Writer:

Douglas Petrie

Director:

Nick Marck

Regulars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers

Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris

Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg

Marc Blucas as Riley Finn

Emma Caulfield as Anya

Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn

James Marsters as Spike

Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest Stars:

David Boreanaz as Angelus/Angel

Juliet Landau as Drusilla

Julie Benz as Darla

Mercedes McNab as Harmony

Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers

Cast:

Kali Rocha as Cecily Addams

Edward Fletcher as Male Partygoer

Katharine Leonard as Female Partygoer

Matthew Lang as 2nd Male Partygoer

Chris Daniels as Stabbing Vampire

Kenneth Feinberg as Chaos Demon

Steve Heinze as Vampire #1

Ming Liu as Chinese Slayer

April Wheedon-Washington as Subway Slayer

Vampire

Staked by Riley in a cemetery.

William

Drained by Drusilla in a flashback to 1880 London.

Slayer

Drained by Spike in a flashback to 1900 China.

Three vampires

Blown up with a hand grenade by Riley in a cemetery.

Slayer

Neck snapped by Spike in a flashback to 1977 New York.

Total: Seven (three in flashbacks, four in the present)

Dawn: "When do I get to patrol?"
Buffy: "Not until you are never!"

Drusilla (speaking her first words ever to William): "And I wonder, what possible catastrophe came crashing down from heaven and brought this dashing stranger to tears?"
William: "Nothing. I wish to be alone."
Drusilla: "I see you. You're a man surrounded by fools who cannot see his strength. His vision. His glory. (William gazes at her.) That and burning baby fish swimming all round your head."

Spike: "Oh, I'm sorry, did I sully our good name? We're vampires."

Darla: "I think our boys are going to fight!"
Drusilla: "The King of Cups expects a picnic. But this is not his birthday!"
Darla (humoring her): "Good point."

Spike: "Come on. I can feel it, Slayer. You know you wanna dance."
Buffy: "Say it's true. Say I do want to. (She pushes him to the ground.) It wouldn't be you, Spike. It would never be you. (She throws the cash at him.) You're beneath me."

More quotes from this episode...

• Buffy: "Look, I realize that every Slayer comes with an expiration mark on the package. But, I want mine to be a long time from now. Like a Cheeto."

Cheetos are a cheesy crunchy snack produced by Frito-Lay. Because they are a junk food packed with preservatives, they have a long shelf-life — though they will go stale much sooner than Buffy would have you think.

• Buffy: "Love ya, but you Watchers are such prigs sometimes."

"Prig" is a chiefly (though not exclusively) British term, referring to someone who displays an exaggerated sense of propriety.

• Buffy: "It's about two Slayers: One in China in the Boxer Rebellion..."

The Boxer Rebellion was an anti-Westerner uprising in China that took place from 1900 to 1901. Resentful of the economic power and social condescension practiced by Europeans and Americans living in China around the turn of the century, the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi encouraged her subjects to rise up. This led to a group of armed Chinese calling themselves "The Fist of Righteous Harmony" smashing up western-controlled train stations and businesses and eventually actually murdering Westerners. A coalition of Western forces including the U.S. Marines fought the Chinese back to Peking and imposed harsh terms of surrender upon them. More detailed information can be found here. (Also referenced in "School Hard.")

• Spike (about getting vamped): "Don't make it sound like something you'd flip past on the Discovery Channel."

The Discovery Channel is a US cable station offering programs about nature, animals, health, travel, etc. (Also referenced in "The I in Team.")

• School Hard

  Spike and Drusilla were introduced in "School Hard," at which point we (and Buffy) learned that Spike had killed two Slayers. Drusilla, the love of Spike's un-life, was last seen on BtVS in "Becoming Part Two.

• Welcome to the Hellmouth

  Angel and Darla (Angel's sire) were first introduced in the series premiere. Darla was killed by Angel in "Angel." Angel fell in love with Buffy, but left Sunnydale in "Graduation Day Part Two." He was last seen on BtVS in "The Yoko Factor."

• Welcome to the Hellmouth

  Darla, Angel's sire (seen here in flashbacks) was first seen in the series premiere. She was killed by Angel in "Angel."

• The Harsh Light of Day

  Harmony refers to the time Spike staked her (because she was wearing the Gem of Amara, which renders vampires invincible, she still exists).

• Lovers Walk

  It was revealed in "Lovers Walk" that Drusilla had left Spike. This episode gives us a flashback to 1998, we see the chaos demon whom Spike mentioned having caught Drusilla making out with.

• In "School Hard," Spike said to Angel, "You were my sire, man! You were my Yoda!" It's now shown that it was actually Drusilla who sired Spike. For many of us, this is no surprise — Joss has been saying for ages that Dru was actually Spike's sire. For example, on January 2, 1998 (about 3 months after "School Hard" aired), he said, "Angel was Dru's sire -- he made her -- and she made Spike. But SIRE doesn't just mean [the] guy who made you, it means you come from their line. Angel is like a grandfather to Spike." Whether the line was originally intended with that interpretation, or whether it was a boo-boo that slipped through and Joss justifies that way, Joss has always maintained that in his mind (which is the only place the characters really live), Dru was Spike's sire.

• In "School Hard," Giles said that Spike was "barely 200 years old." In "The Initiative," Spike himself said that he was 126. Now we see that he was vamped in 1880. This would make him 120 (not including human years), possibly still 119 at the time of "The Initiative." We'll use this episode as canon — somehow flashbacks give it more credibility.

• If you don't watch Angel, or missed tonight's episode ("Darla"), you might think it's a goof that Angel was shown seemingly evil in 1900, since he got his soul back in 1898. However, in "Darla," it was shown that he was indeed not evil, merely trying to be, as he didn't know what else to do with himself. So no goof.

• Spike's reflection can be seen periodically in the subway as he fights the New York Slayer.
        Spotted by Mathew.

• Spike has had the nickname "William the Bloody" since his human days, as a result of his "bloody awful" poetry.

• Spike met Dru, Angel, and Darla in London in 1880, and was vamped by Dru on the first night he met her.

• Angel and Darla were none too thrilled with Spike when he joined their little gang, as he drew too much attention and forced them into hiding.

• Spike killed his first Slayer in China in 1900, and his second in New York in 1977.

• Spike clearly states that if he doesn't intend to hurt someone (i.e., he throws a joke punch), his chip won't kick in. He also indicates that there are varying levels of pain, at least in the sense that it lasts longer depending on what he does (he figures that killing Buffy would result in about two hours of pain).

  Notes from "Darla," tonight's episode of Angel:

• Darla was vamped by the Master himself in 1609.

• A couple of years after he was cursed with a soul, Angel attempted to continue living life as a demon. However, he lived off of murderers and rapists, and his attempt didn't last long: He gave up when Darla tried to make him prove his evilness by killing an infant. In "Angel," Angel told Buffy that he hadn't fed on a living human being since the day he was cursed. Though one might consider that a goof, it would seem that he was simply lying, or displaying selective memory, as men are so often inclined to do. ;-)
        Noted by Boo.

Note: To cut down on bandwidth theft, sound files are password protected. After you click "Listen," just enter the username bg and the password 8rt at the prompt. If the password doesn't work, that probably means it's been changed; refresh/reload this page to get the new one.

• The Killingtons - "Balladovie" (From The Killingtons, Meg/Hepcat, 2000)
  This song plays in the background at the Bronze after Spike finishes telling Buffy about his murder of the Chinese Slayer. (Please note that as of this writing, the track listing that Amazon.com has for the CD is incorrect. The complete track listing can be found at the band's official site.)
  Listen (MP3, 116K) — Official Site

Soupytwist:

This is what I've been waiting for since I began watching BtVS. I think the original or alternate title for this ep was "Love's Bitch." I was getting antsy with the direction Spike was going, but no more. Learning about his past really adds necessary depth to this character and James Marsters turned in a wonderful performance. The highlight of this episode was the "subway scene" — an amazing feat by everyone on the show. The heightened emotion that is sustained throughout is a testament to the quality of everyone who works on this show, but especially to James Marsters, who is this scene's (and this episode's) centerpiece. This ep also shed some light on the attitude of the Slayer; she has a death wish! When I heard those words, I was, like, "Duh!" It's a simple explanation of how Slayers die, but oddly satisfying, and it especially makes sense when you see the past Slayers being killed by Spike. Ah, Spike and James Marsters, they had themselves a real good day. (10/10)

Jamie Marie:

I started off the episode with my stomach squirming at the sight of Buffy pulling out the stake. (I know, I'm such a girly-girl.) I ended it with my stomach all in knots over Spike's new dimensions. I'm not big on James Marsters, excellent actor though he may be, but I'm now officially in love with Spike. Who would have ever thought that Spike, of all people, could make me cry? Okay, maybe I'm a sap, but my heart just broke when Buffy snubbed him. Poor, poor Spikey. And I disagree with those who claim Spike's behavior is out of character — it may be unexpected (or not...), but that doesn't automatically make it out of character. He cared greatly about Drusilla, in his own way, so it's not like we've been led to think that he's incapable of caring. Besides, men — even dead ones — always behave oddly when they're lusting after someone. ;-) And James and Sarah do have awesome chemistry — they've always played well off each other, so I'm all in favor of a plotline that gives me more of that. Anyway... The scene with Spike, Drusilla, and the "slime and antlers" Chaos demon is the kind of fun payoff that all long-time fans enjoy. Plus I dig the Chaos demon; I'd like to see more of them. Only one thing irked me — Willow and Xander have patrolled before, and even spent the whole summer doing it when Buffy left town. They may never have been as stealthy as Riley, but they know better than to munch on chips and shout loudly to each other. It's not quite the type of thing I feel compelled to include in the Goofs and Gaffes, but it does reek of ignoring history to increase comedic effect. All in all, a truly excellent episode only made better by watching the following Angel episode. (10/10)