Buffy The Vampire Slayer, "Lovers Walk" Review (3x08)

Brief Synopsis: "Spike returns to Sunnydale a broken vampire. Drusilla has left him and he will do anything to win her back, including kidnapping Willow and Xander to force Willow to prepare him a love spell. In addition to this, Buffy and Angel are struggling to remain just friends with each other.”


"Revelations" (3x07) quick link here                                                                                                            "The Wish" (3x09) quick link here


Two quick notes before we get started...

1)    I will be reviewing the episodes in bullet point form. This is because it makes the reviews simple to read, and helps break up the text.
2)    If you are watching the show for the first time along with these reviews, please be warned that there may be a few spoilers for things that haven’t happened yet.

With that being said, let’s get started, shall we?



• This is one of the best episodes of season three, in my opinion, which is saying a lot as season three is the strongest season of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” (again, in my opinion). This episode focuses on relationships, and how complicated and intricate they are. At the forefront of this episode are the relationships between Buffy and Angel, Willow and Oz, and Xander and Cordelia. In the background, there is also Spike and Drusilla’s relationship. For the first 30 minutes, you could deem this episode to be a ‘comedic episode’...then everything gets messed up and I die a little inside.
• The interesting thing about this episode is that Spike doesn’t actually ruin anything. He just brings all of the existing problems into the open before they would have been otherwise. 
• I really like that Cordelia had such good results. It’s a nice little character trait that she’s a lot more intelligent than she makes out she is. Joss loves to break the stereotypes that surround us in life - especially the ones surrounding feminist issues. He created Buffy because he always felt sorry for the little blonde girl who dies first in every horror film. Stereotypically, cheerleader-types seem to always be portrayed as stupid, so Joss made Cordelia intelligent. She might not be intelligent yet in a common sense way, but she tests well. 

While we’re on the subject, why does Cordelia want to hide the fact that she’s intelligent? Does she think her friends wouldn’t like her as much if she tested well? Why wouldn’t they? It’s ludicrous.

So everyone had great results except Xander? While I feel sorry for Xander, it’s realistic that somebody in the Scoobies wouldn’t be academically gifted, and I’m oddly happy with the choice of Xander. Xander is the most relatable character in the Buffyverse to a lot of people. He doesn’t have much luck with the ladies, he’s not the most intelligent chap, he has no superpowers...he’s the definition of average for the first few years of the show. As the years progress, Xander becomes the person who sees everything (from season five onwards). Xander notices Buffy and Riley falling apart, Xander notices Dawn’s extraordinary selflessness in season seven, Xander saves the world when Evil Willow tries to destroy it. Before all of that though, Xander struggles. A lot. He graduates from Sunnydale High with average results and bounces around from job to job for over a year before finally starting to get his life on track. I think a lot of people can relate to that and Xander’s story helps show the audience that you don’t have to be the most intelligent person or have all of the answers right away to be successful in the end.

• Oz: “I can see why you’d be upset…that was my sarcastic voice.”
   Xander: “It sounds a lot like your regular voice.”
   Oz: “I’ve been told that.”

Never a truer word spoken. I can only think of two instances off of the top of my head where Oz loses his temper or changes his tone of voice, and one of those he doesn’t say a word. The first of which is when he throws the ornament against the wall of the library in “Choices”, after The Mayor and Faith have taken Willow hostage. The second of which is when Oz yells at Veruca after Willow catches them naked in a cage together (talk about kinky!).

• I never thought Spike’s entrance into Sunnydale in “School Hard” could be topped. I was wrong. Drunk Spike falling out of the car once made a mildly intoxicated Shangel laugh so hard that he shot whisky out of both nostrils. It’s the exact opposite of the badass, cool Spike that arrived in Sunnydale a year earlier. Spike is a shell of the man who left Sunnydale just 6 months earlier.
• I don’t think I realised just how much the show missed Spike until he returned for “Lovers Walk”, then disappeared again (you dirty teases!). Spike brings something special and hilarious to every episode he’s in. He’s just as important to “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” as the ‘Core Four’, in my opinion. Not only is he really funny, but he has this wonderful ability to be really perceptive about all of the people around him.
• It was a lovely little addition to the episode to have Spike go to the factory first (which is in ruins after Giles torched it in season two’s “Passion”). I think that’s the place where he associates happy memories with in Sunnydale, because after they moved to the mansion, Angelus was there and was interfering with Spike and Drusilla’s relationship all the time. 
• Cordelia has pictures of Xander in her locker. This made me smile so much that I knew something bad was coming in this episode or the next episode. Joss can’t have his audience smiling that widely without breaking their hearts again instantly. It took a long time for Cordelia to warm to the idea of a relationship with Xander that is out in the public eye. She struggled with her own identity and the perception that she wouldn’t be popular or considered ‘cool’ anymore if she dated Xander. She even broke up with Xander for a brief period in season two because of it. Cordy’s finally in a comfortable place with Xander...you know what this means in the land of the Whedon, right? Break-up or death. In this episode, Joss teases both, but ultimately commits to just one.

In addition to Cordelia finally being comfortable with Xander, Oz is now making public displays of affection with Willow by buying her an adorable little Pez witch. When you watch this episode the first time around you adore the little moments like these. When you watch it for the second time, you know that they’re literally just there to make the audience more attached to Willow-Oz and Xander-Cordelia before tearing them apart...CURSE YOU, WHEDON! 

• Buffy: “She saw these scores and her head spun around and exploded.”
  Giles: “I’ve been on the Hellmouth too long...that was metaphorical, yes?”

Buffy’s surprisingly high test scores are a very big part of this episode because they open up a whole new world of possibilities for her now that Faith is in Sunnydale.  There is a part of me that would love to have seen Buffy let Faith take over as the Slayer and be able to go and live a normal life. It would have been so nice for her to have that normal life that she’s been craving ever since arriving in Sunnydale. It’s not until season five that Buffy really starts to understand what being a Slayer is and just what power she has. She still sees slaying as a burden at this point.

What is also surprising here is Giles’ reaction to Buffy’s test scores. Like Joyce, Giles wants Buffy to leave Sunnydale and live a normal life. This shows that the ‘father’ side of Giles has become larger than the ‘Watcher’ side (which we see again in much more depth in just four episodes time, “Helpless”), as the Watcher in Giles should be concentrating on what is best for the world, not what is best for Buffy.

The biggest complication in this potential drastic change in lifestyle is Angel. If Buffy leaves Sunnydale she also leaves Angel and she’s not ready for that yet. To find out where she stands, she visits Angel and confides in him the fact that she could move away. Selflessly, Angel tells her that ‘as a friend’ she should leave as it would change her entire life for the better. No more dying young, no more fighting, no more sacrifice, no more having the weight of the world on her shoulders...just freedom. I really like Angel’s decision here. He’s putting Buffy’s future before his own. I’ve noticed that the people who dislike Angel tend to dislike him for reasons relating to Buffy. Angel leaves Buffy because he knows that they have no future together in the long run. He knows that Buffy would be better off without him in the long run. In Angel season one’s “I Will Remember You”, Angel gives up the humanity he’s always wanted in exchange for time being rewound. He does this because he knows it’s only a matter of time before Buffy gets killed trying to save him. People seem to either love or hate Angel for the choices like this that he makes. I personally love him for them. Angel makes the hard choices that people shouldn’t have to make. Should he have consulted Buffy before making these choices? OF COURSE! But, ultimately, I feel the actual choices he made were for the best.

• Willow: “It’s all sexy with the smoke and the sweating, and the shoe rental.”
   Xander: “You get turned on by rented shoes?”
   Willow: “That’s not the issue.”

That’s an odd fetish to have...I kind of wish I didn’t know about this character trait. I’m going to be looking at people’s feet constantly and wondering if Willow is getting excited by the shoes they’re wearing.

• Xander: “I wish I wasn’t so attracted to you...”

Yes, I believe you’re speaking for the entire fandom at this point, Xander. Also, and when did this start exactly? Like, three episodes ago? I hate this storyline...to paraphrase Ilona from the Angel episode “The Girl In Question”, we will speak of it no more *spits*.

• Spike falls over drunk and wakes up the next morning to find his hand on fire. You would think that that is the most hilarious part about it, right? Wrong! Spike, while staring at his frying hand, decides to gently blow on it, as if that will help put it out. 126 years worth of knowledge (plus his life before becoming a vampire), and his first instinct when his hand is one big flame is to gently blow on it.
• Spike: “Leprosy! A spell that makes his parts fall off. That sounds proper!”
  Magic shop owner: “We don’t carry leprosy...”
• The Mayor: “Loose cannon, rock the boat...is that a mixed metaphor? Boats did have canons, and a loose one would cause it to rock...”

How can anyone not love The Mayor?! He is basically a wonderful, loving father-figure, who has an aversion to germs. If it wasn’t for that pesky wanting-to-be-a-demon thing, he would be the perfect Mayor. But that’s only a minor detail, right?

• From a comedic standpoint, there are two scenes that make me roar with laughter every single time I watch them. The first of which is...

Spike: “She wouldn’t even kill me. She just left. She didn’t even care enough to cut off my head or set me on fire. I mean, is that too much to ask? You know, some little sign that she cared””
                                                                 ---------------------
Spike: “I’ve got an un-life you know! And she said we could still be friends. God I’m so unhappy…”
Willow: “...there, there...*pats shoulder awkwardly*”

I defy you to watch that scene without cracking up. Both James and Alyson played their parts perfectly. What a sweet, tender, dysfunctional relationship that Spike and Dru shared.

The second scene is the one which really kills me, because it’s so unexpected. That is the scene where Joyce is consoling Spike over Drusilla leaving him. Whereas Willow awkwardly patted Spike and wanted nothing more than to be away from him, Joyce is actually listening to Spike and offering him advice, WHILST MAKING HIM TEA! I can’t...Joyce and Spike together is comedy gold. Their two previous interactions from “School Hard” and “Becoming Part Two” have both been memorable, but this is by far my favourite interaction between them ever. You expect Spike to attack Joyce, the camera fades to black...and the next scene opens with Joyce pouring tea and Spike talking about Drusilla. It’s so wonderful! Joyce is genuinely trying to comfort a ‘man’ that she once hit with an axe – “Well she sounds very unreasonable”. Joyce is so nice to everyone.

At this point, I’m laughing. A lot. But I’m still able to cope. Then this happens...

Spike: “You got any of those little marshmallows?”

• After all that hilarity, Joss was finally ready to make us all cry for a reason other than laughter. Xander and Willow just have to have one last kissathon. Then Cordelia and Oz come to rescue them (after Oz smells Willow...creepy. Most creepy.), and walk in on the kiss.

It’s weird that my first instinct wasn’t “Poor Oz and Cordy!”, it was “Thank God this storyline is finally over!”. Then my heart broke into a million little pieces for Oz and Cordelia. Cordelia, upon running away, falls through the stairs and gets skewered by a piece of piping that is sticking up through the ground.

I’d like to take you back in time a moment, to when Joss originally thought up this idea. I think it went something like this...

“So, in this episode, I’m going to tear apart three relationships, thus prolonging my life by ten years, as everybody knows I live off of other people’s misery and tears. It’s just not enough though, is it? How about I also make it look like Cordelia died when she ran away from witnessing her boyfriend cheating on her? I can show a funeral and everything! Wouldn’t that be a splendid idea to really kick the audience when they’re down...I like that idea, Joss. I like it a lot, you handsome, clever man.”

Not cool, Whedon, not cool. I thought Cordelia was dead. They showed a funeral! Sure Dan Vebber’s name is on the writing credits, but I can see Whedon’s sadistically smirking face all over this stunt. A plague on both your houses!
• Spike’s epiphany to just go and torture Dru until she likes him again is absolutely brilliant. It’s so in-character for their relationship. Why didn’t he just think of that in the first place?
• Buffy: “What I want from you I can never have. You don’t need me to take care of you anymore. So I’m gonna go.”
Angel: “I don’t accept that.”
Buffy: “You have to.”
Angel: “Look, there’s got to be some way that we can still see each other.”
Buffy: “There is. Tell me that you don’t love me.”

So. Much. Angst. This exchange reminds me so much of the Nine Inch Nails song “Something I Can Never Have”. It goes like this…

“I still recall the taste of your tears,

Echoing your voice just like the ringing in my ears,

My favourite dreams of you still wash ashore,

Scraping through my head ‘til I don't want to sleep anymore.

You make this all go away,

You make this all go away,

I'm down to just one thing and I'm starting to scare myself,

You make this all go away,

You make this all go away,

I just want something,

I just want something I can never have.”

• And the episode ends with everyone miserable. Buffy, Angel, Xander, Willow, Oz, Cordelia…all depressed. “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” pulls a ‘Jossism’ and ends a really funny episode on a sad note.
• But then…
• Out of nowhere, one of the greatest endings to a TV episode ever...Spike is singing “My Way” and driving out of Sunnydale! Now that is how you end this episode! Spike arrives miserable, whilst all the Scoobies are relatively happy. By the time the episode ends, Spike is elated and has found the answers that he was seeking, whilst everyone else is now miserable. He arrived, shook everything up, and then left. Perfect.


Quote Of The Episode

Spike: “The last time I looked in on you two, you were fighting to the death. Now you’re back making googly eyes at each other like nothing happened...makes me want to heave.”

Buffy: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Spike: “Oh yeah, you’re just friends.”

Angel: “That’s right.”

Spike: “You’re not friends! You’ll never be friends. You’ll be in love ‘til it kills you both. You’ll fight, and you’ll shag, and you’ll hate each other ‘til it makes you quiver, but you’ll never be friends. Love isn’t brains children, it’s blood. Blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may be love's bitch, but at least I’m man enough to admit it.”



Spike is more intelligent than he gets credit for. He’s always had this wonderful ability to read other people’s feelings and relationships really well, yet he’s totally oblivious to his own. I can relate. Spike’s speech here sets up the next 5 years of Buffy and Angel’s relationship. They have a doomed romance through and through. They will always love each other, but they can never work as a couple until Buffy retires from slaying and/or Angel becomes human.


FINAL SCORE: 8/10

So what are your thoughts on "Lovers Walk"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments section below!

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