Honestly, there were only a handful of recurring Sunnydale students outside of the Scoobies that actually had speaking lines. I can't imagine how their faces wouldn't at least be recognized even if their names didn't sink in.🙄
I don't blame people for forgetting Harmony as she wasn't as prominent as she will be in Season 4. I only remember her because I remember the Actress in the Adams Family movies (the ones with Christina Ricci)
@@fitzytail896 No, it's fair, and some people aren't as good with remembering faces and such, so it's no issue. I just very fondly remember watching the episode where Cordelia publicly embraces her relationship with Xander at the end and calls Harmony a "sheep" in front of her whole posse. Mercedes McNab always had great facials expressions and delivery, also when playing Amanda in The Addams Family! 😁
Prior to this episode, Harmony has appeared in episodes 1x02, 1x11 (she got pushed down the stairs by the invisible girl), 2x16, 3x09, 3x21 and 3x22. And yes she is the girl that asked Willow to sign her yearbook.
@@glen5188 love that scene of her in the computer lab with Cordy “uuuh, she’s doing something else.” I don’t know why but her delivery makes me smile every time I see it.
You're not the only reactor who crushes on Spike. Others that I have watched feel the same way, and they, like you, realize that he's just a character in a TV show.
Totally agree I absolutely love this character he it's definitely one of my top three favorite characters of the show of course you got to realize if you knew somebody like spike in real life they would be so problematic
And that's why I hate the character of Spike because i've seen a lot of reactors give shit to other characters but give Spike a pass because he's good looking😂😂😂
@WillsonT011 We must have been watching different reactors. The ones I've seen were not like that. They welcomed recurring villains, probably because they make the stories more interesting.
@@WillsonT011 it's a bit of a low blow in this argument your having to bring up "that episode" It doesn't occur for almost three more seasons and we can't discuss properly the episode or it's repercussions without revealing major plot points for the entire series. Right now he's just a villain who shows up and is kind of funny to watch. People love Spike because he is complicated and interesting not his strong morality.
If you remember Anya's discussion with her boss, D'Hoffryn, in "Dopplegangland", Anya is an ex-demon. She became human when her pendant was destroyed in "The Wish" and D'Hoffryn refused to make her a vengeance demon again.
@@jeffmartin5504 -To be fair, a lot of reactors are too busy trying to be funny or predicting what is going to happen, instead of listening and paying attention to what is actually happening.
Anya is human. When her power center amulet was destroyed in "The Wish" she was trapped in the teenage girl human form she had assumed to entice Cordelia
Commenting before finishing your video, in case you figured it out by the end: 1) Harmony was in a bunch of episodes as the other rich girl in Cordelia's clique. She was bitten by a vampire in the Season 3 finale in the big battle, but it happens fast. 2) Anya is the same actress, the hair is throwing you off. 3) You talk about that the Judge that couldn't burn Angel because he had no humanity, so Spike must be special, but don't forget that he was able to burn the other soulless nerdy vampire in the room because he was a little more sensitive and "he reads," in the Judge's words. Vampire's can have a degree of remnant feeling depending on their former human personality, like Spike and Dru feeling love. Angel was actually the exception, because he is SO evil that he is like a void and unable to be burned. Even Spike said in the Season 2 finale, vampires talk a big game about destroying the world, etc., but Angel was actually capable of pulling it off, so he offered to help Buffy stop him.
I feel like all vampires carry over a part of their previous humanity. In Angel/Angelus' case, those things were bad parts of humanity, and are dismissed as being demonic. Whereas Spike and others carry over things that would be considered good in humanity even if they are twisted a bit in their new vampiric life.
@@stainedglasspixie Not that unique. There's at least one other vampire couple in the lore that lasted for centuries besides Angel and Darla and Spike and Drusilla.
Love your point @@Logan_Baron I too agree that the characteristics Angelous received from his former human self, were the bad characteristics people (like him and others) posses.
4:52 actually the funny thing is they did not put Jesse in the main credits. But Joss WANTED to, to mess with the fans. But it was cost prohibitive to produce two versions of the credits.
It's always interesting watching Buffy reactors and how they respond to certain characters. There are ones who think they can see through falseness, but they almost universally fall for Parker and think he's genuine, or judge the Mayor as being false and 'just using Faith' and are then surprised to find out he's genuine with her. Being able to see through deception and recognise frauds and narcissists is a nuanced skill that a lot of people think they have, but few actually do.
Don’t feel bad loving Spike!! SOOOO many of us do. He was my teenage crush then and he’s never stopped being my favourite (no matter how old I get). Love your reactions!!
True, he wasnt a "soulless vampire", but Parker was definitely "soulless". He played her so much. He even got her to take charge and make it seem like she was the one deciding to go for it.
Harmony was a Cordette. She got tossed down the stairs in the invisibke gotl episode. Cordelia called her a sheep in the Amy love spell episode. Plus many others. Same Anya, different hair. I believe she was made human which is why she has feelings.
It definitely would have been ideal to see you react to spikes return spoiler free, but at least you were honest about being spoiled, and that says a lot about your character. Thank you for being an honest person and for the reactions to my favorite series!
I think you overstate Spike's control over Drusilla. It's not that he isn't toxic in relationships - that comes with the territory of being soulless - but that the push and pull between him and Drusilla is more equal than you give credit for. He could be snappy and impatient with her during her crazier moments, but notice that her response to these outbursts was always to whimper until Spike is contrite and apologizes. She has immense emotional power over him, and when restored to full health is his equal in physical prowess. In fact, she has him wrapped around her pinky and when she makes her desires known, he immediately defers to her. It's made clear that this deference is a one-way street: Drusilla looks after Spike when he's injured, but she also insults him (bringing him a dog to feed on) and is clearly sleeping with Angelus in full knowledge of how it bothers Spike. In fact, she gets off on the tension she causes between the two men. It's a mistake to think that Drusilla is a powerless controlled innocent in her relationship with Spike. There's also a big difference in how Spike treats Harmony versus how he treated Drusilla. With Drusilla he was tender, protective, and devoted. In this episode he tries to stake Harmony without a second thought. The reason he treats Harmony with such brazen contempt is simply because he doesn't love her; he doesn't even care for her. He loved and adored Drusilla, even if it was a twisted, dysfunctional love. This episode isn't just showing us how toxic vampire and Spike's relationships are; it's also showing us a contrast in how Spike acts in relationships when he's in love, versus when he's not.
Anya is not still a demon; she didn't just lose her powers back in "The Wish," she became completely human. So, no issues of demon pregnancy apply if she fails to be careful (issues of human pregnancy might, of course).
Also that time where Cordy calls Harmony a sheep while telling her off and saying that at least she does what she wants and not what other people want her to do. And she thought at that time she had dethroned and replaced the queen, until cordy gave her the sheep can't lead only follow speech.
Never apologize for liking Spike again. He's one of the best characters on the whole damn show and a big part of that is down to the job James Marsters did playing him. He's amazing and you're right to love him.
Cass, Harmony Kendall was Cordelia's gal pal in the first three seasons and she has appeared in 2 episodes of SE1, 1 episode of SE2, and 3 episodes of SE3. 1x02 | "The Harvest" 1x11 | "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" 2x16 | "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" 3x09 | "The Wish" 3x21 | "Graduation Day, Part One" 3x22 | "Graduation Day, Part Two" 4x03 | "The Harsh Light of Day"
How do you not remember Harmony? Shes been in the show since season one legitimately. Side character of mean girl, but you usually are pretty good at keeping track of side characters. We also saw her get bitten during the graduation show down.
Wait, does Hulu have the OG version or the remastered version? Even though you are pretty far in, I would check to see and switch to the OG version if you can. The lighting and frame size is pretty messed up in the remastering.
100 % agree too! If you know any reactors or mods that could help you get the original version. I might not seem too big a deal but once you see the shots side by sides, you will be horrified by the gutting of the art the people created in its original version. (Disney and Hulu show the mangled version).
exactly! also in Doppelgangland, when Anya was begging for her powers back to the vengeance demon ( Idk how to spell his name lol ) and he refused by saying "You'll live out your mortal life and die."
Interestingly the band that was playing during the party was was fairly big in the early aughts, Biff Naked. So technically this random frat managed to book an actual touring musician to play their party.
Yeah, I’m not certain but I feel like Biff Naked was one of the more mainstream gets they had on the show. There were a couple others also, but that Biff Naked song was so my jam. 🧸✨
Screw what people think you should or shouldn't do - love Spike all you want, I love him too and get so sick at getting lectured about "toxic relationships" and "evil" - you're 100% correct - ITS A SHOW PEOPLE GET OVER IT! - they are just hung up on Angel and cant get past it. Spike was one of the best (if not THE best) characters in the entire series, and may audience members thought so too, hence why they kept bringing him back even though Joss didnt want to for a long while.
I'm pretty sure when it comes to Spike and Dru, the one in charge in the relationship is Dru. Spike yells at her sometimes but if she shows any bit of sadness he apologizes and tries to make her feel better. He did everything in Sunnydale for her. With Harmony though I think he just doesn't really like her. Dru broke up with him because she felt he was getting soft or something.
Spike is literally the most popular character in this TV show, with the possible exception of Buffy herself. I have no idea who these people are who criticise you for liking him.
Harmony is the blonde popular girl who was friends with Cordy Seasons 1-3, the only one who ever had any lines 😂 And yeah, she was also the yearbook girl. Remember Cordy called her a sheep when she was making fun of her for dating Xander? People definitely have strong feelings about how popular Spike is, and have a tendency to pit Spike vs Angel in vampire popularity contests. Don't pay them any mind. Spike is awesome 😂
As Buffy was with Angel mostly in High School, she really didn't date anyone else outside of a couple of times. As Season 4 is about entering adulthood, some mature storylines are coming out including the classic "got used" trope in college. Buffy no longer lives at home so her independence is being tested without frequent advice from her mom.. I'm guessing the end scene was the classic "walk of shame" post one-night stand , but they were all felt used by their partners to some extent .
I’ve been waiting for this one since you stated your desire to see more Spike and Anya! Don’t let people flip out at you over Spike. He’s a fantastic character and James Marsters is amazing.
Welcome to the Parker is a Giant D-Bag Club! Meetings are every other Tuesday. Also, with regards to demon procreation, you've been watching Angel, so you already know Doyle is half-demon. Anya's status is undetermined at this point, but you do know she's lost her powers and is mortal.
4, 5, 6, and 7 are my favorite seasons despite the past good moments from season 1 through 3 and the characters we don't see much from again if at all.
Having lost her magical amulet Anyanka has transformed into Anya who IS a regular girl, though her lack of social/emotional intelligence is quite similar to someone struggling with ASD.
Angel insinuated that Vampires are similar to their life before (when Willow wore the clothes of Vampire Willow), so Vampire relationships are about the same as humans.
not 100%. Angel was talking about something else, not the relationship side of things. it was a direct quote following Buffy saying "Vampires have nothing to do with the person it was" and Angel was about to pretty much say they keep a part of their personalities and memories, etc. Buffy only discouraged him continuing because she can see how freaked Willow was about it. if it was relationship-wise, Angelus would have still been in love with Buffy, not just when he was Angel. vampire love, in this universe, is tainted ad selfish. the closest it resembles to a relationship in humans is toxic relationships but that's as close as they get. I get how you might've gotten that though.
Whereas the Angel/Angelus arc in season 2 was a metaphor for the man you love turning into a different person after you've done the deed, in Parker's case the metaphor is dropped. He's just your run-of-the-mill D-bag. I too found it a little surprising that Buffy chose to sleep with him so quickly and it's my understanding that the original script had her talk to Willow about that a bit more during their walk in the quad, but it was cut out. Apparently Buffy said something like, "I wanted to move on from Angel, it was like I was saying 'See how over him I am'... but I guess it doesn't really work that way.." or, something to that effect. I wish they had left that conversation in, it would have really helped to give more context around Buffy's choice.
“Where is everyone who should be seeing this?” They ask went to class. Remember - Katie Lumiss was late for class? I’m guessing they all were too. Why else would about 50 people just vanish into thin air?
We know Harmony a little, she was a kind of second in command of Cordelia's clique. She was the one who signed Willow's yearbook even though they hated each other. She ran into a vampire and seemed to have been killed at graduation. They are not going to kill Willow, they killed Jenny Calendar. Admittedly she was not a central to the show as Willow but not everyone is safe. There is a Spike and Dru novel 'Pretty Maids All in a Row' set before the Series. Before he was turned and became Spike, William was a hopeless romantic and some of that has carried over, so her truly loved, and still loves, Drusilla. Although his idea of romance is skewed, he associates it with pain. Anya's not actually a demon right now, she lost her power when Wishverse Giles destroyed her necklace. She's gone back to being a normal woman but has forgotten how to function as a woman because she has been a demon for so long.
I too *love* the entertaining, toxic characters. Gaston in Beauty & the Beast, Lestat in Interview with the Vampire, etc. etc. They bring conflict and get to misbehave in fun ways the protagonists don’t get to. Even if I hate a character the first watch-thru, chances are I’ll love them the second time around for what they bring to the story.
Another fun reaction. We forget that Buffy is still a young girl and missed the high school dating scene. She became the Slayer in LA at 15…fell for an older man( that had been stalking her for a year) and never learned that boys can be jerks . She was just starting with boys( in Episode 21,Season 2 she is holding court on how to manipulate a boy) and never really had a chance to see how dating works. Parker is a predator that knows how vulnerable Freshman girls can be, away from home for the first time. Buffy is really easy prey. Remember that BTVS is about the journey to becoming a strong independent mature adult woman. This is a life lesson that it’s not always obvious how evil/ bad guys come into our lives. Sometimes,like the loathsome Parker, we invite them into our world and shower them with gifts.This is like her Father hurting Buffy for no apparent reason . Buffy can not understand… part of what makes her a hero… but she had to fully learn and understand that bad people with bad intentions are amongst us. Tough lesson but one that Giles can’t teach her.
It's ok to still feel for what happened to Xander honestly pretty much all of the characters have unresolved trauma. The final scene with the three woman walking away was very poetic because they're all suffering from not getting what they want out of relationships.
The 3 woman walking alone is a reflection of the consequences of failed or toxic relationships. Buffy was led on and then gaslit, and Harmony was abused. Of the three men, Xander was the only one who didn't do anything wrong. In that pairing Anya was the one who did the wrong thing. It was interesting to see the look on Xander's face after he and Anya had sex. Their expressions essentially mirrored each other. Neither of them where happy about the consequences of sex. Poor Xander had sex twice, and both times the woman told him it meant nothing. It was clear too that he did want sex that meant something. Where things went wrong with Anya and Xander is that for 1000 years, Anya has never had feelings for someone, and now suddenly she does. Instead of trying to process and understand them, she is seeking the comfort of the familiarity of her former emotional state (or lack thereof). Unlike Buffy, it seems Anya doesn't have anyone she can talk to about these new feelings she has, who can help and encourage her explore them the way Willow does with Buffy.
Girl, 99% of the fandom loves Spike and even lesbians are in love with him. Those who give you a hard time over him are the ones who are bitter about it. They're in the vast minority, most of them are just hypocrite Angel fans who can't handle that their precious fang boy is widely disliked while Spike is the fan favorite.
I wouldnt have worded it quite as strongly, but.. you aint lying. That is effectively the reason - and it's basically par for the course that the first half of S4 is where these folks come out of the woodwork to try and poison the well a bit. Been happening like that for 10+ years now.
I am surprised you don't remember Harmony from the first 3 seasons. She was in the show a decent amount for a side character. She was the "queen bee" of the popular group of friends that Cordiella (sp?) was part of. We also saw her get bitten by a vampire in the season 3 finale (leading to what we now see in this episode)
I hope you appreciated the double meaning of the episode title 'The Harsh Light of Day', both for vampires and the ladies that are suffering heartbreak after a night of intimacy. Btw Anya is now an ex-demon, totally human even though she's 1,120 years old. We saw Harmony get bit in the season 3 finale, it went by quickly though.
Harmony's been in the show since season one! haha - her first bigger appearance is in the Invisible Girl episode from season one - Harmony gets pushed down the stairs! and Snyder says, "don't sue!" she's the leader of the popular pack after Cordy becomes open about seeing Xander!
To touch on something you say near the end, it's very true how Giles is like a father figure, not only to the obvious Buffy which is like.. the obvious surrogate father/daughter relationship.. but both Willow and Xander were shown to have compeltely shit relationships with their parents as well. I always felt that they were a father, son and two daughter style relationship.
Anya is in my top two favourite characters in the buffyverse I am glad you are enjoying her too she is the best! So funny and although been a demon has loved a long time is assertive and opinionated she is strangely innocent too- which is an interesting juxtaposition - it’s almost a Combination of Cordelia and willows best character traits in the first few seasons smooshed together
People don't like you liking Spike just because he is a polarizing characters. Some people love him, and some people hate him. Same with Faith: Some people love her, and some people hate her. Personally, I love Spike and hate Faith - although I think they are both interesting characters who added a lot to the show.
The Harsh Light Of Day was an interesting episode in that we still see Buffy's innocence regarding men. It is interesting see a lot of reactors saying how much they liked Parker, even though he seemed totally too sweet and smarmy from the start. The Spike Harmony relationship shows how coercive and manipulative it can be by one partner over another. The Anya Xander one is also most interesting as it is Anya who is almost coercing Xander into a relationship where he is clearly still very innocent and is not particularly wanting it. Spike being reintroduced is great for the show as he is without doubt one of the best characters in The Buffyverse. The credits are somewhat of a spoiler for reactors but it is impossible avoid them as they run as the episode is being shown. It's a shame they can't run them after a major character is in the episode. This of course is a lead into the Angel episode In The Dark with the Gem of Amara.
I love the Normies reaction to this episode, partly because Marketa (the only woman reacting to that episode) thinks Parker is great while all the men are immediately deeply suspicious of him.
Welcome to the *We Hate Parker* club. It is a large club and there is always room for more members! The way Parker made Buffy feel like her not understanding what the relationship was being her fault is what truly makes him despicable. He very much led her on, and then gaslit her. I get that it is not just about him wanting 1 nightstands, but more important for him, is that the girls he sleeps with fall in love with him. Getting the girl to fall in love with him and then gas light them afterwards is what he is seeking, that emotional power over the woman.
Cool - that remberred the trick that they wanted ot play with Jessie in the first episodes criedits - unfortunately, they never had the actual budget to allow them to pull it off - but you're right to be wary of the credits still
Nothing wrong with loving Spike. He’s one of my favorite characters in any TV show. Harmony is a riot. Love Anya too. Her unfamiliarity with being human is laughs a plenty.
Speaking of trying to avoid spoilers, just a heads up - I've seen that you use the DVD posters for each season as your thumbnails, but the poster for season 6 has a MAJOR character spoiler on it that you DO NOT want ruined! When the time comes, I recommend getting someone else to search for a non-spoilery thumbnail background image for you!
Been thinking about your situation Cass, about avoiding seeing who's appearing on the episode... I can think of two options: you either cover the bottom of the screen with your hand or use a strip of paper to cover the bottom of the screen and then remove it after a certain time has passed. You'd only have to do it for a few seconds. Maybe ask the Patreons to give you advance timing of how long the guests name appear before you start watching the episode so that you're prepared ahead of time and know when to remove your hand or paper. The thing that I have done is ignore looking at the bottom and just concentrate on what's going on in the scene, the background and the conversation that's taking place. Eventually I no longer noticed it and forgot that it shows at the bottom of the screen lol. I hope this helps you out 😉👍
Funny thing is, This is how it aired. i mean, we all saw the credits when watching it the first time. Whedon put them there (and occassionally didnt) so it doesnt seem like the intent was to not have us know who was going to be in the episode. (although the harmony spike reveal would catch you more off guard if you didnt know he was in the episode somewhere
@@bobapjok4241 Yes! I was 12 when Buffy aired on tv. I saw it from beginning to end. Way before reruns, dvr and apps with monthly subscription were a thing. So if you missed an episode then oh well. Catch up in the next episode lol. But that's also why the shows back then did recaps of the previous episode onto the new episode. And that helped alot. It made us look forward to sticking around to the end of the episode so we could catch a preview of next week's episode. Like I said, I just didn't bother to look at who's gonna be stopping by to do the episode anymore. I think that because there were no reruns, you HAD to pay close attention to the whole scene, the dialogue and what was going on in the background, that the names appearing at the bottom were out of sight, out of mind. If you get what I mean. People nowadays can pause and rewind whenever they want. And also, I find it weird or odd that people get bummed out when looking at the bottom of their screen and seeing who's gonna be appearing. For me, it got me super hyped and trying to figure out what was going to happen in the episode because that actor/actress was gonna be on. I was living in the moment for sure.
@@yvetterodriguez2550 yes, i remember well. it was so frustrating when you missed and had no way to ever see what you missed, until maybe summer reruns if ever. there were actually several shows i quit watching because i missed some episodes and had no way to ever see them and then couldnt make sense of the next one i say. Too many times the network would moves shows around time slots and we just got screwed. so unlike today when you can just hop online and catch up
You should definitely reach out to Alleybox (accomplished Buffy/Angel series reactor and my personal fav 😂) to see about getting her digital copies of the series!! She has the original versions that are not remastered (Hulu's are and some fans really HATE them with a passion) but also I'm pretty sure there are some MAJOR spoilers on the thumbnails. Also, if you have the thought to, do *not* get the dvd set cause the cover images and menu screens also have giant clues. Alley's versions even have a censor over the "guest starring" bits in the beginning so they're extra safe 😊 Side note: she would also be really fun for you to do a rewatch reaction with .. or she rewatches an ep with you for your first time on an episode - if you've ever thought about doing that. Anyway, hope that helps!
Don't feel bad about being taken in by stinky Parker man. We only see him through Buffy's point-of-view and it's important to the plot that we are just as deceived at first as she is. Even Spike, whose greatest talent is his ability to see people and situations as they really are, praises (if mockingly) his "vulnerability" at first sight.
I'm surprised anyone could forget Harmony, no matter how peripheral she was until this point. She had a lot of funny lines.
Honestly, there were only a handful of recurring Sunnydale students outside of the Scoobies that actually had speaking lines. I can't imagine how their faces wouldn't at least be recognized even if their names didn't sink in.🙄
I don't blame people for forgetting Harmony as she wasn't as prominent as she will be in Season 4. I only remember her because I remember the Actress in the Adams Family movies (the ones with Christina Ricci)
@@fitzytail896 No, it's fair, and some people aren't as good with remembering faces and such, so it's no issue. I just very fondly remember watching the episode where Cordelia publicly embraces her relationship with Xander at the end and calls Harmony a "sheep" in front of her whole posse. Mercedes McNab always had great facials expressions and delivery, also when playing Amanda in The Addams Family! 😁
Prior to this episode, Harmony has appeared in episodes 1x02, 1x11 (she got pushed down the stairs by the invisible girl), 2x16, 3x09, 3x21 and 3x22. And yes she is the girl that asked Willow to sign her yearbook.
Among those episodes, Harmony broke my gay heart a little with her quiet, sad “I’m not a sheep.”
Im not surprised she didnt remember her... she had 0 reaction to her getting killed lol
She was also in 1x08 in the computer lab with cordy i believe
@@glen5188 love that scene of her in the computer lab with Cordy “uuuh, she’s doing something else.” I don’t know why but her delivery makes me smile every time I see it.
@@TheBloobsterwhen I watched the graduation part 2 reaction, I was waiting for a reaction to harmony's death but I didn't get one 😂.
You're not the only reactor who crushes on Spike. Others that I have watched feel the same way, and they, like you, realize that he's just a character in a TV show.
Totally agree I absolutely love this character he it's definitely one of my top three favorite characters of the show of course you got to realize if you knew somebody like spike in real life they would be so problematic
And that's why I hate the character of Spike because i've seen a lot of reactors give shit to other characters but give Spike a pass because he's good looking😂😂😂
@WillsonT011 We must have been watching different reactors. The ones I've seen were not like that. They welcomed recurring villains, probably because they make the stories more interesting.
@@WillsonT011 it's a bit of a low blow in this argument your having to bring up "that episode" It doesn't occur for almost three more seasons and we can't discuss properly the episode or it's repercussions without revealing major plot points for the entire series. Right now he's just a villain who shows up and is kind of funny to watch. People love Spike because he is complicated and interesting not his strong morality.
Spike is by all counts murderous evil trsh
If you remember Anya's discussion with her boss, D'Hoffryn, in "Dopplegangland", Anya is an ex-demon. She became human when her pendant was destroyed in "The Wish" and D'Hoffryn refused to make her a vengeance demon again.
Yup, I noticed a lot of reactors miss or forget this, it's interesting
@@jeffmartin5504 They might not forget as such, just possibly think she is still a demon with her powers removed.
@@jeffmartin5504 -To be fair, a lot of reactors are too busy trying to be funny or predicting what is going to happen, instead of listening and paying attention to what is actually happening.
Anya is human. When her power center amulet was destroyed in "The Wish" she was trapped in the teenage girl human form she had assumed to entice Cordelia
Commenting before finishing your video, in case you figured it out by the end:
1) Harmony was in a bunch of episodes as the other rich girl in Cordelia's clique. She was bitten by a vampire in the Season 3 finale in the big battle, but it happens fast.
2) Anya is the same actress, the hair is throwing you off.
3) You talk about that the Judge that couldn't burn Angel because he had no humanity, so Spike must be special, but don't forget that he was able to burn the other soulless nerdy vampire in the room because he was a little more sensitive and "he reads," in the Judge's words. Vampire's can have a degree of remnant feeling depending on their former human personality, like Spike and Dru feeling love. Angel was actually the exception, because he is SO evil that he is like a void and unable to be burned. Even Spike said in the Season 2 finale, vampires talk a big game about destroying the world, etc., but Angel was actually capable of pulling it off, so he offered to help Buffy stop him.
Yep, Anya was a vengeance demon for so long that, in my opinion, she is trying out different looks to see what fits her.
I feel like all vampires carry over a part of their previous humanity. In Angel/Angelus' case, those things were bad parts of humanity, and are dismissed as being demonic. Whereas Spike and others carry over things that would be considered good in humanity even if they are twisted a bit in their new vampiric life.
Though, Spike is kind of unique in his own way (trying not to spoil).
@@stainedglasspixie Not that unique. There's at least one other vampire couple in the lore that lasted for centuries besides Angel and Darla and Spike and Drusilla.
Love your point @@Logan_Baron I too agree that the characteristics Angelous received from his former human self, were the bad characteristics people (like him and others) posses.
4:52 actually the funny thing is they did not put Jesse in the main credits. But Joss WANTED to, to mess with the fans. But it was cost prohibitive to produce two versions of the credits.
Everyone likes Spike. Don't worry about it.
There is a vocal minority that do not (even a couple reactors) but the number who like his character compared to those who don't is far higher.
Everyone except Joss Whedon. But we don't care what he does or doesn't like anymore.
For the most part they do!, However there are a few who don't after a certain point and start using double standards.
@@matthewhearn9910Joss whedon actually likes Spike he ships Buffy and Spike together more then Buffy and Angel
I named my cats Buffy and Spike xD
It's always interesting watching Buffy reactors and how they respond to certain characters. There are ones who think they can see through falseness, but they almost universally fall for Parker and think he's genuine, or judge the Mayor as being false and 'just using Faith' and are then surprised to find out he's genuine with her.
Being able to see through deception and recognise frauds and narcissists is a nuanced skill that a lot of people think they have, but few actually do.
Don’t feel bad loving Spike!! SOOOO many of us do. He was my teenage crush then and he’s never stopped being my favourite (no matter how old I get). Love your reactions!!
True, he wasnt a "soulless vampire", but Parker was definitely "soulless". He played her so much. He even got her to take charge and make it seem like she was the one deciding to go for it.
Not even 5 minutes in: "I'm here for Parker." My sweet summer child.. 😅
Miss, ma'am! You remember JESSIE, but not Harmony? (Who btw must be in at least 15 episodes as Cordelia's friennemy) I'm offended lol
She even remembers Jesse being in the credits ...🤷♂
Harmony was a Cordette. She got tossed down the stairs in the invisibke gotl episode. Cordelia called her a sheep in the Amy love spell episode. Plus many others.
Same Anya, different hair. I believe she was made human which is why she has feelings.
Harmony was also in s1e2 in the computer room with Cordie.. essentially in the pilot since it was a two parter.
It definitely would have been ideal to see you react to spikes return spoiler free, but at least you were honest about being spoiled, and that says a lot about your character. Thank you for being an honest person and for the reactions to my favorite series!
I think you overstate Spike's control over Drusilla. It's not that he isn't toxic in relationships - that comes with the territory of being soulless - but that the push and pull between him and Drusilla is more equal than you give credit for. He could be snappy and impatient with her during her crazier moments, but notice that her response to these outbursts was always to whimper until Spike is contrite and apologizes. She has immense emotional power over him, and when restored to full health is his equal in physical prowess. In fact, she has him wrapped around her pinky and when she makes her desires known, he immediately defers to her. It's made clear that this deference is a one-way street: Drusilla looks after Spike when he's injured, but she also insults him (bringing him a dog to feed on) and is clearly sleeping with Angelus in full knowledge of how it bothers Spike. In fact, she gets off on the tension she causes between the two men. It's a mistake to think that Drusilla is a powerless controlled innocent in her relationship with Spike.
There's also a big difference in how Spike treats Harmony versus how he treated Drusilla. With Drusilla he was tender, protective, and devoted. In this episode he tries to stake Harmony without a second thought. The reason he treats Harmony with such brazen contempt is simply because he doesn't love her; he doesn't even care for her. He loved and adored Drusilla, even if it was a twisted, dysfunctional love. This episode isn't just showing us how toxic vampire and Spike's relationships are; it's also showing us a contrast in how Spike acts in relationships when he's in love, versus when he's not.
Anya is not still a demon; she didn't just lose her powers back in "The Wish," she became completely human. So, no issues of demon pregnancy apply if she fails to be careful (issues of human pregnancy might, of course).
There's nothing wrong with loving Spike, he's a fan favourite and it just shows you have good taste 👌Great reaction!
The Judge, he told Spike he “stinks of humanity”.
And Dru as well.
The epic return of Blondie Bear.
Cass regarding Parker: "I like him so much."
Me: "I hate him so much."
Joss said in an interview “Buffy happy bad show. Buffy said great show.”
Harmony had quite memorable appearances in almost all of her 6 prior appearances.
Also that time where Cordy calls Harmony a sheep while telling her off and saying that at least she does what she wants and not what other people want her to do. And she thought at that time she had dethroned and replaced the queen, until cordy gave her the sheep can't lead only follow speech.
Never apologize for liking Spike again. He's one of the best characters on the whole damn show and a big part of that is down to the job James Marsters did playing him. He's amazing and you're right to love him.
Cass, Harmony Kendall was Cordelia's gal pal in the first three seasons and she has appeared in 2 episodes of SE1, 1 episode of SE2, and 3 episodes of SE3.
1x02 | "The Harvest"
1x11 | "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"
2x16 | "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered"
3x09 | "The Wish"
3x21 | "Graduation Day, Part One"
3x22 | "Graduation Day, Part Two"
4x03 | "The Harsh Light of Day"
How do you not remember Harmony? Shes been in the show since season one legitimately. Side character of mean girl, but you usually are pretty good at keeping track of side characters. We also saw her get bitten during the graduation show down.
Wait, does Hulu have the OG version or the remastered version? Even though you are pretty far in, I would check to see and switch to the OG version if you can. The lighting and frame size is pretty messed up in the remastering.
100%, watch it the old-school way if you can.
100 % agree too! If you know any reactors or mods that could help you get the original version. I might not seem too big a deal but once you see the shots side by sides, you will be horrified by the gutting of the art the people created in its original version. (Disney and Hulu show the mangled version).
Sad she never saw this comment
Yea, Anya is a human now. She was turned when her amulette, which was her power center, got destroyed by Giles in episode The Wish.
exactly! also in Doppelgangland, when Anya was begging for her powers back to the vengeance demon ( Idk how to spell his name lol ) and he refused by saying "You'll live out your mortal life and die."
Who gets mad at you for liking Spike? He's one of the best characters in Buffy. 💜
"There are no wrong feelings" Willow
Every feeling in the episode is proven to be wrong.
Harmony has appeared and was in the popular group with Cordelia.
she was definitely Cordelia's second in command, which is why when Cordy was on the outs for a short time, Harmony took over the lead.
@@HelloXrancidkitteh Exactly. I was happy when Cordy left that group to find who she was as a single person.
Interestingly the band that was playing during the party was was fairly big in the early aughts, Biff Naked. So technically this random frat managed to book an actual touring musician to play their party.
Yeah, I’m not certain but I feel like Biff Naked was one of the more mainstream gets they had on the show. There were a couple others also, but that Biff Naked song was so my jam. 🧸✨
Harmony has been around since the pilot episode in season 1. She’s actually in the unaired pilot episode
I always see Spike as a Trickster: the „normal rules“ for Vampires doesn‘t work for him. He is the Jack Sparrow under the Pirates 🏴☠️
Screw what people think you should or shouldn't do - love Spike all you want, I love him too and get so sick at getting lectured about "toxic relationships" and "evil" - you're 100% correct - ITS A SHOW PEOPLE GET OVER IT! - they are just hung up on Angel and cant get past it. Spike was one of the best (if not THE best) characters in the entire series, and may audience members thought so too, hence why they kept bringing him back even though Joss didnt want to for a long while.
❤
I think a few of those people (most will claim they don't) try to compare soul-filled Angel on a level playing field with soulless Spike.
If you remeber Harmony commented towards Cordelia " Girl has to look good for her geek." referring to her being with Xander.
Drusilla ran off with a chaos demon. Spike says they are all slime and antlers, that their disgusting and that she only did it to hurt him.
You have correctly identified Harmony, who has been one of Cordelia's hangers-on since "Welcome to the Hellmouth."
I'm pretty sure when it comes to Spike and Dru, the one in charge in the relationship is Dru. Spike yells at her sometimes but if she shows any bit of sadness he apologizes and tries to make her feel better. He did everything in Sunnydale for her. With Harmony though I think he just doesn't really like her. Dru broke up with him because she felt he was getting soft or something.
Spike is literally the most popular character in this TV show, with the possible exception of Buffy herself. I have no idea who these people are who criticise you for liking him.
Harmony is the blonde popular girl who was friends with Cordy Seasons 1-3, the only one who ever had any lines 😂 And yeah, she was also the yearbook girl. Remember Cordy called her a sheep when she was making fun of her for dating Xander?
People definitely have strong feelings about how popular Spike is, and have a tendency to pit Spike vs Angel in vampire popularity contests. Don't pay them any mind. Spike is awesome 😂
Dammit, Hulu...
Enjoying all the music, movie, and TV reactions. Your channel is awesome.
Anya dyed her hair dark brown. It was either a dark ash blonde or ash brown before.
How do you not remember Harmony?
As Buffy was with Angel mostly in High School, she really didn't date anyone else outside of a couple of times. As Season 4 is about entering adulthood, some mature storylines are coming out including the classic "got used" trope in college. Buffy no longer lives at home so her independence is being tested without frequent advice from her mom.. I'm guessing the end scene was the classic "walk of shame" post one-night stand , but they were all felt used by their partners to some extent .
I’ve been waiting for this one since you stated your desire to see more Spike and Anya! Don’t let people flip out at you over Spike. He’s a fantastic character and James Marsters is amazing.
Welcome to the Parker is a Giant D-Bag Club! Meetings are every other Tuesday. Also, with regards to demon procreation, you've been watching Angel, so you already know Doyle is half-demon. Anya's status is undetermined at this point, but you do know she's lost her powers and is mortal.
Ah that look of dawning comprehension on reactors when they realise Parker's true nature!
4, 5, 6, and 7 are my favorite seasons despite the past good moments from season 1 through 3 and the characters we don't see much from again if at all.
Having lost her magical amulet Anyanka has transformed into Anya who IS a regular girl, though her lack of social/emotional intelligence is quite similar to someone struggling with ASD.
Who gets mad at you loving Spike?!? They're trying to bias you early. Pay no mind. He was always a fan favorite when this aired
17:31 All I could imagine was 🤡 emoji as you said that ahahaha
Really like your enthusiasm and real comments. Fun to re-watch Buffy with you
Angel insinuated that Vampires are similar to their life before (when Willow wore the clothes of Vampire Willow), so Vampire relationships are about the same as humans.
not 100%. Angel was talking about something else, not the relationship side of things. it was a direct quote following Buffy saying "Vampires have nothing to do with the person it was" and Angel was about to pretty much say they keep a part of their personalities and memories, etc. Buffy only discouraged him continuing because she can see how freaked Willow was about it. if it was relationship-wise, Angelus would have still been in love with Buffy, not just when he was Angel. vampire love, in this universe, is tainted ad selfish. the closest it resembles to a relationship in humans is toxic relationships but that's as close as they get. I get how you might've gotten that though.
Your right about Anya being quite the character and a funny one at that.
Whereas the Angel/Angelus arc in season 2 was a metaphor for the man you love turning into a different person after you've done the deed, in Parker's case the metaphor is dropped. He's just your run-of-the-mill D-bag. I too found it a little surprising that Buffy chose to sleep with him so quickly and it's my understanding that the original script had her talk to Willow about that a bit more during their walk in the quad, but it was cut out. Apparently Buffy said something like, "I wanted to move on from Angel, it was like I was saying 'See how over him I am'... but I guess it doesn't really work that way.." or, something to that effect. I wish they had left that conversation in, it would have really helped to give more context around Buffy's choice.
Spike will forever be my favorite Buffy character ❤
“Where is everyone who should be seeing this?”
They ask went to class. Remember - Katie Lumiss was late for class? I’m guessing they all were too. Why else would about 50 people just vanish into thin air?
We know Harmony a little, she was a kind of second in command of Cordelia's clique. She was the one who signed Willow's yearbook even though they hated each other. She ran into a vampire and seemed to have been killed at graduation.
They are not going to kill Willow, they killed Jenny Calendar. Admittedly she was not a central to the show as Willow but not everyone is safe.
There is a Spike and Dru novel 'Pretty Maids All in a Row' set before the Series. Before he was turned and became Spike, William was a hopeless romantic and some of that has carried over, so her truly loved, and still loves, Drusilla. Although his idea of romance is skewed, he associates it with pain.
Anya's not actually a demon right now, she lost her power when Wishverse Giles destroyed her necklace. She's gone back to being a normal woman but has forgotten how to function as a woman because she has been a demon for so long.
I too *love* the entertaining, toxic characters. Gaston in Beauty & the Beast, Lestat in Interview with the Vampire, etc. etc. They bring conflict and get to misbehave in fun ways the protagonists don’t get to. Even if I hate a character the first watch-thru, chances are I’ll love them the second time around for what they bring to the story.
Spike is such a complicated and layered character with comedic gold so watching him is always fun
You forgot one of Xander's unconventional relationships - the Incan mummy girl.
Man i miss angel great to see spike thought he made buffy later seasons
Another fun reaction. We forget that Buffy is still a young girl and missed the high school dating scene. She became the Slayer in LA at 15…fell for an older man( that had been stalking her for a year) and never learned that boys can be jerks . She was just starting with boys( in Episode 21,Season 2 she is holding court on how to manipulate a boy) and never really had a chance to see how dating works. Parker is a predator that knows how vulnerable Freshman girls can be, away from home for the first time. Buffy is really easy prey. Remember that BTVS is about the journey to becoming a strong independent mature adult woman. This is a life lesson that it’s not always obvious how evil/ bad guys come into our lives. Sometimes,like the loathsome Parker, we invite them into our world and shower them with gifts.This is like her Father hurting Buffy for no apparent reason . Buffy can not understand… part of what makes her a hero… but she had to fully learn and understand that bad people with bad intentions are amongst us. Tough lesson but one that Giles can’t teach her.
It's ok to still feel for what happened to Xander honestly pretty much all of the characters have unresolved trauma. The final scene with the three woman walking away was very poetic because they're all suffering from not getting what they want out of relationships.
Anya's not a demon fyi, she's human now, that's her whole thing
The 3 woman walking alone is a reflection of the consequences of failed or toxic relationships. Buffy was led on and then gaslit, and Harmony was abused. Of the three men, Xander was the only one who didn't do anything wrong. In that pairing Anya was the one who did the wrong thing. It was interesting to see the look on Xander's face after he and Anya had sex. Their expressions essentially mirrored each other. Neither of them where happy about the consequences of sex. Poor Xander had sex twice, and both times the woman told him it meant nothing. It was clear too that he did want sex that meant something. Where things went wrong with Anya and Xander is that for 1000 years, Anya has never had feelings for someone, and now suddenly she does. Instead of trying to process and understand them, she is seeking the comfort of the familiarity of her former emotional state (or lack thereof). Unlike Buffy, it seems Anya doesn't have anyone she can talk to about these new feelings she has, who can help and encourage her explore them the way Willow does with Buffy.
Girl, 99% of the fandom loves Spike and even lesbians are in love with him. Those who give you a hard time over him are the ones who are bitter about it. They're in the vast minority, most of them are just hypocrite Angel fans who can't handle that their precious fang boy is widely disliked while Spike is the fan favorite.
I wouldnt have worded it quite as strongly, but.. you aint lying.
That is effectively the reason - and it's basically par for the course that the first half of S4 is where these folks come out of the woodwork to try and poison the well a bit.
Been happening like that for 10+ years now.
I'm one of the lesbians who r obsessed with him!! you're so right!
I love Spike. I can’t stand Angel. I wish they would’ve kept Angelus around longer, he was fantastic.
I love Drusilla. Juliet Landau does a great job
IDK how you can avoid seeing who's in them unless you don't see the still or the opening credits
Yeah Anya got her hair done a bit differently, and she is not a demon but an ex-demon.
How can anyone have a go at you for liking Spike?? He's one of the best characters on the show and you just can't help but like him!
I am surprised you don't remember Harmony from the first 3 seasons. She was in the show a decent amount for a side character. She was the "queen bee" of the popular group of friends that Cordiella (sp?) was part of. We also saw her get bitten by a vampire in the season 3 finale (leading to what we now see in this episode)
I hope you appreciated the double meaning of the episode title 'The Harsh Light of Day', both for vampires and the ladies that are suffering heartbreak after a night of intimacy. Btw Anya is now an ex-demon, totally human even though she's 1,120 years old.
We saw Harmony get bit in the season 3 finale, it went by quickly though.
Harmony's been in the show since season one! haha - her first bigger appearance is in the Invisible Girl episode from season one - Harmony gets pushed down the stairs! and Snyder says, "don't sue!"
she's the leader of the popular pack after Cordy becomes open about seeing Xander!
To touch on something you say near the end, it's very true how Giles is like a father figure, not only to the obvious Buffy which is like.. the obvious surrogate father/daughter relationship.. but both Willow and Xander were shown to have compeltely shit relationships with their parents as well. I always felt that they were a father, son and two daughter style relationship.
Anya is in my top two favourite characters in the buffyverse I am glad you are enjoying her too she is the best! So funny and although been a demon has loved a long time is assertive and opinionated she is strangely innocent too- which is an interesting juxtaposition - it’s almost a
Combination of Cordelia and willows best character traits in the first few seasons smooshed together
Anyone that gets mad about liking Spike is foolish. Spike is so charismatic and likable, that doesn't mean we condone his actions.
12:12 AFAICT, it's Angelus who is abnormal or, as the Judge said, "pure".
People don't like you liking Spike just because he is a polarizing characters. Some people love him, and some people hate him. Same with Faith: Some people love her, and some people hate her. Personally, I love Spike and hate Faith - although I think they are both interesting characters who added a lot to the show.
"Oh, what a nice guy Parker is....Oh, what an asshole he is." Always fun to watch someone making the shift on their opinion of Parker.
The Harsh Light Of Day was an interesting episode in that we still see Buffy's innocence regarding men. It is interesting see a lot of reactors saying how much they liked Parker, even though he seemed totally too sweet and smarmy from the start. The Spike Harmony relationship shows how coercive and manipulative it can be by one partner over another. The Anya Xander one is also most interesting as it is Anya who is almost coercing Xander into a relationship where he is clearly still very innocent and is not particularly wanting it. Spike being reintroduced is great for the show as he is without doubt one of the best characters in The Buffyverse. The credits are somewhat of a spoiler for reactors but it is impossible avoid them as they run as the episode is being shown. It's a shame they can't run them after a major character is in the episode. This of course is a lead into the Angel episode In The Dark with the Gem of Amara.
I love the Normies reaction to this episode, partly because Marketa (the only woman reacting to that episode) thinks Parker is great while all the men are immediately deeply suspicious of him.
Welcome to the *We Hate Parker* club. It is a large club and there is always room for more members! The way Parker made Buffy feel like her not understanding what the relationship was being her fault is what truly makes him despicable. He very much led her on, and then gaslit her. I get that it is not just about him wanting 1 nightstands, but more important for him, is that the girls he sleeps with fall in love with him. Getting the girl to fall in love with him and then gas light them afterwards is what he is seeking, that emotional power over the woman.
Harmony got bited during the mayor snake and you missed it lol
Cool - that remberred the trick that they wanted ot play with Jessie in the first episodes criedits - unfortunately, they never had the actual budget to allow them to pull it off - but you're right to be wary of the credits still
Doyle from Angel is a half demon (on his mother's side).
so glad you're also watching Angel on patreon, the overlap is truly chef's kiss
Commenting so I know where Cass' reactions are for the supercut of Cass reactions I will inevitably make when she finishes the show. Oof.
Nothing wrong with loving Spike. He’s one of my favorite characters in any TV show. Harmony is a riot. Love Anya too. Her unfamiliarity with being human is laughs a plenty.
I forgot Bif Naked featured (musically) in this episode...
Speaking of trying to avoid spoilers, just a heads up - I've seen that you use the DVD posters for each season as your thumbnails, but the poster for season 6 has a MAJOR character spoiler on it that you DO NOT want ruined! When the time comes, I recommend getting someone else to search for a non-spoilery thumbnail background image for you!
Thank you yes! This has been brought up by others and we found her a poster with just Buffy for s6, thanks for looking out 😎❤ (:
@@coreyissus Great, good to know she's got people looking out for this kind of thing! 👍
I never understand why they never mention Jesse after his death in season 1. I guess he hadn't been friends with Will and Xand for very long.
Yeees Spike is back.We LOVE Spike
Been thinking about your situation Cass, about avoiding seeing who's appearing on the episode... I can think of two options: you either cover the bottom of the screen with your hand or use a strip of paper to cover the bottom of the screen and then remove it after a certain time has passed.
You'd only have to do it for a few seconds. Maybe ask the Patreons to give you advance timing of how long the guests name appear before you start watching the episode so that you're prepared ahead of time and know when to remove your hand or paper.
The thing that I have done is ignore looking at the bottom and just concentrate on what's going on in the scene, the background and the conversation that's taking place. Eventually I no longer noticed it and forgot that it shows at the bottom of the screen lol. I hope this helps you out 😉👍
Funny thing is, This is how it aired. i mean, we all saw the credits when watching it the first time. Whedon put them there (and occassionally didnt) so it doesnt seem like the intent was to not have us know who was going to be in the episode. (although the harmony spike reveal would catch you more off guard if you didnt know he was in the episode somewhere
@@bobapjok4241 Yes! I was 12 when Buffy aired on tv. I saw it from beginning to end. Way before reruns, dvr and apps with monthly subscription were a thing. So if you missed an episode then oh well. Catch up in the next episode lol. But that's also why the shows back then did recaps of the previous episode onto the new episode. And that helped alot. It made us look forward to sticking around to the end of the episode so we could catch a preview of next week's episode.
Like I said, I just didn't bother to look at who's gonna be stopping by to do the episode anymore. I think that because there were no reruns, you HAD to pay close attention to the whole scene, the dialogue and what was going on in the background, that the names appearing at the bottom were out of sight, out of mind. If you get what I mean.
People nowadays can pause and rewind whenever they want. And also, I find it weird or odd that people get bummed out when looking at the bottom of their screen and seeing who's gonna be appearing. For me, it got me super hyped and trying to figure out what was going to happen in the episode because that actor/actress was gonna be on. I was living in the moment for sure.
@@yvetterodriguez2550 yes, i remember well. it was so frustrating when you missed and had no way to ever see what you missed, until maybe summer reruns if ever. there were actually several shows i quit watching because i missed some episodes and had no way to ever see them and then couldnt make sense of the next one i say. Too many times the network would moves shows around time slots and we just got screwed. so unlike today when you can just hop online and catch up
Oh, for the love of Spike! People who get pissed off about Spike are so silly.
Yeah this my first time hearing that complaint after 30 years
You should definitely reach out to Alleybox (accomplished Buffy/Angel series reactor and my personal fav 😂) to see about getting her digital copies of the series!! She has the original versions that are not remastered (Hulu's are and some fans really HATE them with a passion) but also I'm pretty sure there are some MAJOR spoilers on the thumbnails. Also, if you have the thought to, do *not* get the dvd set cause the cover images and menu screens also have giant clues. Alley's versions even have a censor over the "guest starring" bits in the beginning so they're extra safe 😊
Side note: she would also be really fun for you to do a rewatch reaction with .. or she rewatches an ep with you for your first time on an episode - if you've ever thought about doing that. Anyway, hope that helps!
Good thing you find the sad, traumatizing episodes comfortable. You'll find a large number of chances to get comfortable the rest of the series. 😂
5:31 "Oh, from Angel." 🤔 I always assumed it was from the Master.
I did the first time, but it makes more sense, it was more recent and Angel drunk far more, most of the damage from the master was done from drowning.
Don't feel bad about being taken in by stinky Parker man. We only see him through Buffy's point-of-view and it's important to the plot that we are just as deceived at first as she is. Even Spike, whose greatest talent is his ability to see people and situations as they really are, praises (if mockingly) his "vulnerability" at first sight.
Cass, you are a Swifty, so of course you prefer the sad girl episodes.