Family (Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode)

Infobox Television episode
Title=Family


Series=Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season=5
Episode=6
Airdate=November 7 2000
Production=5ABB06
Writer=Joss Whedon
Director=Joss Whedon
Episode list=List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
Prev=No Place Like Home
Next=Fool for Love

"Family" is the sixth episode of season 5 of the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

Plot synopsis

ummary

Tara’s family, the Maclays, make a surprise visit to Sunnydale, and she does not seem eager to see them.

Expanded overview

Willow and Tara are on the bed in Wilows dorm room, with Tara reading spell books and Willow under the covers. Willow asks for a story and Tara tells her about a kitten. Willow tells Tara she is tired but Tara asks if she can keep the light on to study spells, telling Willow she just wants to catch up to her level. Willow convinces her to come to bed and the two snuggle.

Buffy tells Giles that Dawn is the key that Glory is hell-bent on finding. They decide to protect Dawn without telling others about it. Buffy moves back to her house with the help of her friends, whom Willow reminds about Tara's birthday party.

At the hospital, Ben enters the locker room. A moment later, Glory is there and captures a Lei-Ach demon, who tells her that Buffy is the Slayer. Glory sends it and its friends to kill her.

While researching Glory in the magic shop, Buffy and Xander admit that they do not really know Tara, though they both agree that she is definitely "very nice." They wonder what kind of a present to get for Tara. Meanwhile, in his crypt Spike fantasizes about fighting with Buffy while having sex with Harmony (assuring her that he was only thinking of her). Xander explains that he doesn't really know Tara; the only thing he knows that she likes is Willow, and "she already has one of those." Giles enters their conversation, asking how they could sit in a magic shop and not have a clue what to get a witch for her birthday, finally concluding that they are "profoundly stupid." A young man comes into the Magic Box and disparages magic. He reveals himself as Tara's big brother, who has come to town with Tara's father and a cousin for Tara's birthday. While Tara is clearly not thrilled at their presence, she agrees to have dinner with her family that evening.

Tara returns to her room to find her father there. He expresses disappointment that she has not quit magic and berates her for being out of reach for months. He tells her she is going home before her friends find out about her evil self. After he leaves, Willow returns and wants to repeat the demon location spell that Tara had secretly sabotaged before. Tara fakes fatigue, so Willow returns to the magic shop. Tara follows her and casts a spell to prevent her friends from seeing manifestations of evil.

Meanwhile, Riley is drinking heavily in Willy's old demon bar after another argument with Buffy. Sandy hits on him, but he recognizes her as a vampire. Harmony returns to the crypt and tells Spike that the Lei-Ach demons have been summoned to kill Buffy. Spike leaves, saying he wants to catch a decent seat.

Tara's cousin finds her on campus. When Tara refuses to go home, her cousin derides her for being selfish, leaving her father and brother to "do for themselves", and realizes that Tara has cast a spell on her friends. She tells Tara to tell her friends before she does.

Thanks to Tara's magic, the Lei-Ash enter the Magic Shop unseen. They search for the Slayer and attack everyone in their path. Giles hides Dawn under a desk. Only Buffy manages to put up a decent fight. Spike gets there and defends her, too. Since he was not present when the spell was cast, he was unaffected and can see all the demons (although, being demon himself, Buffy is unable to see his efforts).

Tara reaches the shop and quickly ends the spell. The demons are beaten. Tara's family arrives, claiming that, because of demonic heritage, all of the women in their family turn evil when they become adults. Willow is visibly hurt, thinking their love had been fake but Tara insists that it was true. When Tara's family insists on taking her away, all her friends make it clear they will fight to defend her.

Spike, while making sure to clarify he doesn't care about Tara, punches her. Spike himself is hurt as the computer chip in his brain causes pain only when he hurts a human being. Bolstered by this knowledge, Tara declares she will stay with her new family. Her relatives leave. Her cousin scornfully asks if Tara is happy. She smiles in reply.

Riley arrives at the birthday party and kisses Buffy. Willow saves Tara from Anya by asking her to dance. Tara asks how Willow can always make her feel special, and Willow tells her :Magic. They embrace on the dance floor and begin to levitate.

Acting

tarring

*Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
*Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
*Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
*Marc Blucas as Riley Finn
*Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
*Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
*James Marsters as Spike
*and Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest starring

*Mercedes McNab as Harmony Kendall
*Clare Kramer as Glory
*Charlie Weber as Ben
*Amy Adams as Cousin Beth
*Steve Rankin as Mr. Maclay
*Amber Benson as Tara Maclay

Co-starring

*Ezra Buzzington as Bartender
*Peggy Goss as Crazy Person
*Teddy Pendergrass as Demon
*Megan Gray as Sandy
*Kevin Rankin as Donny
*Brian Tee as Intern

Production details

Music

*Melanie Doane - "I Can't Keep My Eyes Off You". - Plays whilst Tara and Willow dance at the end of the episode.
*Motor Ace - "American Shoes"
*My Vitriol - "Cemented Shoes"
*Yo La Tengo - "Tears Are In Your Eyes"

Translations

* Italian title: "La famiglia" ("The family")
* German title: "Familienbande" ("Family ties")
* French title: "Les liens du sang" ("Blood Ties")
* Spanish title: "La familia" ("The family")

Quotes

Continuity

Arc significance

* Buffy continues her habit of keeping secrets from the others. Giles goes along with it.
* It becomes clear why Tara botched the attempted "detection spell" in Season Four.
* Tara is accepted as a true Scooby; by the end of the episode, she has mostly lost her stutter.
* Spike's crush for Buffy intensifies, as does Riley's despair about being kept at a distance.
* Glory now knows who Buffy is, another step towards finding the Key.
* Sandy, the vampire Riley was talking to in Willy's Place, was the girl Vampire Willow bit in Season Three's "Doppelgangland".

Timing

*Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:

References

External links

*
*
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/indetail/family/index.shtml BBC episode guide to "Family"]
* [http://www.buffyguide.com/episodes/family.shtml BuffyGuide.com on "Family"]
* [http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/Episodes/506_Family.html Buffy Body Count synopsis of "Family"]