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Buffy the Vampire Slayer 5x22 "The Gift" Full Reaction

🕑 Added 2020-11-05 00:51:22 +0000 UTC

Comments

Dan H

Absolutely - watching to see when they penny drops and what's coming in this specific episode is pretty much the thing I look forward to most from all "Buffy" reactors. I love this episode so much. Def my favorite of series. I love Buffy's refusal to compromise, flat rejection of the easy utilitarian rationale. "the last thing she'll see is me protecting her" is the correct answer to that conundrum.

Val

"That moment of revelation on every reactor's face when they realize what "Death is your gift" really means is what we who watch reactions live for. It's why we watch them." Totally agree on both points. Man I love that lightbulb moment when reactors make the blood connection on the tower. I always think someone will figure it out before time but so far no one has. Although Liam did mention "Summers blood" in the beginning scene at the Magic Box, so I thought he was gonna figure it out right there. And kudos to Liam for saying the Buffybot was going to be "pivotal", the same word Buffy used when talking to Anya and Xander!! I was like, oh no! . But I know he didn't see it coming as everyone doesn't with the bot. Loved all your reactions,Liam... it's everything I hoped it would be, from Willow getting Tara's mind back, to that super emotional ending. I swear I never cried as much as with all these reactors! The only part I cried in the whole series was on my first watch when Spike was breaking down. But of course in all the multiple times I've watched, I've definitely cried at the other emotional eps. I agree with Liam, season five is my fave(so far for him and I'm going to guess it might be his fave after seeing all the seasons)and Glory is my fave villain in seven seasons. Season five's arc was the most fluid and solid. I just love the whole thing. Poor Liam, I knew it was going to be a rough ep for you but hey, you did have some sweet moments like Tara being sane again and Xander proposing to Anya. Can't wait to watch your season 6 reactions.

Liam Catterson

It echos dialogue I wrote for a story of my own, which also resulted in sacrifice but because it comes from the heart <3

Raven Dark

Rewatching this because I'm bored and procrastinating on work. I love everything about this episode, and this reaction. That moment of revelation on every reactor's face when they realize what "Death is your gift" really means is what we who watch reactions live for. It's why we watch them. Everyone talks about how great this episode is (rightfully so), but one of my favorite parts of watching this with you has nothing to do with the episode itself. It's what you said. Liam: "Sometimes we have to give up those we love for a better tomorrow." That was genius. Perfect in every way.

Christopher Pope

FYI, since Buffy changed networks (WB to UPN) after season 5, the "Previously on Buffy" segment of the s6 premiere is extra long to help orient new viewers to the series.

UTU49

About whether or not Spike could hurt or kill Ben... Spike was able to hurt Glory. He must have hit her a number of times. It would have been an interesting detail to reveal whether or not Spike could hurt Ben.

UTU49

Hits me every time. When Buffy and Dawn are on the tower and reactors start figuring out where things are going... :(

UTU49

"No no no no no no no no no no... "

Katherine Thoreson

This beginning was also to signify, look where we started. Buffy fights just one, regular old vampire....like the good old days....saving innocents. And the rest of the episode says, look where we have ended up. I love it so much.

Ray D

My personal favorite episode of the whole series. Season 5 is my favorite season and this episode just brings it all together in such a perfect way for me.

Jayna

What a heartfelt reaction. You had me tearing up. Which isn't a bad thing! I agree with you that even when you know something about the future of a character or a show, it doesn't take away the impact of the current emotion and moment, watching people hurting, empathizing with them, etc. It can be quite the ride.

Jayna

Oh I hadn't ever heard that idea before. I think I'm gonna adopt that as my head-canon too. Nice one.

Raven Dark

Well, that's just how I happen to see it, but even if we take away the idea of Ripper being a separate person within Giles (which isn't quite the way I mean it, rather that all of us have different sides of ourselves, and I'm just giving one side of him a name) I still love the way Giles brings out his badass dark side here.,

Raven Dark

That part always gets me too. Everyone's reaction is always the same, that slowly dawning look of pure shock and dread.

Derek Garrard

I agree. I'm not even a fan of the whole "Angel and Angelus are totally seperate identities." thing either. It's important to realize and understand that Giles IS Ripper and always has those capabilites within him. It is his choice to rarely bring those capabilites to the surface and that is part of what makes him Giles.

Eric Hunter

"Buffy and Dawn share the Summers blood". My personal head-canon is that the Monks brought Dracula to Sunnydale, and created his castle to get Buffy's blood to create Dawn.

Victoria E (vickster5001)

I’ve been waiting for you to reach this episode. It’s probably between this and Becoming for my favourite of the show and it brings a tear to my eye every time. There’s so much to love here and I especially love Spike and his connection to Buffy. Seeing him sobbing at the end gets to me every time. It’s also lovely how sarah plays those last moments, as Buffy looks out at the dawn, with the sun rising, as she finds peace with sacrificing herself for her Dawn. And the music cue at the end of this ep is my favourite piece of Buffy’s score. It’s gorgeous. Like many here, I remember watching it and the uncertainty about whether another network would carry on the show. I’m glad they did, but Josh Whedon did a superb job with making an ep that would have worked as a satisfying series finale if that had been the case.

Trisha Griffin

When this episode aired on Australian television, there had been no news about a change of studio, so we did think that this was the end. There was not any happiness in the kingdom! It didn’t ’t take them long to let the annoyed fans know after they received thousands of phone calls and letters wanting to know if that was the end.

Steveo

🤣

Steveo

Still my favorite episode of the series, it's just everything you could ask for in a show.

Ian Swallow

'The hardest thing in this world is to live in it' what a quote encompasses so many things on the show & in real life.

KT

Although I'm not entirely comfortable thinking of Giles and Ripper being two different people in an Angelus-esque fashion. Ripper just sorta describes a set of behaviors that Giles exhibited more often as a youth but that come out now and again in present day when needed. Conceptualizing Ripper as separate from Giles feels like it detracts a little from Giles' character. Even though I can't really help it!

KT

I definitely agree with you, especially because of the glasses thing. But the Ripper side of Giles does perform violence with serious specific intention, like kicking Ethan on the floor until he undid the costume spell, or hurting the minion when Willow and Anya weren't looking. He can be rash, like in Band Candy or Passion, but I don't think that's a core feature of Giles' dark side.

Dentarthurdent

Except I don't think he brings Ripper out at all - I think the deliberate putting on of the glasses makes it very clear it's Giles here, not Ripper. This is a deliberate act performed for rational reasons, which is Giles behaviour, not a rash or spontaneous act performed purely for excitement, which is Ripper.

Raven Dark

Oh, and I know this is my third comment now, but I forgot to say one more thing. *Whispers* Drunk rewatch. You're welcome. :D

KT

Or maybe it would never be fooled since Spike is immune to the spell.

KT

That's a good point, interesting. If it had been before they started melding together in the previous episode, I'd say the chip would be fooled by the same spell that makes people forget about the Glory/Ben situation, and hitting Ben would hurt Spike. But maybe it would start getting confused once that was no longer a factor? Probably not, but it's possible.

seekingoutfriday

"If this was the final season of Buffy" So, it WAS the finale of the show... on WB. It was written and built to be a final episode for WB's arc. Seasons 6 and 7 are on UPN.

KiwiJello

I wasn't going to cry. No I was not... but I am. Damnit Catterson. /hugs

Ariel17

Of all the things I love about this episode there are 2 details that I didn’t notice until recently after many rewatches of this show, that I’d like to mention: 1) the musical transition during Buffy and Giles convo goes from Subtle rendition of Bangel Love Theme “Close Your Eyes” (when Buffy talks about how everything gets stripped away from her) transitioning to the musical score of this episode “Sacrifice” as soon as Buffy says she wishes her mom was here. 🥺 2) at the end when we see Buffy’s grave, we see that Buffy was buried under a willow tree....🥺🥺

Phoenix Dawn

Time for you to go back and watch all the references to this episode set up as early as season 3 haha.

Raven Dark

Huh. That's true. I love how they brought the Ripper out there. But it does raise an interesting question. I was going to say that Spike could do it. Emotionally, he totally could have, but could he physically kill him? I wonder if he would end up with a year long migraine, because Ben's human, or if he might have been able to kill him because he's also Glory, who isn't human. LOL I love thinking about stuff like that.

Raven Dark

Now that I've seen the whole reaction, it was exactly what I expected, and it was beautiful. This is one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, almost #1. And your reaction only made it even better. Here's a kicker for you. I heard (and I don't know how true this is, so someone who knows, feel free to throat punch me if I'm wrong) that Anya was supposed to die as well, but she moved, and so they kept her alive. Every time I see this episode, I bawl like a baby, so I cried right along with you. Liam, remember how in an early episode (Passions, maybe?) I said I worried for you with this show? Now you know why.

KT

I'm gonna stretch the heart/brain/spirit metaphor a bit to apply it to this episode, but I love doing it. The 3 main scoobies' most important acts in this episode correspond with their metaphorical relation to Buffy: Xander, the heart, proposes to Anya. Willow, the spirit, pulls a kind of vital energy (which, in all intents and purposes, is the spirit) out of Glory to weaken her and return Tara to her true self. Giles, the mind, does the smart thing, the only logical thing – and kills Ben. It's something that he is uniquely capable of doing out of everyone in the group (except maybe Anya lol)

CeNedra

Great reaction!! I can’t believe you didn’t remember it was the 100th episode 😂 I only told you last week 🙄🥰

KT

Buffy in 1x12 before sacrificing her life: "Tell [Giles]... I don't know. Think of something cool, tell him I said it." Buffy in 5x22 before sacrificing her life: "Tell Giles... tell Giles I figured it out. And that I'm okay."

Glorie Bluestein

yup we thought this was the series finale and god that hurt so much

Cosima

Both Dawn and Buffy's death were foreshadowed in the season 3 finale. In Buffy's dream, Faith says "Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0″. Little Miss Muffet is Dawn and 7-3-0 is 730 days (2 years) to death.

Chess Red Eagle

I always love seeing reactors realize what the true meaning of "death is your gift" is. It's always the same emotions. An absolute testament on how well done it truly is. And as I said on Twitter, THIS is my favorite episode of the entire series.

Meredith

1000% agree, Dawn gets a lot of flack for being annoying (and she can be,but so was I at 14) but she was willing to give her life up to save the world- not a lot of people talk about that.

Heather Hollenbeck

In the wake of Buffy's amazingly selfless sacrifice, I feel like most people don't think about how brave Dawn was here. This is a normal, 14 year old girl who has barely started her life... and once the portal was opened, she was immediately willing to throw herself off that tower to save everyone else.

Keith Gow

Season five is my favourite season. It's a tough one but all the threads it lays out it brings together at the end and all of the characters go through amazing journey, as this episode shows. What I love about this episode in particular is playing those moments with the characters, thinking they all could be their final moments - Xander proposing to Anya and Spike admitting that Buffy treats him like a man. And it's all a misdirection because the one character you think is safe - Buffy - is the one who sacrifices herself at the end. I enjoyed watching this with you. A good cathartic cry at the end, as always.

Stacey

Same here...I cried sooo much and my dad looked at me like I was losing the plot lol

Keith Gow

Yes, it was pretty devastating thinking this was the end. Glad it wasn't but such a great finale.

Stacey

And when we watched this live that was our series final..at this stage it hadn’t been renewed and we were told his was the end

Ashley

Great reaction! I cried along with you... again for like the 20th time watching this episode lol

Liam Catterson

.........................................

Raven Dark

*watches Liam's intro...* Liam: "There has to be another way. We can't lose Dawn. I wish there was another way..." Liam, what were you thinking!? you made a WISH.

Katherine Thoreson

Yes, the compilation at the beginning was part because it was episode 100, but also part because this very well could have been the final ever episode. So glad it wasn't.

Liam Catterson

I am doing a lot better than I was when I watched The Body that's for certain xD

Flora Smith

Been waiting for this....hope you’re ok ❤️

Meredith

I neeeedded this tonight, thanks Liam! Also, if I’m not mistaken, I think this was supposed to be how the show ended until it got picked up by UPN for 2 more seasons.