Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 5x14 Full Reaction
Added 2024-08-30 23:14:09 +0000 UTC"Crush"
Comments
Absolutely everyone is talking about Spike in this episode. I'll let you talk about Buffy's reaction. You see, Buffy doesn't act like a girl who just found out that a guy in her circle has feelings for her and is completely indifferent to him. She consults. First she tells Xander, saying "This is serious." Then she organizes a family-friendly gathering where she discusses Spike's feelings for her as if it were the biggest problem in the world. Now literally the people closest to her know that she cares about Spike. But what's the point if she doesn't give a damn about him? You just turn him down, maybe brutally, like in Fool For Love, and that's it, it's a small problem. Or a big one? And in the middle of the episode Buffy asks Willow to cancel Spike's invitation. Seriously, a vampire with a chip is the biggest threat in the world, Glory is nervously smoking in the corner.
ThePowerDrome
2025-02-19 10:30:17 +0000 UTCI don't like the incel comparison. It's superficial. That word has a specific meaning and is too tainted by modern cultural and political baggage to be useful for analyzing complex characters in fiction. Just because someone is unlucky in love and socially awkward - as William was - doesn't mean they're an incel.
Mornir
2024-09-03 10:36:43 +0000 UTCSpike the monster, Spike the man, Spike the comedy relief, Spike the stalker, Spike the bloody bastard. Dru got him to drink. That thing where they pump the blood by squeezing the upper arm is horrifying. Angel does that too. I think Buffy remembered not to look Dru directly in the eyes too long, because it was the death of Kendra, and of her with the Master. Spike she always looks directly in the eye. Spike I guess is all by himself now, and maybe he can gain some sanity, or .. maybe not. He is never boring that's for sure.
spikeysnack
2024-09-02 06:12:24 +0000 UTCAnd she's up for a threesome with Charlize Theron
Jonathan Hall
2024-08-31 17:12:08 +0000 UTCI know she's more than a little airheaded plus you know the whole evil soulless vampire thing but Harmony is kind of an awesome girlfriend. She's willing to roleplay (as Buffy!), concerned about her boyfriend's health and well being and has clearly been paying attention to Spike (she knows all about Drusilla.) She really was too good for Spike and I say that as a Spike fan. Great to see her walk out... er... reverse out with her head held high.
Ross Nolan
2024-08-31 16:55:38 +0000 UTCexactly, as someone who really loves Spike's character, lately I had been thinking of hitting up my local serial killers for a date. thanks for reminding me, I'll be getting on this asap.
madfem
2024-08-31 15:04:18 +0000 UTCPeople really will let Spike get away with anything. There's a couple at the Bronze who are dead now because he hasn't been staked. Literally no amount of stalking and attempted murder is enough apparently. Don't get me wrong, he's a fun character and i'm glad he's in the show but what line does he need to cross for people to recognise that he will go right back to rape and murder the second he gets a chance? As he keeps reminding us. He made a good point though, i guess this helps us understand why people marry serial killers in prison all the time.
Cyrinil
2024-08-31 12:02:20 +0000 UTCNew Understanding Unlocked: Last night after I watched your reaction I saw somebody else point something out and I can't believe I didn't notice it before. Spike threatens to kill his sire to prove himself to Buffy. Angel DID kill his sire to prove himself to Buffy. Back in season one, when Buffy first learned that Angel was a vampire, he killed Darla to protect her. Right as Darla was trying to convince him to turn evil again, and was trying to kill Buffy to push him along. Spike is trying to replicate the same things that convinced Buffy to give Angel a chance, but never quite getting it right. I've been watching this show for 20 years and I somehow never made that connection.
JBK405
2024-08-31 11:58:13 +0000 UTCExcellent review at the end by Cass... I will echo the assertion by another about the "incel" vibe. This was exactly how William got into trouble right at the start. He mooned over an unobtainable lady and got shot down in the most flaming way and blundered headlong into Drusilla and Spike was born (so to speak). So yeah, there is a strong "incel" core to Spike that needs to be reckoned with in order for him to advance as a "person".
Michael Labs
2024-08-31 06:03:08 +0000 UTCWhenever the subject of whether vampires can love comes up (and it always does when Spike is discussed) I always come back to what Drusilla says here. One trope that I put complete faith in where Drusilla is concerned is "The crazy person always speaks The Truth."
DanielOrme
2024-08-31 04:41:01 +0000 UTCI've always found Drusilla mouthing "Boo Boo" very funny. Usually Drusilla is the one saying stuff that no one else gets so its nice that she gets to express some shock at what someone else is saying
James Smith
2024-08-31 02:46:02 +0000 UTCDon't forget the inexplicable number of caves and spooky dungeons. And the castle.
Raymond Simon
2024-08-31 02:09:42 +0000 UTCSunnydale, the one Starbuck town, the place so small that the bad part of town is right next to the good part of town, has a large mall, a zoo, a museum, a port, an airport, a university, an army base, a secret army base, a train station, everything required by the plot, if it had lasted for longer we probably would have found out that it had a spaceport.
slypeartree
2024-08-31 02:01:28 +0000 UTCI like how this episode has moved past a love triangle and created some sort of unholy love hypercube.
Raymond Simon
2024-08-31 01:52:32 +0000 UTCI gotta say, I was EAGERLY waiting to see your reaction when you realized that it was Drusilla. That's always a highlight. I'm gonna go back to something that I commented on one of your earlier videos about the question "can a vampire feel love?": This is a big question in the fandom, but I think the more important question is 'What do they MEAN by love?' I love my parents and my siblings, but despite both being Family it's different for each. I love my friends, but that's a whole different thing than either my parents or siblings. I love a cool glass of water on a hot day, and I love playing video games when I need to kill a few hours. I love looking at pictures of people's pets (in small doses), and I love organizing my DVD/Blu-ray collection (It's quite nice if I say so myself). I'm not going to say that any one of them is "better" love than the other, but they all mean very different things. So if vampires REALLY CAN love -- and I'm not saying they can't -- what does that actually mean? 'Cause on a hot day when I haven't had anything to drink I may literally die without a glass of water, but that doesn't mean it's the same as the love I feel for a friend who I'm seeing for the first time after a big separation.
JBK405
2024-08-31 00:45:23 +0000 UTCBuffy probably went to Spike instead of Willow (or anyone else she knows) because she doesn't hang out with Spike so Glory would have a harder time finding them there. Also, I don't think Buffy knew that Willow could do a teleportation spell until last episode because she had to ask what happened. The idea of Buffy hitting Spike more than she has to because he likes it doesn't have any foundation imo. I think a more likely explanation for the extra hits is that she feels conflicted about killing him because he can't physically hurt humans and she's taking out her aggression.
Lime Pie
2024-08-31 00:44:39 +0000 UTCSpike has major incel vibes in this episode, he grosses me out
Jordan McLaren
2024-08-31 00:18:50 +0000 UTCCrush is one of my favorite episodes of the season! I can't wait to see this reaction! There's so much to discuss and talk about. I want mention 3 subtle but very interesting things about Buffy in this episode that a lot of reactors miss. The big theme of Season 5 has been Buffy's feeling that as she matures into her Slayer role that means that she's feeling cut off from personal connections. Riley told her that he loved her several times but Buffy was never able to say it back to him. So, from her perspective, what does it say about her that a soulless demon like Spike can say those words and yet she can't? That's part of why she reacted so viscerally when Spike said it. And then just 2 episodes ago in Checkpoint, Buffy willingly sought him out and told Spike "you're the only one strong enough to protect them." Buffy willingly put the lives of the two most important people in her life in the hands of someone she claims to have "loathing and disgust" for. Perhaps her feelings for Spike are more complicated than she's even able to understand. It's very interesting that she went to Spike instead of turning to, say, Willow when we know that Willow actually has teleportation spells that can hurt Glory. And third, Buffy says that she apparently subconsciously knew that hitting Spike was like "third base" for him this entire time. So, that puts their entire relationship going back to School Hard in a different light. It's interesting to think of all the extra times that she hit him over the years often for no reason. Including earlier this season when she hit Spike, he said he was telling the truth and Buffy specifically says "I know" but she still did it regardless. There's much more to say but I'll wait for the reaction.
Land Howard Johnston
2024-08-30 23:30:54 +0000 UTCWoo yay my Saturday morning watch!
Melissa Reynolds
2024-08-30 23:15:56 +0000 UTC
