Help

by Jerry

"Help", written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner, is about helping. How and why to try to help others, and how to know if you've succeeded.

The show opens in a funeral home, on a shot of a middle-aged woman lying in a coffin. The funeral parlor workers leave for the night, the lights go out, and coffins start to open. It's not vampires - it's Buffy and Xander. They've apparently been laying in wait for over half an hour to prevent this one potential vampire from rising, which seems pretty inefficient to me, and to Xander, but I guess it's a sign of Buffy's increased dedication to her calling. There's a knocking on another coffin, and they release Dawn - her coffin lid was stuck, and she complains about being forced to use a child coffin despite being taller than Buffy. They're all a bit testy - Willow's return has created some tension, there's the promise of a looming apocalyptic evil, and Buffy's stressed out about work. She's about to start meeting with students the following day, and is a bit insecure about her near-total lack of qualifications. At any rate, they examine the body, and question whether she's likely to arise, despite puncture wounds on her neck. Perhaps they are confused, as Sunnydale's vampires, like network executives, usually target the coveted 18 to 34 demographic. Dawn remarks that the woman looks peaceful - "I'm not peaceful!", she responds, opening her eyes. Buffy pulls out a stake and makes her peaceful.

This week's credits highlight - Mummy hand !

The following morning, Buffy's in her spacious new cubicle, idly sharpening pencils, when she gets her first visit. We cut between Buffy's conversations with several of her "clients". First is a girl who reports a boy is picking on her. Buffy advises her that bullies are just insecure, and you need to stand up to them. The girl is pleased, informing Buffy that she did just that, jumping the guy and pounding his head into the pavement. She wonders eagerly if she should do it some more. Buffy is less than pleased by how that session turned out. A Hispanic teen is reluctant to talk. Buffy eventually gets him to admit his real concern - his brother has joined the marines, and he's worried something will happen to him (a rare nod to real life situations). He fears being all alone, but also doesn't want to talk to his brother about it. Buffy's a little more helpful as a sympathetic ear here. And the kid's problems (a fear of abandonment and an unwillingness to communicate his feelings) are not exactly alien to Buffy. Come to think of it, the overly violent girl was not that alien to Buffy either.

A large, somewhat cocky-looking student, Peter, (one of the sons from "Home Improvement", which seems to have distracted some people), comes in next. Buffy tries to delve into his issues, but he turns out to be totally insincere, and just there to get out of class.

Meanwhile, Xander and Willow are out walking, discussing how Buffy is doing on the job. They have faith in her abilities, and wish she wasn't so insecure about her absolute unpreparedness for the job. Xander comments on the pending massive badness, and Willow frets about her inability to help (or even her capacity to hurt) when it all goes down. Xander feels that life is pretty much carpentry, so he explains Willow's situation as being like a hammer - you can opt for power or control, but there's a tradeoff between the two. Of course, the problem is that Willow has no choice in having the power, so she may or may not have much say in the control, either. Xander reassures her that she'll be okay in time.

They apparently have arrived at where they were going. Xander asks Willow if she's okay. She says she is, and goes on without him. We see we're in a graveyard (very different from the ones the show is usually set in, by a lake and much more wide open - possibly not even in Sunnydale), and it's reasonable to guess at why Willow is here, and why she's wearing black. She finds the gravestone she's looking for, leaves a few small stones atop it (which I'm told is a Jewish tradition), and kneels on the ground. We see "Tara Maclay, Oct. 16, 1980-May 7, 2002" engraved on the stone. "Hey," says Willow wistfully, reaching out to feel Tara's name on the headstone, "it's me." She starts to look like she's about to cry, and we are left to imagine the rest. I think it's a pretty touching farewell.

Buffy's talking to Josh, a nerdy-looking student. He tells her he thinks he's gay. Buffy is flattered that he's want to talk to her about something that important, and encourages him that that's totally okay. But it turns out Josh's idea is that Buffy can help him prove whether or not he's gay - by dating him. Buffy's not too receptive to Josh's master plan.

Buffy's next client has sister issues. She feels overshadowed, and struggling to establish her own identity. Her sister is too controlling. "And she borrows my clothes without asking", is the response, and we see she's talking to Dawn.

Buffy's last interview is with a girl named Cassie. She's kind of cute, a bit hippie looking, with pink highlights in her blonde hair. Cassie hasn't been doing her homework. Buffy suggests that just getting through High School opens up possibilities, such as college and the French Foreign Legion. Cassie explains that she isn't going to graduate. Buffy wants to know why. "Because, next Friday, I'm going to die", Cassie answers.

Cassie doesn't really want to talk about it, but obviously Buffy needs to. She thinks Cassie is planning to kill herself, but that's not the case. Buffy takes this seriously. She needs to know why Cassie thinks she's going to die. Cassie explains that she doesn't think it, she knows it. Some things she just knows. Like that there will be lots of weird coins, and that Buffy will go somewhere dark underground, and that Buffy will try to help, but can't. As she gets up to leave, she tells Buffy to put on a sweater so her shirt won't get stained.

Buffy goes to report the problem to Principal Wood. He takes it in stride, explaining that teenagers will say all sorts of bad things. Wood explains how he was bullied in high school, and used to tell everyone that his tormentor should "sleep with one eye open, because I was gonna bust his ass". He explains that he got suspended, as that sort of talk is taken seriously where he comes from. "The 'hood?", Buffy asks, only to be humbled by his answer - "Beverly Hills. Which is A 'hood." Wood explains that they have limits to their abilities, and just do what they can. Buffy can't really accept that. She explains that she doesn't usually get warned before somebody dies, a comment that makes Wood curious. In her agitation, Buffy spills coffee all over her shirt, harkening back to Cassie's comments.

Dawn is at her locker, putting away a book. She closes the door, only to find Buffy lurking. Buffy has a job for her.

Cassie is in the library with her friend, Mike, as Dawn looks on surreptitiously in the background. Mike's kind of nerdy, though with an Oz-like laid back self-assuredness. He's trying to talk Cassie into going to a dance with him, and she's repeatedly declining, due to the fact that she's planning on being dead. Dawn introduces herself and asks Cassie for information about their homework for a class they share. Mike leaves to go take a test, and Cassie tells him he's going to get a B. Cassie is reading "Slaughterhouse Five", a book I haven't read and thus can't really discuss the significance of - perhaps it touches on the inability to elude fate, but that's just a guess. Cassie says she's just reading it because she wants to - she's not too much into doing homework anymore. Cassie figures out that Dawn is "the counselor's little sister", which Dawn denies - Buffy is HER sister. Cassie's pretty smart, so I suspect she knows why Dawn is buddying up to her. Dawn asks why she isn't going to the dance with Mike. Cassie says she won't be around that night.

Back at Buffy's house, Buffy, Xander and Willow are rummaging through Cassie's life. Willow has hacked into Cassie's records, and notes that she was a good student until recently. They've improbably gotten Cassie's doctor to send her medical records, and Xander reads through them until running into some of that stuff guys prefer not to think about. Buffy tends to believe Cassie, but Xander and Willow think she's seeing the supernatural while looking at the natural. Willow "googles" Cassie, and finds her web site. We get a bit of Cassie's overly sincere poetry. As Xander is scoffing at Cassie's penchant for melodrama, Dawn comes in. Willow sympathizes with Cassie, explaining that she was occasionally known to post love poems on the web in her teen years ("I'm over you, Sweetie", she tells an excessively impressed Xander), as well as the occasional Doogie Howser fanfic. Dawn suggests that she knows what's up, as Willow pulls up information on Cassie's father. Dawn thinks it's Mike, as she starts to sound like Humphrey Bogart, or at least Dennis Franz ("I got the perp fingered. I'm liking Mike Helgenberg for the perp. Let's collar him before he lawyers up.") Seeing that Cassie's father has a history of drunken arrests, Buffy and Xander, each with a few "bad father" issues, leap to the conclusion that he's the threat.

Buffy and Xander are at Mr. Newton's. They introduce themselves as working in the school. Buffy tactlessly explains that they are worried he will get drunk and hurt Cassie. Mr. Newton (in a good acting performance, I should add) explains that he's no saint, but he loves his daughter and doesn't hurt her. I think it's pretty clear that we're supposed to see Buffy as in over her head, despite her good intentions. Mr. Newton explains that he only sees Cassie once a month, and won't be seeing her the coming weekend. As a chastened Buffy and Xander are leaving, they run into Cassie. Cassie explains that her father isn't the one who's going to kill her. She appreciates their efforts to save her, but considers them futile. Buffy tells Cassie to fight it. Ironically, given last season, she accuses Cassie of not really wanting to live. Cassie explains that she does. She wants "to do things. I want to graduate from high school. And I want to go to the stupid Winter Formal... And I'd love to see my cousins grow up, because they're really mean and I think they're going to be fat. And I'd love to backpack across the country, or, I don't know, fall in love." It's moving speech, and reminiscent of Buffy's "I'm sixteen years old, Giles - I' don't want to die!" outburst from "Prophecy Girl". Buffy refuses to accept the inevitability of her death, and tells Cassie she just needs to tell them what's up. Cassie doesn't know the details - just that something, somewhere out there, is going to kill her.

We cut to the library, where a circle of red-robed figures is chanting and carrying candles. This may be one of those extracurricular activities you don't list in the yearbook. One of them uses his candle to light a fire in the middle of the circle. We see Cassie's picture in the center of the fire. It seems unlikely they are praying for her well-being.

Buffy is at her desk at the school, checking out cassienewton.com. We hear Cassie's poetry, first in Buffy's voice, then in Cassie's. "I sit alone at my windowsill. Trees crackle, sunshine blares. And children laugh like death." For some reason, this line makes me think of Buffy listening to the children playing outside in "The Body", though it may not be meant to. "Their sharp happiness is a knife to me. One jealous snake on a windowsill." We see Cassie hanging out, seemingly happy, with Dawn and Mike, hiding her feelings of impending doom, and probably her resentment of those who have a future. "They'll be here, trees and sun, and children with canes and pruney skin." We see the Scoobies researching. Perhaps we're to think of them as forced to be mature before their time? "When I am but a memory I laugh in the trees of time. I sit alone and try to love them. I sit alone a snake. I sit alone and try to love them. I sit alone and laugh." Cassie has understandable resentment about her lot in life, and struggles to accept it. In a lot of ways, she's not unlike Buffy, which I think is the point.

As Cassie predicted, Buffy is underground - in the basement, specifically. She comes upon Spike, who is sitting in silence against a wall. He explains that if he doesn't move or think, he won't hurt - at least not so much. If Buffy's moved by his pain, she's not dwelling on it. She wants him to help "a girl in danger". She asks if there's something evil in the school. Spike says there is - him. "William is a bad man. I hurt the girl." He starts to punch himself violently. Buffy stops him. She's concerned he's done something awful. "I hurt you, Buffy," he tells her. She's a bit more compassionate knowing that he's only referring to what he did to her. She tries to calm him to get him to help. He admits he knows nothing about the threat to Cassie. Frustrated, Buffy turns to leave. Spike pleads with her not to leave, but rather to stay and help him. "I think it's worse when I'm here", she tells him, being, I think, partly sincere and partly preoccupied with Cassie. She still hasn't much clue what to make of Spike, and she turns and goes. "Don't let hij hurt the girl", Spike mutters as he watches her leave.

As Principal Wood is searching lockers, an unhappy Mike walks down the hall with his test in his hands. He got a B after all. Buffy pops up in front of him for a bit of interrogation. Having struck out on other lines of investigation, she's ready to test out Dawn's theory. Buffy brings up Mike's inability to get a date for the dance. Mike says he's okay about that. Sure, Cassie turned him down, but he's philosophical about it - he figures making guys crazy is a woman's job. In fact, he's thinking about asking Dawn. Buffy's relieved to discover Mike isn't likely a threat. Then she's angry - partly because Mike wants to ask out her sister, and partly because Dawn's his second choice. Suddenly, there's a clatter of coins falling out of a locker behind them, causing Buffy to let Mike go.

Buffy interrogates the owner of locker number 281 about the coins. He says he doesn't know anything. Buffy is impatient. She explains that she came back to the school to help. She wanted to connect. And she'll connect with his face if he doesn't provide some answers. Not really the best recipe for a career in education, in my book. But effective. He explains that Cassie is sort of a freak, and some of his friends have a plan to mess with her.

Dawn and Cassie are leaving the school. Dawn is trying to stick with Cassie, who's looking to walk to her mom's house. Cassie explains that she knows Buffy asked Dawn to pretend to be her friend. Dawn explains that Buffy can help, and that she did send her, but she also really does want to be Cassie's friend. "You are my friend," Cassie laughs as she starts to walks off. She tells Dawn whatever happens isn't her fault.

Peter (Home Improvement guy), calls out to Dawn. He asks if she has a date for the dance. Dawn is flattered by his attention. "I was just doing a poll", he tells her derisively, and walks off smugly. Dawn shakes off his insult, but when she turns around, Cassie is nowhere to be found.

Back in the library, the red-robed students are making with the torches and the chanting. We see (shockingly!) that Peter is their leader. He checks with the others, who explain that the place is booby-trapped. No one is getting in. And no one is getting out, he explains, as he reveals a bound and gagged Cassie. The others seem uncomfortable with that, but he explains that she's the sacrifice. Suddenly, as he recites the ritual, Buffy reveals herself as one of the robed figures (I won't dwell on the likelihood of her pulling this off).

"Get back you stupid bitch!", Peter shouts, and Buffy kicks him in the head, and then in some other places. She mocks the lameness of their rituals, noting that perhaps it required some bad eighties metal to raise lame demons. "That lame demon?", Peter replies. Buffy turns and meets a rather big and ugly one. Buffy fights it and is holding her own, but in the meantime, Peter has regained his meat cleaver and is menacing the bound Cassie. Suddenly Spike appears with a torch. I guess the library was less secure than the geeky cult thought. He gives Buffy the torch, and she sends him to untie Cassie. Spike beats the crap out of Peter, despite the chip pain at every blow. "Who are you?", Peter asks. "I'm a bad man", says Spike, menacing him with the cleaver. As Buffy burns up the demon, Spike turns away from Peter to untie Cassie. "She'll tell you", Cassie says to him cryptically. "Someday, she'll tell you." My sense of the story is that she most likey means Buffy will someday tell Spike she loves him. But the more mundane interpretation that someday she'll forgive him is also possible. As Buffy comforts Cassie, Spike wanders off, and Peter crawls over to yell at the burned up demon. "Where are my infinite riches?" he demands (always good to stay focused in the face of adversity). He demon springs to life long enough to bite him before combusting. Buffy oddly chooses to leave Peter alone in the library as she leaves with Cassie.

She reassures Cassie that everything will be okay. As she opens the door, a booby trap fires, launching an arrow at Cassie's head. Buffy grabs it in midair. "See," she tells Cassie. "You can make a difference." Cassie reaches out to stroke Buffy's hair. "And You will.", she tells her, and then suddenly collapses and dies.

Buffy, Dawn, Xander, and Willow are sitting disconsolately in Buffy's living room. Buffy explains that she's talked to Cassie's mom. She learned that Cassie's family had a history of heart problems that Cassie never knew about. Buffy notes that Cassie was special, perhaps identifying with Cassie's ability to accept her unhappy lot in life. "I failed her", she says. "No. You didn't", a tearful Dawn tells her. Dawn explains that Buffy did help her, and because of Buffy she became Dawn's friend. Buffy wonders what you do when you know that all your efforts to help can ultimately fail to change fate.

In the last shot, we get the answer. Buffy is back at work, ready for another day and more potentially unsolvable problems. All you can do is try, and that has merit in and of itself.

-- Jerry

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