Him

"Him" is the sixth episode of the seventh and final season of television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This episode mostly revolves around Dawn Summers, although Buffy is still the main character.

Plot synopsis

Summary

Dawn Summers falls in love with RJ, a football player at her high school and becomes desperate to win his affections, despite her awkward social skills in his presence. Her sister Buffy falls for RJ at first sight as well and the two fall out over the matter. After RJ briefly visits the Summers' home Anya and Willow fall for him as well, even though Willow is gay.

As Buffy, Anya and Willow each plot to win RJ's love, Dawn, feeling overshadowed by and inferior to her three older friends, lays herself across train tracks to await a train to crush her to death. Meanwhile, Buffy leaves to kill RJ's nemesis, Principal Robin Wood, Anya robs a bank, and Willow begins an elaborate spell. When Xander and Spike finally learn about the coming mayhem, they set out to track the women and stop them.

Finally, it's revealed that RJ's letter jacket is the cause of all the Sunnydale women falling for the football player. The jacket is destroyed and all is well.

Expanded overview

Xander introduces Spike to his new living environment: Xander's apartment. Buffy tries to convince a reluctant Xander that Spike needs their help and a place better than the basement to live. Spike's about as reluctant as Xander, but Buffy thinks this is the right thing for him. Buffy and Dawn talk privately about Buffy's feelings for Spike and why she's helping him in light of the pain he's caused her. Dawn starts to rant about love and relationships and Buffy leaves so she can return to work. An attractive jock on the football field then catches Dawn's attention and she falls off the bleachers while distracted by him.

Buffy fights with and kills a demon at Anya's apartment that was sent by D'Hoffryn. Anya thanks her for the help, but she doesn't want it to seem like she needs help. Buffy explains that the gang need Anya's help and she wants to protect her friends, Anya included. At the high school, Dawn prepares to confront her dream guy and once she finds him, she tries to start up a conversation with him. He's with another player, O'Donnell, and two cheerleaders talking about cheerleader tryouts and most of Dawn's awkward comments don't quite fit with the crowd. Later, Dawn tries out for the cheerleading team wearing Buffy's old cheerleading uniform, but she falls and makes a fool out of herself. At home that night, Dawn locks herself in the bathroom and cuts up the cheerleading uniform while Buffy tries to get her to come out.

Buffy tries to offer help and support, but considering Buffy's track record with guys, Dawn isn't interested. The next day at school, Dawn overhears O'Donnell inform R.J. that he won't be starting quarterback for the game and she confronts O'Donnell. She yells at him at first, but then in a moment of anger, she shoves him and he falls down a flight of stairs. Dawn has a meeting with Principal Wood and Buffy about the incident and informs them that the jock just tripped and fell down the stairs. Buffy realizes though that Dawn may have been motivated by her love for R.J. and actually pushed O'Donnell down the stairs.

R.J. catches up with Dawn after her meeting and they talk; R.J. invites her out on a date. At the Bronze, the gang sit around and talk about Spike's progress at Xander's place as they spot R.J. dancing with a slutty-looking girl. They're all beyond shocked when they see that the girl is Dawn. Buffy confronts her sister and lays down the law about Dawn's clothes and behavior, but Dawn puts up quite a fight for her right to do whatever she wants. Unable to get past Buffy to return to the dance floor, Dawn leaves and encounters one of the cheerleader girls in the alley. They begin to fight over R.J. and have to be broken up by Buffy.

Buffy watches as Principal Wood lectures R.J. about not doing his own homework and then Buffy catches him for another lecture. She gets on his case about the way he's treating girls, but quickly, something comes over Buffy and she starts to swoon over him like a love-sick school girl. Buffy catches Dawn as she returns home that night and tells her about her meeting with R.J. Buffy offers encouragement to her sister by explaining that she has a chance with R.J. and that he really likes her.

At school the next day, Buffy pulls R.J. out of class and takes him to an empty room. While Dawn walks the halls peeking into rooms in search of R.J., Buffy adoringly listens to R.J. talk about football and his troubles at school and then starts kissing him just as Dawn peeks into the room. Dawn runs outside in tears and into Xander. He tries to comfort her, but realizes that Buffy would be more help and goes to find her. He's surprised to find her on top of R.J. and promptly takes her home for a much needed intervention with the others. It's implied that Xander stopped Buffy from having sex with R.J. At the Summers house that night, Buffy and Dawn fight over their love of R.J., while Xander, Willow and Anya try to keep the peace until they can reverse the love spell obviously affecting the sisters.

Willow searches for information on R.J. and instead finds information on R.J.'s older brother, Lance, who Xander remembers from high school. Xander and Spike go to find R.J.'s brother and despite his popular status at high school, he isn't quite his attractive, popular self anymore. After some chatting, the guys realize that R.J.'s jacket has been handed down through the family. R.J. shows up at Buffy's house looking for her, but Willow and Anya tell him to leave. As R.J. walks away, Willow and Anya start to look at him lovingly and then argue about which of them he loves more. Buffy and Dawn jump into the fight and soon Dawn is hurt and depressed that her friends and sister are taking her guy away while the other three plot to win R.J. Buffy goes to kill the Principal (who had disciplined R.J.), Willow works on a spell to make R.J. a woman, Anya takes off to rob a bank, and Dawn lays herself across railroad tracks.

Xander stops Willow from completing her spell and then brings her along to stop Buffy from killing Principal Wood with her old rocket launcher. Spike tackles Buffy before she can kill the principal, and although she puts up a fight, he gets the weapon away from her. Using Willow's locator spell, they find Dawn on the railroad tracks just as a train is headed for her. Buffy jumps in and rescues her sister just before the train hits. Scared at the thought of losing her sister, Buffy shows that the spell wasn't that strong and admits her willingness to give up R.J. if it means that much to Dawn. Finally, Xander and Spike jump R.J. on the street and steal his coat, then burn it in the fireplace at the Summer's home. All the girls feel terrible about the way they acted and the things they almost did. Willow questions what Anya did to prove her love to R.J., Anya dodges the subject with a quick lie and turns off the radio as a news report is heard about a wanted bank robber on the loose.

Acting

Starring

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

Guest starring

• Thad Luckinbill as R.J. Brooks
• Brandon Keener as Lance Brooks
• D. B. Woodside as Robin Wood

Co-starring

• Yan England as O'Donnell
• Angela Sarafyan as Lori
• David Ghilardi as Teacher
• Riki Lindhome as Cheryl

Production details

Music

• Aberdeen - "Handsome Drink"
• The Breeders - "Little Fury"
• Coldplay - "Warning Sign"
• King Black Acid - "School Blood"
• Percy Faith - "Theme from A Summer Place"
• Tamara Silvera - "Let You Know"
• The Breeders - "Son of Three"
• The Shins - "New Slang"

Translations

• Italian title: On TV "Irresistibile" ("Irresistible") or, on DVD, "Lui" ("Him")
• German title: "Liebesbeweise" ("Demonstrations of Love")
• French title: "Folles de lui" ("Crazy (fem. pl.) About Him")
• Spanish title: "Él" ("Him")

Quotes and trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (February 2008)

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

• The band playing in the scene at The Bronze is The Breeders, fronted by former Pixies bassist Kim Deal, and her twin sister Kelley.

• After meeting with Principal Wood and Buffy about O'Donnell falling down a flight of stairs, Dawn walks away and leaves her schoolbag slung over the chair. In the next shot, however, her bag is shown slung over her shoulder.

• Dawn says "no one expects the Spanish Inquisition," referencing a Monty Python Spanish Inquisition sketch.

• Thad Luckinbill, who plays R.J., is nearly seduced by the older, more experienced Buffy Summers; Luckinbill is actually two years older than Sarah Michelle Gellar.

• Buffy constantly tells Dawn that she alone is under a love spell, similar to the episode "Something Blue", where she is convinced that she is not being influenced by Willow's magic.

• Xander's line "Welcome to the Hellmouth" is a reference to the first Buffy episode "Welcome to the Hellmouth".

• One scene involves Xander and Willow checking out Dawn as she was dancing with R.J., not realizing who she was. A similar scene occurs in EuroTrip, which Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn) also starred in, where one of her friends is checking her out from behind but then he becomes disgusted when she turns around.

Continuity

• The episode contains several callbacks to the similar episode "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered". A shot in which Dawn's eyes travel from Xander's shoes to his head recalls a mock-glamor shot of Xander in that episode, and later a brief flashback of the show (in which former characters Cordelia Chase, Jenny Calendar, Joyce Summers, and a still-human Harmony Kendall can be seen) is shown as Xander reminisces. The spell that Willow attempts to change RJ into a woman involves her invoking the goddess Hecate. In "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", Amy's spell that changes Buffy into a rat invokes Hecate as well. She also called on Hecate to attempt to curse Jenny Calendar, but Xander stopped her, saying "Quit with the Hecate."

• For only the third time during the course of the series, Buffy is seen driving and she again drives very badly. Buffy first drives in the Season Three episode "Band Candy" and for the second time, in Faith's body, in Season Four's "Who Are You".

• Despite the fact no one in the Summer's residence seems to be able to drive (at least not well) Buffy still has her mother's jeep first seen in "Welcome to the Hellmouth"

• Buffy (almost) uses the rocket launcher she obtained (through Xander, illegally) in the season 2 episode "Innocence" on Principal Wood.

• Dawn uses Buffy's cheerleader uniform from the Season One episode "Witch".

• This is the second time in the show's history that Xander has been delegated with housing Spike, the first time being in Season 4 when Spike first received the chip in his head.

Arc significance

• Buffy tells Anya that she doesn't like the idea of her friends out on their own and as a result Anya starts spending more time at Buffy's house. This begins the trend of more and more people staying at the Summers' residence as the season progresses.

External links

• "Him" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Him" at TV.com