I Was Made to Love You
| "I Was Made to Love You" | |
|---|---|
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |
 | |
| Episode no. |
Season 5 Episode 15 |
| Directed by | James A. Contner |
| Written by | Jane Espenson |
| Production code | 5ABB15 |
| Original air date | February 20, 2001 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
| |
| Episode chronology | |
"I Was Made to Love You" is the 15th episode of season 5 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Plot synopsis
Buffy rants about her problems with Spike to Giles while pounding away at Xander who is wearing a padded bodysuit. Xander consoles the Slayer about her love life, blaming the Hellmouth for her not being able to find a decent guy. A young woman (April) arrives in Sunnydale by car, searching for her true love. Joyce nervously prepares for a date with a man named Brian with the help of her daughters.
Anya and Tara discuss the Internet and Anya's knowledge of online stock trading and websites. April approaches them, asking if they know where Warren is but when the girls can't help her, April moves on to another person and asks the same question. Buffy and Xander dance at a university party while Anya, Tara and Willow look on. After dancing, Buffy locates Ben at the party and casually catches his attention. They chat briefly but awkwardly, and Buffy asks Ben to dance.
Anya admires the Chex Mix with Xander when April arrives at the party, still searching for Warren. Warren just so happens to be at the party and escapes with his date before April discovers him. April questions the people at the party, offering that Warren is her boyfriend and he lost her. Tara shows brief jealousy when Willow, eyeing April, remarks, "Yeah a pretty girl like that won't stay lonely for long!" Spike approaches Buffy while she's waiting, but she tells him off before Ben returns. Ben offers Buffy his number for a possible coffee date and isn't scared off when Buffy warns him of her bad history.
After seeing Buffy with Ben, Spike is inspired to hit on April, but his suggestive comments only anger her and lead her to throw the vampire through a window. Despite her amusement at Spike's pain, Buffy gets similar treatment when April throws her aside and leaves. They realize that April is a robot that needs stopping before she actually harms someone. Buffy returns home, and Giles suggests he not watch Dawn alone anymore because he can't take much more exposure to the habits of a young teenager. Joyce returns from her date in an extremely good mood, shocking her daughter with the joke that she left her bra in Brian's car.
April goes door to door searching for Warren's residence. Willow finds Warren Mears on her computer and the house where he could be living. The gang talks about Warren and how he made April to fill a void in his life. Buffy finally gets up the nerve to call Ben, but the phone rings at Glory's place. She morphs into Ben to answer the phone, and a date is made for coffee.
Warren rushes to get packed and move away with his current girlfriend, Katrina, but she doesn't understand why. Buffy shows up at Warren's in search of answers relating to April, while Katrina finally walks out, upset about being kept in the dark. Warren reveals to Buffy that he made April to love him, but she became boring after a while and he left her, letting her batteries run down.
Meanwhile, the Scoobies are discussing the situation at the Magic Box when they receive a visit from Spike. He is forcibly removed.
Katrina encounters April at a park, and April uses force to make Katrina admit that Warren is her boyfriend. Warren finally tells April that he can't love her, then April turns on Buffy, and the two fight. Buffy damages April's electrical work, and she is finally stopped. After talking with April in her final moments, Buffy realizes that she doesn't need a man in her life, also admitting that, despite Xander's belief that April was a "crazed robot", Buffy knows she was just trying to do everything she knew how to do to make the one she loved happy, but fails to draw the subtle parallel between April and Spike. Buffy leaves a message for Ben on his answering machine, canceling the date, but Glory listens to the message, not Ben.
Spike confronts Warren about making a robot for him, one based completely on Buffy. Warren refuses, but Spike won't take no for an answer. When Buffy comes home, she calls out to her mother, then finds her lying on the living room couch. Worried by her mother's awkward appearance, Buffy calls out to her, but Joyce doesn't move and doesn't answer.
Continuity
- When Buffy tells Warren her name and asks him "Do you know who I am?", what she is really asking is if Warren realizes she is the "odd" Sunnydale High student who protected other students from the dangers they almost never admitted exist in the town. Warren answers in the affirmative; the episode clarifies that he spent his senior year at Sunnydale High, meaning that, although this is his first actual appearance, he was "behind the scenes" as a member of the Sunnydale student body throughout Season Three. Warren's status as a Sunnydale alumnus is also referred to in Season Six, where it is revealed that he attended the school play that was attacked by Monkey Demons sent by Andrew Wells (an incident that was itself never actually depicted).
- The dress that Joyce wears on her date with Brian is the same dress that she wears in the Season Two episode Ted, when Buffy walks in on Joyce and her new boyfriend Ted (John Ritter).
Arc significance
- Warren returned as a major villain in Season Six and the canonical Season Eight comics.
- This is the first episode in which Oz is referenced since the Season 4 finale "Restless." It is also the last episode he is referenced until the Season 7 episode "Potential."
- Katrina is introduced in this episode. She will play a minor role in the Season Six episode "Dead Things" by disrupting the Trio's unity.
- When Spike visits the Magic Box, Tara is the only Scooby to speak civilly to him. Tara's sympathy for Spike will be highlighted in Season Six, beginning with "Dead Things."
- Spike places an order with Warren, who will produce the Buffybot.
- Technology in Buffyverse has been shown to be advanced enough to produce such an advanced robot as April (see "Ted"). When the gang discusses April, Dawn mentions that she "always thought" Ted might come back, reminding viewers that although Dawn did not appear in any episode prior to Season Five, she nonetheless remembers them.
- Buffy and Dawn's mother Joyce dies after several episodes depicting her illness. Her death and its effects on her immediate family are explored further in the following episode.
External links
- "I Was Made to Love You" at the Internet Movie Database
- "I Was Made to Love You" at TV.com
- "I Was Made to Love You" at BuffyGuide.com