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Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"Right back to the Beginning!" - The Master
7.01, "Lessons"
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by David Solomon
Air Date: 09.24.02
By the end of this hour of television, those words are uttered and we're truly left with the feeling that this season is going to be a journey back to the roots of what makes this show work. The show sinks right back into that comfortable groove that was so absent during season six's misery-inducing plotlines. It's as happy as a show centered on killing demons can be, and that's a breath of fresh air we've all been waiting so long to inhale.
Let's begin at the beginning. The show opens in Istanbul of all places.. A young girl is running panic-stricken through the streets of the city. She is ultimately caught by some rather shady figures and stabbed to death. We're given no clue what the little tryst in Istanbul was about, but it's a thread that is certain to be carried over the next few episodes and explained at some point, so it's best not to dwell on this one small piece of an obviously larger puzzle.
In any event, we cut back to Sunnydale where Buffy is following up on her promise of showing Dawn the world. Buffy's definition of doing so is teaching Dawn how to survive in it. This is where that theme of going "right back to the beginning" first rears its head. It's the beginning of Dawn's journey into becoming more than what she is. Part of me says that she is being groomed to take over the slaying gig post-season seven or to at least help out with it. Buffy sharply points out to Dawn that "it's about power" as a vampire is rising from his grave. Dawn ends up failing to stake the vamp, just missing his heart. Buffy comes to her rescue but not before Dawn learns a lesson about the harsh realities of what she's getting into when the vampire nibbles on her neck. According to the Slayer and her mini-counterpart, what just happened was nothing compared to what's about to go down - school's back in session.
Sunnydale High has re-opened its doors. It's been fully rebuilt and equipped with state of the art equipment. Of course, it wouldn't be Sunnydale High without a Hellmouth resting under its foundation. In the school's reconstruction and remodeling, the Hellmouth has found its way under the principal's office instead of the library. This doesn't exactly spell comforting news for the school's new, relatively young principal, Mr. Wood. Note the pun (wood/ stake/ vamps/ dust). The new principal, while outwardly friendly, gives off a vibe that he knows more than he lets on about Ms. Summers. He doesn't give anywhere near the vibe of, say, Principal Snyder, but there is definitely something amiss. It's something to watch out for; as I'm sure some type of revelation will be made about his character.
Speaking about character revelations, there's a couple of character-related questions that have been burning since season six came to its close, namely: what are they going to do with Willow and what's up with Spike? First, we'll start with Willow. I mean, she killed someone, and she was in contact with a load of power that she planned to use to take out the whole world. The answer, as it turns out, is to teach her to use her power responsibly. It seems that since she's tapped into that power it can't be removed from her being. It will be something with which she has to deal, but Giles and the Coven are there with her in Westbury, England to help her through it.
Spike is a much more fun problem in a devilish sort of way. When we last saw him, we were told he was given back his soul. As much as the next guy, I feared this was going to be a retread of the whole Angel plotline. If it keeps up the way it was played out in this episode, though, I'm going to be very happy with Spike this season. Old pale, thin, and blonde went crazy on us. He didn't go homicidal crazy, he went nuthouse crazy. It seems the soul he got was more than he bargained for. He's locked himself in the basement of the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High and has taken to sitting in corners rocking away and mumbling nonsensical (or seemingly nonsensical) phrases. His hair has grown out, revealing brown roots (could he not just be a vampire with a soul, but actually be human now?), and his chest is covered in claw marks. When Buffy prompts him by asking what he did, he answers, "I tried to cut it out." He also makes the interesting remark that "there's nobody down here, it's just the three of us," when it is only the two of them in the basement. Or so it would seem.
This sets up the episode's best moment. It's really a kicker. Spike, curled up in the fetal position on the floor, is confronted with the mysterious third person he mentioned to Buffy. Hovering over Spike is none other than Warren, head of the geeky trio. He goes into a mini-tirade about how Buffy would never understand what's going on. Just as the shock of seeing Warren among the living sets in, he changes into bitchy ole Glory. She alludes to the fact that her name would be on everyone's lips assuming they haven't been torn off. Glory then becomes Adam, telling Spike (who he refers to as No. 17) that everything is exactly where he wants it to be. As Adam's words finish, the Mayor picks up asking Spike what he expected would happen when he got his soul back. Then to Drusilla, who says that Spike would always be hers. Drusilla becomes the Master who goes into a speech about going back to the beginning, "not the bang, not the word, the true beginning." He says "it's not about right, not about wrong…" the voice changes, "It's about power." Buffy stands before Spike. The episode ends setting up a nice reciprocity to Buffy's opening words of the episode.
Wow. My description of that sequence doesn't do it justice. For longtime fans of Buffy, that was just cool. There are so many things about this episode that were done right, it's hard to isolate them and say that it was this or that that made the episode work. It was just Buffy in top form doing what it does best, excite us. It honestly felt like a new beginning for the series by bringing it back to its roots, both in the form of its villains, and by going back to school. If the show can keep up this level of pure enjoyment for the remainder of the season, I'm going to be one happy viewer.
Incidentally, this episode also had a plot revolving around zombie ghosts, and a talisman that created them, but compared to all the other good stuff going on in this episode, it was a bit more distracting than it was engaging. Don't get me wrong, the zombie/spirit thing was entertaining, and it had some great fights, but it wasn't what kept me enthralled. By episode's end, Buffy is also given a job as a sort of social worker to work with the students, Dawn befriends two rebellious students by the names of Carlos and Kit (Dawn's Scrappies to Buffy's Scoobies, maybe), Xander comes through in stopping the Zombies, and (most importantly) the scoobies go mobile with a set of Cell Phones. All that stuff felt kind of tertiary to the really fun stuff, though, and results in this episode getting a strong:
Episode Rating: 8 out of 10
Great Buffy is great TV.
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