Buffy the Vampire Slayer 6x15 "As You Were" Full Reaction
Added 2021-03-22 00:48:44 +0000 UTCREACTION LINK
Comments
They were screwing? Who can resist a Faith callback?
Macca Fan
2023-03-26 21:14:28 +0000 UTCWow. I never saw the similarities of the Riley / Vamp Buffy/Spike situations till your post. Good stuff.
Macca Fan
2023-03-26 21:03:54 +0000 UTCYeah, I never questioned it before but you saying “it should’ve been Angel” got me thinking. I really enjoy this episode and enjoyed the closure, Doctor storyline aside lol. I just never thought Riley’s opinion meant that much to Buffy, especially after all this time. And with Angel not really having a significant part to play in pangs, I have wondered if they planned any episodes that had to be scrapped due to network changes. I guess we’ll never know! 🤔
Giorgia M
2021-04-06 23:44:59 +0000 UTCI'm not sure. I think Pangs would be that one and this would always be Riley and Buffy's closure.
Liam Catterson
2021-04-06 18:43:43 +0000 UTCI do wonder if this would have been Angel’s return had the two shows been on the same network.
Giorgia M
2021-04-06 13:25:33 +0000 UTCGetting married within a few months of meeting someone is so common in the american military, it's practically a stereotype. And idk if I'd call her a Mary Sue, she is special ops and not just some random woman he met on the street that can hold her own with a giant demon. And she's seemingly on the same level as Riley, not Buffy. So her toughness feels reasonable to me, esp in this universe. Not to say you can't dislike this episode and I agree with all the "doctor" stuff. But thinking about those details in that way made me like it more.
KT
2021-03-25 16:14:03 +0000 UTCRiley is the only one of Buffy's love interests Xander really liked. They were close too, horsing around often and, when Riley felt that Buffy didn't truly love him, he only confided in Xander.
Judson
2021-03-23 02:08:40 +0000 UTCI ship Riley and Xander as well. Lol!
ADDButterfly
2021-03-22 17:57:21 +0000 UTCSorry, not a fan of this episode. Never mind Riley shows up out of nowhere with his Mary Sue wife (who he apparently married before he got over Buffy, since Sam says it took him a year to get over Buffy, they've been married for four months, and there was 14 months between the airdates of this episode and 5x10), and he doesn't even bother to fill Buffy in on the relevant details of the mission before sending her out to fight it. What really bothers me is that it's obvious that Spike isn't The Doctor and no one wants to deal with that. Sam says The Doctor is selling the eggs to foreign military powers on the black market. Yeah, because Spike has so many connections there. We've also seen on the show that Spike is not that good of a liar. Buffy asks Spike directly about the doctor, and Spike has no recognition at all when he hears the name. Riley calls Spike the doctor, and Spike instantly replies that he has no idea what Riley's talking about. But when Riley asks about the eggs, which Spike IS trying to hide, that's when he starts hesitating and obviously lying. My headcanon is that The Doctor was the "friend" Spike was holding the eggs for (and didn't get enough info from to know that the eggs needed to be frozen), and he was going to use the money he got to help Buffy out (remember in Doublemeat Palace he told Buffy he could get money). There's a great essay on this episode that details a lot of these points and then some. I'm not going to link here because it's got spoilers for future episodes, but if anyone wants to look it up, it's called "Captain Cardboard, or How I Learned To Stop Seething And Love 'As You Were'." This also isn't to say that Buffy shouldn't have broken up with Spike either. What they had was toxic on all sides and it's good that Buffy got into a good enough emotional and mental space to break it off. I'm just sorry that Riley was the one who had to point out how crappy her life was and help her reach that epiphany.
Yesmydog
2021-03-22 15:34:59 +0000 UTCGlad that they followed up on Riley and gave him such meaningful lines (his scene with Buffy at the end). He wasn't popular with fans but was always a good guy who tried his best.
Judson
2021-03-22 07:23:14 +0000 UTCThis is arguably the best thing Riley has ever done (yes I'm counting punching Parker in the face). He witnessed Buffy's shame and responded with kindness and understanding, where Riley in season 5 would have exploded like Buffy expects all of the Scoobies to. And don't forget, in the last episode he was in, Buffy walked in on his shame in a very similar way. Don't get me wrong, the two situations are very different in many ways (Buffy having the right to react very negatively in s5, for example), but Riley knows how it feels to be at that kind of lowpoint in your life. To let yourself be consumed by what is supposed to be the enemy, because you're just that desperate for connection. To be caught in the vicious cycle of feeling isolated from the people you love, so you secretly go to a vampire that makes you feel desired, which in turn isolates you even more. So it's cool that Riley chooses to look past all of that and see Buffy for who she truly is and not just the place she's in. Also, I betcha that coworker of hers at the DMP isn't even her manager or anything and is just bossing her around because he's "getting his MBA" lmfao that shit is too realistic and I'm dying
KT
2021-03-22 05:02:35 +0000 UTCSolidarity, on all counts.
Ryan Moore
2021-03-22 02:54:28 +0000 UTCI'm one of the weirdos that liked Riley so always liked this episode as it stopped me worrying about him 🤣
CeNedra
2021-03-22 02:17:56 +0000 UTCI was shocked to realize how much I needed this Riley closure. And his wife is awesome!
Ryan Moore
2021-03-22 01:44:10 +0000 UTC
