Entropy: Finally, Some Damn Continuity!

by Klytaimnestra

You can also read about Kly's Thoughts on Season 6 so far (to Entropy)

Emotionally:

OWWW! That hurt so damn much. Oh, god, I love Spike. He is so wonderful. Hopelessly devoted to him. Man I love Anya. Totally devoted to her too. Holy crow I dislike Buffy. She's not suffering nearly enough. Bring it on. Isn't Xander despicable! Wow. I totally love Spike. Wow. Owww that hurt.

Objectively:

Excellent episode. Unbelievable. Wow. Who-ee. Totally. (And this is completely objective, honest.)

Why this episode was so great:

It was All!About!Spike! How long did that central Spike/Anya scene last? James Marsters is a brilliant actor who managed to be at once loving and pretty evil and in pain and sympathetic and intelligent and pathetic and understanding and sexy and honest, and never once fell off the tightrope. The episode gave free rein to his talents and he carried it off without the slightest sign of strain. But everyone else did a great job, too.

What I loved the very best about this episode:

That Spike and Anya, between them, said every single thing any of us have ever said in the last several months about the Scoobies. They both know exactly what's going on. And so do we. And so, it's now clear, do the writers, who got it out there. Everything we thought we were seeing - we saw it. All the Scooby weaknesses and petty shallow self-righteousness and nasty-minded narrowness - it's all there, written in. We aren't imagining it.

My favourite lines:

"The two of them - they're weak, is all." Spike is right.

"They'll miss the water, now the well's gone dry." No foolin'.

"How dare you judge me!" And high time too, Anya my love! I was so glad to see her reaction. First apologizes, because she loves Xander. But when he gets on his high horse, she does NOT let him. Wish Spike had done the same to Buffy. I was waiting for the line "you told me to move on." But we're supposed to see him as too taken aback to defend himself I think.

All-time favourite line:

"That's Spike! He's so cool!" (pause) "Uh, she's pretty hot too."

Difference between Xander and Anya:

It's sheer luck that Xander's not a murderer. It's sheer luck that Anya's not a murderer. But I like Anya more, because she's not a bully, and because she did stop Spike from wishing at the end. Xander did get some sympathetic lines early in the episode though. Pity he couldn't get out the one line that would have fixed everything, "I'm afraid I'll turn into my father and I couldn't bear to hurt you that way." But I keep forgetting he's only 21.

Most affecting love/sex scene all year:

Spike and Anya. Great conversation. The only two who understand each other, and the Scoobies, and will talk about it. And oh man I was weak in the knees when Spike swept everything off the table to lay her down. I have to suppress a whimper just thinking about it now.

The thing I really don't understand:

Why are Spike and Anya getting dressed in embarrassed silence after The Event? Because they're embarrassed, I suppose. After the great conversation they had before The Event, I would have hoped that they'd be cuddly, or at least friendly. I suppose the writers want to make clear there's no relationship going to immediately form from this. Liked his nod of the head though.

Interesting line of Spike's:

in response to "I don't love you, Spike." "Right." He doesn't believe her. Is he right? Not clear. She's moving on pretty quick. Mistakes were made, others will be blamed, the hero will make breakfast for her sister. Is she feeling more than she's admitting to herself? Who knows. She, duh, isn't admitting it.

Thing I dislike:

Buffy thinks Spike planted the camera? Buffy trusts Xander over Spike?

Other thing I disliked:

everything else Buffy said to Spike too.

Is Spike evil?

They sure are evilling him up, aren't they. Did the same thing just before they chipped him. Expect a major transformation soon. His line to Anya "You're the only one I wouldn't bite if I had the chance" would be kind of incontrovertible, IF he weren't drunk and angry when he said it. Reinforced however by his not defending himself in general, when Buffy accuses him of lying, cheating, stealing and manipulating, and objecting only that he would never hurt HER. And then there's his line that at first he just wanted to try it and see what he'd been missing - but surely we aren't supposed to believe that this was his motive the first time he had sex with Buffy? Can't be what it meant. Surely refers to his previous attraction, in S4. (Though it was, it now turns out, BUFFY'S motivation, for sure.) His nodding in agreement while Anya talks about changing to please the loved one. So his motivation is now established as love for Buffy all along. At least, that's what he thinks when he's drunk and angry. But you know, it had the ring of truth, for me. He doesn't want to be chipped; he doesn't want to be a love-slave; he doesn't want to be miserable; and he'd like to bite all the Scoobies except Anya, who is, after all, not a Scoobie, really.

I don't blame him for any of this of course. Does this make me evil? Not really, because I wouldn't bite the Scoobies myself.

More things I dislike:

Buffy the lying little, um, fill in your choice of noun because I probably won't pick a nice one. "There have only been four men! Three. Three men. That's hardly even plural."

Thing I didn't like very much:

Dawn being "understanding" about how hard it must have been for Buffy to have to hide things, instead of saying blankly "but what's the problem? He's great!"

Thing that worried me a lot at the time but turned out okay:

Buffy heading off out the door on seeing Spike & Anya engaged. Then Xander heads off out the door. Then we see the weapons chest. And I thought, God, please tell me no. But Buffy was actually having the right reaction, and was sitting in the back yard feeling lousy. Xander was the one who went for the weapons. Whew! If Buffy had gone for a stake I would not have been able to come back from it.

Something I liked very much:

Buffy saved Spike's life. At least she knows she owes him that much. Though Anya may have managed to stop Xander before Buffy got there, it wasn't clear. Still, she got there in time to try.

Something else I liked:

Spike's fond reminiscent affection for Dru, crazy as she was.

Other great stuff in this episode:

the nerds. Very good interactions between them. Jonathan has serious qualms. Andrew is still wavering, knows that Warren is going to kill Jonathan and "feels kinda sorry for him", which is, I'm sorry Andrew, not enough to give you a white hat in these parts. He knows Jonathan too well for Jonathan's good. What is that map?

Interaction I didn't enjoy:

oh, why bother. I didn't enjoy any Spike/Buffy interaction.

Thing I was glad to hear Spike say:

"Get out!" About time, sweetheart.

Thing that made me feel all mushy:

that Tara and Willow are so totally in love that one coffee is all it takes for Tara to cave. Acknowledges all the stuff that has to be worked through, you get the impression it will be worked through, but wants a kiss NOW. I just thought that was so sweet.

Continuity at last:

Dawn working off her debts. Tara and Willow. "Demon eggs" get mentioned, though not explained. But since Spike lies, cheats, steals and manipulates, I guess they were his all along.

Scholarly footnote:

I have just had a look to see if Jonathan's disk is a miniature of the Phaistos disk, found in Crete in 1908, dated to around 1628 BC if it's genuine, Linear A (if anything), like all Linear A never translated, and a fake (almost certainly), though nobody has proved this one way or the other yet. I must regretfully say that I don't think it's the same. But Jonathan's disk does have strong similarities to the Phaistos disk and perhaps one is supposed to draw the connection. (here's a link to an image of the Phaistos disk for those who want to compare for themselves: http://www.robotwisdom.com/science/phaistos/phaistos.jpg ).

Conclusions I draw from this episode:

It is clear to me now that Spike is still a bad guy on a leash; two leashes, his love for Buffy and his chip.

I don't like Buffy. Mistakes were made, moving-on has been done, pancakes will be cooked. Not yet, bitca.

Xander is not coping well, is he.

What about Anya?

Predictions I make from this episode

(but remember, I thought Wes and Fred would get together, for sure. These days I'm more of a Lorne/Lilah shipper):

Will Xander & Anya get back together? Uh, dunno. Maybe. No time soon. Will Buffy and Spike get back together? Not as things are. Will Andrew and Spike get together? In Andrew's dreams.

Thing I think I can be confident I'm going to like in the future:

that I'm probably going to like Buffy again.

Why?

Because right now I don't like her because she's being so self-righteous about hurting my Spike, and doesn't seem to be hurting enough herself.

But here's where I think, at long last, I can trust the reputation of Marti Queen of Pain Noxon.

Buffy isn't hurting enough - YET.

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Klytaimnestra