The Watcher Diaries - Dead Things - Buffy Episode 6.13

Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 08.26.2010

The Trio takes a turn towards villainy and Buffy's depression hits rock bottom!



6.13 Dead Things
Writer: Steven S. DeKnight
Director: James A. Contner

Slayer Speak

Buffy: You know, this place is okay for a hole in the ground. You fixed it up.
Spike: Well, I ate a decorator once. Maybe something stuck.

Watcher’s Notes

Tara is the first of the Scoobies to learn of Buffy’s tryst with Spike.

Jeremy Thomas has the full review!

Season Six, as readers of this column or any fan of the series for that matter can attest to, is one of the most hotly-debated seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Since the show was originally plotted out by Joss Whedon to last five seasons, this sixth season often seems out of sync with what preceded it and even to fans of the season such as myself there are moments in the earlier parts of the season where the show seems to be disjointed and off track. "Dead Things" is, by and large, where the season really starts to get back on track. The show takes a very dark turn here and the end result is something very interesting that creates the driving force for the rest of the year's storyline.

In the beginning of this episode, things seem to be settled. Buffy is starting to find herself comfortable with her relationship with Spike, evidenced by the post-coital conversation she has with him. She doesn't even seem upset when he mentions a previous victim as a joke—in fact, she smiles at the joke. This is a little statement into how close she is to rock bottom without even realizing it. Of course, she quickly follows that up with the statement that she will never trust him, but the point is there. Buffy, in her self-hating state, has found the one place she thinks she belongs. This is actually very accurate to how people who are in damaged emotional states tend to act. Think about it: Buffy has been pulled out of Heaven, more or less, and so she considers Earth to be Hell by comparison. (Interestingly enough, this is something that Angel touched on when the Senior Partners revealed Earth was the Home Office last season.) If she's in Hell, she might as well do something to be there and find what little solace there is. So she turns to the one person that allows her to hate herself and uses him to punish herself. Does that make what she's doing right? No, but it's not a betrayal of her character either. Sarah Michelle Gellar has stated that she was uncomfortable with the scene where she was in the balcony of the Bronze watching the Scoobies as Spike had sex with her, but it works exactly the way it needs to for her character.

Of course, once she's hit that rock bottom, in come the Trio to show her exactly how far she's fallen. The Trio got very dark here very quickly. Even before Katrina is killed, the group is using a mind control device in order to have a sex slave. Andrew and Jonathon are shocked when Katrina calls it rape, but it is. They're giving her the magical equivalent of roofies, and that doesn't make it right. Still, the work of Tom Lenk and Danny Strong make it believable that they honestly didn't think it was what it was. This is all fantasy to them, but it becomes very, very real when Warren kills Katrina. In Buffy, killing a human being has always been a point of no return and it is such for Warren as well. Kudos to Adam Busch for making Warren seem as creepy as he needed to be in order to pull this off.

In order to hide their crime, the Trio sets Buffy up. While this may have seemed like a good idea, it was actually one of the worst moves they would make as unbeknownst to them it shows Buffy exactly how far that she's fallen. This possible death is met with a very different reaction than the eaten decorator crack by Spike earlier in the show; death is real again, and Buffy knows how low she is. She attempts to break free of her rut and make things right by turning herself in but learns the truth before she does so. Unwittingly, the Trio has caused their own undoing and there will still be Hell to pay for Katrina's death soon enough.

Of all the scenes in this, my favourites are undoubtedly the ones with Tara. I liked Buffy coming to talk to her for help, and her awkward moment with Willow was nicely carried off. But the best was her moment at the end where she tells Buffy there's nothing wrong and learns the truth. Buffy needed this—someone she's not as close to as her sister, Xander or Willow that she could talk to, but still cared about enough to expect Tara to hate her. Buffy has learned, once and for all, that only she is responsible for what she's letting Spike do to her (and what she's doing to Spike), and this acceptance will eventually help her come back from the emotionally dead once and for all.

Ronny Sarnecky	This was a really good episode. For the first time since her resurrection, Buffy is faced with the knowledge that there is nothing wrong with her. She finally realizes that she either loves Spike or is using him. Looking back at the series, I always thought that Buffy used Spike as a way to punish herself. She was in a depression, and what better way to punish herself than to give into the monster that she’s hated the most. However, a funny thing has started to happen to Buffy, something that she did not count on. She is starting to fall in love with Spike. That was evident in the opening scene, where Buffy was having a conversation with Spike after they had sex, instead of punching and kicking him, like she did in the past. I believe that Buffy realizes this in “Dead Things,” and doesn’t want this to be true. This is why I believe she initiates the help of Tara, because there has to be something wrong with her in order for her to be falling for Spike. This episode also showed some chinks in the Trios armor. Andrew, Jonathan, and Warren were all unified to go out and get a “sex slave.” However, when Andrew and Jonathan found out the girl Warren chose was his ex-girlfriend, they were none to please. After Warren accidentally killed her, Jonathan and Andrew were against Warren covering the incident up, at first. When Katrina’s murder was ruled a suicide, Andrew thought it was “cool” that they got away with murder. However, Jonathan was still feeling guilty for what they did.	8.5
Mike Gorman	There is one word that describes how you feel after watching this episode; uneasy. The fourth wall broke a little for me when the Trio of Evil's latest bumbling scheme gets real fast. Issues of domestic violence, sexual assault and manipulation replace the usual wackiness when their plan goes wrong. So what about the Scooby Gang this week? Buffy and Spike are still going at it, but Buffy's own unease becomes overwhelming once she learns that she came back normal when resurrected. She can't blame her behaviour on somehow being broken anymore and it is a truly crushing revelation for her. When these two plots collide the result is powerful, and takes us over the hump of the season. Redemption for Warren is a moot point now, and the Trio has taken a darker turn. Buffy's secret relationship has been revealed to Tara and she is hitting rock bottom. We can only go up from here right? Wrong. Let's get ready to fly downhill together!	8
Ron Martin	"Dead Things" is a teeny tiny step in a better direction (notice the absence of the phrase "right direction.") It may only be because of the relativity rule, however, as anything would look better when it followed the previous episode. The season has thus far been wandering about here and there without any direction, whatsoever, and here...we almost get some. The Trio is turning the corner from comedy act to outright danger and Buffy finds solace in the forgotten member of the Scooby Gang, Tara. While I like both of these developments, they are surrounded by the over the top soap opera that is Buffy and Spike. I guess this is supposed to be the beginning of the rise back up for Buffy, but at this point in the season, the writing has been so bad, I'm just watching episodes to say that I watched them and could really care less about Buffy's twelve step program. Not as bad as the few previous episodes, but then again, not as good as just about any episode in a decent season.	4.5
Jason Chamberlain	And the Trio takes a dark turn! I’ve loved them so far this season as a source of the funny, but it gets tougher to see them as harmless geeks now that they have a murder under their belts. Of course, it’s mostly Warren’s deal, but Jonathan and Andrew aren’t without blame either. Buffy reaches her dark place, or recognizes it, as she wants to take the blame for Katrina’s murder and beats the holy hell out of Spike when he tries to stop her. At least you can say this is rock bottom and she begins the process of climbing out here.	7

GRR!!! ARGH!!!

The 411: After the worst episode of the season, director James Contner helps turn things around with "Dead Things." The episode takes the season on a very dark turn and helps determine the course of the rest of the season. Adam Busch, Tom Lenk, Danny Strong and Sarah Michelle Gellar all give very good performances here and the storyline picks up nicely leading toward what is to come.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]