Lovers Walk

Plot

Buffy is thrown by her unexpectedly high SAT score, which gets her thinking about college. That night, Spike rolls back into Sunnydale. The next day, Giles is packing for a Watchers' retreat and tells Buffy she should consider an out-of-state school if she wants, since Faith can cover for her as the backup Slayer. He warns her about Angel, and she swears nothing will happen.

Xander tells Willow he wishes they could erase their mutual attraction. Willow heads to a magic shop for anti-love spell ingredients. Spike, lurking in the back, decides he needs a love spell to win Drusilla back and kills the shopkeeper. At school, Willow works on her spell while bickering with Xander.

Spike knocks Xander out and drags them both to the factory to help with his spell. When Willow says she’s short on ingredients, Spike goes to fetch what’s needed. In the library, Buffy is training when her mom calls to talk college plans. Buffy hears Spike’s voice in the background and races home, fearing for her mom.

Angel spots Joyce and Spike chatting in the kitchen and tries to attack, but can’t enter without an invitation. Joyce, still thinking Angel is evil, backs away as he begs her to let him in. Buffy arrives, shoves Spike onto the table, and invites Angel inside. Spike reveals he has her friends, and the three of them head out to get the supplies Willow needs.

Oz and Cordelia drive to find Giles, and Oz’s werewolf sense of smell picks up Willow’s scent, detecting her fear. Believing they’re about to die, Willow and Xander kiss just as Oz and Cordelia show up to rescue them. Horrified, Cordelia runs up the stairs, but the stairs collapse and she gets impaled on rebar. As Buffy, Angel, and Spike leave with the supplies, a group of vampires sent by the Mayor attacks them.

Thrilled by the fight, Spike realizes he doesn’t need a love spell to get Drusilla back—he just needs to become the demon she loved. Willow tells Buffy that Cordelia survived but is in the hospital with major blood loss.

When Xander brings her flowers, Cordelia tells him to stay away. Buffy tells Angel the only way they can keep seeing each other is if he says he doesn’t love her, which he can’t do. A confident Spike drives out of Sunnydale, heading off to find Drusilla.

Production details

Dan Vebber wrote "Lovers Walk" as his first script for the show. The title has been cited as "Lovers Walk", "Lover's Walk" and "Lovers' Walk", but according to Rhonda Wilcox, the script apparently does not carry an apostrophe, making for a short, sad, declarative sentence for a title. The characters Spike and Drusilla were inspired by the Sex Pistols bass guitarist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.

When the episode aired in the U.S., it was immediately followed by a 30-second advertisement for an "A Buffy Christmas: Win a Role on Buffy" sweepstakes produced by The WB. Fans who called 1-800-Collect could win a cameo appearance. The winner was Jessica Johnson of Maryland, who won a three-day trip for two to participate.

Reception

"Lovers Walk" was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing in a Series. Vox ranked it at #24 of all 144 episodes on their "Every Episode Ranked From Worst to Best" list, writing that by episode's end, in true Whedonesque fashion, everyone is utterly miserable, and it dissolves all the core romantic relationships of the show and sets up the eventual return of Spike, cured of his lovesickness through his yen for violence and back to his old, evil self.

Paste Magazine ranked it at #31 and called it one of Season Three's most emotionally resonant (read: tragic) episodes. Roger Pocock writes that Spike is back and immediately the series hits a level of fun it simply can't achieve without him, and that he creates a situation that leads to the end of every relationship in the show. Myles McNutt writes that because Spike is in a self-destructive and depressive mood driven by the inherently human emotion of love, it allows the show to create substantial threats while remaining grounded in something emotional rather than demonic.

Did You Know?

• Dan Vebber's first script for the show was "Lovers Walk."
• Jessica Johnson of Maryland won the sweepstakes, earning a three-day trip for two to participate in the episode "The Prom."