TNMC
This site’s design is only visible in a graphical browser that supports web standards, but its content is accessible to any browser or Internet device.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Episode 7.07, "Conversations With Dead People"
Directed by Nick Marck
Written by Jane Espenson and Drew Goddard
Original Air Date: November, 12 2002
"I'm here to kill you, not to judge you"
This was my kind of episode. In it, five different, character-driven stories go on simultaneously that stretch what this show is capable of without breaking it. Honestly, this episode had a little of everything. It was funny yet shocking; scary yet heart-wrenching; and was just damned good. None of the core characters involved in the story ever saw one another in the whole hour. Each one dealt with basically the same thing by themselves: conversations with dead people.
I'll start with the Buffy plot. Buffy awaits the rising of a typical vampire. Upon digging himself from the grave, they have a brief tussle until the vampire, Holden ‘Webs’ Webster, recognizes Buffy, though she doesn't recognize him. He reminds her that they went to school together back before it blew up. He tells her that he is a psych major and the two do a little catching up. While it isn't typical for Buffy to stop in mid-slaying to talk to the slayee, it made sense here. For one thing, Buffy knows beyond doubt that she is able to take this vampire down (though that confidence has hurt her at times), so having a brief chat with him doesn't seem all that dangerous. Second, this guy is very charismatic and really insightful. He continuously finds nerves to hit with Buffy that keep her wanting more from their conversation. It gave Buffy the opportunity to be counseled which is something I felt she’s been in need of for a while. We get to hear many of Buffy’s complex complexes and get a bit more of a rationale behind her relationship with Spike. It worked very well.
A second plot in this episode was the return of Jonathon and Andrew to Sunnydale. The two are planning to break into the school in order to dig up some artifact that Jonathon believes will allow them to fall back into Buffy’s good graces. Their story takes an odd turn as Warren re-appears to Andrew after the two split up. It seems that he has been coaxing Andrew from beyond the grave (though we all know it is really the big bad that first appeared in the season premiere doing this same trick). This plot was a source of their typical geeky humor that if you get, well, you're probably one yourself. It was nice to see Jonathon again, too.
Third we have Willow who is conversing with Cassie from this season’s episode "Help". Cassie is acting as a conduit through which Tara and Willow are allowed to communicate. Tara can't appear because of the things Willow did at the end of season six (though in reality it has to do with Amber Benson, the actress playing Tara, not being able to reach an agreement with the show’s producers to make a return, so Cassie is subbed for Tara). The two talk for a while and seeing Willow so heart-broken at being denied the chance to see Tara again hurts. When Cassie tells Willow that she and Tara see the path Willow is going down and that it is going to end with her killing all her friends, it takes a darker turn. Willow at that moment seems willing to do anything to prevent this from happening. Cassie asks that Willow kill herself to save everyone.
Dawn’s plot is the fourth plot and is possibly the scariest Buffy has ever been. A spirit manifests in the Summers’ home while Dawn is there alone. It claims to be Joyce, (Dawn’s mother who died near the end of season five). Joyce is reaching out to Dawn but is being held back by some other sinister entity. Dawn does everything she can to help free her mom. Words can't really describe how intense these scenes are, so I won't even try. Suffice it to say, Dawn goes through a lot of shit and seemingly manages to drive the entity holding her mother back out of her house.
The final plot involves Spike. Sitting in a bar, he is approached by a woman. The two have drinks and Spike walks her home. No words are spoken during this plot, but it is obvious from just watching it that Spike is trying to move on from Buffy and maybe start some kind of relationship with someone else.
In the final moments of this episode, everything goes crazy. Webs reveals to Buffy that he was sired by Spike; Andrew stabs Jonathon in the gut spilling his blood over the sigil they unearthed; Cassie reveals that she is not who she appears to be and is in fact the embodiment of the one who devours you from beneath; Joyce approaches Dawn with the warning that Buffy will betray her; and finally Spike feeds on the woman he picked up at the bar.
I've gotta tell you, this was one intense episode. It wasn't very heavy at all on the action side. The only moments we got of this were in Buffy’s brief tussles with Webs and Dawn’s torture by the evil spirit. The actual intensity came from all these plots coming to such potent ends. I mean, by episode’s end you've got Spike able to kill and sire people without punishment from his chip, a warning that Buffy could go bad (though it was probably just the entity manipulating Dawn even further), Jonathon dying and setting some major event into motion, and the big bad being intimidated by Willow enough that it tries to get her to commit suicide. This certainly is setting so much in motion and opens many possibilities for the end of the season. Don't forget that we've still got a subplot established in the first two episodes of the girls being hunted down by cloaked men and killed. There is also the interesting possibility that events that are unfolding in Angel next week could be linked to events set up in this episode of Buffy (hopefully, sort of an unofficial cross-over). Judging from previews of next week’s episode of Angel and the Jonathon plot from this week, I'm hoping that is the case.
What was bad about this episode? At parts it was a slow episode. It was a set-up episode for some major things that are going to be happening later in the season. I enjoy the character exploratory stuff, so the long conversations don’t tend to bother me, but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. A big gripe, though, is the fact that neither Xander nor Anya was seen at all this week, not even a brief cameo at the beginning. Granted, there was a lot going on this episode and throwing them in might have made it far too convoluted, but Xander, at least, has been in the show from the beginning and deserves at least a brief appearance. I can see from the big bad’s perspective that maybe Anya and Xander aren't worth the trouble since they're only human. Hell, though, wouldn't it have been cool if Xander had talked with Jesse from way back in season one? It’s just too bad that two characters that I enjoy quite a bit weren't in this great episode at all.
I cannot fault this great episode too much for this, though, so it gets a:
Episode Rating: 9 out of 10.
- Brandon "Pyronics" Delancey is praying the remainder of this season remains so solid.
What do you think? Talk about it on the Forums
