The Girl's Got Bite: The Original Unauthorized Guide to Buffy's World
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LITERARY REFERENCE: The book Cassie is reading, Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, is about a young soldier named Billy Pilgrim who travels through time, experiencing his life in a kind of nonlinear chronology. Because of this, Billy experiences his death numerous times and comes to accept it. He also encounters the Trafalmadorians, aliens from the fourth dimension, who can see the future, the past, and the present but are powerless to change it.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: Cassie’s Web site really exists. It was built by the production teams and can be found at http:; sh/www.geocities.com/newcassie. Principal Wood reveals he’s from Beverly Hills. When Willow visits Tara’s grave, her birthdate on the tombstone is October 16, 1980.
127. “Selfless”
(OCTOBER 22, 2002)
Director: David Solomon
Teleplay: Drew Goddard
Recurring cast: Andy Umberger (D’Hoffryn); Kali Rocha (Halfrek)
Guest cast: Abraham Benrubi (Olaf); Joyce Guy (professor); Jennifer Shon (girl); Taylor Sutherland (villager #1); Marybeth Scherr (villager #2); Alessandro Mastrobuono (villager #3); Daniel Spanton (viking #1); John Timmons (viking #2)
Music: “Mrs.” (the song Anya sings during the “Once More, With Feeling” flashback) by Joss Whedon.
Plot: A deadly vengeance wish leaves Anya so wracked with guilt that she decides to sacrifice her own life in order to undo the spell.
THIS WEEK’S HEART-SEEKING DEMON: Anya summons a spider-like Crimslaw demon, which rips the hearts out of a dozen fraternity brothers.
INTRODUCING: Anya’s backstory.
ANALYSIS: Even since getting back her vengeance demon stripes, Anya has been lost in a kind of netherworld. Her heart isn’t into granting wishes the way it used to be, because she feels human compassion, and yet she feels alienated from the gang because of her break up with Xander. She has no place she feels she really belongs. And after a wish she grants ends in the deaths of a dozen frat boys, Anya is ready to leave this world. She decides she will reverse the spell, although it means sacrificing her own life, rather than live with the guilt.
Although Buffy has put up with Anya’s return to demonhood because of their personal relationship, the deaths cross the line and Buffy feels she has no choice but to kill Anya before her wishes can harm anyone else. But the idea of Anya being killed is unacceptable to Xander and his reaction reveals he is still in love with her. While Xander and Buffy have had arguments in the past, he’s never before had so much personally at stake.
The situation forces Willow to tap into her magic, which frightens her because she knows she could still spin out of control under its power. She summons D’Hoffryn to negotiate an out for Anya, explaining to him that she isn’t cut out for the vengeance life anymore. She succeeds, although Anya will pay a steep price for D’Hoffryn letting her go.
THE REAL HORROR: Unexpected consequences. While Anya was willing to sacrifice her own life in order to reverse the deaths of the frat boys, she wasn’t prepared for Halfrek to die in her place. Now that her wish to undo the deaths of the boys is granted, Anya has to suffer the pain and guilt of being the cause of her friend’s death for the rest of her life.
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SLAYER MUSIC
One of the most distinctive aspects of the series is the music. In addition to supplying soundtrack cuts, the groups that contribute music to Buffy often appear on stage during scenes at “the Bronze.” Joss Whedon says he likes to have some of the lesser-known bands provide music for the episodes in order to give them a little exposure. “And I like hiring the unsigned bands because they’re cheap,” he laughs. “No, not really. A lot of great bands just don’t get enough exposure. And for some reason, all these bands sent in tapes of music for us to use.” That’s how the Nerf Herder song was chosen for the Buffy theme.
The bands are selected on an episode-by-episode basis. Whedon says he’ll sometimes write a scene around a particular song he’s just heard. “I’ll hear the music then get a picture in my mind of what the characters will be doing.”
Because of the strong fan response to the music, Buffy has gone multimedia: The first soundtrack, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album was released in 1999, and a second, Once More with Feeling, which included the soundtrack of the musical episode, was released in 2002.
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IT’S A MYSTERY: Why Anya’s real name is said to be Aud when in the season five episode, “Triangle,” Olaf refers to Anya as Anyanka, not Aud.
LITERARY ALLUSION: When Spike makes the comment, “Scream Montresor all you like, Pet,” he’s referring to Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado, in which a man is sealed alive inside a wall by his adversary.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: Anya’s real name was Aud and she became a demon in 880 A.D.; Willow reveals she used magic to gets A’s on all her finals the previous year.
The girl who has her wish granted, Jennifer Shon, previously appeared in the “Life Serial” episode as one of Buffy and Willow’s classmates.
MUSICAL NOTE: The song seen during the flashback didn’t appear in the original episode. According to a post by Drew Goddard at the Bronze Beta, Joss Whedon wrote Anya’s song, called “Mrs.,” overnight: “We were on the set of Firefly when Joss was directing “The Train Job,” we were talking and he said something like, ‘What if we flash back to the musical’… And the very next morning he walked in and said, ‘I’ve got the song.’ Sometimes I think you can start car batteries with his brain.”
128. “Him”
(NOVEMBER 5, 2002)
Director: Michael Gershman
Teleplay: Drew Z. Greenberg
Recurring Cast: D. B. Woodside (Principal Robin Wood)
Guest cast: Brandon Keener (Lance Brooks); Thad Luckinbill (R. J. Brooks); Yan England (O’Donnell); Angela Sarafayan (Lori); David Ghilardi (teacher); Riki Lindhome (Cheryl)
Music: “A Rush of Blood to the Head” (while Dawn’s at school) by Coldplay from A Rush of Blood to the Head; “Little Fury” by The Breeders from Title TK
Plot: The Sunnydale High School quarterback is irresistible to any woman he meets; Spike becomes Xander’s new roommate.
THIS WEEK’S MYSTICAL ACCESSORY: R. J.’s magical letterman’s jacket, that causes every woman to fall in love with him.
INTRODUCING: Dawn as love-struck teenager.
ANALYSIS: This episode takes a break from the unidentified impending doom rumbling beneath Sunnydale and takes a mostly light-hearted look at infatuation. Like most teenagers, Dawn is a mass of contradictions. On one hand, she wants to assert her individuality and be treated like a grown up; on the other, she is still insecure about her appeal to the opposite sex. She wants to be seen as a sexual being and yet, is inexperienced in the ways of physical relationships. So when Buffy falls under R. J.’s spell and goes after him, Dawn feels completely outclassed as well as betrayed.
Like Buffy before her, Dawn is searching for her place to fit in. Unlike Buffy, she doesn’t have a higher Slayer calling to give her a boost of self-confidence. Although Dawn is devoted to Buffy, the difficulties of living in such a large shadow are reflected in Dawn’s desperate desire to have something—or in this case, someone—to call her own.
While the girls are trying to outmaneuver each other, Xander and Spike are settling into an uneasy alliance as roommates. Although Buffy is still keeping her distance from Spike, both physically and emotionally, she harbors compassion for him and the torment he has endured since regaining his soul. The only way to get him out of the basement was to find a place for him to live and Xander drew the short straw. Part of Spike hates being somewhere he knows he isn’t wanted, but at the same time, he’s desperate to get away from the voices he hears talking to him in the basement. Nobody is quite sure whether he’s truly going mad or is simply experiencing appropriate guilt for the sins of his past.
THE REAL HORROR: Finding out that what you thought was love, really wasn’t. Nobody wants to hear that the rush of emotion they are feeling isn’t as real as it first appears because e
veryone likes to think they’re in better control of such things. Dawn believes she is in love with R. J. but the more she tries to convince Buffy of it, the more apparent it becomes that her emotions aren’t genuine. When Xander and Spike mug R. J. to steal and destroy his jacket, the spell is broken, leaving Dawn with an odd emptiness at how fleeting such feelings can be.
MUSICAL NOTE: The Breeders appears in this episode playing at the Bronze while Dawn dances with R.J.
129. “Conversations With Dead People”
(NOVEMBER 12, 2002)
Director: Nick Marck
Teleplay: Jane Espenson and Drew Goddard
Recurring Cast: Danny Strong (Jonathan); Tom Lenk (Andrew)
Guest cast: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers); Adam Busch (Warren); Azura Skye (Cassie Newton); Jonathan M. Woodward (Holden “Webs” Webster); Stacey Scowley (young woman)
Music: “Blue” (at the beginning and end of episode) by Angie Hart from The Angie Hart Project; “Never Never Is Forever” (while Dawn is at home) by Scout from Drummer on the Cover
Plot: Some unknown evil taking the guise of dead people is trying to manipulate Buffy and her friends’ emotions; Jonathan and Andrew return from Mexico.
THIS WEEK’S REVELATION: The force that “from beneath, devours” is trying to diminish the Slayer’s strength by attacking her support group.
INTRODUCING: Andrew as a killer. Spurred on by a vision of Warren, Andrew murders Jonathan in the basement of Sunnydale High.
ANALYSIS: It’s clear that something is intentionally messing with the heads of Buffy and the Scooby gang using a sort of divide-and-conquer strategy. Up to now, Spike has been the primary target, most likely because he’s the most vulnerable as he readjusts to having a soul with the guilt and anguish that comes with it.
A half a world away, Giles has been doing research and trying to figure out what is brewing. The murder of his associates indicates he is close to the answer. Before his fellow Watcher dies, he tells Giles “it” has begun. Back in Sunnydale, a spate of visitations from the dead leaves a wake of emotional destruction.
Home alone, Dawn is terrorized by an invisible force and traumatized by a vision of her mother telling her not to trust Buffy. Buffy spends the night being psychoanalyzed by a former, now-vamped, classmate named Holden. Before dusting him, Holden reveals that he was sired by Spike. Willow is visited by Cassie, who brings greetings from Tara from beyond. Despite her desire to believe Tara is trying to communicate with her, Willow is smart enough to know that Tara would never wish her harm. When “Cassie” suggests Willow commit suicide to prevent a relapse into Evil Willow, Always the Smartest One in the Room Willow realizes the deception and for the first time we get a glimpse of the real evil behind the apparitions.
Like a moth drawn to fire, Jonathan can’t seem to stay away from Sunnydale. But it’s more than just his desire to devise another scam. In his heart, he cares about the people there, especially Buffy and the Scoobies, and is hoping to make amends for the pain and havoc he previously helped cause. Jonathan is essentially a decent person who would happily fight the good fight against evil, while Andrew has always been morally borderline. So it’s not surprising when Andrew falls under the sway of “Warren” and stabs Jonathan.
THE REAL HORROR: Having your emotional buttons pushed. What makes the force stalking Sunnydale so formidable is that it seems to know Buffy and the others, and uses this knowledge to play on their deepest fears and insecurities. Buffy’s biggest strength has always been her support group. By targeting those around Buffy, either by trying to drive them insane (Spike), make them reluctant to use their powers (Willow), or cause distrust (Dawn), her overall power as the Slayer is diminished.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: This is the first episode of the series in which Nicholas Brendon does not appear; Holden’s revelation that Buffy’s former beau, Scott Hope, played by Fab Filippo, is now openly gay is a sly reference Filippo playing a homosexual on the Showtime cable series Queer as Folk.
MUSICAL NOTE: Angie Hart is performing at the Bronze; the song she is singing was written by her and Joss Whedon; Hart is from the band Splendid.
130. “Sleeper”
(NOVEMBER 19, 2002)
Director: Alan J. Levi
Teleplay: David Fury and Jane Espenson
Recurring Cast: Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles)
Guest cast: Robinne Lee (Bronze vampire); Rob Nagle (Robson, the Watcher); Linda Christopher (Nora); Stacey Scowley (young woman); Kevin Daniels (bouncer); Lisa Jay (Linda)
Music: “This Is How It Goes” (at the Bronze) by Aimee Mann from Lost in Space; “Pavlov’s Bell” (at the Bronze) by Aimee Mann from Lost in Space
Plot: Buffy worries that Spike has started killing again.
THIS WEEK’S EVIL TWINS: Spike is being driven to kill by a vision of his former evil self, who seems to have complete control over him.
ANALYSIS: Although still shaken by the experiences of the previous night, Willow and Buffy are able to try and put it in perspective. This is where their experience dealing with evil is an advantage. Dawn is more freaked out and has a harder time getting over the visitation from “Joyce.” Willow’s insight, that there are elements of truth interspersed in the lies, is reminiscent of how Spike put a wedge between Buffy and the others back when he was in cahoots with Adam.
The most immediate problem is whether or not Spike has started killing again. On one hand, he seems genuinely remorseful but on the other, Buffy senses something is going on he’s not telling her. The irony is, Spike himself doesn’t know what he’s doing and it’s not until Buffy confronts him in the basement, where he’s been burying his victims, that his recent killings come back to him and he begs for death.
Although Buffy abhors the killings, she is also aware of something powerful and evil manipulating Spike. Instead of killing him, which Xander is naturally in favor of, Buffy realizes that the best way to learn about her nemesis is to get close to Spike, who has confronted it more than anyone.
Willow’s reaction after her encounter with “Cassie” reflects her recovery. Rather than devastate her, it makes Willow more focused and gives her a sense of purpose. The best way to atone for her previous evil acts will be to vanquish the evil at hand.
THE REAL HORROR: The morning after. Spike is so totally controlled by his visions that it seems as if he’s having blackouts, the way a drunk does. He has flashes of what he’s done but no clear cut memory of exactly what happened.
IT’S A MYSTERY: Does the chip still cause Spike pain or not? If yes, why didn’t he howl in pain when killing? If no, why was he yelping when pummeling on Peter, the riches-seeking student who kidnapped Cassie in “Help?”
MUSICAL NOTE: Amy Mann appears at the Bronze; The song the shape-shifter hummed before Spike started attacking people was the English folk song, “Early One Morning.”
131. “Never Leave Me”
(NOVEMBER 26, 2002)
Director: David Solomon
Teleplay: Drew Goddard
Recurring Cast: Danny Strong (Jonathan); Tom Lenk (Andrew); D. B. Woodside (Principal Wood); Harris Yulin (Quentin Travers);
Guest cast: Camden Toy (ubervamp); Adam Busch (Warren); Cynthia LaMontagne (Lydia); Oliver Muirhead (Philip); Kris Iyer (Higel); Donald Bishop (butcher); Bobby Brewer (Hoffman); Roberto Santos (Grimes)
Plot: Buffy keeps Spike under guard; The Scoobies interrogate Andrew; a powerful evil is unleashed from beneath Sunnydale High.
THIS WEEK’S BEARERS OF ILL WILL: The Harbingers, or Bringers, who summon the ultimate evil by pouring Spike’s blood on the Seal of Danzalthar.
INTRODUCING: The destruction of the Watcher’s Council. Tight-lipped as always when it comes to helping Buffy, Quentin Travers declines to share any information with her, such as the systematic killing of future Slayers-in-waiting around the world and Giles’s disappearance. But his silence proves self-indulgently misguided when he and the rest of the Council are blown to bits after their building is bombed.
> THE BIG BAD: The First Evil. Buffy realizes the same essence of absolute evil that tried to destroy Angel in the season three episode “Amends,” is back and able to assume the appearance of any dead person. In the end, the First Evil is revealed to be an ancient vampire, quite possibly the first pure vampire ever to stalk the earth.
ANALYSIS: When the First Evil tried to get Angel to kill back in season three, Angel decided he’d rather die first. But Angel had a hundred years to adjust to the constant guilt he endured over past sins as well as weaning himself off feeding on humans. Spike has been thrown completely off balance not just by regaining his soul, but by the realization that the only reason Buffy was physically involved with him was because she hated herself, not because she loved him. He’s too emotionally weak to fight the First Evil and instead, when the Bringers use his blood in a ritual, Spike becomes the instrument through which First Evil vampire is freed.
Although Buffy now knows who her adversary is, she still hasn’t grasped his ultimate goal—to completely wipe out the Slayer lineage so that he and his kind can rule the earth without interference.
THE REAL HORROR: Mind control. As Xander figures out, it’s the song sung by the First-Evil-as-Spike that triggers Spike’s killing sprees.
IT’S A MYSTERY: When the First Evil initially appeared to torment Angel, Giles said there were only three Harbingers but there now appears to be many more. Also, one of the hallmarks of the Harbingers was that “nothing will grow above or below them,” and yet in this episode, there are plenty of plants above their lair.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: Camden Toy makes his third appearance on Buffy, this time as the ultimate vampire freed by the Harbingers. He previously appeared in season four’s “Hush” and earlier this season as Gnarl in “Same Time, Same Place.”
This book has not been approved, licensed, or sponsored by any entity involved in creating or producing Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the film or TV series.