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Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Episode Air Date 10/09/01Now that Buffy is back, will she be the same cunning, stylish leader she was? That was the big question going into tonight's episode.
In last week's season premiere we saw Willow and the Scooby gang bring Buffy back from the dead, but after who knows how long in another dimension she was a little … off. As the gang adjusts to the new Buffy, and with Giles gone, their remains the problem of just who will take the lead.
These and many more questions were answered in tonight's episode. It picked up with Dawn bringing Buffy home and trying to make like everything's normal. Moments later Spike comes looking for Dawn to make sure she's okay only to find the woman of his dreams alive again.
As the gang strives to convince themselves life will return to the hardly normal status of pre-Glory days, Spike realizes why he'd been kept out of the loop. He informs Xavier and Anya that if anything goes wrong with the spell or with Buffy now that she's back, it could require the worst - killing Buffy again. And Spike could not let that happen.
"That's the thing about magic, there's always consequences."
Ultimately the episode helped add a degree of realism (it could happen) to the happy ending we got last week. Though we all wanted it, Buffy coming back was a little too easy. As the show explores some of the negative repercussions, I don't feel so guilty for enjoying the expected ending. If only the negative aspects weren't so icky. To quote my husband, "Is there anything scarier than Emma Caulfield carving off her face?"
Willow's bravado and desperate attempts to put everyone at ease about Buffy made her sappy and drawn out confession to Tara about being scared all the more cheesy. (Besides, that's more time wasted that we could have spent watching Spike be heartbroken and
dreamy.) She clearly raised my suspicion while still being unclear about what exactly she knew. Was Spike right about Willow's reason for not including him, or has he still not proven himself trustworthy yet?
And what about the insightful, sensitive stud that Spike is turning out to be? I can't help but wonder if Buffy and Spike stand a chance now that she's shared the experience of waking up in a coffin. Is Spike just an Angel wannabe or is he the true love Buffy's been looking for? It's questions like that that keep me glued to the television even though I hate sub-surface squirmy things.
All in all, the season looks promising. Joss Whedon's gang is doing a good job returning the Sunnydale gang to normalcy. At least, their version of normalcy.
