DEAD THINGS; death and destiny

[Saturn 5]

DEAD THINGS
The Good;
The tearful, incredibly intimate scene between Buffy and Dawn in bed. Also am I the only one who is charmed by Buffy confiding in Tara who seems to have blossomed once she split up from Willow? LOVE the Buffy/Tara scene at the end, how many times have you seen a character crying on her knees begging NOT to be forgiven?
The Bad;
Even with the 'happy' ending hugely depressing.
Best line;
Willow; "Shimmy on out when you're done lubricating"
Women good/men bad;
The Geeks show their horrid misogyny. Especially awful when they refer to Katrina's body as 'it'. We see the fault lines develop in the Troika as Andrew sides with Warren and Joanthon starts to pull away from them.
Jeez!;
The killing of Katrina is just awful beyond belief
Kinky dinky; Where to begin? I've heard that SMG was no fan of the Spike/Buffy relationship, she found it demeaning and it's probably because of eps like this. SO packed full of sex and sexual metaphor with the scene at the Bronze astonishingly graphic (actually that's not true, we see absolutely NOTHING but Buffy and Spike's expressions convey so much you think you've discovered free cable porn by accident) .
Altogether now, "BAZOMBAS!" The Geeks voyeurism at the bar and enslavement of Katrina, making her wear her ridiculously sexy French Maid outfit is funny, creepy, pathetic and sexy all at the same time. But overall just CREEPY! Her flat monotone voice is especially upsetting she really does come across as a human robot (how could anyone find that attractive?). I fast forwarded through this bit on my rewatch as it just makes me cringe. As Katrina says it is rape (although you'd wonder exactly what the Sunnydale Police would do with her allegation, it's not like she has any proof? There may be a test for rohypnol but not for the influence of Magic Orbs) Obviously we're supposed to think they're going to hypnotise Buffy and make her their 'willing sex bunny' and it's been the subject of much fanfic not least because Buffy would have cleaned their clocks once the effects wore off, Katrina would still be alive and in some ways meaningless sex with them would still have been healthier than Spike? (read one very clever one where the effects of the orbs wears off but Buffy keeps playing along anyway, turning the tables on the Geeks by exploiting them as an occasional guilt-free booty call). If you're over 18 and you like that sort of stuff; www.taboostudios.com/taboomain.html
Katrina refers to April the sexbot as Warren's 'wind up slut'.
Buffy and Spike on the crypt floor is full of mixed messages. They missed the bed, again. Spike says Buffy 'Makes it hurt in all the wrong places' and says she's an 'animal' (which Buffy denies, her Buffy side struggling against her Slayer essence?) and Spike asks if she'd like to see the bitemarks? "You're amazing" and "You get the job done yourself". However Buffy seems to draw the line at handcuff sex, she sometimes likes Spike but she NEVER trusts him (and events will prove her right). We later see in her dream sequence that Spike is the one wearing the cuffs BUT she flinches guiltily later when Anya remarks that she's been 'all tied up' so I think it's open to debate as to whether she wore them or not. Anya also refers to Buffy 'pounding the big evil'. Their sex is so powerful Buffy loses the ability to use her legs for a while afterwards.
Exactly what sort of sex do Buffy and Spike have at the Bronze? Exhibitionist certainly but what of Spike's goes where in Buffy precisiely ? I've heard one of the writers has previously stated it's conventional sex but it doesn't look like that to me, it looks like something much more kinky, intimate and taboo (Buffy even remarks beforehand that she needs 'More lubrication'!?)
A LOT more importantly this is the ep the Spike-defenders always refer to in regard to the later rape scene, she goes 'Don't' but he presses on saying 'Stop me' and she succumbs and melts into bliss like they're Rhett and Scarlet on the staircase or something. I don't buy it, when Buffy says "Don't" she doesn't necessarily want him to stop. When she starts crying, struggling, shaking and begging him 'Please! Stop! No!" on the bathroom floor she WANTS him to stop!
Captain Subtext;
Buffy imagines herself having sex with Katrina. Katrina tells the Geeks they'll be homosexually raped in prison. If ever there was a time for Buffy and Tara to hook up it would be between the end of this ep and the next. Warren tells a struggling Andrew and Jonathon 'You girls stop touching each other'.
Buffy just wants to curl up on the sofa for the night with Dawn but there's a distance between them. Joyce's illness and death brought them closer but Buffy's detachment since her ressurection has forced them apart again.
Guantanamo Bay;
Scoobies to the ER;
Missing scenes;
Apocalypses; 6
Wheldon Cliches (with kind permission from Boo)

Scoobies in bondage: Buffy imagines herself in handcuffs (wants to be punished? Is that why she wants to go to jail?) but only in a dream sequence as far as we know for sure.
Buffy: 8
Giles: 4
Cordy: 5
Will: 3
Jenny: 1
Angel: 4
Oz: 1
Faith: 3
Joyce: 1
Wes: 1
Xander; 1
Dawn; 3

Scoobies knocked out:
Buffy: 17
Giles: 12
Cordy: 6
Xander: 11
Will: 8
Jenny: 2
Angel: 6
Oz: 3
Faith: 1
Joyce: 3
Wes: 1
Anya;3
Dawn; 2
Kills: 1 demon for Buffy and 2 for Spike
Buffy: 103 vamps, 42 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.
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 4 demons
Buffybot; 2 vamps
Tara; 1 demon
Dawn; 1 vamp

Scoobies go evil:
Giles: 1
Cordy: 1
Will: 2
Jenny: 1
Angel: 1
Oz: 1
Joyce: 1
Xander: 4
Anya; 1
Dawn; 1

Alternate scoobies:
Buffy: 7
Giles: 4
Cordy: 1
Will: 3
Jenny: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 2
Joyce: 2
Xander: 4
Tara; 1
Dawn;1
Spike; 1

Recurring characters killed: 11, poor Katrina
Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce, Katrina

Sunnydale deaths;
93

Total number of scoobies:
Xander, Willow, Buffy, Anya, Spike,

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

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; 1 Buffy
Spike; good or bad?
A pivotal episode in this genre. Spike cares for Buffy so he helps her cover up the murder. But he doesn't care for Katrina, he truly doesn't understand why Buffy is so upset at killing her (even Faith and Warren show remorse). Not his fault, he doesn't have a soul. Spike makes many of the arguments that Faith made when she killed Finch but the difference is that Faith was in denial and making excuses whilst Spike actually believes what he's saying, he has no guilt as Faith had. He also comments that he once ate a decorator.
Dawn in peril; 8
Dawn the bashful virgin; 6
Questions and observations;
Once again we see the difference in Faith and Buffy, how Buffy reacts to having killed someone and how Faith did (at least how she did in the past). Why doesn't Buffy just go to the Watcher's Council and ask them for their judgement? Willow has had no spells for 32 days, making this ep a full month after DMP. Note Buffy's little 'Thank you' to God/PTB when Katrina's scream interrupts her lusty feelings for Spike. Please note that when Buffy tells Dawn what's happened and what she intends to do Dawn never goes "What's going to happen to me?", she only expresses concern for her sister not herself. "You always hurt the one you love" is featured again just like in the Angel ep RM w/a Vu. Some great acting from Danny Strong when Warren and Andrew are euphoric at getting away with murder, you can just see Jonathon knows he's got in way over his head.
Marks out of 10; 5/10 good episode but not much fun for anyone

[gumgnome]

After a review like that, where you seem to praise every scene, I find your award of 5/10 a little confusing. Yes, it's a pretty unpleasant one to watch (I'm surprised you didn't add Buffy pulverising Spike in the alley outside the police station to the "Jeez!" section - it always makes me wince), but it's a brilliant episode as you describe. I too love the Buffy/Tara moment at the end - one of the most heart-wrenching scenes of the series.

[Saturn 5]

Not saying it's not well written and acted, just not much fun

[gumgnome]

Neither's "The Body", but that got 10/10.

[Randi Giles]

I have to agree this was a very dark episode, but at the same time it was good. Saturn 5 you aren't the only who loves Buffy confiding in Tara. It was nice to see her pull away from being just Willows girl to actually being that close to Buffy to where Buffy would break down in front of her. My heart aches everytime I watch that scene. One reason I don't like this episode is because of the last scene with the nerds. It bugs me that Andrew thought it was cool to get away with murder only because it's out of character for him. 8/10

[zamolxis]

Dec 3, 2009 11:37:16 GMT -5 Saturn 5 said:

A pivotal episode in this genre. Spike cares for Buffy so he helps her cover up the murder. But he doesn't care for Katrina, he truly doesn't understand why Buffy is so upset at killing her (even Faith and Warren show remorse). Not his fault, he doesn't have a soul. Spike makes many of the arguments that Faith made when she killed Finch but the difference is that Faith was in denial and making excuses whilst Spike actually believes what he's saying, he has no guilt as Faith had.

What guilt Faith had/showed over killing Finch? And when did Warren show remorse for killing Katrina or shooting Tara/Buffy? You're the one making excuses for them.

You're giving this ep a 5/10 rating whilst Doublemeat Palace and As We Were are getting higher?

[Saturn 5]

Faith is tortured by what she's done to the point of wanting Angel to kill her. Warren is tortured by Willow who shows him the image of Katrina to put his point across. Spike can never be good without a soul

[zamolxis]

Faith wants Angel to kill her over a year from the time of killing Finch and in the mean time she did more bad things. Warren never showed any kind of remorse ever. They were souled human beings and at that point worst than soulless Spike.

[Saturn 5]

Yes and no, if you look at Consequences, This Years Girl, Who Are You? 5x5, Sanctuary, Faith is obviously wracked with guilt. Equally Warren shows remorse when DarkWillow is confronting him with Katrina and when Jonathon goads him over killing her. You could also argue that in The Killer in Me Warren is crying for Katrina as much as Willow for Tara?

But you're right, Spike is evil but it's not his fault, it's not a conscious choice, without a soul he's just as he is. People who are evil with souls are much worse. Poor William just bumped into the wrong girl in the alley one night