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Season 7 Episode 7 "Conversations With Dead People"

The episode opens with a montage of short scenes set against the audio of a sad song by Angie Hart. This episode will be comprised of many short scenes, creating tension as this is the first major episode of the season story arc. This episode will set the mood for what follows. We see Buffy walking through a graveyard on patrol. Spike is sitting at a bar. Willow is alone in the university library. Dawn enters her house--alone. This montage ends with Buffy preparing to stake a vamp.

Jonathan & Andrew return to Sunnydale after their fiesta in Mexico. They're having bad nightmares, which they surmise as originating from the Hellmouth. Buffy is doing her thing, fighting the vamp at the graveyard. Dawn is eating an anchovy pizza and sings, "Anchovies, anchovies, your so delicious. I love you more, than all the other fishes!" My favorite Dawn moment ever. Reminded me of the Doritos "Who's Bob" ad campaign from the early 90's...one such commercial featured a girl who proclaimed, "Bob, Bob, he doesn't attract mosquitoes, Bob, Bob, he likes to eat Doritos!" I'm a sucker for rhyme. ANYWAY Dawn is playing Slayer at home. Pretend fighting, playing with weapons, inspecting Buffy's clothes. As she's dancing to some Mexican music she hears an ominous bang.

Willow is still alone in the library and is paid a visit by Cassie. Which Willow finds odd as she knows Cassie died in "Help". Amber Benson (Tara) was supposed to be in this scene, but couldn't agree on terms with Mutant Enemy. For storyline purposes, this plot line works better with Cassie than Tara. But it would have been nice to see Willow & Tara reunite, even briefly. Cassie claims to be an intermediary on Tara's behalf.

Dawn is gabbing to some friend on the phone. Again she hears the ominous bang. Then the door blows open, and the television set won't turn off. Hey they're ripping off The Ring! I just hope that spooky girl doesn't show up. None of the household appliances are turning off, so Dawn goes all Slayer on them with a sledgehammer. The stereo blares with static, before Joyce's (Momma Summers...who's dead) voice is heard...Dawn is freaked.

The vampire that Buffy is fighting seems tougher than usual. He recognizes Buffy as a fellow Sunnydale High alumni. He stops attacking and introduces himself. His name is Holden Webster. Holden starts reminiscing about high school. He gives a brief history of his activities since graduation. He's a psych major and his heightened fighting ability comes from taking tae kwon do. Buffy's cell phone has been knocked to the ground in the fight, and Buffy does not notice it ringing.

The call is from the still freaked out Dawn. She's cut her foot on some broken glass and after giving up on Buffy, tries to communicate with her Mom. Dawn spies the following text, bloodily written on the wall: 'Mother's milk is red today.' Too much tomato in the diet I suspect. The ominous bangs and bumps and thumps start up again. Dawn regroups and again attempts communication with whatever agency is haunting the house. Dawn will ask the haunt questions. One thump means yes, two means no.

                                                        Is this Mom?    One thump.

                                                        Is Mom ok?      Two thumps.

                                                        Is Mom alone? Two thumps.

The house starts to shake apart. This was a very effective scene.

Jonathan rappels into the high school from the ceiling. Andrew falls flat on his face. They are trying to locate the Hellmouth. They hope to find something there that will earn them membership into the Scooby Gang. They split up to find the Principal's office. Andrew bumps into Warren. Which seems odd to us as we remember Warren being de-skinned by Dark Willow last year. It does not seem odd to Andrew, and the impression is that Warren has been appearing to Andrew for quite some time now. Andrew is skittish about the entire plan, but Warren reassures him with soothing Obi-Wan quotes from Star Wars. They both agree that Jonathan is their only hope. Scene ends with Warren doing his best Yoda impression.

Cassie and Willow are still in the library. Willow asks why can't Tara manifest herself? Cassie responds that since Willow killed people last year, Tara cannot manifest as a consequence. Alyson Hannigan again shows why she's one of the best actresses on television as Willow reveals how much she misses Tara. Very heart wrenching scene.

Quick shot of Spike in the bar. A blond girl approaches him and sits down.

Holden & Buffy are discussing relationships. The scene is constructed so that Buffy is lying on a casket length crypt, while Holden is sitting on a chair shaped grave marker. Giving the impression of a psychiatrist and his patient on the couch. Holden concludes that Buffy feels superior to men, and has a very low opinion of them. Holden has a great line here, "I'm here to kill you, not judge you." Buffy has a moment of weakness as she reconsiders her treatment of Spike. Holden takes this opportunity to bash Buffy with a statue. They fight some more.

Dawn is trying to locate the source of the haunting. She taunts it, saying she can hear it breathing. A shadowy, phantasmal creature (the worst ones if you ask me) swings an axe at Dawn's head. Dawn evades the blow then flees. But she regroups her courage and faces the demon.

Jonathan & Andrew wander around the high school, searching for the Hellmouth. A funny Hellraiser reference is given. Warren appears (Jonathan cannot hear or see Warren) and informs Andrew where to find the Hellmouth. They go down to the dirt floored basement, take out shovels and start digging.

Buffy and psych major vampire Holden are fighting again. Buffy is about to stake him when Holden wins a reprieve by asking if Buffy is going to kill him because he's evil or because he got her to open up about Spike. Buffy withdraws in embarrassed anger as Holden mockingly laughs. Holden then asks if Buffy's last boyfriend was a vampire.

Another quick shot of Spike and the blond girl, walking off into the night.

Cassie and Willow are still deep in discussion. Willow is fervently asking Tara questions via Cassie. Cassie warns Willow about using magic, black or white. That the risks of magic are too great, the consequences too dangerous. Cassie claims that Tara is saying that Willow will use her magic to kill everybody. Methinks someone is a bit frightened of Willow's power?

Jonathan & Andrew continue to dig. Jonathan waxes nostalgic about high school. How he misses everyone, and wonders what everyone is up to. Andrew attempts to deflate Jonathan by saying that no one in high school cares about Jonathan and no one is wondering what he's up to. Jonathan maintains that he still cares about them. And sadly when a villain converts from the dark side to the light, it's time for him to die. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Jonathan & Andrew finally uncover a large pentacle set in the earth. This is the object they've been looking for.

Dawn attempts to magically cast the demon out with some banishing spells and some magic dust. We're not supposed to ask where the magic dust came from. All the windows in the house blow inwards, and the place gets even more totaled as the demon violently fights his banishment.

Buffy and Holden are talking again. Buffy says how Spike loved her, and she didn't ask for his love. She didn't ask for the Slayer powers. That she doesn't deserve the Slayer power. She feels the worst of everybody, not worthy to be anyone's friend. Because her friends don't matter, their love doesn't matter because they can never understand what it is to be the Slayer. Buffy admits she feels superior to her friends. Holden's diagnosis is that Buffy has a superiority complex, and an inferiority complex about it. Wow. That actually makes sense. Holden adds, that Buffy is not the only person alone. That everybody is alone...till they die. Holden has tired of talking and asks Buffy to another round of fighting. Buffy thanks him for the chat. And as she prepares to fight, she mentions Spike by name for the very first time in the conversation...

Spike and the blond girl are still together, outside her house now.

As Dawn finally casts out the demon, a light shines upon her. It emanates from Joyce.

Cassie again warns Willow of the dangers of magic. Willow is freaking out with the fear that one magical slip-up on her part could cause the deaths of all her friends. Willow questions if she's strong enough to never attempt magic again. Cassie offers an alternative. This alternative offers a haven from magic and reunites Willow with Tara...Willow's suicide. Willow deduces that something is not right here. "Who are you?" she asks Cassie.

Holden responds that he knows Spike, he's the vampire that sired him in the first place!

Quick clip of Spike biting the neck of the blond haired girl.

Dawn is staring at her mom. Joyce looking all angelic says that she loves Dawn & Buffy. But that Buffy won't be there for Dawn. When things go bad, Buffy will be against her. With those ominous words, she fades away. Dawn cries after her mom's fading image.

As Andrew and Jonathan finish their excavation of the pentacle, Andrew stabs Jonathan in the gut as Warren looks on.

Cassie comes clean to Willow that bringing up the suicide idea was perhaps going a bit too far. Cassie's voice is no longer that of the shy poetic high school student, but now very arrogant and bitchy. Cassie starts taunting Willow, predicting what her suicide would have been like. (candles and Indigo Girls)  Cassie claims that she's going to do some real nasty things to Willow and her friends. And that she's not a fan of quick deaths, and that when she goes, she going with a bang. Willow mutters this seasons catch phrase, "Beneath you it devours." Cassie responds, "Not it....me." Cassie vanishes.

The music from the beginning of the episode begins again. And we close with a montage of quick shots. Dawn is sitting in the shambles of the Summers house. Jonathan's dead body falls on top of the pentacle. The pentacle starts turning red. Spike throws down the blond girls body. Her body collapses to the ground. Buffy stakes Holden. The song ends. Fade to black. This lovely song is sung by Angie Hart and for the life of me, I can't find out what it's called.

What I liked: Where to begin...the Angie Hart song, each character facing a challenge alone, Alyson Hannigan's incredible acting, the very sharp and personal criticism of Buffy. Not many shows would expose the faults of their lead like this. Holden's character. For once we get a male character who's not in awe, in fear or in love with Buffy. A very refreshing character. Dawn's silly anchovy rhyme will always make me grin. The constant sci-fi references by the geek troika. This season's story arc finally gets under way.

What I didn't like: No Anya, no Xander, no Giles, very little of Spike. Though Willow was featured in her storyline, I wish it was a bigger part of the episode. Sad to see Jonathan die. He's been a recurring character since Season 2. Some confusion as to the powers of this Big Bad. He seems to be able to be in many places at once.

Rating: (out of 6) 5 Damn good episode. One of the best this year.

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

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