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Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"From beneath you, it devours."
Episode 7.02, "Beneath You"
Written by Douglas Petrie
Directed by Nick Marck
Air Date: 10.01.02
Coming off of last week’s very good episode of Buffy, we're treated to another solid episode. The episode begins with a chase scene not unlike last week’s. Another helpless girl is being chased by ominous figures garbed in cloaks. This time, it is in a more modern environment, and is a sort of homage to Alias (the girl being stalked is sporting Sydney’s pink hair styling from that show’s premiere). It was a little bit distracting, though, as I momentarily thought I was watching that show. Luckily those handy little network logos in the right hand corner of the screen saved me from checking the channel (and you thought they served no purpose). Anyway, Alias-girl is captured just as last week’s girl was and is killed with a ceremonial knife. What this is alluding to is still rather mysterious, which is good. As the girl dies, she says "From beneath you, it devours." Buffy wakes up after hearing those words. Finally, the prophetic dreams are coming back. To my recollection, it’s been too long since we've had one of those. It’s a nice delving into the whole slayer mythos.
This episodes plot centers somewhat on a giant worm (think Tremors) that is terrorizing a girl by the name of Nancy. I say somewhat because the worm plot is merely a way of getting all the characters, some of whom have distanced themselves from each other, to get together. It seems that Nancy made a wish that her abusive ex-boyfriend, Ronnie, would be turned into a worm. She just happened to have made this wish to our resident Vengeance Demon, Anya. When the gang (consisting right now of only Buffy, Xander, and Spike, who has managed to get a grip on his sanity) confronts Anya in the Bronze about granting the wish, she notices something odd about Spike. She can see him. She knows that Spike was somehow able to get his soul back. Spike immediately tries to stop Anya from making that revelation to the rest of the crew and the two get into a bit of a fight. Buffy is forced to intervene. By now, Spike has his ‘game face’ on and has slipped right back into being a typical vampire, aka a torturous ass. He coyly asks Buffy if she’s "up for another round on the balcony". Buffy responds with a hefty punch. It’s interesting to note that the second Spike vamped out, he got quite nasty. It’s possible that letting his demon side show overpowers his own limited control on his psyche right now.
Xander manages to convince Anya to undo the spell she did on Nancy’s boyfriend. Buffy catches up to the worm with Spike chasing after her. Spike insists that Buffy "leave the real battles to the demons". Spike takes a metal pole and stabs into the worm just as Anya undoes her spell. The result here is that Spike stabs into Ronnie just as he has become human. Spike’s chip (along with his soul, presumably) goes off since he has harmed a person. While Ronnie goes into shock from the large wound Spike gave him, Spike slips back into complete insanity. He immediately apologizes to Ronnie, and starts screaming for Buffy to help him. Spike says that something big is coming: "From beneath you it devours". Buffy recognizes the words. Spike runs away, and Buffy follows leaving Xander and Anya to tend to Ronnie.
Buffy confronts Spike in a cathedral demanding some kind of explanation to Spike’s behavior. As with last week’s episode, this is essentially the scene that makes the episode a far better one than it would have been without it. Spike speaks to Buffy as if he’s not fully aware of what’s going on. The two have a brief tussle. Spike’s mental condition obviously scares Buffy enough that she takes up a piece of broken wood for protection. Spike hovers around the shadows of the church corners mumbling semi-sensible phrases. He says that Angel should have warned him. Buffy realizes what he’s referring to. She knows that Spike has managed to get his soul back. Spike claims that now he hears everyone in his head talking; everyone he killed and the "thing beneath you" is in there. The torment is making him crazy. He slowly walks to the altar and rests his body over a wooden cross. His flesh slowly smolders as he asks Buffy if he can just rest.
This episode was fairly slowly paced. There was quite little action, and the worm effect was alright. The very brief fight in the Bronze wasn't all that great either. On top of that, no one in the club seemed to notice that both Spike and Anya had gone demon face. Nancy wasn't all that compelling and as a potential romance for Xander, she just falls flat compared to Anya. Speaking of Nancy, the group’s openness with her didn't seem quite right either. Buffy is supposed to be keeping what she does kind of quiet, especially since she’s now a counselor. It just doesn't make sense to let Nancy in on everything so quickly. Though, Nancy’s return to the show is iffy considering how spooked she was by the episode’s end.
The good in this episode manages to outweigh the bad, thankfully. Buffy’s brief interaction with Principle Wood was enjoyable. Her thrill at being able to give detention was nice, too. The short scene with Giles and Willow was also quite a plus. Willow’s on her way back to Sunnydale. I personally can't wait to see how they handle this. Dawn was good, also. She stood up to Spike and actually threatened to set him on fire if he touched Buffy. It’s nice to see her being a bit more mature this season instead of being the constant whiner. Threatening to murder a vamp instead of being pissed that Buffy didn't tell them about Spike is always good. And, finally, the chase scenes at the onset of the last two episodes are, as I said before, intriguing. It’s very hard to say where they're going with this and how it'll all fit in right now. I did hear a fan theory, though, that perhaps these women are potential slayers waiting to be called. Going off that theory, my gut says these cloaked men could be going after Dawn next since there has been talk of her taking over the reigns of the show after this season. That would certainly tie them directly into Buffy’s life and would set up Dawn as a potential to be the next slayer. While the prospect of having a slayer’s sister be the next slayer seems a bit convenient, it is a potential direction for the show to go. Personally, having Dawn develop some Key-related abilities would seem more logical, but whatever.
Episode Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Just for the record, 7.5 is above average.
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