Buffy episode review - Season 7 Episode 10
Episode 10. Spike is "kidnapped" by The First. I actually completely forgot where we knew the First evil from. Like I remember those eye-less guys but I didn't remember The First and then Buffy said "It almost got Angel to kill himself" and the memory of it came crashing. I was so afraid watching that then. I can't believe I didn't recognise the patterns this time but well, neither did Buffy. One of the best things about having The First as the villain and having Spike be kidnapped was seeing Drusilla again. I LOVE her so much and watching her on screen, even though I know it's not truly her just like Spike did, I loved it. I did not trust Principal Wood for a second in this episode, like why was he so suspicious for absolutely no reason?? Willow losing herself to magic for just a second and be possessed (?) by The First was scary to watch. But hey! Giles is back!!! Look, I completely forgot about him being in danger from the last time he was shown first but I soon remembered and was very confused about it for a moment and then came to my own conclusion that he must've fought them off. The confusion didn't return until the characters suspected Giles in a later episode. The concept of bringing in new prospective slayers was interesting but I have to say, the new characters were a bit...Idk there was nothing openly bad about them but introducing a bunch of new characters in s7 is a bit...uncomfortable. Like having new people you know nothing about over at your house for your farewell.
"You think you'll ever show up for a real visit? The kind where the world isn't about to end." My heart broke for Buffy, honestly. How unfortunate to have an absent father growing up, the kind that doesn't even show up for your mother's funeral, and then finding someone who steps up becomes a father figure for you only for him to turn into an absent father as well? I hope atleast after season 7 they have a chance at mending this problem. I noticed the set up for Kennedy x Willow ship in this episode but...I didn't know how to feel about it. Technically Kennedy hadn't done anything bad yet until this episode, I only disliked her in the later episodes....I still felt a bit awkward to watch Willow with someone else. Technically there had been a considerable amount of time since Tara passed and we have been shown Willow grieving her a lot but still. If they had planned on making more seasons of Buffy then I'd understand them introducing a new love interest but they knew this would be the last...So why? I didn't get it. Like, I'm not over Tara yet, so it was super weird for me but taking my bias out of it. There was nothing wrong with Kennedy.
The uber vamp. I loved the idea of having a really powerful Vampire who was not Dracula. Dracula just gave me theatre kid vibes but Uber Vamp was actually really strong. I was genuinely scared for Buffy when it kicked her ass TWICE. The energy that the vamp brought was very interesting; it added another level of high stakes to the finale. Instead of giving the same battles, I really liked that they decided to challenge Buffy more. But two of the most important things in this episode, in my opinion is,
Drusilla/ The First : "What makes you think you will ever be any good at all in this world?"
Spike : "She does. Because she believes in me."
I think I find it really interesting that the First was impersonating Drusilla, Spike's first proper love, while saying this. Spike did anything and everything for Drusilla; He killed people, tortured them and everything but he became a man for Buffy. His love for Buffy was very different but they have a habit of not believing the other person when they confess something. Spike goes on to do that (when Buffy says I love you for the first time and he says no you don't) but I love that this time he decided to believe her when she said that she believes in him. That was the last thing he heard her say before he was abducted, and if the first decided to kill him in that very moment, Spike would've died happily knowing that Buffy believed in him.
The second thing was Buffy's monologue at the end. LISTEN, this was PEAK! This might be one of my favourite monologues that Buffy ever gave before saving the world. The one issue I have with this is that this the middle of the season. I remember watching this scene and getting fucking goosebumps because the stakes were SOO high and Buffy was ready to march back into battle even though she was horribly beaten up. I absolutely loved this monologue but it kinda loses the power when absolutely nothing of significant happens for a while after this. Like yes, she defeats the uber vamp the next episode but what happens after that? This monologue boosts the season and I had major expectations for it to go faster. Don't get me wrong, the episodes were engaging but it takes seven episodes after this for Caleb to be introduced. Like, do you get the issue? If this monologue was not in this episode, then it wouldn't feel too slow but since they riled me up with this monologue, it feels extra slow when nothing happens for the next few episodes.
