I really don’t want this season to end. It’s been terrific and exciting, and I can’t remember the last time we even had a standalone weekly villain. How great is that?
Dawn’s arc reaches its highly anticipated climax when she finally finds out that she is “the key” – something the monks created and brought into the Summers home while incorporating her into everyone’s memories. Michelle Trachtenberg gives a truly heartbreaking performance in Blood Ties, and while some of her actions were worrisome (cutting herself, setting her bedroom on fire, etc.), it’s all realistic within the show’s world. While I have promised myself to stay spoiler-free, I couldn’t help but read more about Dawn and I’m shocked that many fans find her irritating, annoying and one of the worst characters on the show. Are we watching the same thing, fellas? Because I happen to find this entire storyline absolutely incredible.
Granted, this episode wasn’t perfect by all means. Glory is a formidable foe for sure, but her tactics are starting to get a little old. There were a few twists in here (how did Ben suddenly become Glory?!), but the fact that Willow and Tara were able to take her down with one simple spell felt way too anticlimactic. This is supposed to be the season’s Big Bad. We can’t have her disappear from fights just because the episode is about to end!
Seeing Spike constantly show up by Buffy’s side certainly needs a little getting used to, but it’s interesting how the writers are developing this relationship. He had some of the best scenes this week, particularly when paired up with Dawn in an amusing, lighthearted moment at the magic shop, but I am wary of where this Spike/Buffy thing is going. Is it just for laughs or are we actually supposed to believe the writers want to pursue this?
Favorite Scene
Gotta love Dawn breaking down in front of Buffy and Joyce in her bedroom. It’s perfectly written and performed by all three actresses, and it really broke my heart.
Bits
– Good lord, the CGI was horrendous when Glory was squishing her fingers into one of the knights’ brains. What’s with all the cringe-inducing light?
– Loved seeing the troll hammer again!
– I’m actually more interested in the Knights of Byzantium now. They’re certainly strong, powerful and don’t care about dying.
– Does Ben have powers? How can he cause such damage to Glory’s minion?
– Fantastic visual: Buffy jumping and spinning in mid-air during her final fight with Glory (which, by the way, was awful).
Quotes
Xander: We’re going up against a god. An actual, mightier-than-thou god.
Willow: Well, you know what they say. The bigger they are–
Anya: The faster they stomp you into nothing.
Dawn: This is blood, isn’t it? It can’t be me. I’m not a key. I’m not a thing.
Buffy: Mom and I know what we feel. I know I care about you. I know that I worry about you.
Dawn: You worry about me because you have to. I’m your job. “Protect the key”, right?
Buffy: I worry because my sister is cutting herself!
Dawn: Yeah, how do you know? Maybe this is just another fake memory from my fake family.
Joyce: Honey, you’re gonna be late for school.
Dawn: I’m not going. Blobs of energy don’t need an education.
Spike: She probably would have skipped off anyway, even if she never found out. She’s not just a blob of energy, she’s also a fourteen-year-old hormone bomb. (sighs) Which one’s screwing her up more right now, spin the bloody wheel.
Spike: You’ll find her, just in the nick of time, that’s what you hero types do.
Buffy: What did you do to her?
Willow: Teleportation spell. Still working out the kinks.
Buffy: Where’d you send her?
Willow: Don’t know. That’s one of the kinks.