Season Six

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Regular cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendan, Emma Caulfield, Michelle Trachtenberg, James Marsters, Alyson Hannigan

Episode 19 regular cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendan, Emma Caulfield, Michelle Trachtenberg, Amber Benson, James Marsters, Alyson Hannigan

 

Buffy is resurrected and adulthood begins. Unfortunately, it’s not an easy road. Giles returns to England. Buffy ends up in a dead-end job and an unhealthy relationship, while also trying to deal with Dawn’s issues. Xander’s relationship falls apart. Willow ends up abusing her magical powers. This season’s big bad is a joke, until they’re not, and it won’t be Buffy who ends up saving the day. Adulthood is no easy road for the Scoobies to navigate.

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“Bargaining, Part One” & "Bargaining, Part Two"

 

Episode 1 & 2 of Season 6

 

“She’s counting on us, on me. I can’t leave her there anymore.”

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Original US airdate: October 2nd, 2001

Rewatched: April 7th, 2023

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• Writer ("Part One"): Marti Noxon

• Writer ("Part Two"): David Fury 

• Director: David Grossman

• Guests: Anthony Stewart Head, Franc Ross, Amber Benson

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This is the first episode of Buffy shown on UPN. It starts with a “Previously on” that goes back to season 1, Anthony Stewart Head is no longer in the main cast, and the credits end with a new power picture. This two-part episode sets the tone for the rest of the season. Buffy may be back, but it’s not a quick fix to all the problems in Sunnydale or the life of the Scoobies.

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Tara and Willow have moved in with Dawn and the Buffy Bot, who was fixed after the fight with Glory. The Scoobies, although they buried Buffy with a headstone, have managed to keep her death a secret, seemingly both to keep Dawn with them and to keep evil at bay. Willow has also taken on a leadership role with the Scoobies, stepping up to fill Buffy’s shoes. However, she is not fully honest with the gang about the spell she plans to perform to get Buffy back, hiding the deer she has to kill and how she will be tested. While the Scoobies assume Buffy is in hell, something that will later prove to be untrue, and therefore in need of saving, and while Buffy’s mystical death allows the chance to bring her back, unlike a natural death, this spell and Willow’s lack of open communication mark a turning point, as underlined by this exchange:

Xander: It feels wrong.

Tara: It is wrong. It’s against all the laws of nature and practically impossible to do, but it’s what we agreed to. If you guys are changing your minds…

Willow: Nobody’s changing their minds. Period. … Xander, I can do this, I promise, but not without you.

Anya: Should we maybe tell Giles?

Willow thinks that saving Buffy is for Buffy’s sake, but it’s really for her own, to test her powers, to see how strong she is and what she can do. She thinks she can use dark magic and come away from it. The end of this season will show she can’t. Besides what Willow hides from the Scoobies, it’s also telling they (and Willow) refuse to tell Giles (and Dawn or Spike). Later, when the spell is interrupted and the Scoobies think that it may not have worked, Tara wonders whether “…we really were in over our heads, invoking forces that we have to right to. Maybe the fates sent down all that destruction on us to stop us.”

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Xander and Anya seem to be doing okay, but have not yet announced their engagement. Xander is putting it off until a better time (perhaps indicating cold feet) and Anya is impatient, thinking the good news will help the Scoobies. I have to admit, I side with Anya on this. Buffy’s been gone for a summer, time enough to mourn intensely and to start to return to some semblance to normalcy. It’s time to rejoice in good news despite their loss. Not wait until everything is perfect.

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Giles is leaving. He’s been trying to be the Buffy Bot’s Watcher and is slowly realizing he can’t do that. He’s also feeling guilty. His job is done, since he got Buffy killed, or so he feels. Without her, he doesn’t see a reason to stay. He’s been planning to leave all summer and has put it off repeatedly (much to Anya’s annoyance, as she’d like to finally start managing the Magic Box). He finally leaves a note and heads to the airport, but the Scoobies come to say goodbye at the gate. He will return when he hears the news about Buffy, but will never permanently live in Sunnydale again. His removal from the main cast is a sign to the fans that his leaving is real this time.

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Spike is stepping up to help with Dawn. He is also feeling his own guilt. He let Buffy down by not saving Dawn and he’s not going to do that again. In this episode, he babysits Dawn and keeps her safe when demons attack Sunnydale, getting himself a motorcycle (that he stole from the demons) in the process.

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Dawn is perhaps the most heartbreaking. When she curls up with the Buffy Bot at night, it’s clear she has issues. She’s lost her mother and her sister, and Giles is planning on leaving, too. Her father seems to be in contact again (it’s mentioned that he’s planning on calling), but he still seems to be more absent than there for her. While many fans find Dawn annoying (and she can be a bit), it’s interesting to note how much she’s had to deal with at a young age in terms of death, but also in terms of her own identity (she knows she’s not real). It’s a tall order for anyone to get through.

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Then there’s Buffy. The night Willow does the spell to bring Buffy back, biker demons attack Sunnydale. They end up interrupting the spell and Xander, Willow, Anya and Tara take refuge in the woods. They assume the spell has gone wrong, but it hasn’t. Buffy is back, but she’s still in her grave. She breaks through her coffin and crawls out, much like the vampires she slays, and she is alone and confused. The demons have been looting and destroying the town, so it seems to be a hellscape Buffy walks through as she tries to figure out where she is. She also sees the demons destroy the Buffy Bot (this time for good), something she also can’t quite grasp (she seems to feel like she’s watching them kill her). Eventually, in the chaos, the Scoobies run into Buffy. When the demons run into them, Buffy eventually helps fight them before running off again. It is Dawn who ends up finding her at Glory’s tower and the scene that plays out is similar to the end of season 5, but this time, Buffy asks whether this is hell and Dawn implores Buffy to live for her (rather than Buffy imploring Dawn to live). When the tower starts to fall and nearly kills Dawn, Buffy again swings into action and saves them.  Buffy’s has returned and she’s sort of herself, but it’s also clear that it will take time for her to get used to this world.

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At the start of season 6, no one is doing okay in Sunnydale.

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One final note: Although Buffy has died, no new Slayer seems to have been called. In season 7, Buffy will mention that her death will lead to a new Slayer being called, it may be that only Faith’s death will (when Buffy died in season 1, Kendra was called and Kendra’s death called Faith, indicating this line is active). Another theory is that another Slayer was called this time, but she’s somewhere so remote, she’s not really in contact with much evil, or the Council. And in season 7,  the First doesn’t want to deal with her until they’ve dealt with Buffy and Faith.

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“After Life"

 

Episode 3 of Season 6

 

“...I think I was in heaven.”

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Original US airdate: October 9th, 2001

Rewatched: April 14th, 2023

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• Writer: Jane Espenson

• Director: David Solomon

• Guests: Amber Benson

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Consequences and the lack of communication among the Scoobies are the focus in this episode. Dawn and Spike come out the best in this episode, taking Buffy as she is (and giving her space), but also expressing their feelings. Both are incredibly happy to have Buffy back. Spike is also able to express is guilt over Buffy’s death:

Spike: I do remember what I said. The promise, to protect her. If I’d’ve done that, even if I didn’t make it, you wouldn’t’ve had to jump. But I want you to know I did save you. Not when it counted, of course, but after that. Every night after that. … Every night I save you.

Dawn and Spike have been waiting 147 days to have their hearts healed.

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Willow and Xander, and to some extent Anya and Tara, have more expectations of Buffy. They crowd her and want her to be able to be herself right away; to tell them what she went through and how great it is to be back. In particular Willow, in a conversation with Tara, expresses this desire, and shows how deep down, she brought Buffy back for her own benefit, so she could prove how strong she was and that she was a hero, too:

Willow: Tara, if things did go right, wouldn’t you think she’d be happier? Like wouldn’t you think she’d be so happy that we brought her out?

Tara: I’m sure she is. You thought she’d say thanks. Be more grateful.

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Then there’s Buffy, who isn’t really saying much until she forces herself to say thanks to Willow and the Scoobies, but then she goes outside and runs into Spike, and she finally tells him the truth. Unlike the Scoobies thought, she wasn’t in hell, but in heaven. Buffy feels she can’t tell them that, and tells Spike to keep it a secret, just as Willow can’t really tell Buffy why she brought her back. This is not a good sign.

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Finally, there are the consequences. Spike warns that magic always has consequences. This week’s monster is one of those, something that hitched a ride with Buffy into this dimension. It is not a huge threat to the Scoobies and Buffy, but it shows that no action is without consequences and perhaps there are more consequences to come. In the same exchange as the earlier quote from Willow and Tara, the two also discuss their worries about the spell, and Willow says she’s not unworried. “What happened was intense. That’s gonna change you.” Just how much it will impact the Scoobies remains to be seen.

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“Flooded"

 

Episode 4 of Season 6

 

“Did you know this places was flooded?”

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Original US airdate: October 16th, 2001

Rewatched: April 21st, 2023

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• Writer: Jane Espenson & Douglas Petrie

• Director: Douglas Petrie

• Guests: Anthony Stewart Head, Danny Strong, Adam Busch, Tom Lenk, Todd Stashwick, Amber Benson

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This episode explores one of the main themes of season 6, the struggles of adulthood juxtaposed with those who refuse to grow up.

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Buffy, Xander and Willow are struggling with their adult roles in different ways. Xander has been the most adult for some time. He has a job, a nice apartment and a car. He’s even engaged. But his relationship with Anya is his struggle. Perhaps the thought of getting married scares him since his own home life was not great. He’s still refusing to tell everyone they’re engaged. He’s hesitant to become a husband and Anya is frustrated.

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For Buffy, being dead wasn’t a frugal time for her. She’s back and she’s broke. Her basement is flooded and she doesn’t have the money to fix the problem. Bills are piling up and she’s not really ready to deal with it. When Angel calls asking to meet her, she dumps all her problems on Giles (who is back from England for a few episodes) and leaves. She’s not ready to deal (and who can blame her).

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Willow’s issue is power. She has strong magic and perhaps because she was not popular or because she’s watched Buffy be powerful for so long, she isn’t ready to reign her power in (later this season, her use of magic will be equated to an addiction, a somewhat specious analogy, since really, what Willow craves is the power her magic can give her, as we see in this episode). She performed strong magic to get Buffy back with little thought to the consequences and in part merely because she could, and while Giles is glad Buffy is back, he is angry at Willow. But Willow is sure of herself and not ready to listen to Giles.    

Giles: Do you have nay idea what you’ve done? The forces you’ve harnessed? The lines you’ve crossed?

Willow: I thought you’d be impressed or something. […] I did what I had to do. I did what nobody else could do.

Giles: Oh, there are others in the world who can do what you did, you just don’t want to meet them.

Willow: Well, no, probably not, but well, they’re the bad guys. I’m not a bad guy. I brought Buffy back into this world and maybe the word you should be looking for is congratulations. […]

Giles: The magics you channeled are more ferocious and primal than anything you can hope to understand and you are lucky to be alive, you rank, arrogant amateur.

Willow: You’re right. The magics I used are very powerful. I’m powerful, and maybe it’s not such a good idea for you to piss me off.

Willow’s defensiveness does not bode well and this season will show that Willow can become the bad guy, one consequence of her use of magic to bring Buffy back. Season 7 will show another consequence.

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While the Scoobies are struggling, and sometimes failing, to be adults, at least they’re trying. We meet the Trio in this episode, the sort-of big bads of season 6. Warren is back, and so is Jonathan, joined by Warren, Tucker’s brother. They are gearing up to be comic-book style nemeses of Buffy’s, complete with a lair, gadgets and action figures. They are in some ways hilarious, with a whiteboard of goals including girls and jetpacks, but are also getting into some real mayhem, summoning a demon to rob a bank and then sending him to Buffy’s house. Growing up is hard and the Trio are not even trying.

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