"Some Assembly Required"

Ok, yeah, it's the Frankenstein show--are rather, the first incarnation of Frankenstein. Season 4 we revisit that perky plot in a lot more detail.

The point though, is only marginally the moral or ethical concerns about what the sci-boys do. Consider why they do the things they do: misplaced grief, extreme loyalty, love, community. The older brother, the "monster," is lonely. Very lonely. He needs community, love. Without them, he had no reason to live--if he could be said to be alive (and notice, he's fairly articulate, so his mental capacity is pretty much intact). As Willow says (and Buffy later repeats), "love makes you do the wacky." Bringing his brother back to life, trying to make a girlfriend--yep, wacky, all right.

Without love fueled by grief, the monster wouldn't "live." Because he's "alive," he needs other people.

We see the Frankenstein story in season four, but the emotions behind it--that fuels season 6. Grief, need for love, need for community--those themes transcend this episode, and this is one of the earlier expressions of that. When Willow turns evil, those emotions, twisted almost beyond recognition, are the fuel.