Reviewed by Sanguine

I've read this tale There's wedding, then betrayal I know there'll come the day I'll want to run and hide

That day arrived with a vengeance in Hell's Bells, written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner, who also penned the pivotal Tabula Rasa earlier this season. Weddings have always been a symbol of transition: the move from being a singleton to being a "smug married" (to channel Bridget Jones for a moment). Hell's Bells was no different. Everyone has been tested this season, has been made to confront their inner demons. During Hell's Bells, some rise to the occasion, but others flounder and fall. In short, Hell's Bells made the audience swallow a rather bitter pill, but it was washed down with wit and charm that has been lacking in some of the other episodes this season. And some of the acting was spectacular. In particular, Nicholas Brendon, Emma Caulfield, and James Marsters turned in nuanced, affecting performances.

This was Xander and Anya's episode, but before I address the serious ramifications of their thwarted nuptials, I'd like to first consider the other couples that have imploded on BTVS this season. First, Willow and Tara.

Willow's need for control, her insecurities about her own self-worth, caused the destruction of one of the healthiest relationships in the Buffyverse. When Willow erased her lover's memories of an argument, she didn't take this rather radical foray into passive aggressive behaviour because she was addicted to magic. Oh, no. That's the easy explanation, but it's not accurate, and it lets Willow off the hook. She wanted to control Tara, to control her actions, to eliminate conflict from their relationship. Deep down, Willow was terrified that her lover would leave her. Since Tara terminated their relationship, Willow has, to a certain extent, come to grips with her own insecurities, the reasons that led her down the dark path of Magic!Addiction. She's eschewed the Dark Side. At the wedding, Tara and Willow's obvious love for each other shone through, making the viewer think that these two kids actually might have a happy future together. But this is Mutant Enemy, after all, and for them, Love Is Pain. Here's my prediction: something horrible will happen to Tara. Willow will be tempted to do magic again, either out of revenge or to save her erstwhile lover. The fact that Willow and Tara's relationship seems to be heading in a more positive direction only confirms my suspicion that Willow's battle with her own demons is far from over. Unfortunately for Tara's chances of survival, she seems to be at the end of her journey. Out of all the Scoobies, she is the only one that is even close to reaching maturity. Plus, I was just starting to really, really like Tara (her compassion for Buffy in Dead Things was wonderful and her teasing of Spike in Older and Far Away enlivened an otherwise mediocre episode). Ergo, there must be badness in store for Sunnydale's resident Earth Mother. God, I hope I'm wrong.

Just in case you've been asleep the past few years and missed the Mutant Enemy mantra, LOVE IS PAIN, a mysterious old gentleman appears at the wedding to drive the point home. After he tells Xander, "Sometimes two people, all they bring each other is pain," we cut to Buffy, watching a solitary Spike trying to look casual as he lounges against the wall of the Sunnydale Bison Lodge--not a vampire's natural habitat. But Spike has never been a conformist.

Generally, on BTVS the cuts between scenes are tremendously significant. Here, if one were to do a straightforward interpretation of the scene juxtaposition, one might think that all Buffy and Spike were capable of was causing each other pain. But we later learn that the old guy ain't exactly Mr. Trustworthy. He lies, all the time. Why should we believe him about Buffy and Spike, particularly since they treat each other with respect and obvious affection in their scene together? For a change, they are helping each other heal, not causing each other deliberate pain.

Earlier in the episode, Dawn informed Buffy that Spike is performing an intense oral exam on an unbelievable skank--right in the middle of the room! Luckily the skank in question (a human skank, as I'm sure Spike wouldn't be stupid enough to bring a hungry vampire to the wedding of his human friends) is powdering her nose when Buffy spies William, across a less-than-crowded room. The conversation that ensues is one of the most honest, civil conversations that these two have ever had, and bodes very well for their future, as friends if not as lovers.

Spike has mostly dropped the posturing of his Big Bad persona and is back to being the sensitive, concerned friend that we saw at the beginning of Season 6. A few remnants of the persona remain as he asks Buffy if she's met his date, but when Buffy refuses to take the bait and treats him like a man, he rises to the occasion, dropping his brittle fa�ade. Buffy admits that seeing him with another woman hurts her, but it doesn't change anything. She still can't love him (and, judging from her wistful demeanour, I think we know what "can't" means: she can't allow herself to love him. She shouldn't love him, but unfortunately she does). Spike does not gloat over Buffy's pain. Instead, his first instinct is to apologise. A few moments later, he even offers to leave. Buffy's response shows that she's beginning to really see Spike, see his worth, see the value of all the good things he's done for the Scoobies. "No," she responds, "no, you have every right to be here." Spike has a right to be at the Scooby function: he's part of the team. What a difference from the confrontation in the Magic Box after last year's Crush, when all the Scoobies systematically rejected Spike. Now, he's paid his dues, and Buffy knows it. He may still have some growing up to do, he may still do stupid, amoral things, but if given the proper encouragement, he could be a good man. Buffy continues, blaming herself, "I pretty much deserve . . ."

Deserve what, Buffy? Deserve to be in pain, after the way you used and abused Spike? Perhaps. But Spike isn't thinking vengeful thoughts. He just wants her to be happy. Spike doesn't view the disintegration of their relationship in terms of right and wrong. According to Spike, there's no reason for self-recriminations. "That's not true. You . . ."

You what? You deserve the best? You deserve to be happy? It's selfless love, rearing its redemptive head. Spike doesn't think he has a chance with Buffy but he doesn't revert to evil, trying to kill her and all her friends. He doesn't bring a flamethrower as a date to the wedding. No, he just brings a pathetic excuse for a date to make his ex jealous, and when he sees he's upsetting her, he offers to leave. He even tacitly promises not to boff the all-too-available Ho-Biscuit. One of Spike's final comments clearly shows he's passed the rejection test: "It's nice to watch you be happy," he says, almost shyly, "for them, even. I don't see it a lot. You, uh, you glow." In the past, Spike did not take rejection well. When Cecily told him he was beneath her, he stormed off, crying and destroying his poetry. He ran right into Drusilla, accepted her dark gift, and the rest is history. When Dru dumped him, he came back to Sunnydale, drunk and disorderly, and endangered the lives of Xander and Willow (and his actions led to Cordelia being severely injured). When Buffy rejected him last year, he built a sex bot. But this year, even though the rejection was, in some respects, deeper (he'd actually had Buffy, without really having her), Buffy treats him with respect, treats him like a man. And he responds by dropping the Big Bad posturing and becoming a better version of himself. It's all good.

And Buffy has also made progress. She's accepted the consequences of her behaviour towards Spike and has decided to remedy the situation. Instinctively, she seems to realise that the thing Spike really craves is respect and acceptance: two things he's never really had. She's giving him what he needs, so he's able to give her what she needs in return: forgiveness.

Although Buffy and Spike's relationship is in a healthier place, and Willow and Tara are inching towards reconciliation, Xander and Anya's relationship is coming apart at the seams. When Xander asked Anya to marry him at the end of last season, right before the showdown with Glory, Anya was a bit miffed. She wondered if he was asking her because they were all going to die anyway, and he wouldn't have to go through with it. There may have been some truth to Anya's speculation. Xander certainly wasn't ready to get married. For Xander Harris has been carrying around some pretty significant baggage: his fear that he will become a drunken, abusive oaf, like his father, and his unresolved feelings for Buffy. The appearance of the supposed Older Xander brings these two issues to a head.

Older Xander mesmerizes his younger self with a glow-y sphere thingy, which sucks the Young Xander right in, both literally and metaphorically. Once inside, he experiences the horror of his future married life with Anya, first hand. He drinks himself into a stupor, while watching a football game as his harried wife scurries around, picking up his beer bottles. He can't work, he reminds her, because of his back. Anya is furious. "You had no business fighting demons with her."

"Buffy needed me," Xander replies. "I had to help."

"Well, it didn't save her, did it? All it did was ruin our lives," Anya snaps.

Obviously, one of Xander's deepest fears, if we are to believe that this is Xander's own nightmare version of his future, is that he won't be able to save Buffy. He tells himself that Buffy needs him, and he desperately needs to be needed. He needs to feel useful, but in the end he is powerless to save the woman who, even after he gets married, continues to be at the center of his existence. Xander still places Buffy above everything else, and this has bred an understandable resentment in his wife, who has, judging from the demonic appearance of their daughter, Sarah, been having an extramarital dalliance with Clem.

The final part of the vision further articulates the fears that Xander just can't quell. Future Xander is arguing with Anya. "If you're so unhappy, why didn't you just leave?" he asks.

"I wanted to. I should have," Anya replies bitterly.

"Yeah you should. Cause then maybe I would've got some touch in the past twenty years," Xander responds maliciously.

This touches a nerve, "I wasn't the one that stopped touching." Anya's eyes fill with pain.

"Oh ho! Maybe. But you weren't touching me," Xander retorts, an obvious reference to his spouse's infidelity.

"Well, what did you expect me to do? You wouldn't touch me after Buff--"

Again, the Buffy issue rears its ugly head. After Buffy died, Xander didn't have sex with his wife. He obviously has feelings for the Slayer that have never been fully resolved. In some ways, he's never gotten past his unrequited high school passion.

After some additional fighting, Anya reveals that being married to Xander has made her hate herself. Xander can't stand to hear these truths anymore, and he goes after his wife with a frying pan, wanting to shut her up any way he can.

Like his father, he has become abusive.

So, at heart, Xander is afraid that getting married will bring out the worst in him. Like his father, he will become a drunken, abusive lout. Like his father, he will not be emotionally committed to his wife. Instead, Xander pines after the idealized woman that got away, that was never really his. He will have to resolve his feelings for Buffy and come to grips with his inner demons before he will ever be able to be in a committed relationship. This will be hard for Xander, however, as he is a child of abuse and needs some serious therapy. Seeing his family first hand really drove home just how horrible Xander's life must have been before he found his purpose as a Scooby. But now, after rejecting his bride-to-be, he is, for the first time in a long time, walking alone in fear.

This episode also brought Anya face-to-face with demons from her past. Many have voiced concerns about a Scooby double standard over the past two seasons. Anya got almost instant acceptance from the Scoobies after she was turned human against her will in Season 3. In spite of the fact that she never showed any remorse for any of the lives she ruined, she hooked up with Xander. But hey, apparently she had a soul, so no redemption was necessary.

On the other hand, Spike has had an uphill struggle to find acceptance. Some of his problems have been brought on by himself, but the situation was exacerbated in Season 5 by the Scoobies' suspicion about his proclaimed attempts to "give up the whole evil thing." While their suspicion was understandable, it seemed a bit strange that they accepted Anya so readily. But now Anya's past has come back, with a vengeance! Supposed Older Xander was really a victim of Anya's demonic retribution, and he's learned that revenge is a dish best served cold. He waited until the worst possible moment and then ruined Anya's life, making her feel the torment that he felt for decades, whilst being tortured in a hell dimension. Anya makes clear that she hasn't dwelt over her misdeeds. When confronted by the demon she remarks, "I punished you . . . I forgot." But now I'm sure she remembers. She understands the consequences of her actions, and hopefully this lesson, along with the many others she's learned as a human, will stick. If we believe the vows Anya wrote for the wedding, we can have hope that she will reject D'Hoffryn's offer to become a vengeance demon again:

"Before I knew you, I was like a completely different person. Not even a person, really . . . And I'd seen what love could do to people. And it was hurt and sadness . . . And then suddenly, there was you. You knew me . . . You saw me . . . So I get it now. I finally get love, Xander. I really do."

Love is a redemptive agent in the Buffyverse. We shall see if Anya was telling the truth. We shall see if she really "gets" it, even as she's been rejected in the most horrible way. We shall see if she's learned as much as Spike.