Ep by Ep; Never Leave Me

The Good; Nice humour from Dawn and Andrew, a good fight and our first hints that Principal Wood is more than he seems

The Bad; When Spike attacks Buffy we see a glimpse of his arm reflected in the mirror as she blocks his blow

Best line; Dawn (on Buffy's illness keeping her off work) "Her exact words were 'I've got stuff coming out of both ends"

Jeez!; Spike feeding from the blood filled bag is horrible as is his little girl story. The Turok-Han is one genuinely scary beastie!

Kinky dinky; Spike (of falling in love with Buffy) "I've had to redefine the words pain and suffering since I feel in love with you". Maybe he could just hire some dominatrix or something? Or maybe Buffy played that role for him? Spike elaborates on his little girl in the coal cellar story implying that she was Dawn's age and that he did more than just kill her and her family, keeping her alive so she cried when he...because it would be no fun if she didn't cry (anyone else glad he didn't finish that story?) Spike implies that Buffy likes men who hurt her, he may be right given her track record. He also postulates that she needs that pain to do her job which is also what the First Slayer stated in Intervention and we will find out more about the Slayer's darkside in 'Get it done'. (Hell hath no fury...?)

Captain Subtext; Warren asks Andrew to feel him. Andrew like's Patrick Swayze in Ghost. Willow declares "Tool talk not my thing". Xander declares that he'll be 'pumping' Andrew in no time.

Guantanamo Bay; Xander and Anya torture Andrew without remorse.

Scoobies in bondage: Andrew is but he isn't a Scooby yet. Spike is.

Scoobies knocked out: Spike by Buffy, Willow and Anya by The Bringers

Kills: presuming that the Bringers are humans score 2 for Buffy. Presumably Xander killed the Bringer attacking Dawn? Buffy: 117 vamps, 60 demons, 6 monsters, 5 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot Giles: 8 vamps, 2 demon, 1 human/1 god. Will: 6 vamps + 3 demons +1 fawn+1 human. Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans Xander: 6 vamps, 2 zombies, 1 a demon, 1 human Anya: 1 vamp and 1 a demon Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons Spike; 9 vamps and 6 demons Buffybot; 2 vamps Tara; 1 demon Dawn; 1 vamp + 1 demon

Recurring characters killed: 13 goodbye Quentin Travers, well intentioned but out of touch (which could well be the Watcher motto?) Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce, Katrina, Tara, Quentin Travers.

Dawn in peril; 14 yes although she's pretty capable of taking care of herself nowadays

Dawn the bashful virgin; 9

Buffy and Dawn more than sisters; Note when Buffy and Dawn are fighting the Bringers they use EXACTLY the same fighting move at the same time, again more than sisters?

Questions and observations; Anya still pretty bitter at having been stabbed by Buffy in Selfless. When Buffy says that Spike needs blood Willow suggests killing Anya. I guess Triangle didn't resolve everything. Xander comes through as knowledge guy. The Spike/Buffy scene is pivotal, she keeps him around not just because they've fought side by side and she needs him to do her job but because she's seen what he's been through in order to redeem himself. He never hated himself before he had a soul because he didn't understand the value of self-worth. Many think that the central figure of the Buffyverse is Dawn, that at heart it's all about protecting her as the innocent. But in some ways Spike also has that claim, he lost his innocence and now strives to reclaim it which is perhaps the harder path? The Watcher's Council talk of losing their files, taken by Giles or Rutherford Sirk who later turns up working for Wolfram and Hart on Angel? Note even the First Evil can't be bothered to recall Andrew's name!

We have here the end of the Watcher's Council in it's familiar form although individual Watchers such as Giles, Robson, Wes' dad etc survive to help Buffy and co in season 8. Note it's the London headquarters that are destroyed, according to Wes in Spin the Bottle the training school is in Hampshire so we should have a new generation ready to take to the field?

Andrew refers to 'wet work' as Giles did in season 4. DB Woodside makes great comic value of a very small scene with the 2 juvenile delinquents. They missed an obvious gag though, at some point they should have had Dawn frying up all the steaks and chops Andrew bought at the butchers. I know it's for dramatic effect and possibly to hide the cheapness of the special effects but the fight seen is way too dark to really see what's going on.
Now here is something that never really occurred to me before, Spike talks about getting his soul back and that he had to make a deal with a demon? You wonder if him being controlled by the First was actually all part of the deal, that it took advantage of him in that state?

Marks out of 10; 8/10, season 7 kicks into high gear