Go Fish

This episode is fine. Good momentum, fun lines--and utterly baffling. Why is it here? The Buffy/Angel/Spike mojo was brewing, the Willow/Oz relationship was blossoming, Giles and Buffy were grappling with various manifestations of grief and guilt over Jenny/Angel--and the season is interrupted by a monster story? No tie-in or growth in any of the ongoing stories? They are all pushed aside like cauliflower at a preschool snack time. Completely.

Buffy, Willow and Cordy do try something new: they are fangirls. Totally oogling the swimmers. And totally mortified and amused when one of the uber-hot muscled bods belongs to.....Xander. Who knew? Not Cordy, from her reaction at seeing him in a tiny Speedo.

The costumers have made the decision to dress Xander as befits his social station, which means that his clothes are always ill-fitting and often quirky (theory: you can tell whether he's supposed to be taken seriously by whether he's wearing a goofy design). Because he's dressed in such baggy clothes, Xander in a speedo is probably the most memorable moment in the episode--and showed up in several retrospectives just because of the reaction at finding his toned abs.

Oh, and at the end, when Buffy's in danger, who shows up and saves her from the fish-boys? Xander again. Somewhere--before season 4??--Xander gets marginallized and turned into the Zeppho, but so far, no. He's the stalwart white hat (except for the little secret, knowing that he tried to rape Buffy and not confessing that he knows).

On to high drama!