Buffyverse Dialogue Database - EPISODE: 'Spiral'


Season: Episode 20 of Season 5
Original Air Date: 05/08/2001
Written by: Steven S. DeKnight
Directed by: James A. Contner

Notes:

The gang flees Glory in an RV & endures a seige in an abandonned gas station.
Plot Highlights:

Buffy & Dawn barely escape Glory. Buffy's new plan: run away. Ben & minion Gronx chat. Spike pulls up in a Winnabago. Xander gets queasy, Anya gets cooking & Tara plays with Mr. Sunshine. Dawn thanks Buffy. Knights attack, Giles gets skewered. Buffy & co are beseiged in an abandonned gas station. Giles tells Buffy he's proud of her. Ben is called in to doctor Giles. Captured General reveals Key/Glory backstory. Buffy promises Dawn she'll keep her safe. General attempts to enlist Ben. Glory takes Ben over, snags Dawn and levels the Knights. Buffy goes into a daze.
Quick Review:

This episode had a lot of promise and it mostly came through. The action scene with the winnabago & the knights -- once you perform some mental gymnastics to avoid dwelling on the sheer logistical & practical impossibility of it all (not to mention that as far as plans of action go, fleeing aimlessly in a lumbering behemoth down a deserted DIRT road was not one of Buffy's shining tactical moments. Forget knights, engine failure alone sounds likely & unpleasant) -- was really quite impressive. But what really made this episode was all the good bits of interaction between characters, too many to be listed individually in the "memorable moments" section or this review, but suffice to say we got a solid collection of snippiness & funny bits, words of compassion & acts of heroism, minor interpersonal skirmishes & moving moments. And to keep the plot going we also get some more back-story on Glory & Dawn's origins. Perhaps a bit too much straight out exposition, and those mental gymnastics really were tough, taking my enjoyment of the rest down a notch, but still solid and entertaining. Re-watch potential is there, though not at the top of the list.
Memorable Moments:

All the little snippy scooby exchanges in the RV before the first attack, especially Anya's cheerful practicalness, the Xander/Spike animosity & Tara's game with Mr. Sunshine.
Dawn thanking a discouraged Buffy for her efforts.
The whole Knights/Winnabago action scene.
Giles, gravely wounded, reassuring Buffy that he's proud of her.
Xander thawing out enough to help the wounded Spike light up.

Transcript Source:

Download from http://www.studiesinwords.de/98spiral.html
Typed the partial transcript of this episode myself
(If the link above doesn't work, try looking here, under multimedia.)

There are 28 clips for this episode

AKAs

Spike referred to Giles as Captain Slow Poke

Xander referred to Spike as Undead Man Walking

Spike referred to Dawn as sweet bit

Spike referred to Buffy as Florence bloody Nightingale

General Gregor referred to Glory as the Beast

General Gregor referred to Buffy as Poor frightened girl

Dawn referred to Dawn as Destroyer of the Universe

characters

Story Arcs

NOTES ON EPISODE ART: CREATED 02/2002 ~There was such a whirl of activity and action is "Spiral" that I wanted to try to make the collage as dynamic as possible. And it's a sure sign that I've been reading too many quilt books & magazines when the first thing that comes to mind when "dynamic" and "design" are mentioned together is to set a block on point with contrasting sashing! But I did it anyway, and I actually think it worked pretty well. I'm especially pleased with the "actiony outdoors" sashing/frame effect. Which got me thinking, if this collage was a quilt, what would it look like? Now if I could only find a yard or two of those last few fabrics I need for my current *non*-electronic quilty project...

Notes: The gang flees Glory in an RV & endures a seige in an abandonned gas station. Plot Highlights: Buffy & Dawn barely escape Glory. Buffy's new plan: run away. Ben & minion Gronx chat. Spike pulls up in a Winnabago. Xander gets queasy, Anya gets cooking & Tara plays with Mr. Sunshine. Dawn thanks Buffy. Knights attack, Giles gets skewered. Buffy & co are beseiged in an abandonned gas station. Giles tells Buffy he's proud of her. Ben is called in to doctor Giles. Captured General reveals Key/Glory backstory. Buffy promises Dawn she'll keep her safe. General attempts to enlist Ben. Glory takes Ben over, snags Dawn and levels the Knights. Buffy goes into a daze. Quick Review: This episode had a lot of promise and it mostly came through. The action scene with the winnabago & the knights -- once you perform some mental gymnastics to avoid dwelling on the sheer logistical & practical impossibility of it all (not to mention that as far as plans of action go, fleeing aimlessly in a lumbering behemoth down a deserted DIRT road was not one of Buffy's shining tactical moments. Forget knights, engine failure alone sounds likely & unpleasant) -- was really quite impressive. But what really made this episode was all the good bits of interaction between characters, too many to be listed individually in the "memorable moments" section or this review, but suffice to say we got a solid collection of snippiness & funny bits, words of compassion & acts of heroism, minor interpersonal skirmishes & moving moments. And to keep the plot going we also get some more back-story on Glory & Dawn's origins. Perhaps a bit too much straight out exposition, and those mental gymnastics really were tough, taking my enjoyment of the rest down a notch, but still solid and entertaining. Re-watch potential is there, though not at the top of the list. Memorable Moments: All the little snippy scooby exchanges in the RV before the first attack, especially Anya's cheerful practicalness, the Xander/Spike animosity & Tara's game with Mr. Sunshine. Dawn thanking a discouraged Buffy for her efforts. The whole Knights/Winnabago action scene. Giles, gravely wounded, reassuring Buffy that he's proud of her. Xander thawing out enough to help the wounded Spike light up.
Transcript Source: Download from http://www.studiesinwords.de/98spiral.html Typed the partial transcript of this episode myself (If the link above doesn't work, try looking here, under multimedia.)
There are 28 clips for this episode

<Episode 98: Spiral>