Into the Woods

Season 5, Episode 10
Written by Marti Noxon
Directed by Marti Noxon
Original Airdate: 18 December 2000
In Memory of D.C. Gustafson

“You make me feel like I’ve never felt before in my life. Like a man. I just thought you might wanna know.”

Xander

REGULAR CAST

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

GUEST CAST

Bailey Chase as Graham Miller
Nick Chinlund as Major Ellis
Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers

CO-STARRING

Randy Thompson as Doctor Kriegel
Rainy Jo Stout as Junkie Vampire Girl
Emmanuel Xuereb as Whip
Adam G. as Tough Vampire

SYNOPSIS

At the hospital, the Scooby Gang awaits news from the doctor about Joyce’s surgery and they are all relieved when the surgery is a success. Dawn spends the night with Xander and Anya. With the house to themselves, Buffy and Riley spend a romantic evening together. In the middle of the night, Riley sneaks out of the house. Spike, who has been standing outside the house, secretly follows Riley to an old building.

Buffy spends the day with her mother in the hospital discussing Joyce’s wig options and Buffy’s relationship with Riley. Spike wakes Buffy from sleep that night to show her what Riley has been doing. Buffy is shocked to find him in the arms of a female vampire, being fed upon. Graham has persuaded his commanding officer to seek Riley’s help in destroying demons for the government. They offer Riley a place on their team.

Buffy and the gang go after the nest of vampires only to find the building empty. Buffy sets the building on fire, leaving her friends in the dark about what’s truly bothering her. Riley is furious that Spike allowed Buffy to see the truth and after throwing the vampire around a bit, he stakes him. Fortunately for Spike, the stake is plastic. Spike and Riley talk and find that they both love her, but she doesn’t return the feeling to either of them.

Buffy releases her aggressions on a punching bag in the training room until Riley shows up determined to talk to her. He tells her he started it because he wanted to know what Buffy felt when she was bitten. Riley tells her that the vampires needed him and Buffy didn’t. After Buffy tries to convince him that she’s given him everything she has, Riley tells her about the offer to return to the government. He is going to leave unless she can give him a reason to stay.

The vampires from the nest surround Buffy as she’s leaving the shop. She stakes every single one of them. Xander witnesses this and confronts Buffy, not willing to let her hide from her problems. He shows her the truth that she’s been ignoring, and tells her that she has to decide if she’s really willing to lose Riley for good. She runs as fast as she can, but Buffy is unable to get to the airport fast enough to stop Riley from leaving. The helicopter takes off with Buffy on the landing pad, calling after Riley.

After his talk with Buffy, Xander realizes that he needs to tell Anya how much he loves her and he does. Still shocked, Buffy returns home while Riley leaves Sunnydale, not looking back.

TRIVIA

Marc Blucas left Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this episode, but appeared again in As You Were for one episode. Bailey Chase also plays Graham Miller for the final time in this episode.

Marti Noxon, who wrote and directed this episode, said about Riley’s departure, “Sunnydale romance just rarely goes well. Buffy with a boyfriend is not as interesting as Buffy in some kind of romantic strife. Riley, by his nature, was such a good and constant character that we were at risk of things getting a little dull.”

The “In Memory of D.C. Gustafson” at the end of the episode refers to Gustav Gustafson, who was the Leadman for the show during seasons one and two. Gustav was apparently a close friend of Sarah Michelle Gellar, and died in November 2000 at age 41 after fighting cancer and AIDS.

CONTINUITY

Giles mentions his ‘Ripper days’ which we learned about in The Dark Age.

Riley uses Buffy’s encounter with Dracula as an excuse for letting the vampire’s feed on him. Dracula appeared in Buffy vs. Dracula.

GOOFS

After Spike is ‘staked’ by Riley, we can see that there’s no hole in his shirt.

At one point in his scene with Riley, Spike reaches for his wine bottle and starts to open it. The camera cuts away and in the next shot of Spike, he has his hand on his chest and then starts to open the bottle.

Riley didn’t tell Buffy what time he’d be leaving (he just said “tonight”), yet she tells Xander he’s leaving at midnight. She also knew where he was leaving from, though Riley never gave her this information.

When Buffy is angrily punching the bag, the tape around her right hand disappears when Riley walks in.

We saw Riley getting bitten by a vampire on his neck in Shadow, but he has no mark there in this episode. Buffy would have seen this when they were making love in this episode.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

EPISODE
Listening to Fear / Triangle

STORY ORDER
Listening to Fear / The Trial