Intervention

Intervention
Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by Michael Gershner

Original Airdate: April 24, 2001

Plot: Buffy and Giles go out into the desert for training and for Buffy to go on a vision quest for Slayers, because she fears she is losing the ability to love. Meanwhile, now that Glory has narrowed down her search for the Key, she targets Buffy's friends to determine who the Key might be. Spike's Buffy-bot finally arrives, leading Glory's minions to assume he is the Key....

Review

Warning: If you're thinking that reading SPOILERS for the latest episode of Buffy might be a bad idea, I will intervene and strongly suggest you turn back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead for "Intervention."

In short: Not bad.

After the heavy nature of the past two new episodes of Buffy, I've got to admit a large part of me was yearning for a lighter episode. And, over the years, I've learned that Jane Espenson is usually the writer the Buffy staff turns to when they want a "lighter" episode. Not that I want to say there weren't some heavy issues raised by this episode. It's just that there was a bit more of a comedic tone to the episode that was a refreshing change of pace.

It certainly wasn't the absolute laugh riot that "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" was. But, then again, it didn't need to be. I think to have an episode that was played entirely for laughs just two episodes after the death of Joyce would have been oddly out of place. But to have an episode like "Intervention" that had some nice situations out of which there could be some nicely drawn humor--based on the characters we've come to know and love over the past five years. So, while I'm not as over the moon with the "Intervention" as I was with "The Body" or "Forever" but there was enough here to keep my interest and to be a solid episode of Buffy.

One thing I liked a lot about the episode was there was a sense of balance between the two plotlines. This may have been that both of the plots here were interesting enough to really grab onto me and hold my attention. The other thing, I think was how nicely Jane Espenson was able to dove-tail them into one another and have it all make some reasonable amount of sense.

First of all, I want to deal with the more "serious" of the two plots--namely, Buffy going out into the desert on her, for lack of a better term, vision-quest. At first, when Buffy was discussing her wanting to take a step back from being the Slayer, a part of me inwardly groaned. We've seen a lot of Buffy's rebelling against her life as the Chosen One in the first four seasons and I really like the direction the show has gone this year with Buffy accepting and embracing her role as the Chosen One. When the idea was first brought up, I hoped it wouldn't be an episode that saw Buffy rebelling against her role, yet again. Instead, the plot took a nice turn. We saw Buffy being a bit more introspective--which I think is a natural outgrowth of the death of her mom. To see Buffy question whether or not anyone in her life knew she cared for them was nicely done and to see her feel as though she was shutting down and driving those she loved away by embracing her role as the Slayer was certainly nicely done.

I like the fact that Buffy was willing to ask these questions--and then have the fortitude to go out and try and find some answers to them. It's good that the Slayer manual has a ritual that allows Slayers do this, I guess.

But, seriously, the moments in the desert were nicely done. I liked the conversation between Buffy and the First Slayer, even if it was a bit cryptic. I have a feeling that once again Joss and company are saying, "Here's all the pieces to figure out the end of the season, but we're not going to give you the context yet." Indeed, the First Slayers' assertation that Buffy is full of love but backs away from it because it is too bright is interesting. That may come into play now that Glory knows the Key is human and when she eventually finds out that the Key is Dawn. (I don't think I'm spoiling too much by making that assumption). Also, the second idea that Buffy's gift is death was interesting. I think Buffy looked at on a literal level--she kills demons, but she hates her mother had to be claimed by death. I have a feeling that death being Buffy's gift is something more than that--and that she's missing the deeper meaning. Does this mean that at some point Buffy will be forced to sacrifice herself in order to save her friends or the world? Again, I'm not really sure here, but I have a feeling Joss is setting us up for something.

As for what it is, I guess we've got four episodes left this season to find out.

That part of the plotline intrigued me a great deal.

It was the other plotline that had me absolutely laughing at loud at times.

Seeing Spike create his own version of Buffy for his purposes was nicely done. And I think it gives us an interesting perspective into Spike. Earlier this year, we got to see Spike before he turned--and we saw him as a meek, writer who was often rejected by the women he loved. Indeed, that was a stark contrast to the bad-boy Spike that we've seen on the show, who seems to operate under the same theory that Faith had--"See, want, take." Indeed, if you look at this record, this plays out a good deal in how he interacts with his various women. He had Druscilla for a while, but once Angelus came back, he had to take radical steps to take her back. Then he had Harmony who he saw, wanted and took. Now whether it was a good idea turn Harmony to the vampire side, is one that I'm not going to get into here. Long-time readers of my reviews know how I feel about Harmony and I'll leave it at that.

But, now for the first time in a while, Spike has set his sights on a woman that he can't simply "See, Want, Take." And so, in order to deal with that he's gone in a different direction. At first, he had Harmony play-act at being the Slayer and now he's created his own robotic Buffy on the off-chance that this will fulfill his wishes. And certainly, while it fulfills Spike's desires of the flesh, it may leave him a bit longing in other departments. Indeed, the look on Spike's face when the Buffy-bot said, "Shall I restart this program?" said it all. The Buffy-bot looks like Buffy, it sounds like Buffy, but it's NOT Buffy. And it's really Buffy--the whole package--that Spike wants. Not a replica that will bow to his every whim.

And I think we saw that a realization have an impact on Spike in the episode. It certainly came into play when he was captured by Glory.

Now, I've got to something here about Glory and her minions--this woman seriously needs to place a want-ad for better help.

But, back to Spike.

Seeing Spike tortured as he was and his refusal to give up any information on Dawn as the Key was nicely done. In some ways, Spike's torture at the hands of Glory had overtones of Giles' torture at the hands of Angel back in "The Becoming." It certainly brings some interesting overtones to the scenes of Spike on the swing-set with Giles from last years' "Restless."

But while Spike's suffering at Glory's hands was harsh, there were some funny bits thrown in. Having Spike give up the name of the Key--as Bob Barker was just the funniest part of the show. I loved hearing the minions spout on about how they would quickly go and get Bob Barker and bring him to Glory. I literally missed some dialogue after that I was laughing so hard.

So, all of that worked. As did the humor for having another Buffy running around.

Of course, any time you've got a double, there are some good chances for some humor. And believe me, the humor was there. There were several just laugh-out-loud segments--most memorable Xander's reactions to seeing the Buffy-bot straddling Spike in the cemetery. And they all worked. I found it interesting to get to see the Buffy-bot's point of view shows, where there were two major folders devoted to Spike. All of that was an absolute riot and the light touch that the episode needed.

Sarah Michelle Gellar once again deserves a lot of credit for bringing to life two variations of Buffy. The first was the one we've known and loved since day one. And the second, being the Buffy-bot. Gellar capture just the right amount of cheerleader/flight-attendant dustiness with enough of regular Buffy to be the Buffy-bot. Again, I say this woman needs an Emmy nomination. If not for here, then for "The Body."

Well, that about wraps it up for now, except a few small things...

--I loved the Buffy-bot asking Anya how the money was and Anya's reaction.

--Dawn's stealing of Anya's earrings. Is this important or is it some way of Dawn's rebelling without a strong parental figure around?

--Willow and Tara--for the first time, I've detected a bit more tension. I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like there is some lingering shadow of Willow's leading Dawn to the spell-book last week. I wonder if this will lead to some type of argument or if there was one that occurred off screen.

--James Marsters deserves a lot of credit as well this week. Once again, he did a great job--from the physical abuse Spike took to his interaction with the Buffy-bot.

--The last scene was nicely done. I had guessed it might not be the Buffy-bot, but it was nice to have that little twist. And to also see Spike show how far he's come as a character this year.

Anyway, all-in-all, "Intervention" was a nice chance of pace. I have a feeling it may be the eye of the storm between the events of Joyce dying and the final run of episodes.

My rating: 7.5 (out of 10.0)

Next up: Everyone's looking for the Key.....