Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Tough Love

Tough Love
Season 5, Episode 19
Airdate	April 24, 2001
Production Number	5ABB19
Written by	Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Directed by	David Grossman
← 5x18 Intervention	5x20 → Spiral
Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Season Five

Forever is the nineteenth episode of the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the ninety-seventh episode overall.

This episode brings Buffy into the position of authority in her family. While she attempts to cope with her new responsibilities, Glory further seeks out the key and Willow and Tara have a falling out.

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

and Anthony Stewart Head (Giles)

Guest Starring: Clare Kramer (Glory), Charlie Weber (Ben), Troy T. Blendell (Jinx), Anne Betancourt (Principal Stevens), Leland Crooke (Professor Lillian), Amber Benson (Tara)

Co-Starring: Todd Duffey (Murk), Alan Heitz (Slook)

Uncredited: Pat Skipper (Doctor)

Plot Overview

Buffy continues to be protective of Dawn when she learns that she's been skipping school and is in danger of being taken away.

Meanwhile, Tara and Willow's relationship is put through a trial when they have a spat and Glory misidentifies Tara as the Key.

Notes

Monster of the Week

• No monster of the week, as this episode was Glory heavy.

Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
There were no deaths in this episode.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Ben & Glory: Ben's transformation into Glory is indeterminate. It isn't like the two switching places, but being in one body. Ben loses his job at the hospital because Glory had inhabited his body for two weeks.

• The Key: Glory figured out that the key was human and one of Buffy's friends, but went after Tara instead of Dawn. By the end of the episode, Tara reveals that Dawn is the key to Glory.

Characters

• Tara: Tara's hand is broken and is driven insane by Glory. She reveals earlier that she's afraid of Willow's growing power and possibly that Willow may fallback on being heterosexual.

Referbacks

• The I In Team: Professor Walsh, Willow's psychology teacher, was killed by her "Frankenstein creation", Adam, in the referenced episode.

Trivia

The Show

• Final Appearance: While it isn't expressly mentioned in the episode, this is the last time that, Glory's minion, Jinx is seen in the series.

Behind the Scenes

• Guest star Leland Crooke would later have a minor recurring role as Sebassis in the [[|Angel/Season Five|last season]] of Angel.

Allusions and References

• Fantastic Four: Although the book isn't expressly mentioned in the episode, Xander can be seen reading an issue of Fantastic Four; a Marvel superhero team created in 1961 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The team is comprised of Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, Invisible Woman and the Human Torch, with various substitutes over the years. The team fits in with the season's idea of family because the Fantastic Four was always considered a family first and a superteam second.

• Don Giovanni: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed "Don Giovanni" in response to his father's death, it represented many darker aspects of his life and generally terrified his audiences. The opera was first performed on October 29th, 1787 in Prague.

Xander: It's Dawn Giovanni and the Buffster.

• A Little Princess: "Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies" is the prevalent setting for the children's book A Little Princess, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The setting was placed in the Victorian era where the girls were strictly governed by Miss Minchin. The book was most recently adapted into a film in 1995 starring Eleanor Bron as the headmistress.

Willow: Yeah, but not in a "Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Girls" way.

• Freudian Slip: Sigmund Freud developed the leading theories on the unconscious and psychology in a time when psychoanalysis and other methods of understanding were considered inappropriate. In Freud's theory, he explains that there are hidden desires that can be found in the unconscious through dreams or slips of the tongue. The later is called a "Freudian Slip," when the unconscious mind involuntarily substitutes a word for the word that was meant. The different word is indicative of what the person really thinks.

Willow: I know what a Freudian slip is.

• Twinkie Defense: In 1978, San Francisco mayor George Moscone and his gay assistant Harvey Milk were murdered in city hall by Dan White, a recently fired man with homophobic tendencies. During his murder trial, his attorney argued that his client's consumption of junk food led to a disinterest in exercise, depression and ultimately murder. This defense was called the "Twinkie Defense" by the media and has been utilized by lawyers since then, particularly in the O.J. Simpson trial.

Doctor: I don't care if you ate too many Twinkies.

Memorable Moments

• Buffy and Dawn in the principal's office, where Buffy is alerted that Dawn will be taken away if she can't make her go to school.

• Glory robbing Tara of her mind at the fairgrounds in front of Willow.

• Glory destroying an entire wall of the place where Buffy, Dawn, Willow and Tara is, only to discover that Dawn is the key.

Quotes

• Buffy: You lied to me?

Dawn: Didn't lie e-exactly.

Buffy: Really? What about all the times I asked you how school was and you said "fine"?

Dawn: Well, it was. You didn't ask if I was in it when it was fine.

• Xander: Honey, old saying: "A watched customer never buys."

Anya: They would if they were patriotic.

Xander: Okay, I'm going in. (to Anya) Patriotic?

Anya: Yes. I've recently come to realise there's more to me than just being human. I'm also an American.

Giles: Yes, I suppose you are, in a matter of speaking. You were born here - your mortal self.

Anya: Well, that's right, foreigner.

• Xander: Ahn, how's about we try being a bit less prejudiced and a bit more inclusive? Not us; just you.

• Willow: 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 "acute" triangle and, well, hilarity ensued.

• Willow: 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.

• Willow: I'd totally be blowing off classes if I were in Dawnie's shoes.

Tara: Sweetie, you wouldn't blow off a class if your head was on fire.

• Willow: 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.

• Xander: It's just for one night.

Willow: Yeah, I know, but it's a whole night. I don't think I can sleep without her.

Anya: You can sleep with me. Well, now, that came out a lot more lesbian than it sounded in my head.

• Glory: Did anybody order an apocalypse?

• Buffy: She was looking to go all paybacky on Glory for a minute, but I cooled her down a little. Actually, a lot.

Spike: So, she's not gonna do anything rash then?

Buffy: No. I explained there was no point.

Spike: Mm-hmm.

Buffy: What?

Spike: You - 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"?

Buffy: You think she...? No. I told Willow it would be like suicide.

Spike: I'd do it. Right person. Person I loved. I'd do it.