Season Five

BUFFY INDEX

   Buffy Vs Dracula

• Buffy chooses a different path from Faith - sex first, slay later. 
• “Cow me” - Riley doesn’t often get very good lines, but when they come - they come. 
• Oh, it had to be a dark and stormy night.
• A castle in Sunnydale. Huh.
• Nice to see the writers are using every Dracula convention in the book.
• Is it just me, or does Giles get sexier in the later seasons? Absolutely, and super guilt-tripping on Willow there
• Ooh, Buffy has leather trousers on! 
• Nice Hurricanranna from Buffy! 
• Do not, repeat not, like the new stunt team. The style makes Buffy look like a gymnast or cheerleader on speed. All those cartwheel kicks don't look like they're really big on accuracy. Also, the new stunt girl couldn't pass for SMG in a sandstorm.
• Was it just me, or did somebody else want to follow Dracula’s dramatic “I am Dracula” with “bwa ha ha ha!” Other than Xander, I mean.
• Nice reference to Lestat there. Incidentally the guy playing Dracula here looks a bit like the guy who plays Lestat in Queen Of The Damned. Well, a little bit.
• Good point Vlad. Why would any vamp gravitate towards a place called Sunnydale?
• It is wrong to fancy Dracula, isn’t it?
• The Sesame Street joke was obviously coming...
• Poor Riley, it's this deep insecurity he has, and the worst part is it's entirely justified, cause she would dump him in a second for either of the dark, broody guys
• You’d think that by this time the Scoobies would have realised the danger in walking alone at night, but no...
• Now there’s a pleasant image, Riley Finn bringing you doughnuts in the morning. Not a lot to complain about, really. Except the Riley part. Actually, I'm quite happy with the Riley part, but I loathe doughnuts, maybe we could split the difference?
• Notice how Riley and Spike get a lot of scenes together in this season, as neither of them have anything else to do
• Actually, I think Spike is standing on a box there
• Is it cold in here? 
• Love the way Dracula says “You have been tasted...” 
• Love Xander’s inadvertent praisings of Dracula. I know Xander usually acts weird, but doesn't anybody notice that he's actually gone insane?
• "You're under the thrall of the dark prince!" How many other people could actually say this line with that much conviction?
• If Dracula only left two little puncture marks on Buffy’s neck, why is her scar from Angel’s bite so big? I think Angel chewed
• The height difference between Marc Blucas and Sarah Michelle Gellar is so pronounced that in the scene in Giles’ garden, the cameraperson couldn’t fit the top of his head in the shot.
• "Big honking castle" is that a word they teach all military personnel or has he just been watching too much Stargate?
• Notice Buffy exploring her dark side wears leather (but pink leather cos she's still good)
• Dracula is in desperate need of a manicure
• “Good show, Giles” - one of his catchphrases.
• I’m pleased to see they made Dracula physically powerful too - he sent Buffy flying there!
• Dracula sells his first death too!
• I also loved Xander’s impassioned ‘butt monkey’ speech.
• You kill things for a living, of course there's darkness in it
• I think the first time I saw this I had the required “Huh?” expression upon seeing Dawn. 

   Real Me

• Dawn paints an interesting picture of vampires - I’ve never thought of them as dying from a splinter before.
• Nice to see that someone in Sunnydale reads Harry Potter.
• I must remember Dawn’s comeback “Jeez, crack a book sometime.” Although, I am against the unethical treatment of paperback spines in that way.
• Notice how even at this point Michelle Trachtenberg is almost taller than SMG.
• Choices, choices, Rupert Giles or Riley Finn, hmm. Although there is a greater possibility of sex if she spends the day with Riley
• Ooh, that is a very nice new car. Very. Nice. New. Car. Okay, raging understatement for the totally gorgeous candy-apple red BMW convertible with the cream leather upholstery. Okay, so I'm spending the day with Giles
• Dawn has a Blink 182 poster on her wall!
• If Giles does break up with his car do you think it would date me on the rebound?
• Love Willow’s “The Hell with Giles!”
• Best friend loopholes are really handy and apply to any situation
• Where the hell does Buffy get off telling Dawn what to do? The girl's fourteen, not six
• Ah, Harmony, number four on my list of 'Reasons Why I Loathe Season 5'
• Harmony + minions = recipe for disaster.
• Where does Dawn’s crush on Xander disappear to in this season? Although I suppose she gets bigger things on her mind, like not being real and all.
• If you watch carefully as Willow places the painting on the bookshelf, a boom mike drifts into view! Technical cock-ups are the funniest!
• Love the Xander/Harmony and Xander/Brad exchanges, particularly Xander’s non-verbal response to “Screw you, Harris!”
• Can they not just do a permanent uninvitation spell on Buffy's house? There must be one somewhere
• Is one of Harmony’s minions Andrew from season 6?
• Love how Spike taunts Mort as he and Harmony talk.
• Note how Xander pulls Anya up by her supposedly dislocated arm
• Buffy made a Spinal Tap reference. That was unexpected.
• If Giles only gets the magic shop at the end of this episode then where were they training at the beginning?

   The Replacement

• Buffy fringedwells! Our insidious influence spreads, soon we will dominate the earth!!!
• Xander’s spot on about the incompetently dubbed kung-fu. 
• This guy uses a cauldron, apparently. 
• I used to have glow-in-the-dark transfers that looked like that demon, I think they came free in a Frosties packet
• Giles must just get so sick of that attitude, "you are not the Slayer, you do not concern me"
• That was a nice exit by Toth. 
• Ability to use rudimentary tools? I think we've mentioned that before. And with the majestic exit as well, is this demon just an old friend in a cunning disguise? Or maybe that's just what he looks like when he forgets to cleanse, tone and moisturise. (Now tell me that wasn't funny...)
• Super- terranean
• Oh ****, this is what happens when I try and record the uncut versions, I've had the video on the wrong bloody channel and just taped over the first eight minutes of my 6:45 version with the Friday Rock Show
• Finally a demon that’s embraced the 21st century.
• I've fallen for someone who is genuinely upset when people don't recycle, oh god this is so, so wrong...
• Fake Xander has much better hair
• Isn't suave Xander a little overdressed for construction work?
• Good point. Xander really needs to get a role other than comic relief
• We finally get to see the Snoopy Dance! Don’t you just love the Snoopy Dance?
• Ooh, testosterone overload, kill, kill, kill!
• Love Willow’s “Really?”
• Buffy’s bad ice skating film obsession – are they talking about “The Cutting Edge”? I like that film.
• See. Riley is so romantic - almost Oz like. But larger
• Toth would make a good Sith Lord. Give him a light sabre!
• Nice Scoop Slam by Toth.
• Could Riley not just get to kill say one little demon? Just to massage that fragile male ego a little bit?
• Love Giles’ reaction to the disturbing sex talk.
• Who would want Xander’s Babylon 5 commemorative plates?  (Bitca and I were frozen out of the Sci-Fi club at Uni for laughing through a very dramatic random episode of Babylon 5.)

   Out Of My Mind

• That poor vampire, didn’t even have a chance to taste fresh air!
• Why does Buffy bother to show up? I'd be happy enough with just Riley and Spike
• Watching this it occurred to me that I would like to have slayer moves so just once I could beat my boyfriend in a pillow fight. Or Tobin. Or my other friends. Or anyone actually
• How do you test the aerodynamics of a vampire? Would it involve complex mathematics and a wind tunnel?
• It just goes to show how badly the character of Spike has been damaged by this chip business; he’s now reduced to making Xander’s pratfalls for him.
• Oh Buffy, take it from someone who knows, falling asleep on a pile of books isn’t all romantic montage-y, it just gives you a bad crick in the neck.
• From that look I’d say Willow’s a Newt kind of gal.
• It’s cold in the Magic Box, hee hee!
• It's a big room with some chalk marks and a vaulting horse, don't be too impressed
• "The thing you hit that doesn't hit back" I thought that was Spike?
• Nice mention of Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Anyone seen the episode where he gets turned human? At the end when he’s got his powers back he makes cigars appear in the mouths of Picard and Riker! Genius! 
• Spike watches Dawson’s Creek!
• Dawn understands the importance of getting the prize from the cereal. Pouring the cereal out is perfectly allowed as long as you remember to pour it back afterwards
• And apparently an exploding cigar
• Oh dear, Model Soldier bloke is back. He has words now. His name is Graham, and he's had words before you know. He is however lumbered with some very geeky-looking side-kicks
• "Take me where they can make me unconscious and naked" witness as I  very nearly choke to death by virtue of swallowing my own tongue... He stretches his hands out, says this to Graham, and they wonder why people write slash fiction
• I know that Giles is holding it, but that teapot looks like it's floating
• Why does that thing in the middle of the table remind me of an earwax candle? Why the hell do I have a mental image of an earwax candle to compare it to? 'Father Ted', it's from 'Father Ted', Father Jack's earwax
• Why is the doctor waiting to operate on Riley in neurology, when it’s his heart that is acting up? When we see Riley post-op, he has a bandage over his chest. And what exactly was the doctor doing in there anyway? I wouldn't have thought there was an operation to counter the effects of long term drug use, isn't that kind of thing usually treated with well, more drugs? Like my fun drug withdrawal which was treated with the drugs that they took me off in order to put me on the drugs that I then got withdrawal symptoms from (I had to have the week off work, suffering from severe irony)
• Given that there is an overabundance of anti-Angel jibes, jokes and put-downs on these pages (some of them funny, some not (what do you mean? Surely they're all funny?)), it’s nice to see that Spike has provided me with some useful Riley nicknames. Personally, I prefer “Captain Cardboard”, but “Enormous Hall Monitor” is also good. “Enormous Hall Monitor” - nice.
• That's only going to set fire to the ceiling
• During that scene with Buffy and Riley, please insert "Yeah right," "bullshit" or a combination of the two after everything Buffy says, cause she's talking out of her arse, and if I put in all of my comments during that little conversation it'd take up the entire page. Oh, and you need to add one or two derisive snorts as well, just for emphasis. In case you hadn't noticed, Buffy's bitchy, hypocritical, insensitive treatment of my poor Riley is the second reason on my list. Or possibly the first
• You have no feeling in the brain, so he doesn't need an anaesthetic.
• Love Spike’s response to Harmony’s “How does it feel?”
• Yes! A temporary return of the Big Bad! 
• It's nice how they've taken off the top of Spike's head then stitched it back on again without at all ruining his hairline
• Detonate? As in explode?
• Actually, he's the mission's sex toy, but it probably wouldn't be wise of Graham to mention that

   No Place Like Home

• Ooh, robe'd monks. This is never good.
• Those magics must be really complicated and yet it took two seconds to create Dawn and alter the memories of an entire town (as well as records) to accommodate her
• What a nice security guard.
• I remember being that age and that clumsy. Now I'm this age and that clumsy
• I love Giles’ outfit, but the hat is a little much. I like how nothing needed to be said by Buffy - Giles just takes the hat and robe off.
• Kitteny. Hmm (you have to imagine the tone of voice I'm using to get the full impact of that)
• Nice Spider-Man reference by Ben.
• Glory is hot, in a psycho Hell-God kind of way.
• "These people" those shoes...
• I'm guessing what the monk was reading was Buffy's address in Sunnydale so he could go and tell her about Dawn. (It's a stretch but a reasonable conclusion.) So if Glory had just looked at the floor it would have saved us most of season 5. (You'd think the monk would have burned it before she came through the door though)
• Re. Glory, say it with me, “Loon!”
• Impressive debut from Glory - shame it's all down hill from there
• Nice to see that Willow can’t wrap things either, it’s not just me. Hourglasses aren't even that hard, although the woman who wanted the hourglass is long gone by the time Willow and Anya are done with it
• Instead of putting the red sand on her hardwood floor, Buffy pours it all over her white rug. Silly girl. I think that's actually a beige carpet, so she probably should use the rug, then she can shake it out of the window. Why doesn't she just put some paper down?
• I like the trance sequence, very nicely shot. Ooh, look who’s a film&tv student! 
• Nice to see Spike reverting to the mentality of a six year old with the “You have stupid hair” comment.
• "Not stupid" well, that's open to debate
• Oops! Nice one Glory. 
• Now that's a man with a sexy lean
• "Can you fly?" No, but she can land...
• You've got to admire the way those monks are just completely manipulating Buffy's feelings and her save-the-innocent nature
• Dawn might have a point there, although Howler monkeys behave better

   Family

• Blatant “Come hither” look by Willow there.
• See, even Xander has opposable thumbs
• And do as little lifting as possible Rupert
• Dawn gets her priorities right with her remark about her CD’s.
• Tara suffers from making a Joke For A Small Audience
• Hmm, there’s something up with Ben. An attractive young man with a lot of screen time and no real reason for being there. Agenda, anyone?
• Dream-Buffy scores with a nice Head-Scissors Takedown! Damn it Spike's already had his personality demolished, leave his face alone!
• Gosh, it’s getting awfully saucy isn’t it! 
• He doesn’t speak like one but something about Tara’s brother just screams Hick. 
• There are certain things I don't need to know about Riley and Buffy's sex life and that was definitely one of them
• Shortness is obviously not a vice that Riley ever even considered trying. Buffy has issues with Dawn hanging out with short people? So being related to them is OK then?
• That demon looks a bit like a clown.
• What is Riley drinking? It looks like a brandy bottle, and that's not a very masculine thing to get hammered on
• She’s obviously a vampire, Riley. Nice to see that he can recognise one. She’s actually a girl that Vamp Willow turns in season 3, Doppelgangland.
• "Never interested in my intellect" well, to be brutally honest, neither am I
• Spike is hilarious in this episode.
• "Sweetbreads"? This is either some strange vampire compliment, Spike taking the piss out of Harmony, or the scriptwriters really getting their words mixed up. If they meant little bits of candy and stuff then the word is 'sweetmeats'. Sweetbreads are something else entirely
• Yes that's a very human thing to do
• That position really cannot be good for her back
• Amber Benson really can't pull off a stutter
• Note how when they  do the big "We're family" shot, Spike is in it, but Riley isn't
• Considering they've hung out with vampires, werewolves, witches and Anya, I would have thought Tara being a demon wasn't going to be that much of a problem. I mean they let Cordelia hang out with them and many might argue that was the same thing
• That punch was the definition of succinct
• Also, surely Tara's mum was from a different family (so therefore no demon)? Unless of course: inbreeding. They are supposed to be rednecks
• I must be going all sappy in my old age, but the ending of this episode made me feel a huge rush of affection for my non-blood-kin family members. I mean you lot, you know.
• It’s a touching scene, but two witches levitating together is just a little too conspicuous . . .

   Fool For Love

• I dread these episodes; however, this ep is special. We even get dodgy wigs in the present. My god, the shame of being stabbed by someone with that hair!!
• So much for not needing Riley to patrol... At least Buffy didn’t get staked with Mr. Pointy - now that would really have hurt! 
• Nice reaction to Buffy’s wound by Dawn - “Oh, cool!”
• Poor Riley has to deal with a distinctly non-stealthy Willow, Xander and Anya.
• Spike's right, they fought, she lost, it happens. The Slayer could have lost her final battle because she put her foot in a rabbit hole, there doesn't have to be a big, mythical reason
• Oh no! Flashbacks! Watch out for the dodgy wigs (Spike) and accents (Angel)! Frighteningly, I think most of that is his actual hair (except for the ponytail)
• More things rhyme with "gleaming" than rhyme with "effulgent". Effulgent is a very bad word, but I feel sorry for the wimpy pre-vamp Spike.
• Poor William, he does seem like a nice chap.
• It may be 'bloody awful poetry' but that, my dear, is a bloody awful accent
• Cecily does become Hellfrecht, doesn’t she? 
• Ahh! I just saw Angel's big flashback hair on a 32" screen and it's terrifying
• Love how Angelus acts like Darla and Drusilla’s pimp.
• Altogether now, "I'm not even close to getting it Fitz!"
• Can't the costume department find an outfit for Angel that actually fits?!
• One little bite killed the Chinese Slayer? Wuss. That's all it took the first time Buffy died. And you want to talk wuss - all it took to kill Kendra was a fingernail. Not even a fistfight first!
• I have a sneaking suspicion they wrote the flashback with Angelus in then suddenly realised that he was all souled by then and had to write 'Darla' to explain the flashback
• Comedy slow-motion strut there.
• Of course Buffy gets off on it. Remember her and Riley back in 'The I In Team'?
• Riley does overkill on the vamp nest - I like it.
• Punk Spike. Can’t you see the action figure?
• That Billy Idol look is very, very eighties, so why does Spike look like that in the seventies?
• "You're beneath me" no, if he was beneath her he'd be a whole lot happier
• Spike was restraining a bellow there!
• Chaos demon - pure comedy! That Chaos Demon really was all slime and antlers, wasn’t he?
• "Is there anything I can do?" Am I the only person who found that really scary? After the conversation in the alleyway, when Spike basically says that he'll help Buffy fulfill  her death wish when she can't take it any more, he comes to her at possibly her lowest ebb and asks if there's anything he can do... I assumed he was offering to kill her
• It's scary to think that Spike is sexier with the peroxide hair and nail varnish

   Shadows

• It would be nice to have minions, just for a few days.
• Nice shot with the shoe by Glory.
• Notice how Riley hangs his leather jacket on the banister, as opposed to Spike who's just dropped his blanket on the floor
• For an alleged arch villain, Spike isn’t much of a liar. But nonetheless both arch and villainous, so I guess he qualifies
• That was a skilful panty-grab by Spike. 
• Ooh! Buffy has a big spot in this episode! Evil snigger, evil snigger.
•  
• Eh? Rocks predate the written word and they've got names
• Notice how Xander checks Glory out quite subtly.
• I wonder if Glory's credit card is actually valid. What bank do you think she uses?
• That staggered pull-back is really nicely done
• Nearly one out of three survive? So, not a whole person actually survives this?
• They're big fans of that carousel this season, 'Lost Boys' envy perhaps?
• Oh yeah Dawn, now twist the knife counter-clockwise
• Giles unnecessarily morphs into Will Riker
• Such a cheap rubber snake! I don't even mean the big transformed one, I mean the one that Glory takes out of the cage in the first place
• Glory unleashes the power of Slytherin.
• So where the hell did insightful!Xander spring from?
• Would this scene have been more convincing if Riley had just been bitten by the vampire and then gone back for more rather than actually asking her to bite him in the first place? I would seem if he had got bitten by accident (wrong word, but you know what I mean) then decided he liked it, rather than going out and looking for it in the first place. I know there's that Angel displacement and in the context of the series it makes more sense, but just for the single scene, it feels wrong
• “Seek it out in the Holy places,” Glory tells the snake. So where does it go? To a merry-go-round. Obviously.
• If you watch all the people that run out of the way of the snake you’ll notice that there’s one guy at the bottom that strolls across quite casually.
• I love the very, well, snaky way the CGI version of the big snake moves
• Yep, way better than the Citroen in a chase
• That's a good jumper for him
• Poor Riley. 
• Riley's really carrying his left side when he walks. He's had a dodgy muscle in one shoulder for ages, but he seems to have thrown something out quite dramatically this time

   Listening To Fear

• So three weeks ago it was far too dangerous for Riley to patrol, but now Buffy wants a night off it's perfectly okay to put her boyfriend in mortal danger?
• Does nobody have any peripheral vision in this show?
• Shameful behaviour from Captain Cardboard.
• A tiny Jewish Santa would be cool.
• Someone with a basic knowledge of astronomy will probably correct me on this, but I would have thought that the stars that were dead by the time there light reached us would have been so far away that they would be extremely faint and impossible to see without the benefit of Joddrel Bank
• I wonder what constellation (or constellations) the big pineapple actually is
• That is one monged-up alien thing.
• Willow is annoyingly nasal in this episode. And whiny, why has she suddenly decided to be freaked after finding bodies left, right and centre for the past four years?
• Do you have an emergency frequency if you're calling from a mobile phone?
• The nurse demonstrates the 24-hour care on offer at Sunnydale Memorial. 
• Why switch off the lights in the living room if she's going upstairs?
• Graham can't resist getting in one cheap shot, "don't you usually call your girlfriend for this kind of thing?"
• TV science again as Riley analyses the substance and its breakdown with nothing but the contents of his jacket pocket
• Everyone should have the opportunity to say, “Because it’s a killer snot monster from outer space.”
• So is the killer snot monster actually from outer space, or is it kind of summoned from the ether and then falls to earth? Are there lots of hibernating killer snot monsters just spinning in their little meteors out in the Oort Cloud waiting to be summoned (or for Jack and Teal'c to crash into them)?
• Does nobody in the hospital think that it is unusual for a dozen or so armed men wearing black and berets to run around and try to look macho? (It’s difficult, with the berets.) It's the final test before they let you into these regiments, if you can wear the beret and still look tough, then you're in
• Graham in fact manages to look quite impressive in the beret (although he'd look fairly impressive in a sack). Major Ellis unfortunately just looks rakishly artistic (and very slightly French)
• Buffy, if the music's that bad then just switch the station
• The bit with Joyce talking to the Queller is just too freaky. 
• Good grief, the killer snot monster from outer space looks like a giant woodlouse.
• It's hard to believe that something that looks like a papoose will be all that hard to kill
• I think Spike was probably wishing for the ground to open up and swallow him, but being attacked by a killer snot monster isn't a bad second
• Can I put in an euuggh for the horrible sentimental scene at the end

   Into The Woods

• It’s nice to see that Sunnydale’s rehab centre is in the hospital, conveniently not near drugs of any kind.
• Anything involving a monkey is funny.
• Oh, SMG has to be standing on a box for the dancing scene. That's why she's just kind of swaying, if she actually moved she'd fall off
• Harsh on Spike - with his vampire power he must be able to hear everything. 
• During the loud obnoxious sex, how come Buffy doesn't notice the sudden proliferation of bite marks all over her lover's otherwise perfect body?
• This can't be right. I've just gone to tick the naked table and it tells me that Riley hasn't taken his clothes off since 'Out Of My Mind'. That really can't be right can it?
• Judging by the curtains, the military have set up base in a cheap motel
• Nice continuity there, from night to day then the same night again.
• One final last lingering shot of Riley's (beautifully lit) bare skin
• Buffy runs like a girl.
• The vampire pimp isn’t up to much, is he?
• Aaaahhhh! I have a whole page in my fic book titled 'Confusing Riley Background 101' and this scene contributes to most of it. If he's army then why the hell is he still called 'Agent'? What rank was he (or what rank was he equivalent to) if the Major is ordering him about, but he was in charge of God knows how many men at the Initiative? Surely that was far too important for a Lieutenant, or even a Captain (and he must be too young to be higher ranked than that)? Who is Graham working for now if they still call him 'Agent Miller' (and the other two Agents from 'Out Of My Mind') but his superior is a Major? See my problem?
• "High risk, low pay and seriously messy" hang about, that's my job!
• Chicken feet are fun
• Ripper mention!
• Buffy the Arsonist.
• Why doesn’t Riley just kill Spike? Although, he does use Spike’s sucking chest wound to his own advantage.
• See, Spike knows how men talk about things in England
• Why does Spike have a nice big window in his crypt that lets in the light?
• Nice mention of Rambo by Xander. 
• Is it just coincidence that Riley's standing next to the vaulting horse?
• Buffy is the one who keeps bringing this slayer strength thing up, so I think the complex is probably hers
• Quality slayings! 
• You'd think a tall guy like that would duck more under rotor blades
• Did they actually put Marc Blucas in a helicopter for the end of the show, or did they just blast him with a hairdryer to get his hair to ruffle in the breeze? Yep he's superimposed and that's a hairdryer
• Okay, there it is. Five years and finally Xander gets his moment...
• Am I allowed to say why I think this counts as a happy ending?

   Triangle

• This is probably my favourite episode of the season, next to 'The Weight Of The World'/'The Gift'. 
• I feel quite sorry for Xander, Riley's been the first guy friend of his own age since Oz
• Thank you Anya!
• My one-woman crusade against Roman Catholicism continues.  Don’t be a nun, Buffy!
• I’m sure Tobin would share Giles’ enthusiasm for the Watcher’s Council library.
• My Grandma is the only person I know who says "feeling badly" and it's weird to hear it coming from Giles
• I'm going with the second of those options
• What is a wimple? It's the veil/headress bit
• Okay, Spike's cracked
• Everyone should have a mannequin to unleash their rage on, it would be quite therapeutic.
• Willow and Anya are hysterical in this episode, too many instances to name. 
• Likewise Olaf is pure comedy, and nearly every line he speaks is quotable. Also he’s Jerry from ER. 
• “He’s not a ball of sunshine!” - classic Willow.
• I know what Buffy means about the spitty Prof. I had one, and another one whose rampant nose hair was so long and luxurious all I could do in class was stare at it fixedly in horrified fascination
• Riley leaving has really traumatised Buffy's sense of style. What is that hair?!
• They have no idea on this show how to continue after the emotional episodes. Look at this and 'Disharmony', and 'Ted', and 'Bad Eggs' after 'What's My Line'. Comedy episodes never work after the dramatic ones
• Nice to know that Olaf is a picky troll, wanting only the “more attractive daughters”.
• That old “I wish I had a million pounds” thing never works for me when a coincidence like that happens.
• "What do you think, the hospital?" rare and unexpected flash of Spike's old side
• 'Faithful in my heart'? What shit! The man who comes up with a good reason about how he can be in love with two women at the same time is going to win that prize they're always giving out in Sweden
• Note Spike's smug expression as he cops a quick feel
• That was an effort on Xander’s part, leaping into Olaf’s hammer.
• Olaf turns Xander’s second leap into a Powerslam!
• Xander fought dreadfully - but very very bravely

   Checkpoint

• Xander’s cockney accent isn’t quite as bad as Dick Van Dyke’s
• Love Giles’ look of delight when Tara says “other Giles’s” 
• Tara obviously doesn't watch enough movies
• So this is why my letters never got anywhere
• Glory’s definitely the most attractive Big Bad of the series so far. She only gets usurped by Evil Willow in season 6, as Alyson Hannigan is beautiful whatever she looks like.
• This from the man with the comb over
• Turning someone into a badger – are badgers native to the US? Although this comes from Travers, who's meant to be English, so it could be one of those 'strange English words' that they throw in to make the dialogue sound convincing to Americans
• Why is Giles kow-towing to the Council at the beginning to this episode? He’s got nothing to prove. I think old habits die hard
• Notice how one of the Council automatically makes a pot of tea. Tea rules! Oh, and here’s the tea. How British. What, no saucer?
• Russian history would spoil anyone's focus
• That history professor is a disgrace to the profession.  History is all about debate and discussion about what are “established” facts.  Every generation re-writes history to suit their own political preferences and agendas, hence the whole reactionary/revisionist swing that happens every thirty years or so.
• Speculation 101 would be an excellent course, I'd take it
• Spike is a real bitch.
• "Notches in the headboard" okay, rare pro-Buffy comment here, so brace yourselves. In the past four years Buffy has slept with three people, count them, three and has only really dated two others (Scott and Owen) For some people, that's not emotional debris, that's a weekend. And of those, only one actually left her because she's a spoilt little bitch who only thinks of herself (admittedly the other two left because they were spoilt bastards who only thought of themselves, but that's a criticism of her taste, not her personality or her morals). Willow and Xander are both on their third relationship (counting each other) and nobody ever takes potshots at them like this. I'm not even going to speculate how many notches Giles had on his bedpost when he was that age
• “Bad day.” Oh, yeah.
• That's bullshit. The Slayer fights the evil. The Watchers are parasites who've found a way to get paid for being groupies. ('Cept Giles obviously)
• Where is Ripper when you need him?
• Ben sends Glory a true Barry-style message. Apologies if only Tobin understands that one.
• “The rough stuff, they’re a bit ham-handed.” Well, that’s the understatement of the century.  How many times have they tried to capture Faith, and how many times have they cocked it up?
• Xander has however mastered the not-getting-killed discipline, which as martial disciplines go is one of the most important
• Oh that's not fair, she got to study Spike for her thesis, I was stuck with dead Greeks and Robert Graves and she got to study Spike?!
• Spike seduces that Council member without even trying!
• Dawn’s wearing a Pink Panther T-shirt!
• Spike must be the world’s most unlikely babysitter.
• Dawn has a "when worlds collide" moment. Spike and Joyce watching Passions - priceless. 
• Oh, the home of the McNugget is criticizing our culinary example?
• Big yay for Buffy in the Council ass-kicking scene. And she used words! Well, she didn’t actually hit anyone with the sword. However, what she said would have had made more sense to us Brits if we knew what Masterpiece Theatre was.
• This whole episode makes no sense though, it's just like 'Helpless'. If the council don't find Buffy worthy, what are they going to do with the information, just sit on it whilst the world goes to hell? On the other hand, they know about Glory already and they don't seem that worried, so why bargain to give Buffy the information at all? Surely, if they've been around for thousands of years they can wait the next few until the next Slayer is called (let's be honest, with Faith's record and erratic mental health, she isn't going to last that long) you'd have thought they would develop some patience
• Well, there’s not a lot you can say to the whole ‘Glory’s a god’ thing except maybe “Dead god. False, dead god.” Gulp. Although I do love the way Travers uses it to completely cut Buffy off at the knees

   Blood Ties

• A brain-sucking, insane hell god. Wow. They’re really going for a big villain here.
• Buffy is getting anglicised. I do believe that's tea she's drinking
• Buffy was right not to tell them (Buffy was right? I've just made two pro Buffy comments in two episodes, I don't think I'm well)
• Those scanky demons are so decomposed that in the fight scene with the knights, when one of them swings on a rope, I kept expecting his arm to rip off and dump him on his arse
• The reason why societies survive over the years is because of adaptation. I’m amazed the Knights of Byzantium are around in chain mail. Fancy waiting in line at the Post Office, or going through a metal detector at the airport…
• What the hell else are minions for? Where does Glory get her minions from?
• Willow and Tara pouring a circle of magic sand in the street goes unnoticed by the Sunnydale public, obviously. 
• Ew, nasty thought! With all the implied sensuality in Glory’s torturing, what if she did it with a guy and halfway through turned into Ben? Ewww!
• That photo is so taken against a false background
• Too much information from Anya there. 
• Bloody Hell, that’s a lot to deal with. Poor Dawn.
• I tell you, greetings-card silence will cripple the industry that pays me. I think not sending a card to the girl who ripped your heart out and drop-kicked it into the gutter is perfectly reasonable. I bet he sends Graham a birthday card
• So, Spike paints his nails. I’ve wondered if he did or if was a dead body thing. What you thought that was him just decomposing? A bit worrying for Dru, being in a relationship where hogging the nail varnish remover could be a serious issue.
• Spike fucking rules in this episode! Well, he always rules. Tell it to Buffy! 
• Ben just leaves those poor mental patients with a minion and without their drugs.
• Why do people always have to overhear the wrong part of the conversation? I hate that plot point.
• No Dawn, not the Blink 182 poster! 
• Yes, it is possible not to like marshmallows.
• Crowbar to the chest! That’s a beast!

   Crush

• No! What have they done to the Bronze sign? 
• Spike just looks weird without his leather jacket.
• Nice Evil Dead mention by Xander. Where’s Bruce Campbell?
• "Diabolical fiend" well, yeah
• Who's driving that train?
• Oh, I wouldn’t be too distraught to have Giles around the house.
• Harmony doesn’t make a very convincing Buffy, does she? Poor Harmony. Idiot Harmony, I think when your boyfriend asks you to pretend to be someone else (and a specific someone else at that) your relationship's really on the rocks
• Oh, let's pretend we have a literary subtext
• Not loving the new Spike look, the denim and black t-shirt was much more flattering. The thought of Spike in slacks is very disturbing. Like casual!Spike, any time now he'll be looking at his watch, or pointing off into the distance.... The new GQ outfit would be better without the nail varnish. Is he trying to dress like Riley to get Buffy's attention?
• Again, when Spike does the menacing thing he's much more interesting, although he does degenerate into a total wuss when Buffy shows up
• God, Buffy is a bitch. She should either leave Spike alone or tolerate him and be nice. You can understand why Spike gets so confused.
• Aaahhh!! "Chip, same diff" this is the entire problem, the chip is nowhere near the same as the soul. Just because Spike can't do bad things, it doesn't (or shouldn't) stop him wanting to, something the writers seem to have completely forgotten
• Should people just walk into a crime scene like that?  
• Spike has a car? A nice car too.
• The Ramones? Spike's Brit-punk credentials are slipping
• The phrase is "knickers in a twist" (or "knot", my Mum says knot)
• Is this whole Spike crush thing part of his Angel-inferiority complex?
• Usually on a date there should be flowers, and probably chocolate
• Dru always gets fabulous entrances
• Since when has she ever called him William?
• See Drusilla's sorted out this chip thing, and if she can do it...
• You don't have to believe in science, that's why it's not, you know, religion
• "Because I am," be nice if you were mate. First time round I got very excited at the prospect of Spike being back. Shame it doesn’t happen!
• Ah, there’s the leather jacket!
• Spike and Dru still work.
• They should have run that scene in the Bronze straight through, not cut back to Buffy's house in the middle, it destroys the atmosphere completely
• It must be awful to play a victim, you've just got to lie there looking limp and somehow manage not to giggle whilst James Marsters sucks on your neck
• How does Dru keep her fabulous figure eating like that? Does she follow the Blood Group Diet? After all, she is insane
• That must be some good pitch to have kept that torch burning since Spike left
• What, Spike can draw too? Did Angelus sit his whole family down and give them lessons or something?
• Some of the photos that Spike had were obviously posed publicity shots. Yep, they were all glossy 8x10s
• Should the electricity have scrambled Dru’s brain if her body is effectively dead?
• Spike sensibly ties Dru up and ignores her.
• So that's two lovers Dru's lost to Buffy. I'm surprised she's not more pissed about that
• Spike unleashes a quality bellow! He’s been holding that back since ' Fool For Love'!
• I love Spike's complete and utter tantrum. "What the bleeding hell is wrong with you bloody women!"
• Oh dear, Harmony discovers that she is just the rebound girl.
• Well, we had all forgotten about Harmony, so it’s no wonder Spike did
• Does it hurt when the vamps walk into those invisible barriers?

   I Was Made To Love You

• Ooh, that recap's made my Thursday
• Comedy suit that Xander’s wearing! Oh, poor sumo-Xander.
• Tara is right, online spelling is poor. Not least on this very page, although I do my best, and rely heavily on Tobin for the grammar
• Is there a karmic reward card, with a graduated gift list depending on the number of points you cash in? In a way I hope not, it'll be a terrible shame if the universe runs on the same system as Esso points
• Ben’s there, how convenient! And I thought his orthopaedic pants joke was funny. It sounded quite funny when he said it too, I genuinely laughed, or snickered anyway
• Oh good, casual!Spike has vanished again and the black t-shirts are back
• "Hot, tight, little body" shameless self-promotion on Spike's behalf, although not much of an exaggeration
• I want to know what Spike said to April! It must have been pure filth!
• Ouch, April’s comment to Buffy hurt more than throwing her across the room.
• How about Code Magenta?
• Under that dress, I doubt she was wearing a bra
• I’m with Xander about the sex-bot.
• Riley would get it too, but even Xander seems to have forgotten his existence
• He's lucky he fits in that dress. Nice hips
• Warren is just an arse.
• If he treats all his girlfriends like this, no wonder he couldn't keep them
• Ripper! God Rupert's sexy when he's mad. Big, big fan of this scene
• Attachments? I really do not need to know
• You know, it isn't darkest just before dawn, it's usually darkest in the middle of the night
• It takes a crazed robot attack to make Buffy understand that you can live without a boyfriend? Not too bright really, is she?
• I never thought I'd see the day I felt sorry for Spike. They have finally killed the Bad Ass. He will be sorely missed

   The Body

• Out of respect for this episode I’m not gonna Fringedwell it. Instead, thanks to the beauty of DVD, I’m gonna listen to the commentary by Joss Whedon!
• Buffy at it’s best. The mixture of the bleak horror of the discovery of Joyce’s body and the natural comedy in the reactions of the Scoobies is just fantastic. No, I don't get why everyone thinks this is so good. It is a truly excellent script and some wonderful performances, all of which are ruined by totally pretentious direction and a mass of pointless camera/sound tricks. It was a shame JW didn't have the faith in his material and his actors to just let them get on with their job. It would have been a lot more effective
• Having said that, a lot of people do like this, and rather than fringedwell, (because we don't think you'll find it funny) Lizard and I present our technical dissection of the episode instead (timings from the uncut broadcast version)

   Forever

• Like Giles sceptical eye-roll behind the funeral director's back

• How could she not want a wake? After my funeral there'd better be a huge party

• Quite touching Spike moment with the flowers there. Yeah, she was nice when she wasn’t hitting him with an axe. She made him cocoa, so that's a plus

• There’s a picture of Buffy with a mortar board – was that taken before or after the Ascension?

• Angel! Where does this come in the 'Angel' timeline? Is it after he's had his little epiphany (I don't think it changes anything, I'm just curious)?

• “I could make a stuffed animal dance” – If she could make a stuffed penguin dance, that would be cool.
• "Don't mess with life and death" well, not yet anyway. Give them a few months

• Necking with Angel by her mother’s grave - show the respect, Buffy!

• I was waiting for someone to crack a Jawa joke about Glory’s minions! Nice one Ben!

• Where are Willow and Tara living? It looks like a university room, but they have a double bed
• Yeah, that’s right, leave the grieving, embittered teen with the powerful magic books.  

• Oh Giles! Falling for that line? Shame! Shame!

• It's a cut-throat game, dominoes. Never, ever play it with anyone over 70 if you have any plans at all to hang on to your loose change

• Doc is freaky.

• Spike is hysterical during the Gora fight - “Come on, bastard!”

• At least they're consistent with their death gods, strangely enough more so than 'Stargate' who really should know about that sort of thing

   Intervention

• There are about four minutes of recap here. Were they a little short on actual episode? They recap five entire years and it doesn't take this long
• Plates don't get furry much, mugs on the other hand...
• What have the poor cows ever done to her?
• Giles seems to find it kind of creepy too (as do I)
• Please no, that is NOT an off road vehicle, you want to go wandering off round some desert, hire a Land Cruiser
• My, how convenient that sacred place in the desert must be for the non-Californian based Slayers.
• Depends how hot the sun is, and how many little nibbly things there are about to strip the bones clean first
• Giles’ ritual is slightly uninspiring.
• I like this whole vision quest thing, but does Buffy really need a thick jumper and coat in the desert? She might do, it gets nippy in a desert at night
• Is she following an animal guide or just wandering around the cat’s territory? Generally you're encouraged to move away from pumas, not follow them places
• He could try devouring her, but he's going to chip a tooth
• Willow's warning's might seem petty, but then all my paperbacks go out with a 'break the spine and I'll have to kill you' warning attached
• Love the Buffybot’s POV shots.
• Wouldn't concern for Dawn go in the family/friends profiles?
• Oh, will this episode be cut on the BBC.
• I know Spike's not my cup of tea, but does he deserve quite that much instant condemnation? It's not like he's from Bath or anything
• Spike’s programming becomes obvious with the Buffybot’s description of Angel. I was waiting for “poofter” but alas, 'twas not to be.
• Top description, "hobbits with leprosy"
• For the first time, Glory's wearing a dress that I quite like (the little blue number)
• Glory is really annoying with the way she says impure
• I love the way that they throw Spike around in this episode.
• Yeah, for some reason everyone thinks that they might be (never got the X/S thing). This is a nice episode for X/S people.
• Great that Buffy’s friends couldn’t tell her from a robot. I hope that mine would. You would, right? If you started having sex with Spike then we'd find out fairly quickly as Lizard would have ripped your head off in a seething, jealous rage and we'd see the wires. Also I think the pink pleated skirt might give you away
• I wonder if James Marsters shaves his armpits?
• Chipped, but Spike is still a god as his rant to Glory exemplifies
• Spike takes one of the most brutal beatings I’ve seen in this episode. Beast!
• Never go for the lift in the emergency.
• Shouldn't Spike smell that she's a flesh and blood person and not a robot? Also, why would the robot know that Dawn was the key? Surely if Spike won't tell Glory he wasn't dumb enough to volunteer the information to Warren
• Can a dead body bruise? Actually, yes, blood will still pool under the skin if the blood vessels get broken, although it gets dragged out by gravity rather than pumped out by the heart. Pathologists use it to tell how a body has been lying after it was killed (I know this from Martin Cruz Smith's 'Polar Star')

   Tough Love

• That’s gotta be weird, just losing 2 weeks like that.
• Dogs do eat homework, also copies of 'Please Please Me' by The Beatles
• Wow! How did the Doc know about Ben?
• Glory has a Homer moment - “Mmm... vitamins...”
• Xander’s reading X-Men!
• French people don't tip because in France it's included in the bill
• Thank God Xander cut his hair. He was beginning to look like a wife beater
• Again, two minutes of people wandering around and doing nothing. We'll get the Watchers Guide for these eps, and there'll be actual dialogue, cut for length
• Ooh, there’s Refined Ripper. And isn't it so, so nice to see him back
• Glory crunching Tara’s hand is gross!
• Not so much a World’s Fair as a World’s Stereotype Fair.
• In that x-ray of Tara's hand, none of the bones look broken
• God, that doctor was patronising.
• Still worried by the phrase "safe with Spike", and surely he should have healed by now? I know he's been a little short on the blood recently, but he's had a whole week. Besides, if his bruises have been all purple and unfaded for a week then they would have slipped by now and be somewhere around his collarbone (blood bruises do that, and it's really icky)
• There's something sick and twisted in someone who fancies the bruised and bloody Spike, right?
• Oh Buffy, you idiot, you really think the pep talk from you is going to work?
• “I owe you pain.” Nice. Willow kicks serious ass! Her powers seem to stem from the Dark Side of the Force, too.
• Spitting in her face - the ultimate taunt!
• You can't have an aubergine sandwich, that's just gross

   Spiral

• Not very impressive, we all know you don't have to be a god to demolish the walls in that university, Xander managed that
• And as a last word, "Truck" is a very pretty good one. This is where Diminuendo’s much-wanted 16-wheeler for Angel ended up. Yep, that was pretty much how I imagined it, only Angel wasn't in the dress. And the truck reversed. A few times
• I know the Sunnydale population are used to weird things happening, but a woman gets hit by a truck and then turns into a man in drag? Too weird...
• Run away! Run away! Running away is good.
• He doesn't need to use his own hands, he could hire someone
• A Winnebago? That can only mean one thing... Lone Star!
• He would appear to be driving the truck, and doing a passable impression of the Rocketeer (only not as cute)
• Road trip?
• Oh, I’m sure that Orlando is really happy knowing that he will be avenged.
• Where the hell do all the Knights come from? Is it a full-time thing or do they have day jobs and just do this at the weekend, like homicidal members of The Sealed Knot?
• How can they read when they’re moving?  That’s an easy way to Xander-esque travel-sickness for me.
• "It just keeps coming", welcome to life Buffy
• This is Buffy’s second ever car chase scene, and it’s gone downhill from the Citroen and the Humvees to a Winnebago and some horsies.
• Yes Xander, they're throwing arrows
• They say horsies too!
• Jesus, how slowly is the RV going? A five furlong sprinter only hits maybe 40 miles an hour. Horses like that, carrying a fully armed man, they're barely going to touch twenty
• What a shot with that axe by Buffy!
• Wow. Giles really does have a sucking gut wound. Have to admit, I was SERIOUSLY worried by the sucking gut wound the first time I saw this, up to the point where I was doubting his survival. Witness me sitting bolt upright in bed and yelling  "No! He doesn't have a contract for season six!"
• For God's sake Dawn, at least try and hit the guy, don't just sit there and scream
• The General has a cool tattoo.
• You know, the general must be thinking that the reason why generals traditionally stay behind the line of battle is so situations like this don’t happen.
• That doesn't take magic, just WD40
• I  would have been tempted to try and find the other two members of the triumvirate who beat Glory last time and find out how they beat her, or see if they can help
• So the apocalyptic evens in the other dimension happened pretty recently then? In Ben's lifetime? Only, I thought Glory predated language. Also, events that happened in the seventies are somehow less believable than those that predate the records
• It’s nice to have a purpose in life, even if it is to destroy the universe. I wondered how they were going to get bigger and better - after all, all those Apocalypses(?), how were they going to out do those? As the characters themselves say 'Again?!' Well here it is. Not just the end of the world but the end of the universe... Cool.
• So what happens when Dawn grows old and dies? Perhaps the key would need to be turned into something else. What if Dawn was turned into a vampire, Glory said the key would only be in something pure, so would the key leave her? 
• What a fucking beast! Axle to the chest!

   The Weight Of The World

• As this episode is almost irredeemably awful and is simply a pathetic stop gap filler till the next one, I would like to take this opportunity to share an excellent quote from an Australian Prime Minister because it is far better than the whole of this episode about which I can find nothing to say. From Paul Keating on political opponent Malcolm Fraser: "Malcolm Fraser looks like an Easter Island statue with an arse full of razor blades." Good, eh?
• They've moved her already, why worry now?
• Go Willow! Willow is finally coming to the fore, after a season of surprisingly subtle character development. I suppose we’ve all been getting used to the gay aspect of her character, so the increasing magical powers slipped past almost unacknowledged.
• You have to feel for Spike, trying to get his point across about Ben/Glory. 
• 'Give Us A Clue' moment. Aaahhh!! Sudden, freakish merging of Spike and Lionel Blair
• Bunch of crazy people building something. Not good.
• Nice androgynous robes so Ben doesn't look too stupid when he appears
• I like the poster above Xander’s bed: “There’s HONOUR in arc welding!”
• Oh dear, a trip into Buffy’s brain.  Well, this shouldn’t take too long.
• "Scampered" I think he means 'scarpered' here
• Oh dear, Spike is fighting a losing battle with the human memories, although it does make for a good running gag.
• Glory’s lament rings oddly true.
• Ah, not only is this dull and pointless, but it's dull and pointless twice
• “Special Ed” - nice.
• Willow takes all the pyschobabble she learned from the psychopathic ex-Initiative Dr. Frankenstein in high heels and promptly ignores it in a burst of Pratchett-esque headology. Good for her. Yes, I do like the fact that she basically tells Buffy to get over it and stop being such a drama queen

   The Gift

• Ooh, very nice flashback thing! That is such a cool scary montage at the beginning of the show, although I maintain that by far the most frightening clip was Giles in the sombrero.  
• I am terrifyingly close to being able to name every single episode they took a clip from
• Why fight a vampire now?  To let us know that she’s still living up to the title?  There was no need for that to be put in. I’m sorry but gratuitous vamp attack, just to let everyone know that this is still Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s not all about Hell-Gods, y’know! 
• Like the “Oh God, my leg!” routine.
• You know, I had never thought about why vampires eat blood until Spike tells us. Actually, you're pretty screwed without your lymphatic system too, or your digestive juices, or bile, but you never catch anyone feeding off those
• Gosh, this is a depressing council of war isn’t it? 
• "The monks made her out of me" when do they say this? I know I'm watching this having not seen the rest of the series for 6 months, but I don't remember them saying that. When did they get a bit of Buffy to make Dawn from?
• Giles acting as the Voice of Reason.
• I may be a cruel, heartless bitch, but I would have backed Xander’s plan to kill Ben. The needs of the many and all that.
• Anya finally has a dazzling moment of competency and shows us why she’s been hanging around for the last two seasons.
• Since when did Olaf become a Troll-God? Wasn’t he just a Troll?
• Shouldn’t that very heavy hammer smash through the shelf?
• Smart chicks are hot. Nice Willow/Xander moment there.
• If the key had been a log or a bicycle pump, would it have had to wear the robes as well?
• Love Glory’s “You two - get her!” 
• Six apocalypses? I'm running a few short, Angel would have been one, but neither the Mayor nor the Master were actually trying to end the world so they don't count. If just opening the Hellmouth counts as an apocalypse, then 'The Harvest', 'Prophecy Girl', 'Becoming', 'The Zeppo', 'Doomed', that's still only five
• Why would they keep the Buffybot? I would hate to have something like that around.
• No, I can state categorically that no heads will explode. There’s nobody I fancy enough.
• “Band of Buggered” - nice. Love the St. Crispan’s Day speech. Both versions. Not as funny as the 'Due South' version though
• What exactly do the building crew think they're putting together there? Nice to see that not even a hell-god can get builders to finish on time
• Well, she could eat Buffy's brain, but it's not really going to be big meal
• Should Dawn not be wriggling more, instead of standing there all tied up and relying on Buffy to come get her? I know if Buffy was my only hope of escape then I'd be panicking a hell of a lot more than that
• Very lucky that Buffy didn't clip any load-bearing beams with the super-hammer
• The wrecking-ball needed “Acme” written on it.
• Xander’s bowling and carpentry skills pay off big time.
• That's not a trick, it's a knife
• The telepathy’s new. That's telepathy? I thought she was speaking to him through the big speaker-looking device just to his left
• Willow couldn't have done that earlier? Or to Glory? Or for that matter the guy on the top of the diving board?
• That was a beast of a fall, onto a pile of bricks no less!
• Ripper! Good for Giles!  He’s the one with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Somebody had to do what he did.  Plus Ben was beginning to annoy me. Why does he need to put his glasses on before he kills him though?
• Couldn’t they stop the blood from flowing by applying pressure to the wounds?  Just a thought. Because it would be slightly less dramatic if they saved the world with a bit of Gamgee and some band-aids, but yeah, that would have been my first option too
• Does the winged beastie just get sucked back into hell after Buffy snuffs it?
• And Buffy finally gets it, thanks to a helpful flashback sequence. Well, Buffy might get it, but I don't. Why does her dying close the portal? It doesn't stop Dawn's blood from flowing does it? This would probably have been more emotionally affecting if it had made any kind of sense, so I could sit there and sob instead of sitting there going "eh?", oh and cheering, but that's probably just me
• Please tell me I wasn't the only one encouraging Buffy to jump then (surely every 'Babylon 5' fan on the planet was yelling the same thing). Although it would have been a little more satisfying after her appallingly stuck-up selfish attitude during the rest of the season if she'd actually got her ass kicked (she's on a contract people! It's not like she isn't coming back...)
• Lucky her theory was correct, that they did have the same blood and she was able to close the portal; otherwise - pie in the face and dead!
• If Buffy said all that to Dawn before she jumped, then she must have been talking really, really fast...
• "A shocking series finale I think you'll agree" so says the Sky announcer over the end credits. Of course, it would have been more shocking if Sky hadn't used the last 30 seconds as the trailer and shown it in the episode of 'Buffy' the week before! How can I be shocked about her dying when I've already seen her f***ing tombstone! As someone who stopped reading the mail from her 'Stargate' list because I didn't want to pick up any spoilers I was absolutely furious that they dropped that into the ad break of the one show I couldn't avoid watching

Fringedwellers' Guide