fajrdrako | Buffy the Vampire Slayer (3x08)

Buffy 3x08 - Lover's Walk

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At last: we get Spike again. And I'm very, very glad to see him.

740 verbal? Is that bad? Is it out of a possible score of 1,000? No, Buffy got 1430, so I guess that's not it.
Love this exchange:
Oz: That was my sarcastic voice.
Xander: You know, it sounds a lot like your regular voice.
Oz: I've been told that.
Exchanges like this are the reason I love Oz.
So Spike returns in the style in which he first came, driving over the Sunnydale sign, only falling flat on his face. Spike is back. I am happy.
Drusilla left Spike. The fool! And he's unhappy about it. The horrible bitch! At least he can take it out on the dolls.
Bowling? I like Willow's confidence.
Of course Oz doing something sweet like giving her a witch Pez dispenser makes Willow feel guilty. She earned this.
Giles seems to have forgiven Buffy for seeing Angel and not telling them. He is reconciled. Cute "rash" conversation.
Wonderful conversation between Xander and Willow:
Willow: It's a very intimate situation. It's all sexy with the smoke and the sweating and the shoe rental...
Xander: You're turned on by rented shoes?
Willow: That's not the issue.
Good conversation between Buffy and her mother, too:
Joyce: That's not it. It's just you belong at a good old-fashioned college with, with keg parties and boys, not here with Hellmouths and vampires.
Buffy: Not really seeing the distinction.
Seems to me Joyce should beware what she wishes for.
Angel reads Sartre? Cool.
Spike, keg party of one. Drunk. Tough. Who knew vampires could get drunk? How does that work? ...Probably I shouldn't ask.
The magic shop: Spike ranting about boils and leprosy. The proprietor: "I'm hearing a lot of negative energy." Hmm, yes, vampires do that. It gets better:
Spike: Leprosy! Alright, a spell that makes his parts fall off. That sounds proper.
Shopkeeper: We don't carry... leprosy.
Willow's spell is a 'de-lusting'. Cute.
The Mayor: "So, we have a Spike problem, do we?" I assume his 'problem' is Spike's presence. I couldn't disagree more. The problem is when Spike isn't around.
Allen says, "Police had a hell of a time covering it up." - meaning Spike's killing in the magic shop. First time we've had direct confirmation that the Police, on the orders of the Mayor, are hushing things up. It comes as no surprise, of course.
Buffy and Angel are having problems dealing with their rather odd relationship.
Spike wants a love spell. Well, it's better than a leprosy-and-parts-fall-off spell.
Poor Spike. A drunken, melancholy vampire is a sad thing to see. "She just left. She didn't even care enough to cut off my head or set me on fire. I mean, is that too much to ask? You know? Some little sign that she cared?" Next he'll be lying on his bed listening to country music, like Xander.
And Spike goes to Joyce. Ooh: chills. And then Spike tells her his troubles. Awww.
"She's out of her mind. That's what I miss most about her."
Spike drinks not only alcohol, but hot chocolate with marshmallows? My goodness. Not very... vampiric.
And then Angel comes along. No love lost between Spike and Angel, and Joyce thinks Angel is a monster.
Angel: Spike.
Joyce: Oh, my God. Get out of here!
Spike: Yeah. You're not invited.
I love the plotting here, how things that were set up long ago are still coming into play.
Followed by - even better -
Angel: You touch her, and I'll cut your head off!
Spike: Yeah? You and what army?
Buffy: That would be me.
This whole scene is just full of great dialogue based on who knows what about which:
Spike: Willow!
Buffy: You took Willow.
Spike: You do me now, you'll never find the little witch.
Joyce: Willow's a witch?
Buffy: And Xander?
Spike: Him, too.
Joyce: What, Xander's a witch?
Love it that Spike calls Angel "your great poof".
Then Oz smells Willow's fear.
Cordelia: Oh, my God. Is this some sort of residual werewolf thing? This is very disturbing.
Oz: I really agree.
And Spike gets all sentimental about killing an old man on a bench with Drusilla, even though he's sobering up. Such an emo vampire. And next scene: "I used to bring her rats. With the morning paper." Do vampires need to keep up with the news?
But Spike, drunken loser though he may be, seems to have a better grasp of the reality of relationships than everyone else: "You're *not* friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love till it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains, children, it's blood... blood screaming inside you to work its will."
Bit of dialogue between Willow and Xander in the factory:
Willow: Drusilla broke up with him.
Xander: Gee, and we had all hoped those crazy kids would make it work.
Now, why does that just scream Firefly at me? Where does someone say something like that? And Willow has a wonderful turn of phrase:
Xander: So what are our options?
Willow: Well, I figure either... I refuse to do the spell and he kills us, or I do the spell and he kills us.
Xander: Give me a third option.
Willow: He's so drunk he forgets about us, and we starve to death. That's sort of the best one.
So they kiss and inevitable, inevitably, Cordelia and Oz walk in to save their lives. It was bound to happen sooner or later, right? "Sooner", the way they were acting. They're lucky it didn't happen earlier.
So Buffy, Spike and Angel fight Spike's old minions. This is an episode of changed alliances. Good fight dialogue:
Lenny: Yeah. I heard you'd gone soft. Sad to see it, man.
Spike: Soft?
Lenny: Yeah, like baby food.
Spike: Well, then, let's give baby a taste.
Then Spike realizes he doesn't need the love potion after all, and wanders off happy. This is funny, and Spikelike, and I like it - but it's a bit anticlimactic.
And Cordelia tells Xander to get lost. She's really hurt. If she cares... wouldn't forgiving him be wiser?
Buffy realizes Spike was right, and wants out of Angel's life. He can't say he doesn't love her.
Spike speeds off, singing about doing things "My Way" - as if he could ever do anything else. I'm sorry to see him leave. Spike! Come back, the show shines more brightly when you're in it.