The best joint season of the BtVS & Angel years begins, huzzah! BtVS rebounds after the whole Initiative arc with its most cohesive and mature season yet, while over on Angel they’ve largely figured out what works best and spend most of the season leaning into that. Neither season is perfect (or my personal favorite year of either series–we’ll get to overall rankings later on down the line), but so what? Two pretty damn good/great seasons turns out to equal the best overall TV season featured in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Retrospecticus.

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Retrospecticus…

One thing I appreciate is that the crossovers–which TV networks love advertising as a Big Event/the biggest deal in the world–feel enjoyably character-based instead of plot heavy. What I mean by that is instead of trying to start a story on BtVS and then continue it on Angel (like with the Gem of Amarra from last year), it’s moreso the characters themselves that carry over. Willow, Angel, Drusilla, Harmony (and more) all get to mingle in ways that seem quite natural to their characters without needing to waste a ton of time explaining things.

It’s still more of a one-way street as BtVS characters are always the ones popping up on Angel instead of Angel characters making their way over to BtVS, but I understand the logic at the time that if you watch Angel it’s a safe bet you know of BtVS characters, whereas the reverse might require awkward re-introductions or something.

That’s certainly enough preamble, let’s just get to the goods already…

Buffy vs Dracula

• Written by Marti Noxon / Directed by David Solomon
• Restless Buffy goes hunting to feel satisfied. The dustings continue to improve, which is nice, as does the picture quality and overall look of everything.
• New credits with Anya! I think Tara should have been in the credits, too, but those decisions weren’t up to me.

• Buffy characters in real locations are always kind of odd, because so much of it generally isn’t real world set. Willow continues to advance magically with immediate beach flames and everyone’s fine with it, but in a year they’ll all feel quite differently re: Willow & magic. 
• Dracula’s powers include being able to make it storm outside? His arrival is fun, dramatic, & silly.
• Giles, who has been Mr. Project all summer, lets Willow know his feelings about needing to move on as he feels rather useless and needs to go back somewhere he has purpose (or can find purpose). Understandable.

• Dracula is quite amusingly full of himself in his overly dramatic ways–his comic appearances make this episode that much more fun. Lots of future backstory to come. Of course Buffy’s famous in the underworld, as she should be. I wonder how widely it’s known her power is rooted in darkness (which we will come to learn more of). And “Vone, two, three–three victims, mwa ha ha” is maybe what earns Xander his job as Dracula’s lackey.
• To tap into my inner homo for a moment, Buffy’s hair looks pretty great all throughout S5.

• I’m not sure why Dracula thinks being a wolf on the roof of a coffee place would be less eye-catching than being a human on the roof of a coffee place, but he does. Dracula may say “You are strange and off-putting, go now” of Xander now, but he’ll feel differently one day. Spike and Anya both have Dracula history, if their accounts are meant to be believed, and now Buffy & Xander also have a story to tell.

• Riley likes to feel like a big man wherever he can (which is not unlike Angel. I suppose Buffy has a type), but he clearly feels superfluous to the gang workings already.
• Dracula letting himself in and seducing Buffy to let him taste her blood is an effective scene. And I agree with Dracula that Angel is unworthy, not that Dracula’s such hot stuff. Rudolf Martin’s dull performance isn’t my favorite, by the way.

• “The dark master–bater” Spider Eating Man Bitch Xander drips jelly from that donut all over. Slob.
• Dracula convinced Joyce into inviting him in for coffee and it’s a shame we couldn’t have seen that–it could have been quite amusing. As for why Willow and Tara feel the need to keep their relationship a secret from Joyce, I don’t know. I can’t imagine she’d be a jerk about it.
• It’s clear Buffy’s going to wind up at Dracula’s castle at some point so I appreciate how no time is wasted on Buffy and Xander hiding out in his basement. 
• Did Giles and Riley just let themselves into every place they checked out today, like they do Dracula’s?

• I think it’s funny that Riley winds up wandering around Dracula’s castle until Buffy’s done–he and Giles may well have not even come. I’m sure this somewhat factors into their mutual decisions to leave for being unneeded. I’m sorry, I forgot that Giles was helping keep the three sisters busy–for the team, of course.
• “You think you know? What you are? What’s to come? You haven’t even begun” are the words from her dream that convince Buffy to drink Dracula’s blood, briefly and for the last time as she isn’t the life mate he was hoping for (Xander’s closer to it). Their VS fight is pretty okay and I’m glad Buffy reads the room re: Dracula not being dead–but why doesn’t he die from staking? That seems like a useful ability for a vampire.

• Buffy tells Giles exactly what he needed to hear and you can see the relief/satisfaction/joy on his face at being wanted again–“I need you to be my watcher again.”
• Xander makes some big life choices after this, so Dracula actually helped him along his life path quite a bit.
• Oh yeah, and then there’s Dawn. I remember being wonderfully confused by this at the time.

Judgment

• Written by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt / Directed by Michael Lange
• Lorne right away in this little tease of Caritas–except he’s just “The Host” for a while. I forgot he doesn’t get a name until the end of S2.

• Wesley proves more successful at bar flirtation that before, until the last second dart throw.
• Wesley’s actually the one who found Lorne (and Merl), which proves extremely helpful to their lives going forward. And nice to see previous demon makeup/FX being put to good use at Caritas.
• The stuff with the gym mirror is silly fun and I’m glad the vampire makeup is so much better than S1.

• Lilah and Lindsay keep Darla at the law offices while she reacclimates to life, like a pet they can’t leave at home. Maybe they need her help making copies.
• The Phantom Dennis exposition makes this feel a little like a 2nd pilot, which I’m okay with as the first one wasn’t great.
• Angel rushes to judgment (hey, that’s the title!), sure, but this demon guy does start attacking Angel first. And way to think about the lack of fear stuff from your vision now, Cordy. Vague visions aren’t helpful.

• Gunn noticing that a vent wasn’t there before leads me to wonder–did the demon and Jo, the pregnant lady, build a fake vent door to access their hideaway home? And I don’t see a toilet.
• Jo gets all irate when Angel says he doesn’t have the talisman on him, but she didn’t have a clue where it was at all so shouldn’t knowing where it is make life easier?
• Angel stumbles across the Hyperion, which we’ll get into next week. And I think this is the first of many (too many), uses of “Champion.” 

• First sign of Angel’s Barry Manilow love. Oh, Mandy. “I kinda think it’s pretty.”
• Jo just wandering down the middle of the street as cars pass by is an odd choice for her character.
• This joust stuff is pretty simple–fight to the death, winner take all. This demon court isn’t big on talking problems out.

• Angel pops by to say hi to Faith. It’ll be a while until we see her again, but at least this is a nicer way to leave her than last time.

Real Me

• Written by David Fury / Directed by David Grossman
• Giles and Buffy’s slayer training resumes, only now she’s actually into it for the first time. Then Dawn ruins it, like an annoying child does. Plus she’s in the credits already. If I were Amber Benson I might be a little peeved about that.

• I remember how odd the sudden inclusion of Dawn everywhere was–very jarring, but obviously quite planned. Crazy guy rambling about curds and whey is a nice throwback. He’s really a pretty effective crazy guy.
• Giles is still getting used to his shiny new red car, which he’ll really only have for a year at most. I doubt he had it shipped back to England.

• The Magic Box, as we will come to know and love, debuts and is a great addition to things (“Impressive square footage…” & “I bet the death rate keeps the rent down.”) while adding purpose for Giles (& soon Anya).
• Tara still feels like an “other” so she joins Dawn outside. I think she’d be included more if she included herself more.
• Joyce is being unreasonable with Buffy–you know what Buffy spends her time doing and what her responsibilities are, so having Buffy watch Dawn will lead to her seeing weird/violent stuff.

• Dawn’s crush on Xander will eventually be reciprocated, years from now. They will even have a baby one day.
• Anya “Hello, little girl” and her general energy is much appreciated, always. “Can I trade in the children for more cash?”
• And I know Harmony’s a moron, but this is the plan? Come to Buffy’s house to fight her? 

• Dawn almost gets them all killed but then boo hoo, her feelings are hurt? I’m with Buffy. Dawn’s a pain.
• Riley doesn’t know Harmony and shouldn’t find this so funny. 
• Spike and Harmony catch up and one of Harmony’s gang tucks his shirt into his jeans. Very threatening. Also, Tom Lenk makes an appearance pre-Andrew as Cyrus.

• Dawn’s so upset at being called “a little idiot” that she decides to act exactly like a little idiot, getting Anya wounded in the process. That’ll show ’em.
• Buffy beats on Spike some more and gets his juices flowing…
• Slayer Sense Fail: Buffy doesn’t notice the giant guy maneuvering behind her?
• Vampires really shouldn’t have wood furniture, ever.

Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?

• Written by Tim Minear / Directed by David Semel
• Angel’s needlessly vague with Cordy and Wes to start things off. He really enjoys power trips.
• In the 50s Angel gets a bill on a silver platter–is that how things used to work?
• Angel wanders through the hotel in the past while we get to know the key players and generally what’s up (black people not welcome). Surprise, surprise–people suck.

• I like how introspective this one is and that there’s no lame subplot to pad things out.
• This PI thinks pretty highly of himself and his skills just because he has a gun. Did Angel give him his gun back, or ditch it somewhere?
• Going room to room with a shotgun seems like you could get maybe two rooms before people realize something bad is going down.
• Cordy and Wes give us a tour of the hotel’s history from her apartment. Simpler times. The clarity on the photo they see him in, the one from 1952, is pretty damn great.

• Angel only sips from his cold glass of blood–don’t he ever want to chug warm blood? Or would that be too enticing?
• This demon has a good creepy whisper voice.
• “Can you imagine that wallpaper being the last thing you see before you go?” She won’t have to imagine that, the lucky woman.
• All these people who live in this hotel have pretty pristine clothing–it almost looks untouched.

• Being a bank teller in the 50s apparently meant you had windows to casually steal lots of damn money. And why would leaving a hotel look too suspicious? It’s a hotel. People come and go all the time. That’s what it’s for.
• Angel’s hiding place for the money turns out to be a damn good one–winner at hide & seek good. And if he did try to use any of this money I wonder if the serial numbers would raise any flags.
• Denver and his book store proves useful to Angel a couple times over a 50 year span.

• “Just north of 30” “No!” Hehe, nice comment on Angel not looking mid 20s anymore.
• Angel actually tries to help people and gets hung for his troubles, so I understand leaving them all to rot, but walking around this hotel of nutters with an axe doesn’t seem like a wise choice.
• Angel Sense Fail: he can’t tell a bunch of people are stalking up behind him. Also, Angel can’t fight off a bunch of nobodies and walk away? And after this Angel doesn’t bother helping people anymore, I guess, until Buffy.
• Orb wielding Wesley gets to take the lead on the spell. Practice for when he’s the boss, perhaps.

• Gunn hitting one of demon guy’s tentacles with a crossbow bolt is some amazing aim.
• Angel giving Judy a moment of peace before she finally passes away is a nice scene still–just don’t think about the 50 years spent in this horrible little room. I assume the demon was helping keep her alive, just as she was for him. “Can I go out now?” and then quickly succumbing to death is a good moment.
• Angel can afford a hotel? Even greatly discounted? The stolen bank funds sure come in handy right away.

The Replacement

• Written by Jane Espenson / Directed by James A. Contner
• The whole opening of one last hang out in Xander’s dingy basement feels like a Jane Espenson episode right from the start, between at the silly banter (“No, just incompetent burglars”) and the smash cut from “Who uses a cauldron anymore?” to a creepy demon doing just that.

• I wonder what property values are like in Sunnydale. If Xander could afford this fairly nice place then why the hell hasn’t he moved out already? I guess that’s what this whole episode is about, though, why he feels like a perpetual loser (Anya rambling about his drunk parents and urine hot plates is another case of Espenson writing well for her).
• Giles vs Toth–which Buffy thinks is British slang for moron–has Giles going from a rabbit’s foot to a fertility god in his first Magic Box fight (before he even opens).

• We finally get to see the Sunnydale city dump, so now I can check that off my wish list. Spike scavenging around yields his mannequin lady, who we’ll see more of. And Xander taking this magical blow meant for Buffy seems like a foolish idea, plus he could have tackled her out of the way instead of just push her and stand there.

• “This must be my two teenage girls in the house headache”–it is not, Joyce. I remember a fan theory from way back when that Dawn’s mystical presence was somehow the cause of Joyce’s medical issues. Thankfully that never came to be.
• Cool Xander’s work outfit seems odd to me. He looks like he’s going to an office job, not to work on a construction site all day. And even the together, competent version of Xander can’t recall how long he’s been on the job. Also, how does Loser Xander even hear the stuff about being promoted from outside?

• This realtor hitting on Cool Xander knows he has a girlfriend, but maybe she likes being able to win a guy from someone else. 
• They’re leaning into the Xander needs help all the time thing they like to mention, but again I’ll say he doesn’t need saving constantly or trip all over himself. He does fine more often than not.
• Loser Xander does the Snoopy dance in his desperate attempt to convince Willow he’s really himself, but she doesn’t even know there’s two of them yet. Loser Xander is also Stupid Xander, evidently. Cool Xander being gung-ho to just kill Loser Xander also seems in line with the harsher side of his personality we’ve seen over the years (like, for instance, anything having to do with Angel).

• Willow says “I handled it fine” re: her Vamp Willow doppelganger and I’d agree with her.
• Anya and Cool Xander’s chat about how she’s dying (because of her arm injury) and needs to know when they’ll be getting a car, a boat, a puppy, etc is quite a panicked reaction to mortality. As for her aging and dying, well I’m sorry to say she won’t really have to deal with that beyond the next couple years. And the fact she has a loaded gun in her nightstand seems exactly like something Anya would do.
• “Is one of them a robot?” Not this time, Willow, but you don’t have to wait long.
• I always liked Giles’ face when he tries to nicely summarize how one of the Xanders is a collection of his failures, insecurities, and general crappy features.

• Riley says all those nice, lovey things to Buffy and then gets none in return–you can see the disappointment on his face.
• Cool Xander’s little quick gun unloading thing is maybe a little bit of leftover Halloween army man.
• Toth disappears for most of the episode, then shows his face again for one more quick fight. It’s a fairly compressed timeline, in all fairness, so it’s not like he’s been hanging around doing nothing for weeks. Also, Xander’s new neighbors get to overhear an explosion and Buffy fighting a demon on his very first night–I bet they’re pleased.
• “Doesn’t it make everyone want to lock them in separate rooms and do experiments on them?”–I can see the interest in that, Riley.

• Anya wants to take both Xander’s home for sex and, frankly, I don’t see anything wrong with that–as she says, they’re both Xander. Plus, the longer she waits the more of a bad influence Loser Xander becomes on Cool Xander. “I liked it the other way. Put ‘em back.”
• Then, suddenly at the end, Riley shares his sad knowledge that he knows Buffy doesn’t love him and it won’t last. Now the audience knows, too.

First Impressions

• Written by Shawn Ryan / Directed by James A. Contner
• We thankfully missed Angel singing more, but Lorne got to hear a couple songs as Angel searches for meaning. Lorne is 100 steps better than the lame Oracle pair from last season, but the fact that Angel needs all this guidance from above is exactly what opens him up to so much outside interference in the first place. 
• Angel’s Darla dreams have begun and his spiral downward won’t be fun for everyone.

• I know Gunn’s used to being the boss of his gang, but him wandering in to the hotel to be a dickhead to Cordy & Wes like he owns the place isn’t exactly how you win allies.
• Their rich friend pops up one more time to “help” with financial advice before he disappears forever. It’s probably for his own good as I’m sure the more often he showed up the more likely he’d die.
• Early Gunn is so full of himself and, as Cordy says, such “a pleasant person to be around.” I always wanted him to cross paths with Buffy and try to pull his alpha male crap with her. Between Angel and Gunn the dick-measuring gets a bit much sometimes.

• Wesley’s poor beeper is a casualty of their slight fight against three vampires. He should really have a cell phone, anyway. Also, Gunn’s “reasoning” for not seeing a movie since Malcolm X is moronic. So, because a movie you like didn’t win at a certain awards show that means all movies released after are dead to you? Huh?
• So, wouldn’t these debilitating visions kind of make Cordy an unsafe driver? They happen randomly and without warning, which could certainly lead to some tragic results on the road. Or what if she was holding a baby? All kinds of possibly unfortunate outcomes.

• As for fortunate outcomes, Darla’s working on making that happen in Angel’s dreams now…
• Wesley interrupting Angel’s dreams of Darla leads to Wesley being accosted by naked Angel, which I’m sure was a fan fetish site somewhere. You can see Angel’s white boxers on Hulu, though, so the illusion is broken.
• “Skinny white beauty queen”–would Gunn be happier if Cordy were Indian, or perhaps Hispanic? Would that help his “rep”?
• Wesley still has his ridiculous motorcycle, which Angel’s embarrassed to ride on the back of in a pink helmet–he’s very concerned with his image, if that’s news to anyone.

• What’s with all these guys who need to be the boss of the town? Gunn knows LA is a huge place and he’s not the king, right?
• Gunn’s friend shouldn’t have pulled the glass out of her neck, but at least Cordy tries to help while others just stand around looking concerned.
• Angel and Wes stumble into the one vampire lady who took forever to leave, so lucky for them they have amazing timing.

• Gunn gets saved by Cordy and the gang before Deevak can kill him, which thankfully humbles him a little bit. Going forward he’s less of a raging jerk.
• Darla’s raping Angel as he sleeps, but he never seems terribly bothered by it.

Out of My Mind

• Written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner / Directed by David Grossman
• Buffy continues her nightly huntings, only now with the company of Spike & Riley, neither of which is “entirely welcome.” Her staking that one vampire through the dirt when only its hands were out doesn’t make any sense.

• I understand why they lean more into comical Spike, as having him actively villainous would prove difficult for the long-term, but sometimes I think they go too hard into making him silly.
• Buffy and Willow get to have a debate about a college lecture, which Willow should enjoy while it lasts as once Buffy leaves school to help her mom there will be no return.

• I like how everyone chips in to get the Magic Box and Buffy’s training room up and running. Xander and Giles’ bond from their times together in S4 seems to be going steady, plus Xander’s actually fairly useful now–at least he can build and repair things.
• A “real psychic”? I suppose those probably exist in the Buffyverse, but I still laugh at the idea of believing that.
• Slayer Sense Fail: Riley tackles Buffy.
• Spike and Harmony re-coupling definitely gives him something to do and “I’ve got this cute little government chip in my head” sounds so much like ADR.

• Joyce’s medical issues officially begin, after some dancing around, and I like how Dawn actually discovers Riley’s health issues–helpful for once. She also gives Buffy the idea to ask for help via the extremely obvious phone tap on Riley’s landline, so I guess helpful for twice. Dawn’s getting less actively annoying, overall, which I appreciate.
• I’m glad this is the only sporty basketball sequence of the series. That’s hardly what anyone watches BtVS for. Riley’s friend Graham shows up again and while he’s rather personality-free, I actually like how non-combative he is with Buffy. He really seems to be perfectly fine with her.

• Giles’ mug gets prominent screentime during the Magic Box, which I can’t help but point out. And Scooby meetings are always fun excuses to get everyone together for enjoyable exchanges. Characters who have less to do in episodes at least get a few fun lines or a moment in the sun before the general plot kicks in.
• Graham gets knocked unconscious twice in a short span. This doctor should have a look at Graham’s brain, while he’s checking on people.
• Buffy and Riley’s cave chat where she says “I’d be dating Spike” to try and make a point to Riley about what she looks for in a man will have different implications a year from now.

• Vampires can be a vegetable? I mean, even if the doctor cuts a chunk out of Spike’s brain he couldn’t just heal? I know it’s all magic and whatever, anyway, but I can’t ever completely stop wondering how that all works.
• How long have Graham and the security guard been out cold? Seems like kind of a long time.
• Good thing this doctor wasn’t dumb enough to actually remove Spike’s chip, if only out of self-preservation. Spike actually gets quite the upper hand on Buffy, even without being able to hurt her–he was within prime biting position and could have done some real damage.

• Riley being “all patched up” means what, exactly? This doctor cut open his chest and did something with his heart in 10 minutes and now off he goes.
• “But you know you don’t belong here, right?” & “Okay, right, there’s her–and?” plus some other points of Graham’s all make pretty good sense. Saying things like “you belong with us” don’t help your case, though. It makes you sound culty.

• I remember the final Buffy/Spike scene, where he rips his shirt off and they makeout, from way back when. Obviously it was a dream, but the fact that Spike dreams it all (plus his reaction) sells it.

Untouched

• Written by Mere Smith / Directed by Joss Whedon
• I know Darla’s got nothing else to do right now, really, but how fulfilling is standing around Lindsay’s office in the dark?
• Cordy and Wes continue to amusingly banter and I’m glad they never try to twist this into romance. They both remember their horrible kiss from way back when.

• I wonder if Angel’s little detective act had any negative repercussions on that officer’s career–probably not, I guess, as long as he didn’t mention anything to the actual detective. And Bethany, telekinetic girl, probably should have gone a little further from the crime scene than the first door she came across. She’s clearly not thinking too clearly, though, and responds to impulse–“Great, I stabbed an angel.” Angel holding himself together just long enough to come across as strong for Bethany feels very true to his big-man nature.
• Lilah’s apartment building doesn’t come across as nice enough. I know the apartment itself is rather spacious, but there’s not even a door to Bethany’s room. C’mon, what is that?

• “Do you know how hard it is to think straight with a rebar through your torso?” leads Cordy to a nice shout out from a years ago experience she’s obviously not forgotten–not that being impaled is something you forget any time soon. This one has a bunch of good Cordy bits–”You’ve been up for three hours.”
• Gunn’s cool new axe makes its first appearance. We’ll see it lots over the next couple years.

• It looks like that rebar went through Angel’s back tattoo, so shouldn’t it be all mangled and distorted the next time we see it? I know vampires heal, but can they heal tattoo ink?
• Angel’s fireside sex scene with Darla (which he revisits a couple times) has a murderously erotic feel to it and is one of the more charged sexual moments of the series.

• S2 of Angel is much better than the first season and I think this episode is the marker of where the hit-or-miss nature of the first season and early S2 makes way for a more consistent series. There’s just an element of this one that nails the tone from scene to scene and overall, too.
• Holland Manners is less supportive and fatherly to Lilah than he is to Lindsay, if you ask me. He just doesn’t come across as invested in her success as he does Lindsay. The W&H Boys Club in effect, I guess. Later on when he threatens Lilah for interfering with Lindsay’s project and keeps calling Bethany a “little girl” really makes me think he considers women substandard to men.

• Wesley plays a dangerous little game with his Bethany fatherly abuse test, considering her rather destructive and violent impulses. Still, it’s a good moment.
• Angel sleeping naked seems like a questionable choice, considering he occasionally needs to get up and immediately engage with the world–maybe he’s secretly an exhibitionist. Anyway, for a one-off character I think Bethany’s rather effective and gets a good bit of stuff to do.

• This episode also has Gunn at his most enjoyable and amusing, while also feeling like a part of the gang. I agree with him, too, about not shedding any tears over a dead rapist for hire.
• “Don’t bone my boss” & “I think you’re kind of dangerous” continues Cordy’s bluntness, while also making realistic points about Bethany’s character.

• I like how quickly her attempted kidnapping gets foiled. Generally speaking I enjoy how this episode zigs when you think it might zag. The exterior shot of Bethany shattering all those windows is another solid moment in an episode with a few, but Angel really had a lot of clean up to do after this one. He’s gonna need a shitload of screen doors. Cordy gets a nail in the arm for her troubles, though, and it looks like a tetanus shot would be a good choice.
• I find it hard to believe a rapist like her father only ever abused his own daughter, doesn’t she wonder about leaving him to his own devices? He’s been without his daughter for some time now and will be again–way to look out for other young girls.

No Place Like Home

• Written by Douglas Petrie / Directed by David Solomon
• This whole fleeing/chanting monks opening feels like it’s from Xena, or something. And this spell to make the key into Dawn doesn’t seem too involved–just a bunch of “oohm” and then done.

• This security guard should have seen Buffy dust this vampire right in front of him, but he was out of frame and therefore non-existent. Why was the dagon sphere (the glowy ball) just laying on the ground?
• Joyce continues feeling under the weather while Dawn continues to be an annoying, loudmouth brat. Why’d the monks have to make such an irritating person? She couldn’t be introspective and like to read?

• The silent exchange between Buffy and Giles re: his wizard outfit speaks volumes. “It appears to be paranormal in origin” & “It’s so shiny”–Giles on the glowy ball.
• Buffy’s timing with the security guard gone crazy couldn’t be better–small world syndrome.
• I wonder how this one monk got away from Glory the first time and hey, look it’s Glory. I also wonder what Anya needs conjuring powder for–what’s she conjuring?
• Glory’s introduction scene already makes me appreciate her more than Adam.

• Anya suggests the spell where Buffy finally learns about Dawn, which I often forget. She’s actually pretty helpful sometimes. As for Buffy and Xander, if they aren’t going to help Giles with Magic Box things they really shouldn’t be just hanging out behind the counter.
• Everyone wears shoes in the house *all the time* and I don’t approve. 
• The effect used to show Buffy’s trance view is just odd enough without being over the top, a little grainy and echoey, plus she finally learns Dawn doesn’t belong.

• I wonder what the neighbors think about Spike (“Out for a walk…bitch.”) hanging out on Buffy’s front lawn for who knows how long. Just looking the other way is probably the best policy for all her neighbors.
• Buffy’s flashlight as she wanders around this warehouse sure seems rather useless–there’s lots of light all over. Is this the first season where Buffy encounters the Big Bad clearly and early? It kind of is, depending on how you feel about S2 with Angel and S3 with Faith.
• Good thing for Buffy that Glory gets so easily peeved by the broken heel she causes the roof to cave in, but based on what we know of Glory that really shouldn’t have slowed her for more than a minute.

• Exposition Monk spills all the Dawn beans and Buffy takes it fairly well, plus the “she doesn’t know that” line puts Dawn’s involvement in all this into clear perspective. Dawn’s still annoying after this, quite annoying, but at least it’s possible to sympathize with her situation a bit.

Dear Boy

• Written & Directed by David Greenwalt
• I think Angel’s fairly amusing in this whole opening scene, from actually making a couple jokes to discussing his convent fascination. 
• Angel punching this random human guy over and over should have turned his face to mush. Really, at a certain point Angel would just be punching bloody concrete.
• This entire pre-credits sequence is one their best ones so far, I’d say. It feels like this episode really hits the ground running.

• Drusilla making her debut on Angel is also something to be pleased about, obviously, before diving right back to Angel seeing Darla walking around casually.
• There’s some welcome humor to lessen the drama in the form of Cordy & Wes interviewing the alien abduction guy. I’d wonder who told Wesley about Angel killing Darla, but I’m sure Buffy told Giles and I could see him covering Angel’s history when Wes got to Sunnydale.
• Darla laying it on thick with Lindsay has a few nice misdirects to suggest Darla’s a vampire again, which I just kind of assumed.
• Kate appears for the first time in S2 and is pretty much exactly where we left her–she hates Angel, her dad was killed, blah, blah blah.

• Darla suddenly showing up to torture Angel and then running into the sunlight does exactly what she’d hoped. Angel’s been going down the obsession rabbit hole for a while now and I think this is one of my favorite Angel storylines. More Lorne is always welcome, too, as Angel wang chung’s tonight. Andy Hallet must be having fun as the demon host of this karaoke bar. 
• Wesley’s imitation of Cordy’s voice always makes me laugh–“Next time I talk to him, I won’t weenie out like you, Wesley.”
• “Would I still be holding your chair if we were married?”–this actor guy is pretty funny in his brief time.

• Cordy’s not too wrong with her remark about Darla being like a vampire cat. Only four lives, though.
• Darla’s whole show for the cops and the shot of Angel snatching Darla away is kind of hilarious.
• Oh, and Angel & Darla having sex in front of Drusilla amongst the bodies of nuns all over is wonderfully harsh.

• Kate doesn’t wonder how Angel could get in this lady’s house according to her story?
• The gang all keeps their cool pretty well when this team of armed law enforcement officials barge in and get threatened by Kate. She leans into Gunn quite a bit, who points out that Angel couldn’t get in per that nonsense story. 

• Darla and Angel always have a passion between them I appreciate. They have an energy I don’t think is matched with any other of Angel’s couplings. The Angel vamp face FX feels especially wrong when there’s no sound effect accompanying. They must have spent a number of hours together in this waterworks, just long enough so she could have run off into the sunlight. Drama!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Retrospecticus will return next week for episodes of 6-11 of both BtVS S5 & Angel S2. Trivia!

1. How many werewolves did Gib Cain kill before he tried killing Oz, too?
2. Who were Jack O’toole’s dead friends?
3. Name three Order of Taraka assassins.

*Last week’s answers: 1) A-6, 2) Dodd McAlvy, Cameron Walker, Gage Petronzi, & Sean