After Life (Buffy episode)
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| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |
|---|---|
| “After Life” | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 3 |
| Guest star(s) | Amber Benson (Tara) Lisa Hoyle (Demon) |
| Writer(s) | Jane Espenson |
| Director | David Solomon |
| Production no. | 6ABB03 |
| Original airdate | October 9, 2001 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Bargaining, Part Two" | "Flooded" |
"After Life" is the third episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
[edit] Summary
Dawn takes the newly-resurrected (and extremely confused) Buffy home, before being joined by Willow, Xander, Anya, Tara and Spike. While the Scoobies are thrilled to see that Buffy is alive and well, a horrified Spike warns that the resurrection spell could have serious consequences.
Spike's assessment proves to be correct as members of the gang are possessed by an unseen force, which may have "hitched a ride" during Buffy's return to the land of the living. Luckily, Willow and Tara find a way to give the demon solid form so that Buffy is able to fight and kill it.
After speaking with Dawn, Buffy realises that her friends want her to be happy and thanks them for performing the resurrection spell, confirming their assumption that Buffy has spent time in a hell dimension. However, once alone with Spike, she informs him that she was in heaven; "I was torn out of there by my friends. They can never know."
[edit] Expanded overview
The Scooby Gang rush to find Buffy and figure she is at her house. The bikers are on the run now that Razor has been destroyed. At the house, Buffy is confused and acting weird as she surveys they changed scenery of her house and is told by Dawn that Giles has left. Spike arrives, angry and looking for Dawn, though when he realizes the real Buffy is back he softens and helps clean up her wounded hands. They talk about how long she's been gone; Spike has counted the days. When the Scooby Gang arrives and focuses on the Slayer, Spike slips out.
Unable to stand all the concern, Buffy goes upstairs while Xander and Anya leave for food. Outside, the two find a hurt Spike who's mad that he wasn't told about the plan to resurrect Buffy, despite having helped the gang all summer. He realises that his love of Buffy would have made him an obstacle if Buffy returned as something that would have had to have been destroyed. He warns Xander of the consequences they'll have to face, because they always exist with magic.
After notifying Giles of Buffy's return, Willow and Tara go to bed and talk about the spell and changes in Buffy. In her room, Buffy looks at the pictures surrounding her and they briefly turn to pictures of skulls. During the night, Willow and Tara receive a visit in their room from a Buffy who yells at them and hints at what Willow did to the baby deer. When the girls get up to investigate, Buffy's asleep in her room and neither know the source of the incident. A moving lump appears in the ceiling and motivates Willow to call Xander. In the background while Xander talks, Anya enters the room with a knife and smokey eyes, slitting her cheek before collapsing as the lump travels across the floor.
The gang gather the next day for brainstorming, but no one is sure what this thing is and Buffy is still very closed off. At the Magic Box, Buffy still seems out of place and leaves to patrol... alone. With Buffy gone, the demon has taken over Dawn who shouts at her friends and breathes fire before collapsing. Buffy finds Spike at his crypt and the two talk, rather awkwardly at first. Spike opens up to her, expressing his guilt for not saving her or Dawn. He explains that every night afterwards, he thought up better ways to rescue her and he wishes so much to have been able to do it for real.
Led on by Spike's hinting that Willow knew her spell might do something bad, Xander questions whether either of the witches knew the dangers but is quickly quieted. Willow reveals that this creature was created by the spell that brought Buffy back. The demon currently does not possess a body, which is why it has been possessing members of the gang. A reversal of the spell will cancel out the creation of the demon, but it can't be done without also reversing Buffy's resurrection. After Dawn freaks out about the concept of losing Buffy *again*, Willow discovers that the demon can only survive if Buffy is killed. The demon, which had been housed in Xander's body while Willow shared this information, thanks Willow for the tip and heads for the Slayer.
Buffy is attacked by the formless demon which she can't hurt, but she can be hurt by it. Willow and Tara cast a spell to make the demon solid. Buffy kills the demon with an ax. Normality is somewhat resumed as Dawn heads to school the next day and Buffy sees her off. Buffy visits her friends at the shop and confesses to them that she was in Hell and she appreciates that they brought her back.
Buffy goes outside behind the shop to be alone, where she finds Spike hiding in a patch of shade. He tries to talk to her and offers to help her if there is any way he can. She admits to him that although she wasn't initially sure, she knows that she wasn't in Hell. She was in Heaven, and her friends pulled her out. Spike is shocked as she tells him that this reality is her Hell, and she stresses that her friends can never know the truth.
[edit] Writing and acting
[edit] Cast
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
- James Marsters as Spike
- Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
[edit] Production details
[edit] Quotes and trivia
- Anya:"Well, yeah. The jet-lag from hell has gotta be, you know, jet-lag from hell."
- Buffy:"You know what they say: 'those of us who fail History... doomed to repeat it in Summer school."
- After Buffy decides to go and patrol, she is shown walking in the cemetery. As she passes in front of a statue of an angel, the camera moves in such a way so that it appears that the angel's wings are "worn" by Buffy -- a hint that perhaps it wasn't Hell where Willow brought her back from.
[edit] Continuity
[edit] Arc significance
This is not the only unseen force to "hitch a ride" with Buffy. In season 7 it is revealed that the resurrection spell is the key to the The First Evil being able to attempt an Apocalypse, which will put the entire world in danger and become Buffy's ultimate foe in Season 7.
In this episode, Buffy reveals that her friends' decision to perform the resurrection spell has resulted in her being torn out of heaven. This makes the Slayer feel isolated, alone and depressed throughout most of Season 6.
Willow calls Giles to tell him that Buffy is alive, which results in his return to Sunnydale in the next episode.
Buffy is able to tell only Spike the truth about where she has really been. The pair grow closer in this season, leading to their secret love affair in episodes to come.
Spike tells Buffy that she's been dead for 147 days; that works out to be 4 months and 25 days, though according to Buffy it felt like much longer. If we use May 22, 2001 as her date of death, that would make Oct 16-17, 2001 the date of her resurrection by the Scoobies. Spike doesn't actually count the day she was brought back to life as that would make it 148 days instead.
[edit] Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) |
Buffyverse chronology: Fall 2001 - December 2001 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| L.A., 2001 | Buffy/Angel novel: Cursed |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.01 Heartthrob |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy UPN promos: Scooby Gang talk about Buffy |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.01 Bargaining, I |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.02 Bargaining, II |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.02 That Vision Thing |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.03 After Life |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Sanctuary |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.03 That Old Gang of Mine |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.04 Flooded |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.04 Carpe Noctem |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy comic: Reunion |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.05 Life Serial |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.05 Fredless |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel Willow & Tara: Wilderness |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Blood and Fog |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.06 All the Way |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Note from the Underground |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.06 Billy |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel anthology book:The Longest Night |
| Sunnydale, L.A., Monster Island, 2001 | Buffy/Angel novel: Monster Island |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Endangered Species |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Impressions |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.07 Once More, with Feeling |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.07 Offspring |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.08 Tabula Rasa |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.08 Quickening |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.09 Smashed |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.09 Lullaby |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.10 Wrecked |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.10 Dad |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.11 Gone |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.11 Birthday |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Creatures of Habit |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Death of Buffy: Withdrawal |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.12 Doublemeat Palace |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.12 Provider |
