Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Two to Go (1)

Two to Go
Season 6, Episode 21
Airdate	May 21, 2002
Production Number	6ABB21
Written by	Douglas Petrie
Directed by	Bill Norton
← 6x20 Villains	6x22 → Grave (2)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Season Six

Two to Go (1) is the twenty-first episode of the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the one-hundred and twenty-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), Tom Lenk (Andrew Wells), Jeff Kober (Rack)

Special Guest Star (end credits): Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles)

Co-Starring: James C. Leary (Clem), Jeff McCredie (Officer), Damian Mooney (Patrol Cop), Michael Younger (Truck Driver), Steven W. Bailey (Cave Demon)

Uncredited: Tanoai Reed (Fire Demon)

Plot Overview

Buffy, Xander, and Anya race to keep Andrew and Jonathan safe from becoming Willow’s next targets in her magick-induced thirst for retribution. Having now taken a life, she has become fully enveloped in dark power and isn’t hesitant about eliminating anyone who gets in her way.

Notes

Monster of the Week

• There was no monster of the week due to the season finale dealing primarily with Willow turning evil.

Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1	Rack	Willow	Drained	Rack's Lair
2	Fire Demon	Spike	Snapped Neck	African Cave

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Giles: Giles returns to Sunnydale from England in order to stop Willow.

• Spike: Spike completes the first of his trials in Africa by killing the fire demon.

Referbacks

• Becoming: Buffy echos a line to Willow that is reminiscent of what Spike said to Drusilla, that line being "I don't want to hurt you ... Didn't say I wouldn't."

• Wrecked: Willow echos the same line that Rack used when she first met him, "I just wanna take a little tour."

Trivia

The Show

• Previously On: Instead of the usual introduction by Anthony Stewart Head, the beginning of this episode is briefly narrated by Nicholas Brendon, saying "This is what happened this year."

Behind the Scenes

• Double Feature: Although it wasn't meant to air in such a way during production, UPN decided to air both episodes of the season finale on the same night, back-to-back.

• Credits Snafu: Anthony Stewart Head doesn't appear in the opening guest star credits because producers wanted his return to be a surprise for the viewer.

Allusions and References

• Dark Phoenix: Jean Grey was a Marvel superhero created along with the other X-Men by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963. Grey has the powers of telekinesis and telepathy, as well as a boosted range of abilities after having her powers amplified by the Phoenix Force. She was once used by the Hellfire Club in order to perpetrate a scheme through her powers without her consent. She transformed into the Dark Phoenix, a power hungry goddess. She absorbed an entire star, which resulted in the deaths of five billion people. Jonathan's allusion parallels Willow's change in several ways, particularly that they're both redheads, both transformed their clothing into something darker and are both willing to kill after seeing the one they love been struck down.

Andrew: Are you kidding, she's like Dark Phoenix up there and you just expect us to outrun her?

• Nirvana: Spike quotes the first line of Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, the band's first single off their 1992 Geffen Records debut, Nevermind. The song is held as an anthem for the shiftless and uninterested youth of Generation X.

Spike: Here we are now, entertain us.

• Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Sabrina, the Teenage Witch is a comic book series created on the Archie line of comics about a girl who inherited her witch powers from her warlock father, despite having a mortal mother. The comic book spun off a cartoon series (Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies and Sabrina, the Animated Series) as well as a sitcom on ABC starring Melissa Joan Hart.

Andrew: We're supposed sit around waiting for Sabrina to disembowel us?

Quotes

• Anya: Warren shot Buffy. Warren shot Tara. Buffy's alive. Tara's dead. Willow found out, and being the most powerful Wicca in the western hemisphere, decided to get the payback, with interest.

Andrew: What about Warren?

Anya: She killed him. Ripped him apart, and bloodied up the forest doing it. Now she's coming here and the two of you are next.

Andrew: Oh my God. Warren.

Jonathan: Oh my God. Me.

• Xander: (to Jonathan and Andrew) Boys, if you don't knock it off, I will pull this car over and you can just walk to your painful deaths from here.

• Buffy: Whatever we got, we better grab it fast. This is one of the first places she's gonna think to look for us.

Andrew: Then what are we doing here? You know, I could summon a demon that would kill her.

Xander: And I could smack you so hard your eyeballs would switch sockets.

• Andrew: We can be The Duo, you and me. You can even be the leader. I swear. I'll take orders. I like taking orders. Just tell me what to do.

Jonathan: You want an order? Grow up.

• Andrew: Think your little witch buddy's gonna stop with us? You saw her! She's a truck-driving magic mamma and we've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa burgers, and not one of you bunch has the midichlorians to stop her.

Xander: You've never had any tiny bit of sex, have you?

Anya: The annoying virgin has a point.

• Anya: She doesn't care if you live or die.

Xander: Guess you two finally have something in common.

Anya: I care if you live or die, Xander. I'm just not sure which one I want.

• Anya: You know, none of this would be happening if it weren't for you.

Xander: You think I don't know that? You think I'm the hero of this piece? I saw the gun... before Warren raised it. I - I saw it, and I couldn't move. He shot two of my friends before I could even -- You want me to know how useless I am? That it's my fault? Thanks. I already got the memo.

Anya: I was talking about us.

• Buffy: I don't want to hurt you.

(Willow punches Buffy, sending her crashing into a magazine rack)

Willow: Not a problem.

(Buffy gets up)

Buffy: I said I didn't want to.

(Buffy backhands Willow, crashing into a glass display case)

Buffy: Didn't say I wouldn't.

• Willow: So, here we are.

Buffy: Are we really gonna do this?

Willow: Come on. This is a huge deal for me. Six years as a sideman, now I get to be the Slayer.

Buffy: A killer isn't a Slayer. Being a Slayer means something you can't conceive of.

Willow: Oh, Buffy. You really need to have every square inch of your ass kicked.

Buffy: Then show me what you got, and I'll show you what a Slayer really is.

• Willow: Buffy, I gotta tell ya. I get it now. The Slayer thing really isn't about the violence. It's about the power.

(Willow shots down Buffy with a shot of magick)

Willow: And there's no one in the world who has the power to stop me now.

(Magic Box door is blasted down and Willow is thrown across the room)

Giles: I'd like to test that theory.