Season 6, Episode 9 | Aired: 20 November 2001 | Written by: Drew Z. Greenberg | Directed by: Turi Meyer
Spike discovers his chip doesn’t fire on Buffy — meaning either she came back wrong or the chip is broken, and either way he can hurt her. He tests this. They fight through a derelict building and end up having sex while the walls come down around them. Amy the rat is accidentally de-ratted by Willow. Willow, separated from Tara, begins using magic recreationally and with increasing recklessness. The episode is the season’s turn toward its darkest territory.
What Happens
Warren, Andrew and Jonathan try to rob a diamond; Buffy stops them, mostly. Amy, freed from rat form by Willow’s magic, introduces Willow to a warlock named Rack who provides magical narcotics. The Buffy/Spike fight begins as violence and ends as something else — the building collapses around them; the episode cuts to black. The sexual relationship that will define the season’s second half has begun.
Key Moments
The building-collapse sequence — the show staging the Buffy/Spike encounter as something mutually destructive from the beginning. And Amy’s return: Amber Benson had the line “Amy’s a perfectly nice rat,” which now needs updating.
Monster / Villain
The Trio, making a play for the Orbs of Nezzla’khan. Rack, waiting in the wings.
Notable Quote
“I came back wrong.” — Buffy, trying to explain to herself why this is happening. The chip isn’t broken. The answer is more complicated than that.
Where It Fits
Smashed begins the Buffy/Spike arc and Willow’s magical addiction simultaneously. Both will be the season’s central threads through to Grave.
External Sources
- On Buffy and Spike in “Smashed,” & the Art of TV Sex Scenes — Paste Magazine (Jul 2023)