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5.20 Spiral

Anya: "Run away? Finally, a sensible plan."

How did I not like this episode? Let me count the ways.

1. Come on. Eight people -- why not two cars? Can you say faster than horses? Harder to overturn? Not to mention more economical gas mileage, no small thing in California right now. They could have rigged up something to protect Spike from sunlight, couldn't they? Heck, they could have just taken the Spike-mobile and Giles' new red plaything.

2. Only Spike can help against Glory? Hey, I'm all for Buffy appreciating Spike, but isn't Willow holding up a huge part of the Slayer defense right now?

3. It seemed wildly out of character for Buffy to run. Plus, I could see her going catatonic if Dawn were dead, but not while Dawn was still alive and rescue-able.

4. If those knights were so determined to kill the beast, why weren't they helping Buffy? It doesn't make sense.

BtVS is, when you come right down to it, a horror comedy with soap opera heartbreak trimmings. That's how it works the best, and this episode just doesn't fit the criteria. There's been a lot I've loved this season; what I've enjoyed most has been the development of Spike's romantic obsession with Buffy, Buffy's exploration of her dark side, Willow's growth as a witch and her relationship with Tara, Xander's maturity, and Giles' new career as a shop owner. I dunno -- am I just not liking the Glory/Ben/Key plot all that much? I'm missing Spike and Dru from season two, and the Mayor and Faith from three.

Bits and pieces:

-- Buffy is finally depending on Spike, and Xander is even bonding with him. I like it. Although part of me just can't see Spike as Buffy-whipped, and I don't want to see the show go in that direction.

-- In the interest of equal opportunity, we now have a female leprous hobbit minion.

-- Poor Ben. We finally found out what he was: a human prison for Glory, an innocent victim. I can't see him killing Dawn; it's out of character, even if it's the only way he could be free. I don't see a happy ending for Ben coming down the pike.

-- It looks like the brainsuck victims are all linked together somehow. This makes me a little more hopeful that Tara will recover.

Quotes:

Giles: "There must be something in the Book of Tarnis that we've missed, something we can use against Glory."
Anya: "Piano!"
Xander: "Because that's what we used to kill that big demon that one time. No, wait, that was a rocket launcher. Ahn, what are you talking about?"
Anya: "We should drop a piano on her. Well, it always works for that creepy cartoon rabbit when he's running from that nice man with the speech impediment."
Giles: "Yes, or perhaps we could paint a convincing tunnel on the side of a mountain."

Ben: "You know why I wanted to be a doctor?"
Gronx: "Flattering drawstring pants?"

Xander: "Is anybody else queasy?"
Anya: "He doesn't travel well. He's like fine shrimp."

Anya: "Ooh! Snacks! The secret to any successful migration. Who's up for some tasty fried meat products?"

Xander: "We got company. And they brought a crusade."

Dawn: "Destroyer of the universe. I guess cutting school doesn't seem so bad now, huh?"

One out of four stakes,

Billie





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