Beneath You

by Jerry

In "Beneath You", written by Doug Petrie, we revisit the debris of last season's relationships, and perhaps get a bit of a feel for where they may be headed this time.

First, though, we open in Frankfurt, in some sort of club, with blaring techno-music. A young woman, dressed in punk garb and wearing a bright pink wig (we'll call her Sydney, although her real name could be Lola), is fleeing the robed figures last seen in Istanbul in last week's episode. Like her unfortunate Turkish counterpart, Sydney puts up quite a fight, but still winds up on the wrong end of a knife. As she dies, she says in a voice clearly not her own, "From beneath you, it devours."

Then we discover that the whole scene, and perhaps by extension last week's as well, was one of Buffy's Slayer dreams (Remember those? It's been over two years). Buffy tells Dawn what she saw. "There's more of them out there. And they're going to die."

From there, we cut away to a peaceful looking Sunnydale street. As ominous music builds, some sort of burrowing tears through the ground. We're not on the WB anymore, so this probably doesn't mean Bugs Bunny missed the right turn at Albuquerque. It looks like we're in for a homage to "Tremors" (or, less likely, to "Caddyshack").

After the credits, We're down in the Sunnydale High basement, where Spike is stalking a rat. He's muttering, William-like, about lack of breeding and etiquette (while stalking a rat, mind you). He says he's not ready yet, though he doesn't say for what. The basement starts to shake, seemingly from an earthquake, but more likely from the mystery burrower. Spike freaks - "Make it stop!".

Dawn, Buffy, and Xander are on their way to school for Buffy's first day on the job. Dawn is downright bubbly at first about having Buffy around, but soon makes it clear she doesn't want Buffy mingling with her friends and making her social life any more awkward than it already is. Xander gushes about how lucky the kids are to have Buffy there, and waxes nostalgic about high school. Sure, he admits, it was hell, but at least he was dating. Buffy and Xander both bemoan their dating lives (Dawn gets put in her place when she suggests they try not dating demons), though neither seems to be even vaguely considering dating the other.

Buffy is shown her desk by Principal Wood. He tries to explain why he hired Buffy despite her utter lack of qualifications. There's something he's not telling. Of course, Buffy's pretty cute, so his hidden agenda could be less sinister than it appears. After some awkward efforts at humor by Wood (apparently, "the boot, the bat, and the bastinada" isn't even funny when you find the one girl who knows what a bastinada is), Buffy leaves him to go check out the school.

It turns out that Buffy's idea of checking out the school is looking for Spike. She makes the effort, but doesn't find him.

Over in England, Willow is sitting wistfully in the doorway of Giles' house. Her bags are packed, and Giles approaches to tell her that her taxi is ready, but she's reluctant to leave. She claims her instincts are telling her not to go back to Sunnydale. She's got some decent-sounding Hellmouth related fears, but what she really fears is that her friends won't want her back. You can tell she's mostly over the whole homicidally evil thing because of her penchant for lapsing into Willow-babble. Giles notes that no matter how long she stays, she'll still eventually have to go home, and there are no guarantees what reception she'll get. "You may not be wanted," he tells her, "but you will be needed." He eventually gets her to go.

Back in Sunnydale, a young woman (Nancy, we'll learn) is out walking her dog at night. As she turns her back for a moment, the disappears into a hole that suddenly appeared in the sidewalk. A second later, she's dragged toward the hole herself by the leash. as she reaches the edge, a large creature breaks through the sidewalk right in front of her. Looks like "Tremors", after all. She turns and runs, and soon runs right into Xander.

Cut to Nancy in Buffy's living room, where she recounts what happened and is surprised to be believed. Xander's obviously interested in Nancy, but joking about a woman's dead dog is generally a poor pickup line. Buffy and Dawn both relate the account of the worm-creature to the "from beneath you it devours" line from her dream, which would suggest something really nasty. When Dawn suggests rounding up the gang, Xander notes that the three of them are the gang now (Anya having apparently been de-ganged over the summer). Suddenly, however Spike shows up. And all of a sudden, he looks like Spike again.

Buffy doesn't really know how to react to Spike's sudden appearance. Xander does - he's unsurprisingly hostile (and really has no reason not to be). Spike tries to explain away his craziness in the basement the week before, which leads Xander and Dawn to angrily confront Buffy for not telling them that she saw Spike. Buffy and Spike go off into the foyer. Spike says he won't try to apologize, but he does want to help with the Big Evil he can feel brewing. Buffy looks conflicted - like she should just hate Spike for what he's done to her, but finds her feelings a lot more complicated.

She decides to let Spike help. Back in the living room, she decides they should go in pairs. Ordinarily Xander would probably object more strenuously to Buffy going with Spike, but he's got other things on his mind, and is content to take Nancy home. He's also eager to refute Nancy's belief that Buffy is his girlfriend, which he wouldn't always have been in the past. Dawn grudgingly accepts that she'll be staying home and doing her homework. As they are leaving, Dawn coldly informs Spike that if he ever hurts Buffy again, "you're going to wake up on fire".

As Buffy and Spike approach the scene of the worm-attack, she remains unsure of what to make of him. She asks what happened, and he attributes his former craziness to the ghosts in the basement, not willing yet to come clean. He asks her why she didn't tell the others she saw him, and she can't really answer - I think she didn't want to talk about him because she didn't know what to say or how to feel about him.

Their hands touch briefly, and Buffy flashes back to his assault on her, bringing back her resolve. She forcefully reminds him that he tried to rape her, and that they are no way, no how getting back together. Spike says that's not what he's after - he doesn't ask to be forgiven, but he's willing to help because he's got nothing better to do. He says he's changed - Buffy agrees, but she doesn't know into what. Buffy says she knows Spike has a secret. He says he does, but as they're not friends anymore, he's not going to tell her. He heads off, leaving her confused and conflicted.

At Nancy's apartment, Xander is about to make his goodbyes. Nancy asks if she can call him, so things are looking up for the Xanman. Then the floor starts shaking. The worm burrows after them as they run down the hall, eventually bursting through the floor, menacing them a bit, and leaving for reasons only a worm would understand. Nancy comments on having a monster chasing her just after she got rid of her abusive ex-boyfriend, Ronnie. "You know the feeling you get when your ex is ruining every part of your life, and it just doesn't stop?", she comments in describing Ronnie. Xander says he does, which seems like a radical interpretation of his breakup with Anya. But thinking of Anya gives him an idea of where the worm-monster may have come from.

At the Bronze, Anya (the hair looks better, but the clothes still need some work), is chatting up a client. Just as Anya's about to make the woman's boyfriend literally spineless, Xander and Nancy approach ("Oh, penis!", is Anya's reaction). Buffy and Spike are with them. They confront Anya about whether she turned Ronnie into a giant worm. She says she did, because that's what Nancy wished for. Nancy wants to know who Anya is, and Xander admits she's his ex. Spike tries to talk to Anya, and it comes up that they slept together. Nancy asks if any of them haven't slept together. Xander and Spike exchange awkward glances. If turns out Nancy only wished for a regular worm, but apparently Anya embellished a bit in an effort to restore her reputation for nastiness. She says they wouldn't understand her situation, being they're all so ... human (she seems surprised to find herself using that as a putdown). Spike says he's not, he's a demon just like her. Then Anya really looks at him for the first time. She's amazed, and seemingly excited, and it's clear she can tell he's regained his soul. "I can see you," she says, and wants to know how he did it. Spike isn't ready for anyone to know, and as she continues to pepper him with questions ("it shouldn't be possible"), he slugs her to end discussion. As Anya's lying on the ground, Spike hits her again, and she responds by kicking him halfway across the Bronze in a display of demon super strength that we've never seen before, and that I'd think would have been useful against Willow. She's in gameface, and threatening to kick Spike's ass, and he goes into gameface too. Before they can mix it up, Buffy steps in. "You haven't changed, Spike", she says as she belts him in the face. He hits back, seemingly more comfortable resuming his old, bad persona. He taunts her about their relationship, she beats on him for doing so, and he seems to feel like he's back where he belongs. At least on the surface.

Nancy runs away, and Buffy goes after her, leaving Xander to try to persuade Anya to reverse the spell. Outside, Nancy is pursued by worm-Ronnie. She runs down an alley and tries to flee up a fire escape, which starts to come loose from the building. Buffy arrives, running along the rooftops. Spike is behind her.

Back at the Bronze, Xander is working on persuading Anya. It's clear she's under fire from D'Hoffryn, and reversing the spell will make it worse. Anya explains she's only in this bind because of Xander leaving her at the alter. Xander points out (correctly but a bit too self-righteously) that at some point that ceases to be an excuse. Anya got herself into the situation, and she'll have to get herself out.

Buffy manages to swing over and carry Nancy to the ground before she falls. Worm-Ronnie bursts up through the ground yet again, and Spike starts to beat on him/it. As he runs it through with a rebar, the spell is undone, and the worm turns back into Ronnie, with the bar through his shoulder. The chip, the guilt, or both are too much for Spike to maintain his facade any longer. "Help me!", he wails, but Buffy figure's the guy with the stab wound needs her help a bit more urgently. He mutters to himself until Buffy tells him to go away. Spike envies Buffy's ability to just walk away from the situation he's in - that's not an option for him anymore. Besides his guilt, there seems to be someone or something in his head - perhaps Lurky gave him a "gift with purchase". "From beneath you, it devours", he tells Buffy, clearly channeling the Really Bad Thing for the moment. Then he tears up and runs away, leaving Buffy confused and conflicted.

Xander and Anya show up. Nancy is appalled by what Anya did, and leaves. Xander notes that his dating prospects with her are dim. Anya notes that she's in way more trouble than Xander can comprehend. Buffy realizes she needs to find out about Spike, and runs off.

Buffy is wandering through the graveyard, and spies a church that has sprung up like the way Springfiled manifests a casino or a dam as needed.

She enters the church, and is surprised by Spike. He's shirtless, having cast off the costume that he thought would allow him to resume his place in the world. Buffy's unsettled by him, and asks for no more mindgames. Spike answer is "no more mind". She wants to know what happened to him. When she tries to touch his chest, he pulls back - "no more touching!" He questions whether he is flesh, or wants to be. Then he tries to accept that role. "Get it hard. Service the girl", he says, joylessly unzipping his fly. He remembers the place Buffy would allow him in her life before. She's horrified, and throws him across the room. "Girl doesn't want to be serviced", he mutters. "There's no spark - ain't we in a soddin' engine?" The spark is the soul, and I guess he sees the church as seat of the soul, as an engine might be home for a spark. "Did you think you'd just come back and - be with me?", Buffy asks. "First time for everything," he answers, clearly believing he hasn't been with her yet despite all the "servicing". From Buffy's perspective, it's easy to see how she'd be horrified by all this, but she does hang in there and try to find out what happened to him. He tells her he tried to find the spark, the missing piece that would allow her to love him. "I can't... not with you looking, " he says as he scurries into the shadows. He confesses to dreaming of killing her, and Buffy grabs a stake. He talks of "holding myself, spilling useless buckets of salt over your - ending." I think he means tears, but I've seen smuttier interpretations, and I can't say they're wrong. "Angel - he should have warned me" he says, finally giving Buffy the Rosetta Stone that allows her to figure out the whole situation. "I wanted to give you what you deserve." She realizes his anguish is, while not her choosing, all because of her. "They put the spark in me, and all it does is burn." Buffy realizes he's got back his soul. "Bit worse for lack of use," he notes.

Buffy wants to know how he did it, but that's not important to Spike. He wants to know if it's what Buffy wanted. Or if it's "what YOU wanted", as he shouts to the heavens. He's got voices in his head, the voices of his victims, and I think a few genuinely external voices as well. "Him, and it, the other - the thing. Beneath you." Buffy is staggered - she never asked for this, and she wants to know why he did it. "Why does a man do what he mustn't for her? To be hers. To be the kind of man who would never-" He starts to walk towards the alter. "And she shall look on him with forgiveness, and everybody will forgive, and love, and he will be loved." As Buffy looks on in tears, moved and confused by the magnitude of this enormous gesture she didn't seek but does have to deal with, he drapes himself, smoking, over the cross. "Can we rest now, Buffy? Can we rest?"

-- Jerry

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