Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Bring on the Night Rewatch

April 13, 2016 8:23 PM - Season 7, Episode 10

Giles arrives with a group of potential slayers, having figured out The First's plans to destroy the slayer lineage. While The First taunts a barely conscious Spike, the Turok-Han supervamp eats a potential and beats a tired Buffy down hard.
posted by yellowbinder (2 comments total)

This is a better plotty episode. It introduces the potentials who, while terrible (oh god those accents), are sort of an interesting idea. And Kennedy isn't that bad at this point as the brat. She points out, quite reasonably, that hiding in the hellmouth is a goddamn terrible idea. And, to be honest, the show is incapable of contradicting that so I'm not convinced pointing it out was a good idea.

Sadly we also have the first of many tedious scenes of the First monologuing while torturing Spike. A depressing amount of this season involves the First making speeches about how evil it is. Which always underlines how utterly ineffective it is. Frankly, the show really needed to kill a main cast member earlier, because the threat is so undersold here. I don't think beating up Buffy really counts, because villains have been physically dominating Buffy since Season 4. The final scene of Buffy all beaten up and everyone being worried is frankly... a bit odd. Sure, making the vamp unstakable is a cool moment, but, just to be clear, Buffy has fought and defeated a literal god at this point, so her getting up at the end and giving a speech is hardly surprising.

That said, the final fight is well staged and is quite gripping, even if, as mentioned before, the uber vamp leaving Buffy alone doesn't really make sense.

-Oh, and hey this is the episode with dream Joyce, which, again, is a dropped thread that makes no sense
-Why hasn't Buffy's leg healed by the final fight? Slayer healing rates vary as the plot depends
-"I'm good again." "When were you good before?"
-Dawn is really funny in the time capsule scene.
-Giles does the no touching thing. So, to be clear, he fails to open any doors, pull a duvet over himself, eat anything, take off or put on clothing?
-Another bit of lazy plotting, with the potential running for it. OK, how did she get so far? Maybe no-one noticed, which I can sort of buy. But why does she run to the construction site? And how does Buffy know she went there? And how do the others know Buffy went to the construction site so that they can find Buffy?
-Why didn't Buffy bring a weapon to fight the uber vamp with?
-Oh good, Buffy's first speech.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 1:05 AM on April 14, 2016 [2 favorites]

That scene with Buffy, Dawn and the Principal is super awkward, in a good way. I remember watching this the first time and being really curious what the reveal would be regarding the principal.

Jesus, why is Kennedy so annoying?
posted by skewed at 7:52 PM on April 16, 2016