What we didn't see - what does it mean?

[Chosen Enemy]

My hobby of reading BtVS's shooting scripts (not transcripts), let me to read "Smashed"'s script, and it's always fun reading what they edited in and out, what the actors played with a bit, etc. so I ran into this, from the shooting script:

INT. SPIKE'S CRYPT - DOWNSTAIRS - NIGHT

Spike moves about the room. Organized. Preparing.

From a chest of drawers, he pulls out a stun gun, fires it a couple times to make sure it works. Sets in on a table.

From a trunk at the foot of the bed, he brings out a coil of rope, pulling it tight. Puts it on the table, too.

He rustles some more in the trunk, reveals a set of chains. And a handful of padlocks. And a pair of handcuffs. On the table.

He rummages through a stack of records, finds just what he's looking for: an LP of Roxy Music's Avalon. He pops it on a dusty old turntable.

He lights some candles, sets a bouquet of flowers in a vase, sprinkles rose petals on the bed. He looks around, taking in his handiwork, then lets out a long, contented sigh.


SPIKE
There. All ready.
He lets his eyes sweep the room once more, a final look, then


CUT TO:
EXT. GRAVEYARD - CONTINUOUS - NIGHT

Spike runs from his crypt, excited, determined focused.

EXT. ANOTHER PART OF THE GRAVEYARD - NIGHT (LATER)

Spike running much slower, winded. He eases up, starts walking.

EXT. SUNNYDALE STREET - NIGHT

Spike gets to a pay phone, exhausted but still determined.


SPIKE
Now at last, Buffy, you will come
to me, and your destiny wi -- wait.
He searches his pockets -- all of them.


SPIKE (cont'd)
Coulda sworn I brought change.
He keeps searching. Nothing. He checks the coin return slot on the phone. Empty.


SPIKE (cont'd)
Oh, balls.
And he runs back from whence he came, frustrated.

Ignore the last bit, I just included it because it's what happened next that we didn't see on screen, and it's a pretty funny one.

Anyways, apperantely, Spike was orginazing his crypt for Buffy and had some big plans for her. As we all know, Spike calls Buffy to the Magic Box and wants her to meet him in the cemetery. And we guess that because he's found out he could hit her, that this is what he was gonna do once she gets there. But was he planning more than that as we find out in the shooting script? Was he planning a kinky/romantic sex with Buffy? Was he expecting sex at all, although he's in shock when Buffy "invites" him first to the sex fun later on?

 

[Airam]

Wow! Really? All that was cut out from the episode's original script?! I don't even know what to make of that... its a little mind blowing, I mean its some serious plannage prior to the phone call we do see on screen...hmmm. I'm gonna have to think on this a bit. For sure though, had that been shot it woulda made for a hilarious deleted scene!

 

[zobothehobo]

1. That part is so funny and I would have loved to see it. It's the definition of "Oh Spike, you're such a cutie pie."
2. I assumed Spike's plan was to have sex with her the first time I saw this episode. I knew he wanted to and his expressions showed he was really out for some tail. This scene would make it obvious to the viewer he was looking for sex... but I thought that part was already there without this scene

 

[white avenger]

That's similar to the scene on "Once More With Feeling," where Spike has finally decided that he really should help Buffy out, and he gets so wound up in his song that he winds up in a blind alley. Things like that are priceless, whether they are put in for comedic effect, for drama, or just to explain how character X gets from point A to point B, and so many of them wind up not ever being seen except in Youtube blooper videos. If Joss ever wanted to make some quick cash, all that he would have to do is make a set of Buffy/Angel/Firefly/Dollhouse blooper discs, add a little narration, and 90% of the fans would buy it the first week that it became available.

 

[Kean]

Anyone else majorily creeped out by the arsenal he had all arranged in row? Stun gun? That doesn't exactly scream consent does it.

Are these shooting scripts legit?

 

[Chosen Enemy]

Anyone else majorily creeped out by the arsenal he had all arranged in row? Stun gun? That doesn't exactly scream consent does it.

Are these shooting scripts legit?

Sure. Kinky, no?
And about the second question, as far as I know.

 

[Kean]

Sure. Kinky, no?
And about the second question, as far as I know.

See my mind went straight to him using force if the flowers etc didn't work. I maybe could have gone along with the kink, but the stun gun just makes me think that he intended to have sex with her, whether she was willing or not.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

See my mind went straight to him using force if the flowers etc didn't work. I maybe could have gone along with the kink, but the stun gun just makes me think that he intended to have sex with her, whether she was willing or not.

I honestly don't believe in it. Sure he tried to in "Seeing Red", but at the time of "Smashed", he could never do something like that. But I have to admit it's a bit suspicious.

 

[StarSlayer]

I honestly don't believe in it. Sure he tried to in "Seeing Red", but at the time of "Smashed", he could never do something like that. But I have to admit it's a bit suspicious.

Maybe that's why they decided to cut it, to avoid all that. I don't have a problem with the handcuffs (that's kinky), but the rope and stun gun does sound suspicious, especially since he tested the gun to make sure it worked.

 

[Kean]

I honestly don't believe in it. Sure he tried to in "Seeing Red", but at the time of "Smashed", he could never do something like that.

Well, he very clearly showed himself to be more than capable to do something like that. He had consistently shown that he viewed sex and violence very much in the same vein before he was even interested in Buffy.

In Lovers Walk he talks of how he will get Dru back,

I'll find her, wherever she is, tie her up, torture her until she likes me again.

Not to mention his kidnapping of Buffy in an effort to prove his devotion in the previous season.

But I have to admit it's a bit suspicious.

Considering the events of "Seeing Red" I find it more suspect than if SR hadn't happened.

It makes me wonder if the writers had intended for the AR to happen all the way back at the start of the season.

---------- Post added at 06:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 PM ----------

white avenger agrees: That's probably one of the main reasons thet they deleted the scene.

That's what I think as well. Although, it makes no sense because they went down that road anyway. Perhaps they want us to trust Spike and so be more shocked by SR?

 

[white avenger]

That's what I think as well. Although, it makes no sense because they went down that road anyway. Perhaps they want us to trust Spike and so be more shocked by SR?

Probably so. Almost certainly the end results in both "Smashed" and "Seeing Red" were supposed to be spontaneous, not so much premeditated and prepared for, which is really more in keeping with Spike's character in general. He wasn'e ever tha big plotter, except for maybe "The Yoko Factor," which I always thought of as being sort of out of character. He was more the type who would jump blindly into something, counting on his abilities and sheer dumb luck to get out of it in one piece. He might take advantage of an existing situation, like when he tied Dru and Buffy up in his basement, but long drawn out subtle plots just weren't his style. ("I follow my blood, which doesn't necessarily flow in the direction of my brain" pretty much sums Spike's character at that time.)

 

[thevikingsgirl]

See my mind went straight to him using force if the flowers etc didn't work. I maybe could have gone along with the kink, but the stun gun just makes me think that he intended to have sex with her, whether she was willing or not.

Nah. I think it would've been more along the lines of the episode where Dru came back and he ended up tying up both of them in his basement to try to force Buffy to see what she meant to him. He often tries to force Buffy to accept how he feels/she feels/how he thinks she feels but usually ends up giving up in frustration. I don't think he'd have actually gone through with it in Seeing Red either though. I think if she hadn't snapped him out of it, he'd have come to his senses on his own.

 

[Willow My Love]

It would have been funny, but extraneous.

 

[BananaBuffy]

I can see why it was cut out but it would have been interesting. I do remember reading that in the shooting script once when I was reading through scripts. It's just a little thing but it would have made it more obvious to the casual viewer what he was up to. To me, it was obvious by James' marvelous acting ability but you know...not to everyone.