Ep by ep; Villains
The Good; DarkWillow saving Buffy then her relentless pursuit of Warren. The Geeks in jail, the heartbreaking scenes with Buffy, Dawn and Xander.
The Bad; Surely the Sunnydale police must need to get lengthy witness statements from Buffy and Xander? Wouldn't they hang around the house after the paramedics report the shooting? Buffy appears to have heart surgery yet keep her top on. Also the bullet seems awfully high in her chest to have damaged her heart.
Best line; Xander; "I've had blood on my hands all day, blood of people I love"
Women good/men bad; Everything that comes out of Warrens mouth. DarkWillow states that he has a big thing about the Slayer because he wants to dominate powerful women.
Captain Subtext; Jonathon is very nervous of his prospects in prison, Andrew by contrast is surprisingly blase(?) Clem says he's been dying to see The Wedding Planner?
Guantanamo Bay; DarkWillow tortures Warren
Scoobies to the ER; Buffy to the operating table. You wonder if DarkWillow saved Buffy or if the surgeons or Slayer healing would have done it anyway?
Apocalypses; 6
Scoobies in bondage: Buffy: 8 Giles: 4 Cordy: 5 Will: 4 Jenny: 1 Angel: 4 Oz: 1 Faith: 3 Joyce: 1 Wes: 1 Xander; 2 Dawn; 4
Scoobies knocked out: Buffy on the operating table Buffy: 18 Giles: 12 Cordy: 6 Xander: 12 Will: 8 Jenny: 2 Angel: 6 Oz: 3 Faith: 1 Joyce: 3 Wes: 1 Anya;3 Dawn; 2 Tara; 1 Kills: DarkWillow kills Warren Buffy: 107 vamps, 56 demons, 6 monsters, 3 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot Giles: 8 vamps, 2 demon, 1 human, 1 god.
Cordy: 3 vamps, a demon Will: 6 vamps + 3 demons +1 fawn.
Angel: 3 vamps, 1 demon, 1 human Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans Xander: 6 vamps, 2 zombies, 1 a demon, Anya: 1 vamp and 1 a demon Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons Spike; 8 vamps and 4 demons Buffybot; 2 vamps Tara; 1 demon Dawn; 1 vamp
Scoobies go evil: Willow and how! I almost think that what's more disturbing is the way DarkWillow just leaves Tara's corpse lying there on the floor soaked in her blood, compare that with Dawn who stays with the body of the girl she loves because she doesn't want her to be alone.
Giles: 1 Cordy: 1 Will: 2 Jenny: 1 Angel: 1 Oz: 1 Joyce: 1 Xander: 4 Anya; 1 Dawn; 1 Buffy; 1 Alternate scoobies: DarkWillow Buffy: 8 Giles: 4 Cordy: 1 Will: 4 Jenny: 2 Angel: 3 Oz: 2 Joyce: 2 Xander: 4 Tara; 1 Dawn;1 Spike; 1 Anya; 2
Recurring characters killed: 12 Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce, Katrina, Tara Sunnydale deaths; 94
Total number of scoobies: 2- by the end of this ep Willow's well and truly gone, Dawn still not fully part of the team, sent to hide with Clem, only Xander and Buffy remain. The scoobies at their fewest since 'Welcome to the Hellmouth'.
Xander, Buffy, Xander demon magnet: 5(6?) Preying Mantis Lady, Inca Mummy Girl, Drusilla, VampWillow, Anya (arguably Buffy & Faith with their demon essences?), Dracula? Scoobies shot: Giles: 2 Angel: 3 Oz: 4 Riley; 1 Buffy; 1 Tara; 1
Notches on Scooby bedpost: Giles: 2; Joyce & Olivia, possibly Jenny and 3xDraccy babes? Cordy: 1? Buffy: 4 confirmed; Angel, Parker, Riley, Spike. 1 possible, Dracula(?) Angel: 1;Buffy Joyce: 1;Giles, 2 possible, Ted and Dracula(?) Oz: 3; Groupie, Willow & Verucca Faith:2 ;Xander, Riley Xander: 2; Faith, Anya Willow: 2;Oz and Tara Riley; 3; Buffy, Sandy and unnamed vampwhore Spike; 2 Buffy and Anya Anya; 2 Spike and Xander
Spike; good or bad? Spike in Africa where the demon says that he's been 'castrated', a vamps ability to kill once again compared to sexuality.
Dawn in peril; 10 from Willow!
Dawn the bashful virgin; 9
What the fanficcers thought; One called 'Deserving' that always sticks in my mind is where Season 7 Willow is tortured by nightly visits from Warren's ghost who cuts her flesh. In the follow up story she eventually realises that it's not Warren at all but her guilt manifesting itself magically. She forgives Warren and forgives herself, dreaming only of the happiness she knew with Tara from then on. Another good one is that Glory has brainsucked Faith so in the follow up Willow brainsucks Warren before she kills him and uses his mental energy to cure Faith, restoring our favourite dark haired Slayer's sanity once more.
And a lovely one where Tara's ghost visits Dawn, As Dawn Lay Snuggled in her Bed
Questions and observations; Interesting philosophical debate between Xander and Buffy, Xander wonders if Willow is justified in going all Punisher, Buffy says she can't be (prehaps because of what happened to Faith in Bad Girls or her in Dead Things?). Andrew is a fan of Mathew Broderick who of course starred with Michelle Tractenberg in Inspector Gadget. The cave paintings on the wall in Africa depict a man tied up and flayed alive and with his mouth sewn up just like Warren. Despite it all your heart still stops when you think Warren has killed Willow with the axe.
Is there a commentary for Seeing Red? One is mentioned on BuffyWikia but it's not on my DVDs? Of course the correct course of action for someone wounded like Buffy is to apply pressure to her wound to stop the bleeding and raise her limbs to prevent her core going into shock. Andrew is actually quite right, it would make more sense for Warren to bust the others out to help him rather than try to make it by himself. Dawn doesn't shut the door to the Summer's house when she walks in? I can't recall which ep Andrew observes he hates Pinhead but you can't help think of Hellraiser here, the sequence where Willow kills Warren is one of the few times I've ever looked away in the series. Presumably Spike either used magic to get to Africa or this all doesn't happen in real time?
Here's a question, presuming this is in real time how did Spike get to Africa so fast? In Angel he remarks he's never been on a plane before? Marks out of 10; 8/10