Season 4 Episode 09 - Something Blue

So, what do we have this week? Willow is in Oz's room (hope Devon and the guys don't mind), comforting herself by smelling his shirt. Riley hangs a poster for the Lesbian Alliance at school; Buffy comes along and forces him to admit that he's a lesbian. Riley reminds Buffy of when they were talking about having a picnic, but she reminds him that they never had such a conversation. He admits that sometimes he practices before talking to her, because she's tricky, "like an oral exam." He also tells her that she's beautiful (she seems quite flattered), and he does ask her to have a picnic. That night, presumably on patrol, Buffy tells Willow how she feels about Riley. He's nice, there's sparkage, and she likes him... but she wonders if a relationship without pain and fighting can also have intensity and passion. As they walk, she distractedly stakes a vamp who jumps out at them, barely pausing in her conversation.

Over at Giles' the next day, Buffy tries to get information about the commandos out of Spike, who's chained in the bathtub. He's not giving much up, even after they feed him some pig's blood from a cup reading "Kiss the Librarian." Apparently he's worried that they'll kill him after they get what they want. Buffy toys with Spike, and Willow suggests to Giles that he use a truth spell on Spike. She plans to return in the morning with the ingredients. Giles comments to Buffy that Willow seems to be coping better with Oz's departure, but Spike disagrees ("What, are you people blind? She's hanging on by a thread!").

Willow heads over to Oz's room, and is shocked to find it empty. That night, she cries as she explains to Buffy that Devon said he sent for his stuff. The realization that he's not coming back devastates Willow, and Buffy tries to console her.

The next day, Giles calls Willow, who didn't show up to help him with the spell, but he just gets the answering machine. Spike shouts out to him, demanding that the television be turned on (he wants to watch Passions).

Meanwhile, Buffy and Riley have their picnic, and Riley finds out that Buffy's not big on driving. He explains the joy of driving, relaxing and letting the air and motion wash over you. The conversation takes on a slightly sexual air, and Riley promises to take her driving one night. Willow comes along, obviously depressed, though she claims she's fine. The three seem uncomfortable.

That night, at the Bronze, the gang comments on Willow's situation... and then notice her dancing quite happily. She comes over to them, claiming that she decided to "shake and shimmy" her depression away. Her methods of doing so come into question when she knocks a beer bottle out from it's hiding spot under her jacket. Xander and Buffy berate her, and she explains to Buffy that she just wants the pain to be over. Buffy tells her she just has to go through it, but Willow just wants to make it go "poof."

Later, while Buffy sleeps, Willow gets out of bed and sets up shop in the bathroom, doing a spell to have her will be done. The flames around her increase in intensity and electricity courses through her circle. The next day, Willow tries to will her heart to be healed, a book to speak its words to her, and a q-tip to unbend itself, but to no avail. It would seem that her spell didn't work. Giles arrives, and scolds her a bit for not showing up to do the truth spell. She admits that she's been off lately, mentioning that her spell to have her will be done didn't work. She claims that he and the gang aren't satisfied with her efforts to get through her pain. Giles says he sees how she could feel that way, but Willow argues, "You don't see anything!" Her eyes flash as she says it, and Giles suddenly seems as though his eyes are bothering him. He leaves, bumping in to a student on his way down the hall.

Later, when he tries to do the truth spell on Spike, Giles clearly has trouble reading the spell from the book. He unknowingly drops the key to Spike's chains, and Spike manages to reach it and break free, knocking Giles out of the way and escaping out the front door.

Later, Willow complains to Buffy that she's not a good witch as she cleans Amy's rat cage. She says that "fuzzy little Amy" has way more power than she does, pointing out that, "First, she's a perfectly normal girl." Amy, sitting on the bed behind the girls, suddenly becomes human again. Buffy and Willow don't notice, and Willow continues, "Then 'poof,' she's a rat." Poor Amy instantly reverts to rat form. Willow pouts that she could never do something like that. The phone rings; it's Giles, asking Buffy to find Spike. Willow's disappointed, as she wanted to have a girl's night with Buffy, but Buffy insists that duty calls. "I don't see the big," Willow says after Buffy walks out, "he's probably just standing out there. You'll find him in two seconds." Her eyes flash again.

Suddenly, Buffy appears in a clearing on campus, where Spike is just standing there. They comment that they thought it would take longer for her to find him. Spike thinks he's found the spot where he came out from the underground commando lab, but there's nothing but grass and dirt. Buffy gets annoyed, and Spike hits her, instantly feeling the pain in his head. Buffy hits him back, causing him pain in his face. She gets him back to Giles', and the two argue like children while Giles puts eyedrops in his eyes.

Willow goes to Xander for comfort, but he's not of much use. He tries to convince her that Buffy needs Spike to tell her about the commandos, and she can't just let him go. Willow pouts some more, insisting that if Spike is so important, then "why doesn't [Buffy] just marry him?" Her eyes flash yet again.

Giles comes out into his living room to find Spike kneeled down in front of Buffy, where Buffy is just accepting his proposal of marriage. They kiss, and Giles squints at this confusing sight. "Giles," Buffy squeals, "you'll never believe what's happened!" Yeah, she's probably right about that. The poor guy looks like he thinks he's hallucinating.

Over at Xander's, Willow continues to complain. She points out Xander's track record ("Insect lady, mummy girl, Anya — you're a demon magnet!"). Xander looks hurt, and we hear the sound effect that goes with Willow's eye-flashes.

Giles calls Willow, asking for help, but he gets the machine again. He thinks his vision problem must be due to a spell, since something else has gone horribly wrong as well (Spike and Buffy). The couple debate over their wedding plans, beginning to argue but ending up kissing. Buffy asks Giles to give her away at the wedding, and he is clearly flattered — until he remembers that the whole thing is nonsense. Buffy points out that the gang wasn't crazy about Angel at first either, prompting Spike to become jealous. Again, they begin to argue and end up kissing, just as Giles realizes that he's now completely blind. Spike offers to help, suggesting a reversal spell, and Buffy leaves Giles with Spike while she goes to the magic shop.

On her way out of the magic shop, Buffy spots a wedding dress in a shop nearby. Riley, wandering by, catches her ogling it, and she tells him that she's getting married. He is understandably flabbergasted, and doesn't understand where this is coming from. He decides that he needs to be away, and walks off. (See the quotes page for more details of this hilarious conversation.)

At Xander's, Xander and Anya begin to make out, but are interrupted by a demon bursting through the door. He and Anya struggle with it until Anya reveals that drowning is the only way to kill it; they drown it in a conveniently full-of-water sink. Another demon then tries to climb in through a window, and the two run out.

At Giles', Buffy explains to Giles that the magic shop was out of an ingredient they need for Giles' cure, but comforts him that they'll have it tomorrow. Buffy plays with a wedding-cake-couple, and she and Spike begin to argue about the wedding invitations. Xander and Anya burst in, all worked up about the demons chasing them. They are confused that Spike is not only untied, but he and Buffy are holding hands. The happy couple shares the good news. The news rings a bell, and Xander struggles to recall that Willow said that he was a demon magnet, and that Buffy and Spike should get married. Giles then remembers that she said he couldn't see anything, and they realize that Willow must have done a spell, without realizing what it's doing. Buffy thinks that she escaped the spell because being a Slayer must give her "natural immunity." Just as they decide to go find her, Willow enters her dorm and is accosted by a demon who grabs her head and causes a ruckus of noise and bright light.

The gang goes to look for Willow, and find a large burn circle in the dorm floor. Anya recognizes it as a portal of D'Hoffryn's, and Buffy wonders why he would attack Willow, but Anya doesn't think it was an attack. Anya explains that D'Hoffryn got wind of her doing some little vengeance spells (boils on the penis and the like), and offer to elevate her — to make her a demon. Buffy realizes that's why he took Willow, but gets distracted when she spots a good place for wedding pictures. A demon comes along, which Buffy tries to fight without ruining the foliage, but when more demons start coming, the group runs into a crypt. Anya begins to perform a spell to give them a gateway to the world of Arashmaha, where D'Hoffryn resides, while the gang tries to keep the demons out. Anya has trouble remembering the spell, but is interrupted anyway when the demons get in; the group does their best to fight them all.

Meanwhile, in Arashmaha, D'Hoffryn explains to Willow that her magic is strong, and her pain is like a piercing scream. She thinks he wants her to be "quiet," but he says that's not his intent. He thinks she has great potential, after seeing the pain she has inflicted on those she loves. Willow argues that she didn't mean to, but that doesn't matter to D'Hoffryn. He shows her an image of her friends fighting in the crypt. Willow is distressed, and insists that she doesn't want to be a demon; she just wants to go help her friends. D'Hoffryn is disappointed, but gives her his talisman with which to call him if she ever changes her mind.

Suddenly, Willow appears in the crypt, where Buffy and Spike have stopped fighting and started kissing. Willow undoes her spell, the demons disappear, and Buffy and Spike are horrified to find themselves kissing.

The next day, Willow bakes cookies for the gang as an apology. Xander tests Giles' sight, and Giles wishes that Willow had given him perfect vision. Spike, who's tied up again, requests a cookie to get the "Buffy taste" out of his mouth. Willow apologizes to Buffy, who suggests the idea of a forgetting spell. Buffy remarks that she's over the bad boy thing, and she'd be very happy with a decent, reliable guy. This reminds her that she told Riley she was engaged. She freaks out, and wonders what in the world she's going to say to him.

The next day at school, Buffy tells Riley that she made it up to give him a hard time, because she saw fear in his eyes when he caught her looking at wedding dresses (she's right about that part). He thinks she's insane, but is nonetheless pleased that she's still single. Buffy tells him that he has a lot to learn about women (what, that they like to lie about being engaged?). He steps closer to her, puts his hand on her shoulder, looks at her intently... and says, "You're gonna teach me." He then walks away. Buffy (who obviously thought, like we did, that he was going to kiss her) looks after him.