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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 6x17 Full Reaction (Patreon)

Published:
2025-04-11 14:00:46
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

"Normal Again"

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Previews only

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 6x17 Full Reaction

Comments

ThePowerDrome

It's not so much about whether Spike will be in the next season or even the rest of this season, as it is about your feelings about the fact that he might not be in the final season. I remember at the end of season three you were really asking for Spike and Anya to be back. Now you don't think Spike is needed for the rest of this journey? Dawn's insecurity has never gone away, it's almost a constant state of hers. I don't remember exactly, but it seems that the ritual description didn't say that she would stop being the key. So she's still the key, theoretically someone could use her if they knew how. The problem is that being the key doesn't give her any advantages, and she has a sister who is not only a Slayer, but has already saved the world 7 times, including twice at the cost of her own life. Of course, Dawn is constantly insecure.

Matthew

I'm sure the writers wanted to leave the episode on a question mark because its more interesting to think about, but the way I took it is that its a multiverse situation. Both realities exists and Buffy was switching between Prime Reality and Alternate Reality, so seeing the result in the Alternate Reality doesn't make me question the Prime Reality.

MG
>>170688573

Or she really is "crazy" and chose to live in the Buffyverse version of her mind lol.

borednow

I think Joss said about this episode that either Sunnydale actually existed for real, or only in a crazy person’s fantasy. And that person was him. I always liked this one, especially the end, which many dislike. But it’s a fun twist with the two possible realities.

Test User

"That's a good cut-to-credits." "Yeah, that's a good cut-to-commercial." God, I love this episode! I found the ending so unsettling as a kid, so now ofc I love it.

JBK405

This episode is highly polarizing. Some fans love it, and some fans HATE it. Personally, I enjoy it, especially since some shows HAVE done "The entire show is taking place in somebody's mind" so it's possible that it's happening here, too. Buffy having once been in a mental hospital before the start of the show is a retcon, since dialogue in the early seasons explicitly discuss how her parents have NO idea about vampires and her role as the Slayer. Most fans that I know say it's an internal retcon as part of Dawn being inserted into Buffy's backstory, and that's why it doesn't match the pre-Dawn episodes. Xander's double-standard about Spike given his relationship with Anya is one of the reasons that I so continuously dislike him. Anya was originally in the exact same role as Spike as somebody who didn't CHOOSE to be a non-violent being, it was forced on her just like Spike's chip was forced on him. She's also never shown any remorse for what she did as a vengeance demon, and even reminisces about it fondly. Just like Spike longs for his time as an unrestrained killer. Anya's character development and story is very different from Spike's in general, but they started in a similar place. Xander never admits that or does any self-reflection why it's okay for him to fall in love with her but the POSSIBILITY of Buffy falling for Spike is offensive and gross and weird.

DanielOrme

You are the very first reactor I've seen who immediately understood that Joyce's final speech was exactly what Buffy needed to hear. And how hearing it signals Buffy fighting her way out of the depression that goes back to Joyce's death (which makes it so fitting that the encouragement comes from Joyce. Perfect in an episode so dependent on, as you also observed, clever meta commentary. Great reaction!)

Morgan Williams

I feel like finding out that Buffy was in the psych ward before over her telling her parents the truth about herself, makes her interaction with her mother in season 2 (how it went down telling her mom that she was a vampire slayer) make more sense. No wonder she layed it on her the way she did. It totally ties together so well.

Morgan Williams

I know cuz I've watched all Buffy before but wonderin since we still have more episodes to play out for this season....how do you think they'll wrap this season up?

jibbers42

I typically don't like choose-your-own-ending writing and prefer not to be enlisted as a writer to decide how a story ends. I'm not saying I want everything spelled out along the way, just a story that ends up making sense and has an honest ending. When I first watched this I thought it was kind of a cheap writing trick to leave it like that, but later I realized she hadn't had the antidote yet. This means that even if she decided the Buffyverse was the real world it doesn't necessarily stop the asylum reality from playing out until she gets the antidote. It was pretty clever to leave the antidote off-screen and after the episode so they could plausibly end it in the asylum.

slypeartree

I like your analysis of Dawn. Teenagers already can have problems with who they are, only a year ago Dawn also had to deal with what she is. I'm not sure a lifetime is enough to completely be done dealing with that kind of thing.

Neill Shaughness

It's a good thing Buffy isn't good at tying knots, or Xander would be toast

Maia Brodsky

The funny thing about the final shot of Buffy in the opening credits making you emotional is that the shot isn't even of Buffy. It's the Buffybot facing down Glory in the S5 finale lol. Kinda weird that they chose that shot.

Lime Pie

It's funny that you (and me) get emotional at the last shot of Buffy in the intro because that's not even Buffy in that shot lol. I adore this episode, but Spike's argument is so strange. He's basically saying that either Buffy's friends will be understanding and help her or they won't understand and abandon her, forcing her to turn to Spike for companionship (which is already a false dichotomy and quite a demeaning one for that matter) and she will be happy in either case. The fact that Spike assumes Buffy will be happy if her friends drive her out and she starts up again with Spike after she irrefutably made it clear that being with him was killing her really irks me. I get that Spike is incredibly manipulative, but the tone of that scene felt like he was being earnest to me.

Lime Pie
>>170916669

No way I just said the same thing in my comment 5 minutes after you posted yours lol. I won't edit mine so that I can bask in my shame.

Maia Brodsky
>>170916939

Yeah, I definitely think Spike was being genuine here, and I was always a bit confused about the same parts of his argument that you mentioned, though as Cass mentioned, some of what he said actually did make a lot of sense. After watching the scene many times by now and pondering on it carefully, I do think I have a bit more clarity on some things. One part I believe you might be missing is that Buffy never told Spike that being with him was killing her. She said that *using* him was killing her, that he was a crutch, and that using him that way was weak and selfish. This confuses him. Spike doesn't really understand why that's bad for her, because he has no conscience, so he can't relate to the remorse she feels over it. He may think she was just miserable because she was hiding their sexual relationship from her friends and depending on him instead of her whole support network. And he seems to still believe that she would want to be with him if not for her guilty conscience. But he doesn't understand the complexities of guilt, and he doesn't understand what she meant when she said she can't love him. It still confuses me a bit. But what I'm fairly confident of is that he's right about her hero complex, he's right about her being addicted to her own misery, but his lack of soul means he can't understand how her using him for casual sex is perpetuating said misery.

spikeysnack

I love that Tara had a chance to save the gang. I think that was big. I also think that "Buffy getting injected with stuff" was way overused in the series. I mean its almost a drinking game at this point. It is significant that Buffy chose Dawn over Joyce and her Dad. She fought through it without the antidote because she loves Dawn and her friends (and being the Slayer?) more than the world where she is just a victim of mental illness, even though her parents are there. The nerds really got to Buffy and the gang this time, nearly killed all of them in one go, nearly got Buffy to willingly let them be murdered in front of her, playing off her own grief, and feelings of self doubt and how it all is less than she expected. She's gonna be pissed. And this is another bunch of BS with Jonathan, what is this the 4th time? So is Warren the Big Bad this season, or it the character flaws in our main characters that are going to be the crisis that comes to a head. Last season the whole world was about to be sucked into the maelstrom of Glory's hell dimension, Before that it was Frankenstein (I mean Adam) and his platoon of undead demon/human hybrids, before that Angelus and Acathla about to destroy the world. The trio doesn't seem on the same level, but they have tech, reality warping magic, and demon summoning. Maybe they will do something that combines all 3 threats.

Nick of Time

I'm here for Buffy and Angel .. could someone explain or point me to the post that explains why there's only full length reactions to Buffy season 5+?

Maia Brodsky
>>171092810

I don't know that there's any post explaining why that's when she started doing it, but the tier description does include the fact that it's only for season 5 onward.