Him

Review by Heather V. Long

Rarely does an episode pain me with laughter to the point of snorting coffee up my nose, but this episode succeeded in spades. Drew Greenberg has written good episodes before, but rarely has Buffy managed to leave me in stitches. The concept behind "Him" involved what is honestly the strongest selling point of the show and that's the characters. While still maintaining only a shallow involvement with Spike, we are seeing a resurgence of compassion within Buffy for Spike as she pulls him out of the basement and into living with Xander.

Xander obviously isn't thrilled about the idea, but he isn't going off with a world of no to it either. I get the niggling suspicion that Xander might be softening, if only somewhat. It disturbs me that they talk about Spike so obviously in front of him, but there's also a sense that they aren't terribly sure if he's all there or not. Buffy can't leave him in the basement, she ascribes the need to help him as "he has a soul now," but the statement didn't ring terrifically true. There are nuances to Buffy's expressions as she 'explains' both within the scene and later with Dawn. There's definitely guilt about the position Spike is in, but she expresses it more clearly when she says, she cares for him and she has feelings.

Buffy cannot label what the emotions are she has for Spike, but they aren't revilement or hate. She's wary of the emotion he brings out in her, but she isn't running from it either. I'm also pretty proud of the way she is facing it and making it clear to the others that she does care. Spike needs their help, most of the work is still his own, but he does need them. I think the situation of Spike and Xander living together is ripe with potential; I hope the writers exploit it.

Now for the meat, as it were:

Dawn -

Dawn the rebellious teenager telling her sister to bug off while she parties and lying to Buffy about where she was going so she could meet a guy. How absolutely and utterly NORMAL!! It's almost a pity that it was the result of a spell's interference that brought out the normal girl in Dawn as opposed to the Slayer/Watcher/Whiner wannabe. I felt terrible for her as she fumbled with the popular kids and I won't go into the cheerleader tryouts. The sense of humiliation and devastation, while a bit overdone, was also hopelessly normal. It's amusing from the outside looking in to see Buffy and Xander striving to comfort Dawn as she details her disastrous experience. The parable that Joss once told about high school life is never more evident than in the experience Dawn shared this episode. I was right there with Buffy when Dawn's choice to prove herself was to "die" for her love. It's a teenager and a lot of teenagers contemplate suicide during their worst moments of angst, it should scare Buffy and it's a testament to how badly it scared her that it shocked her out of her spell induced silliness. It seems almost a shame when the spell is broken that Dawn will revert to what she has been, which is not totally normal and I think I'll miss the Dawn we glimpsed.

Buffy -

Buffy hasn't done a bad job since last year taking over as an authority figure for Dawn. She's protective and involved; she's also trusting within reason and firm when necessary. She was right to step right up to the plate when she discovered Dawn at the Bronze (course, I had to laugh at her comment about how she was dressed since I think she raided Buffy's closet). Buffy's got responsibilities and she's dealing with them all now, which works since we had avoidance Buffy all last year. But the cheesy music as she fell under RJ's spell sent me rolling on the floor. I don't know what was funnier, her jumping RJ in the classroom or Xander interrupting. I felt a bit bad for RJ and equally bad for Xander who probably won't get that mental image out of his head. (Course, I imagine Buffy's authority figure image with RJ is shot.) The filming of the sequence through the window as Buffy aimed the bazooka at Principal Wood and Spike's intercession was extremely well done. The campy effect was well played and definitely in character.

Willow -

'I can work around that.' With regard to the penis is probably one of the best lines. Willow's role is small in this episode, but definitely not without merit. Her incantation to Hecate to change RJ into a woman, not to mention her reaction to Xander's interruption was also pretty funny. Willow didn't show much improvement though, when in doubt or induced by a spell, she pretty much goes right back to the manipulative magic.

Anya -

After last week, I wasn't disappointed at all by our visit with Anya. Buffy came to check up on her (kudos to Buffy) and Buffy also reminded Anya that they were friends and something bad was coming. She wanted folks to stick together. Anya chose the high road and suggested they might need Anya's planning skills and Buffy agreed. Of course, now we know D'Hoffryn is gunning for Anya as well, since Buffy thwarted the demon attack and saved Anya's life. The complexities and layers to this character would be worth a dissertation, while at the same time, I was glad to see that Buffy was also acknowledging Anya's choices much the same way she acknowledged them in Selfless. Anya chose to give up her vengeance, to turn back the spell and she is paying for her choices. Buffy sees that, acknowledges that and as with Spike, is moving forward. The Buffy of a few years ago wouldn't be that mature about it. Course - this whole bank-robbing thing - maybe Anya can rebuild the Magic Box now!

Xander -

Xander remains the steady influence, the normal guy and he does hit the nail on the head right away by guessing it's the letterman's jacket, although he's not quite so cogent on the why of it until later. He gets that it's a spell and the attitude he has is been there, done that. And it's SOOOOO dead right. After everything they've seen, this is normal and he handled it with aplomb. The flashback to Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered was an excellent touch. Love magic on this show always has dire consequences. The moments with Spike at the beginning touched on his resentment, yet he still let Buffy persuade him to have Spike stay. We know Xander's going to be abusive, even Xander acknowledges that, but the hard edge to his words also seemed lacking in this. I have to wonder if Selfless didn't open his eyes a bit more than we've seen as yet - we can hope. I loved his bits of interaction with Spike as they went to see RJ's brother and the fact that Xander was surprised to see the star football player was living as a pizza delivery guy on the management track. I think that was a bit of an ego boo for him.

And finally:

Spike -

His moments were few and far between. He didn't want to stay in Xander's apartment. He doesn't want them to feel like they have to help him and he doesn't want to be a burden to them, but most of all, he doesn't want to be a burden to Buffy. That moment when he offered to go, there was an aching sweetness to him. He said very little orally, but a great deal physically. It's a testament to Marsters' ability as a physical actor, because his dialogue was very lite in this episode, yet he conveyed so much. From his reluctance to live with Xander to his reticence about helping, there was no eagerness or irritation in his actions. He simply went along, did as suggested and listened. His looks conveyed his skepticism when he saw RJ's brother and who couldn't be touched by the scene as he slowly turned each angel away from himself so they wouldn't look upon him. It definitely tugged the heartstrings. His observance noted the jacket in the pictures and earned t he answer that Xander was looking for about the source of the spell. He went with Xander back to the house, trucking along and obviously when it came to stopping Buffy, we know who got picked. He did it with the same lack of genuine passion. And I think that's what was missing in this episode, Spike's passion. He wasn't brooding or lost, he was simply not there. He moved, he talked, he acted and he reacted, but he wasn't there.

That was probably the most disturbing part. His passion seems to have faded away or perhaps he's suppressed it in his effort to come to terms with the man and the monster. I don't know. I can only hang on for the ride and see where it takes us. I did like RJ though; I liked the elements that played out in this episode. It wasn't a monster of the week, but it was damn funny and the show needs the funny as much as it needs the angst, the passion and the ewww! So play on! The show is the thing .

Rating: Five Stars out of Five Stars, except that there was no Giles, DAMMIT!

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Heather Long