Aka: Is it May already?

Overall, an intense, yet weak episode.  How can that be, you ask?  We learned lots about the BB.  Tons, in fact.  And that's about it.  The pacing was off, and I was definitely bored.  I mean, if I start looking around the room and wondering if there are any Reese's Peanut Butter Cups left during the big fight scene, then that's truly badly done.  Take, for instance, the scenes between Buffy and Wood, and Buffy and Andrew.  The timing was all wrong.  I felt like hitting her on the back and telling her to get on with the dialogue already.

But, this episode was not without its merits...and lots and lost of miscellaneous observations.

Xander:

I told you he was doomed to be in a loop of fixing that darn house.

He really does need a guy friend.  When you start discussing common interests with an evil boy, you need some real male buddies, stat.

I noticed that when Anya and Willow were attacked by the energy of the FE, he ran straight to Anya's side instead of to his bestest friend, "She of the Yellow Crayon", Willow.  Perhaps that was because Buffy was supposed to go to Willow and they needed a token person for Anya.  Who knows?

BTW, how many best friends can one have?  I thought Willow was his best friend, and now Buffy is too?  I don't get it.  "Best" implies "one".

Xander wants to rescue Spike!  Woo hoo!

Dawn:

Is it just me, or is she idolizing Anya waaaaaay too much?  Finding joy in beating Andrew senseless (okay, more senseless) just for fun.  She's scaring me.

Spike:

Just as I suspected.  he's holding out against The First because, "...she believes in me."

Can we stop with playing "Kick the Spike"?  That game wore thin in season 5, for crying out loud.

And, by the way, shouldn't a vampire know that you can't frelling DROWN a vampire?!  What does he think he's doing?  Duh!  Doesn't need to breathe!  Vampire here!

And, fake Dru, can you not call him "Daddy"?  He is not Angelus, nor will he ever be Angelus.  You just made me sick to my stomach.  Thank you so much for the imagery.

Willow:

Poor Willow.  That occurrence with the severe case of "black eye" really freaked her out.  Which leads me to a thought.  We certainly need some quality Willow/Spike time.  They're going through nearly the same thing at this point in their lives/unlives.  I want at least one good scene where they discuss the pain of killing over some tea or hot chocolate.

You had to like the little pass at her by the SIT.  It caught her off guard and made me giggle.

Giles:

Is that the real Giles?  How did he escape his beheading?  Why didn't we get to see how he did it?  I don't trust him for some reason.  He just happened to steal all the pertinent files from the CoW just in time?  <Taramisu looks at her audience with suspicion>  Things that make you go "hmmm".

And why was he pictured silhouetted by the sun?  There's something fishy in Sunnydale.

Miscellaneous Observations

- Red Bull!  Hah!  Has James listened to our warnings about that evil stuff yet?  I hope so.

- Why isn't there flooring in the school basement?  I've never seen dirt floors in a school basement.

- I liked the SIT.  Very much as Buffy was as an early Slayer.  All hot air and condescension.

- Speaking of the SIT: Now that is a Cockney accent you fools.  Spike does NOT have a Cockney accent, and if I read that once more in a fiction, my head's going to explode.

- Hah! S-TNG.  Slayers, the next generation.

- One more thing on this subject.  Where are the ugly, homely, chunky SITs?

- Is Lydia Chalmers' thesis on William the Bloody in that pile of CoW materials?

- Ah.  The many uses of duct tape.

- The "Google" search on "evil".

- Why doesn't the vampire turn to dust when staked?

- How will plywood keep out a vampire? He can't even be dusted with wood.

- Love the string of Sci-Fi clichés from Andrew: "I have a bad feeling about this" et. al.

- A personal note.  We plan to name our first daughter Annabella.  Now I have to consider changing that to the name of a person who's not stupid as Hell.

- What an exciting chase scene with Buffy walking away from the walking vampire guy. Ooh.  I'm shaking in my boots.  (Okay, I'm not really wearing boots.  They're slippers.  But just ignore that for now, okay?)

- And, finally, when Buffy was disabled, why the frilly heck did the Uber!Vamp stop trying to kill her?  He had her where he wanted her.

Interesting pictures of the night

(Warning: totally PI)

 Funny, stroke Buffy.  (Took too many hits to the head with the Uber!Vamp)

Just a gratuitous Chest of Spike shot.

What Buffy should have looked like after "Dead Things"

Favorite Lines

"I didn't even realize it was December."

Felt more like May, didn't it?

"She does.  Because she believes in me."

<Sigh>  And so do we, Spike.

Screen Caps courtesy of Spirit Crow