Ethan Rayne
If you say the name
Robin Sachs to a Non-Buffy fan, chances are they wouldn't have a clue who you
were talking about. Robin played a human who has had a few of his own episodes,
his first being Halloween in Season
2, where our gang bar Cordy all change into their costumes. And by that I mean
really change. Willow wore a ghost
costume and became a ghost. Xander was a soldier, turning into soldier boy. And
our Heroine she wore a most beautiful pink 18th-century gown, becoming a weak
simpering 18th century noble woman not the Slayer we know and need.
The second time comes
two episodes later where a murder is linked to Giles and his past including
this Character. The third time the Character arrived was in Band Candy turning adults into
teenagers again. I'm pretty sure by now you all know who I mean. Ethan Rayne an evil man who delves into the
black arts a lot, and is an old friend but now an enemy of Giles.
Robin has appeared in
the video games of Buffy also, and a few big movies. Two being Ocean’s Eleven
and The Lost World: Jurassic Park and a few other TV series, for example Star
Trek: Voyager.
His Torchwood connection
was Miracle Day: The New World, where he played a British professor. I may have
to watch that series again because I can't actually remember seeing him.
Perhaps it was a small part where you blink and you miss him. Despite being in
various TV series, Buffy is the part he is well known for.
Born on 5th February
1951 to parents Leonard Sachs and Eleanor Summerfield, Robin married twice.
First to Welsh (whoo hoo!) actress Siân Phillips and second to Casey Defranco.
Divorcing them both, there is no more information about his personal life
leading up to his death. Robin unfortunately suffered a bad heart attack and
died from it 4 days before his 62nd birthday.
Buffyverse mourned
finding this out because despite being a bad man on screen, in reality Robin
was a lovely man, always interacting with his fans, happy to do autographs and
photos, often attending Hallowedon, a Convention in America, involving mainly
Buffy fans and Actors/writers, but also other Joss Whedon series actors and
fans.
Robin we thank you for
your hard work keeping us in entertainment as Ethan's plans are often foiled by
the Scooby Gang, and never failing to make us laugh. Thank you, and Rest in
Peace.
Giles
Unlike Spike and other
members of the Scooby gang Giles hasn’t many stand alone episodes. One that
sticks out takes place in season 4, A
New Man where Giles gets turned into a demon. Although this episode is
funny, my favourite Episode isn’t necessarily a Giles episode, but is my
favourite anyway - Band Candy. When I am having a Buffython, this is the
episode I get more excited about watching and from the start of season one I am
excitedly waiting for season 3 to start, which is where Band Candy begins.
In this episode the
students of Sunnydale High sell bars of chocolate to raise money for the school
Jazz band. What they don't realise is that this particular chocolate is made by
Ethan Rayne, an old friend of Giles. This chocolate ends up reverting the
adults of Sunnydale back to their former 16 year old selves, so that some other
old fogey can steal a few babies. The reason I love this episode so much is
because of Giles behaviour. When he reverts back to his 16 year old self, he is
completely different from the composed, controlled, stiff-upper-lip Giles we
normally see. This 16 year old whom we call Ripper at that age, is a rebellious,
bad magic, hates the world, ticking time bomb guy. He's also a fast runner at
that age, racing around the Factory after Ethan like Usain Bolt.
To me he’s kind of bossy
too and rude, telling Buffy she was his slayer and he is ordering her to hit
Ethan. Being rebellious he has no problem breaking a store window to steal a
coat that Buffy's Mom likes, or teasing and beating up a police officer who has
also become his 16. I like this naughty Giles, but I am glad this only lasts
one episode. I don't think a naughty Giles all the time would be fun. At the
end of the day I love the pompous Giles as well.
Being English, like
Spike, his accent is very different to the others who are all American, but in
this episode it becomes more English as the usual accent we hear is a mixture
of English and American, mostly English. 16 year old Giles was in England at
that time, however the Giles we know more and love, has been living in America
a long time so is likely to have picked up the accent slightly, especially with
Buffy's English, which according to Giles was hard to understand sometimes. I
know that feeling.
This episode is
hilarious to me, although some other people may feel it’s stupid and pointless.
I find it funny to think of adults reverting back to a younger age, and I think
it would make a good Torchwood storyline, only an alien artefact instead of a
bar of chocolate. To see Captain Harkness as a young boy would be both funny
and perhaps informative as it would enable us to learn about his past. Anyone want
to suggest to RTD, make sure you mention my name.
Spike
I’ve always been a James
Marsters Fan, ever since he first arrived in Buffy the Vampire Slayer in School
Hard. I was very impressed at that episode, Buffy's momma gets involved in hurting
Spike. On reading Harry Potter at a later date I was reminded of this
particular episode when Molly Weasley was fighting Bellatrix Lestrange.
However this particular
episode is not my favourite. Oh no. My favourite comes at the very end of the
whole series, way way into the future, in series 7, right at the very end. It
is an episode called Touched. The main
reason I love this episode is because half way through, Spike finally reveals
to Buffy how much he really loves her, with a romantic speech.
'When
I say I love you, it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you - it
has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try...
I've seen your kindness, and your strength, I've seen the best and the worst of
you and I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell
of a woman. You're the one, Buffy.'
She replies to that with
teary eyes 'I don’t wanna be the one.'
This part of the episode
does get me, as it shows despite everything they have been through good and
bad, that he still loves her. He then spends the night with her, just sitting
with her. It is this that gives her the strength to go to Caleb and claim what
is hers. To me I think being with Spike that night before gave her the strength
she needed to fight Caleb and his minions, and eventually with Spike by her
side against the Ultra vamps.
It’s not my favourite
quote of the episode however, that comes later but this was said by Buffy/The
First. It’s direct and to the point. A bad thing in the face of what happens
seconds later, but it never fails to make me laugh.
'Faith go boom'
Spike has appeared in many
episodes some on his own, for instance The Harsh Light of Day, written by Jane
Espenson who also writes for Torchwood. In this episode Spike is looking for a
magic gem which protects him against harm, so he can go out in the sun.
If you have ever seen
Once More with Feeling, the musical episode, Spike has his own song to sing,
but Spike being English he sings with an English accent, where as we know James
is American. James has his own band, Ghost of the Robot hence his singing
voice. Being in GotR he played in a venue called The Point, which has since
closed down.
As a closure note, here
is an interesting fact about James. When he played at The
Point, GDL was there
with his band (who weren’t a band then) James asked Gareth to sing a song, and
he got on stage with the boys, and thus A Breath of Blue Fire was born. So
really Blue Gillespie (as they later changed the name to) is all James’ fault.
And we as Gillespians
thank him :D
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