#“oh my god does he give a damn.” is quintessential Spike | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer · 7 years

Text

MTVS Epic Rewatch #157

BTVS 6x08 Tabula Rasa

obligatory soundtrack to accompany your reading

Stray thoughts

1) Writing the follow-up act for OMWF couldn’t have been an easy feat, and yet the writers came up with one of the most memorable and quintessential Buffy episodes. OMWF was damn perfect, but we can hardly say it’s an episode that betokens the classic feel of the show. It was a Very Special Episode, and while at its core it had all the ingredients that make the show what it is (witty dialogue and one-liners, funny moments, character development, emotional resonance) I would hardly recommend it as the episode a new viewer should watch to get hooked on the show, you know? Tabula Rasa, on the other hand, is an A+ prototypical Buffy episode. There’s conflict between the characters, a memorable monster of the week (although he is only a plot device more than a key player in the narrative), an original gimmick, comic relief, meta-jokes, plot advancement, good music, and a lot of tears. Like, A LOT. I love this episode!

2) The episode starts with Spike following Buffy around, as per usual, and asking her to have The Talk about The Kiss. It’s not every day that you make out with your former-number-one-enemy-turned-ally-turned-kind-of-friend-turned-confidant. Buffy chooses a very non-Buffy way to deal with the Spike-kissage: she dismisses the whole thing and downplays it.

SPIKE: We kissed, Buffy.

BUFFY: So?

SPIKE: We... we kissed, you and me. All Gone With The Wind, with the rising music, and the rising ... music, and what was that, Buffy?

BUFFY: A spell?

SPIKE: Oh, don't get all prim and proper with me.I know what kind of girl you really are. Don't I.

BUFFY: What we did is done. But I will never kiss you, Spike. Never touch you ever, *ever* again.

I get that Buffy wasn’t really Buffy yet, but this is a really mild reaction compared to the last time she had kissed Spike...

If Buffy hadn’t enjoyed their kiss or if she hadn’t been considering giving it another shot, she would’ve had a much more visceral reaction to his questioning. (I can totally imagine her saying something like: “what we did is disgusting” or “I’m disgusted at myself”) Yet she chooses to not make a big deal of it, and only when Spike insists on pushing the issue she states that she will never kiss or touch him again. Which is what she thinks she has to say more than what she actually feels since at this point she’s still fighting her attraction towards Spike.

I will never kiss you, Spike. Never touch you ever, ever again.

*literally one second later*

For whatever reason, she just can’t let him die, can she?

4) BTVS is probably one of the few shows which can get away with having an actual shark play a loan shark. And how awesome is that?

And I absolutely love the fact that Teeth (that’s the shark’s name according to the script, btw) keeps calling Spike “Mr. Spike.” So very gentlemanly of him!

5) One of favorite lines in the whole show, tbh:

SPIKE: I just need a little more time. SHARK DEMON: Time, time, time! Is what turns kittens into cats!

6) While Buffy is patrolling, the rest of the Scoobies are gathered at Xander’s discussing Buffy’s revelation that they had torn her out of heaven. This is an odd writing choice. Considering the weight of the revelation, as a viewer I was expecting to witness the actual moment in which the Scoobies and Buffy hash this out. It seemed like a pivotal moment in Buffy’s arc this season, yet it never came? My question is: did the writers purposefully chose not to write that key scene to continue driving a wedge between Buffy and her Scoobies and furthering the season’s plot of isolation, desolation, and self-destruction? or did they choose not to write it because it was too difficult a scene to write purely from a writing perspective? (did they chicken out?)

7) Anywho, what they did write is the Scoobies trying to come to terms with what they’d done to their friend. And before I dissect the scene in point, let me take you back a few episodes to “Flooded”...

WILLOW: I brought her back! (...) I did what I had to do. I did what nobody else could do. (...) I brought Buffy back into this world, and maybe the word you should be looking for is "congratulations." (...) I wasn't lucky. I was amazing. (...) The magicks I used are very powerful. I'm very powerful.

You see it, right? Willow is taking full responsibility for bringing Buffy back. There’s no doubt in her mind that she alone carried this out.

Now let’s analyse Willow’s discourse after realizing she had actually done something wrong, she had unexpectedly failed.

TARA: All we know is that... it was a good place and she was happy there. WILLOW: And we took her away from that. We wrecked it for her. XANDER: We didn't wreck. We didn't know. WILLOW: We didn't wanna know. We were so selfish. I was so selfish.

It’s very clear that she does not feel comfortable taking full responsibility for bringing Buffy back now that she knows it made her miserable. When she thought having brought Buffy back made her a hero, she really didn’t feel like sharing the accolades...

8) Even though we get to scene Tara confronting Willow about the spell she’d done to her, the moment for the confrontation feels like an odd choice. I mean, this is at the very least the day after the events in OMWF (it could even be more than that, for all we know...) So why didn’t Tara confront Willow before? Why did Tara go to bed with Willow and pretended she didn’t know what Willow had done? I can think of a couple of reasons (she felt sorry for Willow after they found out about Buffy; she still wasn’t comfortable confronting Willow and challenging her - and btw, if you’re not comfortable speaking your mind in front of your partner, that’s not a good sign... ) but I still would’ve liked for Tara to break things off with Willow immediately.

WILLOW: I can fix it. I know a spell. (how thick was Willow, though? I mean, a spell was precisely what got all of them here! You can’t put out a fire with more fire! That’s not how things work!)

TARA: No! No more spells.

WILLOW: Then what? This isn't something that's gonna be fixed by a video club. I know I messed up, okay, and... I wanna fix it. (FYI, you fix conflicts by talking and communicating and helping each other through stuff)

TARA: I can't believe that we are talking about this again. You know how powerful magic is, how dangerous. You could hurt someone, you... you could hurt yourself. (Still, she wasn’t saying what she was really thinking: “you hurt Buffy, you hurt me.”)

WILLOW: I know a spell that will make her forget she was ever in heaven.

TARA: God, what is wrong with you?! (...) Do you think I'm stupid? I know you used that spell on me.

WILLOW: Tara, I'm sorry, I... (again, Willow is surprised that she’d done something wrong and Tara was aware of what she’d done. She’s not sorry she did the spell, she’s sorry she got caught...)

TARA: Don't! Just ... don't. There's nothing you can say.

WILLOW: Tara, I didn't mean to...

TARA: To what? Violate my mind like that? How could you, Willow? How could you after what Glory did to me? (YES! CLAPPING SO HARD BECAUSE SHE FINALLY CALLED A SPADE A SPADE! WILLOW VIOLATED HER MIND AND STRIPPED HER OF HER CONSENT AND FREE WILL!)

WILLOW: Violate you? I... I didn't... mean anything like that, I just wanted us not to fight anymore. I love you. (you can do wrong things even if you mean well...)

TARA: If you don't wanna fight, you don't fight. You don't use magic to make a fight disappear.

WILLOW: But I just wanted to make things better. Better for us.

TARA: But you don't get to decide what is better for us, Will. We're in a relationship, we are supposed to decide together. (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. BLESS YOU TARA.)

WILLOW: Okay. I'm... I realize I did it wrong. (you sit on a throne of lies!)

TARA: You did it the way you're doing everything. When things get rough, you ... you don't even consider the options. You just... you just do a spell. It's not good for you, Willow. And it's not what magic is for.

WILLOW: But I... I just wanna help people. (this actually makes me sad, because that’s partly how it all started for Willow... “And I just realized that that's what I want to do. Fight evil, help people.” but at the same time there was always this underlying need to become powerful, to feel superior, to not to be seen as the meek, old-reliable-dog-geyser-person Willow...)

TARA: Maybe that's how it started, but... you're helping yourself now, fixing things to your liking. Including me.

GILES: I have to (leave).

SAME.

I know I’ve said this probably a million times since I’ve started rewatching season 6, but I’m going to say it again because I still can’t understand Giles’ decision to leave. And not in a “I don’t like your decision but I get it.” Like, I literally can’t understand his reasoning here? Before finding out why Buffy was acting the way she was, I got it. But afterwards? NOT AT ALL. It doesn’t make any sense! And like, Buffy is spelling it out for him, practically begging him to stay, and he wouldn’t budge. I’m sorry, Giles, but you kind of sucked here.I repeat: you can do wrong things even when you mean well...

GILES: You have to be strong. I'm trying to- BUFFY: Trying to, to what? Desert me? Abandon me? Leave me all alone when I really need somebody? GILES: I don't want to leave- BUFFY: So don't. Please don't. I can't do this without you.

GILES: You can. That's why I'm going. As long as I stay you'll always turn to me if there's something comes up that you feel that you can't handle, and I'll step in because, because... Because I can't bear to see you suffer. (like, what is wrong with this scenario? considering Buffy was clearly suffering from depression, what is wrong with this scenario? what is wrong with lifting a burden from your child when they can’t bear it? what is wrong with being your child’s crutch when they can’t walk on their own because they’re suffering? this wasn’t about Buffy refusing to grow up, in which I case I would’ve understood and applauded Giles’s decision. this was about Buffy being ill, and needing him by her side to go through her illness. it just... it breaks my heart that the one person she needed the most deserted her... like, she could do it without him... she actually did it... but she didn’t want to do without him... )

BUFFY: Me too. Hate suffering. Had about as much of it as I can take. GILES: Believe me, I'm loathe to cause you more, but this... I've taught you all I can about being a slayer, and your mother taught you what you needed to know about life. You... you're not gonna trust that until you're forced to stand alone. (like, she doesn’t need you as a watcher right now? that’s not what Giles was to her at all, they were way past slayer/watcher at this point, and it’s so thoughtless of him to portray their relationship in that way...)

BUFFY: But why now? Now that you know where I've been, what I'm going through? (EXACTLY!!!!!!)

GILES: Now more than ever. The temptation to give up is gonna be overwhelming, and I can't let-

BUFFY: So I won't! No giving up. You can be here, and I can still be strong. (this is also very true. she would’ve probably been stronger because of him...)

GILES: Buffy, I've thought this over... and over. I believe it's the right thing to do.

BUFFY: You're wrong.

10) So, Willow’s promise not to use magic lasted about 12 hours? Like, she couldn’t even get dressed without using magic... but all she wanted was to help people, right? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight...

11) And the only reason the spell went wrong? The same reason pretty much everything else Willow does backfires: overconfidence. She actually thinks she can do no wrong, so she becomes careless, and hence, things go wrong.

And again, putting out a fire with more fire... very smart...

WILLOW: For Buffy and Tara, this I char. Let Lethe's Bramble do its chore. Purge their minds of memories grim, of pains from recent slights and sins. When the fire goes out, when the crystal turns black, the spell will be cast. Tabula rasa, tabula rasa, tabula rasa.

12) An extremely telling sign of how bad Buffy is, is the fact that she doesn’t bother keeping it together in front of Dawn and sheltering her from her pain and suffering. She doesn’t sugarcoat how painful all of this is to her, and she doesn’t care that her little sister is there listening to every single word she says...

BUFFY: Sorry. Everybody's sorry. I know that you guys are just trying to help ... but it's just, it's too much. And, and I, I can't take it anymore. If you guys ... if you guys understood how it felt ... how it feels. It's like I'm dying, it-

See 6) above: this is the scene that the writers chose not to write. Here, we only saw the beginning of it. Then, everything else happens, and they never finish having this conversation.

13) I love how Giles wipes away his drool on Anya’s blouse...

14) ICONIC.

SPIKE: Oh, listen to Mary Poppins. He's got his crust all stiff and upper with that nancy-boy accent. You Englishmen are always so... Bloody hell! (Sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, bollocks, oh God! I'm English! GILES: Welcome to the nancy tribe.

15) And then...

SPIKE: You don't suppose you and I... we're not related, are we?

ANYA: There is a ruggedly handsome resemblance.

GILES: And you do inspire a particular feeling of... familiarity and... disappointment. Older brother?

SPIKE: Father. Oh, god, how I must hate you.

GILES: What did I do?

SPIKE: There's always something, and what's with the trollop?

There’s not a word in this whole exchange that I don’t love. Giles’s “what did I do?” always cracks me up for some reason.

16) ICONIC II

SPIKE: 'Made with care for Randy.' Randy Giles? Why not just call me 'Horny Giles,' or 'Desperate for a Shag Giles'? I knew there was a reason I hated you! GILES: Randy's... a family name, undoubtedly.

(seriously, guys, I’m genuinely laughing as I write this thing and remember the scenes!)

17) And then there’s Buffy...

BUFFY: I'll name me... Joan. DAWN: Ugh! BUFFY: What? Did you just 'ugh' my name? DAWN: No! I just ... I mean, it's so blah. Joan? BUFFY: I like it. I feel like a Joan.

I love this for two reasons. First, there’s the surface level joke: there’s probably not a name less-Buffyesque than Joan. But then, there’s the underlying significance of Buffy choosing such an ordinary name as her identity. Joan is a “normal” name, and we all know Buffy is inclined to crave normalcy, probably now more than ever. A Joan wouldn’t be preoccupied with saving the world from the forces of darkness. A Joan wouldn’t have had monks tailor a sister for her. A Joan wouldn’t have died to save the world, gone to heaven and been brought back. At least, that’s probably not what a Joan’s life would be like in Buffy’s eyes, you know? (I can at least think of one Joan whose life was pretty similar to Buffy’s...) So I don’t think it’s haphazard that she chooses a name that can be so easily associated with normalcy.

18) ICONIC III

19) Emma’s delivery here just kills me...

BUFFY: To slay someone? A female someone! Who do those jerks think they are? ANYA: Bloodsuckers. They kill by sucking blood. Take it easy, Joan.

20) I love that even when she’s stripped off of her slayer memories, Buffy’s slayer instincts still kick in...

tag yourself in this episode: I’m Xander.

21) ICONIC IV

22) I like Joan’s reactions when she realizes Spike’s a vampire because it reminds me of Buffy’s reaction when she first found out Angel was a vampire. Idk, it’s a cool parallel because Joan is basically Buffy with her innocence and awe at the world intact in a way.

23)

I really, really love this. They don’t remember their names, but they know they’re gay and they’re instinctually attracted to each other. Again, it’s very reminiscent of the first time they had to run away from monsters in Hush and how they touched and you could feel the sparks flying immediately.

24) Anya still remembers:

A) her love of money.

ANYA: I'm not leaving the shop. I have to protect the cash register, and... do some spells.

B) her fear of bunnies.

25) ICONIC V

BUFFY: I kill your kind. SPIKE: And I bite yours. So how come I don't wanna bite you? And why am I fightin' other vampires? I must be a noble vampire. A good guy. On a mission of redemption. I help the hopeless. I'm a vampire with a soul.

Like, all the shade thrown at Angel in these few lines, I love it! “A noble vampire on a mission of redemption. I HELP THE HOPELESS.” And Buffy officially called him lame hahahaha

26) Spike is pretty much the same old delusional Spike...

SPIKE: I'm a hero really. I mean, to be cast such an ugly lot in life and then to rise above it. To seek out better, nobler things. It's inspirational, isn't it? And the two of us... natural enemies, thrown together to stand against the forces of darkness. Utter trust. No thought of me biting you, no thought of you staking me.

Buffy is having none of it, though, and I love it. Like, she can’t remember her own name, but she’s instinctually annoyed by Spike!

And of course she remembers how to do snappy comeback thing:

BUFFY: Depends on how long you keep on yapping.

27)

28) And Buffy is as resourceful as always!

29) Anya and Giles were such a mess working together that it makes me wonder how they even managed to run the Magic shop together for such a long time.

30) ICONIC VI

DAWN: How are you? WILLOW: A little confused. I mean, I'm ... all sweaty ... and trapped, no memory, hiding in a pipe from a vampire... And I think I'm kinda gay.

31) This makes me a little creeped out, but I gotta admit, Giles seems to be a great kisser, doesn’t he?

32) OMG they were practically dry-humping!

33) Of course, all good things must come to an end...

34) It’s Buffy’s reaction that breaks my heart every single time because you can see how when the spell is broken every single painful memory rushes back to her and crushes her all over again. (and kudos to Sarah because she conveys all of that in one single facial expression)

One second she’s carefree, superhero, normal Joan, and then... she’s Buffy again. And I think she’s hurting worse than she was before? Because losing her memory and forgetting her pain and suffering and sorrows makes everything shittier for her because now she remembers what it feels like to be happy and carefree and unburdened and she can’t have it back. And all because of Willow’s selfishness and need to be the hero/puppeteer.

I definitely think this made everything worse for Buffy. She can’t even bring herself to fight after getting her memories back? Before this, that’s all she had, her slaying. Even if she was going through the motions, she still had the will to do that. Now? Not so much.

35) After all the mob-like threats and the attacks and everything, Spike gets rids of the loan shark by... telling him he’ll pay him back? ‘Mkay...

36) Poor baby...

37) Of course, things get even sadder once Michelle Branch starts singing...

Of all the things I believe in I just want to get it over with Tears form behind my eyes But I do not cry Counting the days that past me byI've been searching deep down in my soul Words that I'm hearing are starting to get old Looks like I'm starting all over again The last three years were just pretend and I say

Goodbye to you Goodbye to everything I thought I knew You were the one I love The one thing that I tried to hold on to

I still get lost in your eyes And it seems like I can't live a day without you Closing my eyes till you chase my thoughts away To a place where I am blinded by the light but it's not rightGoodbye to you Goodbye to everything I thought I knew You were the one I love The one thing that I tried to hold on to

Oh yeah It hurts to want everything & nothing at the same time I want what's yours and I want what's mine I want you but I'm not giving in this time

Goodbye to you Goodbye to everything I thought I knew You were the one I loved The one thing that I tried to hold on to The one thing that I tried to hold on to

Goodbye to you Goodbye to everything I thought I knew You were the one I love The one thing that I tried to hold on to

And when the stars fall I will lie awake You're my shooting star

#Buffy the Vampire Slayer #BTVS #Joss Whedon #Buffy Summers #Spike #Tabula Rasa #MTVSepicrewatch #BTVSrewatch2015 #recap #mine #btvsrecap

88 notes · View notes