"Never Leave Me"

Written by Drew Goddard
Directed by David Solomon


In which Spike attempts to go cold turkey from the bloodlust brought on by the First Evil, as Evil’s plans take the next deadly step forward...

Synopsis - Analysis - Memorable Quotes - Observations


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Synopsis

As the episode begins, the gang cleans up the Summers house while discussing what ought to happen with Spike. Meanwhile, Andrew continues to be “haunted” by Warren, who wants him to stop complaining about the concept of killing. Apparently Jonathan’s blood wasn’t enough to open the Seal of Danzathar. Back at the house, Buffy ties Spike down to a chair, so he can weather the withdrawal from feeding without hurting anyone.

The next day, Principal Wood deals with a couple miscreants when Dawn drops by to inform him that Buffy is sick and won’t be coming in. Wood takes it in stride. Meanwhile, Buffy contacts Quentin Travers, the head of the Watchers’ Council, to check up on Giles. Quentin tries to act as though Giles is no longer a concern, but Buffy knows better. When the conversation is over, Quentin informs the rest of the Council that Buffy knows nothing of the current crisis...a worldwide, systematic elimination of assets.

Back in Sunnydale, Spike continues to go through terrible withdrawals. Buffy asks Willow if she can get some animal’s blood to help with the process. After a pathetic attempt to get some blood by slaughtering a pig, Andrew resorts to picking some up at the local butcher shop. As he leaves, he runs into Willow.

She’s not at all happy to see him. She chases him into the alley next to the butcher shop. Andrew tries to pose as a big bad, and Willow plays the super-powerful and not-so-good witch in response. Moments later, Willow drags Andrew (and his purchase of blood) into the Summers house.

When Andrew refuses to explain what he’s doing back in town, Xander and Anya slip into good cop/bad cop mode. They tie Andrew to a chair, and Anya slaps Andrew around a little while Xander plays friendly. Meanwhile, in the next room, Buffy feeds Spike some of the animal’s blood.

After checking with Xander and Anya, Buffy tries to get Spike to remember what he had been going through since returning to Sunnydale. But he’s been losing time, and he doesn’t remember his chip not working right. Buffy asks him how he got his soul back, and he tells her the quick version of his story since leaving Sunnydale. Then he points out that she was using him during their time together, because she hated herself and took it out on him. And he thinks he understands how she feels now.

Xander has a nice conversation with Andrew, claiming that Anya is still a vengeance demon and loves to hurt and kill men. One particular story gives a little bit of insight into how he’s felt since leaving Anya at the altar. Then Anya storms into the room, launching an assault on Andrew. It’s all an act, but when she slaps Xander in the spirit of things, it shocks them both. But then they quickly resume their roles, and Andrew begs for the chance to talk.

Buffy leaves Spike to check on the noise, and Evil takes that opportunity to stop by and visit him. By the time Buffy returns, she can hear Spike arguing with someone...and then some kind of singing. When she asks Spike what was happening, he’s acting differently. Without warning, he tears apart his chair and rips through the wall, pulling Andrew through before he can give away too much information to the others. Then he sinks his fangs into Andrew’s neck.

Buffy pulls him away, but not before Andrew is badly hurt. Spike is confused, but Buffy doesn’t give him a chance to explain. After securing Andrew again, the gang gets together to discuss what happened. When Buffy tells them what she heard, Xander immediately realizes that the song triggers Spike into controlling him without his knowledge. They assume that it has something to do with the thing that has been messing with them. Buffy asks Xander and Anya to think of a way to break Spike from the programming, while Willow and Dawn get to look for what might be behind it all.

As night falls, Principal Wood leaves his office, only to be called to the basement. He goes directly to the room in the basement where the seal was uncovered, and he finds Jonathan’s body. Meanwhile, Buffy cares for Spike, who has been chained in her basement. When he awakens, he wonders what he did. She explains their theory, and Spike tells her to kill him.

When Buffy hesitates, Spike makes it clear what he’s fully capable of, outlining some of the things he had done during his demonic years. When she still hesitates, Spike asks her if she knows why she hasn’t killed him. She might rationalize that he’s fought by her side, but he doesn’t want to hear it. He thinks Buffy likes men that hurt her, because she uses the pain to keep Slaying.

Buffy rejects that completely. In her view, it’s all about his penance, his willful decisions to fight his demonic nature and do the right thing. He claims that it was an act, but she is sure that it was real. She tells him, finally, that she sees what lies inside of him, and she believes in him. Before he can respond, the house is invaded by the black-hooded figures that have been killing young women and Watchers around the world.

As Principal Wood mindlessly buries Jonathan in a deserted area, the hooded figures continue to fight with Buffy and the others at the house. Buffy, sure that they are after Andrew, runs to his aid. One of the hooded figures is about to kill him when Buffy arrives. They manage to dispatch many of their attackers, but not before they get away with their true target: Spike. After the fight, as the gang recovers, Buffy realizes that she’s fought the hooded figures before. Everything comes together in her mind. She realizes now that they’re fighting the First Evil.

In London, Quentin Travers determines the extent of the damage to the Watchers. Worldwide, their information and assets have been completely compromised, leaving them barely able to address the situation. Quentin orders the Council to organize their remaining assets for full mobilization against the First Evil, and announces that they will be taking the fight to the Hellmouth. Moments later, the entire Council is destroyed by a massive explosion.

Back in Sunnydale, the Harbingers of the First Evil strap Spike to a St. Andrew’s cross and slice him up a bit. As the First taunts Spike in Buffy’s form, the Harbingers hang Spike over the Seal and let his blood drip down. The blood opens the Seal, and an incredibly ancient vampire crawls out, ready for the hunt...


Analysis

Picking up where the last episode left off, Buffy begins her program of weaning Spike off the bodily fluids and gathering whatever information she can extract from him in the process. Wisely, that’s not the only plot thread in the episode. The Scoobies also get their hands on Andrew, and that forces Evil to make some serious moves.

It’s amazing to see some relatively minor continuity from season 3 turn into such a strong plot arc this season. The background for the First Evil is more or less confined to a single episode, in which it is revealed that the First Evil apparently sent Angel back from his imprisonment in a Hell Dimension to eliminate Buffy.

At first glance, it doesn’t seem to fit entirely well with what’s happening now, or even more so, with the later continuity for Angel. However, Evil mentioned to both Spike and Willow that it’s no longer willing to play by the rules. That suggests that Evil was attempting only minor sneak attacks against the Slayer when he sent Angel back, and that there was no larger plan involved. Perhaps having failed with Angel, the First Evil has decided that it cannot squander the opportunity that Spike represents.

After all, the situation has changed since that first attack. At that point, Buffy’s actions were more or less dictated by the Watchers’ Council. There was even a second Slayer running about, making any assault on the Hellmouth less advantageous. That’s no longer the case. The Watchers, through their own archaic policies, alienated themselves from their own Slayer. It left both sides of the equation rather vulnerable, and through Spike, Evil would have known that.

All of which is suggested heavily by Evil’s two-pronged assault. Even as Evil rips apart Buffy’s support structure and keeps her distracted, it has been systematically eliminating the Watchers and those young women apparently marked to replace the current Slayer(s) upon their deaths. It would seem to support the theory that Evil is assuring that Buffy will have no successor, therefore eliminating its primary opponent.

Those plot elements would be more than enough for most series, but as usual for this season, the characters get equal attention. The highlight for this episode is the step that Buffy takes with Spike. Spike isn’t saying anything that hasn’t been said before, but Buffy seems to have turned a corner. She still resists facing the extent of her own dark impulses, but she has admitted that she sees Spike in a different light than others of his kind.

That may not seem like much, but it places her comments in “Selfless” into perspective. If Anya was worthy of being killed for choosing to commit terrible acts, then Spike is worthy of being saved for choosing not to kill. For her, it’s that simple, and just that complicated. But ultimately, it may mean the most to Spike. Now that he knows that she has recognized his struggles, and sees something of value in him beyond feeding her own darkness, it might be the key to forgiving himself.

Xander gets to contribute a bit more than usual, and that’s always good to see. His recognition of the sleeper technique gave his presence a much-needed boost. It was also good to see him working through his own pain over his aborted relationship with Anya. At the same time, Anya is still not sure how to interact with Xander. There’s obviously some remnant of resentment there.

Now that Buffy is aware of what they are facing, it’s only a matter of time before she finds out the rest. It’s likely that she will face whatever the First Evil released before she finds out about the assault on the Watchers, but whatever the case, she’s going to find out that she’s truly on her own. While that’s going to be a tough situation for her to deal with, her experiences last season should serve her well.

One may wonder if the events on “Angel” this season will somehow tie into this plot arc. After all, Evil ought to know what Angel is up to, and it could have released the Beast in an unexpected move to keep Angel from aiding Buffy. While there’s little evidence to back that theory, it would explain why the Beast was completely unexpected. The rise of the First Evil was unexpected as well.

So much happens in this episode that it’s almost impossible to comment on everything. That’s a good thing, because many of the episodes last season were thin in comparison. Even when aspects of the plot can be predicted, it doesn’t lead to disappointment; it brings a sense of anticipation and excitement. This episode is no different; if anything, it tells us that the wait is over, and the battle is truly joined.


Memorable Quotes

ANYA: “Shouldn’t we stab him through the chest? Isn’t that what we do during these kinds of things?”

WARREN: “Like Obi-Wan, hmm?”
ANDREW: “Or Patrick Swayze!”

DAWN: “Her exact words were, ‘I’ve got stuff coming out of both ends!’”
WOOD: “Thank you, that’s...very helpful...”

BUFFY: “I think we need to get him some blood.”
WILLOW: “Do you want me to kill Anya?”

ANDREW: “That’ll do, pig!!!!”

ANYA: “The weasel wants to sing...he just needs a tune!”
XANDER: “He’s primed...I’ll be pumping him in no time!”

BUFFY: “How’d you do it? How did you get your soul back?”
SPIKE: “Saw a man about a girl...”

ANYA: “Maybe it’s another musical! A much crappier musical...”


Observations

- Is it just me, or is James Marsters looking more and more like Richard Gere lately?

- Looks like Andrew is still trying to look like a Spike clone...

- I have to admit, I like the principal’s style!

- Andrew’s attempts to kill the little piggy were absolutely hilarious!

- Wow...Willow is looking damn fine this episode...especially when she gets all fake-bad on Andrew...

- Think Xander and Anya have been watching re-runs of “Law and Order”?

- Willow’s not the only hottie this episode. Anya’s looking pretty damned good herself...especially when she’s knocking Andrew around...

- Love how Buffy walks in on Anya in mid-swing...and doesn’t bat an eyelash!

- Interesting how the principal changes his facial expression when Evil takes over...could Wood have left the talisman in the school bathroom in “Lessons”?

- It’s nice to hear Spike discuss his more heinous acts, since his character hasn’t seemed less than imposing over the past couple years...

- Dawn kicks some serious butt in this episode...she’s improving week by week!

- Of course, they still need to stop her from squeaking so much...

- It’s cool to see Buffy using Andrew as a weapon!

- So really old vampires are the orcs of Moria?

Overall, this episode is another example of why this season is the best since season 3. The conflict is deeply rooted in series continuity, there is much more character insight than we’ve seen in years, and the pacing has been perfect.

I give it a 9/10.


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