Lovers Walk

Infobox Television episode
Title=Lovers Walk


Series=Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season=3
Episode=8
Airdate=November 24 1998
Production= 3ABB08
Writer=Dan Vebber
Director=David Semel
Episode list=List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
Prev=Revelations
Next=The Wish

"Lovers Walk" is episode 8 of season 3 of the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". It was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing in a Series. [cite web|title=Past Winners Database: 1998-1999 51st Emmy Awards|work=The Envelope: The Ultimate Awards Site|publisher=Los Angeles Times|url = http://theenvelope.latimes.com/extras/lostmind/year/1998/1998_1999emmy.htm |accessdate= 2006-10-30]

Plot synopsis

Summary

A lovelorn Spike returns and kidnaps Willow and Xander. Oz and Cordelia discover them kissing while attempting a rescue.

Expanded overview

Willow complains about receiving a 740 on Verbal for her SAT's, while Xander notes that her Verbal score closely resembles his combined score. Buffy shows up looking shaken; her unexpected SAT score of 1430 has opened up the possibility of a normal life, and she is unsure how to proceed.

That night, Spike drives through the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign again, but this time he is extremely drunk; he falls out of the car and reprises his first line in the series: "Home sweet home", before passing out. He returns to the old burned down factory (despondently singing Sid Vicious's "My Way") and surveys the damage. He begins to shout and cry, destroying Drusilla's charred dolls and drunkenly wondering why she left him.

At school the next day, Xander persuades Cordelia to go on a double bowling date with Willow and Oz. Oz presents Willow with a Witch-themed PEZ dispenser, and she is both delighted by the thoughtful gift and guilty because of the attraction she feels towards Xander.

Giles, packing for a Watchers' retreat, is delighted when he is presented with Buffy's SAT scores. Giles suggests that she has an opportunity to have a first-rate educational experience, and she could leave Sunnydale and her Slayer duties to Faith. He warns her about seeing Angel and she promises that nothing will happen between them because they are "just friends". Meanwhile, Xander and Willow are second-guessing the bowling date with Oz and Cordelia. Willow is concerned that Oz and Cordelia will notice the attraction between her and Xander, and resists Xander's attempt to kiss her earlobe. She and Xander restate their commitment to avoid physical intimacy with each other. Xander tells her that he wishes that they could just get rid of their feelings of lust.

That night, Spike stands outside Angel's mansion and drunkenly rails at Angel for turning Dru against him, until passing out in the garden. The next morning, he wakes to find his hand aflame after being exposed to sunlight. He runs around frantically trying to douse his hand and avoid the rising sun, eventually diving into his car to tend to his wound, first pouring alcohol on his hand, then pouring some more down his throat to ease the pain. Surveying his current state, he notes: "This is just too much."

Back at home, Buffy's mom continues to push the idea of college. When Buffy is resistant, Joyce asks her what could possibly be keeping her in Sunnydale, but Buffy does not admit her reluctance to leave Angel. She visits him and asks his opinion on her future options, in the process trying to determine where the two of them stand with each other. Angel, visibly torn, suggests as a friend that she go, reasoning that it is a good opportunity for her to live a life outside of her calling. Unhappy with his answer, Buffy leaves.

Spike sneaks into the back of a local magic shop during the day in search for a curse for Angel. He wants something really nasty, like boils or leprosy, something that would "make his parts fall off". The shopkeeper is distracted by Willow, who is looking for ingredients for a "de-lusting" spell. As she and the shop keeper discuss ingredients, Spike, out of sight, pays close attention and abandons his search for a curse; when Willow leaves, Spike kills the shopkeeper, having decided that a love spell for Drusilla would be "an even better idea."

Later that day, the Mayor is playing golf in his office when his deputy alerts him to their "Spike problem". When the deputy suggests that Mr. Trick organize and send a 'committee' to deal with the problem, the Mayor, after a few asides ranging from offering the deputy's soul for "one good short game" to whether "allowing a loose cannon to rock the boat" is a mixed metaphor, good-humoredly agrees.

At school, the night of the double date, Willow is in the chemistry lab, working on the ingredients for her anti-love spell. Xander shows up, and they begin arguing when he figures out what Willow is doing. Spike comes in, still very drunk, and attacks Xander, announcing that he needs to borrow Willow for a while. Spike takes Xander, unconscious from a head wound, and Willow back to the factory, where he locks them up. Spike explains his situation to Willow, first threatening her life if she fails to cast an effective spell, then sitting next to her and telling that Dru had thought he had gone soft after his alliance with Buffy, and was not "demon enough" for her anymore. The final blow had come when Dru told him that they could still be friends. An uncomfortable Willow tries to half-heartedly comfort the distraught Spike. When Willow tells Spike that she does not have enough ingredients, he takes her list and goes to collect what she needs.

At the library, Buffy is working out when Cordelia and Oz show up, worried because the lab is torn up and Willow and Xander are gone. Buffy's mom calls her, and then over the line Buffy hears Spike say "Hello, Joyce." Joyce offers him hot chocolate while he relates the painful details of his breakup with Dru, and she offers him advice and he asks if she has any of "those little marshmallows". Angel spots them talking in the kitchen, but cannot enter the house because he is not invited. Joyce, thinking he is still evil, backs away, and Spike taunts him behind Joyce's back. Buffy arrives, pins Spike to the table and invites Angel in. Spike tells them he's got her friends and the three of them leave to get the supplies so that he can do the love spell and set Buffy's friends free. On the way to the shop, Spike is afflicted with pain from finally starting to sober up, and reminisces on memories of Drusilla. Buffy offers to stake Spike to put him out of his misery, but Angel tells her that they still need him to find her friends; Buffy counters that he probably just locked them in the factory, despite Spike's protests that he is not that "thick".

As Oz and Cordelia are driving, Oz catches Willow's scent and can tell that she is afraid ("a residual werewolf thing"). Cordelia declares it to be creepy, and Oz admits that he agrees.

Spike, Buffy, and Angel are getting the supplies when, prompted by Angel's comment that he's going to a lot of trouble for the sake of the fickle Drusilla, Spike takes a swing at him before blaming the two of them for their break-up; he says that he is "nothing without her". Buffy agrees; he truly has become pathetic. Spike retorts by saying that they sicken him; the last time he had seen them, they were fighting to the death, and now they were acting like nothing had happened. They insist that they are just friends now, but Spike knows better. He tells them, "You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other till it makes you quiver, but you'll "never" be friends. I may be love's bitch", he says, "but at least I'm man enough to admit it."

Xander wakes up to find that he and Willow are locked in the basement of the factory. They discuss what will happen to them: Willow explains that either she casts the spell and Spike kills them, or she refuses to cast the spell, and Spike kills them. Xander demands a third option, so Willow suggests that Spike might have gotten so drunk that he will pass out and forget about them, leaving them to starve to death; she notes that this last possibility is their best option. Deciding that the high probability of death is a mitigating factor, Willow and Xander kiss just in time for Oz and Cordelia to find them. Cordelia is horrified and runs up the stairs, but they collapse and she falls through, impaling herself on a piece of rebar sticking out of the rubble-covered floor below.

As they leave with the supplies, Buffy, Angel and Spike are surrounded by a group of Trick's vampires, led by one of Spike's former lackeys, Lenny. Spike points out that if Buffy and Angel leave him to die, then Willow and Xander die too. Buffy reluctantly joins the brawl. After killing a few, they retreat back into the shop and barricade themselves in, fighting the vampires who get inside. Lenny makes the mistake of insulting Spike, who, incensed, brutally beats and stakes him. Eventually, Angel and Buffy use bottled holy water to scare off all the remaining vampires. Spike, inspired and refreshed by the thrill of the fight, realizes that the only way he is going to get Dru back is if he becomes the man he once was, the man she loved. He tells Angel and Buffy that their friends are at the factory, and that he is going to "find Dru, tie her up, and torture her until she likes me again." As he leaves the shop, he sticks his head back in to note to the bemused pair that "Love's a funny thing."

Cordelia survives the fall; none of her vital organs are hurt. When Xander brings flowers to Cordelia in the hospital, she tells him to stay away from her. Willow tells Buffy that Oz refuses to talk to her, and Buffy suggests time, patience, and groveling. Buffy visits Angel, and tells him that they are not friends; she explains that she is not coming back, because he does not need her help anymore, and she cannot maintain the lie about their friendship to herself ("or Spike, for some reason"). Angel protests, and Buffy tells him that the only way they can see each other is if he tells her that he does not love her, something he cannot do. While each character broods in their own way, mourning for their broken relationships, Spike is back on the road, on his way to find Drusilla, smoking and singing along with the lyrics of the Sex Pistols' punk version of "My Way" as his car travels along the desert highway.

Christmas "Buffy" promo

::"The promo can be downloaded from an external link below"

Immediately after the first airing of "Lovers Walk" an advert aired featuring Gellar and Boreanaz as their characters, Buffy and Angel.

Promo synopsis

Buffy is standing outside at a phone booth. Strangely Sunnydale appears to be snowing. Buffy says, "This season with 1800 Collect, you don't have to be alone for the holidays". She begins dialing the phone. Buffy hears footsteps behind her. She turns grabs a stake-shaped icicle, and makes a staking motion before Angel grabs her hand. Buffy: "You should have called." Angel replies, "Sorry I'm late." The two smile, look into the snowing sky then walk off together.

Promo offer

The promo offered fans the chance to enter a sweepstakes every time they made a call using the 1-800-COLLECT communications system. The prize was a walk-on part on "Buffy". Jessica Johnson of Maryland won a three day trip for two to participate in the episode "The Prom".

Promo continuity

The advert would have to take place on the next evening after "Amends". The advert is clearly not part of Buffyverse canon; both the narrator and Buffy actively break the Fourth wall.

Acting

tarring

*Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
*Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
*Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
*Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
*David Boreanaz as Angel
*Seth Green as Oz
*and Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest starring

*Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
*Harry Groener as Mayor Richard Wilkins
*James Marsters as Spike

Co-starring

*Jack Plotnick as Deputy Mayor Allan Finch
*Marc Burnham as Lenny
*Suzanne Krull as Clerk

Production details

Cultural References

"The Simpsons" - Willow refers to Herself as Cletus the Slack Jawed Yokel when she feels she scored poorly on the SATs

Music

* Sex Pistols/Gary Oldman/Sid Vicious - "My Way" Sung by Spike as he leaves Sunnydale. Spike's embrace of punk music, as opposed to quieter, more emotive music (Angel later shows an affinity for Barry Manilow as well as the "Rat Pack" itself, led by Frank Sinatra, who performed the most famous version of "My Way") is indicative of his personality as the foil to brooding intellectuals like Angel, as well as his former human self. In what is probably a coincidence, the title of the episode is very similar to track #15 ("Lover's Rock") on the punk rock album "London Calling" by the Clash; however, if intentional, this could reinforce the attention paid to Spike in this episode. The scene of him driving off playing it would be used in the opening theme for every season from 4 on.

* Spike gloomily sings "My Way", originally performed by Frank Sinatra as he wanders around his old haunts. When he is "back to his old self," he sings the wild Sid Vicious version. In Season Five of "Angel", eye witnesses of an ensouled Spike's bravery will report that he asked them if they want to listen to Sex Pistols records after saving them.

Charisma Carpenter's Scar

Carpenter has a large scar on her belly from a childhood accident. At five years old, playing around a swimming pool that was still under construction, she fell onto a piece of rebar. With the events of this episode, her character gains an identical injury with the same method.

Angel's book

* The book Angel is seen reading is "La Nausée" by Jean-Paul Sartre; its main theme is the nature of existential angst, a quality often associated with Angel. The fact that the cover features the original French title suggests Angel is proficient enough with French to read the book in its original language. "La Nausée" has a great deal of personal significance for Joss Whedon. In his commentary for the "Firefly" episode "Objects in Space," Whedon says that when he first began to think about the meaning of life a friend gave him "La Nausée", which defined his interpretation of existence.

Translations

* Italian title: "Il sentiero degli amanti" ("Lovers' path")
* German title: "Liebe und andere Schwierigkeiten" ("Love and other difficulties")
* French title: "Amours contrariées" ("Thwarted Loves")
* Japanese title: "恋人達の散歩道" ("Koibito-Tachi no Sanbomichi" - "Lovers' Walk")
* Spanish title: "Los senderos del amor" ("The paths of love")
* Czech title: "Cesty Lásky" ("The Ways of Love")

Continuity

* Buffy's last words to Angel ("Tell me you don't love me") are identical to the script she and Angel were forced to re-enact when possessed by the ghosts of a murder-suicide couple in the episode "I Only Have Eyes for You".

*The manner in which Spike enters town in this episode, where he crashes into the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign, is identical to the way in which he arrived in "School Hard".

*Cordelia asks "who would ever want to return to Sunnydale". After season three,she never came back to Sunnydale.

Arc significance

* Spike makes his sole appearance this season before returning as a permanent regular in Season 4. He is still trying to recapture Drusilla's heart and resists the temptation to kill Willow in order to achieve it; he later reveals to Willow the extent of the bloodlust that he felt for her at this point.

* Joyce amiably hosts Spike in her house for the first time. This pattern will repeat several times later in the series.

* Buffy recognizes for the first time that her relationship with Angel is doomed.

* Xander and Willow's indiscretion has a major impact on their respective relationships.

* This episode marks an early example of Willow automatically turning to magic to solve human problems and make her own life easier; as her powers grow stronger, so does her impulse to use magic as a catch-all problem solver and to manipulate human emotions. Eventually (season 6), it becomes an addiction and has drastic implications for her life.

* This episode marks the first time that Willow uncomfortably tries to comfort a highly distraught Spike. This dynamic will return in the season 4 episode "The Initiative," when Spike tries to attack Willow in her dorm room but is painfully hindered by his newly-implanted chip.

* Oz recognises Willow's scent. This is also significant in "New Moon Rising" when he smells her scent on Tara.

* Spike's famous "Love's bitch" speech to Buffy and Angel, in which he says of the couple, "You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends" also can be seen to accurately describe Buffy and Spike's relationship in season six.

Timing

* Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:

References

External links

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Reviews

* [http://www.soulfulspike.com/spikecentricity/LoverswalkReview.htm Soulful Spike Society analysis of "Lovers Walk"]
* [http://www3.sympatico.ca/jenoff/btvs308.htm Peripheral Visions Review]
* [http://www.section31.com/guideextras.php?id=193 Section 31 Review]
* [http://tv.swingthesickle.com/ststv/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer/Season_3/08.review Swing the Sickle Review]

Christmas Buffy/Angel promo