Line #71 Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E20Touched


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_20190219_070000_video_player.jpg]]
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3	->''"You listen to me. I've been alive a bit longer than you, and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine, and done things I'd prefer you didn't. Don't exactly have a reputation for being a thinker. I follow my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain. I've made a lot of mistakes. A lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred plus years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of: you ... Here, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say "I love you", it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are. What you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand, with perfect clarity, exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the One, Buffy."''
4	-->--'''Spike'''
5
6	Directed by Creator/DavidSolomon
7
8	Written by Creator/RebeccaKirshner & Creator/DrewZGreenberg
9
10	With Buffy gone, the rest of the gang sit around and debate how they are going to deal now that they don't have Buffy making decisions for them. In the midst of their debating and arguing, the power goes out and Faith concludes the power company has left town and taken the power with them. Meanwhile, Buffy watches as people load up their cars and plan to escape the city, then breaks into a house in search of a place to stay. The owner is still there, but Buffy quietly convinces him it's a smart idea to leave town because nothing in Sunnydale belongs to any of them anymore.
11
12	At the Gilroy mission, Andrew talks incessantly to Spike while the vampire waits for the sun to go down again. Worried about Buffy, Spike temporarily gets Andrew to shut up and they continue to wait. Down in the Summers' basement, Faith and the others talk about their plan and their enemies. Kennedy pushes for a say in decisions, but Faith steps up and makes it very clear that, now that Buffy's gone, she's the leader they all voted for and they all need to accept that, and the Potential reluctantly backs off. Faith decides they should go after the Bringers to attempt to gain information about the First Evil or Caleb from one of them. Kennedy walks alone down an alley until a Bringer steps out of the shadows and tries to attack her. The Bringer is ambushed by the rest of the Scooby Gang and taken as a captive. Back at the house, they find that the Bringer is without a tongue. Dawn suggests a spell she read about in an old Turkish text used to communicate with the dying that would allow them to hear from the Bringer.
13
14	Andrew and Spike return to the Summers residence. When Spike asks about Buffy, Willow tries to explain with an embellished version of what happened the previous night. Spike is not convinced that Buffy would "take a time off" during an apocalypse and realizes that the others turned their back on Buffy by kicking her out. Furious over their betrayal, he snaps at them for being ungrateful after all that she has done for them. When an unimpressed Faith interrupts his speech, Spike physically attacks her, going so far as to taunt her, claiming that she has always been jealous of Buffy's life and demanding to know where Buffy has gone. After admitting she doesn't know, Faith stands prepared to continue, but Spike has lost interest. He steps outside to catch Buffy's scent and follows the trail in search of Buffy.
15
16	In the basement, Willow uses a spell to get the Bringer to talk, while Kennedy, Giles, Xander, and Andrew sit around waiting. Andrew begins to talk whilst the group wonders if the spell worked, but they soon realize that he's speaking for the Bringer. He explains that the Bringers are everywhere preparing for battle, taunting them until Giles becomes angry and slashes the Bringer's throat, breaking his spell on Andrew, who complains that it could have magically led to his own beheading.
17
18	Spike finds Buffy curled up in a bed at the house she broke into. He notes that Sunnydale has gone to hell, as he didn't even need an invitation. He tells her about the vineyard and what they found: she was right. But Buffy doesn't seem to care anymore and is ready to give up. Spike tries to convince her that she shouldn't listen to what they said, reminding her of everything that ever happened, but she never gave up.
19
20	Giles and Faith look over a map as they plan to begin a search through the sewers for the Bringer's hideout and decide to attack there the next day. As Giles leaves, the First in the form of Richard Wilkins appears to Faith. She knows what he is and isn't fazed, but he prods anyway, praising her for kicking Buffy out and warning that Buffy is a dangerous threat.
21
22	Meanwhile Spike works to convince Buffy that she is still needed. She talks about how she detached herself from the Potentials and how detaching herself from people is something she's done for as long as she's been the Slayer. Spike talks about how much he admires her but that this wasn't about his feelings. He says that he knows every side of her and in all the years of his unlife she's the only thing that he was always sure of, but she answers she doesn't want to be the one. Spike starts to leave so Buffy can rest, but she asks him to stay and just hold her.
23
24	Robin interrupts Faith and they talk about the First's visits with both of them and the effect it had. They express their apprehension about the coming battle, then Faith takes things in a different direction. They kiss and tumble onto the bed.
25
26	Willow returns to her room to find Kennedy waiting for her and all of the other Potentials gone from the room. They kiss, but Willow breaks it up, worried that if they let things go too far, she will lose the self-control that she has been working for and something bad may happen. Kennedy convinces her that everything will be okay and she will "anchor" Willow, then the two get back to kissing. Buffy and Spike continue to hold each other, while Anya and Xander, Faith and Robin, and Willow and Kennedy all have sex. The First talks to Caleb about the gang and the knowledge that they are all taking comfort in each others' arms. The priest answers with how he has its strength inside of him and the First's need to feel. The next morning, Faith gives out her orders to the gang, sending some to go find Buffy and others to help her investigate the sewers. Spike wakes up to find Buffy gone and a note left in her absence.
27
28	At the vineyard, the First talks with Caleb about their progress, but the First is impatient, worried that Buffy may get her hands on what they have. A Bringer is tossed down the stairs of the cellar and the real Buffy stands at the top, asking for whatever it is Caleb has of hers. Buffy goads Caleb into attacking her, but instead of taking a beating, she keeps her distance and avoids his blows. In the sewers, Faith and the girls find the Bringer's lair and the Bringers that live there. Meanwhile, as the battle with Caleb dies down, Buffy spots a trap door in the floor and dives through it. The girls battle with the Bringers, eventually disposing of all of them. After the fight ends, Kennedy finds a stairway that leads to an area below the sewers. Buffy finds a weapon embedded in a rock, while Faith finds a locked metal box. Faith breaks open the box only to find a bomb inside, ticking away with a few seconds to go as she tells everyone to take cover.
29	----
30
31	!!Tropes Are:
32	* AchillesInHisTent: Having been deposed, Buffy mopes in an abandoned house. One pep talk from and night being cared for by Spike later, she's back to her old self again.
33	* ActuallyPrettyFunny: In her depressed state, Buffy gets a chuckle at Spike's lamenting that he didn't ask to be handsome and athletic.
34	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Spike, furious at the Scoobies for betraying Buffy, reminds them of how she not only repeatedly saved their lives but literally died for them and if this is how they thank her. None of them can answer, though Faith tells him the time for speeches is over.
35	* BackForTheFinale: Creator/HarryGroener reappears as the Mayor, via the First, to taunt Faith.
36	* BadassLongcoat: Buffy becomes a [[ActorAllusion Badass Browncoat]] to fight Creator/NathanFillion.
37	* BadLiar: Willow tells Spike that Buffy decided to take some time off as leader. He doesn't buy it for a second.
38	-->Uh-huh. I see. Been practicing that little speech long, have you? So Buffy took some time off right in the middle of the apocalypse and it was her decision?
39	* TheBait: Kennedy acts in this role to lure out a Bringer.
40	-->'''Giles:''' Your performance as a disgruntled minion was spot on.\
41	'''Kennedy:''' I {{method\|Acting}}.
42	* BaitAndSwitchComment: The First talks of how it envies the [[SexualKarma good people who are all having good sex]] -- it's referring to being able to touch people, because the First would like to be able to [[NeckSnap snap someone's neck]].
43	* BeautifulDreamer: Spike watches Buffy when she is asleep in his arms, and Buffy does the exact same thing the next morning; she wakes up before Spike does, and spends a few moments tenderly stroking his hair and watching him sleep. Awww.
44	* BigBlackout: For once this doesn't herald [[DarknessEqualsDeath an attack by the enemy]]; it's because the employees of the power company [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere have also left town]].
45	* BilingualBonus: According to the shooting script Willow is saying in Turkish while casting the spell on the Bringer, "You are getting sleepy. Very, very sleepy. I do not have a pocket watch but then again, [[EyelessFace you do not have eyes]]."
46	* BookDumb
47	-->'''Robin:''' That's exactly what the First does; finds your {{Achilles heel}}.
48	-->'''Faith:''' Nah, it just talked to me. What? It does a heal thing too?
49	-->'''Robin:''' Um, it's a phrase. Your weak spot.
50	-->'''Faith:''' Oh, [[BuffySpeak school thing]]. I was kinda absent that decade.
51	* {{Bowdlerise}}: Some of Willow's/Kennedy's sex scene was cut from broadcast on TV.
52	* BrutalHonesty:
53	-->'''Vi:''' I don't want to die.
54	-->'''Anya:''' Don't worry. It's far more likely you'll live long enough to watch most of your friends die first. And then you'll die.
55	* BuffySpeak: Buffy is an attain-a-thon.
56	* CallBack:
57	** Buffy snarks at Spike that he really has a problem with the word "No", which has been the case throughout their relationship, from Spike's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E14Crush Crush]]" to his AttemptedRape in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E19SeeingRed Seeing Red]]".
58	** Faith tells Spike "the time for speeches is over" in reference to Buffy's recent habit of speechifying.
59	** Willow worries that making love to Kennedy will make her lose control and turn evil. Although the events of "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E13TheKillerInMe The Killer in Me]]" are specifically mentioned, the similarities to Angel's SexFaceTurn in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E13Surprise Surprise]]" are obvious.
60	** Spike notes that he remembers there being quite a bit of "connecting" between him and Buffy, calling back their intensely sexual relationship from the season before.
61	* TheChainsOfCommanding: Faith starts to feel them (gee, that was fast). Buffy lampshades it to Spike when he offers to kill Faith. "That's my problem. I say the word, some girl dies...every time."
62	* CharacterizationMarchesOn: This episode and the next confirm what Faith previously told everyone about her not being a great leader -- this is in stark contrast to her taking the reins of Angel Investigations not even a few weeks prior and doing very well. It might be justified because that was a small team of trained fighters, while this is an army of mostly teenaged and inexperienced [[ActionSurvivor Action Survivors]].
63	* {{Cliffhanger}}: Faith and the Potentials raid the Bringer armory, only to find an IncrediblyObviousBomb ticking down the last few seconds.
64	* ContinuityNod:
65	** Spike inadvertently repeats Riley Finn's "You're a hell of a woman" line from "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E15AsYouWere As You Were]]".
66	** Giles is once again accused of being self-conscious about one of his students surpassing him in skill. Spike does it now (about Buffy) just as Willow did (about herself) in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22Grave Grave]]".
67	* DarkenedBuildingShootout: Faith and the Potentials get into hand-to-hand combat with Bringers in a dark room, with the action lit mainly by the flashlights the girls are carrying.
68	* [[DeadManWriting Dead Girl Writing]]: The length of the message Buffy left on Spike's pillow implies that she didn't expect to come back -- though we [[TheUnreveal never find out what it says]].
69	* DeadpanSnarker: Spike shows how he loved being on a mission with Andrew.
70	-->'''Spike:''' Bit of fresh air, that one. Thank God I don't breathe.
71	** Then Faith tells Spike she's not interested in his reason-you-suck-speech, "so save your lack of breath."
72	* DemocracyIsBad: Things devolve into chaos until Faith elects herself Fuhrer.
73	* DemonicPossession: The Bringer talks via Andrew's mouth. Andrew isn't happy when Giles cuts the Bringer's throat, [[YourMindMakesItReal as he felt it too]].
74	-->"I feel used and violated... and I [[TheTriple need a lozenge]]."
75	* DevotedToYou: Spike firmly cements himself as this for Buffy, being the only one to support and care for her even when no one else is.
76	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Faith, who has no leadership qualities whatsoever (which she'd pointed out to them), is put in charge. Her first plan leads herself and several Potentials into a DeathTrap involving Bringers, a bomb, and several Turok-Han vampires, with the survivors only being saved by Buffy's BigDamnHeroes moment. Several of them decide that the whole ordeal was LaserGuidedKarma for turning against Buffy.
77	** The Potentials, upset with Buffy's leadership, kick her out and make Faith the leader instead, immediately learning that Faith is much less willing to countenance dissension or backtalk and is a "my way or the highway" kind of leader.
78	** The Bringers are mystically created slaves of the First Evil. Did you really think you could kidnap one and threaten/torture it into talking...and that'd be it?
79	* DodgeTheBullet: Buffy dodges Caleb's first punch by doing a ''[[Film/TheMatrix Matrix]]''-style backwards flippy thing.
80	* DontSneakUpOnMeLikeThat: Faith to Wood, because Faith has been spooked by her meeting with Mayor!First.
81	* DoubleVision: When Caleb fails to land a punch on Buffy, the First tells him off for lack of focus. Caleb snaps that the First appearing as Buffy at the time isn't helping. First!Buffy disappears with an irritated flash.
82	* DramaticGunCock: There's a sound when a homeowner brandishes a shotgun at Buffy. It's a hammerless double-barreled type that should not produce such a sound.
83	* DynamicEntry: Buffy tossing a dead Bringer down the stairs into the wine cellar.
84	* EyepatchOfPower: Xander now wears one. Justified given his own nerd credentials; in the Season 8 comics he enjoys comparing himself to ComicBook/NickFury.
85	* FirstNameBasis: Spike pointedly addresses Giles as "Rupert".
86	* GetOut: Faith to Mayor!First, who needless to say doesn't.
87	* GoodIsNotNice: Buffy evicts a man from his own house just so she can crash there. Spike offers to kill Faith for Buffy (granted, jokingly...mostly). Giles cuts the throat of their prisoner.
88	* HeroicBSOD: Buffy after her friends kick her out.
89	* HideYourLesbians: Averted with the first lesbian sex scene on network television. And it didn't even involve a spell.
90	* HiveMind: Turns out the Bringers form one.
91	* AHouseDivided: PlayedStraight until Faith asserts her authority; then the Scoobies and Potentials fight as a well-oiled team. This implies that all they needed from Buffy was some proper leadership without the holier than thou attitude and a plan that made sense.
92	* HypocriticalHumor: "Please don't mention parliamentary procedure." / "I second that."
93	* ForbiddenFruit: Buffy assumes this was the reason Spike became fixated on her, which rightfully brasses him off and prompts his LoveConfession.
94	* IShallTauntYou: Caleb calls Buffy a whore. Buffy cheerfully calls him a woman-hating jerk. Caleb rushes at Buffy in fury, knocking over a wine barrel [[NiceJobFixingItVillain exposing the trapdoor leading down to the Scythe]].
95	* IndirectKiss: Anya and Xander share a tub of ice cream using a single spoon. When we cut back to them, they're making out on the floor.
96	* IndyPloy: Even Spike's love confessions are made up as he goes along!
97	-->'''Buffy:''' What are you trying to say?
98	-->'''Spike:''' I don't know. I'll know when I'm done saying it.
99	* IronicJuxtaposition: Spike's words to Buffy, vs. First!Mayor's words to Faith, show the contrast between a good friend and an evil one.
100	* ItDoesntMeanAnything:
101	-->'''Buffy:''' People are always trying to connect to me, and I just slip away. [[DestructiveRomance You should know.]]
102	-->'''Spike:''' I seem to recall a [[DoubleEntendre certain amount of connecting]].
103	-->'''Buffy:''' Oh, please! We were never close. You just wanted me because I was...[[ForbiddenFruit unattainable]].
104	* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: Buffy says she refused to connect to the Potentials knowing that they might be killed, then realises [[ItsNotYouItsMe she's always cut herself off from people]].
105	* JerkassHasAPoint: When the First gets on Caleb for failung to land his attacks on Buffy, Caleb points out that it's a bit distracting to have 2 Buffys in the same room.
106	* JitterCam: Used to show the disorganisation after Buffy leaves; the camera gets locked down when Faith asserts her authority.
107	* LecherousLicking: Kennedy licks Willow's neck with her studded tongue. From what Willow says in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen Chosen]]", she licked some other places as well.
108	* {{Leitmotif}}: The Spuffy...err Spike/Buffy theme plays during Spike's speech.
109	* LetsYouAndHimFight: Mayor!First tries to set this up between Faith and Buffy. Fortunately Faith doesn't lose her head; she just sends the Scoobies to keep an eye on Buffy under the pretense of protecting her.
110	* LightningBruiser: How Buffy deals with Caleb; she goes full dodge mode.
111	* LoveConfession: Spike's explains exactly ''why'' he fell in love with Buffy.
112	-->A hundred plus years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of. You. (Buffy looks away) Hey, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say I love you, it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you — it has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try... I've seen your kindness, and your strength, I've seen the best and the worst of you and I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy.
113	* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Spike offers to make Faith's death look like a painful accident.
114	* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Anya and Xander have sex on the kitchen floor; justified as the house is crowded, so there's a shortage of bedrooms.
115	* MeaningfulEcho: In Season 6's "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E15AsYouWere As You Were]]", Riley Finn, having seen his relationship with Buffy collapse because she doesn't love him, returns to find Buffy at a low point in her life. He stated that she's a great woman regardless, that nothing he's seen her do affects that in the least, and concludes by saying "You're a hell of a woman." Here Spike, having seen his own relationship with Buffy end for exactly the same reason, rallies her at a low point with a LoveConfession that concludes with the same words.
116	* {{Metaphorgotten}}:
117	-->'''Anya:''' We're all on death's door, repeatedly ringing the doorbell, like [[GirlScoutsAreEvil maniacal Girl Scouts trying to make quota]].
118	* MindScrew: The First appears to Faith as the Mayor, the one person he knows will shake Faith up.
119	* TheModestOrgasm: Willow's is shown by her eyes going very wide.
120	* ModestyBedsheet: Faith wears a bra during sex -- does Faith even own a bra?
121	* MundaneSolution: Caleb is trying to get around the old SwordInTheStone problem by having the Bringers drill out the rock around the Scythe.
122	* MustBeInvited: Spike no longer needs one, which he puts down to the increasing influence of the Hellmouth. There's also the fact that everyone has fled Sunnydale.
123	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: If the gang didn't regret ejecting Buffy during the argument, they sure did when Spike called them out on it. Faith, who didn't want the leader role to begin with, sends Willow, Xander, Anya and Dawn to discretely monitor Buffy's whereabouts.
124	* NoMereWindmill: In the previous episode, Giles dismissed Buffy's idea that Caleb was protecting something at the wine cellar as "tilting at windmills". It turns out she was right all along.
125	* NoisyGuns: There's a DramaticGunCock when Buffy has a shotgun stuck in her face. It's a hammerless double-barreled type that should not produce such a sound.
126	* TheNoseKnows: Spike tracks Buffy by following her scent.
127	* NotMeThisTime: Spike naturally (and understandably) holds Faith in the same circle as Buffy's closest friends as being responsible for the mutiny against her... except that Faith was the only one who had supported Buffy remaining as leader.
128	* NotStayingForBreakfast:
129	** The morning after their night of intimacy, Wood asks Faith how he can help with her plan of attack. Faith brushes him off by telling Wood to stay by the phone. "I'll call you if I need you."
130	** Spike wakes up and [[SneakyDeparture finds Buffy gone]] and a note for him on the pillow. This is a CallBack to Buffy's earlier lovers -- Buffy woke up to find Angel (because he'd turned evil) and Parker (because he was TheCasanova) gone, then [[RuleOfThrees Riley Finn ends up staying]]. This time it's [[GenderInvertedTrope Buffy who slips away the morning after]].
131	* PairTheSpares: Faith and...and Wood? After The First appears to Faith as [[ParentalSubstitute Mayor Wilkins]] Robin checks on her, explaining how much of a threat she is for the villain to notice her. After trying to comfort her, [[SexForSolace Faith uses the opportunity to sleep with him.]]
132	* ThePowerOfTrust: Buffy inviting Spike into her bed.
133	* PreClimaxClimax: The trope was actually the whole basis of the episode, with even a bit of {{deconstruction}} by the incorporeal [[BigBad First]]. Though it was still a couple episodes from the final battle, the stress of a half-season-long war resulted in Willow and Kennedy having sex for the first time, [[PairTheSpares Robin and Faith]] hooking up, and Anya and Xander having sex [[SexWithTheEx despite being broken up]], all at the same time (and [[RightThroughTheWall rather noisily]], too). Averted for Spike and Buffy, as they [[SecurityCling just held each other through the night]]. Aw.
134	* RageBreakingPoint: Buffy tells Spike he only wanted her because she was unattainable; this provokes Spike's LoveConfession.
135	-->'''Buffy:''' What are you trying to say?
136	-->'''Spike:''' I don't know. I'll know when I'm done saying it. Something pissed me off, and I just— "Unattainable." That's it.
137	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: When Spike finds out that everyone deposed Buffy as leader and kicked her out the house, he ''really'' lets them have it.
138	* ReformedButRejected: First!Mayor tells Faith that the Scoobies will always see her as a killer.
139	* RightThroughTheWall: Anya complains to Xander about the sound of Willow and Kennedy having sex; after all they've stopped doing it, so others should have similar consideration. Needless to say they end up having sex themselves.
140	* RousingSpeech: Spike to Buffy, and Caleb even gives one to the First!
141	-->'''Caleb:''' [[WeAreEverywhere You're in the hearts of little children. You're in the souls of the rich. You're the fire that makes people kill and hate.]] The fire that will cure the world of weakness. They're just sinners. You are sin.
142	-->'''Buffy!First:''' I do enjoy your sermons.
143	* RuleOfThrees: Buffy defeats Caleb on their third confrontation.
144	* RuleOfSymbolism: Spike crouches in front of Buffy as if proposing marriage when giving his LoveConfession. It also matches imagery of a knight bowing to his lady, which fits with the CourtlyLove Spike had shown for Buffy most of the season.
145	** Buffy invites Spike into bed with her to hold her for the night. Along with this being the first time Buffy has ''ever'' truly invited affection (physical or otherwise) from Spike, the gesture symbolizes her newfound complete trust in him and marks the resolution of their season-long arc of forgiveness. Likewise, the scene is intercut with all the other couples' SexMontage to symbolize the extreme intimacy of the moment--which they will both comment on in the next episode.
146	* SarcasmMode: Spike's response to Willow's statement that Buffy took some time off after their 'discussion'.
147	* ScareChord: Faith suddenly confronted by Mayor!First.
148	* ScreamingWarrior: Amanda fires at a Bringer and misses, reaches for another quarrel only to come up empty. She screams and charges at the Bringer, bashing him with her crossbow.
149	* SecurityCling: Spike is about to leave so Buffy can get the sleep she wants, when Buffy invites Spike into her bed just to hold her -- a major gesture of trust and forgiveness, given his near AttemptedRape last year.
150	* SexMontage: All the couples--Willow/Kennedy, Xander/Anya, Wood/Faith--consummate their relationships, except Buffy and Spike, who very pointedly do ''not'' have sex or even kiss. Instead, they do a SecurityCling for the night, and it's framed as just as intimate (if not more so).
151	* ShapedLikeItself:
152	-->'''Willow:''' I think we're wasting time arguing about how to argue.
153	* ShesBack: After spending most of the second half of the season sleep-deprived and stressed about the people she was going to lose going up against the First, and being deposed as leader of the Potentials and kicked out of her own house by her sister, Spike pulls Buffy together and she decides she's going to take the Scythe from Caleb.
154	* ShutUpKirk: Spike starts telling off everyone, only to be cut off by Faith. "The time for speech-giving is over, [[TheNicknamer Bad Boy]]." Spike agrees, and the two promptly slug it out.
155	* SingleTear: Buffy during Spike's RousingSpeech slash LoveConfession.
156	* SlashedThroat: Giles cuts the throat of a Bringer they've taken prisoner once he's given the information they want. The Bringer was psychically linked to Andrew at the time, who complains loudly and demands a lozenge.
157	* SleepCute: Buffy asks Spike to hold her until she falls asleep, and they end up spending the night like that.
158	* SomethingThatBeginsWithBoring: The Resident Badass and Resident Nerd are holded up in the mission, waiting for nightfall.
159	-->'''Andrew:''' I spy with my little eye something that begins with a T.
160	-->'''Spike:''' Tapestry.
161	-->'''Andrew:''' Hey, good one. How did you?
162	-->'''Spike:''' Tapestry's the only thing in the whole bloody room.
163	* StealthPun: The title. Faith, Wood, Kennedy, Willow, Anya and Xander all get a little touch.
164	* SurpassedTheTeacher: Spike confronts Giles with words along these lines, saying that one of the reasons that Giles turned on Buffy was that he was jealous that Buffy had surpassed him in her abilities and need for him.
165	* ThisIsSomethingShesGotToDoHerself: Buffy leaves Spike's bedside to fight Caleb alone. This had a lot to do with regaining her self-confidence; her first confrontation with Caleb alongside the Scoobies and Potentials was a disaster, and she was ousted as their leader.
166	* TongueTrauma: The Bringer can't talk because his tongue has been torn out. Dawn comes up with the idea of using a spell used to talk to the recently-deceased. The Bringer ends up using Andrew as his 'voice'.
167	* UnskilledButStrong: Caleb relies on his strength and invulnerability, so when Buffy goes all flippy, he can't lay a hand on her.
168	* VerbalBackspace:
169	** Faith tells Giles to get everyone ready around 7 am, then realising she's got to appear more decisive, changes it to "seven sharp".
170	** Wood says how he just wanted to be hugged when the First appeared in the form of his mother, then quickly adds, "In a [[ManHug manly way]]."
171	** Spike mentions he hit Faith a few times. Buffy perks up somewhat. "Really? [[AndThatWouldBeWrong I mean, not that I'm glad...]]"
172	* WallJump / InASingleBound: Buffy defeats Caleb by [[ImprovFu using her surroundings to her advantage]], so he can't land a punch.
173	* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Andrew says this re Buffy when Spike is fretting about being stuck in the mission during daylight. Well aware of the consequences of TemptingFate, Spike just growls at him.
174	* WhatTheHellHero: Spike has this reaction upon hearing that the Scoobies kicked Buffy out.
175	-->'''Spike''': [[UngratefulBastard You sad, sad ungrateful traitors]]. Who do you think you are?!
176	-->'''Willow''': ''[stammering]'' We're her friends. [[NeverMyFault We just want-]]
177	-->'''Spike''': Oh that's ballsy of you! You're her friends and you betray her like ''this''?!
178	-->'''Giles''': You don't understand-
179	-->'''Spike''': Oh, I think I do...''Rupert''. [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech You used to be the big man, didn't you? The teacher all full of wisdom. Now she's surpassed you, and you can't handle it. She has saved your lives again and again. She's]] ''[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech died]]'' [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech for you. And]] ''[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech this]]'' [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech is how you thank her?!]]
180	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre:
181	-->'''Spike''': When I say, 'I love you', it's not because I want you or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. I don't exactly have the reputation of being a thinker. I follow my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my head. So I've made a lot of mistakes. A lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred-plus years, only one thing I've ever been sure of. You.
182	* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: In his anger with the group (and Giles' attempt to rationalize their decision), Spike, after a {{beat}}, calls him "Rupert", right before invoking the SurpassedTheTeacher trope listed above.
183	* YouFightLikeACow: Faith vs. Spike.
184	-->'''Faith:''' You're pretty sweet on her, aren't you? (kicks Spike in the face) I think it's cute...[[BaitAndSwitchComment the way she's got you whipped.]]

Context Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E20Touched