Tabula Rasa (Buffy episode)
Encyclopedia
"Tabula Rasa" is the eighth episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It explores the characters not as they are, but as they could be, after they lose their memory
to a spell gone awry.
confronts Spike about his kitten debt, but Buffy steps in and takes care of the thugs. Willow, Xander, Anya and Tara talk about calling Buffy back from Heaven and their feelings in the aftermath of the truth. Willow suggests fixing the mess with a spell and Tara confronts her about her excessive use of magic. At the threat of losing Tara, a desperate Willow offers to go a month without magic to prove that she is not dependent. Tara asks her to try for a week, but is still not entirely convinced that things will work out between them.
Giles tells Buffy he is leaving for England and Buffy takes the news very badly. He knows she is too dependent on him and he must leave if she is ever going to learn to survive on her own. Without her magic, Willow is late getting ready so Tara and Dawn leave without her. She then uses magic to get dressed quickly and starts another spell by the fireplace that will make Tara and Buffy forget the damages of the spells Willow used on them. In her rush, she accidentally leaves a bag of the Lethe's Bramble (the herb she had been using for forgetting spells) by the fireplace.
The whole gang, including a disguised Spike on the run from the loan shark, gather at the Magic Shop. Giles confesses that he is leaving and Buffy tearfully reveals that she feels deserted by everyone. Willow has a crystal in her pocket that was used with her forgetting spell and it glows brightly in her hand. Back at the Summers' house, a spark from the fireplace sets the entire bag of Lethe's Bramble on fire. This causes the whole gang to fall unconscious. They wake up that evening with no knowledge of who they are. Spike suspects Giles is his father (because they're both British and Giles feels a gut-wrenching disappointment towards him) and Anya assumes she is getting married to Giles (because they jointly own the magic shop and she is wearing an engagement ring). Everyone figures out their names from their ID's and necklaces except Buffy, who names herself "Joan", and Spike, who takes the name "Randy" from the inside of his stolen coat.
Looking for Spike to repay his debt, a pair of vampires attack the shop, frightening the gang. Buffy discovers she has super strength when she stakes one of the vampires and saves Spike. Anya and Giles stay at the magic shop while Buffy and Spike run outside to fight off the vampires. Spike unknowingly assumes his vampire visage to fight off the vampire thugs, which sends Buffy running away in fear.
The rest of the Scoobies retreat to the sewers but encounter more vampires. Anya turns to a random page in a book and reads the incantation there, which causes a bunny to appear and frighten her. Buffy attacks Spike when he catches up with her and informs him that he is a vampire. He is confused, but assumes he is a good vampire because he doesn't want to bite her. The loan shark and his minions attack the two and a fight ensues.
Anya continues to try random spells, which conjures many more bunnies, a dark green cloud inside the shop, a sword-wielding skeleton, and a big beast. Giles and Anya fight while hiding behind the counter and Giles reveals that he found a one-way plane ticket in his pocket for London, assuming he must be abandoning Anya. Anya begs him not to leave her and they kiss passionately. Xander fights with the vampire chasing them in the sewers, finally stakes it, and then accidentally steps on the crystal that fell from Willow's pocket. The breaking of the spell finds Giles and Anya kissing, Willow atop Tara after a fall, and Spike and Buffy deep in mid-action conversation.
Tara and the others realize that Willow used magic, despite her promise. The spell broken, Buffy is momentarily too stunned to duck a few painful hits. Spike finishes off the rest of the vampires and promises to make up his debt to the intimidated loan shark. While Willow cries in the bathroom, Tara packs all of her things into boxes; then, receiving a cold reaction from Dawn, she leaves. Full of grief, Giles takes his plane back to England. Spike finds Buffy at the Bronze, but she turns her face away and he stalks off. She follows him, and they kiss passionately beneath the stairs of the Bronze.
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
to a spell gone awry.
Plot synopsis
Buffy runs into Spike who wants to talk about their kiss. A demon loan sharkLoan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
confronts Spike about his kitten debt, but Buffy steps in and takes care of the thugs. Willow, Xander, Anya and Tara talk about calling Buffy back from Heaven and their feelings in the aftermath of the truth. Willow suggests fixing the mess with a spell and Tara confronts her about her excessive use of magic. At the threat of losing Tara, a desperate Willow offers to go a month without magic to prove that she is not dependent. Tara asks her to try for a week, but is still not entirely convinced that things will work out between them.
Giles tells Buffy he is leaving for England and Buffy takes the news very badly. He knows she is too dependent on him and he must leave if she is ever going to learn to survive on her own. Without her magic, Willow is late getting ready so Tara and Dawn leave without her. She then uses magic to get dressed quickly and starts another spell by the fireplace that will make Tara and Buffy forget the damages of the spells Willow used on them. In her rush, she accidentally leaves a bag of the Lethe's Bramble (the herb she had been using for forgetting spells) by the fireplace.
The whole gang, including a disguised Spike on the run from the loan shark, gather at the Magic Shop. Giles confesses that he is leaving and Buffy tearfully reveals that she feels deserted by everyone. Willow has a crystal in her pocket that was used with her forgetting spell and it glows brightly in her hand. Back at the Summers' house, a spark from the fireplace sets the entire bag of Lethe's Bramble on fire. This causes the whole gang to fall unconscious. They wake up that evening with no knowledge of who they are. Spike suspects Giles is his father (because they're both British and Giles feels a gut-wrenching disappointment towards him) and Anya assumes she is getting married to Giles (because they jointly own the magic shop and she is wearing an engagement ring). Everyone figures out their names from their ID's and necklaces except Buffy, who names herself "Joan", and Spike, who takes the name "Randy" from the inside of his stolen coat.
Looking for Spike to repay his debt, a pair of vampires attack the shop, frightening the gang. Buffy discovers she has super strength when she stakes one of the vampires and saves Spike. Anya and Giles stay at the magic shop while Buffy and Spike run outside to fight off the vampires. Spike unknowingly assumes his vampire visage to fight off the vampire thugs, which sends Buffy running away in fear.
The rest of the Scoobies retreat to the sewers but encounter more vampires. Anya turns to a random page in a book and reads the incantation there, which causes a bunny to appear and frighten her. Buffy attacks Spike when he catches up with her and informs him that he is a vampire. He is confused, but assumes he is a good vampire because he doesn't want to bite her. The loan shark and his minions attack the two and a fight ensues.
Anya continues to try random spells, which conjures many more bunnies, a dark green cloud inside the shop, a sword-wielding skeleton, and a big beast. Giles and Anya fight while hiding behind the counter and Giles reveals that he found a one-way plane ticket in his pocket for London, assuming he must be abandoning Anya. Anya begs him not to leave her and they kiss passionately. Xander fights with the vampire chasing them in the sewers, finally stakes it, and then accidentally steps on the crystal that fell from Willow's pocket. The breaking of the spell finds Giles and Anya kissing, Willow atop Tara after a fall, and Spike and Buffy deep in mid-action conversation.
Tara and the others realize that Willow used magic, despite her promise. The spell broken, Buffy is momentarily too stunned to duck a few painful hits. Spike finishes off the rest of the vampires and promises to make up his debt to the intimidated loan shark. While Willow cries in the bathroom, Tara packs all of her things into boxes; then, receiving a cold reaction from Dawn, she leaves. Full of grief, Giles takes his plane back to England. Spike finds Buffy at the Bronze, but she turns her face away and he stalks off. She follows him, and they kiss passionately beneath the stairs of the Bronze.
Writing
While the Scoobies generally have no memory upon waking up, they do retain certain aspects of their personalities.- Buffy, who does not find any identification card and so calls herself Joan, retains her semi-maternal protectiveness towards Dawn, who finds out her name by looking at her "Dawn"-necklace, even before guessing they may be related.
- Xander is immediately the first to panic and is blatantly attracted to Willow (which she partially rebuffs), and he later guesses that because her jacket has his last name on it, they're in a relationship. The other two romantic couples (Buffy and Spike, Willow and Tara) are drawn to each other despite their memory loss. After Xander's initial panic, Anya also appears to check him out.
- Willow and Tara gradually realize their attraction to each other.
- Spike doesn't realize he's a vampire immediately, and when he does he rationalises that he must be a vampire with a soul; whether this is a hint at his eventual destiny or an ironic spin on his disgust at Angel is unclear. He does, however, maintain an antagonistic relationship with Giles (based on the assumption they are father and son), and much of his colourful vocabulary. He also, not knowing the tweed suit he's wearing isn't his own, assumes his name is Randy Giles, which he balks at ("randy" being British slang for someone who is sexually aroused).
- Anya maintains her phobia of bunnies and love of money, but presumes her engagement ring was given to her by Giles (with whom she co-owns the Magic Box), who in turn later assumes that his one-way plane ticket to England was to get away from her. Also worthy of note is that after she finds this out, she feels "compelled to take some vengeance" which alludes to her days as a vengeance demon and foreshadowing her return later in the season.
Music
- Michelle BranchMichelle BranchMichelle Jacquet DeSevren Branch is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress. During the early 2000s, she released two top-selling albums, The Spirit Room and Hotel Paper, and was subsequently nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2003...
- "Goodbye To You" - The dialogue-less scene at the end is accompanied by a performance in The Bronze by well known singer Branch, one of the most famous musical guests on the series, singing her song "Goodbye To You". The version used on the show was slightly different from the radio version.
Continuity
- Spike's entire rationalization speech for why he's a vampire helping the good guys is an almost direct description of Angel's life and motives.
- In 2007's Angel: After the FallAngel: After the FallAngel: After the Fall is a comic book published by IDW Publishing. Written by Brian Lynch and plotted with Joss Whedon, the series is a canonical continuation of the Angel television series, and follows the events of that show's final televised season...
#3, Brian Lynch reintroduces Loan Shark as the "Lord of Santa Monica." Lynch also jokingly comments that should Joss have major plans for him in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season EightBuffy the Vampire Slayer Season EightBuffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics. The series serves as a canonical continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and follows the events of that show's final televised season. It is produced by Joss Whedon, who wrote the...
, then you are to imagine it is his brother.
Arc significance
- Even with their memories gone, certain things crop up;
- Buffy, even before she realizes shes Dawn's sister, has the instinct to protect her.
- As in Doppelgangland, Willow suspects that's she's gay, even using the same line, "... and I think I'm kinda gay."
- Tara and Willow are attracted to each other.
- Xander is immediately attracted to Willow.
- Xander and Anya fail to sense any mutual connection, foreshadowing their doomed engagement.
- Anya is still afraid of bunnies.
- Although Buffy retains many of her Slayer instincts, she and Spike feel no instinctive animosity towards each other, foreshadowing the significant change in direction of the relationship between the two in that season.
- Upon realizing that he is a vampire and not, like Buffy, a "superhero", Spike remarks that he must be "a good guy, on a mission of redemption.... A vampire with a soulSoulA soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
"...."to help the helpless". This is a reference to AngelAngel (TV series)Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
, of which "helping the helpless" is a catchphrase. Whether or not he ever seeks redemption is handled in Season 5 of AngelAngel (TV series)Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
, but Spike does in fact regain his soul at the end of this season of Buffy.
- Giles leaves Sunnydale until the final showdown with Willow at the end of the season.
- Tara finally leaves Willow, who continues her downward spiral into magic addictionBehavioral addictionBehavioral addiction is a form of addiction which does not rely on drugs or alcohol. Increasingly referred to as process addiction or non-substance-related addiction ) behavioral addiction includes a compulsion to repeatedly engage in an action until said action causes serious negative consequences...
.