“First Date"

 

Episode 14 of Season 7

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“You started down a road with that action. You have to keep going.”

 

Original US airdate: February 11th, 2003

Rewatched: February 25th, 2024

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• Writer: Jane Espenson

• Director: David Grossman

• Guests: Anthony Stewart Head, Ashanti, Danny Strong, Tom Lenk, Iyari Limon, Sarah Hagan, Kristy Wu, K.D. Aubert, D.B. Woodside

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The First has returned, and Buffy and Xander have first dates. It’s another action-packed episode.

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On the First front, it comes to Andrew in the guise of Jonathan (while Andrew is setting up the new microwave, since the last one died during “Conversations with Dead People”) and tries to get Andrew to kill the Potential Slayers. Instead, Andrew finally stands up to the First and for himself. He tells the Scoobies, who then try to get a recording of the First in a second encounter with Andrew. It’s not a huge success, but they learn that it’s not yet Spike’s time, which is something. It is, however, a great step in the right direction for Andrew. The First tries to convince Andrew that he’ll never be part of the Scoobies, and that Buffy requesting penance from him is more than she requests of others. This, however, does not really seem to be true. Andrew fully embracing good in this episode sets him on the path he needs to be on to be good, and that is what Buffy wants from those on her side. Before Andrew was set on this path, she had reason to distrust him. The First also tries to convince Andrew that he has to finish going down the path of evil since his killing of Jonathan is what started it all. Andrew proves the First wrong in this episode. He can choose to be good.

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Xander has a first date with a woman he meets at the hardware store. It turns out she’s a demon and wants to use his blood to open the seal and let out another Turok-Han. Her plan is foiled by Buffy. Buffy also has a first date (maybe?) with Principal Wood. The episode starts with Buffy finally discussing the odd vibe she’s been getting from him. She tries to search his office, but is interrupted. Wood asks her out. She’s a bit unclear if it’s a work meeting, a date, or a chance for him to try and kill her. She tries to dress for all eventualities, but the first blouse she chooses has a stain. Anya can’t get it out, finally coming to the conclusion that it might not be blood. On the way to the restaurant, which is oddly in a dark alley (how can this be good in Sunnydale?), they are ambushed by five vampires. Buffy takes out three and Wood two. While Buffy thought the attack was something Wood planned, seeing him fight with her proves her wrong. At the restaurant, she finds out Wood is the son of a Slayer. The end of the episode will show us he is Nikki Wood’s son, who was killed by Spike.

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Spike interrupts the date to get Buffy to save Xander and the three of them go together. In the fight, Wood discovers Spike is a vampire. Later, the First as his mother tells him Spike killed her. While Wood told Buffy he was over avenging his mother, his reaction to the First’s information indicates this may not be the case. Either way, it’s a bit tense all around. At the end of the episode, prompted by the First telling Andrew it’s not Spike's time and by Buffy moving on and having a date, Spike suggests he leave Sunnydale. Buffy tells him to stay. She’s not ready for Spike not to be there. So, no one has a great date, but life is moving on in Sunnydale.

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The final story line involves Giles. He has returned from China with Cho-Ahn, who is used as a bit of comic relief in this episode, although the stereotypical portrayal is somewhat problematic. Giles left Sunnydale in season 6 so Buffy could be an adult without him. This did not go so well, but season 7 Buffy seems to be on top of things. She is making decisions. And Giles is not happy. He is upset she had Spike’s chip removed and can’t see why she would do it. He’s also upset that the Scoobies are having fun and games and not taking the First seriously. While it is important to take the threat seriously, Giles’s stance that there should be no fun and games is not great. Later in this season, when Buffy is taking everything seriously, it will lead to her being kicked out of the Scooby gang and her house.

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So, the First is back and things are tense in Sunnydale. It’s another season 7 episode, marching towards the great, final showdown.

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“Get It Done"

 

Episode 15 of Season 7

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“This is how it was then. How it must be now.”

 

Original US airdate: February 18th, 2003

Rewatched: March 3rd, 2024

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• Writer: Douglas Petrie

• Director: Douglas Petrie

• Guests: Tom Lenk, Iyari Limon, Clara Bryant, Sarah Hagan, Indigo, Kristy Wu, Lalaine, D.B. Woodside

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The final showdown between good and evil in Sunnydale is picking up the pace. More (nameless) Slayers have arrived in Sunnydale and Buffy, with the help of the Scoobies and Kennedy, is working on training them. Things take a bit of a turn for the worse when Chloe commits suicide and Buffy has a dream in which the First Slayer tells her it’s not enough. Buffy is feeling the pressure and is starting to pull away from her friends. Instead of a rousing motivational speech, Buffy gives an “everyone-sucks-but-me speech”, as Anya later dubs it. Buffy calls Spike out for his lack of violence and Willow for her lack of magic, among others. Buffy is scared and frustrated, and she takes it out on those closest to her, pointing out their weaknesses. It is not her greatest moment.

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Robin Wood brings Buffy an emergency bag that belonged to his mother (or rather, to the Slayers). Buffy and the Scoobies find shadow puppets in it. They set them in motion, with Dawn reading from a book written in ancient Sumerian (she’s becoming very accomplished). It opens a portal, which Buffy jumps through before putting in much thought. In her place, a demon appears. With Buffy gone, chaos ensues. It is Dawn who takes charge and gets everyone on track to find a solution. Spike goes out to find the demon so it can be sent back, making a stop to find his duster. He’s ready to be Spike again. Willow is willing to use magic to try to open a portal. Although Buffy’s words helped create a wedge between her and her friends, in this moment, they are helping everyone find their way back to themselves. As harsh as her speech was, perhaps some things did need to be said. Although for Willow, it ends up also hurting her budding relationship with Kennedy when she uses Kennedy’s energy for the spell without her consent.

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Buffy, in the meantime, is in the desert, where she has met the First Slayer several times. This time, it’s not the Slayer, but three men who await her. Although Buffy assumed they would help her in the form of wisdom or information, she is very wrong. However, they do show her the origins of her powers. These are the men who made the First Slayer, by chaining her up and infusing her with the energy of a demon. They want to do this with Buffy, giving her more strength, but also making her less human. Buffy is not happy with what they have to show her. The men try to convince Buffy to accept what they have to offer based on history and tradition, and on their knowledge of what’s to come, but Buffy refuses, telling them “…you don’t understand. You violated that girl. Made her kill for you because you’re weak. You’re pathetic and you obviously have nothing to show me.” Buffy rejects their offer of demon essence. But they do give her a final vision of the Hellmouth full of Turok-Hans waiting to get out.

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The mystery of the Slayers’ origins is finally solved, and we learn that Buffy indeed may not be fully human and her strength is indeed rooted in darkness. However, Buffy is not willing to lose more of her humanity and light. And so, without another solution, she returns to Sunnydale.

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“Storyteller"

 

Episode 16 of Season 7

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“What I do is too important to show the world.”

 

Original US airdate: February 25th, 2003

Rewatched: March 10th, 2024

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• Writer: Jane Espenson

• Director: Marita Grabiak

• Guests: Danny Strong, Adam Busch, Tom Lenk, Iyari Limon, Sarah Hagan, Indigo, D.B. Woodside

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In this episode, Andrew is attempting to make a video documentary of events in Sunnydale. He is being a bit annoying about it, and Buffy seems particularly frustrated by it, maybe because she is still preoccupied with her vision from last episode, which she tells the others about in this episode.

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First, things on top of the Hellmouth are bad. Everything that Buffy faced in high school is happening all at once: kids turning invisible, students exploding, students rioting. The open seal in the basement is the issue, and it needs to be closed. When Robin and Buffy investigate (and also run into the pig Andrew failed to kill), they find it uncovered again. Buffy and the Scoobies confront Andrew, trying to find out information about the seal since Andrew opened it. He is able to tell them what happened in Mexico, and the gang finally gets the knife Andrew used to kill Jonathan. They are able to use it to find out more about the seal, and Buffy, Andrew, Robin and Spike head to the school to see if they can close the seal.

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The school is a war zone and Robin and Spike stay in the halls to keep the door to the basement free. While they fight the good fight together, it is clear Robin is also contemplating killing Spike. The opportunity doesn’t present itself, however. Buffy and Andrew go into the basement. On the way there, Andrew tells several different stories about how he killed Jonathan, each on tailored to leave him without blame. Once at the seal, Buffy must fight off some students who are in the process of becoming Bringers. Then, she confronts Andrew. She tells him to stop telling stories, to stop using stories to avoid taking responsibility. She also admits to Andrew that she’s been making everything up. “This isn’t some story where good triumphs because good triumphs. Good people are going to die. Girls. Maybe me. Probably you.” She then tells Andrew she’s going to kill him. That his death will close the seal. “When your blood pours out, it might save the world. What do you think about that? Does it buy it all back? Are you redeemed?” Andrew admits that his death would not make everything right. In tears, he finally admits that he killed Jonathan.

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It turns out Buffy doesn’t need Andrew’s blood, just his tears. The seal is closed. And Andrew is finally fully on the road to being good. He had free will when he decided to join the Trio and to kill Jonathan. He needed to accept it guilt to be able to be a good guy, and this episode (in addition to his first step in "First Date") sets him on that road.

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One final point about this episode. It’s a year since Xander left Anya at the altar, and they are finally able to make some peace. They sleep together, which allows Anya to find closure. Xander perhaps is hoping for more, but is able to accept Anya’s decision that this is the end of their relationship.

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“Lies My Parents Told Me"

 

Episode 17 of Season 7

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“I think you've taught me everything I need to know.”

 

Original US airdate: March 25th, 2003

Rewatched: April 7th, 2024

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• Writer: David Fury & Drew Goddard

• Director: David Fury

• Guests: Anthony Stewart Head, Tom Lenk, Iyari Limon, Indigo, Caroline Lagerfelt, K.D. Aubert, Juliet Landau, D.B. Woodside

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This episode is about killing parents, figuratively and literally. It focuses on Buffy and Giles, Spike and his mother, and Robin and his mother.

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For Buffy and Giles, the main issue is whether Buffy is an adult Slayer, able to make decisions for the good of the world, or does she still need Giles to guide her. In this episode, Buffy and Giles have different views on the answer. Giles keeps Buffy busy with a training session in the cemetery while Robin sets out to kill Spike. During the training session, Giles reminds Buffy that leading means making hard decisions and that he still has lessons to impart on Buffy. He tells her “It’s time to stop playing the role of general and start being one. This is the way wars are won.” Buffy figures out Giles is stalling her and cuts the lesson short, leaving to save Spike. At the end of the episode, Giles tells her “What I told you is still true. You need to learn.” Buffy responds by saying “No. I think you’ve taught me everything I need to know.” She then closes her bedroom door on Giles. This is a turning point in Buffy’s relationship with Giles. He left in season 6 so she could learn to be a Slayer without him. He is now frustrated he can’t just return their relationship to what it was. But Buffy has grown. She doesn’t need Giles like she used to.

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With Spike and his mother, we learn more about the role she played in his life. As a human, William was very attached to his mother. So attached that after Dru sired him, he didn’t return home to kill his mother (like Angel), rather he returned home to turn her and stay with her forever. It didn’t really go as planned. His vampire mother was not his loving human mother. In fact, she was more like Angel as a vampire (raising the question of why Dru and Spike are so different as vampires from Darla, Angel, and Spike’s mother; why did they retain more humanity?). She says some very nasty things to her son, comes on to her son, and then he stakes her, unable to accept the vampire his mother has become. This flashback to his past is, however, able to help him deal with the trigger the first put in his head. The song that has been triggering him is a folk song his mother sang to him. The trigger relied on Spike’s guilt for killing his mother and he is able to work through it. In the end, Spike tried to save his mother from death and only when realizing what he had created did he kill her (which is very different to Angel killing his mother, for example).

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Finally, we learn more about Spike killing Nikki, Robin’s mother. She put slaying above everything else, telling her son “The mission is what matters.” In 1977 New York, she first faced Spike in a park, but he decided to cut their fight short and take it up another day. He fought her again in the subway, killing her. Robin was present for both fights. His anger about his mother’s death is tied to his inability to help her, and his feelings that she put slaying above him, which are both true on the surface, but are also much more complicated. Spike, free of his trigger, beats Robin up but leaves him alive. I’m not entirely sure if Robin gets his closure in this episode, but he does stay in Sunnydale until the end and is willing to work with Spike and Buffy. Buffy finds a beaten Robin and a Spike not in need of saving, but does tell Robin not to kill Spike, repeating Nikki’s words to him (I like the symmetry but do think it’s out of character for Buffy, who never did see slaying as a mission really).

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Things are tense in Sunnydale. In other news, Willow gets a call at the beginning of the episode and leaves town. On Angel, due to episodes being aired off their original schedule, fans have already seen Willow arrive, give Angel his soul back and leave with Faith. Another Slayer is on her way to Sunnydale.