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8.19. Time of your Life, Part IV Buffy: "I'm leaving. I don't care about your world. I have to save mine." Synopsis: Buffy is unconscious, tied to a chair, surrounded by Future Willow, Melaka and Erin. Future Willow remembers that there will be an opening in the temporal rift that night. Harth and his lurks arrive, hovering above. Harth wonders why Willow told Harth one thing (that Buffy's coming would cause the future to *be*) and Melaka another (that Buffy returning to her present would cause the future *not* to be). Future Willow says that it isn't who dies, but who kills them. Gates the four-handed monkey releases Buffy. Gunther (who got away from Harth) shows up. Big battle. Meanwhile, back in the forest, Lorelahn the flaming mystical walking tree leads the other trees plus a lot of odd looking other creatures (like giant bunnies and owls and assorted other monsters) against the "flamey snakey ren-fair monsters" who took over the castle. The big problem is that the bad guys aren't solid and can't be killed. Suddenly, Xander's squadron of slayers and wiccans show up, and the wiccans make the bad guys solid. Great big battle. The slayers, wiccans, and walking trees are winning. Back to Buffy, who is hanging from a flying car and hoping to find her way somehow to the temporal slip. Which she does, only to find Melaka waiting for her. There's a big final confrontation on the rooftop with all of the interested parties. Buffy and Melaka fight, each with her own Scythe. Melaka is physically stronger and on her own turf, while Buffy has the slayer memories of every battle fought. "I'm outgunned... but she's outnumbered." (Plus Buffy is in a short dress and platforms.) Gunther's car (containing water) crashes on the rooftop, and everything gets wet. Brief side trip to Warren and Amy, watching the battle in the forest and blaming each other for their failure. Twilight, looking on, talks with a second man whose face we can't see, but who is wearing a tight shirt obviously concealing a Twilight symbol. The second man says that when he met Buffy secretly in New York, he told her he was her inside man. Pull back, and of course, it's Riley. Kennedy blindfolds Present Willow before she opens the rift. Buffy leaps for it, but Future Willow stands in her way. Buffy realizes that Future Willow brought her there for this very reason. Buffy stabs Future Willow with the pointy end of the Scythe, and kills her. Present Willow, blindfolded, reaches through the rift and successfully retrieves Buffy. Buffy, Willow and Kennedy are standing on the present day rooftop. Buffy, sobbing, tells Willow she loves her, and hugs her tightly. Kennedy carefully watches their hands. Melaka and Erin, standing on the future rooftop, realize that even though Buffy is gone, their world didn't change. Review: Again, a satisfying four-parter conclusion. Battle of the castle, check. Warren and Amy defeated, check. Buffy back in her own time, check. Melaka and the future still the same, um, check? The biggest unanswered question is Future Willow. How and why did she live so long? Was she evil, after all? Future Willow obviously brought Buffy to the future because she wanted to die and that it was important that Buffy herself was the one to kill her. Maybe Buffy was the only one who could kill her. And again, why? I knew Riley would show up eventually, and I wasn't surprised that he is working for Twilight. (I had theorized that Riley *was* Twilight, but no; still, I was on the right track.) So Riley is a minion again. A good soldier working for a bad team? Again? And does Buffy truly believe Riley is her inside man, or does she know what's really going on? And okay, the main plot thread is still threading. Slayers and demons go bye-bye? Will Twilight actually be able to eliminate all magic successfully, after all? If Buffy manages to stop him, what happens to Melaka Fray and her terrible future? Quotes: Future Willow: (looking closely at an unconscious Buffy) "I'd forgotten her excellent nose." Buffy: "Why am I shackled, why are you evil, and why isn't anyone on my side?"" Harth: "You've been spinning us all." Future Willow: "Yes, well, I'm dark that way." Lorelahn: "Let us show these abominations the forest's rage!" Xander: "Followed quickly by the forest's denial, bargaining, and then short, painful acceptance." Xander: "You're just into guys with no lower half now, is what." Dawn: "Don't be gross." Xander: "You want to nuzzle his root system." Dawn: "I hope you die first, with the most wounds." Melaka: "I can't let you go." Buffy: "Did you listen to Willow? 'It's who kills you.' Pitting us against each other is her idea of game night. We are the Scattergories of evil." The ending was cool, and left us with some interesting questions. Three out of four stakes, Billie View all comments or post a comment. |
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