Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S6/E08 Tabula Rasa

"Monsters are real! Did we know this?"

Willow casts a spell to make Buffy forget about being in Heaven, but instead it wipes the Scooby Gang's memories. Unfortunately Spike has antagonised a loan shark demon and his vampire henchmen, who lay siege to the Magic Box.

"Spike: I must be a noble vampire. A good guy. On a mission of redemption. I help the helpless!"
 * Adventure Duo: 'Randy' and 'Joan' form an instinctive fighting team, as we saw when Spike and Buffy first staked a vamp together in "Becoming, Part 2".
 * Aesop Amnesia: Only some of the Scoobies have acknowledged the issues revealed in "Once More With Feeling". Giles leaves Buffy to force her to become independent. Tara gives Willow an ultimatum regarding her abuse of magic. Spike realises Buffy is emotionally vulnerable and starts pursuing her in earnest. Buffy however continues to deny her attraction to Spike, only to surrender to those feelings when she's depressed -- a pattern that will continue throughout their Destructive Romance. Likewise Xander and Anya don't discuss the problems in their own relationship, which will have serious consequences down the line.
 * Affably Evil / Evil Is Hammy: The shark-headed demon.
 * Almost Kiss: Willow and Tara abort their kiss when their memories return and Tara realises Willow has broken her promise. Unfortunately Anya and Giles are right in the middle of a Big Damn Kiss when their memories return, much to their mutual embarrassment.
 * Amnesia Danger
 * Arbitrary Skepticism: Averted. Giles states that magic is all balderdash -- until they find themselves facing vampires.
 * Armed With Canon: Buffy riffing Angel.

"Buffy: I can't do this without you.
 * Attack Hello: Buffy to Spike in the graveyard.
 * Bait and Switch: Buffy appears to snub Spike once more at the Bronze, but moments later we see them kissing passionately under the staircase.
 * Bait and Switch Comment: After engaging in Snark to Snark Combat throughout the crisis, once the danger is over Giles apologies for his harsh words to Anya. As does Anya...for picking the wrong spellbook.
 * Big Damn Kiss: Giles and Anya with the rising music and...then their memories return.
 * Bond One-Liner: Averted -- Buffy is saying, "Don't mess with Joan the V--" when her memories return and she's punched in the face while reeling from a sudden dose of Heroic BSOD.
 * Buffy-Speak: Apparently unaffected by memory loss -- Buffy says that none of them look hatchety-murdery. Willow notes she and Xander woke up all snuggly-wuggly.
 * Break Her Heart to Save Her: A platonic love version, where Giles leaves the country to force Buffy to take charge of her life.

Giles: You can. That's why I'm going. As long as I stay you'll always turn to me if there's something comes up that you feel that you can't handle, and I'll step in because, because ... (sighs) Because I can't bear to see you suffer."

"Spike: Oh, listen to Mary Poppins. He's got his crust all stiff and upper with that nancy-boy accent. You Englishmen are always so... (stops and notices his own accent) Bloody hell! (ticks off on his fingers) Sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, bollocks... oh God! I'm English!
 * British English

Giles: Welcome to the nancy tribe.

..

Anya: "Loo, shag, brolly -- what the hell is all that?"

Giles: What? There's no way that you could remember me saying any of those words.

Anya: Oh, bugger off, you brolly."

"Buffy: "Get off me you son of a (vampire hand covers her mouth)""
 * Call Back
 * "And I think I'm kinda gay." Willow's Hilarious in Hindsight line from "Doppelgangerland."
 * Also to Xander's dream in "Restless" -- the "shark with feet, on land" and Spike being like a son to Giles, even to him wearing the same tweed suit.
 * Corner of Woe: Willow sits on the bathroom floor crying as Tara packs her things and leaves.
 * Curse Cut Short: When Buffy is grabbed by a vampire.

"Spike: You need to give me asylum!
 * Deadpan Snarker: Smouldering!Spike bursts into the Magic Shop wearing a tweed suit and a floopy-earred cap.

Xander: I'll say."

"Giles: (yells) Get a different book! (grunts) Put that book down, do you hear? Not ... that... (ducks a sword thrust) book!"
 * Later Giles says re the interruption, "Now that we've recovered from Spike's sartorial humor..."
 * Dem Bones / Sword Fight: Giles swordfights a skeleton (likely a Shout Out to Jason and The Argonauts.)

"Giles: Come down, and we will go about fixing this in a sensible fashion!
 * Downer Ending: Willow and Tara break up. Giles goes back to England, causing Buffy to seek solace in Spike.
 * Easy Amnesia
 * Eek A Bunny: Anya stands on a chair (and later a table) to escape the horrible cute bunnies she keeps creating.

Anya: Sensible! You think it's sensible for me to go down into that pit of cotton-top hell, and let them hippity-hop all over my vulnerable flesh?"

""RANDY Giles? Why not just call me Horny Giles? Or desperate-for-a-shag Giles? I KNEW there was a reason I hated you!""
 * Embarrassing First Name: Spike (believing he's Giles' son)

"Buffy: A vampire with a soul? Oh my God, how lame is that?"
 * Even Evil Has Standards: The shark demon gives Spike a free pass after his Mooks get massacred. Spike tells him he'll pay anyway. "I'm no welsher!"
 * Everything's Even Worse With Sharks
 * Fainting: Everyone passes out when the spell takes effect. Xander hits the floor again after their first encounter with vampires.
 * Finish Dialogue in Unison: How Buffy and Dawn realise they are sisters.
 * Game Face: Spike's face scares Buffy until he convinces her he must be a Friendly Neighbourhood Vampire.
 * Give Me a Sword: Dawn throws a stake to Xander which he uses to dust the sewer vamp.
 * Genius Bonus: "Tabula Rasa" means Blank Slate, and was used by John Locke to refer to people's minds before they learn anything or develop an identity
 * Gut Feeling: Anya picks the wrong spellbook based on her 'intuition', which as the owner of a Magic Shop she must have. She assumes Giles is more the paperwork type.
 * Hypocritical Humor: Buffy's reaction to Spike thinking he's a vampire with a soul, given her past with Angel.

"Xander: I'm gonna go get that ... phone you probably don't hear. High-pitched ring, ears like a dog."
 * Improvised Weapon: Buffy breaks off a mailbox post and stakes a vamp with it.
 * I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Xander and Anya both say they have to answer the phone when Tara starts shouting at Willow.

"Spike: "We kissed, you and me, all Gone With the Wind with the rising music and the rising...music.""
 * Instant Costume Change: Used to show Willow can't keep her promise not to use magic even in minor ways.
 * Jumped At the Call: 'Joan' when she realises she has superpowers.
 * Kissing Under the Influence: Buffy tries to write off the Big Spuffy Kiss in "Once More With Feeling" as this.
 * Last Second Word Swap: Spike referring to the Big Damn Kiss.

"Dawn: Fine, that's your purgative.
 * Like an Old Married Couple: Giles and Anya, because they believe they are one.
 * Literally Falling in Love: Willow and Tara have sexual chemistry every time they get close to each other, causing Willow to muse, "I think I'm kinda gay." After a fight with a vampire causes them to fall on top of each other, they lean forward for a kiss...and then stop as they get their memories back.
 * Loan Shark: Spoofed with a shark-headed demon in the 'debt collecting' business.
 * Malaproper

Buffy: Prerogative."

"Spike: He's bound to have some kind of midlife crisis transport. Something red, shiny, shaped like a penis."
 * Man Hug: Giles insists on an extremely awkward hug with 'Randy' before he goes off to face the vampires.
 * Meaningful Name: Amnesia!Buffy decides on Joan as a suitable name.
 * Also the name of her mother...
 * Except it's Joyce.
 * Midlife Crisis Car: Lampshaded by Spike, who accurately guesses at Giles' red BMW convertible.

"Vampire: I smell fear. And it smells good!"
 * Mood Whiplash: In Universe when Buffy, Willow/Tara and Anya/Giles get their memories back.
 * Moral Event Horizon: In universe: if you listen to Willow casting the spell, you realise she's trying to wipe the memories of both Buffy and Tara. The latter was previously subjected to Mind Rape and uses this as a basis to leave Will.
 * The Nose Knows

"Spike: (staking a vampire) From dust (stakes another vampire) to dust."
 * Note to Self: Averted as none of them knew they were going to lose their memories, but later when Buffy gets high-kicked in the head she says, "Note to self -- learn to duck."
 * Nothing Is Scarier: Giles and Anya cower behind the counter at the Magic Box while an unseen creature roars away at them.
 * Nothing Personal: After Buffy beats up his two mooks giving Spike a chance to escape, the demon shark-guy offers Buffy a job as a freelance debt collector.
 * Never Trust a Trailer: The promo didn't mention the amnesia plot, instead implying that Giles would begin a relationship with Anya.
 * Nice Hat: Spike's floppy-earred cap he uses to shield himself from the sunlight.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Willow's spell causes Tara to break up with her, interrupts Buffy just as she's finally expressing her feelings on being yanked out of Heaven, and makes Buffy feel even worse after her moment of blissful ignorance. Giles and Tara also pick the worse possible time to leave -- without their stabilizing influence, Buffy, Dawn and Willow all start losing the plot as the season continues.
 * Oedipus Complex: Spike assumes he's Giles' son due to their British accents and feeling of mutual dislike.
 * Punched Across the Room: How Spike discovers he has superpowers.
 * Post Mortem One Liner

"Now I'm not sure what I am so bear with me here. Now I lay me down to sleep, uh...shabat Israel, uh...om, om..."
 * Call Forward: Faith will use this line after...dusting a vamp in Chaos Bleeds.
 * Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: The shark demon says he doesn't want to see anyone get hurt -- then sends his henchvamps after Spike. Buffy says, "Then you'd better close your eyes" and knocks them both out.
 * Say Your Prayers: Xander does this when faced with a vampire -- which is a problem when you've forgotten which religion you follow.

""I will never kiss you Spike. Never touch you. Ever! Ever again!""
 * Sealed With a Kiss: Buffy and Spike kiss at the end of the episode -- she won't be able to write this one off as a spell.
 * Sickly Green Glow / Dramatic Thunder: Anya's inept spellcasting leads to her being stuck between a floorful of fluffers and a ceiling covered in green glowing thunderclouds.
 * Screaming Woman: Averted with an equal opportunity Group Scream when the memory-wiped gang open the Magic Box door and find themselves facing a pair of vampires in Game Face.
 * Sharp Dressed Man: Spike's 'disguise'. The loan shark-man is impressed.
 * Shown Their Work: See Genius Bonus
 * Sleep Cute: Leads to several misunderstandings as to who's involved with who.
 * Snogging For Solace
 * Suggestive Collision: Seconds after telling Spike she'll never touch him again, Buffy throws herself on top of Spike to save him from a hurled stake.
 * Suspiciously Apropos Music: Michelle Branch appears on stage at the Bronze, singing her single "Goodbye to You" over a Montage of Giles flying off for England and Tara packing her stuff and leaving Willow.
 * Tempting Fate: Buffy really should know better. Maybe she did.

"Shark Demon: (re Buffy) She's funny. I like funny in a girl."
 * Tonight Someone Kisses: Anya/Giles and Buffy/Spike.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Xander faints on encountering the vampires, but by the end is engaging in Good Old Fisticuffs with one.
 * That Didn't Happen: Anya and Giles get their memories back in the midst of a Big Damn Kiss. The next scene shows them refusing to look each other in the eye as they clean up the Magic Shop.
 * Twisted Echo Cut: Willow asks Tara, "Are you saying you're going to leave me?" Cut to Giles saying "I have to" -- presumably in response to the same question asked by Buffy.
 * Violently Protective Girlfriend: Buffy first discovers she's a superhero when she stakes a vampire who's roughing up 'Randy'.
 * We Will Meet Again: After Buffy stakes one henchvamp, the other runs out the door shouting, "The boss ain't gonna like this! I'll be back. And I won't be alone!" Clearly Buffy interfering fatally in a demon-vs-demon affair is regarded as a breach of criminal etiquette.
 * You Got Spunk