Lies My Parents Told Me

**Kris settles into her comfy chair, with Furry!Spike cuddled up in her lap...**

Oh.

My.

This had to be one of the best eps in quite a while for BTVS, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a certified Spike-aholic. The acting was great, the continuity was wonderful, and the action sequences were just terrific.

And we got Spike. Three different time periods of Spike. We got William. We got Concerned!Buffy, we got Fighty!Buffy, and we got Highly-Ticked-Off!Buffy.

And we saw Robin Wood show his true colors.

And... let's get to the short stuff, shall we?

Cringing with an Eye Squint Moment:

As much as I love William... his poetry was truly awful. <shudder>

Throwback to FFL Moment:

There were quite a few of these moments, actually... the use of editing to move between time periods was highly reminiscent of FFL, for one thing. The obvious ties back to FFL would be the time periods used (Spike's turning and Spike's slaying of the Slayer), but I also enjoyed seeing Spike twirling the spade (like the subway scene) and the various calls out to Spike's "lessons" from FFL were also rather intriguing.

Jealous much? Moment:

Anya's token appearance and jealous snark... was that David Fury's way of grumbling about how Spike (supposedly) gets off easy compared to other people? Hmmm...

A Nickname! Moment:

Dawnie! Spike called Dawn Dawnie! And then he called her Nibblet! <Kris breaks into a happy dance...>

Oooo! Continuity (kinda) Moment:

Alright, so technically the phone call should have taken place *before* last week... but I liked how Willow got called away. Interesting that she didn't tell Buffy where she was going, though...

Ruh-Ro Moment:

When Buffy realizes that Giles is stalling, you just know that something's about to hit the fan.

Alrighty... enough with the small stuff.

The whole incorporation of *why* the song set Spike off the way it did makes everything make so much more sense now... I really did love that his character is getting this much attention and background worked up for him - he's one of the deepest characters on the show. If anything, his mother's betrayal may have been what finally pushed him over the edge and turned him into *Spike,* as opposed to simply remaining "William." Don't get me wrong - it's obvious that William was a much more liberated person after his turning than before - but we don't see the completely hedonistic Spike of the 1970's in William's family parlour, either. This vampire wants to take his mother out for a "feast" (somehow, saying "a nice dinner" doesn't sound right), and then take her to the theater, or perhaps dancing. The Spike we see in the 1970's is interested in a completely differnt kind of dance, isn't he?

I can't say enough about James Marsters' acting in this ep. We could clearly see the difference between Human William, Vampiric William, Punk Spike, Out of Control Spike, Today's Spike... the list goes on and on. If the man doesn't get *some* kind of recognition this season, it's criminal.

And speaking of criminal...

Dear Hubby and I are in a bit of a disagreement over Robin Wood's tactics. I personally have never trusted the guy - especially after he threw his lot in with The First (which, as we all know, happened as soon as he said "Thank You" - that's the same as saying "I owe you one"). His constant half-truths have just irritated me, and the way that he twisted the situation with Spike to his benefit was just making me mad. What *really* set me off, however, was his "sanctuary." And if *that* wasn't enough, he used *weapons* and the music to beat Spike to a pulp. Granted, Wood was making sure that he had his weapon (Lesson the First: Spike's already got his), but it didn't seem like a fair fight.

By the way: was it just me, or did Spike suddenly seem to be back to his full-strength, incredibly good fighter self after he came to terms with what his mother said and did? I loved the fight scenes - they were incredibly well choreographed and executed.

Back to the analysis/ramblings.

So, what were the Lies that Parents told this evening?

Spike's mother said that she loved Spike's poetry... or was the true lie spoken by her vampiric self when she said that she hated it? I think that the demon did what demons seem to do best in the Buffyverse - take the truth and twist it to their advantage. Any mother can tell you that her children will, at some point, drive her batty with something (for me, it's my three year old constantly asking "Why? Why? Why?", for example) - but William's mother seemed to genuinely love William and appreciate all that he was doing to take care of her. William's mother said some truly horrible things to him after her turning in tonight's episode - things that made my stomach turn, to be honest. It's no wonder Spike's had some issues along the way!

I'm not quite sure of what the specific lie was that Nikki told to Robin, to be honest. Was it that she would always be there for him? Was it that she loved him more than anything? Or was it that the mission was, essentially, more important to her than Robin? Even if that's not how Nikki truly felt, imagine how a 4 year old would take that kind of speech of "The mission is what matters" when Robin says that he just wants to be with his Mommy. Spike tells Robin that Nikki never truly loved him. I'm not sure if that's really true... but after seeing the way that Nikki was portrayed tonight, I'm a bit curious, to be honest...

And then, there's Giles.

Giles, Giles... what happened to you? How do we go from our outraged librarian who offers to bring in his back up stash of books in order to give the school a proper library to the man we saw at the end of the episode tonight? I *still* don't understand why Giles doesn't trust Spike, especially considering that he's the first one to admit that Angel is a (relatively) good guy when he's got his soul! I've been rather irritated by the treatment Giles has given Spike all season... but tonight he hit a new low - one that I think is rather unprecedented for his character, to tell you the truth. Anthony Stewart Head did a bang up job of portraying his character tonight - he did it so well that he took one of the characters I've always enjoyed and made me want to throttle him.

I have a feeling, however, that my wish to choke Giles pales in comparison to the depth of the feelings written for Buffy in tonight's ep. The man she's come to see as her father figure completely and utterly betrays her trust tonight, and she lets him know in no uncertain terms that she doesn't appreciate it. I don't think I need to yammer any more than I already have to point out the lie that Giles told to Buffy.

The only parent that I *didn't* see tell a lie tonight was Spike.

That's right.

Spike.

In a strange, twisted way, Spike/William was his own mother's father, in the sense that he sired her.

<cue "I'm My Own Grandpa" on the iMac, would you Robin? Thanks.>

When William is still human, we hear him tell his mother that "... I will always look after you, Mother. This I promise." And in the end, when it's obvious that his mother's essence has been completely overpowered by the demon inside her, he stakes the demon - and brings his mother back to him for one last moment. In the end, he gave her the eternal peace she truly deserved.

Couple of small interesting things to note: I loved the return of Drusilla. She's always a hoot to watch, and the interplay between Dru and Spike is wonderful (her absolute horror at the thought of his Mummy accompanying them throughout Europe was hilarious). I also found it rather interesting that William's mother tells him that he needs a woman in his life... I wonder if that's even going to play out on the way the rest of the season unfolds.

So, what do we have in the end? The First, for all of its inactivity as of late, got some points tonight. The group is splintering in a big way. We have no idea of where a Brassed-Off-Spike is, we've got a Brassed-Off-Slayer who shut the door on her ex-Watcher, we've got a hurting Dawnie (did anyone notice the guilt Spike felt after finding out that he hurt her?), Willow's out of town... and Robin's in the doghouse. Big time.

If you couldn't tell from the sheer volume of this review, I absolutely loved this ep. I'm not even getting into the whole "Why was William not more demonic" thread that's bopping around in my brain... suffice it to say that I've always thought that Spike was a special vampire in that he has always been more human than most... what we saw tonight bears that out.

Quotes of the Night:

"The mission is what matters." Nikki, talking to her son.

"It takes more than rousing speeches to be a leader." Giles, stalling Buffy, but making a valid point all the same.

"A place... to let your hair down. So to speak." Spike, sneaking in yet another jibe at Wood's expense. Hee!

"I. Am. Calm." Seething!Spike, who's obviously Not-So-Calm.

"I wasn't talking to you." Spike, getting ready to get some of his own back with Robin.

"He even so much as looks at me funny again, I'll kill him." Spike, letting Buffy know exactly where things stand between him and Robin.

Dear Hubby Quote of the Night:

I didn't get any actual quotes tonight, other than an "Uh-Oh" when Buffy figured out that Spike was in trouble. Other than, there were many side arguments over whether Robin had crossed the line...

Ewwwwwwww score:

1 out of 10. After the scarabs last year, the Giles doo-hickey wasn't all that bad...

Furry Spike score:

4 paws, a tail, and a puppy treat. This one had it all, folks...

Overall:

My first 10 out of 10 for the season. With the exception of a couple of blips in continuity (I could have sworn William was wearing a brown suit when he was turned), this ep was just *cool*. And we're just getting started... Buffy is definitely Pro-Spike - I wonder how that's going to play out?

(And did anyone else notice that she trumped Angel's going away card with "Spike's here because I *want* him here?")

Hugs to all...

---

Kris