"Lessons"

Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by David Solomon


In which Sunnydale High is resurrected, and on Dawn’s first day, that’s not the only thing! Meanwhile, something very, very bad begins to rise...

Synopsis - Analysis - Memorable Quotes - Observations


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Synopsis

As the episode begins, a young woman runs through the darkened streets of Istanbul. As Spike watches from the shadows, several men in black and hooded robes chase the woman into a blind alley. Desperate to escape, the woman climbs onto the roof of one of the buildings, only to be tossed to the ground again by one of her robed atttackers. In a matter of moments, the woman’s hands are held above her head, and as she struggles, one of the robed men drives a dagger into her chest.

Meanwhile, back in Sunnydale, a vampire begins to rise from his grave. Buffy tells Dawn that it’s all about who has the power, and who is going to use that power, tossing her a stake. As Buffy tries to explain to Dawn that the vampire is the one with the power, the vampire appears to have gotten himself stuck. Buffy frees him, and then sets him after Dawn. Dawn does her best to fight him off, but misses the heart with the stake...leaving Buffy to save her. Still, Buffy is impressed with how Dawn is coming along. Only she’s not so sure any of them are ready for what’s about to happen!

The next morning, the new and improved Sunnydale High School is opened for the new school year. The festivities are overseen by the new principal, a young man by the name of Robin Wood.

At the same time in Westbury, England, Giles rides to where Willow is resting under a tree. Willow makes a flower from Paraguay appear as Giles approaches, and Giles observes that it doesn’t belong there. Willow remarks that she was able to bring it there because everything is connected, something she’s been learning from the coven that Giles had taken up with upon his return to England. But they are concerned that Willow is still not learning the real lesson.

Giles explains that the coven is afraid because Willow will always be connected to the dark power that she embraced following Tara’s death. What Willow doesn’t understand is that she will always be connected to it now, whether she realizes it or not. She’s now responsible for that power, to ensure that it is not misused again. Still, Willow is worried that she might never be allowed to just be herself again...something that Giles assures her is not the case.

Back in Sunnydale, it’s the first day of school. As Buffy pushes Dawn to get moving, Xander stops by with the plans to the new buildings. Buffy is rather nervous about what dangers might exist at the new school. Xander assures her that his participation has covered most of the basics; there are no mystically inconvenient symbols or arrangements inherent to the new building plans. However, there is one point of possible concern. The site of the old library, which sat over the Hellmouth, is now the site of the new principal’s office.

Before they leave for school, Buffy gives Dawn a “back to school” gift, and then they’re off. Xander drops them off on his way to work, leaving Buffy to lecture Dawn about all of the possible dangers as they walk into the new entrance. They are met by the new principal, who promptly tells Buffy that he’s very much aware of who she is. It leaves Buffy with a less than fresh feeling.

When Dawn walks to her first class, Buffy takes a moment to walk through the new halls. Expecting the worst, she is cautious about every odd noise or look. As Dawn’s day begins with each student introducing themselves to the rest of the class (a truly evil exercise, I agree), Buffy goes to the bathroom to freshen up. She notices an odd object on the counter by the sink, a collection of sticks and feathers.

As she picks it up, she hears a voice behind her, and sees the apparent specter of a mangled young woman standing behind her, chiding Buffy for not protecting her. When Buffy turns, the young woman is gone, but then a similarly ghostly man appears, shouting for Buffy to leave. As Dawn introduces herself, trying to look as normal as possible, Buffy rushes into the room to warn Dawn of the new danger. Too late, Buffy realizes her error, leaving Dawn mortified.

At a local coffee shop, Anya and Halfrek watch a disturbingly upbeat couple sing a disturbing love song. When Anya comments that she can’t wait to exact vengeance, Halfrek scoffs, informing Anya that her lack of action lately is giving her a bad reputation for going soft. Halfrek tells her that everyone is beginning to feel the rise of something older than even the Old Ones, and right now is a bad time to be hesitant.

Buffy stops to speak to Xander, telling him about her encounter. She notes that even though the specters acted like ghosts, they were able to touch her, which ghosts can’t do. She also remarks that they seemed to be coming after her specifically. Buffy is sure that it had something to do with the school reopening, but she can’t be sure what.

Meanwhile, in class, another student asks Dawn for a pencil. When she gives it to him, he suddenly appears very dead, and drives the pencil into her eye. She screams, throwing herself to the ground...but then she realizes that it didn’t really happen. But with all of the other students now staring at her like a freak, she runs off to the bathroom, seeking some kind of refuge from the incredibly bad day she’s having.

While sitting in the bathroom, Dawn hears another student in one of the other stalls is crying. Dawn finds a semi-Goth girl hiding in one of the stalls, who tells her that someone else is in the room. Dawn assures her that there isn’t, but the other girl (named Kit) is very sure. Just as Kit leaves her stall, the three specters reappear in the mirror, and the lights overhead begin to spark. As they try to run, hands emerge from the floor, pulling them down into the basement.

Back in England (in what one must assume is either late afternoon or earlier in the day for them), Giles helps Willow recover from some kind of attack. Through her emerging sense of connection to the Earth, Willow could feel the movement of the darkness which pervades everything, centering its attention on the Hellmouth. She knows that it’s going to open again.

While all of this is happening, Buffy runs into the principal in one of the main hallways. The principal confesses to having been given a rather thick file on Buffy’s years at the former school, something which sets her on edge. The principal actually admires how far Buffy seems to have come, especially when it comes to caring after Dawn. Buffy tries to convince the principal to expel or suspend Dawn, in the hopes of getting Dawn away from the place, but it’s to no avail.

Dawn and Kit try to find their way out of the basement, as Kit explains that the mangled young woman was telling her that they were all going to die. They run into another student, Carlos Trejo, who managed to get caught downstairs trying to take a smoke break. He encountered the old janitor, who was equally dead, and ran until he got lost. As the three of them attempt to find a way out, they are confronted by the three specters. Dawn does the first thing she can think of, and pulls out Buffy’s gift...a cell phone.

Getting the call, Buffy manages a quick excuse to get away from the principal, and searches for a way to get to Dawn. She finds the hole in the bathroom floor, and jumps down, hoping to find Dawn in the vicinity. But Dawn and the others are nowhere to be found. Buffy tries to use the cell phone to locate her sister, but her call is intercepted by the specters.

The three specters confront Buffy, trying to make Buffy feel guilty for letting them die, but Buffy wants nothing of it. She realizes that they are standing in front of a certain door, and assumes that Dawn must be inside. After a bit of a fight, she manages to get a clear path to the door, but when she opens it, Dawn’s not inside. Spike is.

Spike is less than willing to let Buffy into his little room, but she forces her way in when the specters resume their attack. When Buffy asks after Dawn, Spike rants to himself, mostly about how he’s trying, how he’s not a quick study. Then Buffy notices that he’s been mutilating himself. He says he’s been trying to cut “it” out, but before she can ask, Dawn calls her on the cell phone.

Dawn quickly tells Buffy her location, and asks if Buffy knows what the source of the problem might be. Buffy claims ignorance, but Spike mumbles out that it’s all due to a talisman, manifesting spirits raised to seek vengeance. Buffy tells Dawn to find a weapon. Buffy asks Spike to help, but Spike seems to be too far gone. Buffy rushes off, and finds the specters gone. Realizing what the talisman must be, she calls Xander.

Meanwhile, Dawn uses Kit’s bag and some loose bricks to make a crude weapon. Sure enough, the specters return to kill them. The specters tell them that they were all chosen because they were the misfits, the ones who wouldn’t be missed. Dawn tries to beat them off, but she’s quickly overtaken. Luckily, Buffy arrives in time to take over the fight. As Buffy keeps the specters at bay, Xander finds the talisman. He’s briefly attacked by the specter of the young woman, but he eventually manages to destroy the talisman, ending the spell.

Dawn wonders how Buffy knew about the talisman, but Buffy waves off the question. She obviously wants to keep Spike’s presence to herself, but she’s also more interested in who might have put the talisman there in the first place. After helping the Dawn and the others out of the basement, Buffy runs into the principal, who is impressed by how she managed to bring Dawn and the two worst students together into a little social club and off to class.

Citing the general problems that the school is facing, the principal offers Buffy a part-time job as a kind of counselor to the student body. Buffy jumps at the chance, sure that this will give her the chance to keep an eye on Dawn and any odd happenings at the school. The principal is just happy to have someone around willing to help.

Meanwhile, in the basement, Spike laments his inability to explain what’s happening to Buffy. He’s tormented in his weakness by some kind of shape-shifting being, which takes the form of every major villain of the past six seasons in reverse order. The Shifter says that it is beyond Buffy’s understanding, beyond all description...but that’s all right. Buffy is exactly where it wants her to be, and so is Spike. With his soul back, Spike is now the perfect tool, the perfect servant. It’s going to take everything back to the very beginning...the beginning of it all. And as it takes Buffy’s form, it reminds Spike that it’s all about power...


Analysis

Last season, many fans felt that the series had taken too severe a turn towards the “real world” problems of fighting one’s inner demons, as opposed to the actual demonic events that had been the hallmark of earlier years. But in its own way, last year was a necessary evil, and the deal that Mutant Enemy cut with UPN gave them the two seasons needed to take that kind of chance.

Following the massive events of “Seeing Red” at the end of the season, when all of the growing tensions finally came to a head, Spike ran off to Africa to seek out an ancient force that might remove the control chip from his head. Willow, of course, embraced a massive dark power in her thirst for revenge. It all ended with Xander barely stopping Willow from ending the world, and Spike having his soul restored.

At the time, there was little reason to believe that these events might be connected in any way. But unlike other seasons, the writers were aware that they had time to plan out how the next season would unfold. Based on what we see in this season premiere, it looks as though Willow’s loss of self-control might have provided the most ancient of evils with the means of restoring the Earth as a demon’s haven.

As we saw the final episodes of last season, there appeared to be a possible connection between the First Slayer and the ancient power that Spike had sought out in Africa. This power appears to have tested Spike for his suitability as a servant. As we see in the opener here, Spike is present when unknown hooded individuals hunt down a young woman.

Willow is told that her actions at the end of the season focused a dark and primal power, effectively waking it, and it has become her responsibility to assure that this power is not misused. At the same time, Willow’s new understanding of magic leads her to feel the rising of darkness within the very fabric of reality. That power is seeking to open the Hellmouth.

(Speaking of Willow...it’s good to see the writers making some kind of acknowledgment that Willow’s previous dabbling in magic was nothing close to what it ought to have been. Here, we see her receiving an education into the true nature of what lies behind magic and miracles...the connection between all things. Whatever “Wiccan” pretensions might have been tossed about in earlier years, what we see in this episode falls much closer to the reality.)

At the end of this episode, it appears that something has returned to Sunnydale with Spike, something that is older than any of the adversaries that Buffy has ever faced. It would seem that unlike last season, which was about defeating one’s inner demons, this season is about facing the incarnation of evil itself. When Willow tapped into the whole of humanity, she might also have awakened the latent traces of darkness that lie within all of us. She tipped the balance, allowing this to happen.

If this incarnation of evil is older than the demons that were driven from Earth, and the First Slayer was created to combat the vampires that served as the remnant of that demonic horde at that time, then it’s possible that the Slayer is something more than it might appear. Wouldn’t the darkness have tried to open the Hellmouth back then? If so, what if the First Slayer was actually “activated” to counterbalance that evil, to be some kind of avatar of light to safeguard the Hellmouth? It fits with what we’ve been told and what we’ve seen to this point.

In that case, the Slayer would be the natural enemy of Evil, and Evil would take measures to prevent the Slayer from spoiling its plans this time. Since the power of the Slayer transfers to others with the potential to be a Slayer, upon the death of the current Slayer, wouldn’t Evil send out its minions to eliminate those with Slayer potential? Over time, that would leave only Buffy and Faith.

As the potential Slayers are eliminated, we are likely to see Evil make movements to ensure that the Hellmouth can open without contest. This would all happen near the high school, which fits nicely with the renewed focus on the school, thanks to Dawn. When the other potential Slayers are gone, Evil would try to take care of Faith, and finally Buffy.

All of which could finally fulfill the old promise that the origins of the Slayer would eventually be explored. Having hinted at those origins during the past few seasons, this would appear to be a perfect opportunity. Buffy would have to discover how the First Slayer defeated Evil in the first place, and Willow would have to return to fulfill her own responsibility for awakening Evil anew. With this looking like Sarah Michelle Gellar’s final season, it would be a perfect way to bring the entire series full circle.

It makes sense, then, for us to see the beginning of closure in other respects. With Buffy having learned some important lessons about responsibility herself, she is beginning to shift into the role that Giles once held. With all the other potential Slayers dead, would Dawn become the default replacement, should something happen to Faith? After all, she was based somewhat on Buffy, and that ought to count for something!

Bringing the series back to the high school setting also allows for the introduction of new characters. If Dawn represents the possible future of Slayerdom, then her new friends are like the next generation Xander and Willow. Kit, as a pseudo-Goth, might already have some basic ideas about magic and folklore, and one can see Willow taking her in hand. Not as strong or distinct in this first look is Carlos Trejo. Carlos doesn’t stand out as anything but a stereotype. But since Joss Whedon rarely plays to convention, that could be a ruse. Perhaps Xander can help in that regard?

The strong interconnections with the end of the previous season tempers the usual slow start that earlier season suffered from, and the quick involvement of the main villain of the season clearly helps. This episode is not exactly a classic, but it does start the season running.


Memorable Quotes

BUFFY: “It’s about power...who’s got it, who’s going to use it.”

VAMPIRE: “Excuse me...but I think I’m stuck...”
BUFFY: “You’re stuck?”
VAMPIRE: “My foot’s caught on a root or something...I don’t even know how I got down here. If you girls could give me a hand or something...”
DAWN: “So...he’s got the power...”

BUFFY: “My first time out? I missed the heart too.”
DAWN: “No way!”
BUFFY: “Just the once...”

WILLOW: “Is there anything you don’t know everything about?”
GILES: “Synchronized swimming. Complete mystery to me.”

DAWN: “What is it?”
BUFFY: “Back to school gift.”
DAWN: (gleefully) “It’s a weapon, isn’t it!”

STUDENT: “Guess it runs in the family...”

PRINCIPAL: “The school board suggested I take some time to study your record. It’s quite a page-turner...kind of a checkered past...”
BUFFY: “More like a plaid...a clan tartan of badness, really...you know, but there were factors...”

DAWN: “Oh, and Buffy? Isn’t this reception amazing? I’m in the frickin’ basement!”

SPIKE: “Buffy...duck...”
BUFFY: “What? Duck? There’s a duck?”

DAWN: “What do they want?”
BUFFY: “So far? To piss me off.”
DAWN: “Please tell me it’s working...”
BUFFY: “Oh, I’m damage bound...”

XANDER: “Ooooooh! Contracty goodness!”

SHIFTER: (As Master) “It’s not about right. It’s not about wrong.” (As Buffy.) “It’s about power.”


Observations

- Not only is the Turkish woman a total babe, but in the teaser, Buffy looks better than she has in a very long time!

- About damn time Buffy started showing some of that good ol’ fashioned spunk!

- Not only that, but I think this episode had more action than most of last season...

- Once again, I appreciate Dawn’s love for new and exciting weaponry...

- Nice how Buffy warns Dawn about things that she encountered all during the first season!

- What happened to Anya? She’s looking practically skeletal...those cheekbones are jutting all over the place...

- I have to say, I find Kit to be rather cute...the kind of girl I would have chased after in high school!

- I’m not sure what I think of Spike’s new ‘do, but I love that insane little giggle of his!

- I loved that little rundown of the various villains that we’ve seen over the years...it brings home the idea that this season is going to bring everything full circle.

Overall, this was one of the strongest season premieres in the history of the series. While some time still needed to be taken on issues lingering from the end of last season, most of this episode was about setting the tone for this year. The renewed premise of the series looks promising, and if they can continue on this path, this could be a return to greatness.

I give it an 8/10.


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