Guest cast: Dean Butler (Hank Summers); Michael Warren (doctor); Kirsten Nelson (Lorraine Ross); Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers); Sarah Scivier (nurse); Rodney Charles (orderly); April Dion (kissing girl)
Plot: After being stung by a demon summoned by the Trio, Buffy believes Sunnydale is all a bad dream.
THIS WEEK’S PSYCHOSIS-INDUCING DEMON: The Glarghk Guhl Kashma’nik. Its poison induces hallucinations. Because Buffy has been feeling so removed from her life since returning, the poison has a particularly dramatic effect on her because it gives her the opportunity to leave all her troubles behind.
INTRODUCING: Buffy’s time in an institution. For the first time she reveals that back in Los Angeles her parents institutionalized her the first time she tried to tell them vampires were real.
ANALYSIS: All of Buffy’s adjustment problems, crushing responsibilities, and feelings of inadequacy come together in a perfect emotional storm in this episode. Her previous experience in a mental institution serves as the foundation for Buffy’s delusion that in fact Sunnydale is one big hallucination. The appeal, of course, is that if she can stay in her fantasy “real-world” world, then she won’t have to deal with all of her current problems.
It’s a good thing Buffy has built up so much goodwill. Also, that Willow, Xander, and the others have had firsthand experience with spells and various Hellmouth ailments that can make people do things that are completely out of character—like when Buffy tries to kill all her friends and Dawn in order to stay in her alternative-world fantasy.
Much was made of the final scene, in which Buffy is seen looking catatonic in the hospital room. Some thought the writer was suggesting that this was really all a bad dream (like the infamous Dallas stunt of bringing a dead character back to life by presenting the entire previous season as his wife’s nightmare). But it can also be seen that even though Buffy chooses to not let the poison overtake her, and eventually wills herself back to the real world, a part of her mind still yearns for an escape.
THE REAL HORROR: Feeling trapped. Seemingly hopeless situations can lead to depression and other disorders that shut down a person’s ability to cope. When Buffy is poisoned by the demon, she retreats to a place in her mind where she won’t have to be brave, responsible, or even try to find her place in the world anymore. Her imagined world—in which her parents are both alive, still married and taking care of her—is an escape from the feeling of being in over her head.
LITERARY ALLUSION: When Jonathan calls himself “Jack Torrance,” he’s referring to the protagonist in Stephen King’s The Shining, who becomes possessed and tries to kill his own family.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: This episode was originally scheduled to be broadcast as the eighth episode of the season, but was pushed back.
118. “Entropy”
(APRIL 30, 2002)
Director: James A. Contner
Teleplay: Drew Z. Greenberg
Recurring cast: Danny Strong (Jonathan); Adam Busch (Warren); Tom Lenk (Andrew); Kali Rocha (Halfrek); Amber Benson (Tara)
Guest cast: Edie Caggiano (mother)
Music: “Sao Paulo Rain” (while Xander mopes), by Tom McRae, from Tom McRae; “That Kind of Love” (at the end of the episode), by Alison Krauss, from Forget About It
Plot: Buffy discovers the Trio has been spying on her. Spike and Anya turn to each other for comfort.
THIS WEEK’S BIG-BROTHER ACCESSORY: The Trio’s surveillance camera, which Buffy discovers after Xander accidentally demolishes a stone statue in her front yard. Willow, now more comfortably relying on computers again, later discovers that the camera is part of an entire network that has been monitoring every move Buffy makes, in every place she’s likely to go.
INTRODUCING: Willow and Tara together again as a couple.
ANALYSIS: Spike’s frustration, and desperation, at Buffy’s having called off their relationship is starting to show—to the point where he tries to blackmail her by threatening to tell her friends about their affair. Buffy is still dealing with the remorse of having attempted to kill her friends and her sister, and their forgiveness has had a calming effect on Buffy and she’s not so afraid about the truth of her affair with Spike coming out. If they could deal with her as a would-be mass murderer, they can probably deal with her surprising choice of comforter and sex partner—the term “boyfriend” simply doesn’t fit in this case. Even so, she’d rather not have to go through what would still be an uncomfortable situation if she can avoid it.
Xander is trying hard to make amends with Anya, though the last thing she wants to hear is that he wants to keep going steady. She has also channeled her hurt into vengeance, having taken D’Hoffryn up on his offer to give her back her powers. Unfortunately, she can only conjure vengeance on behalf of others, so all her plans to make Xander suffer unspeakable horrors are foiled, especially since she can’t manage to trick anyone into making such a wish against him.
In a somewhat unlikely pairing, Anya and Spike end up sharing drinks while commiserating over their respective crummy love lives. Both are highly charged sexual beings and, combined with the drinks, it’s inevitable they would turn to each other for physical comfort and release. Because they both feel awkward and uneasy about it afterwards, this indicates their tabletop tryst will have to remain a closely guarded secret between them. But Willow taps into the Trio’s camera network just in time to catch them in the act, which leaves both Xander and Buffy reeling.
It’s understandable why Xander is enraged. But it’s more surprising to see how affected Buffy is, especially since she’s been the one insisting all along she has no feelings of love for Spike. Even if that is true, she at least needed his love and attention, so she feels betrayed on a different level. Interestingly, it’s Dawn who immediately picks up on what Buffy’s reaction means, and is the least surprised of anyone, probably in part because Dawn likes Spike and is aware that Spike is in love with Buffy. Dawn hasn’t been exposed to the vicious Spike, so she has no negative history with him.
Willow is shocked, although she quickly gets over it because she herself has been in a position in which she kept a relationship quiet out of fear of people’s rejecting her because of it. But for Xander, the double-whammy of Buffy’s and Anya’s betrayals makes him want to have nothing to do with either of them.
THE REAL HORROR: Being cheated on and seeing it firsthand. Even though Buffy never admitted to a real relationship with Spike, and Xander had called the wedding off at the worst possible moment, both feel crushingly betrayed by Spike and Anya’s having sex. It would be bad enough had they merely learned of it after the fact, but to see it live, courtesy of the Trio’s surveillance cameras, makes the cut that much deeper.
IT’S A MYSTERY: Why does Anya’s hair seem to curl and uncurl randomly throughout the episode?
119. “Seeing Red”
(MAY 7, 2002)
Director: Michael Gershman
Teleplay: Steven S. DeKnight
Recurring cast: Danny Strong (Jonathan); Adam Busch (Warren); Tom Lenk (Andrew)
Guest cast: Amy Hathaway (woman in bar); Nichole Hiltz (Frank’s girlfriend); James C. Leary (Clem); Garrett Brawith (Frank); Tim Hager (administrator); Stefan Marks (guard #1); Christopher James (guard #2); Kate Orsini (girl at the Bronze)
Music “The Leaves,” by Daryll-Ann, from Happy Trauma; “Stranded,” by Alien Ant Farm, from ANThology; “Displaced,” by Azure Ray, from Azure Ray
Plot: Buffy finally confronts the Trio. A tragedy changes everyone’s lives forever.
THIS WEEK’S MYSTICAL WHEATIES: The Orbs of Nezzla’khan, which give the possessor strength and invincibility. Warren plans to use the orbs for a robbery but when Buffy shows up, he decides to make himself a reputation by being the one to kill the Slayer.
INTRODUCING: Jonathan’s conscience. Whatever mischief Jonathan has gotten into, it’s clear he’s doesn’t want anyone to get hurt and he’s still horrified by Katrina’s death, even if he’s convinced himself Warren didn’t mean to do it.
When he sees Warren looking to kill Buffy, however, Jonathan manages to tell her the secret of his power so she can stop Warren. But the humiliation drives Warren to an unimaginably violent act of revenge.
ANALYSIS: This episode drives home the need to live life as fully as you can, and to keep those you love close to you, because life can change—or end—without any warning.
Dawn’s happiness over seeing Tara and Willow back together as a couple is refreshing because she simply sees them as two people in love, not two women in love. Sexual preference matters about as much as what brand shoes they wear, and it sends a strong message about tolerance and acceptance. With Tara back, Willow feels a renewed determination to stay clean and sober from magic. Tara’s love makes her feel special and important and worthy—more so than the magic ever could.
Once he’s had time to digest the truth about Buffy and Spike, Xander is more disgusted with Buffy than he is with Anya, because in his heart Buffy is still his dream woman. Plus his ego doesn’t understand why she would get involved with Spike, but never wanted him the same way. So it’s not just concern for Buffy, but his own long-held feelings of sexual rejection, that bubble to the surface when Buffy tries to talk to him.
When he finds out from Dawn that what he did with Anya had been broadcast live, Spike feels even more desperate. He thinks that if he can just get Buffy to make love again, all will be forgiven because she’ll feel how much he loves her. Plus, he thinks that because everyone knows, there’s no reason for her to hold back. But he handles it badly and ends up trying to force himself on her in an ugly confrontation. Spike doesn’t realize the line he’s crossed until Buffy, bruised and traumatized, manages to push him off. Spike can’t believe what he’s done and in his guilt, blames Buffy for making him so crazed and decides he has to do something drastic to get his self-respect back.
After Willow figures out the heist the Trio is planning, Buffy sets out to stop them. With a little help from Jonathan, she succeeds. Warren manages to escape, while Jonathan and Andrew are carted off to jail, an unusual sight, considering most of Buffy’s foes are the type to explode into dust or get tossed into the Hellmouth’s compost heap.
When given time to reflect, Xander realizes that perhaps Buffy would have been more honest had she trusted him not to react badly—which he did. But when he does react badly, it’s because nobody matters to him more than Willow and Buffy, and the idea of losing either of them is unthinkable. However, as Warren sprays Buffy’s backyard with bullets in a deranged attempt to avenge her foiling his heist, Willow has the most precious thing in her life taken away.
THE REAL HORROR: Senseless violence. Of all the horror seen in Sunnydale, none is more disturbing than when one human kills another. Tara’s death is particularly poignant because it is accidental and because Warren’s motives are driven by greed and ego. They’re still terrible, but somehow people understand crimes of passion more than crimes of indifference or self-aggrandizement. So, while despicable and inexcusable, people may better understand Spike’s actions than they do Warren’s.
WHAT JAMES MARSTERS HAD TO SAY ABOUT SPIKE’S ATTEMPTED RAPE. “I can’t even watch a movie where that’s in there. I get up and want to kill the guy. It’s my personal issue. So, that was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, not even as a job, because Sarah and I are friends. I told Joss, “Nobody’s safe around here. You cut right to the bone, dude. This is not a safe show.”
BLOOPERS: When Spike is in Buffy’s bathroom, his foot is briefly seen reflected in the mirror.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: The attempted robbery scene was filmed at Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia, California.
Amber Benson is in the main credits for the first time.
120. “Villains”
(MAY 14, 2002)
Director: David Solomon
Teleplay: Marti Noxon
Recurring cast: Danny Strong (Jonathan); Adam Busch (Warren); Tom Lenk (Andrew); Jeff Kober (Rack); Amelinda Embry (Katrina)
Guest cast: James C. Leary (Clem); Steven W. Bailey (cave demon); Tim Hodgin (coroner); Michael Matthys (paramedic); Julie Hermelin (clerk); Alan Henry Brown (demon bartender); Mueen J. Ahmad (doctor); Jane Cho (nurse #1), Meredith Cross (nurse #2); David Adefeso (paramedic #2); Jeffrey Nicholas Brown (vampire); Nelson Frederick (villager)
Music: “Die, Die My Darling” (in the demon bar), by the Misfits, from The Misfits
Plot: Willow resorts to magic to avenge Tara’s death.
THIS WEEK’S HORROR: Magic abuse. Instead of using her powers for the good of humanity, Willow sets out on a murderous mission to employ all the power she can summon to execute not just Warren—who is directly responsible for Tara’s death—but also his cohorts, who she feels are guilty by association.
INTRODUCING: Willow as villain vigilante. Her grief has sent Willow into a paroxysm of revenge, prompting her to resort to the darkest of magics and to take the law into her own hands.
ANALYSIS: The devastating power of grief and revenge are vividly depicted in this episode. Willow shuts out the pain of watching Tara die in her arms by letting the dark side take over, which has the unfortunate side effect of shutting down her humanity and conscience as well.
After Willow saves Buffy’s life by removing the bullet in her chest and healing her wounds, she embarks on her mission to make Warren pay. Buffy, especially, knows that while killing Hellmouth creatures and vampires is her calling, they must not break the laws of society by becoming vigilantes. Not only is it illegal, but it will put Willow at risk of losing her humanity, as it did Faith. As far as Willow is concerned, she feels she died when Tara did; she has no interest of going on with life as she knew it and is willing to bury the old Willow. There is no incentive for her to sit back and let justice take its course, so she tracks down Warren and, to Buffy and Xander’s horror, skins him alive. As gruesome as the death is, what is more disturbing is watching their friend’s soul dying in front of their eyes.
THE REAL HORROR: Being blinded by hatred. Willow is so devastated and angry and lost at having lost Tara that she risks forever losing herself, and her soul, when she exacts sadistic revenge against Warren.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: Amber Benson’s name has been removed from the opening titles and although her body is seen, she’s uncredited.
Because Tara’s death was not caused by mystical forces, the spell that brought Buffy back won’t work.
121. “Two to Go”
(MAY 21, 2002)
Director: Bill Norton
Teleplay: David Fury
Recurring cast: Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles); Danny Strong (Jonathan); Tom Lenk (Andrew); Jeff Kober (Rack)
Guest cast: Steven W. Bailey (cave demon); Jeff McCredie (officer); Damian Mooney (patrol cop); Michael Younger (truck driver)
Plot: Buffy must protect Jonathan and Andrew from Willow.
THIS WEEK’S MAGICAL POWER SURGE: Willow can only go into magical overdrive for so long before she depletes her power, like a battery that needs recharging. Thus she absorbs all of Rack’s dark energy into herself, which has the unfortunate side effect of draining the life out of him.
INTRODUCING: Anya using her powers for good instead of vengeance. Despite her continued upset at Xander, Anya comes through when Buffy asks for her help against Willow, and joins the effort to protect Jonathan and Andrew, as well as Buffy and Xander, while hoping to bring Willow back to her senses.
ANALYSIS: Xander is once again feeling those “I’m a mere mortal” blues. His best friend is on a murderous rampage and he can’t keep up with Buffy trying to help her stop it. He feels powerless and helpless to make a difference, but keeps plugging along.
Watching Willow immerse herself in dark magic is almost as painful as when Angel turned; perhaps more so because Willow isn’t under the influence of a curse, but wracked with grief and fury. But Buffy knows (besides not wanting Willow to hurt herself or anyone else) that when Willow does snap out of her maniacal trance, she will loathe hersel
f for what she’s done. The only way to save Willow is to stop her, but Buffy is no match for Willow’s power.
Some long-hidden resentment bubbles to the surface during their confrontation at the Magic Box, such as Willow’s old feelings of insecurity and feeling unimportant when measuring herself against the Slayer. The appeal of witchcraft was to be someone special, but now that the dark side has taken over, the power is seductive and addictive. As she becomes more consumed, and because she is in such immeasurable pain, Willow wants everyone else around her to suffer as well.
Just when it seems that nobody has the power to stop her, the unexpected arrival of Giles, and a blast of his own power, sets the stage for a do-or-die confrontation.
THE REAL HORROR: Being unable to reach a friend. It’s oh-so-frustrating when someone you care for simply won’t listen to reason. Willow takes this scenario to murderous heights when she ignores everyone’s pleas to not give in to the dark side.
BLOOPERS: When Willow is chasing Warren through the woods, you can see the cables that are pulling the tree branches away from Willow.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: When originally broadcast, this and Episode 122, “Grave,” were aired as a special two-hour episode.
Anthony Stewart Head was not credited in the guest-cast list to keep his return appearance a surprise.
122. “Grave”
(MAY 21, 2002)
Director: James A. Contner
Teleplay: David Fury
Recurring cast: Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles); Danny Strong (Jonathan); Tom Lenk (Andrew)
Guest cast: Brett Wagner (trucker)
Music: “Prayer of St. Francis” (at the end of the episode), by Sarah McLachlan, from Surfacing Extended
Plot: Willow decides to end the world. Buffy finally sees the light.
THIS WEEK’S TEMPLE OF DOOM: The temple of Proserpexa. Proserpexa was a powerful female demon devoted to the destruction of the Earthly dimension. Her effigy shows her as having two mouths with forked tongues, and snakes for hair. Her followers had planned to end the world by funneling the Earth’s life force into the effigy and in turn using that force to immolate the Earth. An earthquake foiled that plan by burying the temple, but Willow plans to resurrect the site to finish the job.
The Girl's Got Bite: The Original Unauthorized Guide to Buffy's World Page 37