Sleeper

by Jerry

"Sleeper", co-written by David Fury and Jane Espenson, is a tense yet entertaining drama that follows up on the events of last week's episode, primarily exploring what is going on with Spike, and revealing a bit more about Buffy's feelings towards him as she deals with it.

The action picks up more or less continuously from "Conversations with Dead People". It's the middle of the night, and there's a knock at Xander's door. He comes to the door muttering, and finds Buffy there, all business, and looking for Spike. Xander doesn't know where Spike is - he's a creature of the night, and it's night, so he's creaturing. Xander gets concerned, asking if Spike is in trouble (I'd imagine he's more concerned about the trouble than about Spike, but he does seem to prefer that Spike not be up to something). Buffy answers "I hope not" and it's clear that the idea of having to deal with Spike re-gone bad is something she dreads.

We cut to the basement of a house, with a dirt floor. We hear the sound of shoveling, and someone humming a tune while they dig. It's Spike, and as he pauses at his work, we see what he's trying to bury - the body of the blonde we saw him kill last week. Without words, he matter-of-factly picks her up and dumps her body in the ditch he just dug. Humming all the time, he buries her. At the moment, it looks like Buffy's got plenty to worry about.

Credits - I always like the shot of evil Willow twirling the weapons in the training room.

After the credits, we get a brief and rather cheesy establishing shot of London. Then an interior shot of what appears to be a Watcher (i.e. he looks stuffy and is reading while he walks) returning to his apartment. Seeing signs of a struggle, he calls out "Nora!" Moving into the next room, he finds the body of a young woman - Nora, I'd assume. As he's checking her pulse, a robed figure approaches and tries to attack him with a knife. He parries it with his briefcase, showing obvious fighting training. He runs over to the wall to retrieve a sword, but another robed figure comes around the corner and stabs him in the back. And he falls to the floor alongside his charge.

Willow rushes into the Summers' house, urgently seeking Buffy. As she starts up the stairs, Dawn intones that Buffy isn't home. Willow turns to see Dawn huddled among the ruins of the living room. Dawn explains the visitation, and that she saw her mother. Willow, given her own experiences with 'Cassie', says that wasn't really Joyce. Will explains (vaguely) what she saw, and says it's the Big Bad coming to mess with them. To Dawn, that's exactly what she thinks Joyce was trying to warn her of. She notes that what Joyce said was true, but doesn't reveal that Joyce told her not to trust Buffy.

Xander's getting coffee, and wondering about the ins and outs of vampire culture - specifically, about why Holden would lie about Spike siring him. Buffy admits she has no reason to doubt Holden, except for the part about him being evil, but it's clear she doesn't want him to have told the truth. Xander can see that Buffy wants to believe in Spike's innocence, and he urges her to be objective and "CSI-like" in looking at the evidence. Considering his general dislike of Spike, Xander does a decent job of staying objective about his potential guilt. Buffy claims Spike can't hurt anyone because of the chip, and Xander notes that that didn't stop him from hurting Buffy. I guess there are a few details of last season that Buffy still hasn't shared. Maybe she found the "molecular suntan" theory too lame to repeat. Xander thinks it's possible that Spike is acting, but Buffy trusts her instincts, and her instincts tell her Spike has really changed. "And if it is an act, the Oscar goes to…."

Obviously, this would be the moment Spike walks in. His first instinct is that Buffy's presence in the middle of the night means bad news (and his first instinct is correct). Buffy denies that, so Spike draws the other feasible conclusion - that something personal is up between Buffy and Xander. He tries to take that possibility as well as he can, and moves to head off to his "closet". Buffy stops him. Awkwardly, she asks how his night went. He says it was okay, and asks about hers. Buffy mentions meeting and staking Holden, and that she used to know him. Spike offers a bit of sympathy, which Buffy doesn't know what to make of, and heads off to bed.

Xander finds Spike's behavior suspicious (Incidentally, he refers to Holden as "Webs", so I guess Holden really was a classmate). Buffy says she has to go home and check on Dawn, but that someone needs to watch Spike. Xander has a job to get to, so he's not volunteering. Buffy tells him to find someone else.

Enter Anya, who Xander has persuaded to come over without telling her exactly what she's volunteered for. Anya is understandably not happy that Xander roped her into staying alone with a potential killer. Xander snarkily notes that she hasn't minded being alone with Spike before.. Anya's annoyed - she thinks Xander should at least give her a weapon, but he doesn't want to make Spike suspicious. Anya points out that things better turn out okay, "'cause if I get vamped I'm gonna bite your ass." Xander wryly notes that it wouldn't be the first time, and leaves for work.

Buffy arrives home, and, as she does have eyes, realizes something bad has happened. She rushes upstairs to check on Dawn, and instead runs into Willow. Willow explains that the big bad evil has made it's move. She explains how it sent her a message supposedly from Tara, and that Dawn actually saw Joyce. Buffy wonders if Holden was another manifestation, but she notes that he did turn to dust like a real vampire. Willow questions whether Spike really is killing again. Buffy says she doesn't know, but she needs to find out, and if necessary, she needs to stop him.

It's a bit later in the day, judging by the sun, and Anya is sitting on Xander's couch and looking bored. Being neither a patient person nor a passive one, she eventually allows her curiosity to get the better of her fear, and she moves towards Spike's door to take a look. We get to see Spike's room, which is modest as rooms go, but a mighty big closet. Clutching a stake, Anya attempts to be sneaky as she starts to go through Spike's things. She gives a quick look through the drawers, then starts to check out the pants that Spike obviously isn't wearing. As Anya moves on to his jacket, she's surprised by Spike suddenly grabbing her by the hand. In a very serious tone, he demands to know exactly why she's in his bedroom. Caught by surprise, and a bad liar under the best of circumstances, Anya struggles to come up with an explanation. Being Anya, she falls back on what she always falls back on - "I'm here, obviously, for …sex!" That gets Spike's attention, and he backs away, gathering the sheets around his obviously naked body. "Let's go. Let's get it on you big, bad boy!" she says, throwing herself into the role. Spike notices she's brandishing a stake. "Yes. Kinky." Anya notes. We've actually seen Spike and Harmony playing games with stakes, but I don't think he's in the mood for that now. Anya starts to really come on to him. "I can't stop thinking about you, and me, and out brief but memorable time together", she says as Spike tries to back away. "Why else would I be here ? It's not like I'm snooping around for proof that you're some sort of wacked-out serial killer". She tries to get him to ignore that line claiming it's just nerves - "nerves and horniness". She climbs on top of Spike, and he pulls away, making it clear he's not interested.

Even though Anya probably didn't actually want to sleep with Spike, she's offended that he turned her down. She accuses him of thinking she's fat (Trust me, Anya, you're not fat), or hating her hair. Spike reassures her that "the do's quite fetching", but she complains that he only likes it as a friend. Anya claims he was more fun without a soul - "I'm just saying, soulless Spike would have had me upside-down and halfway to happyland by now."

Later, Anya is sullenly reading in the living room as Spike emerges, dressed and heading out. He tries to apologize for hurting her feelings, but Anya tells him to just go ahead to where he's going. He leaves. Anya picks up the phone and calls Buffy to let her know Spike is headed out.

On an improbably crowded Sunnydale street, Spike is walking, alone. He passes an old man playing a tune on the harmonica, and begins humming it. It's the same tune he was humming while burying the body earlier. Buffy comes around the corner, following him. As Buffy wrestles with the issues of doing surveillance in large crowds as an extra-short superhero, she spies Spike striking up an extra-friendly conversation with a young woman. He takes her by the hand and leads her away. Buffy doesn't like the look of that no matter what Spike is up to. Spike takes the woman into an alley. Frankly, it's tough to imagine that a woman so easily lured into alleys would make it to her mid-twenties in Sunnydale, but I guess she's been lucky so far. She's very aggressive about putting the moves on Spike. Spike seems to be resisting the urge to do something bad to her, until Buffy appears in the alley. Not THE Buffy, but A Buffy. Specifically, a very evil Buffy who urges Spike on. He shifts to vamp face, and chomps on the suddenly terrified woman. Evil Buffy grins, well, evilly as she watches Spike kill the woman.

"Now, doesn't that feel better," Evil Buffy smirks as Spike drops the woman's body to the ground. Spike looks her in the eyes, and seems able to tell something is wrong. Confused, he rushes off. As Evil Buffy watches him go, she morphs into Equally Evil Spike. "How could you use a poor mate so", he grins wickedly.

Later, at Xander's place, Spike is rousted out of bed by an angry (though non-evil) Buffy. Having learned a lesson from Anya's visit, he's wearing pants this time, although only someone with no circulation would choose to sleep in leather pants. "Did you kill her?" Buffy demands. Spike is confused. He wonders if Buffy has been following him, and why she's so upset that he's talking to other women. He explains that he can't kill anymore. Buffy assumes he means the chip, which just makes Spike more frustrated. He explains that he went through hell to reclaim his soul, and he can barely stand to live with the things he's done in the past because of it. He's offended that Buffy thinks that after all that, he would still be someone who'd go out and kill. In his eyes, Buffy is just jealous that he's paying attention to other women - and, in fact, Buffy's body language suggests that is part of it, as much as she's there on official business. Spike admits he goes out and talks to women - "I talk to them because I can't talk to you." Buffy really isn't in the mood for that conversation, but Spike continues. He says that the idea that he could be killing with a soul is crazy, but not as crazy as the idea that anyone but Buffy could mean anything to him. "This chip, they did to me - I couldn't help it. But the soul, I got on my own - for you." "I know", Buffy responds, rather shaken.

Buffy brings up the fact that Holden said Spike had sired him. Spike starts to point out that vampires aren't really the gold standard for honesty. Buffy says that she did follow Spike, and that his actions looked a lot more predatory than lonely. Spike still insists he's innocent. Pressed, he says he remembers talking to the girl, but not much more. Buffy wonders exactly what he doesn't remember, but Spike is sure he wouldn't forget a killing. He angrily insists that Buffy has no proof. She responds that she'll get some. As she storms off, Spike begins to look like he has some doubts himself.

Buffy is back at the house with the gang, wrapped defensively in a turtleneck and hugging herself. She tells them to find evidence that Spike is guilty. Anya asks if that's what she really wants, and Buffy admits she'd rather have proof that he's innocent. Dawn suggests that Holden was probably lying, since the rest of them met people who lied to them. Willow counters that just because what they saw were evil spirits and not their loved ones, doesn't mean they were lying. "I used to tell the truth all the time when I was evil", Anya points out. This is only going to plant more seeds of doubt in Dawn's mind regarding the warning that "Joyce" gave her about Buffy.

As they continue to search for evidence, Anya reasonably suggests that if Spike is siring people, there should be an increase in dead people with neck wounds. Willow hits the "find dead people with neck wounds" key on her laptop, and reports that there aren't - but there is a sudden uptick in missing persons, mostly young women. Since there are obviously no other vampires operating in Sunnydale, this seems to constitute proof, although Buffy still has her doubts.

Night falls, and Spike prepares to head out for the evening. As he pulls on his jacket, he finds a pack of cigarettes in the pocket, and flashes back to the girl who gave them to him two nights earlier - including an image of her lying dead with a bloody neck wound. Spike tries to head out anyway, but is confronted by Xander. Xander tells him that Buffy insisted he not go anywhere. Spike replies that he has to go out to prove he's innocent. As Xander continues to argue the issue, Spike punches him in the face and knocks him out cold. Wincing from the chip pain, he steps over Xander's unconscious body on his way out the door.

As Aimee Mann sings at the Bronze, Spike questions the bartender about the girl he's trying to find. Having no success there or in questioning a few other people, he wanders up to the balcony hoping for a better look at the crowd, while elsewhere, a very sore looking Xander calls Buffy to let her know Spike got away. As Spike stares out at the crowd, a woman approaches him. Spike is uninterested in her advances, warning her that he's best left alone. She offers to "slip into something more comfortable" - specifically, vamp-face, and Spike pulls back from her (I was unclear on whether he was previously aware she was a vampire - I don't see how he could not have been). She's baffled by Spike's disinterest in feeding with her - particularly since, as she reveals, he was the one who turned her. Spike can't believe that, and they start to fight. The music continues as they brawl above the unsuspecting crowds. Eventually, Spike manages to stake her, and she flies over the railing, crashing to the ground and exploding to dust - leading to a brief interruption of the band, which quickly goes on as though nothing had happened. Spike is considerably more shaken.

Outside a trendy looking night spot that must have been built long after Sunnydale acquired a second Starbucks, Buffy is talking to the bouncer to find out if he's seen Spike. She describes him ("bleached-blonde hair, leather jacket, kind of sallow, but in a hot way") and it's clear he's familiar to the bouncer. He asks if Spike is Buffy's boyfriend (she gets that a lot, doesn't she). The bouncer explains that Spike comes in a lot, and leaves each night with a different girl. This is very much not what Buffy wants to hear, whether Spike is killing the girls or not.

Spike wanders to the back of the Bronze as Aimee Mann is leaving ("Man, I hate playing vampire towns."). He goes to the pay phone and dials Buffy (I guess she gave him her phone number somewhere along the line). "I think I've done some very bad things", he tells her. He gives an address for her to meet him at. As he turns to go, he's confronted by his shape shifting alter-ego, who informs him that he shouldn't have done that, as it goes against the plan. "But we can make it work", he adds, grinning.

After the commercial, we see an unassuming residential house. Spike opens the door to a basement stairway and starts down. Buffy is hesitant to follow, which Spike understands ("I'm a risky proposition"), but she eventually does. While Spike is alone in the basement, he's confronted by Morphy Spike. Morphy Spike complains that the Slayer is "not in order", but that it can't hurt to "get (his) claws in the mouse". The real Spike struggles to deny Morphy's presence.

Buffy comes down, and asks Spike what he wants to show her. He says he's started to remember the girl from the other night. And a girl before that. And other girls. He thinks he killed them. He guides a very troubled Buffy over to a dirt section of the basement floor, where he believes he buried them. She asks him why he did it. "I don't know - do I?" he answers. As he explains that it shouldn't even be possible, Morphy Spike starts to sing - the same song the old man was playing when Spike was out earlier. "Oh don't deceive me - Oh never leave me - How could you use a poor maid so." Spike (the real, corporeal one) suddenly whirls on Buffy in game face and attacks. She raises a stake, but he knocks it away. She knocks him down, but he grabs a piece of broken glass and slashes her in the arm with it as Buffy tries to reason with him. She kicks Spike and throws him to the ground, still trying to reach him. As they exchange blows, the people Spike buried suddenly start to rise from the ground, to Morphy Spike's great amusement. After a large fight, the new vampires are able to restrain Buffy, and Morphy Spike urges Real Spike to move in for the kill. He does, despite Buffy's protests. He moves to the wound on her arm and tastes her blood. As he does, the images of all the things he did under Morphy's control rush back to him. Spike slips out of game face, suddenly back to himself and horrified by his actions (this is a bit like Buffy's reaction after sampling Dracula's blood, I think). With Spike out of the fight, Buffy goes to work, dispatching the newbie vamps with great efficiency.

As Spike cowers in the corner, Morphy Spike tells him that he failed, and that now Buffy will kill him. I think Morphy considers that as much a victory as Spike killing Buffy, for reasons we don't yet know.

Buffy finishes off the last vampire and approaches Spike. He's resigned to the fact that she wants to kill him, and that he deserves it. Spike explains that there was another him there, that said Buffy would kill him. Buffy starts to really understand that Spike is being controlled. She explains to Spike that she knows what's going on. "Help me" he begs her. "I'll help you", she answers, as Morphy Spike looks on in disgust.

Spike sits huddled in a blanket in the Summers' house, as the others confer about him in the next room. Anya questions Buffy's belief in Spike. Buffy explains that Spike's actions weren't under his control. Xander correctly points out that an out of control killer is no less dangerous than an in control one. Dawn wants to know if Buffy is letting Spike stay in the house, and Buffy says she doesn't know. But she does know that what's been affecting Spike is part of the Big Bad they need to deal with, and to know more about it, she'll need to stay close to Spike. If there's some part of Buffy looking for reasons to stay close to Spike, all the better.

Back in England, Giles arrives at the scene of the fight we saw earlier. He spies Nora's body on the floor, checking unsuccessfully for a pulse. He calls out for Robeson (spelling approximate), the Watcher. He finds him in the other rooms, still barely alive. Giles rushes over to him, ignoring the first priority when arriving at a crime scene - make sure the criminal is gone. Robeson opens his eyes. "Gather them," he gasps. "It's started." As a hooded figure approaches behind Giles, he says "It's alright. I understand. I'll take care -". The hooded figure swings an axe at Giles's head as the screen goes black.

-- Jerry

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