If "Conversation With Dead People" is the episode where the First makes its self know to the Scoobies, then "Sleeper" is its opening volley in the war against them. In this episode, Buffy tries to figure out how, why and if Spike is killing again. What she finds out about the First's plan will resonate through the rest of the season. This episode directly impacts everything that comes after it and you can't skip it if you're watching the show on DVD.
"Sleeper" revolves around Spike killing again. The episode picks up just after the events of "Conversations with Dead People." Willow comes home to see Dawn sitting in the shambles of the Summers' living room. She tells Dawn that something evil playing with their heads. Meanwhile, Buffy heads to Xander's house to check on Spike. After hearing that Spike might be killing again, she is worried. But, she refuses to believe that Spike could go back to killing humans. She decides to start following him and monitoring his activities. She looses him in the crowd, though. Spike hears a man playing "Early One Morning" on the harmonica and his whole attitude changes. He picks up a woman, bites her and sees a vision of Buffy urging him on. Then he dashes away, disoriented.
Later that night, Buffy confronts him directly. Spike is shocked by her accusations. He argues that he has a soul now and he would never hurt anybody again. But, when Buffy asks him where he's been, Spike admits that he doesn't remember. Buffy points out that after a few months of camping on the Hellmouth, he can't really know what he's doing. Spike panics, denying it, but secretly afraid that she may be right. When he starts to remember bits and pieces of his activities, he decides to investigate himself. He quickly realizes that he's been killing again and calls Buffy. Together they go to a house, where Spike's he thinks he hid the bodies in the basement. There Spike sees a vision of himself. When it starts singing, he looses control and tries to bite Buffy. The bodies he had buried there all start to rise as vampires. Spike pulls himself out of his craziness and stumbles away from Buffy. Buffy kills the other vampires. Spike asks her to kill him, too. But Buffy refuses. She tells Spike that she thinks that something evil is after all of them and that they have to find out what it is so they can fight it. Then she takes him back to the Summers' house. Meanwhile, in England, Bringer's are attacking Giles and his friends. The episode ends with one of the wounded Watchers telling Giles to "gather them" and ax falling towards Giles' head.
There are some really great parts to this episode. "Sleeper" is the first time we hear "Early One Morning" on the show. As Spike strolls past the guy playing it on the harmonica, his whole attitude changes, his stride gets longer and his face becomes more intent. Right there you know that this song is just bad news. And I enjoy Xander putting Anya in charge of babysitting Spike. He doesn't bother to leave Anya with any weapons, which sort of tells me that Buffy's not the only one who suspects that Spike's innocent. Xander might call Spike "Evil Dead" and blame him for hurting Buffy. He might even argue that Spike needs to be investigated and that they can't really know if the chip is still working. But, he clearly still trusts Spike not to hurt Anya. Also, the vampire fight at the Bronze is really cool. "Man, I hate playing vampire towns." And now we know that Billy Idol stole his look from Spike, which is kind of funny.
The scene with Buffy and Spike in the basement is really the highlight of the episode, though. They have such a complex and interesting relationship. When Spike attacks Buffy, she's truly shocked. In fact even after he vamps-out she still tries to reason with him. "Spike, you don't want to do this." She knows that he isn't in control and, in the end, she can't hurt him. And Spike WANTS her to kill him. He's got nothing left inside of him. I think it's the one moment in the entire Buffyverse where Spike stops fighting and tries to give up. But, Buffy won't let him. Spike finally asks for help, after saying that he couldn't back in "Selfless." He really is in trouble and he needs Buffy to pull him out. And she does. At the end of the episode, Spike is wrapped in a blanket, sitting in the Summers' living room. It sort of ties in with blanket he had wrapped around him in season four's "Pangs." Which was the first time, he came to the Scoobies for help. It just works really well.
On the down side, does the First want Spike to kill Buffy, or for Buffy to kill Spike? Either one would play into the season finale, I guess. But really it seems kinna vague. Also, did the First deliberately send that vampire, Webb, to tell Buffy about Spike? Or was just it a coincidence that they met up in "Conversations with Dead People?" If it was part of some plan, doesn't it seem like a really complicated way to turn Buffy and Spike against each other? Also, since when does the Bronze have a bouncer?
My favorite part of the episode: Anya searching Spike's room for serial killer trophies, like scalps or necklaces made of human teeth. When he catches her snooping around and asks her to explain herself, Anya gazes at him for a long moment, trying to think of an excuse. Her final triumphant exclamation, "Sex! I'm here for sex!" and Spike panicked response to her come-ons, just crack me up every time.
"Sleeper" revolves around Spike killing again. The episode picks up just after the events of "Conversations with Dead People." Willow comes home to see Dawn sitting in the shambles of the Summers' living room. She tells Dawn that something evil playing with their heads. Meanwhile, Buffy heads to Xander's house to check on Spike. After hearing that Spike might be killing again, she is worried. But, she refuses to believe that Spike could go back to killing humans. She decides to start following him and monitoring his activities. She looses him in the crowd, though. Spike hears a man playing "Early One Morning" on the harmonica and his whole attitude changes. He picks up a woman, bites her and sees a vision of Buffy urging him on. Then he dashes away, disoriented.
Later that night, Buffy confronts him directly. Spike is shocked by her accusations. He argues that he has a soul now and he would never hurt anybody again. But, when Buffy asks him where he's been, Spike admits that he doesn't remember. Buffy points out that after a few months of camping on the Hellmouth, he can't really know what he's doing. Spike panics, denying it, but secretly afraid that she may be right. When he starts to remember bits and pieces of his activities, he decides to investigate himself. He quickly realizes that he's been killing again and calls Buffy. Together they go to a house, where Spike's he thinks he hid the bodies in the basement. There Spike sees a vision of himself. When it starts singing, he looses control and tries to bite Buffy. The bodies he had buried there all start to rise as vampires. Spike pulls himself out of his craziness and stumbles away from Buffy. Buffy kills the other vampires. Spike asks her to kill him, too. But Buffy refuses. She tells Spike that she thinks that something evil is after all of them and that they have to find out what it is so they can fight it. Then she takes him back to the Summers' house. Meanwhile, in England, Bringer's are attacking Giles and his friends. The episode ends with one of the wounded Watchers telling Giles to "gather them" and ax falling towards Giles' head.
There are some really great parts to this episode. "Sleeper" is the first time we hear "Early One Morning" on the show. As Spike strolls past the guy playing it on the harmonica, his whole attitude changes, his stride gets longer and his face becomes more intent. Right there you know that this song is just bad news. And I enjoy Xander putting Anya in charge of babysitting Spike. He doesn't bother to leave Anya with any weapons, which sort of tells me that Buffy's not the only one who suspects that Spike's innocent. Xander might call Spike "Evil Dead" and blame him for hurting Buffy. He might even argue that Spike needs to be investigated and that they can't really know if the chip is still working. But, he clearly still trusts Spike not to hurt Anya. Also, the vampire fight at the Bronze is really cool. "Man, I hate playing vampire towns." And now we know that Billy Idol stole his look from Spike, which is kind of funny.
The scene with Buffy and Spike in the basement is really the highlight of the episode, though. They have such a complex and interesting relationship. When Spike attacks Buffy, she's truly shocked. In fact even after he vamps-out she still tries to reason with him. "Spike, you don't want to do this." She knows that he isn't in control and, in the end, she can't hurt him. And Spike WANTS her to kill him. He's got nothing left inside of him. I think it's the one moment in the entire Buffyverse where Spike stops fighting and tries to give up. But, Buffy won't let him. Spike finally asks for help, after saying that he couldn't back in "Selfless." He really is in trouble and he needs Buffy to pull him out. And she does. At the end of the episode, Spike is wrapped in a blanket, sitting in the Summers' living room. It sort of ties in with blanket he had wrapped around him in season four's "Pangs." Which was the first time, he came to the Scoobies for help. It just works really well.
On the down side, does the First want Spike to kill Buffy, or for Buffy to kill Spike? Either one would play into the season finale, I guess. But really it seems kinna vague. Also, did the First deliberately send that vampire, Webb, to tell Buffy about Spike? Or was just it a coincidence that they met up in "Conversations with Dead People?" If it was part of some plan, doesn't it seem like a really complicated way to turn Buffy and Spike against each other? Also, since when does the Bronze have a bouncer?
My favorite part of the episode: Anya searching Spike's room for serial killer trophies, like scalps or necklaces made of human teeth. When he catches her snooping around and asks her to explain herself, Anya gazes at him for a long moment, trying to think of an excuse. Her final triumphant exclamation, "Sex! I'm here for sex!" and Spike panicked response to her come-ons, just crack me up every time.
