Last Week
Everyone went gaga for the high school quarter back with the magic jacket. In the end, no one got any.

Ten Second Recap
Buffy regulars are visited by ghosts from their past. Each offers a warning or insight into the larger evil that is coming. Andrew and Jonathan return. Xander is no where to be seen.

There is an old adage in the comic industry that "no one ever dies in comics." There should be one for Joss Whedon that goes, "no one ever escapes a post-mortem guest appearance."

A plethora of major and minor Buffy characters returned this week. Warren made his second appearance since dying, as did his living posse members Jonathan and Andrew. Dawn and Buffy's Mother Joyce returned after a lengthy battle with a poltergeist. Azura Skye returned as Cassie, the troubled teen from this season's "Help."

While she did a fine job it made little sense for her to be the ghost that appears to Willow. I guess the writers had to do something since Amber Benson was not an option. (Who made it so? Fingers point in all directions.)

Buffy spent time on the psychiatric couch with her ghost, former high school classmate Holden Webster. Through their conversations we get a glimpse into Buffy's thoughts and feelings about herself.

Each year the writers work on an overall emotional arc or growth for Buffy. Last year she struggled with returning from the dead and her feeling about being removed from Heaven by her well-intentioned friends. The best line from this episode that Holden has for Buffy sums up where I think the writers will take us this season, "You do have a superiority complex and you have an inferiority complex about it."

The final scene with Willow and her ghost leaves much in doubt. In their own way each ghost attempted to separate their human counterpart from the rest of the group. Willow and Andrew's ghosts were obviously the main villain for the season, but what about Joyce and Holden? Was Joyce's warning to Dawn a true omen of things to come, or an attempt to put doubt into Dawn's mind about Buffy's loyalties?

We see Spike siring another woman, which he does without pain from his mind chip, but can Holden be trusted any more than the other ghosts? For that matter, can Spike be trusted? Is there more than one Spike? These are the questions we are supposed to be asking ourselves following this episode, since it's mostly just set up for the rest of the season.

It was another round of interesting directorial choices this week. We were shown the episode title, the date and time, which I don't recall ever happening before. The incredibly dull opening sequence this week left me longing to see a mysterious woman killed by hooded figures. I typically enjoy the music that Buffy highlights, but it just seemed too "music video" this week. The entire scene could have been edited out and the episode would have just started with Andrew and Jonathan coming back to Sunnydale.

Last, this episode marks the departure of an original Buffy cast member. Danny Strong, who plays Jonathan Levinson, has been part of the Buffy cast since the beginning. He had a role in the unaired pilot and later became a regular starting with the "Inca Mummy Girl" episode in season 2. Good-bye, Jonathan. I will miss your geeky adventures and Star Wars jokes. Then again as the new saying goes,"no one ever escapes a post mortem guest appearance."

We pay dearly for all the good natured fun we had last week with "Him" with a scary roller coaster of an episode this week.

Line of the Week:
Andrew: "You keep leaving. I hate it when you keep leaving me. One time you died and I ended up a Mexican."

Michael Goodson