Welcome to Rewatching Buffy, the part of the blog where I rewatch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Each Tuesday evening, you’re invited to join me as I attempt to rediscover what made me love this show 22 years ago.
Older and Far Away
- Buffy’s running out on Dawn…
- She’s got some slaying to do…
- Buffy fights a demon that seems to be able to teleport, but manages to run him through with his own sword.
- But she doesn’t see him sort of melt into a puddle that is absorbed by the sword.
- So she keeps the sword, not realizing her foe is trapped within.
- Oh, forgot to mention, before Buffy left the house, Dawn mentioned Buffy’s birthday party happening the next day.
- Haven’t we learned, time and time again, never throw Buffy a birthday party?!
- Dawn faces further disappointment when everyone is too busy to go with her to the mall to find a present for Buffy.
- She gets back home and no one is there.
- Which is when she freely empties her pockets of all the things she’s recently stolen.
- Classic cry for attention…
- Oh… then she takes off her coat, revealing a stolen leather jacket…
- At school the next day, Dawn is summoned to the guidance office.
- The counselor claims it’s a follow-up following her recent loss…
- But we, the audience are aware that this guidance counselor is Halfrek, Anya’s vengeance demon friend.
- She looks like a normal human being in her disguise, so Dawn takes her role of counselor at face value.
- Prior to Buffy’s party, Xander and Anya reveal that they’ve invited a guy friend to come over…
- Clearly not a set up for Buffy.
- Tara arrives and checks in with Buffy… regarding the whole Spike thing.
- She asks if Spike is coming to the party, but Buffy says he wasn’t invited.
- Cue the awkward interaction between Tara and Willow.
- And then Spike comes in the back door… apparently Willow mentioned the party and he saw fit to come by.
- And he brought Clem… his kitty poker demon friend.
- Enter Richard, Xander’s friend.
- What a great party!
- Slightly off topic… Clem might be one of my favorite side characters.
- Dawn is anxious for Buffy to open her present.
- Why? It’s likely stolen anyway…
- Yep… it’s that stolen leather jacket.
- Buffy notices that it still has the security tag on it.
- Wonder why that is?
- Xander made Buffy a new weapons chest, which she seems to appreciate more than the stolen leather jacket.
- Buffy invited a friend from work, Sophie.
- Dawn closes the door and we see Halfrek on the porch saying, “Wish granted.”
- Uh… what wish? What did Dawn wish?!
- Anyway, everyone seems to be having a great time at the party… no matter how late it gets.
- There’s talk of a beer run… and even volunteers to go… but they can’t seem to bring themselves to leave.
- The party lasts all night and Richard reminds Xander they have to be at work in a few minutes… and yet they can’t seem to bring themselves to leave.
- It’s about this time that people start realizing they physically cannot leave the house.
- But all this talk of wanting to leave is upsetting Dawn.
- Ugh… she’s so obnoxious.
- She throws a temper tantrum and runs upstairs.
- Leading the gang to assume she may know something about why they’re all trapped in the house.
- “I’m done being talked to like a kid,” says the kid who is clearly acting like a kid.
- Ugh… she’s so obnoxious.
- Buffy suggests Tara use magic to try and figure things out, but Tara has no supplies.
- Willow reveals that, when they got rid of everything in the house, they didn’t quite get rid of everything.
- So Tara is able to put a little something together.
- Her spell doesn’t get them out of the house, but it does release the demon from his sword.
- Richard gets hurt… real bad…
- The demon vanishes, but is clearly still in the house.
- Night falls and the demon re-emerges, engaging in another fight.
- Richard’s barely hanging on.
- Dawn is still being a brat.
- Hey, stupid girl, a guy could die!
- Anya is kind of in a dark, panicky place… pushing for Willow to be the witch to try and get them out.
- Tara stands up for Willow.
- Anya decides to do something herself.
- Dawn and Buffy have a heart to heart… at which point Dawn mentions the guidance counselor.
- Which shouldn’t be a weird thing, right? Schools have guidance counselors…
- But Buffy is suspicious, considering Dawn had never met this counselor before.
- Then she asks Dawn if she happened to wish for something…
- Meanwhile, Anya is looking through Dawn’s room, insisting the kid knows something.
- And she finds Dawn’s stash of stolen goods.
- Confrontation time!
- Buffy realizes the leather jacket is also stolen…
- All the confrontation leads to Anya realizing the counselor was Halfrek, so she summons the vengeance demon.
- And as soon as she appears, the sword demon emerges again and runs Halfrek through.
- Another fight happens, they finally kill the demon this time.
- Halfrek, it turns out, is fine.
- Oh, and she recognizes Spike… calls him William…
- Because she’s the same actress who played Cecily, the one time object of William the Bloody’s pre-vempiric affections.
- Halfrek realizes that she can’t leave the house because of her own curse.
- So she breaks it, allowing everyone to leave.
- Body count: Sword Demon –
101
I always love the birthday episodes! So much fun! I love Clem too! 🙂
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