Spoiler Slayer

These thoughts have been a long time coming, if only because I just hate to come across as being continually negative about a show I love. In fact, most of my thoughts on the back-half of the season seem to have fallen into that category. However, I would point out that fact that up until around 'First Date', we have seen some of the best storytelling and episodes of the series to this point. What made it so hard to put down my thoughts on 'Lies', is that my first viewing of the episode was not a favorable one. While the plot itself was fine, I really wasn't happy with the way the characters were portrayed, their motives, or even the half-hour Spike/Wood cage match.Those were my original thoughts about the episode, but then something strange happened when I watched it again. Each time I do these reviews, I sit and watch the episode a second (or third) time. With every episode this season up until this point, my feelings on a second viewing really didn't change much. I expected much of the same with 'Lies', which is why I've taken so long in writing my thoughts. I just didn't want to watch the episode again. So this weekend, I finally found some time to do so, and ended up being surprised and shocked that my first impressions had been so far off.

Overall, I really felt that the episode told a good story. The main plot revolves around what 'parents' will do to protect their 'children'. While this was made very clear in the William/Anne and Buffy/Giles segments, there was just too little screen-time devoted to Nikki/Robin. I would have liked a little more with this storyline, and that's one of the reasons I was a bit disappointed with the episode. We could have used a little less Spike and Wood bashing time, and more with Nikki/Robin. In fact, the montage might have even been enhanced with a flashback to another battle with Nikki/Spike while Robin looked on. One of the most powerful images in 'Fool For Love' was the parallelism between Spike and Nikki's and Spike and Buffy's battle.

There were also a few scenes that just didn't work for me, or felt as if they were filler. The entire segment in Wood's office was pointless. Giles being that upset over the library seems a bit ridiculous in light of current events, I also could have done without the Abbott and Costello homage when discussing Spike's chip/soul/trigger. Third base, I don't know. The Scoobies and SIT's were underutilized in this episode, being used mainly for set decoration. While for most of them this is nothing new, they did make a point of answering the question of "Where's Willow".

Giles absence has once again been explained, he's been out looking for a cure for Spike's trigger. My thought is that he must have made a jaunt to Ceti Alpha VI, because I was having some flashbacks of my own to 'Wrath of Khan'. Once Spike's past started unfolding, I began to start having flashbacks to yet another SF/Horror genre.

That's my main issue with the Spike flashback, as it's a complete rip-off of 'The Vampire Lestat'. In Anne Rice's book, Lestat saves his dying mother's life by turning her into a vampire. As a vampire, she is nothing what he expected her to be. Although he doesn't kill her, the parallels are pretty darn obvious.

I also have issues with Spike's portrayal in the past. While it was obvious that William was a momma's boy, I did not expect vamp-William to be same. Maybe the point was to show us that as a vampire, William truly lose his soul or humanity until after he killed his mother. But without the background, it's really hard to say. Personally, I would have liked a bit more development where perhaps Angel and Darla, and even Dru, criticized him for his bad poetry and momma's boy ways. Then, it would have made more sense why he would have turned back to his mother for comfort, and how her reaction would have finally driven the last bit of humanity from him.

Perhaps the biggest thing that turned me off when I originally watched the episode, was the realization that by the time Wood lured Spike to his garage, there was still half the episode still to go. Instead of spending a bit more time in development, we get an extended Spike/Wood cage match. Though props to Wood with his technology (and on an amusing note, 'Early One Morning' is indeed available in the iTunes Music Store).

However, during the second viewing, I really began to appreciate what they were saying rather than what they were doing. That's what made all the difference the second time through. While I still think the Giles/Buffy exchange wasn't particularly strong (Buffy, how many times are you going to keep on falling for that 'Meet Me In The Cemetery' line. It's almost becoming more of a running joke than your speeches), the Spike/Wood interchanges really impressed me.

Getting back to Giles for a moment, his character has been all over the board this season. While I understand the need to demonstrate that Buffy's judgement is being questioned, they need to find a balance for him. A few episodes back, he was angry because the Scoob's were dating in the midst of an apocalypse. Then in this episode, he's upset about something as minor as the school library, he just went all over trying to find a cure for Spike's trigger, but in a heartbeat he's ready to allow Wood to kill him. No wonder why the gang thought he might be 'The First' earlier this season.

Buffy, for her own part, should have been a bit stronger when it came to Giles. Instead of not having an answer for why Spike is different, she should have had an argument or explanation about why he was. This is going to be something I'm going to echo in thoughts on future episodes. Buffy's motives and decisions are going to come under increased fire as the season moves on, it would have been nice to see her being able to actually argue her point (rather than making speeches).

But overall, I really ended up liking 'Lies My Parents Told Me'. While it does have a number of problems, the story itself is one that needs to be told. We need Spike back in the game, we need the Wood/Spike storyline closed, and we need to start planting the seeds of doubt in those that support Buffy. While I might not be happy with the last storyline, it is something that has been a staple in every season of Buffy. As we've already seen, this episode marks the end of Spike's trials, and the beginning of Buffy's.