Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Blood Ties Rewatch

November 25, 2015 8:20 PM - Season 5, Episode 13

Buffy lets the gang in on Dawn's true nature, and their changed attitude leads Dawn to discover it for herself with Spike's help. She runs away from Buffy's birthday party, eventually finding Ben... and Glory.
posted by yellowbinder (2 comments total)

Finally the secrets pour out, and by the end of this episode, the only person who doesn't know who the Key is, is Glory. This is nice because it sets up danger for everyone. It's dangerous for anyone to know who the Key is, because Glory might want to get that information, and it's dangerous for Ben to know who the Key is, because for all we know he'll tell Glory.

Dawn's reaction is pretty extreme, but feels pretty real, and I love here the advice that what Dawn needs is her sister, rather than the Slayer. One of the interesting themes of this season is that after rejecting it for so long, Buffy is embracing her Slayer side, and this is cutting her off from people; from Riley, and now from Dawn. Her goal is always to try to unify both halves, and we'll see how well she succeeds later on.

I also enjoy the open of the demons vs knights, because it gives us another opportunity to establish how powerful Glory is. She's not going to have trouble with anything, and even a spell teleporting her in the air won't slow her down for long.

-"Glory is evil and powerful and in no way prettier than me."
-"Me. Me not weird."
-No alarm on the magic shop?
-Dawn does the annoying television part of overhearing the worst possible part of a conversation
-It feels a bit contrived that Dawn runs off and tells Ben about her problem.
-Xander should really have died in a direct fight with Glory.
-Buffy mentions Summers blood here. Quuuuite important.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 12:02 AM on November 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

I do actually have some sympathy for Dawn and the way she reacts to discovering she's not a real girl - not even a real person. What I don't have sympathy for is the way she does the stupid thing yet again. She knows that Glory is out there looking for her, she has an inkling of Glory's power in that Buffy is clearly intimidated by (if not outright scared of) her and yet she has no hesitation in wandering around aimlessly. I know, I know, she's clearly so distressed she's not thinking straight. She actually is feeling kind of self-destructive. I guess it just annoys me.

Interestingly, even though it is Buffy being her sister that gets through to Dawn in the end, Buffy is also right in that what Dawn wants is answers about what she is. The wandering isn't actually completely aimless - since she seeks out the insane people who seem to recognise her for what she really is. She tries to bargain with Glory for information about the nature of the Key (her own nature) which is actually pretty gutsy. Can you tell I am talking myself round to actually liking Dawn a bit in spite of myself? Sadly it won't last.

Oh, and one more hate: the ENORMOUS PLOT STICK of Dawn not remembering that Ben is Glory. *rolls eyes*
posted by Athanassiel at 3:30 AM on December 6, 2015