Line #109 Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E15GetItDone


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_20190219_062704_video_player.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"We cannot give you knowledge. Only power."'']]
3
4	->''"Chloe is...I'm sorry, was a good listener. 'Til she hanged herself. Like when you called her maggot -- she really heard that."''
5	-->--'''The First Evil'''
6
7	Directed by Creator/DouglasPetrie
8
9	Written by Petrie, Creator/RebeccaKirshner, & Creator/DrewZGreenberg
10
11	The First Slayer tells Buffy in a dream that "It is not enough". Anya and Spike take a walk together when Anya is attacked by a demon D'Hoffryn sent to kill her. Spike attacks the demon and the pair then run away.
12
13	Principal Wood tells Buffy to go home and concentrate on her "real" job: Killing monsters and getting ready to battle the First Evil. Buffy takes him to the house and introduces him to the rest of the crew, including Spike. The tension between Spike and Wood is tangible. Wood gives Buffy a bag that he got from his mother and should have been passed on to Buffy anyway.
14
15	Chloe commits suicide after the First talks to her all night. Buffy delivers a strong lecture, angering many of the others, including Spike by telling him he was a much better warrior before he got his soul back and that since then he has been holding back. She then calls an emergency and opens the slayer's bag. Inside is a set of shadow casters and a book that trigger a portal. Against the advice of her friends, Buffy jumps in, sending back an enormous demon who beats everyone up and flees. After Spike recovers, he gets his leather coat out of a trunk, kills the demon, and drags it back to Buffy's house.
16
17	On the other side of the portal, Buffy is back in the desert where she once met the First Slayer. There, three men tell her she is the last Slayer to guard the Hellmouth, and try to infuse her with the essence of the demon that gives all the Slayers their strength. Buffy refuses the power, telling the men that they were wrong to have created the Slayer line in the first place. As a parting gift, they give Buffy a vision: An enormous army of Turok-Han just waiting to be unleashed on the world.
18
19	After struggling with the incantation, Willow manages to reopen the portal by sucking energy from Anya and Kennedy. Kennedy is visibly shaken by Willow's power, which causes a brief strain in their relationship. Spike throws the dead demon in, and Buffy returns. Later, she tells Willow about the vision, and admits that the First Slayer was right: What they have will not be enough.
20	----
21	!!Tropes featured
22	* AmazonBrigade: There are now almost twenty Potentials living in Buffy's house, but to Buffy's mind they resemble more a RedshirtArmy than a Slayer army.
23	* AncientTradition: The Watchers Council descend from the Shadow Men.
24	* BadassNormal:
25	-->'''Wood:''' Buffy, I'm just a guy. Granted, a cool and sexy vampire-fighting guy, but still...
26	* BadLiar: Willow comes out with an armful of weaponry and sees Buffy with Principal Wood, watching the Potentials learn martial arts.
27	-->'''Willow:''' Oh, hi. Hey. Well, Buffy, I—I see that our preparation for the school-pep-dance-cheer-drill contest are coming along. (to the Potentials) Bring it on!
28	-->'''Buffy:''' It's OK, I filled him in on everything.
29	-->'''Willow:''' (lets out a sigh of relief) Oh, thank God! If I had to explain all these weapons, I had nothing.
30	* BaitAndSwitchComment: Buffy returns from burying Chloe.
31	-->'''Buffy:''' Does anyone want to say a few words? [silence] Then I will. [[NoSympathy Chloe was an idiot.]]
32	* TheBigBoard: Andrew objects to Buffy showing Wood around the place as [[Film/DrStrangelove he might see the Big Board]]. When Buffy points out they don't have a Big Board, Andrew produces his own whiteboard drawing of Sunnydale and the various evils that face them.
33	-->'''Buffy:''' You'll have to forgive Andrew...[[VerbalBackspace or maybe not.]]
34	* BringMyBrownPants:
35	-->'''Kennedy:''' Better get started.
36	-->'''Willow:''' I think I might pee my pants.
37	-->'''Kennedy:''' You can do it -- the magics, not the pants thing.
38	* ButtMonkey: Xander says he doesn't like cryptic since someone, usually him, gets hurt. Just as the "exchange" demon comes through the portal, he gets his butt handed to him, again.
39	** Later [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] when Willow tries to open up the portal in the presence of Xander, Kennedy, Dawn, and Anya. Xander is the only one of the group who doesn't get knocked down or have his life energy sucked out by Willow.
40	* CatapultNightmare: One of the few played-straight examples; usually Buffy just wakes up normally from a bad dream.
41	* ChainedToARock: Buffy is chained to the ground so she can be merged with demon essence used to create the First Slayer. As she's already got Slayer strength however, she [[BreakingTheBonds rips free her chains]] and [[ChainPain uses them to kick the Shadow Men's butts]].
42	* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Reversed. Spike, who has just gotten curb stomped by a demon that he needs to kill to help Buffy, goes back to an old hideout of his to retrieve his duster, before going out to fight the demon again. After he dispatches the demon, he lights up a smoke to show that he's back to his old badass self.
43	* ContinuityNod:
44	** Anya tells Spike she likes her sex on top of the table, a not-so-subtle reference to their sex in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E18Entropy Entropy]]".
45	** Robin Wood recognises Spike's black leather duster, which he [[BattleTrophy stripped from the corpse]] of the New York Slayer in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E7FoolForLove Fool For Love]]".
46	** The Slayer's bag is the same Buffy saw in her dream in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E22Restless Restless]]". Likewise the shot of the First Slayer chained to the ground is finally explained. Both Adam (in her dream in "Restless") and Dracula (in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E1BuffyVsDracula Buffy vs. Dracula]]") hinted to Buffy that [[UnholyHolySword her power is rooted in darkness]] and indeed, it's revealed that Sineya, the first Slayer, was imbued with demonic essences which triggered the Slayer powers.
47	** Spike says that having a soul makes him "more or less" unique, referring to Series/{{Angel}}.
48	** (re: YouTalkTooMuch) In "Restless" the First Slayer is barely able to speak, unless using a third party (Tara) as an avatar.
49	** Buffy tells Willow "Thanks for bringing me back... [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E1BargainingPart1 again]]."
50	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Forcibly merging with the shadowy demon that turns her into the Slayer has definite rape aspects.
51	* DoubleEntendre: Spike with "It's my bone. Let it go." and "You don't want to miss a look at her weapons chest."
52	* DrillSergeantNasty: Kennedy, the most senior of the potentials and who has received substantial training from her watcher, has taken up this role with the others, shouting at Chloe and calling her a "maggot" when she does her steps wrong; then as an aside she jokes to Buffy how cool it was that she got to call somebody a "maggot". The First drives Chloe to suicide that night, and then taunts Kennedy by implying that the "maggot" insult led to the suicide.
53	* DrivenToSuicide: The First Evil convinces Chloe to hang herself.
54	* EasilyForgiven: Andrew was "evil" and people got killed, and now he... bakes. [[BuffySpeak It's a thing.]]
55	* EnvironmentalSymbolism: The BEWARE OF THE DOG sign [[RunningGag reappears]] in the alley where Spike fights the demon.
56	* EternalEnglish
57	-->'''Dawn:''' Translation's gonna be a bitch. Do you know that ancient Sumerians do not speak English?
58	-->'''Buffy:''' They're worse than the French.
59	* EvilGloating: The First materialises as Chloe next to her hanging corpse to give its own TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the Potentials.
60	* EvilMakeover: The redheaded Wicca worries about "[[PowerDyesYourHair going brunette]]".
61	* ExactEavesdropping: The First repeats Buffy's words back to the Potentials.
62	-->"They're not all gonna make it. Some will die, and nothing I can do will stop that."
63	* FailedAttemptAtDrama: Spike tells the others to stand aside and let him do [[BecauseImGoodAtIt what he does best]]. He goes to fight the demon and...
64	-->'''Kennedy:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Is getting thrown through the ceiling what he does best?]]
65	* {{Foreshadowing}}
66	** Buffy sees Chloe crying in her dream.
67	** Buffy's CruelToBeKind approach only succeeds in alienating the Potentials, which sets up the events of "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E19EmptyPlaces Empty Places]]".
68	** The Shadow Men say Buffy is the last guardian of the Hellmouth.
69	* FriendshipDenial: During Buffy's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, Xander tells her not to forget they're her friends. Anya cuts in, stating she's ''not'' Buffy's friend, which leads to Buffy demanding to know why Anya's even there.
70	* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Spike strikes a match [[CouldntFindALighter on the dead demon]] and lights up a ciggie.
71	* HellIsThatNoise: All the spooky sounds that start up with the magic lantern show freak out the characters.
72	* HesBack: Spike puts on Nikki's leather duster again for the first time after his re-ensoulment and heads out to kill the demon.
73	* HumanoidAbomination: The First Slayer became this because she was instilled with the essence of a demon - thus explaining her behavior in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E22Restless Restless]]". Buffy refuses to undergo the same procedure to become more powerful.
74	* {{Hypocrite}}: Kennedy arrogantly shoots down Spike after he says he is going after the demon, claiming that the Potentials would do better because they were trained. Kennedy did even ''less'' well against the demon than Spike and she is the best trained of the Potentials. When Buffy bad-mouths Chloe, Kennedy calls her out of line...except it was her actions that indirectly contributed to her suicide.
75	* IconicItem: Spike throws on his BadassLongcoat in a HesBack moment. This, of course, will [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E17LiesMyParentsToldMe ultimately backfire]] (as Robin Wood will recognize it as his deceased mother's coat and thus realize Spike is the vampire that killed Nikki Wood).
76	* InsistentTerminology: When Xander jokes that if the First hates puppets, they should bring Kermit, Fozzie and Miss Piggy to town to scare it off, Willow says quite seriously that those are '''Muppets'''.
77	* ItsWhatIDo: Willow gets two. First, trying to apologize to Kennedy for sucking the life out of her to get extra powerful...
78	-->'''Kennedy:''' I thought it would be... I don't know, cool somehow. It just hurt.
79	-->'''Willow:''' I'm really sorry. It's just, you were the most powerful person nearby, and... well, that's... [[SuperpoweredEvilSide that's how it works]]. [[EvilMeScaresMe That's how ''I'' work]].
80	** ...and then, after Buffy thanks her for bringing her back [[DeathIsCheap again]]. "Well, that's what I do."
81	* JumpScare: The end of the episode has a quiet scene of Willow asking Buffy about her vision suddenly switch to a scene with a loud Turok-Han staring directly at the viewer, accompanied by thousands of others.
82	* KarmaHoudini: Kennedy suffers no consequences for indirectly contributing to Chloe's death. Buffy at least felt terrible about being too hard on the team.
83	* LanguageOfMagic: Spoofed.
84	-->'''Willow:''' Via concursus tempus spatium audi me ut imperio ''[[PrecisionFStrike Screw it!]]'' Mighty forces, I suck at Latin, OK? But that's not the issue. I'm the one in charge, and I'm telling you: Open up, portal, ''now!''
85	* LifeEnergy: Willow drains life force from Kennedy (and apparently Anya and Dawn) to increase her power. Kennedy is not happy about it.
86	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Buffy re the Hellmouth "blowing around May" is referencing the fact that the apocalypses usually occur as the season finales (or in this case, the series finale), which tend to air in May.
87	** Anya and Xander claim that their role is to "provide [[DeadpanSnarker much needed sarcasm]]."
88	* LivingShadow: The shadow casters tell the story of the creation of the First Slayer.
89	* TheLoad: Buffy accuses Anya of being this when the latter states she and Buffy [[FriendshipDenial aren't friends]].
90	-->'''Buffy''': Then why are you here? Aside from getting rescued, what is it that you do?\
91	'''Anya''': [[LameComeback I provide much-needed... sarcasm.]]\
92	'''Xander''': Um, that would kinda be my job, actually.
93	* LotusPosition: Willow casting the spell.
94	* MagicalNegro: The Shadow Men have shades of this. To be fair, though, since this takes place in the beginnings of the modern human race, which originated in Africa, there wasn't any other way. Literally everyone was black. And they are not precisely pure-hearted, what with pretty much creating the First Slayer through a forced, bodily violation.
95	* MagicStaff:
96	-->'''Buffy:''' I knew it. It's always the staff.
97	* MindRape: The First pulls it on Chloe. And succeeds.
98	* MoodWhiplash:
99	** Dawn is teasing Buffy about bunking off her school studies when they open a door and find Chloe hanging from the ceiling.
100	** Willow tells the others to put on the coffee as the spell might take a while -- suddenly she's got BlackEyesOfEvil and a banshee shriek.
101	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Buffy confides to Willow that she was too hard on everyone
102	* NeckSnap: Spike killing the demon.
103	* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
104	** Buffy's superiority complex does a better job at breaking apart the team than The First Evil's attempts to do so. ''The. First. Evil.'' The consequences for her ''Everybody sucks but me'' attitude will bite her on the ass and hold on later in the season.
105	** Kennedy's leadership indirectly leads to Chloe killing herself.
106	** Spike breaking his coat out of storage for the first time since late Season Six. This will backfire come [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E17LiesMyParentsToldMe "Lies My Parents Told Me"]], as it allows Robin to realize Spike is the vampire that killed his mother and 1970s-era Slayer Nikki Wood.
107	* NoSympathy: After Chloe's suicide, Buffy shows no sympathy for her trauma or struggles, and begins a speech to the others by openly calling her a weak idiot and a quitter.
108	* NotADate: Spike and Anya.
109	* OhCrap: Buffy turns down the Shadow Men's offer of greater power. They then give Buffy a vision of what lies in wait for her, an army of thousands of Turok-Han inside the Hellmouth.
110	* OpenSaysMe:
111	-->'''Anya:''' (points to the box) What's inside it?
112	-->'''Wood:''' Mm, I don't know. It hasn't been opened since-- (Buffy breaks off the lock with her bare hands) Well, since now.
113	* OriginsEpisode: Following up on the events of "Restless", the origins of the First Slayer, the Slayer Line, and the Watchers are finally revealed and explored.
114	* PercussiveTherapy: Spike tracks down the demon and engages in a brutal brawl with the guy (this being the first time we see Spike enjoy himself all season) before snapping its neck. Afterwards, he tells the corpse that a good fight is "good for the soul". Note that, for Spike, as much therapy comes from [[CombatSadomasochist being percussed]] as it does from killing his opponent.
115	* {{Portmanteau}}: Andrew refers to himself as a "guestage".
116	* PowerTrio: The Shadow Men
117	* {{Pun}}: Buffy describes Willow as "The Wicca Who Won't-a".
118	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
119	** Buffy gives one to the Potentials and Scoobies. Anya even lampshades it later.
120	-->'''Anya:''' You missed her "everyone sucks but me" speech. If she's so superior, let her find her own way back.
121	** She later delivers one to the Shadow Men:
122	-->'''Buffy''': You think I came all this way to get knocked up by some demon dust? I can't fight this. I know that now. But you guys? You're just men. Just the men who did this...to her. Whoever that girl was before she was the First Slayer.
123	-->'''Shadow Man''':You don't understand.
124	-->'''Buffy''': No, you don't understand! You violated that girl, made her kill for you because you're weak, you're pathetic, and you obviously have nothing to show me.
125	* SealedEvilInACan: A literal version with the Shadow Men keeping the essence of the demon in a box.
126	* SeriesContinuityError: Spike left his black leather duster at Buffy's place after his AttemptedRape in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E19SeeingRed Seeing Red]]". Having it in a box in the Sunnydale High basement implies he had it with him all the time. Or that he got it back in the course of the past episodes.
127	* SinkOrSwimMentor: Buffy jumps into the portal, knowing it will force Spike and Willow to overcome their insecurities to save her.
128	* SmartBall: Dawn can now read Sumerian; presumably because Creator/AnthonyStewartHead wasn't available for some reason.
129	* SpeakIllOfTheDead: After Chloe hangs herself, Buffy wastes no time lambasting her for [[SuicideIsShameful doing so]], summing her up as a weak idiot for quitting when things got tough.
130	-->'''Buffy''': Anyone want to say a few words about Chloe? Let me. Chloe was an idiot. Chloe was stupid. She was weak. And anyone in a rush to be the next dead body I bury, it's easy. Just...think of Chloe, and do what she did. And I'll find room for you next to her and Annabelle.
131	* SquishyWizard: It doesn't take much for Buffy to knock the Shadow Men on their keisters.
132	* StaircaseTumble: Buffy is knocked down the stairs in her dream by the First Slayer.
133	* StockNinjaWeaponry: Wood chucks some shuriken at the demon. They're about as [[AwesomeButImpractical useful as you'd expect]].
134	* SuicideIsShameful: Buffy expresses this when Chloe, spurred by the First Evil's manipulations, hangs herself. After burying her, Buffy has absolutely NoSympathy for her trauma or struggles, and openly calls her a stupid, weak idiot in front of the Scoobies and other Potential Slayers.
135	-->Anyone want to say a few words about Chloe? Let me. Chloe was an idiot. Chloe was stupid. She was weak. And anyone in a rush to be the next dead body I bury, it's easy. Just...think of Chloe, and do what she did. And I'll find room for you next to her and Annabelle.
136	* TeachHimAnger: Buffy has to do this with both with Spike (after he got a soul) and Willow (after briefly turning evil at the end of the previous season).
137	-->'''Spike:''' I did this for you. The soul, the changes -- it's what you wanted!
138	-->'''Buffy:''' What I want is the Spike that's dangerous. The Spike that tried to kill me when we met.
139	-->'''Spike:''' (angrily) Oh, you don't know how close you are to bringing him out.
140	-->'''Buffy:''' I'm nowhere near him.
141	* TemptingFate: Buffy says she's in some kind of simulation; one of the Shadow Men knocks her out with his staff. Later Buffy says, "Tell me something I don't know." The Shadow Men show her [[TheLegionsOfHell something she doesn't]] ''[[TheLegionsOfHell want]]'' [[TheLegionsOfHell to know]].
142	* TestosteronePoisoning / TerseTalker: Spike vs. Wood
143	* ThatCameOutWrong:
144	-->'''Wood:''' Buffy tells me you have been, um—oh, how shall I put it—experimenting. (Willow's eyes grow wide; she casts a "[[ExperimentedInCollege You said what?]]" glance at Buffy) With the magicks.
145	** Anya is disappointed that Ensouled!Spike didn't fight a demon to the death when Buffy and Robin Wood walk into the conversation.
146	-->'''Spike:''' No need to thank me. I'm just the one who beat him off.\
147	'''Buffy & Robin:''' [[{{Beat}} ...]]\
148	'''Spike:''' Repelled him would perhaps be the better phrase. (Buffy smirks) Demon...
149	* ToughLove: Buffy knows that the Potentials aren't ready to fight the First, so she chews them out in an attempt to motivate them to step up their game.
150	* TranslatorMicrobes: The Shadow Men's magic allows them to communicate with Buffy.
151	* UnholyHolySword: The source of the Slayer's power is a demon that was merged with the girl who became the First Slayer.
152	* VictimOfTheWeek: Kennedy acting out her DrillSergeantNasty fantasy by calling a vulnerable teenage girl a maggot leads to said girl being easy pickings for the First.
153	* WhatTheHellHero:
154	** Buffy gets called out on the way she's acting towards everyone.
155	** Kennedy is shocked when Willow drains her LifeEnergy.
156	** Buffy tells off the Shadow Men over how they physically violated a young girl and then forced her to do their fighting for them.
157	* WrongGenreSavvy: Kennedy clearly thinks she's in ''Film/FullMetalJacket.'' A little research into the film would reveal it was addressing her approach as the wrong one.
158	* YouTalkTooMuch: The Shadow Men comment that "The First Slayer did not talk so much."

Context Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E15GetItDone