Buffy for Beginners 4.8: Pangs

By Sabrina Boyer

I don’t usually like “theme” episodes of any series; I especially hate very special Xmas episodes where the audience is taught a very important lesson concerning the spirit of Christmas or some such crap. But here, in this episode, we learn the true meaning of Thanksgiving. That we, I  mean the United States, killed Native Americans and stole their land and that’s what we celebrate. The killing and stealing. Of course, BTVS doesn’t do this in a blame game kind of way; I mean, there’s quips, dip, and Angel makes an appearance. This was also a cross-over episode with Angel back when the show was first starting and they wanted to drag BTVS viewers over to the new show. So, on with the maiming.

Buffy’s out in slayerrific force when she stops after staking and senses something. We’re supposed to get the idea that someone’s watching her and she feels it. Of course, hiding in the woods is Angel. On the flip side, over in LA, Angel’s friend got a vision that Buffy was in trouble. Angel’s here to help, but doesn’t want the Buffster to know he’s there. Kind of tough if you ask me.

The next morning, Sunnydale is breaking ground on a new cultural center; Anya, Buffy and Will are watching the press conference as Anya looks on in awe of Xander’s muscles. She’s imagining having sex with him as he wields a shovel. As Professor Gearheart waxes on about the melting pot of multiple cultures making our culture stronger, Will has a counterpoint about it really being the wiping out of one culture by another. And my friends, she does have a very strong point. As Buffy’s sad about her mom being at Aunt Arlene’s for Thanksgiving, Anya thinks it’s a shame she’ll be missing out on a ritual sacrifice. “Not really a one of those,” Buffy responds. Oh, but it is. “To commemorate a past event, you kill and eat an animal. It’s a ritual sacrifice, with pie,” Anya says. As Anya wants to see Xander dig, he does, and falls through the ground into an old, buried mission. Again, later that night, Angel watches Buffy from the woods as she looks out the window, obviously sensing something.

Will and Buffy talk about having a Thanksgiving, only Will’s not really on board. Buffy’s pumped about having a “yam sham,” even though Thanksgiving is a great big lie. Will agrees that she could use comfort food, and the gang decides to pull one off at Giles’. “Isn’t that the whole point of Thanksgiving? Everyone has a place to go?” Buffy asks. Cut to Spike wandering/running in the woods from Riley and the boys.  The next morning Anya checks on Xander who looks like death; she immediately begins to take care of him because he’s “pasty, wet and disgusting.” Then, a mystical green mist rises from the recently discovered mission and drifts into the old cultural center with Professor Gearheart, materializes into a Native American, and cuts her throat. Buff and Will check it out later, and mention that she was found missing an ear. Buffy discovers that a Shumash Indian knife was missing, and later, as she tells Giles about almost having to use slayer moves on a woman at the grocery store, she tells him about what she found. The Shumash Indians were native to Sunnydale; Giles is hosting the festivities for Thanksgiving since he’s the Patriarch; as Buffy leaves, Angel walks out of Gile’s room. They talk of this “danger” Buffy’s in that Angel’s friend had a vision of. Giles tells Angel that it’s not fair that he can see Buffy but she can’t see him. Angel’s torn, and remembers how bad it feels to watch Buffy whom he can’t have.

Meanwhile, Spike still wanders the streets, neutered and unable to feed. As Will and Buffy walk home from the store, they run into Riley. Will goes to buy coffee to let them talk in private, and Angel drags her behind a wall and asks her….who Riley is. He seems jealous. We learn Riley is a good ‘ole Iowa farm boy.  Spike goes back to Harm’s lair, and she almost stakes him. Looks like Spikey doesn’t have a home to go to, which seems to be a theme in this episode, you know, other than the killing and the death. Buffy goes by to find a Father Gabriel who she thinks might be next on the hit list, and he is. But she’s too late, and finds the same Native American Shumash tribesman gutting Father Gabriel. They fight. “You slaughtered my people. Now you kill their spirit,” he says to Buffy and disappears into a mass of black crowes.

The next day, Giles and Buffy cook dinner and discuss the fight. Buffy corrects Giles on his use of the term “Indian” (it’s Native American, hello) and he replies, “Oh yes, still behind on the terms. I’m still trying not to refer to you lot as bloody colonials.” Buffy laments on feeling torn about killing the spirit guy as Will comes by with mushy frozen peas and the story behind the sweet, fluffy indigenous Shumash tribe. “I like mushy peas,” Giles responds. Classic. Will lists the atrocities against the Shumash tribe that we colonials inflicted: imprisonment, forced labor, herded like animals into a mission full of diseases. Those that tried to rebel were hanged. So, the Shumash Indian is recreating all the atrocities done to his people. Giles and Will argue about what to do; Will wants to do something to make up for the way his tribe was treated and Giles disagrees. What can they do? “I think you just want to slay the demon and then go la la la,” Will says to Giles. Buffy’s way of stopping the bickering? “I have to baste,” Buffy says. Will and Giles talk of Angel and Giles mentions his plan is of the level head. “I happen to think mine is the level head and yours is the one that things would roll off of,” Will quips. This episode has great one-liners.

Xander and Anya show up and Xander looks worse than before. They figure out that Xander has syphilis, among symptoms of other gnarly diseases. It’s mystical in nature, so it’s likely to go away when they defeat the tribe. The gang erupts in argument as Buffy kind of loses it. She wants a nice Thanksgiving dinner. And then Spike shows up. Asking for help. Willow confirms that he “had trouble performing.” He bargains with information he has on the “soldier boys” as the Shumash tribesman raises his brothers to exact revenge. Spike is especially adorable as he’s too hungry to remember anything and “wouldn’t say no to a brandy.”

As Will and Buffy argue over the right thing to do, Spike points out that they should stop the namby-pamby boo hooing and understand that the world is about conquering. “You had better weapons and you massacred them. End of story.”  As the sun sets and Will, Anya and Xan go to warn the dean against the Shumash tribe, Spike talks about blood.  The Shumash tribe of vengeful men begin to attack Giles’ pad and almost get Spike through the heart with an arrow.  Buffy’s the representative warrior of her “tribe,” but they need help. Will, Xan, Anya and Angel are on their way. They fight. Buffy’s team wins. But during the fight, the Shumash Indian turns into a bear. Spike so politely points out: “A bear! You made a bear! Undo it! Undo it!” Baahahhahahahhahahahaha.

So, after they fought, they sat down and had a feast. Much like the Pilgrims did. Angel walks stealthily into the night. Will feels guilty about turning into General Custard. Xan says it’s just like Thanksgiving, especially with Angel being here and all. Ooops.

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About Sabrina Boyer: As a kid my dad would sneak scary movies past my mom and let me indulge in his horror movie fetish. I grew up watching V, Alien Nation, The Thing, The Fog (all originals) and then, in 1992 when Buffy the movie came out, I became obsessed with vampires, girl power, and all things gothic. I once stayed home from school, faked sick, and watched BTVS: the movie 6 times in a row. I know the beginning cheerleading dance by heart (still). Currently, I’m obsessing over Laurell K. Hamilton novels, and dream about Anita Blake being my best friend.

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