Home     Back to Buffy Page    Back to Buffy Episodes

Buffy Reviews

Season 7, Episode 2, "Beneath You"

I missed this episode when it originally aired in September but I've finally been able to watch it on tape. After watching this episode I'm forced to rethink some of the things I've said in my reviews of episodes 3 & 4. Especially things relating to Willow and Spike.  I'll deal with each as the episode does.

The episode opens in Frankfurt, Germany. A brightly haired girl is on the run from goons in cloaks. As we know in the Buffy-verse, people in cloaks are always evil. It's like the goatee in Star Trek. The girl is caught and fatally stabbed. I missed the opening moments of the Buffy premiere, but apparently the goons in cloaks chased down a girl in Istanbul too. Odd that we haven't seen the cloaked goons since this episode. All that running probably tired them out. With her dieing breath, the brightly haired girl mutters, "From beneath you, it devours." Buffy suddenly wakes up with those words on her lips. Dawn's woken her up. Buffy thinks she's had a nightmare. Odd that her dream, (or viewing) came equipped with a caption identifying the location as Frankfurt.

Outside something is tunneling  just underneath the surface of Sunnydale, causing everything to shake, rattle and roll. For one horrible second I thought someone had taped over this episode with the evil sand-worm movie, "Tremors". Fortunately, Spike was in the next scene and not Kevin Bacon. Whew. Spike is in the school basement talking to the rats. He tells them that, "they're not ready." Presumably he's referring to the Scooby Gang and not the rats. The basement starts shaking and Spike starts screaming and holding his head. He must have been reminded of "Tremors" as well.

Buffy, Dawn & Xander are driving to school. They're discussing their dating misadventures. Xander theorizes it may have something to do with dating demons. It's Buffy's orientation day at the school. Principal Wood shows her to her cubicle. He's impressed that Buffy knows what a 'bastinado' is. (It's a rod that's used to beat the soles of the feet in Turkish prisons.) They discuss the requirements of Buffy's job and some of the things she may encounter. Buffy leaves for the basement to seek out Spike, but he's not around.

Giles & Willow in England discussing the consequences of Willow returning to Sunnydale. Willow has many fears of returning, amongst them is whether the Scooby Gang will welcome her back or reject her. Giles points out that even if she stayed another ten years training in England, it would not effect the Scoobies' view of her. Willow then makes a very important statement. She's fearful of what the re-awakened Hellmouth will drive her to do. If the next big-bad makes her an even bigger-bad, will she be able to be stopped? This is important as it shows that Willow is extremely cautious about her magic use. Hopefully throughout this season Willow will hold back from using magic for fear of the consequences. That is important because it deals with a major problem of this series, and that's Willow's near god-like powers. Suspense cannot exist if Willow can simply magick any threat away. And thankfully the writers have abandoned the clumsily written 'magic as drug' storyline for Willow. Willow simply being fearful of her own powers is a more intriguing solution as it makes Willow a time bomb of sorts. When the shit hits the fan, how will she react? Willow herself doesn't know as this conversation with Giles shows, as well as her conversation with Xander in the graveyard in Help.  Further evidence...getting Anya to help her with the demon location spell in Same Time, Same Place. A spell that Willow could have easily accomplished.

Anyway, back to the episode. A girl, Nancy, is walking her dog. She pauses for a second and her dog vanishes through a hole in the sidewalk. Still holding the leash, Nancy herself is pulled towards the hole. She lets go, and runs off, barreling into Xander. Xander takes her back to Buffy's place. Buffy, Dawn & Xander discuss with Nancy what exactly she saw. Xander seeing an opportunity, tries to impress this non-demon girl. His efforts will pay off later...sort of. Spike then enters. He doesn't seem quite so insane anymore. The voices must be sleeping. Or maybe it's just that he's away from the Hellmouth. Nancy correctly determines the Spike-Buffy relationship is a complicated one. Xander & Dawn take strong exception to Spike's presence. Dawn threatens to set him aflame if he hurts Buffy. Buffy ignores Xander & Dawn's objections and goes on a patrol with Spike. Xander drives Nancy home, and hurriedly corrects her assumption that Buffy and him are an item.

Spike starts rambling to Buffy that he's a changed man. He hands a flashlight to Buffy and as their hands touch, she flinches away and has a flashback of Spike's attempted rape of her. Buffy informs Spike of her distrust of him, and Spike claims he understands. Outside Nancy's home, Nancy starts hitting on Xander. Before Xander can respond the earth starts shaking, and once more something is burrowing underneath the surface of the sidewalk. Xander & Nancy run inside, but that doesn't deter the monster as it bursts through the floor. It indeed is a giant worm, much like the ones from Tremors. The worm eventually leaves them alone, and Nancy mutters something about an ex-boyfriend and making a wish...which Xander knows can only mean Anya involvement. Buffy, Xander, Spike & Nancy all confront Anya. Anya admits that she turned Nancy's ex-boyfriend into a worm. Spike informs her that she messed up, and instead turned the ex into a Sluggoth demon. The gang demands that Anya reverse the wish. Anya resists this before she looks closely at Spike and instantly realizes he has a soul. Before she can tell everyone else Spike attacks Anya. Anya morphs to vengeance demon form (admittedly not as lovely as her human form) and starts pounding on Spike. Then Buffy starts beating up Spike. Amidst this confusion Nancy runs off. As there's a Sluggoth demon after Nancy, Buffy give chase. Spike chases Buffy because that's what Spike does.

Xander stays behind to try to convince Anya to reverse the wish. Anya starts whining about her lot in life. Anya isn't as loveable in this episode. In fact she's very annoying. She blames everything that's wrong in her life on Xander. Xander correctly states that she can't keep using that excuse. Outside, the Sluggoth demon has cornered Nancy again until Buffy does her best Spider Man impression and swings through and takes Nancy to safety. The Sluggoth counter attacks when Spike appears. He impales a pole through the Sluggoth, who suddenly turns into a human. This would be Nancy's ex-boyfriend, and he has Spike's pole through his shoulder. Apparently Anya did reverse the wish. However, seeing that he's harmed a human, Spike's soul kicks in with guilt and he starts going crazy again.  At least, that's why I think he went crazy. Does Spike's no-hurt-human-chip still function? I don't know. Regardless of reason, Spike goes bonkers. Xander & Anya arrive. Anya says that she's going to pay big for reversing this wish. Nancy, totally bewildered by what she's witnessed this night, runs off. Xander doesn't think she's gonna call him.

Spike runs off and enters a cathedral. Spike seems a bit more calm here, but he talks very cryptically. Buffy figures out that Spike has a soul. Spike tells her that he got it because that's what she wanted. He got it so she would love him. Spike then starts talking about all the voices in his head, and says all he wants is forgiveness and love. He wants to be part of the whole. He walks up to a large cross and drapes himself over it, as his flesh slowly starts to burn. Buffy looks devastated, and watches.

What I liked: Willow & Giles in England. As I mentioned earlier, this was the Willow scene I've been waiting for. Anytime Giles is there, it's a good thing. A possible love interest for Xander, no matter how fleeting it may be. The look of bewilderment on Nancy's face when she finds out all the various sleeping arrangements between Buffy, Spike, Xander, and Anya.  Nancy's bewilderment over all the demon-related activity she's just witnessed. And the last scene with Spike...WOW. Perhaps the best work James Marsters has done for this show, and he's had some powerful scenes. I thought his scene in Help was great, but this was off the chart. I do not find Spike's insanity in Same Time, Same Place to be as annoying, now that I understand some of what he's going through.

What I didn't like: The plot of this episode wasn't that strong. The obvious "Tremors" rip-off. Anya did not come off so good in this episode. Though she did redeem herself somewhat by reversing her wish. We'll see in "Selfless" how big this sacrifice was for her. I'm a bit confused by what set Spike off, and what was keeping him sane, but that's probably just me being dense.

Rating: (out of 6) 4. For Willow & Spike.  Spike's scene alone deserves a 6.

Comments, questions, answers? Happily agree, or violently disagree? Email me and let me know.

Home     Back to Buffy Page    Back to Buffy Episodes