Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Never Leave Me

Never Leave Me
Season 7, Episode 9
Airdate	November 26, 2002
Production Number	7ABB09
Written by	Drew Goddard
Directed by	David Solomon
← 7x08 Sleeper	7x10 → Bring on the Night
Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Season Seven

Never Leave Me is the ninth episode of the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the one-hundred and thirty-first episode overall.

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Emma Caulfield (Anya), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn Summers), James Marsters (Spike)

and Alyson Hannigan (Willow)

Guest Starring: Danny Strong (Jonathan Levinson), Adam Busch (Warren Meers), Tom Lenk (Andrew Wells), Cynthia LaMontagne (Lydia), Oliver Muirhead (Philip), Kris Iyer (Nigel), Harris Yulin (Quentin Travers)

and DB Woodside (Principal Wood)

Co-Starring: Donald Bishop (Butcher), Camden Toy (Ubervamp), Bobby Brewster (Hoffman), Roberto Santos (Grimes)

Plot Overview

Buffy watches over Spike to try and figure out what’s been manipulating him to kill and for what reason. Meanwhile, Andrew is discovered to be back in town and Xander and Anya interrogate him to find out why.

Notes

Monster of the Week

• There is no monster of the week in this episode, as this episode deals mainly with The First.

Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1/2	Robed Figures	Buffy	Stabbed	Buffy's room
3-?	Watchers	The Bringers	Blown up	Watchers Headquarters

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• From Beneath You: The ritual that Andrew was manipulated into performing didn't work because Jonathan is anaemic, so his blood wouldn't cause the correct reaction. Buffy finally realizes that they're fighting the First Evil. Spike's blood is used to activate the seal.

• The Watchers Council: Has decided to mobilize for war against the First Evil. But then they're apparently all blown up.

• Big Bad: The First Evil summons an "Ubervamp" using Spike's blood.

Characters

• Spike: Spike is captured and tortured by The First.

• Principal Wood: Wood discovers Jonathan's body in the basement and buries it.

Referbacks

• 4x10 - Amends: The gang first dealt with The First when it came to Angel in the form of Jenny Calendar. In the incident, she attempted to turn Angel evil or have him commit suicide.

Buffy: I know these guys. I fought them before. We aren't being haunted.

Trivia

The Show

• Proverbs 24:6: The quote from Proverbs 24:6 that Travers says before the Watchers HQ is blown up is a partial quote. Although the quote doesn't seem to be from any known translated version of the Bible, the King James Version of the entire quote is as follows:

For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

• Ubervamp: The Ubervamp at the end of the episode bears a striking resemblance to the monster that appears in the Mutant Enemy production company card. Whether or not this is intentional is unknown.

Behind the Scenes

• Recasting: This is Camden Toy's third appearance as a monster on Buffy. He first appeared in "Hush" as the lead Gentleman and in "Same Time, Same Place" as Gnarl.

Allusions and References

• Iron Fist: Iron Fist is a Marvel Comics character created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane named Danny Rand-K'ai. Rand is a martial artist who has perfected the technique of channeling chi into his fist. When Warren says that Andrew is his Iron Fist, he apparently is referring to himself as Luke Cage, Iron Fist's partner in Heroes for Hire with unbreakable skin.

Warren: You can do this. You're my Iron Fist.

• Babe: Babe is a 1995 movie about a pig who was raised by sheepdogs. The movie stars James Cromwell as the farmer who tends to the animals. The sequel, Babe 2: Pig in the City, and a line spoken by Cromwell are both referenced by Andrew.

Andrew: Babe 2: Pig in the City was really underrated.

• Ghost: Andrew makes a reference to Patrick Swayze's character in Ghost, a movie about a dead man who attempts to get a warning to his widowed wife, but cannot take corporeal form or speak to her, so he must use Whoopi Goldberg as a medium.

Andrew: Or Patrick Swayze.

• Matrix: The main character in the 1999 cyberpunk film The Matrix goes by the internet handle of "Neo". The butcher calls Andrew "Neo" because of the trenchcoat and all the black he's wearing.

Butcher: This is a butcher shop, Neo. We don't sell toothpaste.

• Trigger: Trigger is a horse owned by Roy Rogers who appeared in several of Rogers' movies and The Roy Rogers Show. He was widely considered to be both the smartest and most famous horse in film and even had his own comic book.

Xander: Trigger.

Anya: The horse?

• Winston Churchill: Travers quotes a line from a speech delivered by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons on September 9, 1941. Churchill's speech followed a meeting he had with the president of the United States, during which they solidified their international policies towards Russia and Japan, as well as creating a joint declaration. The quoted line closes the speech.

Travers: It's all right, Lydia. We are still masters of our fate, still captains of our souls.

Memorable Moments

• Travers quoting Winston Churchill before attempting to amass an army and, subsequently, being blown up.

Goofs

• In the teaser, when Buffy begins tying up Spike's left arm, there's a cut away and when it returns, there's noticeably more rope around his arm.

Quotes

• Dawn: And Spike could've sired countless others and buried them around town. And we're waiting for him to do what, exactly? Do something crazy?

Willow: It's not that simple.

Anya: Shouldn't we stab him through the chest? I mean, isn't that what we do when these things happen?

• Warren: You know the rules. I can't take corporeal form. Here, feel. Mm-hmm.

Andrew: (as his hand passes through) Cool.

Warren: Pretty bitchin', right? I'm like Obi Wan?

Andrew: Or Patrick Swayze.

• Principal Wood: Now guys, look. We can settle this one of two ways. You can repaint the walls or I can suspend you and report this little incident on your permanent record.

Hoffman: Fine. Do that.

Principal Wood: Okay, I was bluffing. I hadn't really thought that one through. Listen, this whole "permanent records" thing is such a myth, anyway. Colleges never ask for anything past your SAT scores and it's not like employers are gonna be calling up to check to see how many days you missed back in high school. So listen, I - I could suspend you, but that would mean calling your parents, alerting your teachers, filling out paperwork, and quite possibly, having to talk to the school board, all of which sounds positively exhausting to me. No. No, I think it would be much easier if I just call the police. Let them deal with it. Oh, and in case you're wondering. This is the part where I'm not bluffing.

• Dawn: I just want to tell you that Buffy won't be coming in today. She's really sick.

Principal Wood: Oh, no.

Dawn: Yeah, last night she was vomiting, and then this morning she was vomiting some more, and then, just when we thought she was done, she started vomiting again.

Principal Wood: Yeah, we got that stomach flu going around.

Dawn: Her exact words were, "I've got stuff coming out of both ends."

Principal Wood: Thank you. That's... very helpful.

• Andrew: Babe 2: Pig in the City was really underrated.

Warren: Don't think about Babe.

Andrew: Right.

Warren: You're Conan. You're the destroyer. It's you against nature. You're the hunter. You're primal You live off the land. You're Andrew. Everyone knows you. You play by your own rules. It's kill or be killed.

Andrew: (charges at the pig with a knife) That'll do, pig!

• Andrew: I'd like 12 pork chops, 2 pounds of sausage, 8 quarts of pigs blood, 3 steaks, um, halibut, and, uh, some toothpaste...

Butcher: This is a butcher's shop, Neo. We don't sell toothpaste.

Andrew: Um, Okay, just the other stuff then.

• Andrew: I am bad. I'm bad. I'm evil. But I'm protected by powerful forces, forces you can't even begin to imagine... little girl. If you harm me you shall know the wrath of he that is darkness and terror. Your blood will boil and you will know true suffering. Stand down, she-witch. Your defeat is at hand--

(Willow pushes him against the wall)

Willow: Shut your mouth. I am a she-witch. A very powerful she-witch... or "witch" as is more accurate.

• Xander: What are you doing back in town?

Andrew: You'll get nothing out of me, carpenter.

Xander: We'll see about that.

• Anya: Did you see that? I actually made him cry.

Xander: You were perfect. I was worried I overdid it with the whole "easy way, hard way" thing.

Anya: No, you were great! And I wasn't sure if I should slap him, but then he made me want to slap him, so I thought, "Okay, slap him!"

• Anya: What's the status with your guy?

Buffy: He's not talking yet. We'll get there. How's your guy?

Anya: The weasel wants to sing. He just needs a tune.

Xander: He's primed. I'll be pumping him in no time.

(Anya and Buffy look at him strangely)

Xander: He'll give us information soon.

• Xander: (about Anya) She's killed more men than smallpox.

Andrew: Does smallpox still kill people?

Xander: She's killed a lot of men. She tortures them. Anyone who incurs her wrath. One time she - No, never mind.

Andrew: What?

Xander: It's not important.

Andrew: What'd she do?

Xander: Well, there was this one guy. There was this one guy - he, uh, he hurt her real bad, so she paid him back. She killed him, but she did it real slow. See first she stopped his heart, then she replaced it with darkness, then she made him live his life like that. But he still had to go do his job and see his friends and wake up in the morning and go to bed at night, but he had to do it all... empty. Without anything to look forward to. Ever.

Andrew: Sounds bad.

Xander: Well, then she tore out his intestines and rubbed it in his face and took pictures of it.

Andrew: Oh, God!

• Buffy: He was talking to someone. I heard through the door. He was having this conversation. And then he started singing.

Anya: Maybe it's another musical. A much crappier musical.

• Buffy: I know these guys. I fought them before. We aren't being haunted. This isn't some demon. It's all the same thing. Spike's ghosts, the people that you guys saw, from beneath us - it's all the same thing. I know what we're up against. The First.