Line #116 Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E8Pangs


1	-> '''Willow:''' If we could just talk to him--
2	-> '''Spike:''' You ''exterminated his race''. What could you possibly say that would make him feel better?
3
4	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_20190212_171440_video_player.jpg]]
5
6	Directed by Creator/MichaelLange
7
8	Written by Creator/JaneEspenson & Creator/DouglasPetrie
9
10	Buffy tracks and kills a vampire while Angel watches her from behind some bushes. The college has a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Cultural Center building, and Xander is one of the construction workers. Buffy, Willow, and Anya watch, and while Anya imagines sex with Xander, Buffy and Willow talk about the meaning of Thanksgiving. Xander begins to dig, the ground suddenly caves out under him and he drops into an old abandoned building, which turns out to be the Old Sunnydale Mission. Buffy is upset that her mother is going to be out of town for Thanksgiving, but then decides to cook her own Thanksgiving dinner and invite all their friends. Covered in a blanket and in terrible shape, Spike runs through the woods, trying to escape Riley and his team as they look for him. Anya arrives at Xander's to find him incredibly sick, and right away starts taking care of him. A green haze comes up from the old Mission and goes to the Cultural Center where some weapons are being kept. After the haze comes in contact with a spear, it turns into a large Native American man and kills Professor Gerhardt. Buffy and Willow later secretly investigate the murder, and wonder why the curator's body was missing an ear. They discover that a Chumash knife is missing. Buffy tells Giles about the murder while planning to have Thanksgiving at his place.
11
12	After Giles agrees to look up information on the Chumash Indians, and Buffy leaves, Angel appears from the back room, having travelled to Sunnydale due to his friend's vision of Buffy in danger. He and Giles talk about watching over Buffy. Angel tells him he doesn't want Buffy to know, though keeping a secret from Buffy is hard for both of them. Buffy and Willow talk about preparations for Thanksgiving and then Riley shows up. Buffy invites Riley to her Thanksgiving dinner, but he already has plans to visit family in Iowa. Willow goes to get coffee and runs into Angel. He tells her he's not evil, and that he's just looking out for Buffy because she might be in trouble. He quickly explains he's not here for personal reasons and only to keep Buffy safe, though contradicts that sentence when he asks who's that guy talking to Buffy, seemingly showing suspicion and slight jealousy.
13
14	Starving, Spike tries to get food from Harmony, but she threatens him with a stake and he leaves. Buffy goes to find Father Gabriel, a priest who may have information for them, but finds that a returning Chumash spirit has killed him. After the mission was uncovered, his spirit was released to reenact the wrongs that were done to his people. Buffy and Giles talk about it, while working on dinner and then Willow shows up with a stack of books on the Chumash. She explains that while they once were peaceful, the people of Sunnydale horribly mistreated them. Cutting off a victim's ear is a way to prove that the kill was successful. Willow and Giles argue about what happened between the Native Americans and the people who took their land and their lives. When Buffy goes to the kitchen, the two talk secretly about Angel's reappearance.
15
16	Anya practically carries Xander to Giles's place, and after some research, they determine that he probably has malaria, smallpox, and syphilis — some of the diseases that took a terrible toll when brought from Europe to a population without resistance.
17
18	With only a blanket to protect him from the sun, Spike shows up at Giles's place asking for help. Buffy is reluctant to give it, but after he offers inside information on the Initiative, and Willow helps him explain that he can't bite anyone anymore, they bring him inside and tie him to a chair.Everyone begins to argue about what they're going to do to stop the spirit. Willow doesn't want to kill him, but everyone else argues that that's the only way. While Willow, Anya and a weakened Xander go to find the Dean and warn him his life may be in danger, the spirit calls forth more spirits to help him get revenge for their people.
19
20	The spirits attack Buffy, Giles and Spike with arrows. Helplessly tied to a chair, all Spike can do is try to move out of the way as he gets hit with arrows. Willow, Xander and Anya encounter Angel on their way back and they determine that the Chumash went after Buffy. Buffy tries to go for more weapons, but gets an arrow in the arm. After riding over on bicycles, the Scooby Gang tries to attack the Chumash spirits as best they can with shovels. Angel shows up and helps them out. Buffy cuts one of the Chumash with his own knife and discovers that their own weapons can kill them. The spirit turns into a large black bear, which Spike desperately tries to get away from and ends up knocking the chair over. Buffy struggles with the bear and then stabs it. All the spirits disappear.
21
22	Angel walks away without being seen by Buffy, and later, the gang sits down to Thanksgiving dinner. Still tied to a chair, Spike sits with them and whines that he still hasn't been fed. Xander accidentally lets it slip that Angel was in town.
23
24	----
25	!!Tropes in this episode:
26	* AndThisIsFor: While [[WeNeedADistraction throwing things at bear Hus]], Xander shouts: "That's for giving me syphilis!"
27	* AnnoyingArrows: Buffy gets an arrow through her arm, and Spike gets turned into an arrow pin-cushion (fortunately none of them hit his heart). Justified for Spike, since he's a vampire and wounds like that are non-fatal as long as they don't hit his heart.
28	* AntiClimax: The terrible danger Doyle saw Buffy was in at the end of [[Recap/AngelS01E07BachelorParty "Bachelor Party"]] turns out to be an ordinary MonsterOfTheAesop. However, this does lead on to the excellent ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode [[Recap/AngelS01E08IWillRememberYou "I Will Remember You"]].
29	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: The quote at the top of this page snaps Willow out of her WhiteGuilt.
30	* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Giles realises that Hus is targeting authority figures, and sends the Scoobies to warn the Dean. Angel, however, points out that Hus is a warrior, so will target the strongest warrior among his enemies. Which of course means Buffy.
31	* BadNewsInAGoodWay:
32	-->'''Anya:''' The syphilis will make you blind and insane, but it won't kill you. The smallpox will do that.
33	* BaitAndSwitch: The episode opens with a handsome youth (clearly our VictimOfTheWeek) [[DontGoInTheWoods walking fearfully through the woods]], then jumping in fear as he comes face to face with... the Slayer! [[MookHorrorShow Turns out he's a vampire.]]
34	* BearHug: Happens literally with Bear-Hus.
35	* BearsAreBadNews: An angry Native American spirit is locked in combat against Buffy, upon which he transforms into a large grizzly. Spike promptly blames Buffy and starts freaking out.
36	-->'''Spike:''' [[OhCrap A BEAR! YOU MADE A BEAR!]]\
37	'''Buffy:''' I didn't mean to!\
38	'''Spike:''' UNDO IT! UNDO IT!
39	* BeingWatched: Buffy senses Angel's presence. As she [[StealthHiBye did not have this ability before]], it's likely an after-effect of [[KissOfTheVampire Angel feeding on her]] in [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E22GraduationDayPart2 "Graduation Day"]].
40	* BondOneLiner: The vampire of the week snarls that things were better in Sunnydale before Buffy arrived. Buffy stakes him, saying, "And they say one person can't make a difference."
41	* BlatantLies: Buffy is certainly not holding her Thanksgiving Dinner at Giles's house so he'll be stuck with the cleaning up.
42	* BreadEggsBreadedEggs:
43	-->'''Willow:''' Buffy, earlier you agreed with me about Thanksgiving. It's a sham. It's all about death.\
44	'''Buffy:''' It is a sham, but it's a sham with yams. It's a yam sham.\
45	'''Willow:''' You're not gonna jokey-rhyme your way out of this one.
46	* BuffySpeak: Buffy says the stolen Chumash knife is a "juicy piece of clueage." She wants to find a "non-slayee way" to stop Hus. Giles is Unfeeling Guy.
47	* TheBusCameBack: And he's not evil!
48	-->'''Anya:''' [[GoodIsNotNice What's he like when he is evil?]] ''[after Angel [[NeckSnap breaks an Indian's neck]]]''
49	* ButtMonkey:
50	** Xander again. He even mentions this episode during his rant over the trope in [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E1BuffyVsDracula "Buffy vs. Dracula"]].
51	** Spike as well. He spends the whole episode starving due to being unable to bite anyone, is chased by Initiative soldiers, gets kicked out of his old haunt by Harmony, gets punched in the face by Buffy, is tied up to a chair for the entire second half of the episode, and gets shot full of arrows by the spirits.
52	* CallBack:
53	** Angel gives a LongingLook up at Buffy's dorm window. Unlike Buffy's home, there's no apparent way to do an EnterStageWindow.
54	** Angel {{neck snap}}s an Indian as he did to Jenny Calendar in [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E17Passion "Passion"]], just to remind us that GoodIsNotNice.
55	* ConspicuouslyLightPatch: A rare live-action example. As Xander starts to dig, you can see the dirt around him is smooth, except for the patch he starts digging at.
56	* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: An Indian is about to stab Buffy InTheBack when Angel kills him. Buffy doesn't see this as she's busy fighting Hus.
57	* CoughSnarkCough: The commandos are griping about how Prof. Walsh is making them search for Spike on Thanksgiving Day.
58	-->'''Riley:''' As long as he knows about the Initiative, he's a threat. We do this the Professor's way.\
59	'''Forrest:''' ''[Coughing the words]'' Mama's boy.\
60	'''Riley:''' That's a nasty cough. You might need to spend the weekend in quarantine.\
61	'''Forrest:''' Oh, no. I'm done coughing.
62	* CradleOfLoneliness: Buffy hugs Gordo the stuffed pig, before suggesting they all get together for Thanksgiving.
63	* CrazyPrepared: Harmony has been keeping a stake in her bed ever since Spike left, just in case he comes back.
64	* DecapitatedArmy: Killing Hus makes the other spirit warriors disappear.
65	* DescriptionCut: Buffy says, "Isn't that the whole point of Thanksgiving--everybody has a place to go?" Cut to Spike walking around the forest, wearing a blanket, looking desolate.
66	* DistractedByTheSexy: Anya spends the entirety of the opening staring at Xander in his wife beater preparing to do manual labor.
67	-->'''Anya:''' I'm imagining having sex with him again.
68	* DownOnTheFarm: Lampshaded by Riley when he describes the farm he grew up on, and admits he's making it sound like a [[AmericanGothicCouple Grant Wood painting]].
69	* EarAche: Hus cuts an ear off his victims as a BattleTrophy.
70	-->'''Willow:''' The coroner's office said she was missing an ear. So I'm thinking, Maybe we're looking for a witch. There's some great spells that work much better with an ear in the mix.\
71	'''Buffy:''' [[NightmareFetishist That's one fun little hobby you've got there]], Will.\
72	'''Willow:''' Or... Or maybe an ear-harvesting demon that--it's, like, [[InsaneTrollLogic building another demon completely out of ears]]. Or... Ooh! [[SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud Thought!]] We're just assuming someone else cut off the ear. What if it was self-inflicted, like Creator/VincentVanGogh?\
73	'''Buffy:''' So... [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch she brutally stabbed herself, dumped the body, then cut off her own ear?]]
74	* EntitledBastard: Spike genuinely expects Buffy and the Scoobies to help him out when he shows up, half-starved and crazy, on Giles' doorstep.
75	-->'''Spike''': What part of "help me" did you not understand?\
76	'''Buffy''': The part where I help you.
77	* FantasticFragility: Hus can only be killed by his own knife.
78	* FloorboardFailure: Xander disturbs Hus's spirit when he falls through the floorboards of an old mission buried by a long-ago earthquake.
79	* FlyoverCountry: "Iowa. That's one of the ones in the middle, right?"
80	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Willow wonders what kinds of archaeological secrets are hidden underground in Sunnydale, just beneath her feet. [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22Grave Temples, perhaps]]. Good for her.
81	* GetOut:
82	-->'''Harmony:''' Get out!\
83	'''Spike:''' But, baby, this is where I belong. \
84	'''Harmony:''' ''[pointing]'' Out. I mean it. I've been doing a lot of reading, and I'm in control of my own power now, so we're through.
85	* HandGagging: Angel to Willow, who naturally jumps to the conclusion that he's turned evil again.
86	* HeKnowsTooMuch: Even though Spike has been [[RestrainingBolt chipped]] and can't actually hurt anyone, Professor Walsh still sends her men after him for this reason. It's why he turns to Buffy and the Scoobies for help.
87	-->'''Forrest''': It's neutered. The implant works great. He can't hurt a single living thing.\
88	'''Riley''': As long as he knows about the Initiative, he's a threat.
89	* HeroStoleMyBike: The Scoobies steal some bikes to get back to Giles' apartment in a hurry, which leads to a [[MyHorseIsAMotorbike shot of them pedaling along]] to BigDamnHeroes-type music.
90	* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: Happy Thanksgiving. Here's some funny syphilis.
91	* HorrorHunger: Spike is starving because he can't kill anyone.
92	-->'''Spike:''' You know what happens to vampires who don't get to feed? Living skeletons, mate. Like famine pictures from those dusty countries, only not half as funny.
93	* HotMenAtWork: Anya [[EatingTheEyeCandy watching]] Xander dig.
94	-->'''Buffy:''' ''[[[ShipperOnDeck suggestively]]]'' Soon he'll be sweating.\
95	'''Anya:''' I'm imagining having sex with him again.
96	* HumanPincushion: Spike, much to his annoyance.
97	-->'''Spike:''' Hey! Watch the heart!
98	* HypocriticalHumor:
99	** Spike derides the idea of apologising to the Chumash, but quickly changes his mind once they start shooting him full of arrows.
100	** Angel says he's not here for personal reasons, then gets jealous when he sees Buffy talking to Riley.
101	** Buffy is telling Willow that even the thought of killing Hus is making her feel bad, only to (yet again) interrupt this touching speech to discuss the cooking arrangements.
102	** Buffy berates Giles for not having a ricer, then admits she doesn't even know what one is.
103	** After her rather self-righteous attitude to the Hus situation throughout the episode, Willow gets ''very'' into beating up on Hus and the spirits when the crunch time actually comes. There is a bit of a HypocrisyNod, as afterwards at the dinner Willow is clearly feeling a bit guilty about how quickly she turned to blood-lust.
104	* ILikeMyXLikeILikeMyY:
105	-->'''Buffy:''' I like my evil like [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys I like my men]]--evil. You know; [[DastardlyWhiplash straight up]], [[GoodColorsEvilColors black hat]], [[ChainedToARailway tied to the train tracks]], "[[EvilGloating soon my]] [[DeathRay electro-ray]] [[EvilPlan will destroy Metropolis]]" bad. Not all mixed up with guilt and the destruction of an indigenous culture.
106	* ImStandingRightHere: Xander accidentally burns Anya.
107	-->'''Xander:''' He's a vengeance demon. You don't talk to vengeance demons. You kill them.
108	* IndianBurialGround: Specifically, a Spanish mission in which many Native Americans died of European diseases, buried intact under UC Sunnydale.
109	* INeedAFreakingDrink:
110	** Spike says he wouldn't mind some of the brandy being used for the cooking. Everyone ignores him.
111	** He also constantly demands blood, which of course everyone also ignores until the following episode. Buffy says he can have some gravy instead. "That has blood in it. I think."
112	* InUniverseFactoidFailure: Referring to the Chumash, Spike says "You [i.e. white Americans] exterminated his race." This is technically incorrect, as there are still several thousand Chumash living in and around the California area today.
113	* InvertedTrope: The vampire as scared victim being attacked by the BigBad Buffy.
114	* JerkassHasAPoint: The MonsterOfTheWeek is a Native American ghost who's killing white people the same way bounty hunters killed his people as revenge. Willow is reluctant to act because she feels really guilty about what the colonists did and everybody else is trying to convince her that they do have to fight him because he's killing innocent people. It's Spike of all people that finally gets through to her. He points out that the Europeans invaded with better weapons, killed the natives and took their land, which the whole ''point'' of conquering new territories. Humans have been doing it for as long as they have been around ("It's what Caesar did, and he's not going around saying, "I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it"). He then goes on to say that the Team is ''not'' going to be able to save anybody if they keep their PoliticalOvercorrectness attitude up, and the ghost '''''does not care''''' if they feel bad for the gruesome actions of their ancestors -- it's pissed off and wants them all dead. When Willow then suggests that they could talk to the ghost, he asks her what she could possibly say to make him feel better about white people exterminating his tribe, destroying any and all argument against fighting the ghost. This is especially poigant because Giles made those exact same points earlier.
115	--> '''Xander''': Maybe it's the syphilis talking, but some of that made sense.
116	* KarmicDeath: Hus goes around cutting off ears and hanging people, like bounty hunters did to his people.
117	* LastSecondWordSwap: Spike, running his hand up Harmony's leg.
118	-->'''Spike:''' I knew you'd end up welcoming me back with open... arms.
119	* MagicalNativeAmerican: Buffy faces a Native American vengeance spirit who can shapeshift, and summon ghostly Native American warriors. Arguably this is an {{aver\|tedTrope}}sion / {{subver\|tedTrope}}sion / {{deconstruction}}. Magic is hardly limited to Native Americans in the Buffyverse (in fact the show's setting is an unusually magical part of the world), and this trope is sort of examined--Willow feels sympathetic to the spirit since it's avenging legitimate wrongs, while everyone else points out that, you know, it's still a ''murderous vengeance spirit'' that kills people and [[{{Squick}} gave Xander magical syphilis]]. They wind up destroying it at the end.
120	* {{Metaphorgotten}}:
121	-->'''Willow:''' Yeah. Thanksgiving isn't about blending of two cultures; it's about one culture wiping out another. And then they make animated specials about the part where, with the maize and the big, big belt buckles. They don't show you the next scene, where all the bison die and Squanto takes a musket ball in the stomach.\
122	'''Buffy:''' Ok. Now, for some of that, you were channeling your mother.
123	* MissedHimByThatMuch: Pausing for one last look at Buffy through the window, Angel walks off into the darkness. Buffy looks out the window a moment later.
124	* NewJobAsThePlotDemands: Xander is now a construction worker, causing Buffy to gripe about missing out on free food. However the trope is averted after this, as construction work turns out to be something Xander is good at. And it turns out to be useful, what with [[KungShui all the times Buffy's house gets wrecked]].
125	* NonchalantDodge: We see an amusing crossbow error as Buffy shoots a bolt at the Native American ghost outside the window, who just casually bends aside as the bolt sails veeery slowly out into the night.
126	** That appears to be an actual SlowMotion shot.
127	* NoSympathy: Buffy opens the door to find a pallid and smoldering Spike, huddled under a blanket and [[MustBeInvited pleading for an invitation]] before he burns up in the sun. When she refuses, Spike hurls himself at the door, and everyone smirks as he just bounces off the threshold. [[EnemyMine Spike only gets in when he reveals he has information on the Initiative.]]
128	-->'''Spike''': Help me. ''[Buffy shoves him back into the sun and he starts sizzling]'' What part of "Help me" did you not understand?!\
129	'''Buffy''': The part where I ''help'' you.
130	* NotHelpingYourCase:
131	-->'''Spike:''' Look, I'm safe. I can't bite anyone. Willow, tell 'em what I did.\
132	'''Willow:''' You said you were gonna kill me, then Buffy.\
133	'''Spike:''' Yes, bad, but let's skip that part...
134	** The Scoobies go to warn the Dean he might be next on Hus' list.
135	--->'''Anya:''' Well, that was a waste of time.\
136	'''Xander:''' I think he thought we were crazy.\
137	'''Willow:''' Maybe if Anya hadn't opened the conversation with, "Everybody got both ears?"
138	* NowYouTellMe: Angel rings Giles to warn that Hus will probably target Buffy. Giles, who's [[KindaBusyHere crouched behind a sofa with Buffy dodging arrows]], says he already knows.
139	* OhCrap: Buffy and Spike's reaction when Hus turns into a bear.
140	-->'''Spike''': A bear?! You made a bear!\
141	'''Buffy''': I didn't mean to!\
142	'''Spike''': ''Undo it! Undo it!!''
143	* OhWaitThisIsMyGroceryList: Willow starts reading what she thinks is a list of ingredients for a magic potion, only to be told it's the recipe for the turkey stuffing.
144	* PillowPistol: A somewhat more reasonable version. Harmony keeps a wooden stake under her mattress, which she uses to drive off Spike.
145	-->'''Spike:''' You had that in our bed?! Do you know how dangerous that is?!
146	* PlotArmor: Spike takes several arrows to the torso during the stand-off with the Chumash warriors, all of which conveniently miss his heart.
147	* PoliticalOvercorrectness:
148	** Parodied.
149	-->'''Giles:''' It's clear we're dealing with a spirit of some kind. It's very common for Indian spirits to change to animal form.
150	-->'''Buffy:''' It's plenty uncommon for me to freeze up during a fight. I mean, I had the guy, I was ready for the take-down, and I stopped. And "Native American."
151	-->'''Giles:''' Sorry?
152	-->'''Buffy:''' We don't say "Indian."
153	-->'''Giles:''' Oh, right. Yes, yes. Um, always behind on the terms. Still trying not to refer to you lot as "bloody colonials."
154	** Spike naturally has some rather caustic things to say about everyone's WhiteGuilt-infused attempts to come up with a solution to the Hus problem.
155	-->'''Spike:''' Listen to you. How you gonna fight anyone with that attitude?
156	* PsychoStrings: Stake-wielding Harmony.
157	* RageBreakingPoint: Angel says he needs to stay away from Buffy for her own good, causing Willow to start ranting about Oz until Angel brings her back on track.
158	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Spike rather bluntly points out]] that the WhiteGuilt hand-wringing the Scoobies are doing about Hus is not helping the situation any.
159	-->'''Spike:''' I just can't stand all this namby-pamby boohooing about the bloody Indians!\
160	'''Willow:''' Uh, the correct term is--\
161	'''Spike:''' You won! Alright? You came in, and you killed them, and you took their land! It's what conquering nations do! It's what Caesar did, and he's not going around saying "I came, I conquered, ''[whiny]'' I feel really bad about it!" The history of the world isn't people making friends. You had better weapons and you massacred them. End of story.
162	* RequiredSpinoffCrossOver: After these events, Buffy visits Los Angeles to express her annoyance to Series/{{Angel}} personally in "[[Recap/AngelS01E08IWillRememberYou I Will Remember You]]".
163	* RuleOfThrees:
164	** Xander has the symptoms of malaria, smallpox and syphilis.
165	** Willow knocks on the door, then Anya (supporting Xander). The third time Buffy answers the door, it's Spike.
166	* RuleOfSymbolism: When Hus is first disturbed, Buffy is wearing a black cowboy hat.
167	* RunningGag:
168	** Every conversation Buffy has [[BaitAndSwitchComment gets turned to the subject of food]].
169	** The Scoobies assuming Angel has turned evil again.
170	** More comparisons are made between Spike's RestrainingBolt and impotence.
171	** Giles gets yet another TapOnTheHead when an Indian repeatedly slams his head into a wall.
172	** [[TheThingThatWouldNotLeave Spike turning up at Buffy's door]], wrapped in a smouldering blanket, is a gag that continues all the way to Season 6.
173	* SarcasmMode:
174	** Giles gets in plenty in this episode.
175	--->'''Giles:''' Let's give him land!\
176	'''Buffy:''' Sarcasm accomplishes nothing, Giles.\
177	'''Giles:''' It's sort of an end in itself.
178	** And of course Spike.
179	--->'''Spike:''' You came in, and you killed them, and you took their land. That's what conquering nations do. It's what Caesar did, and he's not going around saying "I came, I conquered, ''I feel really bad about it''."
180	** And Buffy when Spike says he's harmless now.
181	--->'''Buffy:''' So you haven't murdered anybody lately? Let's be best pals!
182	** Buffy in response to a BadassBoast by Hus.
183	--->'''Hus:''' [[IAmTheNoun I am vengeance.]] I am my people's cry. They call for Hus, for the avenging spirit to carve out justice.\
184	'''Buffy:''' They tell you to start an ear collection?
185	** Buffy and Giles are pinned down behind the sofa.
186	--->'''Giles:''' Uh, we need a plan.\
187	'''Buffy:''' Yes, let's talk about it some more. Where's your weapons chest?
188	* SayingTooMuch: Oh, Xander.
189	-->'''Willow:''' All of us working together; it's just like old times.\
190	'''Xander:''' Yeah, especially with Angel here and everything.\
191	''[As Buffy was not told this, she glares down the table at a shame-faced Willow, an embarrassed Xander and Giles, and Spike trying not to laugh.]''\
192	''[[[InterruptedByTheEnd Roll credits.]]]''\
193	'''Xander:''' Oops.
194	* SeriousBusiness: Buffy's Thanksgiving dinner, though unlike other examples of this trope in the series, Buffy actually gets the dinner she wants, once all the spirits have disappeared.
195	* ShapedLikeItself:
196	-->'''Riley:''' ... and I know what you're thinking. It's like I grew up in a [[AmericanGothicCouple Grant Wood painting]].\
197	'''Buffy:''' Exactly. [[PopCulturalOsmosisFailure If I knew who that was.]]\
198	'''Riley:''' Just a guy who painted stuff that looked like where I grew up.
199	* ShoutOut:
200	** Spike is the Poor Little Match Girl, wrapped in a blanket, out in the cold, sadly looking through windows at brightly lit scenes of vampire families slaughtering the innocent...
201	** The aforementioned bike scene, straight out of ''[[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T.]]''
202	** Spike makes a belated apology to the Chumash. [[Series/GetSmart "Sorry about that, Chief!"]]
203	* ShovelStrike: Willow and Anya whaling on one of the Chumash.
204	* SicklyGreenGlow: Which coalesces into the form of Hus and his fellow vengeance spirits.
205	* SlashedThroat: Hus's first victim.
206	* SoapboxSadie: Willow, regarding the whitewashing of history surrounding Thanksgiving. A valid perspective, until it starts confusing her views regarding the vengeance spirit killing innocents in the modern day.
207	* SoMuchForStealth: Giles and Willow conclude Angel's MysteriousProtector act isn't what it used to be.
208	* SwordOverHead: Buffy balks at killing Hus after he reveals his motive.
209	* TalkAboutThatThing: When Buffy runs into Riley outside the Expresso Pump.
210	-->'''Willow:''' Hi. Well, I'm just gonna let you two... Look, they're selling coffee in the coffee shop. Yum.
211	* TechnicalPacifist: Buffy is reluctant to hurt Hus, but eventually gets over it. Willow too bemoans how it only took her life being in danger to turn her into General Custer.
212	* TemptingFate:
213	** Spike pleads for an invitation now that he's got his RestrainingBolt. "Come on, what have you got to be afraid of?" AnswerCut to Hus raising more spirit warriors.
214	** "So you haven't murdered anybody lately? Let's be best pals!" Thanks to the RestrainingBolt, Buffy will end up trusting Spike a lot more than she should.
215	* ThanksgivingEpisode: Xander gets cursed by a Native American spirit with the diseases brought over by Europeans. Angel returns from his own series to help Buffy out against the spirits from behind the scenes.
216	* TookALevelInJerkass: Willow gets pretty snotty and self-righteous towards the others about the Hus situation, more so than she normally is. While her general attitude towards the more problematic aspects of Thanksgiving and the cultural issues facing Native Americans is not without its merits, it's when she displays a similar attitude while everyone's trying to stop Hus from wiping out people who, for all the sins of history, had nothing to do with Hus' grievance that it really begins to be a problem.
217	* TwangHello: Begins the final fight at Giles's.
218	* TwistedEchoCut:
219	** Willow asks what the stolen Chumash knife looks like; SmashCut to Buffy telling Giles:
220	--->'''Buffy:''' Pretty darn scary... [[BaitAndSwitchComment It was more like a riot than a Ralph's]]. I thought I was going to have to use Slayer moves on this one woman who was completely hoarding the pumpkin pie filling.
221	** And this...
222	--->'''Riley:''' What's the line? Home's the place that, when you have to go there...\
223	'''Buffy:''' They have to take you in.\
224	''[Cut to Harmony glaring at Spike]''\
225	'''Harmony:''' Get out!
226	* VerbalBackspace:
227	-->'''Spike:''' I came to you in friendship. ''[Buffy gives him a look]'' Well, all right, seething hatred...
228	* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: After all the hand-wringing about dealing with Hus in light of the atrocities his people suffered, Spike points out that Hus simply ''doesn't care'' about their WhiteGuilt; he's angry and vengeful and just wants them all dead. And even if Hus ''was'' willing to talk, there's very little the Scoobies could actually say that would make up for said atrocities, their inaction isn't helping the situation, and if they want to survive they've got no choice but to fight Hus and destroy him no matter how bad they feel about it.
229	-->'''Spike:''' It's kill or be killed here. Take your bloody pick.
230	* VoluntaryShapeshifting: The Chumash spirit morphs into a flock of ravens and a bear.
231	* WallGlower: A starving and homeless Spike stares longingly through a window at a pack of vampires encouraging a newbie to feed on a victim. Angel does his own version, giving Buffy a LongingLook before doing his StealthHiBye.
232	%%* WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere: Much to Spike's frustration.
233	* WhiteGuilt: The Scoobies do a lot of hemming and hawwing about how to handle a Native American spirit bent on vengeance against the white man. On the one hand, he's hurting more-or-less-innocent people. On the OTHER hand, it's true that his people were horribly oppressed.... It takes an epic TheReasonYouSuckSpeech from Spike to goad them into decisive action. Spike's speech itself deconstructs this concept, since he rather bluntly (and politically incorrectly) points out that the spirit simply ''doesn't care'' about their white guilt -- it's pissed off and wants them all dead, and even if it was willing to talk there isn't actually a lot the Scoobies could say to defend themselves or make themselves better. [[JerkassHasAPoint Essentially, he points out that while the Scoobies might have reason to feel guilty for what their ancestors did, their embracing of this trope is just self-indulgent hand-wringing that's preventing them from taking any meaningful action to solve the problem]].
234	* WhyWontYouDie: Combined with PunctuatedPounding. The spirit warriors can't be killed unless Hus dies, and he can [[KryptoniteFactor only be killed]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard by his own knife]].
235	* WomanScorned: Harmony throws Spike out of the crypt when he goes there looking for food.
236	* WorryingForTheWrongReason: Xander is in a panic because he has been cursed with a host of diseases. He's most stressed about the syphilis. Don't worry, Anya has experience in cursing men with diseases.
237	-->'''Anya:''' It'll make you blind and insane, but it won't kill you. The smallpox will.
238	* WrittenInAbsence: Joyce spends Thanksgiving in Illinois with Buffy's Aunt Arlene. Creator/KristineSutherland was actually living in Italy for a great deal of season four which is why she's conveniently not in the episode.
239	* YouWouldntShootMe: When Spike says this in response to Harmony's brandished stake, she reminds him sharply, "You did it to ''me'', remember?" (in [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E3TheHarshLightOfDay "The Harsh Light of Day"]])

Context Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E8Pangs