Lover's Walk

Season 3, Episode 8, Aired
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Episode Summary

Spike returns to Sunnydale a broken vampire. Drusilla has left him, and he will do anything to win her back, including kidnapping Willow and Xander to force Willow to prepare him a love spell. Will Willow do the spell, or can the Scoobies prepare for tragedy?
9.2
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Fan Episode Reviews (31)

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  • Horror and heartache

    10
    "Perfect"
    By joxerlives, Jan 19, 2012 Report Abuse
    Lover's Walk

    The Good;
    Spike is back in town and emotional hell follows with him for the rest of the cast! I think it's at this point that Buffy really stops being about the demon of the week and starts being about the relationships.

    The Bad;
    Are you kidding?

    Best line;
    Spike; I may be love's *** but at least I'm man enough to admit it

    Character death;
    Bye bye to another magic shop owner. Spike's killing her is horrible in the extreme, the sheer brutality of it. The scene where Spike threatens to push a broken bottle in Willow's face is also horrible (pay attention Spike fans!). I remember watching this ep for the first time and thinking "NO! They can't kill Cordy!" but eventually they do. Presumably the funeral we see is of the Magic Shop owner?

    Knocked out; Cordy and Xander

    Women good/men bad; Joyce wants Buffy to go to parties with kegs and boys, as it happens neither will work out well for her.

    Kinky dinky; Willow thinks bowling and rented shoes are sexy which is a whole level of kink beyond my ken, my barbie and all my action figures. Spike also seems to be quite enamoured of Willow (Spillow?) which will be referred to again in season 4. He also talks of 'having a woman' which implies that a vamp feeding is akin to a sexual act. Spike says he's going to torture Dru until she loves him again.?

    Calling Captain Subtext; How much do we adore the scene between Spike and Joyce? Of course when we see Spike's relationship with his own mum, we understand why. Spike also refers to Angel as 'peaches' and a 'great poof' which must have had Spangel fans working overtime. Buffy comments that for some reason she can't fool Spike hinting at their relationship to come and possibly Spikes hidden sensitivity (realising in season 4 that Willow is falling apart, empathising with Dawn in season 5). Plus Dru senses that Spike is infatuated with the Slayer.

    Guantanamo Bay;
    Buffy and Angel beat up and threaten to kill Spike for info

    Questions and observations;
    Willow refers to Cletus the slack jawed yokel from the Simpsons. Weirdly Buffy has never even been referenced on that show as far as I know? Xander refers to Buffy and him working at the drive-in, both will but not at the same time. Surely the Mayor wouldn't have let Spike and co run rampant last year and destroyed the world? Xander recognises the ingredients for a love spell from his experience in BBB. Note Xander refers to wanting to be a fireman which will also feature in The Replacement (he later plays one in a very bad Syfy movie Fire Serpent) . Weirdly Buffy says that Spike's not known for keeping his word but to judge by 'Lie to Me' and 'Becoming' he actually does? Or does she mean that he'd promised that he'd never return to Sunnydale? Note that even Angel with a soul still knows how to push Spike's buttons? Cordy's expression upon seeing Xander and Willow together is just heartrending.
    Buffy scores remarkably well on the SATs once again showing us there's brains behind that blonde hair. Love Cordy's bizarre leap of logic that Xander has been kidnapped by Columbian drug barons?
    Really you get the idea that they're toying with the idea of Spike as a regular character and this was a test for it. Of course he fit the bill and the rest is history

    10/10 no question
    moreless

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  • Lover's Walk

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By TrueTvWatcher, Oct 14, 2010 Report Abuse
    Lover's Walk was a key episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Third Season. In this episode Willow and Zander's recent actions finally catch up with them, having dire consequances for Cordelia while leaving Oz feeling betrayed. Spike also returned to Sunnydale and wants willow to do a love spell for him. I think that this episode was exciting to watch, especially the action scenes, and the suspense of the characters actions. The stories blended together in a superb flow. This show is so complex yet simple at the same time. This makes it very relatable to most viewers, and this episode definitely is worth watching.moreless

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  • A strange episode in the mix of Season 3, but an official comeback for James Marsters, who swore in the Season 2 finale not to return to Sunnidale \"I bloody well hope\". Well, that didn\'t really last.moreless

    6.5
    "Fair"
    By Assafs, Jun 29, 2010 Report Abuse
    Not my favorite episode - because Spike\'s lines are very out of character (crying most of the time, not coherently) and one big disappointment - The loss of Drusilla, just by the time I got used to her. It\'s also unrealistic - the chance that the two lovers will part over something like that after 100 years seems odd. Only after Season 4 (Spoiler alert) when Spike returns and gets an official star status, I understood why. (End Spoiler) It\'s quite badly written too, I\'m afraid - The dialogs are not as good as the rest, and the fight scene in the Magic shop is even lame. You can skip it and move right on, the only important thing plotwise in this episode is that Cordelia and Oz find Willow and Xander kissing. Cordelia leaves the Scooby-gang after this, and Oz sticks around until mid-Season 4.moreless

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    0 3

  • How Spike got his grove back (and how everyone else lost theirs).

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By ticktock24, May 02, 2010 Report Abuse
    Most of the loose ends from last season have been tied up in the first third of this one with one big exception. Spike snuck out of Buffy and Angel's fateful duel, speeding off with his unconscious beau Drusilla. Obviously he survived for a reason. Spike has a devoted following, so much so that his image is on one of the DVDs for this season despite being in only one episode (and said DVD doesn't contain it). However, there had to be more to his return than satisfying the fans. So leave it to Spike to breeze into town, make a huge emotional mess, and leave with his old attitude back, while leaving the door open for another comeback later.

    It's apparent in Spike's return, echoing his arrival in "School Hard", that he is a different vampire. Smashing through the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign now doesn't mean that he's a bad boy, but that he was too drunk to drive. Fans may have had cause for concern, as they wouldn't want to see Spike moping the entire episode. However, they mine great comedy out of this, like him sobbing over a park bench where they killed a homeless man. It also serves as a contrast to Angel and Buffy's relationship: they want him to get over his heartbreak, but they're oblivious to their own problems with love. All three have a big moment of realization during this: Spike realizing he's "gone soft" and needs to be tough to get Drusilla back and Angel and Buffy realize they're fooling themselves.

    Of course his initial target is Angel. Through the second part of last season Angelus continually teased the physically impotent Spike while charming Drusilla. It ultimately created the chain of events that caused him to side with Buffy which destroyed his relationship with Drusilla. Until he gets to the magic shop, he seems more like the guy who gets wasted, talks big about revenge and ultimately does nothing. However, it's Spike's desire to curse Angel with leprosy that leads him on a collision course with Willow, where he becomes the catalyst for the breakdowns of three major relationships.

    Meanwhile, Xander and Willow's stolen moments have become increasingly obvious. It couldn't keep it going much longer without everyone else coming off as superbly ignorant. Willow tries to fight those hormones by attempting a "de-lusting" spell. While Xander's tried it before (nice callback), this episode is the first time Willow's used magic to simplify her life, a theme that will be explored heavily in future seasons. However, the spells in this episode are merely a device to get Spike involved in the main story and place Xander and Willow in a high peril situation where they express themselves and are discovered in the worst manner possible.

    This happens as Cordelia and Oz's gestures show commitment to their relationships. Cordelia has to deal with the pressures of high school politics, where she's gotten plenty of flack from her friends for dating a "loser" like Xander. Displaying photos of them in her locker shows that her feelings for Xander have overcome peer pressure. Oz on the other hand, is known for being so relaxed and nonchalant that putting his feelings out there is noteworthy. Because he's so protective of his emotions, Oz is likely the more hurt of the two.

    However, the key development is Buffy and Angel realizing that they don't have a future together. It starts with Buffy's SATs. Despite being expelled, suspended and reprimanded for violent behavior, Buffy's high score offers enormous promise of life outside Sunnydale. For the first time Buffy has the opportunity to live a normal life of "keg parties and boys", what she's always wanted. Faith, albeit a ticking time bomb, can substitute for Buffy at the Hellmouth while she studies. Buffy simply isn't used to thinking about having a future; she slays and that calling carries a short life expectancy. It's like the clich of the small town person who thinks they'll never leave it, but is given a huge opportunity. Blowing it off is fitting for her character, as if she's expecting the rug to be pulled out, and considering there are a little more than 100 episodes left in the series, it's warranted.

    Although she has every reason to go, she's still divided with Angel. It's very much allegorical for teens' indecisiveness over their post-high school plans because of a boyfriend or girlfriend and how siding with the boyfriend or girlfriend is usually regrettable. Angel wisely advises her not to decide because of him. Obviously the set up for Angel's departure into his series starts on this arc on the doomed relationship.

    Before they realize their relationship has no future, they spend most of the episode continuing to believe they can be friends after all. With the exception of the intervention, Buffy's friends are content to have her believe it as well, but Spike sees otherwise. He's right to recall the last time he saw them, as it seems they forgot that they were fighting to the death with the world as the prize. After all that has happened, how can they go back to being friends? Simple answer is that they can't, and Spike is the only one who can tell them that.

    In the heat of all that happened in "Becoming", it'd be easy to forget that Buffy willingly invited Spike into her home and so far this season, failed to rescind that or reinvite Angel after his soul was restored. The way they dealt with that conundrum is the funniest moment of the episode, where Spike taunts the "bad man" Angel while mockingly posing as if to bite her outside her eyesight. Despite this, they never do get around to rescinding that invite.

    The Spike and Joyce friendship really could've been forced and absurd, but it somehow works: the suburban single mom and the European mass murderer commiserating over hot chocolate with marshmallows. Joyce has to be the mother to the heartsick Spike, and he, despite his nature to kill humans, is happy to have to someone to talk to.

    Spike's return gets on the Mayor's radar and what he's planning is too important for Spike to mess up, despite him enjoying (and the deputy dreading) Spike's exploits last season. This short scene, in addition to adding the conflict where Spike, Angel and Buffy fight Spike's former flunkies (now the Mayor's), offers some insight into how the Mayor perceives outside demons and vampires. So, if he was aware of Spike, what else did he know and did he attempt to intervene off camera?

    The only part of this episode that doesn't work is Cordelia's impalement. When it first aired, it might've provided a brief shock when they cut to the funeral, then Willow & Buffy, who just happen to be walking past it, explaining that Cordelia's OK. Now, it comes off as a cheap way to get a rise out of the audience. Everything up to it does help make the situation where Xander and Willow are exposed more uncomfortable.

    This episode is the best so far this season. It's essentially the second part of the end of the introductory phase and it ends messily. Faith became jaded by the group and Angel's return raised tensions last episode, and now all the romantic relationships are in ruins. Spike's return could've been just a bone thrown to the fans, but it provides valuable character development on top of being really entertaining.moreless

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    2 1

  • this episode reavelled a lot of the characters.

    9.2
    "Superb"
    By sparky_612, May 02, 2010 Report Abuse
    spike came back to town and kinapped willow and xander as he wanted drusilla to come back to him. thus, kinapped them to ask willow to do a sell fr him. this episode show that spike has a soft side and is actually vunerable. he needed comfort from someone, and he would even go to someone he dont like(example: willow and joyce). also willow and xander's cheating behind cordelia and oz was revealed. spike also revealed that angel and buffy still love each other even tho they try not to. spike left town in the end to find drusilla. willow, xander, oz and cordelia felt depressed because of their relationship. buffy told angel that she would not be coming back to see him as he is well enough now.moreless

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    0 1
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • Spike returns to Sunnydale the same way he debuted; running over the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign with his car. Edit
    • When Spike first sees Angel at the mansion, Angel is reading Jean-Paul Sartre's La Nausée (or Nausea in English) Edit
    • According to the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign which Spike ran over, the population of Sunnydale is 38,500. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Considering that Spike only appears once in this season (in this episode) it is interesting that his face appears on one of the six discs of the original season three DVD collection (an honor usually reserved for main characters). Edit
    • For this episode James Marsters (Spike) actually lit his hand on fire for the scene when he was lying in a fountain totally smashed and sleeping and his hand bursts into flames! JM actually let his hand burn for too long and he had scarring and everything! Edit
    • Ironically, Willow is very prominent in the photos of Xander in Cordelia's locker. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Xander: Is that a spell book?
      Willow: No, no, no! Chemistry book.
      Xander: Wait a minute. This is love spell stuff. You doing a love spell? Willow: No, of course not! This is a purely scientific... de-lusting spell... for us. I thought it would go better if you didn't know. Xander: Are you nuts? Or have you forgotten I tend to have bad luck with these sorts of spells? Edit
    • Willow: It's a little Pez witch! Oz: It's kind of a theme present. Do you like it? Willow: I like, I more than like. Oz, this is probably the sweetest.. We have to find a little Pez werewolf so little Pez witch can have a boyfriend. Oz: I don't think they make a werewolf Pez, you might have to settle for a wacky cartoon dog. Edit
    • Xander: Why didn't he just kill us? Willow: He wants me to do a love spell. Xander: What? Willow: Drusilla broke up with him. Xander: Gee, and we had all hoped those crazy kids would make it work. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS

    • Buffy says to Angel: "Tell me that you don't love me." This is the same line uttered by one of the ghosts in season 2 episode 19, which also reflected the forbidden love between Buffy and Angel.

      Edit
    • Xander: Are you nuts? Or have you forgotten I tend to have bad luck with these sorts of spells? This refers to the season 2 episode Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered, in which a love spell backfires and makes every woman (except Cordelia) fall in love with Xander. Edit
    • Episode title: Lover's Walk is the title of an Elvis Costello song. Edit

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