We open pretty much immediately after the end of the last episode because everyone's wearing the exact same outfits. The Scoobies are putting the living room back together after that whole Dawn Fought A Demon thing blew everything up, with the girls cleaning up the broken stuff while Xander repairs the windows. Dawn is sassy about Spike's presence, and Willow unconvincingly says that Buffy knows what she's doing. Anya's on Team Stake The Evil Bloodsucker, and asks Xander for his support. He refuses to give an opinion. She says that they need to prepare themselves for the possibility that William the Bloody is back.
Lorraine: We're privileged as the audience, so we know more about Spike's whole soul quest, but Anya and Dawn have a point.
It's been a while, so I'm not pleased with the very somber introduction to this episode, my return to the show. Funereal music plays as we see a bunch of shots of the empty ship. The sequence ends with a shot of Mal collapsing.
He has a flashback. I think Whedon took a cue from Rosewood because this flashback is clearly brought to us by a particularly strong Instagram filter. I'm thinking Toaster? Anyway, this flashback is of the day he showed Zoe the brand new ship he bought. She is all sorts of unimpressed by Serenity - thinks it's a bit of a dump. Future!Kaylee is off somewhere, taking offense, I'm sure.
He has a flashback. I think Whedon took a cue from Rosewood because this flashback is clearly brought to us by a particularly strong Instagram filter. I'm thinking Toaster? Anyway, this flashback is of the day he showed Zoe the brand new ship he bought. She is all sorts of unimpressed by Serenity - thinks it's a bit of a dump. Future!Kaylee is off somewhere, taking offense, I'm sure.
I grew anxious about recapping this episode months ago. I hadn't even anticipated how much drama would ensue in Traumaland before we reached this point. I was a little blindsided by that, to be honest. The bright side is that it actually makes this recap a little less scary for me. The stage has been well set, and many an argument has already been had much earlier than I expected. This, of course, isn't going to make this episode any more enjoyable to watch. But that's what we're going to do, so let's get to it.
Kirsti: I'm pretty sure that back in January when Sweeney and I hung out in LA for like four hours, one of the first things I said (besides "OMG, In n Out needs to come to Australia because this shake is magical") was "I'm scared of Seeing Red." So yeah.
Kirsti: I'm pretty sure that back in January when Sweeney and I hung out in LA for like four hours, one of the first things I said (besides "OMG, In n Out needs to come to Australia because this shake is magical") was "I'm scared of Seeing Red." So yeah.
After a repeat of the long this-is-the-show-you're-watching narration, we are aboard Serenity. Most of the crew are playing a game that's kind of like basketball and would look really fun if group sports didn't terrify the elementary school nerd inside me. They're having so much fun, and it's giving me happy feels, so I'm going to go ahead and prepare myself for something terrible happening. See: Joss Whedon Ruins Lives.
Sweeney: It's such a stressful watching experience. Happy feels are experienced and immediately followed with anxiety and despair because you know that happy feels can't be trusted.
Sweeney: It's such a stressful watching experience. Happy feels are experienced and immediately followed with anxiety and despair because you know that happy feels can't be trusted.