Buffy Season 5 Ep. 8
Shadow – 11-21-2000/2020
It’s episodes like these of where I am reminded of how young Buffy still is. Dawn makes Buffy seem older, but her not knowing what a CAT scan is drives it home.
Yay, we finally get to hear Glory’s name!
Did anyone catch that the Magic Box ad in the yellow pages said “Death Charms!”? or am I seeing things, lol.
I like that Xander calls Riley Captain America! Come to think about it, Riley is like Captain America/Steve Rogers.
Spike makes a good point in that Buffy has had Willow and Tara do the vamp deinvitation spell but still has not removed Spike from the guest list. Why? For the show, I get it, but it is weird that Buffy didn’t do it even though Spike is “harmless”. Also, Spike tells Riley that Buffy and Dawn are at the hospital with Joyce and that she is sick. It seems that Buffy did actually tell Spike what was wrong/going on at the end of
Fool for Love. Interesting that she told him.
I like Tara being involved, helpful, doing research, being part of the gang.
Glory turns up to buy her magic supplies while they are researching her, lol! Nice sort if fake out or something, and then they realize it was their new bad guy, thank you Anya, so now they know what she looks like and kind of what she can do. What a great change for the villain to show up to the gang but neither side has any idea. Funny, cool and different.
Nice moment with Xander and Riley where he gets after Riley for dealing with the vamps alone, but also asks if he is ok or wants to talk. It was a god opportunity for Riley to open up and bond with Xander, but one he did not take.
Alright, I will only half rant at Riley for this episode, because on the one hand his behavior only exemplifies what I have been saying, but on the other hand, this episode strangely made me feel sympathy for him and that he does have reasons for what he does and how he feels. Riley should have been reassured by Dawn that he is good for Buffy, not jealous about her relationship with Angel. Why is he listening to Spike? Or letting Spike’s words get to him? I don’t think Riley “isn’t dark enough” for Buffy. But he does need to figure himself out. That’s his real problem. Riley shouldn’t get upset or feel useless because Buffy needs to be strong for her mom and sister. Buffy does tell him that she needs him but that she doesn’t want to break down right then and there in the hospital because she needs to be the strong one for Dawn and Joyce. This doesn’t mean that she won’t cry or open up to him later on. But then I get that Riley isn’t happy that Buffy didn’t tell him Joyce was sick and let him know that they were at the hospital. Having to find out from Spike of all people really doesn’t help either; I get it. Also, he shouldn’t be letting vamps bite him, but I will talk more about that in later episodes.
I like that we get a sort of car chase with the snake demon. We don’t get many of those on Buffy, so cool to see.
Glory has a nice shoe collection, lol. She’s so girly, I love it. A nice change. for the villain. Then again, Drusilla had her dolls, lol.
I like that the writers bring up magic and medicine. We get some information or at least acknowledgement that they don’t work together and that things can go wrong, which is why people in the Buffyverse can’t just use magic to cure human illness.
Good.
I like that we have the storyline of Joyce’s illness and Buffy dealing with it. Obviously, I am not happy that Joyce is sick, but it is always interesting when a superhero has to deal with a human/real world problem that they can’t fix with magic or their powers. It’s a good challenge/problem that usually gives them character growth and development which I like very much.
I thought this was a good character episode that focused mainly on Buffy, Joyce, Dawn, and Riley, and the Scoobies mainly dealing with Glory, pushing that story line forward. They are small steps, but it’s good information and moves the plot along. A well-balanced episode; with the 2 main stories; Joyce’s illness and Glory.