"Maybe you, uh, wanna put some ice on it."
I just watched "Older and Far Away" in my molasses-at-Christmas second time all the way through the Buffyverse*and I was delighted to see just how amazingly awesome Tara is in this episode. I mean, she's always awesome, but she is far and away my favourite character during this stretch of the show. Her and Clem, that is. I heart Clem to bits. But, yeah, I've got a serious Tara crush right now.
It's also - and I do not at all recall feeling this way in the past - an excellent Spike episode, and has several pretty damn significant moments on his journey to be the character we have in the comics now, for being as un-Spike-centric as it is:
~ He has a friend! I seriously cannot thank the writers enough for giving him a relationship with someone outside the Scoobies who, while still not 100% up to modern human morality standards, is still a nice, regular sort of guy.
~ He's still not healed from "Dead Things." Continuity! And reinforcement of the comparative strength and healing powers of vampires and Slayers! And lasting physical manifestations of how Buffy isn't the only one being hurt by their relationship!
~ "Willow mentioned the shindig. Figured we're all part of the team." First of all, of course Willow talked to Spike. Their relationship is the best thing on the show (uh, other than the relationship between Giles and Buffy and the relationship between Spike and Dawn. Shut up; I like twisted friendships), and I get the feeling that, after what Anya put her through and still got to be a Scooby (it's easy to forget how traumatic Anya's introduction was for Will, but it's *crucial* to understanding the characters), Will probably thinks Spike should be more than welcome. Second, I don't know if the subject of that second sentence is Spike or Willow - either she mentioned it and he assumed he was invited, or she mentioned it because she assumed he was invited - but I'm happy with either interpretation.
(Also, let's take a moment to chew over the fact that Batman can't commit to being a member of the Justice League and Wolverine reserves the right to take off on his own at any point, but Spike just wants to be allowed to play with the other kids...even if he's not actually all that good at it most of the time.)
~ He hears Xander scream from another room, so he instantaneously runs to the rescue. There's not a hesitation or any indication that he's not going to help because it's not Buffy (or Dawn) (or Willow?) (or because it is Xander) (or because it is a male voice in general, considering Richard is one of only three non-Spike males in the house and, going on BS6 Spike logic, there's even less of a reason to save Richard than Xander) in trouble, he just goes where he's needed and proceeds to kick demon arse. Xander is a tool about Spike, but Spike treats him like the teammate he believes him to be.
~ He goes up to check on Dawn with the others. Sure, he doesn't say anything, and I definitely feel that this would have been a good episode for some Dawn/Spike scenes. Why isn't he spending time with her? Why aren't they as close as they used to be? There's actually a bit where Buffy tells her to stay with Spike, but we don't get any follow-up with that and it ultimately winds up feeling too much like a warped presage of the end of "Seeing Red." But, point is, he cares enough to follow them up to see what the problem is.
~ He physically and verbally stands behind Willow's right to chose what she knows is best for her over the possibility of rescuing everyone (including Spike himself). While Anya is getting more and more icily sarcastic with Willow, his expression changes - one of those dangerous flashes of surprise and anger where his eyes fly open and he tilts his head before furrowing his brow and jutting his lower jaw forward - as he begins to interject and shifts his weight forward. Willow is terrified and distressed and feeling extraordinarily guilty to boot, all because she's trying to do the right thing, and Spike is thoroughly unappreciative of Anya's antagonizing her. Willow's long-time best friend takes Anya's side because he is contractually obligated to always play devil's advocate against Buffy and/or Willow, but the not-quite-reformed, bechipped-but-as-yet-soulless vampire is standing up for personal freedom and clean-and-sober living.
~ "Hey, wait a minute..." AH GAHD SPIKE YOU POOR THING C'MERE AND LET ME HUGGLE YOU BETTER.
(Just as a reminder, I love the way this was handled, and Peter David's follow-up in Old Times is one of my favourite comics ever.)
Yeah, that was supposed to be a quick little "I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS KTHXBYE" post. Oops.
It's also - and I do not at all recall feeling this way in the past - an excellent Spike episode, and has several pretty damn significant moments on his journey to be the character we have in the comics now, for being as un-Spike-centric as it is:
~ He has a friend! I seriously cannot thank the writers enough for giving him a relationship with someone outside the Scoobies who, while still not 100% up to modern human morality standards, is still a nice, regular sort of guy.
~ He's still not healed from "Dead Things." Continuity! And reinforcement of the comparative strength and healing powers of vampires and Slayers! And lasting physical manifestations of how Buffy isn't the only one being hurt by their relationship!
~ "Willow mentioned the shindig. Figured we're all part of the team." First of all, of course Willow talked to Spike. Their relationship is the best thing on the show (uh, other than the relationship between Giles and Buffy and the relationship between Spike and Dawn. Shut up; I like twisted friendships), and I get the feeling that, after what Anya put her through and still got to be a Scooby (it's easy to forget how traumatic Anya's introduction was for Will, but it's *crucial* to understanding the characters), Will probably thinks Spike should be more than welcome. Second, I don't know if the subject of that second sentence is Spike or Willow - either she mentioned it and he assumed he was invited, or she mentioned it because she assumed he was invited - but I'm happy with either interpretation.
(Also, let's take a moment to chew over the fact that Batman can't commit to being a member of the Justice League and Wolverine reserves the right to take off on his own at any point, but Spike just wants to be allowed to play with the other kids...even if he's not actually all that good at it most of the time.)
~ He hears Xander scream from another room, so he instantaneously runs to the rescue. There's not a hesitation or any indication that he's not going to help because it's not Buffy (or Dawn) (or Willow?) (or because it is Xander) (or because it is a male voice in general, considering Richard is one of only three non-Spike males in the house and, going on BS6 Spike logic, there's even less of a reason to save Richard than Xander) in trouble, he just goes where he's needed and proceeds to kick demon arse. Xander is a tool about Spike, but Spike treats him like the teammate he believes him to be.
~ He goes up to check on Dawn with the others. Sure, he doesn't say anything, and I definitely feel that this would have been a good episode for some Dawn/Spike scenes. Why isn't he spending time with her? Why aren't they as close as they used to be? There's actually a bit where Buffy tells her to stay with Spike, but we don't get any follow-up with that and it ultimately winds up feeling too much like a warped presage of the end of "Seeing Red." But, point is, he cares enough to follow them up to see what the problem is.
~ He physically and verbally stands behind Willow's right to chose what she knows is best for her over the possibility of rescuing everyone (including Spike himself). While Anya is getting more and more icily sarcastic with Willow, his expression changes - one of those dangerous flashes of surprise and anger where his eyes fly open and he tilts his head before furrowing his brow and jutting his lower jaw forward - as he begins to interject and shifts his weight forward. Willow is terrified and distressed and feeling extraordinarily guilty to boot, all because she's trying to do the right thing, and Spike is thoroughly unappreciative of Anya's antagonizing her. Willow's long-time best friend takes Anya's side because he is contractually obligated to always play devil's advocate against Buffy and/or Willow, but the not-quite-reformed, bechipped-but-as-yet-soulless vampire is standing up for personal freedom and clean-and-sober living.
~ "Hey, wait a minute..." AH GAHD SPIKE YOU POOR THING C'MERE AND LET ME HUGGLE YOU BETTER.
(Just as a reminder, I love the way this was handled, and Peter David's follow-up in Old Times is one of my favourite comics ever.)
Yeah, that was supposed to be a quick little "I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS KTHXBYE" post. Oops.