“You told me snakey wakey would
find my key!”
Things are getting so damn tense
that something is going to explode. There are three plot threads being
dove-tailed during this episode, all of which appear to be near crisis point.
The first thread is the
increasingly doomed relationship between Buffy and Riley. The “Previously on”
is all about how they are slowly moving apart, and this episode sees Buffy
choosing not to confide in Riley about her mother’s illness. Most revealing of
all is the tense conversation between Riley and Spike in which Spike tells him
bluntly what is going on. Spike may be cruel in what he says but, as always, he
is spot on. Spike, for all his faults is a flawless judge of character. The two
of them are doomed.
Worse, Riley is drinking in
vampire haunts again. Worse still, he’s allowing himself to be bitten. This is
an obvious metaphor for prostitution and/or recreational drug use. One slight
issue I have with Buffy these days is that the metaphors, being about early
adulthood rather than a high school environment are necessarily broader.
Nevertheless, I’m glad they’re
there.
Thread number two is Joyce’s
worsening prognosis. It’s a brain tumour. This is not magic, it’s simple medical
reality, and none of the Scoobies’ superpowers can do a thing about it. This
makes Buffy feel helpless. Of course,
this being television drama, a character getting a potentially fatal condition
does not stand much chance of survival. Even while Joyce still lives, however,
it is Buffy who has to look after Dawn. Her life has just become even more
complicated and stressful.
Meanwhile, of course, Glory,
being this season’s “Big bad” is not going to stop doing her thing because
Buffy has problems. Like a true baddie, she viciously and cruelly walks into
Giles’ shop and pays for some stuff. Can you imagine anything more evil than
that?! Oh, and there’s also a snake which looks like something from a Ray Harryhausen film. This gives Buffy
something to kick the crap out of. She needs something like that right now.
It’s all kicking off. I’m
excited. It won’t be pretty.
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