Spoiler Slayer

Late To Bed And Early To Rise

Very quickly, since I wasn't planning on doing an AM Update, here is the latest.

BBOvenGuy did another excellent report from a location shoot that took place last night. You can read the entire thread at the Kitten Board.

The Buffy crew was in the Stoner Park neighborhood near Santa Monica tonight, a spot they use quite frequently since their studios are less than a mile down the road. They were on Westgate Avenue between Missouri and La Grange, exactly the same spot where Dawn and her friends went Halloween prankstering in "All the Way." And in some ways, tonight's action looked very similar - not in the prankstering, but in the fact that Dawn was taking another walk down that very same sidewalk.

There seems to have been a late change in the Buffy crew's plans, because my initial notification said the shoot would run from 2pm to 6am tomorrow morning. I arrived at the park at around 3:15, figuring I'd miss the setup work and arrive in time for a daylight shoot. Imagine my surprise when I found nothing but an equipment truck and
some lights sitting there! Lucky for me I brought some books along, so I settled into my car and did some reading. Finally around 6:00 wwolfe (from the C&S) showed up, and we talked Buffy stuff until the crew finally showed up and began to get things ready.

When the cast van arrived, out hopped Michelle Trachtenberg, Nick Brendon, Danny Strong and Tom Lenk. By this time the entire length of the sidewalk had been lit and was strewn with cables, while a SteadyCam operator was standing ready.

And also a prop guy carrying two large swords.

They only did one shot while I was there, but it was a long one, and because we were right across the street we could hear much of the dialogue. Here it is:

Xander and Dawn are walking down the street, talking. Xander's very upset. Dawn's trying to get him to snap out of whatever fit of temper he's in. Behind them, Jonathan and Andrew are walking along. They two surviving nerds are dressed all in black, as they were in Van Nuys the other night, and they're carrying the big swords. They're not
attacking. They're not forcing Xander and Dawn along. They look like they're an escort or protection or something. They don't say anything in the entire scene. They're just there.

Now, here's the dialogue:

We couldn't hear the first bit, but apparently Dawn is talking about getting help or helping someone or something. Xander launches into a rant about what their "help" has been good for lately - "Buffy's been shot, Tara's dead, Willow losing it..."

Then there's more we couldn't make out, and Dawn says something about how Xander feeling sorry for himself isn't going to help anything.

Then there's still more we couldn't make out, but the dialogue that follows makes it pretty clear that Dawn is suggesting that Spike would be helpful, or would have been helpful if he was around. Xander's reply: "Yeah, if he's not too busy trying to rape your sister."

Dawn stops dead. "What?" she asks.

Xander just looks at her, then turns and keeps walking.

"I don't believe you," says Dawn, hurrying to keep up.

"Is there some kind of genetic blind spot with you Summers women?" says Xander. "The only useful thing that animal ever did was finally leave town."

And that's where the scene ended. The cast went on break, and I called it a night. There were other spectators there, and so if something else dramatic is being done tonight I'll probably get word later on.

This was a scene from the season finale, by the way. There are three more location shoots on the calendar. The season is supposed to wrap on April 9, which is next Tuesday, although they're still supposedly running late so there's an outside chance we'll have more to see during the rest of next week.