Season 4, Episode 8 | Aired: 23 November 1999 | Written by: Jane Espenson | Directed by: Michael Lange
Thanksgiving at Giles’s flat. Xander accidentally releases the spirit of a Chumash warrior while digging for the UC Sunnydale Cultural Centre groundbreaking. The warrior summons ancestral vengeance and gives everyone syphilis. Spike, chipped and craving blood, is tied to Giles’s chair and is both a hostage and an unwilling commentator. Angel shows up secretly to protect Buffy. The episode is very funny and engages seriously with the question of what Thanksgiving is actually commemorating.
What Happens
Hus (Tod Thawley), the Chumash spirit, is summoning bears and giving the Scoobies disease. Xander is syphilitic. Anya is alarmed. Buffy wants a perfect Thanksgiving and is cooking an enormous amount of food in Giles’s small kitchen. Willow argues that the Chumash are owed an apology. Spike argues that the Chumash are just doing what conquerors do, and that everyone in the room is descended from conquerors. Angel is watching from a tree. Hus attacks. The battle concludes. Angel leaves without Buffy seeing him.
Key Moments
Spike’s speech about colonialism — delivered while tied to a chair, hungry, and being used as a prop. He’s not wrong about anything he says, and the episode doesn’t need him to be wrong to be funny.
Monster / Villain
Hus — whose grievance is legitimate, whose methods are murderous. The show doesn’t simplify this.
Notable Quote
“You made a bear!” “I didn’t mean to.” — the exchange that best captures the episode’s tone.
Where It Fits
Pangs is a holiday episode that earns its place. Jane Espenson’s script handles the politics of the Thanksgiving premise with more care than most television attempts, and the ensemble is in excellent form. Spike tied to a chair at Giles’s kitchen table is a setup the show will use repeatedly to good effect.