Destiny (Angel episode)
Encyclopedia
"Destiny" is episode 8 of season 5 in the television show Angel
. Co-written by David Fury
and Steven S. DeKnight
and directed by Skip Schoolnik
, it was originally broadcast on November 19, 2003 on the WB network
. In "Destiny", when a mysterious package arrives at Wolfram & Hart
that renders Spike corporeal again, Eve claims the universe is in chaos because the Shanshu Prophecy
states only one vampire with a soul can be the champion of good. Angel and Spike duel over a mystical grail to decide which one will be the champion, as flashbacks show the complex relationship between the two vampires. Guest star Juliet Landau
reprises her role as Drusilla, and Christian Kane
makes an uncredited appearance at the end of the episode playing Lindsey McDonald
.
In the present, Spike demands his own office (or Wesley’s
office during his leave of absence, while he adjusts to the shock of killing what he believed to be his father). Spike lacks sympathy for Wesley, since he himself killed his mother while she was hitting on him. “Well…that explains a lot,” Harmony
remarks. She opens a package for Spike from an unknown source, producing a flash of light. When Harmony goes to answer the phone, she’s greeted by electronic screeching. As phones start ringing off the hook, Spike heads for Angel’s office, but when he tries to walk through the door, he quickly finds he is corporeal again, and celebrates with Harmony. Fred
arrives, complaining that all of the atmospheric gauges in the science department have gone haywire and blown out the instruments. She is surprised to hear that Harmony and a re-corporealized Spike are, as Gunn
says, "having a nooner". Eve arrives and announces that the whole universe is in turmoil - Spike’s existence is messing with the expected course of the Shanshu prophecy, because after dying on the Hellmouth to save the world in the series finale of Buffy, Spike now qualifies as a champion. Meanwhile, Harmony’s eyes start bleeding and she bites Spike, screaming that he’s using her and really wants his "Slayer whore
". He returns to the group, and Eve says because there are two possible candidates for the Shanshu, “the wheel of destiny starts to spin off its axis.”
Gunn returns with news that the elevator to the Senior Partners opened into a howling abyss. Eve thinks the solution is in the Shanshu prophecy, but Angel says he just read it and it wasn’t helpful. Spike is surprised he has been reading the prophecy which he claims not to believe in. They decide someone from Wesley’s department needs to look over the prophecy, and meet with Sirk, who tells them that they read a translation and therefore didn’t get everything out of it. He retranslates: “The balance will falter until the vampire with a soul drinks from the Cup of Perpetual Torment”. Sirk says that whoever drinks from the cup is the one who was destined to, and once the champion is decided the universe will go back to normal. Sirk says the cup is in a destroyed opera house in Death Valley
, Nevada.
Back in 1880, Angelus and William celebrate a wedding massacre, until William leaves to be with Drusilla, whom William calls his “destiny.” Shortly after, William discovers Angelus having sex with Drusilla; the two laugh at William and Angelus taunts him with his earlier words.
At the opera house, Spike and Angel battle it out for the cup. Spike points out that Angel's soul was forced upon him as a curse, but Spike fought for his because it was the right thing to do. Angel says he only did it so he could sleep with Buffy
. Spike says that Angel has already chosen the side of evil by working at Wolfram & Hart. Angel retaliates that it is a lot more complicated than Spike thinks, telling Spike that he (Spike) was always "a little simple". In the science lab, Gunn begins bleeding from the eyes, warning Fred not to trust Eve. He starts choking Eve, demanding to know who she really is. Fred tends to Eve, who starts crying and says that she knows what all the group think of her, but she's "not the bad guy."
Back in 1880, William fights Angelus for sleeping with Drusilla, whom he says belongs with him. As they trade blows, Angelus tells him that, among vampires, "There's no belongin' or deservin' any more. You can take what you want, have what you want, but nothin' is yours." He adds that William should take Drusilla if he wants her; William chooses to keep fighting.
At this point, the fight has become very personal for both vampires, and both do whatever they can to hurt the other (physically and emotionally). Spike lashes out at Angel, saying that even though Drusilla sired him, it was Angelus who made him a monster, that Angelus just wanted something in the world as bad as him, and goads Angel about his (Spike's) sexual past with Buffy. In turn, Angel laughs off Spike's claims that Spike is a hero, points out that Angelus simply opened the door to let the real Spike out, and dismisses Spike's past with Buffy, telling Spike "That's why Buffy never really loved you. Because you weren't me." Spike stakes Angel’s shoulder, saying he would have dusted Angel but he doesn’t want to hear Buffy complain. Spike grabs the cup and Angel tells him that it’s not a prize - it’s a burden: "Do you even really want it? Or is it that you just want to take something away from me?” “Bit of both,” Spike replies, drinking from the cup. His expression changes as he realizes the cup is filled with Mountain Dew
. Angel returns to Wolfram & Hart with the news that the cup was a set-up; Sirk has disappeared. Gunn and Harmony regain consciousness, back to normal.
Back in Angel’s office, Eve tells everyone the Senior Partners temporarily fixed things. She says that they don’t know anything about Sirk's trick and are as angry as Angel is. Angel confesses to Gunn that Spike beat him because he wanted it more. "What if it means that…I’m not the one?" Angel wonders. Elsewhere in L.A., Eve enters an apartment and undresses while gloating to someone off-camera that Angel and Spike fell for the cup story and Sirk disappeared without the Senior Partners knowing anything. In addition, the gang is wondering if they can trust the Senior Partners. She crawls into bed and it is revealed that she is with a tattooed Lindsey McDonald
. "Well...it’s a start," he replies.
's wedding at the time of filming. This is the only episode from which he is absent following his first Angel appearance in Season One's "Parting Gifts".
In the season retrospective, Joss Whedon says the battle between Angel and Spike in this episode is the highlight of the final season. That battle, Scott McLaren argues, "succeeds in portraying an almost perfect balance between the concepts of the soul as existential metaphor and ontological reality." Since the Shanshu prophesy destines the ensouled vampire to a pivotal and dangerous role in the ultimate battle between good and evil, Spike and Angel's souls function both as "heavy burdens and precious baubles."
Nancy Holder says this episode marks the transition from Spike's characterization as it was in the seventh season of Buffy to a new, "never-before seen" version, defined by his relationship with Angel instead of Buffy. When Angel tells Spike that "Buffy never really loved you, because you weren't me", and Spike responds with "Guess that means she was thinking about you all those time I was puttin' it to her", Holder says that Spike is "betraying all the soft emotion he had for her in his eagerness to deal Angel a blow." Rather than reacting out of love for Buffy, the new Spike cares only about putting down Angel.
Adam Ward, the first assistant/focus puller, says the scenes at the abandoned Opera House were unexpectedly difficult to film. "It's one thing to see it on camera and another being on location in this theater that hasn't been used other than for film shots for decades. You get in there and the matter that floats around looks great on camera but you just don't want to breathe it in."
returned as Lindsey McDonald
in the last moment of the final scene of this episode, which Sarah Thompson describes as "a secret scene" that didn't appear in the original script. She says, "I heard rumors there was going to be a big reveal, but I didn't know what was going to happen. David Boreanaz was like, 'Maybe you're going to turn out to be a lizard.'" She received the scene in an envelope marked 'confidential' shortly before filming, with strict orders not to reveal Kane's return.
Juliet Landau
, excited to return to Angel, says, "this is a particularly fun episode... There are so many different colors and dimensions. Even though [Spike and I] are the villains and we are evil, there always has been this very sweet love story between us."
filed a complaint against a WB
station for the flashback sex scene in which Angel's hips can be seen "moving back and forth." The PTC was also disturbed by the "heavy breathing" in an earlier scene between Darla and Drusilla. However, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) later ruled that the scene was not indecent, as it was "brief, contained no nudity and was not sufficiently graphic or explicit to render the program patently offensive."
This episode, which ran during sweeps, was praised by TV Guide
for the writers' decision to finally make Spike corporeal again. Reviewer Matt Roush says this episode stands with "the best of Buffy." Author Peter David
agrees that the producers had perfect timing: "Just when we're getting sick of Spike as a ghost, suddenly, just like that, poof, he's not anymore."
Angel (TV series)
Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
. Co-written by David Fury
David Fury
David Fury is an American television Screenwriter and Producer, best known for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Lost, 24, and Fringe.Fury was a Co-executive producer and Writer for the first season of Lost...
and Steven S. DeKnight
Steven S. DeKnight
Steven S. DeKnight is an American television screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for working on Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel. He has also written "Swell", a story in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season eight comic series, and served as a consulting producer...
and directed by Skip Schoolnik
Skip Schoolnik
Stuart “Skip” Schoolnik is a film director, producer and editor who received his degree from the University of Connecticut and currently resides in California....
, it was originally broadcast on November 19, 2003 on the WB network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
. In "Destiny", when a mysterious package arrives at Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
that renders Spike corporeal again, Eve claims the universe is in chaos because the Shanshu Prophecy
Shanshu Prophecy
The Shanshu Prophecy is a prophecy that appears in the fictional universe of the television series Angel. Contained in the Scrolls of Aberjian, the prophecy first appears in the episode "Blind Date" and is more fully revealed in the season finale of the show's first season, "To Shanshu in L.A."...
states only one vampire with a soul can be the champion of good. Angel and Spike duel over a mystical grail to decide which one will be the champion, as flashbacks show the complex relationship between the two vampires. Guest star Juliet Landau
Juliet Landau
Juliet Rose Landau is an American actress best known for her role as Drusilla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff show Angel, the latter appearance earning her a Saturn Award nomination. She is also known for co-starring as Loretta King Hadler in Tim Burton's Ed Wood.She has appeared in a...
reprises her role as Drusilla, and Christian Kane
Christian Kane
Christian Kane is an American actor and singer/songwriter of Native American descent. He currently stars as Eliot Spencer on the TNT series Leverage. He is best known for his roles in the television shows Angel and Into the West, and the movies Just Married and Secondhand Lions.He is the lead...
makes an uncredited appearance at the end of the episode playing Lindsey McDonald
Lindsey McDonald
Lindsey McDonald is a fictional character from the television series Angel. He first appeared in the series' first episode, "City of," and featured prominently in the story arcs of seasons one, two, and five. Lindsey is the only character besides Angel himself to appear in both the first and last...
.
Plot
The episode begins with a flashback to London in 1880, where recently-sired William (not yet Spike) meets Angelus for the first time. Angelus accepts William into the group, saying he looks forward to killing with another man, and vows he and Spike are "gonna be the best of friends," sealing the friendship by allowing their clasped hands to be burned by sunlight.In the present, Spike demands his own office (or Wesley’s
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel...
office during his leave of absence, while he adjusts to the shock of killing what he believed to be his father). Spike lacks sympathy for Wesley, since he himself killed his mother while she was hitting on him. “Well…that explains a lot,” Harmony
Harmony Kendall
Harmony Kendall is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. The character is portrayed by Mercedes McNab...
remarks. She opens a package for Spike from an unknown source, producing a flash of light. When Harmony goes to answer the phone, she’s greeted by electronic screeching. As phones start ringing off the hook, Spike heads for Angel’s office, but when he tries to walk through the door, he quickly finds he is corporeal again, and celebrates with Harmony. Fred
Winifred Burkle
Winifred "Fred" Burkle is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and introduced by Shawn Ryan and Mere Smith on the television series Angel. The character is portrayed by Amy Acker.-Character history:...
arrives, complaining that all of the atmospheric gauges in the science department have gone haywire and blown out the instruments. She is surprised to hear that Harmony and a re-corporealized Spike are, as Gunn
Charles Gunn
Charles Gunn is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series, Angel. The character is portrayed by J. August Richards, and was named by Whedon after filmmaker James Gunn and actor Sean Gunn, both of whom had worked with Whedon...
says, "having a nooner". Eve arrives and announces that the whole universe is in turmoil - Spike’s existence is messing with the expected course of the Shanshu prophecy, because after dying on the Hellmouth to save the world in the series finale of Buffy, Spike now qualifies as a champion. Meanwhile, Harmony’s eyes start bleeding and she bites Spike, screaming that he’s using her and really wants his "Slayer whore
Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name...
". He returns to the group, and Eve says because there are two possible candidates for the Shanshu, “the wheel of destiny starts to spin off its axis.”
Gunn returns with news that the elevator to the Senior Partners opened into a howling abyss. Eve thinks the solution is in the Shanshu prophecy, but Angel says he just read it and it wasn’t helpful. Spike is surprised he has been reading the prophecy which he claims not to believe in. They decide someone from Wesley’s department needs to look over the prophecy, and meet with Sirk, who tells them that they read a translation and therefore didn’t get everything out of it. He retranslates: “The balance will falter until the vampire with a soul drinks from the Cup of Perpetual Torment”. Sirk says that whoever drinks from the cup is the one who was destined to, and once the champion is decided the universe will go back to normal. Sirk says the cup is in a destroyed opera house in Death Valley
Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. Situated within the Mojave Desert, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America. Badwater, a basin located in Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below...
, Nevada.
Back in 1880, Angelus and William celebrate a wedding massacre, until William leaves to be with Drusilla, whom William calls his “destiny.” Shortly after, William discovers Angelus having sex with Drusilla; the two laugh at William and Angelus taunts him with his earlier words.
At the opera house, Spike and Angel battle it out for the cup. Spike points out that Angel's soul was forced upon him as a curse, but Spike fought for his because it was the right thing to do. Angel says he only did it so he could sleep with Buffy
Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name...
. Spike says that Angel has already chosen the side of evil by working at Wolfram & Hart. Angel retaliates that it is a lot more complicated than Spike thinks, telling Spike that he (Spike) was always "a little simple". In the science lab, Gunn begins bleeding from the eyes, warning Fred not to trust Eve. He starts choking Eve, demanding to know who she really is. Fred tends to Eve, who starts crying and says that she knows what all the group think of her, but she's "not the bad guy."
Back in 1880, William fights Angelus for sleeping with Drusilla, whom he says belongs with him. As they trade blows, Angelus tells him that, among vampires, "There's no belongin' or deservin' any more. You can take what you want, have what you want, but nothin' is yours." He adds that William should take Drusilla if he wants her; William chooses to keep fighting.
At this point, the fight has become very personal for both vampires, and both do whatever they can to hurt the other (physically and emotionally). Spike lashes out at Angel, saying that even though Drusilla sired him, it was Angelus who made him a monster, that Angelus just wanted something in the world as bad as him, and goads Angel about his (Spike's) sexual past with Buffy. In turn, Angel laughs off Spike's claims that Spike is a hero, points out that Angelus simply opened the door to let the real Spike out, and dismisses Spike's past with Buffy, telling Spike "That's why Buffy never really loved you. Because you weren't me." Spike stakes Angel’s shoulder, saying he would have dusted Angel but he doesn’t want to hear Buffy complain. Spike grabs the cup and Angel tells him that it’s not a prize - it’s a burden: "Do you even really want it? Or is it that you just want to take something away from me?” “Bit of both,” Spike replies, drinking from the cup. His expression changes as he realizes the cup is filled with Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew is a citrus-flavored carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in the 1940s by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman and was first marketed in Marion, VA, Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee. A revised formula was...
. Angel returns to Wolfram & Hart with the news that the cup was a set-up; Sirk has disappeared. Gunn and Harmony regain consciousness, back to normal.
Back in Angel’s office, Eve tells everyone the Senior Partners temporarily fixed things. She says that they don’t know anything about Sirk's trick and are as angry as Angel is. Angel confesses to Gunn that Spike beat him because he wanted it more. "What if it means that…I’m not the one?" Angel wonders. Elsewhere in L.A., Eve enters an apartment and undresses while gloating to someone off-camera that Angel and Spike fell for the cup story and Sirk disappeared without the Senior Partners knowing anything. In addition, the gang is wondering if they can trust the Senior Partners. She crawls into bed and it is revealed that she is with a tattooed Lindsey McDonald
Lindsey McDonald
Lindsey McDonald is a fictional character from the television series Angel. He first appeared in the series' first episode, "City of," and featured prominently in the story arcs of seasons one, two, and five. Lindsey is the only character besides Angel himself to appear in both the first and last...
. "Well...it’s a start," he replies.
Production
Although credited, Alexis Denisof doesn't appear in this episode. This was due to his and Alyson HanniganAlyson Hannigan
Alyson Lee Hannigan is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Willow Rosenberg in the cult classic television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Michelle Flaherty in three American Pie films, and Lily Aldrin on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother.-Early life:Hannigan was born in...
's wedding at the time of filming. This is the only episode from which he is absent following his first Angel appearance in Season One's "Parting Gifts".
In the season retrospective, Joss Whedon says the battle between Angel and Spike in this episode is the highlight of the final season. That battle, Scott McLaren argues, "succeeds in portraying an almost perfect balance between the concepts of the soul as existential metaphor and ontological reality." Since the Shanshu prophesy destines the ensouled vampire to a pivotal and dangerous role in the ultimate battle between good and evil, Spike and Angel's souls function both as "heavy burdens and precious baubles."
Nancy Holder says this episode marks the transition from Spike's characterization as it was in the seventh season of Buffy to a new, "never-before seen" version, defined by his relationship with Angel instead of Buffy. When Angel tells Spike that "Buffy never really loved you, because you weren't me", and Spike responds with "Guess that means she was thinking about you all those time I was puttin' it to her", Holder says that Spike is "betraying all the soft emotion he had for her in his eagerness to deal Angel a blow." Rather than reacting out of love for Buffy, the new Spike cares only about putting down Angel.
Adam Ward, the first assistant/focus puller, says the scenes at the abandoned Opera House were unexpectedly difficult to film. "It's one thing to see it on camera and another being on location in this theater that hasn't been used other than for film shots for decades. You get in there and the matter that floats around looks great on camera but you just don't want to breathe it in."
Trivia
After Spike hits Angel across the room with the cross, he stands holding the cross as his skin burns and says, "You've never met the real me." This is the same thing he tells Buffy in the Season Seven episode "Never Leave Me" when he asks her to kill him.Acting
Christian KaneChristian Kane
Christian Kane is an American actor and singer/songwriter of Native American descent. He currently stars as Eliot Spencer on the TNT series Leverage. He is best known for his roles in the television shows Angel and Into the West, and the movies Just Married and Secondhand Lions.He is the lead...
returned as Lindsey McDonald
Lindsey McDonald
Lindsey McDonald is a fictional character from the television series Angel. He first appeared in the series' first episode, "City of," and featured prominently in the story arcs of seasons one, two, and five. Lindsey is the only character besides Angel himself to appear in both the first and last...
in the last moment of the final scene of this episode, which Sarah Thompson describes as "a secret scene" that didn't appear in the original script. She says, "I heard rumors there was going to be a big reveal, but I didn't know what was going to happen. David Boreanaz was like, 'Maybe you're going to turn out to be a lizard.'" She received the scene in an envelope marked 'confidential' shortly before filming, with strict orders not to reveal Kane's return.
Juliet Landau
Juliet Landau
Juliet Rose Landau is an American actress best known for her role as Drusilla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff show Angel, the latter appearance earning her a Saturn Award nomination. She is also known for co-starring as Loretta King Hadler in Tim Burton's Ed Wood.She has appeared in a...
, excited to return to Angel, says, "this is a particularly fun episode... There are so many different colors and dimensions. Even though [Spike and I] are the villains and we are evil, there always has been this very sweet love story between us."
Arc significance
- Lindsey McDonald returns in the final moments of the episode, having not been seen since the Season Two episode "Dead End". He will go on to play an important role later in the season, and will appear in the series finale.
- Spike regains corporeal form, courtesy of what will be revealed as Lindsey.
Continuity
- Angel tells Eve that a mysterious package was responsible for re-corporealizing Spike, much like the one that arrived in "Conviction" that caused Spike to materialize.
- This episode reveals the first time that Spike and Angelus actually meet. This was never done in the previous seasons of Buffy or Angel as any other time they are on screen together, they already know each other.
- Given Wesley's absence, this is the only episode of the series not to feature any of the members of Angel Investigations from the first seasonAngel (season 1)The first season of the television series Angel, the spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, premiered on October 5, 1999 on The WB Television Network and concluded its 22-episode season on May 23, 2000...
with the exception of Angel himself.
Cultural references
- The Music ManThe Music ManThe Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
: Eve's comment, "We've got trouble with a capital T, that rhymes with P, that stands for prophecy," is a nod to one of the songs from this musical. - SupermanSupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
: Spike says that Angel is fighting for "Truth, Justice, and Soccer moms" in reference to Superman's "Truth, Justice, and The American Way". - In the Mouth of MadnessIn the Mouth of MadnessIn the Mouth of Madness is a 1995 American horror film directed by John Carpenter and written by Michael De Luca, who was at the time of the film's release in charge of New Line Cinema...
: The dialogue between Gunn and Eve while a crazed man is coming towards them from behind a glass, carrying an axe, mirrors a similar scene in John CarpenterJohn CarpenterJohn Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
's movie. - Dead KennedysDead KennedysDead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....
: When Spike drives off toward Death Valley he is both seen and heard singing along to the single Too Drunk to FuckToo Drunk to Fuck"Too Drunk to Fuck" was the fourth single by the Dead Kennedys. The record was released in May 1981 on Cherry Red Records with "The Prey" as the b-side...
in the car.
Reception
The Parents Television CouncilParents Television Council
The Parents Television Council is a U.S. based advocacy group founded by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995 using the National Legion of Decency as a model...
filed a complaint against a WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
station for the flashback sex scene in which Angel's hips can be seen "moving back and forth." The PTC was also disturbed by the "heavy breathing" in an earlier scene between Darla and Drusilla. However, the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) later ruled that the scene was not indecent, as it was "brief, contained no nudity and was not sufficiently graphic or explicit to render the program patently offensive."
This episode, which ran during sweeps, was praised by TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
for the writers' decision to finally make Spike corporeal again. Reviewer Matt Roush says this episode stands with "the best of Buffy." Author Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
agrees that the producers had perfect timing: "Just when we're getting sick of Spike as a ghost, suddenly, just like that, poof, he's not anymore."