Day 20: Best Spike-centric Episode
Oh Spike. My love for Spike knows almost no bounds (except for that one episode in season 6). But which episode best showcases him? Is it School Hard, when he is first introduced and throws out the old traditions in favor of a more modern style? Is it What's My Line? when he calls in the Order of Taraka to distract Buffy so he can heal Drusilla? What about Lover's Walk when, freshly dumped, he screams into town and manages to destroy everyone else's relationships in the process of fixing his own? Perhaps The Harsh Light of Day, when he briefly becomes invincible and torments Buffy? Or Pangs, which isn't really about Spike at all, but sees him tied to a chair getting shot with arrows for a large portion.
So many episodes to choose from, but really, it always has been and always will be Fool For Love. In Fool For Love we finally get Spike's back story. How could I not pick the episode where I find out more about Spike's past and what makes him who he is?
The episode being with Buffy getting staked by a vampire. Worried that she's losing her slayer abilities, she seeks Spike out to find out how he killed two slayers. And so we get to meet William the Bloody. The reveal that William was actually a dorky poet who didn't fit in with society is fantastic. This character is so very far from the Spike that was introduced in School Hard. (Holy crap, I just realized that's a riff on Die Hard. How did I not notice that before?) Cecily's rejection of him (you're beneath me) is heartbreaking.
The scene where William is turned into a vampire is hilarious. His "ow"s simply become more insistent until they finally turn into a scream. Then he begins picking up all the little traits that make him Spike.
First the name and the accent, then the obsession with slayers. The first slayer gives him his sexy eyebrow scar. He acquires his signature trench coat from the second slayer. Watching his transformation is wonderful. Each scene shows him a little bit less like William the Bloody, a little bit more like Spike.
The cross cutting of his fights with Nikki and Buffy is a work of art. Buffy's rejection at the end of it (you're beneath me) hits so hard. She throws the money at him and walks away while he just weeps in the alley. It's perfect and heartbreaking.
Everything about this episode is just so good. It's really one of my top-ten episodes of the series. There is so much back story that gets filled in. So much gets revealed and advanced in the Spike/Buffy relationship. Spike neatly foreshadows the finale when he tells Buffy that "Every Slayer has a death wish". Joyce heads back to the hospital. Riley's recklessness increases.
If you watch it paired with the Angel episode Darla, it only gets better.
Okay, I'm intrigued. I didn't watch much of early Angel (although now I've watched the 5th season, thank you for the rec!)
ReplyDeleteWhy does this episode line up nicely with "Darla"?
How did you miss so much Angel?
ReplyDelete"Darla" is a companion piece to "Fool For Love". It follows Darla's history from when she got turned. They're both self-contained stories, but "Darla" shows a different perspective of the scene during The Boxer Rebellion. If you do the math, you realize that Angelus had already been cursed with a soul by then, only Spike and Dru didn't know. It gives the scene a very different feel when you see it from that perspective.
I'm not sure why I didn't start watching the 1st season as it aired... I recall that being one of the rougher years of school. Anyhoo, when I did eventually start watching it, Connor showed up and I was like #$%^&#@$@#$ Vampires cannot have babies! Same thought went through my head with Breaking Dawn, although I think Joss blunted that problem considerably for me.
ReplyDeleteOooh I'm fascinated! Please visit and bring the DVD with "Darla" with you? :D Or we can watch it when I'm there in October?