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Season 6, Episode 22
Written by David Fury
Directed by James A. Contner
Original Airdate: 20 May 2002
"Uh, Oh. Daddy's home. I'm in wicked trouble
now."
Willow
REGULAR CAST
SPECIAL GUEST STAR
GUEST CAST
CO-STARRING
SYNOPSIS
-
Willow starts to recover from Giles' attack, but
Willow's not interested in his attempts to help. He tries to keep her
down, but she's persistent and he's forced to bind her and her magic
with his powers. Giles offers his sympathies to Willow and then catches
up with Buffy. Giles reveals that he was given power from a powerful
coven to take down Willow. Buffy fills him in on everything he's missed
and Giles reacts by laughing hysterically at what has happened. Willow
communicates with Anyanka telepathically and tells her how to end the
binding spell. Buffy and Giles continue to laugh about the luck of their
lives and then talk about Buffy's feelings about being alive in the
world. The subject goes back to Willow and Giles explains that the coven
is trying to extract Willow's powers without killing her. Willow appears
in the doorway, holding an unconscious Anyanka, and reveals that she's
free of the binding spell.
Willow tosses Buffy aside and sends weapons flying at Giles. He blocks
them though and sends her flying through a brick wall into the main
room. Xander and Dawn talk and Xander lets it slip that Spike tried to
rape Buffy, but Dawn is not quick to accept that. Spike wins another
round in the cave and asks for whatever else the demon can dish out. He
gets it when his body is suddenly covered in beetles. After several
rounds that have destroyed the Magic Box and weakened Giles, Willow is
confident in her strength and Giles tries one last attempt to hurt
Willow by bringing up Tara and what her thoughts on the situation might
be. Willow shows off a fireball that she sends off to find and destroy
the remaining members of the Trio. Buffy rushes off to try and stop the
fireball before it hurts the boys. Willow lectures Giles while she slams
his body repeatedly against the ceiling and the floor. He interrupts her
with some magic but she doesn't let that stop her. She sucks the power
from Giles' body and revels in the overflow in her body. The magic she
took from him though is accompanied by an emotional burst that makes her
feel so much that she decides it has to end; there's too much pain in
the world and she must end it all.
Xander, Jonathan and Andrew try to break into crypts at the cemetery but
they're interrupted as the giant fireball heads directly for them. Buffy
races through the cemetery and tries to get everyone out of the way
before they're hurt. After the fireball hits, Xander is knocked out, the
ground shakes and opens up and Buffy and Dawn fall into a large hole.
Andrew and Jonathan take the moment to escape and head for Mexico.
Anyanka finally comes to and finds a weakened and dying Giles on the
ground. He can feel Willow's presence and knows that she's going to end
the world. Buffy tries to climb out of the hole but struggles and tries
to pull coffins out of the surrounding dirt walls to stack and try to
escape on. After Xander comes to, Buffy sends him to find some rope to
help them get out.
Dawn questions why Buffy didn't tell her about what Spike did and tells
her sister that she can't protect her from the world. Anyanka appears in
the hole and updates Buffy on the situation with Willow. On a bluff
elsewhere in town, Willow raises a temple out of the ground to help her
with her plans. Anyanka explains how Willow is going to end the world
and that Buffy cannot do anything to stop her. She leaves with the
parting information that Giles is short on time. Willow talks to Buffy
telepathically and Giles can also hear her as she speaks. Willow wants
Buffy to die fighting and makes a lot of zombies come to life in the
hole. Buffy tries to fight the zombies as best as she can and,
outnumbered, Buffy asks Dawn to help.
Willow begins her magic on the cliff and the earth starts to shake all
over town. Xander steps into Willow's way and tries to force her to stop
the magic, but she tosses him aside. Giles wakes up and realizes that
it's not as over as he thought it was. After one of the zombies attacks
her, Dawn slays it with some pretty crafty moves, which she credits to
watching her sister in action. Xander starts to talk to Willow and
appeals to her emotions by reminding her of her past and telling her
that he loves her and he'll stick by her side no matter what she does.
She uses magic to physically wound him every time he tells her he loves
her until the emotions drain her of her powers. Willow tearfully breaks
down in Xander's arms as the magic drains from her and she returns to
her usual red-haired appearance.
No longer on the edge of death, Giles wakes up and tells Anyanka that
the magic he received was intended for Willow to steal. It tapped into
her remaining emotions and gave Xander the chance to reach her humanity.
Anyanka is shocked to find that Xander saved the world. Buffy starts to
cry happy tears and Dawn questions whether she wanted the world to end.
Buffy's sure that things are going to get better and she's now really
ready to live. Buffy and Dawn climb out of the hole and check out the
horizon while Xander continues to comfort Willow, the nerds get a ride
to Mexico and Anyanka helps Giles to his feet and out of the destroyed
shop. In Africa, Spike lies on the ground as the demon announces Spike
has won the right to the prize he wanted. The demon places a hand on
Spike's chest and he returns the vampire's soul.
TRIVIA
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Marti Noxon commented on this episode in
an issue of SFX: "It was the first season climax that Joss did
not write and direct. There were some production problems. I was
massively pregnant at that point and a little slow on my feet, so it
wasn't as easy-going as some episodes that we've done." Marti had a
great deal of influence on this season, as Joss was away a lot of the
time, and many fans who were disgruntled with season six blamed her for
it's outcome. Marti said in an interview with the BBC, "I've been
accused of being the sort of pain and chains girl. My episodes are often
about dark issues and nasty sex. Joss would say that until I got this
show, it wasn't quite as nasty, and I take that as a compliment.
-
David Fury mentioned in his commentary
for this episode that he wanted to bring back the dragon that came out
of the portal in The Gift for Buffy
to fight. However, the season's budget had been blown on
Once More, With Feeling
and
Gone.
Because CGI dragons are expensive they had to settle with Buffy fighting
zombies underground.
CONTINUITY
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Buffy fills Giles in with the events of
this season: “Xander left Anya at the altar” (Hell's Bells),
“Anya’s a vengeance demon again” (Entropy),
“Dawn’s a total klepto” (Older and Far Away),
“money’s been so tight that I’ve been slinging burgers at the Doublemeat
Palace” (Doublemeat
Palace), “And I’ve been sleeping
with Spike” (Smashed
onwards). She also mentions that she was “just some nutcase in L.A.”
referring to her hallucinations in
Normal Again.
-
Xander joked about the Magic Box going
'boom' in
All the
Way.
-
Andrew and Jonathan flee to Mexico, which
Andrew suggested in
Two to Go.
-
Willow reminds Giles that in
Flooded
he called her a "rank, arrogant amateur."
GOOFS
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After Giles first knocks Willow down, her
nose is bleeding. As the camera switches between the two of them the
blood keeps disappearing and reappearing.
-
When Xander is hugging Willow at the end
his knee changes position in different shots.
Bargaining
(Part 1) |
Bargaining (Part 2) |
Afterlife |
Flooded |
Life
Serial
All the
Way | Once More, With Feeling |
Tabula Rasa |
Smashed |
Wrecked |
Gone
Doublemeat
Palace |
Dead Things |
Older and Far Away |
As You Were |
Hell's Bells |
Normal Again
Entropy |
Seeing Red |
Villains |
Two to Go |
Grave
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