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The WEIGHT Of The WORLD (ep #5.21)

(a.k.a. Snoozathon)


Written by: Douglas Petrie
Directed by: David Solomon
Starring: 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
Guest Starring: Clare Kramer as Glory
Charlie Weber as Ben
Dean Butler as Hank Summers
Lily Knight as Gronx
Bob Morrisey as Crazy #1
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Joel Grey as Doc (Special Guest Star)
Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
Co-Starring: Todd Duffey as Murk
Alexandra Lee as Young Buffy
Paul Bates as Crazy #2
Carl J. Johnson as Crazy #3
Matthew Lang as High Priest Minion

Plot Summary

Willow explored Buffy's catatonic mind while Glory prepared Dawn.

Plot Details

Glory's minions were busy packing the belongings that Glory collected in her time on earth. Murk complained about doing so, which upset Glory. Glory was surprised that she chose to spare Murk instead of killing him. She asked Dawn why, but Dawn did not answer, probably because Dawn was gagged.

At the abandoned gas station, Spike successfully hot-wired Ben's car and was ready to leave. However, Buffy was still catatonic. The characters wondered if moving Buffy would make her worse. Spike tried slapping her, but that just gave him a headache. He and Xander then exchanged words and started to exchange blows when Willow separated them.

Willow took command. She said that they will return to Sunnydale. Xander was to take Giles to the hospital. Anya was to care for Tara. Spike was to check on Glory, but any payback would risk getting Willow cranky. Willow was to help Buffy.

Spike asked what they would do if they came across Ben, who also happened to be Glory. Nobody understood what he was talking about. Spike eventually figured out that there was some magic that affected all non-vampires in the room that kept them from seeing that Ben and Glory were sharing the same body.

Glory and her minions brought Dawn to the point where the portal will open. A tall minion wanted to anoint Dawn, but Glory chased him out. Dawn was very scared, but Glory was only semi-sympathetic. Still, Glory was shocked that there was any sympathy at all.

Willow left a sedated Tara with Anya before going to enter Buffy's mind and try to fix what was wrong. Willow met Buffy as a girl, who still recognized her. After a brief conversation, Buffy got excited when her parents came home with her new baby sister. Buffy was jealous until she actually saw Dawn. Almost instantly, she started to become protective. Willow then switched to watching Buffy in the Magic Box and to Buffy's desert quest from "Intervention."

Spike broke into Glory's mansion to find it abandoned, even the small room that was Ben's. Before leaving with Giles, Xander checked out the mental ward and found all the crazies gone. Spike arrived and suggested going to see Doc.

Glory found herself remembering things from Ben's life. She was upset that Dawn remembered that she switched from Ben. Apparently, the line between her and Ben was blurring, and she wanted Ben out. Glory later started to lecture Dawn about how humans are good only at hurting themselves or each other.

In Buffy's mind, Willow recognized the "first original slayer" (as opposed to the second or third original slayers) telling Buffy that death was her gift. Buffy then switched back to the Magic Box. They then went to Buffy's house where they saw Joyce's grave. Buffy then walked to a gasping Dawn and smothered her with a pillow.

Ben returned. He could remember all the people that Glory murdered. Dawn tried to get him to free her, but it took a while for him to get over his inability to act. Eventually, he led Dawn away.

Spike and Xander arrived at Doc's apartment, where Xander finally figured out that Ben was Glory. Spike explained the situation to Doc. Doc tried to dissuade them from even taking Glory on and suggested they see someone in China. Spike realized that the information they needed was in the room.

Doc was ready for a fight with a sword and a D'Argo styled tongue, only minus the stunning capabilities. Doc knocked Xander down and waved his foot above Spike. Doc announced that he worshipped Glory as well. He tried to toss the information into a fire, but Xander took him on while Spike pulled the info out of the fire. Xander managed to run Doc through the chest with the sword, but, after Xander and Spike left, Doc opened his eyes.

Ben managed to take Dawn into an alley. When his back was turned, she knocked him out with a pile of chains. She tried to sneak away, but Ben turned into Glory and regained consciousness. Glory threatened to torture Dawn, but she kept changing between herself and Ben.

Ben and Glory argued with each other. Ben threatened to kill Dawn first so she could not be used to open a portal. Glory said that she could spare him if he cooperated. At first, he was unwilling to do so, but he eventually relented.

Back in Buffy's mind, Willow tried to tell Buffy to quit killing Dawn. They went back to the Magic Box. Buffy told Willow that she was remembering a moment in which she felt that Glory was going to beat her. She actually wanted it to happen. She believed that she let Glory take Dawn and is responsible for killing her. Willow started to lecture Buffy and apparently convinced her to snap out of her catatonia.

The characters met at the Magic Box. Giles interpreted the scrolls that Spike and Xander recovered from Doc. Glory was to open a portal by drawing Dawn's blood. If Dawn's blood is shed at the right place and time, bad things would happen and would be stopped only when Dawn is killed.

The Good

If done better, an exploration of Buffy's mind would make an interesting episode.

The Bad

With "Tough Love" and "Spiral," the season arc was going very strongly. With this episode, the arc suddenly slammed on the brakes while Willow diddled around in Buffy's mind. This episode was far too unimportant to be the second-to-last episode of the season.

Overall Rank: 136

Action: 4

Spike dope-slapped Xander.

Spike and Xander took on Doc.

Comedy: 1

Spike was amused by everyone else not realizing that Glory and Ben had the same bodies.

Drama: 6

Buffy felt guilty for letting Glory take Dawn.

Ben faced a crisis of conscience.

Romance: 0

Character Development: 2

Glory is frustrated that some of Ben's "goodness" was seeping into her.

Ben probably had some of Glory's evil seep into him, but he was less aware of this. He was faced with a critical decision and decided to put survival over morality.

Buffy feels guilty for letting Glory take Dawn.

Importance: 2

Save for the exposition at the end, this was a filler episode.

Most Valuable Player: Willow

Willow is the clear MVP. She took command when the group started to fall apart and directed each of the characters to their assignments. Later, she managed to wake Buffy from her Scooby Doo induced funk.

Who Figured It Out? Spike

Spike realized that Ben and Glory were the same while the others barely understood that there might be a connection between the two. Spike also realized that Doc was trying to protect information and brought it to Giles.

Goat of the Week: Buffy

Buffy gets the goat for falling into a catatonic state in a very inconvenient time, which required resources to be spent on helping her rather than on doing something about Glory.

Random Commentary

In my review of "Where the Wild Things Are," I commented on what happens when the actor who plays oneself is unavailable because she was hosting Saturday Night Live or was guest starring on a spin-off. Having one's actor appear on Saturday Night Live resulted in being turned into a rat. Having one's actor appear on a spin-off resulted in a lot of sex. In this episode, we find that having one's actor appear in a movie about a talking CGI dog leads to going catatonic. Having one's actor appear on a spin off still appears to be the most fun.

Memorable Dialogue

"I'm not gonna kill you. I'm not in the mood. What do you think that's about?" Glory
"In mercy does your power lie?" Gronx
"No, brainless, in torture, death, and chaos does my power lie." Glory

"Buffy's out. Glory has Dawn. Sometime real soon, she's gonna use Dawn to tear down the barrier between every dimension there is, so if you two want to fight, you do it after the world ends, OK? All right, first, we head back to Sunnydale. Xander will take Giles to a hospital. Anya's looking after Tara, and, Spike, you find Glory. Check her apartment. See if she's still there. Try anything stupid like payback, and I will get very cranky." Willow

"Hey, I know you. You're the first original slayer who tried killing us all in our dreams. How have you been?" Willow

"People, how do they function here like this in the world, with all this bile running through them? Every day, it's whoo! You have no control. They're not even animals. They're just these meatbaggy slaves to hormones and pheromones and their feelings. Hate them, I mean, really. Is this what the poets go on about? This? Call me crazy, but as hard-core drugs go, human emotion is just useless. People are puppets. Everyone getting jerked around by what they're feelin'. Am I wrong? Really, I want to know." Glory

"Funny, 'cause I look around at this world you're so eager to be a part of, and all I see is six billion lunatics looking for the fastest ride out. Who's not crazy? Look around. Everyone's drinking, smoking, shooting up, shooting each other, or just plain screwing their brains out 'cause they don't want 'em anymore. I'm crazy? Honey, I'm the original one-eyed chicklet in the kingdom of the blind, 'cause at least I admit the world makes me nuts. Name one person who can take it here. That's all I'm asking. Name one." Glory
"Buffy." Dawn

"I think we already deja-ed this vu." Willow
"You talk funny." Young Buffy
"Yes, as you'll tell me again when we're older and in chem class." Willow

Evil Escaped

Departed Characters Remembered

Unusual Pairings

Spoiler Questions

Highlight the space after each question to find the answer. It is strongly recommended that you do not do so if you have not seen episodes through the episode indicated.

This page was last modified on December 1, 2012