Buffy - Season 6 impressions (episode 6)
All The Way
For a summary click here.
- I didn't care much for this episode. I like Dawn, but it seems I like her best when she is interacting with Buffy or Spike. Nevertheless, this episode has some interesting moments, especially when we see that are several topics everyone tries to avoid. These topics are the attraction between Buffy and Spike, Xander (and possible Anya)having second thoughts about marrying, Dawn trying to rebel and feeling very much alone, Willow abusing magic and Buffy shunning responsibility.
- Buffy runs into Spike in the basement of the Magic Shop.
The scene does a great job at capturing the sudden awkwardness between them:
SPIKE: Feel like a bit of the rough and tumble?
BUFFY: (shocked) What?
SPIKE: Me ... you...
She stares at him, still shocked.
SPIKE: Patrolling? Hello?
BUFFY: Oh. Uh ... I ... should stay. Maybe tomorrow.
It's a little awkward. They both turn away, Buffy toward the stairs and Spike toward the direction he came from.
SPIKE: It's not like I don't already have plans. Great Pumpkin's on in twenty.
He turns and leaves. Buffy shakes her head.
BUFFY: (to herself) So much easier to talk to when he wanted to kill me.
- Xander tells the gang that he and Anya are going to get married.
This is another scene I like, because we can sense that Giles, Buffy and Willow are rather overwhelmed by the news. The party feels rather contrived: Everyone tries to be happy, but apart from Anya noone succeeds. Xander starts looking as if he wishes he had never proposed to Anya. As for Anya, she's acting over the top even by her own standards, so it looks as if she's getting the wedding jitters herself.
- In the meantime, Dawn is on a double date with her friend Janice. It turns out that Justin, her date, is really a vampire. By the end of the episode, it looks as if he will either kill Dawn or turn her. Dawn manages to stop him by staking him.
Really not keen on this plot, but it brings up three interesting points:
* Dawn is trying to be a bad girl (going out secretly, proudly stating that she hasn't paid for lipstick in a long while). All of this can, of course, be seen as teenage rebel behaviour, but is more than that. Dawn desperately wants attention. If she can't get positive attention, she'll subconsciously try for negative attention.
* When she and Justin kiss in the car, I think more is going on than a teenager trying to gain new experiences. I believe that Dawn is starved for affection and takes any affection she can get at this point.
* Giles, Spike and Buffy set out to find Dawn. Nevertheless, Dawn is still left to defend herself, e.g. she has to stake Justin herself. There's noone who does it for her. This suggests that ultimately Dawn is on her own right now.
- Tara and Willow fight two times openly over Willow's frequent use of magic. Even when there's no outright fight, there's an underlying tension, e.g. when Willow wants to clean up the Magic Box with a spell and both Giles and Tara coat their diapproval in humorous remarks.
TARA: (grabs her hand) What are you doing? Will?
WILLOW: I'm just gonna clear the crowd.
TARA: How?
WILLOW: I'll just shift everyone who isn't a fifteen-year-old girl into an alternate dimension. (smiling)
TARA: (horrified) What?
WILLOW: No, it'll be for like a fraction of a second. They won't even notice.
TARA: Will, no, you can't!
WILLOW: Why?
TARA: Well, what if something went wrong?
WILLOW: Well, it won't!
In this scene, it becomes clear that Willow doesn't just use magic way too often, she also uses it in irresponsible and dangerous ways. In this regard, she reminds me of the geek trio who like her don't stop to consider the side effects of their actions. Interestingly enough, Willow also started out as a geek. The pattern here is that low self-esteem combined with suddenly acquired power is a rather dangerous combination.
In the final scene of this episode, Willow abuses her power in the worst way when she tinkers with Tara's memory and enchants her to forget about their arguments. This is extremely callous in its own right, but gets even worse considering what Glory did to Tara not too long ago.
- Once again, Buffy feels overwhelmed by her responsibilities. This is a theme we also saw in season 5 (Tough Love): Here Giles forced Buffy to take an authoritative stance with her sister. Still, Buffy never felt comfortable with this role and after she came back from the dead she is overwhelmed by life already. She simply isn't able at this point to also take on the role of an authority figure. As she mentioned at the end of Life Serial, she sees Giles in the role of Joyce and wants him take over the duties of her mother.
GILES: Well, it's not surprising. Still, we can't ignore this kind of behavior. Something needs to be done before it spins out of control.
BUFFY: (nods) You're right. I'm glad you're here to take care of it. Don't ... be too hard on her, okay?
For a summary click here.
- I didn't care much for this episode. I like Dawn, but it seems I like her best when she is interacting with Buffy or Spike. Nevertheless, this episode has some interesting moments, especially when we see that are several topics everyone tries to avoid. These topics are the attraction between Buffy and Spike, Xander (and possible Anya)having second thoughts about marrying, Dawn trying to rebel and feeling very much alone, Willow abusing magic and Buffy shunning responsibility.
- Buffy runs into Spike in the basement of the Magic Shop.
The scene does a great job at capturing the sudden awkwardness between them:
SPIKE: Feel like a bit of the rough and tumble?
BUFFY: (shocked) What?
SPIKE: Me ... you...
She stares at him, still shocked.
SPIKE: Patrolling? Hello?
BUFFY: Oh. Uh ... I ... should stay. Maybe tomorrow.
It's a little awkward. They both turn away, Buffy toward the stairs and Spike toward the direction he came from.
SPIKE: It's not like I don't already have plans. Great Pumpkin's on in twenty.
He turns and leaves. Buffy shakes her head.
BUFFY: (to herself) So much easier to talk to when he wanted to kill me.
- Xander tells the gang that he and Anya are going to get married.
This is another scene I like, because we can sense that Giles, Buffy and Willow are rather overwhelmed by the news. The party feels rather contrived: Everyone tries to be happy, but apart from Anya noone succeeds. Xander starts looking as if he wishes he had never proposed to Anya. As for Anya, she's acting over the top even by her own standards, so it looks as if she's getting the wedding jitters herself.
- In the meantime, Dawn is on a double date with her friend Janice. It turns out that Justin, her date, is really a vampire. By the end of the episode, it looks as if he will either kill Dawn or turn her. Dawn manages to stop him by staking him.
Really not keen on this plot, but it brings up three interesting points:
* Dawn is trying to be a bad girl (going out secretly, proudly stating that she hasn't paid for lipstick in a long while). All of this can, of course, be seen as teenage rebel behaviour, but is more than that. Dawn desperately wants attention. If she can't get positive attention, she'll subconsciously try for negative attention.
* When she and Justin kiss in the car, I think more is going on than a teenager trying to gain new experiences. I believe that Dawn is starved for affection and takes any affection she can get at this point.
* Giles, Spike and Buffy set out to find Dawn. Nevertheless, Dawn is still left to defend herself, e.g. she has to stake Justin herself. There's noone who does it for her. This suggests that ultimately Dawn is on her own right now.
- Tara and Willow fight two times openly over Willow's frequent use of magic. Even when there's no outright fight, there's an underlying tension, e.g. when Willow wants to clean up the Magic Box with a spell and both Giles and Tara coat their diapproval in humorous remarks.
TARA: (grabs her hand) What are you doing? Will?
WILLOW: I'm just gonna clear the crowd.
TARA: How?
WILLOW: I'll just shift everyone who isn't a fifteen-year-old girl into an alternate dimension. (smiling)
TARA: (horrified) What?
WILLOW: No, it'll be for like a fraction of a second. They won't even notice.
TARA: Will, no, you can't!
WILLOW: Why?
TARA: Well, what if something went wrong?
WILLOW: Well, it won't!
In this scene, it becomes clear that Willow doesn't just use magic way too often, she also uses it in irresponsible and dangerous ways. In this regard, she reminds me of the geek trio who like her don't stop to consider the side effects of their actions. Interestingly enough, Willow also started out as a geek. The pattern here is that low self-esteem combined with suddenly acquired power is a rather dangerous combination.
In the final scene of this episode, Willow abuses her power in the worst way when she tinkers with Tara's memory and enchants her to forget about their arguments. This is extremely callous in its own right, but gets even worse considering what Glory did to Tara not too long ago.
- Once again, Buffy feels overwhelmed by her responsibilities. This is a theme we also saw in season 5 (Tough Love): Here Giles forced Buffy to take an authoritative stance with her sister. Still, Buffy never felt comfortable with this role and after she came back from the dead she is overwhelmed by life already. She simply isn't able at this point to also take on the role of an authority figure. As she mentioned at the end of Life Serial, she sees Giles in the role of Joyce and wants him take over the duties of her mother.
GILES: Well, it's not surprising. Still, we can't ignore this kind of behavior. Something needs to be done before it spins out of control.
BUFFY: (nods) You're right. I'm glad you're here to take care of it. Don't ... be too hard on her, okay?