Spike has had some incredible character work this season. Here we see that he's not totally removed from the bumbling William of Fool for Love, still manipulated and frustrated by the women around him. You've got to feel for the guy. No matter how often he's proved his morality and nobleness, no matter his offer to kill Drusilla, he's still rejected. Spike is stuck in an obvious predicament. He's grown too much as a person to simply return to his blood-lust, while his relationship with Dru is too fractured by her leaving him and the fact that she's... evil. Then there's Buffy, somebody he obviously has a connection with, yet somebody who insists that nothing could ever come of it from her end. It's a really absorbing story, and you have to ask why Buffy is so angry and disgusted over Spike's feelings. She sure is protesting a lot...Watching Crush's final act, it just brought to my attention how strong these four characters are. Spike and Buffy are obviously wonderful, but Drusilla and Harmony both fit into this bubble so well. While Dru has become more outlandish and cartoony this year (over on Angel, too), she's still ridiculously fun. I'm guessing it almost became a competition in the writers room over who comes up with her zaniest descriptions for everyday things ("Tin soldiers put funny little knick-knacks in your brain"). Harmony, too, is a wonderful recurring character. She's ridiculous and naive, but there's an innocence to her that's pretty endearing. She really does love Spike, even thought he treats her like garbage. In that way her story mirrors Spike's infatuation with Buffy. They're both people who use and abuse whenever they want something.
David Fury's script is brilliantly paced and features some really great dialogue. From the obvious Quasimodo metaphor at the top of the show to that insanely cute moment where Buffy sits inside the corpse outline on the train while saying 'it's creepy', Crush is an underrated classic. There's a level of intimacy to the episode which is sometimes unbearable, especially in the scenes where Buffy is aware of Spike's crush but he isn't yet aware that she knows. And that final scene is gut-wrenching. You can practically feel the pain through James Marsters' face. A+
Credits
Guest stars Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall); Charlie Weber (Ben); Amber Benson (Tara Maclay); Juliet Landau (Drusilla); Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers)
Writer David Fury Director Daniel Attias
I've always loved this one, too. It really ties up all of the things that had been developing between Buffy and Spike together with amazing results. I'm glad you mentioned that corpse outline scene, I always giggle at that.
ReplyDeleteDrusilla & Harmony are two of my favourite recurring characters. It's sad that this is it for Drusilla after this, since she's relegated to flashbacks only. Unless, she pops up in the comics, but I generally disassociate the series with that continuation, even if it's pretty alright. Great review!
I think they should have brought back Drusilla, too. She was such a great character. And I also disassociate the comic books with the show, regardless of Joss calling them canon. Some of the things that have happened in them are just too nuts and don't at all feel like Buffy as I know it.
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