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Season 3, Ep 13 (Patreon)

Published:
2022-02-05 17:32:24
Edited:
2023-07-01 15:35:35
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

HEY CORN POPS! happy tuesday ;)

a xander episode, huh? 

feels good to be back :D 

Files

Buffy Season 3, Ep 13 - The Zeppo

Vidyard video

Comments

Jessica Roth

Great to have you back! Hey, remember how I disliked "Anne", but liked "Dead Man's Party"? But since then, I've only liked the odd-numbered episodes and disliked the even-numbered ones? Well, time to break that pattern. Dan Vebber, who didn't impress me with "Lovers Walk", is still not as clever as he thinks he is. Another bust, IMO. Some nice moments, but a couple of conceptual flaws, and some season-long issues here, as well. At least Nick Brendon gets lots of screentime, and we get to see Faith again. (She's missed 4 of the past 5 episodes.)

Jessica Roth

Oh, and I should mention that I've figured out how to download your reactions from Vidyard, so I'm building the whole collection now. I don't want to clutter the main thread with directions, but if anyone wants to know my process, just ask, and it will be hidden in the replies. Now if only I could figure out how to upload my screenshots of your best reactions, lol…

L R

The thing I love about this episode is how the show is able to laugh at itself and ramp up the melodrama without being cheesy or corny . Perhaps not a lot happened to forward the plot but I'd argue that this episode is pivotal in Xander's growth going forward and the whole thing is fucking hilarious

Ailish

I love this episode so much! The overdramatic Bangel scene gets me every time 🤣

Melissa

I'm just glad I got to watch the reaction! Patreon is not nice at all, GRRRR (Aarg). As far as the episode itself goes, I don't like Xander so it's not at the top of my list. He has some good lines, but this mostly feels to me like Joss issues. The best part about it by far is Faith. Shameful that she's been absent so much until this one. My guy cooks for me because I'm useless at it. And he enjoys it, so why not? So I guess he's cool then. Me on the other hand...lol

Thom Purdy

This is a great ep for rewatches! Lots of fun!

ghostofdurruti

Happy Tuesday! Yeah this one is a lot of fun (like most Xander episodes), and the idea of swapping the A and B plots Rosencrantz-and-Guildenstern-are-Dead-style provides a nice way for the show to indulge in a bit of self-parody without stretching *too* far out of the realm of what's plausible within the show's universe. The over-the-top Bangel scene that gets hilariously interrupted by Xander is the obvious example (which, tbh, as someone who really doesn't like them together? probably my favorite Bangel scene in the whole show haha), but there's also moments like when Rupe cuts off his doom-and-gloom-laden speech about how terribly dangerous the present threat is to ask if they ate all the jellies. Priceless. I don't really agree with the premise that Xander is useless--he saved Buffy's life back in "Prophecy Girl", after all--but I understand why he would feel that way. He hasn't had much of a role in the story lately other than cheating on Cordy, getting kidnapped, and arriving too late to help stop the witch-burning at city hall. Combine that with all his friends having some sort of supernatural powers or knowledge while his ex rubs salt in the wound by pointing it all out... yeah, his mental state at the start of the episode makes sense to me. Here's hoping his newfound confidence leads him to make better decisions in the future!

Tim Pierce

The guy you thought you recognized, Idk if we are on the same wavelength, but I know when I first seen this episode, I thought he was the "Frankenstein" football player from season 2.

Jessica Roth

Well that was interesting, Rewatching this episode made me re-evaluate it. I no longer dislike it. I flat-out HATE it now. Huh. So let's start by saying good things about the episode: One thing you don't know is that most episodes start with a "previously on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'" sequence, clips from previous episodes to bring the viewers up to date. Some of these are works of art; the late-S2 ones, with key soundbites mixed with past scenes ("One moment of pure happiness, one moment when the soul that we restored does not torment him…and that soul is taken from him!" "Angel is gone. Nothing's ever going to bring him back." and so on) really do a great job. However, sometimes they can get a little long-winded. So, as this is the self-parody episode, the "Previously…" is a parody of that, too. It consists of Quentin Travers saying "You're fired" last episode…and nothing more. Two words, and on to the new. Ha. Speaking of two words, the writing in the Oz/Xander lunch scene is cute. (Just because I think Dan Vebber tries too hard at this too often doesn't mean he doesn't sometimes succeed, after all.). Oz's first three lines are literally nothing but two words each. ("Not sure." "Am I?" "Could be."). I used to try to write fanfic (not very well) and because I could never really get Oz's "voice" the way I could the other characters (I can do REAMS of Willow or Xander or Cordelia right off the cuff), my rule for Oz is that he could say no more than two words at any given time. "Like this?" Yes, exactly. "Seems unfair." Too bad. Also, Seth Green does a nice job of looking disgusted with himself as Oz goes into the cage. It hardly addresses the ongoing horror of Oz's existence (why nobody even TRYING to cure him?? This constantly enrages me), but it's nice that Seth tries. Yes, the Buffy/Willow "I need my Willow" is a PARODY of such scenes in other, better, episodes. I get that. But for those of us who think the Buffy/Willow friendship is one of the things that makes this show so great (and who still hold out the silly hope that they will date, eventually), well, we'll take what we can get. The 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible is a thing of beauty. I love every minute it's on the screen. (Nice color, too.) Obviously, "Jack O'Toole" is a stupid and crass character name. BUT…actor Channon Roe had been in "Boogie Nights" just before this, and his scene was when the VERY well-endowed Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) was at a low, and was taking money to meet people such as Roe's character in their car, and give a "private performance". JACKing his TOOL, if you will. So the name is a clever shout-out. I found the "tranquilize Oz-Wolf" scene as stupid as you did…but it was really cool to hear you voicing my objections, almost word-for-word, in real-time. Now if only you mentioned how annoyingly patriarchial is it that the scene ends with Yet Another Round of "Is Willow a good enough girlfriend for Perfect Oz", with Willow APOLOGIZING for tranquilizing him and hoping HE won't be angry(!!!). Yeah, Oz tries to EAT Willow (for the third time that we've seen), but it's the tranq gun that's the problem and SHE has to apologize. FFS. And while I really deeply hate the "Xander interrupts Buffy and Angel's drama, and their music cuts out, then resumes once he leaves" scene for thematic reasons I'll discuss later (if I feel the energy), there's no disputing that it's funny as anything. The joke itself works…it's the larger ideas it's serving that irritate me. Xander shows great ingenuity in defeating the Zombies and the scenes are funny, too. (Points off for repeating the "note to self: less talk!" joke, but still.). Good work. And, sorry to disagree, but I like Xander's salmon sweater. The decision to pair it with a collared shirt and do the "preppy" look again is a miss (and the shirt doesn't go with the sweater, either), but I like the sweater itself. And finally, it's nice to hear Willow tell Xander "I love you", since he said it to her in "Becoming Part 2" and didn't get anything back. Yes, he probably meant it romantically and she probably didn't, but still. I like that we're even now. (And, you'll note, she still hasn't said it to Oz, so my inner Xillow-'shipper is keeping hope alive, despite the odds.)

Tim Pierce

If you do rewatch this episode, pretend that the entirety of the events are from Xander's perspective, like he's retelling what happened. It puts the more over the top aspects into context. Also, I personally think that Xander being willing to throw himself into danger, to help his friends, without a superpower, makes him even more exceptional than the rest of the gang.

cruzinbosco

Loved your reaction. Easily one of my favorite episodes of the series. Xander has always been so brave, since the pilot, but is constantly overlooked as being a "wuss". He's truely such a privotal part of the team and no one even knows it. He saved the world, AGAIN. <3

TheLoungingPotato

This definitely isn't one of my personal favorites but I also understand why people love it. As somebody who used to have a crush on Xander growing up, I actually now find this episode more or less skippable whenever I rewatch it. I only tend to watch it again when my favorite reactors get to it and rewatching it with you kind of made me remember the good things about it. The concept is really cool and creative--I just wish I had more interest in Xander as a character for this episode to be more fulfilling to me

RNR

I get the feeling that the Xander character was written into BTVS as a surrogate for the audience. Xander IS us. He's the regular Joe who doesn't have superpowers, isn't a witch, isn't particularly book-smart or strong or cool, he's just a guy who's been sucked into this strange, dangerous world that was not meant for him. I feel like by and large, the audience isn't SUPPOSED to like Xander most of the time because he is specifically written as a mostly insignificant part of the group, a guy who tries to be cool and funny but whose jokes mostly fall flat. He has never felt like he's fit in and the audience has always been inclined to agree. But this episode is supposed to give us a better look into what it means to be Xander. We start off by seeing him deal with a deranged bully. We see Cordelia viciously digging into him, using his biggest insecurities against him and we feel bad for him. Throughout the whole episode, he's constantly trying to offer his help to Buffy, Willow, Giles, Faith, and even Angel. And they are just swatting him away like a fly. And yet, at the end, we see Xander save all their lives. He puts his fear on hold and gets the job done. More than that, he doesn't even use the moment to aggrandize himself. As the audience can now look at him in a new, better light, so Xander also gains a bit of "coolness" that even Cordelia can instantly recognize (and resent). He may not know where he fits into the supernatural fighting life, but he never gives up. He just needed that little reminder in the Bomb Room that he is, in fact, worth having around. And the audience needed that too.

madfem

Vampires that Buffy slays in the graveyards are often in a tux, but I guess some people wish to bury their dead in a more personalized apparel

SK Elkins

This episode definitely rewards the re-watcher. It usually takes the first-time viewer a little while before they start to realize that the apocalypse plot is parody. On a rewatch, you can appreciate things like the overwrought musical score and the all-but-copied-direct-from-previous-episodes scene snippets from the very start. And I keep meaning to count exactly *how* many times they have Giles do that "pulls glasses off his face to indicate that Things Are Very Serious Now" move in this episode, but then I always get caught up in the action and forget. I love the confidence of this episode. It's not just that only half-way into the third season, there are already a sufficient number of recognizable Buffy tropes and cliches that the writers can stitch them together into an entire parodic subplot. It's that they're *willing* to do so, willing to point out and poke fun at how often they do rely on formula in their own show. I mean, it's all here: the "drama over shooting a freed werewolf Oz with the tranquilizer gun" scene, the "oh noes someone is going to open the hellmouth! Again!" premise, the overwrought Bangel melodrama, the "research in the library" scene, the bit where everyone gets all po-faced about the impending apocalypse (complete with Giles taking his glasses off, natch), Willy gets the crap beat out of him, Giles pulls some new and never-again-to-be-mentioned mystical plot device out of his ass (his "I'm just going to contact the spirit guides who exist out of time and have knowledge of the future" is one of the funniest single lines of the episode IMO, although it still doesn't match the Bangel scene for pure hilarity), Willow needs to punch above her own magical weight to save the day... It reads like a quick scan of the 1998 Buffy archives on fanfiction.net, and it's just ballsy as hell. It's like the writers saying to their audience: "Why yes, we *do* often rely on formula and cliche. But they're *our* formulae and cliches, and besides, you know you love them. Soooo, you got a problem with that, Gentle Reader?" Confidence off the charts, and I can't quite help myself from reading a bit of the writing team's own swagger into Xander's in the final scene, as he/they shrug off Cordelia's/A-Not-So-Gentle-Reader's criticism. (In many ways, I think that the disdain that many showed for this show for so long, before it eventually became a critics' darling, was beneficial -- it established an adversarial relationship that encouraged the writing team to be willing to indulge in this sort of thing from time to time.)

That’s Not Acting

Hey! Watch the video the date came out but didn’t have a chance to comment. Just wanted to say I really loved it. This isn’t always a fan favorite and there are many Xander haters out there but this is one of my favorites departure episodes of the entire series. One of my favorite episodes that sort of step away from the main plot in the main story arcs and give us something on the side. I love Xander. He definitely has his problems and his problematic moments. But I love him as a character and this one is just really fun for me so I’m really glad you enjoyed it.

Jessica Roth

IMO, screentime alone is no balm. One of Season 3's big failings is Joss's decision to invest ONLY in Buffy/Angel and treat the supporting cast as disposable. Consider:: for the first EIGHTEEN episodes of the series (everything before "Lie To Me"), Willow Xander and Giles were involved in the climax EVERY SINGLE TIME. Sometimes Willow was just watching, but she was there. (Occasionally, the climax was in two different locations. For example, in the Moloch episode, Giles is in the Library casting spells with Calendar…but he's involved. In the Marcie episode, G/W/X are in a death trap, needing to be rescued, but they're part of the plot. In "Prophecy Girl", Xander's fighting vamps with Angel and Giles and Willow [and Cordy and Cal] are defending the Library, but still part of the plot.) Now? Who's involved in the episode climaxes this year, besides Buffy?

Jessica Roth

3.01: Just Buffy and Stupid Lily (the gang's comedy sub-plot ends before the looong Act IV resolution with Buffy, and Giles isn't even involved there) 3.02: Everyone, including Joyce 3.03. Faith 3.04. Angel (with Faith and Willow in the background) 3.05 Cordelia (Giles is, you guessed it, unconscious) 3.06. Just not-Giles and not-Joyce 3.07. Angel, Faith, Willow, Xander (Giles is in the hospital) 3.08. Angel only (fakeout subplot goes on pause until Cordy "dies") 3.09 Nobody at all. The only one of "our" cast in the AU is Cordelia and she's dead before the end of Act II 3.10. Just Angel 3.11. Willow, Cordelia and Giles (Joyce is drugged and an antagonist; Xander and Oz don't show in time) 3.12. Joyce and a late-arriving Giles. That's right, heading into this episode, Xander (allegedly the PRIMARY supporting character, according to the credit sequence) has been important in fewer episodes than freaking JOYCE. Not that Joyce's .250 batting average is anything to be proud of, I'll admit. Giles was.a useful part in 4 of the first 12 episodes (not bad for being unconscious in 3 separate climaxes), Willow in 4, Cordelia in 3, Faith in 3, and Oz is a one-dimension hologram that we use as a way to piss on Willow and Xander, but who doesn't actually do anything or have any depth of character or get used in the actual stories. (Perhaps the disgust on Seth's face this episode isn't about Oz's lycanthropy, but about how Seth feels about his cashing all these paychecks for no work?) Meanwhile, Angel got to be a key part in 4 of the 7 episodes between 3.04 (after his return) and 3.10. (He was recovering in 3.05 and 3.06, and 3.09 was the AU). He's been less-prominent since…but of course Angel was supposed to be off the series by now. (When Joss ran out to reassure the B/A 'shippers not to worry, Angel would survive [a] Hell and come back and David was still a regular and he'd be getting his own series, the plan was for the spinoff to be a mid-season show, just as this had been, originally. [This was reiterated at the Television Critics' Association conference that June, when the 1998-1999 schedules were previewed.] Presumably the idea was that, if the spinoff proved to not be viable, David could return for Season 4 and Angel could be written back into the season-plotlines. So at this point, Angel is supposed to be gone, baby, gone, which is why they don't really know what to do with him now.)

Jessica Roth

So, "Precious" is the most-precious supporting character, and his fans are the ones Joss is pandering to. And whom do the B/A fangirls and fanboys hate the most? Why Xander, of course. Not because he's trying to take Buffy away from her Twu Wuv. (he's dated every woman BUT Buffy this season, and of COURSE Dorky Xander could NEVER compete with Sexy Tortured Angel), but because he LIED to Buffy about the spell in "Becoming"! How dare he! If only he had to told the truth, then… Er, then… Well, then, Buffy would have… What do you mean, "The Lie" didn't harm Buffy or Precious Angel in any perceptible way? Whereas depending on Willow (recently emerged from a coma and having passed out in the hospital, for all Xander knew) to magically intervene stood a very good chance of going sideways, if the fight in part 1, where Buffy just tap-danced around (ANGEL: "Is it me, or is your heart not really in this?") and muttered, "C'mon Willow" has already shown. Nah, who needs facts? Xander hates Angel, he was trying to get Angel killed, we hate him! Joss should just kill him off. (The fan reaction was so negative that Joss had to give interviews trying to sweep it under the rug, and one of the interviews described Xander as "comic relief". Oh, joy.)

Jessica Roth

So Xander spends the season treated as an utter clown, excluded from every relevant plotline. His love for Willow, which he proclaimed in "Becoming Part 2", is ignored for the first four episodes, and when they do finally kiss, it's retconned as a "clothes fluke" (oh, FUCK YOU, Joss), used to brand Xillow as Dirty Rotten Cheaters and make Buffy's spending MONTHS lying about hiding the mass-murdering demon who "killed half the class" and tried to suck the world into (a) Hell as no big deal, and reduce Xander to being a scratching post for Cordelia and him and Willow spending their days about how to be forgiven by Holy and Perfect Oz, Halllowed be His Name. Great, just great. The idea that ONE episode of Xander being "secretly cool", in which Xander is STILL an utter clown and is shunned by all the "important" characters, in any way makes up for this treatment is IMO ridiculous to me. Worse, it leaves open the possibility of letting the series *continue* to shit on Xander, and just use the presence of this episode as a justification. "Oh, sure, we had Xander fall into that pile of cow turds and everyone laughed, but don't worry! We know he's really not an utter loser! Remember 'The Zeppo'?". Ugh. Of course maybe that won't happen. Maybe now that Xander is all centered and self-confident and stuff, the other characters will respect him again and he'll be treated fairly in the writing. You know, like in the tag, where Buffy, Willow and Giles talk about how good it was that Xander was excluded and "safe". That really shows how much things have changed, you bet. Hey, wasn't it so funny when Lysette bores Xander so much with her car talk that he's desperate to see ANGEL and calls him "friend" and "buddy"?? Of course Angel dismisses Xander and tells him to stay away and stay safe, but he's just being sensible. I mean, what use can Xander be? (What, Xander's SAVED THE WORLD on MULTIPLE occasions? Not to mention saving the individual lives of Buffy ["The Harvest"], Giles ["The Puppet Show"] and Willow ["The Pack", "Inca Mummy Girl"]? You must be joking. Xander's a clown, we tell you! He sleeps outside and gets snowed on! He can't even open a jar! Ha-ha-ha! XANDER, saving lives? What drugs are YOU on?) Hey, you know what's really funny? Xander's begging for Angel's attention in the Bronze is literally the first time he's even spoken to Angel since "You're going to die. And I'm going to be there." in the Chad Kroeger episode. Because Xander apparently dislikes Angel less AFTER Season 2 than he did before Angel lost That Pesky Soul. Yeah, *that* makes sense. Except not. (Grrrr.)

Jessica Roth

Remarkably, though, the most wretched thing about this episode isn't how it exemplifies and tries to excuse the maltreatment of Xander, specifically. It's the contempt the episode shows for the AUDIENCE and the series as a whole. Now, it's okay to tweak the show's particular tropes on occasion. Greenwalt does a nice job of it in "Nightmares", twice: XANDER: Yeah, the Hellmouth. The Center of Mystical Energy. Been there. BUFFY: You're getting a little blase, aren't you? GILES: It's Billy. XANDER (to Willlow). Well, that explanation was shorter than usual. It's Billy! (to Giles) Who's Billy?? Yes, even before a single episode of the show had even aired, they were aware that Giles generally gives a LOT of exposition and that they have to constantly explain the concept of the Hellmouth to justify the premise of the show. So the writing makes fun of that. No problem. And some of the other "meta-" moments work, too. I dislike the bit in "Passion" where they're all shocked that students actually use the Library (and walking out and leaving Jonathan alone is completely stupid), but it's not excessive. And I liked Cordelia tweaking Giles about his frequent brain injuries in "Gingerbread". But an entire "self-parody" episode is over the line for me. Haha, the Hellmouth is going to open again and Willow is so silly to be afraid of the Cthulu Muppet! Wasn't "Prophecy Girl" SUCH a cliche? Like we're supposed to be emotionally involved in BUFFY DYING? Pffft, don't be a jerk. Relax, it's just TV. Yeah, for me this episode doesn't show the writing staff being "mature", as SK Elkins hypothesizes…it shows them as being SMUG. I mean, they no longer have to worry about being cancelled. (A deal for syndicated reruns was struck with FOX on behalf of its local stations after Season 2. It was predicated on having at least 100 episodes to show. So unless the ratings totally collapse, seasons 4 and 5 are already guaranteed.). And hey, they're a spinoff coming, so we can make even more $$$! New sets, better film stock, bigger contracts,…life is good. So we can thumb our noses at those stupid fans who are always complaining and obviously wayyy y too involved in this stuff. "Prophecy Girl"? Can you imagine there are people who actually teared up at "Does it say how he's going to kill me? Do you think it'll hurt?" (I got gooseflesh on my arms just typing that. And I'm being distracted by a long conversation going on outside my house and my worries I should check to make sure there isn't any trespassing or worse going on. Hang on a sec…)

Jessica Roth

(They went away. Back to work.) Once upon a time, Whedon said he WANTED the audience to be involved. That he was trying to inspire "obsessive devotion". But now that he's reaping the rewards of all that, he's too cool for school (or the kids who go there). "Why so serious?" Because that's what the story demanded, "cool guy". YOU wanted us to tremble when Angel left Buffy in tears. You wanted us to cry when Jenny was butchered. You wanted us to gasp when Buffy sent Angel to hell. Now you're saying "it's no big deal, can't you take a joke?" Fuck you. I wrote earlier that while the scene of Xander interrupting Buffy and Angel's Intense Angsty Discussion and cutting off their Dramatic Music was really funny, it was also emblematic of why this episode sucks. Because just THREE episodes before, Joss was asking us to take B/A's histrionics completely seriously. Are Buffy and Angel the TWU WUV of the Ages, a tortured romance? Or are they a big joke who really need to get over themselves? You can't have it both ways, you know. But that's what the show wants us to do. Heck, even Dan Vebber specifically closed his own (IMO wretched) "Lovers Walk" with Buffy and Angel having an Angsty Breakup because Spike gave Wise Romantic Advice (sorry, that concept still gives me the giggles) about how they'll never be friends, blah blah blah. Now, a mere FIVE episodes down the road, Vebber wants us to forget about all the sad feelings he tried to engender in 3.08 and see Buffy/Angel angst as just a comedy trope, anybody who cares about them is just a dumb geek, is that it? Uh, no. Respect your audience, you smug pricks. I didn't like getting spat upon by condescending men even before I had to worry about viruses in the saliva. (Sorry about that analogy, Darcie. Glad you're better.)

Jessica Roth

While I'm waiting for the new reaction, I guess I should probably point out some ordinary hack writing, specifically the things done to set up the "Oz eats O'Toole" joke. • Why does O'Toole open that door? It's obviously not the way he came down, For all he knows, it's a broom closet. • If Oz is ravenously hungry and ready to pounce, how is he COMPLETELY silent during the Xander/O'Toole face-off? No growling, no throwing himself against the door, no nothing. I mean, you could say that Oz is SUCH a good pal to Xander that even Oz-wolf knows Xan "likes the quiet", but that seems to be pushing it. • How is the damn door UNLOCKED? And it opens out, so even if Oz-wolf can't work a knob (DOGS can work doorknobs, YouTube is full of evidence), a couple of good hurls should do it and Oz could go roam. • Why doesn't Oz go roam? Why didn't he wake up in the woods, why isn't the gang worried about how he got free? Well, obviously, because Dan Vebber dgaf about any of that. He just want's his "oddly full" joke. Hack! (Hey, if the Scoobs didn't find O'Toole's mangled body, that means Oz completely devoured him, right? Bones and all? Which consider Channon Roe's size is completely ridiculous, but don't think about that, apparently…)

Jessica Roth

And Darcie, you raise a very good point about whether O'Toole's end means that Oz killed a dude. I have to say "yes" upon reflection. Yes, O'Toole is technically dead, but he's clearly more alive than Angel (normal skin color, can walk outside in daylight, consumes normal food, doesn't share his body with a demon), and Buffy would consider killing Angel to be "killing a person". Will this lead to deep self-examination by Oz and the group FINALLY trying to cure him? What do you think?

Jessica Roth

Speaking of plots that didn't go anywhere, so Giles lied to Buffy, betrayed Buffy, drugged Buffy, nearly got Buffy and Joyce killed (and arguably DID get Hobson and Blair killed; if Giles tells Buffy and the test gets called off, they'd still be alive)…and what has that changed? Pretty much nothing. The only thing wrong between Buffy and Giles is that she's eating his jelly donuts. Which might be her acting out, passive-aggressively, but still. (I mean, it is good that Buffy is actually EATING these days, and I think it's cute that Willow finks her out but still…) The critic David Hines, in reviewing "Helpless", thought that this would lead to real consequences between Giles and Faith, given that Faith is VERY sensitive about being betrayed by authority figures. Nope, Faith who? Unless you want to claim that humping Xander is Faith's way of taking out her anger with Giles, but that seems a REAL stretch. Nope, no consequences to Giles drugging Buffy. Just like no consequences to Joyce trying to MURDER Buffy in Gingerbread. (And no rift between Willow and her mom, either.). And no consequences to Angel being a hallucination-wracked wreck in "Amends", either.) (And why has the First stopped trying to manipulate Angel, exactly? Buffy didn't lay a hand on it and it's immortal. Whatever its plans, there's no reason it shouldn't keep trying. Angel should be seeing Ghost!Cal monring, noon, and night. But, you know, it's a new episode and we only hired Robia for the one guest spot. Sigh, It's at this point that David Hines started to get *really* frustrated with the season's lack of follow-through. I don't always agree with him [there's an upcoming episode that I love where we have fundamental disagreements], but I'm definitely seeing his point, here.)

Jessica Roth

As for the idea that Xander needs a "power" to be useful to the group, I vote no, no, a THOUSAND times no. I love the Avengers. I mean, I REALLY love the Avengers, going back to the original comic books. But this is not the Avengers. This is "one girl in all the World". BUFFY the vampire slayer. Let's not forget whose story this is. And I disagree that all these "super-people" are helping the group. We just spent last season proving that Angel being a murderous demon really doesn't HELP things. Ask Jenny how "useful" Angel is. Ask Kendra. (Ask Travis's neatly-arranged children…) Oz is a werewolf? How has that HELPED, exactly? It sentences Oz to a life of eternal confinement and torment, which NOBODY seems to give a crap about (grr…) and he gets free to roam and kill on a regular basis (this is the third time he's been free to roam in just 14 cycles since getting bit), but I haven't seen him "helping Buffy" yet. Giles and Willow can do spells? Yeah, that's called READING. I'm pretty sure Xander can read; I've seen him do it. Xander's DONE magic ("I Only Have Eyes for You"), Cordelia has done magic on MULTIPLE occasions, Oz has done magic, Angel's done magic, even SPIKE has done magic. I would really dispute that what makes Willow valuable but Xander useless is that she's a "witch" but he isn't. Willow isn't valuable because she reads some words every now and then; she's valuable because she's WILLOW. (As Buffy acknowledges early in "The Wish"…and which she equally includes Xander in. ["I have you guys."]) So yeah, even though Hawkeye is my favorite Avenger, I don't need Xander to take up archery to "earn" his place in the group. He's earned that since he went with Buffy to rescue Willow in the pilot. JMO.

Jessica Roth

I just realized that the clouding spell Willow casts in the teaser merely breaks the tie she had with Cordelia for doing the most magic of any of the teenagers. (Cordy assisted Willow with the Magnus Tripod spell and both attempts at restoring Angel's soul; the only other time we'd actually seen Willow doing magic on-screen was the spell in "Passion" to dis-invite Angel from Buffy's house. Which means that Cordelia tied her when she unintentionally did the spell to summon Anyanka in "The Wish" [burning pictures of her unfaithful boyfriend], and Willow just broke the tie here. Huh.)