Family (Buffy episode)
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"Family" is the sixth episode of season 5 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.
Plot synopsis
Summary
Tara's about to celebrate her 20th birthday. Her family arrives — but not to celebrate the occasion. They've come to take her home before she turns into an evil demon just like her mother did at the same age. When Glory sends some Lei-Ach demons to take care of the Slayer, Tara inadvertently helps the demons toward their goal in her attempt to keep her friends from seeing what she believes lies beneath her surface.
Expanded overview
Buffy tells Giles that Dawn is what 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 know Tara, though she is nice. A hick comes into the Magic Box and disparages magic. He is Tara's big brother. Her father and a cousin have come, too. Tara is not thrilled.
Tara returns to her room to find her father there. He is disappointed 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 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.
In his crypt, Spike fantasizes about fighting with Buffy while having sex with Harmony. She tells him that the Lei-Ach is on his way to kill Buffy. Spike leaves, saying he wants to catch a front-row seat. Meanwhile, Riley is drinking heavily in the demon bar after another argument with Buffy. Sandy hits on him.
Tara's cousin finds her on campus. Tara refuses to go home. The cousin derides her for being selfish, 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.
Tara reaches the shop and ends the spell. Now visible, the demons are quickly beaten. Tara tries to explain her mistake when her family arrives to claim her. They tell the Scoobies that the females in the family turn evil when they become adults. Willow asks Tara if her love was deceitful, but Tara emphatically denies it. Tara's father insists on taking her away, but Buffy leads the Scoobies in stepping up for Tara. Spike hits Tara across the face, hurting them both and proving there is no demon in her. Her family made up the story to control the powerful women. Tara stays with her new "family."
Riley arrives at the birthday party and kisses Buffy. Willow saves Tara from Anya by asking for her dance. They embrace on the dance floor and begin to levitate in their cocoon of love.
Writing and acting
Buffy continues her habit of keeping secrets from the others. Giles goes along with it.Tara's family is the stereotypical hick family, right down to the accent and the demented brother.
It also becomes clear why Tara botched the attempted "detection spell" in season 4. She was afraid she was a demon, and that Willow would discover this when she lit up on the map.
Cast and crew
- Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
- Marc Blucas as Riley Finn
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
- Clare Kramer as Glory
- James Marsters as Spike
- Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
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
German title: "Familienbande" ("Family Ties")Quotes and trivia
- "Be still my heart." — Riley continues a Buffy'' tradition. See Teacher's Pet and The Prom
- "Only losers drink alcohol." — Dawn reminds us of the moral in "Beer Bad"
- Dawn brings Tara a new broom as a present, an obvious witch joke.
- Melanie Doane's "I Can't Take My Eyes Off You" plays at the end as Willow and Tara dance. The love song suited the beautiful moment.
- This episode reveals Tara's surname to be Maclay.
Continuity
Arc significance
"Family" answers questions raised about Tara in previous episodes and 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. We find out that Riley has a dark secret. 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 Dopplegangland. Apparently Vampire Willow sired Sandy offscreen during the episode.
Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) | Buffyverse chronology: Fall 2000 - December 2000 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B5.01 Buffy vs. Dracula (Buffy episode)>Buffy vs. Dracula |
| L.A., 2000 | A2.01 Judgment (Angel episode)>Judgment |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy graphic novel: Haunted (Buffy comic)>Haunted (by Jane Espenson) |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B5.02 Real Me (Buffy episode)>Real Me |
| L.A., 2000 | A2.02 Are You Now or Have You Ever Been (Angel episode)>Are You Now or Have You Ever Been |
| L.A., 2000 | Angel book: Image (Angel novel)>Image |
| L.A., 2000 | Angel book: Stranger to the Sun (Angel novel)>Stranger to the Sun |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B5.03 The Replacement (Buffy episode)>The Replacement |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy graphic novel: False Memories (Buffy comic)>False Memories |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy Graphic novel story: |
| L.A., 2000 | A2.03 First Impressions (Angel episode)>First Impressions |
| L.A., 2000 | Angel graphic novel: Long Night's Journey (Angel comic)>Long Night's Journey |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B5.04 Out of My Mind (Buffy episode)>Out of My Mind |
| L.A., 2000 | A2.04 Untouched (Angel episode)>Untouched |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B5.05 No Place Like Home (Buffy episode)>No Place Like Home |
| L.A., 2000 | A2.05 Dear Boy (Angel episode)>Dear Boy |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B5.06 Family (Buffy episode)>Family |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy graphic novel: Autumnal (Buffy comic)>Autumnal |
| L.A., 2000 | Angel graphic novel: Autumnal (Autumnal Comic)>Autumnal |
| L.A., 2000 | A2.06 Guise Will Be Guise (Angel episode)>Guise Will Be Guise |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B5.07 Fool for Love (Buffy episode)>Fool for Love |
| L.A., 2000 | A2.07 Darla (Angel episode)>Darla |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B5.08 Shadow (Buffy episode)>Shadow |
| L.A., 2000 | A2.08 The Shroud of Rahmon (Angel episode)>The Shroud of Rahmon |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B5.09 Listening to Fear (Buffy episode)>Listening to Fear |
| L.A., 2000 | A2.09 The Trial (Angel episode)>The Trial |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B5.10 Into the Woods (Buffy episode)>Into the Woods |
| L.A., 2000 | A2.10 Reunion (Angel episode)>Reunion |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B5.11 Triangle (Buffy episode)>Triangle |
| L.A., 2000 | A2.11 Redefinition (Angel episode)>Redefinition |
External links
| Buffyverse | ||
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| Places | L.A. | Sunnydale Bronze | Caritas | Hellmouth | Hyperion | Library | Magic Box | Pylea | Sunnydale High | |
| Music | Complete Tracklist | Use of Music in Buffy & Angel | Dingoes Ate My Baby | Film | | | Once More, With Feeling | |
| Key Terminology | "Demon" | "Slayer" | "Vampire" | "Watcher" | "Werewolf" | "Witch" "Child of Senior Partners" | Shanshu | Sunnydale Syndrome | Tro-Clon | |
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