Lovers Walk
Lovers Walk
Season 3, Episode 8 (Episode 42 of entire series)
SPIKE is in the House! Okay, I'm loving this episode for many reasons...Spike, references to spells past, and the skinny on what happened with Spike and Dru. Plus, more interaction between Spike and Joyce, Spike and Willow...You can't top an episode when an old favorite comes back. Especially when it seems that Spike has a "necessary alliance" with Angel and Buffy! The downside to this ep? Feeling really awful that Cordy and Oz got an eyeful of Willow/Xander, witnessing the end of Cordy/Xander and Willow/Oz, and even the Buffy/Angel arc, sort of. Can't decide what's most depressing...maybe I'll just go with finding out that..."you can't be just friends." Y'know, I think my mom told me that..
So, I'll try to keep this short. Can this show finally pack a punch or what? Lots of good lines, mostly by Spike! So Buffy kicks ass on her SATs and suddenly Giles, Angel, her mom...everyone's talking about her future, how she should leave the Hellmouth to git (sic) some book learnin'. Buffy thinks she may have a reason to stay, namely..Angel, but as it turns out, as Spike later points out, these two aren't and can't be friends. It's a love thing.
Meanwhile, Xander and Willow are still attracted to each other big-time, and they've arranged for a double date with their respective others. Bowling, anyone? Well, Willow gets it into her head to do some kind of anti-lust spell, so she heads off to the magic shop. What no one knows is that Spike has come back to Sunnydale, drunk, sad, and..running over the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign again. Gotta love that kind of consistency.
Anyhoo, Spike is pathetically lovelorn since Dru gave him the heave-ho.
So he shows up at the Garden Mansion to kick around Dru's dolls and bitch and moan about Angel..who doesn't exactly hear him. Then Mr. Drunk Spike falls asleep out in the courtyardish area and almost gets burned by the sunlight. Yowch. Anyhoo, later he ends up going to the magic shop to find some type of blinding torment (okay, not exactly, heh) for Angel. He ends up overhearing Willow talk about a love spell, so he puts the bite on the shopkeeper, then leaves with a plan.
Basically, Willow's asked Xander to "help" her do an experiment. He soon comes to realize that she's trying out a love spell -- to rid them of their lust for one another -- and it's nice to know he's being the rational sane person by reminding her of what happened when he did a spell. (See Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered.)
Spike arrives to kidnap Willow (and Xander, too) in order to force her to do the love spell to get Dru back for him. He's still a pathetic vamp, but he does get the violent tendency going, too. Willow tells him she needs more stuff to do the spell, and sends Spike to get it. Meanwhile, she and an unconscious Xander are locked down in the old Warehouse's basement.
Yada yada, Cordy and Oz freak when it looks like Xander and Willow are missing and the science lab's a mess, so they get Buffy, who tells them to go find Giles..who's conveniently absent for this whole episode almost. Anyhoo, as Cordy and Oz go driving out to get Giles, Buffy's mom calls her at the library, and Buffy can hear Spike in the background, so she heads out in a hurry. Meanwhile, Spike's giving Joyce his sob story, which is pretty good. Angel's lurking around the house and when he sees Spike with Joyce, he freaks. It's quite amusing to see Spike making faces behind Joyce's back, and the look of fear on Joyce's face is great. It's here that Buffy gives Angel an invite to her house, and they learn that Spike's taken Willow and Xander. Joyce merely gets confused as to who's a witch, etc.
In the van, Cordy and Oz have some good lines, not the least of which occurs when Oz announces that he can smell Willow's fear, and concludes that she must be nearby. Buffy and Angel go with Spike to the get the rest of the stuff for the love spell, and run into a bunch of vamps who've been ordered by the Mayor's office to take care of the Spike problem. The three kick ass a lot, and then Spike gives Angel and Buffy his big love speech and wisdom, which is pretty cool. He's revitalized (well, as much as an undead vamp can be, I guess) and feels good about himself, and decides the spell idea is stupid, he'll win back Dru on his own. He tells Buffy where her friends are, and heads out of town.
Meanwhile, Cordy and Oz have found Willow and Xander in the basement..smooching! It's a shock, and in Cordy's haste to escape the sitch, she falls through the floor and gets impaled. Later at the hospital, she tells Xander to back off. Willow tells Buffy she's prepared to grovel to get back into Oz's good graces, and Buffy goes to tell Angel that she can't hang around him anymore. (Kinda like 1st season and some of 2nd season Angel...although he usually says he can't be near Buffy for different reasons. Usually.) Anyhoo, Buffy tells Angel there's one way she can be around him, and she asks if he loves her. No verbal answer from DeadBoy, so she splits. Everyone's mopey. Gosh, this is kinda depressing.
I mean, I was never a big Angel/Buffy fan or anything, but yow. Everything seems to suck for Buffy, somehow. But she did kick ass on the SATs and hey, that's what counts. Heh.
1. Angel, Spike, and Buffy took on the vamps.
2. Buffy got a hole in two, vamps-on-a-skewer.
3. Spike killed some vamps.
4. Buffy and Angel threw holy water bottles at the vamps.
1. Buffy's studying paid off -- she kicked ass on her SATs!
2. Love (or lack thereof) doesn't define you, so sayeth Spike.
3. Joyce keeps little marshmallows in the house.
4. Seeing Spike with Joyce gives me a big happy.
5. Spike digs Frank Sinatra.
6. The doorknob to the factory's basement is missing!
7. Giles had a really small part in this episode.
1. Sunnydale High School
2. The Garden Mansion (Angel's place)
3. Buffy's house
4. Magic Shop
5. The Factory/Warehouse
6. Sunnydale General Hospital
7. Mayor's Office
8. Some streets
9. A cemetery
1. Buffy
2. Willow
3. Xander
4. Giles
5. Cordelia
6. Angel
7. Oz
8. Spike
9. Joyce
10. Magic Shopkeeper Lady
11. Mayor Richard Wilkins III
12. Allan
13. Lenny
Check out the Dingo Action! Results -- your answers to some ridiculous questions & your point o' view ...for this episode.
Next Episode