Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S5/E07 Fool for Love

""Every day you wake up, it's the same bloody question that haunts you: is today the day I die? Death is on your heels, baby, and sooner or later it's gonna catch you. And part of you wants it... not only to stop the fear and uncertainty, but because you're just a little bit in love with it. Death is your art. You make it with your hands, day after day. That final gasp. That look of peace. Part of you is desperate to know: What's it like? Where does it lead you? And now you see, that's the secret. Not the punch you didn't throw or the kicks you didn't land. Every Slayer has a death wish. Even you"."

Buffy gets Spike to tell his story of how he killed two Slayers after she is nearly killed by a normal vampire. The Scoobies find the vamp's nest and plan to destroy it but Riley does it alone.

"Dawn: Come on; who's the man?
 * Backhanded Compliment

Buffy: You are. (Dawn smiles) A very short, annoying man."

"Spike: We just keep coming. But you can kill a hundred, a thousand, a thousand thousand and the armies of Hell besides, and all we need... is for one of us, just one, sooner or later, to have the thing we're all hoping for.
 * Badass Longcoat: Nikki Wood -- Spike takes it as a trophy.
 * Bad Guys Play Pool: Spike plays pool with Buffy while relating his past. Later he uses the cue while sparring with Buffy outside.
 * Brick Joke: We finally hear William's love poem in his entirety in the Angel Grand Finale "Not Fade Away" when a drunken Spike recites it at a poetry slam. To Spike's joy he gets a standing ovation!
 * Brought Down to Normal: Buffy is nearly killed by an ordinary vampire.
 * Continuity Nod: To "Lovers Walk", where Spike related how he caught Drusilla with a chaos demon -- "all slime and antlers".
 * Conveniently-Timed Attack From Behind: Riley saves Buffy's life at the beginning of the episode.
 * Cry for the Devil
 * Double Entendre: In the dialogue between Buffy and Spike outside the Bronze, with Spike's desire to 'dance' (fight to the death) also merging in Spike's mind with a desire to have sex with her.
 * A Day in the Limelight: Spike and Riley.
 * Death Seeker: The weakness of all Slayers, according to Spike.
 * Description Cut: Spike saying "I've always been bad" to William writing a sappy love poem.
 * Elephant in the Living Room: Giles is reluctant to discuss the subject of Buffy's inevitable death.
 * Erotic Eating: Dru sucking the Chinese Slayer's blood off Spike's finger.
 * Consulting a Convicted Killer
 * Crossover: With the Angel episode "Darla", which shows events from the POV of the other members of the Whirlwind.
 * Embarrassing Nickname: "William The Bloody" actually referred to Spike's bloody awful poetry.
 * Evil Only Has to Win Once

Buffy: And that would be what?

Spike: One good day."

"Chinese Slayer: [subtitles] Tell my mother I am sorry.
 * Fainting: Buffy is embarrassed that she passed out after being stabbed by the vampire.
 * Famous Last Words

Spike: Sorry luv, I don't speak Chinese."

"Spike: The first was all business but the second, she had a touch of your style. She was cunning, resourceful... oh, did I mention? Hot. I could have danced all night with that one.
 * Foe Yay: Loads in this episode alone.

Buffy: You think we're dancing?

Spike: That's all we've ever done."

"(Riley pumps his fist to tell the Scoobies to move forward)
 * Fool for Love
 * Foreshadowing: Buffy refuses to 'dance' with Spike because she's better than him. Spike spends the rest of the season trying to be worthy of her
 * Spike killing the New York Slayer has consequences in Season 7
 * From Nobody to Nightmare
 * Guy-On-Guy Is Hot: Darla and Dru enjoy the sight of Angelus and Spike -- as Doug Petrie put it, getting ready to "drive their poles through each other".
 * Hand Signals: Unfortunately the Scoobies aren't even Mildly Military.

Xander: What's with the hand move?

Willow: It's code. I think it breaks down to "choo-choo"."

"Buffy: Say that it's true. Say I do want to. It wouldn't be you, Spike. It would never be you. You're beneath me."
 * History Repeats: "Helpless" also began with a vampire getting the drop on Buffy with her own stake, causing a similar crisis of confidence.
 * Hoist By Her Own Petard: Buffy is stabbed with her own stake. Later Riley grabs the stake off the vampire (who's kept it as a trophy) and dusts him with it.
 * The Hunter Becomes the Hunted
 * Interplay of Sex and Violence: Spike has sex with Dru after killing the Chinese Slayer; when Buffy expresses disgust that he "got off on it" Spike replies, "Well, yeah. I suppose you're telling me you don't?"
 * It's Personal: Riley stakes the vampire that nearly killed Buffy before blowing up the others with a hand grenade.
 * Ironic Echo: "You're beneath me" spoken to Spike first by Cecily (refuses his love) then by Buffy (refuses to believe he will be the one who will kill her)
 * Kiss of the Vampire: William reacts with pain, then pleasure to Drusilla's bite.
 * Let's Dance: Used for some quite overt Foe Yay.
 * Mad Oracle: As she reveals in "Crush", Drusilla realises that Spike loves Buffy long before he does; it's this, rather than the fact that Spike is no longer purely evil, that causes her to reject him.
 * Manly Tears: William after being rejected by Cecily, and Spike after being 'rejected' by Buffy.
 * Miles Gloriosus: Spike only avoids getting killed by either Slayer due to luck -- an explosion knocks down the Chinese Slayer at a crucial moment, and the lights on the subway train blacking out enabled him to turn the tables on Nikki Wood.
 * Neck Snap in New York Subway: Spike killing Slayer Nikki Wood.
 * Origins Episode
 * Pat the Buffy: Spike can't go through with killing Buffy when he sees how distraught she is; instead he sits next to her and awkwardly pats her on the shoulder.
 * Offscreen Teleportation: After being stabbed, Buffy is fleeing the vampire when he suddenly appears in front of her.
 * Perspective Flip: Angelus doesn't look happy when he hears that Spike killed a Slayer, which Spike assumes is down to jealousy. But in "Darla" it's revealed that Angel has been ensouled by this stage.
 * Power Walk Out of the Inferno: Spike, Drusilla, Angelus and Darla during the Boxer Rebellion.
 * Real Life Writes the Plot: The scar over James Marsters eye (got during a mugging) is explained by the Chinese Slayer injuring him with her sword (presumably magical).
 * Rummage Sale Reject: 1977 Spike. DEAR GOD, 1977 Spike.
 * Sawn Off Shotgun: More of a coach gun actually; Spike takes it to kill Buffy, convinced he can pull the trigger before the pain overwhelms him.
 * Seventh-Episode Twist: Spike was a loser in life, which will become relevant in Lies My Parents Told Me. More importantly all Slayers having a death wish, which will be explored in Intervention and The Gift.
 * Shut UP, Hannibal

"Aristocrat: "My heart expands / 'tis grown a bulge in it / inspired by your beauty, effulgent." Effulgent?"
 * Start of Darkness: William is shown to be a decent, sensitive upper class wannabe poet, who after Cecily rejects his Anguished Declaration of Love becomes easy prey for Drusilla.
 * Stylistic Suck: William's love poetry. And that's one of his better ones.

"Vampire: They ought to put this in a museum!
 * Tempting Fate: One of the aristocrats remarks about William's poetry, "I'd rather have a railroad spike through my head than listen to that awful stuff!" If the origins of Spike's name given in season 2 are correct, it's safe to assume he got his wish.
 * Vampires Are Sex Gods: Spike and Dru of course.
 * Walk in Chime In: The vampire that nearly killed Buffy is showing off her stake.

Riley: You know what they put in museums? Mostly dead things."


 * Warrior Therapist: Spike says that it's not a matter of understanding what moves the dead Slayers did wrong, but their inate deathwish.
 * With Catlike Tread: To Riley's chagrin, the Scoobies munch chips and talk loudly while he's stalking vampires. Justified due to their different tactics -- Buffy & Co. act as The Bait to draw vampires out so they can be killed, while the Initiative had to sneak up on vampires in order to capture them alive.
 * Whole-Episode Flashback
 * You Look Familiar: Kali Rocha (Cecily) would reappear in the next season as Halfrek the vengeance demon. This was retconned as Cecily and Halfrek being the same person.