Buffy Fridays! Season 5 Episode 18 First Time Reaction!

Yeah, I agree, I think a hug would have been way better. It could have shown to him that Buffy will never love him the way he wants to but that she might be able to accept him as a friend. Kissing Spike should realistically speaking just invite a whole lot of crazy lovesick psycho behaviour from Spike (Though I'll just have to hope the show won't go there again🙈😅).

Diego Zenhäusern

I believe that BBC2 showed each episode twice in the same evening with the earlier episode being appropriately edited for younger viewers and then the later one with all the more 'adult' stuff left in.

Janis Hope

I really agree!!! I totally struggle to articulate my point. Especially because I know it’s not a Spike friendly comment section necessarily lol.

Giorgia M

Oh yeah! That is on my for copying over from the latest Angel ep! 😆 Thanks! I’ll fix it now!

VEGGIE GAMER

Am I going crazy or did you title this wrongly, Veggie? Just about to watch this episode and oh, boy...

Nyssa Rawther 🍉

It looks like the Mojave Desert to me. Inland Southern California gets very deserty, and it often shocks people how quickly it happens since the ocean is so close. It wouldn't be warm at all, if this is supposed to be the winter. Deserts get very cold. I have no issues with the kiss at the end. Spike saved Dawn's life. He's a vampire with no soul, yet, he was able to realize what was right and didn't say anything despite being tortured. Again, they hate insult Spike all they want, but they have no issue using him when they need help. Either this episode is incredibly poorly written, or her friends are absolutely terrible. What kind of friends that are this close wouldn't immediately know that's not Buffy?

Hanneli Norrgard

Totally understandable why some people wouldn't like Spike. He clearly is lost about how to properly interact, which giving he had little to no experience while alive and then over a century of a crazy, evil vampire that only really liked him when he was being bad to others and her. It's not an excuse, but the fact that he's trying to learn right from wrong and live by that right despite not having the conscience a soul brings, makes him pretty damn amazing. Yes, he can be creepy and go overboard but it was obvious that he would never have allowed Dru to hurt Buffy or vice versa no matter what he said, he cares too much about both of them and his actions spoke louder than words as the second there was a chance of Dru hurting Buffy he unchained her immediately and helped. Granted, he put her in the situation in the first place but I still think given his circumstances, he's doing pretty well. He can't really be expected to understand and get it right straight away. I don't like the things he does with his crush on Buffy, but I do like him as a character. I think he has a lot of potential and I think his desire to be good isn't solely based on gaining Buffy's favour as he's tried doing nice things and helping people without her knowledge or him wanting her to know about it.

Delia P

To be honest, I don't particularly like this episode, aside from the comedic chops of SMG as the Buffybot, and I absolutely hate the ending. All season long, Spike has continued to demonstrate his worst, most incel-like behaviour; between the stalking, entitlement, violation and literally threatening to let Dru kill Buffy if she didn't give in to him, he's been absolutely repulsive in my opinion. It makes no sense to me that Buffy would ever kiss him to show her gratitude. Only a few episodes ago, she and the gang were worrying that she might have unintentionally led him on. It's such a terrible message that she can only show gratitude to him through some kind of romantic gesture. The kiss feels like the heavy hand of the writers, not an organic moment. It feels like the audience is being told to just get over all the horrible stuff he's done just because he didn't betray them this time. If it had been anyone else in Spike's position, would Buffy have kissed them too? Whatever, James Masters is a good actor, and he's doing a good job with what he's given, but this kind of thing is why I really don't like Spike.

Jordan McLaren

Unfortunately, I find that Spike’s character can be pretty inconsistently written. As I’ve said before, I attribute that to the writers each having differing opinions on his character since he can be polarising. And his arc seems to go back and forth because of it depending who is writing the episode. I just kind of take it as his human and demon sides fighting and either of them winning at that time while slowly having growth overall. That’s my headcanon anyway.

Giorgia M

Fallout New Vegas takes place in the Mojave Desert, I think. That particular deserted area has been used for filming in several Whedonverse shows, including this and Firefly.

Jake M

I really like Dawn now, she only bothered me a bit in her first few episodes but after that I thought she was really interesting and a great edition!! And I love her more on every rewatch!!

Giorgia M

I'm not a fan of the kiss at the end. I get the whole putting aside all the horrible stuff that Spike has done to recognize the good thing that he did aspect of it, but I don't like that Buffy chose to show her appreciation by kissing the guy that has been stalking her and threatened to have Drusilla kill her if she didn't say he had a chance with her. To a psychotic romantic like Spike, a kiss means that he has a chance with Buffy and Spike might do anything to actualize that possibility.

Lime Pie

Yeah, it’s easy to forget Spike’s nature over the seasons because he does “reek of humanity” as the judge says and isn’t as sadistic and cruel as a lot of vampires we’ve seen. I find it super interesting because through all the ship wars over the years, there’s often a comparison between Spike and Angel, but really it would only make sense compare this Spike with Angelus. We only know this Spike though but with all of Angelus and his evil, remorseless (SA, murder, psychological and physical torture etcetera) I don’t think they reflect as poorly on Angel’s character as Spike’s actions here. It’s just kind of like oh, that’s not the real Angel. Maybe it would be harder to forgive if we saw him do all those things first person. And this isn’t about competing them against each other, I just find it fascinating on the whole soul, humanity comparison thing and how we see them so differently because of the way the show is set up. Compared to the humans, Spike is bad but compared to the Vampires, he is really evolved. He’s trying to do the right things without a soul. That’s insane. Anyway, I would love the Buffybot (and tbh I kind of do) but it creeps me out lol. Very weird. But as I’ve said before, I feel like this kind of storyline was a lot more acceptable 20 years ago and played for comedic effect. I feel like I’ve watched far too much media where creating a “girlfriend” sex robot wasn’t viewed as very perverse but funny or cool. Weird!!! SMG is so good in this though, her version of an April is just ridiculous. I love it. Can’t wait for the Buffy run coming!!

Giorgia M

I don't think you read the scene wrong @VEGGIE GAMER. Thinking Dawn was being shady is a valid interpretation at this point. Just after Ben turns into Glory, Dawn says "You're Ben" to her, indicating that Dawn did remember the transformation. So, when Dawn says that she can't remember what happened to Ben, it makes sense to assume that Dawn is covering for him.

Lime Pie

it would've been such a better reveal for him if you didn't say this :(

esme

Interesting! I assumed she was being shady about it, looks like I read the scene wrong! XD

VEGGIE GAMER

This episode marks a turning point for Spike as an ally

Michael Matthews

Shaun 🏳️‍🌈