"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
Never Leave Me (2002)

Director:

David Solomon

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator)
Drew Goddard (written by)

TV Series:

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997)

Original Air Date:

26 November 2002 (Season 7, Episode 9)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

Spike is held captive in the Summers home while the Scoobies ponder their options in the aftermath of his murder spree...

Plot Keywords:

Lesbian | Heroine | Sister Sister Relationship | Torture | Shirtless Male Bondage

Cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon	...	Xander Harris
Emma Caulfield	...	Anya
Michelle Trachtenberg	...	Dawn Summers
James Marsters	...	Spike
Alyson Hannigan	...	Willow Rosenberg
Danny Strong	...	Jonathan Levinson
Adam Busch	...	Warren Meers
Tom Lenk	...	Andrew Wells
Cynthia Lamontagne	...	Lydia (as Cynthia LaMontagne)
Oliver Muirhead	...	Phili
Kris Iyer	...	Nigel
Harris Yulin	...	Quentin Travers
D.B. Woodside	...	Principal Robin Wood
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Donald Bishop	...	Butcher
Bobby Brewer	...	Hoffman
Roberto Santos	...	Grimes
Camden Toy	...	Übervamp

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Principal Wood rolls the corpse of Jonathan into a grave and begins to shovel dirt down on him, Jonathan slightly winces and flutters his closed eyes.

Quotes:

Buffy Summers: This trigger. How do we holster... safety, or... I, I don't know guns. How do we make it stop?
Xander Harris: Well, usually the operative completes his task and either blows his head off or steals a submarine.

Movie Connections:

References The Matrix (1999)

Andrew becomes a "guest-age" in the Summers' house

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is actually a very important episode to the story arc this season. It sets up Andrew's turn to the good side, it establishes Buffy's faith in Spike, it wipes out the Watcher's Council and it's where the Scoobies realize that the First is after them. If you're going to watch season seven, you need to see "Don't Ever Leave Me." A lot happens and it's one of the last chances to enjoy the show before the Potentials arrive.

This episode revolves around the aftermath of Spike's murder spree. He continues to be baffled by what happened and scared that he might hurt someone else. Buffy ties him up in the bedroom and tries to help him recover from the effects of drinking human blood for weeks. She sends Willow out to get some animal blood from the butcher to help Spike through withdrawal. Meanwhile, Andrew is trying to deal with the "ghosts" of Warren and Jonathan. They tell him that he needs to open the Hellmouth seal and he'll need more blood to do it. Andrew refuses to kill anyone else, and after a failed attempt at pig slaughtering, he heads for the butcher, too. Andrew and Willow meet up and are stunned to see each other. She takes him hostage and drags him back to the Summers' house. Principal Wood finds Jonathan's body in the school basement and buries him in the desert.

Xander and Anya question Andrew, convinced that he knows more than he's letting on. After beating him up for awhile and threatening his cool new leather coat, he begins telling them about the plans to open the seal. In the next room Buffy is talking with Spike. She takes a quick break to check on Andrew and when she comes back, Spike is acting very differently. He's been singing and talking to himself, suddenly he bursts out of the chair, breaking the ropes and shoves Buffy aside. He drags Andrew right through the wall and bites him. Buffy has to pull Spike off Andrew. She knocks Spike out and chains him to the basement wall. Meanwhile, Buffy searches for Giles. She calls the Watchers' Council who are preparing for war. They don't tell her anything, but they plan on a trip to Sunnydale to help her fight. Then, their headquarters blows up, killing all Watchers.

Xander has come up with a theory on Spike's behavior. He think's that Spike's been brainwashed and that the song Buffy keeps hearing him sing is really a trigger. Buffy goes to talk to Spike, telling him that they think he's under some evil mind-control. Spike tells Buffy to kill him. He claims that she's never seen the "real" him and if her gets loose he could kill all of them. Buffy refuses to stake him. She tells Spike that she knows how much he's changed and that she believes in his goodness. Spike is touched. Then the Bringers attack. They work for the First and after trying to kill Andrew and the Scoobies, they kidnap Spike. Buffy realizes that the First is behind this. And back at the Hellmouth, the Bringer's are using Spike's blood to open the Hellmouth and release an UberVamp.

There are some great parts to this episode. I love Xander, Anya and Andrew's scenes together. Anya and Xander use a "good cop/bad cop" routine that's just hilarious. I especially like the hurt look on Xander's face when Anya gets too involved in the plan and smacks him. And Buffy and Spike's scene in the basement is really beautiful. She tells him that he can be a better man if he just believes in himself, the way that she believes in him. I think that it's a turning point in their relationship. Willow cornering Andrew in the Butcher's shop is also great. "I am Willow. I am Death... Okay?" I'm so glad she brings Andrew home because he adds some much needed comic relief to the show.

On the down side, I still don't get the First's plan. It wants to get rid of Andrew and Spike, I guess. So they won't tell Buffy anything or help her. But, sending a few Bringers to raid the Summers' house seems sort of dumb. Why not attack full force and kill all the Scoobies while they sleep? Or bomb the house like it did with the Watchers' Council building? Also, I feel so sorry for Jonathan. He was a nice kid underneath all his "supervilliany" tough guy talk. He deserved better than a shallow grave and no one to mourn him.

My favorite part of the episode: Andrew. From walking around looking cool in his Spike-like leather coat (and he REALLY has Spike's prowling walk down), to his attempted pig slaughtering (I had to pause the DVD I was laughing so hard the first time I heard him bellow, "That'll do pig!"), to his apology to "Jonathan," ("I'm not good at stabbing things"), he just steals the whole episode.