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Review by Heather V. Long

As season 7 continues its comeback trend from the dark places we traveled in season 6, Rebecca Rand Kirshner serves up an episode to remind us that no matter how hard we try, we aren't always successful. Cassie (a rather non-subtle play on the prophetess Cassandra) possessed a very powerful insight into the future. She could see images, she could see things and she knew truths. She knew she was going to die. The pieces all in place, the episode needed a little shift in the pacing, but I didn't find it as off as I might have otherwise.

Tackling the characters, as I like to do:

Giles -

Still MIA

Anya -

MIA in this episode and I felt the lack of her.

Dawn -

Dawn is coping well with the school situation. I like the idea that Buffy uses her to get to know Cassie and listens to what she says, but doesn't take it all as gospel. Dawn was off the mark about the boy and Buffy heard her, but she didn't just assign the blame either. (I did; however, like that Buffy addressed it by talking to him herself as well)

Willow -

She still has a long way to go as far as I am concerned. I like that she is talking to Xander, there is a lot of their friendship that is resurfacing this season, a sense of closeness that has been lacking over the last couple of years. I also liked that she went to Tara's grave and we saw that. She is using her computer skills again, but only in small amounts and Buffy is not taking her along for patrols or for battles. Very good on Buffy's part.

Xander -

Xander's still in the thick of things, he's talking, he's participating and he's even sitting in coffins with Buffy at a funeral home to take out a potential vampire. I like the scenes they are utilizing him in; he's giving off more of a sense of being self-possessed. And as I stated above, I like the return to his friendship with Willow as well as the explanation of the offhand remark "I am over you sweetie." Willow's affection for Xander is deep, but she no longer harbors feelings of passion.

Buffy -

She's listening. She's really listening. She's also doing her job and I think while she is floundering a bit, trying to find her place, she's doing an excellent job of focusing on the world around her. She hears the students, she gives them the opportunity to talk or not as they want, but more than that, she is listening to Dawn, to Xander and to Willow. Her scenes with Spike were brief, but I get the distinct impression she is really hearing him as well. There's some sense of guilt also, but I agreed with her assessment that she hurts him more than helps him at the moment. That implied to me that she wants to help him and doesn't want to hurt him anymore. Buffy's grown up a great deal over the last few years, I continue to like this Buffy that has come back into her own and is striving to keep trying. I felt so bad for her when Cassie collapsed from the heart attack - it's not something Buffy can fight or defeat. It resonated with the death of Joyce, because Buffy couldn't fight that either. She can fight the demons and the bad guys, but sometimes, it's not enough. She didn't give up though and the palpable grief at the end coupled with the admissions of the others that she can't not try, trying is what she does and sometimes she succeeds and sometimes she doesn't. The only way she can truly lose is if she stops trying.

It reminded me a lot of the end of Season 2 when Angelus taunted her about losing her friends, her family and her lover. What did that leave?

It left Buffy.

She's still got that.

Spike -

"I'm a bad, bad man. William's a bad man." I find it the most intriguing to see his struggle shifting, subtly and imperceptibly from episode to episode. He wants to be with her, but he wants to stay away. He wants to help; he wants to be left alone. Most of all, he wants the voices to stop and the pain to end, but he hasn't walked into the sun and he hasn't staked himself. William and Spike are integrating; they are becoming one person, I think. The struggle is there as each comes to terms with the other. I admit, his journey continues to inspire me and I want more, more, more! But at the same time, they are letting it play out slowly, allowing us to see each step in this journey and what more intriguing or teasing words can they have offered us than Cassie telling Spike "Someday she will tell you." There was absolute certainty in it. You could see the confusion on Spike's face and for just the briefest moment, hope.

What could Cassie have meant? What will "she" say? Is "she" Buffy? We are all likely to assume that it is Buffy and maybe what she says is "I love you," "Thank you" or "I'm sorry." But what is it she is going to tell him that he so desperately needs to hear? "I forgive you?" or "I'm your friend?" or "You are my friend?" The possibilities, of course, are endless and we will be left to wonder until they are indeed revealed.

Rating:

Four stars out of five - only because in the world I am currently living in, the message here rang home very strongly. Sometimes we can't win, but we have to try. We have to reach out and we have to fight our best fight. I needed to hear this message, but the poignancy also resonated on levels that I am sure they weren't expecting. And I'm taking off a star for no Giles or Anya. I miss them.

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Heather Long