Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Series) Dead Things (2002) User Reviews

Vampires look in the mirror and see nothing. Buffy looks in the mirror and hates what she sees.

[skay_baltimore · 7/10 · 4 August 2010]

The essence of "Dead Things": (Spike to Buffy at The Bronze) "You see...you try to be with them...but you always end up in the dark. With me. What would they think of you if they found out all the things you've done? If the knew who you really were?" He then puts his hand up her skirt and forces her to keep her eyes open -- on her friends -- while he plays with her. She can't stop him because she doesn't want to stop him. Yet she despises the fact that she doesn't want to stop him.

And while it's convenient for Buffy to think that she's only falling for Spike because she came back from the heavenly realm damaged and demonized, Tara confirms that Buffy is not a demon; she's just got a case of "sunburn" that is sending Spikes' chip a false positive demon signal. Buffy simply cannot face her own dark drives, and this episode really highlights that fact to perfection.

As for the rest of the episode...

The Trio come up with some high tech love potion...blah blah blah...Warren accidentally kills his ex-girlfriend Katrina and The Trio attempt to pin the blame on Buffy...blah blah blah...Buffy eventually figures out that Warren is behind Katrina's death...blah...blah...blah...Willow and Tara seem to be moving closer to a reconciliation...blah...blah...blah...

But the bottom line is that Buffy wants/needs Spike more than she can admit to herself. When she screams at Spike that he's dead inside, she's really talking about how she herself feels. But as usual...she lacks the proper insight to see that she's actually just described herself. When Tara tells her there's nothing wrong with her as a result of the resurrection she keeps insisting that there must be because she simply cannot accept who and what she really is. She begs Tara to not forgive her, because she cannot accept and/or forgive herself.

The One Where Buffy Is Being Set Up...

[taylorkingston · 8/10 · 20 April 2015]

I love this episode. I just love the Trio, as they call themselves. I think they're one of the best villains the show had, and I love that they are basically powerless nerds who just want to be super villains. Not evil, just super villains. I think they read one too many comic books.

In this episode, Buffy is having trouble putting pieces of her day together, after she supposedly kills a girl. She is having double-vision, time-lapses, yet she still thinks it's all her fault. Spike, being the only one there, and the only one who knows, gets rid of the body. Buffy is determined to turn herself in, when she realizes what really happened. The Trio, used a device on Warren's ex-girlfriend, to make her their slave. The effects wear off and she tries to escape. Then Warren "accidentally" kills her. Jonathan and Andrew want to go to the police and explain to them what happened, but Warren doesn't let them. Instead, they hide it by messing with Buffy and making her think she did it.

Overall, I give this episode an 8 out of 10, which in my rating book is: Awesome.

A highlight.

[egmondnordin · 8/10 · 17 November 2023]

So far Buffy season 6 has stayed in the middle ground. Nothing really stuck out until this episode. Buffy gets SA'd by spike, the trio kill a girl and frame Buffy for it who's got too much on her mind. The downside to the episode is Dawn who will try to make the situation about herself everytime. The best part on the episode is the last part, the conversation between Buffy and Tara. The dialogue hits just right and Sarah Michelle Gellar as always puts on her total A game. A lot has happened in this episode, but they're strong and the messages it brings feel like a return to form like the older episodes around seasons 1/3 except that it's grown ppl problems now.

An underrated episode

[ossie85 · 9/10 · 23 August 2022]

Warren, Jonathan and Andrew have made an object that makes any girl fall in love with them, but things go horribly wrong when Warren's ex-girlfriend, Katrina is killed. Panicking, the three decide to set Buffy up with the killing of Katrina. Buffy is still trying to get over Spike.

Why It's So Good - This episode is somewhat divisive, but I feel it is one of the strongest of season 6. It connects the storylines between Buffy's downward spiral and the Trio's schemes better than any other episode. Buffy has the wake up call she needs, and her scene with the always great Tara was heart-breaking. She needs help, and is finally seeking it. Meanwhile, the Trio's pathetic games finally have some consequence, as Warren's true steps towards being a villain begin, while Jonathan starts to see what they are really doing.

Watch Out For - Microphones in water.

Quote - "We're not gonna have to do that at the wedding, are we? 'Cause there's this last thread of dignity I've been desperately clinging to." - Willow about dancing at Xander and Anya's wedding.

A really dark episode

[katierose295 · 5/10 · 4 September 2006]

This is the episode that turns the Trio into real villains. Until now, they've basically just been pests. Stealing diamonds, making invisibility rays, robbing banks, etc... In "Death Things" the commit murder, which will change them forever and drive the season forward. "Dead Things" is an important episode, but it's also really dark.

"Dead Things" revolves around the Trio accidentally killing Warren's ex-girlfriend, Katrina. They hypnotized her with the idea of making her into love-slave, but things went wrong and she wound up dead. Andrew and Jonathan panic. But Warren comes up with a plan to pin the murder on Buffy. He has Andrew call up some time-shift demons to confuse Buffy, then they stage a fight and trick Buffy into thinking that she killed Katrina during the confusion. Meanwhile, Buffy continues to sleep with Spike and feel disconnected from the Scoobies. Willow is trying to stay "clean of magic" and win Taar back. And Anya and Xander continue to plan their wedding. Buffy goes out on patrol and is set upon by weird time fluxes, thanks to the Trio's demons. Buffy falls for their trick and thinks that she killed Katrina. She wants to confess, but at first Spike stops her. He tells her that it was an accident and she can't go to jail. She's the Slayer. But Buffy is insistent. They get into a fight, where he lets her punch him mercilessly. Spike is trying to get he to relieve some of her anger. But Buffy is out of control. When she finally stops hitting him, she stumbles into the police station. While there, though, she realizes that the Katrina is the victim and links her to Warren. Deciding that the Trio is behind the murder, she goes home, more determined than ever to find them. Tara then tells Buffy that she's investigated and Buffy is still fully human. Spike can only hit her because her cells got a "sunburn" during her resurrection. Buffy begins to sob and confesses to Tara that she and Spike have been sleeping together. Buffy can't explain what's wrong with her and why she feels so disconnected from the world. Tara hold her while Buffy cries.

There are some good parts to "Dead Things." I think that it's Jonathan's finest episode, showing how he's different from Warren and even from Andrew. He and Andrew were both shocked when Katrina accused them of attempted rape. They never thought of their "super villain" plans in real terms before. Jonathan's face reflects his growing horror as he really sees what they've done. When Katrina dies, Andrew sits on the steps crying. Warren immediately starts calling the body "it" and plotting how to get rid of Katrina. Jonathan stares at him in shock and disgust, but as Warren keeps pressuring him, Jonathan reluctantly agrees to the plan. His disillusionment with Warren is a fatal crack in the Trio dynamic, though. One that will play into the season finale. Also, that scene with Spike and Buffy standing on either side of the door to his crypt is pretty cool. They're so close, yet so far apart. Finally, Tara is great in this episode. Comforting Buffy and listening patiently as Buffy tells her about sleeping with Spike. Tara is the only Scoobie who seems like a responsible, adult these days.

Maybe I just love Spike. Or maybe I'm just sick of Buffy's whining and self pity. But I really don't think that Spike is dragging HER into the darkness. I think that Buffy is the one making HIM darker. At the beginning of the season-- Heck, for the past three seasons-- Spike has been a playful sort of guy. Evil? Sure. But still watching cartoons and soap operas. Even his "relationship" with the Buffy-bot was full of light fighting and other "fun" Spike stuff. It's only since he's been sleeping with Buffy that he's been all depressed. She's being dark and broody, and Spike is changing to fit her. He does the same thing when he's with Dru. Buffy is the one spinning out of control and she's taking Spike with her. Their relationship is, frankly, kind of creepy and I blame Buffy for it.

Oddly, I think that Buffy blames herself, too. It seems like "Dead Things" is contrasting Warren with Buffy. Warren kills Katrina. Buffy dreams of killing Spike. Warren hits Katrina over the head and then stands over her body in shock. Buffy beats Spike into the ground and then stands over him, apparently appalled at what she's done. Warren and Buffy are both punishing other people for their own failings. Warren kills Katrina for not loving him. Buffy attacks Spike because she doesn't love herself. Buffy punching Spike mirrors Faith hitting Buffy during the body switch episode "Who Are You?" In it Faith, beats Buffy because Buffy looks like Faith and Faith hates herself. In "Dead Things," Buffy seems to be hitting Spike as a substitute for herself. Cursing him with words that are really directed at herself. Punishing him for caring for her. How could he love her when even she doesn't? At the end of the episode, she even begs Tara not to forgive her, because Buffy can't forgive herself. Buffy's in an emotional collapse and really needs some help.

On the down side, Spike couldn't weigh down one body? How hard could it be? Geez! Also, didn't we already establish that people sometimes get hurt during slaying, but it isn't a matter for the police? The second half of season three was all about Faith accidentally killing the deputy mayor and everyone was pretty clear that it was a suppose to be a Council matter. Buffy didn't even suggest calling Giles. I think that Buffy just wants to confess to the police so she has a way out of her life.

My favorite part of the episode: Spike and Buffy discussing decorating tips as they lay under Spike's numerous oriental carpets.

A Dark Season Gets Darker

[Samuel-Shovel · 5/10 · 9 July 2018]

In "Dead Things", the Trio create a talisman that makes them irresistible to the lady of their choosing. Warren puts the spell over his ex-girlfriend but things get weird when she snaps out of it. After threatening to report them to the cops, Warren hits her over the head, killing her. Warren puts a confusion spell over Buffy with the help of some demons and tries to convince Buffy that she killed his ex. Buffy asks Tara to look into the spell that brought her back from the dead. Buffy continues to cope with her sexual desires for Spike and wonders what is wrong with her.

This episode really seems like a fulcrum point for the season. Before now, the Trio have always felt like dorky kids getting up to shenanigans: invisibility spells, stealing diamonds, etc. This is where they seems to take a dark turn; attempting to rape then murder his ex, it really can't get much darker than that. Warren seems to be a bit more twisted than his two compatriots. We'll see where their relationship goes from here.

Buffy's relationship with Spike gets less and less healthy with each episode. It was heartbreaking to see her break down like that in front of Tara.

The turning point

[Joxerlives · 5/10 · 19 July 2012]

The Good; The tearful, incredibly intimate scene between Buffy and Dawn in bed. Also am I the only one who is charmed by Buffy confiding in Tara who seems to have blossomed once she split up from Willow? LOVE the Buffy/Tara scene at the end, how many times have you seen a character crying on her knees begging NOT to be forgiven?

The Bad; Even with the 'happy' ending hugely depressing.

Best line; Willow; "Shimmy on out when you're done lubricating"

Women good/men bad; The Geeks show their horrid misogyny. Especially awful when they refer to Katrina's body as 'it'. We see the fault lines develop in the Troika as Andrew sides with Warren and Joanthon starts to pull away from them.

Jeez!; The killing of Katrina is just awful beyond belief

Kinky dinky; Where to begin? I've heard that SMG was no fan of the Spike/Buffy relationship, she found it demeaning and it's probably because of eps like this. SO packed full of sex and sexual metaphor with the scene at the Bronze astonishingly graphic (actually that's not true, we see nothing, it's all implied) and kinky (Exhibitionist sure but exactly WHAT sort of sex do they have? What specifically of Spike's goes where precisesly in Buffy? 5th base? Buffy even says she needs "More lubrication"!). It's often cited by Spike defenders as justification for the later bathroom rape scene but her initially resisting then surrendering into bliss here is a very different kettle of fish to that. When she moans 'No' like some porn princess she doesn't necessarily mean no, when she pleads 'Please, stop, don't' through her tears SHE MEANS NO!

French Maid Katrina, we're obviously supposed to think the geeks will hypnotise Buffy into being their sex slave as stated in their original aims in 'Flooded' and the subject of much creepy fanfic (The Erotic Mind Control Archive) I do like the one where we discover the effect of the Orbs wears off but Buffy turns the tables and keeps using the Geeks as a guilt free booty call.

Captain Subtext;

Buffy imagines herself having sex with Katrina. Katrina tells the Geeks they'll be homosexually raped in prison. If ever there was a time for Buffy and Tara to hook up it would be between the end of this ep and the next. Warren tells a struggling Andrew and Jonathon 'You girls stop touching each other'.

Buffy just wants to curl up on the sofa for the night with Dawn but there's a distance between them. Joyce's illness and death brought them closer but Buffy's detachment since her resurrection has forced them apart again.

At the Bronze Spike tries to draw Buffy into the darkness, both inside and out. Instead she draws him into the light...

Scoobies in bondage: Buffy imagines herself in handcuffs (wants to be punished? Is that why she wants to go to jail?) but only in a dream sequence as far as we know for sure.

Kills: 1 demon for Buffy and 2 for Spike

Scoobies go evil: Giles: 1 Cordy: 1 Will: 2 Jenny: 1 Angel: 1 Oz: 1 Joyce: 1 Xander: 4 Anya; 1 Dawn; 1

Alternate scoobies: Buffy: 7 Giles: 4 Cordy: 1 Will: 3 Jenny: 2 Angel: 3 Oz: 2 Joyce: 2 Xander: 4 Tara; 1 Dawn;1 Spike; 1

Recurring characters killed: 11, poor Katrina Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce, Katrina Sunnydale deaths; 93

Spike; good or bad? A pivotal episode in this genre. Spike cares for Buffy so he helps her cover up the murder. But he doesn't care for Katrina, he truly doesn't understand why Buffy is so upset at killing her (even Faith and Warren show remorse). Not his fault, he doesn't have a soul. Spike makes many of the arguments that Faith made when she killed Finch but the difference is that Faith was in denial and making excuses whilst Spike actually believes what he's saying, he has no guilt as Faith had. He also comments that he once ate a decorator.

Dawn in peril; 8

Dawn the bashful virgin; 6

Questions and observations; Once again we see the difference in Faith and Buffy, how Buffy reacts to having killed someone and how Faith did (at least how she did in the past). Why doesn't Buffy just go to the Watcher's Council and ask them for their judgement? Willow has had no spells for 32 days, making this ep a full month after DMP. Note Buffy's little 'Thank you' to God/PTB when Katrina's scream interrupts her lusty feelings for Spike. Please note that when Buffy tells Dawn what's happened and what she intends to do Dawn never goes "What's going to happen to me?", she only expresses concern for her sister not herself. "You always hurt the one you love" is featured again just like in the Angel ep RM w/a Vu. Some great acting from Danny Strong when Warren and Andrew are euphoric at getting away with murder, you can just see Jonathon knows he's got in way over his head.

Marks out of 10; 5/10 good episode but not much fun for anyone

Mind control

[Realrockerhalloween · 5 October 2016]

Warren devises a device that allows the user to control others. It was nice to have Katrina return, but like every thing this season its crashing as the trio plan to turn her into a sex slave and pleasure them. Yet it does show Warren is sexist either by observing it or learned it he sees women as object that do everything you order them to do. Another aspect is they try to blame Buffy for their actions instead of taking responsibility showing that they are moving on from petty games in to serious territory and revolving back to the first point that women should suffer for their crimes. Yet Buffy is a strong woman who figures out there plan, can beat them up and out them in prison. Even though Spike can woo her back into his bed, she does it by choice not by force and even turns away from him when she's at her weakest. Please can James Mardeston keep his shirt on for one episode, we her he has washed board abs and looks great.

Also I love how Buffy takes responsibility at this point by keeping her job and for going to jail if need be for a crime she didn't commit. It Even shows Another difference between Faith & Buffy as one tried to hide the crime as she convinces herself she feels nothing and the other feels remorse as they head to the police station to confess. Also Buffy even turns to Tara asking for advice on why his chip doesn't work only to find out the chip censors are confused and there's nothing wrong with her. She was making up excuses and trying to hide her mural feelings for Spike without wanting to admit it.

Buffy's worst ever episode

[p1phillips · 1/10 · 11 October 2014]

Buffy's relationship with Spike is getting increasingly kinkier. Meanwhile, the trio of nerds plan to make a woman their sex slave. Leader Warren picks his ex-girlfriend Katrina. When the spell wears off and Katrina threatens to tell the authorities, Warren kills her. He decides to pin the murder on Buffy.

This episode is where "Buffy" veers straight into soap opera melodrama. There is very little of the supernatural to be found - just a brief appearance by demons who disrupt the fabric of time. The episode is mainly concerned with Buffy confronting her internal disgust. She hates what she has become and that she can't seem to stop herself on this dark path. Her realisation in "Gone" that she doesn't want to die and that she's okay with being back in the world seems largely forgotten.

I can't fault this show's characterisation or the way characters have to address their actions and beliefs. Sarah Michelle Gellar's acting is excellent. But the episode has zero entertainment value. It's dark, it's depressing, and it's full of icky kinky sex. This episode seems to have forgotten the show's theme of addressing human issues through a supernatural context. It's more like "Days Of Our Lives" with a supervillian/s plotting the downfall of a nemesis.

And what's with all the rape themes in season 6? I hated this episode. In a season full of subpar episodes, this one sinks right to the bottom.