Beneath You

<Kris curls up in the Comfy Chair, with Fuzzy!Spike the Wonder Eskie by her side for emotional comfort....>

Oh, wow.

There's a Sam's Club sized box of Kleenex in the corner, everyone... feel free to use it. This has got to be one of the most heart-wrenching episodes of Buffy I've ever seen... and probably one of the most emotional episodes of any show I've seen, period. <sniffle>

So... let's bring on the review!

Why Did They Have To Show That Moment: The intro made it perfectly clear that there was, indeed, a relationship between Vampire and Slayer, didn't it? But to have the-scene-which-shall-not-be-named appear in the intro just really threw me off... If anything, the intro was rather sympathetic to Anya, don't you think? Seeing her all broken-hearted in the void with D'Hoffryn reminded me of how sad that whole affair really was.

Surprise Quote of the Evening: The intro's use of Buffy's announcement of "I 'm using you…" - I honestly never thought that I would see that quote used again outside of Season 6. Hmmmm... is that meant to imply that Buffy is going to realize that she was just as guilty of mistreatment in her relationship with Spike as he was with her?

Why Did They Have To Show That Moment, Part 2: Warren and his... end. Ewwwwwww!!!!!!! I *so* did not want to see that again!

Biggest Confusion Inducing Scene: Are we watching something out of Alias? Music, hot pink hair… My wonderful hubby announced that... "This is a spoof on Alias!" Considering how addicted we are to that show... we enjoyed it. Well, up until the girl got caught by the Roby Guys, that is... ouch. "From Beneath You... It will Devour." Yuck!

Biggest Panic Inducing Moment of the Night: ACK!!!!!!! The tape stopped!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <Kris seriously considers reaching for her inhaler... breathing - getting - tight...> But Wait! It's Super!Hubby to the rescue with the spare tape!!!!

Hmmmm... Buffy knows that they're all gonna die… when those slayer dreams come back, they sure make an appearance, don't they? Ouch.

We interrupt this review for some headbanging to the BTVS theme song…

Deep dank basment… oooooohhhhh….kay…. Spike stalking the rats... I honestly wondered if he was stalking the rat to eat it, or only stalking it because it was something alive that he could talk to... I know, he's probably living on them. And, as usual, James Marsters was simply brilliant in this scene. I'll admit it - I read a little bit of the Wildfeed (I came *this* close to not getting to watch this tonight!)... but the written descriptions (and they were terrific) just *couldn't* do justice to his performance. When I'm squirming in my seat because it's almost painful to watch Spike and his deteriorated state of being... you know that the acting being presented is just top notch.

Yay! Loyal!Xander is back… well, Loyal to Buffy and Dawn, at least. And Flirty!Xander later on... ow.

Biggest Giggle of the Night: Buffy's a cube dweller!!!!!!!!! Bwahahahahahhahahahha! <ahem> Sorry... but seeing as how I spend 45 hours a week in a cube farm, albeit surrounded by fellow BTVS-fans (and Spike-aholics...)... I just got a real chuckle out of this.

Poor Innocent Bystander Moment: Ack! Poor Frankie… <sniff> I had to cover Fuzzy!Spike's eyes for that scene...

And Now Appearing in Door Number Two: It's Sane!Spike… and Sexy! Spike all in one neat, *BLUE* package. Yow!!!! I loved the little nod of the head… from Spike to Buffy... and the way that whole scene played out was great. Dawn gets to say what Spike was saying all last year - that things are still *all about Buffy,* and that she only lets people in when it's good for her. Xander, as can be expected, is none too happy to see Spike... and Buffy takes it better than I thought that she would, honestly. What amazes me is that Spike, even after everything that happened, has *not* been disinvited from the Summers house... interesting.

Yuck: Ronnie the Slaggoth Demon. I hate snakes to begin with, so.... UGH!

Biggest "Hey!" Inducing Moment: We get Nekkid!Ronnie, but no Nekkid! Spike! What gives?

Alright... now to the heavy stuff.

And this was one *heavy* episode, wasn't it? Lots of pain being ripped back to the surface, things that perhaps people thought were done, sealed, and buried are breaking free and coming back to the surface. Xander wants to believe that he's over Anya... but he's clearly not, and she's clearly not over him. Xander still doesn't seem to understand how much of her existence was wrapped around *him* and his circle of friends, does he?

So... Xander does his best to put the moves on Nancy, and almost fails miserably. What kills me is that in the end, Nancy isn't half as shocked by all of the romantic entanglements as our heroes are - she's more exasperated than anything else. Interesting, no?

And, while I'm thinking of Anya... is anyone else noticing that she's losing a little bit more of her humanity every time we see her? No, she wasn't a perfect human... but she really did care, in her own beat-of-her-own- drummer way. Now she's getting a little more callous... she doesn't have a problem meeting her quota by turning Ronnie into a demon - but she gets upset over the fact that Ronnie snacked on Frankie the Yorkie. Go figure... I have a feeling that interesting times are ahead for Ms. Anya. I'm also hoping that she has some friends to help her through the ordeal.

Dawn didn't get a whole lot of screen time this ep... but she certainly made her point, didn't she? Yipes - Spike was right - Niblet has grown up into a Scary Girl.

Willow didn't get much screen time either... but we all know that she'll make up for that next week.

And then there's Spike. And Buffy. And Spike and Buffy and Buffy and Spike. My goodness... this was just all so intense... and I'm trying to figure out just what exactly is happening within poor Spike's brain. Is it that he got his soul back, and it's having a hard time competing with his demon? His monologue at the end makes you wonder if perhaps he's hearing and/or seeing the faces and voices of some of the people he's killed over the years... but at this point of the season, it's hard to say. I was just blown away by this episode... and I really feel like I'm doing it a disservice by saying this, but I honestly can't put my feelings into words. Seeing Spike so tormented, and seeing the disbelieving horror dawning on Buffy's face when she realizes that he's now living in a hellish existence because he was trying to do something *for her* - it's just so much to absorb all at once!

As people have accurately pointed out in previous posts, our theme from OMWF certainly seems to be carrying over into this season, doesn't it? We know that Buffy has her fire back... but what will happen to Spike? In OMWF, Spike was the one that saved Buffy from going up in flames... are these characters going to be traveling down a road where their roles will be reversed? And what of Spike's last lines in tonight's episode? When will he finally get to "Rest in Peace?"

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Joss Whedon and company are taking us on one heck of a ride. Episodes like this just rip your heart out, because they've done such a good job of getting us to invest ourselves emotionally into the characters... and when they suffer, so many of us suffer with them. I'm hoping that we'll get some insight soon into what's causing Spike to go through so much torment... and I can't wait for next week to get here.

This week... Four Paws, a Wag of the Tail, and a Smile from Fuzzy! Spike. This episode just plain rocked (just like the music in the bar fight scene... oh, if that wasn't vintage Season 2 Spike, I don't know what is...).

Hugs to all,

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Kris