Tabula Rasa
She does pretty well with fiends from Hell, but lately we can tell....
This episode was so good! I wasn't expecting such an amazing episode right after the musical.
Firstly, a literal loan shark? I love this show.
I also loved the whole premise - haven't you often wondered that, what you and your friends would be like if everyone could meet again, without any context? Without any history, what would the relationships between people be like? Who would be nice to whom? And at the end of the episode, of course, it's shown that context means everything, shown most dramatically between Tara and Willow, and most amusingly between Anya and Giles.
I know that Tara and Willow have to deal with Willow's magic-problem, but I find it kind of weird that Anya, Xander, Tara, and Willow are sitting around talking about what Heaven must have been like for Buffy - without actually asking Buffy! Yeah, Buffy might be resistant, but I feel like this is part of why she's suffering so much: Xander's and Willow's natural inclination is to turn to their significant others, whereas I think in previous seasons, the three of them would have talked about it, and how much it sucked.
Best LOL moments:
Buffy (after pwning an attacking vampire): I think I'm some kind of super hero!
Giles and Spike thinking they're father/son, and being all familial.
"Joan": I kill your kind.
"Randy": And I bite yours. So how come I don't want to bite you? And why am I fighting other vampires? I must be a noble vampire. A good guy. On a mission of redemption. I help the helpless. I'm a vampire with a soul!
"Joan": A vampire with a soul? Oh my God. How lame is that?
Best Angst moments:
Tara and Willow are still really attracted to each other, but when their memories are restored, Tara knows they can't be together right now. SADNESS.
Giles telling Buffy that it was necessary for him to leave, and Buffy telling him he was wrong. I understand things from Giles's perspective, but good God, from Buffy's? Everyone she cares about deeply leaves her or dies: her father, her mother, Angel, Riley, and now Giles, and I can only imagine what will happen when Willow turns.
I liked that when Buffy got her memory back, she literally could not get up and keep fighting - Spike had to kill the rest of the vampires for her. I think that with this character arc of Buffy's, the show is doing an excellent job at showing how debilitating mental anguish can be - how mentally strong you must be just to get up and keep going every day, to do the things that are most familiar to you (this was also addressed in the Musical, although I don't think Buffy has yet found something to "sing about").
But what I loved most of all about this episode was the ending, set to Michelle Branch's "Goodbye to You." Dawn angry at Tara for leaving, Willow crying (I didn't know they broke up, so that was exciting, I suppose!), Giles on the plane, and Buffy, alone at the bar...and then kissing Spike. I'm guessing this is going to be a destructive relationship for her, but when the camera swung around the corner and showed them making out, I swooned. I wish it could work out....Spike loves her so much, and she just wants to feel something, anything.
Interesting note: Willow and Tara are drawn to one another, as are Buffy and Spike. But there is absolutely no chemistry between Anya and Xander. I feel like this is true in the rest of the show, and not just this episode! BUT, he is really attracted to Willow. Poor Xander, :(
This episode was so good! I wasn't expecting such an amazing episode right after the musical.
Firstly, a literal loan shark? I love this show.
I also loved the whole premise - haven't you often wondered that, what you and your friends would be like if everyone could meet again, without any context? Without any history, what would the relationships between people be like? Who would be nice to whom? And at the end of the episode, of course, it's shown that context means everything, shown most dramatically between Tara and Willow, and most amusingly between Anya and Giles.
I know that Tara and Willow have to deal with Willow's magic-problem, but I find it kind of weird that Anya, Xander, Tara, and Willow are sitting around talking about what Heaven must have been like for Buffy - without actually asking Buffy! Yeah, Buffy might be resistant, but I feel like this is part of why she's suffering so much: Xander's and Willow's natural inclination is to turn to their significant others, whereas I think in previous seasons, the three of them would have talked about it, and how much it sucked.
Best LOL moments:
Buffy (after pwning an attacking vampire): I think I'm some kind of super hero!
Giles and Spike thinking they're father/son, and being all familial.
"Joan": I kill your kind.
"Randy": And I bite yours. So how come I don't want to bite you? And why am I fighting other vampires? I must be a noble vampire. A good guy. On a mission of redemption. I help the helpless. I'm a vampire with a soul!
"Joan": A vampire with a soul? Oh my God. How lame is that?
Best Angst moments:
Tara and Willow are still really attracted to each other, but when their memories are restored, Tara knows they can't be together right now. SADNESS.
Giles telling Buffy that it was necessary for him to leave, and Buffy telling him he was wrong. I understand things from Giles's perspective, but good God, from Buffy's? Everyone she cares about deeply leaves her or dies: her father, her mother, Angel, Riley, and now Giles, and I can only imagine what will happen when Willow turns.
I liked that when Buffy got her memory back, she literally could not get up and keep fighting - Spike had to kill the rest of the vampires for her. I think that with this character arc of Buffy's, the show is doing an excellent job at showing how debilitating mental anguish can be - how mentally strong you must be just to get up and keep going every day, to do the things that are most familiar to you (this was also addressed in the Musical, although I don't think Buffy has yet found something to "sing about").
But what I loved most of all about this episode was the ending, set to Michelle Branch's "Goodbye to You." Dawn angry at Tara for leaving, Willow crying (I didn't know they broke up, so that was exciting, I suppose!), Giles on the plane, and Buffy, alone at the bar...and then kissing Spike. I'm guessing this is going to be a destructive relationship for her, but when the camera swung around the corner and showed them making out, I swooned. I wish it could work out....Spike loves her so much, and she just wants to feel something, anything.
Interesting note: Willow and Tara are drawn to one another, as are Buffy and Spike. But there is absolutely no chemistry between Anya and Xander. I feel like this is true in the rest of the show, and not just this episode! BUT, he is really attracted to Willow. Poor Xander, :(