As You Were

As You Were
Written and directed by Douglas Petrie

Original Airdate: February 26, 2002

Plot:An innocent excursion to the ballet leads the gang to stumble upon members of a dance troupe who haven't aged a day since Angel last saw them in 1890. As they investigate backstage, Angel and Cordy are possessed by the spirits of tormented lovers. Meanwhile, Gunn and Wesley concentrate on putting their respective moves on Fred, unaware of each other's romantic designs. Riley returns to Sunnydale, seeking the Slayers help to track down a demon and a courier who wants to sell the demon's eggs to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, Xander and Anya's wedding guest begin to arrive in town...

Review

Warning: Front and center! SPOILERS for the latest episode of Buffy "As You Were" are just ahead. If you've not seen it and want to go in unaware, turn back now!

In short: The pay-off was great but the set-up could have used some work.

I'm really of two minds about "As You Were."

I think it's because it's a story that has two halves--and both of them put together didn't equal a great whole.

The first half of the story was, essentially, to re-inforce for us, the viewers, what a downward and depressing turn Buffy's life has taken since her resurrection to start the season. And a lot of things went into this--from the vampire not wanting to fight Buffy because she smelled like the Doublemeat Palace (a long-running in the episode but one that got old really quickly) to Buffy and Spike's tryst on the lawn (which brought up the question to me of--so, you don't want people to see you and Spike going at it like rabbits, so you do it on the front lawn. Huh?) to Buffy's self-imposed decision to not go out socializing with her friends at the Bronze, I think we all got the point that Buffy's life is not what she imagined it. And we certainly got a growing sense of futility with Buffy's failing to meet the deadline to get back into UC Sunnydale (though I think the hint of night school given by the Doublemeat worker as to a way that they can possibly get Buffy back into college, if that's the goal of bringing this up). All of it adds up to the point that Buffy's life is pretty much at a low-point right now. Things aren't going the way she'd like to think they should or imagined them being when she was in high school.

Enter Riley.

I can say from personal experience that there is nothing more disheartening than to hear that an ex of yours is doing well. For some reason, I'm sure a lot of us secretly hope that when we break up with someone, that they're sitting in a room pining for us and dreaming of the day we take them back. And at the point Buffy is at emotionally, having Riley come back was interesting. Buffy's in a state of depression and early-on, we can see Buffy have some glimmer of hope. Riley's return is a comfort zone to her. Riley's departure started a downhill spiral for Buffy that she's not yet out of yet--her mother passed away, she had to save the world and died, she was yanked out of heaven. Not things that are going to be necessarily easy to get over. Plus, she's sleeping with Spike and she's not too happy with herself for giving into that. So, having Riley come back at this time makes good sense. His walking into the Doublemeat and telling her he needed help, seemed like a door to old life--a time when she was happy, content. A time when her life had direction and stability. A time that was, simply put, more comfortable to her. Is it any surprise that she so quickly walked out of the Doublemeat Palace and tried to get a piece of that old life back?

You could almost see how happy Buffy thought she was going to be--until the world comes crashing back in on her again. Riley's married and is apparently over Buffy. He loves his wife, he loves his job, he's happy with the choices he's made. He's take the lemons that were the end of his relationship with Buffy and made lemonade. And those revelations send Buffy into a downhill spiral that sets up the second--and better half--of the episode.

The thing with the whole Riley returns plotline is that while I liked what it showed in contrasting Buffy's life to Riley's at this point, there were times when the pacing seemed way off. There was a distinct lack of tension to the scenes were Riley and Buffy were pursuing the demon. Also, Riley's new wife, Sam, just never thrilled me. I never got any real sense of chemistry between she and Riley. And it seems as though Petrie was trying a bit too hard to make her so likeable that she came off as a bit too much. I liked her attempts to get in with the Scooby gang and her going to support Willow in her attempt to go cold turkey from the Dark Arts, but a lot of the other parts felt forced. (Though how can you not love the Willow loyalty of--"I'll hate if you want me to." That was absolutely hysterical and a nice touch by Petrie).

It was interesting after having Petrie show us all of this to see how the second half played out. I'd argue that the Buffy and Willow plotlines this year have been very reminiscent of each other. Both of them were playing with fire, getting burned, but they kept going back to it. Also, in both cases, they wanted to get caught and now they have been. It has taken an outsider looking in what is going on and confirming that what they're doing is wrong to start the self-examination both characters needed in order to step away from the path they're following. In Willow's case, it was Tara forcing her to step away and in Buffy's case here, we see Riley's discovery of Buffy and Spike as being the catalyst that wakes Buffy up to what she's doing.

And I would argue that Buffy wanted to get caught. We saw that in the scene with Tara a few weeks ago when Buffy went to her about her coming back "wrong." Buffy went to Tara--who called Willow on her abuse of magic--to try and get Tara to call her on the wrongness of her relationship with Spike. What she got instead was Tara trying to be supportive and not giving Buffy what she needed--a kick in the butt to realize how wrong she is. Instead, she got Riley to do it--which is interesting since she essentially dumped Riley for his weakness for vampires. Interesting that the shoe is on the other foot now.

Indeed, we saw a great example of this in the scene when Buffy separates from Sam and comes to Spike.

"Say you love me" and "Say you want me" is what Buffy tells Spike. And he responds how with what she wants to hear. That scene was powerful in both its simplicity in terms of what was said and how it played but also in the complexity of the undercurrent of powerful emotions that are brewing under the surface. Poor ol' Spike doesn't realize he's being used and thinks the Slayer might finally wants more--more of what he wants. Yes, it appears Spike enjoys the physical side, but there seems to be a yearning in the man for more. And it looked like he might finally get what he wants.

It's just too bad the rug is yanked out from under him several scenes later.

The final scene between Buffy and Spike was nothing short of superb. Seeing Buffy come to Spike and ending it was nicely done. The scene was full of strong undercurrents and you could really see that it was tearing up Spike inside. Of course, it was based on the revelation that Spike is up to his usual evil ways--something that's not a huge surprise really. (More on that later). That scene did not play out like I'd expected. I felt sure that Spike would reject Buffy--his line of having heard this song before seemed to indicate this. I wondered if Buffy's destruction of his inner lair along with her coming to him only after feeling such rejection after trying to reconnect with Riley would have been enough to send most people packing. But I think what we've seen all year--and is becoming more and more clear--is that this relationship is an abusive one. Buffy is emotionally and physically abusing Spike. She uses him for what she needs and is not above hitting him--Dead Things showed this all too well. But yet Spike comes back again and again to it. It's one of those interesting twists on the old story that Buffy is so good at doing.

And seeing Buffy finally face the truth and break things off with Spike was a superb scene. James Marsters and Sarah Michelle Gellar did a superlative job--yet again--with the material. The anguish and the emotions in that scene was accurately and superbly played. And the final touch of Buffy addressing Spike by his given name of William was a stunning capper to the scene. It's also interesting that last two times we've seen Spike referred to by his human name in such a way are both by Doug Petrie. (He wrote season five's definitive Spike episode of Fool For Love). I love that sense of closure, though I have strong doubts that the whole Buffy and Spike thing is over. I sense a lot of spitefulness on Spike's part coming.

And I say that if it gives James Marsters good material to run with, go for it.

But as for the demon is spawning plotline and the eggs, well, it left me a bit cold.

I'll admit that I never jumped to the conclusion that the Doctor could be spike. And I will admit that as a long-time Doctor Who fan that the reference was far too obvious in hindsight. (Yes, I fully think that it's a homage to the longest-running sci-fi show ever, Doctor Who.) Indeed, it's interesting to note this because on the show, the Doctor is always referred to as the Doctor and never once as Doctor Who (it's not his name, despite the characters listing him that way for 15 plus years!) It's kind of the same dichotomy Spike is going for by his attempts to set himself up to sell the eggs. (And let me say that as a Whovian, any reference to my favorite British import is a good thing).

That said, I just don't buy the timing of the whole thing.

It seemed a bit too forced. Again, I like what the script did in terms of Riley forcing Buffy to face up who and what Spike really is. But if I understand this correctly, the demon came to Sunnydale, fleeing Riley and Sam. How did Spike have time to meet up with it, arrange a brokerage for the eggs, find buyers and have Riley and Sam find out about him. Unless the Doctor is some sort of black-market demon name Spike has used for a while now, but I got no hints of this. As I've said in other episodes, a line or two of dialogue can clear this up simply and quickly.

Also, I think that while the point was the Spike is evil, another motive needed to be brought up. Spike does things because he needs money. He's still got the chip and he has to feed. So he still needs money. Again, this is one of those things that you can quickly and easily bring up as a reference to continuity. (We are talking about the same guy who charged Giles $200 when Giles was a demon to help him out!) And since Petrie wrote the definitive Spike episode, this is a bit of character stuff that I'd expect him to know.

So, while I liked where the journey took the characters, I'm not sure I bought how we got there.

Which leaves me of two minds--I both loved and loathed the episode. It had some great stuff and it had some not so great stuff.

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

--I liked Xander and Anya's guests coming to town. I also liked how they were getting cold feet about the wedding but not being married.

--Does anyone else think Xander needs to hit the treadmill? Too much of Anya's home cooking, I guess.

--I liked that Dawn actually tried to get along with Buffy instead of being "bitchy teenager Dawn" (action figure coming soon). It's just a shame that as Dawn reaches out, Buffy rejects her. I also wonder if the motivation isn't out of fear of punishment for stealing.

--Speaking of which, that should have been addressed.

--Also, Riley's complete lack of acknowledging Joyce's death struck me as wrong.

So, that's about it for now. As I said before, liked where the journey took us, but not sure about the ride getting there. This is an episode that could go up or down in the final analysis at season's end. For now, I'm just partially satisfied.

My rating: 7.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: Xander and Anya's big day....

"I'm sorry, William."

--Buffy