Last time around Buffy finally learned Dawn’s not her sister, but a magical doodad given human life, and Angel had a revelation of his own when it came to finding out Darla’s alive & kicking again. Take a trip down “Previously On” lane if you need, otherwise next up are Tara’s turn in the spotlight and Wesley’s Angel impression.

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Retrospecticus…

Family

• Written & Directed by Joss Whedon
• Miss Kitty Fantastico appears for the last time. She isn’t even mentioned again until the penultimate episode of the series, so I guess at a certain point it was decided Willow & Tara having a cat was more trouble than it was worth. Now that I think about it a moment, since the ’90s ended TV shows aren’t great at letting characters have long-lasting pets. Off the top of my head I can think of Eddie & Murray–oh, also Paula Anka & Happy I did not watch Mad About You, Gilmore Girls, or 7th Heaven (ew), but I know of the dogs. As far as TV cats, all I can think of without Googling stuff are Salem & Toonces (and both of those don’t exactly count). So, where have all the TV pets gone?

• Buffy tells Giles all about Dawn being the key and good for Giles being the one & only confidant on this issue. I wonder what it’s like to learn that this teenage girl and all your memories of her are made up nonsense.
• Buffy’s dad is off and away living it up in Spain with his secretary and I wonder if having two daughters he abandoned–instead of just one–changed him at all.
• Tara makes what’s surely an awesome joke about Glory’s insect reflection to the completely wrong crowd–read the room, Tara.

• This Ben/Glory misdirect works well, but Glory has so many bracelets on–she must have put those on in quite a speedy fashion considering Ben doesn’t wear any.
• Xander clearly likes having Riley around, even if nobody else particularly cares. He’s another guy of the same age, which I could imagine is nice amidst the sea of women.
• Cordy shoutout–is that the last one of the series? I’ll keep an ear open.
• Buffy & Xander finally discuss Tara and how they don’t quite get her, even if they do think she’s nice and are happy for her & Willow. I think a lot of Tara’s otherness is due to her not just ingratiating herself into the group like Anya did.

• Tara’s brother Donny seems more like Slow Donnie, then there’s her authoritative assface father and, most notably, Amy Adams as judgmental Cousin Beth. It’s a shame Addams never managed to make a name for herself and faded into obscurity…
• I can see Riley’s future point about how he’s not essential to Buffy’s life and doesn’t inspire that passion. He’s dependable and available for Buffy, but that’s largely it.
• The fact that this whole thing where Tara thinks she’s a demon (but isn’t) is the payoff to Tara sabotaging that spell from last season always worked for me. I know some were bummed the twist was that there isn’t a twist, but I appreciate how sometimes it’s that simple.

• I know Tara’s on quite a time-crunch, with her dad demanding they leave the next morning, but she really didn’t think her plan through at all. They need to see demons as they fight them all the time and live in Sunnydale. Also, she puts Willow under a spell when later on she’ll be pissed when Willow does it to her (the circumstances are quite different, though).
• Willy of Willy’s Place is gone now, whatever that may mean, but Sandy is somehow still around. She’s the girl that Vamp Willow supposedly killed in the Bronze a year and a half ago–who was evidently sired by some other vamp while she was bleeding out, I guess.
• Trivia: Harmony steals all that stuff from the store Cordy used to work at in the end of S3.

• Amy Addams only really has this one scene with Tara, where she calls her a bitch for not wanting to move home to take care of her dad/brother (yeah, what a bitch). As for her argument that lying to people for a year and then manipulating them isn’t a very human thing to do–has she ever met a person before? That’s exactly what humans do all the time.
• Slayer Sense Success: Buffy notices the demons and actually does fairly well for being unable to see them at all.

• I very much enjoy pretty much everything about this culmination scene, from Tara’s emotional state to Willow, Buffy, Giles, and everyone putting their feet down about Tara not going anywhere. Anya helps, too, with questioning what kind of demon Tara is. Even Spike joins the party to prove Tara’s a human, after all. I expect this is the last time she ever saw her family.
• Riley being MIA for the whole “We’re family” scene is another omen of his imminent departure.
• “Only losers drink alcohol”–aren’t Buffy, Xander, and Willow all still under 21? And Tara’s only 20, as this very episode just established, so Giles should really be the only one able to drink. Maybe Anya, depending on what kind of fake ID stuff she has.

• Willow & Tara floating together is always a nice moment. I’m sure everyone at the Bronze has seen weirder things before.

Guise Will Be Guise

• Written by Jane Espenson / Directed by Krishna Rao
• Everyone breaks into W&H with amazing ease and these vampire detectors prove rather useless–a bumbling security guard bumps into them on their way out.
• “I was just thinkin’ I’d rather be drinkin’”–Lorne really helps with a fun, silly energy while also moving the plot long on a fairly regular basis.

• This one reminds me of a Frasier episode, kind of, between the therapy & comical misunderstandings.
• The lunatic gunman really lucked out that Angel wasn’t actually around. He would have gotten the crap beat out of him, best case scenario, or maybe since Angel’s not doing too well mentally he just kills the guy. How is this a plan? I can’t see how Angel would have left all this guy’s bones intact. At least Cordy has some chair spinning fun before this moron abducts Wes.

• I know T’ish Magev is a phony, but he certainly makes good points about Angel’s car, appearance, hair gel, and general outlook on life.
• Wesley impersonating Angel, however contrived the situation, does yield some good humor. These guys aren’t bright if they don’t even wonder why Angel’s wearing glasses. Anyway, Wes drinking the blood (which doesn’t look at all like blood) then pouring it into a clear vase is one of those Frasier-esque bits.

• An adult who still says “Daddy” seems like a red flag to me. Virginia’s got quite a poor-little-rich-girl vibe to her whole persona. Yes, she’s got problems and life complications (like her dad trying to sacrifice her for success) but so does everyone–only most don’t have a big cushion of money to alleviate many of other life’s problems.
• Wes flexing his Angel impression so he doesn’t have to fight those guys who try to casually take Virginia probably helps Wes a bit on his journey to callous badass. Whenever our regular humans get to fight other regular humans they actually do pretty okay, as I imagine once you go up against monstrous demons some random guy is less of a concern.

• Cordy’s interest in celebrity photos works better than a vision as she goes directly to the photo of a thug she’s looking for.
• Wesley and Virginia sleeping together is another one of those things that could certainly be interpreted differently, depending on your views. Wesley’s about a decade older than her and she thinks he’s someone else at the time, but as we learn a little later on Virginia’s been so sheltered she likes to get some wherever she can. Also, she and Wesley look amazing immediately upon waking up.
• Angel being so concerned by Wes wearing his coat feels quite true to his character and goes to show he’s disregarded what the fake T’ish Magev talked with him about.

• So this whole crowd of people were going to just watch Virginia get killed by some demon? Yeah, everyone in this room could drop dead and the world would be better for it.
• I know it’s petty, but I’m sure Wes is a little happy when he gets to knock out the gunman. Also, everything about this wrapup is amusing. The eunuch stuff, Virginia proclaiming she’s not a virgin by listing her creds (with one hooded figure skulking off), and the gang banter.

Fool for Love

• Written by Douglas Petrie / Directed by Nick Marck
• Quickest Buffy pre-credits sequence ever? It’s jarring. Buffy pulling that stake out of her gut looks painful. One day she’ll be able to shrug off a sword going through her, but I guess for now a stake in the belly is a to-do.
• Joyce wants to go over the grocery list for next week? Way to stay ahead of the game. And Dawn’s been less annoying since we found out her backstory, which I’m happy about.

• Xander, Willow, & Anya *are* pretty loud and obnoxious on the Riley-led patrol. Also, Willow just leaves the potato chip bag by some grave? Litterbug.
• Giles is clearly uncomfortable about the entire dead slayer chat–it’s too “painful.” They’ll both have to deal with her death in the not-too-distant future.

• I remember this flashback to human Spike and his poetry days being a nice surprise that first time I saw it. I never thought this would have been his origin. Cecily (more of her again one day, kind of) sets Spike on his immortal path with just a few words–”You’re beneath me.” It’s no time at all until Dru finds him in that alley and tells him exactly what he needs to hear (effulgent), then makes herself a playmate who’ll be with her for the next 120+ years.
• “The king of cups expects a picnic, but this is not his birthday”–Good point, indeed, Dru.

• I wonder if Buffy ever actively asked Spike about any of Angel’s history, or if he made a point to bring him up just to push her buttons–that certainly sounds like something he’d do.
• Buffy and Spike’s date night at the Bronze seems like a thing Riley would get riled up about. I wonder if she even told him.
• Spike vs Boxer Rebellion Slayer ends in victory for him exactly *because* she reached for her weapon (then he did that rather effective twisty arm move).

• “Look at the wonderful mess you’ve made”–Dru and Spike having bloody sex amidst the rebellion and by the body of the slayer he just killed sounds like it would be a pretty memorable night. It’s a memorable night for Angel and Darla, too, but for entirely different reasons I’ll get to in Angel’s next episode.
• Buffy pretends to be grossed out about the thrill of the kill sex when talking to Spike, but we all know she has those urges. I wonder what people who work at the Bronze think of Buffy, considering all the violence they’ve seen her partake in.
• That grenade Riley drops seems to have C4 in it. I mean, that’s a big boom for a grenade.

• Intercutting between Spike talking to Buffy & fighting Subway Slayer (aka Nikki Wood) is a highlight. Spike hits a nerve with Buffy when talking about death, I think. The fact he doesn’t drink Nikki’s blood is something I always found odd. Been there, done that? Or is it no fun without Dru? Nice touch on this being where he got his iconic coat.
• Spike lightly weeping as he collects his money off the ground in the alley, when he almost kisses Buffy and she tells him he’s beneath her, is another highlight in an episode with a few.

• This little taste of what Spike and Dru got up to after leaving Sunnydale in S2 (fungus demon) fills in some blanks and roots his Buffy obsession back a few years.
• Joyce is going to the hospital for an overnight stay what seems like pretty late in the evening, considering Buffy’s already gone out and done her whole thing (plus it’s rather dark).
• We won’t see Harmony for a while again after this one. Oh no.

• Spike comforting Buffy seconds after showing up with a shotgun is their first non-antagonistic interaction. She lets him briefly pat her back, even, before they just sit together in silence.

Darla

• Written & Directed by Tim Minear
• Angel’s artistic side gets to make an appearance, again, with all the Darla drawings littering the floor. Maybe we’ll call Darla making a mess of her (?) apartment in the throes of soul-based misery artistic expression, too.
• Mark Metcalf pops in again with his distinctive voice and it’s a wonderful cameo. I was one of those nutters who knew who it was the moment he spoke his first word. It’s almost a shame The Master is dead, as he’s got a great presence to him.

• Angel meeting The Master doesn’t go exactly as Darla expected, probably. This does square away her allegiance to The Master while also explaining some history of how she got to be. And Angel never even knew Darla’s real name.
• Wesley isn’t too far off on what W&H is up to re: Darla–they just want to make Angel crazy and she’s absolutely doing the trick. 
• I never got the impression Darla cared much for Drusilla. It comes across like a step-mother with her unwanted step-daughter. Angel did unilaterally decide to sire her without much input.

• Darla and Lindsay’s soulful chats don’t quite have the same energy to them that her scenes with Angel do, even with inappropriate workplace necking and allusions to an Angel/Lindsey hay romp. Also, Lindsay’s bracelet looks silly and him saying “I understand what you’re going through” to this resurrected vampire who is experiencing nothing he could begin to understand is rather comical. 
• The Romanian flashback has some nice dark humor to it, especially Spike burping on the blood of that one guy’s family at exactly the wrong moment. Good times.

• I like the added wrinkle to Angel’s history of him trying to return to the Fang Gang like nothing has changed. It’s what he’s known and lived for years, at that point, so a couple years living on rats was apparently enough to push him back to her.
• This family cowering in an alley with a crying baby don’t seem to have much of a game plan considering they just wait there until Darla returns to kill them and take the baby. So, Spike’s on top of the world and Darla’s fairly disgusted with what her dear boy has become–he saves a baby, for goodness sake! Do you think he found the baby a nice home, or just gave it to the first person he bumped into?

• “He’s noble, he’ll never take advantage of her”–that’s adorable, Lindsay.
• Cordy’s taking Angel’s obsession harder than the others. I think probably because she thought they’d become close and he’s so easily pulling away to try and save Darla’s soul, but Cordy often takes Angel’s bitchiness to heart.
• Darla, however, isn’t interested in Angel’s platitudes about life–she just wants eternal life again, ASAP. Her slow acting soul sure kicked into high gear to the point she’s done with it all.

Shadow

• Written by David Fury / Directed by Dan Attias
• Mmm, refreshing Cola. I think instead of a generic “cola” product I always prefer when shows just make up their own fake brands.
• The new phone book ad for the Magic Box (“You’re one stop spot to shop for all your occult needs”) is a bit of a mouthful, Giles. 

• Glory’s hobbits with leprosy (and a penchant for going overboard on the loving descriptions) debut–Kevin Weisman, aka Marshall from Alias, being the first one we meet.
• If Glory followed the monk to Sunnydale, then how is Ben already there? She had to be there already, so the monk showing up in town doesn’t sound brainy.
• Spike leaving Buffy’s door ajar while searching for Buffy clothes to smell (like a pervy weirdo) is so sloppy, but of course he uses his chance to push Riley’s buttons. First about him not being Buffy’s type and then about being in the dark on Joyce’s latest hospital visit.

• Spike, Buffy, and Riley–so many leather jackets!
• It’s a nice turn of events that Glory shows up at the Magic Box to buy her things like a normal person, who actually manages to be fairly civil/pleasant considering how much she hates this humanity filled reality. It’s a good thing she didn’t overhear Willow mention the dagon sphere just then–that could have been a mess.

• The doctor who tells Buffy the brain tumor news (“nearly one out of three patients with this condition do just fine”) dives into insurance questions and general information a bit too early for Buffy to be ready with answers, so it’s Ben to the rescue.
• Anya screaming “Hey!” a bunch until people notice still amuses me. Funny business aside, Giles really did drop the ball about not catching the red flags of what he sold together. I think this season sees Anya at her most helpful.
• Dawn and her innocently oblivious “[Buffy] doesn’t get all worked up like that over you” hammers it home to Riley just how useless and removable he feels–as if being relegated to babysitting Dawn hadn’t already rubbed it in.

• Buffy very much so needs to hit something right now, so I don’t think she hates the idea of fighting some snake monster.
• Glory’s cobra pet couldn’t look more like a rubber snake. Aside from the one moment where we see a real snake, every stage of this monster looks fairly silly. Also, while focusing on this snake monster Glory lets Buffy wander off like a genius. She’s not terribly aware of her surroundings.
• Xander’s the only one at all concerned with Riley’s well being, re: the grenade thing (and his general temperament).

• Surely various townspeople saw this snake monster roaming all over the place, right? I know it’s Sunnydale, but someone had to be a *little* perplexed.
• Riley goes to Sandy for some neck biting action, before he stakes her in an alley for sucking him off–some show of gratitude.
• The snake monster crashing through the window is the Magic Box’s first spot of violence (since opening, anymore). Mark it on your calendars. And if it had been asked to bring Glory the key, instead of just find it, this monster easily could have grabbed Dawn and slithered off. It has arms, might as well use them.

• How much of the budget do you think this snake monster took? There’s all the CG shots, some of which feature Buffy, and they had to build a few practical versions. Also, this snake monster sucks at fighting. I guess maybe some random zoo snake wasn’t the best choice. Glory should have found a kung-fu cobra somewhere.
• I bet Kristine Sutherland was pretty pleased with how much stuff she got to work with this season, especially after sitting out a lot of S4. 

The Shroud of Rahmon

• Written by Jim Kouf / Directed by David Grossman
• This whole noir opening of detectives giving tidbits of info (“If she dies…”) with the twist of Wesley being the one who gets to say “It all went horribly wrong” before opening credits roll is a fun diversion. I’m glad after this opening Wesley scene we don’t cut back to it constantly.
• “What happened to your head?” Good question from Wes about Cordy’s new hair experiment.

• Kate sure likes to barge in to places without any legal standing to do so to threaten Angel for this or that. She acts like he’s her enemy, but he mostly doesn’t care at all about her and probably forgets she exists in between sightings.
• Angel’s actually a bit excited that Wes & Cordy met Chow Yun Fat (or “Fat Chow Chow” if you ask Wes).

• Angel dispatches J-Don with relative ease. He really wasn’t terribly aware, but more importantly–Angel’s J-Don impression (the voice, in particular) makes me laugh. Also, why is this badass vampire from Vegas taking a bus line to LA? Ever heard of a car service, or something?
• I think this is one of Angel’s best MOTW kind of episodes. One of my favorites, at least. A noir-heist, except there are demons, with Cordy & Wes adding a good bit of humor. And hey look, it’s Tony Todd as this hulking & menacing demon guy.

• I agree with Cordy about “unearthed” & “tomb” not being good words together in their universe.
• As far as building security goes, this place kind of sucks if having one low-level security guard on your side is good enough to gain entry. Plus all they need to break into the safe is a hand-held drill. Oh, another thing–the security guard has a criminal record? That seems like yet another failure on the part of whoever makes the hiring choices at this museum.
• Cordy makes more good points about virginal women sacrifices being more about subjugating women than purifying anything.

• Having two humans carry the same side of this thing that weighs over a ton makes no sense in the world–no way are Gunn and this security guard holding up their end.
• How come Cordy & Wes just seem high from being in proximity of the shroud, but Kate takes a while to feel any effects at all and even then she’s mostly fine? Yeah, all the specifics of the situation don’t really pan out but overall I don’t much care.
• It sure sounds like Angel’s taking quite a few gulps of Kate blood during his neck bite fakeout. And while I didn’t think Kate was actually dead, it’s still a very effective moment.

• Gunn gets to lay there and think about things for a little while with some large dead demon weighing him down.
• These cops want to arrest Wesley for the murder of the guard and Kate being bitten? Yeah, that wouldn’t hold up in any court. Awful police work. Nobody finds out Cordy kept the necklace she stole, either.
• And FYI, Wes, Angel drank blood from a living person–Buffy–only about a year and a half ago. It hasn’t exactly been long, but I get that was a different situation.

Listening to Fear

• Written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner / Directed by David Solomon
• Dawn eating Jell-O with her fingers always perplexed me. That isn’t exactly finger food.

• The fact that Xander, Willow, and Giles don’t get killed while patrolling is a miracle. They’re just a few regular people (as Willow still isn’t uber-witch) and they shouldn’t ever really do that. Even Riley (who’s busy being sucked off by a vampire) shouldn’t really be much of a match for random vampires.
• “I feel just like Santa Claus, except thinner and younger, and female and, well, Jewish” has always been a favorite line of mine.
• I’ve never been into looking at constellations, for whatever reason. I can certainly enjoy looking out into space as much as the next guy, but naming stars and giving them formations seems unnecessary.

• I wonder if they still call it a “mental ward”–I would guess not. It’s probably got a longer, more compassionate name now.
• While the little meteor monster is rather amusing, I do think the music in this episode manages to be on the creepy side. It should have had some kind of cloaking capabilities, or something, instead of just crawling along the ceiling with everyone in the hospital evidently being the most unaware people in the world.
• How does the queller demon know who’s crazy? Is it just saying odd things, like Joyce and the mental ward patients, or is there a sonar for brains that work differently? Hm.

• Xander’s very concerned about going sterile so I guess he’s partial to having kids someday, even now. Riley doesn’t seem to care, though. I think Riley might like it a little bit when Buffy isn’t around on patrols as then he doesn’t have to defer to anyone. The fact that everyone’s okay with just leaving Riley at the scene of a recently landed alien creature that’s killed at least one person so far is weird to me. He isn’t super or anything, he’s just some guy.
• Riley and the military boys isn’t a show I’d go out of my way to watch, but I will say that the shot of the helicopter coming in for a landing over that lake feels so big for BtVS.

• “Because it’s a killer snot monster from outer space”–good work, Giles. And I like how proud Xander is of his “queller” discovery. “Quell” is definitely the drinking word for this episode.
• Hey look, Willow’s using a payphone. How quaint.
• Dawn can really hear everything Joyce is rambling about from her room–not much privacy.
• Buffy breaking down in tears while doing the dishes is one of my favorite human Buffy moments. It’s all just too much and she needs a moment to let it out.

• How come the queller takes so long to watch Joyce before attacking? Just taking in the rambling?
• From Buffy being aware of this monster existing to her killing it (with an assist from Spike, after he accidentally disarmed her) is a less than five minute window. Definitely one of her lesser threats.
• You can bet Riley’s jazzed he got to bust in just to discover Buffy & Spike have handled it already. One of the last bricks in the road to Riley getting the hell out of Sunnydale.

• Oh yeah, this is the one where we find out Ben knows Glory & her minions. There were no other interns Buffy could have befriended?
• Buffy doesn’t even try lying to Joyce about Dawn and I appreciate that. For all Buffy knows this is the last time she’ll speak with her mom, so I understand not wanting it to be a bunch of lies.

The Trial

• Written by David Greenwalt, Douglas Petrie, & Tim Minear / Directed by Bruce Seth Green
• Lindsay finally got a haircut. It was getting hard to take him seriously with that mop on his head so good thing for that. Holland talking to Darla about morals is rather amusing, as it should be.
• I always forget about this Angel/Darla flashback to fleeing Holtz (first mention) in a barn, but how could I ever forget Boreanaz’s Irish accent popping up? Oh, and this horse is surprisingly relaxed about that barn being on fire.

• Darla finds quite an astonishing loser to sire her, but some idiot she could control is obviously better than a monster who just eats her. She’s on a timetable thanks to the syphilis and Angel won’t help. Couldn’t he give Willow a call about just giving Darla a soul as soon as he turns her again? It’s not a good idea, by any means, but I don’t think it’s the worst idea.
• Lindsay’s apartment is strange, dark, and not as nice as I’d think he could afford. 
• Jasmine (night blooming) gets a shout out. Only a couple years away from a different kind of night blooming Jasmine popping up.

• Darla’s rendition of “Ill Wind” was on my IPOD for the longest time, along with pretty much every other non-Angel singer from Caritas (and a good deal from BtVS, which goes without saying).
• These trials Angel has to endure don’t seem terribly difficult, all things considered. They should have taken all of Angel’s clothes if a shirt & socks are out of bounds, but I understand that filming a scene while avoiding full frontal would be impossible.
• There are actually lots of dead spaces on the floor in this hallway of crosses, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be such a painful ordeal. This whole second task just requires someone to be able to power through some temporary burning.

• As for the last trial, the stake wall doesn’t appear to have any targeted guidance system and there are lots of spaces between stakes. Anyway, the fact that Angel is actually willing to die to save Darla seems less heroic to me than a grand gesture to prove how righteous he is–something Angel loves doing. Look at me, look at me, I’m so heroic! Except for when I’m not.
• Everything about this whole trial process is very simple and ho-hum. It seems to take about 20 minutes and then the guy can’t even help, which surely he should have known from the start.

• So, while this episode as a whole isn’t by any means awesome, I always remember watching it that first time and thinking this quiet moment between Angel/Darla was the end only to be wonderfully surprised by Drusilla waltzing in to turn Darla into a vampire again. Great ending. Especially with Drusilla staring into Angel’s eyes as she pseudo-breastfeeds Darla.

Into the Woods

• Written & Directed by Marti Noxon (a first!)
• I’m sure this doctor’s walk down the hallway felt endless to Buffy & Dawn, but at least they get good news once he finally opens his mouth–”a complete success,” for now anyway.
• “I don’t think the bar would serve her, but I think we could bring something in?” Good parenting skills, Anya. And hey look, a newspaper with movie showtimes. How quaint.

• So, how young was Dawn when she & Joyce knew Buffy was the slayer in their memories? Joyce didn’t find out until the end of S2 so it’s really only the last couple years–or did the monks go ahead and re-write history?
• Buffy & Riley enjoy some sexy times, for what I believe is the last time (which Spike listens in on like a perv).
• Riley Sense Fail: How does Riley not see Spike standing right there on the lawn? Or notice he’s being followed?
• Joyce picks up on Buffy’s disinterest in Riley, too.

• Why Buffy hasn’t revoked Spike’s invitation is a complete mystery to me. Anyway, here he is in Buffy’s room in the middle of the night as she sleeps. Could he set fires with his chip? I guess not, but how far removed from hurting someone does he need to be for it to not go off?
• I bet Spike took some pleasure in torpedoing Buffy & Riley’s relationship and kept that moment close to his heart for a while.
• I like the look on Buffy’s face when Spike says “I thought you should know.”
• These suck-house security vampires are pretty easy to bat around, apparently. Spike, Buffy, and then even Riley.

• How long were Graham and these other army guys standing around in Riley’s pitch black apartment? Did they see Riley coming then quickly hush each other and take their places?
• “I dislike that Anya, she’s newly human and strangely literal” & so many other lines in this episode are great. Noxon writes good Anya.
• Giles has a very inclusive holiday sign, good for him.

• Angry Buffy is always a favorite of mine. All slay and no play Buffy is also a bit of an arsonist. I wonder if Giles or anyone called the fire department?
• Whereas angry Riley is something I don’t quite buy. Even when he faux-stakes Spike, I just don’t see the darkness–as Spike says. And it’s funny how Riley spends some of his last day drinking sorrows away with Spike, of all people.

• Buffy & Riley only have this one argument scene together after she finds him in the vampire den before he takes off. That’s a pretty sudden departure. Riley doesn’t even say goodbye to anyone or seem to care, which I understand, but it says a lot about his relationships with everyone else.
• I absolutely get Riley’s explanation for his vampire whores, but I’m probably close in mindset to Buffy’s harshness. 
• This fight is one of Buffy’s best performances. She takes out seven vampires in a minute without breaking a sweat. They certainly picked the wrong night.

• Buffy has her walls up with Xander, too, but he’s too persistent to walk away. Their scene in the warehouse is another good one. Xander hits a lot of good points and actually manages to convince Buffy to change her mind, just to make it hurt all that much more when he leaves.
• How did Buffy know where to go, though? Is it just a given this helipad is where all the secret agents who are leaving in the night take off from? After these two helicopter episodes I believe that’s a series wrap on those, along with Graham–good day, sir.

Reunion

• Written by Tim Minear & Shawn Ryan / Directed by James A. Contner
• I always look forward to this one–it almost feels like a finale. This whole first half of S2 is some of Angel’s best.
• Lindsay’s apartment doesn’t seem to have any windows. It’s weird. Anyway, Angel really lucked out with this realtor who tells him all about Drusilla’s plans for Darla’s rising.
• It’s a shame we only get a couple episodes of Dru & Darla together, as they bring so much fun.

• Hey look, Lilah finally reappears for the first time since the fourth episode. Too long between Lilahs. Nice callback to S2 of BtVS with Drusilla’s little nursery rhyme. 
• The team can be a pretty okay detectives now and then, like with finding the nursery relatively quickly. Not quickly enough, but still.

• So, after this nursery fight (which is good & fun) where did Darla go when she jumped off the building? Maybe swung into an apartment on the way down?
• Holland’s wife is only just now ordering crab cakes for the dinner party this evening? Hm. Way to be prepared.
• I like all the tire marks in the road where they already tried Angel’s about turn in the car en route to the vision he doesn’t care about.

• I wonder what the witnesses to Darla & Dru’s street fight/murder said to the cops about the whole thing and if Kate couldn’t help taking that case for herself.
• The fact that this is the first time Angel meets Holland always escapes me and I’m glad Kate finally softened a bit. It only took Angel nearly killing her. This is Kate’s only scene, which makes it the second time she’s been in an episode for about a minute.
• Darla and Drusilla look great as vampires and everything about their entrance to Holland’s wine cellar hits all the right notes.

• Personally, I think they should have had Darla & Dru kill more than just the two people at the store. There should be piles of bodies everywhere they go.
• All this stuff with Angel at the store when he talks to the dressing room lady should have happened before the wine cellar scenes–it just breaks the flow and tension a little too much. Between the realtor and this dressing room witness Angel sure got a couple lucky breaks.

• Dru dancing around behind Holland always makes me laugh.
• I’ll always remember watching this episode that first time and actually being fairly surprised at Angel locking everyone in. A wonderful turn.

• Then Cordy, Wes, & Gunn are fired. Easily one of Angel’s best endings and I couldn’t wait for the next one.

Triangle

• Written by Jane Espenson / Directed by Christopher Hibler
• I understand Xander lamenting the loss of Riley, the last regular guy of the group he’ll get as a friend for a long while. I don’t understand wondering why Buffy can’t make it work with a guy as she’s only 20 and that seems premature. 

• Buffy throwing the stake after saving the nun from some random vampire always seemed odd to me. Why toss away a perfectly good stake instead of put it away and call on it again, someday?
• I have a soft spot for Giles and Buffy training sessions.
• Anya’s not wrong in wanting to take care of the shop without a bunch of babysitters. She’s capable and deals with customers all the time, already. Plus, Willow can be fairly condescending towards Anya.

• Joyce ditches the ugly robe and hopefully that’s a series wrap on that.
• Willow still hasn’t had any success de-ratting Amy, which I’m sure she’ll hold against Willow one day.
• “Whatcha doin’?” & “Playing soccer” became a sarcastic staple of mine to this day. This whole post-Riley discussion that Buffy & Dawn have is a nice sisterly moment.

• Spike practicing his apology on a mannequin and still going off the rails to the point of assault, only to calmly reassemble the setup and try again seems very Jane Espenson.
• Willow and Anya’s escalating tensions spill out onto everyone around them, mostly because they keep trying to involve anyone in the vicinity. Willow doing this “very sensitive” spell right there next to the cash register isn’t a genius move. However, their bickering leads to Olaf being released and his hammer proves extremely useful when it comes to defeating Glory so I guess it was for the best.

• Buffy has some rare alone time with Tara. I always thought there should have been more instances of Tara having scenes without Willow. Having said all that, I’m not a big fan of Buffy’s silly crying.
• Everyone just leaves the Magic Box unattended and destroyed for quite a while. Why does anyone own a business or live in Sunnydale? It’s a madhouse.
• Spike really likes mentioning the flowering onion to whoever will listen. Olaf prefers a juicy baby, which Spike also tries to help with finding (“What do you think, the hospital?”).

• The Bronze employee who just hangs out behind the counter Olaf smashes really doesn’t seem fazed by much of this. Maybe the loft area collapsing was enough to spur him into action?
• Anya mentions Cordelia while she and Willow hash out their issues and I think that’s the last time Cordy comes up on BtVS.
• I feel like Xander should have had more broken bones from being hit several times with Olaf’s hammer. Really, every hammer blow should have mushed whatever bones it connected with. His wrist certainly gets snapped, though. I imagine it’s only being held on by skin & muscle. He takes it very well.

• The poor Magic Box sure gets trashed. Not for the last time, of course.
• Anya mentions alternate shrimp worlds again. I wonder if she has any particular experiences with such places, in her dimensional wanderings.
• Joyce gets to participate in Buffy & Giles’ hush-hush Glory/Key meeting, which of course Dawn overhears–how sitcomish.

Redefinition

• Written by Mere Smith / Directed by Michael Grossman
• “It’s always some little blonde driving him over the edge” True story, Cordy. True story. 
• Oh yeah, I forgot about this lame Angel narration. Boo, hiss. This all would have been miles better without it.
• Hey look, Virginia reappears. She’s certainly privy to a lot of the interior workings of Angel Investigations. She knows about Darla, Dru, and probably everything else Wes had any involvement in.

• So, Angel wasn’t ready to take on Darla & Dru a couple scenes ago, but now that he’s swung a sword around in the basement for an hour he’s up to speed? This narration is such a miscalculation.
• I like Darla’s mean “I love you” joke to Lindsay. Also, Dru’s “Moo” always makes me laugh. This episode promises a lot by way of Darla & Dru making strides in the LA power scene, except right after this one Dru leaves LA and never returns (outside of a couple flashbacks). As for Darla, after being in eight of the 11 episodes S2 has had so far she pretty much disappears.

• Cordy, Wes, and Gunn seek out some guidance from Lorne, which seems like a natural decision considering their circumstances. I mean, Lorne does seem to be a solid & impartial guide.
• Darla & Dru at the demon fight club don’t have a great sales pitch and arguing about Angel doesn’t help. 
• Cordy, Wes, & Gunn stay until Caritas closes and now I can’t help but wonder–when does a demon karaoke bar close? In in a minute Darla mentions that it’s almost midnight, so I guess Lorne doesn’t like late nights. Anyway, the scenes with our newly unemployed team are the high points of this rather meh outing.

• Based on everything we’ve witnessed on this show so far (and everything that’s to come) I find it rather hard to believe that Angel killed all these tryout demons so easily. He’s not *that* skilled.
• As much as I’m glad that Darla & Dru survive being set on fire, the fact they can run around for so long and not turn to dust is ridiculous. We’ve seen so many other vampires die pretty much as soon as the flames take them. And this is Angel’s big plan? Set them on fire then leave? He was right there.

• A lot of this episode is a let down after how the last one wrapped up. They set the stage for some big fun with Darla & Dru only to promptly abort those plans and wallow in moody Angel stuff for a while.
• This random lawyer guy who tells Lilah & Lindsay to battle for the promotion is no Holland Manners. He’s filler. And “Joint Acting Co-Vice President of Special Projects” is quite the title for their business cards.

See you next week for episodes 12-17. Now, trivia!

1. What was Sunnydale’s population circa November 2002?
2. Name the teacher who assigned the Bezoar baby project in “Bad Eggs.”

*Last week’s answers: 1) 11, 2) Dickie, Paker, & Bob, 3) Patrice, Norman Pfister, Octarus