Family

Variations on the theme: this season, identity and family have been explored, now the theme reaches out to include Tara (and by extension, Willow, who has been underutilized so far this season). Tara has, understandably, been aware that she's not really a Scoobie. Even though she's been around for a season, Buffy and Xander can't think of a thing to get her for her birthday; they claim to not know her well enough.

By the end of the episode, we've found that Tara's own family is awful, and that she believed she was part demon. It's been established that she is officially part of the group, with everyone bonding together to save her from her father--even though she cast a spell that could have caused them to be killed by demons. She is forgiven and accepted, claimed as family.

Things to note: Spike had come to see Buffy killed, but helped save her (gee, imagine that), AND he is part of the process of "claiming" Tara--he's not a Scoobie, but he is. His intervention not only saved Buffy but also established that Tara's father was lying and she was not part demon. His integration from punch line to essential side man has started.

Also, Tara has misused magic, casting a spell for her benefit that impacts others. She is contrite that she did so, accepting that it was wrong. Willow--foreshadowing next season's issues--excuses and defends the use of magic to make Tara's pain less and life better. Tara has learned from her experience; Willow hasn't.

And, very importantly, Riley helps Buffy move in, then feels shut out and leaves, heading to Willy's bar to drink with vampires--looking for darkness? Leading into something? AND, equally importantly, the big love fest at the end that solidifies Tara (and Spike and Anya) as part of the expanded group--Riley's not there. He's on borrowed time. He knows it, too.

Superstar

The season four metaplot, which had been heating up before the Faith/Buffy interruption, is still on the back burner with this quirky show. Jonathon--the would-be shooter during season 3--is back. In fact, it's Jonathon's world. He's Superman, James Bond, Dr. Phil, Frank Sinatra, and Gary Kasparov all in one suave, hot little package. Giles owns the Jonathon swimsuit calendar, Xander has the comics and trading cards, and Anya is entranced by Jonathon's autobiography.

This episode does reveal one crucial piece of info: to destroy Adam, his power source must be destroyed. Because of the military's consistent secrecy, it's possible that Riley and Co. would not have known what they had to do to get rid of this season's Big Bad. So...plotwise, "Superstar" may have had a point. Also, Jonathon talked with both Riley and Buffy about the whole "Riley had sex with Faith, kinda" brooding that Buffy was falling into--and instead of the audience having to listen to Buffy's angsty-whining about it the rest of the season, she is fine.( That alone is a reason for this episode.)

And, obviously, Jonathon's slightly short-sighted moral ambiguity is clear in this, as is the fact that ultimately, he will do the right thing...after events have spiraled out of control. More interesting, though, is the counterpoint that Jonathon provides to Buffy, big picture. For all of Buffy's "I'm different, I'm alone, Poor me"--some of which is valid, but it's hit very hard at times in the series--Buffy really isn't alone. She's different, but it's a difference that is strong and celebrated, and she has a support system that most kids that age would envy. But no, Buffy is amazingly good at seeing what she's lost.

Jonathon, though--he is alone. He is different. Buffy's small and strong, sexy and wanted. Jonathon, though...small(er) and weak, ridiculed and ignored. Even Buffy refused to go out with him. Regardless of the context (she was pining over Angel), Jonathon still saw it as rejection. And when Jonathon needs to hear words of encouragement and affirmation, Buffy plays Dr. Phil for him, saying the things to him that she often disbelieves about herself and her situation. He's an interesting mirror for her to be reflected in.

The transition to adulthood is tricky for these characters. Xander is floundering, and Giles is barely adult--no status, no job, some episodes this season, he's Xander's sidekick. Jonathon's magic spell turned him into instant adult. That's worth noting, I think.

And I don't remember the next episode at all. Could be fun!

Earshot

This is an infamous episode, the episode that was delayed because of the Columbine school shootings. That's too bad, because the threat of violence really isn't an important part of the story--well, it is, but not why it's significant.

Buffy gets demon blood on her, then gains a trait of the demon--telepathy. She "hears" what others are thinking. At first, that's fun. She impresses her English teacher with insightful, unusual interpretations of Shakespeare and she finds out that her mom and Giles....on the hood of a police car...twice! But even as it's fun, it's revealing. When Buffy scores points with the English teacher, we find that Willow really doesn't think Buffy's very bright, for instance.

Buffy expects to have power; Buffy expects to be in control. In some ways, everyday ways, Buffy is clueless and whiny and plays "girl" very well, but deep down, she wants to be in control and powerful. An aspect of that is what this episode explores: Buffy has the power to know everything, essentially--and the power will kill her. She wants to use her power for good (a la Angel much later as he takes over Wolfram & Hart), trying to save the student body from the unnamed "killer," but instead, she is also in need of rescuing.

How many times will Buffy play out this scene: Buffy is the strong, powerful one who will solve the problem, only to finally concede that her power comes in part from her friends. Ironically, many times in the show, she desires knowledge of what they are thinking while keeping her thoughts and feelings bottled away.

And of course, Buffy recovers in time to save the day--only not. Ultimately, Xander does by realizing the lunch lady, not Jonathon, is the threat. Buffy gets the big, flamboyant action scene while Xander's just dorky, dumping over tables and yelling--he's not suave superhero, but boy doing the right thing.

And Buffy gets her version of the yellow crayon speech as she talks Jonathon down--insightful and all, but notice that later, she won't go to prom with him bc he's short, etc.

And Angel lurks in the background, Buffy's shadow and savior--as unreadable as ever, touting Buffy trying conversation and honesty instead of trying to read his thoughts.

Consequences

Basically, part two of Bad Girls. Faith tries to frame Buffy--which is when we realize exactly how bad Faith really is--and she threatens to kill to escape from the council when their goons (lead by Wesley) kidnap her.

I suspect I should rewatch this one too, but perhaps the most interesting thing is the Angel/Faith connection. After Buffy and Angel manage to capture Faith, she's shackled in Angel's mansion. He talks to her at length in a scene that is paced differently than the rest of the episode. Although he is not successful in getting through to Faith--and might even be called whining and stoically emo--he's just set the stage for Faith's redemption on his show in the next season (or two? I'm not sure of time frame). In the Buffy-verse, this is the beginning of a significant relationship; Angel champions Faith later, when Buffy claims to intend to kill her.

When I rewatch, I want to pay close attention to Buffy's costume and color choices. If I remember right, when she's being bad with Faith, she's in black--much like Faith typically is. After the killing and subsequent actions, Buffy seems to be in black/white outfits often. That's obviously used symbolically, but I'd like to watch it to see if there's more to say.

Also, Xander tries to do a yellow crayon intervention here, building on the "connection" he claimed to make with Faith in The Zeppo. Even though Buffy apologetically tells him that she knows it means nothing to Faith, Xander the faithful has to try--and nearly gets strangled to death by Faith for his efforts.

Importantly, Willow is having issues in this episode. She's trying to be the nice girl, but she's found out the Xander had sex with Faith and Buffy has been bonding with Faith--as much as Willow likes Oz, she's feeling like the odd man out. In this episode, a wordless shot in a montage shows Willow alone, sobbing--a strong visual counterpoint to her daffy, chipper persona. This time, Willow is the one who's jealous; Willow is the one who feels isolated--and she's aware that she's feeling these things even as she tries to be the good girl.

Helpless

Ohhhhh....now I get it. Last episode, Joyce turns on Buffy, and leaving Buffy without a supportive parent figure...now---Helpless. Daddy turns on her, in essence. We are seeing the creation/growth of Buffy's fatal flaw, her sense of isolation.

It's Buffy's birthday, 18. She's excited about the Ice Capades; going each year with her Dad (a conspicuously absent character) is a ritual that she cherishes. She admits that it's childish--cotton candy, sparkly costumes--even as she tries to defend the artistry of the skaters. He cancels. She sucks it up, but in a touching scene, she tries to get Giles to offer to take her. The Giles-as-father-figure is in full bloom, with Buffy articulating it as clearly as she ever does. If Giles would offer, it would complete the transition into Buffy's dad, symbolically.

However, he's completely distracted. She's so wrapped up in her scheming that--childlike--she pays no attention to his mood. We find out why. He's shooting her up with a substance that, we realize in a bit, is sapping her strength. He seems distraught about doing it, but--ever the good soldier--he does.

A lot is written about this episode and Buffy's loss of strength: the men leering at her, her inability to save Cordelia from a bully, her clever dealing with the vampire test--but there's a bigger loss: a loss of trust in the adults around her. It's not a total loss, and they do redeem themselves, still having loving relationships, but her father, Joyce, and now Giles have revealed that they are human; they may have their own agendas, they may even knowingly hurt her. The most important rite of passage in this episode may not be the Counsel's Vampire test; it may be Buffy's realization that she is alone in a fundamental way.

In counterpoint, when Quentin fires Giles, he claims Giles loves Buffy with a father's love, and that renders him unfit to be a Watcher. He wants to protect and preserve her, to help instead of watch and guide. At that moment, Buffy probably doesn't believe that, but her subtle reactions to Giles' firing implies that she's considering what that means.

As is common in the Buffy-verse, love triumphs and Joyce, Buffy and Giles are pretty much fine post-Helpless,....but--as always in Sunnydale--the history is remembered and the lessons learned. When Giles conspires with Robin against Spike, he betrays Buffy again, nearly leaving her even more helpless than in this episode; again, he does it for what he believes are important reasons, and not easily. Giles is a more morally ambiguous character than I had realized--which isn't to say he is, but he's not the total background white hat I'd remembered.

Band Candy

A favorite episode! It seems like a stand-alone comic relief episode that ties in somewhat with the meta-plot, but that dismisses it too quickly. The beginning seems as if it's going to be heavy, drama-laden: Angel and Buffy still trying to find a balance, Joyce and Giles both overscheduling and distrusting Buffy--who is lying to them and playing them off each other. Then, barely a blip on the plot, the sexual tension between Willow and Xander is continuing, Cordy and Oz oblivious.

This is an onion episode, though; meanings, symbolism and foreshadowing abounding. Buffy keeps insisting she can handle life, that both Joyce and Giles need to back off, however...she almost yells "I need grown-ups" when faced with teen-age, libido-driven "adults" who can't help her save the babies that will be devoured as tribute. Buffy can deal with a lot, but she's not ready to solo. (Considering this against Giles' musical number about needing to let her stand on her own could be an interesting study.) And again, Buffy comments on how alone she feels because her adults have abandoned her.

Likewise, for a while, Giles and Joyce have almost competed against each other for Buffy's time and, in a sense, her affection. The right to be Buffy's boss and influence her has been a sticking point. In this episode, Buffy gets a hint of what it would be like to have a mother and father on the same page, working together. Interestingly, the episode begins and ends with Giles and Buffy in father-daughter like situations, both involving the SAT, which goes beyond Watcher duties and, as Kendra implies, violated what a Watcher should be doing. Slaying is number one, number only; SAT's presume a life beyond slaying, one that Giles should not be supporting. He's sliding into father role seemlessly once accepted by Joyce. Interestingly, when Giles and Joyce are under the thrall of the band candy, Buffy tries to reason with Giles, assuming she can reach him; she orders her mom around. Different dynamic, says something about the relationships? Maybe.

Hmmm....after Joyce dies, she orders Dawn around--she doesn't really treat most people that way. Is it a consistent decision on the writer's part to have her emotionally not-connected with family members, and the lack of dialogue and insistence on taking charge symptons of it? Hmmm.

And Giles....wow. Giles. We've gotten hints that he wasn't Mr. Uptight librarian all of his life, always preparing to be a Watcher (contrasting that with Wesley). Most of the "adults" simply act like teens while keeping their grown-up clothes on; Giles' transformation is complete: beat up jeans, rumpled hair, cigarettes rolled up in t shirt sleeve--we see the Ripper within. His accent reverts, and his body language completely changes, even. He's dangerous, amoral, sexy. And instead of young, hot Buffy being the object of his passion, it's Joyce, completing the mother/father imagery of the early part of the episode.

One bit of symbolism: at risk are babies. The adults aren't fit to mother, so Buffy does. She's having mother issues, and part of the resolution of them is to become a mother symbolically, doing what the adults can't. Furthermore, the demon is awfully freudian, a huge snake emerging from a tunnel to get the babies--and Buffy, who is terribly gun-shy about sex (seeing as how the one time she did that her boyfriend turned into a demon....), saves the babies by setting the snake of fire as it goes through the tunnel? Then the episode ends with Buffy remarking how glad she is that she stopped her mom and Giles before "anything" happened. From the embarrassed looks Giles and Joyce share, the viewer suspects Buffy's innocence is misplaced. So will Giles and Joyce in fact begin a relationship, giving Buffy the father figure in earnest? Stay tuned....

Notes: candy as "forbidden fruit" leading to evil; "young" Joyce showing that she remembers adulthood, but feels as if she's just woke up. Images of adulthood vs responsibility--and the nearly invisible Xander, who is usually cited as the irresponsible one.

Homecoming

Simple plot: Cordy and Buffy vie against each other for Homecoming Queen. Neither wins, but they reveal more of their characters in the process. Subplot--Xander and Willow kiss. Boy, do they kiss. Which wouldn't be a problem a season ago at this time, but now...Oz and Cordy? Somehow, the whole topic of polyamory is not raised. Curious.

Anyways, isolation is key here. Buffy wants to get in touch with her inner homecoming queen because of what's she's lost as the Slayer. If she were at her old school, if she weren't the Slayer, she would have been Queen. She would have been popular, had friends, been in the yearbook (the yearbook is a recurring theme. In Angel, Cordy goes through the yearbook to try to remember who she is, and realizes it's the story of her life) Buffy has monsters, death, and weapons as her life; high school is an afterthought.

Her friends abandon her in her quest to be Queen. Out of guilt for kissing, both Willow and Xander have committed to working for Cordelia, and the scene where Buffy is excitedly organizing them to help her only to have Cordelia sweep in, assign tasks, then everyone leave (making excuses of course) is understated but poignant--Buffy is isolated and alone. Giles, who obviously doesn't care about homecoming queen but cares deeply about Buffy, quietly sympathesizes.

Buffy's approach to winning is characterized by Cordelia as sensitive, she, deep, caring--some words like that. The picture Buffy uses is not typical, either. Not glamourous, not cheerful, friendly--more Princess Di looking up from under her bangs.

Ultimately, I suspect that part of the point of this episode is to begin morphing Cordy into the character we get on Angel--still the diva, but able to deal with any thing that goes bump in the night. And juxtoposing her with Buffy is good. Buffy could be Cordy (and initially, that's the role Gellar was trying for), and Cordy needs to find her inner Buffy--the snarkiness and sniping in their relationship stems from them knowing each other too well; they recognize themselves, both strengths and weaknesses, from looking in the mirror of the other.

Dead Man's Party

Xander summed it up: If you try to bury things, they'll come back up. He was talking about the issues related to Buffy's running away, but zombies were attacking them as he said it. So this is one time when the metaphor is impossible to miss!

Willow and Buffy talk, finally, after dancing around issues the whole episode. Buffy and her mom apparently do, too--but if Xander and Buffy do, there's no hint. However, he makes the strongest statement about Buffy needing to talk, to not isolate herself. He supports Joyce, siding against Buffy in the big argument. Willow backs away from confronting Buffy, but Xander does it because it needs done. Is that part of how he shows manhood and loyalty? Could be.

Notably, Buffy is still dreaming about Angel, sensuous, death-filled dreams

One thing worth noting: some of the intense emotional scenes include dialogue that is ridiculous. It fits with the situation and characters, but the sincerity of the actors in the emotions they bring to the scenes create credibility. Because they take it seriously, we can also. That's a large part of why the show resonants. It is campy, but not because the actors triviolize it or treat it frivolously. That is part of what makes the show.

SEASON THREE: Anne

Identity and isolation. The tension between community and self is a recurring theme, one of the key issues that Buffy as a character is torn between. Because of the danger involved with helping her, she believes she doesn't have the right to want community. In the reality of the Buffy-verse, she is ultimately the only one who can do her job. So friends and family are on the outside, even when they are invested in the struggle.

Given that, her attraction to Spike and Angel is simple: she doesn't have to watch their backs; they understand her and her mission on a level that even Giles can't--he's a voyeur to her mission, a watcher. Everyone else is potentially a liability because she feels responsible for them.

That's a long introduction to a simple season opener: Buffy left Sunnydale at the end of season 2, kicked out in the heat of the moment by her mother. She's in an unidentified city (later mentioned at L.A.) working as a waitress in a bad section of town. There are cuts to Sunnydale, where school is starting, Giles is trying to find Buffy, etc, but the bulk of the action follows Buffy.

She's going by her middle name, Anne, and evidently not in Slayer mode. When she meets someone who knows her real identity, it's someone whose identity is constantly in flux (we last saw her with a fancy french name, wanting to be a vampire); now she is Lily, and at the end of the episode, she decides to be Anne when she takes over Buffy's apartment and job. She resurfaces on Angel as a woman running a shelter for kids, someone Gunn helps out--still named Anne. She understands not knowing who you are, and gives Buffy tacit permission to not be Buffy. (I assume that there's a reason the name Lily fits; I should look it up, because Whedon almost never names spuriously. Maybe later)

By the end of the episode, though, Buffy claims her identity in full, resisting the demons who force their slaves to become "nobody." Buffy announces that she is Buffy the Vampire Slayer loud and clear, then begins to show them what that means as she saves the enslaved street kids. Buffy can't escape her identity, and because of her basic personality, she can't stay isolated. Lily finds her power because Buffy needs her to, and it's fair to surmise that Lily's life changes because of it. Buffy changes people, usually for the better--and she can't stay alone like previous slayers have.

And of course, Mom takes her back, after telling Giles that she blames him, that he should have done things differently, told her about Buffy. Giles doesn't argue much, but sees Buffy's destiny as beyond his control.

And Xander and Cordy are sniping and immature--what happened to make Xander go backwards? And Willow and Oz are cute, but barely sidebars. I'm hoping it's only this episode--I don't remember the next few episodes, though, so we'll see....

Becoming, pt 2 (I'm awake now)

I said that the episode is about the power of love, in both the negative and positive forms. Here's the list:

• Good--Because Spike loves Dru, he works with his enemy to get Dru back from Angel and protect her. This is a beginning (remember my Janus reference) because he goes beyond defining himself as evil, switching sides to align with the Slayer. Yep, a trend begins.
• Good--The power of love is possibly why Willow wakes from her coma. Xander gives a big speech to her, saying he loves her, and she starts rousing. She asks for Oz right away, though. (Closure of her infatuation with Xander? We'll see)
  
• Bad--Because Giles loves Jenny, he tells "her" (really Dru magicked to be Jenny) the secret of how Angel can wake the demon. He resisted torture; he can't resist love.
• Bad--Because Joyce is so concerned about Buffy (mother's love), she argues with Buffy to make Buffy stay home, not fight Angel--which leads to Buffy running away. Joyce said don't come back;Buffy didn't,
  
• Bad--Buffy has to balance her love of Angel with her duty; love loses. Buffy realizes that Angel is back, Angelus gone, and she still kills him to close the portal.
• Bad, maybe Biggest Bad--Because Xander loves Buffy (and he's proven repeatedly that he does, it's not just infatuation), he believes Angel is dangerous to the world and Buffy. Obviously, jealousy plays a big part here, but I'm willing to credit Xander with seeing the Angel's potential evil, SOOOO....he lies to Buffy for the second time in their relationship. He delivers Willow's message, but instead of "delay as long as possible, I'm trying the spell again," Xander claims Willow said, "Kick his ass." Symbolically, even happy, faithful, optomistic Willow has seemingly given up on Angel, sealing his fate with Buffy? Perhaps. It's noteworthy that the phrasing is very un-Willow-like. Xander would say that, not Willow. But Buffy is focused on the mission and doesn't question the false note.

Other Xander-centric note: He's evolved this season, maturing. In this episode, he comfortably, casually calls Cordy "honey," he pulls Giles to safety, he's calm and dependable---except the lying, of course. The first episode of next season, he's goofus and immature. Not sure what happened over the summer, but.... And the lying will come back to haunt him, season 7.

Blood is the key that opens and closes the portal....hm...that seems vaguely familar, like the premise of season 5, maybe...It's done differently, but on retrospect, it's odd that only Spike understands it in season 5.

Isolation and loneliness are a major theme here. Ultimately, the slayer is alone. Whistler says than, and Buffy ends the show watching as an outsider before leaving. There's more to think about....

Oh, and Kendra's dead, killed by Dru--which activates Faith, but we don't know that yet. And Spike is there with Buffy when Joyce finds out that Buffy is the Slayer. Joyce trying to make small talk with Spike even after realizing when and where she met him (as he was trying to kill Buffy early in the season, attacking the high school) is a marvelously fun bit. We find out later that Spike has great affection for Joyce, and that even when they are enemies, Buffy and Spike can do some of the facial shorthand communication stuff that becomes even more evident later.

Season 2.1: When She Was Bad

Season one is over...but it's not. This episode demonstrates part of why BtVS was able to have characters that grow deeper and engage audiences in their journey. It has history, and the history matters. Buffy fought the Master, and died, and then they went to the dance at the Bronze. End of story, end of season.

And that's how season two begins, with business as usual--well, over the summer, Buffy's been in LA with dad, not slaying, not in touch with Willow or Xander. Willow and Xander have apparently been spending a great deal of time together, Willow's infatuation remains--and they nearly kiss when a vampire interrupts and Buffy materializes from the shadows. Life on the Hellmouth is back in full swing.

I could argue that for all her angst, Buffy is a fairly simple creature. She's not hardwired for deep thought and philosophy; she takes action, usually the most direct course and as time goes on, relishing the release of fighting. Dealing with emotion isn't easy for her, and that shows in a variety of ways. Tree pretty, fire bad--the world is more simple for Buffy than for many people, and the issues where it's not simple, she seems to lack the tools to express and deal with the issues. That's often when she isolates herself, as she shows repeatedly. As important as a soul is to Buffy--that nebulous spark that differentiates man from monster--even soul seems to run on a binary code: yes, no; black, white; right, wrong.

SO....Buffy was killed by the Master, and she doesn't deal with it well. Instead of starting season two with a new Big Bad right off, with shiny happy plots and people, the emotional baggage of season one has to be dealt with. Buffy can't articulate her issues, so she turns mean, insulting and hurting not only Cordelia (who may deserve it) but Willow, Xander, Angel and Giles. She's hurting, so she's lashing out. Cordy, who lives up to her name, tells Buffy the hard truth: you're going to lose your friends if you don't deal with whatever is causing the Joan Collins-tude, so "spank your inner moppet and get over it."

Before she does "deal with it" by smashing the Master's dones, Buffy tortures Xander with the sexiest moment seen till season 6, then walks away; she tortures a vamp girl by burning her with a cross; and she puts them all in danger by refusing to listen--leading Xander to tell her "If they hurt Willow, I will kill you"--and at that moment, the audience believes he could do it. Early in the episode, he's said he's over his infatuation with Buffy, but it's clear he wasn't; when he threatens Buffy, he has no vestige of affection for her. When she starts sobbing after pulverizing the bones, though, as Angel holds her, the expression on both Giles' and Xander's faces are heartrending.

But the writers are so clever. They do begin the season's meta-plot when Buffy and Angel have a emotionally vicious conversation. Buffy asks: "You think you can take me?" She needles him, saying she knows he's thought about it--implying that she has thought about it? Yes. Angel answers that he won't fight her, and Buffy still eggs him on, "Come on, kick my ass." Yep, that's season 2 in a nutshell. That's the question it will take 22 episodes to answer--who's stronger, Buffy or Angel?

At the end, Buffy is older and wiser. She realizes she was a moron, and can't figure out how to apologize. She fears that Cordelia is right and she's pushed away her best friends. But at the end, they save a seat for her and welcome her nervously, but genuinely. She's back, and it will be ok.

But in those shots, we see Xander intimately talking, and Willow laughing--seems fine, business as usual--but we only see Buffy's back. Is she still holding back? Has she found the redemption she needs? Not sure...stay tuned.

Episode 11: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

The invisible girl show, the one Joss says reflects his high school experience--he claims he sat in class once and watched his hand disappear. The premise is simple: everyone ignores girl, girl becomes invisible, then psychotic and tries to uglify Cordy.

The parallel is Buffy. In her old school, she was Cordelia. All the fuss about May Queen should have been hers, in theory--and it was clear that she would have been welcomed by that clique has she not chosen Willow, Xander and the Slayer package. Buffy is feeling invisible at the same time Cordy is the Queen Bee.

To top it off, Buffy is unusually aware that she is still new, still outside of the Xander/Willow friendship. Some random comment sends them into gales of giggles, and they can't explain the Buffy what was so funny about a 5th grade field trip, then Xander invites Willow for dinner; Willow's response makes it clear that she's has a history with Xander's family. Both seemingly throw-away lines, transitions from one important point to another--and both underlining that in significant ways, Buffy is alone.

Strikingly, even the climax of the story has Willow and Xander with Giles while Buffy is battling alone to save herself and Cordelia. They are together at the end, all's well in Sunnydale, but the specter of isolation floats in the background. In later seasons, when Buffy doesn't tell them things that they probably should know, when she pulls away, is she in a sense continuing the pattern that is set in this episode?

The interesting twist is the invisible girl being recruited by the government and training in an assassin school full of invisible kids. Again, Joss left an aha that could be picked up again later (Teacher's Pet, the larvae in the closet? Same thing. I think there was one other, too, but I can't recall what) He doesn't ever develop those further, but he was apparently keeping his options open. And the odd government tie-in? How did they know about the girl and related issues? That at least sets a precedence for season 4, when the military's experiment is the Big Bad. We now have a history of government interest in the Hellmouth.