The Girl's Got Bite: The Original Unauthorized Guide to Buffy's World
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Spike is also feeling diminished by the chip in his head. Even though Buffy had nothing to do with his current condition, Spike has directed all of his anger toward the Slayer. She has become an obsession. It’s almost as if he resents her for not having dusted him already. She leaves him alone because she doesn’t see him as a threat and doesn’t believe in killing just for the sake of killing. Being dismissed bothers him more than being hunted by her because at least then he felt like her peer. So when Buffy asks Spike for help in finding Riley so she can get him medical attention, Spike decides to undergo a little impromptu surgery. But his dream of giving the Slayer her comeuppance is dashed when the doctor fails to remove the chip and Spike is left to rant to the unholy gods.
It’s only later, after an erotic dream, the true basis for Spike’s obsessive hatred for the Slayer is revealed. The truth is, he’s in love with the Slayer and hates her for having conquered him this way.
* * *
WEAPONS
In order to fight the variety of creatures the Hellmouth throws at her, Buffy has a massed a small arsenal of weapons. Among her favorites:
Crossbow: The crossbow’s history dates back to ancient China. In Europe, where it was also called an arbalest, it gained popularity around 1000 A.D., particularly in England. It remained the weapon of choice until the fifteenth century, when firearms took its place.
Hunga-munga: A hooked throwing knife with a double-edged blade of African origin that comes in a variety of sizes.
Quarterstaff: A round pole of wood between six and nine feet long. Meant to be used with both hands, the quarterstaff got its name because the most effective technique was to have one hand grip the staff a quarter of the way from the bottom and the other grip it at the staff’s midpoint.
Stake: Any wooden object with a pointed end. Buffy’s sentimental favorite is Mr. Pointy, the good-luck stake given to Buffy by Kendra.
* * *
THE REAL HORROR: Your body failing you. Most people take their health for granted, especially young people. When something goes wrong, denial is a typical knee-jerk reaction because sickness leads to thoughts of our mortality. In Riley’s case, he doesn’t want to be fixed because he doesn’t want to feel normal, and he kids himself into the near-fatal belief his body is strong enough to take the abuse.
IT’S A MYSTERY: Why has Spike waited until now to try and coerce a doctor into removing the chip? How could he have known there was a government-contracted doctor waiting for Riley?
83. “No Place Like Home”
(OCTOBER 24, 2000)
Director: David Solomon
Teleplay: Douglas Petrie
Recurring cast: Clare Kramer (Glory); Charlie Weber (Ben); Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers)
Guest cast: Ravil Isyanov (monk); James Wellington (nightwatchman); Paul Hayes (older nightwatchman); Staci Lawrence (customer); John Sarkisian (old monk)
Plot: Buffy learns a shocking truth about Dawn. Joyce’s headaches are getting worse.
THIS WEEK’S MYSTICAL TALISMAN: An orb called a Dagon’s Sphere, which can repel nameless ancient evils.
INTRODUCING: The Key. Dawn is actually an energy called the Key, put into human form by a band of monks. The Key is a portal to another dimension which, if opened, will bring about apocalyptic destruction.
THE BIG BAD: Glory, who is not-so-affectionately referred to as “the Beast” by a cowering monk. We’re not sure just yet who or what Glory is, but she wants the Key, and she wants it bad.
ANALYSIS: The beginning of what will become Buffy’s most difficult Slayer struggle begins innocently enough on a relatively normal night out on patrol. A security guard hands her a strange orb he thinks she dropped, not knowing it belongs to a monk who is trying to hide from a power he calls “the Beast.”
The Magic Box is jumping as its grand opening attracts half the population of Sunnydale. But Buffy’s heart isn’t in it because she’s worried about her mother’s health. She comes to believe Joyce’s ailments aren’t physical but mystical in nature. Or at least that’s what she wants to believe, because if it’s a creature Buffy can defeat it. The idea that something is wrong medically with her mom leaves Buffy feeling helpless and frightened.
Desperate to find the demon responsible, Buffy takes Anya’s advice and performs a spell that’s a kind of mystical Geiger counter. It can pick up remnants of spells cast in the past, which in turn should point Buffy in the right direction. But she is totally unprepared for what the spell reveals.
The frustration Buffy felt in general toward Dawn and her annoying adolescent behavior when Buffy thought she was her sister, turns to rage when she realizes Dawn isn’t her sister at all. She mistakenly thinks Dawn is some kind of demon emissary responsible for making Joyce sick, with relentless headaches that have the doctors confounded. But once she learns the truth about the Key, who is now a helpless human child, Buffy knows keeping her safe from all harm is a responsibility she cannot shirk.
THE REAL HORROR: Family secrets. Even without mystical powers adding a whole other layer of ramifications, uncovering family secrets can rock everyone concerned, and leave a trail of mistrust and heartache. One might think that for Buffy, discovering that who she thought was her sister really isn’t—and that all her memories of growing up together were planted in her brain by the monks seeking to protect the Key—might be a little easier to take because of her experience with the Hellmouth. But while Buffy is used to being in personal peril, she has managed to protect her family from being too exposed to the dangers inherent in Slaying. So she feels especially violated to learn that her family has been endangered by the Beast and the Key.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: The writer of this episode, Douglas Petrie, also wrote the screenplay for the 1996 Nickelodeon movie Harriet the Spy, which starred Michelle Trachtenberg.
Clare Kramer’s character was almost named Cherry instead of Glory.
Clare Kramer appeared in Bring It On with Eliza Dushku, who plays Faith.
84. “Family”
(NOVEMBER 7, 2000)
Director: Joss Whedon
Teleplay: Joss Whedon
Recurring cast: Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall); Clare Kramer (Glory); Charlie Weber (Ben); Amber Benson (Tara)
Guest cast: Amy Adams (Cousin Beth); Steve Rankin (Mr. Maclay); Ezra Buzzington (bartender); Peggy Goss (crazy person); Torry Pendergrass (Damon); Megan Gray (Sandy); Brian Tee (intern); Kevin Rankin (Donny)
Music: “Tears Are in Your Eyes” (at Willy’s), by Yo La Tengo, from And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out; “American Shoes” (during Tara’s birthday party), by Motorace, from American Shoes; “Cemented Shoes” (during the birthday party), by My Vitriol, from Cemented Shoes; “I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (as Willow and Tara dance), by Melanie Doane from Adam’s Rib
Plot: Tara’s family comes to town and threaten to reveal her secret. Glory convinces a clan of Lei-ach demons to find and kill the Slayer.
THIS WEEK’S WOULD-BE ASSASSINS: Lei-ach demons, who suck the bone marrow out of their victims.
INTRODUCING: Tara’s family, an obviously conservative clan who come to fetch Tara on her twentieth birthday so she can return home and take care of the menfolk the way she’s supposed to.
ANALYSIS: The complexities of family take center stage in this episode. When people used to live and die in the same hometown, or when generations of the same family lived under one roof, blood and marriage ties were most people’s primary relationships. But our changing culture has brought an increasingly transient lifestyle, with divorce, freedom of travel, and professional mobility affecting our social structure. While blood kin form one type of family, the “family” afforded by friends has become increasingly recognized as being just as important and powerful. Which is why in a clever turnaround, it’s now Xander and Buffy who feel slightly excluded by Willow, because of her relationship with Tara. They are adjusting to a new member of the family, going through the awkward stage when they don’t really know her yet, but want
to be welcoming for Willow’s sake.
Spike is starting to accept his attraction to Buffy—enough so that now he allows himself to fantasize about her in an erotic fashion. More practically, he is starting to show signs of protectiveness both toward her and those she loves. Although Spike will always be the ultimate black sheep, he has been warily accepted by the others. Ironically, Tara’s blood family seems to go out of their way to make her feel bad about herself, telling her she has a demon inside, just as Tara’s mother did, which is the source of the powers her mother also had.
Tara’s worry that she will be an embarrassment, or worse, in the eyes of Willow and Willow’s extended family, prompts her to cast an ill-advised spell that prevents them from seeing the demon inside her. Unfortunately, it also blinds them from seeing the demons Glory has sent to kill Buffy—until Tara realizes her mistake and undoes the spell, resigned to the truth about herself.
In the confrontation between Tara and her family, who intends to force her back home, Tara is surprised when first Buffy and then the others stand up for her. While Buffy may not understand Tara and may not really know her, she knows that Willow loves her, and that’s a good-enough reason to get involved. Ironically, it’s Spike who figures out that Tara’s father is lying about a family “demon legacy.” His own undead issues aside, Spike shows respect for women as equals, and perhaps because of his age, recognizes old-fashioned male oppression against women when he sees it.
THE REAL HORROR: Deception. While family can be your most solid foundation, for some people it can also be destructive. For Tara, her Puritanesque family tries to control her, through lies and deception, by telling her powers come from evil and that nobody but the family will accept her. By isolating her, they can control her completely.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: The vampire who tries to pick Riley up at Willy’s, Sandy, is the girl who was sired by vampire Willow in Episode 50, “Doppelgängland.”
Amy Adams played Kathryn Merteuil in the sequel Cruel Intentions 2: Manchester Prep, a role originated by Sarah Michelle Gellar in Cruel Intentions. Amy also appeared with Nicholas Brendon in the 2000 horror-comedy flick Beach Party.
85. “Fool for Love”
(NOVEMBER 14, 2000)
Director: Nick Marck
Teleplay: Douglas Petrie
Recurring cast: Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall); Juliet Landau (Drusilla); Julie Benz (Darla); Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers)
Guest cast: David Boreanaz (Angel), Kali Rocha (Cecily Addams), Edward Fletcher (male partygoer); Katharine Leonard (female partygoer); Matthew Lang (2nd male partygoer); Chris Daniels (stabbing vampire); Kenneth Feinberg (chaos demon); Steve Heinze (vampire #1); Ming Liu (Chinese Slayer); April Wheedon-Washington (subway Slayer)
Music: “Balladovie” (at the Bronze), by the Killingtons, from The Killingtons
Plot: A near-fatal encounter sends Buffy on a quest to discover how other Slayers have been killed; Joyce undergoes tests to find source of her headache.
THIS WEEK’S UNDEAD HISTORY: Spike’s backstory. Desperate to understand what fatal mistake other Slayers have made, in hopes of not repeating them, Buffy bribes Spike into telling her how he killed two Slayers.
INTRODUCING: Spike’s Slayer victims. The first was a young Chinese girl who died in 1900; the other was killed in a New York subway in 1977.
ANALYSIS: Although she kills almost on a daily basis, Buffy has never really allowed herself to examine what her relationship with death is. She thinks hearing the stories of other Slayers’ demises will help her avoid their mistakes. Spike humors her and weaves his own story in with his account of killing two Slayers.
What Spike understands and Buffy doesn’t, is that the answer she is seeking can’t be found in the stories of others. It resides inside her. He taunts Buffy by bluntly declaring that every Slayer has a death wish. Whether or not they do is debatable, but bringing death to so many in such an intimate fashion, up close and personal, often with her own hands, creates a morbid fascination with death and a desire to know it better. That desire eventually becomes a seduction to where, finally, they almost let themselves be taken, the way William allowed Drusilla to take him.
Spike has embraced the thrill of death, and over the years intentionally put himself at risk because the rush of survival was like a drug. But he also observes that Buffy’s struggle is greater because, while one part of her is drawn to death, the other part clings to life because of the love she has for her friends and family. Unlike so many Slayers who are solitary hunters, Buffy’s support group, while keeping her alive, also creates more anguish for her, and perhaps interferes with the natural life cycle of Slayers.
When she discovers Joyce is undergoing tests that indicate a possibly serious medical condition, the fear of losing her mother hits Buffy full-force. And, as always, the fragility of life remains a great unknown to Buffy.
THE REAL HORROR: Rejection. It could be argued that Cecily’s rejection directly led to William being turned into a vampire. He was so heartsick that when Drusilla came along and tapped into his unhappiness, he succumbed willingly to her. A century later, Drusilla rejects Spike in part because she can sense his obsession with Buffy, and to prove her point, he’s returned to Sunnydale. Although his given reason was to find the Gem of Amara which would make him invincible and allow him to kill the Slayer, Spike chose to stay in town. Now that he’s acknowledged his love for Buffy, her Cecily-esque rejection reopens old wounds and Spike’s knee-jerk reaction is scarily real: If I can’t have her, I’ll kill her—as if that would make up for all the rejections of his past. However, once he sees her by herself outside, afraid, crying over her mother’s pending CAT scan, Spike’s ego takes a backseat to his heart and his awkward attempts at comforting her, surprisingly, are not rebuffed. Whether she wants to admit it or not, hearing Spike’s story has made Buffy realize, at least on some subconscious level, that she and Spike may have more in common than she ever dreamed.
MYSTERY EXPLAINED: Why Spike referred to Angel as his “sire” back in Episode 15, “School Hard,” when it’s now obvious Drusilla was the one to turn him. According to Joss Whedon, “Angel was Dru’s sire and she made Spike. But sire doesn’t just mean who made you; it means you come from their line. Angel is like a grandfather to Spike.”
OF SPECIAL NOTE: According to this episode, Spike was twenty-five when he was turned in 1880.
The first Slayer he killed left him with a sword scar over his right eyebrow. The leather jacket Spike wears is a “memento” from the second Slayer he killed.
86. “Shadow”
(NOVEMBER 21, 2000)
Director: Daniel Attias
Teleplay: David Fury
Recurring cast: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers); Clare Kramer (Glory); Charlie Weber (Ben); Amber Benson (Tara)
Guest cast: Kevin Weisman (Dreg); William Forward (Dr. Isaacs)
Plot: Glory sends an unholy emissary to sniff out the Key. Joyce gets a scary diagnosis.
THIS WEEK’S DEMON BLOODHOUND: A demon snake. Glory morphs a cobra into a demon using a long-lost Sobekian spell and a mystical amulet.
INTRODUCING: Oligodendroglioma. A brain tumor of unknown cause that is more common in men than women. Headaches are a typical symptom.
ANALYSIS: Joyce’s illness is the latest emotional burden weighing on Buffy. She’s spreading herself thin trying to protect Dawn from Glory and also being there for her mother after she’s diagnosed with a tumor. In an effort to keep from falling apart, Buffy is walling up some of her emotions, and in the process Riley feels he’s being pushed away. Dawn unwittingly reinforces his feelings of alienation when she comments on how calm Buffy is with Riley compared to Angel, whom she seemed consumed by. Although Dawn thinks she’s giving Riley a compliment, Riley comprehends a passion Buffy had for Angel that she doesn’t have for him. Spike, who always goes for the jugular, even in a metaphorical sense, further twists the knife by telling Riley that he’s too “white-bread” for Buffy. Left alone, Riley begins
to tiptoe toward a walk on the wild side. When he agrees to let Sandy bite him, it’s hard to know if he’s trying to understand Buffy’s attraction to Angel or if he’s becoming self-destructive. His indifferent dusting of Sandy speaks to the latter.
Buffy is oblivious to Riley’s slipping away because she’s too busy grasping at straws, like asking Willow to perform a spell to cure her mother. Giles gently tries to give Buffy some perspective, reminding her that a medical condition isn’t a demon to be wished away or a spell to be broken.
Glory’s latest attempt to locate the Key is foiled by Buffy, although the Slayer’s most recent encounter with Glory confirms the sobering truth that there is no way Buffy is ever going to be a physical match for this adversary. Unless she finds out what exactly Glory is, and how to fight it, everyone she loves will remain in mortal danger.
THE REAL HORROR: Cancer. In a world of incurable diseases, cancer still evokes a special chill in our culture. The idea of our bodies turning on themselves in a deadly attack, adds to the helplessness of illness in general. Although the survival rate among cancer patients has improved significantly overall, any cancer involving the brain is especially worrisome since it’s the seat of our consciousness. This is one enemy Buffy can’t vanquish, regardless of her strength, and it engulfs her with a fear she’s never known before.
BLOOPERS: It’s been established Dawn was fourteen when she was introduced in 2000 so she couldn’t have been nine years old when the family moved to Sunnydale in 1997; she would have been ten going on eleven.
During the fight with Glory, Buffy’s right shoulder is injured, but at the hospital she’s icing her left shoulder.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: There was an ancient Egyptian deity called Sobek, who took the form of a crocodile.
87. “Listening to Fear”
(NOVEMBER 28, 2000)
Director: David Solomon
Teleplay: Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Recurring cast: Charlie Weber (Ben); Amber Benson (Tara); Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers)