Buffy Came Back Wrong: Villains, Two to Go, and Grave
No clue what this is? Read the first post in the series.
There ought, I thought, to be a ritual for being born twice - patched, retreaded and approved for the road.
- Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
Yes, guys, this is the final installment of the Buffy Came Back Wrong meta. Let me get some acknowledgments out there before diving into the last three episodes of the season.
This chunk of meta owes a lot to local_max, who shared his thoughts with me and prompted my brain to start working. If there's anything brilliant in this particular post, it probably came from him. Thanks, bro.
I do also want to thank all the people who have commented throughout this meta series to share their own interpretations, thoughts, or personal stories. You've greatly enriched the meta by participating. Thanks, finally, to anybody who's just read through this whole thing. You're who I'm writing for.
Now let's get on with this thing! We're down to the last three episodes, and a lot of people think Willow's arc takes full prominence here. Well, it does, especially in Villains and Two to Go. However, as we'll see, there are some interesting parallels and Buffy's depression arc is still very much being dealt with. Indeed, Grave is integral for its conclusion to her depression arc.
Last we saw, Buffy had been on the path towards healing. She'd reconciled with her friends, turned away from Death, and was trying to figure out how to embrace Life. She's gonna face a couple new challenges and a huge epiphany now.
Villains aka Just when I think I'm better...
It's obvious that Buffy's death at the end of S5 had a huge impact not just on her but on the show. The end of S6 draws a parallel to this by killing Buffy again, this time by Warren shooting her.
Compare this death to her heroic sacrifice at the end of S5. This is an attack by a simple human who had been essentially defeated by her. Her being shot served no purpose. No one was saved. In fact, one person - Tara - died because of it. Maybe this is a delayed trade-off to resurrecting Buffy at the beginning of the season?
In any case, Buffy is shot and briefly dies in the hospital (the monitor stops beeping). Willow, dressed over in dark magicks, saves her. As in the opening of the season, Willow brings Buffy back from death.
Willow's trajectory in this season has often mirrored Buffy's. However, while Buffy has taken genuine steps to get better, Willow had gotten off-track in the magic abstinence red herring. As such, when the shit hits the fan, Buffy's more prepared to deal with it than Willow is. Willow sucks up the magicks and begins a man-hunt to torture and kill Warren.
These final three episodes deal much more heavily with Willow's season-long arc than Buffy's. However, we do have some interesting things to discuss here.
In addition to the consistent Willow/Buffy parallels throughout the season, we see a parallel here in the end. Willow, like Buffy, tries to kill her friends. Her anger over Tara's death is similar to Buffy's depression if it had been manifested outward instead of inward at herself (and Spike). This, additionally, provides a test for Buffy: how recovered is she from her depression? Can she face down an active threat - as opposed to the passive threat that the Trio represented.
Speaking of the Trio, remember them as being representative of Buffy's depression? They begin the episode with the majority of the members neutralized, in jail. The one rogue member, Warren, is still a danger, though. Buffy's depression isn't fully contained.
Dawn comes home from school and finds Tara's dead body upstairs. Remember Dawn as representing Buffy's life. It's innocence stumbling upon death. Dawn needs to go through this experience in order to set up Buffy's acceptance of her by the end of the season.
After the coroner takes Tara's body away, Xander, Buffy, and Dawn discuss what to do. Dawn makes a plea for Buffy to let her help:
BUFFY: Dawn can't stay here by herself.
DAWN: Let me go with you. I want to.
BUFFY: No, honey, it's too dangerous.
DAWN: But ... it's Willow. She needs us.
BUFFY: She does. And you'll help her. Lots. Okay, but first we have to get her home in one piece.
DAWN: But-
BUFFY: Dawn. I'm serious. You've been through enough for more than one ... ever. You should be someplace where you feel safe.
DAWN: (sullen) Fine. I want to go to Spike's.
Remember from the last installment how Buffy's still gun shy about fully experiencing life to the fullest. This is represented here by her over-protectiveness of Dawn.
Additionally, Spike and his crypt are still representative of Death. Upon encountering Tara's dead body, Dawn wants to go to Death's home, a place where, as Buffy says, she "feel[s] safe". This is reminiscent of how the Buffy/Spike affair got started. After Buffy's own encounter with her death, she finds safety and security with Spike.
Buffy agrees over Xander's protests. However, when they get to Spike's crypt, they discover Clem instead. Spike's gone AWOL.
It's here where the episode begins to focus on Willow's hunting of Warren. The next episode will bring more for us to analyze.
Two to Go aka My wounds are still fresh...
In this episode, Willow continues her destructive rampage. After having killed Warren, she sets her sights on Andrew and Jonathan.
We get to one of the big tests of Buffy in these three episodes: Can she bring her friend back from the brink? Specifically, has Buffy found the spark for life necessary to pass it along to Willow?
BUFFY: Because you lose everything. Your friends, your self.... Willow, if you let this control you then the world goes away. And all of us with it. There's so much to live for. (forcefully) Will, there's too much-
WILLOW: (scoffs) Oh, please! This is your pitch? Buffy, you hate it here as much as I do. I'm just more honest about it.
Willow is now where Buffy had been earlier in the season, and Buffy hasn't recovered to the point of being able to help Willow. Willow's conviction that the world sucks is stronger than Buffy's conviction that it doesn't. Instead, Willow lets loose and reminds Buffy of her own depression:
WILLOW: You're trying to sell me on the world.
The camera starts to do a slow turn thing where it stays focused on Willow but the background turns behind her...
WILLOW: The one where you lie to your friends when you're not trying to kill them? And you screw a vampire just to feel? And insane asylums are the comfy alternative? This world? Buffy, it's me. I know you were happier when you were in the ground. The only time you were ever at peace in your whole life is when you were dead. Until Willow brought you back.
The background has been changing as it turns...
WILLOW: You know, with magic?
It's notable that Buffy is down for the count after Willow delivers this speech to her. Ostensibly because of the teleportation, but the metaphor is clear: Buffy's depression still has a salient hold on her. Having her illness thrown into her face weakens her to the point where Buffy is helpless to do anything when Willow attacks Jonathan and Andrew.
While the last episode had seen these two (Buffy's depression) locked away, they're now under Buffy's care. In order to confront (and win against) Willow, she has to bring her depression inwards. She uses what she's learned from it to save the day (or not, as we'll see in the next episode). Jonathan is actively trying to help, a significant sign of improvement in Buffy's depression. Andrew's reluctance to fully help is that last niggling bit of depression that takes a while to leave (though it will, again, in the next episode).
Grave aka I figured it out.
We begin the episode with Giles' arrival. His return will help to close the loop for Buffy. Giles' departure at the beginning of the season heralded the descent of uber-badness for the characters, after all.
It's also in this episode that things shift from Willow hunting down Andrew and Jonathan - the last remnants of Buffy's depression - to her fighting Giles and subsequently attempting to end the world. Bigger things are overshadowing Buffy's depression, and her illness is receding (and, in fact, will leave by the end of the episode).
But first, we get a catharsis for Buffy when she tells all to Giles:
GILES: (looks at her) Buffy, what's happened here?
BUFFY: (pacing) God. I don't even know where to start.
GILES: Well, Willow's clearly been abusing the magicks.
BUFFY: (nods) She has. She was ... and I barely even noticed. Giles, everything's just been so... (sighs) Xander left Anya at the altar, and Anya's a vengeance demon again... (Giles looking shocked) Dawn's a total klepto ... money's been so tight that I've been slinging burgers at the Doublemeat Palace ... (looks down at the floor) And I've been sleeping with Spike.
Buffy pauses, looks up at Giles, looks as if she can't believe she just said that.
Giles stares at her. She looks away again, embarrassed.
Suddenly Giles starts laughing. He covers his mouth with his hand but can't stop. Buffy stares at him, pouty.
GILES: (trying to calm down) Sorry.
He bursts out laughing again. Buffy rolls her eyes, now just looks amused. Giles keeps laughing and slowly Buffy starts to laugh too.
They both stand there laughing.
Being able to laugh at oneself is a freedom that gets twisted while suffering from depression. Self-deprecating humor is the thing for people with depression. This is not that. This is Buffy standing at a distance from where she was and realizing how absurd it became.
I tend to get the same way. My last depressive episode involved some major bouts of intense paranoia (I stopped going into my bedroom cause I was convinced people were watching me through my window). Of course, that was Serious Stuff at the time. Now? Well, it's ridiculous. I know it's ridiculous. It's even funny.
Laughing at what happened before is being able to take the power back. This stuff, this trauma, this angst doesn't have power over Buffy. She can laugh at it. She owns it.
Even some of her darkest moments - her attack on her friends in NA - are silly in retrospect:
GILES: (laughing) Duct tape?
BUFFY: (laughing) On their mouths. So the demon could eat them...
GILES: Because they were figments.
More laughing.
BUFFY: All of it! You, Sunnydale ... And I was just some nutcase in L.A.
GILES: (still laughing) Of course. Why didn't we see it before?
Compare this to Buffy's reaction to Willow throwing her depression in her face in Two to Go. Buffy couldn't handle it. She was knocked over, unable to stop Willow in her subsequent attack. Here, now, with Giles, though, she handles it better. Being able to "confess" to her trusted parent figure is healing.
Furthermore, Giles' return heals more old wounds because he gives Buffy an apology for having left.
GILES Can you forgive me?
BUFFY: For what?
GILES: I should never have left.
BUFFY: No. You were right to leave. We're just ... stupid.
GILES: I know you're all stupid. (Buffy smiling) I should never have abandoned you.
BUFFY: No. Giles, you were right about everything. It is time I was an adult.
GILES: Sometimes the most adult thing you can do is ... ask for help when you need it.
BUFFY: Now you tell me.
This is more than an apology, though. It's an acknowledgment that Buffy isn't doing things by herself. She has help, and that's okay. She doesn't have to do fight her battles (personal or otherwise) solo. This will be expanded later. For now, let's look at this next bit.
BUFFY: (quietly) I guess ... I wasn't ready before. It took a long time for that feeling to go away ... the feeling that I wasn't really here. It was like ... when I clawed my way out of that grave, I left something behind. Part of me. I just... (pauses, looks Giles in the eye) I don't understand ... why I'm back.
GILES: You have a calling.
BUFFY: But it was my time, Giles. Someone would have taken my place. (Giles grimacing) So why?
There's a healing power in forming a life narrative for yourself. Okay, yeah, the entire show is a narrative, but we're firmly within the universe here. For Buffy, making sense of things and figuring out her purpose is important. However, life doesn't always give us a purpose. Sometimes, the purpose is just to live, which is something Buffy only clues in to by the end.
Getting back to the Willow of things, we're given some information about what's gonna happen to her.
GILES: Well, the coven is working on a ... way to extract her powers without ... killing her. And, uh, should she survive, you ought to know, Buffy, that there's no guarantee she'll ... be as she was. (Buffy looking concerned) Willow has killed a human being. How will she be able to live with herself?
Continuing with the Buffy/Willow parallels, Giles is detailing that Willow will be permanently changed by her experiences, just as Buffy was permanently changed by her resurrection. In fact, a big fear with her resurrection is that she wouldn't be as she was before (Spike's concerns, then everybody's concern in After Life, then Buffy's belief that she "came back wrong").
Willow attacks just about then, so let's move on to this interesting bit with Dawn. Dawn has been going through her own journey to prepare her for Buffy's acceptance by the end of the episode. This is more than Dawn-as-a-character, though. It's very much about Dawn as representative of Life for Buffy.
DAWN: You know, if Spike were here, he'd go back and fight.
XANDER: Sure, if he wasn't too busy trying to rape your sister.
Earlier, we'd seen Dawn insist on going to Spike's crypt as a safe place, much like Buffy used his crypt throughout the season. Here, we get Dawn's disillusionment with Spike, just as Buffy's earlier realization that being in the company of Death will not help her. In this instance, Xander's revelation acts as a metaphorical call-back to As You Were.
DAWN: What?!
Xander pauses, then continues walking, shaking his head.
XANDER: Forget it.
DAWN: (following) I don't believe you.
XANDER: Fine.
DAWN: (uncertain) He wouldn't do that.
XANDER: Is this blind spot like a genetic trait with the Summers women? The only useful thing Spike ever did was finally leave town.
As we see, Xander even draws explicit attention to the connection when pondering whether this is a genetic trait.
Meanwhile, back at the Magic Box, Buffy saves Giles, which causes Willow to respond with disdain.
WILLOW: You're always saving everyone. It's kinda pesky.
Pause and rewind back to the very beginning of the season. Why was Buffy brought back? Why was she dead in the first place? Why was she so unhappy with being back? She is the "warrior of the people". All three answers revolve around her responsibility as the Slayer to save people. This caused her to die. It was the reason her friends brought her back to life. And it was the driving force behind her resentment and anger at being back. It fueled her depression to know that her self-sacrificing will, apparently, never end. She will continue to suffer in a sub-par life in order to fulfill her duty.
This is where the season comes full circle, because this big conflict isn't resolved by Buffy. The day is saved, in parts, by Giles and Xander and Anya. Buffy is shifted to the side and given a more intimate and personal threat to deal with. However, this threat - the dirt monsters - are only a danger to herself and Dawn (her Life). She only has to save herself, in other words.
Hold onto this thought, guys.
Later, Willow's bombed the group and Buffy and Dawn end up in a, well, grave together. Just as she began the season in her grave, she'll end the season there, as well.
To further the parallel, Dawn points out that it looks like Spike's place:
DAWN: This looks a little like Spike's place. You know, under his crypt.
This is Spike as Death. Buffy ignores Dawn's comment and is a bit overly focused on getting the hell out of dodge.
DAWN: What are you doing?
BUFFY: If we can pull these out, we can use the coffins for height. (tugging) Maybe get out of here!
Buffy looks around, picks up one of the swords and tries to use it to pry the coffin loose.
DAWN: Maybe one of the tunnels Spike uses is around here. Uh, we could use it to get to his place.
BUFFY: (digging) That's the last place on Earth we need to be.
Buffy recognizes at this point that indulging in Death is not a solution. For anything. She doesn't even entertain the thought of looking for a tunnel to Spike's place. This is more metaphorical than practical, of course, and it speaks to the progress Buffy has made.
We next get a direct confrontation of the fact that Buffy's been shielding Dawn too much:
DAWN: (annoyed) Oh, but it was good enough for you to take me there after what he did to you.
Buffy finally turns to look at her.
BUFFY: What he...
DAWN: Tried to do. Whatever.
BUFFY: (realizing, annoyed) Xander.
DAWN: So it's true?
BUFFY: Dawn, you may not have noticed, we're in really big trouble here. This isn't-
DAWN: Why did you not tell me?
BUFFY: Because you didn't need to know.
DAWN: Yes, I do. I need to know! I'm not a kid anymore.
BUFFY: (angry) Dawn, I'm trying to protect you.
DAWN: (angry) Well, you can't! Look around, Buffy. We're trapped in here! Willow's killing and people I love keep dying! And you cannot protect me from that.
Beat. Buffy looks sad as she realizes Dawn is right.
BUFFY: (whispers) Dawn...
Okay, now don't think of this as Buffy talking to Dawn. Think of it as Buffy talking to herself. Specifically, talking about her spark for living. She's been trying to shield herself from fully experiencing life, but that's not possible. That's especially not possible when, you know, crap keeps happening.
Going back to the full-circleness of Buffy not saving the day this time, we get another reference to this when Anya appears.
ANYA: Uh, way up there in the hierarchy of she-demons. Her followers intended to use her effigy to destroy the world. They all died when the temple got swallowed up in the big earthquake of '32.
BUFFY: So now seventy years later, Willow's going to make their dreams come true.
ANYA: She's going to drain the planet's life force, and funnel its energy through Proserpexa's effigy and, and burn the Earth to a cinder. (Dawn looking at Buffy in alarm)
BUFFY: Not if I can help it.
ANYA: You can't.
Buffy and Dawn stare at Anya.
ANYA Something else Giles said. No magic or supernatural force can stop her.
BUFFY: What does that mean?
ANYA: Don't know. He, he said, "the Slayer can't stop her," and then he said a bunch of other stuff. (anxiously) He really wasn't too clear.
As is to be expected, Buffy takes it on as her personal mission to stop Willow. "Not if I can help it." All the responsibility is ostensibly on her shoulders. Anya contradicts this by passing along Giles' message that the Slayer can't stop her. This effectively takes Buffy out of the picture. She initially won't listen to it, though.
Forgive the long excerpt:
Willow's and Buffy's lines overlap:
BUFFY: I'm not just gonna sit here while Willow incinerates what I'm chosen to protect.
WILLOW: Awaken, sister of the dark, awaken-
Cut back to the bluff. Willow pauses, looks to her right as if she can hear Buffy.
BUFFY: I have to stop her.
WILLOW: Always the Slayer...
Cut back to the pit. Buffy pauses, hearing Willow's words. She straightens up, looking surprised.
WILLOW: (O.S.) Right to the last.
BUFFY: (uncertain) Willow?
Fade from Buffy to Willow, who has turned away from the temple to face the direction of the cemetery.
WILLOW: And it is the last, you know? For all your fighting ... thinking you're saving the world...
Cut back to the pit. Buffy listens in amazement.
DAWN: Buffy?
Buffy puts up a hand to silence Dawn.
WILLOW: And in the end ... I'm the only one that can save it.
BUFFY: By killing us?
WILLOW: It's the only way to stop the pain.
Cut to the Magic Box. Giles is still lying on the floor with Anya kneeling by him. Giles frowns slightly, as he can hear the conversation too.
WILLOW: (O.S.) I can't take it anymore. But I know you, Buffy.
Cut alternately between the bluff and the pit for the next few lines.
WILLOW: You're a warrior. You won't go out without a fight. I don't really have time for one. But you should go out fighting.
BUFFY: Willow, what are you-
WILLOW: It was me that took you out of the Earth. Well, now...
Buffy listens with alarm.
WILLOW: ...the Earth wants you back.
The ground around Buffy and Dawn begins to rumble. Suddenly the walls themselves start to turn into monsters, earth-creatures made up of dirt and rock and vines, which detach themselves from the walls and move toward Buffy and Dawn.
So much going on here!
We get another reiteration of Buffy dismissing Giles' caution that the Slayer can't stop Willow. "I'm not just gonna sit here while Willow incinerates what I'm chosen to protect". This statement shows Buffy's full acceptance of her duty, something she's been reluctant to take on throughout the season.
Willow, of course, clues in to this. She gives Buffy a more personal fight. The metaphor here isn't too subtle. Buffy has to fight dirt monsters while underground in a grave.
However, she quickly turns to Dawn:
Buffy stands next to Dawn, looking around. More monsters are detaching from the walls.
BUFFY: They just keep coming. I can't take them all.
Close on another monster's claw-hand coming out of the wall. Buffy turns to Dawn.
BUFFY: Dawn. Will you help me?
Dawn looks nervous, but determined.
Buffy puts the sword into Dawn's hand.
DAWN: I got your back.
It's here, in this tiny, ultimately unimportant skirmish, that Buffy heals the final wounds from her depression. She lets Dawn assist her, and the two of them fight together against Buffy's demons.
After Xander talks Willow down from her apocalyptic intentions, Buffy begins to cry when she realizes that the world isn't gonna end. To further affirm her recovery, Buffy explicitly details her happiness with the world and her desire to see Dawn - her Life - continue and develop and grow.
BUFFY: Dawn ... I'm so sorry.
Buffy gets up and hugs Dawn, begins crying again.
BUFFY: (crying) I'm sorry.
Dawn hugs Buffy, rubs her back.
DAWN: It's okay, Buffy. It's okay.
BUFFY: No. It hasn't been. It hasn't been okay.
Buffy pulls back to look Dawn in the face.
BUFFY: But it's gonna be, though. I see it.
DAWN: See what?
BUFFY: You.
Dawn looks touched.
BUFFY: Things have really sucked lately, but it's all gonna change. And I wanna be there when it does. (starting to cry again) I want to see my friends happy again. And I want to see you grow up. The woman you're gonna become. Because she's gonna be beautiful.
Now Dawn gets a little teary as well.
BUFFY: And she's going to be powerful.
Buffy turns around, back toward the coffin.
BUFFY: I got it so wrong. I don't want to protect you from the world. I want to show it to you.
She turns back to Dawn again.
BUFFY: There's so much that I want to show you.
Cue the Sarah McLachlan music as Buffy crawls out of her grave for the second time, this time with Dawn right behind her (the thing that got left her in grave the first time).
The world was saved, without Buffy. Buffy wondered earlier in the episode why she was brought back. It wasn't to continually shoulder the burden of sacrificing the save the world; it was to live.
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Bargaining and Afterlife
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Flooded and Life Serial
Buffy Came Back Wrong: All the Way and Once More, With Feeling
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Tabula Rasa and Smashed
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Wrecked, Gone, and Doublemeat Palace
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Dead Things and Older and Far Away
Buffy Came Back Wrong: As You Were and Hell's Bells
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Normal Again, Entropy, and Seeing Red
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Villains, Two to Go, and Grave
All Previous Entries
There ought, I thought, to be a ritual for being born twice - patched, retreaded and approved for the road.
- Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
Yes, guys, this is the final installment of the Buffy Came Back Wrong meta. Let me get some acknowledgments out there before diving into the last three episodes of the season.
This chunk of meta owes a lot to local_max, who shared his thoughts with me and prompted my brain to start working. If there's anything brilliant in this particular post, it probably came from him. Thanks, bro.
I do also want to thank all the people who have commented throughout this meta series to share their own interpretations, thoughts, or personal stories. You've greatly enriched the meta by participating. Thanks, finally, to anybody who's just read through this whole thing. You're who I'm writing for.
Now let's get on with this thing! We're down to the last three episodes, and a lot of people think Willow's arc takes full prominence here. Well, it does, especially in Villains and Two to Go. However, as we'll see, there are some interesting parallels and Buffy's depression arc is still very much being dealt with. Indeed, Grave is integral for its conclusion to her depression arc.
Last we saw, Buffy had been on the path towards healing. She'd reconciled with her friends, turned away from Death, and was trying to figure out how to embrace Life. She's gonna face a couple new challenges and a huge epiphany now.
Villains aka Just when I think I'm better...
It's obvious that Buffy's death at the end of S5 had a huge impact not just on her but on the show. The end of S6 draws a parallel to this by killing Buffy again, this time by Warren shooting her.
Compare this death to her heroic sacrifice at the end of S5. This is an attack by a simple human who had been essentially defeated by her. Her being shot served no purpose. No one was saved. In fact, one person - Tara - died because of it. Maybe this is a delayed trade-off to resurrecting Buffy at the beginning of the season?
In any case, Buffy is shot and briefly dies in the hospital (the monitor stops beeping). Willow, dressed over in dark magicks, saves her. As in the opening of the season, Willow brings Buffy back from death.
Willow's trajectory in this season has often mirrored Buffy's. However, while Buffy has taken genuine steps to get better, Willow had gotten off-track in the magic abstinence red herring. As such, when the shit hits the fan, Buffy's more prepared to deal with it than Willow is. Willow sucks up the magicks and begins a man-hunt to torture and kill Warren.
These final three episodes deal much more heavily with Willow's season-long arc than Buffy's. However, we do have some interesting things to discuss here.
In addition to the consistent Willow/Buffy parallels throughout the season, we see a parallel here in the end. Willow, like Buffy, tries to kill her friends. Her anger over Tara's death is similar to Buffy's depression if it had been manifested outward instead of inward at herself (and Spike). This, additionally, provides a test for Buffy: how recovered is she from her depression? Can she face down an active threat - as opposed to the passive threat that the Trio represented.
Speaking of the Trio, remember them as being representative of Buffy's depression? They begin the episode with the majority of the members neutralized, in jail. The one rogue member, Warren, is still a danger, though. Buffy's depression isn't fully contained.
Dawn comes home from school and finds Tara's dead body upstairs. Remember Dawn as representing Buffy's life. It's innocence stumbling upon death. Dawn needs to go through this experience in order to set up Buffy's acceptance of her by the end of the season.
After the coroner takes Tara's body away, Xander, Buffy, and Dawn discuss what to do. Dawn makes a plea for Buffy to let her help:
BUFFY: Dawn can't stay here by herself.
DAWN: Let me go with you. I want to.
BUFFY: No, honey, it's too dangerous.
DAWN: But ... it's Willow. She needs us.
BUFFY: She does. And you'll help her. Lots. Okay, but first we have to get her home in one piece.
DAWN: But-
BUFFY: Dawn. I'm serious. You've been through enough for more than one ... ever. You should be someplace where you feel safe.
DAWN: (sullen) Fine. I want to go to Spike's.
Remember from the last installment how Buffy's still gun shy about fully experiencing life to the fullest. This is represented here by her over-protectiveness of Dawn.
Additionally, Spike and his crypt are still representative of Death. Upon encountering Tara's dead body, Dawn wants to go to Death's home, a place where, as Buffy says, she "feel[s] safe". This is reminiscent of how the Buffy/Spike affair got started. After Buffy's own encounter with her death, she finds safety and security with Spike.
Buffy agrees over Xander's protests. However, when they get to Spike's crypt, they discover Clem instead. Spike's gone AWOL.
It's here where the episode begins to focus on Willow's hunting of Warren. The next episode will bring more for us to analyze.
Two to Go aka My wounds are still fresh...
In this episode, Willow continues her destructive rampage. After having killed Warren, she sets her sights on Andrew and Jonathan.
We get to one of the big tests of Buffy in these three episodes: Can she bring her friend back from the brink? Specifically, has Buffy found the spark for life necessary to pass it along to Willow?
BUFFY: Because you lose everything. Your friends, your self.... Willow, if you let this control you then the world goes away. And all of us with it. There's so much to live for. (forcefully) Will, there's too much-
WILLOW: (scoffs) Oh, please! This is your pitch? Buffy, you hate it here as much as I do. I'm just more honest about it.
Willow is now where Buffy had been earlier in the season, and Buffy hasn't recovered to the point of being able to help Willow. Willow's conviction that the world sucks is stronger than Buffy's conviction that it doesn't. Instead, Willow lets loose and reminds Buffy of her own depression:
WILLOW: You're trying to sell me on the world.
The camera starts to do a slow turn thing where it stays focused on Willow but the background turns behind her...
WILLOW: The one where you lie to your friends when you're not trying to kill them? And you screw a vampire just to feel? And insane asylums are the comfy alternative? This world? Buffy, it's me. I know you were happier when you were in the ground. The only time you were ever at peace in your whole life is when you were dead. Until Willow brought you back.
The background has been changing as it turns...
WILLOW: You know, with magic?
It's notable that Buffy is down for the count after Willow delivers this speech to her. Ostensibly because of the teleportation, but the metaphor is clear: Buffy's depression still has a salient hold on her. Having her illness thrown into her face weakens her to the point where Buffy is helpless to do anything when Willow attacks Jonathan and Andrew.
While the last episode had seen these two (Buffy's depression) locked away, they're now under Buffy's care. In order to confront (and win against) Willow, she has to bring her depression inwards. She uses what she's learned from it to save the day (or not, as we'll see in the next episode). Jonathan is actively trying to help, a significant sign of improvement in Buffy's depression. Andrew's reluctance to fully help is that last niggling bit of depression that takes a while to leave (though it will, again, in the next episode).
Grave aka I figured it out.
We begin the episode with Giles' arrival. His return will help to close the loop for Buffy. Giles' departure at the beginning of the season heralded the descent of uber-badness for the characters, after all.
It's also in this episode that things shift from Willow hunting down Andrew and Jonathan - the last remnants of Buffy's depression - to her fighting Giles and subsequently attempting to end the world. Bigger things are overshadowing Buffy's depression, and her illness is receding (and, in fact, will leave by the end of the episode).
But first, we get a catharsis for Buffy when she tells all to Giles:
GILES: (looks at her) Buffy, what's happened here?
BUFFY: (pacing) God. I don't even know where to start.
GILES: Well, Willow's clearly been abusing the magicks.
BUFFY: (nods) She has. She was ... and I barely even noticed. Giles, everything's just been so... (sighs) Xander left Anya at the altar, and Anya's a vengeance demon again... (Giles looking shocked) Dawn's a total klepto ... money's been so tight that I've been slinging burgers at the Doublemeat Palace ... (looks down at the floor) And I've been sleeping with Spike.
Buffy pauses, looks up at Giles, looks as if she can't believe she just said that.
Giles stares at her. She looks away again, embarrassed.
Suddenly Giles starts laughing. He covers his mouth with his hand but can't stop. Buffy stares at him, pouty.
GILES: (trying to calm down) Sorry.
He bursts out laughing again. Buffy rolls her eyes, now just looks amused. Giles keeps laughing and slowly Buffy starts to laugh too.
They both stand there laughing.
Being able to laugh at oneself is a freedom that gets twisted while suffering from depression. Self-deprecating humor is the thing for people with depression. This is not that. This is Buffy standing at a distance from where she was and realizing how absurd it became.
I tend to get the same way. My last depressive episode involved some major bouts of intense paranoia (I stopped going into my bedroom cause I was convinced people were watching me through my window). Of course, that was Serious Stuff at the time. Now? Well, it's ridiculous. I know it's ridiculous. It's even funny.
Laughing at what happened before is being able to take the power back. This stuff, this trauma, this angst doesn't have power over Buffy. She can laugh at it. She owns it.
Even some of her darkest moments - her attack on her friends in NA - are silly in retrospect:
GILES: (laughing) Duct tape?
BUFFY: (laughing) On their mouths. So the demon could eat them...
GILES: Because they were figments.
More laughing.
BUFFY: All of it! You, Sunnydale ... And I was just some nutcase in L.A.
GILES: (still laughing) Of course. Why didn't we see it before?
Compare this to Buffy's reaction to Willow throwing her depression in her face in Two to Go. Buffy couldn't handle it. She was knocked over, unable to stop Willow in her subsequent attack. Here, now, with Giles, though, she handles it better. Being able to "confess" to her trusted parent figure is healing.
Furthermore, Giles' return heals more old wounds because he gives Buffy an apology for having left.
GILES Can you forgive me?
BUFFY: For what?
GILES: I should never have left.
BUFFY: No. You were right to leave. We're just ... stupid.
GILES: I know you're all stupid. (Buffy smiling) I should never have abandoned you.
BUFFY: No. Giles, you were right about everything. It is time I was an adult.
GILES: Sometimes the most adult thing you can do is ... ask for help when you need it.
BUFFY: Now you tell me.
This is more than an apology, though. It's an acknowledgment that Buffy isn't doing things by herself. She has help, and that's okay. She doesn't have to do fight her battles (personal or otherwise) solo. This will be expanded later. For now, let's look at this next bit.
BUFFY: (quietly) I guess ... I wasn't ready before. It took a long time for that feeling to go away ... the feeling that I wasn't really here. It was like ... when I clawed my way out of that grave, I left something behind. Part of me. I just... (pauses, looks Giles in the eye) I don't understand ... why I'm back.
GILES: You have a calling.
BUFFY: But it was my time, Giles. Someone would have taken my place. (Giles grimacing) So why?
There's a healing power in forming a life narrative for yourself. Okay, yeah, the entire show is a narrative, but we're firmly within the universe here. For Buffy, making sense of things and figuring out her purpose is important. However, life doesn't always give us a purpose. Sometimes, the purpose is just to live, which is something Buffy only clues in to by the end.
Getting back to the Willow of things, we're given some information about what's gonna happen to her.
GILES: Well, the coven is working on a ... way to extract her powers without ... killing her. And, uh, should she survive, you ought to know, Buffy, that there's no guarantee she'll ... be as she was. (Buffy looking concerned) Willow has killed a human being. How will she be able to live with herself?
Continuing with the Buffy/Willow parallels, Giles is detailing that Willow will be permanently changed by her experiences, just as Buffy was permanently changed by her resurrection. In fact, a big fear with her resurrection is that she wouldn't be as she was before (Spike's concerns, then everybody's concern in After Life, then Buffy's belief that she "came back wrong").
Willow attacks just about then, so let's move on to this interesting bit with Dawn. Dawn has been going through her own journey to prepare her for Buffy's acceptance by the end of the episode. This is more than Dawn-as-a-character, though. It's very much about Dawn as representative of Life for Buffy.
DAWN: You know, if Spike were here, he'd go back and fight.
XANDER: Sure, if he wasn't too busy trying to rape your sister.
Earlier, we'd seen Dawn insist on going to Spike's crypt as a safe place, much like Buffy used his crypt throughout the season. Here, we get Dawn's disillusionment with Spike, just as Buffy's earlier realization that being in the company of Death will not help her. In this instance, Xander's revelation acts as a metaphorical call-back to As You Were.
DAWN: What?!
Xander pauses, then continues walking, shaking his head.
XANDER: Forget it.
DAWN: (following) I don't believe you.
XANDER: Fine.
DAWN: (uncertain) He wouldn't do that.
XANDER: Is this blind spot like a genetic trait with the Summers women? The only useful thing Spike ever did was finally leave town.
As we see, Xander even draws explicit attention to the connection when pondering whether this is a genetic trait.
Meanwhile, back at the Magic Box, Buffy saves Giles, which causes Willow to respond with disdain.
WILLOW: You're always saving everyone. It's kinda pesky.
Pause and rewind back to the very beginning of the season. Why was Buffy brought back? Why was she dead in the first place? Why was she so unhappy with being back? She is the "warrior of the people". All three answers revolve around her responsibility as the Slayer to save people. This caused her to die. It was the reason her friends brought her back to life. And it was the driving force behind her resentment and anger at being back. It fueled her depression to know that her self-sacrificing will, apparently, never end. She will continue to suffer in a sub-par life in order to fulfill her duty.
This is where the season comes full circle, because this big conflict isn't resolved by Buffy. The day is saved, in parts, by Giles and Xander and Anya. Buffy is shifted to the side and given a more intimate and personal threat to deal with. However, this threat - the dirt monsters - are only a danger to herself and Dawn (her Life). She only has to save herself, in other words.
Hold onto this thought, guys.
Later, Willow's bombed the group and Buffy and Dawn end up in a, well, grave together. Just as she began the season in her grave, she'll end the season there, as well.
To further the parallel, Dawn points out that it looks like Spike's place:
DAWN: This looks a little like Spike's place. You know, under his crypt.
This is Spike as Death. Buffy ignores Dawn's comment and is a bit overly focused on getting the hell out of dodge.
DAWN: What are you doing?
BUFFY: If we can pull these out, we can use the coffins for height. (tugging) Maybe get out of here!
Buffy looks around, picks up one of the swords and tries to use it to pry the coffin loose.
DAWN: Maybe one of the tunnels Spike uses is around here. Uh, we could use it to get to his place.
BUFFY: (digging) That's the last place on Earth we need to be.
Buffy recognizes at this point that indulging in Death is not a solution. For anything. She doesn't even entertain the thought of looking for a tunnel to Spike's place. This is more metaphorical than practical, of course, and it speaks to the progress Buffy has made.
We next get a direct confrontation of the fact that Buffy's been shielding Dawn too much:
DAWN: (annoyed) Oh, but it was good enough for you to take me there after what he did to you.
Buffy finally turns to look at her.
BUFFY: What he...
DAWN: Tried to do. Whatever.
BUFFY: (realizing, annoyed) Xander.
DAWN: So it's true?
BUFFY: Dawn, you may not have noticed, we're in really big trouble here. This isn't-
DAWN: Why did you not tell me?
BUFFY: Because you didn't need to know.
DAWN: Yes, I do. I need to know! I'm not a kid anymore.
BUFFY: (angry) Dawn, I'm trying to protect you.
DAWN: (angry) Well, you can't! Look around, Buffy. We're trapped in here! Willow's killing and people I love keep dying! And you cannot protect me from that.
Beat. Buffy looks sad as she realizes Dawn is right.
BUFFY: (whispers) Dawn...
Okay, now don't think of this as Buffy talking to Dawn. Think of it as Buffy talking to herself. Specifically, talking about her spark for living. She's been trying to shield herself from fully experiencing life, but that's not possible. That's especially not possible when, you know, crap keeps happening.
Going back to the full-circleness of Buffy not saving the day this time, we get another reference to this when Anya appears.
ANYA: Uh, way up there in the hierarchy of she-demons. Her followers intended to use her effigy to destroy the world. They all died when the temple got swallowed up in the big earthquake of '32.
BUFFY: So now seventy years later, Willow's going to make their dreams come true.
ANYA: She's going to drain the planet's life force, and funnel its energy through Proserpexa's effigy and, and burn the Earth to a cinder. (Dawn looking at Buffy in alarm)
BUFFY: Not if I can help it.
ANYA: You can't.
Buffy and Dawn stare at Anya.
ANYA Something else Giles said. No magic or supernatural force can stop her.
BUFFY: What does that mean?
ANYA: Don't know. He, he said, "the Slayer can't stop her," and then he said a bunch of other stuff. (anxiously) He really wasn't too clear.
As is to be expected, Buffy takes it on as her personal mission to stop Willow. "Not if I can help it." All the responsibility is ostensibly on her shoulders. Anya contradicts this by passing along Giles' message that the Slayer can't stop her. This effectively takes Buffy out of the picture. She initially won't listen to it, though.
Forgive the long excerpt:
Willow's and Buffy's lines overlap:
BUFFY: I'm not just gonna sit here while Willow incinerates what I'm chosen to protect.
WILLOW: Awaken, sister of the dark, awaken-
Cut back to the bluff. Willow pauses, looks to her right as if she can hear Buffy.
BUFFY: I have to stop her.
WILLOW: Always the Slayer...
Cut back to the pit. Buffy pauses, hearing Willow's words. She straightens up, looking surprised.
WILLOW: (O.S.) Right to the last.
BUFFY: (uncertain) Willow?
Fade from Buffy to Willow, who has turned away from the temple to face the direction of the cemetery.
WILLOW: And it is the last, you know? For all your fighting ... thinking you're saving the world...
Cut back to the pit. Buffy listens in amazement.
DAWN: Buffy?
Buffy puts up a hand to silence Dawn.
WILLOW: And in the end ... I'm the only one that can save it.
BUFFY: By killing us?
WILLOW: It's the only way to stop the pain.
Cut to the Magic Box. Giles is still lying on the floor with Anya kneeling by him. Giles frowns slightly, as he can hear the conversation too.
WILLOW: (O.S.) I can't take it anymore. But I know you, Buffy.
Cut alternately between the bluff and the pit for the next few lines.
WILLOW: You're a warrior. You won't go out without a fight. I don't really have time for one. But you should go out fighting.
BUFFY: Willow, what are you-
WILLOW: It was me that took you out of the Earth. Well, now...
Buffy listens with alarm.
WILLOW: ...the Earth wants you back.
The ground around Buffy and Dawn begins to rumble. Suddenly the walls themselves start to turn into monsters, earth-creatures made up of dirt and rock and vines, which detach themselves from the walls and move toward Buffy and Dawn.
So much going on here!
We get another reiteration of Buffy dismissing Giles' caution that the Slayer can't stop Willow. "I'm not just gonna sit here while Willow incinerates what I'm chosen to protect". This statement shows Buffy's full acceptance of her duty, something she's been reluctant to take on throughout the season.
Willow, of course, clues in to this. She gives Buffy a more personal fight. The metaphor here isn't too subtle. Buffy has to fight dirt monsters while underground in a grave.
However, she quickly turns to Dawn:
Buffy stands next to Dawn, looking around. More monsters are detaching from the walls.
BUFFY: They just keep coming. I can't take them all.
Close on another monster's claw-hand coming out of the wall. Buffy turns to Dawn.
BUFFY: Dawn. Will you help me?
Dawn looks nervous, but determined.
Buffy puts the sword into Dawn's hand.
DAWN: I got your back.
It's here, in this tiny, ultimately unimportant skirmish, that Buffy heals the final wounds from her depression. She lets Dawn assist her, and the two of them fight together against Buffy's demons.
After Xander talks Willow down from her apocalyptic intentions, Buffy begins to cry when she realizes that the world isn't gonna end. To further affirm her recovery, Buffy explicitly details her happiness with the world and her desire to see Dawn - her Life - continue and develop and grow.
BUFFY: Dawn ... I'm so sorry.
Buffy gets up and hugs Dawn, begins crying again.
BUFFY: (crying) I'm sorry.
Dawn hugs Buffy, rubs her back.
DAWN: It's okay, Buffy. It's okay.
BUFFY: No. It hasn't been. It hasn't been okay.
Buffy pulls back to look Dawn in the face.
BUFFY: But it's gonna be, though. I see it.
DAWN: See what?
BUFFY: You.
Dawn looks touched.
BUFFY: Things have really sucked lately, but it's all gonna change. And I wanna be there when it does. (starting to cry again) I want to see my friends happy again. And I want to see you grow up. The woman you're gonna become. Because she's gonna be beautiful.
Now Dawn gets a little teary as well.
BUFFY: And she's going to be powerful.
Buffy turns around, back toward the coffin.
BUFFY: I got it so wrong. I don't want to protect you from the world. I want to show it to you.
She turns back to Dawn again.
BUFFY: There's so much that I want to show you.
Cue the Sarah McLachlan music as Buffy crawls out of her grave for the second time, this time with Dawn right behind her (the thing that got left her in grave the first time).
The world was saved, without Buffy. Buffy wondered earlier in the episode why she was brought back. It wasn't to continually shoulder the burden of sacrificing the save the world; it was to live.
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Bargaining and Afterlife
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Flooded and Life Serial
Buffy Came Back Wrong: All the Way and Once More, With Feeling
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Tabula Rasa and Smashed
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Wrecked, Gone, and Doublemeat Palace
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Dead Things and Older and Far Away
Buffy Came Back Wrong: As You Were and Hell's Bells
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Normal Again, Entropy, and Seeing Red
Buffy Came Back Wrong: Villains, Two to Go, and Grave
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