Lovers Walk
Encyclopedia
"Lovers Walk" is episode 8 of season 3 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was nominated for an Emmy Award
for Outstanding Sound Editing in a Series.
complains about receiving a 740 on Verbal for her SAT
's, while Xander
notes that her Verbal score closely resembles his combined score. Buffy
shows up looking shaken; her unexpected SAT score of 1430 has opened up the possibility of a normal life, and she is unsure how to proceed.
That night, Spike drives through the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign again, but this time he is extremely drunk; he falls out of the car and reprises his first line in the series
– "Home sweet home!" – before passing out. He returns to the old burned down factory (despondently singing Gary Oldman
's "My Way
") and surveys the damage. He begins to shout and cry, destroying Drusilla's charred dolls and drunkenly wondering why she left him.
At school the next day, Xander persuades Cordelia to go on a double date with Willow and Oz. Oz presents Willow with a Witch-themed Pez dispenser, and she is both delighted by the thoughtful gift and guilty because of the attraction she feels towards Xander.
Giles
, packing for a Watchers' retreat, is delighted when he is presented with Buffy's SAT scores. Giles suggests that she has an opportunity to have a first-rate educational experience, and she could leave Sunnydale and her Slayer duties to Faith. He warns her about seeing Angel and she promises that nothing will happen between them because they are "just friends". Meanwhile, Xander and Willow have second thoughts about the bowling date with Oz and Cordelia. Willow is concerned that Oz and Cordelia will notice the attraction between her and Xander. She and Xander restate their commitment to avoid physical intimacy with each other. Xander tells her that he wishes that they could just get rid of their feelings of lust.
That night, Spike stands outside Angel's mansion and drunkenly rails at Angel for turning Dru against him, until passing out in the garden.
Meanwhile, Buffy's mom
continues to push the idea of college. When Buffy is resistant, Joyce asks her what could possibly be keeping her in Sunnydale, but Buffy does not admit her reluctance to leave Angel. Buffy visits Angel and asks his opinion on her future options, in the process trying to determine where their relationship stands. Angel, visibly torn, suggests as a friend that she go, reasoning that it is a good opportunity for her to live a life outside of her calling. Unhappy with his answer, Buffy leaves.
Spike sneaks into the back of a local magic shop during the day in search for a curse for Angel. While he is there, Willow comes in looking for ingredients for a "de-lusting" spell. As she and the shop keeper discuss ingredients, Spike, out of sight, pays close attention. When Willow leaves, Spike kills the shopkeeper, having decided that a love spell to make Drusilla love him again would be "an even better idea."
Later that day, the Mayor is playing golf in his office when his deputy alerts him to Spike's return. The Mayor agrees that he organize and send a "committee" to deal with the problem.
At school, the night of the double date, Willow is in the chemistry lab, working on the ingredients for her anti-love spell. Xander shows up, and they begin arguing when he figures out Willow was attempting to trick him into the spell. Spike comes in and attacks Xander, knocking him unconscious, and announces that he needs to borrow Willow for a while. Spike takes Willow and the unconscious Xander back to the factory, where he locks them up. Spike explains his situation to Willow, first threatening her life if she fails to cast an effective spell, then sitting next to her and explaining that Dru thought he had gone soft after his alliance with Buffy, and was not "demon enough" for her anymore. The final blow had come when Dru told him that they could still be friends. A frightened Willow tries half-heartedly to comfort the distraught Spike. When Willow tells Spike that she does not have enough ingredients, he takes her list and goes to collect what she needs.
At the library, Buffy is working out when Cordelia and Oz appear, worried because the lab is torn up and Willow and Xander are gone. Buffy tells them to go find Giles, and is preparing to go search for Willow and Xander herself when Buffy's mom calls her to discuss college, and over the line Buffy hears Spike say "Hello, Joyce." Buffy immediately runs home, thinking her mom is in danger. Meanwhile, Joyce offers Spike hot chocolate
while he relates the painful details of his breakup with Dru. Angel spots them talking in the kitchen and attempts to attack Spike, but cannot enter the house because he is not invited. Joyce, thinking Angel is still evil, backs away, and Spike taunts him behind Joyce's back. Buffy arrives, pins Spike to the table and invites Angel in. Spike tells them he's got her friends and the three of them leave to get the supplies so that Willow can do the love spell and set Buffy's friends free.
As Oz and Cordelia are driving to find Giles, Oz catches Willow's scent and can tell that she is afraid ("a residual werewolf thing"). They follow the scent, hoping to find Willow and Xander.
Spike, Buffy, and Angel are getting the supplies when, prompted by Angel's comment that he's going to a lot of trouble for the sake of the fickle Drusilla, Spike tells them that they make him sick. "You'll fight, and you'll shag
, and you'll hate each other till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."
Xander wakes up to find that he and Willow are locked in the basement of the factory. They discuss what will happen to them. Deciding that the high probability of death is a mitigating factor, Willow and Xander kiss just in time for Oz and Cordelia to find them. Cordelia is horrified and runs up the stairs, but the stairs collapse and she falls through, impaling herself on a piece of rebar
sticking out of the rubble-covered floor below.
As they leave with the supplies, Buffy, Angel and Spike are surrounded by the "committee" of vampires sent by Trick. Spike points out that if Buffy and Angel leave him to die, then Willow and Xander die too. Buffy reluctantly joins the brawl. Spike, inspired and refreshed by the thrill of the fight, realizes that the only way to get Dru back is to become the man he once was, whom she loved. He tells Angel and Buffy that their friends are at the factory, and that he is going to "find Dru, tie her up, and torture her until she likes me again."
Back at the factory, Xander makes it down to where Cordelia fell. After passing out from the fall, the audience is shown a funeral scene implying Cordelia had died. However, this is a ruse as the camera pans down to reveal Buffy and Willow walking in the cemetery. Willow tells Buffy that Cordelia survived the fall, but is in the hospital, having lost a lot of blood. She also says that Oz refuses to talk to her, and Buffy suggests time, patience, and groveling. When Xander brings flowers to Cordelia in the hospital, she tells him to stay away from her. Buffy visits Angel, and tells him that they are not friends; she explains that she is not coming back, because he does not need her help anymore, and she cannot maintain the lie about their friendship to herself ("or Spike, for some reason"). Angel protests, and Buffy tells him that the only way they can see each other is if he tells her that he does not love her, something he cannot do. While each character broods in their own way, mourning for their broken relationships, Spike is back on the road, on his way to find Drusilla.
aired featuring Gellar and Boreanaz as their characters, Buffy and Angel.
Buffy is standing outside at a phone booth. Strangely Sunnydale appears to be snowing. Buffy says, "This season with 1800 Collect, you don't have to be alone for the holidays". She begins dialing the phone. Buffy hears footsteps behind her. She turns grabs a stake-shaped icicle, and makes a staking motion before Angel grabs her hand. Buffy: "You should have called." Angel replies, "Sorry I'm late." The two smile, look into the snowing sky then walk off together.
The promo offered fans the chance to enter a sweepstakes every time they made a call using the 1-800-COLLECT communications system. The prize was a walk-on part on Buffy. Jessica Johnson of Maryland won a three-day trip for two to participate in the episode "The Prom".
says, "the script apparently does not carry an apostrophe, by the way--making for a short, sad, declarative sentence for a title."
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Sound Editing in a Series.
Plot synopsis
WillowWillow Rosenberg
Willow Rosenberg is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the TV series by Alyson Hannigan...
complains about receiving a 740 on Verbal for her SAT
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
's, while Xander
Xander Harris
Alexander LaVelle "Xander" Harris is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as in numerous items in the series Expanded Universe, such as comic books, tie-in novels and video games...
notes that her Verbal score closely resembles his combined score. Buffy
Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name...
shows up looking shaken; her unexpected SAT score of 1430 has opened up the possibility of a normal life, and she is unsure how to proceed.
That night, Spike drives through the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign again, but this time he is extremely drunk; he falls out of the car and reprises his first line in the series
School Hard
"School Hard" is episode three of season two of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The story for the episode was conceived by series creator and executive producer Joss Whedon and co-executive producer David Greenwalt, with Greenwalt penning the teleplay. It was directed by John T....
– "Home sweet home!" – before passing out. He returns to the old burned down factory (despondently singing Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
's "My Way
My Way (song)
"My Way" is a song popularized by Frank Sinatra. Its lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed in 1967 by Claude François and Jacques Revaux, with lyrics by Claude François and Gilles Thibault. Anka's English lyrics are unrelated to the...
") and surveys the damage. He begins to shout and cry, destroying Drusilla's charred dolls and drunkenly wondering why she left him.
At school the next day, Xander persuades Cordelia to go on a double date with Willow and Oz. Oz presents Willow with a Witch-themed Pez dispenser, and she is both delighted by the thoughtful gift and guilty because of the attraction she feels towards Xander.
Giles
Rupert Giles
Rupert Giles is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head. He serves as Buffy Summers' mentor and surrogate father figure...
, packing for a Watchers' retreat, is delighted when he is presented with Buffy's SAT scores. Giles suggests that she has an opportunity to have a first-rate educational experience, and she could leave Sunnydale and her Slayer duties to Faith. He warns her about seeing Angel and she promises that nothing will happen between them because they are "just friends". Meanwhile, Xander and Willow have second thoughts about the bowling date with Oz and Cordelia. Willow is concerned that Oz and Cordelia will notice the attraction between her and Xander. She and Xander restate their commitment to avoid physical intimacy with each other. Xander tells her that he wishes that they could just get rid of their feelings of lust.
That night, Spike stands outside Angel's mansion and drunkenly rails at Angel for turning Dru against him, until passing out in the garden.
Meanwhile, Buffy's mom
Joyce Summers
Joyce Summers is a fictional character in the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . Played by Kristine Sutherland, Joyce is the mother of the main character, Buffy Summers . Joyce appears regularly from the first episode until the character's death in the fifth season episode "The...
continues to push the idea of college. When Buffy is resistant, Joyce asks her what could possibly be keeping her in Sunnydale, but Buffy does not admit her reluctance to leave Angel. Buffy visits Angel and asks his opinion on her future options, in the process trying to determine where their relationship stands. Angel, visibly torn, suggests as a friend that she go, reasoning that it is a good opportunity for her to live a life outside of her calling. Unhappy with his answer, Buffy leaves.
Spike sneaks into the back of a local magic shop during the day in search for a curse for Angel. While he is there, Willow comes in looking for ingredients for a "de-lusting" spell. As she and the shop keeper discuss ingredients, Spike, out of sight, pays close attention. When Willow leaves, Spike kills the shopkeeper, having decided that a love spell to make Drusilla love him again would be "an even better idea."
Later that day, the Mayor is playing golf in his office when his deputy alerts him to Spike's return. The Mayor agrees that he organize and send a "committee" to deal with the problem.
At school, the night of the double date, Willow is in the chemistry lab, working on the ingredients for her anti-love spell. Xander shows up, and they begin arguing when he figures out Willow was attempting to trick him into the spell. Spike comes in and attacks Xander, knocking him unconscious, and announces that he needs to borrow Willow for a while. Spike takes Willow and the unconscious Xander back to the factory, where he locks them up. Spike explains his situation to Willow, first threatening her life if she fails to cast an effective spell, then sitting next to her and explaining that Dru thought he had gone soft after his alliance with Buffy, and was not "demon enough" for her anymore. The final blow had come when Dru told him that they could still be friends. A frightened Willow tries half-heartedly to comfort the distraught Spike. When Willow tells Spike that she does not have enough ingredients, he takes her list and goes to collect what she needs.
At the library, Buffy is working out when Cordelia and Oz appear, worried because the lab is torn up and Willow and Xander are gone. Buffy tells them to go find Giles, and is preparing to go search for Willow and Xander herself when Buffy's mom calls her to discuss college, and over the line Buffy hears Spike say "Hello, Joyce." Buffy immediately runs home, thinking her mom is in danger. Meanwhile, Joyce offers Spike hot chocolate
Hot chocolate
Hot chocolate is a heated beverage typically consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and sugar...
while he relates the painful details of his breakup with Dru. Angel spots them talking in the kitchen and attempts to attack Spike, but cannot enter the house because he is not invited. Joyce, thinking Angel is still evil, backs away, and Spike taunts him behind Joyce's back. Buffy arrives, pins Spike to the table and invites Angel in. Spike tells them he's got her friends and the three of them leave to get the supplies so that Willow can do the love spell and set Buffy's friends free.
As Oz and Cordelia are driving to find Giles, Oz catches Willow's scent and can tell that she is afraid ("a residual werewolf thing"). They follow the scent, hoping to find Willow and Xander.
Spike, Buffy, and Angel are getting the supplies when, prompted by Angel's comment that he's going to a lot of trouble for the sake of the fickle Drusilla, Spike tells them that they make him sick. "You'll fight, and you'll shag
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
, and you'll hate each other till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."
Xander wakes up to find that he and Willow are locked in the basement of the factory. They discuss what will happen to them. Deciding that the high probability of death is a mitigating factor, Willow and Xander kiss just in time for Oz and Cordelia to find them. Cordelia is horrified and runs up the stairs, but the stairs collapse and she falls through, impaling herself on a piece of rebar
Rebar
A rebar , also known as reinforcing steel, reinforcement steel, rerod, or a deformed bar, is a common steel bar, and is commonly used as a tensioning device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures holding the concrete in compression...
sticking out of the rubble-covered floor below.
As they leave with the supplies, Buffy, Angel and Spike are surrounded by the "committee" of vampires sent by Trick. Spike points out that if Buffy and Angel leave him to die, then Willow and Xander die too. Buffy reluctantly joins the brawl. Spike, inspired and refreshed by the thrill of the fight, realizes that the only way to get Dru back is to become the man he once was, whom she loved. He tells Angel and Buffy that their friends are at the factory, and that he is going to "find Dru, tie her up, and torture her until she likes me again."
Back at the factory, Xander makes it down to where Cordelia fell. After passing out from the fall, the audience is shown a funeral scene implying Cordelia had died. However, this is a ruse as the camera pans down to reveal Buffy and Willow walking in the cemetery. Willow tells Buffy that Cordelia survived the fall, but is in the hospital, having lost a lot of blood. She also says that Oz refuses to talk to her, and Buffy suggests time, patience, and groveling. When Xander brings flowers to Cordelia in the hospital, she tells him to stay away from her. Buffy visits Angel, and tells him that they are not friends; she explains that she is not coming back, because he does not need her help anymore, and she cannot maintain the lie about their friendship to herself ("or Spike, for some reason"). Angel protests, and Buffy tells him that the only way they can see each other is if he tells her that he does not love her, something he cannot do. While each character broods in their own way, mourning for their broken relationships, Spike is back on the road, on his way to find Drusilla.
Christmas Buffy promo
Immediately after the first airing of "Lovers Walk" an advertAdvertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
aired featuring Gellar and Boreanaz as their characters, Buffy and Angel.
Buffy is standing outside at a phone booth. Strangely Sunnydale appears to be snowing. Buffy says, "This season with 1800 Collect, you don't have to be alone for the holidays". She begins dialing the phone. Buffy hears footsteps behind her. She turns grabs a stake-shaped icicle, and makes a staking motion before Angel grabs her hand. Buffy: "You should have called." Angel replies, "Sorry I'm late." The two smile, look into the snowing sky then walk off together.
The promo offered fans the chance to enter a sweepstakes every time they made a call using the 1-800-COLLECT communications system. The prize was a walk-on part on Buffy. Jessica Johnson of Maryland won a three-day trip for two to participate in the episode "The Prom".
The title
The title of the episode has been cited on listings, books and DVD covers and menus variously as "Lovers Walk", "Lover's Walk" and "Lovers' Walk". However, the introduction to Rhonda Wilcox's Why Buffy MattersWhy Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an academic publication relating to the fictional Buffyverse established by TV series, Buffy and Angel.-Book description:...
says, "the script apparently does not carry an apostrophe, by the way--making for a short, sad, declarative sentence for a title."
Cultural references
- The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
— Willow, disappointed in her SAT Verbal score, describes herself as Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel.
Music
- It has been suggested that Spike sings the Gary OldmanGary OldmanGary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
version of My Way at the beginning of the episode and sings along to the Sex PistolsSex PistolsThe Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
Sid ViciousSid ViciousSid Vicious was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols...
recording at the end, it is also of note that the Characters Spike and Drusilla were fashioned after the couple Sid and NancySid and NancySid and Nancy is a 1986 British biopic directed by Alex Cox. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious , bassist of the seminal punk rock band the Sex Pistols, and his relationship with girlfriend Nancy Spungen .-Plot:The film opens with several police officers dragging Sid Vicious out of the Hotel...
- Sex PistolsSex PistolsThe Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
/Sid ViciousSid ViciousSid Vicious was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols...
- "My WayMy Way (song)"My Way" is a song popularized by Frank Sinatra. Its lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed in 1967 by Claude François and Jacques Revaux, with lyrics by Claude François and Gilles Thibault. Anka's English lyrics are unrelated to the...
" Sung by Spike as he leaves Sunnydale. Spike's embrace of punk music, as opposed to quieter, more emotive music (Angel later shows an affinity for Barry ManilowBarry ManilowBarry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
as well as the "Rat PackRat PackThe Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, after Bogart's death, that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean...
" itself, led by Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, who performed the most famous version of "My Way") is indicative of his personality as the foil to brooding intellectuals like Angel, as well as his former human self.
- Spike gloomily sings "My WayMy Way (song)"My Way" is a song popularized by Frank Sinatra. Its lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed in 1967 by Claude François and Jacques Revaux, with lyrics by Claude François and Gilles Thibault. Anka's English lyrics are unrelated to the...
", originally performed by Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
as he wanders around his old haunts. When he is "back to his old self," he sings the wild Sid Vicious version. In Season Five of Angel, eye witnesses of an ensouled Spike's bravery will report that he asked them if they want to listen to Sex PistolsSex PistolsThe Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
records after saving them.
- The melancholic acoustic guitar piece 'Loneliness of Six' by George Doering is played during the penultimate scene of the episode
Charisma Carpenter's scar
Carpenter has a large scar on her belly from a childhood accident. At five years old, playing around a swimming pool that was still under construction, she fell onto a piece of rebar. With the events of this episode, her character gains an identical injury with the same method.Angel's book
- The book Angel is seen reading is La NauséeNausea (book)Nausea is an epistolary novel by the existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, which was published in 1938 and written while he was teaching at the lycée of Le Havre...
(Nausea) by Jean-Paul SartreJean-Paul SartreJean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
; its main theme is the nature of existential angstExistentialismExistentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
, a quality often associated with Angel. The fact that the cover features the original French title suggests Angel is proficient enough with French to read the book in its original language. La Nausée has a great deal of personal significance for Joss Whedon. In his commentary for the FireflyFirefly (TV series)Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
episode "Objects in SpaceObjects in Space"Objects in Space" is the 14th episode and series finale of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Serenity encounters Jubal Early, a ruthless professional bounty hunter who will stop at nothing to retrieve River...
," Whedon says that when he first began to think about the meaning of life a friend gave him La Nausée, which defined his interpretation of existence.
Continuity
- Buffy's last words to Angel ("Tell me you don't love me") are identical to the script she and Angel were forced to re-enact when possessed by the ghosts of a murder-suicide couple in the episode "I Only Have Eyes for You".
- Cordelia asks "who would ever want to return to Sunnydale". After season three, Cordelia leaves and never returns to Sunnydale.
- Spike's arrival in Sunnydale in the opening is a near-perfect recreation of his arrival in "School HardSchool Hard"School Hard" is episode three of season two of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The story for the episode was conceived by series creator and executive producer Joss Whedon and co-executive producer David Greenwalt, with Greenwalt penning the teleplay. It was directed by John T....
" right up until he rams his car into the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign. - The advert would have to take place on the next evening after "Amends". However, it is clearly not part of Buffyverse canonBuffyverse canonThe Buffyverse canon consists of materials that are thought to be genuine and those events, characters, settings, etc., that are considered to have inarguable existence within the fictional universe established by the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
; both the narrator and Buffy break the Fourth wallFourth wallThe fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
.
Arc significance
- Spike makes his sole appearance this season before returning as a permanent regular in Season 4. He is still trying to recapture Drusilla's heart and resists the temptation to kill Willow in order to achieve it; he later reveals to WillowThe InitiativeThe Initiative is a fictional secret government organization in the television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.-Origins:...
the extent of the bloodlust that he felt for her at this point. - Joyce amiably hosts Spike in her house for the first time. This pattern will repeat several times later in the series.
- Buffy recognizes for the first time that her relationship with Angel is doomed.
- Xander and Willow's indiscretion has a major impact on their respective relationships.
- This episode marks an early example of Willow automatically turning to magic to solve human problems and make her own life easier; as her powers grow stronger, so does her impulse to use magic as a catch-all problem solver and to manipulate human emotions. Eventually (Season Six), it becomes an addiction and has drastic implications for her life.
- This episode marks the first time that Willow uncomfortably tries to comfort a highly distraught Spike. This dynamic will return in the Season Four episode "The InitiativeThe InitiativeThe Initiative is a fictional secret government organization in the television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.-Origins:...
," when Spike tries to attack Willow in her dorm room but is painfully hindered by his newly-implanted chip. - Oz recognizes Willow's scent. This is also significant in "New Moon Rising" when he smells her scent on TaraTara MaclayTara Maclay is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed by Amber Benson from the fourth to the sixth season until the character's death. Tara is a shy young woman with magical talents who falls in love...
. - Spike's famous "Love's bitch" speech to Buffy and Angel, also can be seen to accurately describe Buffy and Spike's relationship in season six.
- This is the final episode with Xander & Cordelia in a relationship. Their relationship remains strained until the prom.
- It becomes apparent that Faith is no longer part of the gang and is not seen again for several episodes.