Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S6/E19 Seeing Red

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Ask me again why I could never love you!

Warren steals a pair of demon orbs that give him superpowers. Spike's attempt to reconcile with Buffy goes disastrously wrong. After Buffy foils the Trio's latest scheme, Warren takes a terrible revenge.

  • Accidental Murder / Innocent Bystander: After shooting Buffy, Warren fires another round while fleeing to cover his escape -- the bullet ends up striking Tara, who was in an upstairs room and completely unaware of events.
  • Attempted Rape: You know the scene.
  • Big No: Andrew seeing the archway collapse on Warren.
  • Booby Trap: The Trio's basement gets torn apart by buzzsaws after Buffy enters it.
  • Bullets Do Not Work That Way: Again, you know the scene. In fact, quoting the Diabolus Ex Machina page: "The gunman was outside on the ground shooting a pistol randomly into the air and yet on pure luck managed a hit so precise that a Marine sniper perched on the opposite rooftop with a rifle would have been hard-pressed to match it." Damn you Joss.
    • It's called a bullet ricocheting. It happens tragically in real life; therefore, there's Truth in Television.
      • Doesn't work; a ricochet would have required the bullet to go past Tara, then bounce off of something, then come back and hit her in the front, and yet we know Tara got hit in the back because the exit wound is in the front.
      • Also, there's nothing in the room for the bullet to ricochet off of. Plaster walls are not commonly known for their bullet-bouncing powers.
      • Isn't there a season 7 flashback where we actually get a 'bullet cam' view of what happened? No ricochet.
    • In addition to the utterly impossible flight path, there's also the bullet's suddenly vanishing into thin air immediately after exiting Tara's chest -- seeing as how Willow is standing less than two feet in front of her, and catches all the blood spatter from Tara's exit wound on her shirt but mysteriously does not catch anything else, such as the bullet itself.
  • Bully Hunter: The first thing Warren does on gaining superpowers is look up someone who bullied him in school and pick a fight with him by hitting on his girlfriend.
  • Bury Your Gays: Joss tried to avert this by stating that if Oz was in Tara's place, he would've died too.
    • Except it's doubtful he would have. No silver in the bullet.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Spike leaves his Badass Longcoat in Buffy's apartment, and doesn't put it back on until Season 7 in a He's Back moment.
  • Covered in Gunge: Jonathan after wearing the Neezla skin.
  • Cliff Hanger
  • Curse Cut Short: Warren gets out "I swear to God I'm gonna take you down, you piece of sh--" before taking off in his jetpack.
  • Daylight Horror: Spike's rape attempt occurs in a brightly-lit bathroom, in deliberate contrast to their rough but mutual sex in crypts, catwalks and dark alleys.
  • Description Cut
    • The Xander/Buffy argument cutting to Tara saying "It's all a mess." (the Trio's captured files)
    • Warren says, "Let's make some noise." Cut to Buffy fighting a vampire.
  • Did the Earth Move For You, Too?: Willow and Tara.

Tara: When did morning happen?
Willow: After the moon went down. (kisses Tara) I forgot how good this could feel... us together... without the magic.
Tara: There was plenty of magic.

Willow: Hey. Clothes.
Tara: Better not get used to them.

    • Willow and Tara are going through the stuff Buffy retrieved. Unfortunately they're doing it while lying in bed together.

Tara: What about the Trio's evil scheme?
Willow: (moving over to Tara) I'm busy working on my own.

  • Double Meaning Title
  • Downer Ending: Both Buffy and Tara have been shot by Warren.
  • Dramatic Irony: It's only when things are about to break down completely between Buffy and Spike that they start to have that 'relationship' talk Spike wanted back in "Gone" and "Tabula Rasa".
  • Drama-Preserving Handicap: Buffy gets a back injury during a fight with a vampire, and falls against the bathtub when Spike grabs her, injuring herself again in the same spot. This (along with sheer panic and disbelief that this is happening to her) slows Buffy's response to Spike's attack.
  • The Easy Way or the Hard Way

Buffy: There's two ways this can end. And right now, I'm thinkin' they're both going to hurt.
(Warren climbs out of the rubble)

Andrew: I think you're right.

Andrew: [You] don't look any different. I thought they were supposed to make us all huge and veiny.

Buffy: [Anya did] something very stupid.
Xander: With your boyfriend.
Buffy: He is not my boyfriend.

I can't wait to get my hands on his orbs.

  • Inadvertent Entrance Cue: Willow is saying (re Buffy and Spike) "You know, when two people have such strong feelings for each other--" when a bedsheet-wrapped Tara steps out into the corridor, turning Dawn into Squee Girl.
  • Is That the Best You Can Do?: Buffy knocks Warren into a stone archway. He gets up unharmed.

Warren: Is that all ya got? (archway collapses on top of him)

  • Jet Pack: The bad guys have jet packs. Of course, this being the nerd trio, one of them tried to fly while underneath a ceiling and knocked himself out.
  • Last-Second Word Swap: More Ho Yay from Andrew re Warren.

Andrew: He never really loved... hanging out with us.

Spike: I wanted something, anything to make these feelings stop; I just wanted it to stop! (whispers) You should have let him kill me.

Warren: Say goodnight, bitch!

(Buffy snatches the orbs off Warren and smashes them)

Buffy: Goodnight, bitch! (Warren gets Punched Across the Room)

Willow: Tara and I can Sherlock around.
Andrew: You can't Siegfried and Roy the barrier.
Buffy: Jonathan and Andrew got clinked, but Warren pulled a Rocket Man.

Buffy: How hard you gonna hit when you're blowin' in the wind?
(Vampire kicks Buffy into a tombstone just as she dusts him)
Buffy: (groaning) That was rhetorical.

Willow: Okay, we're here, ready for action! ...uh, bad guy fighting action.

I know you felt it. When I was inside you. You'll feel it again, Buffy. I'm gonna make you feel it!

Anya: And then he thinks he can just sweep the carnage underneath the rug by saying , "Oh-"
Cut to Andrew: (backing off from a demon) I'm sorry! Sorry!

Get nice and comfy, Slayer. I'll be back. And when I do, things are gonna change.

  • Wham! Episode
  • White Shirt of Death / Blood-Splattered Innocents: Willow's white shirt gets splattered with Tara's blood.
  • Worf Had the Flu: Spike's attempted rape of Buffy only got as far as it did because a run-of-the-mill vampire had got a lucky shot in earlier (as she was staking him, no less). Both injuries carry over into Buffy's fight with a superpowered Warren -- even with super-strength and near-invulnerability, he can tell she's off her game.
  • You Fight Like a Cow

Warren: You think maybe you could put in a word for me with that Anya chick? 'Cause if she's taking it from a vamp, I think I might have a chance.
Xander punches Warren -- and gasps in pain.

Warren: No wonder she's screwing a dead guy. You hit like a girl.

Xander: Well, at least I know how to get one.

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