The Gift (Joss Whedon)
“The Gift” could have been the downbeat conclusion of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Should it have been? We wouldn’t have had “Once More, With Feeling” but then we wouldn’t have missed what we didn’t have. The pre-credits sequence is one of the best with the previously on to end all previously ons. Buffy’s casual rescue of the boy: “Hey, what's going on?”, the funny quips and “That's what I keep saying.” is excellent but back indoors it’s old grim face again. The attitude towards an Anya who is actually trying to do something is rather snotty and I do like her remark “Here to help. Want to live.”
The “I don't know how to live in this world” speech shows that Buffy is depressed and should probably see a therapist. She is in no fit state to do her job: it is an awful burden no matter what support she has and who can say she is irresponsible to want to give it up (despite the fact that the other Slayer is banged up).
“I had the pleasure moment.” Emma Caulfield looks particularly attractive just before Xander proposes.
Buffy remembers that Willow hurt Glory but actually no, Willow shouldn’t have been spending her time trying to help Tara (even though this does prove very useful). Tara’s mind is really screwed since kind gentle Tara wallops Willow quite some.
“You’re a killer!” Tara snaps at Giles: maybe that gave him the idea…
Who came off worse in the last few episodes? Tara in her PJs or Willow in her green polo neck? At least she lost the studded plaid shirt.
“Band of buggers”.
Sometimes BtVS is so sloppy but I am forgiving. When does Willow pick up her jacket? Well, would you look at that tiny tower? You would never have spotted that sooner.
Oh boy, a favourite, favourite moment : “She’s with me.” says Willow (and I love her again). Anya’s wielding of a baseball bat is inappropriately amusing. Oh, and another favourite moment :“I got so lost”… “I will always find you” (and boots).
Glory got the best funny lines: “The Slayer’s a robot. Did everybody else know the Slayer was a robot?”
They didn’t really go anywhere with the telepathy maybe because it was a bit contrived. I know, it's a programme about vampire slaying and telepathy is a bit much… And were we supposed to think Spike thought he was listening to Willow through that cylinder?
Giles murders Ben. Giles is a bad-ass.
What is Doc’s motivation? I love Buffy’s casual shoving aside of him when she gets to the top.
Oh look, Alien like monsters.
The score as Buffy decides on what she must do and tells Dawn of her intention is beautiful and makes the scene even more moving. How does she end up on her back?
This is a fantastic conclusion to a mediocre season by BtVS standards. Of course, there was the brilliant “The Body” but otherwise only “The Replacement,” “Blood Ties” and “I Was Made to Love You” were outstanding. There were far too many indistinguishable episodes, cheap laughs at the expense of carefully developed characters, and the harsh treatment of a dull but nice character led to one of my least favourite episodes ever, “Into the Woods”. And, let me add just how hard it was finding any decent Tara dialogue episode after episode. So here's hoping that season six is better!
This one just makes me smile. And laugh out loud about the tower bit
I just wanted to delurk a moment and say I've been dropping by here every few weeks to read your Buffy recaps since, oh, when you were doing Season Four. I really appreciate your commentary, partly because I agree with a whole lot of it. "Mediocre season" indeed. (I share the frustration at not getting much decent Tara dialogue, and I think season six was WAY better on that point.)
Anyway, I'm enjoying your posts. So I figured I should maybe say hi
Thank you ap, I am sometimes even trying to be funny.
Oh, darkpoole, thank you so much for delurking and saying hi and paying me those compliments. I totally enjoy writing these recaps and it is a relief that others are enjoying them too.
Me too! I drop by every now and then to read your recaps. You rule!
Thank you Daniela!
Happy New Year Hazel! I was wondering if you have heard about the newest Buffy novel, Dark Congress. Guess what happens? Tara is resurrected at least for the book. I know it's not canon, but may be good for Tara-fans. What's your opinion?
Happy New Year!
I know that Christopher Golden writes Tara's character very sympathetically and I do intend to get round to reading Dark Congress one day but I can't really get into the Buffy novels - nothing I have read is anything as good as the best fan fiction out there.
last comment.
Mediocre Season? No freaking way. It towers (no pun intended) over the rest of BTVS.
Mediocre is a harsh word, I'll concede, but S5 is probably my second least favourite season. And mediocre by Buffy standards is still good stuff. Thanks for all your comments, wytchcroft.
I'm going to paste a couple of bits I posted on a couple of other blogs because it saves me having to conjure up original thoughts. Here goes:
I was a Buffy scoffer for 12 years, thinking that BtVS, which I had never seen a single frame of, was nothing more than silly kid stuff. In the summer of 2009 I put my (previously) silly notions about BtVS aside and, with The Slayer as my guide, embarked on a long overdue journey.
So far, season 5 is my favourite. I loved the whole Dawn-is-The-Key storyline as I thought it set up some incredibly touching situations and new relationships.
A couple of thoughts about Dawn and Spike that I recently wrote on someone else's blog:
*"I love Dawn and I feel for her in her predicament as a 6 month old 'creation' that Gods and Demons would stop at nothing to kill. I think she fits in well and she brings out an amazing quality in Buffy, who knows the truth about Dawn's origins but still loves her so much that she's willing to sacrifice herself to give her kid 'sister' a chance to live some kind of a life, free of the threat of ritual killings and the like. I think that swapping Joyce for Dawn breathed new life into Buffy’s family dynamic and allowed Buffy to shine as a big sister and even later as a surrogate mom. Without Dawn, we lose some wonderful setups that allow us to experience searing, gut-wrenching pain, without any of those nasty real life consequences. A prime example being Buffy breaking the news to Dawn about Joyce’s death. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on that. Imagine having to feel that sense of heart-breaking loss when you're still trying to come to terms with not being human and knowing that you've been packaged for a reason that you may never understand.
*Spike really is an iconic TV character, but I'm not opposed to his transition from ruthless vampire to something better. By the time S5 rolls around, Spike doesn't have much to look forward to in his miserable existence, what with the tech in his head and his beloved Dru long gone. He's shunned by his own kind because they’re all he can safely kill now, and he’s barely tolerated by the Scoobies, which leaves him not only eternal, but isolated. I haven't seen seasons 6 or 7 yet, but I gather there are better days ahead for Spike, and I'm looking forward to seeing him try to navigate the road to some sort of redemption.
I love the tenderness of the Dawn/Spike relationship. They take care of each other. Spike vows to protect her "till the end of the world" and endures some horrific treatment at the hands of Glory and Doc, and when Spike grabs the business end of the sword coming through the roof of the motor home, it's Dawn who steps up to bandage his shredded hands.
Another of my favourite moments of season 5 is the scene in "Family" when Buffy, quickly seconded by Dawn and backed up by Giles and Xander, informs Mr. Maclay that he can take Tara away against her will, but he'll have to go through her to do it. This is such a beautiful scene. We can see Tara's life flash before her eyes as she envisions losing everything in that moment. And then Buffy, showing true leadership and compassion, steps up, WITHOUT EVEN WAITING to find out if Tara really is a demon, and gives the soft spoken Tara the Scooby seal of approval. Tara gains so much confidence from this endorsement and it transforms her. Every time I watch that scene, I weep like a fire hydrant.
And, of course, season 5 has "The Gift", which is simply a thing of beauty all by itself. The Scoobies all perform heroically, including Spike. And how about little Dawnie, ready to hurl herself off the tower to end the evil madness and save the world. Maybe Buffy was right when she said the Monks made Dawn out of her. That scene on top of the tower was stunning. Listen to Dawn's voice break when she says "until the blood stops flowing, it'll never stop". Look at the pain in her face just after she say's "it has to have the blood". It's such a joy to watch this scene over and over.
I really think there was much to love about S5. Viewers certainly don't want to get hung up on details because details always take a beating on Buffy. If details mattered, Spike, who was unaffected by Glory's deceptive spell because he was 'less than human', should also have been unaffected by the Monks' spell and therefore should have known immediately that Dawn was a fake branch of the Summers family tree.
BTW, I also came to Buffy via "Firefly". I watched and loved FF, watched and didn't love the first season of "Dollhouse", and so needed a Joss Whedon tiebreaker, which is where Buffy came in. I'm now watching Buffy and "Angel" together to get the full treatment in "real time". I still have 2 seasons of Buffy and 3 of "Angel".
Great name Page 48 and thank you so much for commenting. I will be very interested in what you think about the next two seasons because I guess you have realised they are quite contentious among fans.
Thanks, Hazel. Page 48 is my nod to Rambaldi's mystical Page 47 from "Alias".