Template:Buffyepisode "Something Blue" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show, and is the sixty-fifth episode in the series. It was written by Tracey Forbes and directed by Nick Marck. It originally broadcast on November 30, 1999.
Willow casts a spell to assuage her pain but it goes awry, blinding Giles, turning Xander into a demon magnet, and causing Buffy and Spike to become engaged.
Synopsis
Willow is still hurting over Oz’s departure and often sneaks into his bedroom as a way of feeling close to him. At college, Buffy talks to Riley and he invites her out on a picnic. Willow and Buffy talk about a possible relationship with Riley, and the consequences that may result from any relationship. Buffy wonders if the passion of her relationships comes from the pain and fighting.
Feeding Spike.
Spike is chained up and kept in the bathtub at Giles’s apartment. Buffy tries to get information from him, and feeds him pig’s blood, but he doesn’t give up much. Willow suggests a truth spell to make Spike talk. She promises to gather the ingredients and return the next morning. After she leaves, Buffy and Giles discuss how well Willow is coping since Oz left, only for Spike to offer his insight warning that in fact she’s close to breaking down. This is proved right when Willow goes back to Oz’s place to find the room stripped bare of his possessions. Later she tells Buffy while crying that Oz asked for his stuff to be sent on to him which has crushed her last hopes that he might return someday.
The next day, Buffy and Riley arrange a date. When Willow doesn’t show up to perform the truth spell as planned, Giles calls Willow but gets no answer. That night at The Bronze, Willow opts to drown her sorrows in alcohol. After she insults Xander, Buffy takes her back to their dorm. Later, in the bathroom, Willow performs a spell to let her will be granted in order to make her pain go away.
Amy is (briefly) de-ratted.
Willow tries to see if her spell worked, but her commands don’t work. Giles drops by to find out why she didn’t show to help him perform the spell. She feels like there’s too much pressure on her that she can’t live up to, and snaps at Giles when he tells her that she needs to focus on her responsibilities and not to perform any more spells alone while she’s in such a fragile state. Angry, she says that he can’t see anything, and then Giles suddenly begins to have trouble with his eyesight and decides it’s best to leave for now. He then tries to perform the spell on Spike alone but is having difficulty reading. After Giles drops the key to the chains keeping Spike captive, Spike is able to break free and run away. While talking to Buffy, one of Willow’s casual comments briefly returns Amy to human form (unseen by either girl), before Willow just as casually — and unwittingly — turns her back into a rat.
Buffy and Spike discuss wedding plans.
After Giles calls, Buffy goes to find Spike and both are surprised when she manages to find the vampire within seconds (once more due to a sarcastic comment from Willow), she brings him back to Giles’s apartment. While talking to Xander, Willow sarcastically mentions Buffy and Spike getting married, and then at Giles’s place, Spike proposes to Buffy and she accepts.
Xander continues to try to console Willow, assuring her she’ll feel better in time and will meet someone else, but Willow instead lists Xander’s past (and current) relationships stating he’s a ’demon magnet’. While Buffy and Spike cuddle and kiss and make plans for the wedding, Giles calls Willow for help and moments later reaches the conclusion that he is totally blind. Buffy visits the magic shop for supplies to undo the spell that caused Giles to become blind. She then runs into Riley outside of a bridal shop and tells him about the wedding, which confuses and upsets him.
D’Hoffryn: You will make a fine vengeance demon.
Xander and Anya’s romantic time is interrupted by various demons that attack them. They rush to Giles’s place, and when Xander sees Buffy and Spike together and engaged he puts the pieces together and the gang realizes that everything Willow says is coming true. D’Hoffryn, the demon responsible for making Anya a vengeance demon, comes forth and takes Willow through a portal into his demon world to make the same offer. When the gang goes to look for her, Anya recognizes the remains of portal left by D’Hoffryn.
Buffy and the rest of the group go to a crypt where they hope to stop D’Hoffryn from turning Willow into a demon. En route to the crypt, several demons attack, still drawn to Xander because of Willow’s spell. In the meantime, Willow turns down D’Hoffryn’s offer and, thankfully, the demon accepts her decision without argument and gives her his talisman if she changes her mind before sending her back. Willow breaks the spell and Buffy and Spike find themselves in the middle of a kiss, much to their horror and disgust. Willow apologizes and tries to make up for her messed-up spell with cookies. Buffy finds herself over the whole "bad boy" thing. The next day, Buffy finds Riley and manages to convince him her talk of her upcoming wedding was a joke.
Continuity
- Buffy mentions having met with Angel for five minutes (from her point of view) in "I Will Remember You".
- When seeing Willow drunk, Buffy references the time she herself became a cavewoman in "Beer Bad".
- This episode marks the first time Buffy and Spike kiss (albeit under the influence of magic).
- This episode foreshadows two major plotlines of season 6: Willow’s abuse of magic for her own ends, and Buffy and Spike in a relationship.
- In this episode, both Buffy and Giles are unable to see how a member of the Scooby Gang, here Willow, is truly feeling. Spike is able to see it right away. This perceptiveness is later exploited by Spike in "The Yoko Factor".
- While discussing ways of reversing Giles’ blindness, Spike picks up a book bearing the same symbol featured in the episode "Gingerbread", which Willow was trying to use to cast a protection spell for Buffy.
- The dress shop in which Buffy admires the wedding dress is the same one in which Cordelia Chase worked in "The Prom".
- In this episode, D’Hoffryn gives Willow a talisman so that she can summon him if she changes her mind about becoming a vengeance demon. Willow will later use this talisman in the Season Seven episode "Selfless" in order to talk to D’Hoffryn about Anya.
- The "Lesbian Alliance" banner that Buffy sees Riley hanging in the beginning of the episode is a foreshadowing of Willow’s upcoming lesbian relationship, beginning in the next episode.
- Xander tells Willow that she will meet someone new. In the next episode, "Hush", Willow meets Tara, her eventual lover.
- Buffy remarks that they may be into a ’forgetting spell’. Later, in "Tabula Rasa" that comes true.
Appearances
Individuals
- Angel (Only mentioned)
- D’Hoffryn
- Riley Finn
- Natalie French (Only mentioned)
- Rupert Giles
- Ampata Gutierrez (Only mentioned)
- Xander Harris
- Anya Jenkins
- Amy Madison
- Daniel Osbourne (Only mentioned)
- Willow Rosenberg
- Spike
- Buffy Summers
Organizations and Titles
Species
Locations
- Arashmaharr
- Los Angeles, USA (Only mentioned)
- Sunnydale, USA
Weapons and Objects
- Stake
- "Witchcraft"
Rituals and Spells
Death Count
- One vampire, dusted by Buffy Summers.
- One Serparvo demon, drowned by Xander Harris.
Behind the Scenes
Deleted Scenes
- This line was cut:[citation needed]
- Buffy: "So she did a good spell — but the plan kind of sucked. I mean, she’s the one stuck eating pellets out of a plastic cup."
Pop Culture Reference
- Willow suggested a girls’ night to eat sundaes and watch the comedy-drama film Steel Magnolias (1989).
- Spike references the Zagat’s Guide, a collection of ratings and reviews for restaurants and other establishments in various cities.
- Willow calls Spike "the undead English Patient," a reference to the 1992 novel and 1996 drama film The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. Notably, one of the two main female characters in the movie is played by Kristin Scott Thomas, sister of Serena Scott Thomas, who played Gwendolyn Post.
- Spike references the daytime soap opera Passions. Angel actress Daphne Duplaix (Serena) would later star in the show.
- Xander calls Willow a "brave little toaster," a reference to the 1980 children’s novel and 1987 animated film The Brave Little Toaster.
International titles
- French: "Le Mariage de Buffy" (Buffy’s Wedding)
- German: "Mein Wille Geschehe" (My Will Be Done)
- Portuguese (Brazil): "Uma Ligeira Tristeza" (A Slight Sadness)
- Spanish (Latin America and Spain): "Algo Triste" (Something Sad)
Music
- Bette Midler — "Wind Beneath My Wings"
- Blink-182 — "All the Small Things"
- Joe 90 — "Truth"
- Sue Willett — "Night Time Company"
- Christophe Beck — original score
Other
- The episode’s title refers to both Willow’s grief, as there’s something blue about her; and Buffy’s engagement, as the tradition of a bride wearing something old, something borrowed, and something blue during her wedding.
- This episode shows Spike to be left handed.
- Buffy and Spike’s wedding plans were featured in the book "The Official Grimoire – A Magickal History of Sunnydale".
Gallery
Behind the Scenes
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Quotes
| Willow: "Harken all ye elements, I summon thee now. (She drops something into the bowl/pentacle in front of her.) Control the outside, control within. Land and sea, fire and wind. Out of my passions, a web be spun. From this eve forth, my will be done. So mote it be." |
| Buffy: "Honey, we need to talk about the invitations. Now, do you want to be 'William the Bloody' or just 'Spike'? Cause... either way, it's going to look majorly weird." |
| Spike: "Whereas the name 'Buffy' gives it that touch of classic elegance." |
| Buffy: "What's wrong with Buffy?" |
| Giles: "Huh ... such a good question." |
| Giles: "We can't let you go until we're sure that you're-you're impotent or ..." |
| Spike: "Hey!" |
| Giles: "Sorry, poor choice of words. Until we know that you're ... you're ..." |
| Buffy: "Flaccid?" |
| Spike: "You are one step away, missy." |
| Buffy: "Giles, help. He's gonna scold me." |
| Spike: "This is the crack team that foils my every plan? I am deeply shamed." |
| Buffy: "Spike and I are getting married." |
| Xander: "How? What? How?" |
| Giles: "Three excellent questions." |
| Xander: "Can I be blind too?" |
| Buffy: "Spike lips! Lips of Spike!" |
| Spike: "Don't I get a cookie?" |
| Buffy: "No!" |
| Spike: "Well, I gotta have something. I still have Buffy taste in my mouth." |
| Buffy: "You're a pig, Spike." |
| Spike: "Well, I'm not the one who wanted 'Wind Beneath my Wings' for the first dance." |