Line #52 Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E15IWasMadeToLoveYou


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_20190214_191353_video_player.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"Ow. I don't know about you guys, but I've had it with super-strong little women who aren't me."'']]
3
4	->'''Driver:''' What do you expect to find here in Sunnydale?\
5	'''April:''' True love.
6
7	Directed by Creator/JamesAContner
8
9	Written by Creator/JaneEspenson
10
11	Buffy rants about her problems with Spike while pounding away at Xander, who is wearing a sumo-sized bodysuit. Xander consoles the Slayer about her love life, blaming the Hellmouth for her not being able to find a decent guy. A young woman arrives in Sunnydale, searching for her boyfriend. Joyce nervously prepares for a date with a man named Brian with the help of her daughters.
12
13	Anya and Tara discuss the Internet and Anya's knowledge of online stock trading and websites. The woman, calling herself April, approaches them, asking if they know where Warren is, but when the girls can't help her, April moves on to another person and asks the same question. That night, Buffy and Xander dance at a campus party while Anya, Tara and Willow watch. After dancing, Buffy locates Ben at the party and casually catches his attention. They chat briefly but awkwardly, and Buffy asks Ben to dance.
14
15	Anya admires the Chex Mix with Xander when April arrives at the party, still searching for Warren. Warren just so happens to be at the party and escapes with his date before April discovers him. April questions the people at the party, offering that Warren is her boyfriend and he lost her. Tara is mildly concerned about her relationship with Willow when Willow remarks, "Yeah, a pretty girl like that won't stay lonely for long."
16
17	Spike approaches Buffy while she's waiting, but she tells him off before Ben returns. Ben offers Buffy his number for a possible coffee date and isn't scared off when Buffy warns him of her bad history. After seeing Buffy with Ben, Spike is inspired to hit on April, but his suggestive comments only anger her and lead her to throw the vampire through a window, much to the crowd's show. Both amused by Spike's pain and shocked at April's behavior, Buffy tries to talk to April, but April throws her aside and leaves.
18
19	Later, at Xander's apartment, the gang quickly deduces that April is a robot, and while they don't view her as an immediate threat, they do realize that they have to track down Warren and get him to April before someone less durable than Spike rubs her the wrong way. Buffy returns home, and Giles suggests he not watch Dawn alone anymore because he can't take much more exposure to the habits of a young teenager. Joyce returns from her date in an extremely good mood, shocking her daughter with the joke that she left her bra in Brian's car.
20
21	April goes door to door, searching for Warren's residence. Willow finds Warren Mears on her computer and the house where he could be living. The gang talks about Warren and how he made April to fill a void in his life. Buffy finally gets up the nerve to call Ben, but the phone rings at Glory's place. She morphs into Ben to answer the phone, and a date is made for coffee.
22
23	Warren rushes to get packed and move away with his current girlfriend, Katrina, but she doesn't understand why. Buffy shows up at Warren's in search of answers relating to April, while Katrina finally walks out, upset about being kept in the dark. Warren reveals to Buffy that he made April to be the perfect girlfriend, but rather than falling in love with her as expected, he instead grew bored with how predictable she was and how easy things were with her. He then met and fell in love with Katrina, and, instead of "breaking up" with April, cowardly left her in his dorm room to let her batteries run down. Buffy asks if April is dangerous, and Warren tells her that she's only programmed to be in love with him--which confirms to Buffy that she is dangerous.
24
25	Meanwhile, the Scoobies are meeting at the Magic Box, when they receive a visit from Spike. When he enters, however, he receives open hostility and disdain from the gang, including Dawn. Spike attempts to win some acceptance by giving a somewhat embellished explanation of what happened previously, but the Scoobies are not fooled. Giles takes command, roughly shoving him against a wall, informing him that the Scoobies are not his friends and that he will never be able to get into a relationship with Buffy, and finally ordering him to get over his feelings for Buffy and leave the Magic Box. After a brief hesitation, Spike departs.
26
27	Katrina encounters April at a park, and April uses force to make Katrina admit that Warren is her boyfriend. Warren finally tells April that he can't love her -- because [[TheScapegoat he's in love with Buffy!]] A fight breaks out between Buffy and a furious April, which only stops because her batteries start running down. After talking with April in her final moments, Buffy realizes that she doesn't need a man in her life. Buffy leaves a message for Ben on his answering machine, canceling the date, but Glory listens to the message, not Ben.
28
29	Spike confronts Warren about making a robot for him, one based completely on Buffy. Warren refuses, but Spike won't take no for an answer.
30
31	Buffy returns home to find that Joyce has been sent flowers from the man she recently had a date with, as well as a card saying he had a lovely evening and he hopes to see her soon. After all day dealing with a skeezy guy and his sex-bot, Buffy remarks how nice it is to see that there's "Still a couple of guys gettn' it right."
32
33	[[SuddenDownerEnding And if the episode ended right there, things would be very different.]]
34
35	Buffy calls upstairs to see if Dawn needs picking up. Receiving no answer, Buffy heads into the sitting room to see her mother sprawled across the couch... with opened eyes and pale skin, not breathing. Buffy soon realizes something is wrong...
36
37	----
38	!! Tropes in this episode include:
39	* AIIsACrapshoot: April does function exactly as programmed, but Warren neglected to include any nuance in her devotion to him, leading her to stalk him when he leaves her and react violently to any suggestion that she and Warren are not together.
40	* AllMenArePerverts: Xander says that a SexBot is every guy's dream. Faced by the disapproving looks of the other Scoobies, he says there's too many girls here. "I miss Oz. He'd get it. He wouldn't have said anything, but he'd get it."
41	* BadassArmfold: Tara and the Little Bit show solidarity in their disapproval of Spike.
42	* BearHug: April gives the Heimlich Manoeuvre of Death to Katrina.
43	* BeautifulAllAlong: Buffy is upset over her inability to attract a decent guy.
44	-->'''Buffy:''' Maybe I could change. I could work harder. I could spend less time slaying, I could laugh at his jokes; I mean, men like that, right, the, the joke-laughing-at?\
45	'''Xander:''' Or maybe you could just be Buffy, he'll see your amazing heart, and he'll fall in love with you.
46	* BlatantLies: When Spike drops by the Magic Box, he attempts to win some favor from the gang this way by giving an embellished version of what happened with Drusilla, claiming that he and Buffy actually worked together to fight Drusilla back and anything he said to hint at an attraction to Buffy was accidental. None of the Scoobies buy it for a second.
47	* BuffySpeak: Buffy calls pad-wearing Xander "Puffy Xander".
48	* BuxomBeautyStandard: April, obviously (she got self-proclaimed "breast girl" Willow's attention anyway).
49	* CallBack: Dawn mentions the [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E11Ted Ted affair]] and how she always said there could have been more than one of him. [[note]]Or rather, she ''[[FalseMemories remembered]]'' saying there could have been... oh, never mind.[[/note]]
50	* CasualKink: Averted; only [[AllMenArePerverts Xander seems to appreciate]] the idea of a SexBot.
51	-->'''Buffy:''' She growls? You made her so she ''growls''?
52	** In her RoboCam, we see that Warren programmed April with Fetishes 1-3 and Positions 1-6 (indicating he's fairly casual and limited in his kink).
53	* CharacterDevelopment: Xander is shown enjoying the practical aspects of carpentry, an indication that he's putting aside his ButtMonkey image for a steady job that he's good at.
54	* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: Warren returns as a BigBadWannabe in Season 6. Katrina returns in the Season 6 episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E13DeadThings Dead Things]]".]]
55	* CodeRed: Willow says that April is dangerous but doesn't appear to be out to kill anyone. "Is there a Code Pink? We need more codes."
56	* CutTheJuice: Buffy only survives her final battle because April's batteries run down.
57	* DatingCatwoman: Subverted. Ben, who is Glory's alter ego, asks Buffy out, but she ultimately turns him down.
58	* DeathGlare: Buffy running into Spike at the Bronze.
59	-->'''Spike:''' Oh dear. If looks could stake.
60	* DestinationDefenestration: Happens to Spike when he whispers something dirty in April's ear. Our first clue that she's not just some ditzy airhead.
61	* DistinctionWithoutADifference: Warren didn't dump April, he just walked off and left her, figuring her batteries would run down.
62	* DistractedByTheSexy: Xander and Willow by April.
63	-->'''Anya:''' Xander got hypnotized by the strange girl. [[TranquilFury I am remaining calm, however.]]
64	* DownerEnding: Buffy comes home to find her mother dead.
65	* DynamicEntry: Spike bursts into the Magic Box in daylight [[ManOnFire with his blanket on fire]].
66	* EverybodyKnewAlready:
67	-->'''Warren:''' Uh, there's something you need to know about her.\
68	'''Buffy:''' I know.\
69	'''Warren:''' No, wait, this is important.\
70	'''Buffy:''' Believe me, I, I worked it out.\
71	'''Warren:''' No, this is something, uh, that you can't possibly know.\
72	''[Buffy folds her arms and nods to him to continue. Zoom in dramatically on Warren taking a deep breath.]''\
73	'''Warren:''' She's a robot.\
74	'''Buffy:''' Uh-huh.
75	* FatalAttractor: Buffy wangsts over her inability to attract a nice, normal guy.
76	* {{Filler}}: Having nothing to do with the Glory story arc, the episode looks like one, and wouldn't work if it didn't.
77	* FoeRomanceSubtext: Glory finds Buffy has refused Ben's offer of a date. After initially suspecting Ben of plotting against her, she then pouts and says, "She turned ''us'' down?"
78	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
79	** The self-centered amorality and misogyny that leads to Warren [[spoiler: gleefully skipping across the MoralEventHorizon in Season 6]] is shown. April is designed to experience pain if she doesn't respond to Warren's voice. When Warren finds a real girlfriend, he just leaves April to run down without even bothering to deactivate her. Under stress he snaps at Katrina to StayInTheKitchen, and in the end he just sics his malfunctioning robot onto Buffy and flees.[[invoked]]
80	** Warren avoids April's wrath by making Buffy the target instead. [[spoiler: Warren has the same solution when he has to deal with the M'Fashnik demon and the police in Season 6.]]
81	** April's last words, "Things are always darkest before..." is a nice nod to the upcoming season finale.
82	** Warren is [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere packing to get out of Sunnydale]] when Spike turns up with a box of stuff from his StalkerShrine and demands Warren build him another SexBot to Buffy's specs. This sets up "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E18Intervention Intervention]]".
83	* FreezeFrameBonus: April's RoboCam shot includes a file menu listing such things as fetishes and sex positions, which is funny enough, but an even briefer shot when she shifts into "Protect Warren" mode includes actions including TakingTheBullet and IKnowKungFu.
84	* GetOut: The Scoobies' general reaction when Spike shows up at the Magic Box. [[PapaWolf Giles actually manhandles him]] and orders him to "clear out of here."
85	* GoodNameForARockBand:
86	-->'''Xander:''' I think I've actually turned into someone you want around after a crazed robot attack.\
87	'''Buffy:''' And if you ever start your own business, you have your slogan right there.
88	* GreenEyedMonster: Tara gives Willow the hairy eyeball when she catches her girlfriend checking out April.
89	* GroinAttack: Buffy is '''SLAMMING''' on some training pads, like she did when Scott broke up with her, up to eleven which even hurt Faith, where she finishes with one of these because of her disgust at Spike's attraction. Turns out it was on Xander wearing a giant padded suit and even with this he's lucky to still have his willie, and Buffy is so apologetic to how crippling her overreaction was.
90	* HugAndComment: Xander gives his BeautifulAllAlong speech to Buffy, which earns him a hug--unfortunately, Xander is strapped into a huge padded suit which makes him totally immobile, causing him to moan, "Great, today's the day you chose to hug me."
91	* HughMann: April's mannerisms are so stilted and bizarre, along with her SuperStrength, that the Scoobies quickly deduce that she's a robot.
92	* HypocriticalHumor: Anya commenting on April's SpockSpeak.
93	-->'''Anya:''' She speaks with a strange evenness and selects her words a shade too precisely.\
94	'''Xander:''' Some of us like that kind of thing in a girl.
95	* ImprovisedWeapon: April breaks off part of a playground see-saw with her SuperStrength.
96	* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: While on the surface this seems like a slight BreatherEpisode in the midsts of the Glory arc, it marks [[spoiler: the first appearance of the man who would become responsible for the single most infamous and heartbreaking moment in the entire Buffyverse.]] To say nothing of the last scene. And as Spike sets up near the end, the idea of a humanoid female robot (in this case, one modeled after Buffy) isn't going anywhere any time soon.
97	* IronicEchoCut:
98	-->'''Buffy:''' Okay. We'll track down Warren tomorrow. Tonight I better go rescue Giles. He's been watching Dawn while my mom's out on her date, and I have a feeling there's only so much he can take.\
99	'''Tara:''' Oh, Giles and Dawnie? I bet they ended up having a blast.\
100	''[Cut to]'' '''Giles:''' Dear god, Buffy, there's only so much I can take.
101	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Spike enters the Magic Box, trying to win some favor with the Scoobies, but they're not having any of it; when Giles, in full PapaWolf mode, roughly shoves him against the wall and orders him to leave, Spike wisely shuts up and departs.
102	* LayoutOfASeason: As per the formula, the 15th episodes have a tendency to pull a mid-season shift of major proportions. In this episode, Buffy's ill mother, Joyce, suddenly collapses.
103	* LetThemDieHappy: As April runs down, Buffy sits with her and assures her that Warren cares about her and will come back for her.
104	* MoodWhiplash: Buffy shares a FriendshipMoment with Xander, comes home and smiles at the bouquet of flowers sent by Joyce's date, walks into the living room... and finds her mother's pale, unmoving body on the couch.
105	* MustBeInvited:
106	** When Spike shows up at the Magic Box, Willow claims that they're attempting to find a way to un-invite him from the Magic Box, even though it's a public place, meaning Spike can enter and exit at his leisure. Xander, however, says they might as well let him in... so they can toss him right back out.
107	** Warren wants to know how Spike got into his house. Spike replies that Warren's mother invited him in.
108	* NeckLift: April to Katrina.
109	* NeverTrustATrailer: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z56eTYw8SfA original promo]] makes no mention of April, and instead sets it up to look like Buffy is the one who [[DestinationDefenestration throws Spike out the window]].
110	* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Discussed; the Scoobies don't initially see April as much of a threat, since she's just looking for her boyfriend, and actually approve of her tossing Spike out the window. When Buffy talks with Warren about April to confirm it, that's when it hits her that April ''is'' a threat:
111	-->'''Buffy''': Warren, this is important. Is she dangerous?\
112	'''Warren''': She's only programmed to be in love.\
113	'''Buffy''': [[{{Yandere}} Then she's dangerous.]]
114	* NoodleIncident: The story of how Joyce ended up on her first date with Buffy's dad even though he brought another date is a much funnier story (than the date itself) that Buffy will never get to hear.
115	* ObliviousMockery: Buffy tells Xander that dancing with him is much more fun than trying to hook up with some good-looking guy. Given his former crush on her, she was probably just poking fun.
116	* OnSecondThought: Buffy tells Giles that her night didn't go well, what with Spike being thrown through a window. Buffy then decides she wouldn't exchange that night for anything.
117	* OperationJealousy: Seeing Buffy with Ben, Spike chats up April to make her jealous. All it does is [[DestinationDefenestration lead April to toss him out a window]].
118	* OutOfCharacterMoment: Anya makes a deliberate effort not to be jealous around Xander, Tara surprises everyone by swearing, and it is probably the first time we see Willow openly checking out another girl. This was deliberate on the writer's part, as the theme of the episode was women attempting to change themselves.
119	* ParentalSexualitySquick: Buffy kids her mom about the lack of apparent passion between Joyce and her date. But Joyce has the last laugh. [[note]]Unfortunately, Jane Espenson notes in her DVDCommentary that the joke is ruined by Joyce wearing a halterneck dress that can't hide a bra.[[/note]]
120	-->'''Joyce:''' Oh dear. [[FindingABraInYourCar I left my bra in his car.]]\
121	'''Buffy:''' ''MOTHER!''\
122	'''Joyce:''' I'm joking.\
123	'''Buffy:''' ''[sighs]'' Good God, that's horrible. Don't do that.\
124	'''Joyce:''' I left it in the restaurant.\
125	''[Buffy puts her hands over her ears and starts running up the stairs]''\
126	'''Buffy:''' No more! No more! No more!\
127	'''Joyce:''' ''[yelling up the stairs at her]'' On the dessert cart!\
128	'''Buffy:''' ''[offscreen, faintly]'' I can't hear you!
129	* PapaWolf: Giles lets Ripper out to [[TwerpSweating warn off Spike]].
130	-->'''Giles:''' ''[[[TranquilFury softly]]]'' We are not your friends. We are not your way to Buffy. There ''is'' no way to Buffy.
131	* PercussiveTherapy: Buffy pounding on Puffy!Xander while venting about Spike.
132	-->'''Giles:''' Buffy, I think you should perhaps calm down.\
133	'''Xander:''' Me too.\
134	'''Buffy:''' Oh! Puffy!Xander, uh, I'm sorry, I got... guess I got carried away. Are you okay?\
135	'''Xander:''' I'm alive. I can tell 'cause of the pain.
136	* PrecisionFStrike: Well, [[GoshDangitToHeck by Tara's standards]].
137	-->'''Tara:''' She practically had "Genuine Molded Plastic" stamped on her ass.\
138	''[Everyone gives her very odd looks]''\
139	'''Tara:''' Just... tryin' a little spicy talk.
140	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Buffy to Spike: "Get... away... from me."
141	* PygmalionPlot: Averted; Warren thought he'd fall in love with his creation, but [[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction she turned out to be boring, as compared to his real-life unpredictable girlfriend]].
142	* RageJudo: Faced with a pissed-off robot, Warren claims that Buffy is his girlfriend so it will attack her instead of him.
143	* RememberTheNewGuy: Warren is mentioned as having attended Sunnydale High with the Scoobies, and he clearly knows who Buffy is, but he never appeared during the first three seasons.
144	* RevealShot:
145	** Buffy appears to be pounding a punching bag, but it turns out to be [[ButtMonkey Xander in a huge padded suit]].
146	** A sweat-stained Glory appears to be having sex, but she's actually morphing into Ben.
147	* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: April, but subverted in that the Scoobies are quite quick to realize that she's a robot.
148	* RoboCam: With drop-down menus showing Fetishes 1-3 and Positions 1-6.
149	* RoboticReveal: Though only for Katrina, as everyone else already knows. April starts sparking when Buffy hits her in the stomach with a board.
150	* SexBot: With a bit of tech-school know-how, Warren built April as a fully functional (and fanatically loyal) robotic girlfriend.
151	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Warren's response to seeing April is to pack his bags and flee, but things don't go according to plan.
152	* ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing: Glory morphs into Ben, who belatedly realizes he's wearing a red silk dress.
153	* SickAndWrong: Buffy's reaction to the previous episode's events.
154	-->'''Buffy:''' ''[pounding on Puffy!Xander]'' I feel gross, you know, like, like, dirty.\
155	'''Giles:''' That's ridiculous, you can't be responsible for what Spike thinks or, feels.\
156	'''Buffy:''' ''[stops punching]'' Well, [[ItsAllMyFault aren't I responsible]]? I mean, something about me had to make him feel that, right? Something that made him say, "woof, that's the one for me!"
157	* SoftGlass: Averted; Spike gets some cuts on his face after getting thrown through the window.
158	* SpectacularSpinning: Buffy and Dawn make their mother spin around in her dress. Repeatedly.
159	* StayInTheKitchen: Warren tells Katrina to wait in the kitchen while he talks to Buffy. When he tells her to shut up instead of explaining what's going on, Katrina loses her temper and walks out on him.
160	* StayWithMeUntilIDie: When April finally runs out of gas, Buffy stays with her as she goes. Ironically, this causes Buffy to lose an opportunity to save Joyce's life, or at least be there when she died.
161	* StylisticSuck: Pay attention to April's RoboCam as she prepares to attack Buffy. We see she's trained in things like judo, and has been programmed to remove "obsticles".
162	* SuddenDownerEnding: "Mommy?"
163	* SunnydaleSyndrome: Averted. Warren attended Sunnydale High. When Buffy shows up at his door and asks, "Do you know who I am?" he knows shit just got real. This would fit the events of "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E20TheProm The Prom]]" where it's shown the students do in fact know weird things are going on, and that Buffy is involved in fighting them. Warren also seems to know who and what Spike is--perhaps he saw him during the events of "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E3SchoolHard School Hard]]", though given his actions in Season 6 he may already know something about the demon world.
164	* SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids: April is programmed with great strength and a combat mode. Given that Warren is portrayed as a nerd in Season 6, it's possible he made April that way simply because RidiculouslyHumanRobots ''always'' [[RuleOfCool have these abilities in TV and movies]].
165	* SympathyForTheDevil: While the others mock Warren for resorting to creating a robotic girlfriend, Tara expresses sympathy for him that he felt he had to make a robot because he was unable to get a human girlfriend.
166	* TitledAfterTheSong: The title could have been inspired by the Music/{{KISS}} song "I Was Made for Lovin' You".
167	* TranquilFury: Giles pulls this off in PapaWolf mode towards Spike, warning him to back off Buffy in a ''very'' cold and collected voice and a [[DeathGlare cool glare]]. Spike takes a breath to retort, but ultimately [[KnowWhenToFoldEm decides not to push his luck]].
168	* TraumaSwing: April 'dies' on a swing, waiting for Warren to return.
169	* UncannyValley: April Walker is an in-universe example, as the main characters all slowly realize there is something wrong with the super-cheery way she talks, the way she walks, and eventually her huge amounts of strength.
170	* VerbalBackspace: Giles says he can't see why Spike is attracted to Buffy, only to add quickly that it's not because Buffy is unattractive.
171	* VictoryByEndurance: April puts up a ''hell'' of a fight against Buffy, and is only stopped from choking her to death because [[CutTheJuice her batteries finally run down]].
172	* WaifFu: Buffy is tired of getting beat up by strong, tiny girls who aren't her.
173	* WallGlower: The Scoobies are unanimous in showing their distaste for Spike after the events of "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E14Crush Crush]]".
174	* WhamEpisode: The episode itself, not so much. The last scene though...
175	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman
176	-->'''Warren:''' I made it so that if she heard me and she didn't answer, it causes this kind of feedback.\
177	'''Buffy:''' Wait, if you call her and she doesn't answer, it hurts her? ''[he looks embarrassed]'' You're one creepy little dweeb, Warren.
178	* WholePlotReference: The plot of the episode is somewhat similar to that of the 1985 horror novel ''Literature/{{Friend}}'' in which a teenage girl is killed by her own father, only to be resurrected by her science-loving friend by having a robot chip implanted in her brain. Initially, the friend is able to control her, but she becomes vengeful when flashes of her past memories re-surface and ultimately kills her father and the people who humiliated her and her friend. In 1986, Creator/WesCraven turned the novel into a film, ''Film/DeadlyFriend'', starring Creator/KristySwanson.
179	* {{Yandere}}: April is a surprisingly sympathetic and tragic one, considering the way this trope usually goes.
180	----

Context Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E15IWasMadeToLoveYou