The Gift

Season 5, Episode 22, Aired
EDIT

Episode Summary

Glory has Dawn, and plans to use her blood to open the portal to her home dimension, even though the portal will cause all the hell dimensions to bleed into our own. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Anya, Tara and Spike go to confront a true Hell God with the knowledge that they may not all survive.moreless
9.7
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Superb
853 votes
  • Your Rating: 10
    "Perfect"
  • Your Rating: 9.5
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 9
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 8.5
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 8
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 7.5
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 7
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 6.5
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 6
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 5.5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 4.5
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 4
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 3.5
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 3
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 2.5
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 2
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 1.5
    "Abysmal"
  • Your Rating: 1
    "Abysmal"
Rate It

Watch Online

Netflix
Subscription
Amazon
Buy
iTunes
Buy
Hulu Plus
Subscription
Amazon Prime
Free Trial/Subsc...
VUDU
Buy/Rent

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

Fan Episode Reviews (61)

See All

  • Death is not the end

    10
    "Perfect"
    By joxerlives, Jan 20, 2012 Report Abuse
    THE GIFT

    The Good;
    The final battle especially the bait and switch with the Buffybot and the Dawn/Buffy scene at the end. Also like the way Buffy casually announces to the gang she killed a vampire and they treat it like no big deal. Love the Scooby strategising session and Anya's gameshow hostess introduction of the troll hammer. Best ever Minion toadying 'Oh groovetastic one' and 'Oh sweaty naughty feelings causing one'.

    The Bad;
    Doesn't anyone notice Glory's tower? Since when was Olaf a troll 'god'? Some of the minion makeup doesn't look so good, one rather looks like Michael Myers from the Halloween series. WHY NO COMMENTARY? Especially as this could have been the last ever Buffy ep.

    Best line;
    Minion 1; This shall be our day of Glory!
    Minion 2; Nicely put!
    Minion 1; Well it just cried out to me! (takes crossbow bolt in the chest) Ugh!

    Women good/men bad;
    The guy she saves (who resembles Jonathon a lot) says she's "Just a girl". Yeah pal and the ocean is 'Just water'.

    Jeez!;
    How heartrending is it when Dawn folds her clothes up before she is to be sacrificed, like Joyce taught her? Just as Buffy wishes that Joyce was still there. Doc cuts Dawn.

    Kinky dinky;
    Xander and Anya have a world in peril quickie. Then he proposes. Anya and Xander call each other pervert.

    Captain Subtext;
    Tara's back, hooray! "I got so lost". So you can restore Glory's brainsucking. She also tells Giles 'You're a killer' before he kills Ben. Dawn asks Ben to turn into Glory as she prefers her, Glory refers to Buffy as sweetcheeks. Xander observes 'Smart chicks are so hot'. "You couldn't have figured that out in 10th grade?" asks Willow ruefully (another mark in the bi column). Xander however doubts that Willow thinks of Buffy like that but what does he know, he never noticed Tara and Willow and Spike did. Buffy once again hints that the connection between her and Dawn is deeper than just sisters, she describes it as physical and says that she is closer to Dawn than anyone (as the final scene with the Summers' blood will prove). Spike quotes Henry V, William the Bloody sensitive poet still in there somewhere.

    Guantanamo Bay;
    Giles kills Ben/Glory. The right thing to do but still ruthless as hell. Would Xander have done it if Giles hadn't? It's him who comes up with the idea in the first place. Giles proposes killing Dawn. Too much to ask of Buffy but there are millions of Dawns all over the world, sacrifice one to save them all? Buffy tells Giles that if Dawn dies the council can get someone else (Faith?). But could she ever walk away from all those other Dawns?

    Scoobies to the ER;
    All pretty banged up, I heard a rumour that season 6 would see Anya in a wheelchair but it never happened.

    Apocalypses; 6 oh yeah, here's where Angel gets his dragon

    Scoobies in bondage: Dawn for the third time
    Buffy: 8
    Giles: 4
    Cordy: 5
    Will: 3
    Jenny: 1
    Angel: 4
    Oz: 1
    Faith: 3
    Joyce: 1
    Wes: 1
    Xander; 1
    Dawn; 3

    Scoobies knocked out:
    Buffy: 16
    Giles: 10
    Cordy: 6
    Xander: 8
    Will: 5
    Jenny: 2
    Angel: 6
    Oz: 3
    Faith: 1
    Joyce: 3
    Wes: 1
    Anya;1

    Kills: Buffy kills one more vamp, I thought it might be her 100th for the 100th ep but just short. Does she kill Doc? He can survive being stabbed so could he survive the fall? Giles kills Ben/Glory and at least one minion as does Spike.
    Buffy: 96 vamps, 32 demons, 6 monsters, 3 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot
    Giles: 5 vamps, 2 demon, 1 human, 1 god.
    Cordy: 3 vamps, a demon
    Will: 6 vamps
    Angel: 3 vamps, 1 demon, 1 human
    Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie
    Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans
    Xander: 5 vamps, 2 zombies, a demon, a demon
    Anya: 1 vamp and a demon
    Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons
    Spike; 2 vamps and 2 demon

    Scoobies go evil:
    Giles: 1
    Cordy: 1
    Will: 2
    Jenny: 1
    Angel: 1
    Oz: 1
    Joyce: 1
    Xander: 3

    Alternate scoobies:
    Buffy: 6
    Giles: 3
    Cordy: 1
    Will: 2
    Jenny: 2
    Angel: 3
    Oz: 2
    Joyce: 2
    Xander: 3

    Recurring characters killed: 10
    Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce

    Sunnydale deaths;
    89;

    Total number of scoobies: 7
    Giles, Xander, Willow, Buffy, Anya, Tara, Spike

    Xander demon magnet: 5(6?)
    Preying Mantis Lady, Inca Mummy Girl, Drusilla, VampWillow, Anya (arguably Buffy & Faith with their demon essences?), Dracula?

    Scoobies shot:
    Giles: 2
    Angel: 3
    Oz: 4
    Riley; 1

    Notches on Scooby bedpost:
    Giles: 2; Joyce & Olivia, possibly Jenny and 3xDraccy babes?
    Cordy: 1?
    Buffy: 3 confirmed; Angel, Parker,Riley, 1 possible, Dracula(?)
    Angel: 1;Buffy
    Joyce: 1;Giles, 2 possible, Ted and Dracula(?)
    Oz: 3; Groupie, Willow & Verucca
    Faith:2 ;Xander, Riley
    Xander: 2; Faith, Anya
    Willow: 2;Oz and Tara
    Riley; 3; Buffy, Sandy and unnamed vampwhore

    Questions and observations;
    Lovely recap of past 100 eps, especially nice to have Cordy and Angel. The vamp in the alley goes 'Oh god'? I know it's weird but I always rather liked Glory's minions. Very clever that when we see the Buffybot it's wearing the clothes we've last seen Buffy in. SMG puts on her white jumper which later turns up in 'The Grudge'. The creatures from the transformed city hall rather resemble the bugs from Aliens especially the Alien Hybrid from Alien 4 which Joss wrote.
    So what happens to the people Glory brainsucked? We know that there is a link between Glory and them, when Glory dies do they return to normal? (I remember reading one very inventive fic where Faith had been brainsucked by Glory and in the follow-up story DarkWillow cures her by brainsucking Warren before she kills him and giving Faith his mental energy. But you figure if Faith can recover from her coma Slayer healing would easily take care of it? Spike says blood is life which is what possessed Xander says in Buffy vs Dracula. Plenty of stories too where Glory enslaves the Scoobs but then things take an unexpected twist. Please note all Dawn-haters, Dawn was quite willing to commit suicide to save the world. And if Buffy's blood hadn't worked she'd have followed her off the tower, Faith would be the Slayer and the Summers girls would all be together in heaven.
    A lot of people wanted Buffy to end at this point but I don't, I don't want Buffy to die young like all the other Slayers, I want her to live a long and happy life and I don't want poor Dawn to lose the mother and sister she loves within 6 weeks of each other. But still, stonking ep, if it had ended like this it would have been ok with me.
    Marks out of 10; 10/10 for the girl who saved the world a lot (and still does)
    moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0

  • Buffy Anne Summers: She saved the world. A lot.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By alias571, Aug 31, 2011 Report Abuse
    "This is how many apocalypses for us now?" "Six at least." "Feels like a hundred".

    Wow, 'The Gift'. Glory has Dawn, the big moment is coming and it's up to Buffy and the gang to save the world. Again.

    If I could, I would give 'The Gift' a 15 out of 10 score. It is possibly my favorite episode of Buffy and I cannot stress enough how good it is. The writing is more than perfect and the acting does not disappoint. As a matter of fact, Sarah is great and every single cast member almost made me cry. Actually, I did cry, but that's beyond the point.

    'The Gift' is a beautiful and very emotional episode with some of the best scenes of Buffy. Willow brings Tara back, the Buffybot makes it final appearance and so does Giles (as a regular cast member anyway). We also have Glory and her great Glory-like lines and of course Anya moments. It does justice to the TV show as it is its 100th episode. There is also the infamous last scene with Buffy's sacrifice and her grave and that couldn't have been better. 'The Gift' is truly a perfect episode that ends the great Season 5. Just great television.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    3 0

  • One of the best episodes of Buffy ever!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By silvermoore, Mar 13, 2011 Report Abuse
    Though Hush is my favorite Buffy episode, "The Gift" comes in at a close second. I love "Hush" because of its scariness, its humor and its visual creativity, but I love "The Gift" because of its emotional power. I started watching Buffy after the series ended, so I knew at the time that this episode wasn't the series finale, but it's impact on me was not diminished from this knowledge. I found the ending devastating in its beauty. That Buffy would sacrifice herself to save Dawn, her sister--who, despite Buffy's lifetime of memories, was not technically her sister--was an amazing act of love. Even more affecting to me was the reactions of all her friends, the rawness of their emotion--especially Spike, who collapsed to the ground in anguish. I love the music played at the very end of the episode, as well as what Buffy says to Dawn and how what she says is played over the scene of her jumping to her death. Another favorite part of mine is when the ruthlessness of the Ripper comes out in Giles when he kills Ben because he knows Buffy won't and because he has to in order to keep Glory from coming back. It really shows another side of Giles that is often hidden from view--his devotion to his mission at nearly any cost. And then there's her gravestone "Buffy Anne Summers 1981-2001 She saved the world a lot". Just perfect.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    3 0

  • Glory has Dawn and "the big day" has arrived. Buffy and the gang follow Tara, who is still under a spell, to Glory and Dawn. They save Tara and Dawn but the portal is still opened. Buffy must make the ultimate sacrifice to save Dawn and the world.moreless

    10
    "Perfect"
    By BadWolf_35, Jan 12, 2011 Report Abuse
    An amazing series finale which shows the sacrifices that Buffy has made by being the slayer. A brilliant performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar. The last scene was very well done in creating such an emotional effect. I particularly liked how Buffy's speech to Dawn was heard as a voice over as Buffy sacrificed herself to save the world.
    The whole episode revolves around the sacrifices Buffy has made and how the world can be unfair. At the start of the episode, after saving someone from a demon, the victim of the attack says ".. but you're just a girl", Buffy replies "That's what I keep saying". This shows that she just wants to be a normal girl with a normal life. She talks about how she sacrificed her relationship with Angel even though she loved him so much. In her speech to Dawn she says "The hardest thing in this world is to live in it", she then makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the world.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    2 0

  • The Gift

    10
    "Perfect"
    By TrueTvWatcher, Nov 04, 2010 Report Abuse
    The Gift was a Perfect episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and could have easily been the series finale, thankfully not though! This is definitely one of my top favorite episodes. There was a lot of character development and the actors were perfect in portraying their roles. Buffy is a Hero, and Giles is truly her Watcher. The writers did a perfect job of wrapping up this seasons story lines blending them together for the ultimate episode. Every character had some thing to contribute and together they stood against Glory and her Minions, Good vs Evil at its best. I am excited to start watching the next season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • According to her tombstone, Buffy was born in 1981, but in the episode "I Robot, You Jane" it mentions that Buffy is born on May 6, 1979. Edit
    • When Buffy first starts the fight with Glory, you can clearly see that its a stunt double. You can tell this when you see Buffybot flip Glory onto the brick pile and then proceed to try and punch her. Edit
    • Why didn't real Buffy go and rescue Dawn, while the Buffy bot was keeping Glory occupied? It wasn't because she wanted to stall Glory long enough, because when Dawn screams for Buffy, Buffy runs up the tower to try and save her. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • The final scene in this episode won a fan poll for most memorable moment in a drama series, and was going to be featured prominently in a segment on the 60th Annual Emmy Awards program. Unfortunately, time ran short and that segment had to be cut. Edit
    • Joss Whedon originally planned this episode to be the series finale at the beginning of season five. He knew he was going to kill off both Joyce and Buffy and didn't know how the Dawn character would be received. Midway through the season he received an offer to move the show to the UPN network. Whedon decided that there was still a lot of things he could do with the show and accepted the offer. Buffy ran for two more years on UPN after season five. Edit
    • In the scene where Spike lands on the bricks after being thrown from the tower, stuntman Steve Tartalia landed in an awkward position and ended up having a piece of brick collide very hard against his testicles. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Buffy: I'm counting on you to protect her.
      Spike: 'Til the end of the world. Even if that happens to be tonight. Edit
    • Giles: If the ritual starts every living creature in this and every other dimension imaginable will suffer unbearable torment and death. Including Dawn.
      Buffy: Then the last thing she'll see is me protecting her.
      Giles: You'll fail. You'll die. We all will.
      Buffy: I'm sorry. I love you all, but I'm sorry. Edit
    • Buffy: This is how many apocalypses for us now?
      Giles: Six at least.
      Buffy: Feels like a hundred. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Willow: I could use some courage. This is a reference to the Wizard of Oz, with Willow being compared to the cowardly Lion. Edit
    • Spike: Well, not exactly the St. Crispins's Day Speech, was it? The St. Crispins's Day Speech from William Shakespeare's play Henry V is considered one of the greatest call-to-arms speeches in English literature. Henry gives this speech before his troops attack Callais, to inspire his weakened, frightened, and outnumbered men on to battle. Edit
    • Willow: I could use some courage (Spike offers a drink). No, the real kind.
      Dutch courage is a term for the false feeling of invulnerability experienced when drunk. Also referred to as "liquid courage." Edit

Show Forums

See All
Last Activity
Replies

Watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer Full Episodes

See All

Related Shows

Season 5 Episodes

See All
Ep 22
The Gift
Ep 21
The Weight of the World
Ep 20
Spiral
Ep 19
Tough Love
Ep 18
Intervention
Ep 17
Forever
Ep 16
The Body
Ep 15
I Was Made to Love You
Ep 14
Crush
Ep 13
Blood Ties
Ep 12
Checkpoint
Ep 11
Triangle
Ep 10
Into the Woods
Ep 9
Listening to Fear
Ep 8
Shadow
Ep 7
Fool For Love
Ep 6
Family
Ep 5
No Place Like Home
Ep 4
Out of My Mind
Ep 3
The Replacement
Ep 2
Real Me
Ep 1
Buffy vs. Dracula

Contributors

Become a contributor
More
Less

TV Listings

Full Listings
BROWSE | Shows | Videos | News | Listings | Forums | People | Photos | TV.com Blog

CBS Entertainment | About TV.com | About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Ad Choice | Terms of Use