Fw: Early-Bird Review of "Bargaining" Part 2 [LONG - SPOILERS]

["Mycroft" <mycroft1972@xxxxxxxxx>]

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From: "LRL94" <lrl94@xxxxxxx>
Newsgroups: alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2001 2:40 AM
Subject: Early-Bird Review of "Bargaining" Part 2 [LONG - SPOILERS]


> Spoilers for "Bargaining Part 2", written by David Fury, directed by David
> Grossman.
>
> I
> '
> M
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> T
> O
> O
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> T
> I
> R
> E
> D
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> F
> O
> R
>
> F
> U
> N
> N
> Y
>
> S
> P
> O
> I
> L
> E
> R
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> S
> P
> A
> C
> E
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> T
> A
> K
> E
>
> 2
>
>
> The Biker Demons pound on BuffyBot some more, while our four spellcasters
> decide to split up and try to make it back to the magic shop. Xander, who
is
> still very upset about what the ritual did to Willow, picks her up and
carries
> her, while Anya and Tara run for town.
>
>
> Meanwhile, Buffy tries to fight her way out of the grave.
>
>
> Willow wakes up, and immediately wants to try the spell again. Xander
reminds
> her that the urn was busted, and they both have to face the truth.
"Buffy's
> gone," Willow sobs. "She's really gone."
>
>
> At the Summers home, Spike is searching for decent weapons and yelling at
Dawn
> to stay away from the windows. He decides they should leave, and promises
to
> protect her, no matter what.
>
>
> Buffy finally pushes her way out of the earth, and stares at her headstone
for
> a moment. She's extremely disoriented, almost feral. She walks through the
> looted, burning streets of Sunnydale, her vision blurred, barely able to
> register her surroundings.
>
>
> Anya and Tara make it to the magic shop, and Tara casts a spell to lead
Willow
> to her. Which comes in handy, as Will and Xander are having a Blair Witch
> moment, wandering in circles in the forest. They finally make it to the
shop,
> then decide to go look for Spike and Dawn, who can't be reached at the
house.
> Anya points out that they're in no position to fight all those demons, but
> Willow insists they have no choice.
>
>
> Spike and Dawn are dashing around town, trying to stay out of sight, with
Spike
> pausing to muse on how much fun it would be to join in the looting. He's
not
> in the moment long, however, as he decides to steal one of the demon's
> motorcycles. He succeeds rather spectacularly, and he and Dawn ride off.
>
>
> Buffy stumbles onto a little party the head of the demon gang is throwing.
> He's telling his pals about how they're going to move into Sunnydale,
after
> they destroy their new toy - the BuffyBot. The two Buffys see each other,
just
> as the demons attach chains to BuffyBot and basically dismember her.
>
> The lead demon sees the real Buffy and decides to have some fun with her,
too.
> She at least has the presence of mind to run away.
>
> While doing so, she runs right into her friends, who take a minute to
recognize
> her as flesh and blood. Startled, she takes off, and they find her huddled
> against a wall in an alley, completely uncommunicative. Slowly, they come
to
> the horrifying realization that Buffy was trapped in her coffin and had to
claw
> her way out of her grave. No wonder she's in shock.
>
> Some of the demons (including the leader) corner them, and Buffy's
fighting
> instincts take over. She helps defeat most of them, but runs off again
when
> Xander tries to get near her. This leaves her friends to take on the
leader,
> which they do, thanks to Tara's sudden handiness with an axe.
>
>
> Off in the distance, Buffy sees the tower she jumped off of in "The Gift".
> She's drawn to it, for obvious reasons, and climbs up to the Devil's
Diving
> Board, staring down at the space where she leaped to her death. She begins
to
> remember, and just stands there, trying to get some kind of grasp.
>
>
> Spike and Dawn find the remains of the BuffyBot, who has time to tell Dawn
that
> "the other Buffy" was there before she croaks. Dawn starts running,
looking
> for Buffy, and finds her at the top of the tower. The structure has gotten
> pretty unsound over the summer, and it starts to groan under the weight of
> these two tiny young women.
>
> It looks like Buffy is about to jump again, and Dawn begs her to climb
down the
> tower with her. Buffy manages to speak a little, but still seems
completely
> out of it. As the tower nears collapse, Dawn makes one final plea: "You
told
> me I have to be strong, and I tried. But it's been so hard without you.
I'm
> sorry. I promise I'll do better. I will, if you're with me. Stay with me,
> please. I need you to live".
>
> Buffy doesn't say anything, although she seems to understand. The tower
starts
> to go down, and Dawn screams. This finally brings Buffy out of her stupor,
and
> she grabs Dawn and gets them both out of harm's way.
>
> Dawn begins to sob as she realizes that she truly has her sister back. She
> hugs Buffy, who barely responds. Instead, the Slayer just kind of
stares.....
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
>
>
> So, this is it, and it ain't pretty. Not only has Buffy been brought back
from
> who-knows-where, she's had to fight her way out of her own grave and deal
with
> rampaging demons as soon as she opens her eyes. Welcome home!
>
> I'm wondering if part of her freakiness may be the result of the
resurrection
> spell going unfinished. Granted, the whole being trapped in a coffin thing
> would be pretty awful in itself, but the fact that Willow was interrupted
at
> the climactic moment of the ritual may have something to do with Buffy's
mental
> state - she may not be back all the way, or something like that. Just an
idea.
>
> As it is, she's barely aware of who she is, where she is, or who these
people
> are who keep talking to her. Dawn being in danger gets Buffy's attention,
> since this is the person she was closest to, and for whom she gave her
life.
> Even after rescuing her sister, though, Buffy remains quite out of it.
She's
> got a long road ahead.
>
>
> As does Willow, I suspect. She and her three co-conspirators have been in

> their own special kind of denial all summer, waiting for the chance to
cheat
> death on Buffy's behalf, refusing to accept that she could be gone for
good.
> As usual, Willow goes barreling in despite the consequences, which will no
> doubt be harrowing. It's easy to understand, though - the strange nature
of
> Buffy's death makes anything possible, including that she may still need
her
> friends to save her the way she saved them. Willow just can't live with
> herself unless she tries everything to help, even when it means doing
something
> potentially really stupid. That's a pretty typical Willow response.
>
>
> Xander and Tara are the voices of reason, pointing out that no matter how
much
> they want Buffy back, some things just shouldn't be done. They go along,
> however, because deep down inside, they haven't accepted Buffy's death,
either.
> If the spell works, all the misery of the last few months can be undone.
In
> theory, anyway.
>
>
> Anya is back to selfish mode, concerned mostly with wanting to announce
her
> engagement to Xander and wondering when she'll ever get to take charge of
the
> magic shop. She does let her humanity shine through occasionally, though,
> especially when she's worried about Xander and saying goodbye to Giles.
>
>
> <sigh> Giles <sigh> He's retreated into a kind of bitter resignation,
> accepting Buffy's death as the natural order of things - the Slayer dies,
the
> Watcher stands by while she dies. That's how it works. He probably feels
> silly for having gotten so emotionally attached to her, since it didn't
keep
> things from ending the way they always do. It just caused a lot more pain.
> There's a bit of guilt, too, for not being able to protect her, the
nagging
> sense that his presence in her life amounted to nothing. No wonder he
wants to
> get the hell away from the Hellmouth.
>
> By the way, I loved his farewell scene at the airport. Got me all choked
up.
>
>
> Also on the guilt front, we have Spike, who is sticking to Dawn like
Velcro.
> He isn't about to let anything happen to her again, and he's almost
violently
> determined to keep her from harm. He's probably been driving her crazy all
> summer, hovering around like a bodyguard.
>
> His reaction to the BuffyBot is interesting, too. We don't see much, but
he's
> clearly wigged out by it now, and can't even bring himself to look at it.
> Ironic, huh?
>
>
> Then there's Dawn. Poor kid has had the ultimate suck year, and she seems
to
> have handled this stretch by bonding with the fake version of her sister.
She
> knows this isn't the real thing, but BuffyBot is such a tangible reminder,
Dawn
> can't seem to resist treating her almost as if she were real. That scene
where
> she snuggles up to her in the middle of the night is both creepy and
touching,
> showing just how deeply wounded Dawn really is.
>
> No surprise, then, that she's the first person to get through to the
actual
> Buffy after she returns. This is where that magical connection is, the
blood
> bond that ties the Summers women together. Dawn's cry for help is the one
> Buffy will always hear first.
>
>
> This is just an amazing episode. It's actually better on second viewing,
too -
> all the little nuances come through, those bits of dialogue and
> characterization that make this show so great. Like all premieres, it ties
up
> last season's loose ends while setting us up for what's to come. Unlike
most
> premieres, however, it stands on its own beautifully. In fact, if it
weren't
> so late, I'd go watch it again right now.
>
>
> 10 out of 10.
>
>
> Loey
>
>
> Line of the Week: "She's not the descendant of a long line of mystical
> warriors. She's the descendant of a toaster oven." - Anya, explaining the
> BuffyBot.
>
>
> Early-Bird Reviews and more at -
>
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