Buffy The Vampire Slayer 5x05

She was a fantastic actress. So sad to think that we lost Michelle so early. She is missed .

Macca Fan

Funny that you mention Jinx from Arcane Dakara. I always thought how similar that storyline was with S3 actually with the Faith arc and the mayor/Silco.

E

Useless to say, the high point of the episode is the return of the Orb of Thesulah. Even if here it plays a different role is always nice to see such great actor back. Of course it's not the Fire Axe, I'll always miss you, that was one of the main character of the first three seasons but it's always nice to see it's old face back in the show. Jokes aside, really good and well executed episode. The trance sequence filmed in high frame rate and than played back in normal frame rate for a smooth slow-mo effect, great. Nothing revolutionary, it's a well known technique, but not easy to execute well, and they did it. Also, the filter applied in the sequence … not too much, not too little, perfect. The fight scene was also really well done. Well choreographed, without too many cuts and clearly with many special effects perfectly blended in, you may even don't notice them the first time by how well integrated they are in the action. Plot-wise there isn't much to say, at this point the cat is out of the bag and the storyline backbone of the season is more or less set. I'd like to note how I've heard a lot of people confused about Dawn at this point. The question they ask more often is: “why didn't they create her with superpowers?”, clearly struggling with the shift in the basic structure of the season. Buffy has clearly been tasked with protecting Dawn, not defeating the Big Bad of the season, which isn't even said to be possible. She definitely wiped the floor with Buffy's ass in this episode. This is an “hide, not fight” situation. Giving any power to Dawn, if not enough to overpower Her, something probably beyond their power, would have been utterly useless. The only result would have been to make her stand out more, allowing the Lady in red to find her more easily. I want to do a final mention to Michelle Trachtenber performance. Even if she was only 15 at the time, if I'm not wrong, she is great. This brings me to realize what incredible cast this show had. I don't know how they did it, how much luck they had to find all these amazing actors in a such short arc of time, relatively speaking. At the end, doesn't matter the plot, the writing, or the directors, Buffy wouldn't ever be Buffy without this incredible and unrepeatable cast, and it's crazy to even thinking to remake this show.

G.Un.

I always thought they should have left us wondering just a little longer, like halfway.

Tammy L. Faulkner

Such fun! The reveal is set up so well, tricking us by the end to think we're super clever because of COURSE the Monk is talking about the Dagonsphere, right? Nope... and wow.... that last piece just falls into place and we're left absolutely stunned. Add in another amazing performance by SMG and it's heartwrenching. This season really is a great one - largely due to an amazing story arc and Big Bad, but it wouldnt' work so well if it weren't for the cast. They've had four seasons to really get to know their characters and everything now just seems to fall into place. I love Giles in the Magic Box and having Anya involved there now just feels so right. The highlight for me in this one is the dialogue - despite being such a heavy episode with Joyce's headaches and the mystery around Dawn - this episode is FUNNY. Spike's "5 words or less" answer is terrific, and that perfect moment when Buffy walks into the shop and see Giles in his wizard robes and cap and it just cuts back and forth in total silence until he gets the message. hahahaha. I crack up every time.

John

Most people assume the monks just conjured fake memories, but I feel like it has to go go deeper than that. There's a complexity to level that Dawn's been integrated into their lives; it's not just an elaborate glamor or whatever like Jonathan did in "Superstar". She's a real human now, like the monk says here; and all of her stuff is real. We're talking 14 years of an entire person's life seamlessly added, essentially without any discontinuity. But that's not just memories, that's report cards and medical record and the posters on her wall, old art projects in boxes in the basement; the clothes in her dresser and closet, the stuffed animals on her bed, the bed itself. The museum crates being *not there is a displacement of those things from before to wherever they are now. For the monks to have proactively created all of those things would have, ostensibly taken at least 14 years. Pure speculation, but I think it would make more sense, and be comparatively easier, if the monks actually created something like a temporal fold, in the vein of how Anya created the Wish timeline; and subsequently how Vamp Willow was brought to the prime timeline in Doppelgangland, Done that way, all the monks would have to do is initiate the reality fold where a new life, Dawn Summers, exists; and set the parameters that all other events otherwise line-up the way they need to - the end of Hank and Joyce's marriage, Joyce, Buffy and now Dawn moving to Sunnydale, Angel losing his soul and getting it back and moving to LA, etc.; and then let that temporal matrix grow retroactively from the point of divergence, when Joyce is pregnant with her, up to the present and then graft it onto reality. Those effected by her existence experience this alternate reality, thereby making the memories both new and real; and the the effect Buffy was seeing in this episode is the variation between the two timelines.

Stargazer1682

Clare Kramer is by far the best big bad of the series . Besides being beautiful , she is totally insane . S5 is my personal favourite because of her .

Jim Greer

Almost everyone talks about how crazy things are for Buffy, but I like to focus on how messed up things have been made for Dawn. Some of my fondest memories were from before I was even a teenager. The thought of having to be born, then start out on the verge of being a young adult is both sad and not fair. To be born then a year later need to worry about a job, bills, colleges and more let alone what I actually went through both good and bad. Uh, what a nightmare. Besides the fact that when I first saw Clare Kramer, I 100% confused her with Bridgette Wilson for some reason, I always found her performance here amusing.

Joshua Bull

My favorite, too! Plus, now the season kicks into second gear.

JoDaNa81

Same! It was done so well, couldn’t agree more. SMG is fantastic! This show wouldn’t be what it is without her portrayal, perfect fit.

DakaraJayne

Great way to explain it. Interested how Buffy handles this and if Dawn ever finds out the circumstances too. Hope the weather turns around for you edelweiss and thanks so much for watching 🤍

DakaraJayne

Haha fantastic! I loved it 😂

DakaraJayne

Soooo good! Huge reveal

DakaraJayne

Dawn is the Key and 'the beast' wants the key. Sounds like a plot-line. But then, this is Buffy! The beast rants that "someone's gonna sit down on their tuffet". In the Buffy/Faith shared dream in Graduation Day Pt 2, Dawn was symbolically represented by the cat (which faded into and out of existence) and referred to by Faith as "Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0" (i.e. 2 years - the end of this season). Clare Kramer is not sporting the traditional 'beast' look. You may recognise her from the cheerleader movie Bring It On. First time Spike sees Buffy since he realised his feelings for her. He calls her Buffy - he'd usually call her 'slayer' previously. Shortly afterwards Buffy calls him William instead of her usual Spike. Second time she's done so - the first was during their 'engagement' in Something Blue. Hope you enjoyed the trolling of 'don't you remember Dawn?'. This is a traditional rite of passage for Buffy reactors and (IMO) a little bit of fun.

denmaroca 2

What a mind-blowing reveal, right? Your face when you realized what the monk was saying - chef's kiss!

Neil Silverman

.. we're inching closer to one of the highlights of the entire series.

m.,

“Out. For. A. Walk….bitch.” One of my favorite Spike lines and James Marsters says it’s absolute favorite line and his most requested when he does Cameos 😂

Gabe Morales

It's starting to show why this is my favorite season.

The Mad Titan

I always chuckle at Willow's line, "I just have all this involuntary empathy for Dawn." The monks put Dawn there and created fake memories. Which means Willow's empathy for her IS involuntary. Also, SMG's line in the closing scene, "You always do that. Every since..." Her delivery of that line is just so perfect. You can see it in the way she doesn't finish the line, in the expression on her face and her body language. You can see that Buffy is realizing there is no "ever since." Dawn wasn't always there, and the times when she couldn't just accept Buffy's apologies before weren't real. *chef's kiss*

Raven Dark

I really like this reveal. They gave us the shock moment in 5x01 and the confusion of 5x02, but then they spent a few episodes normalizing Dawn. Showing her as part of the group, but not emphasizing it, instead leaning into the normality - she's always been here. To the point where you almost forget and start believing it. And SMG is such an amazing actress. If she accepts Dawn as her sister, the audience does too - through her.

Asmo0

So, this is one of my favourite episodes. I love how they finally revealed how Dawn got to be there, and yes they put here there because they knew the slayer would protect her sister. The jig is up now though :D no more Dawn's always been there, but Faith telling buffy about Dawn comming was true though. Tara did aswell in season 4 :D those were real. Captain cardboard is a good name for Riley witht he amount of chemistry there is there. I love how they played the part in this episode where Buffy saw dawn's picture fade. the way they framed Dawn in the camera shots there and the delivery of the lines, just some intonation changes and its suddendly creepy. Love it. Giles is precious and adorable as shop owner and Anya's got a real knack for it. Spike was..... something. Just imagine being Dawn when Buffy suddendly in a weird trance goes you're not my sister. Or the crazy guy in earlier episodes who went at dawn "you aren't supposed to be here". It must be hella hard, shes only been a human for 2 months, even though she doesnt know it. In the end you can just see Buffy thinking about it while talking with Dawn and deciding that she will protect her.

Bart Aansorgh

Dakara: "He looks like Stone Cold Steve Austin..." Me: "... Buffy 3:16 says I just staked your heart." :-)

AlyAdmirer

The time difference between the Season 3 finale and Dawn's first appearance is about 500 days.

Ed Green

Collinson

Dawn is effectively an adopted sister with the monks as the adoption agency, and Buffy is only just finding out now after a lifetime of knowing her. Like how I found out last year that my mum's little sister was adopted at birth. Today I was planning on going out but the weather is miserable, so of the two pleasures, by far the better option is to stay here and enjoy this a few hours earlier. A perfectly fitting episode title.

Ed Green