Discussion of 7.06 "Him" - Aired 11/5/02 (UPN-US)

[Buffy Summers]

Dawn's simple crush on Sunnydale High's star quarterback RJ Brooks starts to become obsessive, leading Buffy to investigate the boy herself. When Buffy, and all the other women who see RJ, also fall in love with him, Spike and Xander must team up to discover the source of this attraction. But first they have to keep the women from doing anything crazy in their competition for RJ's affection.

Source: TV.com

Discuss this episode here!

 

[Doppelgang]

I think this is quite a funny episode, the first good comedy episode of the series. The best moments for me included:

1) When Buffy went to blast principal wood with a Rocket launcher and you see her getting ready to fire in the background with principal wood in the foreground when Spike comes running across to take the rocket launcher from Buffy.

2) Anya talking of her love for AJ, when he's called RJ

3) Spike and Xander snatching the jacket from RJ at the end

4) This moment with Dawn and Xander:
XANDER: Dawn? What's wrong? Is this— Did that guy in the jacket—
DAWN: (crying) Uh! I don't even want to hear his name anymore!
XANDER: I just called him "that guy in the jacket".
DAWN: That's what I used to call him in my head before I knew his real name!

5) This bit with Buffy talking to Dawn:
BUFFY: You're right. He's right.(to Dawn) You're under a spell. Oh, poor little Dawnie. (Buffy completely oblivious to being under the spell herself)

 

[WileyDairyGnome]

I just finished watching this episode. This has to be one of the funniest episodes. I couldn't stop laughing!! My favourite part was when we see Buffy through the Principal's window with a huge rocket launcher and then Spike and her fight over it. So hilarious!

 

[Nathan]

I just finished watching this episode. This has to be one of the funniest episodes. I couldn't stop laughing!! My favourite part was when we see Buffy through the Principal's window with a huge rocket launcher and then Spike and her fight over it. So hilarious!

Yeah I did laugh out loud at that moment LMAO! I thought Dawn attempting suicide was a bit...much though

 

[WileyDairyGnome]

Yeah I did laugh out loud at that moment LMAO! I thought Dawn attempting suicide was a bit...much though

Haha, when Dawn was going to kill herself, my Mom started laughing her butt off. She thought it was so funny, I think she thought it was a bit much too.

 

[Valjavertjinn]

It was GREAT seeing Jenny in Xander's flashback... Sigh. I miss her.

 

[white avenger]

BUFFY: You're right. He's right.(to Dawn) You're under a spell. Oh, poor little Dawnie. (Buffy completely oblivious to being under the spell herself)

If you notice, that's exactly what her attitude was in Season 4 when basically the same thing happened in "Something Blue."

 

[kittenpoker]

If you notice, that's exactly what her attitude was in Season 4 when basically the same thing happened in "Something Blue."

Totally! And in Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered! Any time a character is under a love spell they adamantly deny that that's the case. I love that! Its so true of life right, often we are so convinced we're in the grips of pure true real soulmate love and then later we look back and we're like what was that?? But try telling us in the moment!

 

[Nix]

I've just rewatched this and found it to be a bit boring. I dunno if it is because of knowing what happens or the fact that I did not find it very funny but I remember when I first watched it, liking the episode. Weird I know, but all the same I did not love this one.

 

[Jules]

The only thing I liked about Dawn's try out was seeing Buffy's old uniform, which she then destroyed. I liked that Spike moved in with Xander, although I dont think it will be as amusing as in season 4.

Who else thought that Dawn and RJ's dance was a lot like Buffy and Xander's from season 2. I loved Willow and Xander's reaction to it! Watching the girls fall under the spell was so funny and then watching Spike and Xander try to save them was just as good but Dawn's plan was stupid.

 

[PassionBecoming]

This is one ep in this season I actually look forward to seeing. Love the goofiness in it. Plus, the rocket launcher makes another appearance!

-Heehee. Spike and Xander roommates again!
-And I don't get Buffy's whole sympathy for Spike, either. I mean, he has a soul, could be useful, but yeah. That whole having sex with someone tends to tie you them, but sheesh. I'm with Dawn - don't understand!
-Cheesy lovey music! Haha. Oh, Dawnie.
-Anya is still awkward Anya. "I don't want to need anyone's help." No one does, dear.
-"Hey, Summers." So, people do know who Dawn is...so I'm guessing she's not THAT big of a dork? Or maybe Sunnydale is fairly small? And oh, she is so awkward....
-And oh, the RJ cheer. The inner cheerleader in me is cringing at her moves....
-Haha. Xander and the cheerleading outfit. And he knows about the letterman's jacket.
-Dawn pushing a guy down the stairs?! Eep! And she lies so easily.
-Ah, the good ol' Bronze. Miss that place!
-LOVE the Scoobies discovering the skank girl was Dawn. "Right there with ya."
-Nice to see Buffy getting the whole parenting thing down a little better.
-That cheer captain is not such a good actress. :/
-"I bet you run a lot, huh?" Heh heh. Oh, flirty Buffy. So not good.
-Ooo, sister vs. sister.
-Oh, dear, algebra! GAH! *covers ears*
-"Now, get off the boy, Buffy, we're going home." I'm curious as to why Buffy jumps straight to the sexy stuff with him - because she has experience and the others don't? Hmmm.
-Flashback to Scoobies in high school. Yay!!
-Love that Xander brings Spike for some recon. He does work well in the group. And turning the creepy angels around.
-"There's air hockey and a mini-fridge. We could party!" Wild guys' night out!
-The conversation with the four girls by the stairs makes giggle the whole time.
-Spike running away from Buffy with the rocket launcher. Heehee.
-"Are you sure you understand the plan?" It's a pretty awesome plan.
-Oh, Anya. Haha.

 

[SlayerPrincess]

Ooh I was just watchin this yesterday! Its so funny. Ooh is it just me or did anybody else notice that Dawn dosent fill out that cheerleader outfit the way Buffy does in season 1. I wonder if its the same exact one...Also she was tryin way too hard in the hallway (awkward) The cat fight outside the Bronze was funny. And of course I love the part where the girls are all going to show who loves him the most. (But someone ruins it with doing something too serious)

 

[Jeff86]

I watched this episode the other night. I always seem to forget just how fun and funny this episode is!

Favorite parts:

1. Buffy trying to kill Principal Wood with the rocket launcher, and Spike tackling her. Possibly the best visual gag in the entire series!

2. Buffy: Willow! You're a gay woman! And he's not...
Willow: It's not about his physical presence, it's about what's in his heart!
Anya: His physical presence has a *PENIS*!
Willow: I can work around it!

3. Anya: Well, I'd kill for him!
Willow: You'd kill for a chocolate bar!

 

[Charmander]

Dawn cheerleading gets me all nostalgic about Buffy doing it when she started high school.
She also left her bag on the chair when she walked out of the room with Buffy and the Principal.. it's just always bothered me. :b
I cringed when she was trying to talk to the popular kids in the hallway. Reminds me of high school.

"He was walking away so unless his soul was in his ass..."

Loved Anya at the end. She's so much funnier when she's not fawning over Xander.

 

[Zeppelin92]

Anya robbing a bank. Willow trying to turn RJ into a girl. Priceless moments hahaha. One of my favorites in season 7 because it reminded me of the first 3 seasons so much.

 

[AnthonyCordova]

Okay, so I think it was a fairly entertaining episode, but we did this already. They shouldn't have had to recycle the same basic idea from a previous episode. Love spell...this time caused by an enchanted high school jacket. Anyway.

There were some terrific moments though so I didn't complain for too long while watching. Dawn had some really funny moments, and a lot of the exchanges between Anya and Willow were incredibly funny, e.g. when Anya says she would kill for him and Willow responds with "you'd kill for a chocolate bar". And Buffy...you know, she's really cute when she is herself, but I don't think anything beyond it. But then, when she really turns it on and gets aggressive with her flirtation...suddenly I think, wow, you can be really hot when you want to be! She seems much harder to resist that way.

The end was also really funny. Xander-"Do you understand the plan?" Spike "Yeah". And then all they do is run up to him really fast and take the jacket off of him and run away. I'm not sure that even qualifies as a plan (okay, a really simple one), but hey that was the point, it was funny. lol.

 

[tkts]

Although there was some comedy, I cringe through a lot of this episode, especially when Dawn is humiliating herself in front of everyone. I find that scene especially hard to watch.

 

[Spanky]

Many would consider Him a standalone, or throw-away episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, yet I posit it is much more than that. I posit in this episode lay the overlooked kernel to answer some questions yet to come. This, the last episode before the season officially started with Conversations with Dead People, is far from a throwaway episode.

As Joss lacks a certain subtly, in fact, he likes to beat the points he is trying to make over your head, like any life lesson episode this began with a problem- a problem for which an answer would be provided throughout the narrative.

The episode started by focusing on Buffy's feelings toward Spike:
DAWN
It's true. You guys aren't... You're not starting up again with the whole…

BUFFY
No. A thousand gallons of no. OK, it's just- things are different now- he has a soul.

Cut to the next morning where Dawn continues to ask Buffy about her feelings for Spike. When Dawn asks what compelled it, Buffy cannot answer, she can only say 'good question' she feels something for him, but it's not love. And that is what the theme of the episode delves into- love, or TRUE love to be more specific. RJ's letterman jacket, when he wears it, creates a false feeling of love to fall upon those around him. They simply fall under his 'spell.' Throughout the episode the affects of the spell are shown on the different characters and how each responds and reacts to the stimuli.

I posit that Spike and his new soul are akin to RJ and his letterman jacket. Take for instance the indescribable feeling that Buffy feels for Spike, which she admits is not love and the way Xander readily lets him into his home, although he did not want to do it- simply because he has a soul. It is, in my opinion, this episode that built the framework for the relationship between Spike, his Soul and the rest of the Scooby gang.

Furthermore, in subsequent episodes, they allude back to this episode. When Spike looses his mojo, how does he reclaim it? By getting his jacket back. It's a throwback moment to Him. Therefore I say the letterman jacket was a talisman for RJ's spell just the same as Spike's soul is the talisman for his desires. Lest we forget, he did not win the soul to be a righteous man, he won the soul to give 'her' what she deserved. One manipulator wears a letterman jacket, the other a soul- neither produces true love.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

I really enjoy this episode as a comedy episode. Don't really care for the plot, it's similar to BBB and we get whiny Dawn again but it has a lot of hilarious moments. I love any time Buffy tries to act sexual, SMG does a great job at being sexy. The Willow and Anya stuff was great. Willow wanting to turn RJ into a girl and then Anya robbing a bank but not telling anyone. This is the comedy I like Anya doing, not the play dumb I don't understand thing. Buffy and Spike wrestling over the rocket launcher and Wood not noticing was great. I kind of feel bad that Dawn cut up Buffy's cheerleading outfit, cause I'd be pissed if someone cut up some of my irreplaceable clothes.

-"Now, get off the boy, Buffy, we're going home." I'm curious as to why Buffy jumps straight to the sexy stuff with him - because she has experience and the others don't? Hmmm.

I think she mentions she's experienced right? And RJ doesn't exactly look like a virgin, plus Buffy is hot so I'm sure he wasn't complaining. But was Buffy having sex with him or they were just about to. Cause it looks like when the Buffybot was having sex with Spike in the graveyard. But then that's awkward if Xander is walking in on them, so I think it was just before going all the way.

 

[NothingVentured]

It seems like a common trope on the show that love spells seem to automatically mean lust spell. Look at BBB. It's a love spell, but all the girls are physically jonesing for Xander. I don't think it's really saying anything about the character to have her take the sexual route first.

But was Buffy having sex with him or they were just about to. Cause it looks like when the Buffybot was having sex with Spike in the graveyard.

She does call him lover later. An interesting contrast is in the script it doesn't say they're not, unlike when Joss explicitly stated she and Spike didn't in the once scene in Chosen.