spike – Insect Reflection

The Big Bad Is Back (Lovers Walk)

Spike lies on the ground after falling out of his car.

It’s April 2004; the sunset days of Web 1.0. A new website has just been created: a cross-media wiki known as TVTropes. It’s a site for fans of all manner to identify and record common storytelling conventions as they recur throughout different pieces of media, and it will grow to become a dominant knowledge-base forContinue reading “The Big Bad Is Back (Lovers Walk)”

I May Be Love’s Bitch (Beauty and the Beasts)

Buffy sit on the floor of the mansion, dappled in shadow.

“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, 3×08 Lovers Walk The nature of love is an impossible thing to distill. If it were possible, then the poets would have done so already –Continue reading “I May Be Love’s Bitch (Beauty and the Beasts)”

You Made Me The Man I Am Today (Becoming: Part Two)

Drusilla, Angelus and Spike stand side by side, looking at Acathla.

This is the second of four essays on Becoming. The first focused on Willow’s arc; the third on the re-souling debate and Xander’s Lie; the fourth on Buffy’s arc and final choice. It’s a shame that Darla is dead. She is notable for her absence in this season, which introduces and then focuses so heavilyContinue reading “You Made Me The Man I Am Today (Becoming: Part Two)”

Is This A Penis Metaphor? (Reptile Boy)

Buffy and Cordelia, chained up in a cave.

You know how it goes. Girl meets Boy. He’s older and more experienced – but seems nice, kind, thoughtful. Girl falls for Boy. They get close; maybe they sleep together. And then, when she wakes up, he’s changed. He’s cruel, mean, even evil. It turns out he just wanted to use her, and never reallyContinue reading “Is This A Penis Metaphor? (Reptile Boy)”

I’ve Always Been Bad (School Hard)

There is a very meta line, early in this episode, where one of the Anointed’s vampire flunkies talks about how now The Master is dead, somebody has to take him place. The Big Bad of season one is dead, so we need a replacement for season two. Who will step up to audition for the role?

The vampire puts forward himself, talking in grandiose statements about the “Night of St. Vigeous”, and the crucifixion. It’s very opaque, pompous vampiric grandstanding; very much in the manner of season one, and even the 1992 movie. He represents one possible timeline for the show, where it continues to use these generic, interchangeable villains.

But then, a chuckle from behind him. Appearing from the background, we see another candidate for the future of the series. Enter: Spike.