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Buffy the Vampire Slayer
It's Halloween in Sunnydale, when the forces of darkness take the night off.
Yeah, right.
"All the Way"
Episode 6.06
Written by Steven S. DeKnight
Directed by David Solomon
This episode had everything - funny dialog, references to past seasons, character development on many sides, witches and vampires galore. If you're following the overall season story we had lots of important developments: Xander and Anya finally announced their engagement, Tara and Willow are fighting over Willow's abuse of magic, and the responsibility for this crew is starting to wear thin on Giles. But overall it left me disappointed. It just wasn't up to the show's usual standards. I have two theories on why, one of which is really going to get me in trouble, but I'll get to that in a bit.
Because it's Halloween, the Magic Shop is having its busiest day of the year, and Anya is in her element. Which brings me to two really good things about this episode: Anya and Xander. I love the way their relationship has grown on this show. They are most definitely not the perfect couple, but we have no doubt that they love each other.
Xander proposed to Anya in a moment of stress last season, and ever since we've been waiting for him to pick the right time to announce their engagement. He didn't want to do it while they were fighting for their lives, and he didn't want to do it because his friends needed cheering up. Anya was beginning to suspect he didn't want to do it at all. But what he was waiting for was inspiration - a reminder of just why he loved this greedy little ex-demon. The moment the writers picked was priceless, as was the look on Xander's face when he realized it was time to let out the big secret. Marvelous acting by both Nicholas Brendon and Emma Caulfield made this scene the highlight of the episode for me.
But Xander and Anya were the B (or maybe C) story in this episode. The main focus was on Dawn, and the fact that she's just as rebellious as Buffy was at 15. (Except she doesn't have saving the world as an excuse.) Drawing from Buffy's old bag of tricks, she goes to spend the night with her friend Janice, while Janice is spending the night at Dawn's house. In other words, they've both snuck out to hang out with some boys.
There's been some speculation since last year over just why Dawn has been pilfering little items here and there, and now we know: she's a teenager. We're not told explicitly, but apparently she's embarked on this life of crime (stealing earrings, lipsticks) as a form of rebellion. Which is pretty silly, but the two boys (Zack and Justin) think it makes her all that much cooler.
Justin is obviously too old for Dawn, and it was pretty creepy to hear him talking to Zack about wanting to "go all the way" with her. I can't help but give away some spoilers here - it was supposed to be a big surprise, but Zack and Justin are actually vampires, and "going all the way" means something a little different to him. Maybe I've been watching this show too long, but the idea that this 20-year-old looking guy wanted to kill 15-year old Dawn (ho, hum) wasn't nearly as disturbing as thinking he wanted to sleep with her.
Meanwhile, Giles has discovered that Dawn is not at Janice's house, and he rallies the troops to go look for her. Willow and Tara check out the Bronze, but it's too crowded to find anyone, so Willow casually prepares to send anyone who's not a 15 year old girl into an alternate dimension. She honestly doesn't understand Tara's immediate objections ("It'll be for like a fraction of a second! They won't even notice!"). Willow is already feeling defensive, and earlier accused Tara of talking about her with Giles behind her back. Now they get into the full-fledged Big Fight (Verbal), and Willow does not react well.
Across town, Dawn and Justin are kissing in his car when she realizes he's a vampire. But he tries to convince her that he finds her "special" and doesn't want to hurt her. It's a weird, awkward scene - what on earth is she thinking? Why doesn't she try to run away, or even struggle? Luckily, by this time Giles has found Janice and after a brief fight he stakes Zack; then he tracks down Dawn and is about to fight Justin when he finds himself surrounded by an entire crowd of vamps. Just then Spike and Buffy also arrive on the scene, which led to some humorous dialogue between Buffy and Dawn ("You were parking? With a vampire?" "I didn't know he was dead!"), after which all hell breaks loose as Buffy & Co. take on all the vampires in the Big Fight (Physical) of the evening.
Three things were a problem for me here. For one thing, when did Giles turn into Jet Li? I guess you could explain his ability to take on supposedly super-strong vampires by the fact that the vamps themselves were pretty lame, but isn't he getting a little old for this? Also, that exchange between Buffy and Dawn before the fight was cute, but it was also forced. Look! Buffy is yelling at Dawn about dating! Even though they're surrounded by fiends! Isn't it funny? You know, because they don't even care about the vampires! Isn't it FUNNY??
But the biggest problem for me, and this is what's going to get me in trouble, is that I don't think the acting by Michelle Trachtenberg was up to the job of carrying the scene. I know, I know, the vampire is supposed to be a metaphor for the danger and temptation of sex. But you can't have the metaphor if the story doesn't work. There was no fear on her face, just nervousness, as though all he was going to do was kiss her again. Dawn, honey, he's a vampire. He wants to KILL you.
Likewise, the Big Fight between Willow and Tara was marred by subdued acting. Tara was supposed to be outraged, and a little scared, but instead the character's insecure nature was played up to the point where it seemed like she was having trouble remembering her lines. I've always liked Tara, but this time she let me down.
So theory number one on why I was left cold by this episode - disappointing acting by two important leads. The other theory is that everybody else was pretty unhappy at the end, too. Buffy bailed out on her responsibility to discipline Dawn, Dawn was ashamed at being found out, Giles was angry at Dawn and annoyed at Buffy, Tara was angry with Willow, and Willow - Willow does something shocking. Or maybe we shouldn't be shocked anymore. The episode started with her insisting that witches weren't evil. Now I'm not so sure.
Episode rating - 6 out of 10.
(Extra point for the Dance of Capitalist Superiority.)
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