Spoiler Slayer

Angel X updated the Cross and Stake spoilers to reflect the things she mentioned on the Kitten Board yesterday.

Before I even get into the review, I should make it clear that I do not have a single bad thing to say about 'Dead Things'. It was a frighteningly potent episode, just another brief snapshot of the darkness that is Season Six. Which I think is important to remember about this season, it is a 'Dark' season. I don't believe that there has been an actual 'happy ending' yet. Even the lighter episodes, have always ended on a slightly ominous note.

In many ways, 'Dead Things' left me a bit speechless. There are occasions, where I fervently hope that all the spoilers, speculation, and wildfeed summaries will somehow magically be wrong. That we would end up being the victims of a grand 'Mutant Enemy' plot to misinform and deceive all of those who track the spoilers. This time, even armed with the knowledge of what was to come, I found myself riveted to the screen. Like the strange attraction one has to peering intently at a car wreck on the of the road, I just couldn't look away as things continue to fall apart. This is anything new in terms of the show, as in almost every season things go from bad to worse during the second half. My original thought had been that things would reverse this season, with things starting out bad and gradually getting better. Which, from all the signs, is not very likely to happen this time around.

Of course the talk of the episode before it aired was the 'Bronze Scene', after watching it I have to give Steven DeKnight kudos. It completely blew me away, and ended up being nothing that I expected. In many ways, it reminded me of the scene with Buffy and Angel in 'Forever', if only because it has a very dreamlike quality to it. Was it a dream, I'm not sure? Spike himself seems out of character in the scene, almost as if Spike were actually only a metaphor for Buffy's own feelings. This is echoed in the alley scene, where Buffy's verbal assault of Spike is more about what she's feeling about herself. The important thing is that I don't think the scene in the Bronze doesn't really change who or what Spike is, or the relationship he has with Buffy. It's just another indication that Buffy is further losing her anchors to this reality, which is the Scoobies.

The Troika themselves are also moving into that darkness. What started off as a very comical 'Big Bad', has rapidly become one of the more sinister ones. The lack of remorse is frightening, although it's nice to see that Jonathan still has some grip on reality. What bothers me is what I've noticed in the past, but really haven't felt it worth mentioning. There is a very strong parallel going on between Willow and the Troika in terms of story. GODisTigger commented at the Kitten Board about how each member of the Troika echoes an aspect of Willow. Power and Responsibility are also two major components of both the Troika and Willow's story arc. In fact, as I mentioned on the Kitten Board, most of the story arcs are revolving around Willow and aspects of her character in some manner (consider magic: You have Tara and Amy both representing different ends of the spectrum, both being something that Willow desires). The Buffy and Spike storyline is important, but it is somewhat a separate issue. What I find interesting is that as the Troika fade out for a few episodes (I don't think they'll be in the next three), while the Willow/Tara story is going to fade in again.

Which is not to say there are little 'bright' moments throughout the episode. The 'door scene' between Buffy and Spike, Willow and Tara meeting again, Xander and Anya getting jitterbuggy, or Xander and Dawn getting tango-y. But underneath those happy exteriors, there is still darkness and concern. Willow and Tara did not reconcile, Buffy cannot understand what's going on between her and Spike, Spike is baring his non-soul to someone who won't let him in, Xander and Anya have their own problems, while Dawn can only wonder when anyone is going to notice her again. This episode isn't merely showing parallels or reflecting or echoing various story arcs, it's acting more like a mirror-ball. Everywhere you look, there's another connection, another layer to be revealed, another concept to be explored.

What all of this means, is that I'm beginning to have doubts about what I expected to see in Episode Seventeen. While a Vengeance Demon/Wish storyline is still possible, I have a feeling that there are things that still need to be resolved before this can happen. As usual, the writers still constantly manage to surprise and impress me, which means that even with my own speculation I have to resort to thinking it's going to be 'E - None of The Above'.