GRAVE; and then that first tear appears......

[Saturn 5]

GRAVE
The Good;
My all time favourite ep of Buffy is 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered'. My all time favourite scene is the ending of 'Forever' where Buffy and Dawn collapse into each other's arms. And my all time favourite Buffy moment is when Xander confronts DarkWillow and that first tear rolls down her cheek. And in that second you realise he's got her, that everything is going to be all right after all. Makes me cry every time. First saw it at a convention where they played Enrique Ingliseas' song 'Hero' over it and it was wonderful.
And little Dawnie swordfighting side by side with big sis Buffy, makes me cheer every time! Also love Willow's 'Fly my pretty!'. You'd think they'd have tried the whole bucket of water routine on her?
The Bad;
Although there's supposed to be a limitless amount of root monsters you can see there's actually only 4.
Best line;
DarkWillow (dismissively) "This is your master plan? Telling me that you love me?" (Yep and it's BRILLIANT!)
Women good/men bad;
Jeez!;
Spike and the beetles, urgh!
Kinky dinky;
Willow (upon Giles' entrance) "Uh oh, daddy's home. I'm in trouble now" Yes you are my dear, prepare for one magical spanking. Dawn finally learns of what Spike tried to do to Buffy.
Captain Subtext;
Buffy says that Dawn will be beautiful and powerful. Face it Buff, she already is. Andrew and Jonathon seem very wary of the trucker who gave them a lift. Spike calls the demon a 'ponce'. Check out Anya and Buffy flocking into Giles' arms like a couple of excited little girls happy to see their daddy home.
Guantanamo Bay;
Scoobies to the ER;
Missing scenes;
Apocalypses; 7, Willow wants to destroy the world, come a long way since the softer side of Sears
Wheldon Cliches (with kind permission from Boo)

Scoobies in bondage:
Buffy: 8
Giles: 4
Cordy: 5
Will: 4
Jenny: 1
Angel: 4
Oz: 1
Faith: 3
Joyce: 1
Wes: 1
Xander; 2
Dawn; 4

Scoobies knocked out: Buffy and Anya knocked out again plus Xanderx2
Buffy: 19
Giles: 12
Cordy: 6
Xander: 14
Will: 8
Jenny: 2
Angel: 6
Oz: 3
Faith: 1
Joyce: 3
Wes: 1
Anya;5
Dawn; 3
Tara; 1
Kills: Spike kills 2 demons as does Buffy whilst Dawn kills one
Buffy: 107 vamps, 58 demons, 6 monsters, 3 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot
Giles: 8 vamps, 2 demon, 1 human, 1 god.
Cordy: 3 vamps, ½ a demon
Will: 6 vamps + 3 demons +1 fawn+1 human.
Angel: 3 vamps, 1 demon, 1 human
Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie
Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans
Xander: 6 vamps, 2 zombies, 1½ a demon,
Anya: 1 vamp and 1½ a demon
Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons
Spike; 8 vamps and 6 demons
Buffybot; 2 vamps
Tara; 1 demon
Dawn; 1 vamp + 1 demon

Scoobies go evil:
Giles: 1
Cordy: 1
Will: 3
Jenny: 1
Angel: 1
Oz: 1
Joyce: 1
Xander: 4
Anya; 1
Dawn; 1
Buffy; 1

Alternate scoobies:
Buffy: 8
Giles: 4
Cordy: 1
Will: 5
Jenny: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 2
Joyce: 2
Xander: 4
Tara; 1
Dawn;1
Spike; 1
Anya; 2

Recurring characters killed: 12
Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce, Katrina, Tara

Sunnydale deaths;
94

Total number of scoobies: 3-Giles is back
Xander, Buffy, Giles

Xander demon magnet: 5(6?)
Preying Mantis Lady, Inca Mummy Girl, Drusilla, VampWillow, Anya (arguably Buffy & Faith with their demon essences?), Dracula?

Scoobies shot:
Giles: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 4
Riley; 1
Buffy; 1
Tara; 1

Notches on Scooby bedpost:
Giles: 2; Joyce & Olivia, possibly Jenny and 3xDraccy babes?
Cordy: 1?
Buffy: 4 confirmed; Angel, Parker, Riley, Spike. 1 possible, Dracula(?)
Angel: 1;Buffy
Joyce: 1;Giles, 2 possible, Ted and Dracula(?)
Oz: 3; Groupie, Willow & Verucca
Faith:2 ;Xander, Riley
Xander: 2; Faith, Anya
Willow: 2;Oz and Tara
Riley; 3; Buffy, Sandy and unnamed vampwhore
Spike; 2 Buffy and Anya
Anya; 2 Spike and Xander
Spike; good or bad?
Dawn in peril; yep, down the hole 11
Dawn the bashful virgin; 9
What the fanficcers thought;
Liked the one where DarkWillow does destroy the world only for Dawn 'The Key' Summers to appear in front of her, glowing with green energy and putting it all right. Also liked the idea of Xander actually failing to persuade Willow but then higher power Cordy turns up because she's the REAL love of Willow's life and she succeeds where Xander fails.
On a lighter note there's a good one showing Willow's first day at Sunnydale nursery (with teacher Flutie and little Harmony, Jonathon, Larry etc). We find out that actually frightened little Cordy snapped Willow's crayon because she was jealous of Willow and Xander's instant friendship, feeling excluded and leaving her to sit with Harmony. www.fanfiction.net/s/3083212/1/The_Yellow_Crayon
Always amazing what fanficcers come up with.
Questions and observations;
According to the commentary SMG finds it easier to cry than to laugh? Hmmmm? DarkWillow feeling the world's suffering is similar to what CC experienced in 'To Shanshu in LA'.
I know that Joss is an avowed aethiest but you have to wonder about a story where a simple carpenter saves the world by professing his love? It strikes you as very Christian. Love conquers all.
I must confess that even after the final revelation I didn't understand the twist in the tail. I genuinely thought Spike had gone to Africa to get his chip removed and that the demon had doublecrossed him and restored his soul instead. Someone at The Bronze had to correct me (hangs head in shame). But once again, love conquers all, it can save the world, it can save a friend, it can bring two sisters together and it can redeem a monster.
Marks out of 10; 9/10 just great

[Randi Giles]

After I saw this episode I was even more obsessed with Buffy. The ending really did shock me cause Joss actually had me convinced he was wanting his chip to come out. I saw him say somewhere that he said "plot twist" and all I can think was genius. I was so happy I didn't read any spoiler to this episode before it originally aired.

[gumgnome]

More than anything else, I'm glad that Spike having a soul proved for a different viewing experience than Angel with a soul. Although shocked and excited by this twist at first, I did worry that his character would become more like Angel.

[Saturn 5]

We really are left with a world of possibilities at the end of season 6, from now on, all bets are off

[Randi Giles]

Dec 13, 2009 5:15:15 GMT -5 gumgnome said:

More than anything else, I'm glad that Spike having a soul proved for a different viewing experience than Angel with a soul. Although shocked and excited by this twist at first, I did worry that his character would become more like Angel.

I know I didn't want him to be anything like Angel either.

[Saturn 5]

The difference between Spike and Angel as Spike says later is that Spike chose to get his soul back whilst Angel had his forced upon him. Buffy's love redeems Spike and of course he's had 2 years of non-killing and living amongst humans to help him adjust

[henzINNIT]

The "end of the world" slapped into this episode bothered me, especially with Anya spewing exposition to Buffy to make it be. I think with the theme of the season there was no reason to get so apocalyptic. Xander could have talked Willow down from anything, killing Giles for instance. Willow could have tried to open the hellmouth to spare us the random invented murder method. It would have foreshadowed its return in Season 7 too, Willow could have even created the seal that appeared from nowhere.

[Randi Giles]

I just got through with this episode. Xander telling Willow he loved her was so touching. They are the best friends in the Buffyverse.

[joxerlives]

Oct 31, 2010 20:27:21 GMT -5 Randi Giles said:

I just got through with this episode. Xander telling Willow he loved her was so touching. They are the best friends in the Buffyverse.

I think Buffy/Dawn aside Will and Xander have the greatest love in the Buffyverse, it's a non-sexual love (their tryst in season 3 aside) although there is a fan theory that they made love on the bluff after the end of the ep

[Scarygothgirl]

...Spike didn't go to Africa to get his chip removed? He wanted a soul? I didn;t know this! How do we know this?

[joxerlives]

Nov 3, 2010 12:06:46 GMT -5 Scarygothgirl said:

...Spike didn't go to Africa to get his chip removed? He wanted a soul? I didn;t know this! How do we know this?

Are you serious or are you being sarcastic?

[Randi Giles]

Nov 3, 2010 11:40:28 GMT -5 joxerlives said:

Oct 31, 2010 20:27:21 GMT -5 Randi Giles said:

I just got through with this episode. Xander telling Willow he loved her was so touching. They are the best friends in the Buffyverse.

I think Buffy/Dawn aside Will and Xander have the greatest love in the Buffyverse, it's a non-sexual love (their tryst in season 3 aside) although there is a fan theory that they made love on the bluff after the end of the ep

I hate to sound condescending, but in my opinion that fan theory is so beyond off and wouldn't make sense given Willows state and the whole Tara just died thing. Just saying. I do however agree they have the best friend love in the Buffyverse.

Scarygothgirl - I think the best explanation we got from that is when Joss said 'Plot twist.' I won't lie sometimes when I watched this episode I would swear that Spike wants his chip out.

[jellymoff]

Pretty sure that that's the whole point of the last scene with Spike. We are supposed to be misled to think Spike is going to get his chip out, to give Buffy "what she deserves". We are meant to think that "what she deserves" is death, but instead, "she deserves" a Spike with a soul.

[joxerlives]

Yeah, it fooled me entirely. As for Willow/Xander well we sometimes seek solace in strange places as Buffy/Spike and Anya/Spike prove

[midwesternwatcher]

I often miss things that other people get, but in "Grave," I did get the ambiguity of Spike's request to the demon. I knew we were supposed to wonder whether Spike was there to get his soul back or his chip out, and the writers did their best to make the probabilities equal in our minds. Spike's decision to seek a soul made sense in the end.

While I'm a great fan of S6, I don't care for this episode, or the one before it. It seems to me that the writers planned out the early season very well, but it seems like they got behind near the end, and failed to think things through.

We know that Willow killed Warren and intended to kill Jonathan and Andrew. So far so good. When did she make up her mind to end the world? Apparently not until after she absorbed Giles' borrowed power, and she claims it was out of compassion that she wanted to kill us all. Then she had to find a way. Good thing one was handy! In the space of a few seconds, she apparently thought "I want to end the world, I know just how to do it, off to Kingman's Bluff."

It might've worked better if Tara's death and Warren's murder could've been moved up in the schedule about one episode, so allow more psychological study of Willow. Suppose after killing Warren, she withdraws from her friends, having no sense of purpose. Then she suffers in depression for a while, and decides to kill herself, not end the world. Her power is so great, however, that by killing herself she will automatically kill the world (remember she can do magic without even knowing it). The Scoobies do some detective work to find her. At the end, Xander talks her out of it. She might say something like, "I don't care if the world ends, just so I don't hurt anymore."

Xander talking her out of it seems inevitable as soon as Dark Willow appears.

I'm not sure I have the best solution. One thing is pretty clear. Willow is threatening suicide, and ending the world is a metaphor. Willow has to be a convincing portrait of a suicidal personality unfolding in action. I don't think the portrait was convincing. But it could've been, with more thought and work.

Despite that, I think I can see what the writers were trying to achieve, and it forms a clear image in my mind, even though I don't see it successfully realized on screen. Probably the least successful season finale, but still effective.

OOPS ... almost forgot. Where the hell is Kingman's Bluff? That Willow-Xander scene was shot at a real place. Does anybody know where it is?