Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 5x16 Full Reaction
Added 2024-09-05 15:32:46 +0000 UTC
Comments
You probably already know this, but for those who don't, the site tvtropes.com was originally created to capture and examine all of the tropes this show picked up, played with, and turned upside down.
Peter Warton
2026-01-12 01:06:58 +0000 UTCI’m sure people have touched on this but definitely don’t feel bad about the crying. As I watched you all I was thinking was that it’s a right of passage and everyone does it. I cry everytime I watch or watch others watch this video and I’ve seen the show through like a million times.
Luna Rose Webster
2024-10-04 03:07:41 +0000 UTCYou look like a human being. It’s the perfect look for this experience - These are the feelings that connect us all together. It always strikes me that this episode ends with Dawn reaching out for Joyce, and ends without them connecting. That’s how death feels - a broken connection we are always reaching out to try and reestablish, but can’t.
HollowMan
2024-09-28 21:49:54 +0000 UTCI've seen this episode at least 7-8 times and I still cry whenever I see it. Anya's monologue is one of my favorites of the whole show. She is so child like even though she is so old.
Becca is Reading
2024-09-28 20:44:18 +0000 UTCBest episode of TV in my opinion. Thanks for your openness in posting your reaction. Sending hugs your way.
Paul E.
2024-09-28 20:33:58 +0000 UTCI’ll be honest, I am always hesitant to rewatch this episode. It’s never one I look forward to. I think anyone who has been through loss like this and grief can feel every scene of this episode on a visceral level and for me it never gets easier to watch. I was right there with you, tears down my face. Thank you for your reaction. I know its not an easy one.
Sara Something
2024-09-08 22:47:58 +0000 UTCThe moment when your dog had to console you…gotta love man’s best friend.
Keenan White
2024-09-08 03:25:46 +0000 UTCYour reaction was worth it. I knew you'd feel this one. This episode is the best raw potrayal of death of a loved one and family member that I've ever seen on tv. So sad...
Morgan Williams
2024-09-07 20:46:06 +0000 UTCOk I just finished watching I love and hate this episode When I watch this episode back in 2001 it didn’t hit that hard. It made me sad of course, but I didn’t really have loss in my life at that point but as we get older, sadly, we all go through this in one way or another now I can’t watch this episode Without being a total mess it reminds me so much of the day. I knew my mom was going to die leaving the hospital in an ambulance taking her back to our hometown to hospice care. Everything felt unreal just like Buffy feels and then my phone ringing and it being a scam caller trying to trick me into giving them bank information. I remember losing it at that point and at the same time, realizing everything in the world continues to go forward nobody cares what’s happening to my mom at that moment it was surreal and enlightening all at the same time the scene when Buffy throws up and then goes to the back door and hears children playing in the bright over saturation of color I think is a way they showed that no matter what’s happening to you everyone else continues to go forward even though you feel like everything in the world has stopped This episode is to me a masterpiece work of art
Sam Alexander
2024-09-07 03:42:35 +0000 UTCHoly crap I clicked on this video not realizing what it was the body. We are in for it with this episode.
Sam Alexander
2024-09-07 02:31:01 +0000 UTC❤️
Jonathan Mason
2024-09-06 23:40:23 +0000 UTCAnya's speech, man... one of the most memorable moments for me in all of television. Absolutely devastating. We as the audience are right there with Willow until that moment, wishing she would stop with the inappropriate comments, but she's just trying to understand. A lot like a child would, innocent, unaware of what she should and shouldn't say, just so confused... it's a beautiful, heart-rending moment. I do love how Karma came to check on you. She could tell you weren't okay and came to help <3 <3 <3
dreamsofspike
2024-09-06 17:39:51 +0000 UTCCassie, thank you for sharing your reaction to this episode. Joss really knew how to rip our guts out. Don’t be shy about your emotions. That’s the point of reacting. It’s real, raw and it’s 100% honest. The fact that this episode didn’t win any awards is beyond me. I don’t think you can get more real than what Buffy and the gang went through. The reactions, the emotions, what ifs, etc. Everyone did a great job. Anya’s speech gets me every time. We don’t know what happens and we can only rely on our faith and beliefs. This is definitely one of the best episodes in television history. It is a 9.7 on IMDB and it was the first episode where Willow & Tara kiss. Good call! Give Karma some love for checking on you! So sweet! Looking forward to the final episodes of the season. 💜 ~Whitbit
Whitney Mercer
2024-09-06 06:05:51 +0000 UTCEverything that there is to say has already been said so I'll add these things... Normal things do happen in Sunnydale as evidenced in devastating fashion. No music was great because it could only subtract from the power of the episode. There is a reason dogs are better than people... Karma to the rescue! My love and good will to everyone who has dealt with death of a parent.
Michael Labs
2024-09-06 05:55:11 +0000 UTCWell, yeah, but Joss is not above that brand of sadism. Remember the long seconds in Season 3's Lovers Walk, where he lets us think we're watching Cordelia's funeral before letting us know she's ok? This almost feels like the same thing done in reverse.
DanielOrme
2024-09-06 04:26:55 +0000 UTCIt's true, before that moment you rarely think of Buffy as small. The only times it's ever brought up is jokingly, as in the Season 1 episode when Jenny is surprised to learn that Buffy is the slayer because "she's so little," and in just the last episode when Buffy grumps about being "tired of super-strong little women who aren't me." Here it makes you feel grateful that Tara is there to offer her comfort.
DanielOrme
2024-09-06 04:20:35 +0000 UTCFollowing the Kubler-Ross five stages of grief: Dawn = Denial Xander = Anger Anya = Bargaining Willow = Depression Tara = Acceptance I had never noticed this until just a few weeks ago, when it was pointed out by a commenter on another Youtube reaction to this episode.
DanielOrme
2024-09-06 04:02:40 +0000 UTCIt took a couple of rewatches to notice that the blue that Willow was looking for is found later by Anya when she sits on the big wicker chair. (I wonder if its Willow Wicker or bamboo). The cycle of deep sadness followed by hope or respite then back to deep sadness is very evocative of how the experience of loss can manifest. Some of the framing is messed up the remaster versions but it mostly holds up.
The Testimony of Mushroom
2024-09-06 03:02:34 +0000 UTCSending virtual hugs to both you and Karma. I actually like that the theme plays during the end credits. It adds to the feeling of frustration over life continuing to go on after a loss. There are a few other instances that evoke this same feeling in the episode too. Buffy opening the back door to children laughing, Xander getting a parking ticket, and a vampire rising in the morgue are a few examples.
Lime Pie
2024-09-06 01:49:52 +0000 UTCI want to apologize for everyone who told you watching this show was a good idea.
Bud Haven
2024-09-06 01:49:37 +0000 UTCThe shot that always sticks with me from this episode (Well, more than all the other shots that stick with me) is when Buffy and Tara are sitting side-by-side at the hospital. Buffy looks so SMALL. Hunched back, shoulders bent, the whole nine yards. Sarah Michelle Gellar is almost never shot that way throughout the series. But here you can just see how vulnerable and hurt she is in that moment. There's a comic book I used to read called "Queen & Country", it's a spy action/adventure series following British secret agents. James Bond, essentially. One issue opened with one of the main characters being found dead in bed, and everybody else is so convinced that it HAS to mean something. That it was an assassination, or revenge for a past mission, or a message from a hostile government....SOMETHING. They literally said 'James Bond doesn't just die in his sleep'. But after they work through all of their theories, it is confirmed that it was just an aneurysm. It did just happen. Even though he was James Bond. It makes it so much more impactful when you realize that it's just...life.
JBK405
2024-09-06 01:48:13 +0000 UTCI would like to call your attention to one moment of sweet tenderness among the pain that is "The Body" . Anya is helping Xander with his hand and Tara and Willow are talking. You can see that Willow mouths "I Love You" to Tara. Its just but a moment but I find it really touching. Its around time stamp 30:01.
JOSE HOSANA CARVALHO DA FONSECA
2024-09-06 00:27:04 +0000 UTCYes, so many miss that moment.
Andrea Frank
2024-09-06 00:17:07 +0000 UTCI lost my dad at about the same age Buffy is in this episode. Didn't see it coming either. He was alive and ok when I left home, then later that day dead before I saw him again. Appreciate who you have when you have them. You never know. Also, you don't have to be self conscious about crying. I think one of the reasons this episode is so powerful is because it allows us to share a deep part of our humanity with each other that we normally try to conceal. And I think that's a beautiful thing.
Captain Hammer
2024-09-06 00:09:45 +0000 UTCI don't really have anything important to say that hasn't already been said. So I'll just point out that Anya finds the blue sweater that Willow was searching for
James Smith
2024-09-05 23:55:37 +0000 UTCMy father died last year from a glioblastoma brain tumour. A couple of days after his death I was sitting in the living room and remembered this episode. I decided to watch it, and it was one of the best things I could have done for myself at the start of my grieving process. It prompted me to rewatch Buffy from the start, and the show became a kind of emotional anchor for me as I mourned my dad. Watching Joyce's illness unfold in season 5 was surreal because it was now my dad's and my story. Most people will say they refuse to watch this episode more than once or twice but I have now seen it more times than I can count. In my grief I have kept coming back to it for its raw and unmatched depiction of how it feels when someone you love becomes a body. Tara is right: it's always sudden. I'm forever grateful that this episode exists and how it helped me. Miss you dad!!
Mornir
2024-09-05 23:43:58 +0000 UTCThe final moment, cutting away as Dawn reaches for the body, is the one mercy the episode gives us. Extended any further and we'd have to see the touch and see Dawn truly realize her mother is gone. I don't think I could have taken that. This is the greatest thing in any medium you could name, book, movie, play, song, anything, on the direct confrontation with the reality of death that I've ever seen, heard, or read. The reason for the Christmas flashback at the beginning is because Joss (who both wrote and directed this) didn't want the credits on screen distracting from the opening scene.
DanielOrme
2024-09-05 23:06:01 +0000 UTCIt's been years since I've gotten choked up watching this episode, but when your pup ran up to comfort you - man. 😢 It's a testament to Kristine Sutherland's loving portrayal of Joyce that the loss of her character is so impactful. To lighten the mood, here's a compilation of cheesy 80's and 90's TV commercials featuring Sutherland and Anthony Head (never together in the same one, alas): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u648u8Faf6w
Gaius Frakking Baltar
2024-09-05 22:51:27 +0000 UTCIt's widely considered one of the best episodes of TV. All TV. It was highly acclaimed by critics at the time, it might well have been the most critically acclaimed episode of any show that year, it's close to a perfect 10 on IMDB and is one of the 5 highest rated episodes of the show (I don't know where exactly it is off the top of my head,) and time has done nothing to diminish its reputation. It was and is a critical darling, loved and hated (for its emotional rawness, which it absolutely nails, not for its quality) by fans, and often held up as the show's masterpiece from an artistic perspective. ...It was infamously not nominated for any Emmys, which everyone who saw it called bullshit on and has continued to do so for years.
Holy Stregas
2024-09-05 22:38:31 +0000 UTCThis is a fantastic episode, undoubtedly one of the finest episodes of TV ever made, but it never gets easier to watch. It's deliberately crafted in such a way to consistently deny the audience any traditional form of catharsis and leaves me feeling hollow and miserable, whilst simultaneously having the inverse effect and providing a shaping tool for my own grief; all the perspectives of the characters are like different lenses on a telescope. I'm autistic, and I've always related to Anya in this episode, who I've always seen as a bit autistic-coded, and her monologue never fails to make me cry. Thank God for Tara: she's such a rock of support 💜 There's lots of analyses of this episode, and I could talk for hours about the incredible filmmaking that went into it, but I find the emotional much more important than the technical, and on both counts this is a masterpiece.
Jordan McLaren
2024-09-05 22:33:23 +0000 UTCI agree
Kazza
2024-09-05 22:18:43 +0000 UTCThis episode is usually in the top 50 of "best episodes of TV of all time" articles.
madfem
2024-09-05 22:03:44 +0000 UTCThe vampire at the end wasn't particularly strong, it's just that Buffy was... not at the best of her abilities 🥲
madfem
2024-09-05 22:02:23 +0000 UTCYou can truly say you're one of us now. I don't know many that don't have the same reaction that you did. It's a true gut punch. Hugs to Karma, what a sweet and beautiful gesture. My dad died when I was 13, so around Dawn's age. I also found out at school. It was very sudden, and I didn't even know he had gone to the hospital the day before because my parents were divorced. I still remember everything about that day as far as where I was (field trip to the symphony), the sequence of events, what I was wearing, all of it. It will be 40 years next year. I really related to being a young teenager and one minute being all boy-crazy obsessed and the next minute your world is changed forever.
Melissa
2024-09-05 22:02:00 +0000 UTCKarma is a very good girl. (keep a box of tissue nearby, there will be other tearjerker episodes)
slypeartree
2024-09-05 21:55:45 +0000 UTCAnd now we have completed the Funny Aneurysm trope. Yep, Buffy created a brand-new trope. Remember last season when Buffy told Willow: I hope it will be a funny aneurysm when her mom sees the bill for her college books? Here is its description: A "funny aneurysm" moment is when a scene, joke, or offhand line that was originally meant to be funny or lighthearted becomes cringe-worthy due to the unfortunate and/or traumatic events in future installments/episodes of a work or in real life. When someone says that a bit of comedy has been "overtaken by events," it is this that is in play. This often has to do with a character or actor's death and is named for a line from the Buffy episode "The Freshman" in which Buffy hopes that her mother will have "a funny aneurysm" when she sees the cost of Buffy's college textbooks. This would come back to bite her in the next season. Or, if you prefer, it's the moment when the funny drops down dead.
aeronitz
2024-09-05 21:38:52 +0000 UTCthe episode shows what happens in the space around Joyce, around the body. that's what Dawn's art teacher was instructing them to do, drawing "the negative space around the object"
madfem
2024-09-05 21:38:40 +0000 UTCone of the 3 9.7 rated episodes on Imdb. it seems like this and the red wedding in game of thrones that fans who have already seen the show cant wait and also dread the moment the reactor gets to that episdoe. thanks for sharing and you have a special dog.
Sean Stuart
2024-09-05 20:57:19 +0000 UTCThis is the best written, acted, and directed episode of Buffy. Possibly in television. Buffy's mother was not killed by a vampire or a demon, but a medical condition she could not fight. I think it is why it hits so hard. Also Joss Whedon knows exactly where to put a knife and when to twist it.
Douglas Robertson
2024-09-05 20:31:04 +0000 UTC"But I don't understand! I don't understand how this all happens. How we go through this. I mean, I knew her, and then she's, there's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore! It's stupid! It's mortal and stupid! And, and Xander's crying and not talking, and, and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, well Joyce will never have any more fruit punch, ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why." For me, the MVP of this episode is Sarah Michelle Gellar, all the way...one of her best of many, many great performances throughout the series...but these lines from Anya are probably my favorite of the episode...which might just be my favorite episode of the series (tied with another, from later on...maybe). Just an explosion of grief that perfectly sums up death, while somehow not at all understanding it. Fucking beautiful.
Steve Mercier
2024-09-05 20:29:56 +0000 UTCThank you Cass for allowing yourself to be so raw and vulnerable. I sobbed like a baby the first time I saw it and my eyes water every time I have watched it since. It was so heartwarming to see Karma come to comfort you. The best episode of anything ever made.
Stephen Knueppel
2024-09-05 20:17:32 +0000 UTCOmg karma checking on you was the sweetest thing ever. Don't worry, I'm ugly crying right a long with you. One of the best episodes of tv. Love the Anya moment.
Ryan Cook
2024-09-05 20:16:46 +0000 UTCNo matter how many times I have watched this episode, it still gets me every time. That is how well made this episode is, top notch! Every thing so strategically constructed and written, the main purpose... to make one feel a rollercoaster of emotions from sad to really depressed. Another standing ovation for the cast and the crew. From the acting to the sound design to the set design to the directing.
Mayra Martinez
2024-09-05 19:24:25 +0000 UTCThe scene where Buffy opens the back door to get some air, the sun on her drained face, her eyes open but seeing nothing, her defeated expression, her breathing ... Stunning cinema, a moment away, but no escape. It is like zen horror, holding the enormity at arms length. Sarah's acting in this was award winning, rarely seen in television. The time they took with scenes, without the quick relief of a cut, or the soothing melody of a swelling score, makes it all the more penetrating, realistic, emotionally impacting. It's not just plot, its paying attention to life. Everyone gets it. Everyone hurts. In a bad way; but also in a good way. Some supernatural shows have a person or being that is Death, a personification, that make it convenient to have a conversation with, to work things out with narratively, but at least in this episode, no you have to deal with it on your own. Not all alone, but also yes by yourself, internally. People try to say things to help cope, but can anyone hear them in the moment? All that and more was in this, and it makes it sad and poignant, and compelling, and hard to watch at the same time.
spikeysnack
2024-09-05 18:51:22 +0000 UTCFor my money, this is one of the best episodes of TV ever made.
Helly R
2024-09-05 18:44:17 +0000 UTCthis to me is the greatest episode of television, no type of media was ever able to capture the sentiment of grief like this one did. i'm sorry you had to go throught it, cass, we've all been there and some here, me included, cried along with you. also karma checking up on you was the sweetest thing
Carol Gonçalves
2024-09-05 18:11:20 +0000 UTCYeah both of them are tied with a 9.7 rating
carly powell
2024-09-05 17:55:24 +0000 UTCwhat an episodes, i cried hardest when your dog tried to comfort you
Jason Harrelson
2024-09-05 17:55:09 +0000 UTCThis is in the top 5 saddest episodes of television history, and probably the #1 most accurate representation of loss in fiction. We all experience it differently and have all cried our eyes out. This is the saddest ive seen Cass since the Red Wedding. 😭
Matthew
2024-09-05 17:53:58 +0000 UTCThis is such a tough episode to get through because it's just so raw and visceral. Anya's speech gets me every single time. On a side note, it was so sweet of Karma to keep checking up on you throughout the episode.
ivyboundmoon
2024-09-05 17:47:15 +0000 UTCThe "fake out" of Joyce recovering was not intended to be mean to the viewers. It was apparently to show how our minds dive into wishful thinking as part of the attempt to deal with it.
SJ Lute
2024-09-05 17:24:18 +0000 UTCYes, this episode was written and directed by Joss. The audio and direction is incredible, and of course the acting top tier. I'm always hit hardest by Anyas speech, too. How sweet was Karma, checking on you? Omg. Also I know it was just a throwaway comment when you asked how the vamp at the end was so strong, but it's more that Buffy is exhausted and weak. Also Joss told James he wouldn't be in this episode and James agreed it was not a good episode for spike to be in
x_Rhi_x
2024-09-05 17:17:41 +0000 UTCSo here are just a couple COMPLETELY NON-SPOILER Behind the scenes facts about this episode -- Apparently Joss told the actress who plays Joyce back in S3 that her character would be k*lled off. Also, you were correct this was Tara and Willow's first on-screen kiss and in fact the network initially was VEHEMENTLY against it, but Joss threatened to walk from the show if they didn't allow it. And lastly each person is supposed to represent different stages of grief through the episode (Shock, Sadness, Anger, Panic, Denial, and Acceptance). Such a fantastic but heartbreaking episode! *Virtual Hugs*!
Cameron Ferguson
2024-09-05 17:06:01 +0000 UTCSame!! 👍
Andrea Frank
2024-09-05 16:50:58 +0000 UTC"God, I need to remember it's just a TV show. For a second it didn't feel like it." And that is all that needs to be said about this work of art.
Michael Hoffmann
2024-09-05 16:45:06 +0000 UTCOh man...💔
Jordan McLaren
2024-09-05 16:39:55 +0000 UTCAnya, a former vengeance demon saying, "I wish she [Joyce] hadn't died" is some subtle but heavy shit.
Joshua Perez
2024-09-05 16:39:47 +0000 UTCAs someone who watch this this summer after my best friend died of an aneurysm of the brain, this episode was tough💗
petra marie 💝
2024-09-05 16:33:35 +0000 UTCalso yes, this is the highest rated episode of Buffy on IMDb. actually it’s tied for first with Hush from season 4 and one more episode you haven’t seen yet.
Belle GC
2024-09-05 16:33:03 +0000 UTC💜 anya’s speech is incredible and even though i’ve seen it so many times i have a similar reaction every time. this episode is such an amazing yet painful piece of art. it was so sweet how karma tried to comfort you 😭
Belle GC
2024-09-05 16:14:45 +0000 UTCBloody hell, I guess I'm gonna be late for work 😏
CeNedra
2024-09-05 16:07:18 +0000 UTCYou're gonna carry that weight.
Joshua Perez
2024-09-05 16:01:49 +0000 UTCWork will be over eventually, then 2 Buffy reactions!
James Smith
2024-09-05 15:43:01 +0000 UTC😭😭😭😭
Melissa
2024-09-05 15:40:26 +0000 UTCI’m still only half way thru 5x15
Melissa Reynolds
2024-09-05 15:35:25 +0000 UTCOh god oh god oh god 😭
Melissa Reynolds
2024-09-05 15:34:59 +0000 UTC
