Hi! No pressure of course but is there any chance you could share some thoughts on 5.07 specifically? It’s considered a high point I think, and it’s obv a crucial one for Spike’s ch and his relationship with Buffy.
I'm determined not to let this one sit for months on end uwu
So, Fool For Love, great episode! Even just aesthetically it's very well put together and I really enjoyed how it rhymed with Angel 2.07. I feel like the watching order didn't matter though I did watch ATS and therefore Angel's POV first. It was about time we got some Spike flashbacks and I have to say they delivered. The Angel-related ones as well but the second Slayer subway sequence was just something else. Not that this was the first episode to do so but 5.07 really proved just how far BtVS has come and what they can do in just 45 minutes of television. Also, unrelated to other flashback thoughts but when they cut to 1998 with Spike and Dru I was trying to place it in my head and at first I was like "okay so like 20 years before Buffy." Lmaooo joke's on me for often forgetting how old BtVS is as a series. I feel at liberty to call it old as a fellow 1997 baby.
I thought the premise of getting Buffy and Spike to talk about Slayers and fighting and death was a little forced, Buffy getting injured all of a sudden and all. But it doesn't take away from how good what follows is and I'm glad the show returned to what was used to introduce Spike, the fact that his two Slayer kills are what really give him his reputation. And if anything, Fool For Love is just the hammering home of Spike's "violence and sex are the same" thesis. I know that's a theme throughout the show because duh, vampires and their metaphors and what with all the slaying, but Spike as a character really embodies it. And there are many interesting implications to consider about him willingly chasing Slayers, the people most likely to kill him. There's really a lot to say about his hedonsitic tendencies and this embodiement but I don't think I could add anything that people smarter than me haven't already offered all thoughts on haha.
I also appreciated that Spike was once again established as an unreliable narrator, one who boasts and and all but who has an emotional truth to speak of. His origin story of when he was still human checks out with everything he does as a vampire and I'm curious where the series will go with him. Because he is a soulless vampire and I'm sure there will be many an exploration of that and what it means for the concept of love, but at this point in the lore it's also been made pretty clear that one's human self influences their vampire one. And William was kind of... all about love? As a true romantic Victorian poet. And, particularly if we consider love(/sex) and violence the same, Spike's all about that too. So you know, I buy that he really does love Buffy. I think it started as lust and as obsession, but at this point in the story it is love. I was afraid the episode would end with Buffy pissing him off and several episodes would be about Spike acting all scorned and spiteful so the ending scene was a nice subversion. It made Spike's genuine affection all the more clear, because he is still a petty spiteful vampire who doesn't take rejection well but he also saw that Buffy was hurting and demonstrated that he has empathy. It's strange, sure, but I'm kinda digging the way the show is portraying it.
I wasn't sure how I'd feel about Spike and, inevitably, Spuffy, but now that I'm well into season 5 I have to say that I get it. And this is more in general rather than specific to the episode, but I think I get it. I proceeded with caution because fandom hype can be so misleading and I'm extra cautious of once bad boys for whom fandoms have soft spots. Very often I don't feel like the characters deserve it beyond being played by attractive white men. But from the start Marsters' performance as Spike has been unabashedly delightful and particularly from season 4 on it's been so easy to want to root for him. I won't yet say either way in terms of Spuffy because I don't yet know where I'll fall with them, but... I get it. Yeah, I can totally see why people would dig this. I have to say, some of Spike's pitiful attempts at just being in Buffy's presence rang all too true to me. Granted I'm not a soulless vampire, just a useless lesbian, but still.
What else to say specifically about the ep, hmm. Honestly not a lot, just that it was good. I know that might not sound like I'm appreciating the quality of eps like this appropriately but that's just because I'm speeding through episodes and processing everything at once. I do think Buffy s5 and Angel s2 are really really solid seasons of television with some truly exceptional episodes, 5.07 among them. The interplay of the flashbacks and Spuffy in the present and the line blurring and disappearing by the end are chef's kiss. I'll have to see Their Story unfold fully before passing verdict on the fight scene but yeah, it's great TV. And dare I say, Buffy was showing signs of being attracted to Spike herself just not realizing it yet. That's the vibe anyway, just like it took Spike a while to have that 'oh' moment. We've all been there.
