Stew’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer Retrospective: Season 6, Episode 10

DARE To Keep Kids Off Magic!: A BTVS Retrospective, S6 E10

Dawn and Tara wake up at seven A.M and discover no one else is in the house. Buffy and Willow never came home from their late night shenanigans from the night before!

We cut to Buffy waking up with Spike. They don’t recall the building collapsing on them, and Spike implies they had sex at least twice. Buffy is aghast, which makes virtually no sense if they did it twice, come on.

After the opening credits, Buffy is getting dressed. She tells Spike this was the end of it, and he takes great umbrage at that! She tries to leave, but he presses her to go another round. She is just about to give in when Spike moronically implies that he knew the only thing better than killing a Slayer would be… erm… “bedding” one. This shakes Buffy out of it, and she goes to leave again, telling him this changes nothing. She threatens to kill him if he tells anyone what they did.

So, sure. Everything Spike has ACTUALLY done has not merited killing him, but kissing and telling? Whoa-ho-ho, that’s a ship too far, says the Slayer!

As Tara makes breakfast–what a role this girl has, jeez. Her lover is out doing magical cocaine, and she is stuck back at the abode babysitting and making breakfast for everyone to come home to–Willow and Amy arrive home. Amy immediately lets the cat out of the bag about all the magic she and Willow did the night before. Tara keeps it together, but walks away.

Willow is the worst this season, guys. Remember when she was the cheerable one?

Image Credit: 20th Century Fox TV

Anyway, after Tara leaves, Buffy also returns. She is walking funny, and I guess that’s HA-LARIOUS. Dawn calls that out. Everyone is awkward around each other. It’s great. Buffy and Willow head off to bed to catch up on missed sleep, leaving Dawn alone.

Xander and a newly-blonde Anya (wait, has she been this blonde? Am I that unobservant? She is, like, suddenly VERY blonde here) are supposedly researching who might have stolen the diamond, but Anya is actually looking at bridal gear. Xander and Anya call out Willow’s behaviors lately, but Buffy defends her.

At night, Amy and Willow are walking through town, and Amy offers to introduce Willow to a warlock who can really do some whatever. Willow reluctantly agrees, even though Amy admits it could be dangerous.

The warlock is named… Rack? Or Rick? Or Reck? I don’t really care. His lair is full of strung-out magic users begging to be “next”. Rack ignores them and goes up to Willow and Amy. He takes them into his office, and he feels the power radiating off of Willow. He touches her chest, and some magic boo-hah happens. He tells Willow that she tastes like strawberries.

Some weird stuff happens to further push the new “magic = drug abuse” motif we are going for, then Willow wakes up on the floor of Buffy’s home. Then we go to Willow crying in the shower.

After her good sob, she finds a box labeled “Tara” in the bedroom and pulls out an outfit and lays it on the bed. She magics it to life and cuddles against it.

In the kitchen, Dawn is flipping a frying tortilla with her hands. She notes that she is making “peanut butter and banana quesadillas”, and bitch, that’s a crepe. Just say you are making a crepe. You can’t invent a crepe! They already exist! That has ceased being a quesadilla when you put sweet ingredients in it. Stupid girl. Anyway, a clearly guilty-feeling Willow offers to take Dawn to the movies, so they leave Buffy a note.

Buffy returns home, and finds Amy skulking about. Amy is clearly high from magic usage. She is stealing magic supplies from Willow’s stash. She reveals that Willow is likely with Rack. After being shaken about by Buffy, Amy rushes off to throw up.

Willow and Dawn are walking to the movies, but not really the movies because Dawn notes they aren’t going the right way. Willow takes Dawn to Rack’s place. Dawn suddenly gains all of my sympathy because Willow says they will still make the movie but might miss the trailers, and Dawn mumbles to herself, “I like the trailers”.

Fuck yeah you do, Dawn! People who are like “We can miss the trailers” are the worst! The trailers are, like, a solid 15% of the reason to go to the movies! You have to know what movies to see next! People who intentionally skip the trailers don’t deserve to go to the cinema!

Dawn is left waiting at Rack’s lobby for hours as Willow is M.I.A.; we cut to inside Rack’s office, and Will is getting blasted off of his magic and imagining she is in space. For the second time, she gets a glimpse of a demon, ruining her buzz.

Buffy heads to Spike’s to get his help tracking down Dawn. Spike knows who Rack is and how to find him, so they head out.

Willow emerges from Rack’s office and is clearly blitzed. Dawn goes to yell at her, but realizes her eyes are all black! Oh no! I’ve seen enough Supernatural to know THAT’S bad! As they leave Rack’s, Willow is high off whatever he did to her, and Dawn just wants to go home. As they argue, they are being stalked by some kind of creature.

Back to Buffy and Spike, who thanks the vampire for his help finding Dawn by insulting the absolute hell out of him. They bicker. I bore quickly.

The creature that Willow saw when she was [more?] high attacks and says Willow summoned him. He scratches Dawn’s cheek, and the two heroines kick him and run away. Willow magics a car they find on the street and flee, but she is driving all impaired, and eventually crashes into a wall!

Image Credit: 20th Century Fox TV

After the commercial break, we see the wreckage of the car. Both girls are beat up, but relatively fine for being unbuckled. The monster attacks again, chasing Dawn under the car. Her screams alert Buffy and Spike, who come to her rescue. There is a fight scene, then Willow and her black eyes disintegrate the foe. Before Buffy can question this, she is distracted by caring for Dawn.

Dawn’s arm appears to be broken, and a distraught Willow tries desperately to apologize. Dawn slaps her one instead! That’s what people who don’t arrive on time to see previews deserve! Spike walks off with Dawn, and Willow sobs as Buffy scolds her. Ultimately, Willow admits she “can’t stop” and needs the Slayer’s help.

Back at home, Buffy and Willow have a chat. Willow is throwing herself a pity party. Willow vows to give up her magic, despite how much she wanted to be “Super Willow”. She swears it is not worth it if it’s hurting people like Tara and Dawn.

That night, we see Willow struggling to sleep like a junkie going through withdrawal, and Buffy has vamp-proofed her room with crosses and garlic since a magic-less Willow can no longer undo Spike’s invitation.