Buffy's grand speeches eventually lost all power towards the end of the series, but here's one which proves ridiculously effective. The last act of Checkpoint beautifully re-structures the series, giving Buffy the confidence and drive that she had lost in the last couple of weeks. It's her big acknowledgment of her own power, and the fact that she calls the shots around here. Regardless of Glory's strength or the Council's authoritative stance, Buffy's the real ringleader. Obviously, it's kind of undermined by the revelation that Glory is a big ol' stinkin' God, but the principal rings true.Checkpoint is an interesting journey into the Buffy mythology via the return of the Watcher's Council. They're played a little differently to the more thuggish representation depicted previously, and I prefer this incarnation. The fun of the episode arrives in their interaction with the Scoobies. Willow and Tara are left feeling magically out of their depth, Anya's terrified of being exposed as an ex-demon ("Willow's a demon??!!"), and Xander is confronted with being pretty useless. Spike once again brings the funny the hardest, and I adored that brief sequence with the lady Watcher who "wrote her thesis" on him. Aww. Cute little moment.
The episode also marks the show's strongest use of Glory so far, too. Her confrontation with Buffy in the Summers home is ridiculously tense, since it falls just right into that area of comic triviality and threatening menace. It's interesting that both my favorite Glory scenes so far involve her casually interacting with the Scoobies, like that great moment in Shadow where she obliviously buys supplies at the Magic Box.
Checkpoint is the show back on form after what feels like an age of middle-ground 'blah'-ness. The large ensemble is used really well, and I appreciated that Giles got some development for once. The Knights were a little jarring, though. Hmm. A
Credits
Guest stars Clare Kramer (Glory); Charlie Weber (Ben); Cynthia LaMontagne (Lydia); Oliver Muirhead (Philip); Kris Iyer (Nigel); Kevin Weisman (Dreg); Troy T. Blendell (Jinx); Amber Benson (Tara Maclay); Harris Yulin (Quentin Travers); Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers)
Writers Douglas Petrie, Jane Espenson Director Nick Marck
One of the strongest episodes of the season. Buffy's epic speech at the end performed beautifully by Sarah is one of my all time favorite moments particularly with the "She's a God" ending. Oy I still remember the first time I watched that scene like ten years ago. Simply perfect! Dying to rewatch this eppy again. If only SMG had such brilliant material to work with on Ringer :( You're reminding me how good she had it on Buffy!
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