Family (Buffy episode)
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"Family" is an episode of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer that centers on the character Tara.
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Plot Outline
In episode 6 of season 5, "Family", Buffy informs Giles of what she found out in the previous episode, "No Place Like Home": Dawn is the thing that Glory so desperately wants. They decide to protect Dawn, but also not to tell the others. To be able to protect Dawn better, Buffy moves out of the dorm with the help of her friends. While everybody is packing, Willow reminds them that there is going to be a birthday party for Tara at The Bronze.
In Sunnydale's hospital, Ben goes into the locker room, but am moment later it is Glory who is standing there with a Lei-Ach demon. Chained to her clothes rack, the demon later tells her that Buffy is the Slayer. Glory sends the Lei-Ach and his friends to kill her.
The Scooby Gang meets at the magic shop with a pile of books to figure out who Glory is. Buffy and Xander discuss their present for Tara and admit that even though they think Tara is nice, they don't understand her at all and more to the point have no idea what to give her. A hick who comes in the shop and makes stupid remarks about magic turns out to be Tara's big brother when she and Willow walk into the door. Her brother is followed by her father and a cousin — and Tara is obviously none too happy to see them.
Cut to Spike and Buffy fighting in his crypt, as scene that turns out to be Spike's fantasy while having sex with Harmony. She tells Spike that the Lei-Ach is off to kill Buffy, and Spike runs off, officially to watch the Slayer die.
Tara returns to her room to find her father there, disappointed that she is still interested in magic. He berates Tara for not contacting her family for months, and tells her she is coming back home with him. How will her friends feel when they find out about her true self, he asks. After her father has left, Willow comes by, and wants to repeat the demon location spell that Tara had sabotaged before. Tara declines, saying she is tired, and Willow returns to the magic shop alone to continue the research on Glory. Tara sneaks in the shoop after her and casts a spell.
In a different scene We see Riley in the monster bar, drinking heavily after a discussion with Buffy that did not go well. A girl hits on him — a vampire, it turns out.
When Tara meets her cousin and stammers that she won't be coming back, the cousin calls her a selfish bitch who doesn't care a bit about her family and warns that her friends will find out anyway. Tara's cousin figures out that Tara has cast a spell that will prevent the Scoobies from seeing the demon part of her. The cousin tells Tara that she will be telling her friends if Tara doesn't, and so she should do it first.
When the Lei-Ash demons knock at the magic shop, Willow opens, but nobody can see them or their attacks, and so the just walk in. The Scoobies are left fighting air. Spike runs in and helps Buffy fight the monsters, but Buffy can't see him, either. Tara comes back to confess her secret. When she sees what is happening, she immediately lifts the spell. Buffy kills the last demon just as Tara's family walks in the door.
Tara admits that it was her her spell that almost got her friends killed. Her father tells the whole story: The women in his family have demon in them, which comes out at a certain age and is the source of her magic. Tara starts to leave with her family, but Willow stands up and intervenes, asking Tara what she herself wants. Tara's father insists that Tara will go with him and threatens force. Buffy steps up and tells him that he will have to go through her to take Tara. The rest of the group — with the exception of Spike — stands up for Tara, too, and Buffy lets it be known that Tara is with her family. Anya starts a discussion about what kind of demon Tara is, and when the father doesn't answer, Spike punches Tara in the nose. The pain in his head is proof for all that Tara is pure human, and that the family curse is only a legend.
Tara is cast out of her old hick family, but adopted by her new one: The big birthday party at The Bronze has everybody enjoying themselves. Willow and Tara dance tight — floating half a meter off the ground.
Importance
"Family" answers the questions that had been popping up about Tara's true self in the past episodes, and Tara is accepted as a true Scooby. Spike's crush for Buffy intensifies, as does Riley's despair about being kept at a distance. We find out that Riley has a dark secret. Glory now knows who Buffy is, another step towards finding the Key.
Writing and Acting
We again have Buffy keeping secrets from the others, an annoying but at least consistent personality trait throughout the series. Interestingly, Giles doesn't argue.
Tara's family is the stereotype hick family, right down to the accent and the demented brother.
Tara is believable as the teenage daughter trying to free herself from a life of family oppression where the father is addressed as "Sir". However, it is not quite clear why she would not admit her supposed demon self to the Scoobies: By now she must realize that they are not really too picky about the races they hang out with. The idea that Tara never tried to figure out just what sort of demon she would turn into beggars belief.
Spike solving the problem by punching Tara also begs the question of why he would be so helpful. Also, you would expect Giles and Willow to have better ways of detecting a demon's presence. It is arguable that there is a bit of deus ex machina at work here.
It is unclear why Buffy can't see Spike. Since he is only half-demon, the same rules should apply as to Tara: Demon part hidden, human part visible.
Quotes and Trivia
"That was funny if you studied Taglarin mythic rites." — Tara after a joke goes bad. Later she explains it to Anya, who predictably still doesn't think it's funny
"Well, this earns you a big favor. There could be outfits." — Buffy hinting at what Riley's reward for helping her move might be
"Be still my heart" — Riley's answer, a popular saying either in Sunnydale or with the writers of Buffy: See "Teacher's Pet"
"Only losers drink alcohol" — Dawn making sure we haven't forgotten the moral from "Beer Bad"
Dawn brings Tara a new broom as a present, an obvious witch joke.
We find out why Buffy's parents split up: He is in Spain, with his secretary.
Cast
- Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
- Marc Blucas as Riley Finn
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
- Clare Kramer as Glory
- James Marsters as Spike
- Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
Other Languages
German title: "Familienbande" ("Family ties")
External links
- BBC episode guide to "Family" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/indetail/family/index.shtml)
- BuffyGuide.com on "Family" (http://www.buffyguide.com/episodes/family.shtml)
- Buffy Body Count synopsis of "Family" (http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/Episodes/506_Family.html)