No Place Like Home

Story arc for season five is started, and we meet Glory--although we don't learn her name for a while, and its even longer before we find that she is Ben...and vise versa. That's interesting, now that I think about it: the season starts with episodes about identity, Dawn's and Xander's, now a major plot point involves identity-the Ben/Glory connection. In fact, ultimately what saves Glory from Buffy is that Buffy won't kill Ben--a human (Giles, however...that's different).

This specific episode is concerned with identity as well. Buffy finds out the Dawn is "The Key," with no idea yet what that means, except that Dawn has only recently become human. Buffy's grousing about wanting to be an only child--growing pains as she grows into her role as big sister.

And Dawn, with her total lack of savvy, reveals that Buffy doesn't want Riley patrolling--his instincts were correct about how his role would change with the loss of his powers. And Spike, in a brief appearance showing that he's watching/stalking Buffy (outside her house, a pile of cigarette butts revealing he's been there a while), utters the famous "Out for a walk....bitch" line when Buffy only gives him 5 words to explain his presence. Interesting, here at the beginning of their "relationship" of sorts, she calls him "William" instead of Spike. According to a Buffy wiki, she does that twice in the whole series: now, and when she ends their relationship in season 6. Gotta think about that....

And the title? Joyce is home from the hospital, Dawn is "home" now. There are some very domestic moments, and Joyce and Dawn clearly have a close relationship--nicknames and book clubs, and Buffy feels left out...jealous, like a new big sister might. By doing a spell, Buffy realizes Dawn wasn't Home there previously, but the dying monk affirms that Buffy is to protect Dawn; we find out later that Dawn was made from Buffy...whatever that means.

So exactly what does the title mean? Not sure, but the domestic family theme is crucial, and the exploration of identity in the first few episodes continues.

A New Man

This seems like another monster-of-the-week shows with a twist: Giles is the monster, transformed by Ethan Raines (of course). But even though it is essentially a stand-alone, not an integral part of the Big Bad plot this season, this episode more clearly introduces the philosophical question at the core of this season, and, in ways, the series.

What does it mean to be a man? Put in a less (potentially) sexist manner, what does it take to be human? Even though he looks like a Fyarl demon (note how close the word is to "feral"--it's pronounced Furr-ral; as Jung said, there are no coincidences), Giles retains his intellect, his human emotions, and his soul. Ultimately, Buffy doesn't kill him because she recognizes him when she looks into his eyes as she's about to stake him--the saying "the eyes are the windows to the soul" seem especially appropriate.

Spike, who just happens to speak Fyarl, agrees to help Giles...for a price, of course--which comes into play in the next episode. Spike is an interesting counterpart to Giles in this episode. Is Spike a man? That question may be unvoiced, but it resonants loudly from this season until the end of the series. He has no soul, hence the Scoobies and the Initiative quickly deem Spike as "other"--"Hostile 17," in fact. Spike's insight, emotions, and intellect are not in question; he's only one soul (and one beating heart) away from being a real boy--in the Buffy spin-off Angel, that issue is explicitly addressed as it applies to both Spike and Angel (who, because he has a soul, is closer to human and worthy of Buffy's affection). In this episode, also, Spike declares himself off-limits for the Slayer and her "Slayerettes." Giles, who was obviously assuming Spike would want to work with them since he can fight demons, was taken aback by Spike's strident insistance that he is evil, that he's a Big Bad they should beware of. (Point of Fact: Spike is never the Big Bad. Season Two, when it looks as if he will be, Angel emerges as the threat--and Spike partners with Buffy to quell him.) Spike looks like a human, thinks and acts like a human in most ways...and in this episode, he again protects and helps humans.

It's worth noting that Giles starts off the episode feeling lost and out of place, at a birthday party for Buffy at the college. He discovers that Buffy has a boyfriend--which everyone else obviously knew--and Riley inadvertantly rubs in Giles' displacement when making small talk. Giles is a man, no question about that...but old, worn, out of place. This episode is the first clear marker that eventually, he will have to leave--that Buffy is outgrowing her need for him, and that he is becoming redundant.

Then....Maggie makes it worse, telling Giles that Buffy needs a stronger father figure, more discipline and focus. Those are Giles' jobs, ones that he defined himself by, yet both the Watcher's Council and now Maggie (unknowingly) question his ability to do this job. Giles is ripe for a crisis, for a re-definition of himself--thanks to Ethan, his crisis is a doozy, blatantly leading to question who he is, how he fits in, and if he is, in fact, human. Giles' totally out-of-character terrorizing of Maggie while he is Fyarl is an interesting peek both at his latent "Ripper" persona, and at the emotion he swallows when Maggie insulted him; as a soulless demon, he was free to react. As a reasonable man, he wasn't.

That Buffy and the gang do not question Giles' humanity once they realize he the "demon," magicked by Ethan, is interesting. Their definition of "human" is fluid; it will be tested by the creation of Adam, the person/demon/cyborg Maggie has created that will be unveiled in the next episode--and the question will echo next season as Buffy refuses to kill "Ben" because he is human, even thought he's a conduit for the evil Goddess Glory. But I'll talk more about that later, I'm sure!

Beauty and the Beasts

On the surface, this is just a throw-away episode. Mysterious deaths, scooby gang doing scooby stuff (Willow even has a Scooby Doo lunchbox in this). Buffy's kind of seeing Scott, but doesn't seem that interested. No big revelations, no huge angst.

However, there is a bit of interesting forshadowing. Buffy is seeing the school counselor, and he echos Joyce's comments from last season about "you're seeing a guy, you get intimate, the guy turns mean..." The theme of Men Turn Mean is not explored in any depth, but is assumed. More interestingly, he also previews Spike's "I'm love's bitch" speech. "Sometimes you love too much, and Love becomes your master, and you're love's dog" was roughly the way it was worded. He made it seem bad; Spike embraced the title. (I think that's this season, too, but I'm not sure.)

Also, Buffy is hiding that Angel's back, and she's obviously worried that he's damaged. In talking with Giles about what it's like to come back from a hell dimension, he explains briefly what it means to have humanity left within you. If it's not there, the returnee can't be saved. If the humanity is, the human can be redeemed. These questions also arise in season 6 after Buffy is resserected--with similar assumptions about her being in a hell dimension, in fact.

Other little things, but overall, not a must see episode--that's my opinion right now. We'll see if I change it, which has happened!