William The Buddy

Buffy Episode 7.2 Beneath You
AirDate: 1st Oct 02

"Come on, Ron. Do it."

"I can’t."

"But you ALWAYS do it. It’s your thing."

"Yeah, but I got addicted. The power went to my head, and it started to cause problems for me and all of my friends."

"So you had to stop?"

"Yeah. It’s not easy. There’s constant temptation to start up again, but I just can’t. It’s too hard to control. It’s evil and its allure is powerful and it corrodes my soul."

And so goes my internal dialogue over Buffy spoilers. Like any recovering addict, I’m just living day to day, trying to focus on the positive. As it stands, I’m proud to say I’ve been clean for two episodes. Okay, admittedly I found out in the summer that the school would be open, Spike is still a vampire and WANTED to have his soul back, and Dawn would make some new friends and begin learning the Slayer ropes from Buffy. But as of this season I’m trying my best to avoid Herc’s weekly spoiler column, Wanda’s mailbags, and the wildfeed summaries. I’m sure most of you will agree that it’s just better to be surprised by the events of each episode.

And episode 7.2, ‘Beneath You’, may not have had any actual surprises, but it definitely had some great twists. Let’s see…

After thinking last week that we’d be revisiting the girl in Turkey fleeing the dark robed assassins (I guess they really did kill her), I was pleased and excited to see a totally different girl being chased through the nightclub district of Frankfurt. Run, Lola! Run! Oops – Too late. Two down, and how many to go? What’s the deal here? Who are these pretty girls getting hunted down and killed at the beginning of each episode? Will the trend continue next week? One popular theory I’ve heard discussed is that they’re girls in line for the Slayer job, and some evil cadre is bumping them off one at a time. But if that’s the case, do you think there’s any point to this mission? Say Faith were to die. A new Slayer would then be called. If the girl who’s next in line for the job got whacked before she took over, it would then, I assume, fall to the NEXT person in line. So my question now is, do you think there’s a finite number of potential Slayers in the world? Can these nasties in the robes kill all of them so there’s NO ONE in the on-deck circle? An interesting idea, and if these girls are, in fact, what some of you are assuming they are, we may yet hear the answer.

"From beneath you, it devours." YIKES!! Can I just say now that they’re setting up this year’s Big Bad perfectly? A constant, gradual increase in tension, with just enough tidbits of info along the way to keep us hooked and make us feel like we’re figuring something out. I love how everyone who’s at all plugged in to the supernatural is feeling that something huge and horrible is coming. Speaking of which, about ten people who emailed me in the last week voiced the same theory on what this enemy could be. It’s a clever concept relating to a single episode in season 3. I hadn’t personally thought about it, but the logic is sound and if those of you who brought it to my attention end up being right, my hat will be off to you. For the record, I’ve decided not to publicize it yet in case it’s accurate and some people will feel like we ruined it for them (see first paragraph. Spoilers bad).

My least favourite episode last year (and, but for Season 4’s ‘Beer Bad’, my least favourite EVER) was ‘Doublemeat Palace’. The reason being that, in a season that was attempting to add new depth to the characters as they tackled some seriously complex and grown up emotional issues, a Monster-of-the-Week episode that seemed straight out of the first season just didn’t fit with the current arc. But Season 7 is on a different plane altogether. Now we’re talking about the oldschool Buffy style, and last night’s appearance of Ronnie The Giant Worm was not only an excellent red herring for the ongoing mystery of the impending evil, it was also fun and brought back memories of some of the great episodes from the first couple of years. I wouldn’t mind at all if this season contained a lot more of these single-episode monster hunting adventures and, lest ye think that Mutant Enemy is reduced to an Either-Or formula, ‘Beneath You’ still contained some really powerful drama and it managed to drive a number of the plotlines forward.

In the only Willow-Giles scene of the evening, we learned that Willow (still unsure of her control between the crayon-breaky and scary-veiny personas) is on her way home. At first I was a little surprised that we haven’t yet heard her name mentioned back in Sunnydale, but I now see the wisdom behind this restraint. She’s going back to them, overcome with guilt and grief over her unconscionable actions last spring, feeling like there’s a very real possibility that the damage done is too great and they’ll never be able to forgive her. If we had already heard the Scoobs thoughts on this, we’d know in advance the reception that awaits her. But as it stands, I’m personally biting my nails right along with Willow in anticipation of their reunion and whether her friends (Dawn, for example, who’s become, as Spike said, "incredibly scary") will be able to forgive her. While I don’t honestly think they’ll reject her outright, it’s not going to be an easy moment for anyone involved and the healing process should be, justifiably, a long one. Isn’t it funny to look at the parallels between Willow’s situation on this series, and Wesley’s on Angel, then consider that these actors are romantically linked in real life? Maybe not. Sorry. Can I freshen up your tea?

Which brings us to Xander and his love life. I have both a dart and a laurel for Mr. Harris this week. It was nice to see him attempting to re-enter the dating scene, and I really like Nancy and I hope that we haven’t seen the last of her. Xander’s fumbling was cute and added some of the best moments of levity to the episode (sidenote: I LOVED the look between Xander & Spike when Nancy asked if any of them HADN’T slept together). On the other hand, maybe my love for Anya (her look was better this week but still kind of wacky) has me a touch blinded, but I had a real problem with the way Xander seems to have absolved himself of any and all guilt in their breakup. His tone now seems to imply that her Anya-ness naturally forced him away from her and he can’t be expected to show any remorse for LEAVING HER AT THE ALTAR AND BREAKING HER HEART. Hmph! By the way. Before I forget – "Oh, penis!"

The last person I’d like to focus on before I close is Spike. James Marsters has made no secret of his love for Shakespeare, and it’s really showing in the knockout performances he’s delivered so far this season. Admittedly, the first episode was just a taste, but last night’s script gave him license to immerse himself fully in complex and multi-layered madness, complete with a brief bout of denial when he donned the blue sweater and presented himself as William, that nice boy from down the street who’s always ready to lend a hand. But as he said in the breathtaking scene in the church, the costume didn’t work. Joss and Marti promised us that Spike-with-a-soul would not be a carbon copy of Angel’s story, and they’ve made good on this claim. We’ve seen Angel tormented by the guilt that having a soul has brought him, but he’s a much older vamp and about as emotionally stable as anyone who’s ever been on the show (Giles excepted, of course). Somehow Angel has managed to bring himself to a place (I know -- Los Angeles) where his never-ending mission to do good and atone for his crimes brings him peace. He’s a champion, and he’s comfortable wearing this mantle. Spike, on the other hand, is no champion. He is, as he once famously uttered, "Love’s bitch. But at least I’m man enough to admit it." Spike is a creature of rage and passion, which unfortunately erupted in the painfully ugly rape scene last season that, apparently, James Marsters still isn’t comfortable viewing (I don’t think it’s much fun for any of us to have to see).

That’s one of this show’s main strengths, and the thing you’ll never be able to convince your non-watching friends of: There is no series on television (maybe EVER) that has its characters growing and changing so completely over the years. It’s hard to believe that when Spike first came on the scene he was your basic two-dimensional villain. Cold, vicious, and existing solely to make trouble for Buffy. Now here we are, five seasons later, and Spike is as conflicted and complex a character as exists on any network. There were moments last night in his rambling, delirious confession that broke my heart and affected me as deeply as that episode-closing scene last season when Buffy was sobbing in Tara’s lap and crying, "Please don’t forgive me." He regained his soul in the hope that it was the one missing piece that would allow Buffy to love him. Now, not only is he torn apart by guilt and shame and the tortured voices of everyone he’s ever wronged, but he has to face the reality that what he saw as his only hope was a mistake and it will still never be enough. Spike draped himself over that church’s cross in an act of complete and utter hopeless surrender. Knowing what we know about him, and knowing the things he’s done, we can’t possibly be expected to sympathize with him or care about his pain.

But we do, don’t we?

Take care, everybody, and we’ll talk next week. For the record, we won’t be seeing new episodes of Angel in Canada until Tuesday night at 10, so with both shows on the same night it’ll probably be Thursday or so before I can submit my Angel reviews. Try not to email me with any spoilers between Sunday and Tuesday night, okay?
Ron