After Life

After Life
Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by David Soloman

Original Airdate: October 1, 2001

Plot: The Scooby gang finds out that the spell they used to bring Buffy back had unintended consequences--a hitchhiking demon that is in search of a body. Meanwhile, the gang tries to figure out if they've brought back Buffy or just a shell of the former Slayer.

Review

Warning: If you're just a hitchhiker here and don't want to see SPOILERS for the latest episode of Buffy, "After Life" I strongly suggest you turn back now....

In short: A great episode with a superlative coda.

Last week, I was struck by the strong parallels between the sixth season premiere of Buffy and the fourth-season premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This week, I am struck again by the strong parallels between the second episode aired by both shows.

As you may know, the fourth season of Next Generation started off with the crew resolving the cliffhanger, but the story ended with the impression that there would be emotional and psycholical consequences to the events played out on screen--namely Picard's horror at having been kidnapped, assimilated by and then rescued from the Borg. With the second episode of TNG's fourth's season, we got the classic episode "Family" that took a time out to not only repair the Enterprise but also have Picard question and examine the events that had happened and really begin to deal with them. It was a huge risk for TNG and I'll be honest with you--it payed off with huge rewards. "Family" is one of the better episode from what I feel is really the classic-run of TNG--when the show really fired on all cylinders. (Of course, the series then proceeded to drop the ball because while they dealt with the character conseuqences, they failed to deal with some of the other issues raised at the end of "Best of Both Worlds, Part 2." But that's a different rant for a different group.)

I was struck by how simliar in theme that development was to what we've seen so far on Buffy this year.

In a way, I can see that with the big move to a new network and the desire to draw in new viewers and reward the new network for the big outlay of cash to bring you over might bring up a temptation. It might be the temptation to quickly and easily bring Buffy back and then move on. It would be easy to say--"Yep, we magicked her back, let's get to the slaying and the big-bad for the season." But then I have to remember that we're dealing with a show by Joss Whedon and, as we've all seen in the past, Joss and company never take the easy way out.

Which is why After Life was such a superb episode.

I must admit I'm shocked that I liked it as much as I did. Usually when the name Jane Espenson appears on an episode, I expect a lighter story--one filled with a lot of witty one-liners and humor. After Life was the exact polar opposite of what I've come to expect from Jane--and it showed a huge development of her as a writer. As most of you know, I'm not always her biggest advocate or fan, but I will give credit when credit is due. This script was absolutely and totally brilliant. Jane not only captured the exact mood for the story but she wrote perfect dialogue for every character in the script. Every line that was spoken by the characters was utterly perfect for that character. And while there weren't any really great funny quotes, there were a lot of haunting quotes--especially Buffy's final conversation with Spike, which was one of the most chilling moments of an entirely chilling episode.

And while I know that the writing was absolutely essential to making a chilling episode, I've got to chalk a lot of the chills up to visual style as well. David Soloman's direction was utterly superb. I liked the choices he made in the direction. One of the biggest being the first scene with the ghost-possessed Buffy and hiding her face in shadows. I liked that we couldn't see Buffy but could only hear her--in some of the most significant and emotional dialogue we'd seen her give since she came back from beyond. The other choice I liked was to have the darkest dialogue of the show take place outside in the sunlight for the coda. That was a superb choice and it really helped make me feel at unease as the scene unfolded.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that the idea of a form of evil that jumps from person to person ain't exactly a new plot idea. It's been done umpteen times on Star Trek, they did it on X-Files in season one and we saw it a few months ago on Farscape, but I don't mind it when a writer takes an older concept and does something unique with it. Which is what happened here. Instead of a story that played off everyone descending into mis-trust of everyone else, we got a chance to examine the consequence of Buffy's return.

And while I feel as though this issue has been dealt with, there are so many other issues to deal with that I have a feeling this is far from over.

But back to After Life.

As I said, in virtually every character respect it was utterly perfect.

There were so many great character scenes that to point out the best one is almost impossible.

I will say there were some that just really stood out though.

First, I really liked Dawn's sisterly protection of Buffy. Seeing Dawn take on the role of care provider was a great thing to see. And it was sort of and eerie parallel to how Buffy took care of Dawn in the hours following Joyce's death. I loved seeing Dawn get short with the Scoobies for trying to overwhelm Buffy. I also liked the scenes with Buffy and Dawn as they first came to the Summer's house and Dawn showing her around and explaining why some things had been moved. I've said time and again that I really like the sister relationship between Buffy and Dawn and I feel it's one of the strongest on the show. And it shone through here. It was also nice to see things return a bit to normal at the end with Buffy taking Dawn her lunch.

The second one that interested me a great deal with the interaction between Spike and the rest of the Scooby gang. I liked Spike's outrage at not being included in the secret as well as his warnings that magic always has consquences. Also, his dialogue with Xander about Willow keeping the spell secret was so they could kill Buffy again if it didn't work was shockingly true. And honestly, I think that may be the reason Willow has kept so much from the gang--she knew the dangerous consequences if things went wrong and that she'd have to deal with them. I have a feeling the dialogue between Spike and Xander may become more prophetic as the season goes along.

Another couple of scenes that I like were those between Willow and Tara. I like how the two of them are able to open up to each other. The scene in bed with Willow sharing her fears with Tara worked. Also the scene after Buffy attacked them worked well. I think we saw the fear on Willow's face as the lights first came on that someone had discovered her secret of just how far she'd dabbled in the black arts to bring Buffy back. And we did see some realization of that fact from Tara. But it wasn't only there--it was also in the scene where Tara and Willow cast the spell to solidify the ghost. Willow's eyes goes black and she is the only one channeling and using the power--much to the horror of Tara. I wonder how far Willow has dabbled on the dark side and how much farther she will go. I am beginning to sense that Tara realized that Willow isn't so much lying to her as hiding the whole truth. And I have a feeling it may hit the fan in a big way soon. Especially when Giles gets back to town to really challenge the gang on what they've done.

But, as great as all these scenes were, the real stealers of the show were, once again, James Marster and Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Spike's reactions were absolutely wonderful. This may be Marster's strongest performance on the show since Fool For Love. Seeing Spike's reaction to Buffy returned was wonderfully done. I loved watching his caring nature as he tried to help her and his shock, horror and happiness that she was back. All of those emotions went across his face in one scene and then seeing Spike on the verge of tears for the rest of the scene and then outside was a great touch. Also, I loved seeing Spike quickly exit once the Scoobies showed up.

As for Sarah Michelle Gellar, she did really well, yet again. She pulled off so many layers to Buffy and was able to emote so much just by a look and not having to say anything. Again, I say it--this woman deserves an Emmy.

But, I think the real clicher of the whole thing was the coda. It took what to this point had been a great episode and put it up in the status of superb episode. As I've said before, I love how chilling it was, while we see it set in a bright, sun-lit scene. Knowing that Buffy wasn't in hell but had gone to heaven was so well done. And it certainly sets up some things for the rest of the year. Namely, I can see how this might be a bit of wedge now between Buffy and Willow--in that Willow felt she was justified in bringing Buffy back becuase obviously Buffy had to have gone to hell. And it seems as though Buffy was content and happy where she was, only to be ripped away. And the fact that Buffy is leaving this fact out is something that should come up later in the year. I have a feeling that all the secrets the Scooby gang are holding back from each other are going to come back in a big way.

And I, for one, can't wait.

So, I guess that's about it for now, except a few small things...

--I can only imagne that Giles' reaction was a bit more than we got on the phone. Does the words "Bloody hell?!?" seem too out of line?

--I liked seeing the demon bikers head out of town. Nice carryover from last week.

--There was lots of hugging in this episode, or so it seemed.

--Thankfully, UPN didn't have an advertisement for every other show on their network during the show!

--Anya's scene when she was possessed was chilling. Man, that scared me. I think it was the white eyes.

--Man, that was an evil smile on Dawn's face when she was possessed by the demon.

So, that's about it for now. So far this year, Buffy has delivered two blockbuster episodes. So far, season six is off to a great start. Let's keep our fingers crossed this trend continues.

My rating: 10.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: How does slaying help pay the bills? I have a feeling we're in for a lighter episode based on the preview.

"You can't tell any of them."

--Buffy