Buffy ep by ep; OUT OF MY MIND-surgery and Spuffer's delight

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saturn5

Scooby
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937
OUT OF MY MIND

The Good;
Some great acting by Marc Blucas, best he'll ever show us. Nice to see Graham back too, my favourite of all the Initiative characters and you genuinely get the impression that he's Riley's friend. Harmony and Spike hilarious and some scenes to make Spuffers punch the air with joy. The Dawson's Creek joke had me splitting my sides laughing. Anyone else hear the rumour that Katie Holmes was offered Buffy but turned it down to go to college? Just think, SMG could have married Tom Cruise. (At least he'd have been more her height)

The Bad;
Why is the operation on Spike such a complicated process? Surely his vamp healing could just fix everything, what's the problem with just hacking it out? Equally Buffy's leap of logic that Spike has left the hospital is pretty unbelieveable.

Best line;
Spike; "Awww, is the enormous hall monitor sick?"

Women good/men bad;
Buffy "You're going to die over some macho-pissing contest?". On the bad side Harmony goes running back to Spike, have some dignity girl!

Jeez!;
Spike is still awake during his surgery which must be weird beyond belief. Riley self-harms.

Kinky dinky;
In return for Spike's protection/shelter Harmony will have sex with him. Looks like what Buffy and Willow always said about her is true? Buffy refers to Spike hanging out in his crypt and 'doing something nasty'. How right she is! Drug enhanced Riley is quite the machine in the sack. Buffy doesn't even flinch when Dawn puts her hand on her breast to listen to her heart, the closesness of Dawn to Buffy evident. Harmony says that she read in a magazine that a man's best sex organ is his brain but she seems to prefer Spike's penis. Buffy refers to herself as 'still touchable' and Riley says he'll take advantage if that fact when healed.

Captain Subtext;
According to Harmony Spike can't even pick flowers, implying that he likes to? And the Buffy/Spike subtext offically becomes a text (Harmony oblivious as ever). Interesting quote from 'Harsh Light of Day' Buffy;"If Spike wants me? I go alone, lead him away from the popular spots, and give him what he wants."
Spike picks up on the little look between Buffy and Riley. Buffy refers to having the strength of 10 men during sex, Riley asks could she say 10 women instead. Tara wonders about Willow's magic when they explore Sunnydale High. Buffy says that if she wanted someone with superpowers she'd be dating Spike. Riley's little look after Buffy leaves him speaks volumes. Grahme says to Riley 'You belong with us'. Ever noticed there are no female Initiative commandos?

Guantanamo Bay;
The Initiative haven't gone away, just changed their spots. Dawn refers to the CIA's numerous failed plots against Castro and Buffy refers to 'Big Brother'

Scoobies to the ER;
Riley gets the surgery he needs

Missing scenes;

Apocalypses; 5,

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; 1

Scoobies knocked out: Joyce passes out
Buffy: 15
Giles: 10
Cordy: 6
Xander: 8
Will: 5
Jenny: 2
Angel: 6
Oz: 3
Faith: 1
Joyce: 3
Wes: 1
Anya;1

Kills:
Buffy: 85 vamps, 29 demons, 6 monsters, 3 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot
Giles: 5 vamps, 1 demon
Cordy: 3 vamps, ½ a demon
Will: 4 vamps
Angel: 3 vamps, 1 demon, 1 human
Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie
Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans
Xander: 5 vamps, 2 zombies, ½ a demon, ½ a demon
Anya: ½ a demon
Riley; 12 vamps + 7 demons

Scoobies go evil:
Giles: 1
Cordy: 1
Will: 2
Jenny: 1
Angel: 1
Oz: 1
Joyce: 1
Xander: 3

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

Recurring characters killed: 9
Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara

Sunnydale deaths; possibly the security guard but he might just be knocked out
83;

Total number of scoobies: 7
Giles, Xander, Willow, Buffy, Anya, Tara, Riley

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

Scoobies shot: Riley by Harmony' crossbow. But given his drugged state it doesn't even hurt him
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

Questions and observations;
Another nail in the Buffy/Riley coffin, in fairness to Graham he is right and he is Riley's friend for saying so. A good ep, also introducing Joyce's sickness properly for the first time. Interestingly it's Dawn who discovers something's wrong with Riley and helps Buffy hit on the solution. She's also right about Castro, nice to see kids are still interested in history. And whilst fainting Joyce for the first time senses Dawn's special nature. One of the clever things about Dawn is how she's introduced out of nowhere but for the first few eps she has no special significance, all she is is Buffy's little sister, special alright but only to Buffy, Joyce and Hank. And here's Ben for the first time. Giles is actually impressed by Xander's carpentry skills. The 'Willow hand' scene between Tara and Willow is SOOOO lovely? Harmony takes up smoking, well, it's not like it'll do her any harm. That she obeys the 'No Smoking' sign at the hospital is testament to the power of group reinforcement. Ben refers to Dr Dawn, that would be cool if Dawn became a doctor and could patch up the Slayer legion. The Riley basketball scene is a bit of an indulgence, Marc Blucas a pro-basketball player before becoming an actor. Tara and Willow explore Sunnydale High, the first time Tara ever goes there. According to Riley Buffy is getting stronger every day which seems to suggest that a Slayer get's more powerful the longer she lives (Buffy and Faith presumably the longest living Slayers ever). Spike refers to Buffy's 'shampoo commercial hair', at this time of course SMG was the Maybeline adverts girl. Spike says 'Oh god no', so strange that vamps still appeal to god even when they're the epitome of evil.

Marks out of 10; 7/10 although that might be a bit generous, the Spike scenes make it better than it otherwise might be.
 
Maybe the operation wasn't that complicated and the doc just new Spike would kill him anyway if he removed it.
Good to see Spike try to kill Buffy soon as he thinks he's fixed.
Rileys a moron.
7/10.
 
Great episode 🙂 Lots of Spike, always good. I'm only a tad single-minded. I thought the doc was pretty smart. Maybe he figured out Harmony was completely incompetent and figured he stood a chance of getting away, if Spike was still unable to hurt him. If he actually had taken the chip out, Spike would definitely have killed him.
 
Q-tip said:
Maybe the operation wasn't that complicated and the doc just new Spike would kill him anyway if he removed it.
Good to see Spike try to kill Buffy soon as he thinks he's fixed.
Rileys a moron.
7/10.
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No, no pun intended with Harm(ony). One wonders how hard Spike really tried to kill Buffy all those years?
 
B
BillyidolwannaB
I think Spike was always trying to kill Buffy when they fought, from School hard right up until the end of this ep. He just wasn't good enough to win.
saturn5 said:
No, no pun intended with Harm(ony). One wonders how hard Spike really tried to kill Buffy all those years?
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it seems to me that it's been implied, in retrospect, that Spike didn't really try very hard to kill Buffy at all. There's Joss's quote someone posted about him falling in love with her the first time he saw her, then the flashback scene in Fool for Love when Dru broke up with him, all the things she says about the slayer. I'm not sure he ever wanted her dead.
 
thevikingsgirl said:
it seems to me that it's been implied, in retrospect, that Spike didn't really try very hard to kill Buffy at all. There's Joss's quote someone posted about him falling in love with her the first time he saw her, then the flashback scene in Fool for Love when Dru broke up with him, all the things she says about the slayer. I'm not sure he ever wanted her dead.
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Just trying to get her attention huh? You could argue Angelus did the same with drawings on her pillow rather than attempting to kill her?
 
saturn5 said:
Just trying to get her attention huh? You could argue Angelus did the same with drawings on her pillow rather than attempting to kill her?
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The only time I can remember when it seemed like Angelus was trying to actually kill her was in the season 2 finale. Up til then he was tormenting her.

seems to me Spike wanted to kill her on the surface, but his subconscious wouldn't let him (also, Buffy's really tough 😉 But I mean even if he could have killed her-they were more evenly matched than she was with almost anyone else). The shift from subconscious to conscious got more and more obvious til season 5 when he was open about having feelings for her.
 
- Buffy doesn't want Riley or Spike patrolling with her. Why? Is she more comfortable doing it alone? Both of them are strong and willing to help, way more than Xander and Willow back in high school, so what's the problem? Her "alone" patrols started from S5, from the season Buffy made an interest in learning more about her slayer essence. I remember someone commenting on why we don't see Xander and Willow patrolling with Buffy like in high school days, maybe it's Buffy who doesn't want them to tag along.

- I love Buffy and Willow arguing about lectures 😀 Willow's dream finally came true. Nice to see Buffy work hard, but breaks my heart because I know she won't finish college 🙁

- This is one of the very few times where I see Giles impressed with something Xander did. Oh, and nice to see Tara around the Scoobies without Willow's presence, hope it was Willow's talk in Real Me about Tara being in the Scooby circle.

- What's gotten into Riley? I guess the comment Spike made the earlier night about Buffy not needing Riley and Buffy's less enthusiastic features when she saw him at patrol are what gotten into him.

- Sweet Buffy/Giles moment, I hate you, S7! And Xander's enthusiasm about making the dummy is adorable. Buffy is so lucky to have them in her life.

- Who says that Buffy doesn't understand geek references?

- Spike's biggest flaw, adorable one though, is his obsession with soaps. Doesn't he watch anything else? *hugs him*

- Spike and Harmony have the most disturbing relationship ever. And I love it. Reminds me that we're not dealing with humans here, these are vampires, everything about them is disturbing. What's the deal with Harmony coughing when she took a drag?

- The Buffy/Riley sex scene… Riley really wants to show her that he could keep up with her.

- I really love the scene where Willow lies on Buffy's bed with Dawn sitting on the floor and Buffy pacing around. It makes me think that Willow isn't just Buffy's best friend, she's also like a sister. Some wondered how Buffy, Xander and Willow stuck together all these years when most high school friends fall apart after high school, but they're not just friends, they're family. I love that.

- Riley clearly wants to cut all his ties with the government, except still living in his old room, it's sad to see how his friendship with Graham turned out. Well, the Scoobies are a better and more entertaining company.

- Aw, Xander trying to tell Buffy how Riley feels about how Buffy feels about Riley, but Buffy doesn't get it. She's too stressed to. And what's even funnier is that Anya mistook it for Xander talking about himself. 😀

- I really feel bad for Spike. From being on the top to sinking so low, he really wants some respect for the old times sake, but all the Scoobies –even Willow- lost it now that he can't hurt them in the "I'm gonna snap your necks now" sort of way. I hated that Buffy didn't knock on his door when she came asking for his help and when she tore the money in half. Then again, she is stressed out, and she got no time, she must bring Riley to the doctor ASAP. She's not in the mood for Spike's stalling.

- I do think that Graham cares about Riley. 🙂 How many Slash fics I saw with these two, this episode must have started them 😛

- Okay, this episode shows me how naà¯ve the Scoobies are. Spike isn't helpless and he's still evil and they keep him loose without thinking. They're really idiots! Didn't they learn from the Adam episode? And even after he tries to get rid of the chip here, they still let him go. Maybe because he's been helping them –for money of course- that they think they need him for information or muscle. Still, I won't keep him wandering about in Sunnydale like they did, knowing what he's capable of doing.

- The Buffy/Riley conversation shows me that he really wants to be strong for her. Not for him. He's doing this to be equal with her because he thinks that's what she wants. And I believe that Buffy really doesn't care about that. Her interests in love and choices in men are not that predictable. I love this conversation. Buffy and Riley opened up to each other and, look, they're still together and they're doing the right thing. Which brings me to the reason of their break up: lack of communication. I can't wait for the next episodes to see how it's gonna go wrong, because now, they're tight again.

- I love how Spike thinks, killing the doctor after he pulled out the chip is the smart solution. First, he'll know that the chip stopped working for sure. Second, he'll kill the only person who could put it back.

- Graham opened Riley's eyes that he doesn't have an identity for himself, he's defined solely as someone's lover. Buffy actually takes away the one thing Riley's good at, by not letting him patrol and take part in the slayage. It seems pretty obvious now that he would eventually go back to the military - like Graham says, who wants to be the mission's boyfriend?

- I think the episode contains lots of hints to Spuffy before the Spike dream. Buffy commenting that she's date Spike if all she cares about were super strength and not the person is one of them. 😉
 
sosa lola said:
- Buffy doesn't want Riley or Spike patrolling with her. Why? Is she more comfortable doing it alone? Both of them are strong and willing to help, way more than Xander and Willow back in high school, so what's the problem? Her "alone" patrols started from S5, from the season Buffy made an interest in learning more about her slayer essence. I remember someone commenting on why we don't see Xander and Willow patrolling with Buffy like in high school days, maybe it's Buffy who doesn't want them to tag along.

- I love Buffy and Willow arguing about lectures 😀 Willow's dream finally came true. Nice to see Buffy work hard, but breaks my heart because I know she won't finish college 🙁

- This is one of the very few times where I see Giles impressed with something Xander did. Oh, and nice to see Tara around the Scoobies without Willow's presence, hope it was Willow's talk in Real Me about Tara being in the Scooby circle.

- What's gotten into Riley? I guess the comment Spike made the earlier night about Buffy not needing Riley and Buffy's less enthusiastic features when she saw him at patrol are what gotten into him.

- Sweet Buffy/Giles moment, I hate you, S7! And Xander's enthusiasm about making the dummy is adorable. Buffy is so lucky to have them in her life.

- Who says that Buffy doesn't understand geek references?

- Spike's biggest flaw, adorable one though, is his obsession with soaps. Doesn't he watch anything else? *hugs him*

- Spike and Harmony have the most disturbing relationship ever. And I love it. Reminds me that we're not dealing with humans here, these are vampires, everything about them is disturbing. What's the deal with Harmony coughing when she took a drag?

- The Buffy/Riley sex scene"¦ Riley really wants to show her that he could keep up with her.

- I really love the scene where Willow lies on Buffy's bed with Dawn sitting on the floor and Buffy pacing around. It makes me think that Willow isn't just Buffy's best friend, she's also like a sister. Some wondered how Buffy, Xander and Willow stuck together all these years when most high school friends fall apart after high school, but they're not just friends, they're family. I love that.

- Riley clearly wants to cut all his ties with the government, except still living in his old room, it's sad to see how his friendship with Graham turned out. Well, the Scoobies are a better and more entertaining company.

- Aw, Xander trying to tell Buffy how Riley feels about how Buffy feels about Riley, but Buffy doesn't get it. She's too stressed to. And what's even funnier is that Anya mistook it for Xander talking about himself. 😀

- I really feel bad for Spike. From being on the top to sinking so low, he really wants some respect for the old times sake, but all the Scoobies "“even Willow- lost it now that he can't hurt them in the "I'm gonna snap your necks now" sort of way. I hated that Buffy didn't knock on his door when she came asking for his help and when she tore the money in half. Then again, she is stressed out, and she got no time, she must bring Riley to the doctor ASAP. She's not in the mood for Spike's stalling.

- I do think that Graham cares about Riley. 🙂 How many Slash fics I saw with these two, this episode must have started them 😛

- Okay, this episode shows me how naà¯ve the Scoobies are. Spike isn't helpless and he's still evil and they keep him loose without thinking. They're really idiots! Didn't they learn from the Adam episode? And even after he tries to get rid of the chip here, they still let him go. Maybe because he's been helping them "“for money of course- that they think they need him for information or muscle. Still, I won't keep him wandering about in Sunnydale like they did, knowing what he's capable of doing.

- The Buffy/Riley conversation shows me that he really wants to be strong for her. Not for him. He's doing this to be equal with her because he thinks that's what she wants. And I believe that Buffy really doesn't care about that. Her interests in love and choices in men are not that predictable. I love this conversation. Buffy and Riley opened up to each other and, look, they're still together and they're doing the right thing. Which brings me to the reason of their break up: lack of communication. I can't wait for the next episodes to see how it's gonna go wrong, because now, they're tight again.

- I love how Spike thinks, killing the doctor after he pulled out the chip is the smart solution. First, he'll know that the chip stopped working for sure. Second, he'll kill the only person who could put it back.

- Graham opened Riley's eyes that he doesn't have an identity for himself, he's defined solely as someone's lover. Buffy actually takes away the one thing Riley's good at, by not letting him patrol and take part in the slayage. It seems pretty obvious now that he would eventually go back to the military - like Graham says, who wants to be the mission's boyfriend?

- I think the episode contains lots of hints to Spuffy before the Spike dream. Buffy commenting that she's date Spike if all she cares about were super strength and not the person is one of them. 😉
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Buffy hunts alone for safeties sake plus that's always been the way of the Slayer. I love the bed scene too, it shows the closeness and affection between the 3
 
But she hasn't been that way before. She usually went patrolling with someone, even Oz joined her one time. I think the solo-patrol started at S5.
 
No, most of the time Buffy does go solo, they even comment on that in Superstar that it's unusual to see Buffy hunting with the rest of the scoobs. I think prior to season 5 Buffy patrolled as her duty. In s5 she starts to feel the need for it, her Slayer side developing more and more
 
Too much Riley. But, on the good side, it's the beginning of the end for them.

Yay for Spike realizing his love of Buffy. And is this the first time we see his shirt off? Angel's nice shirtless, but has NOTHING on Spike. I mean, really! 😀
 
faeriegrrl27 said:
Too much Riley. But, on the good side, it's the beginning of the end for them.

Yay for Spike realizing his love of Buffy. And is this the first time we see his shirt off? Angel's nice shirtless, but has NOTHING on Spike. I mean, really! 😀
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Marc Blucas shirtless is pretty good too, I always say the sexiest scene in Buffy is where she kisses him down the chest in The I in Team (apparently SMG's signature move as she also does it with Angel in 'I will remember you').

I think the writing was on the wall for Buffy/Riley before this, right from the moment in Restless where Riley leaves
 
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