Buffy Crossover Alert!

Wow, guys. As I'm watching the incredible movie Bring It On (starring the fabulous Eliza Dushku of Faith notoriety) I realize that the bitchy second-in-command cheerleader is Clare Kramer. BETTER KNOWN AS GLORY. Glory, the hellish Big Bad from Season 5. This is bringing me no small joy.

"Follow me or perish, Sweater Monkeys."

New Moon Rising: Live & Uncensored

A Willow friendly room, huh, Tara?  As my students might say: "Ohhhhhh yeeeeeyaaaah."  Wil, it is so adorable how you translate the Scooby meeting for Tara.  I'm so pleased that you two are becoming full-fledged lady lovers as Tara becomes a full-fledged Scooby (a member of the FAMILY, even?  Go on home naw, Bobby Ray!).

Giles, YOU may not appreciate Anya's snide remarks, but I really, really do.  (Why don't you serve your purpose and go back to being the sexified, raspy-voiced, coffee-shop crooner that I know you are?  What?)

And OHMYGAAW, Oz is back!

CUE Nerf Herder.  CUT TO Me fist pumping.

"Oz was a werewolf and Willow was DATING HIM?"  Oh, Riley.  Who hasn't dated a corn-fed Iowa boy with conservative values, unable to accept an "alternative lifestyle," blind to life's variety.  Buffy, we all know that love isn't logical with you darlin'.  WHERE THE HELL is Angel.

Ugh, I cannot HANDLE the Willow faces in this episode.  They are torturous.  "I'll have the less confusing waffles right now"--Willow, summing up how I'd like to approach most things in life: f*#& it all, and indulge in various breakfast foods.

Buffy (to Riley):  "Right, and then you can have a perfectly balanced breakfast, and then you can call your mother."
...

Buffy:  "There's different degrees of..."

Riley:  "Evil?"

Buffy:  "It's just different with different demons.  There are creatures, vampires for example, that aren't evil at all"

Douche-bag:  "Name one."

...enter Forrest (what a charmer)
I could write an entire post on this whole issue, but I have to keep up.  Go obey sa'more commands already, Riley.

This coming out is touching, but in the interest of full disclosure I'm currently thinking, "Buffy, your hair is lookin' real nice this season."

Wakey, Spikey!  Adam is the most dull villain.  I wish to wipe him from my screen.

I'm totally glossing over all the Willow/Tara talk.  Sry.

If there were ever an argument for ditchin' dudes, Oz's reaction to discovering Wil's relocation to the Isle of Lesbos is it.  I mean, he absolutely loses his shit, all jealous and werewolfy (who wants a thickly-veiled metaphor these days?).

HOLD THE PHONE.  Cutest high-five scene ever:
Anya:  "Slap my hand now!"
Giles:  "Huh?"
Anya:  "In celebration!"

10 points for anarchy.  You may be on the road to redemption yet, Riley.

ANGELLLLLL.

I'm using humor to deflect the pain I feel watching this final scene between Willow and Oz.  Willow looks at him as adorably as the first day she saw Oz at Sunnydale High, but oh, how things have changed.

In conclusion, we can all agree that Where the Wild Things Are ignited a fire within each of us, and that THIS episode is seriously lacking in sexy-singin' Giles.  (Ohhhhh yeeeeeeyaaaaah.)

The Slayer and Death

I was driving home after a long weekend away and noticed for the first time this year that the leaves are changing. This event always heralds my favorite time of year: Fall. Fall represents cooler weather, football season, my birthday, the return to school (sadly, the last school year for me), and a fresh feeling in the air. Of course, I live in Alabama, so it's still hot as the Hellmouth out there, but ever since I saw those leaves I've been giddy over the good things to come. However, not everyone feels the same way I do. While reading one of my favorite blogs, I discovered that the autumn season makes the blog's author depressed.  Changing leaves for her are the death rattle of the land; the season in general represents another year dying.

As most things do, this discovery made me pensive. I mean, I know that colorful leaves soon lead to bare trees, and that the landscape slowly turns to brown in the fall. But I still love it. This train of thought took me shortly to Buffy.

In season 5, Spike observes that all Slayers secretly have death wishes. Buffy denies this. After all, a Slayer's entire existence is fighting to keep herself and the people of the world alive. Beyond that, what rational person would seek death? Death, in the form of vampires, threatens a Slayer's life at every turn. Death seeks her out; no reason to bring it on faster than it already hurtles toward her.

But we find out that Buffy does have a death wish, in a way. This is fulfilled at the end of the season in "The Gift," as Buffy realizes that although her life has saved countless people, her death will save the world. And when Buffy returns from death in season 6, we find out that she would rather be dead than be back and faced with the crushing burdens that come along with being the Chosen One. Death equals peace to a Slayer. Although death is the end of the line, it's also the end of turmoil, the end of terror, the end of bearing the weight of the world.

There's also an interesting argument that Buffy is actually attracted to death, due to her two romances with vampires. But I won't go down that rabbit trail here.

So, death equals peace. And although BtVS is not a religious show, this message rings true to those of us who are Christians. Like Buffy, Christians travail through life amidst all the pain and strife that goes along with it, all the while understanding that death will bring fulfillment and peace. It's also interesting to note that while Buffy does seek to prevent people from dying, her major work centers around preventing people from what comes after dying - becoming a vampire, or living in a post-apocalyptic hell dimension, both fates worse than death. In both Christian theology and BtVS, it's what comes after death that's so crucial.

The Christian metaphor often breaks down, especially after Buffy's resurrection in season 6. But after we begin to understand the depths of Buffy's despair over being back alive and re-shouldering her impossible burden, we can at least sympathize with her subconscious desire for the death that will end her life-struggle. And this is what makes the end of the series so meaningful. Buffy can smile again because she has fulfilled her worldly mission.

So I guess that brings us back to the changing of seasons. After fall heralds the death of the year, and winter embodies it, spring does come again. And that's why it's okay to love autumn and everything it stands for: death is necessary, and it can be painful, but it can also be lovely. In Buffy's case her beautiful death was the ultimate act of love. Above all, we know that death is not the end - we can be assured that spring will come again, and with it, peace.

And it's not even September yet.

Live Blog/Buffy Roulette: Never Leave Me (s7)

So I decided to start my own episode recap postings by playing a fun little game. You randomly pick a season from your Chosen Collection box set and then randomly select a disc and watch the first episode on it. What's that you don't have the Chosen Collection box set?

Witch please.

Anyway, here we go.

Ugh, Dawn has the first line. Boo.

This episode is really great because it revisits the tension that arcs throughout the series about the parameters of good and evil. This tension is particularly strong because Buffy seems to always be the deciding factor. It can be assumed that Anya feels upset because of the events of the earlier episode "Selfless" in which Buffy views Anya as "bad" because of her causing a spider demon to rip the hearts out of an entire fraternity. To which I say, who hasn't been there?

Buffy's reluctance to confront Spike physically is especially interesting considering she has been willing to do so in the past (with Angel in Season 2 and Willow in Season 6). Poor Buffy is continually having to weigh her personal relationships, romantic and otherwise, against the loss of human life.

But goody! Andrew's dressed like Spike. But yuck Warren as the First is so grating.

"I'm like Obi-Wan."
- "Or Patrick Swayze."
(One of many exchanges between Andrew and WarrenTheFirst which is revelatory of Andrew's homoerotic feelings for Warren. And also very funny.)

To reference Yates' post - Spike is great. Especially in Season 7 once he has his soul. I also agree that his acquisition of such is much more tortured than brooding. As evidenced by this little exchange between Buffy and him:

Buffy (tying Spike down): We're gonna get to the bottom of this. We just can take any chances.
Spike: Don't. Make it tighter. If I get free someone's gonna die.
(KNOWING EXCHANGE OF WORRIED LOOKS.)

And then we have the credits.

Principal Wood going all Stand and Deliver on some students. And also kind of Law & Order: SVU. Oh yeah, those kids are gonna repaint that wall.

Ugh, Dawn again.

Principal Wood's facial hair is impeccable. So neatly trimmed and contained.

Quentin Travers, and his lack of facial hair, are completely worthless.

Spike experiences a withdraw from drinking human blood which fits in nicely with the continuing theme of withdrawal from blood and/or magic as a metaphor for withdrawal from drugs and/or alcohol.

Andrew makes not one but TWO references to the Babe franchise in his attempts to slaughter a pig. This attempt is of course unsuccessful leading to Andrew's trip to the butcher. Here he asks for toothpaste and as he is still dressed in a black duster and combat boots is met with this witty and surprisingly pop-culture savvy retort from the aging butcher:

"This is a butcher shop, Neo, we don't sell toothpaste."

Andrew retrieves his items only to turn around and bump into Willow. Whom he hasn't seen since she was trying to kill him during "Grave" in Season 6. They exchange words outside the butcher shop in which Andrew oscillates between declaring his goodness to threatening Willow "little girl." He also attempts to assuage any anger Willow feels towards Warren's killing of Willow by saying he as aiming for Buffy. This does not assuage said anger. She threatens all kinds of magical vengeance and ass-whooping before hauling him back to 1630 Revello Drive.

Unfortunately Andrew realizes too late that Willow's threats of doom are somewhat baseless:

"Hey your hair's not even black anymore."

Anya and Xander are interrogating Andrew ruthlessly interrogating Andrew. It's pretty compelling police work. They both mutually encourage each other afterwards and then Xander has a little freudian slip! Something about "pumping him in no time" or other.

Buffy is not so ruthlessly interrogating Spike in the next room. He doesn't remember the times that he's killed people. He says that things have been murky ever since he got his soul back and he just figured this is what "it" (referring to having soul) is like. Buffy then inquires where he got said soul to which he replies, cryptically but sort of cutely, "saw a man about a girl." And then he tells her the real story.

During this exchange Spike also tells Buffy that he's "come to redefine the terms pain and suffering since I fell in love with you." This remark obviously wounds Buffy and she incredulously asks "how can you even say that?" At the risk of over-analyzation this remark is somewhat indicative of the dichotomy present in most of Buffy's relationships. Buffy would do anything to save the ones she loves - but it is often their association with her which endangers them. The remark is more directly a dig at Buffy for her behavior during Season 6 in which she used Spike repeatedly.

Anya and Xander are now attempting to employ the good cop/bad cop routine. Xander is trying to strike fear into Andrew's heart by recounting stories of Anya's evilness. This actually turns into Xander's accidental illustration about how the loss of Anya makes him feel. It involves the removal of a heart and replacing it with darkness.

Buffy leaves to check on the activities next door and when she does the First appears to Spike as Spike. Buffy makes to come back into the room and hears Spike murmuring and singing to someone. She asks him about this to which he dazedly denies. He asks her to bring him some blood and when she goes for it HE COMPLETELY HULKS OUT. Ropes ripped, chair broken, growling. He then snatches Andrew through the wall and feeds from him.

Buffy knocks Spike to the floor while Xander and Anya tend to the wounded Andrew. Spike comes to his senses and looks up to see a smug version of the First (still in the form of Spike) shaking his head. Buffy, quite unimpressed, then kicks Spike in the face knocking him unconscious.

Anya, Xander, Buffy, Willow and (ugh) Dawn regroup downstairs to muse over the events. Buffy recounts Spike apparent personality shift before going psychotic. She mentions the singing and Anya wonders aloud if perhaps "it's another musical, a much crappier one" referring to the vents of "Once More, With Feeling." Xander, using knowledge from army movies, explains that the song is a trigger used in brainwashing procedure. The military films are somewhat unsatisfactory in providing a means of disabling said trigger as Xander points out that the two alternatives are blowing off your head or stealing a submarine.

The group begins to piece together the hauntings and other strange happenings in an attempt to figure out what they're dealing with. It's a good use of dramatic irony on the writer's part that the audience is aware of Season 7's big bad before the Scoobies are.

meanwhile Principal Wood is wandering around Sunnydale High School while ominous music plays in the background. He inexplicably decides to head down to the basement. This decision is rewarded with his discovery of Jonatha's dead body sprawled out on the seal.

Spike is now chained up in the basement. Buffy approaches him to begin tending to his wounds. spike comes to and asks if he hurt anybody. Buffy then explains to Spike their suspicions of brainwashing. Spike then pleads with Buffy to kill him on the grounds that she doesn't know what he's capable of. Buffy says she does. And then Spike provides a bunch of anecdotes which effectively prove that NO SHE DOES NOT. Buffy does not rise to the occasion of his goading and this causes Spike to ask why she keeps him around. She tries to offer an explanation of loyalty brought about by Spike's camaraderie in previous battles. Spike rejects this and accuses Buffy of "liking men who hurt her" (more on this in a future post).

Actually the entire dialogue between Buffy and Spike in the basement is an exploration of several themes throughout the series. And I just cannot type that fast.

Just when things are getting really tender between Buffy and Spike the Bringers bust through a window and knock Buffy up side the head.

The next shot is then of Principal Wood burying Jonathan's body out by an eerily light oil rig in the dead of night.

Cut back to the Bringers brining the pain on Revello Drive. Willow is knock unconscious almost immediately. This is a device which the creators of the show apparently adapted to deal with the onset of Willow's great power. She can't destroy all the Bringers in one swoop if she's lying motionless on the carpet. Clever.

Battles ensue in which everyone remains relatively unscathed. Minus the all powerful witch on the floor. They realize too late that the Bringers came for Spike. Fortunately Buffy now realizes that the Bringers are indeed the Bringers which leads her to a broader conclusion:

Buffy: I know these guys. I've fought them before. We aren't being haunted. This isn't some demon. It's all the same thing. Spike's ghosts. The people that you guys saw. From beneath us. It's all the same thing. I know what we're up against. The First.

This revelation is followed by one of the best scenes in the episode, if not the season. Quentin Travers and his advisors are huddled in their quarters. Travers confirms Buffy's revelation. The First has declared all out war. He waxes philosophical about being the masters of our destinies, quotes from Proverbs and calls for preliminary tactical analysis. He announces that they're going to Sunnydale to strike back.

And then the entire Watcher's Council headquarters gets blown up.

Which is sad, ok whatever, but also really awesome because it's just a blatant reaffirmation of the fact that Buffy and the Scoobies are the key players in opposing the First.

Cut to Spike being mounted to some kind of crucifix structure above the seal in the basement of the school. He's surrounded by various ornate knives and other gilded weaponry. The First, still in the form of Spike, watches on as a Bringer begins slicing Spike. The First chastises Spike saying he brought this on himself. The First then morphs into Buffy and remarks that he was going to kill Andrew but Spike looks a lot better with his shirt off. HEARD THAT.

The First: Now Spike, do you wanna see what a real vampire looks like?

Spikes blood does what Jonathan's blood could not, which is open the seal and release said "real vampire." The Turok Han. It growls menacingly.

And then the credits roll.

I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

Sometimes loving Buffy Summers is a catch-22. 

The only metaphorical support I can give to this claim is that loving Buffy Summers is like leaving the best movie you've ever seen or hearing the most beautiful song you've ever heard.  When the show was on it was fantastic - and sure you can watch the DVDs, read the blogs, attend the sing-a-longs.  But Buffy isn't a pop-culture phenomenon anymore.  She has her place in history as a pop-culture icon to be sure.  But there are no longer Entertainment Weekly articles offering commentary on her plot arcs.  Her cut-out has disappeared from the glassy store front of FYE and can be found only through internet searches. 

People aren't updating their Buffy/Angel fanfics anymore. 

There's a certain nostalgic undertaking that comes with being a present day Buffy fan.  When you turn on the T.V. and are inundated with the mindless and casual copulation of "college students" on Gossip Girl, as a Buffy fan, you can't help but feel cheated.  Don't even get started on Twilight. 

And then Katniss came to us, as Gandalf once did, at the turn of the tide. 

Katniss Everdeen is the protagonist of The Hunger Games trilogy written by Suzanne Collins.  Like Buffy, Katniss was called to something greater and more sinister than she deserved.  And like Buffy this calling represents for Katniss an, at times, insurmountable amount of sacrifice and servitude.  

I don't want to give too many spoilers for the trilogy because it's my hope that Buffyphiles the world over will read it.  What I will say is that Suzanne Collins has managed to do what Joss Whedon did in the late nineties.  She has presented a heroine who's legacy and heroism is both inspiring and tragic.  A heroine who's life is full of love and fulfillment but not without great hurt and loss.  

The nuance of Buffy Summers is that she is a hero but does not take delight in the trappings of her heroics. There is no stylized glamour to the violence and depravity that Buffy must confront in her role as the Slayer.  Nor does Katniss take joy in the callings of being the Mockingjay.  Each ascends to the role because they know that not to do so could mean the harm of those they love.  And while this sounds in print a whole like martyrdom the reality is that both Buffy and Katniss are resentful of their respective callings.  This doesn't negate their willingness to bear their respective mantles but it does make them more relatable. 

I'm not saying I won't force my future female offspring to be Buffy for Halloween every year. 

But if she wanted to dress up as Katniss I wouldn't mind. 

An Inconvenient Truth

I like Spike.

I don't mean like. I mean love. And I don't mean love the way all those other fools do who say, "Oh, Spike is so hot!" "He and Buffy belong together!" "Spike is hilarious!" To them I say, "NO." Convinced of my own superiority, I submit that my love for Spike is love in its purest form. From the moment his white-haired dome drove into Sunnydale in "School Hard," I was intrigued. Even at his most evil I am a fan. During Season 2 I wasn't pulling for him to beat Buffy, but I was pulling for him to take down Angel. When Spike made that tenuous alliance with the Buffster in "Becoming, Part 1," I understood this to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Some of you may protest that this isn't fair. After all, we all know that Angel was Buffy's first and true love, and that during the end of Season 2 he couldn't help his supreme villainy. That's true. And I get that Spike was set up beginning in Season 4 to be the only character who doesn't frustrate the daylights out of the audience and who doesn't require loud outbursts of shouting at the TV screen to make them behave (I'm talking to you, Willow).

What I'm trying to say is that Spike was on a journey. All of the characters were; that's one of the reasons Buffy was such a great show. But, at least to me, Spike's journey was the most fulfilling and satisfying. To me, Spike is the only man who could be with Buffy.

I know, I know. Angel, right? We could go back and forth all day about this (and in a future post, I probably will). But let's observe the facts, shall we? Angel was tortured (man vs. himself and all) by the crimes he perpetrated as a vampire. For decades. Buffy saved him. And he loved her with a fierce passion. BUT THEN HE LEFT, and consequently got his own--and ultimately disappointing--show. All this was necessary because of that durn curse.

Spike was also tortured when he (SPOILER alert [Question: can it really be a spoiler 8 years after the show went off the air? Answer: YES.]) got back his soul. But he pulled it together after only a couple months. He also willingly fought for his soul so that he could be the man Buffy needed him to be. And in the end, he gave the ultimate sacrifice, fulfilling his destiny and thereby saving the woman he had grown to love.

Really, the main similarity between Spike and Angel (besides being the only two vampires with souls) is that Buffy saved both of them from themselves.

Maybe I should have prefaced this post with the fact that I never prefer the normal, hot guy you are supposed to like in movies and TV shows. Growing up, my sister was in love with Christian Bale in Newsies, but I always liked that nerdy David kid better. And I liked Robert Sean Leonard in Swing Kids, while my sister, again, preferred the bold and virile Christian Bale. (Maybe I just didn't like Christian Bale.) I know that we are meant to love Angel so much that no one can ever take the place of him, but that just isn't so. Spike may not have that intense, soul-searching stare that Angel does, but he's so FIESTY. Whatever.

In a perfect world, i.e., there was no Angel TV show and no Season 8 comic (I'm a Buffy purist), at the end of it all, Buffy would walk away from Sunnydale forever, never see Angel again (what's the point?), and Spike would be dead. The sadness of that is very satisfying because it's just the way things are.

This post kinda got away from me. But now that I've opened this portal, many, MANY more Spike posts will surely come forth.

But seriously SPUFFY 4EVA!!