To be fair, if you were Willow, wouldn't you be doing magic all the time, too? Leviataing pencils and casting locater spells and bringing back the people who you've lost? Willow takes a lot of flak in this episode, and for the rest of the season. But, this is hardly the first time someone on BTVS will try to cheat death and it's certainly not the last. Willow's just the only one who's actually successful at it. (Not counting Jack's Grand-pappy back in season three's "The Zeppo.") And really who can blame Willow for trying to resurrect Buffy? She loves Buffy. Of course, she'll risk anything to save her. Willow's crossing lines, but it's completely understandable. Unfortunately, her actions in "Bargaining Part One" and "Bargaining Part Two" are the beginning of her slid down a slippery slope of magic addiction. This is the second half of the season premiere and you really shouldn't skip it.
"Bargaining Part Two" picks up right where "Bargaining Part One" left off. Buffy is alive again, but still buried in her coffin. The Scoobies are being chased by demon bikers in the woods. Giles has left for England. And Spike and Dawn are trying avoid the demons bikers back in Sunnydale. Anya and Tara head back to the Magic Box, while Xander helps Willow. She's drained from the trials that she had to endure during her magic and devastated that spell didn't work. Little does she know that Buffy is digging at of her grave and heading back to Sunnydale in a daze. Spike and Dawn escape the Summer's house on a stolen motorcycle and head out of town. Meanwhile, the demon bikers have captured the Buffy-bot and are ripping it apart. The real Buffy sees the destruction of her robotic double and freaks out. She's understandably disoriented and runs off. Spike and Dawn find the pieces of the Buffy-bot. With her last "breath" the robot tells Dawn that the "other Buffy" was just there. Dawn, realizing that her sister might be alive, leaves Spike and dashes away to look for her.
Meanwhile, the Scoobies reunite at the Magic Box. Tara and Xander lecture Willow about her spell. They say that it was far more dangerous than she'd let on. Then they head to the Summers' house to check on Dawn and Spike. On their way they come across Buffy. At first they think that it's the Buffy-bot, but as Xander stares at her, he's stunned to see that it's really Buffy. The Scoobies are all horrified when the realize that they resurrected her inside her coffin. Buffy is too traumatized to understand or talk to them. The demon bikers soon attack again and Buffy automatically fights them off. Then she run away. The Scoobies have to kill the remaining demons themselves. Buffy finds her way back to Glory's tower, where she died in season five's "The Gift." Dawn finds her there standing on the edge looking like she might jump again. "Is this hell?" Buffy asks, blankly. Dawn insists it's not and tells her sister how much she's missed her. Buffy finally comes out of her daze long enough to save Dawn as the tower collapses. But as Dawn hugs her and Buffy just stares off into space, it's clear that Buffy is far from her own self.
There are some good parts to this episode, I like the scenes of Willow and Xander in the woods together. Their relationship is so important this season. In a lot of ways, Willow is the most powerful person on the show. She just called on dark forces to resurrect the dead. Xander is just a regular human. He isn't even a very good fighter. But, he still automatically tries to protect Willow when the bikers attack. Telling her to stay behind him when he thinks that the motorcycle gang is coming after them. It's really sweet. It's also an indication of the hidden strength in Xander and his deep love for Willow that will play into the season finale. Also, it's pretty funny when Spike wistfully watches the destruction of Sunnydale and remarks. "It looks like fun." Unfortunately, he's stuck with Dawn. So he stands in the middle of the street, kicks some demon right off his motorcycle, and steals it for himself. He looks really cool doing it, too. I love that scene. And you have to feel bad for poor Buffy, completely disoriented and baffled by what's happened to her. She's bleeding and confused and stumbling around Sunnydale as it burns around her. No wonder she thinks she's in hell.
On the down side, the Buffy-bot "dies" in this episode. I miss her cheery smile and bizarre punning. "That'll put marzipan in your pie plate, Bingo!" Also, I think that the Scoobies should have buried Buffy with that cross that Angel gave her back in season one.
My Favorite Part of the episode: Willow breaking down and crying when she thinks her magic failed. Xander tried to calm her down but all she can do is sob the Buffy is "counting on her." Willow's desperate to save her friend, and just can't accept the fact that Buffy could be gone. She's staked everything on the spell and her grief when things go wrong is just heartbreaking.
"Bargaining Part Two" picks up right where "Bargaining Part One" left off. Buffy is alive again, but still buried in her coffin. The Scoobies are being chased by demon bikers in the woods. Giles has left for England. And Spike and Dawn are trying avoid the demons bikers back in Sunnydale. Anya and Tara head back to the Magic Box, while Xander helps Willow. She's drained from the trials that she had to endure during her magic and devastated that spell didn't work. Little does she know that Buffy is digging at of her grave and heading back to Sunnydale in a daze. Spike and Dawn escape the Summer's house on a stolen motorcycle and head out of town. Meanwhile, the demon bikers have captured the Buffy-bot and are ripping it apart. The real Buffy sees the destruction of her robotic double and freaks out. She's understandably disoriented and runs off. Spike and Dawn find the pieces of the Buffy-bot. With her last "breath" the robot tells Dawn that the "other Buffy" was just there. Dawn, realizing that her sister might be alive, leaves Spike and dashes away to look for her.
Meanwhile, the Scoobies reunite at the Magic Box. Tara and Xander lecture Willow about her spell. They say that it was far more dangerous than she'd let on. Then they head to the Summers' house to check on Dawn and Spike. On their way they come across Buffy. At first they think that it's the Buffy-bot, but as Xander stares at her, he's stunned to see that it's really Buffy. The Scoobies are all horrified when the realize that they resurrected her inside her coffin. Buffy is too traumatized to understand or talk to them. The demon bikers soon attack again and Buffy automatically fights them off. Then she run away. The Scoobies have to kill the remaining demons themselves. Buffy finds her way back to Glory's tower, where she died in season five's "The Gift." Dawn finds her there standing on the edge looking like she might jump again. "Is this hell?" Buffy asks, blankly. Dawn insists it's not and tells her sister how much she's missed her. Buffy finally comes out of her daze long enough to save Dawn as the tower collapses. But as Dawn hugs her and Buffy just stares off into space, it's clear that Buffy is far from her own self.
There are some good parts to this episode, I like the scenes of Willow and Xander in the woods together. Their relationship is so important this season. In a lot of ways, Willow is the most powerful person on the show. She just called on dark forces to resurrect the dead. Xander is just a regular human. He isn't even a very good fighter. But, he still automatically tries to protect Willow when the bikers attack. Telling her to stay behind him when he thinks that the motorcycle gang is coming after them. It's really sweet. It's also an indication of the hidden strength in Xander and his deep love for Willow that will play into the season finale. Also, it's pretty funny when Spike wistfully watches the destruction of Sunnydale and remarks. "It looks like fun." Unfortunately, he's stuck with Dawn. So he stands in the middle of the street, kicks some demon right off his motorcycle, and steals it for himself. He looks really cool doing it, too. I love that scene. And you have to feel bad for poor Buffy, completely disoriented and baffled by what's happened to her. She's bleeding and confused and stumbling around Sunnydale as it burns around her. No wonder she thinks she's in hell.
On the down side, the Buffy-bot "dies" in this episode. I miss her cheery smile and bizarre punning. "That'll put marzipan in your pie plate, Bingo!" Also, I think that the Scoobies should have buried Buffy with that cross that Angel gave her back in season one.
My Favorite Part of the episode: Willow breaking down and crying when she thinks her magic failed. Xander tried to calm her down but all she can do is sob the Buffy is "counting on her." Willow's desperate to save her friend, and just can't accept the fact that Buffy could be gone. She's staked everything on the spell and her grief when things go wrong is just heartbreaking.
