Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S4/E03 The Harsh Light of Day

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Harmony: I don't know why I let you be so mean to me.
Spike: Love hurts, baby.

Spike and the now vamped-up Harmony are searching for a mythical gem which can make vampires invincible. Buffy sleeps with a boy named Parker who was just using her. Anya returns and sleeps with Xander.

Spike : I love syphilis more than you.

Harmony: Being a vampire sucks!

I like you. You're funny and you're nicely shaped. And, frankly, it's ludicrous to have these interlocking bodies and not interlock.

Anya: At point the matter is brought to a conclusion with both parties satisfied and able to move on with their separate lives and interests. To sum up, I think it's a workable plan.
Xander: So, the crux of this plan is...
Anya: Sexual intercourse. I've said it like a dozen times.
Xander: Uh, huh. Just working through a little hysterical deafness here.

  • Double Entendre: Loads naturally in an episode about sex.
    • "You love that tunnel more than me."
    • [DING] "Fabric softener..."
    • Buffy stakes Spike (who's wearing the Gem). "Oh, do it again. It tickles. You know, in a good way."
    • Anya on why she wants to have sex with Xander. "It's the secret to getting you out of my mind. Putting you behind me. Behind me, figuratively. I'm thinking face-to-face for the event itself."
    • "Being a vampire sucks!"
  • Downer Ending: Buffy, Anya and Harmony walking alone, regretting having sex the night before.
  • Dramatic Necklace Removal: Lampshaded and parodied when Spike dramatically rips a necklace off of a corpse.

Harmony: Ew. Like you're too good to work a clasp.

  • Dramatic Unmask: Spike removes his welding mask to reveal the Big Bad is back!
  • Empathic Environment: The Greek letters on the Frat house are Gamma Alpha Pi (ΓΑΠ) which, from the angle the shot is taken, look a bit like FAIL. The house in the background across the street bears the letters ΤΩA. Perhaps it's a sorority house?
  • Erotic Dream

Anya: I can't stop thinking about you. Sometimes in my dreams, you're all naked.
Xander: Really. You know if I'm in the checkout line at the Wal-Mart I've had the same one.

Harmony: So is it doing it? Do you feel it. I mean, you don't look different, if you were wondering. I thought maybe you'd look taller or glow or something.

Harmony: You were always so funny, Willow. You haven't changed a bit.
Willow: No, you neither.
Harmony: Oh, maybe a little. [vamps out]

Spike: So you let Parker take a poke, eh? Didn't seem like you knew each other that well. What did it take to pry apart the Slayer's dimpled knees?
Buffy: You're a pig, Spike.
Spike: Did he play the sensitive lad and get you to seduce him? That's a good trick if the girl's thick enough to buy it.
[They fight. Spike has the upper hand.]
Spike: I wonder what went wrong? Were you too strong? Did you bruise the boy? Whatever. I guess you're just not worth a second go. Come to think of it, seems like somebody told me that. Who was it? Oh, yeah. Angel.

[Buffy proceeds to kick every square inch of his ass.]

Devon: That was like the best set ever. We'll do great in LA. We're gonna have them glued to their seats.
Willow: Uh, Devon. Aren't they supposed to dance?
Oz: Well, we can glue them to the dance floor.

  • Manipulative Bastard / The Casanova: Parker Abrams.
  • Mineral MacGuffin / Nigh Invulnerability: The Gem of Amara makes vampires immune to all harm, including staking and daylight.
  • Nipple-and-Dimed: SMG had visible nips during the fight with Spike.
  • Not Staying for Breakfast: Averted in a deliberate Call Back to "Innocence" -- Buffy finds an empty bed, but then Parker turns out to have ducked out for coffee. Then brutally subverted when it turns out Parker was just using her for sex after all.
  • Oh Crap: Spike has been trying to avoid letting the Slayer know he's back in town. Then he and Harmony bump into Buffy while carrying a neck-bleeding victim out of a frat party. Busted!
  • Plot Hole: How Harmony became a vampire; we saw her get bitten in "Graduation Day", but did any vamp have the chance to bring her across?
  • Percussive Therapy: Annoyed by Harmony's prattling, Spike tries to stake her. Furious at Spike's snarking, Buffy overcomes Spike.
  • Ready for Lovemaking: Harmony in Spike's lair.
  • Ring of Power
  • Romantic False Lead: Spike is sleeping with Harmony to get over Drusilla; he will eventually fall in love with Buffy. Buffy is sleeping with Parker to get over Angel; she then hooks up with Riley Finn. Xander sleeps with Anya to get over Faith, while Anya sleeps with Xander to get over him and the two end up falling in love.
  • Saying Too Much: Harmony blurts out to Buffy that they're looking for the Gem of Amara.
  • Scar Survey: Parker checks out Angel's bite scar on Buffy's neck. Buffy claims it was from an angry puppy.
  • Shirtless Scene: Our first, but not the last, look at Shirtless!Spike.
  • Something Else Also Rises: Xander turns around to offer Anya (whom he only knows as a weird ex-demon girl who makes a lousy prom date) a juice box, to find Anya has dropped her dress. Xander reacts by squeezing the carton he's currently holding, causing juice to spurt in the air.
  • STD Immunity: Averted as Anya has condoms. Even black ones.
  • Taking You with Me: Buffy grabs hold of Spike's ring and is about to remove it when Spike warns her that they'll both go up in flames. She does so anyway, and Spike immediately runs for cover instead.
  • We Will Meet Again: Spike calls a raincheck on fighting the Slayer, because he doesn't have the Gem.

Spike: It isn't time yet.

Anya: You should lock your door.
Giles: Believe me I am kicking myself.

  • You Remind Me of X: Plenty of Angel reminders; rather than deter Buffy (as with Scott Hope) this only makes her more determined to move on. Anya's forthcoming approach to sex reminds Xander of Faith and the two times they hooked up.
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