Checkpoint

"Checkpoint" is the twelfth episode of season 5 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Plot synopsis

Summary

The Watchers' Council comes to Sunnydale to tell Buffy what they know about Glory, on condition that she proves herself worthy. She refuses to go through their tests, and they tell her Glory is a god.

Expanded overview

The Scooby Gang gathers at Buffy's house to discuss the Council's plans to come to Sunnydale, which Buffy is very upset about. She recalls that her two previous experiences with the Council put her life in serious danger, and wishes that they would just give her the information she needs without making the trip to Sunnydale.

Glory is at her place, panting and in obvious pain. Dreg and another demon rush into the room, bringing a hysterical mailman. They carry her to the crying man and help her put her fingers to his temples to drain away his sanity. She gets up, refreshed, and the disoriented mailman wanders away. The other demon warns her that she has even less time now to use the key, but Glory isn't worried. She explains that if Buffy is the only obstacle between her and the key, that she won't need much time at all.

Quentin Travers and a large team of watchers arrive at the Magic Box. They disrupt business, sending paying customers home and criticize Giles's selection of merchandise. They announce that the Magic Box will be closed for the duration of the Council's stay in Sunnydale. Giles is frustrated and takes an antagonistic position, and then learns that the Council plans on conducting an extensive review of Buffy (her methods, skills, and abilities). Quentin announces that they have information on Glory, but won't reveal it until Buffy's skills have been comprehensively tested and she proves she can handle the information.

In Buffy's history class, the teacher is discussing how Rasputin was considered nearly impossible to kill. Buffy challenges the professor to look at history from another angle, but he shoots her ideas down with scathing criticism and sarcasm, embarrassing her in front of the class. That night, Buffy complains about class to a vampire she's fighting until she is thrown off balance. Spike suddenly appears, flying over a tombstone to tackle and stake the vampire. He expects gratitude, but Buffy accuses him of getting in her way. The two then verbally attack each other.

Jinx confronts Ben at the hospital and relays a message from Glory, who wants Ben's assistance in gathering useful information about the Slayer. Ben responds by beating up the demon. Quentin informs Buffy and Giles that she must pass the review or he will shut down the shop and deport Giles. Buffy and Giles realize that they must cooperate with the Council, which is powerful enough to carry out all its threats. Buffy worries that she may fail, placing everyone in even greater danger.

Council members interview the rest of the Scooby Gang, including Spike, for information about the Slayer. Lydia interviews Spike, and she reveals she wrote her thesis on him. With the exception of Spike (who declares her to be "slipping" because she "can't keep a man"), they all try not to incriminate Buffy in any way, and each tries to justify his usefulness to her (without making it sound like Buffy actually needs help). In the training room, Buffy is blindfolded and her fighting skills are tested against one of the council members, but she does not pass the test.

Upon returning home, Buffy finds Glory in her living room. During this confrontation, Glory openly threatens to kill all of Buffy's friends and family and force Buffy to watch her do so. Visibly disturbed by this, Buffy takes Dawn and Joyce to Spike for protection. Although Spike initially protests the sudden increase of "manly responsibilities", he agrees to look after them; after a moment's awkwardness, Joyce and Spike discover their shared addiction to a common soap opera and sit down to watch it together.

On her way to the shop to meet with the council for a comprehensive review of her plans and strategies, several well-armed men wearing medieval fighting gear attack Buffy. Buffy takes them out and discovers from the last conscious one that they are the Knights of Byzantium and are in town to destroy the Key. They consider her their enemy because she protects the Key. Buffy returns to the shop and informs Mr. Travers that she is not going to deal with the review anymore. She now knows that she holds power against both Glory and the Council because they both need something from her; Glory needs to know where the Key is, and the Council needs her to make their jobs meaningful. She delivers an authoritative speech justifying the participation of each of her friends, and demands that Giles be reinstated as her Watcher (receiving retroactive pay from the month of his dismissal). She finally instructs the Council to give her the information that she needs.

Quentin reluctantly agrees to her terms. He then informs Buffy that Glory isn't a demon. She's a god.

Acting

Starring

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

Guest starring

• Clare Kramer as Glory
• Charlie Weber as Ben
• Cynthia Lamontagne as Lydia
• Oliver Muirhead as Phillip
• Kris Iyer as Nigel
• Kevin Weisman as Dreg
• Troy T. Blendell as Jinx
• Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
• Harris Yulin as Quentin Travers
• and Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers

Co-starring

• Wesley Mask as Professor Roberts
• Justin Gorence as Orlando
• Peter Husmann as Mailman
• Jack Thomas as Council Member #4
• John O'Leary as Council Member #5

Production details

Translations

• Italian title: "Il controllo" ("The check")
• German title: "Der Rat der Wächter" ("The watcher's council")
• French title: "L'inspection" ("The Inspection")
• Spanish title: "Descontrolada" ("Out of Control")
• Japanese title: "チェックポイント" ("Chekkupointo" - "Checkpoint")

Quotes and trivia

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Buffy the Vampire Slayer#Checkpoint

• In this episode, Anya invents the name "Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins" to give to the Council delegation. Despite the fact that the name is entirely fake, Anya keeps it, as shown by the fact that she sings the full name in the Season Seven episode "Selfless".
• Until Anya established her own invented name, Buffy Trading Cards listed her last name as "Emmerson." However, this is not canon.
• The Japanese karate instructions Buffy was given in her assessment were firstly shoumen ni rei (bow to the front), shoumen-zuki (front punch), ushiro-geri, empi-uchi (back kick, elbow-strike)
• Lydia notes that Giles is keeping a statue in the store and that "its removal from Burma is a criminal offense" and that it has the power "to melt human eyeballs". Giles had previously used a similar statue of a fertility god to attack Toth in "The Replacement".

Continuity

Arc significance

• Beside demonstrating Buffy's distinct detachment from the Council's power structure, this episode sees Giles reinstated at full (retroactive) pay into the Council as her Watcher, as well as revealing the truth of this season's Big Bad: Glory isn't any ordinary demon, she's a Hellgod.

• This is the first time Giles is officially Buffy's Watcher since season 3's "Helpless". Additionally, the last time that we saw Quentin Travers was near Buffy's eighteenth birthday; this episode is very close to Buffy's twentieth.

• Introduction of the Knights of Byzantium, one of three powers connected to the Key.

External links

• "Checkpoint" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Checkpoint" at TV.com
• "Checkpoint" on BuffyGuide.com