Two to Go (Buffy episode)
Encyclopedia
"Two to Go" is the 21st episode of season 6 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The name of the episode is a reference to the previous one, which ends with Willow saying "One down" after killing Warren. Despite the death of Tara Maclay, she remains in brief scenes that are part of the opening credits.
This episode, and its second part, "Grave
", were shown, back-to-back, as a two-hour feature on its original airing in both the USA and UK – consequently, the presentation of this episode on DVD includes credits such as "Grave" Written by...
Joss Whedon uses a credit technique after the final scene. He doesn't put Anthony Stewart Head's name in the opening credits at all, and instead appear at the end as a "Special Guest Star", so as to keep the character's appearance a surprise. Whedon also does this in Angel for Julie Benz
in "To Shanshu in L.A.", Eliza Dushku
in "Judgment", Juliet Landau
in "The Trial" and Alyson Hannigan
in "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb".
, Xander
, and Anya
try to pursue Willow
, who has killed Warren
to avenge his murder of Tara
and now plans to execute his two jailed accomplices. The discover that Willow has damaged Xander's car to prevent them from catching her. Buffy continues her pursuit on foot.
Anya teleports into Jonathan and Andrew's cell shortly before Willow arrives. Anya and Buffy manage to evade Willow's attack and slip away with the two men. As Xander drives them away in a stolen police cruiser, Willow attacks them with a truck she is wielding magically; but her overuse of power has drained her power, and they escape.
In a cave in Africa, Spike continues to pass stages in his ordeal.
Dawn
and Clem decide to go to the dark magician Rack's lair, expecting Willow to try to deal with him to recharge her powers. Buffy, Xander and Anya regroup at the Magic Box and debate their course of action. Buffy believes she can convince Willow to relent, but the others disagree; Buffy heads for Rack's, alone. Xander admits to Anya that he might have been able to stop Warren before he fired on Buffy and Tara, but was afraid to intervene, unarmed.
Willow meets with Rack, who attempts to seduce her. She rejects his advances, seizes him, drains his power, and kills him, just as Dawn arrives. Dawn's effort to calm the much more powerful Willow prove futile and serve only to annoy her, but Buffy arrives before she acts against Dawn. Buffy tries to talk with Willow, who replies that nothing in the world matters anymore since Tara's death. Willow teleports the group back to the Magic Shop, where Buffy and Dawn collapse. As Willow attacks, Anya fires up a protection spell to shield Jonathan and Andrew. As Willow intensifies her attack, Buffy tries a physical attack, allowing all but Anya to escape.
Willow subdues Buffy, then disables Anya and negates her protection spells. As she declares her victory, she is struck down by a bolt of energy from the just-arrived Rupert Giles
.
This episode, and its second part, "Grave
Grave (Buffy episode)
"Grave" is the sixth season finale of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This episode is the second highest rated Buffy episode ever to air in the U.K., Sky One aired the episode which reached 1.22 million viewers on its original airing....
", were shown, back-to-back, as a two-hour feature on its original airing in both the USA and UK – consequently, the presentation of this episode on DVD includes credits such as "Grave" Written by...
Joss Whedon uses a credit technique after the final scene. He doesn't put Anthony Stewart Head's name in the opening credits at all, and instead appear at the end as a "Special Guest Star", so as to keep the character's appearance a surprise. Whedon also does this in Angel for Julie Benz
Julie Benz
Julie M. Benz is an American actress, best known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and as Rita Bennett on Dexter, for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television...
in "To Shanshu in L.A.", Eliza Dushku
Eliza Dushku
Eliza Patricia Dushku is an American actress known for her television roles, including recurring appearances as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel. She starred in two Fox series, Tru Calling and Dollhouse...
in "Judgment", Juliet Landau
Juliet Landau
Juliet Rose Landau is an American actress best known for her role as Drusilla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff show Angel, the latter appearance earning her a Saturn Award nomination. She is also known for co-starring as Loretta King Hadler in Tim Burton's Ed Wood.She has appeared in a...
in "The Trial" and Alyson Hannigan
Alyson Hannigan
Alyson Lee Hannigan is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Willow Rosenberg in the cult classic television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Michelle Flaherty in three American Pie films, and Lily Aldrin on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother.-Early life:Hannigan was born in...
in "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb".
Plot
BuffyBuffy Summers
Buffy Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name...
, Xander
Xander Harris
Alexander LaVelle "Xander" Harris is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as in numerous items in the series Expanded Universe, such as comic books, tie-in novels and video games...
, and Anya
Anya Jenkins
Anya is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She also appears in the comic book series based on the television show. Portrayed by Emma Caulfield, the character appears as a guest star in the third and fourth seasons of the show before...
try to pursue Willow
Willow Rosenberg
Willow Rosenberg is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the TV series by Alyson Hannigan...
, who has killed Warren
Warren Mears
Warren Mears is a fictional character portrayed by Adam Busch in the American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as its canonical comic book series continuation.-Television:...
to avenge his murder of Tara
Tara Maclay
Tara Maclay is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed by Amber Benson from the fourth to the sixth season until the character's death. Tara is a shy young woman with magical talents who falls in love...
and now plans to execute his two jailed accomplices. The discover that Willow has damaged Xander's car to prevent them from catching her. Buffy continues her pursuit on foot.
Anya teleports into Jonathan and Andrew's cell shortly before Willow arrives. Anya and Buffy manage to evade Willow's attack and slip away with the two men. As Xander drives them away in a stolen police cruiser, Willow attacks them with a truck she is wielding magically; but her overuse of power has drained her power, and they escape.
In a cave in Africa, Spike continues to pass stages in his ordeal.
Dawn
Dawn Summers
Dawn Summers is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and introduced by Marti Noxon and David Fury on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, portrayed by Michelle Trachtenberg. She made her debut in the premiere episode of the show's fifth season, and subsequently appeared in every...
and Clem decide to go to the dark magician Rack's lair, expecting Willow to try to deal with him to recharge her powers. Buffy, Xander and Anya regroup at the Magic Box and debate their course of action. Buffy believes she can convince Willow to relent, but the others disagree; Buffy heads for Rack's, alone. Xander admits to Anya that he might have been able to stop Warren before he fired on Buffy and Tara, but was afraid to intervene, unarmed.
Willow meets with Rack, who attempts to seduce her. She rejects his advances, seizes him, drains his power, and kills him, just as Dawn arrives. Dawn's effort to calm the much more powerful Willow prove futile and serve only to annoy her, but Buffy arrives before she acts against Dawn. Buffy tries to talk with Willow, who replies that nothing in the world matters anymore since Tara's death. Willow teleports the group back to the Magic Shop, where Buffy and Dawn collapse. As Willow attacks, Anya fires up a protection spell to shield Jonathan and Andrew. As Willow intensifies her attack, Buffy tries a physical attack, allowing all but Anya to escape.
Willow subdues Buffy, then disables Anya and negates her protection spells. As she declares her victory, she is struck down by a bolt of energy from the just-arrived Rupert Giles
Rupert Giles
Rupert Giles is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head. He serves as Buffy Summers' mentor and surrogate father figure...
.
Cultural references
- Andrew: "We've got maybe seconds before DarthDarth VaderDarth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa burgers, and not one of you bunch has the midi-chlorians to stop her." — This line contains three different Star WarsStar WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
references. - Andrew compares Willow to Dark Phoenix, alluding to a storyline in X-MenX-MenThe X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
comics: Jean GreyJean GreyJean Grey-Summers is a fictional comic book superheroine appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She has been known under the aliases Marvel Girl, Phoenix, and Dark Phoenix and is best known as one of five original members of the X-Men, for her relationship with Cyclops, and for her...
, a psychokineticPsychokinesisThe term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...
mutant, is taken over by a cosmic entity in moments of great emotional stress. - In the scene right after the opening credits, Andrew tells Jonathan, "Laugh it up, Fuzzball", another Star WarsStar WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
quote. - Spike, when confronted with the flaming-fists opponent in Africa, says "Here we are now, entertain us", a line from "Smells Like Teen SpiritSmells Like Teen Spirit"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, Nevermind , released on DGC Records...
". - As Xander, Dawn, Jonathan and Andrew are running from Willow, Andrew asks if they are just going to wait for "Sabrina" to show up.
Arc significance
- Giles returns to Sunnydale (again).
- Rack, the warlock who was at the helm of Willow's downward spiral into magic addiction, is killed and his hideout is not seen again.