Tuesday May 14, 2002
6ABB20
While the paramedics try to save Buffy, Willow desperately calls on Osiris to bring Tara back to life. She is told that magick will not reverse a natural human death and she becomes consumed with rage. With her emotional anchor gone, Willow gives in to the dark magick that she had turned away from for Tara's sake. As the magick begins to control her, it becomes clear that no one is safe. Especially Warren.
Read Full Recap » (warning: possible spoilers!)In the aftermath of Warren’s assassination attempt, Buffy tries to recover from a gunshot wound and Tara dies. Willow, consumed by wrath and rage, physically transforms herself into Dark Willow and seeks revenge, setting off to kill Warren.
‘Villains’ is a good episode, but fails to be anything else than that. I love Alyson Hannigan and Willow as I have stated many times before, and in my opinion her acting is always superb. My favorite part of this episode is seeing Willow begging for Tara’s resurrection. Dark Willow scenes are also great, but I feel like this could have been much better.
Buffy’s rant about killing or not killing Warren goes on for too long and so does Spike’s scenes in Africa, and I think that those are out of place in the context of the episode. I did like Warren’s death and the scenes that preceded it.
Good episode.
Willow turns to the dark side hide show
a shocking turn of events has rocked Buffy & Xanders life and has forever changed Willow's.
Tara is now gone forever(sob) and Willow now seeks bloody (and i mean it when i say that) vengeance on Warren and the troika(Andrew & Jonathan).
Buffy and Xander must race against time with Anya's aide to stop Willow from becoming a murderer.
the pace has quickened and Villains is a seriously notorious episode that only gets more and more drastic until the spectacular finish in Grave.
Villains is and episode that is powerful upon every viewing and i feel that it really makes season 6 to have these dramatic things happen to our characters.
to top it all off Spike is now seeking for a soul after his attempted rape on Buffy (see Seeing Red).
this is perfect storytelling in a perfectly dark and explosive quadrilogy.
"One tiny piece of metal destroys everything - Willow" hide show
Once again, an ambulance speeds to 1630 Revello Drive.
We thought the Willow addiction storyline was (excuse the tasteless pun) dead and dusted, but it's only just beginning as we kick off this three part finale with the introduction of Dark Willow. We also know that Willow doesn't deal with loss very well, if at all. Without thought, she immediately turns to the dark power, and a CGI Egyptian God explains why Tara, unlike Buffy, can't be brought back - "She is taken by natural order. It is done". The scene also shows how utterly powerful Willow is as she blasts Osiris into one of the stages of hell. This isn't enough for Willow though, she needs more power, and she stalks off to the magic shop to find it. She is so set on vengeance that she leaves her dead lover's body on the floor (for Dawn to discover) and goes off to find, not Warren, not Buffy, but power. That is her main objective. Pre the book-suck, she could still kill Warren with her little finger; but at this point she seems more interested in the means of destroying him than the destruction itself. She is acting in cold blood although Tara's is still warm. This is all about Willow, not her dead girlfriend.
At least her second thought is for Buffy who is back in the hospital. As Xander says: "This thing's funny once, maybe twice...". Willow resurrects her friend once more – something she may come to regret by the next episode. It is when Willow starts to use magic against her friends that we know that her keel has become seriously crooked. It's up to the duo to provide some comic relief with fantasies of Matthew Broderick ("Broadway Matthew is cold") and that Warren will be busting them out soon. Warren is more interested in demon bars and boasting about how science (a gun) killed the mystical Slayer. Science didn't work well for the Initiative and it's not going to go any better now. We see Warren's desire to be part of the bad boy scene as he tries to ingratiate himself with the netherworld: "I tried to do us all a favour", he claims, as he faux-nonchalantly states " I had my own guys, the trio, you've heard of us". He is desperate to be accepted, looked up to, admired, the ultimate boy wanting the approval of men. These "men" however, laugh at him, threaten to eat him, and point out that he has failed to kill the Slayer. Even Rack tells him he's "a kid" and that Willow is "going to blow this town apart, starting with you". Rack however gives Warren some budget-busting SFX to play with and also the basic power to do – what? The ability to make robots in half an hour and imbue them with misdirection anxiety? The robot scene is as annoying as the Spike sub-plot mislead. Why, if Spike has ridden all the way to Africa to find a demon to restore his soul, is he talking about "the bloody chip" and referring to Buffy as a b!tch. It's a good job the seemingly psychic cave-demon knows that "restoration" means Spike's soul and not his pre-chip days otherwise it would have all gotten a bit messy. It seems (for now) that Spike, like Warren, like Willow, is all consumed by vengeance but we come to learn that he's all-consumed by love; strange for a soulless dead thing. Marti, via Xander, explains the theme of the season: "[Warren] is just as bad as any vamp". Dawn says that Warren "needs to pay". Only Buffy is the voice of anti-vengeance, explaining that: "We don't kill people". People with souls are, in theory, capable of change and salvation. Buffy's not all about the old Testament eye for any eye revenge, but redemption – this is the message from atheist Joss. But we are shown the grey areas: Spike fighting for a soul and Clem, the cuddly demon, baby-sitting Dawn, whereas Warren and Willow are acting very badly. We also see that Anya, capable of good, has become a demon once more. She tells them: "Her thirst for vengeance, it's over-whelming". If the gang allow Willow to kill Warren, does that mean that they then have a right to kill Willow? It seems that Buffy is going to stop Willow as they follow her into the Nothing-Good-Ever-Happened-There Woods and thus the skinning of Warren becomes more shocking. Warren doesn't believe Willow can actually hurt him and even when caught in binds, he still spouts his misogyny. When the ghost of Katrina appears, he is not repentant, he does not feel guilty. It's only when he realises Willow is serious that he pretends contrition: "I did wrong. I see that now". But we see that he has not and cannot change his ways.
We are shown the horrible power of vengeance as Willow kills Warren without pleasure and then states: "Bored now". Not only has her revenge not brought back her lover, but it has filled her with desire for more, which will be as equally unsatisfying. The gang repeat that "there's no coming back from this", but Willow doesn't want to come back this time. Forgetting that her reliance on the dark arts is what drove Tara away the first time, she thinks that there is no point turning back to the good side if Tara isn't going to be there. Although Willow has achieved her aim we know she is not going to stop as she tells us: "One down". Willow has taken Warren's mantle as avenger and the Season 6 Big Bad is finally revealed.
After the shocking ending of "Seeing Red" Willow desperately tries to bring Tara back from the dead and calls upon Osiris - to no avail, since this was not a mystical death it is done and Tara gone forever.
This is the moment where the sweet Willow we've known the last six years vanishes and Dark Willow emerges.
Not taking notice of anything that happens around her, like Buffy being at the brink of death, too, she gets into gear to exact vengeance on those who took the one person she loved most from her. In a chlling scene she absorbs all the black magicks from the books and is literally turned dark. Really cool scene.
A short stop, to save Buffys life and then she hunts down Warren. She toys with him and finally eviscerates and burnes Warren in a scene, that surprisingly made it on screen. A shocked Buffy, Xander and Anya are unable to stop her. "One down" - and Will is gone......
Kudos to Alyson Hannigan, for really making us feel her anguish, pain and bloodlust.
Evil Willow, very exciting!! hide show
Buffy almost dies, Tara dies, Willow turns to the dark side and gets into black magick. Willow completley loses it after the death of Tara her soulmate and best friend. After an attempt to kill Buffy, Warren accidently shoots Tara and thats one thing Willow is not able to forgive him for. In the emergency room she saves Buffy after being shot by Warren also, only she survived unlike Tara. Now Willow is on the trail of Warren then eventually Andrew and Jonathan, Warrens partners in crime. Buffy is to late to save Warren but luckily Willow doesn't succeed killing Andrew and Johnathan because of Buffy and also Giles who shows up to save the day. In the end Xander's a real hero for helping stop Willow from saving the world. In my opinion this is a pivitol episode and one that will not soon be forgotten.
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