History Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E18Intervention

* {{Adorkable}}: Strangely enough, the Buffybot comes across this way.

* KissMeIAmVirtual

* UnwillingSuspension: Spike is chained up by his wrists from the ceiling so Glory can slice his flesh off with a knife.

* AnywhereButTheirLips: Averted, despite Buffy not wanting to give Spike the slightest hint of encouragement in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E14Crush Crush]]". This is our first indication that [[FoeRomanceSubtext the attraction might be mutual after all]].

* AdoptTheDog: Spike's [[DefiantToTheEnd willingness to face torture and death]] to protect Dawn. His HeelFaceTurn was earlier, but ''this'' is the moment he becomes both not evil, and significantly less of a jerk. Made complicated by the fact that he is still a soulless vampire, but still a significant point in his CharacterDevelopment.

* BaitAndSwitchComment

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Loads and loads...

* SexBot / RobotMe: The Buffy-bot.

## "Love... give... forgive." Buffy forgives Spike's lechery with the Buffybot and grants him "the barest smidgen" of affection he pleaded for in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E14Crush Crush]]", thus gaining a loyal and powerful ally.
## "Love will bring you to your gift. Death is your gift." In the season finale "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift The Gift]]", Buffy's love for Dawn leads her to perform a HeroicSacrifice that saves the world.
## "Love is pain, and the Slayer forges strength from pain." Buffy's DestructiveRomance with Spike leads to a stronger relationship between the two of them in Season 7, after both parties learn to accept their love and forgive each other.

* IdiotBall: The Scoobies' failure to realise the Buffybot is a robot, given that they quickly realised April was one. {{Handwave}}d by them thinking that Buffy is still loopy from the VisionQuest or has gone wacko out of grief, but actually due to RuleOfFunny.

* FakeShemp: Nicholas Brendon was very sick during production of this episode so his twin brother Kelly, who had previously appeared as Xander's doppelganger in [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E3TheReplacement "The Replacement"]], stepped in to play Xander in the fight scene at Glory's apartment building.

* AdoptTheDog: Spike's [[DefiantToTheEnd willingness to face torture and death]] to protect Dawn. His HeelFaceTurn was earlier, but ''this'' is the moment he becomes both not evil, and significantly less of a jerk.

** Spike's "Yeah, but it was fun" is a refers to a smiliar line uttered by Buffy in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E1Anne Anne]]".

* GetAHoldOfYourselfWoman: Anya suggests doing this to Buffy, based on [[YouWatchTooMuchX what she's seen in movies]]. The others veto it.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/btvs_s5_ep18_intervention.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:"Hey! You look just like me! We're both very pretty!"]]

'''Buffy:''' I know this ritual! The ancient shamans were next called upon to do the hokey pokey and turn themselves around!\\

* GetAholdOfYourselfMan: Anya suggests doing this to Buffy, based on what she's seen in movies. The others veto it.

* SympathyForTheDevil: Despite hated Spike and being disgusted with the Buffybot, Xander confesses that he feels bad for him, since he was "thrashed" by Glory and lost his "favorite toy" all in one day.

* BerateAndSwitch: Near the end of the episode, when Spike discovers that the Buffybot kissing him is actually Buffy, she gets a moment of this. Buffy makes it clear that she's disgusted by the Buffybot, but as she's leaving, she stops and informs Spike that she's grateful he was willing to lay down his life and let Glory kill him to protect Dawn.

* OutOfCharacterAlert: Xander realies something is wrong with the Buffybot when she doesn't ask about Dawn.

## "Love will bring you to your gift. Death is your gift." In the season finale "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift The Gift]]", [[spoiler:Buffy's love for Dawn leads her to perform a HeroicSacrifice that saves the world.]]
## "Love is pain, and the Slayer forges strength from pain." [[spoiler:Buffy's DestructiveRomance with Spike leads to a stronger relationship between the two of them in Season 7, after both parties learn to accept their love and forgive each other.]]

-->'''Dawn:''' We're safe. Right. And Spike built a robot Buffy to play checkers with.\\

->''"(To Spike) What you did, for me, and Dawn - that was real.... I won't forget it."''
-->-- '''Buffy Summers'''

Buffy and Dawn are trying to settle into a new routine after their mom's death, which Buffy discusses with Giles following dinner one evening. Giles proposes to Buffy that she resumes her training, however Buffy is unsure despite the progress she had been making in mastering the true abilities of the slayer. Asked for a reason, Buffy confesses her worry that the more she learns, the less human she feels worrying that people don't know how much she cares about them (in particular, she worries that Joyce didn't know how much Buffy loved her). Giles suggests he and Buffy go to a sacred location in the desert so that she can undergo a vision quest. When they arrive, Giles performs a ritual to create Buffy's guide. A mountain lion appears and directs Buffy into the desert, which she recalls from her dream ("Restless").

Spike receives his Buffybot from Warren (commissioned in "I Was Made to Love You") who quickly leaves town. Spike and his Buffybot pretend to fight, which inevitably leads to sex. While Spike is sleeping it off, the Buffybot heads out to patrol for vampires. She runs into Xander and Anya in a graveyard and they believe her to be Buffy, but are puzzled because she is acting strangely--she didn't even ask about Dawn. Turning back to make sure Buffy is OK, Xander and Anya witness Spike and the Buffybot having sex in the cemetery. Xander and Anya are shocked and they go to Willow's place to tell her what they saw. Unbeknownst to them, Glory's minions also witness Spike and Buffy, and they conclude that Spike is The Key, and they rush back to tell Glory. At Willow's place, all are horrified and disturbed by Buffy's behavior, and Xander goes back to confront Spike. Spike has the Buffybot hide in the crypt from Xander. He tells Spike that he's taking advantage of Buffy during a difficult time. While they argue, Glory's minions show up, knock Xander unconscious, and take Spike (they don't see the Buffybot). Glory is upset when she sees Spike, as she knows Spike is a vampire and cannot be The Key, since The Key is pure. The minions insist that they saw Buffy protecting him ahead of the others, and Glory reasons that Spike may know something so decides to torture the information out of him.

Buffy wakes to find the First Slayer on the opposite side of a large fire. The First Slayer advises Buffy that love is at the center of all Slayers and that love will bring Buffy to her gift. When Buffy asks "What gift?", the First Slayer tells her death is her gift. Buffy insists that death is certainly not her gift, as she knows the pain that it can cause after losing her mother and doesn't want to offer it to anyone. The First Slayer states that Buffy's question has been answered, and disappears.

Worried about Spike, the Buffybot ignores the unconscious Xander at the crypt and goes to Willow's apartment for help. Willow sternly talks to the Buffybot (whom she mistakes for Buffy) about her sexual relationship with Spike, Xander comes home and fills everyone in about Spike being taken by Glory's minions. Realizing that Glory now has a captive who knows that Dawn is The Key, the gang goes to Buffy's house to get some weapons so they can either rescue Spike before he can reveal Dawn's secret, or do what must be done to keep him from talking.

When the Buffybot goes upstairs to change, the real Buffy enters, and the gang thinks it's the same Buffy they've just been talking to, creating more confusion. The Buffybot returns from upstairs, and, confronted with two Buffys the gang thinks that the other Buffy is a duplicate, but Buffy realizes right away that it's a robot that was likely built by Warren. She's very indignant that the others actually were fooled at all, and all are disgusted when they realize the Buffybot's purpose. However, Buffy quickly puts it aside when she is informed of Spike's situation; she decides to head out and kill him to prevent him from revealing the truth about Dawn to Glory. Unfortunately, they don't know where Glory is operating from. The only lead Buffy has is the area where she killed Glory's snake so decides to start searching from there.

Meanwhile, Glory is brutally torturing Spike, who refuses to tell her The Key's location and subjects her to a symphony of verbal abuse. Spike manages to escape through the elevator, where he finds the Scooby Gang (plus the Buffybot) waiting, and they fight off Glory's minions and leave the mansion, but the Buffybot is damaged and rendered inactive.

Spike rests in his crypt, beaten and bloody. The Buffybot enters the crypt and asks him what happened. When he tells her he didn't tell Glory about Dawn, the Buffybot says she's going to tell Glory, but Spike harshly stops her. She asks Spike why they shouldn't give Glory the information she wants, and Spike explains that the real Buffy would be completely destroyed if anything ever happened to Dawn, and he would rather die than live with Buffy in so much pain. The Buffybot leans over and kisses Spike gently on the lips. Spike pulls back as he suddenly realizes it is actually Buffy pretending to be the Buffybot. Buffy makes it clear that she is disgusted by the robot, but softens up and informs him that she will never forget what he did for them. The Buffybot was obscene and fake, but what he did for them was real. She then departs, leaving a speechless Spike staring after her.

!Tropes:
* ActOfTrueLove / AdoptTheDog: Spike's [[DefiantToTheEnd willingness to face torture and death]] to protect Dawn.

* AnywhereButTheirLips: Averted, despite Buffy not wanting to give Spike the slightest hint of encouragement in "Crush". This is our first indication that [[FoeRomanceSubtext the attraction might be mutual after all]].
* ArcWords: "Death is your gift".

-->'''Xander:''' Spike, Buffy has lots of friends, and we love her very much, and we’ll do whatever it takes to protect her. And if that happens to involve killing you; well, that's a bonus.
* BatmanGambit: Spike deliberately infuriates Glory, knowing that her response will be to [[BlownAcrossTheRoom punch him across the room]]. She does, and Spike is hurled yards... conveniently breaking him out of his restraints and depositing him in the hallway, from where he can now flee. The only snag was that he had to be smashed into the wall again.
-->'''Spike:''' ''(in pain)'' Good plan, Spike. Fabulous bloody plan.

* BigOMG: Buffy on meeting the bot.
-->'''Buffy:''' Oh my God.
-->'''Xander:''' And so say all of us.

-->'''Dawn:''' We're safe. Right. And Spike built a robot Buffy to play checkers with.
-->'''Tara:''' I-it sounded convincing when I thought it...?

* BreatherEpisode
* BuffySpeak: Buffy addresses the bot as "Skirt Girl".
* CallBack: "Intervention" is a reference to "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E7Revelations Revelations]]", where the Scoobies discovered that Angel was NotQuiteDead and [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend apparently involved]] with Buffy again -- she used the line, "What is this, Demons Anonymous? I don't need an intervention here."

** "I know this place." Buffy goes to where she met the First Slayer in her dream in "Restless".

** Buffy starts the search for Glory's BigFancyHouse in the park where she killed the cobra-monster in "Shadow", knowing it was heading back to her.
** Anya says that {{Witch Hunt}}s are only bad for the WronglyAccused, as a real witch could use magic to escape. This was shown in "Gingerbread".
* ChekhovsGunman: The Buffybot will prove useful to the Scoobies in "The Gift" and "Bargaining". Warren Mears flees town, but returns in Season 6 as a BigBadWannabe.

* DefiantToTheEnd: Spike defies Glory, only breaking his silence to tell her that The Key's human form is [[Series/TruthOrConsequences Bob Barker]]. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Glory's minions obligingly offer to fetch him.]]
* DistractedByTheSexy: When Spike isn't sure "if [he's] a satisfied customer," Buffybot activates and throws her(it)self into his arms, kissing him. Warren uses this to beat feet.

-->'''Willow:''' You didn't, you know, sleep with Spike?
-->'''Buffybot:''' No.
-->'''Willow:''' (relieved sigh)
-->'''Buffybot:''' I had sex with Spike.

-->'''Anya:''' Okay, that's denial. That usually comes before anger.
-->'''Buffy:''' ''I am not having sex with Spike!''
-->'''Anya:''' Anger.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The words of the Spirit Guide.
-->''"Love is pain, and the Slayer forges strength from pain. Love...give...forgive. Risk the pain. It is your nature. Love will bring you to your gift. Death is your gift."''
** #1: "Love...give...forgive." Buffy forgives Spike's lechery with the Buffybot and grants him "the barest smidgen" of affection he pleaded for in "Crush", thus gaining a loyal and powerful ally.
** #2: "Love will bring you to your gift. Death is your gift." In the season finale "The Gift", [[spoiler:Buffy's love for Dawn causes her to do a HeroicSacrifice that saves the world.]]
** #3: "Love is pain, and the Slayer forges strength from pain." [[spoiler:Buffy's DestructiveRomance with Spike leads to a stronger relationship between the two of them in Season 7, after both parties learn to accept their love and forgive each other.]]
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: The Spirit Guide appears in the form of the First Slayer

* TheFourLoves: Family (Buffy's love for Dawn and [[ParentalSubstitute Giles]]), Friendship (the Scoobies love for Buffy), Romance (Spike's love for Buffy), and Unconditional Love (Spike's protection of Dawn).

* [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend He Is Not My Boyfriend]] / ParrotExpowhat: Buffy's reaction to the accusation of being with Spike.
-->"The who whating how with huh?"
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Buffy intends to kill Spike to stop him from telling Glory about Dawn...or just for screwing a SexBot version of her; it's not entirely clear.

* HomoeroticSubtext: The Scoobies confront the real Buffy on her apparent fling.
-->'''Xander:''' No one is judging you. It's understandable. Spike is strong and mysterious and sorta compact but well muscled.
-->'''Buffy:''' I am not having sex with Spike! But I'm starting to think that you might be!

'''Willow:''' (struggling to understand) Oh. Well, Tara's right, grief can be powerful and we shouldn't judge--\\
'''Tara:''' What are you, kidding? She's nuts!

-->'''Spike:''' If [Buffy] turns to me for comfort, well, I'm not gonna deny it to her. I'm not a monster.
-->'''Xander:''' Yes. You are a monster. Vampires are monsters. They make monster movies about them.
-->'''Spike:''' Well, yeah...you got me there.
* IdiotBall: The Scoobies failure to realise the Buffybot was a robot, given that they quickly realised April was one. {{Handwave}}d by them thinking that Buffy is still loopy from the VisionQuest or has gone wacko out of grief, but actually due to RuleOfFunny.
* TheILoveYouStigma
-->'''Buffy:''' I love you, Dawn. You know that, right?
-->'''Dawn:''' Yeah. I love you too.
-->'''Buffy:''' I love you ... ''really'' love you.
-->'''Dawn:''' ''(nervous grin)'' [[IncestSubtext Gettin' weird...]]
-->'''Buffy:''' Sorry. But it's important that I tell you. Weird love's better than no love.

-->'''Buffy:''' Giles ... I love you. Love ... love, love, love, love -- Giles, it feels strange.
-->'''Giles:''' Well, I shouldn't wonder...

* IShallTauntYou: Spike having partially freed himself from his chains, insults Glory. He's promptly PunchedAcrossTheRoom which gives him a chance to escape.
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: Glory anxiously touches her behind in the middle of Spike's taunting, after he calls her ass "lopsided".

-->"I can beat up the demons until the cows come home. And then I can beat up the cows. But I'm not sure I like what it's doing to me. (...) To slay, to kill. It means being hard on the inside."
* ItIsDehumanizing: Buffy is giving everyone their assignments. "And Giles, you can watch...it."
* ItIsPronouncedTroPay: Giles gripes that Spike hasn't programmed the Buffybot to say his name correctly, pronouncing it "Guy-els". This is an InJoke on fans who mispronounce the character's name despite claiming to have watched the show.

* ParrotExpoWhat: Buffy's famous reaction to the idea she was having sex with Spike.

* RetargetedLust

* SmokingHotSex: Spike is leaning against the wall smoking a fag when Xander hammers on the door; Buffy the Bot suddenly pops into view from below from...well, smoking something else.

-->'''Buffy:''' A [spirit] guide, but not to food and water. So it leads me to the sacred place, and then a week later it leads you to my bleached bones?
-->'''Giles:''' Buffy, please...it takes more than a week to bleach bones.
-->'''Buffy:''' So, how's it start?
-->'''Giles:''' I, uh, jump out of the circle and I jump back in it and um ''(reluctantly)'' I shake my Gourd.
-->'''Buffy:''' I know this ritual! The ancient shamans were next called upon to do the hokey pokey and turn themselves around!
-->''(Giles does the ritual)''
-->'''Buffy:''' And that's what it's all about.

-->'''Buffybot:''' Angel's lame. His hair stands up, and he's bloody stupid.

* SpotTheImposter: The Scoobies completely fail to notice that 'Buffy' is actually a robot, much to the real Buffy's annoyance. Spike makes the same mistake (in reverse) until Buffy kisses him -- then he can tell the difference instantly.
* StatOVision: The Buffybot sees like this with information about Buffy's friends displayed on screen when they're in its line of sight. Having been programmed by Warren to specifications given by Spike however, the information is extremely basic or displays a laughably 2D idea of the characters. For instance, Willow's screen reads: "Best Friend. Gay (1999-Present). Witch. Good with computers.". Also displayed on screen are the Buffybot's two primary objectives in life, "Locate Spike" and "Make Spike Happy". The latter has a drop-down menu of files with titles like "kissing" and "position-1" and so on.
* StickyFingers: Dawn steals Anya's earrings -- unlike in "Blood Ties" or "Forever" she's not after something plot-related, {{foreshadowing}} the kleptomania that becomes a serious issue in Season 6.
* SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids: Justified unlike the April-bot, as [[CombatSadomasochist Spike gets off on fighting the Slayer]] as much as having sex with her, so Buffy's strength and combat abilities is part of the package.

-->'''Glory''': The vampire is lying to me.
-->'''Spike''': ''[giggles madly]'' Yeah, but it was fun. And guess what, bitch?! I'm not telling you jack! You're never gonna get your sodding Key, 'cos you might be strong, but in our world, you're an idiot.
-->'''Glory''': ''[starting to get mad]'' I'm a god.
-->'''Spike''': The god of what? Bad home perms?
-->'''Glory'': ''[angry]'' Shut up! I command you shut up!
-->'''Spike''': Yeah, ok, sorry, but I had no idea gods were such prancing lightweights! Mark my words, the Slayer is going to kick your skanky, lopsided ass back to whatever place would take a cheap, whorish, fashion-victim ex-god like ''you''!

-->'''Buffybot:''' Oh I don't think I'm a robot.
* TooMuchInformation / SickAndWrong: The Scoobies reaction to the fine details of what Spike is getting up to with his SexBot.
-->'''Willow:''' ''(thinking she's talking to Buffy)'' So just this one time you just did something kinda crazy?
-->'''Buffybot:''' It wasn't one time. It was lots of times, and lots of different ways. I can make sketches!
-->'''Willow:''' No!

-->'''Xander:''' Spike must have had her built so he could program her t--
-->'''Buffy:''' ''(horrified)'' Oh god.
-->'''Willow:''' Yikes. Imagine the things--
-->'''Buffy:''' No! No, no imagining. Any of you.
-->'''Xander:''' ''(raises his hand)'' Already got the visual.

-->'''Buffy:''' Weird love is better than no love.
-->Cut to '''Spike:''' [checking out the Buffybot] Some say it's better than the real thing.

-->'''Buffybot:''' You're right. He's evil. (smiles) But you should see him naked. I mean really.

* VisionQuest

-->'''Glory:''' He can't be the Key. The Key is pure. Vampire = impure.
-->'''Spike:''' Damn right I'm impure. Impure as the driven yellow snow.
* YouHaveFailedMe: Glory is not happy when her minions return without the escaped Spike. Cue ScreamDiscretionShot.

-->--'''Buffy Summers'''

* BadassLongcoat: It's Spike. And he's wearing a coat.