Buffy Challenge Post 67: Season 7: Episode 17 – 18

Lies my parents told me

Previously …….. Buffy removed spike’s chip……. which makes everyone else nervous ……. Spike has his soul ….. Principal Wood’s mum was the slayer that Spike killed.

 

nYC 1977 Billy Idol Spike fighting Slayer Wood, Who bring their kid to work when they slay vampires for a living? This is an interesting way to give some back story on Principal Wood. Back to the present day and Spike saves Wood. Who is biding his time.

Creepy Principal looking out the window. Buffy comes out to help Wood when Giles runs in complaining about the lack of books in the library. Forget the end of the world, it’s the library that matters……..

 

What a great little scene with the trigger, the soul and the chip. Why is it that Xander enjoys tying up Spike. I’m with Spike, I wouldn’t want anything shoved into my brain. I can’t watch this…..

back to the past and James Marsters looks amazing! Spike was a mommy’s boy! Unfortunately momma Spike is not doing too well. The trigger was the song that his mother sang, that is so cliché and evil! The look of intensity on Wood’s face is amazing.

Spike wants to take over the world! with his mother on side. No wonder he is so messed up, being a mothers boy and all. Will Wood reveal the truth to Giles? or will he manipulate him? Giles gets it now, Wood is clouded by his feelings.

She left Spike at Robins house??? Not Smart! Noticed how I’ve treated my Friends, my family and Andrew….

Wood sends Spike down to a room covered in crosses. This is getting creepy. Here is the showdown, Wood wants to face the evil Spike and it seems to me that Spike couldn’t care less either way. Whoo Itunes….. Early one morning…. The trigger hits and here we go!

Back to the past and we see that Spikes attempts to re invigorate his mother kind of worked. Worked too well as his mother wants nothing to do with him. An amazing scene where Spike is being physically beat up by Wood and mentally beat up by his vampire mother. Giles final lesson to Buffy is a poignant one. Wood gets his mother’s jacket back.

Spike killed his own mother, twice. There seems to be a sad similarity between the two of them, that is harsh by Spike.  He is over the trigger and feeds on Wood. There is Good in Spike as he lets Robin walk away.

It seems that Wood hasn’t learned his lesson but Buffy lays down the law using the line from his mother.

another strong episode…..

8/10

Dirty Girls

Previously ….. OH it’s FAITH!…… and everything that happen to her! We get a recap of the first and it’s troubles it brings and the bringing of the potentials….. Spike is chipless…… Wood and Spike work out their differences…… Buffy thinks she has learned all there is to know from Giles……

Back to the chase of a potential and it’s a good thing there was a priest driving past. Does everyone know where Buffy lives? Did he just say what I think he said? This is really creepy and sacrilegious. That is just sick! this thing has just marked the girl then stabbed her. Good thing Willow was driving behind when she was pushed out, with Faith no less!

Xander in a house full of hot girls, I’m surprised it’s taken this long for him to make a move! 2 girls??? this is SO a dream! and WHAT A DREAM!!!! Leg cramp indeed!

Faith is as angry as usual, and Willow is scared that Buffy and Faith will go back to old habits of trying to kill each other. Spike Vs Faith with Buffy throwing in the final punch. Buffy fills her into the last few seasons. Talk about tension, Faith is not really welcome in the house.

What kind of priest is this???? This is creepy beyond words. So he is the one who has been doing the first’s bidding by destroying the council and hunting the potentials. Andrew’s narrative to fill in the new comers about Faith. “Faith Vs Spock!” Nice work Andrew freak out the new girls.

So now the power has shifted from Wood to Buffy and he fires her from her job! The missing is what matters. Spike and Faith having a heart to heart over a smoke. Glitter….. is a horrible movie! Faith wants a bit of Spike? Buffy has never been the jealous type.

The beat up potential is awake and is letting them know what has happened and passing on a message to Buffy. The priest is having way to much fun….. this guy is SICK! YES he has Buffy’s Stapler! Who put the stick up Buffy’s butt?

Buffy and Faith, back together again. There is way too much exposition. They found the base. Matthew Broderick killed Godzilla!!! Xander taking charge is really good!!! Even brought Andrew to tears. I must say I’m not a fan of this whole lets hit them quickly approach. And as is seems that they fell for it. Whoah that priest packs a punch. Takes out Buffy and Spike easily the others don’t stand a chance. Nice shot by Xander. The potentials are falling one by one. NO not Xander!!! thumb in the Eye….. this guy has done MAJOR damage……. 2 Slayers killed, one broken arm, Xander loses an eye and Buffy is all messed up!!!!

 

She should have listened to Giles!!!!

6/10

Buffy Challenge Post 66: Season 7: Episodes 15 – 16

Get it Done

Previously on Buffy….. Buffy creates an army….. The first is trying to knock off the potentials…. Willow has a new squeeze…… Buffy has faith in Spike……. The principal turns out to be a slayers kid…… who happens to be the slayer that Spike killed….. Now he is not so happy.

The house looks like it has had a heap of teenage girls staying there….. ok wait. The crazy first slayer attacks “it’s not enough
and it was all a dream.

Anya is wondering why she has made the decisions that she has made, it’s not easy being human. Anya and Spike together are fantastic….. It would of been a little anti climatic if the health inspector shut the house down. Anya runs her mouth and thankfully  a demon shuts her up!

The old good cop, bad cop routine…. and it seems that the hell mouth has started to go crazy. Don’t stop tell us what you really think of yourself. Principal Wood gives Buffy a box from her mother….. wait his name is Robin Wood??? LAME!

What is lamer, Andrew….. even Buffy can’t explain what this guy is doing here! WORST MAP EVER!!!  Where did all these slayers come from? and Why is Kennedy in charge? just another normal day at the summers household as Willow is tongue tied to explain what is going on….. nice call back to season one.

“here you are, walking, talking, annoying….” what a great line by Spike. Robin has that I want to kill this guy look. Tensions will rise I guess between these two. Really Dawn, the ancient Samarians didn’t teach English? What a shock? one of the potentials hung themselves thanks to the first. The mind games continue, this is serious now as the battle lines continue to be defined.

Worst Eulogy ever! Buffy takes charge as she lays down the law. She is not pulling any punches and no one is safe. Buffy Cross over with the muppets, I’d pay to see that. Shadow puppet time…. now that was impressive as it opens a portal and makes and exchange…. for some reason they get the worse of it as a giant demon comes through. Buffy lands in Arizona.  Kennedy is pushing Willow to use her magic.

Buffy needs to be hit in the head for her to realise that this is not a dream as the gang are trying to work out a way to open up the portal. Evil Willow is BACK!!!! The Sharman have Buffy tied up and are starting some ritual where they creating the slayer, the music and effects are awesome.

Spike vs Demon round two and out comes the jacket, which belonged to Robin’s mum. Willow is going nuts and has opened up the portal to Buffy. Spike is enjoying this fight a little too much. Buffy fights back for women’s rights and takes out the old guys who created the first slayer. Spike is BACK, and dumps to demon into the portal to retrieve Buffy. Although we still don’t know what the revelation that she received.  Kennedy gets a wake up call from Willow.

Been a long day for Buffy as she seems to be regretting the fact that she refused the power that was offered. OH BOY, that can not be good!!!!!

7/10

Storyteller

Previously…… The recap of the “NERDS” Storyline from last season….. I can’t believe that this is going to be an Andrew story….. potential slayers coming…… Principal Wood is the offspring of the slayer who was killed by Spike……

Master theatre presents ……. (waiting for the cookie monster to show up!)  nope only Andrew…. (love the star wars posters.)

breaking the 4th wall…..

He is going all Dr. Suess on us as we see Buffy flip and spin….. Great question by Anya as we go into the credits. Why do vampires show up on video? this is them trying to give Andrew a purpose in this show. Is he trying to make a move on Anya? Yay for visual aids….

the magic whiteboard marker trick as Andrew explains what is happening the whiteboard marker is changing colour between black and red. If he couldn’t get any more annoying he is now annoying with a camera. That is how every woman eats cornflakes. Wind machines make everything sexy! back to grumpy old Buffy. Another mistake as we see his shadow sans camera.

Andrew continues his fantasy sequence as he now re writes history, as all good historians do.  FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! Buffy sees a girl fade it looks like everything is going crazy at school. Being at high school can feel like war but is shouldn’t look like it!

What’s wrong with this guy…… no one cares about the windowsill…. Xander and Anya the tell all interview, this can’t go well. could this be the reunion that we hope for? they should have gotten married but oh well.

Wood and Buffy are examining the seal to the hell mouth. Wood seemed to be possessed somehow. Spike is awesome, he is into the whole movie thing more than we thought, as we get back to the conversation that is being taped by Andrew. Real touching stuff, back to the episode we see the crazy teens possessed in the basement. It seems that Andrew and Jonathan have had the visions of the future from a year ago when they were on the run.

Andrew has been interrupted by the ghost of Warren. This is messed up, he having a homo erotic vision of him being gods….. So it’s all in the knife. I hate it when the marching band go rouge! Sexual tension between Spike and the Principal??? I don’t think so. These kids have gone bananas. As Buffy has had enough of his narration. Andrew has an issue with letting the truth get in the way of a good story…… This can not be good.

WHOO HOO Anya and Xander are back together, for a one night stand…… Spike and Wood get jumped and in a split second the Principal has a chance for revenge. Back to Buffy and Andrew, will Andrew be sacrificed to end this? I disagree with Buffy, Life is a story. This is really intense, tears of redemption were able to stop the seal from going crazy. Back to the fight and it seems that the tears had been enough to stop the craziness.

“Confessions of a teenage moron!” as he confesses his crime as the story ends….. “WE ARE A GODS…..”

9/10

Buffy Challenge Post 65: Season 7: Episodes 13 – 14

The Killer in Me

Sounds like a great song title….. let’s get into it shall we…. The first wants to kill the line of slayers, Spike is crossing the line again, Spike has a chip in his head, Tara gets killed by Warren so Willow rips his skin off, Willow has a secret admirer…..

Giles is taking a road trip and feeling a little guilty. The Hokey Pokey is a very important ritual. The whole sorority of slayers seems to be Giles biggest challenge ever in this show. Time to catch up with Spike and see how he is doing after his traumatic few weeks.

I agree with poor Spike as the girls have been driving everyone crazy, including the audience…. Spike is still a little nervious about the whole split personality thing, as the Chip starts to malfunction……

This can’t be good for old Spike as even Willow doesn’t know about the chip and how it works. When was it ever boring in Sunnydale? Kennedy has faked an illness to go on a date with Willow? This is going to be an interesting conversation…..  maybe I need to be taking notes?

Spike is in really bad shape as Buffy tries to console him. Back to the date and Kennedy’s plan of getting Willow drunk is kind of working as she begins to open up. Can Buffy get a hold of a secret agent on the phone? It looks too late for Spike as we go back to the date of sorts. I really should be taking notes….. Uh aren't they sharing a room together? What happen there? Kennedy is hallucinating? no Willow has turned into Warren!

Oh this is going to be some really funny stuff! got to love the Aquaman reference….. Some great direction here switching between the two characters, while Spike is rolling on the floor in pain. Kennedy is tagging along, with some resistance from Willow.

Spike and Buffy are on the hunt to find out how to get rid of this chip that is causing so much trouble. Could Giles be the first? PLOT TWIST???? has he touched anything? Yes Xander is right Andrew is annoying! Gluing is really evil!!!

Willow looking like Warren rocks up to the local wiccan meeting. The return of Amy the rat and magic pusher! Could she be the answer? OH that was cool, it seems that Warren is taking over! Can Kennedy be the only thing to keep her from going over the edge? So many answers, so much happening! Speaking of which Buffy and Spike make it to the abandoned base where the chip was put in!

The rest of the gang is off to find Giles in the hope that it is really him and not the first. Back to Willow and she is breaking down. Buffy gets blindsided, as Amy consoles Kennedy, who lets slip too much information, could she be the reason Willow is what she is? While Buffy and Spike take a beating? Willow is buying a gun.

Giles get’s gang tackled as he delivers the line of the episode “so you think I’m Evil if I take a group of girls to a camping trip and don’t touch them?” The Special ops arrive and are willing to help. Warren-willow is running around with a gun, as Buffy has Spike’s fate is in Buffy’s hands, will she have the chip repaired or removed?

Amy’s taking her revenge! Do kisses always trigger spells? Amy really has a beef with Willow and wants to destroy her. Super hero Clique “I’m gonna stop you” Willow has returned to the scene of Tara’s death. What a powerful scene as she is battling between the evil and good inside her, here is the closure that Willow needed as she has never gotten over the death of Tara. The old kiss from the true love thing works every time.

A great episode with lots of questions yet to be answered…..

8/10

First Date

First Date, and nothing ever goes wrong on a first date……

Previously Andrew killed his best friend because he was an idiot, The first kidnaps Spike, Buffy kidnaps Andrew, the principal is doing some really shifty digging at night, The Chip is playing up and Buffy has a choice to make, the gang have there suspicions about Giles.

Nice work blocking the Axe shot by Giles, I wonder if that is exactly how the story went? No one filled Spike in about how Giles NOT being Evil and Buffy removed the chip.

The next morning and Giles is not overly thrilled that Spike is now Chip less….  I knew the story was exaggerated. Finally the principal has been put on the suspicion list! Giles is giving a warning to Buffy that she has a lot to lose by trusting Spike. Xander is a PLAYA!!!!

Is it wise for Buffy to sneak around the Principal’s office? seeing she got caught I’m going with NO! Now that is just creepy with Wood asking Buffy out, and the bloody knife doesn’t help, or the chest of hidden knives? Willow once again demonstrates the wrong time to laugh at what a friend says…..

A beady of Evil…… Buffy has always fallen for the bad boy. Xander has a date and Giles is struggling with the  language barrier. The first rocks up as Jonathan and tries to sway Andrew over to the Dark side by making him an offer he can’t refuse. He wants Andrew to do the dirty work by killing off the potential slayers. Microwaves are the latest weapon against potential slayers……

Dating tips with Anya, another spin off opportunity missed. She is still hung up on Xander. Spike runs into Buffy and gives her the third degree by asking questions about her “Date” I still think it doesn’t sit right with the Principal asking out an employee.

Xander’s date seems to be going well. Slayer flash cards the newest toy from mattel. Oh Anya, it’s really getting to her that Xander is with someone else. DIDN’T YOU SEE THE FLASH CARDS???

Kung Fu principal, I’m sure that slaying was on his resume. Nice work Xander, talking about your Ex on a first date! I can’t believe that really worked!!! So the principal knows about Buffy’s extra curricular activities and not her counselling skills. Principal Wood was a son of a Slayer, well I didn’t see that coming…… It was Spike that killed her mother I’m calling it now…..

The first is pushing Andrew to start shooting potentials. Yeah the first evil has allergies, He is wearing a wire and the first ramps up the guilt factor. Finally Andrew becomes a real man and stands up for the right thing.

So Xander’s date takes a turn for the worse. Why does he attract demons. How is Xander able to text when he is tied up like that? That looks really painful and the gang makes their way to save Xander. “AWEKWARD” Buffy makes her way down to the basement and starts attacking the demon. I must say that the fighting choreography has been fantastic this season as Buffy removes the demons head from her shoulders!

It’s great that Anya is so worried about Xander. Giles once again returns to the flash cards!!! Principal Wood sees vision of his mother who is the first, once again trying to manipulate another person to do it’s dirty work. I CALLED IT!!!! I CALLED IT!!!! His mother was the slayer Spike took out on the Sub way all those years ago…….

This is setting things up nicely for future episodes!!!!

I really enjoyed this episode also, really solid from start to finish.

8/10

So there we have it, and remember, if you see a hot girl buying rope at a hardware store……… just walk away!!!!!

Buffy Challenge Post 64: Season 7: Episodes 9 – 10

Never Leave Me

Welcome back to another instalment of the Buffy Challenge, we are nearing the finish line in this epic 7 season journey….

Previously, the nerds are back and Jonathon gets knifed for his trouble…. Dawn see’s a  premonition of Joyce and she warns her not to trust Buffy. Willow is giving Buffy an ominous warning about what is to come, and it’s not looking good. Spike is talking about the murders around the world and he is some how two people one evil, one wossie. Giles gets attacked right at the end of the last episode and the cliff hanger is where they leave us!

The gang is cleaning up the house, while Ghost Warren is ready to move to the next phase of the plan. Stabbing is a skill that takes years to learn.

Buffy ties up Spike for his own good, I’m not sure that it will help as even Spike is afraid of what might become….

Principal Wood is flexing his Muscles, however the bluff was called by the kids, I’m not sure the nice guy routine works too well with teenagers. Buffy is calling in a Sick day as she tries to find the whereabouts of Giles, however the council are not so helpful and it seems they know what is going on….

Evil Spike is back, good thing he is tied up, I’m not sure if Willow was kidding about killing Anya! Buffy is holding up strong.

The two nerds are about to kill a pig, Andrew had no problem knifing his friend but a little piglet….. a little too difficult. Second option, go to the butcher. Not the best time to drop the bag with blood when Willow is standing there.

Andrew is struggling to justify his existence and Willow has had enough and gives him the what for! Andrew has been captured and is being interrogated by the gang. This is going to be good! Anya makes an AWESOME bad cop! This is all a plan to get him to talk. Unfortunately not much is coming out of Spike in his evil state, but good Spike won’t SHUT UP!

Xander with the good cop routine…. I wouldn’t be bringing up the whole Spike  and Anya hooking up right now. Great build up to scare Andrew, Anya takes it a step further and gets a slap in on Xander for good measure.

Evil Spike returns to torment good Spike. The switch happens and Spike breaks free and bites Andrew. If only it was another musical. Good thing Xander is there to figure it out for me and explain it to me. A trigger you say….

Back to school and Principal Wood takes a trip to the basement to discover Jonathan’s body, he doesn’t seem so surprised to see it. Spike by the way thinks the best way to solve this issue he is having is for Buffy to kill him. Just what this episode needed, NINJA’S!

unfortunately they are just mad monks not ninjas….  Monks with Ninja skills. Dawn hesitated and it nearly cost her life, good thing Xander was there to help. With all the commotion happening, Spike is gone. Buffy has figured it out, but I’m still confused.

Melbourne ….. WOOO!!! The Council are working overtime and now we find out the villain of the piece is THE FIRST EVIL! We’re at WAR PEOPLE!

Spike’s fate is being revealed as he is being torched by his evil self. who morphs into Buffy. Spike’s blood opens up a portal of some sort and we have the return of…… The MASTER I think ….. CRAP!

5/10

Bring On The Night

Previously …. People are getting killed all over the place, Jonathan is murdered and found by the Principal who casually buries him. Andrew is captured, Spike gets kidnapped and his blood raises the Big Bad for the season…..

Xander’s lot in life is to fix the windows of the Summer’s house. Anya’s not so impressed about the stories of the First…. Nice hit Dawn, just having a little too much fun whacking Andrew around…

Buffy see’s her mother and doesn’t believe her eyes, it was all a dream. To Spike and we are witnessing a ritual of mass evil, we see the evil transform to Drusilla as she torments Spike even more. Nice fade to black into the title sequence. The girls are trying to wake up Andrew and no Dawn, hot water is not a good idea! Lex is an evil name! Andrew takes them back to the scene of Jonathan's murder. I am really confused by all of this. Wonder Woman issue #299!

The gang runs into the Principal who is acting mighty weird, “never trust a principal with a shovel” Whoa, Willow has gone CRAZY!!!! Magic won’t help. Good thing Giles has returned, but where has he been. So there was a reason for the girls around the world getting murdered, they were potential slayers. The Council was destroyed in the last episode and it was so quick even I missed it. ANYA IS AWESOME!!!!  Shut up Andrew! The first seems to be working in a way that is difficult to articulate. It can change forms and is hunting the Slayers line to take over the world.

Time to build up an army to fight the first evil! Back to Spike and  Drusilla is tormenting him. Andrew still doesn’t get this whole Slayer deal, Hey Willow it seems you have an admirer.

Buffy finds the entrance to the cave by falling into it. Which leads to a fist fight between the Slayer and the Super Vampire, who can’t be killed by a stake…..

one thing this show does really well is the fighting choreography. The next day and after escaping Giles gives us the lowdown on what she was fighting. It was a super vampire as I said working for the First.

Nice cover Buffy! Evil Movies indeed! I really don’t trust this Principal, teachers on this show have either been EVIL or get killed quickly.

Spike has a nice shiner as the Drusilla “evil” keeps up the torment and tries to recruit Spike to the dark side to no effect. Buffy is really banged up and now she is hallucinating again in the middle of a therapy session, poor Roger!

Xander is really handy with the woodwork. The newbie's are not ready if you ask me. No one asked your opinion Andrew! I love the Riddler! As this is happening the snobby new girls runs off and gets killed for her trouble by Super Vamp. Buffy is going to struggle here against this seemingly unstoppable force. Does crushing it work? Apparently not! This fight is awesome, unfortunately Buffy is on the wrong end of the brick wall.

This looks like it’s impossible for Buffy and the gang to win this fight, after everything she has gone through, they have really raised the stakes for the finale. The battle lines have been drawn and General Buffy is firing the first shot! 

Buffy Challenge Post 63: Season 7: Episodes 7 - 8

Conversations with Dead People

Previously….. We are seeing everyone who died Tara, Warren, and Cathy oh and Spike still crazy!

Interesting starting with the episode title November 2002, way to depress us early! everyone is looking sad….. Hey cheer up Buffy it’s time to go to work.

Finally we are catching up with our favourite nerds from season 6, why would they be coming back? I want to learn Mexicanian.

While the Cat’s away….. Dawn is running a muck in the house.

To the library and Willow runs into a ghost who has a message from Tara. Back to Dawn and she is watching an old (and public domain) movie. The storm is brewing and I hate it when you try to unplug the TV and it doesn’t turn off, um hacking it with an axe is going a little overboard.

Buffy is catching up with an old college who is a vampire right now. Should Buffy be giving tips to new Vampires?

Rumours of what Buffy was like at school…. just what we all need Buffy being analysed by a vampire….  Dawn is going crazy and this is skirting too close to a horror movie for my liking.

Gotta love the nerds doing their best (or worst) Tom Cruise impersonation. Great plan boys, just one issue, I’m not sure Buffy would want to be buddies. WARREN??? he was Skinned…. “THE MASTER PLAN!” So Warren is now OBI WAN KINOBI? LOVE THE STAR WARS REFERENCES! So because Willow killed, she can’t see Tara (it’s more the fact that the actress playing Tara couldn’t fit the episode in her schedule.)

Another Spinoff that didn’t work back then but with the whole Vampire craze right now might work, “Vampire Psycho-Annalist!” it’s kind of like a mixture of “True blood and Frasier”

“I was afraid to talk to you at high school, now we’re mortal enemies!” Does Buffy have a superiority complex? or is she really just suffering from clinical depression?

For a second there I thought Buffy was going to be bitten.

Back to Dawn and I’m not enjoying this story thread at all. I’m so having nightmares tonight! To the nerds…. and they are at the hell mouth?

This is a great battle between Buffy and a Vampire who is getting really into Buffy’s head. Some great moments. Back to Willow and her chat with “Not Tara” A warning from the beyond….

Back to the nerds and they are reminiscing old times. Poor Jonathon, but I love his attitude though. Dawn and magic, not a good mix. Who are you fooling Buffy, we all want to be loved.

An inferiority complex about her superiority complex, ok our time is up now it’s time to kill! Nope, this guy knows Spike so the story continues. Dawn’s little horror run is over and we see a returning Joyce.

Willow is dealing with some real issues, I don’t trust this girl, and it’s because she wants Willow to kill herself. Spike is back to his biting ways, and Joyce is planting a seed of doubt in Dawns head. Jonathan gets stabbed, and Willow has seen the face of evil as it seems we are setting up for the big bang to end this season…..

I enjoyed 3 out of the 4 story lines…… so many questions…..

6/10

Sleeper

Previously …. Something is coming…. Spike moves in with Xander….. murders around the world…… Dawn gets a warning…. So does Willow and Spike kills again…..

good to see Xander and it looks like this episode has began right where the last one left off as Buffy is looking for Spike. It seems that he is trying to bury the evidence of his last kill. It doesn’t make sense, what happen to the chip in his head? or the whole soul thing?

London England, and we see another international murder or two. Willow is first to find Dawn and the disaster that is the Summers house. Willow tries to let Dawn know that what she see’s is not all right.

Xander has never been Spike’s biggest fan, well this is awkward…. Spike comes it and is surprised to see Buffy there. It’s great to see Anya again, and that was a low blow Xander! Famous last words “your going to be fine!” Dawn is filling Buffy into what has been going on. The enemy is striking at their heart. Back to Anya and she is freaking out!!! I’m not sure snooping around Spike’s room while he is napping is the best of ideas.

Nice save Anya, is Spike a little shell shocked? Um Anya, your meant to be keeping Spike home? or not? Crowded place and Spike still has the moves!!! He is bad alright! Don’t you hate it when your Ex interrupts your feeding. Why would Buffy just stand there and let him kill her? Is there another Spike running around?

What is going on? Back to the library and the gang is trying to find evidence of Spike’s biting. Xander is the new Giles always getting punched, interesting though the chip kicked in. Spike is doing some back tracking, why am I not surprised that no one at the bar remembers. Spike is being picked up by a vampire which leads a great fight!

“Billy Idol wannabe!”

Buffy get’s a step closer to what is going on. “I hate playing vampire towns” how many vampire towns are there?

2 spikes? what’s up with that? We finally see who Spike has been talking to and it seems to be himself. This is a mystery that is getting weirder and weirder, as Spike turns and rises the army of the undead. Blood of the slayer has done something to jog his memory, which gives Buffy a fighting chance.

The Soul is playing havoc with Spike or is it the place? He wants to die, and sometimes living is a fate worse than death. There is a deeper mystery involved in this season and it’s not showing it’s hand yet.

Giles comes in to tie up the London murder. “BEHIND YOU!”

what bizarre 2 episodes it has be intrigued for what is about to come!

7/10

Well that end’s another challenge …. and remember kids, if your evil self tells you to do something, try to ignore it!

Buffy Challenge Post 62: Season 7: Episodes 5 – 6

Selfless

I hope this episode is better than the disaster that was last episode….

Previously The troll dated Anya… Anya explains everything that is happening….. this is an ANYA episode! AWESOME!!!

Dawn is giving life advice to Willow…… Right! That will help…… Xander is still hung up on Anya, giddy! New word….. I still don’t know why he left her at all! Dead bodies everywhere and Anya in the middle….. this can’t be good for her self esteem.

 

Back in the day, I love the effect of the sepia. Thankfully they gave me the translation for “ha ha ha” Hey Baltic women are hot!

Back to reality where the blood is being washed from Anya’s hands, while Spike explains his new found humanity to Buffy. Has Buffy fallen again for Spike? nope just his imagination. This Buffy is less sympathetic.

Willow is back at college and she runs into a dishevelled Anya coming out of the frat house where she went on a killing spree of some sort. Willow discovers the horrors that have been left in Anya’s wake. She discovers a poor girl hiding in the cupboard, GIANT COMPUTER BUG!!! good thing Willow still has the  magic thing happening.

Back to the old country and we see the origin of Olaf the troll, Anya is being recruited to the vengeance demon team……

Good to see Buffy is working really hard, Anya is not handling her old form as a vengeance demon.  Willow enters and is in no mood to argue, Anya needs help and fast.

Black goo is never a good sign. Xander and Buffy are hunting spiders, good thing that Buffy is the axe throwing champion in Sunnydale. Willow fills them in and now Anya has to be slayed!

The history of Anya continues with her and her gabby friend in St. Petersburg in 1905. The emotional weight of this episode is amazing! Xander once again puts his foot in his mouth and his feelings for Anya is clouding his judgment. We are watching friends disintegrate but Buffy shows that if she kills the love of her life then what she has to do is set in stone.

Why is Willow calling the head Vengeance demon who tries to recruit her! Xander tries to help the situation by warning Anya, it only puts him in the middle of a CAT FIGHT!!!

WHAT JUST HAPPEN???

back to 2001 and we see happier times between the two back to the singing happiness that  happen last season in “once more with feeling!” An amazing voice in a truly Disney moment! Awe I was enjoying that, till we go back to the Sword in the chest!

Round 2 is on with Anya and Buffy going at it again, Xander for the Save.  King Vengeance is here to bring some sense in this. “Miss. hacks away!” Classic!

The price for Vengeance is Justice, to undo the deaths of twelve Anya has to die….

Noooo wait, what a great way to save this sticky situation….. kill off an annoying character and bring some more emotional pain and add another layer to an already complex one in Anya…..

Great Ending to a Great episode!

9/10

 

Him

Previously….. everything that happen last episode….

Spike is moving in with Xander ……. COMIC GOLD COMING UP!!! It seems that Buffy is happy to have Spike back into the fold seeing he has a soul.  Dawn and Buffy having a heart to heart about the whole Spike thing. Dawn tries to talk to Buffy and like what everyone else she is not listening, which leads to the Dawn “love at sight” moment.

Anya is hiding while Buffy kills a demon who was attacking Anya. I love when Anya calls it how she sees it!

OK TEEN ROM-COM coming up….. This is going to be painful, in a funny way! Dawn trying out for cheer leading in Buffy’s old cheer leading uniform was cringe worthy funny! Dawn is now becoming a brooding nasty teen….

Dawn’s crush is going to lead to some serious trouble, like the pushing down of the stairs of RJ’s rival! You can’t hide the truth from Buffy Dawn. Although it get’s results as RJ now notices our girl.

The guys get back to the Bronze and we see DAWN DANCING in a way that is clearly not G rated! TEEN ANGST…. Welcome to HELL Buffy! If RJ is a Vampire, I’m not going to be happy! RJ’s Girlfriend is not happy and we have another CAT FIGHT!!!! where Buffy cops it!

It seems that RJ is a PLAYA!!! or he has some sort of magic love potion happening as Buffy falling for Lover Boy! I really hope this episode ends in a big fight!

Buffy pulls out RJ from class….

“DEAR PENTHOUSE………”

Where is RJ getting this from? Buffy kisses the kid which leads to the typical Dawn catches them. Willow and Anya to the rescue as the Girls are fighting over this clown.

The Brain trust are Xander, Anya and Willow….. Xander remembers the good times when he was chased by hordes of women!

RJ’s brother is not much help until Spike noticed the Jacket, it’s all in the Jacket! RJ rocks up to the house where ALL the ladies are fighting over RJ ….. what a brillant scene with too many cool moments to document! and the whole Charlies Angels montage is great (except the whole Dawn lying on the tracks thing!)

WILLOW trying to change RJ into RJ-ya….. Stopped by Xander.

BUFFY with a rocket launcher!!!! Stopped by Spike!

Dawn lying on the train tracks……. saved by Buffy.

Anya was going to rob the bank.

Xander and Spike steal the jacket and burnt it.

What a funny episode…… I really enjoyed it as I laughed my way through it!

8/10!

Well folks I’m off to find myself one of those magic jackets……

See you next time for another Challenge!

Buffy Challenge Post 62: Season 7: Episodes 3 – 4

Same Time, Same Place

Previously … Willow kills, Giles takes her on a magic detox camp ... Ayna is a vengeance demon….. spike has his soul….

We are at the Airport and they are keen to see Willow again….. Oh Xander, always knows what to say! Oh no she didn’t finish not being Evil??? Where is Willow? you would think she would get there…… De ja vu? another dimension perhaps?

Graphite? oh that kid is going to die!!! Told you so! Serves him right if you ask me!!! Willow comes home to an empty house and I’m already confused…… in a good way!

The old tug on your heart strings by looking at old photo’s trick! Willow is all alone, however the rest of the gang are there at the same time …. can anyone same say magic mail box??? everyone is blaming each other and I’ve gotta say Dawn is not as obnoxious as she was in previous seasons…..

Great fade away effect, Back to Willow and she is starting to freak out, BIG TIME!!! Anya is always great for classic lines! Did Willow kill the gang in this time line???? The life of a vengeance demon always traveling! Ok so they are not dead, well where are they? Willow arrives at the abandoned construction and we see another skinned person and Buffy and Xander are dreading the similarity to Willow’s crime!

Back to Willow and we see the AWESOME Spike, still crazy….. Willow aslo saw the skinned kid and Spike reminds her of her kill! What did Spike do? is he the intermediary between the two? Spike see’s both Willow in one sense and Xander and Buffy in the other.

That is so annoying to be in his position! I love how Anya calls it down the middle… Oh so many good lines not enough time to type them all! “Remember our talk about the carpet???” that is the line I’m going with! Teleporting is a privilege so that trip to brazil was more pleasure than work!

Even though Anya is a demon once again, it seems that she has retained her human feelings…… It did get a little Sexy Anya, it did!

Product placement time kids ….. can you see it? Yes the Apple Mac! Dawn hits the net and finds out who is doing the skinning! It’s up to Spike to track the blood, Slow down Dawn! “I’m insane, what’s his Excuse?” at the same time Willow is also in the cave in her own little world. “All alone……” Well DERRRR

That has to be a record for the quickest time 3 people can state the obvious! Dawn get’s cut badly, as Willow is faced with an evil laugh, not even an enchantment will help! So the villain is a demon with the maturity of a 6 year old! Willow gets cut and this creepy thing starts sucking blood! Dawn is totally paralised, as we switch back to the goblin type creature who is playing with his food!

Anya just let them know that she saw Willow, (BTW in Brazil, Brazilian nuts are just called nuts!) Back to the disturbing image of the goblin carving up a helpless Willow! Only Anya can see Willow. Buffy gets scratched however nothing seems to happen! Buffy with a knife in the foot and poking out the eyes….. which I can’t watch. This kills the demon and the spell, YAY Willow is back!

Now for the closing heart to heart between Buffy and Willow, So Willow has become a tree hugging hippy witch! The big reveal……… Willlow made herself invisible and it kinds of harps back to season 1 when she felt the same way! Back to meditation and re bonding as friends.

A really solid episode, with some cool laugh out loud moments!

7/10

Help

Previously Willow returns, Buffy gets a Job as a councilor , Spike lives at school and Xander is working at the school doing construction …… and GO!

I never understood open casket funerals, although a coffin is a good place to hide to kill a vampire! The kid’s coffin has a child lock on it! priceless! Buffy is worried about school and we get a quick kill and Buffy agrees with me.

Back to school and Buffy has a bigger office than I do! First day on the job, and we get the classic montage of insecure teens. Hey it’s one of the kids from home improvement??? Violent teen girls, rare back then, now not so much!

Willow and Xander are reconnecting, with Xander giving a pep talk about her magic issues by comparing it to working on a construction site! Willow pays her respects to the love of her life, Tara.

Back at school, the kid who had nothing to say is now opening up…. his brother is off to war and he is worried!

Nice try kid!

Dawn getting advice was a little wasted.

Next, chick with purple highlights is predicting her death and now the story starts! freaky future predictions….. Buffy does the right thing by reporting it to the principal, who grew up on the mean streets of Beverly Hills!

Her premonition comes true with the spilt coffee….. where is this episode going???? The old using your position to access personal records of a weird student. FIRST MENTION OF GOOGLE!!!! some one wake me when something happens……”posting Dougie Howser Fan Fic!” how are they accessing all these records?

It seems there is a slew of sleazy actors in Hollywood and Cassie’s Dad is right up there! this episode is like watching paint dry….. another teen clique “white stripes tee shirt!”

American teens and their druid obsessions….. (more apple products)  Even Spike can’t save this train wreck! his soul is messing him up big time! (here is my impression that happen at the Buffy brainstorming meeting for this season:

Joss: “Ok who has an Idea for the 4th episode?”

Writer 1: “Hey how about we do an episode where a girl predicts that she is going to die on a day, and get this …… we watch the group sit around trying to figure out why she thinks like this will happen!”

Writer 2: “BRILLIANT!”

Writer 2: “Can we have a voice over scene where she reads poetry, and we see them surfing the INTERNET!”

Writer 1: “YES! The kids will love this internet thing!”

Joss: “Fine, just make sure there are kids dressed like druids in it! and a big demon like creature at the end!”

Buffy is right, this is LAME!!!

Spike with fire…..

Dear Whedonverse,

can I somehow please get the last 40 minutes of my life back?

faithfully yours,

a new fan.

after ALL THAT, she drops dead…… of boredom! (and an apparent heart condition!)

Que forced emotional ending…….. ah man there is still 54 seconds to go! and I’m still annoyed that Buffy has a bigger office than I do and I’ve been teaching for 10 years!

0/10