Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 6x3 Full Reaction
Added 2024-11-23 15:13:03 +0000 UTC"After Life"
Comments
Regarding Willow's thought process, she was probably right. ...It's probably *why* Buffy was in heaven in the first place. There is no indication that morality dictates where your soul goes in this universe, and a recurring theme in the Buffyverse is that life is not fair. My take is that her soul was indeed sent to a different dimension because she died jumping into that portal and getting a heavenly dimension was *pure luck.* An unrepeatable cosmic fluke. And because the Key is now inactive, she will never be able to go back no matter how good she is or how heroically she dies. It's not just that she was happier where she was and now she's not there, it's that the Scoobies may well have screwed her out of the one shot she ever had of going there. Notice that she doesn't mention anyone else who might reasonably have gone to heaven in this universe if you got to heaven by being a good person. People she knew. There's no sign of Kendra, who was killed in the line of duty trying to save the day. There's no mention of Jenny, who died after redeeming herself through her efforts to rid the world of a great evil. There's no indication that she met her mother there, or anyone else you might have expected her to bump into. For all we know, those people went "nowhere." Angel only went to Hell because he was sucked into a portal to Hell - it didn't even kill him, he went through the portal alive - and Darla, the only other person so far who's been mystically resurrected without it going horribly wrong after dying for realsies, said that for her, there was nothing after death. So, yeah. My take is that Buffy being a hero had *nothing to do with where she went.*
Holy Stregas
2024-12-16 16:50:20 +0000 UTCI started watching the Buffyverse right around this point, so I "always knew" that Buffy had died in season five and came back in season six after being in heaven. So I never had this info bomb drop. But it's still so heavy just to consider everything that this implies. It's not a direct 1:1 equivalence, but I think Buffy being able to be completely open with Spike in a way that she can't be with her friends is close to the way we can often be open and unfiltered with people on the internet in ways that we can't be with people that we know in-person. Because Spike is Dead, and because he's Evil, then anything Buffy tells him Doesn't Count. You can't be honest with your friends or family for fear of hurting their feelings, or for fear of them judging you, but you can't hurt CoolGuy89 or need to worry about him hurting you. It's a private diary, despite being public. Buffy can be alone even though Spike is there because he doesn't count. And sometimes that's what you need. And other times...
JBK405
2024-11-25 00:22:06 +0000 UTCThe Scoobies never fixed her hands! Itβs always been the most revealing aspect. Some friends
Isaiah Bryant
2024-11-24 15:10:02 +0000 UTCWow... I just realised this.
Ahmad
2024-11-24 04:39:48 +0000 UTCI remember when I first saw this episode I hated the rest of the Scooby Gang for like 8 episodes straight LMAO
Cameron Ferguson
2024-11-24 03:17:21 +0000 UTCThe scene where Spike first sees the resurrected Buffy is a measure of how much faith the writers have in James Marsters. Spike has no lines. All we see is his wordless reaction. They knew that just his facial expression would be far more eloquent than anything they could write.
DanielOrme
2024-11-24 03:04:48 +0000 UTC"I understood the words"....way to be honest with your girlfriend there, Wil. I do love this episode, I love horror and this ep is surprisingly effective with the creepiness.
Claire Eyles
2024-11-23 19:50:59 +0000 UTCThe writing of this direction is so incredible. When you think about it, the only thing worse than being resurrected from hell..... is being resurrected from HEAVEN. Chills.
Cambo
2024-11-23 19:48:32 +0000 UTCGet ready season 6 is a crazy ride canβt wait for your reaction
Sam Alexander
2024-11-23 17:46:32 +0000 UTCYes yes yes yes thank you for this comment
madfem
2024-11-23 17:39:05 +0000 UTCI was waiting for this reaction and the "heaven" bomb drop... It wasn't disappointing. Quite right the Spike is in an obsessive place related to Buffy and her return I don't see helping that. Right now, he is fighting chronic feelings of guilt over his great failure in "The Gift". As to Buffy confiding to Spike... I think there is an element of the no-filter thing between the two and also, some things may be easier confiding with and revealing to a stranger before a friend or loved one. Especially something traumatic. Weird indeed but sense can be made of it if wrapped up in the value placed on the opinions of said friends versus strangers for that kind of test run for "getting it out there" or just getting the truth told to somebody. I think we've all collected those kinds of stories that don't belong to us to tell. So hopefully my ramble makes sense. Looking forward to the next episodes.
Michael Labs
2024-11-23 17:38:19 +0000 UTCMy first time watching the previous episode, I remember not understanding why Buffy seemed like she wanted to jump off the tower again. I thought she was just kinda reliving what she remembered for some reason. By the end of this episode you can reflect on it and see that she was trying to figure out how to get back - though I don't think I realized that until a full rewatch lol.
jibbers42
2024-11-23 17:28:55 +0000 UTCThe creepy white eyes and sarcastic quips with the possessions reminds me of the Deadites from 'Evil Dead' franchise, which is fun.
James Smith
2024-11-23 16:37:15 +0000 UTCI suspect there's a not so small portion of Patrons, myself included, that have been waiting at least as much for this one as 6x1 and 6x2. For all the reasons that I'm sure will be apparent in the reaction. The bad news is I'm stuck at work π
Preaching to the Horse's Mouth
2024-11-23 16:09:42 +0000 UTCI think After Life is honestly one of the most underrated episodes of the entire show. There are several absolutely stunning scenes throughout the episode and Buffy's confession to Spike at the end is absolutely one of top 10 best scenes in the entire show. It's some of SMG's best acting and honestly, she was completely robbed of any kind of Emmy/award consideration for it. You can just feel her anguish, pain and despair over being in Heaven etched on every word. And how Spike was the only one of her friends that even sensed that she was in any pain to begin with. The episode is all about contrasts. The Scoobies crowding her, asking her a million questions and Willow telling her to "Be Happy" when she's barely feeling alive to begin with. Contrasting with Buffy going to seek Spike out and find a place to sit in silence. It was building all throughout Season 5 but now you see how Buffy forms an immediate bond with Spike over their shared experiences. Also note the contrast from the Gift, where Buffy is standing above him on the stairs and ascends (to Heaven). Whereas here she comes down the stairs to his level for the first time and she lets him hold her hands. This in comparison to how the camera frames the Scoobies almost as if they're looking down on her, like she's beneath them (at least from Buffy's perspective). I also love the scene where Buffy despondently walks through the cemetery in front of an angel wing statue. Buffy is literally a fallen angel from Heaven and a wonderful bit of foreshadowing for the stunning reveal at the end of the episode. There's the contrast and symbolism in clothing between white and black/light and dark - straddling the line between heaven and hell. When Buffy jumped off the tower, she was wearing white. But she was buried and resurrected in a black dress. Yet, when Dawn helps her change when they first get home, she puts Buffy in a white shirt but she doesn't feel comfortable in it and tries to cover up. But the next morning, Buffy herself chooses to wear a black shirt and that is the space she's most comfortable in at the moment. This ties into Spike literally straddling the line between standing in the sun and in the shade. The fact that Buffy says she "can be alone with (him) here" in the grey, in that almost purgatory state. And pay close attention to what the demon apparition tells Willow "Did you cut the throat? Did you pat its head? The blood dried on your hands, didn't it? You were stained. You still are! I know what you did!" Willow denied knowing what it was talking about but she clearly knew how dark of magic she was dealing with. Recall in Bargaining, she lied to the group (and most importantly Tara) that she got the blood (wine of the mother) from the black market instead of killing a defenseless animal. Lastly, this gets missed by a lot of people/reactors and it's really only obvious once you see the end of the episode, but the scene where Buffy comes out to give Dawn her lunch is so heartbreaking when you think about it. Buffy knows that Dawn and the Scoobies want her to "be happy" so she adopts a Buffybot style persona and clothing and fakes her own happiness to appease them while Buffy feels like dying inside. It just shows what an extraordinary person Buffy is - that even when she's feeling more depressed than ever in her life - she's still trying to protect the feelings of her friends at all costs even if it means her own feelings have no outlet.
Land Howard Johnston
2024-11-23 15:28:43 +0000 UTC
