Buffy the Vampire Slayer - 6x08 “Tabula Rasa” FULL REACTION

I love this episode and this reaction so much. There is so much that I want to say, but I don't have the time or the ability to articulate it well right now, so I'll just say this. I don't think this episode undermines your loan shark joke at all. I think it makes it funnier, because when you know this episode is coming, and we hear you say that, it's like hahaha, wait for it... LOL We get to look forward to your reaction when your words turn out to be prophetic.

Raven Dark

Lots of interesting thoughts there, Holi. "Side note, I live Dawn calling Xander ‘Alex’!" I've always enjoyed that also.

UTU49

"I'm 1120 years old! Just give me a friggin' DILF!"

UTU49

Shipping Buffy and Spike? I go back and forth🤷 However! Joan x Randy is op material. If links work here's a gifset of the gang's omfgvampires faces: https://patethenovice.tumblr.com/post/163196049418/mcgani-every-face-is-golden It's like watching that raccoon gifset freaking out when a zookeeper happened to walk by

Pate

Yep. It might not be fair, but given Dawn's major abandonment issues (and her age), it makes sense for her to lash out a bit at the person leaving, no matter the circumstance. I mean, here are some of the people that have abandoned Dawn: -Hank Summers -Riley -Joyce -Buffy -Giles -Tara

KT

I love your comment about "the cracks in Willow's costume"... every time we get to this part of the story, I always think about her line from her dream in Restless where she says "I'm very seldom naughty." I think Willow does really want to believe that's true, and she definitely wants other people to believe it's true, but really it's just part of the costume she wears.

peggin

Willow has chosen to memorize some really disturbing spells, to the level of being highly confident in not failing when casting them. Different spells for memory manipulation, a spell for sending other people to a different dimension...

keldarien

It's rather painful to hear you say that Tara takes on the leader role. Because right now Amnesia!Tara doesn't have her baggage to carry with her. Our experiences and upbringing shapes us and in Tara's case it also took her away from her core. It's returned in pieces since she's with Willow and has the scoobies as a family, but returning to your core is a difficult and long process.

s jaco

Btw, did you notice Liam's reaction when Tara said the line about 'how could you do that after what Glory did to me'? He was surprised, because he hadn't thought of this before. This is what I was talking about in my response to your comment where you gave this away before the show did. Please, please think about what you are saying, even if you don't think it's a spoiler. I'm so, so glad that Liam realised the parallels between what Glory and Willow did to Tara from watching the show and seeing Tara say it, rather than from reading your previous comment.

Dentarthurdent

I didn’t watch Buffy when it originally aired but I remember that Michelle Branch song, Goodbye to you, as a fairly big pop hit for her. Not as big as Everywhere but this was one of her follow ups that did get radio play and I remember seeing the video on MTV. So when I saw this show for the first time I was kinda shocked to see a singer as main stream as Michelle Branch playing the bronze. But this song almost feels like it was written specifically for the show it’s lyrics are so spot on (it wasn’t). I think this episode is great and a fun, “spell gone wrong” type episode for most of it. But that ending is certainly a gut punch.

Ray D

You're not alone. The episode doesn't live up to be what it could be. Part of it really drags for me, and I've never liked the Michelle Branch music video montage. Just wanted to let you know that we're in the minority, but we exist.

Rachael

such a great episode, but i'm beginning to hate dropbox with a passion, i can only watch the preview as the files are too big to download, by the end of the episode i have almost continuous freeze ups. If only the files were not so big...

Daveangels

I don't know why....I really think I SHOULD feel differently....but after countless re-watchings of the series, Tabula Rasa like NEVER stands out to me....at all......and I think I'm definitely in the minority thinking it's just an ok episode. It just doesn't land for me, or it seems to fall way short of its potential....idk. A lot of people have it as their fav or in their top 10. And I definitely adore some of the comedy/lines, but it has never stood out as special to me....just a necessary episode to propel things along, which I usually tend to forget exists. Ok, I said it....stake me! lol

SpikesEcho

I love this episode and I'm totally Team Tara based on Willow's behavior... but I'm not on board with the addition metaphor. In general, I hate addiction plots, but this one in particular drives me nuts. And while the amnesia plot was fun and everyone seemed to come alive, when they <i>were</i> themselves, they seemed to be kind of over-acting and melodramatic, especially Hannigan, who is better than that. Sigh. But I do really like the amnesia part, because it's stripping them down to their most basic identities--identity separate from mere experience and memory.

FernWithy

By contrast to my earlier post, Buffy, the show that keeps paying off stuff that happened in earlier seasons as though the show was always leading you here for: comedy gold, serious plot related stuff, or for obscure references we're still not sure we fully grasp the meaning of.

David Boyd

Initially, I thought Willow's addiction to magic was simply a metaphor for drug addiction and the damage it does to the people who love you who try to intervene. The more I have rewatched the series I believe its also a metaphor for Willow while addicted herself also drugging Tara and raping her. The show isn't afraid to explore very dark subject matter. That uncomfortable feeling you had as you watched Willow take Tara's self authenticity under the guise of making her happy and you couldn't quite identify what it was you were feeling, you were watching Willow roofie Tara to remove her ability to withdraw consent when Willow next wanted some cuddling or sex.

David Boyd

Probably my second favourite Buffy episode (first one being Something Blue)

Josie Ball

Lovely reaction as always. THANK YOU. :)

Grace

OMG, you cracked me up and surprised me when you said Willow's line a second before she did!! I was like, how did he know that?!! I loved Tara's smackdown of Willow. I thought that scene was Amber Benson's best of the series because they finally gave her some meaty dialogue to work with and she acted it so well. Also thought that look of disappointment,betrayal and hurt Tara showed when realizing what Willow used magic(AGAIN!) was really well done, without saying a word she showed those emotions. Love how much Tara has changed this season. So much stronger, S4 Tara would never talk like this. Man, I hated that Willow couldn't even make it a day before she broke her promise to Tara. Did you guys see that bag full of Lethe's Bramble? Did Willow buy it in bulk? :) Made me think just how long has she been using it to wipe minds? Also, really stupid to leave a fire burning and leave the house there Will! I love this ep, it's in my Top 5 and it's also another great one,two punch in the series. I don't know which two are better, OMWF and Tabula Rasa or Something Blue and Hush. So do you think this one of the funniest sad episodes or saddest funniest episodes? :) Liam so many of your observations/thoughts are spot on, like saying it was all going to blow up after they go back to normal. Boy did it!

Val

This is a very widely loved episode of the show. I am pretty sure Joss Whedon considers it his favourite. Having Michelle Branch sing at the Bronze was a big thing. Of all the music artists that have been in the show Michelle Branch is the only one I actually knew and liked before seeing her in this. Me and my brother who both love Buffy and this episode adore that song and the entire scene.

Mel Saville

Liam's after thoughts are so insightful and wonderful. Have been since the beginning of season 1! The thoughts after these last two episodes on the characters' journey are 5+ seasons of perfect notes and weekly essays. So amazing Liam!! Thank you!! 🤓👏👏👏

RavenSteal

What a great episode, especially coming after OMWF! I just have to say - you made really, really insightful comments in your after-thoughts, (I won't comment on them bc spoilers), but I'm absolutely loving your reactions and thoughts on S6 so far!

Number 6 🦈 - 😂

RavenSteal

One of my favorite Tara arcs in the series. Seeing her begin to stand up for herself against Willow's consistently gross behavior and then outright leave her in this episode is such a shift in character from when she was introduced. In regards to Dawn, Willow and Tara have basically been her surrogate parents since Buffy died, so it makes sense Dawn reacting to Tara as if it was one of her parents leaving.

Second_Strike

What a great pair of episodes these are. Plus a great reaction, and an interesting review. Especially with regards to Willow. Liam seemed to identify Willow's actions being a result of 1) an addiction, 2) her character trait of fixing things with one 'grand gesture,' AND 3) her inferiority complex from when she was younger. Willow definitely needs a course change.

Bruce Trogdon

This is another of my favs. Always have a good time this episode and heartbreak at the end. It makes me so upset that Willow mind-raped Tara, not just once - but twice!! The second time within hrs of Tara confronting her, and Willow promising no magic at all! She is essentially mind controlling Tara, just like Tara said; fixing Tara to her liking! Its awful, and to me not comparable to what Tara did in family. She made an error on that spell - tried to hide her ‘demon’ from the gang and accidentally hiding all demons - but she didnt alter their minds, emotions or personality. And she has not done anything like that since. For all we kbow Willow has been doing stuff like this behind the scenes for awhile... which is very upsetting to say the least. I love how in this episode Spike, stripped of memories and left only to instinct, has no desire to hurt or bite or feed off any of the scoobies, how he teams up with Buffy and trusts her plan without question. I find that interesting. Same with Buffy’s slayer instincts kicking in but not against Spike. She saw his bumpies and ran, rather than attack him. She seemed to trust him when he caught up to her too! Then after being overwhelmed again with all her memories, Buffy snubs Spike in the bronze and he walks away... only for us to conclude she went after him moments later, ending with another kiss... I am not happy with Giles right now. I cant believe he thinks now is good timing. I understand his reasons but now is not the right time to enact this plan! Not at all! Side note, I live Dawn calling Xander ‘Alex’!

Holi117

Same! I must have seen this episode ten times and only noticed it just before Liam did this time around.

SweetSummit

I never noticed Tara and Anya thumb wrestle before that’s wholesome

Sarah McKinlay

I had a friend who did something similar to Tara when I was messing up left, right and centre. I was a heroin addict in the 90s, he knew it, he tried to support me, I kept making promises I had no intention of keeping, and lying, and alternating between doing the whole 'Oh whoa is me' routine with him and then getting all arrogant and defensive. One night we'd made plans to hang out at his place, of course I decided to go score beforehand, rocked up late, absolute wasted mess, and he got up, opened the front door and basically kicked me out -- he cut our friendship off completely that night, with the caveat that it would only resume if I got my sh!t together &amp; got clean. Now it was a few more years before the getting clean part happened, but when it finally did he was one of the first people to re-establish contact with me and show me real support. I was so pissed off with him at the time for ending our friendship, righteously pissed off, but I got it later on, and I appreciated him for doing the right thing.

Claire Eyles

One of the joys of Buffy is that it can scare you one moment, make you laugh the next, and rip your heart out the minute after that. And, yeah, even better, it can get you laughing even when you see that emotional car crash might be just around the next corner.

Steve Maxey

Looks like the cracks in Willow's costume are starting to show. She doesn't have a good sense of her self, we saw that right from episode one, and her home situation in Gingerbread Man (her mother trying to boil her down to an academic piece she could study in a way), and without that it doesn't matter how many layers you try to put over yourself you're never ever going to be completely happy. I feel for Willow in these episodes, but I'm also 100% Team Tara and think she did the right thing.

Claire Eyles

In a sort of backwards way, this arc makes me love Willow *as a character* even more. What a ghastly fatal flaw to have, and she's had it for so long, even in her non-magical behavior. Her affair with Xander was so heinous that everyone wanted to move past it as quickly as possible, and since Oz is sorta too wonderful for his own good, we were able to. We even tend to blame Xander more for the affair because it seemed to fit more with his character, but they were both equally monstrous. We all really are under her spell, but now we finally have a character that will fully confront her and punish her for it: Tara.

KT

And Buffy reasonably tries to tell her "Wil, you wouldn't have wanted him to have stayed-" and Willow interrupts her with "and I didn't have the guts to do that spell on Veruca." But if you remember, it was going to be a spell on both Oz and Veruca. Wonder if she ever told anyone that.

KT

I actually do mostly ignore Xander summoning the music meister, because to me that's more of a comedy beat than a story beat. It comes out of nowhere and is immediately forgotten by everyone, so it might as well never have happened.

Thomas Hansen

6x07 &amp; 6x08 will always be some of my favourite buffy episodes. They're so good and back to back just genius and pure buffyness.

MelGoethals

A lot of people (rightly so) shit on Willow for her actions during this episode and 6x06, but I feel like people ignore the other characters doing (similarly) fucked up shit. Are we just gonna ignore that Xander summoned a demon to make people sing and dance which led to people dying? And as much as I love Tara and I'm siding with her that Willow's actions are wrong, she actually did something similar when she put a spell on the Scoobies to not see demons. That was messing with them and put them in grave danger just as much as this did. In short: I still love Willow, even though the direction they're going with her annoys me so damn much :D And this episode was brilliant :D two strong episodes back to back! Side note: I *strongly* disagree with Giles deciding to leave. It feels very selfish to me. The first 5 seasons have pretty much established that the main reason why Buffy is so successful as a slayer is because she doesn't have to do everything on her own, because she has friends and a family and I think season 3 with Faith showed why the watcher is so important to the slayer and Giles just makes the decision by himself that Buffy shouldn't have a watcher anymore especially during the hardest time she's had in her life...... I don't like it.

4Tom4lepus4

We all laughed when you made the loan shark joke. Love this episode. On the one hand, Willow using magic to wipe the memories of Buffy/Tara is absolutely awful, particularly after Tara had explicitly just told her that she was wrong to violate her mind like that with a throwback reference to Glory doing the same thing. On the other hand, this episode is so good with so many great moments that I'm glad it backfired horribly.

Inseriousity

Liam you are spoiling us!!!

April Elizabeth

Willow in Something Blue: If I had any real power I could have made Oz stay with me.

Karissa Edie

Like you said, Liam, some people don't especially like Willow right now. I am one of those people. So, because I know you love your little cinnamon roll, I'll just say this once and be done; I am so damn mad at her for violating Tara. It's almost unforgivable, IMO. Willow is wildly wrongheaded, the decisions she's making are stupid, and I can't stand to watch her be so... casual whilst screwing with everyone's mind (most of all, the woman she's supposed to love). So, while this episode is in my top 10 of the entire show for being so funny, it's also up there because it makes me dislike a character I've loved since her first appearance.

Abby

As an official Dawn Advocate, I'd also like to point out that Tara having to leave Willow must feel a bit like her own parents' divorce, one where she never really got to see her father ever again.. And she must be feeling the same way--that there's a chance that she's going to lose her relationship with Tara since she's no longer living there. I can't even imagine the old wounds that Tara and Willows' break-up opened up for her. Especially since her relationship with, at least with Tara, has felt very nurturing in almost a parental way.

Ritchie

Notes. 1. Willow doesn’t understand this, but her treatment of Tara was a brutal violation. It’s almost unforgivably abusive. 2. Willow said she would go a month without magic. Tara asked for a week. Willow did not last a day. She might not have even lasted an hour. 3. Cinnamon Roll Status REVOKED. 4. It may be reinstated at a later date. 5. The cast and crew spent 3 or 4 times as much time and resources on Once More With Feeling, and yet it and this episode were both pivotal for multiple plot threads. 6. This is the episode where Buffy the Vampire Slayer jumped the shark.

UTU49

Liam “I think I’m kinda gay” Willow “I think I’m kinda gay” Me 😂😂😂😂😂

CeNedra

It took me 3 full seconds to remember what that came from. I am deeply shamed.

UTU49

then Spike says "And on land!"

Bisibia

Every time Liam called M'Fashnik "shark guy" a few episodes ago I wondered what would happen when Literal Loan Shark came along. :-)

Pam Nail

In case it was bothering you, the exact line Giles says in Restless on the swing set is "Spike is like a son to me." Another piece of foreshadowing in that same scene in Restless was this exchange: Xander: "Gotta be with moving forward." Buffy: "Like a shark." Xander: "Like a shark with feet, and much less fins." I like your observations about Buffy being the only one to name herself. Buffy and Spike were also the only ones to have completely incorrect names, and Joan was pretty quick to isolate herself from everyone in the group besides Randy. Xander and Anya barely spoke to one another, but maybe it's unfair to read too much into that since both of them were immediately contextualized as being with other people.

KT

I spent like 5 years trying to find a good quality recording of the version she played in this episode... and it was just nowhere. Thank god technology caught up... this is the superior version.

Bisibia

Life is pain, anyone who says differently is selling something.

Jarrod Wild

Anya and Giles? When you think about it, *she* is the cradlerobber.

Jarrod Wild

Wow, Liam! Moving right along. Didn't you upload 2 episodes yesterday? And now here you are moving right along to the next exciting installment of... BUFFY the VAMPIRE SLAYER.

UTU49

Okay, Buffy. I'd appreciate it if you'd stop making me cry. Okay? Right. Thanks.

Amanda S

Michelle Branch! Yeah, this episode is great (except for me not loving how the last fifteen minutes become mostly shouty action instead of the fun character confusion preceding it, but by the end it's all about Michelle Branch for me. I mean, come on. It's Michelle Branch!

Thomas Hansen

Top ten episode for me, on Halloween levels but heavier on the feels. Only in this show you can have such an episode be a downgrade from the previous one. Anyway, fantastic reaction again! Ps: I love the shade thrown at Angel, I think it's hilarious

Khanach

Three episodes in 3 days? Liam you spoil us :)

Liz Siron

Liam is the anti-virus we all need this week.

Bisibia

Another episode I really enjoy, woo hoo. Watching this immediately

Elisa H.

Your helping me through isolation! Love your reactions

Chip

These batch of Buffy reactions have made me so excited. Definitely needed with how bored I am being stuck in the house! Another episode I've really been looking forward to 😊

Jenn Rose

Highlights of quarantine: working from home so I can watch these as soon as they're posted!

boleynns

Liam you are a gem during this horrible crisis! I’m working and saw this notification. Made me so happy to have it to look forward to watching this evening!