Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Weight of the World.

episode 99.
airdate: 15 May 2001.

Glory is feeling more human lately, not happy, though she has everything she wants and the time has come. Dawn is tied and gagged. Buffy is still catatonic. Spike slaps her and shakes her. Willow tries to talk to her. Xander and Spike start fighting.

Willow separates them with magic and starts laying out the plan. Anya will look after Tara, Spike goes to find where Glory is, Xander gets Giles to the hospital, and Willow will try to get into Buffy's mind to bring her back out. Spike asks Willow what he should do if he runs into Ben. Remember they all saw him change into Glory. Willow says Buffy doesn't need a doctor right now. So we then realize that Spike is the only one that remembers that Ben is Glory. Even when he tells them they all seem confused and keep forgetting again and again. Spike realizes Glory has a "mojo" so that humans forget if they see the transformation...apparently even if they talk about the transformation. Spike tries to beat it into everyone for like five minutes.

Glory is comforting to Dawn. Offers her pizza. Dawn tells her not to call her "Dawny" and Glory's feelings are hurt. She's feeling guilt. She's feeling things. Turns out Dawn's blood is the "key to the Key". She has to be bled dry to open the portal. Willow, Tara, Anya, and Buffy are at Xander's. Anya will look after Tara while Willow takes B to Xander and Anya's bedroom to try spells to enter her mind and coax her back out of her catatonic state. When Willow gets in she's in Buffy's childhood home the day Dawn is brought home from the hospital after being born.

Spike gets to Glory's apartment, but she's no longer there. Ben has a little simple room hidden away behind all Glory's pretty things.

Buffy's mom and dad are still together. They bring Dawn home and she holds her baby sister. "I could be the one to look after her sometimes." Then suddenly we're watching Buffy shelve books at the magic shop, then at the campfire of Buffy's spirit quest. She's in a loop. Giles is already being released from the hospital. Spike has no leads on where Glory is but he's going to consult someone he knows "demon, bookish, ties to the magical world". Glory is starting to remember things from Ben's life, is changing frequently from Glory to Ben. This is apparently her price for dealing with the serious magics involved in opening the portal.

Willow hears the First Slayer telling Buffy "death is your gift" from the ritual. Glory starts asking Dawn how you deal as a human. As a slave to hormones and feelings. She genuinely wants to know. "Who's not crazy? Everyone's drinking, smoking, shooting up...at least I admit the world makes me nuts. Name one person who can take it here." Dawn answers "Buffy". Buffy is leading Willow to her mom's room. Her grave is in there. Then she goes to Dawn's room and she's crying on her bed. Buffy suffocates her. This is her current interpretation of "death is my gift". Glory changes to Ben: "Has Glory hurt you?" He's also remembering all the things Glory has done...they're merging. The magic that keeps the two of them separated is breaking down. Ben fights one of the minions and says "I'll take you as far as I can, then ditch you when she comes back." They're back at the beginning of Buffy's mind loop.

Xander and Spike go visit the demon-creepy dude from "Forever". He refuses to help them, but Spike realizes he's standing in front of "the very thing we need". He throws a fancy box into his fireplace, Xander stabs him, and Spike gets the box back. Dawn hits Ben over the head to try to get away, but then he's Glory again. Ben and Glory start arguing, turning back and forth rapidly. Dawn tries to sneak away as they're arguing, but Glory doesn't let her. Glory says she can make Ben immortal if he cooperates. He apparently decides to side with Glory.

Willow asks Buffy what happened in the part of the loop where Buffy is shelving a book in the magic shop. She says she "quit just for a second". It was this moment that she realized she can't beat Glory and she wanted it to happen. She wanted it to be over. She decides this is the moment she "killed Dawn" because some part of her wanted it. Willow decides to stop humoring Buffy: "Snap out of it! All of this has a name...it's called guilt and it's important, but it's not more than that...you've carried the weight of the world on your shoulders since high school...and you wanted out for one second. So what?" Buffy keeps asserting that she killed Dawn and Willow reminds her this hasn't happened and she can still prevent it if she comes back. Willow says she's going where Buffy is needed. "You coming?" She does. She cries. I cry. Willow comforts her.

They're all at the magic shop. Giles says once the ritual starts it cannot be stopped. Only the end of the bloodletting will close the portal once it has opened. "Buffy, the only way is to kill Dawn." says Giles.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Family.

episode 84.
airdate: 7 Nov 2000.

Tara and Willow at bedtime. Tara is saying she doesn't feel useful to everyone. Buffy is telling Giles everything about Dawn. This is later that night from the episode before. Buffy has accepted that it is her duty to take care of Dawn. Buffy decides not to tell any of the others. It will be just her and Giles that know. They already know that Glory (though they don't yet know her name) is looking for the Key as well. I don't think I mentioned that before.

Everyone is helping Buffy move out of the dorm back to her mom's. I didn't even realize she wasn't already living back at her mom's because they haven't shown her in the dorms at all this season.

Tara's bday is the next day. Xander is lookin' good these days. He's more confident since "The Replacement", but still his dweeby self. He's becoming fully actualized. Love his eyebrows. *Xander love*

Ok, now Buffy is beating up Spike. Is this another fantasy of his? Yep. While he's doin' it with Harmony. Poor Harm.

There's a stereotypical douchebag hick dude in the shop. Turns out he's Tara's bro. Then the dad comes in. And Amy Adams is a cousin. I knew I vaguely recognized her when she first started getting big. There's a lot of awkwardness with the Tara-fam. Ok, Tara's room is Tara's room. And Willow is still in her dorm, so I suppose I was wrong about them living together after all. God, I love her room. Stereos, art, black, glitter, candles, crystals. Tara is so cool. Tara is about to turn 20 and her dad thinks she's going to turn into (something?) on her 20th birthday. She calls him sir and she's real weird around him. He tells her she's coming back with him in the morning. "How do you think your friends are going to feel when they see your true face?"

Glory is so cool. She's telling an ugly demon to kill Buffy for her. That's not why she's cool. I just like her.

Tara is doing a spell on everyone. Riley is drinking at Willey's, the demon bar. He meets a vampire. Buys her a drink. She asks him to go somewhere more private, but he refuses. He's sad about Buffy leaving him in the dark about stuff.

Harmony tells Spike the demon dude is going to kill Buffy (she overhears someone talking about it at the mall or something). Spike goes under the guise of wanting to watch B die, but of course he's going to help her.

The cousin runs into Tara calling her a bitch and saying she needs to leave her friends alone. Tara reveals that the spell she did was so her friends would be blind to the demon side in Tara. Turns out they can't see ANY demons, because when the fork-tongued types show up to kill Buffy, Willow answers the door (they didn't knock, but she heard something) and doesn't see them. Now the demons are lurking around the shop wondering why no one can see them. Buffy is training in her workout room when the demons come in. She fights them. Now everyone is fighting them. Spike shows up and he realizes they can't see them, but of course he can, because he wasn't part of the spell. Buffy can't see Spike either. Michael just pointed that out, but I'd never realized that before. Tara comes in and realizes what's going on and breaks the spell. They defeat them. Tara explains the sitch. Says she's a demon...well the dad says it. "The women in our family have demon in them."

She tries to go with her family but Willow protests. Buffy stands up for her. Then they all do. For the first time Tara feels accepted by all of them. Anya asks what kind of demon she is and the family is all like "What does it matter?" Spike punches her to "settle this" and he's hit with intense neurological pain. There you go. Not a demon. Spike realizes what's going on: "a bit of a spin to keep the ladies in line?" Then they all have the birthday party at the Bronze. Then Tara and Willow slow-dance and it's suuuuuuuuuuper cute...and they float.

The end.