Buffy ep by epl FIRST DATE-bondage and big secrets

[saturn5]

FIRST DATE

The Good;
So we finally find out Wood's secret! Some nice comedy stuff with Xander and Danny Strong suprisingly creepy as Jonathon/The First. It's amazing how funny Chao Anh can be with just such a simple old gag.

The Bad;
Buffy really should take more care with her cellphone. Who opens a French resteraunt down a creepy dark alleyway? Note Woods doesn't lock his door after Buffy leaves whilst he's putting away his knife. Honestly if you were Xander on your first date with Lissa would you ever dream of telling the story of leaving your bride at the altar? Not exactly something that makes a girl think 'Boy this one's a keeper!' (although considering the attraction to bad boys in this series maybe it would impress her?)

Best line;
Buffy; (of Xander's date) "Good thing you're not jealous!"
Anya; "Are you nuts? Can't you hear my bitter ranting? The shrill edge of hysteria in my voice? Little hardware store whore!"

Women good/men bad;
Anya considers Xander's date a slut and whore despite never having met her.

Jeez!;
Decaying Jonathon (love Amanda's little squeal). Bleeding Xander isn't nice either.

Kinky dinky;
Needless to say Ashanti is GORGEOUS especially when she puts on her sacrificial gear and into bondage fun. The bleeding bit not so much fun nor is her demon form. Half naked Xander, NB slimmed down a lot since season 6. Andrew admires the contents of Buffy's underwear drawer 'Nice things' and notes she has thongs amongst her intimates (as we saw before in Shadow) Interested in her wearing them or him? We also see Buffy in her sexy camisole top. Andrew considers Dawn 'A peach'. Buffy considers Wood's French pear desert 'The best thing I've ever had in my mouth', a line which would make the Carry On team blush! (and she says it in front of Spike!).

Captain Subtext;
Xander; "Willow, gay me up!" imagining Scott Bakula in his underwear which Andrew also appreciates. Buffy worries that this would just attract male demons, Dawn mentions that Clem always liked Xander further portraying him as Buffy's gay friend. Willow considers Buffy a 'frisky vixen'. Buffy's description of Woods is very reminiscent of Riley which hardly bodes well for him as a potential lover. Buffy wonders why she's so attracted to 'wicked energy', in the next ep we find out why. Interestingly when Willow asks about Spike Buffy says 'Why does everyone still think I'm in love with Spike?'. Her use of the term 'love' is unprecedented. Buffy is attracted to Woods, another older man for her, older than Riley although still much younger than Spike and Angel (Hank leaving really screwed her up even before all the Slayer dark energy lust kicked in, one wonder's if Dawn will be the same?) And of course Woods whose mother was a Slayer who died when he was four, breaking his heart now finds himself dating one. He comments that he 'Doesn't know how that happened' but I think it doesn't need Freud to guess? Kennedy and Willow now make out and hold hands under the table although she tries to hide it.

Guantanamo Bay;
Andrew wears a wire

Scoobies to the ER;

Missing scenes;

Apocalypses; 7,

Wheldon Cliches (with kind permission from Boo)

Scoobies in bondage: Xander big time! Lissa into recreational bondage (or she mistakes him for a kayak?)
Buffy: 8
Giles: 4
Cordy: 5
Will: 4
Jenny: 1
Angel: 4
Oz: 1
Faith: 3
Joyce: 1
Wes: 1
Xander; 3
Dawn; 4
Spike; 3

Scoobies knocked out: Xander passes out, Giles is the one notorious for it but he's far ahead.
Buffy: 20
Giles: 12
Cordy: 6
Xander: 16
Will: 9
Jenny: 2
Angel: 6
Oz: 3
Faith: 1
Joyce: 3
Wes: 1
Anya;7
Dawn; 4
Tara; 1
Spike; 1

Kills: 1 Bringer for Giles, 3 vamps for Buffy plus Lissa giving her her 200th kill! 2 vamps for Woods plus he says he's killed 'A few vamps and some demons' previously so we'll give him 3 more vamps and 2 demons at least.
Buffy: 121 vamps, 62 demons, 6 monsters, 10 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot
Giles: 8 vamps, 2 demons, 2 humans/1 god.
Will: 6 vamps + 3 demons +1 fawn+1 human.
Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie
Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans
Xander: 6 vamps, 2 zombies, 1½ a demon, 2 humans
Anya: 1 vamp and 1½ a demon
Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons
Spike; 9 vamps and 6 demons+1 human
Buffybot; 2 vamps
Tara; 1 demon
Dawn; 1 vamp + 1 demon
Kennedy; 1 human+1 vampire
Amanda; 1 vampire
Woods; 5 vamps and 2 demons

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

Alternate scoobies:
Buffy: 8
Giles: 4
Cordy: 1
Will: 6
Jenny: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 2
Joyce: 2
Xander: 4
Tara; 1
Dawn;1
Spike; 1
Anya; 2

Recurring characters killed: 13
Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce, Katrina, Tara, Quentin Travers.

Sunnydale deaths;
103

Total number of scoobies: 15-Chao Anh and Woods join the group. Andrew really picks his side here and starts taking a major step to becoming a proper Scooby.
Xander, Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Anya, Spike, Giles, Kennedy, Molly, Vi, Chloe, Rhona, Amanda, Chao-Anh, Woods

Xander demon magnet: 6(7?) yet another demon digs Xander
Preying Mantis Lady, Inca Mummy Girl, Drusilla, VampWillow, Anya, Lissa (arguably Buffy & Faith with their demon essences?), Dracula?

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

Notches on Scooby bedpost: does Xander get anywhere with Lissa before she ties him up? (or afterwards?)
Giles: 2; Joyce & Olivia, possibly Jenny and 3xDraccy babes?
Buffy: 4 confirmed; Angel, Parker, Riley, Spike. 2 possible, Dracula+RJ(?)
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; 2 Buffy and Anya
Anya; 2 Spike and Xander

Dawn in peril; 14

Dawn the bashful virgin; 9

What the fanficcers thought;
Once read a HORRIBLE fic where Giles really was killed by the Bringer and season 7 Giles is Ethan Rayne in a glamour spell. By the end of the fic Buffy has been tricked into killing Spike, Woods tricked into raping Buffy who then kills him and Buffy slits her wrists in the bathtub in despair. Thankfully in the follow-up story the Scoobs save Buffy using a blood transfusion from Dawn and her love for her friends and family give her the will to live. After sharing the Slayer power with the Potentials she obliterates the Hellmouth with a nuke borrowed from Riley&co, Ethan Rayne reforming to become her new Watcher and Amanda and Anya surviving the final battle. Meanwhile in season 5 Angel Harmony misses her blondie bear and gets her hands on the spell WR&H used to bring back Darla....

Questions and observations;
Note in the scene where Giles' is leading the girls through the graveyard one of the tombs reads 'Snyder'. Only a limited number of Potentials each ep as they can't afford more. Buffy says she believes in Spike. The First knows about the gun implying that Amy was one of it's agents, otherwise how would it know? Of course the 'blood' on Buffy's blouse that Anya is trying to clean is actually the pizza sauce Dawn spilt on it in 'Conversations with Dead People'. People constantly mock Buffy's counselling skills, she seems to actually enjoy her job, something in her life that's NOT connected to slaying (Woods feels the same way saying he enjoys being the headmaster). Woods has no slayer powers, if he was a Slayer's daughter you wonder if that might be different. Buffy seems intrigued that Slayer's can have children, something she and Faith might now have the chance to do (certainly post-Chosen). Note Amanda still has her forehead scar from Potential. So anyone's blood can open the seal? Why doesn't the first just have it's Bringers kidnap random people? Why does The First want Woods to kill Spike, isn't he it's agent? Poor Woods, how heartrending for him to find his mother's killer after all this time. When Woods tells the First 'You didn't raise me at all' is he saying "You're the First so you didn't raise me' or is he mad at his mother for dying and leaving him alone? I always thought vamp limbs went to dust when they were removed from the body but here we see they don't (luckily for Spike in 'Damage')

Marks out of 10; 7/10

 

[MinwaraYana]

Wow, your observations is interesting. I've never known about "Snyder" tomb and the pizza sauce on Buffy's blouse before!

It's a good ep. I love the "Gay me up" scene the most. And I like Chao Ahn very much. She's sure a good actress. 🙂

 

[white avenger]

The thing about the big reveal about Wood that always seemed strange to me was that, after Willow did a computer scan on him and could find nothing whatsoever, as in, he didn't even seem to exist, let alone have any qualifications to serve as the Principal of a high school, the entire matter is dropped, once he announces that he is, in fact, the son of a Slayer. If he lied about his administrative credentials, why was he accepted as Nikki Wood's son on sheer dumb faith? Sure, he managed to stake a couple of vampires, but so had Xander, and Willow, as well as probably Oz and Anya, and they weren't the children of Slayers. Why were Buffy and the others so eager to accept Wood on nothing more than his word? They were facing an enemy who they knew had minions all around the world killing Potentials, and probably their Watchers as well. He could have just as easily been one of those. He could have even been who he said that he was, and STILL be on the side of the First Evil.

I know that this is something from another thread, but this is yet another instance of Buffy making decisions with her heart instead of her brain. She did it with Angel in Season 3, when she concealed his return from the others, she did it in Season 7 by allowing Spike to roam free in her house when he might have been under the First Evil's thrall, and she did it in the same season with someone who claimed to be the son of a Slayer. The fact that she was lucky all three times in no way detracts from the fact that Buffy had once more allowed a potential killer into the ranks of her allies.

 

[Bungle Jerry]

I guess with so many writers on the show they must have employed someone to make sure there were no plot holes. And whoever that person is, they must have been on holiday for this episode. I like the premise of this episode a lot but it has some sub-fanfic writing in it that bugs me. All I can remember right now is (1) Wood watching Spike in his rearview mirror, (2) Xander texting Willow from his cellphone while suspended by the arms above the seal of Danzalthar. To say nothing of how Lissa got him all the way from the coffee shop to the school basement without arousing his suspicions.

There's a lot of laziness throughout S7, but this episode is one of the laziest.

 

[TheVoid68]

The truth has been spoken!

You know what really peed me off in this episode? When Buffy, Spike and Wood go to rescue Xander. They fight and get Xander down. Buffy then ignores Xander, who has just recieved a knife to the gut, and becomes massively concerned with Spike, who has a split lip.

1) Buffy, Xander is your best friend and you've known him for 7 years. Maybe you are developing feelings for Spike, I don't care, but seriously, why do you ignore Xander dying on the floor and immediately go to Spike?
2) Xander is a regular human with no special powers. Spike is a frakking immortal vampire with super-healing powers. If he's not not on fire and doesn't have a wooden stick in his chest, you don't need to bother with him.
3) Xander is bleeding to death from having recieved a fricking knife to the gut, probably picking up all sorts of horrible infections from the dirty basement. Spike has I fricking split lip!

God, there were so many ways to show that Buffy might have feelings for Spike, why does the show have to do it in the stupidest way possible, and make out like Buffy doesn't care about her friends?

I could honestly feel my brain dying during this episode.

 

[InsaneMystic]

All I can remember right now is (1) Wood watching Spike in his rearview mirror

I really don't think that's a goofup. Wood's watching the empty mirror, you (well, I 😛 ) practically can watch him ponder "why is she with a vampire?".

Xander texting with his arms tied up, though... yep, that's bogus. 😀

 

[Bungle Jerry]

I really don't think that's a goofup. Wood's watching the empty mirror, you (well, I 😛 ) practically can watch him ponder "why is she with a vampire?".

Xander texting with his arms tied up, though... yep, that's bogus. 😀

Because later on he sees Spike go vampface and says, all surprised-like, "he's a vampire..."

Otherwise it'd be a great idea. But he can't have realised Spike was a vampire in the car.

 

[sylvanscribe]

I was going to blast this episode, but I see you guys did an effective job of it already....

 

[Username]

I like this episode, I never liked Wood but he doesn't bother me that much either.
Giles drawings to Chao Ann were awesome!

That whole thing about Xander texting Willow while suspended to the ceiling. Well Willow did say that the text message was a signal that could of meant one of two things, either that Xander was getting lucky or that he was being killed by demon, so maybe Xander sent Willow the message actually meaning the first, thinking he was going to get lucky, but Willow and the rest of the gang luckily found the latter more believable. That's always been how I've thought about that.

 

[VisionGirl]

OK, plot holes aside (& I do agree that some of them are glaring), I really liked this episode. It's probably the best one so far since the Potentials arrived. And, interestingly enough, it has very little of them in it, which is probably why I found it so enjoyable! There are just some really funny moments in it ("Gay me up!"), Andrew starts trying to redeem himself, & we find out who Wood is. Oh, and Andrew finally gets a new microwave, is such an important plot development. 🙂 And how about Buffy telling Spike: "Because I'm not ready for you to not be here."

My bigger issue than the plot holes already discussed is why the First needs fresh blood to open the seal. Why doesn't the seal stay opened when it is opened? And why did it need Spike's blood in particular (other than simply to torture him for not doing the First's bidding)? Especially considering the fact that he's a vampire, so we're assuming that he doesn't have as much blood as a human. And why didn't Jonathan have enough blood? Spike had more blood than Jonathan? Huh?

Oh, I forgot that I love the "Wall 'O Knives" in Wood's office.

 

[faeriegrrl27]

I'm very much pro this episode. I try not to let the holes get to me. But even if they did, it would *all* be worth it for Spike showing up and Buffy and Wood's dinner. Can you say awkward?

 

[VisionGirl]

Comments on this post
GrrArghx agrees: Jonathon's anemic.

I have heard that before, although I'm not sure which episode mentions it. And I know I'm being nit-picky, but anemia means an individual has low red blood cells, not that they have low blood volume overall. I am not a doctor, but I've been googling & nothing indicates low blood volume associated with anemia. In fact, people with anemia sometimes can't donate blood, but that's not because their body doesn't make enough blood, but that their red blood count is low.

And even if Jonathan had low blood volume, why would Spike have more?

 

[Litheran]

I had always assumed that it was the potency of the blood that was a mitigating factor.

 

[VisionGirl]

I had always assumed that it was the potency of the blood that was a mitigating factor.

I suppose that could be, but Andrew specifically says that there wasn't enough blood.