Comments
Sarah absolutely kills it during the reveal. James also does a phenomenal job in that scene without saying a word. His face is a fantastic contortion of horror and pity, emotions we rarely see in our beloved, soulless killer.
Matt
2023-03-08 03:17:30 +0000 UTCWeird trivia: Spike asks Dawn to get Mercurochrome for Buffyβs hands. The episode was first broadcast in 2001 and Mercurochrome was banned in the US in 1998 because (shocker) it contains mercury. But Spike is Oldβ’ and I certainly wouldnβt expect him to keep up with such things. Asking for it just makes him seem out of date, which makes total sense. Nice touch.
Noah
2023-03-08 00:22:02 +0000 UTCAfterlife is very underrated. There are several absolutely stunning scenes throughout the episode and Buffy's confession to Spike at the end is one of top 10 best scenes in the entire show. It's some of SMG's best acting on the show. You can just feel her anguish, pain and despair over being in Heaven etched on every word. And how Spike was the only one of her friends that even sensed that she was in pain to begin with. Buffy even tried to fool him by saying she was "good" but Spike saw through her facade to to truth. It's an interesting parallel to the end of Lover's Walk when Buffy says that she can fool her friends and Giles, but can't fool Spike. And as you mention, it's a continuation to Fool for Love where she felt trusting enough of Spike to open up to him about the deepest secrets in her life, despite him being soulless. The episode is all about contrasts. The Scoobies crowding her, asking her a million questions and Willow telling her to "Be Happy" when she's barely feeling alive to begin with. Contrasting with Buffy going to seek Spike out and find a place to sit in silence. It was building all throughout Season 5 but now you see how Buffy forms an immediate bond with Spike over their shared experiences. Also note the contrast from the Gift, where Buffy is standing above him on the stairs and ascends (to Heaven). Whereas here she comes down the stairs to his level for the first time and she lets him hold her hands.Β It's fascinating to rewatch that scene and you'll see how the camera frames Buffy and Spike looking at each other in the eyes on the same level as equals and then immediately the shot of the Scoobies looking down on Buffy when they expect her to answer them. I also love the foreshadowing scene where Buffy despondently walks through the cemetery in front of an angel wing statue. Buffy is literally a fallen angel from Heaven. Lastly, this gets missed by a lot of people/reactors and it's really only obvious once you see the end of the episode, but the scene where Buffy comes out to give Dawn her lunch is so heartbreaking. Buffy knows that the Scoobies want her to "be happy" so she adopts a Buffybot style persona and fakes her happiness to appease them while she feels like dying inside. It just shows what an extraordinary person Buffy is - that even when she's feeling more depressed than ever in her life - she's still trying to protect the feelings of her friends even if it means her own feelings have no outlet.Β
Land Howard Johnston
2023-03-07 22:23:22 +0000 UTCAlso notice that Willow lies to Tara, again (she lied to Tara about helping Dawn to the resurrection spell in season 5), by way of omission. Clearly the Buffy copy that is shouting at them in the bedroom is talking about Willow killing the deer, but when Tara asks if Willow knows what it was talking about she answers with a vague, "I understood the words."
Claire Eyles
2023-03-07 21:14:41 +0000 UTCAlso when the first words out of a newly resurrected person's mouth are, "Is this hell?" Not, "Phew, thank god I'm not in hell anymore, now excuse me whilst I climb this dodgy looking tower and think about jumping to my death, again".
Claire Eyles
2023-03-07 21:09:29 +0000 UTCThere's a brilliant moment of foreshadowing in this episode, when Buffy stops near one of the graves in the cemetery & it gives the impression that she has Angel wings behind her - that's imagery which leads straight to her confession to Spike that she was actually in heaven.
Claire Eyles
2023-03-07 21:07:44 +0000 UTCI love this episode. As a horror fan there are some generally creepy moments, plus it establishes plot points and character arcs for the season.
Claire Eyles
2023-03-07 21:01:45 +0000 UTCI always say itβs never a good sign when the first thing the person you resurrected does is try to kill themself.
Bud Haven
2023-03-07 20:19:11 +0000 UTCWillow got to overhear the First Slayer tell Buffy that death was her gift in Weight of the World. I get that it was a hectic time, but I wish Willow would have analyzed it and realized that it could mean that death was Buffy's reward, and not just her gift to the world / Dawn.
Alex
2023-03-07 19:48:12 +0000 UTCThat entire monologue at the end never fails to just knock the wind out of me. It's so perfectly executed by Sarah and placed perfectly in the script, right after she just got done having to feign gratefulness to her friends that she now lives in what she considers Hell because of their decision to bring her back. I can't speak for Buffy since we are, obviously, two different people. But I'm not sure I'd ever be able to forgive my closest friends for doing that
Ritchie
2023-03-07 19:48:04 +0000 UTCShe basically jumped into the portal that Glory was opening with the Key, which was going to take Glory back to her home - a hell dimension. So I think Willow assumed that the portal would have taken Buffy's soul to that dimension when it killed her. Instead, she just died and went to the proper place, which for her was heaven.
Rae
2023-03-07 18:21:32 +0000 UTCI think the idea was she ended up in the place Glory was trying to open.
Chas Summers
2023-03-07 17:49:59 +0000 UTC
