Shadow (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

"Shadow" is episode 8 of season 5 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Plot[]

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Joyce gets a CAT scan at the hospital while Buffy and Dawn wait impatiently for news.

In Glory's luxurious headquarters, a demon named Dreg offers a spell to Glory. Dreg promises that this spell will allow Glory to find the Key.

Riley finds Spike in Buffy's room, sniffing her clothes. Spike declares that Buffy would not care that he was in her room, and that the clothes-sniffing was just normal predator activity. He also reveals that he knows about Buffy's mother going to the hospital – which Buffy had failed to mention to Riley – and was there to comfort her the previous evening. Spike insinuates Riley cannot keep Buffy satisfied, and Riley tells him to stay away from Buffy and throws him out. Riley shows up at the hospital to comfort Buffy. Joyce confesses to Buffy that the doctors have found a "shadow" in her CAT scan, and they need to do an initial operation to evaluate her condition, and to discover whether surgery is an option.

At The Magic Box, the Scoobies continue to search for information that might indicate the origins, purpose, or weaknesses of Glory. Tara suggests that maybe the Beast is something that is too old for the books, which Giles believes may explain the presence of the Dagon Sphere, which is to ward against that "which cannot be named". They discuss the possibility that Glory may predate language itself, when she herself shows up there and buys several items for a spell. The gang is oblivious to her true identity, and she leaves the store without incident. Back at the hospital, the doctor tells Buffy her mother has a brain tumor and presents her with her mother's options. Ben, an intern, gets the doctor away from Buffy, giving her a break from the doctor's constant questions.

Riley takes Dawn to the park, where he tries to comfort her about her mother. Dawn tries to make Riley feel good by positively comparing him to Angel, but unintentionally makes him feel worse: she relates that she thinks Riley is good for Buffy because Buffy was always in tears over her tumultuous relationship with Angel, but she never cries over Riley - she never "gets that worked up" over him.

Back at The Magic Shop, Buffy talks with the gang about the possibility of helping her mother through the use of magics. However, while Willow expresses willingness to help if she can, Tara and Giles both insist that the magical and the medical are not meant to mix, and that any attempts they made to help Joyce would likely only make things worse. As Anya sorts through receipts at The Magic Shop, she realizes Giles had sold items needed for an ancient Sobekian transmogrification spell. The gang describes the Temple of Sobekian as an ancient Egyptian cult who worshipped reptiles and were "heavy into dark magic", but the Sobekian spells were thought to have been lost for centuries. Giles remembers to whom he sold the items and realizes that Glory had been to the shop and that she must have obtained the lost spell. Buffy takes off in search of Glory, despite the concerns of Giles and her friends that Glory will overpower her again. At the Sunnydale Zoo, Glory steals a cobra and performs the spell with Dreg. Buffy arrives to stop her, interrupting the spell, but gets beaten up badly again. The cobra is transformed into a giant cobra monster with arms, and Glory sends the demon on a mission to locate the Key.

Riley arrives at the magic shop in search of Buffy. The gang tells Riley that Buffy went after Glory, and he demands to know why they would let her do something so dangerous. Giles reminds Riley that "let" is not an issue when Buffy sets her mind to something. Xander tells Riley that Buffy is so upset about the situation with her mom that she needs something to fight. Buffy calls Giles from the hospital and tells him to take care of Dawn while she stays with her mother. She stays with her mother as the doctor tells her more about Joyce's condition - she has a brain tumor, and they do not know yet if it is operable. Riley returns to Willy's bar to drink away his worries and again encounters the vampire Sandy. He allows her to bite him in the alley, but stakes her.

The cobra demon arrives at the magic shop and goes after Dawn. Dawn screams in fear and the cobra retreats. Realising that the cobra knows Dawn is the Key and is returning to inform Glory, Giles and Buffy go after the demon. Buffy catches up with it near Glory's apartment and kills it, then lets out her pent-up frustration from her time at the hospital by continuing to beat up the lifeless cobra. Glory watches from a window, frustrated that her snake monster has failed to return. Joyce tells Dawn the truth about her health. Riley is there to comfort Buffy but she refuses to accept comfort from him, insisting that she needs to stay strong for her family. Joyce calls for Buffy and she turns and walks away, oblivious to his attempt to caress her face. Riley is left standing alone in the hallway, becoming increasingly frustrated with Buffy's inability or unwillingness to develop an emotional closeness with him.

References[]

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Shadow

• "Shadow" at IMDb
• "Shadow" at BuffyGuide.com