Joyce is still dead. The shock is beginning to wear off but the horrible reality is sinking in; Buffy will have to live with being an orphan with a sister to look after. Buffy is still so very young, yet she is suddenly left to live in the harsh, harsh wield on her own, with crushing respobsibilities and, of course, she breaks down. One again we have a superb and devastating episode.
There is, of course, a genre sub-plot with Willow and Tara's attempt to resurrect Joyce going horribly wrong and making her a zombie, but this us not dwelt upon and Buffy never sees the zombie Joyce. That would not have been in good taste. And, although this moment is clearly a stepping stone in Willow's increasing obsession with dark magic, this is not really the moment to discuss that.
There's one moment in this rather harrowing episode that made me smile and felt perfect; we know if Spike's connection with Joyce, but his bringing flowers, and his insistence that Joyce was "the only one of the lot of you I could stand" is perfect. There are other little moments, too: we're reminded of Buffy's neglectful father, and Buffy is briefly reunited with Angel; they are no longer an item, but there is still a deep emotional bond. There is some great, and much-needed, comic relief with Anya. There's a rather nice bit of stop motion animation that looks to be some sort of tribute to Ray Harryhausen.
But ultimately the theme here, as with the season as a whole, is adulthood. No generation really feels as though they are real, proper grown-ups, so they try to wing it. And then, one day, they realise that all previous generations felt the same.
Finally... I may not be around much for the rest if the month, as this is very possibly my last blog post as a bachelor. Yes, I'm getting married on Saturday...!
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