Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reaction 6x01 & 6x02

Let's not forget that norad also tracks Santa.

Macca Fan

Aired less than a month after 9/11. I had to watch these as reruns. I was confused at the beginning too, because I had forgotten about Buffybot. Clever way to have SMG still a part of the Scoobies. Buffybot's childlike innocence and way of analyzing brings a whole new type of humor which I appreciate. I don't remember Tara sounding almost identical to Willow, but she was affected for awhile so maybe it's just me. She seems to have adopted Scoobie-speak too, which you have no idea how many in real life did too back then. I still say "bored now". Spike's scene with Dawn is every bit of that of a protective father. This scene and the one with Dawn climbing into bed with Buffybot made me emotional and wish we had had more children. I was never a Static-X fan, but it felt nostalgic hearing them. The music choices are always that way for me, even if I've never heard the band before. That period of time is very identifiable by its music. Olde English 800 is malt liquor, which is the lowest quality of beer (imo) and back then was ~$1.99 for a 40 oz bottle. As teenage punks and skins in the '80s, we would buy 40s all the time, usually King Cobra (another malt liquor). Uh, yeah. You would've thought they would dig up Buffy before doing the spell... I found the biker gang kinda cheesy, but they were ancillary to the story so not a big deal. I'm glad you took the advice of watching both episodes as one reaction. This was a Grimm-level cliffhanger, and you know how we feel about those. I adore Anya. She is so unwittingly funny and cute and I'm so glad she is a full-time Scoobie. She's very similar to Cordelia in that way (some may see her as a replacement). I'm glad we still have Cordy in Angel though. This was a very emotional and powerful two episodes, and it should have aired as a single, two-hour season premiere. Season six is wild.

Brian Dworak

I'm a bit late to the show, but life happened. A lot of people already said a lot about this one so i'll keep it short-ish. Aboout the slayer line.. Who knows if it works with one active slayer like others here said, which would be Faith then. And But as Willow pointed out, This death wasn't of "natural causes" as in, got stabbed or something. But a supernatural energy from between dimensions killed her. Who knows what effect that had. I fully agree wiht you, and said it before. No matter how you come back, something like that changes you. And much like Angel, when he came back from another dimension and we was out of it, That would be a shock to the system for buffy as well. I'm here for the scenes between Buffy and Dawn. In my opninion they are done well, and those are the scenes that really hit me in the feels.

Bart Aansorgh

This is what I think, too. Buffy already died and a new slayer was called, so her dying again is moot.

Sare

Vampires aren’t cookie cutter versions of each other. The Judge complains that Spike and Dru share affection and jealousy. He couldn’t of burned Dalton without some humanity inside. In this episode Spike shows altruism when he helped the Scoobies for the summer when he had no benefit. Also he showed guilt when he refused to leave Dawn despite her saying he could.

Bud Haven

Was there a point to this other than trying to pre-empt events by making Spike as creepy as you possibly could? It's a genuine question. Not liking the character/arc is one thing - but you do seem to have a habit of wading well over the line of whatever is canon/not canon on a fairly regular basis.

m.,

What a great reaction, Dak. Please don't worry about not seeming to react much. You don't have to be losing your shit for us to see that you love something. We can tell even when you don't say a word. Trust me. About the Slayer line and how it works. I might be getting this wrong, but there are many who will correct me if I am. Because Buffy (Buffeh) died in season 1, she is no longer the "active" slayer. This is why Kendra was called, making her the new chosen one. When Kendra died, Faith was called, so now Faith is the active one. According to the rules, another slayer wouldn't be chosen unless Faith died. Love season 6 (I have my issues with it, but I love it) so I can't wait to share this part of the Buffy journey with you, Dak.

Raven Dark

The fawn part of the resurrection ritual is so horrific that not only do the characters avoid the subject, even the resurrection manual does. It calls it 'wine of the mother', which it seems pretty clear to me is an avoidy euphemism for 'lifeblood of the innocent'. Part of Willow's summoning spell for it is 'Adonai elohe' which means 'Lord God', which means she's appealing to the highest deity to fatally spill innocent blood in the name of resurrection (which reminds me of the unicorn killing in Philosopher's Stone). Seemingly a paradox, which definitely contributes to the premiere's dark atmosphere: what good can come of such an act? Alyson Hannigan, a vegan, insisted that the killing itself be offscreen, and had trouble with the scene anyway. Another dark thought: Osiris is the judge from episode 7x4 of one of your previous shows where he performs deadly trials. Imagine that guy listening to Willow's prayers and being in charge of whether Buffy comes back.

Ed Green

To understand Spike, you must understand vampires in the universe. People have a hard time wrapping their heads around how a soulless being can seemingly love, show honor, or do anything really outside of chaos and destruction. But vampires are not soulless empty beings like say the Buffy Bot is or even the Android Frankenstein Adam working on programming and magic. The soul of the being is replaced by a demon but that demon also on top of replacing the soul, takes on some characteristics of its host. So they don't have a "human soul", they do have a demon equivalent for lack of a better word and then plus the characteristics and traits of the host. Someone who is profoundly loyal, has a code of conduct it dedicated its life to, loves profoundly, and takes pride in their work in life can still be all those things if evil and when turned which makes them evil if they were not already. The evil simply twists those things to a venal, egotistical, selfish, objectifying, controlling, and possessive way. But they are usually still there, at minimum, initially. Besides Spike on Buffy, whether with Dru or Buffy, we also see this in Angel with Darla and the latest episode you reacted to Season 3 Episode 1 between the vampires Elisabeth and James. We see Demons in Angel like Lorne who are not evil or Angel Season 2 Episode 12 where the Demon rival of Angel Boone helps Angel stop Wolfram Harts plans out of honor but then still fights him to the death at the end of the episode. Or in Angel and Buffy we see glimpses of this with Harmony or on Angel when Harmony shows up, with the "self improvement" vampire that is helping vampires be the best they can be. These characteristics still exist is the point, just in a negative and evil manner. Also think Dexter's Code, but he is still clearly mentally along the lines of a sociopath. Spike is no doubt serving himself whether it be in self punishment for his failures that *he wants* until he feels he has tortured himself enough or gets bored of it, or is doing what he is doing to make *himself* feel better, or because he has some kind of hope doing what Buffy wanted still can somehow lead to her coming back *to him* and wants to impress her. Also, to possess what Buffy possessed is the closest he would be to her after her death, so having her friends and family in a weird way keeps Buffy with Spike still even after she is gone. It isn't sentimental though, like keeping her alive in memory, it is possessive and selfish, Buffy was his or should have been as far as he is concerned, so keeping her in through this way maintains that fact. It is interesting.

Joshua Bull

The network had nothing to do with it. The show was able to do things they previously weren't due to the change of network. The show had less rules, and less oversight of the rules they did have from the new network. This freedom was certainly utilised by the show and taken full advantage of, but the network itself didn't really have much to with what was produced.

Shaun Houghton

It isn't wikipedia you are sourcing when looking on wikipedia, it is the 'actual' source the text is referencing which can be found at the end of the sentence or paragraph in the form of a tiny number you can click on. In this case, if said source is a certain sentence in a certain book or script for the show, quote from an interview of the writer/director/actor, or published work from the creator then you are good to go. Less fictional things, direct quotes, academic and peer-reviewed publications, scholarly monographs, and textbooks are good sources too and wikipedia has them neatly listed for you. Only reason not to trust wikipedia is when a sentence or paragraph doesn't have a linked source attached to it or when you click on the sourced link, it doesn't align with its reference. But all in all, wikipedia should honestly be your first stop for most things as sifting through sources using google can be a hastle if someone publishing stuff on wikipedia has done it for you.

Joshua Bull

If it's the same episode I think then I agree with the rewatch idea. Maybe bring it up just before the reaction.

Collinson

Stargazer1682

According to wikipedia (a reliable source as we know), five months have passed.

Toasty Overlord

oh gosh... that was pretty crazy.... I do very much like this season. There's some strong episodes ahead of us. I hope you enjoy. Edit: re: passage of time -- I'm assuming it will be mentioned so don't quote me but I believe they're treating this as real time to mirror the original network air dates. S5 ended in the spring and S6 started in the fall. Similar to how four months passed between Season 3 and 4 of Supernatural while my poor lovely Dean was out of commission. That's what I'm thinking anyway.

John

Looking forward to your season six adventure, it's definitely a bit marmite (especially compared to season five) so it will be interesting to see which way you end up going! Personally I love it, I think some of the themes are perhaps more relevant now than they were 20 years ago and more relatable to my older self. Either way, you're in for quite a ride!

PaulC

I guess this season is indeed a controversial one amongst the fans. I have opinions, and I'm not gonna say a darn thing right now, because I don't want to taint the Dakara experience.

Koz

This season has the best and worst things to come out of the show. I don't know if anyone else has told you but similar to restless there is a episode that would definitely benefit from a rewatch and Dakara dissection of the things the characters say. If you have the time then it's fairly early in the season

Christopher simeon

My reasons for not liking S6 is fairly short (no pun intended) but 2 positives going in: THE episode happens it sets up S7 which is a good season, IMO prediction-- more to like than dislike

Jon Freezin-Rain

Exactly. Despite the show name, Kendra and Faith were technically the official Slayers. Buffy was an anomaly.

Nicholas Corgan

To explain the slayer line of succession, Buffy died then Kendra was called, kendra died and Faith was called, a new slayer will only be called when Faith dies.

entrancedlife

It's no secret that I absolutely adore season 6, it has been my favourite season from the first time it aired. That being said, as others have mentioned as well, it is also a divisive season in the fandom. You will probably have people like me singing its praises, and others who will be scratching their heads going, "How can you actually like this season?" The best advice I can give going into season 6 is just to basically ignore both sides, and make up your own mind about it. If you like the season then fine, and if you don't like the season, or you end up just being kinda neutral on it, that's fine too. I'm not gonna try and speak for anyone else, but I know I don't watch Buffy reactors just to make sure they always agree with what I think about different things.

Claire Eyles

It really really is. But looking back on it 20+ years later.. its arguably also the single most important season that the show ever did.

m.,

So NORAD stands for North American Aerospace Defence Command & DEFCON stands for 'defence readiness condition'. NORAD basically tracks potential incoming missile and other threats from air to the USA and I believe Canada as well. DEFCON 1, also known under its exercise name as 'cocked pistol', basically means nuclear war is imminent or has already begun. As far as we know Norad has never been at Defcon 1, not publicly at least.

Claire Eyles

Season 6 is one of the more divisive seasons of Buffy, but I really like it. I'm genuinely not sure what you will think of it, but I look forward to finding out.

R. Chang

As amazing as this episode is, I love how obvious it was that the new network wanted to convey “look what we can show that the old network couldn’t”.

Nicholas Corgan

Season 6, Let's GO!!! :D

Claire Eyles

Not sure if that's hell, but this post is heaven

Ed Green