Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S5/E14 Crush

Spike's crush on Buffy is exposed. Drusilla comes back to town

"Harmony: What about me, Spike? You forget about me again? The actual girlfriend? I gave you the best ... bunch of months of my life! I thought I could change you, Spike. I thought maybe if I gave and I gave and gave, maybe you'd come around. Maybe be a little nicer. Stop treating me like your dog. But now I see it's you. You're the dog. Who needs to be put down."
 * Anguished Declaration of Love: Killed Mid-Sentence by a very alarmed and grossed-out Buffy.
 * All Take and No Give

"Buffy: You don't know what feelings are! Spike: I damn well do! I lie awake every night-- Buffy: You sleep during the day! Spike: Yeah, but-- (through his teeth) You are missing the point."
 * Badass Decay (In-Universe): Spike is indignant when Dawn says she feels safe with him.
 * Bad Bad Acting: Harmony playing Buffy.
 * Blatant Lies: Spike's lame ending for his scary story, once Buffy enters his crypt.
 * Buffy-Speak: Xander is Pay Day Man!
 * Call Back: Drusilla fills in Spike on events in Angel, such as Darla's return from the dead and Angel setting them on fire.
 * Casual Kink: Harmony invites Spike to tie her up. Spike instead gets her to dress up as Buffy for some roleplay and roll-in-the-hay.
 * Comically Missing the Point

"Buffy: What ... is this? The late-night stakeout, the bogus suspects, the flask [of booze]? Is this a date? Spike: (loudly) A d- Please! (pretending to be amused) A date? You are completely off your bird! I mean... (quietly) Do you want it to be?"
 * Completely Missing the Point: Knocking out your Love Interest with a cattle prod, chaining her up and saying you'll prove your ardour by staking your vampire ex is not the way to Buffy's heart.
 * Did I Just Go On A Date With Cthulhu?

"Tara: Quasimodo's actions were selfishly motivated. He had no moral compass, no understanding of right. Everything he did, he did out of love for a woman who would never be able to love him back."
 * Did Mom Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: The fact that Spike appears to be worming his way into Dawn and Joyce's good graces alarms Buffy just as much as his Love Confession.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Buffy, Willow and Tara discuss The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

"Anya: Xander, I think you may have hurt his feelings. Xander: And you should never hurt the feelings of a brutal killer. (ponders) You know, that's, uh, that's actually some pretty good advice."
 * Do Not Taunt Cthulhu

"Harmony: I told you: I don't do threesomes unless they're boy-boy-girl. Or Charlize Theron."
 * Emerging From the Shadows / Something About a Rose: Drusilla's introduction.
 * Evil Is Petty: Spike nicks Payday Man's money.
 * Even the Girls Want Her

"Spike: It's just, we took on that Glory chippie together, I was right there with you, fightin' the fight. Buffy: Actually, you were sleeping the sleep of the knocked unconscious."
 * Failed Attempt At Drama: Spike's tirade is interrupted
 * Fire-Forged Friends: Averted; Spike tries to play on the help he gave to Buffy in "Blood Ties". Buffy is not impressed.


 * Fool for Love: Spike, of course.
 * Foreshadowing: Buffy sitting watching her friends dance, in contrast to her eagerness for such fun in previous years -- this happens more often as Buffy becomes weighed down by her responsibilies and isolated from her friends.
 * And for this season...
 * And for this season...

"Spike: I got a bit of info you might be keen on knowing. Buffy: Sorry, all out of cash. Why don't you hit on Giles...hit up Giles!"
 * Freudian Slip: Buffy has been tipped off that Spike is in love with her.

"Spike: Don't mock this. Buffy: Go mock yourself!"
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar

"Harmony: Why? Because she's back? Spike: No. Because I am."
 * Ghost Story: the ultimate version of this trope -- scary stories told by the monster himself! Buffy comes across Dawn in Spike's lamp-lit crypt, eagerly listening to the vampire tell the story of how he murdered a whole family, and then heard the faint sound a child's gasp in a pitch-dark coal bin so he-- (Death Glare from Buffy) had her adopted out to a nice family that didn't put their children in coal bins. Dawn is not impressed by the lame ending.
 * Grand Romantic Gesture: Well, for a vampire it is.
 * Heel Face Turn: Spike offers to "turn his back on the whole evil thing" if that's what Buffy wants.
 * Hell-Bent for Leather: Spike dresses in the Brown Leather Jacket of Normality when trying to engage Buffy in casual conversation. When that doesn't work he goes back to black.
 * He's Back: Spike violently rejects Harmony for Drusilla.

"Drusilla: "I knew it. I knew before you did that you loved the Slayer. The pixies in my head told it to me.""
 * History Repeats: Spike's offer to kill his sire/paramour out of love for Buffy is not without precedent, as Angel did exactly that with Darla in the first season. This won't be the last parallel between the Bangel and Spuffy relationships that Buffy will refuse to see or admit to.
 * Hollywood Healing: Drusilla still has some scars from when Angel set her on fire, though not enough to mar her looks.
 * Ice Queen: Buffy, from Spike's perspective.
 * If I Can't Have You: If Buffy refuses to give Spike even the faintest chance that there's hope for him, Spike will release Drusilla to feed on her.
 * Laughing Mad: Spike's Love Confession is interrupted by Dru's "laugh track".

"Joyce: Honey, did you somehow, unintentionally, lead him on in any way? Send him signals? Buffy: Well, I do beat him up a lot. For Spike, that's like third base."
 * Last-Name Basis: Spike calls Buffy by her last name "Summers" while making his Anguished Declaration of Love, presumably to show he's serious.
 * Long Bus Trip: Drusilla no longer appears as a villain in Buffy or Angel, except in flashbacks.
 * Love At First Punch

"Xander: Listen, bleach boy, I don't have a chip in my head. I can do far more damage to you than you can ever do to me. Spike: (distracted watching Buffy chat up Ben) Yeah? Like you could ever hurt me."
 * Love Hurts

"Spike: A d—? Please! A date? You are completely off your bird! I mean... do you want it to be?"
 * Male Gaze: Lampshaded by Harmony when she says that the only thing Spike will see of her is her ass walking away -- unwilling to give him even that pleasant sight, she decides to back away instead.
 * Manly Tears: Spike returns to his crypt teary-eyed after Buffy rejects his first Anguished Declaration of Love.
 * Neck Snap: Drusilla killing the couple at the Bronze, so Spike can feed without his chip firing.
 * Not a Date: Spike invites Buffy on a stakeout of a vampire nest, offers her a Quick Nip and tries to make conversation about her taste in music. When the vampires turn out to be less than aggressive, Buffy goes to storm out only to find Spike holding the door open for her, and so she suddenly asks Spike "Is this a date?"

"Spike: GNAARGHHH! WHAT...THE BLEEDING HELL...IS WRONG...WITH YOU...BLOODY WOMEN?! WHAT THE HELL...DOES IT TAKE? WHY...DO YOU BITCHES TORTURE ME?"
 * Not So Different: Dawn says there's no difference between Angel's soul and Spike's chip. Buffy responds, "I can't listen to this!"
 * Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Buffy compares Spike to a Serial Killer and Spike replies: "Women marry them all the time!"
 * Oblivious to Foe Yay: Buffy
 * Power At a Price: Willow still has headaches from the teleportation spell she did in the last episode.
 * Precocious Crush: Dawn on Spike, though she denies it.
 * Punched Across the Room and into your stalker shrine.
 * Punctuated for Emphasis

Buffy: Which question do you want me to answer first?"

"Xander: I mean, how upset can you really get over one of Spike's fevered daydreams that's not gonna happen?"
 * Put on a Bus: Last appearance of Harmony, though she does become a secondary character in Angel.
 * The last appearance of Drusilla outside of flashbacks.
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Spike and Buffy bust into a vampire lair. The vamps get up ready to fight, and say "Slayer!" Then they run away.
 * Stalker with a Crush: Spike, from Buffy's perspective.
 * Tempting Fate: Xander laughs over the idea of Spike being in love with Buffy.

"Dawn: Spike's totally into you! Oh, come on. You didn't notice? Buffy, Spike is completely in love with you.
 * Vampire Invitation: Revoked.
 * Villain Exit Stage Left: After Spike saves Buffy, Drusilla says sadly that she can't help him now and leaves. Given Spike's uncertain loyalties, Buffy clearly figures it'd be pushing her luck to chase her.
 * Wham! Line

Buffy: Huh?"

"Harmony: Well, you've got some nerve showing up here like this. After all this time. After breaking my sweet boo-boo's heart. (Drusilla looks at Spike and mouths 'boo-boo?') Do you have any idea how hard it's been to break down the walls he put up after you left? I mean, serious trust issues."
 * With My Hands Tied: Buffy has to fight Drusilla with each hand chained to a pole.
 * The Woobie (In-Universe): Harmony's blondie bear.