Tough Love
Writer: Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Director: David Grossman
Cast : Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris, Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg, Emma Caulfield as Anya, Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers, James Marsters as Spike, Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles. Main guest stars : Amber Benson as Tara, Clare Kramer as Glory, Charlie Weber as Ben, Troy T. Blendell as Jinx, Todd Duffrey as Murk, Anne Betancourt as Principal Stevens, Leland Crooke as Professor Lillian. Original broadcast date : May 1, 2001 My one-line description: Nooooo! Not Tara!!! In his classroom, Professor Lillian is trying to pry a slide out of a projector, and not having much luck. Buffy approaches and offers to help; as she pulls on the slide, she breaks the bad news to the teacher – she has to drop his poetry class. Actually, she’s dropping out of college altogether, to make time for Dawn. Professor Lillian understands, and hopes all will go well for Buffy. At the hospital, Ben has just been fired by his supervisor, who would prefer having an intern who’s not absent or late so often. Ben tries to defend his cause, but the doctor won’t change his mind. Ben goes to the locker room, complaining that Glory is taking everything he worked for away from him. Suddenly, he sways and starts panicking, not wanting to morph. “I’m Ben, I’m Ben, I’m Ben, I’m Ben…” he repeats… and he morphs into Glory. “I’m hungry”, she says. As she relaxes in a bubble bath, Glory asks her blindfolded minions to tell her everything they know about the Key… even if they blundered up the previous time, bringing her a pulseless, impure vampire. At Dawn’s school, Buffy accompanies her sister in the principal’s office – apparently, Dawn’s grades have been badly slipping, and she’s been skipping class. Buffy accuses her sister of lying to her – Dawn apparently had said that school was “fine”. The teen tries to wriggle out of the situation, saying that even if she said school was fine, Buffy didn’t ask whether Dawn was actually in it… Buffy apologizes to the Principal, who sympathizes with the fact that the past few months have been a hard time on Dawn. She sends the teen outside so she can have a few words with her sister… At the Magic Box, Anya looks disapprovingly at shoppers not buying anything, commenting that their attitude is “un-American”. Buffy and Dawn walk in, and the Slayer asks her sister to do her homework while she talks with Giles. In the back room, Buffy tells Giles about Dawn’s problems in school; she wants him to talk to the teen, but Giles declines – he thinks it’s Buffy’s responsibility to put her foot down. Buffy is unconvinced, but willing to give it a try. As the two emerge from the training room, she sees Dawn standing, giggling, in the middle of a triangle formed by the lying bodies of Willow, Xander and Anya… The big sister demands to know what’s going on, and Willow explains that they were helping Dawn with her geometry homework. Buffy is not impressed, however, as she snaps to Dawn to pack up her things and prepare to go home. A concerned Willow takes Buffy aside and pleads with her not to be grumpy with Dawn, but the Slayer very seriously states that it’s very important Dawn finish her homework right now. In their room, Willow and Tara discuss Buffy’s attitude with Dawn; however, their conversation rapidly slips towards a misunderstanding that grows worse and worse, as Tara expresses her concern about Willow’s growing magical powers, and finally her fear that Willow may decide being a lesbian is not what she wants. An angry Willow walks out in a huff, leaving a distraught Tara behind. Two minions spy the Summers house as inside, Buffy is making too much of an effort to structure Dawn’s time, showing the teen a chart she’s made for Dawn to make X’s on when each of her chores is done. Dawn is less than impressed, but Buffy suddenly tells her very seriously that if she can’t make her sister go to school, she will be stripped of her guardianship and Dawn will be placed in foster care. This sobers Dawn up, and she agrees to make an effort. A depressed Tara sits alone on a bench at the Culture Fair, where she and Willow were supposed to go together. Suddenly, a hand takes hers, and Tara fondly squeezes it… But it’s not Willow. It’s Glory. At the Magic Box, Giles tries to cheer up an equally depressed Willow. As they talk, he opens a side door – and one of Glory’s minions comes tumbling out – evidently, he was eavesdropping. The minion defiantly refuses to betray Glorificus, and Giles instructs Willow and Anya to get some twine to tie him up. As the girls turn to go get the twine, there’s a large crunch and a gasp of pain. The little demon, pale and sweating, promises to tell them everything. The girls ask what happened, and Giles just says the minion changed his mind. The minion informs the gang that Buffy will be too late: Glory will have found the Key – Tara – by the time the Slayer intervenes. Willow runs to the Culture Fair, hoping to find Tara in time. At the amusement park, Glory squeezes Tara’s hand until she crushes bone. The witch winces in pain and looks at the people all around them for help. But Glory thwarts Tara’s hopes, saying that she’ll kill anyone who attempts to help her. Blood drips from Tara’s hand, and Glory brings it up to her lips, takes a big lick – and gags as she spits the blood. Tara is just another human. Deciding this doesn’t have to be a total loss, she decides to press (literally, as she crushes Tara’s hand) the witch for information on the Key. She threatens to drain Tara’s brain, and describes the experience to her. Tara is horrified. Willow spots Tara and Glory on the bench, but the crowd prevents her from getting there on time. Since Tara has decided not to talk, Glory plunges her hands into her brain; Willow watches in horror as Tara screams in pain. Glory smiles at Willow, but then a Chinese dragon prevents Willow from lunging at the hellgod. When it’s passed, Glory is gone. Willow finally gets to Tara. Our hearts sink as we hear the beautiful and gentle Tara babble incoherently…. At the hospital, the gang sadly watches on as a doctor finishes examining Tara, who now has a cast on her crushed hand. Willow is distraught, even more so because the doctors have decided to keep Tara at the hospital for the night. Meanwhile, Dawn is hiding in some caves with Spike – Buffy thought it would be safer for her to be with the vampire while she took care of the Tara issues. Dawn is quite distraught at what happened to Tara; she thinks it’s her fault, and comments that as the Key, she must be something evil, to cause so much pain. Spike tries to comfort her, saying that he knows evil, and she’s not it. Perhaps, Dawn admits; however, she doesn’t think she can be good… At the hospital, Willow very reluctantly lets Tara go, even if it’s only for the night. Stepping out into the corridor, Willow starts planning revenge against Glory, but Buffy talks her out of it – or thinks she’s managed to, as Willow seems to back down and to be willing to wait till they have more firepower. She turns and walks away, asking to be left alone. However, Willow, still furious, is at the Magic Box gathering dangerous supplies for her revenge against Glory, including an ominous black book called “Darkest Magicks”. Glory is still gloating over how she drained that nummy little witch when the floor and walls in her apartment begin to shake. She wonders if someone ordered an apocalypse (teehee!) and suddenly Willow enters, floating above ground, her eyes an angry black. Glory thinks it’s cute, but Willow does manage to paralyse her for a moment. “I – owe – you – pain!” she growls to Glory, hitting on the last word with a blast of energy from her fingers, which actually makes Glory scream. Buffy comes to pick up Dawn, and the teen asks how Willow is doing. Buffy reports that she talked her out of revenge, but Spike scoffs at that - “So you’re saying that a powerful and mightily pissed-off witch was planning on going and spilling herself a few pints of god-blood till you what… explained?” Sitting next to her sister, Dawn asks Buffy to think about what she would do if Glory had done that to Dawn. A heartbeat later, Buffy bolts out of the caves… Glory’s apartment is a wreck. Willow causes a mirror to shatter on Glory. The hellgod laughs it off and backhands the witch, sending her flying across the room. Willow gets up and makes a leather bag slide to her. A dozen knives fly up out of the bag, position themselves in formation besides Willow, and fly at Glory. She bats them aside, lifts a table and throws it at Willow, who cries in pain. Glory goes over to a weakened Willow, whose eyes are no longer dark; Willow finds the strength to spit in Glory’s face, causing her to pick up a knife and ask the redhead if she knows what they used to do to witches (crucify them). “They used to bow down to gods”, Buffy replies behind her. “Things change.” Buffy and Glory fight ferociously, until Willow conjures up a force field to contain Glory long enough for the girls to escape. As they flee, Glory angrily promises that this isn’t over… In Willow’s room, Buffy unpacks the lunch the girls made for themselves – chicken salad sandwich for Willow, eggplant sandwich for Buffy, salami and peanut butter (!) for Dawn… Willow starts feeding Tara with a spoon, and as the girls discuss Willow’s new responsibilities, Dawn takes her turn with the feeding. Suddenly, one of the walls crumbles to the ground, and Glory appears in the rubble, reminding them she’d told them this wasn’t over. Tara is quite upset at the wall falling down, and Dawn tries to calm her. Looking at the teenager, Tara marvels at the pure green energy, so beautiful… Glory smiles triumphantly. Summary by OttsFiveByFive.
Episode Ratings
Mac -
“Glory sucks Tara’s brain, and finds out who the key is. The story-arc goes into full effect.”
Quotes
Key: B=Buffy, G=Giles, X=Xander, W=Willow, S=Spike, A=Anya, D=Dawn, T=Tara, Gl=Glory, Bn=Ben
Prof. Lillian: I’m glad you like poetry, Buffy. B: I wish I had time for it. But I just don’t right now. Prof. Lillian: Well, maybe short poems. B: Like those Japanese ones that… um, sound like a sneeze? Prof. Lillian: Haiku?
Bn: Can I just tell you its not my fault? Dr. Ben’s Ex-Boss: Sure. You can also tell me that the dog ate your homework. Or maybe eating Twinkies made you do it. Or maybe, yeah, that there’s really a wicked demonic creature living inside you that takes control of your body and forces you to do its bidding.
Bn: This is so unfair. You’re taking everything away from me. Everything I worked for, I earned, I care about. These are my choices, this is my life, and you’re ruining it!
GL:
GL: I asked for The Key and you brought me a vampire. A pulseless, impure, follically-fried vampire. Loofah!
B: You lied to me? D: I didn’t lie… exactly… B: Oh, really? What about all those times I asked you how school was and you said, “Fine”? D: Well, it was! You didn’t ask if I was in it when it was fine…
X: Honey. Old saying: A watched customer never buys.
A: They would if they were patriotic!
X: <sotto voce to Willow> O.k., I’m going in.
A: Look at ’em! Perusing the shelves, undressing the merchandise with their eyeballs! All ogle, no cash. It’s not just annoying, it’s Un-American. G: Appalling. Almost as if they no longer believe money can buy happiness.
A: Oh! And you know what else is un-American? French people! W: You don’t say. A: From what I hear, they don’t tip. French old people, now that’s really the bottom of the barrel. X: An! Hows about we try being just a bit less prejudiced and a bit more inclusive. Not us – just you.
X: Hey, what’s up? It’s Dawn Giovanni and the Buffster!
X: And that’s cool too. Whatever you choose, you’ve got my support. Just think of me as… as your… uh, you know I’m searching for supportive things and I’m coming up all “bras”, so something slightly more manly – think of me as that.
B: I want you to do it. You can be the foot-putting-down-er! G: No, Buffy, I don’t think I can. B: Please! Pretty please! I mean your foot is way bigger than mine… and you’re so much more grown up than me!
B: Right. She needs me. Me the grown-up. The authority figure. The strong guiding hand and stompy foot that is me! G: That’s the spirit. B: O.K. I can do this. G: I know you can. B: Please! G: No.
W: So we made a triangle with our bodies. And that’s when I called Xander obtuse, and he got really grumpy. And then Dawn said we were a-cute triangle and, well, hilarity ensued.
W: Don’t be grumpy with her! Who among us can resist the allure of really funny math puns? B: It’s really important that Dawn finishes her schoolwork right now. W: Yeah, I know, but we were having good, clean, educational fun, and then all of a sudden it was all gloom and doom and the outlawing of human triangles. B: It’s really important that Dawn finishes her schoolwork right now. W: I know it is. And I’m a big fan of school! You know me, I’m, like, “Go school! It’s your birthday!”… or something to that effect.
W: I’d be totally blowing off classes if I were in Dawny’s shoes. T: Sweetie, you wouldn’t blow off a class if your head was on fire.
T: No, please! I mean, tell me if I said something wrong. Otherwise I know I’ll say it again – probably often and in public.
T: Is that “no” spelled “y-e-s”? W: S-o-r-t of.
W: Well I took Psych 101. I mean, I took it from an evil government scientist who was skewered by her Frankenstein-like creation before the final, but I know what a Freudian slip is.
W: I’m really sorry I didn’t establish my lesbo street cred before I got into this relationship!
B: O.K., so… I think the next step is to make a chart. A schedule. I’ll write down all the things you’re supposed to do and when you have to do them, and then I’ll leave a box next to it which you can mark with an “X” when you’ve accomplished the task. <off Dawn’s look> What? You want gold stars? O.K., you can have gold stars.
B: This is for real, Dawn. D: No, it’s not. I’m not real, so why would my exciting graph of chores be real? Who cares if The Key gets an education anyway?
G: I hope this isn’t a return. Everyone wants petrified hamsters, and they’re never happy with them.
G: You all right? W: Yeah. G: Ah, yes, because your good mood is both obvious and contagious.
Minion: I will not betray Glorificus! I will never talk, no matter what heinous tort… G: Actually you’re talking quite a lot, just not about the right things. Tell us why you’re here. Minion: No word shall pass my lips that would bring peril to Glorificus! G: Girls, get the twine that’s on the counter. Let’s tie him up. <sickening off-screen crunch while their backs are turned> Minion: Aggh! Don’t! I’ll tell you anything! Please! Whatever you want! Just… anything! A: What happened? G: He changed his mind. Gl: Think about it. You think your hand hurts? Imagine what you’d feel with my fingers wiggling in your brain. It doesn’t kill you. What it does is make you feel like you’re in a noisy, little dark room, naked and ashamed. And there are things in the dark that need to hurt you, because you’re bad. Little pinching things that go in your ears, and crawl on the inside of your skull. And you know that if the noise of the crawling would stop, that you could remember how to get out… but you never, ever will.
X: Man, words cannot express how much I hate this place. G: It’s dreadful. A: It’s like communism.
X: Willow, no. It’s just for one night. W: Yeah, I know. But it’s a whole night. I don’t think I can sleep without her. A: You can sleep with me! <off everyone’s looks> Well now that came out a lot more lesbian than it sounded in my head.
Gl: You know, I think I’m a little buzzed from eating that witch. What a mind she had! Mmmm, nummy treat.
Gl: Did anybody order an apocalypse?
S: So you’re saying that a powerful and mightily pissed-off witch was planning on going and spilling herself a few pints of god-blood until you, what… explained? B: What, you think she… no. I told Willow it would be, like, suicide. S: I’d do it. Right person. Person I loved. I’d do it.
GL: What’s this? Bag of tricks? W: Bag of knives.
Gl: You know what they used to do to witches, lover? They used to crucify them. B: They used to bow down to gods. Things change.
B: Chicken salad. W: Right Here. B: Eggplant – that’s me. B: Salami with… ew… peanut butter? – Dawn. D: Yeah, like eggplant is normal. It’s what? Half egg, half plant? That’s just unnatural.
T: No! The place is cracking! It’s cracking. Cracking! No, oh, no! D: No, Tara, It’s o.k. T: Look at that. Look at that! Oh, the light! So pure. Such pure green energy! It’s so beautiful….
Credit: The Sunnydale Slayers