Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sleeper Rewatch
April 6, 2016 8:49 PM - Season 7, Episode 8 - Subscribe
The gang reacts to last night's visitors, and Buffy investigates Holden's claims that Spike sired him.
I am totally down with a universe in which Aimee Mann routinely plays gigs on Hellmouths. Having worked for a little indie band, that seems 100% plausible. (I'm pretty sure our regular gig in Houston was at least on the grounds of a satanic church, if not an actual Hellmouth.)
posted by restless_nomad at 11:24 AM on April 7, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad at 11:24 AM on April 7, 2016 [5 favorites]
Every single person killed on screen by a vampire turns into a vampire, with the exception of Miss Calendar. Literally the only other exception in the first episode of Buffy is when Buffy finds a body, and explains to Giles that it won't rise again because it didn't drink blood. But apparently everyone Spike killed and buried is going to rise. Oh, and all at the same time despite being killed on different nights. I don't care that much, but I do think this sort of scene is indicative of the lazy writing which plagues this season.
I think this makes sense here, because even though the First is playing a longer game, creating more run-of-the-mill vampires on the ground is going to create a distraction for Buffy while the First causes damage elsewhere. See: CWDP.
posted by Superplin at 12:33 PM on April 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think this makes sense here, because even though the First is playing a longer game, creating more run-of-the-mill vampires on the ground is going to create a distraction for Buffy while the First causes damage elsewhere. See: CWDP.
posted by Superplin at 12:33 PM on April 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
-How did Holden get's Spikes name? Did he introduce himself before murdering him?
I wondered this rewatching CWDP last night, but then this episode itself seems to answer it when we cut to Spike before he kills the woman and she's asking "What kind of a name is Spike, anyway?" Since he's in kind of a trance and not really talking otherwise in that scene, it makes sense that The First is getting him to tell his marks who he is before he turns them.
Fun Fact: since Aimee Mann appears as herself in both series, I feel comfortable with the headcanon that Buffy and The West Wing are in the same universe, which makes me feel comfortable stating for a fact that The Mayor did survive Graduation in some form and made his way to DC where he became Sec. of Agriculture, and also that the woman with the dog from "Beneath You" is part of an acting troupe that played a little joke on Josh Lyman at Toby's behest on election day.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:11 AM on October 6, 2021
I wondered this rewatching CWDP last night, but then this episode itself seems to answer it when we cut to Spike before he kills the woman and she's asking "What kind of a name is Spike, anyway?" Since he's in kind of a trance and not really talking otherwise in that scene, it makes sense that The First is getting him to tell his marks who he is before he turns them.
Fun Fact: since Aimee Mann appears as herself in both series, I feel comfortable with the headcanon that Buffy and The West Wing are in the same universe, which makes me feel comfortable stating for a fact that The Mayor did survive Graduation in some form and made his way to DC where he became Sec. of Agriculture, and also that the woman with the dog from "Beneath You" is part of an acting troupe that played a little joke on Josh Lyman at Toby's behest on election day.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:11 AM on October 6, 2021
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But eh. In of itself, this is a pretty good episode, we get Buffy's conflict about maybe having to put down Spike, her anger at maybe being played. Other than that it's a pretty rote, plotty episode. Buffy investigates Spike, Spike investigates himself, he reveals what he's done and there's a fight in the cellar. Not a bad episode per se, but not much to talk about really.
-Hi Aimee Mann, the only musical guest to get a line! It's a shame that the show decided to have that really weird crossing between the song and the fight.
-They determine that Spike is active because there are more missing people. But its Sunnydale, and it's still full of demons and vampires. They used to do this all the time in seasons 2 and 3 though, so I shouldn't complain too much. The ecosystem of Sunnydale makes less and less sense when you realise quite how many vampires there seem to be (as an aside, surely Sunnydale, having the one slayer in the world in it, is the absolute worst place for any vampire to reside).
-How did Holden get's Spikes name? Did he introduce himself before murdering him?
-Every single person killed on screen by a vampire turns into a vampire, with the exception of Miss Calendar. Literally the only other exception in the first episode of Buffy is when Buffy finds a body, and explains to Giles that it won't rise again because it didn't drink blood. But apparently everyone Spike killed and buried is going to rise. Oh, and all at the same time despite being killed on different nights. I don't care that much, but I do think this sort of scene is indicative of the lazy writing which plagues this season.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 12:57 AM on April 7, 2016 [1 favorite]