Forever

"Forever" is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the ninety-fifth episode altogether. It was directed and written by series executive producer Marti Noxon. It originally broadcasted on April 7th, 2001. Following Joyce's death, Buffy questions her ability to cope now that her mother is dead, while Dawn attempts to bring her mother back through magic.

Summary


At a funeral home, Buffy picks out a casket for her mother. Dawn is concerned whether Joyce would be satisfied with the chosen casket, since she's the one who'll be in it forever. Later, The Scoobies gather for dinner at the Summers' house to discuss funeral plans. Buffy mentions that ever since her mother's demise, Hank, their father, has not yet come in contact with them. Dawn feels left out when she realizes that before her mother goes into surgery, she and Buffy spoke about funeral choices, just in case.

Xander and Willow find Spike outside the house, who's stopping by to deliver flowers for Joyce. Although Spike clearly states that it was a sincere gesture, he and Xander get into a brief spat when Xander misinterpret this as means of Spike trying to take advantage of the situation, to get closer to Buffy. But after Spike leaves, Willow informs Xander that Spike didn't leave a card behind. Later that night, the remaining Summers women sit in their room, trying to cope with and contemplate the situation.



Joyce is buried the next day. After the sorrowful funeral, Dawn leaves with Willow and Tara, finding it hard to return to her own home. Buffy, though, stays at the cemetery, until nighttime comes. Angel surprisingly arrives and proceed to comfort Buffy. Both rest under a tree, while Buffy expresses her regrets that she wasn't more useful. They then kiss, to which Buffy realizes that it's not such a good idea, and asks Angel to return to his home in L.A.

Meanwhile, Willow and Tara tries unsuccessfully to cheer the dreary Dawn, or at least get her mind off things. But they recoil in shock when Dawn expresses her wish to perform a resurrection spell for her mother. The two witches refuse to help her, explaining that it is wrong to use witchcraft to meddle in the matters of life and death. Post-coitus, Anya and Xander discuss about her ability to create life. When she thinks about it that way, it makes sex a little more meaningful and death a little less sad. In the meantime, Giles lingers sadly in his apartment, listening to a record first heard in Band Candy, in which he listens to it with Joyce.



The next day, Willow and Tara leave for class, but not before Willow magically pulls out a specific book for Dawn. When she inspects it, she finds it contains a section about resurrection spells. Later that day, Dawn goes to The Magic Box to gather some ingredients. She sneaks up into a restricted area to steal a few books and potions. That night, she collects dirt from her mother's grave, but Spike catches her in the act. He knows what Dawn is doing and subsequently offers to help.

Meanwhile, Jynx, one of Glory's minions, approach Ben outside the hospital. When Ben inadvertently let it slip that The Key is a human, he sequentially stabs Jynx in order to prevent him from telling Glory. But Jynx is only wounded, and he manages to return to Glory's mansion. Glory is ecstatic to hear the news, and cites that this piece of information narrows down the search severely.



At the same time, Dawn and Spike goes to a mysterious, amiable magic expert named Doc. After giving her the rest of the information needed to complete the spell, the two leave to collect the final ingredient for the spell - a Ghora's egg. The two then subsequently go on a mission to collect the egg, which they accomplished successfully. Later that night, Dawn returns home to perform the spell.

Concurrently, in their dorm room, Willow tells Tara that she wants to start a journal, ever since Joyce's death, after receiving the sudden epiphany that life is short. Tara then realizes that a witchcraft book is missing, and Dawn might have taken it. They then call Buffy to alert her.



Buffy finds Dawn, just as she finishes the spell. The two then get into a vicious argument; Dawn believes that Buffy does not even care about their mother's death, as she is just running around as if the whole thing is a chore. Dawn states that Buffy hasn't even cried - and kept pushing Dawn away, inadvertently or not. As tears roll, and footsteps approach the Summers home, Buffy states her case, and explains her hostility; she's been keeping herself busy so that she does not have to deal with the situation, she runs around and work because if she stops, then Joyce is really gone.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure passes the window, and the girls hear a knock on the door. Buffy whispers "Mom..." hopefully and proceeds to open the door. Just then, Dawn realizes that some things just aren't meant to be, and as Buffy whips the door open, Dawn rips apart a portrait of her mother used in the spell, voiding the enchantment. The two Summers women then break down uncontrollably, silently declaring that whatever comes next, they'll deal with it together.

Regular Stars

 * Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Anne Summers
 * Nicholas Brendon as Alexander LaVelle Harris
 * Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
 * Emma Caulfield as Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins
 * Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
 * James Marsters as Spike
 * and Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest Stars

 * David Boreanaz as Angel
 * Clare Kramer as Glorificus
 * Charlie Weber as Ben
 * Troy T. Blendell as Jinx
 * Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
 * Joel Grey as Doc

Co-Stars

 * Todd Duffey as Murk
 * Andrea Gall as Customer
 * Alan Henry Brown as Funeral Director
 * Darius Dudley as Minister
 * Anne Talbot as Lady With Baby
 * Noor Shic as Lady With Rosary

Main Theme
If The Body went out of its way to avoid any kind of resolution after Joyce's death, then Forever is nothing but resolution, and as a result it's a much more conventional piece of TV drama. Dawn finally comes to terms with Joyce's death, mainly by re-establishing her connection to the living, while the "responsibility" issue comes to the fore again as Buffy further steps into her mother's shoes.

General

 * Joyce's funeral was organized by The Brown Brother's Mortuary.
 * This is one of the only episodes in the series where Buffy does not have an action scene.
 * The events of the second Buffy game, Chaos Bleeds occur between this episode and Intervention.
 * This is one of the only episodes in the series where Buffy does not have an action scene.
 * This is Angel's first appearance in Buffy ever since The Yoko Factor. This is also his last appearance until End of Days.
 * According to writer and director Marti Noxon, the inspiration for this episode came from W.W. Jacob's short story, The Monkey's Paw.
 * This is the last appearance of Giles's apartment, as The Scoobies do not go there for the rest of season five, and he has moved out by season six.

Production

 * Kristine Sutherland did not play Joyce's shadowy figure in the final scene.
 * In an interview, Marti Noxon says, "To me, the idea of wanting to defy death is just an inherent, almost mythological, iconic notion. It’s something we can relate to. A universal longing".

Bloopers

 * When the camera pans past Buffy’s bedroom before the funeral, you can see that there’s no ceiling in her room.
 * When Spike and Dawn are walking to Doc's, there is a stop sign on the left-hand side of the road and on the sidewalk... Why?
 * For not knowing where the "dangerous stuff" was kept in the Magic Box, Dawn found the book and potion ingredient she was looking for quickly.
 * When Willow moves her hand to telekinetically move the book in the backround Dawn is sitting up, however in the next moment Dawn is lying down again.
 * In the episode, Willow moves a book telekinetically. In the faraway shot, the light brown part of the cover and the first part of the lettering on the cover are already visible, but when the close up starts, none of the letters are visible.

Title

 * French: Pour Toujours" ("Forever")
 * Italian: "Per Sempre" ("Forever")
 * German: "Gefährlicher Zauber" ("Dangerous Magic")
 * Spanish: "Por Siempre" ("Forever")


 * The episode's title, "Forever" turns up in the script three times.