when she has the option to leave she instead chooses to stay with the sister she loves and who loves her in return. Dawn is finally getting Buffy back in soul as well as in body.

Marks out of 10; 8/10, really like this one

 

[Kitten Poker]

Spike and Halfrek, hmmmm? Question is did Cecilly become Halfrek as Aud became Anyanka? OR was there NEVER a Cecilly, was there only ever Halfrek?

I'm with you. I love Halfrek and I adore Clem, he's so awesome! Thus my User name 🙂

I don't think there ever was a Cecily, as Halfrek once mentions that she and Anya had a spat during the Crimean War (can't remember the episode, sorry!). Halfrek was posing as Cecily but for what reason? She was a vengeance demon for bad Parents so God only knows. Was she there specifically to draw Spike to the Immortal Side or was that a coincidence? From her surprise at seeing him at Buffy's house I'm guessing coincidence. I was always hoping they might expand on that 🙁

 

[PrincessBuffy16]

Dawn made mess again. Oh no, what a surprise -.-" With her, an expresion drama queen got a new meaning.

Hah, Spike and Halfrek, good scene. Is Anya claustrophobic, I mean she can't breath when she's stucked in the house and she sweats a lot?

Another Buffy birthday. Yaaay. I wrote a German exam on her birthday and it went very well, so Buffy birthday is always good for me 😀

7/10

 

[BillyidolwannaB]

6/10. Average filler episode. But i found it so funny when Buffy had some random friend show up. Everyones like 'Huh, you got other friends?'.

 

[MinwaraYana]

This ep is in my top 3 of season 6. 😀 It's like a fresh air after depressing episode. I like every time they gather together in Summers house. 🙂

I don't mind Dawnie. She's just like other teenager. The only thing I don't like about her is shoplifting. It's not nice. And lol at her yelling "Get out! Get out! Get out!" again.

Lovely Xanya moments. I still don't understand why she couldn't breathe, though.

Love the Buffy, Spike and Tara scene. Since Buffy greeting Tara till Tara playing cards with Spike. And of course, Tillow scene is so sweet. 🙂 Also, Richard and Sophia were a good add to the ep. And Willow chair dancing is so cute.

Clem became a friendly demon guy. He looks evil in Life Serial. 😀

And the scene when Halfrek trying to leave the house was hilarious.

It's 8/10 for me. I love family and friends episodes. 😛

 

[saturn5]

Dawn made mess again. Oh no, what a surprise -.-" With her, an expresion drama queen got a new meaning.

7/10

I love Dawnster and I forgive her the wish, I thought Halfyrek was very plausible and bought her entirely, even though I'd scene her before in her demon guise.

Joyce has her denial, Buffy has her sleeping with Spike, I think we can forgive Dawn her shoplifting, these issues seem to run in the Summer's family

 

[Tome]

I absolutely adore this episode! The whole idea behind it is really cool. Also having all these new characters be part of it is awesome. It's just one of these episodes that makes me feel happy haha! Tara and Spike dialogue, hilarious :lmao::lmao: Dawn actually annoyed me for the first time in this episode. Before she had good reasons to be pissed or yell at Buffy and co. But in this... angry because she doesn't get enough attention? Where did that come from suddently? And the 'get out' part oh my god!

I was surprised too that Giles is not even mentionned in the episode since he WOULDN'T forget about Buffy's birthday. The demon was decent, but it's lame how he never stab anybody even though he had many chances to just appear wherever he wanted. Then at the end he stab Richard?? :lmao: Also liked the scene where they count down to zero planning to all run into the door to open it and then they all stand there hahaha!

The conclusion was a bit far fetched though. As if a demon like Halfrek would teleport into the house knowing she couldn't get out after, PFT!

Still 9/10 for me, one of the best in s6!

 

[thevikingsgirl]

I loved the end. I thought it was very funny 🙂

 

[dragx]

Everything with Halfrek who I really like for some reason.

I love the Vengeance Demons :] especially Hally

What does 'Total JD' mean?

When she first said it, the first thing that came to mind was JD from Scrubs :tongue3:
I think she meant "Juvenile Delinquent"

I really like this episode; Anya's panic attack, although hard to watch, is one of my favorite scenes from this episode. I also like anytime we get to see Halfrek and Anya together.

Also, really love Tara in this episode as well. Her character development is one of my favorites.

Rating: 9/10

 

[Bungle Jerry]

Great episode, but the absolute nadir of Dawn as a character. She's completely insufferable in this episode. One thing that bugs me most about S6 is Dawn's arrested development: what's believable in S5 is ridiculous by S6. Letting her grow up is one of the nicer things about S7.

 

[crazysoulless]

I think Anya had such a hard time in this episode because she was under the spell/curse of another vengeance demon. She spent over a thousand years doing things like that to other people but suddenly she physically felt what it was like to be under the spell of a "justice demon". I really loved when Anya confronted both Willow and Dawn. She had a point. Willow wasn't addicted to magick, she was power-hungry and going for quick fixes. Willow's inability to use magick and spells for solely positive and helpful means is why she was useless in Older & Far Away. It was all about Willow's personality and not that the big bad magick juices had their way with her and now she had to be without them even if it meant not being able to help in troubled times. All she had to do was deal with the reasons she let magick affect her the way it did. Dawn was lying to the group and betraying their trust of her. It was just a matter of time before they found out especially after she stole the amulet that summoned Sweet in OMWF. It was one thing to steal from strangers and businesses (still bad) but stealing from your friends and family is really tacky and hurtful.

I felt so sorry for Buffy. Can you imagine getting lectured on what a "bad" parent you are on your freaking birthday?! Especially the first birthday since being resurrected (and when you died a horrible death to save the life of your child!).

I would have felt more sympathy for Dawn if she was acting out because of her mother's death, being created by Monks and having the first fourteen years of her life be nothing more than fabricated memories to house The Key, etc. But that wasn't why she behaved so immaturely and whiny and rude. It was because she wanted Buffy and her friends to spend more time with her. It was because she didn't bother to understand that having full-time jobs and university courseloads and meetings with officials and patrolling and dealing with exhausting and taxing life ordeals was very time consuming and stressful. She heard the phrase "it's complicated" and just shrugged it off as "blah blah blah I'm busy doing things that aren't with you."

 

[Bungle Jerry]

Crazysoulless has a point about Anya and Willow. I have always been annoyed by everyone's reaction to Willow's keeping some magical supplies handy 'just in case' - I've never been an addict, but given the lives they lead, Willow keeping something on hand in case of emergency just makes good sense - as this episode proves. They should all be commending her ability to stay magic-free even knowing there's stuff in the house, as opposed to saying 'you can get by without it'. Well, Willow's proven she can, but ought she?

 

[crazysoulless]

I actually think it was stupid for Willow to just stop doing magick and for that to be that. No wonder when Tara died she went back to abusing magick within seconds. She needed a break from the constant spellcastings but in that down time she should have been trying to reconnect with authentic Willow and dealing with the reasons magick affected her so much and why she felt she needed it so much. She shouldn't have just stopped using it as if it were a toxic drug. It wasn't about the magic, not completely (it was a little about the kind of magick used since unlike Tara, Willow delved into some dark forces *Tough Love, Bargaining #2*), it was about Willow as a person and that is why Tara never became dark-haired selfish veiny sorceress woman from her magic use. Willow didn't take those months without magick as an opportunity to get in touch with the root of her character and also to really learn about the Craft and what it means to be Wiccan (which is yet another sign that it was STUPID for the writers to ever refer to her as a Wiccan since she clearly wasn't one).