S05.E13: Blood Ties

[Joe Hellandback]

The Good; Dawn's ep first and foremost and she really comes into her own here. Very touching scenes, especially with the Summers girls and Dawn's memories, precious to her but she knows they were created. The battle with Glory is also great and I defy anyone to say they knew Ben was Glory?

The Bad; ?

Best line; Buffy; "Summer's blood', how important that will be!

Jeez!; Glory killing the security guard

Kinky dinky; Anya tells the gang about her and Xander playing dress up, Xander being a fireman (as he is in the film Fire Serpent) Spike thinks the only way monks can justify giving up girls is if they're protecting something. Anya says that Xander 'Needs help with his thing'. More Glory-Buffy-Dawn subtext with Dawn saying that Glory is prettier than Buffy. Glory thinks that knights have a 'fear of intimacy'. Buffy likes her presents 'more frilly, less killy' with a girly dress. Giles apparently has 'one just like it'. Spike refers to Dawn as a 'hormone bomb' and Glory as a 'skank'.

Captain Subtext; Buffy intends to start a new tradition of 'birthdays without boyfriends' which Tara and Willow approve off. Spike paints his nails. When looking for Dawn Buffy and Spike patrol together for the first time. Dawn self-harms, once again Buffy using a magical metaphor for a very real and serious social problem. Anya thinks Dawn is very pretty. The little look that Buffy and Joyce share when she hugs Dawn at the party is priceless.

More Glory-Buffy-Dawn; Glory changes in front of Dawn. She wonders if Ben is being 'naughty' with Dawn? (Yeesh! But she is a hellgod so we shouldn't be surprised). She strokes Dawn's hair (in the same way Joyce and Buffy do) but then spanks her breasts and hauls her away. She also refers to Dawn as a 'fox' and 'sugar and spice' and asks if Ben was giving her a look at 'Glory's unmentionables'? She likes Buffy's shoes. She refers to Spike as Buffy's boyfriend which she's almost too quick to deny.

Guantanamo Bay; Glory tortures the Knight Scoobies to the ER; Buffy get's stabbed with the crowbar but seem OK.

Apocalypses; 5,

Scoobies in bondage: Buffy: 8 Giles: 4 Cordy: 5 Will: 3 Jenny: 1 Angel: 4 Oz: 1 Faith: 3 Joyce: 1 Wes: 1 Xander; 1 Dawn; 1

Scoobies knocked out: Buffy: 16 Giles: 10 Cordy: 6 Xander: 8 Will: 5 Jenny: 2 Angel: 6 Oz: 3 Faith: 1 Joyce: 3 Wes: 1 Anya;1

Kills: Buffy: 94 vamps, 32 demons, 6 monsters, 3 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot Giles: 5 vamps, 1 demon Cordy: 3 vamps, a demon Will: 6 vamps Angel: 3 vamps, 1 demon, 1 human Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans Xander: 5 vamps, 2 zombies, a demon, a demon Anya: a demon Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons Scoobies go evil: Giles: 1 Cordy: 1 Will: 2 Jenny: 1 Angel: 1 Oz: 1 Joyce: 1 Xander: 3

Alternate scoobies: Buffy: 6 Giles: 3 Cordy: 1 Will: 2 Jenny: 2 Angel: 3 Oz: 2 Joyce: 2 Xander: 3

Recurring characters killed: 9 Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara

Sunnydale deaths; the poor security guard, they're Buffy's equivalent of Star Treks redshirts 90; Total number of scoobies: 6 Giles, Xander, Willow, Buffy, Anya, Tara, Xander demon magnet: 5(6?) Preying Mantis Lady, Inca Mummy Girl, Drusilla, VampWillow, Anya (arguably Buffy & Faith with their demon essences?), Dracula?

Scoobies shot: Giles: 2 Angel: 3 Oz: 4 Riley; 1

Notches on Scooby bedpost: Giles: 2; Joyce & Olivia, possibly Jenny and 3xDraccy babes? Cordy: 1? Buffy: 3 confirmed; Angel, Parker,Riley, 1 possible, Dracula(?) Angel: 1;Buffy Joyce: 1;Giles, 2 possible, Ted and Dracula(?) Oz: 3; Groupie, Willow & Verucca Faith:2 ;Xander, Riley Xander: 2; Faith, Anya Willow: 2;Oz and Tara Riley; 3; Buffy, Sandy and unnamed vampwhore

Questions and observations; Another disastrous Buffy birthday, if I was her I'd just stay in bed all day when it comes around. Also the beginning of the Spike/Dawn's platonic relationship, the kinship of the outsiders or does he think she's his way into Buffy's goodbooks? The Scoobs finally learn the truth about Dawn. So who are the other Hellgods from Glory's dimension? WR&H? Why not just pack Dawn off to Europe so that Glory can't find her? Or will Glory's minions/The Knights track her mystically? The Knights can easily beat Glory's minions but are no match for herself. Dawn has a photo from her and Buffy's holiday with their dad, the monks really do a full service job. The chocs Spike brings Buffy are the same ones he bashed the mannequin over the head with, cheap and stalkery! Dawn's burglary of the Magic Shop foretells

Spoiler

her shoplifting.

Dawn has been around for 6 months, suggesting she was also about for Buffy vs Dracula etc? The 'Urn of Ishtar', wasn't that a Dustin Hoffman movie? Introduction of Dawn's catchphrase, 'Get out'. The scene with little Buffy and little Dawnie on the swing is especially moving. Giles warns Willow of the dangers of magic.

Marks out of 10; 7/10 the Key storyline really getting going.

[Loandbehold]

9 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

The 'Urn of Ishtar', wasn't that a Dustin Hoffman movie?

Just "Ishtar" w/ Warren Beatty. At the time considered one of the biggest bombs in Hollywood history. 

 

9 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Also the beginning of the Spike/Dawn's platonic relationship,

While I'm firmly in the "Spike should have been staked in Season 4" camp, I enjoyed the Spike-Dawn friendship. 

Edited September 23, 2018 by Loandbehold

[Joe Hellandback]

7 hours ago, Loandbehold said:

Just "Ishtar" w/ Warren Beatty. At the time considered one of the biggest bombs in Hollywood history. 

 

While I'm firmly in the "Spike should have been staked in Season 4" camp, I enjoyed the Spike-Dawn friendship. 

Yeah I did too, shame it seemed to

Spoiler

peter out in later seasons.  

[Halting Hex]

On 9/23/2018 at 2:11 AM, Joe Hellandback said:

Introduction of Dawn's catchphrase, 'Get out'.

Surely a "catchphrase" is something that gets repeated because it's popular, no?  I doubt that much of the audience was waiting at home each week, going "I hope Dawn says 'Get Out', I love that!"  Somehow, I just don't see that happening.

(Actually, is this all a spoiler?  Apologies, if so.)

Edited September 27, 2018 by Halting Hex

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎27‎/‎09‎/‎2018 at 6:11 PM, Halting Hex said:

Surely a "catchphrase" is something that gets repeated because it's popular, no?  I doubt that much of the audience was waiting at home each week, going "I hope Dawn says 'Get Out', I love that!"  Somehow, I just don't see that happening.

(Actually, is this all a spoiler?  Apologies, if so.)

It doesn't have to be popular to be a catchphrase, it's the words you most associate with the character. E.g;

"Ehhhhhhhhh!"

"Make my day!"

"By the power of Grayskull!"

"Excellent!"

"Works for me"

"I thought you'd never ask"

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing"

"There can be only one!"

[secnarf]

I think a 'catchphrase' has to take off beyond the original character. It's not just something that one character says a lot, it has to gain wider usage and is a bit more unique than something like 'get out'.

An example could be Faith's "five by five" but I'm not sure that even counts as it didn't really gain widespread use beyond BtVS fans.

[Joe Hellandback]

6 hours ago, secnarf said:

I think a 'catchphrase' has to take off beyond the original character. It's not just something that one character says a lot, it has to gain wider usage and is a bit more unique than something like 'get out'.

An example could be Faith's "five by five" but I'm not sure that even counts as it didn't really gain widespread use beyond BtVS fans.

I would say the term 'Buffy' would actually be a cultural trope these days, much like 'Rambo' or 'to Scully'? 

[lembergwatcher]

Quote

BUFFY: How could you let her find out like that? From books and papers? You hate me that much?

Our Slayer can be very stupid sometimes. Duh, Buffy, of course, Spike hates you! He's a vampire, he's evil and he has to! And I guess Spike's attempts to destroy the Scooby Gang and sell out Buffy and the rest to Adam together with sheltering Harmony and trying to remove the chip somehow prove he really hates the vampire slayer very much. Is it really that hard of a concept to grasp?

Well, sometimes I think Red 'How About I Drive My Foot Into This Thing Called Your Ass' Forman from That's 70s Show should have been Buffy's Watcher. Many bad things could've been avoided. 

Lines you'll never hear in the Buffyverse:

Quote

Xander: Help me with this crossword puzzle. I need a five letter word for disappointment...

Red: BUFFY.

[Halting Hex]

On 9/23/2018 at 2:20 PM, Loandbehold said:

"Ishtar" w/ Warren Beatty.

Essentially, Spies Like Us, only twice as expensive and half as funny.  (And with no Bob Hope cameo/homage.)

4 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

You [Spike] hate me that much?

More accurately, he had no idea that Dawn even had a secret, much less that Giles knew it.  Really very irrational for Buffy to think Spike was plotting to reveal information he didn't even know existed. 

And really very stupid of Giles to write this all down, when he knows that inquisitive young Scoobies sometimes snoop through his papers.  (Even if he never found out about Buffy and Willow "borrowing" the Watcher Diary in Halloween, he knows about Willow's venture into his "forbidden" volumes in Enemies.) I'm rather shocked that Anya hadn't already found the diary, actually, given her proprietary attitude towards the shop.

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎6‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 12:34 PM, lembergwatcher said:

Our Slayer can be very stupid sometimes. Duh, Buffy, of course, Spike hates you! He's a vampire, he's evil and he has to! And I guess Spike's attempts to destroy the Scooby Gang and sell out Buffy and the rest to Adam together with sheltering Harmony and trying to remove the chip somehow prove he really hates the vampire slayer very much. Is it really that hard of a concept to grasp?

Well, sometimes I think Red 'How About I Drive My Foot Into This Thing Called Your Ass' Forman from That's 70s Show should have been Buffy's Watcher. Many bad things could've been avoided. 

Lines you'll never hear in the Buffyverse:

That 70s Show is easy, ED, AH and SG all guest-starred. I think Red would have great affection for Buffy, just like he does Laurie. He'd give Xander a hard time though.  

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎6‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 5:19 PM, Halting Hex said:

Essentially, Spies Like Us, only twice as expensive and half as funny.  (And with no Bob Hope cameo/homage.)

More accurately, he had no idea that Dawn even had a secret, much less that Giles knew it.  Really very irrational for Buffy to think Spike was plotting to reveal information he didn't even know existed. 

And really very stupid of Giles to write this all down, when he knows that inquisitive young Scoobies sometimes snoop through his papers.  (Even if he never found out about Buffy and Willow "borrowing" the Watcher Diary in Halloween, he knows about Willow's venture into his "forbidden" volumes in Enemies.) I'm rather shocked that Anya hadn't already found the diary, actually, given her proprietary attitude towards the shop.

Spies Like Us-Dan Akroyd was in Ghostbusters 2 with Harris Yeulin (Quentin Travers) in Buffy. 

Ishtar-Warren Beatty is in Dick Tracy with Madonna who is in Will&Grace with Seth Green. 

[lembergwatcher]

3 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

He'd give Xander a hard time though.  

As Xander himself once said: "You're not the Watcher of me".

[Halting Hex]

5 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Dan Aykroyd was in Ghostbusters 2 with Harris Yulin (Quentin Travers) in Buffy. 

And in Doctor Detroit with Fran Drescher who was in The Nanny with…oh, probably a bunch of folks who've been in the 'verse.  Hang on…Nancy Lenehan, Ivana Milicevic, Ian Abercrombie, Michael Bacall and doubtless others.

Dan'n'Fran also apparently have a strange sexual relationship, IRL; Fran's husband turned out to be gay, and she's been very attached to Donna Dixon (Mrs. Aykroyd) since they met while costarring in the aforementioned Dr. Detroit.  They worked together on a number of projects, including a Who's the Boss? guest spot that became a short-lived spinoff (Charmed Lives) about two young professional women sharing adventures (and an apartment) in, er, San Francisco.  Allegedly, there's a bit of three-sided fun that's been going on for decades, although (again allegedly) Dan mostly watches the girls together before going home with Donna.  It's amusing and/or creepy to think that when Dan was involved with the casting for DD (he was the big star; the girls were nobodies) he was, essentially, casting his real-life harem.  Huh.

6 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Warren Beatty is in Dick Tracy with Madonna who is in Will&Grace with Seth Green. 

And with Mandy Patinkin, who was later a regular on the same Criminal Minds that hired NB as recurring.  (Again, no overlap, but closer than Madonna and Seth guesting in different episodes of W&G, IMO.)