No Place Like Home

Story arc for season five is started, and we meet Glory--although we don't learn her name for a while, and its even longer before we find that she is Ben...and vise versa. That's interesting, now that I think about it: the season starts with episodes about identity, Dawn's and Xander's, now a major plot point involves identity-the Ben/Glory connection. In fact, ultimately what saves Glory from Buffy is that Buffy won't kill Ben--a human (Giles, however...that's different).

This specific episode is concerned with identity as well. Buffy finds out the Dawn is "The Key," with no idea yet what that means, except that Dawn has only recently become human. Buffy's grousing about wanting to be an only child--growing pains as she grows into her role as big sister.

And Dawn, with her total lack of savvy, reveals that Buffy doesn't want Riley patrolling--his instincts were correct about how his role would change with the loss of his powers. And Spike, in a brief appearance showing that he's watching/stalking Buffy (outside her house, a pile of cigarette butts revealing he's been there a while), utters the famous "Out for a walk....bitch" line when Buffy only gives him 5 words to explain his presence. Interesting, here at the beginning of their "relationship" of sorts, she calls him "William" instead of Spike. According to a Buffy wiki, she does that twice in the whole series: now, and when she ends their relationship in season 6. Gotta think about that....

And the title? Joyce is home from the hospital, Dawn is "home" now. There are some very domestic moments, and Joyce and Dawn clearly have a close relationship--nicknames and book clubs, and Buffy feels left out...jealous, like a new big sister might. By doing a spell, Buffy realizes Dawn wasn't Home there previously, but the dying monk affirms that Buffy is to protect Dawn; we find out later that Dawn was made from Buffy...whatever that means.

So exactly what does the title mean? Not sure, but the domestic family theme is crucial, and the exploration of identity in the first few episodes continues.

Out of My Mind

Transition episode, but at first glance, it looks like one of the "slice of life" metaplot episodes. And it is, beginning the Ben/Glory plot by introducing Ben and setting up the whole Mom has a brain problem--the Big Bad for this season is introduced, but we don't know it yet.

And last season hasn't quite ended: Spike is still dealing with the chip in his head, and Riley is still dealing with the complications caused late doctor's experiments and Riley's relationship with the Initiative. The link between all the slices is physical well-being: Joyce's trip to the hospital, Riley's and Spike's surgeries. At first glance, this episode seems overtly dealing with the physical conditions of life.

But underneath it, a different theme is being explored: love. Riley, who admitted earlier that he knows Buffy doesn't love him like he wishes she does, now admits that he would rather die than lose his superpowers--Buffy is getting stronger all the time, Buffy's history suggests that if he isn't unique, he's going to be history too. Buffy argues this, insisting that she's opened up to him like no one ever before, defining love in terms of emotional connection and trust...which in the next couple episodes we'll see isn't accurate; she tells Spike things she doesn't tell Riley, implying that the emotional connection she has is not as strong with Riley as she claims. Riley knows Buffy well, better than she knows herself. She is not deep and insightful; she de-stresses by killing things. She's an action figure, not a fashion Barbie or a Buddha statue. She may not realize it, but Riley is probably right. She wants to be challenged and tested by her partner; without his augmentation, he is Clark Kent, not Superman. Even though Buffy would hate to admit it, Riley at that point becomes someone she protects, not an equal--he's right that her definition of love includes dynamic that will be missing after he becomes "normal."

Camera to Spike. He wants to become "normal," which for a vampire means able to kill. As long as he can't, Buffy's code of honor won't let her kill him. He's "safe." But he's not, really. Fighting beside Buffy, he's her equal--and the opening tag, where both Spike and Riley interrupt her as she is patrolling, comically makes the point that at the beginning, there is an equality between the three; all are capable warriors, and grudgingly accept that.

The end of the opening tag, just like the end of the closing tag, focus on the counterpoint to Riley's love for Buffy. Riley is the white milk, picket fences Iowa boyfriend. There's passion, but that's not the defining quality of Buffy/Riley. Spike, however--he's all passion. At the beginning, his hate for Buffy, his desire to make her neck his chalice--passion, but negative.

The ending, though--a dream, foreshadowing the next couple seasons--has her coming to kill him (or threatening to, again...), when they kiss as passionately as they are capable of, then Spike declares his love for her. Note, not that he wants her, or any other passion/sex/emotional word. He baldly states he loves her, in the dream, which shocks him awake. The closing image is not that ambiguous: the emotion in the dream was true, and Spike is reeling from admitting it to himself.

Logically, Riley is everything Angel couldn't be--he's the man Buffy could grow old with and have a normal life with, and there could be just enough passion to make life bearable. They have shared values, shared dreams--love, as many people would define it. BUT Spike, he's the passion. Well, so far he's the only one who recognizes it as romantic, but this is the turning point for both Riley's and Spike's relationships with Buffy, even though Buffy never quite figures that out.

OH--and the title? I think it's Spike saying that. He wants the chip out of his head, but he also knows he's out of his mind for loving Buffy. However, it could be taken other ways....still thinking about that.

The Replacement

Xander-angst! Last season, Xander was a misfit. He wasn't in college, he couldn't keep a job, he was at loose ends and stagnating. This episode, right at the beginning of season 5, is a logical counterpart to Dawn's "Real Me." In both, the core issue is one of identity. "Real Me" introduces Dawn's search for identity; "The Replacement" makes Xander's struggle with finding his groove as an adult into an explicit theme.

So he's twins--grown-up, responsible Xander and goofy, unreliable Xander. The twist is they are both Xander, and the clearest evidence of that is that the reliable one is doing things--getting a promotion, getting a nice apartment--based on the actions of season 4 Xander, who must have quietly been doing some of the right things in order to have the opportunities he takes advantage of in this episode.

As happens in other places, most notably the yellow crayon speech, Xander calls on his history and relationship with Willow. Despite Oz, Tara, Anya, and Dark Willow--Xander and Willow's bond is deep...arguably deeper than his bond with Buffy despite his loyalty and infatuation with her (Note, I'm excluding the last couple episodes of the series when I say that--but it's worth mentioning that he takes the side Willow is on when they throw Buffy out). True Xander, deep down, Willow knows him.

Two bits of foreshadowing occur: first, somewhat jokingly, Joyce complains about a headache. Yep, that's going nowhere good. secondly, Riley has a revealing talk with "responsible" Xander explaining that he knows Buffy doesn't really love him. The clock is ticking on that relationship, we suspect, AND we see Xander doing something that he does even more once he embraces his grown up side: he is the confidante who sees more than most people, and who is willing to say the hard things.

The resolution is simple, and Xander is restored. The Scoobies reaffirm their partnership by working together to solve the problem, and the Magic Box is established as a home base. Season continues to build from here.

Restless

Season four ends not with vanquishing Big Bad, but with an artful, experimental show of dream sequences. Much has been written about this episode, and the dvd includes Joss' detailed commentary on the episode--I really don't have much to say that's not been said before, probably by people who have said it better.

In a sense, the Big Bad of season four is as much finding their own identity--their "true names," as comes up in a couple of the dreams. Adam, as the "am I human, or demon, or andriod--and what does that mean anyway" Big Bad they can physically fight is one manifestation of that, but this episode ties up the search in ways that killing Adam doesn't. Willow, Giles and Xander go on dream quests that end in them naming their quandaries or fears: Cool, Quirky Wicca Willow is a disguise, and nerd Willow quails beneath that disguise, fearful of discovery; as hard as Xander searches, he'll never leave his basement, never overcome the taint and heritage of his upbringing; and Giles' crossroads--am I father? watcher? should I move on?--peppers his journey with options, ones he is too stymied to grab.

Then finally, Buffy's dream-journey takes her face to face with the first Slayer, who tells her she cannot have friends, she must only kill. Buffy rejects that, ultimately saving her friends and herself.

Rife with foreshadowing of Dawn's arrival next season, sexual imagery, and commentary on various plot threads (including Joyce's death--and Buffy ignoring when her mom asks for help), it's clear that Tara is integrating herself into their lives, and that Buffy is aware that Riley may become someone she can't be with. According to Whedon's commentary, the odd cheeseman who appears in each dream really is a random motif, just as dreaming includes random imagery.

There's a lot of interesting symbolism in the episode, but honestly--it's been talked about by people who have devoted a whole lot more energy to being insightful than I'm willing to give. Note though that creative camera angles, odd dissolves, unusual depth of field, and frequent use of color and negatives give this an exceedingly dream-like feel, making it clear that Joss' at least this season was going for an artsy auteur approach to his direction.

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.

Lovers Walk

Big deal episode. Spike's back for an episode, and manages to upset the status quo enough that people and situations are different at the end of the episode than they were at the beginning. Even though the last episode was called ""Revelations," this is the episode where the secrets hit everyone in the face--and, in a proto-Spike way--he not only instigates it, but like the court jester, he voices what people aren't willing or able to say...maybe even to think.

The episode begins happy: SAT scores are back! Willow's faux depression over her very high but not perfect score is played for laughs, and she and Oz are adorable. fawning over a Pez witch. Cord and Buffy have much higher scores than would be expected, and Xander's less then stellar score is laughed off; he didn't expect better--and, more importantly, Cordy has pictures of him in her locker! That's much better than being smart.

The end of the episode, though...wrenching. Cordy nearly died, and tells Xander unequivocally to never come near her again; Oz and Willow are separate since Oz saw her kissing Xander; Joyce knows Angel is alive--and she isn't happy about it; and Buffy has told Angel they aren't friends and she's not coming back.

There's only a hint of Season three in here; the mayor appears, but briefly. No Faith, little Giles even. This episode is seminal, though, setting up or making explicit dynamics that push the show for the next 4 seasons. Spike is almost an emotional savant, a constant victim of his own emotions, but acutely aware of other's emotions as well--which means he often understands their actions and motivations better than they do. His prodding causes too nice Willow to stand up to him and say there will be no biting. He tells Angel and Buffy that they are not friends, ending an epic, foreshadowing speech with "I may be love's bitch, but I'm man enough to admit it," causing Buffy to confront her conflicted feelings about Angel and ultimately tell him that the only way they can be friends is if he tells her he doesn't love her. He can't, and the rest of the season is spent untangling their relationship (so he can go begin his own show, yes, I know).

Understanding the title is crucial to understanding the subtext. There's no apostrophe on the dvd. It's not the romantic balcony people stood on to see into the distance (also called Widow's Walk); it's saying that lovers walk away. Cordelia doesn't come back; Dru doesn't come back; Buffy basically doesn't come back, although they have their moments; Willow walked away briefly, and we know that ultimately, she chooses Tara instead of Oz. This is an episode about leaving--not even about the pain and aftermath, but the turning point where it happens.

And in the seeds of the end of Buffy/Angel, there's Spike. He doesn't tell us that Dru says he's obsessed with Buffy; we learn that later. But the loathing/working together dynamic of Buffy/Spike, and the trust that they both want to deny they feel towards the other--that's integral to this episode even as Spike has kidnapped Willow and Xander. And when Joyce dies and Spike tries to bring flowers (which Xander rejects without Buffy even knowing), it's easy to believe that Spike genuinely liked and mourns Joyce; that dynamic is set up in this episode too.

The dialogue in this episode is tight--Joss at his best. Some samples: http://www.buffyguide.com/episodes/loverswalk/loverswalkquotes.shtml Joss and co. rock at using language well!

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.

Faith, Hope and Trick

Big news: Angel's back, somehow. We don't know details, that's the closing shot: Angel, naked, laying on the floor.

This episode is an intro episode, starting the season's meta-plot. Character development is key; with the arrival of the somewhat morally ambiguous Faith, Buffy's jealous streak, and intro of Trick (who never quite works for me), a couple interesting things may be missed.

One, Willow knows that she's doing things with magic that Giles wouldn't approve of. She underplays and tries to lie about what she's been attempting, and Giles warns her--one of the first times I remember getting an undercurrent of "this isn't good."

Two, Giles is more subtle and aware than he may seem. A recurring bit during the episode (maybe the first couple?) is Giles pressing Buffy for more info about Angel's death so he can do a "binding spell" to insure there are no problems with the statue (or something similar). Buffy sticks with "I came, I saw, I conquered" as her line until the end of the episode. Finally, with no emotional fanfare, she starkly tells the truth: She kissed Angel, who was back to himself, then killed him. She admits it feels better to have told, but in an understated manner. It's not until after Buffy leaves that we find out Giles' only magic involved healing Buffy's pain--he knew she hadn't faced it all, and he played her to get the rest of the story. That degree of emotional insight wasn't typically observed in Giles earlier, but it becomes more common. Also, Faith suffers because she doesn't tell; Buffy sees that, and realizes that like Faith, she is part of the walking wounded. Telling Giles the whole truth helps.

Last, Joyce finds out that Buffy can't quit without dying--and that she died once and that led to Faith. She hates Buffy's calling, but supports her too. That's a recurring theme.

Next--I don't remember! Fun ahoy!

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.

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Another Xander-centric episode. It seems like comic relief and a break from the evil that is Angel, but there's some character building that is worth noting. Xander gets Cordy a silver heart necklace, and it must be nice--Buffy likes it, and Cordy's first reaction is very appreciative. In the scene where Xander gives her his heart (yea, go with the schmaltzy symbolism), he makes a speech about how he sees something in her, and in their relationship, that isn't apparent at first look. Her reaction, though, is to break up with him. She's losing too much social status over him, and they don't make sense.

So....Xander has Amy do a love potion to make Cordy fall in love, not forever, though. He wants to make her go through the heartache and social stigma that he's experiencing. Like most spells at this point in the show, it goes awry. Every female except Cordy--including Jenny and Joyce and the lunch lady--are desperate for Xander's attention.

At the end of this spell, Buffy (and presumably all the girls) know what they did while enchanted. Buffy talks to Xander about how she tried to get him to undress her, and gives him high marks for resisting. While she was under the spell, he makes a whole speech about how he would if she had any clue how much it would mean to him, but since she doesn't, he doesn't want to. It's an echo of Oz's speech about not kissing Willow until she is kissing him back--seems like a trend. A man doesn't take what's offered until it matters emotionally as well as physically? Not sure how I'd word it yet, but there's a definite trend.

This is the first time we see Amy as a witch, and we're immediately hit with Amy's penchant for rat spells. Gee, wonder if that's going to show up again! And we hear more examples of Angel's torturous side, but it turns comic in this case; instead of getting Xander to hurt/kill/vamp, Dru saves Xander till the angry crowd of females saves Xander from Dru.

Here's the point worth noting: As angry as Giles was with Xander for messing with the forces of darkness--calling him "selfish" and "a fool"--Xander faces no consequences. It's a slightly comic break from the meta-plot, not a tragic building up towards Angel's evil climax. That's true of "Once More With Feeling," when Xander messes with magic, that time causing at least one death, yet he's teflon. Curious. Willow and Buffy don't get that much of a get out of jail free card. Neither do Angel, Spike and Faith when they mess up. Is it possible that because the writers (Joss especially) identifies strongly with Xander, he slids through? Maybe....