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Buffy Episode Guide
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MayMay 23, 2000I cannot begin to describe how weird this 8 Flush episode was. The dreams were so wacky and so crazy with many interesting visuals. The show was all about the characters and who they have become, yet I could not find the underlying story here. I don't know that the story would have been any different had Xander dreamed first or had one part of a dream come before another. Entertaining and mystifying, but something was missing. Maybe if I watched this episode again, I would give it a 9. Anyway, it's the same night that everyone has just defeated Adam. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, and Riley go to Buffy's house. Joyce, Buffy's mom, is so happy to meet Riley, but Riley has to leave so he can be debriefed regarding the Initiative, also called by Riley "the Bay of Mutated Pigs," and he may even receive an honorable discharge. Joyce then goes to bed and the gang begins to watch movies. Xander's choice is Apocalypse Now, but before the movie begins, everyone falls asleep. We enter the world of dreams.Willow's up first. She is in Tara's room and the two are discussing a name for their cat, Miss Kitty. They wonder why the cat hasn't shared its name with them yet. Willow is drawing some ancient language on Tara's bare back, and Tara tells Willow that she doesn't know everything about her. Tara then reminds Willow that she has to go to her first drama class. Willow says it's so lovely here, and she looks out the window where there is desert and a cat who growls like a lion. Willow then is in the halls of school where she passes Xander and Oz. Xander tells Oz that Willow is a witch, and he wonders if everyone else is going to find out. They remind Willow that she must go to class. Willow shows up at drama class, and everyone is in costume and ready for a show. People tell Willow to get in costume, but realize that her current clothing is her costume. Willow wonders how on the first day of school they have a play; she learns that they are doing Death of a Salesman, only there is a cowboy in the play. Willow worries that everyone will find out who she is and everyone says Willow steps on their cues (this isn't supposed to make sense! that's the point). Some guy walks by and offers her some cheese. Willow then speaks with Buffy about her insecurities and then the show starts, and there is a cowboy in the show played by Riley. The cowboy says that he wants to kill a salesman. Willow almost gets attacked by a demon, but Buffy saves her. Buffy then takes her into a classroom and tells Willow that she has to admit who she is. Willow says that she cannot, but Buffy says that Willow has to take off her costume. Buffy rips off Willow's shirt, and Willow all of a sudden looks like a dork and is standing in front of a full class and is giving a book report. During her report, Xander nods off and Oz flirts with Tara. Then a demon attacks and strangles Willow. We then see Willow strangling to death in real life. The point of the dream: we thought that Willow was scared of being revealed as a witch, when she is really afraid of being thought a dork. Xander wakes up and sees Giles and Buffy watching Apocalypse Now while Willow appears to strangle in her death, but Buffy says that Willow is only faking. Xander goes upstairs to the bathroom where Joyce see him and asks him where he is going and then hits on him, and then when he enters the bathroom, he is surrounded by members of the Initiative so he leaves, and goes into another room and realizes that this isn't the way out so he then walks and ends up by a playground where Giles and Spike are on swings. Giles says that he is going to make Spike the next watcher and that Spike is like a son to him. Xander remembers being like a son to Giles. Buffy is in a sandbox and Xander says that Buffy should be scared to be by herself, but she responds that it is not her turn yet. A second Xander appears in an ice cream truck as Giles asks Xander where he is going. We then enter the ice cream truck. Anya is there and she asks Xander where they are going. Xander turns around and sees Tara and Willow making out (we don't actually see this). They invite Xander to join them, and as he climbs to the back of the truck, he actually ends up in some surreal world. Weirdness ensues including one scene (which has an army, apocalypse now feel) where Principal Snyder says "the hope of the nature's future is a bunch of mulch" and calls Xander "a whipping boy." Xander realizes that something is following him, but he doesn't know how to escape it. Anya and Giles try to help him, but they speak French to him (maybe showing that everyone else is smart because they went to college). Moments before being attacked, a man offers Xander some cheese. The beast then attacks Xander and rips out his heart (much like Buffy ripped out Adam's supple of uranium). The point of the dream: Xander fears that his life is headed nowhere. Giles dream is simpler. He is teaching Buffy by swaying a watch back and forth in front of her eyes trying to teach her. He then appears alongside his girlfriend and Buffy is with them only Buffy cannot even throw a balloon at a standing dummy in a carnival game. Buffy turns to Giles and her face is filled with mud, and she looks like some kind of African mask. Giles then walks through a hallway, and a man asks Giles if he wants some cheese. Giles is then at the Bronze, talking with Xander and Willow about what to do to stop whatever before it gets to Buffy. Giles realizes that the spell they cast with Buffy to help her defeat Adam has released some evil. Giles decides the best way to share his opinions is through song; however, as he reaches the conclusion of the best way to stop whatever, his microphone is unplugged. Giles goes to reconnect the microphone but can't. He finds the watch that he was using on Buffy. He then says that he knows what is going on and he has to tell Buffy, but it is too late: he is attacked. Point of dream: Giles fears not being an effective teacher nor a good watcher. Finally, Buffy dreams. She has no friends and no one to guide her through her problems. Tara keeps on appearing throughout Buffy's dreams, and Tara tells Buffy that Buffy lost her friends, but Buffy says that she thinks she needs to find them. She knows that she has to stop whatever from attacking. Some highlights from Buffy's dream include walking into a room and seeing a bed unmade. Buffy turns to Tara and says that she made this bed with Faith. Buffy also shows up in a government-looking room where she sees Riley and some guy. Riley shares that he was debriefed by the military and made Surgeon General. Riley's newest aim is world domination. The guy with Riley agrees. Buffy asks what this guy's original name was. He responds that no one knows who he was before he was Adam...that's right, this guy was the actor who played Adam!! At some point, Buffy tries to help fight some demons. She goes into her bag to get some weapons, but there is only cement in the bag. Buffy pours the cement onto her face and she begins to look primordial, and she has the same appearance as the Buffy in Giles's dream. Buffy then ends up in a desert. She speaks with Tara for a while, and we see this weird African woman who is in bandages and whose face is painted behind Buffy. Tara explains that she is destruction and force. Buffy realizes that this woman is the first slayer. Buffy, however, rejects her primordial roots and says that it is OK her friends helped her. Buffy says, "You're not the source of me." Although Buffy and slayer have a physical encounter, Buffy wins by rejecting the slayer on face. She claims that this slayer is not the root of her power. When she defeats this slayer by rejecting her existence and power, her friends awaken. They discuss their dreams. As Buffy goes to the bathroom, she says, "At least all you guys didn't dream about that guy with the cheese." (Who knows what this cheese signifies?) However, as Buffy goes upstairs, she passes a bed that looks like the bed she and Faith made in the dream, but in the dream the bed was unmade and in reality it is made. We hear Tara's voice speak the last words of the season, "You think you know what's to come, what you are, you haven't even begun."
XANDER ON APOCALYPSE NOW: Apocalypse Now is a gay romp. It's the feel good movie of whatever year it was.
May 16, 2000I suppose that a nicer person would call this 7 Flush episode "Buffy: The Showdown." I, on the other hand, feel more like calling it, "Buffy: Why'd you have to be so pathetic." Last year, when Buffy went up against the mayor, we were really excited, and this year, we were promised a battle between demons and humans that would have a higher body count...but that just didn't happen. I'll add two other things: 1) while the special effects for Buffy' showdown with Adam rocked, the fight scene between the Initiative and all of the demons stunk to high water (yes, I just created that expression) and 2) if the producers wanted to surprise the audience with the return of Professor Maggie Walsh, they really shouldn't have had her name in the credits. With that said, the episode itself was very simple. A lot of the earlier scenes focus on Adam and Riley. As you recall, at the end of last week's episode Riley showed up at Adam's and was ready to help him. Apparently, Maggie Walsh (aka "mother" to Adam) planted a chip inside Riley as he was supposed to be part of some grand solution. This chip controls Riley in a large part, but not completely. For example, he still knows that he loves Buffy. Spike, on the other hand, continues returning to Adam and asking him to have the chip removed from his own brain. Spike says that he split up the Scooby gang so he should have the chip taken out, but Adam points out that if the group is split up then Willow can never get computer directions to Buffy. So later that day when Buffy is patrolling the cave she previously saw Adam in, Spike not-so-casually asks her if the disks he gave her have been of any help. Buffy says no, and then she tells Spike to be careful because Adam hangs out in this cave. Spike says he will be.Buffy leaves the cave and starts thinking. She then calls a meeting of the immediate Scooby Gang (meaning Willow, Xander, and Giles). Buffy asks Xander who specifically told him about the girls making fun of Xander in the army, and Xander says Spike. Buffy then asks Willow who told her about Buffy and Xander making fun of Willow for being a witch, and Willow responds that it is was Spike. They soon realize that Spike has been purposefully trying to split them up and that he has been working for Adam. In addition, the disks that Willow has been trying to de-encrypt, magically de-encrypt on their own. Buffy realizes that Adam is trying to lure her into the Initiative. Buffy has no problem being lured into this trap, because she will have her friends to protect her. They're not sure how to help Buffy, but she says that if they can create a paralyzing spell on Adam that she can disable his uranium supply (I don't know why a nuclear bomb wouldn't work?). They say that they can do this spell but they need to be close to Adam when it happens, and they need to be undisturbed during the spell. The final step is finding out where Adam is. He apparently is in a hidden room behind Room #314 that no one knew about except for like 5 people. Buffy realizes that the Initiative has been overflowing with demons lately and that this might be bad for her, but she will still fight. In the meantime, Adam begins preparations for the showdown. He brings Riley to the secret room behind 314, and there Riley sees Prof Walsh and Forest resurrected. They're not actually resurrected. Instead, they have become cyborgs and are under the control of Adam. Adam's grand plan is to have all of the demons in the Initiative fight all of the soldiers and then to use the body parts of the demons to create a race of cyborgs. Riley will be the next to be converted as soon as there are enough body parts. Riley is scared by his friends' resurrection, but needs to deal. Anyway, Buffy enters the Initiative and is captured immediately by the soldiers. Buffy tries to explain what is happening, but Colonel MacNamara won't listen. The electricity goes out and all of the demons are released from their cages. Buffy tells Colonel not to let soldiers fight, because this is an attempt by Adam to weaken their forces before the fight with Adam. The Colonel doesn't listen, and he goes to fight. While all of the soldiers are fighting, Buffy and gang go to Adam. Buffy leaves the gang in a quiet room so she can forge ahead to the fight. Her first stop is a room with Maggie, Forest, and Riley. Forest and Maggie almost defeat Buffy with their cyborg strength, but Riley uses a shard of glass to cut the chip from his heart and then he aids in fighting Buffy. He even kills his best friend, Forest. Buffy then goes to Adam on her own. The paralyzing spell begins and all three of Buffy's friends experience the fight with her from a distance. Buffy's eyes turn yellowish-red and an awesome fight pursues in which Buffy sticks her hand right through Adam's chest and grabs out his uranium-power source. She then returns to her friends who have already been interrupted by Spike. They don't forgive Spike, but they won't slay him. Buffy returns with Riley and they have a happily ever after. At the very end of the episode, we see some government big-wigs talking and discussing that 40% of the Initiative soldiers died fighting the demons and that more would have died if not for Buffy. The Initiative is shut down, and everyone is let go. NEXT WEEK: No real cliffhanger from this week and the season's been resolved, but the season finale make dreams more realistic. May 9, 2000I must admit that while this was not the best episode ever that I appreciated the new TV allusions (Giles is like Alfred on Batman), and I enjoyed Spike's mischief. In addition, I loved the Buffy-Riley conflict so I will give this 7 flush episode 8 Flushes. The episode begins with a discussion between the man that I'm calling Colonel MacNamara and some man in a suit who is communicating through satellite picture. Colonel tells Suit that Riley has defected from the Initiative because of the girl he is dating. Colonel says that there is nothing special about the girl. Suit says that the Initiative needs to get Riley back, because he is such a valuable asset. In the meantime, Xander and Riley are talking about Angel and Buffy. Riley knows about Angel being Angelus, but he does not know that Buffy had sex with Angel to make him Angelus until Xander accidentally lets this fact out. Riley is upset to hear this fact, and he has been waiting for Buffy to return from LA for so long that he eventually goes to her dorm even though the Initiative is after him. Riley finds Buffy and the two are barely capable of talking so Riley leaves Buffy alone.In the meantime Spike and Adam scheme. Spike tells Adam that to get to the slayer, they need to separate her from her friends. As a result, Spike starts spreading rumors. He goes to Giles and makes a deal with Giles that Spike will break into the Initiative to get information on Adam in return for some blood and money. Giles agrees, but then Spike says that Giles had better check with his boss, Buffy. Giles resents being told that Buffy ignores him. Spike then visits Xander and Anya and says that Buffy and Willow were making fun of Xander being into his soldier things. Spike then delivers some computer discs with alleged information about Adam to Willow and says that Buffy and Xander were making fun of Willow being into wicca. As Spike shares this fact, Willow wonders about her relationship with Tara and whether she will live with Tara next year. Spike then returns to Adam and says that he has completed his mission. Spike explains that he enacted the Yoko factor into the Scooby group by making them hate each other so he now wants to be made normal again. Adam says that Spike must do one more thing for him. Buffy is out patrolling when she runs into Forrest, the number two man (number two behind Riley) at the Initiative. They enter a cave together and find Adam. Forrest fires a stun gun at Adam. Adam becomes invigorated from the stun gun, steals the gun from Forrest, kills Forrest, and then fires at Buffy. Buffy gets hit a little but then runs away. Riley is sitting in his secret dwelling, listening to the secret radio station that the Initiative uses when he hears about an attack on a group of Initiative soldiers. Riley realizes that someone needs to help the Initiative so he goes to the scene of the attack. He finds four soldiers down and Angel standing over them. Angel recognizes Riley immediately, and Riley eventually realizes who Angel is. Riley, angry about Buffy and Angel's past, attacks Angel. The two fight, Angel wins and heads off towards Buffy; Riley follows. Angel arrives at Buffy's and Riley arrives a moment later. Riley threatens to shoot Angel, Angel says he can beat Riley, Buffy says, "I see one more display of testosterone poisoning, and I will personally put you both in the hospital." Buffy and Angel talk in private. Angel came to say he is sorry and was confronted by the Initiative on his way to Buffy. Buffy saysthank you for the sorry, but now Angel has to go. Angel says go od-bye, but first shares that he doesn't like Riley. What happens with Buffy and Riley? They confess their love and trust for each other. Buffy also tells Riley about the death of Forrest which saddens him so much that he has to leave Buffy. Yeah, them. Buffy goes to Giles's to see the progress of finding Adam. Willow has been unable to decrypt the computer discs. Buffy says that something needs to be done. Xander and Willow want to help, but Buffy says no. Everyone gets angry at everyone else. Some ofmy favorite insults include one from Willow to Xander: "You'd be great in the army. Do you think the umbilical cord between you and Anya can stretch that far?" and Xander to Buffy: "Do you think that because you're better than us that you're superior?" Xander ismad about the army comment, Willow is mad about the witch comment, Buffy is mad that Xander told Riley about Angel, Giles is mad that he has no control over Buffy. As they fight, Buffy says that the disunion between them proves that Buffy must fight Adam with the only person she can trust. She says she isn't meant to be part of the Scooby gang: "I'm starting to understand why there's no ancient prophesy on a chosen one and her friends." She leaves Giles's home and we assume that she heads off to see Riley. However, at the end of the episode, we see Riley go to Adam. Adam says that he has been waiting for Riley to show up. End of episode.
QUOTE OF THE EPISODE:Whatever happened to Latin? At least when that made no sense, the Church approved. --Giles
May 2, 2000I can already read the angry e-mails coming my way, but I have to be true to my convictions and only give this week's episode 6 Flushes. I realize that there are many of you who love Oz, but I do not. I also do not like Tara or Riley for that matter, and this episode used all of these characters too much. The premise of this episode is simple. Oz returns to Sunnydale just as Willow and Tara are coming to peace with their feelings for each other. Anyway, the Scooby gang is having a meeting at Giles's house. They're discussing the fact that there have been almost no demon or vampire attacks lately and that Adam is probably up to something which is keeping the demons busy. As they talk, Oz walks in (how does he know that everyone will be at Giles's house, I do not know). Tara is unsure of Oz and runs away. Oz and Willow talk for a little and agree to get together later in the night. They meet in Willow's room and talk through the night. Oz informs Willow that he has discovered a way to control the beast in him. As a matter of fact, this night is a full moon, and he is not a werewolf. She is happy but is also confused. He explains that he has traveled around the world and can control his inner demon through meditation and herbs. Oz then asks her if she has met another man, and she says no. The two talk throughout the night. Morning comes, and they are ready for breakfast, but Willow needs to go the bathroom. Willow had just left her room for the bathroom when Tara knocks on the door. Oz answers, and Tara freaks out and leaves. Oz tells Willow that Tara stopped by, and Willow seems confused and saddened that Tara saw Oz again.That same night (where Willow and Oz talked), Buffy and Riley were patrolling. The subject of Oz came up, and Buffy explained that it was hard for Willow when Oz left given that he is a werewolf. Riley freaks out and wonders why Willow would date someone evil, but Buffy explains that Oz is not evil. Also that evening, some soldiers from the Initiative are patrolling and one of them gets attacked and killed by some demon that looks like a werewolf. You can tell where this story is going. The Initiative is on the lookout for a werewolf the next day. At the same time, Tara and Oz bump into each other. Oz recognizes the sweatshirt Tara is wearing as Willow's. He then says that Tara has Willow's smell all over her (notice the heightened sense of smell is a werewolf thing). She says that she can't get into "this" with him. He then interprets that there is a "this" which needs to be explained. Oz gets upset and turns into a werewolf. Tara runs, but Oz is on her trail. She throws a chair at him, and he collapses. But he really collapsed from a dart that an Initiative soldier shot at him. The soldiers then carry Oz off. Please note that they have no idea that the werewolf is Oz. The Initiative performs some tests and cannot tell if this werewolf is the one that killed their soldier last night. Riley doesn't care. He wants to shoot the werewolf when all of a sudden the werewolf transforms back into Oz. The Initiative keeps Oz in jail, but Riley tries to help him escape. Riley is caught with Oz. Oz is returned to jail, and Riley will be court marshaled. Before Riley's activity, Tara tells the gang (excluding Riley who is at the Initiative) about Oz's capture. But before this continues, let me say that Spike is sleeping one night. Adam approaches Spike. Adam tells Spike that the two should join together to get rid of the slayer. Adam says that if Spike helps Adam fight Buffy then Adam will help Spike get his killing powers back. Spike agrees. Adam also confesses that when he conquers the world he will not only kill humans but many demons too, but Spike and he agree that they will trust each other. Now back to Buffy. The gang is planning a rescue mission when Spike enters the room and says that he can help them, because he was captured by the Initiative. The gang questions Spike's motives (Buffy calls Spike "someone formerly dangerous or currently annoying") but they realize that he can help and he does hate the Initiative. Buffy, Spike, Willow, and maybe Xander go to rescue Oz. However, when they arrive, they discover from a colonel (I think Col. MacNamara) that Riley has also been captured. The gang holds the colonel captive until Oz and Riley are rescued. Riley is now a fugitive and can never go back to the Initiative. But also, Oz realizes that he can never control the beast in him. As a matter of fact, when he first saw Willow he turns into a werewolf. Oz hates the irony that the one thing he loves is the only thing that makes him lose his cool and turns him into a werewolf (remind you of the reason Angel left?). Oz leaves again. Willow realizes that she has moved beyond Oz and goes to visit Tara. She says that she is sorry she ignored Tara for the past few days and that she wants to make it up to her. Tara says that she is sorry Willow lost the person she loves. Willow says that she is with the person she loves. Willow says she is going to make things up to Tara NOW, and then she blows out a candle which is providing the only light in the room. Seems as though the two are hooking up. Sources close to my friend Annika report that the episode made us realize non-normal relationships are valid. We never had a problem with a transspecies relationship between Willow and Oz, so we should not have a problem with a homosexual relationship between Willow and Tara. Riley had to come to grips with this issue as he changed his perception of evil Oz to trying to rescue him. Riley realizes that everything is not "black and white" and that there are shades of evil and shades of normalcy. Riley tells this to Buffy at which point she explains everything in her past (including Angel, we presume)
QUOTE OF THE EPISODE: The thing about the slayer is she's a whiny kind of thing, but when it comes to fighting, she wins. --Spike to Adam
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