Willow summons Osiris to bring Tara back to life the same way as she did for Buffy. She is told that the spell will not work for a natural human death and becomes consumed with rage and wants revenge. She goes to the magic shop and draws the dark power from the books into her causing her hair and eyes to turn black. Warren discovers that Buffy did not die and he seeks out Rack for help against the Slayer but he is informed of Willow’s wrath. Willow saves Buffy then finds Warren and kills him by removing his skin.
| Airdate: | 14 May 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer: | Marti Noxon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Director: | David Soloman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cast: |
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Warren: "This...isn't the evil laugh of victory - is it?"
Behind the Scenes Trivia
Amber’s credits
Although Amber Benson (who played Tara) is present in the episode Villains as a body, she is not in the opening titles and is uncredited. She was credited in the series’ second run as ‘The Body‘. This is Tara’s final episode in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Better muscles
Adam Busch, who played Warren, spoke at a Buffy convention (The Harvest, London, June 2003) about how pleased he was with the ‘flaying’ scene in Villains. He joked that the actor who played ’skinned’ Warren had much better muscle tone than he did.
Flaying of Warren Meers
The scene where Warren is skinned alive by Willow was edited out when shown in most places. Marti Noxon said of the scene, “The skinning of Warren was something Joss wanted. We pitched it to the network, and the network said, ‘As long as you only see it for 2.5 seconds, go for it.’”
I’ll be back
At the end of the episode Seeing Red, Spike said, “…I’ll be back, and when I do…” His incorrect grammar was corrected in the “Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer” section in Villains.
Spelling error
The Region 2 DVD boxsets for Buffy’s season six incorrectly spell the episode Villains as “Villians”.
Cast and Crew Trivia
Alan Henry Brown
Alan Henry Brown, who played the funeral director in Forever, also played the demon bartender who talked to Warren in Villains, and ‘Lead Nahdrah’ in the Angel episode ‘Provider‘. He has also appeared in The X Files.
Amelinda Smith
Amelinda played Warren’s girlfriend Katrina. Amelinda has also been in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Scrubs, Freaky Links and Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. She has a son (born in December 1999) called Cogeian Sky Embry with her (now ex) husband, actor Ethan Embry (Can’t Hardly Wait, Sweet Home Alabama). The two divorced in 2002. Amelinda appeared in three episodes of Buffy in total - I Was Made to Love You, Dead Things and Villains.
Steven W. Bailey
Steven W. Bailey, who played the African demon in the cave at the end of season six, plays Steve in My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance. He has also been in Mix Tape, Chestnut Hill, Will & Grace, Becker and Nash Bridges. Steven played Ryan in the Angel episode ‘Carpe Noctem‘.
Character Trivia
Katrina
Katrina was Warren’s girlfriend who dumped him when she discovered he had a robot sex toy in I Was Made to Love You. She built monorails that move magnetically, which is one of the things that attracted Warren to her (it takes all kinds). Katrina and Warren met again in Dead Things and Warren accidentally killed her, after performing a spell on her to make her his slave. Willow showed a vision of Katrin to Warren in Villains.
Continuity
Bored now
Willow’s vampire self from an alternate universe used “Bored now” as her favourite phrase in Doppelgängland. Willow repeats this line in Villains.
Butt monkey
In the episode Buffy vs Dracula, Xander says, “I’m finished being everybody’s butt monkey!” In the episode Villains, whilst Jonathan and Andrew are in jail, Jonathon says that a fellow prisoner wants to make him his “butt monkey”.
One down
Willow’s final words of the episode Villains were “one down” so the next episode’s title (Two To Go) is a continuation of that: “One down… two to go.”
Season six timeline
From the episode Seeing Red until the end of this season’s finale Grave, all events occur within around 24 hours. According to Tara’s grave in Help, these episodes occur between May 7th and May 8th 2002.
Skin troubles
When a desperate Warren visits Rack to buy magics to protect him from the Slayer in Villains, he gets tangled up in conversation. While Warren remains unaware, Rack has sensed the truth of Tara’s death, and Willow’s wrath. Increasingly frustrated with Rack’s cryptic, Warren quips, “Oh you’re right, let’s talk about my skin troubles!”
Indeed, skin troubles were the ultimate obstacle for Warren, given that he was viciously flayed by Willow a short time later.
Spike’s journey
How did Spike get all the way to Uganda in Africa in the timespan between Seeing Red and Villains? We know from Surprise that he can’t travel by plane. Angel says it’s too difficult as vampires have no way of controlling direct sunlight on a plane. If he went by ship it would take him weeks to get to Africa from California - and I’m sure there aren’t too many ships making that journey.
Warrenbot
Ww discover in Villains that Warren created another robot just like himself. He must have done this while ago in case anything went wrong as it would have taken him weeks to build the Warren-bot.
Willow’s jacket
In Help, Xander takes Willow to the cemetary to see Tara’s grave. While they’re there, Willow is wearing the same dark denim jacket she wore in Villians, Two To Go and Grave, after Tara died and she went evil.
Music Trivia
Misfits
The song ‘Die, Die My Darling’ by the Misfits is playing in the demon bar which Warren celebrates in, in the episode Villains.
Mythology Trivia
Osiris
In Egyptian mythology, Osiris was a god who became Lord of the Dead and Resurrection after his brother killed him and he was resurrected. In the Buffyverse, Osiris is summoned to perform resurrection spells on Joyce (by Dawn in Forever), Buffy (by Willow in Bargaining (Part 1)) and Tara (by Willow in Villains).
References
Andy Griffiths Show
In Faith, Hope and Trick, Mr. Trick says that Sunnydale “makes DC look like Mayberry”. Mayberry was the quiet, sleepy town in The Andy Griffith Show. It was also referenced in the episode Villains when Andrew believes the prison he and Jonathan are in is “like Mayberry”.
Country Time
In Villains, Clem says, “I was just about to make some Country Time”, referring to the American lemonade product.
Dragnet
Jonathan calls Andrew “Dragnet” in Villains, referencing the police drama, which has been epitomised in several TV shows.
James Bond
In the episode Ted, Cordelia states Buffy should have ’special rules’ when it comes to the subject of murder to which Xander replies, “What? A license to kill?” This is the title of the 1989 James Bond movie starring Timothy Dalton.
In The Prom, Cordelia says that Wesley would look “way-007 in a tux”, referring to Agent 007 - James Bond. In Flooded, the nerds can be seen playing 007 Golden-Eye on their Playstation. In Out of My Mind, Buffy says, “You’re like my fairy godmother and Santa Claus and Q all wrapped up into one… Q from Bond not Star Trek“.
In Life Serial, Jonathan, Andrew and Warren discuss the different actors who have portrayed James Bond. Warren likes Sean Connery, Jonathan favours Roger Moore and Andrew’s favourite is Timothy Dalton. They mention the movies Dr. No, Moonraker, Licence to Kill and The Living Daylights.
In As You Were, Buffy says to Riley, “you still carry around all that James Bond stuff.” They later abseil down a giant dam, 007-style.
In Lessons, Dawn says, “Check out double-oh Xander”, referencing James Bond. In Showtime, Andrew tells Dawn she has a “License to Kill” and in Villians, Buffy, Xander,and Dawn are talking about what to do with Warren and Buffy says, “That doesn’t give me a license to kill.”
Matthew Broderick
In Villains, Andrew says, “I miss Ferris Matthew. Broadway Matthew - I find him cold.” He’s talking about actor Matthew Broderick who is probably best remembered as Ferris Bueller in the 1986 comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He has also appeared in Godzilla (referenced in Dirty Girls), Inspector Gadget (with Michelle Trachtenberg) and Election. Broderick appeared on Broadway in The Producers.
Oz (HBO)
In Villains, Andrew says of the prison he and Jonathan are in, “this isn’t Oz”. He means the prison in the HBO show Oz.
Puppet Master
In Villains, Xander calls Willow “Puppet Master”. Kate Orsini, who played the girl talking to Xander in the Bronze in Seeing Red, appeared in the 2003 movie Puppet Master: The Legacy.
The Wedding Planner
Clem tells Dawn in Villains that he’s been “dying to see The Wedding Planner“. The 2001 feel-good movie (if you like feeling slightly nauseous) starred Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey. It was directed by Adam Shankman, who did the choreography for the Buffy musical episode Once More, With Feeling.
War Games
In Villains, Andrew and Jonathan discuss the 1983 movie War Games, starring Matthew Broderick. The movie featured a teenager who gains access to the Pentagon’s strategic computer system. He thinks he’s playing a new computer game but is actually warming up a World War.
Goofs
Seen at 00.52 minutes:
At the beginning of the episode Villains, Willow is holding Tara’s head and some of her upper body on her lap, so it would seem that the entry wound would be situated on her legs. When she’s shown walking out of the house (at 4.28 minutes) there is no blood on Willow’s trousers at all.
Seen at 13.54 minutes:
The doctors are trying to fix Buffy’s heart while she still has her shirt on.
Seen at 33.09 minutes:
During Villains, Willow walks through a forest tracking Warren. We see a shot of her from behind, which cuts to a shot of her from the front. If you look to the right of the screen, you can see ropes pulling the trees back as she walks by.
Seen at 33.15 minutes:
In the woods, we see Warren run with nothing in his hands but he’s later holding an axe. Where did he get it from?
Seen at 33.51 minutes:
Why isn’t there any blood on the axe Warren stabbed Willow with?
Seen at 39.30 minutes:
When Warren’s skin flies off, there’s no bullet hole in his chest.
Quotes
Xander: "...the magic's too strong. There's no coming back from it."
Willow: "I'm not coming back."
Andrew: "I miss Ferris Matthew. Broadway Matthew - I find him cold."
Warren: "This...isn't the evil laugh of victory - is it?"