Dream sequence in Dead Things

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Let's talk about the dream sequence in "Dead Things".

Firstly, let's recap the ep, in case anyone hasn't seen it in a while:

The Trio try to make Warren's ex-girlfriend Katrina their willing sexual slave by magical means. But when she fights back she is accidentally killed, they use magical and demonic forces to make Buffy think that she has killed Katrina. Between finding out the truth about her resurrection and believing she killed an innocent girl, Buffy's world begins to fall apart. (Buffyverse Wiki)

Now, this episode is a huge, crazy and fascinating mess, containing loads of things we could discuss involving S/B, but I'm interested in discussing one part: the dream sequence.

In this episode, Buffy dreams of Spike joining her and comforting her in her bed. Her dream shifts and they're in his crypt with her on top and Spike bound by the handcuffs. With Buffy still on top, Spike becomes Katrina and the crypt becomes the woods. Her dream shifts again and Buffy lowers a stake to Spike's chest. When Spike becomes Katrina again, Buffy asks her, "Do you trust me?" Katrina's now cloudy eyes open wide as the stake is shoved into her chest.

Now, there's clearly a hell of a lot going on in this episode, but my question is simple: what did this dream mean and what do you think it says about Buffy's feelings towards herself and Spike at the time?

Discuss!

 

[cryptwarmer]

Just watched it twice and am spitting out my first thoughts, not deeply analyzed yet

She is restless and unable to settle after what happened. Spike comes to her to try to comfort/make it all go away, and she is tempted to let him. He is her secret and he wants her to keep Katrina a secret. Buffy needs to stay in control, so she shifts from her bed to a time she was in control. Him cuffed and her on top. She doesn't trust him. Not sure if her hands sliding towards the cuff are because she is tempted to remove them, or if she wants to make sure they're secure. But she is struggling with who she is and what her responsibilities are. What she wants and what adheres to her calling and her moral code.

Then there is Katrina, someone she was unable to save, and thinks she may have killed. She can make Katrina go away, just as she can make Spike go away. She has the power. In the dream she slays both of them, Spike will turn to dust, Katrina isn't going anywhere, she still needs to be dealt with. She will haunt Buffy.

So Buffy wakes up and goes to turn herself in, Katrina trusted her and she failed her and she is going to answer for it. She doesn't owe Spike anything, she can dust him and that's the end of things, her mission is to kill vampires and protect humans.

This makes it easier for her to later tell Spike he is dead, and nothing good can be in him, because he's the devil on her shoulder that she is horrified she ever listened to. Yet...she cannot quite bring herself to kill him...they aren't done dancing yet.

 

[GoSpuffy]

I'm with you until the last line. When Buffy was beating the crap out of Spike in the alley and saying "you're dead inside" I think she was really saying her fears about herself. She thought she'd come back wrong and she was using Spike to blame for all the emptiness she felt inside.

 

[bespangeled]

I'm with you until the last line. When Buffy was beating the crap out of Spike in the alley and saying "you're dead inside" I think she was really saying her fears about herself. She thought she'd come back wrong and she was using Spike to blame for all the emptiness she felt inside.

Agreed. I see self hatred and fear in her diatribe - she's beating on Spike but yelling all the things she's afraid that she really is - dead inside. It's the whole reason she took up with Spike to start with - she wanted to feel, but she was dead inside. The interesting things is that this is a lot like what Faith yells as she is beating Buffy before they switch back to their own bodies.

In this episode, Buffy dreams of Spike joining her and comforting her in her bed.

She does seem comforted - until he says "It will be our secret."

Her dream shifts and they're in his crypt with her on top and Spike bound by the handcuffs.

I saw this as very sexual - the fact that she enjoyed sex with Spike, that she knew she was the one in control, and she knew that she had power over him and that he enjoyed letting her have that power. She hates this and desired it - this is the secret deep inside her.

With Buffy still on top, Spike becomes Katrina and the crypt becomes the woods.

Now the power becomes the danger. The secret becomes hiding a different sin. How far is she willing to go - how much is she willing to hide? She is chosen to protect humans, not to sleep with unsouled vampires. Her self medicating her depression with hot and scary sex is now apparently beyond

Her dream shifts again and Buffy lowers a stake to Spike's chest.

Buffy has the power - she can kill this thing with Spike. She can kill the part of herself that needs Spike.

When Spike becomes Katrina again, Buffy asks her, "Do you trust me?" Katrina's now cloudy eyes open wide as the stake is shoved into her chest.

Once again someone trusted her and they died - Jenny died because she couldn't kill her love for Angel. Bufy can't trust herself when it comes to unsouled vamps.