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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 6x5 Full Reaction (Patreon)

Published:
2024-12-23 00:15:50
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

"Life Serial"

Files

Previews only

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 6x5 Full Reaction

Comments

Melissa Reynolds

Yayyy!!! That’s my morning sorted :)

Jordan McLaren

This is a pretty forgettable episode in my opinion. Not much of the humour really works for me, the set-pieces don't really make much sense, and there's such a distinct lack of stakes in the whole season so far that I can't bring myself to care about what's going on. The underlying storyline of Buffy's finances is so mundane and only raises more questions: why is Giles not already supplying Buffy with regular payments? Are Willow and Tara living in the house without paying rent? How are they sustaining themselves, and why can't they help out more? None of these questions are particularly interesting, but we're forced to ask them because the show is insisting on highlighting Buffy's money troubles as the primary motivator of the season thus far. The obvious solution of Giles paying her a salary is even lampshaded at the end, but for some reason this isn't the end of the matter. I don't like being so negative, but I'm just being honest, and I like Seasons 6 and 7 less every time I rewatch them; a few standout, amazing episodes (of which there are several upcoming) aren't enough to salvage them for me. In regards to Angel, which is the infinitely more entertaining show from this point on for me personally, it's at this point that Buffy actually switched TV networks from the WB to the UPN after a bidding war while Angel remained, so the two shows were aired by different companies from this point on, even if they were created by an overlapping creative team with Joss at the head. It's fun going through the season with you, even if I find most of the episodes lacklustre at best :)

Douglas Robertson

At this point Buffy confides in Spike because she can be herself and say how she really feels. She can't do that with anyone else because she doesn't want them to be upset. She doesn't care about Spike's feelings.

Andrea Frank
>>159080443

It raised zero questions for me. I never gave money a thought beyond what was in the episodes, until Cass made a comment. I always thought this was a wacky entertaining episode. Plus, gives a tiny bit of clue, of things to come.

JBK405

I'm not one to ever agree with Andrew, but I've got to give him the point here: Timothy Dalton was a fantastic Bond. He is tragically overlooked. For your question at the end, based just on what we've seen so far, I'm coming back on a comment I made a few episodes ago: Since Spike is Dead and Evil, then he doesn't "count". She can be rude to him and not feel guilty about it, she can admit that she's overwhelmed and not feel like she's letting her friends and family down, etc. Since she has to put up a front with everybody else in her life all the time because she cares about them, around Spike she can just relax and let go. This is where we see the Trio each settle into their "official" villain roles: Andrew (Tucker) trained demons to attack a school function, so now we see that he can summon demons. Jonathan used a spell to make himself famous and popular, so now he we see that he can use magic. Warren made robots, so now we see that he can make other sci-fi technology.

Lime Pie

As you surmised, auditing is when you take a class for no credit to see if you like it or to maybe do some networking. You usually still have to pay something if you want access to the class materials, but you could also just sit in on the class. Honestly, the discussion of Willow and Tara not helping Buffy out financially is blown way out of proportion imo. Buffy was gone for almost 5 months and they still have a house with power and water, so they would have to be paying somehow. Buffy implied in the last episode that they were using the money that Joyce left, but that would be very difficult to do with Buffy never legally dying. They could drop out of college to help out more, but Buffy has been trying to prove to herself that she can solve it on her own and she probably wouldn't want them to do that unless it was necessary. The important part is that Willow and Tara, along with everyone else, has shown that they are willing to help out Buffy in whatever way she needs them. I can't go in to too much detail as to why I think Buffy can only stand to be around Spike, but I can say that it's largely due to her being able to be herself around him since he knows her secret imo.

mary smith

I think you are on the right track re your spike question. Spike is the only one she can stand to be around because he's the only one at the moment she can be truly herself around. The reasoning is likely a combination of what all the comments and you have said. she doesn't care if spike has a poor opinion of her because he doesn't mean as much to her as her friends. So she doesn't exhaustingly have to pretend to be happy and responsible and strong around him. She can freely be depressed or numb or angry and she knows spike won't judge or worry her for it or at least she doesn't care if he does. I think you're also spot on that this 'indulging' or escapism with spike can be good or bad for buffy depending on how she uses it. Because spike, being a soulless vampire, doesn't care either way. He wants buffy, and is more than happy to indulge positively or negatively...as long as it gets him time with buffy.

James Smith

A bit of a light hearted episode, I enjoy the time loop jokes, when Buffy is dealing with the mummy hand. You are right about a college class audit; you go to class, see what its like, see if its a subject that you would be interested in pursuing but don't get grades or class credits. The show is wrong in how it is presented though; Buffy would need to be a student enrolled at the college to audit a class (unless UC Sunnydale is very lax about that).

MG

To your question, I think at this point Buffy likes spending time with Spike just because he makes her feel something outside of being depressed and she can be herself around him. Why she switched from being disgusted by him to actually enjoying spending time with him, I don't know if it's super clear at this moment. But I'm sure it just has to do with her seeing that he has changed to an extent from what he was before. He's fun and passionate, and at this point in her life she finds that appealing. I'm sure people have differing opinions on this topic, but I've been of the personal belief that Buffy has found Spike to be attractive for a while. And maybe at this point she isn't as obliged to completely hate him because of the kind things he has done for her and because she is so low in her life that she just wants to be around someone who make her feel good.

Bud Haven

I think the reason that the Council doesn't pay the Slayer when they reach adulthood is that it almost never happens. They pay the Watcher to watch after her when she is a teen but have no plan for after. When talking to Riley in the episode Doomed, Buffy says, "I come from a long line of 'fry cooks' that don’t live past 25.” Which implies that she knows of at least one that lived that long. And that's it? Giles did a great thing for Buffy. But we shouldn't forget that in the episode Checkpoint, when the Council came to "test" Buffy, she got Giles reinstated at full pay from the day he was fired. Like two years previously. As to why Buffy feels Spike is the only person she feels like she can be around. First obviously she is not resentful towards Spike like she is towards her friends. She doesn't feel like she has to impress Spike or be better than she is. She knows he's not going to try to fix her. There is a small crack in her feelings towards Spike that is not negative or even neutral.

spikeysnack

When Joyce passed, Buffy's dad became Dawn's legal guardian, but they just kept up the fiction that he was somehow still around because it would be tough if child services people started coming around and looking into things, like major house repairs and lots of trips to the hospital, and people having visible injuries at any given time. Dawn I guess is doing OK at school now, we went through that last season and worked it out. Buffy is fighting something that she hasn't had to before. And that is depression. She has had tragedy and fear and bad times before, even ran away. abandoning all her friends and family (before Dawn, tho.) but now there is a dull darkness within her, that won't go away no matter who or what she punches. Her secret, that she didn't want to come back, that her future looks unhappy, her role as Slayer is no longer fulfilling, pierces her. Now she is getting wasted and going out with Spike to demon bars. The scene at the University was emblematic about how Buffy feels "separate" from her environment and the people around her, a symptom of depression. The scene at the construction site where she allowed the men to berate her, painful as it was, showed that Buffy was fine with it because she agreed that she should be berated, she is constantly doing it to herself, another sign of depression. Spike actually has said before and said again, and so did Dracula for that matter, that the slayer is a creature of the dark, that darkness is part of the slayer power, A slayer is not supposed to have friends, family, fun, an easy life. The sitcom nature of this episode hides some of the character development that is in there. Unfortunately, it is negative character development. The 3 boys learned the wrong lesson, and Buffy kinda did too. Giles bailing her out might not have been the right thing to do. But who can fault him, Buffy is like his daughter, his prize fighter, his reason for being there. And I think he sees she is not ready to be on her own yet as an adult. She went catatonic last year when faced with losing the war with Glory, and only won by dying, giving it all up. She could very well face something like that again, and who knows what trauma response that will emerge as. Everything in the show hinges on Buffy being OK, on top of everything going on, and she just isn't right now. Her going to Spike, in his crypt, for comfort, is weird, and something only a depressed Buffy would do.

Amy Rose

For the record, if you ever do an X Files react series, I will be sat and ready 🙏

Aaron Price

The Council doesn't want to pay their slayers. Money equals independence. They want their slayers completely dependent on them. They want to control them. Mind, body, and soul. The Council doesn't look at the slayer as a person. The slayer is a tool. You use the tool until it's worn down, then throw it away and pick up a new one. I don't know this for a fact, but I imagine most slayers were given over to the Council by their families immediately for training and indoctrination at an extremely impressionable age. Buffy is unique in that she has stayed with her family and she has a core friend group. Honestly, aside from Giles, she's hardly interacted with the Council.

Aaron Price
>>159120333

The greatest TV show ever made, and a foundation for a plethora of other good shows.

Claire Eyles

Hi Cass, I've just rejoined and am a little under the weather right now so I will catch up on your reactions when I have some energy. Really looking forward to seeing your continued journey with season 6. I hope you are doing better as well.

Sam Alexander

I know I said it before, but when it comes to money on this show, that’s one of my biggest pet peeves I know another commenter said that the council doesn’t pay the slayers because they want to control them and that could be true but on the same token the easiest way to control someone is financially so that could go both ways I just think the money situation was just the writers trying to write in hardship where we didn’t really need that aspect to this show and it disengages me from the supernatural aspect because the slayer deals with life and death everyday, I don’t care about how she’s going to pay her electric bill that’s the crap we as everyday people deal with. I don’t want to watch a supernatural show about financial difficulties so I just didn’t need that part. I know I’m being petty. I still love this show though and it’s still in my top three of all-time favorite shows.

Sam Alexander

And to your question about why Buffy tolerates spike it makes me think about season seven season finale when ….. 😂 how many out there thought I was about to spoil the entire show

The Testimony of Mushroom

Buffy can relate to Spike because they are both shadows reaching out for their former humanity. Buffy is also attracted to him but has not acted on it before because Spike is an evil half-demon murderer. Now Buffy knows that Spike loves her, whatever that means for a Vampire, because he allowed himself to be tortured by Glory to save Dawn and Buffy. He also didnt ask anything of her when she returned. Finally they share the secret of where she returned from, and they share the shadow bond…

The Testimony of Mushroom
>>159313889

What is the shadow bond? William died but an echo of that human's body and memories survives in Spike. Through slowly becoming an unwitting ally to the humans Spike has been able to reconnect to the echo of his former human life. It is like he is being given a second chance at life despite not asking for it. Buffy is also living a second life she did not ask for. For both of them it is like a half-life. Spike is in-between worlds, neither fully accepted in the underworld or in the human world. Buffy must, at this point also feel like she is in-between worlds. Buffy and Spike are both shadows of their former selves reaching out to reclaim some human life again. No one else can really understand this, except maybe Angel but he has his own thing going on.

Bri

For the record, it's absolutely not canon that Willow and Tara weren't contributing financially. They are probably using the money they would have spent on rent on the bills at the house. But that wouldn't necessarily cover everything. They've stepped up to raise Dawn, I think they've been more than generous. In the long term they would have probably had to sell the house and get a smaller place, to make their lives as a trio financially sustainable, but they were probably putting off doing that (because they wanted to bring Buffy back) Be mad at Giles and the Council, sure. That's pretty clear cut that it's outrageous the council paid Giles and not Buffy, and pretty outrageous that he didn't start sharing his salary with her when her mother died.

tc3

One possible interpretation as to why Spike is the only person Buffy can stand to be around was somewhat presented to us in the previous episode, “Flooded”, where it was said that Spike is always around Buffy when she is miserable and alone. If we take that a step further, maybe a reason he’s the only person she can stand to be around is because she is miserable and alone. That isn’t to say being around him makes her feel better (or worse for that matter), but he does allow her to feel miserable and alone. Now who's to say whether that is a positive, a negative, or a bit of both.

Michael Matthews

When season six of Buffy came on both shows were on different networks, Buffy was on UPN and Angel was still on THE WB, the shows didn’t crossover with maybe a few mentions, both networks didn’t want any connection

Brent

Season 6 is my favorite season of Buffy. When it came out I was in high school and didn’t really get it. Rewatching it as an adult it HIT HARD and in my opinion is the most relatable/honest season. Right now Spike is the only other depressed and painfully unhappy person around her. It can be comforting to be truly honest with another person about dark thoughts that your own family and friends can’t hear.

madfem

I'm sorry but.... where in the text does it say that Willow and Tara live in Buffy's house rent free ??? The Patreon comments didn't "open your eyes", they force fed you their own little canon that they force feed every reactor and it's starting to really get on my nerves, I CANNOT understand why people do that, they HAVE to know it's dishonest since it's a headcanon, it DRIVES ME INSANE