back to episode 7.17 - Lies My Parents Told Me

Ten Things I Loved About
"Lies My Parents Told Me"

By Elz


1)  Punk Spike. So, so cool.

2)  The scene in Wood's office. Buffy was lively, animated, funny and fiercely protective of Spike. Giles mocked the new library. And the whole comic chip/soul/trigger conversation was hysterical.

3)  Richard. Really did seem like a nice guy - shame about that. <g> His delivery of "Really?" totally cracked me up.

4)  Newly turned William being... William. I love the fact that Spike seems to have so much more control over his destiny than Angel does. He decides that he wants to be 'Spike', and he makes that happen. He falls in love with Buffy, and he changes. He decides that he wants to be good, and he gets his own soul. Maybe that makes some people think that he's more culpable for his bad behavior, but adulthood is all about acknowledging your own free will and taking charge of it. Can't wait to see what he does with it now. And it was great to see more evidence that Spike's loving heart has always made him special.

5)  Dru. Her reaction to the idea of an eternal mother-in-law was priceless. "You want to bring your mum with us?"

6)  Snarky basement Spike. Now that's the real deal. And you gotta love him uncomfortably covering up his shameful past as a mama's boy.

7)  Did everyone notice that Xander patted Spike on the shoulder? And Spike remembers Dawn's name! Who'da thunk?

8)  The fight scenes. It's good that if Buffy's going to keep gushing about Spike the Great Warrior, we get to see that he can actually fight.

9)  Moral quagmires and thought-provoking issues. Giles does what he thinks is right, at the cost of his relationship with Buffy. Spike refuses to get weepy and angst-ridden over the things he can't change and isn't too sympathetic to someone he really did hurt. Slayers are all about the mission at the expense of their humanity? Is that really a good thing? The vampire isn't the person... except that that's not quite true about William. This ep is delectably complex, and one I'll enjoy sifting through and puzzling out. None of the characters are saints, but I love the shades of gray.

10)  JM. So many different versions of Spike, and all of them rang true. The last scene with his mother was heartbreaking, and William was impressively unappealing, which is quite an accomplishment! <g>

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