Buffy the Vampire Slayer + Angel Watchthrough

Angel - I Will Remember You - Season One, Episode Eight

Notes:
- Even before I begin the episode, I know Buffy's in it because of the fucking thumbnail for the episode. Damn you Windows.
- Angel returns to LA and Cordelia worries seeing Buffy has upset him. Angel reassures both her and Doyle that he managed to stay out of site and he's okay.
- Buffy shows up. Who would have guessed it.
- Man this is weird. And sad. Why can't those two be happy?
- Buffy says she's in town to see her father, but she lays on the guilt pretty thick. Cordelia drags Doyle out of there so Buffy and Angel can be alone together.
- If Facebook existed back then none of this would ever happen.
- Buffy: "A lot has happened in my life since you left." (She went to college and slept with a guy. Also she apparently turned into a caveman. And... uh...)
- Buffy tears into Angel, but can't bring herself to hate him. They prepare to part ways on okay terms WHEN SUDDENLY A DEMON SAMURAI BURSTS THROUGH THE DOOR AND ATTACKS.
- It's not that big of a deal really. The two of them manages to drive it away and the two of them decide to hunt it down.
- The two of them split up after it become clear that working together is too difficult. Angel gets attacked again by the samurai. They fight, and Angel's hand gets slashed open by the sword and the demon's blood gets in the wound, but eventually the samurai is killed.
- However, the wound on his hand is more than it appears, and Angel collapses.
- I was terrified he was going to turn into Angelus again, but instead it appears that he was brought back to life. As in, he's not a vampire anymore.
- Angel returns to the office, in broad daylight, with no ill effects. Cordelia and Doyle are amazed.
- Angel experiences hunger for food for the first time in two centuries. He gorges himself on everything in sight.
- Angel sends Cordelia to get Buffy, but tells her not to tell Buffy about this new development. He and Doyle research the demon and discover it's blood has restorative powers. Doyle theorizes that The Powers That Be are behind this, and Angel demands that he speak with them. Doyle explains it takes tremendous effort and that it involves dangerous channels to do so, but Angel wants to anyway.
- Angel and Doyle track down The Oracles - people who act as conduits to the higher powers. Angel converses with them and they say he is human for real now.
- So it didn't really take that much effort and it wasn't really that dangerous then. Geez.
- Angel finds Buffy and kisses her in broad daylight. Yay! Too bad this will never last.
- Angel wants to do the wise thing and wait and see ow things go. Buffy is frustrated, but agrees. Then the dam breaks and they have hot human sex.
- This is gonna be a dream or a hallucination or something. I bet Angel passed out after killing the demon and has been violently seizing on the floor.
- Doyle has a vision of another demon samurai. Uh oh.
- I feel like I should just stop watching both series now and imagine they all live happily ever after. Because I'm gonna be so sad when something fucks this up.
- Doyle warns Angel that the demon samurai is still alive. Angel insists that they don't bring Buffy, even though she is literally designed for this. ANGEL, WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG IT WILL ALL BE YOUR FAULT.
- They find the samurai at a factory and a fight breaks out. Obviously, human Angel isn't quite as good at fighting and the samurai kicks their asses.
- Buffy wakes up alone post-sex for the third time in her life. Cordelia accidentally tells her what's up.
- The samurai prepares to kill Angel when Buffy shows up and does her thing. Buffy manages to kill it. Before it dies, it warns that a great darkness is coming.
- Angel revisits the Oracles and asks about what the demon samurai said. They say that once the darkness comes, the Slayer will die. Angel does the noble thing and offers his life so that he will have the strength be able to protect her. The Oracles consider it and decide to do what he asks the only way they can: they will reset time and give Angel the opportunity to change things. He will remember everything that transpired.
- Angel visits Buffy one last time as a human. He explains to her what he plans to do. They share one last kiss.
- Time resets and Angel kills the samurai when it first bursts into the office. He and Buffy part ways on platonic and slightly frigid terms.

Episode Rating:

That was a 10/10 all over.

Buffy - Something Blue - Season Four, Episode Nine

Notes:
- Buffy's back in Sunnydale. No mention is made of her trip to LA.
- Buffy notes Riley is hanging a Lesbian Alliance banner. Here we go, Willow.
- Riley asks Buffy out on a date.
- Okay, Buffy acknowledges her trip to LA. The timeline is secured.
- Spike reveals all he knows about The Initiative, but in reality he doesn't actually know anything useful. The Scoobies are keeping him changed in a bathtub. Buffy enjoys taunting Spike about his current predicament. Giles asks Willow to create a truth spell to force Spike to talk.
- Willow's still cut up about Oz. Maybe a hot lesbian alliance will sort her out.
- Fucking Blink 182.
- Tired being mopey, Willow casts a spell to fix herself. Nothing appears to happen.
- The next day, Giles visits and asks why Willow hasn't prepared the truth spell yet. In the ensuing conversation, it becomes apparent that Willow is using magic without meaning to: she accidentally removes Giles sense of sight using magic.
- Giles returns home (somehow) and tries to cast the spell himself. His lack of vision causes him to accidentally drop the key to Spike's shackles. Spike manages to slide the key towards himself. Spike escapes.
- Buffy tracks Spike down and manages to recapture him. Willow's magic once again activates when she is bitter about the attention Buffy is giving Spike. Willow's magic causes Buffy and Spike to fall in love with one another.
- Ew.
- Willow inadvertently turns Xander into a demon magnet. Uh oh.
- Spike proposes to Buffy. She accepts.
- Riley runs into a lovestruck Buffy. Riley is devastated by Buffy's engagement.
- Xander tries to get it on with Anya when suddenly several demons burst into the room and attack. They flee to where Buffy, Spike, and (blind) Giles are staying.
- Once he learns of Buffy and Spike's engagement, Xander figures out that Willow is behind all this. Meanwhile, Willow is suddenly attacked by a demon.
- Anya determines that the demon that kidnapped Willow is D'Hoffryn, the demon who turned Anya into one centuries ago.
- D'Hoffryn plans to turn Willow into a vengeance demon. Willow refuses, and D'Hoffryn accepts her decision and leaves, telling her to contact him if she changes her mind. Nice.
- Willow reverses her spell. Buffy and Spike are traumatized.
- The next day, Buffy manages to reassure Riley that she was simply joking about her engagement. Riley comments that it was poor taste, but their relationship is salvaged.

Episode Rating:

8/10.

Angel - Hero - Season One, Episode Nine

Notes:
- I've heard good things about this episode.
- The episode begins with Cordelia pitching an idea for a commercial for Angel Investigations. "I'm the Dark Avenger!"
- Angel's still in a funk from the events of the previous episode.
- Angel isn't interested in the commercial, so Cordelia decides to use Doyle. They film a half-hearted commercial.
- Doyle isn't as into it as Cordelia. Doyle volunteers to have a chat with Angel to try and stop him for brooding.
- Angel vents on Doyle, telling him about the stuff that happened before time resets. Doyle is flabbergasted.
- Doyle - following Angel's example of selflessness and what not - tries to tell Cordelia about his demonic side, but he experiences a vision before he can do so.
- He sees a bunch of sick looking people.
- Angel and Doyle investigate. They find a bunch of demons trying to hide from "The Scourge", some Nazi-esque stormtroopers who are trying to round them up for some reason. The demons believe Angel is some kind of prophesied Chosen One who will save them. I get the feeling Doyle is going to turn out to be the Prophesied One.
- Doyle recognizes The Scourge and tells all:
- In the past, Doyle was contacted by a fellow demon named Lucas, who was also fleeing from The Scourge. They are pureblood demons who track down and exterminate half-breeds like Doyle.
- Lucas asks Doyle to hide him and his friends. Doyle turns him away. That night, Doyle experiences his first vision of The Scourge exterminating Lucas and his friends. Doyle finds his vision came true, and is wracked by guilt.
- In the present, Angel resolves to rescue the demons. He tries to smuggle the demons out of the country.
- One of the demons tries to leave, thinking the Chosen One prophecy is a myth. Doyle chases him down and manages to convince him to come back.
- On their way back, they narrowly avoid the Scourge thanks to Angel's help.
- At the ship, one of demons lets slip that Doyle is half-demon to Cordelia. Uh oh.
- Angel offers to join the Scourge so that he can see what they're up to. The Scourge have discovered the ship that the demons are trying to flee on and have manufactured a Beacon that incinerates any thing with humanity with it. At full power, it can extend with a range of up to half a mile. Angel rushes off to warn them.
- Cordelia confronts Doyle about his demon lineage, and shows that she's more angry that he kept a secret from her than the actual demon part of it. She tells him to ask her out. They are interrupted by Angel's arrival.
- Angel confronts the Scourge, intending to delay them to give the demons a chance to escape on the ship. Angel battles their leader and manages to snap his neck. (Angel loves snapping him some necks). Unfortunately, the Beacon has been activated and is ready to obliterate all the demons within the ship. Angel plans to sacrifice himself to turn off the light.
- Oh my god, Doyle's gonna do it for him. No, Doyle, no!
- Doyle slugs Angel and then shares his first and last kiss with Cordelia. Although Angel tries to stop him, Doyle jumps onto the Beacon and manages to shut it off as he is incinerated. That was... really hard to watch.
- Angel and Cordelia watch the commercial that Doyle recorded from the beginning of the episode. Fuck me, this is heart-wrenching.

Episode Rating:

10/10.

Out of respect for Doyle.

This is the first death of the two series' that caught me completely off guard. It's Walsh all over again.

Holy shit, Doyle died in real life too?

Buffy - Hush - Season Four, Episode Ten

Notes:
- Buffy has a dream about Slenderman. No biggie.
- Buffy asks Giles about her dream. In it, a little girl sing a haunting child's lullaby warning of terrible things that will happen once The Gentlemen come.
- Giles asks Xander to watch Spike, because Giles has a friend visiting (presumably that black lady from the first episode of Season 4). Xander (and Anya, by extension) is not pleased.
- Willow attends a Wicca group at college. Willow brings up the idea of witchcraft and is mocked by all but one girl. One girl named Tara. Who is also interested in witchcraft.... This is it. That name is amazingly familiar. Willow's gonna go lesbian!
- Tara's weird looking.
- Giles researches the Gentlemen, but is distracted by a knock on the door. He welcomes Olivia back into his house. They get it on.
- At Xander's place, a barely constrained antagonism between he and Spike brews as Xander goes to sleep.
- That night, everyone in Sunnydale exhales suddenly as they sleep. A bit of what I guess is there souls drift away. The souls converge on a single box in a clocktower. The Slenderman Gentleman shuts the box.
- The next morning, the title suddenly makes sense when Buffy and Willow realizes that their voices are inaudible. All over Sunnydale people realize the same thing.
- Spike flashing the v-sign to Xander is one of the funniest things so far on this show.
- The Scoobies purchase message boards so that they can communicate with one another. This would never happen today, everyone would just text each other and we'd barely be able to see a difference.
- Riley, Forrest and the rest of the Initiative - clueless as everyone else - try to maintain order.
- Riley and Buffy have their first kiss without words. D'aww.
- The Gentlemen begin roaming the streets. They find people, restrain them with their minions - who are dressed in straightjackets - and then harvest the victim's heart while their victims scream in silence. Have I mentioned how fucking terrifying they are?
- Giles realizes what's going on and begins to investigate his fairy tale book. He presents his findings to the rest of the Scoobies using a projector. It's really funny.
- Haha, during the presentation, Giles plays operatic music. The same music is the theme tune for Jonathan Creek.
- The Gentlemen come to a town, steal the voices, and then harvest seven victims for their hearts. Why they need seven isn't said. A voice will kill them, but Giles doesn't know how to get them back.
- On Giles' orders, Buffy goes on patrol. As do the Initiative. Riley spots a Gentleman in the clocktower.
- Tara has been busy researching a way to restore the voice. She tries to find Willow, but runs into the Gentlemen and their minions. Tara runs.
- Tara runs into Willow, and together they flee.
- Buffy battles two minions. She kills one and then pursues the other as it runs. It leads Buffy to the clocktower, where Riley is currently fighting other minions. The two of them fight off the minions, but are thoroughly confused what the other is doing there. Riley is amazed at how well Buffy can fight.
- Willow and Tara take refuge in a lounge, and try to barricade the door. Being far too weak physically to move it, Willow tries moving it with magic but cannot do so. Tara notices what she's trying to do and takes her hand and lends Willow her power. By combining their magic, they barricade the door. Their hands remain entwined.
- A Gentleman stabs Buffy from behind with a scalpel, Riley comes to her aid. Buffy manages to communicate to Riley that he needs to open the box that contains Sunnydale's voices. He smashes the damn thing.
- Their voices restored, Buffy screams long and loud. The Gentlemen and their minions die in a gory explosion.
- The next day, Willow and Tara strike up a friendship. Tara's really weird looking.
- Riley visits Buffy in her room. They both realize that they need to talk, but neither can bring themselves to start.


Episode Rating:

10/10.

If only because it was honest to god scary. It was also funny and damn interesting. It might be second favorite episode.

Angel - Parting Gifts - Season One, Episode Ten

Notes:
- Angel visits the Oracles and asks for Doyle to be revived. They deny him. Angel asks them how he is supposed to do The Power That Be's work if he has lost his contact (Doyle's visions die with him). The Oracles smugly say that all will be revealed in time.
- Right, so Doyle obviously transferred his power somehow to Cordelia right? When they kissed last episode there was this subtle blue fog that went between them. I'm onto you, Whedon.
- Same credits sequence. Glenn Quinn is still in them. Fortunately, I know he doesn't come back.
- Cordelia's cut up about Doyle; Angel is too but he's more reserved about it.
- A demon named Barney shows up looking for help from the Angel Investigators. An Assassin is hunting him. Barney shows that he is an empath demon, he can feel others' emotions.
- Sure enough, Cordelia has a vision. She does not take it well.
- Cordelia tells Angel about her vision. See, if Buffy got a vision, she'd hide it for nine episodes and mope around. Cordelia just tries kissing Angel, hoping to transfer the power onto him. Angel realizes the Oracles were truthful.
- Angel suspects Cordelia's vision has something to do with the Assassin and asks her to draw what she saw.
- While following a lead from Barney, Angel is "ambushed" by the Assassin. By the way, the Assassin is Wesley.
- Haha, what.
- Wesley - trying to act tougher than he clearly is - attempts to interrogate Angel at crossbow-point, but Angel is completely unthreatened and disarms him effortlessly. Angel notes that Wesley dresses exactly like him.
- Turns out that The Watcher's Council severed ties with Wesley after Buffy stopped following orders. Wesley has been trying his hand at Demon Hunting and is on the trail of a demon. Angel believes he means Barney, but Wesley says that it's a different demon. Wesley's demon has been killing people with special powers across the US and mutilating their corpses. It also turns out that Wesley's demon is hanging on the ceiling above them.
- A fight ensues and Wesley manages to wound the demon with a crossbow bolt. The demon flees.
- Angel and Wesley return to the apartment. Barney identifies Wesley as his hunter, but Wesley is too enamored by Cordelia to care. Looks like he's still got a boner for her. Angel explains to Barney that Wesley was hunting the demon that was hunting him for his empathic power. Wesley uses Angel's books to identify the demon they're hunting as a Kungai demon.
- Angel prepares to hunt the Kungai. Wesley insists he accompany him, but Angel refuses. The loss of Doyle is still fresh and he doesn't want to risk anyone else's lives. Wesley follows anyway.
- Cordelia tells Barney about he visions after she has trouble drawing what she saw. Barney excuses himself and makes a phone call. Yep, he's the evil one, not the Kungai demon - who is shown to be a victim of Barney's . Shame, I liked him.
- Barney shows his true colours and subdues Cordelia, planning on selling her to someone.
- Angel and Wesley realize what's up and set their sights on finding Barney and Cordelia. Wesley has an emotional crisis and is wracked by self-doubt and pity. Angel snaps him out of it and together they try and track Barney down.
- Barney tries to auction Cordelia off to a number of buyers, including representative from Wolfram and Hart. The Wolfram and Hart representative wins the bid.
- As Barney prepares to remove Cordelia's eyes for the Wolfram and Hart representative, Angel and Wesley burst in and start kicking ass (well, Angel does). Wesley frees Cordelia and then fights Barney. The Wolfram and Hart representative leaves in a hurry and reports back to her superiors that Angel has foiled them again.
- Barney chokes Wesley, but Cordelia stabs him in the back with Kungai's horn, killing him.
- Wesley prepares to move on, but clearly wants to stay but is to enamored by his self image as a "rogue demon hunter" to ask. Angel eventually invites him to eat breakfast and Wesley readily accepts.

Episode Rating:

8.5/10.

Wesley is the best character in television history.

Buffy - Doomed - Season Four, Episode Eleven

Notes:
- Buffy and Riley talk. Riley is surprised to know how much Buffy knows about The Initiative. Buffy says she's The Slayer, but Riley doesn't know what that is. Buffy and Riley agree to keep their distance from one another while they process this new information.
- Riley prepares to leave, but suddenly there is earthquake. Buffy worries that it has something to do with the Hellmouth.
- Oh hey, Riley's in the opening credits now.
- Giles dismisses Buffy's fear, saying that there is no indication that it has anything to do with the Hellmouth.
- Giles feels he's getting closer to the Initiative, but Buffy tries to distract him.
- Riley asks about The Slayer, but Forrest thinks it's just a myth. At the Initiative, the demon captives are all restless.
- A demon attacks a guy at party that Willow is attending. Willow finds the corpse. A ritualistic symbol is carved in the victim's chest.
- Spike doesn't say "poof" right. Proof he's not English.
- Xander gets sick of Spike freeloading and rips into him a bit. Spike realizes he's pathetic.
- Riley, Forrest and Graham learn of the demon's attack. Riley decides to do some reconnaissance and check things out.
- Willow tells Giles and the rest of the Scoobies about the symbol she saw. Giles confirms that it means the end of the world.
- Buffy tracks down the demon. They fight and the demon manages to daze her and flee. Riley shows up - looking for her. Buffy tells Riley about the Hellmouth. She tells him they can't be together because waa waa waaaaaaa. Buffy stop being such a mopey bitch.
- Riley and his team prepare to track down and eliminate the demon. The Scoobies do research and learn the demon is attempting to bring about the end of the world by possessing the Word of Valios.
- Spike tries to stake himself. Willow and Xander interrupt. Willow - feeling sorry for him - decides to take him along on their search for the third victim.
- Riley runs into Buffy while looking for the demon. He tries to talk some sense into her and tells her to stop being so fucking pessimistic. Man, Riley's awesome. Unfortunately, Buffy brushes him off.
- Spike tries to tempt Xander and Willow into killing him by calling them out on how useless they are. It cuts deep.
- Giles realizes that he is the intended third victim and that he possess the talisman that is the Word of Valios. He is attacked by three of the demons.
- Buffy arrives and finds a beaten and bloody Giles. Giles tells her the demons are going to open the Hellmouth by sacrificing someone on top of it.
- Hey, we haven't been to Sunnydale High (or the ruins of) in a while.
- The Scoobies and Spike return to the charred remains of Sunnydale High. In the destroyed library they find the three demons preparing to finish the ritual. Buffy battles the demon while the others steal the Word of Valios. One of the demons jumps down into the Hellmouth. It turns out the demons are going to sacrifice themselves in order to open the Hellmouth. Spike realizes that he can attack the demons without experiencing pain - the implant only stops him from hurting innocents. Empowered by this discovery, Spike fucking goes crazy on one of the demons. Unfortunately he the second demon into the Hellmouth's opening.
- Buffy struggles with last demon as the building begins to collapse. The demon almost gets the better of her, but Riley appears and distracts him. The demon manages to crawl into the Hellmouth and Buffy follows him. Before she does though, Riley gives her a rappel so she can climb back out again.
- Buffy - in free fall - catches up with demon and drags it back out of the hole. The Hellmouth closes.
- The next day, Buffy finally accepts Riley and they kiss.
- Spike, having gotten his fire back and discovered an outlet for his rage, is eager for another fight and tries to motivate Willow and Xander to go demon hunting with him.

Episode Rating:

7/10.

Angel - Somnambulist - Season One, Episode Eleven

Notes:
- Kate investigates a series of killings. Victims are found drained of their blood and a crucifix carved into their face. Angel has been dreaming that he's been committing these crimes.
- Alexis Denisof graduated to credits. Good on him.
- Wesley is still around. He's continues to operate with Angel Investigations in an unofficial capacity, clinging to his idea that he's a rogue demon hunter.
- Angel is troubled by the similarities between the grisly murders and his dreams.
- Wesley suspects Angel is to blame for the murders and goes to Cordelia about it. He notes that it is familiar to the MO of Angelus back in the day, right down to the carving of Christian iconography into the victim's skin. Cordelia insists Angel isn't to blame and tells Wesley to get out.
- Angel appears and confirms Wesley's suspicions. He tells them about his dreams.
- Angel volunteers to be shackled to his bed as the other two watch over him to see if he acts out as he sleeps. That night, Angel dreams of a murder that was committed in Colonial times.
- Another murder occurs while Angel is shackled. At no point does he leave. Despite that, he insists he did it.
- It is revealed that in the past, Angelus sired and trained a younger vampire to mimic his killing style - right down to the cross carving. That vampire is now operating in LA. Angel realizes he's recreating his kills from two centuries ago.
- Angel wants to warn Kate. Wesley points out the foolishness or walking into a police precinct and pinning the murders on a two hundred year old Purtian.
- Angel warns Kate and gives her sketch of the vampire's face. He tells her the specific physical profile of the next victim and asks her devote all the resourcs available to stopping it.
- The vampire claims his next kill, but is ambushed by police officers. He flees into a nearby dilapidated building and Kate pursues. Angel enters the building from the roof.
- Kate shoots the vampire three times and checks it's pulse to confirm her kill. The vampire uses the opportunity to disarm her and throw her across the room. Angel crashes through the ceiling and lands between Kate and the vampire.
- The vampire greets Angel, unaware of his ensoulation. The vampire goes to stop Kate from calling for back up, but Angel stops him and tells the vampire he's there to kill him.
- Angel turns on his vampire face, Kate sees it.
- The two vampires battle it out, but the vampire flees before long. Angel tells Kate the truth about himself, but she cannot bring herself to accept it.
- The vampire goes to Angel Investigations pretending to be a client and tricks Cordelia into telling him about Kate. Cordelia catches on and open the blinds to protect herself. Angel arrives and a stand off ensues, the two vampires separated by the sunlight from the window. Angel grabs a stake and prepares to take the vampire down (by throwing it, presumably) but Wesley walks in and vampire takes him hostage. He uses Wesley as human shield and makes his escape, but not before promising revenge.
- Angel visits Kate at her apartment. She's been doing research on vampires and the two have a tense conversation from across the threshold. She shuts the door on him.
- Angel and Wesley manage to find the vampire's apartment, but he's already gone by the time they get there.
- The vampire crashes Kate's police precinct and takes her hostage. The vampire drags into the sewers and prepares to vampify her, but Angel shows up in time to stop him. They fight but Angel gets distracted trying to protect Kate. The vampire gets Angel in a choke hold and taunts him about how humanity has made him weak. Kate grabs a long piece of lumber and shares a meaningful glance with Angel. She drives the piece of wood through Angel's stomach and into the vampire's heart, killing the latter. Angel remarks that she missed, Kate says she didn't.
- On a rooftop, Angel and Cordelia have a talk. Cordelia has experienced another vision and tells Angel they have a new job. Angel shares his fear that he enjoyed his dreams and he worries of his dark side. Cordelia talks some sense into him.

Episode Rating:

8/10.

Buffy - A New Man - Season Four, Episode Twelve

Notes:
- Buffy and Riley's relationship has developed a lot since we last saw them.
- It's Buffy 19th birthday. The Scoobies hold a surprise party. Giles is there, but he feels out of place with all the college kids.
- Giles has been kind of in the background this season. I hope this episode focuses on him.
- Spike finally moves out of Xander's place. He's clearly grown accustomed to modern comforts though.
- Riley introduces Buffy as the Slayer to Maggie Walsh.
- Ha, Riley's kill count is 17 - 11 vampires, 6 demons. Remarkable for a regular human (though I think Giles has him beat, not sure), but Maggie then asks how many Buffy has killed. I should've been counting this myself, it would've made for a fun running tally. Oh well.
- Giles suspects a demon will rise that night. He tries to contact Buffy, but can't find her. He runs into Maggie, and through a conversation she notes that Buffy lacked a male role model growing up. Uh oh.
- Unable to find Buffy, Giles settles for Xander and Willow as back up. They investigate but there's no demon to be seen. Willow and Xander speculate that Riley and the Initiative already dealt with it. The Initiative and Riley's role in it is clearly news to Giles, who is shocked and hurt that he is so far out of the loop. He does not take the news that a. Spike knew about it before he did and b. Maggie is the leader of the Initiative.
- Aw, Giles. Poor guy.
- Regardless, Ethan shows up. Just once I'd like there to be a Giles centric without it involving Ethan. I mean, I like the guy but Giles is strong enough to carry an episode himself. See The Wish.
- Ethan tells Giles that The Initiative is sticking it's noses in place it doesn't belong and that the demon world is scared of something called 314. Over drinks with Ethan, Giles laments that the world is passing him by. The two continue to drink well into the night.
- Willow and Tara meet to perform some magic. Tara is so weird looking.
- While casting a spell, something goes wrong. Willow senses a dark energy.
- As Rupert Giles awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous demon.
- Yeah, Giles wakes up and finds that he's horned demon. Greatly distressed, he comes to the conclusion that Ethan is to blame. Unable to operate a phone, he sets out in search of help. In doing so, he manages to trash half his house while trying to leave it.
- Man, Alyson Hannigan is so pretty at this point in the series. I find the fact she's going to end up with someone so wonky as Tara genuinely distressing. All the promised lesbian scenes are gonna be half flaccidating.
- Giles goes to Xander and wakes him up; Xander is surprised, to say the least. Giles realizes that Xander can't understand him and just hears a guttural growling when he speaks. Giles has no choice to flee when Xander begins pelting him with cutlery. People react with horror as Giles stumbles around in broad daylight.
- Xander tells Buffy and Willow about Giles-demon, not realizing what he actually was. The three of them plus Anya go to consult Giles, but find his house all smashed up and Giles absent. They assume the worst.
- Spike, who has been searching for a crypt to occupy since moving out, comes across Giles in demon form. Eager for a scrap, he prepares to attack Giles but stops when he hears Giles speak. He can understand Giles' demon language.
- Giles manages to convince Spike to help him.
- Riley meets with the Scoobies at Giles' house and tells them that people have been panicking after several Giles-demon sightings. Eager for revenge, the Scoobies prepare to track him down. They identify the species of demon Giles is and find that they can kill it using a piece of silver. Buffy grabs a letter opener that she believes is silver.
- Giles begins to have feelings of unbearable rage. Spike notes that it is typical of demon species Giles is.
- Giles does however, use the opportunity to scare Maggie. That's gonna come back and bite him.
- Buffy suspects that someone is controlling the demon that is running amok, thus explaining the dark energy Willow felt the previous night.
- Spike and Giles figure out where Ethan is staying. Unfortunately, so do Buffy and Riley. Riley tries to tell Buffy that Maggie has ordered him to leave the Slayer behind but Buffy doesn't care.
- The Initiative track down Spike and Giles. Spike draws their attention while Giles continues towards Ethan.
- Ethan is preparing to leave town when Giles bursts through the door. Giles roughs him up a bit, but then Buffy and Riley arrive. Ethan tells them that the demon killed Giles. Buffy attacks Giles while Riley struggles with Ethan, who is trying to escape. Buffy stakes Giles using the letter opener. However, seconds after doing so, she looks into the demon's eyes and realizes it's Giles. Fortunately, the letter opener isn't really silver and Giles survives.
- Ethan performs the ritual to restore Giles back to normal. Shortly afterwards, the Initiative arrive and arrest Ethan. Hopefully this is the last time we ever see him because I want an Ethan-free Giles episode.
- The next day, Giles asks Buffy for more information about the Initiative. He doesn't trust them as he is still wary of Ethan's warning earlier in the episode.
- Maggie chastises Riley for disobeying orders and allowing Buffy to tag along. Riley reassures her that he trusts Buffy and Maggie admits he's probably right. As Riley walks away, Maggie enters a restricted area and then walks through a security door labeled 314.

Episode Rating:

7/10.

I dunno, it was a funny episode. But I wish they'd given Anthony Head more to work with.

Angel - Expecting - Season One, Episode Twelve

Notes:
- I bet Cordelia gets monster-preggers.
- Before going out on the town with friends, Cordelia has a vision. Something's hatching.
- Angel and Wesley investigate. Together, they manage to kill it.
- Cordelia meets a guy named Wilson. He's obviously going to turn out to be bad.
- She invites Wilson back to her place. They do the dirty. Cordelia's almost certainly gonna find out he's a monster and that she's going to be laying an egg soon enough.
- Yup. The next morning, Wilson is gone and Cordelia's pregnant.
- So I'm thinking this episode is going to be an abortion aesop episode?
- Angel and Wesley, worried by Cordelia's absence, pay her a visit. They find a distraught Cordelia weeping on her bed. Angel and Wesley resolve to get to the bottom of it.
- Angel tells Wesley to take Cordelia to OBGYN to see what they're dealing with. Angel tries to track to Wilson down.
- At the doctor's office, the doctor detects multiple heartbeats from inside Cordelia. Alarmed, he performs a test of amniotic fluid.
- Angel finds a woman named Serena who is suffering the same fate as Cordelia. She self-medicates with alcohol, hoping it will hurt the baby.
- So, is an abortion completely off the table guys? Actually, maybe they won't do it because they think she's too far along. In Canada, a woman can get an abortion right up until she gives birth, it might be different in the States.
- The amniotic fluid extracted from Cordelia is acidic and burns right through the syringe and the floor. Ick.
- I guess the babies starts exerting some control over Cordelia because she suddenly becomes enamored by it.
- Serena reveals she slept with a different guy. There's four Layers (heh) in total. Okay, I'm actually gonna refer to them as Fathers.
- Angel meets up with Wesley. They manage to find that the Fathers hang out at a private gun club. Angel goes after them while Wesley researches the species of demon.
- Angel finds that the Fathers are all human. Instead, they act as proxies for the real demon.
- Cordelia becomes protective of the babies and knocks Wesley unconscious.
- Angel kicks the shit out of the Fathers and interrogates one of them for the location of big daddy demon.
- Cordelia and several other pregnant women converge on the same abandoned factory, driven by instinct.
- Angel calls Wesley from a payphone box. Wesley, having regained consciousness, tells Angel they're dealing with a Haxil demon. By killing the demon, they can terminate the pregnancies without hurting the woman. They formulate a plan.
- Welsey confronts the Haxil demon. As he distracts it, Angel throws a gas canister of Liquid Nitrogen at the demon, who catches it. Welsey punctures the canister with gunfire and the Haxil demon is frozen solid. The babies all die en masse and the pregnant women regain their senses. Cordelia destroys the frozen statue a crane hook.

Episode Rating:

4/10

Buffy - The I In Team - Season Four, Episode Thirteen

Notes:
- The Initiative tests Buffy's skill and powers and she passes with flying colours. Maggie begins paying a lot more attention to her.
- Giles pays Spike a visit in his new crypt home, ostensibly to give Spike the money he promised him for helping in the previous episode. Giles tries to discuss the idea that Spike's ability to battle demons may be used for the greater good, but Spike wants nothing to do with him or the rest of the Scoobies.
- Riley takes Buffy on a tour of the Initiative. She meets Dr. Angleman - the head scientist guy. and at the end, she is essentially hired by the Initiative.
- Man, Willow and Tara's conversations are just exercises in breathless awkwardness aren't they?
- Maggie enters 314's containment. 314 is a half-human cyborg mutant thing named Adam.
- I REMEMBER THIS GUY. In part because he was so unbelievably stupid looking and lame, but also cause he has my name.
- Doesn't he end up stabbing Maggie with his hand or something? I remember that bit. I'm pretty sure he also shoots lightning and hangs around in forests for a while.
- The Scoobies hold a reunion at the Bronze, but Buffy ends up bringing Riley and his friends with her. Willow - who blew off Tara to come to the reunion - is not happy.
- Willow's ashamed of her friendship with Tara. I would be too: she's so weird looking.
- Buffy tells Willow about her initiation into the Initiative (heh) and boasts she'll be accompanied a full team of commandos whenever she patrol. Willow points out that she may be rushing into it and that they don't really know anything about the Initiative's goals. Thank god for Willow for being the voice of reason.
- Buffy and the rest of the Initiative guys receive an alert on the pager to report to a briefing. They leave; Willow is angry about being abandoned.
- At the briefing, Buffy asks questions Dr. Angleman about the demon they are supposed to track down. Buffy is incredulous why they have to avoid doing damage to the creature, but Angleman and Maggie insist they need to capture it for study. Maggie is clearly frustrated by Buffy's unpredictability and autonomy.
- Willow meets up with Tara. When are they gonna fuck already, geez.
- Buffy, Riley and a hell of a lot of commandos go looking for the demon. One of the teams, headed by Forrest, encounters Spike. Spike flees, but the team manage to tag Spike with a tracker.
- After dealing with the demon, Buffy and Riley have sex. Maggie watches them through a camera. I'm glad she's gonna get shanked at some point.
- Spike runs to Giles for help. Giles smugly asks why they (Xander and Anya are there too) should help him when Spike was so insistent he wanted nothing to do with them. Spike ends up giving Giles back his money.
- Buffy wakes up in bed with a guy she slept with for the first time ever.
- Buffy and Riley talk about the Initiative. Buffy slyly inquires about 314, but they are interrupted by the telephone. Maggie tells Riley to meet up with the team that is pursuing Spike.
- Maggie and Angleman talk. Maggie believes Buffy is becoming a liability and dislikes how much influence the Slayer holds over Riley, as well as her knowledge of 314. Maggie authorizes a contingency plan that is meant to deal with such a situation.
- Giles tries to remove the tracker, but it's lodge deeply in Spike's shoulder.
- Willow returns to her room after being out all night (three guesses what who she was doing) and finds Buffy. Buffy apologizes to Willow about ditching her at the Bronze, but a pager calls her away shortly afterwards. Giles calls Willow for help.
- Maggie asks Buffy to perform reconnaissance on a 'low level threat' demon in the sewers on the edge of town. It's a trap.
- Giles asks Willow to use her magic to disguise their location by electrifying the air around them. It works, the tracer signal is scattered. Riley and his team continue their search.
- In the sewers, Buffy stumbles upon two demons that were previously seen sedated in the Initiative. The weapon Maggie provided Buffy with malfunctions and Buffy finds herself trapped with the two demons.
- Through a comm unit, Maggie watches Buffy seemingly die at the hands of the demons.
- Giles manages to remove the tracer just as the spell wears off. Xander flushes it down the toilet. Riley and his team realize this soon afterwards.
- Buffy's alive. Didn't see that one coming. The comm unit was merely damaged. Buffy kills the two demons.
- Riley reports to Maggie that Spike got away. She tells him that Buffy died. Riley takes the news hard, but suddenly sees Buffy's face on the comm unit display. Buffy stoically talks to Maggie through the comm unit. Buffy realizes that she was betrayed and tells Maggie she's going to pay. Riley, devastated by Maggie's betrayal, walks out of the Initiative.
- Maggie, left with no other options, releases Adam. He ends up stabbing Maggie with his hand or something.

Episode Rating:

6/10.

Adam is an unbelievably stupid looking and lame villain.

I think I need to adjust my rubric, because it's artificially boosting most episodes too high.

I think I'm gonna make it so an episode needs something special to be a 10. Otherwise the highest it can be 8.

I'm gonna go back and adjust me some scores.

Next episode is the BAI LING episode!!!

Angel - She - Season One, Episode Thirteen

Notes:
- Angel and Wesley go to one of Cordelia's networking parties that she is hosting. They are out of their element, to say the least.
- Suddenly Kaio's signature make so much more sense. "I don't dance.
- Elsewhere, some guy opens a haunted box. Natch.
- Angel finally decides to just asks Wesley to join Angel Investigations rather than continue the charade of having him as a rogue demon hunter.
- Cordelia has a vision of a dead body. It's the guy who opened the box.
- Angel finds a demon named Tae, who claims he's from another dimension. Tae is in LA to stop the Bringer of Chaos - a vessel of pure destruction. Tae tells Angel can't stop the Bringer of Chaos by himself and then leaves.
- While doing some more snooping around, Angel is attacked by Bai Ling, a female demon who scorches his arm with an electrical attack. Bai Ling prepares to fight Angel before she receives a phone call. She leaves in a hurry and Angel pursues
- Bai Ling goes to an art gallery and Angel confronts her. She realizes Angel is a vampire and urgently tells him to leave. Behind her, a portal to another dimension opens and a woman falls through. Tae arrives with a team of other male demons and demands Angel and Bai Ling hand over the girl. A fight ensues, and the girl is stolen.
- There's some analogous stuff about female castration and suddenly I realize I don't want to look at Bai Ling anymore.

Episode Rating:

0/10

The ending credits had more dancing Angel/Wesley.

AND IT SHOULD GET AT LEAST A 1/10 FOR THESE SCENES.

Buffy - Goodbye Iowa- Season Four, Episode Fourteen

Notes:
- I can guess this is a Riley centric. Oh sure, Riley gets a centric episode but Xander just gets to hang around in the background doing nothing.
- Buffy updates the Scoobies on Maggie's betrayal. Spike brings up the idea that Riley was involved. Buffy doesn't know what to think.
- Adam somehow manages to sneak out of the Initiative's backdoor, despite the fact he just murdered one of the head researchers and that the Initiative is a heavily secure military complex patrolled by armed commandos Anyway he's in a forest now, so there's that memory confirmed.
- So is Adam half-demon, half human, half machine? There's a flaw there.
- Riley shows up at Giles' house, looking for Buffy. He's relieved she's okay.
- Spike: "No, I'm just a friend of Xanderrrrrrrr's." I love that he always puts on the same accent and says the same line when Riley's around.
- Riley recognizes Spike as Hostile 17. Spike leaves in a hurry, eager to avoid the dramatics that are about to ensue.
- Riley doesn't understand why Maggie betrayed Buffy. When the Scoobies begin questioning what the Initiative's true purpose is, Riley reacts badly and leaves, determined to get to the bottom of it all.
- Adam comes across a child. In a shamefully bad case of child acting, Adam begins philosophizing to a little kid who doesn't know any better. Adam kills the kid; more Frankenstein parallels already, goddamn.
- At the Initiative, Angleman finds Maggie's corpse and discovers Adam has escaped.
- The Scoobies hide out in Xander's basement as they try and figure out how to proceed. They see the news of the child's murder, Buffy recognizes the wounds as those inflicted by the demon she hunted last episode. Buffy goes looking for the demon, looking to avenge the kid.
- Riley meets with Forrest and tells him that Maggie betrayed Buffy. Forrest suggests Maggie was justified because Buffy may have been trying to infiltrate the Initiative. Graham arrives and tells them of Maggie's death. When Riley and Forrest see Maggie's body, Forrest points out it looks like she's been staked.
- Okay! Pausing the video here. How Riley proceeds from here will determine how much I like him as a character. If his first response isn't to immediately ask something along the lines: "If Buffy did it, how did she get into this restricted area that requires two card keys and a password? More to the point, there are
surveillance cameras all over this fucking place, one of them would have seen her. Not to mention all those heavily armed commandos and scientists that are constantly stalking around. How about we look for a shred of proof that Buffy is involved before we jump to conclusions?" If he doesn't say that, then he's dead to me forever.
- He took the third option and came to the same conclusion that Buffy did: it was the demon they captured last night. You got lucky this time Riley.
- Riley galvanizes his team to go out and hunt down the demon he suspects killed Maggie.
- Willow meets with Tara. Oooooh
- Buffy and Riley encounter each in their individual investigations and tensions between them are high. Riley follows Buffy when she tries to talk to Willie about the dead child and is disgusted when he finds that she tolerates an establishment catered to demons. Riley threatens all the demons currently at the bar as the stress of the day gets to him. He stands down after a tense confrontation and realizes there is something wrong with him.
- Riley is sick with a fever, so Buffy leaves him at Xander's to rest after consoling him.
- Buffy suspects Riley is poisoned or something. She and Xander (yay, Xander gets to do something!) plan to infiltrate the Initiative.
- Willow - with Tara - plans to use a spell to track down demonic activity. But Tara sabotages the spell so she can spend more time with Willow.
- Xander and Buffy enter the Initiative.
- Giles, Willow and Anya ponder why the demon they're tracking is acting so strangely: keeping a low profile and not feasting on the victim. Riley wakes up and demands to know where Buffy is. Willow tries to stop him, but Riley pushes her out of the way and goes after her.
- Buffy and Xander overhear a conversation concerning the soldiers. It turns out that Riley is suffering from withdrawals from the drugs that the scientists put in his and all the other soldiers' food.
- Spike goes to a bar to drown his sorrows, but is ambushed by an unseen figure. The demons have heard rumours of his alliance with the Slayer, so they beat the shit out of him and dump him on the street. They warn him that the next they see him, they'll kill him.
- Buffy and Xander confront Angeleman and demand to know the truth about Riley and 314. A very ill looking Riley shows up and tells them he disabled the security monitors. Angleman confirms that Maggie targeted Buffy, but stresses that it was personal vendetta for her. Angleman tells Buffy that 314 escaped. Riley intervenes, angry that they are slandering Maggie's memory and turns on Buffy, blaming her for everything. Buffy tries to talk him down, but they are suddenly confronted by Adam - who has snuck back into the heavily fortified military complex without being seen despite all the personnel being high-alert because of the recent murder of one of their head researchers.
- Anyway, Adam returned because he wants to learn more about what he is. He inserts floppy disk labelled "Adam" into a disk drive on his chest and spouts off all his information: he's part demon, human and machine and he has a design flaw that gives him free will. Riley gets angry and insults Adam, telling him that Maggie only saw him as a project and nothing more. Adam then produces another disk, this one labelled "Finn". Adam reveals that Riley is as much a creation as himself: Maggie shaped him into the perfect soldier using conditioning and chemicals. In that way, Adam considers Riley his brother. Riley flips out and attacks Adam, who disarms Riley effortlessly and knocks him down. Buffy and Xander joins the fray but are similarly beaten down. Angleman tries to flee, but Adam impales him much the same way he impaled Maggie. Adam stabs Riley in the gut too and then leaves before reinforcements can arrive.
- Forrest and his team enter the room. Forrest prepares to take Riley to get treatment and Buffy insists she go with, but Forrest denies her. She and Xander are escorted out of the building at gunpoint.

Episode Rating:

7.5/10.

Adam is so meh it's unbelievable.

Angel - I've Got You Under My Skin - Season One, Episode Fourteen

Notes:
- I'm gonna be honest, I'm suffering arc fatigue in a big way for both series. Buffy has the shitty Adam thing while Angel hasn't had any significant developments since Wesley joined the cast. It hasn't been this bad since early season 2 where every episode was pretty much the same. I need something big like the Angelus thing to rejuvenate my interest.
- Angel mistakenly called Wesley "Doyle". Cordelia tries to get him to open up some more, since Angel clearly still blames himself.
- Cordelia has a vision. Two parents plan to lock their children in their rooms for some reason.
- Shit, child actors.
- Angel saves one of the kids (named Ryan) from being run over. The grateful mother invites him inside the house to tend to his friction burn.
- Wesley snoops around while Angel keeps the parents busy. He finds signs of demon activity (something like ectoplasm) around the house.
- Fuck is this a bottle episode or what. Angel has been sitting, talking to the parents for like 10 minutes now.
- The dad is clearly uncomfortable with Angel's presence, but the mum is seemingly desperate for his company. She invites Angel to dinner the next night. Wesley warns Angel that someone in the house is possessed.
- Angel Investigations plan to perform an exorcism, but they don't know which family member is possessed. Wesley seems to take a personal interest in the case.
- The next night, Angel brings brownies to dinner which contain eucalyptus extract - it will cause the demon to show itself once ingested. The mum, dad and daughter are all clean: it turns out Ryan is the one who is possessed.
- Angel convinces the parents to let him help them. The parents and Ryan return to Angel's office, where Wesley and Cordelia have prepared a binding spell to keep the demon at bay.
- Angel and Wesley try to get in contact with a priest who will perform the exorcism. The only priest they could find was killed by another demon six months ago though. Wesley resolves to do it himself, despite Angel's protests. They both learn that once exorcised, the demon will try to claim a new host - often at the cost of the host's life (explaining how the priest died).
- The mum, being a dumb bitch like they always are, breaks the binding spell when she falls for the demon's manipulation. Ryan is only stopped from choking his dumbass mum to death thanks to Wesley's intervention.
- Wesley recreates the binding circle. Cordelia alerts Angel to the existence of a demon box, a prison for an exorcized demon. Angel tells Cordelia to go out and track one down by following one of his contacts.
- Wesley begins the exorcism. The demon tries to mess with Wesley's head by bringing up his past with the Watcher's Council. Wesley mistakenly breaks the circle again after the demon provokes him and the demon uses the opportunity to stab Wesley in the neck with his own crucifix.
- I'm having a hell of a time understanding what the demon kid is saying. It speaks with one of those ever popular dual voice things, with the kid and the demon speaking simultaneously. Unfortunately, the kid speaks in a whisper and is drowned out by the demon's voice - who is also whispering - that is bogged down with seventy different vocal filters to make it sound evil. What remains is a weirdly quiet wet sounding voice.
- Cordelia finds a demon box. Not the one she needs, but one that the shop owner assures her is a worthy substitute. I'm sure this won't come back to bite them.
- Wesley assures Angel he won't make such an amateur mistake again, Angel isn't convinced. When the demon begins taunting Angel with Doyle's voice, Angel resolves to do the exorcism himself. Cordelia arrives with the box and Angel tells her to prepare it before she explains it's not the right one. With the crucifix burning his hand, Angel pins down the kid and recites the exorcism spell.
- The demon shoots out of the kid and into the box. The box shatters into pieces and the demon vanishes. The parents are relieved that Ryan is cured, but Angel and the rest look worriedly at the broken remains of the box.
- Angel speculates the demon will need to manifest a physical form until it can find a new host, and plans to track it down and kill it before it can.
- By following the ectoplasm stuff, Angel and Wesley find the demon in some sea caves. The demon reveals that Ryan was fucked before he got there; Ryan has no soul. All messed up stuff that happened around Ryan was his own doing, the demon was trapped in him and was trying to get out. Angel slays the demon and races back to Ryan and his family.
- The night, after his parents have fallen asleep, Ryan locks them in their room and then prepares to burn his sister to death. He starts a fire that traps her in her bed, but Angel braves the flames and manages to get her out.
- Ryan is taken into custody. Angel consoles the father by telling him to protect his wife and daughter.

Episode Rating:

7/10

Buffy has a great two parter coming up and Angel will have more W&H appearances from here on, as well as Angelus flashbacks.

Get back to this.

Busy with work/life/school/ACR. I might watch one this weekend sometime.

Buffy - This Year's Girl - Season Four, Episode Fifteen

Notes:
- I take a three week sabbatical and I come back to the episode where they bring back Faith. For fuck's sake, I was wracking my brain to figure out a way they make the Adam arc worse and it looks like they found it.
- The Scoobies try to figure out a "blaster" that they stole from the lab. Xander tries to use his military know how to fix it.
- Xander is wearing the most ridiculous sweater vest.
- Riley's recovered somewhat, though he's still injured. He's anxious to pay Buffy a visit, but Forrest discourages him.
- Faith has a coma dream about the Mayor. Buffy shows up and stabs him to death while taunting Faith. In the real world, Faith stirs.
- On patrol, the Scoobies find a demon strung up and tortured. Adam's been studying demon biology with a hand's on approach.
- Buffy's insistent on rescuing Riley. She makes an impossibly stupid plan to force her way into the Initiative. If she isn't shot and killed the instant she triggers the alarm then I will have to start re-evaluating my opinion on the Initiative's security.
- Fortunately, Riley left the Initiative without much trouble. He reunites with Buffy and co.
- Faith wakes up after a ridiculous dream sequence where she climbs out of a grave and screams at the sky. Oh boy.
- Faith learns she's been in a coma for eight months and that the Mayor is dead. She doesn't take it well.
- Riley wants to quit the Initiative but Buffy convinces him he can do more good with their resources. They have hot recently-impaled sex.
- Faith's disappearance raises some alarm bells, since she was wanted for questioning thanks to all that murdering she did last season. After beating a woman and stealing her clothes, Faith skulks around Giles' place and eavesdrop on a conversation the Scoobies are having. She sees Buffy and Riley cuddling with each other. Suddenly, Buffy receives a phone call alerting her that Faith has escaped.
- The Scoobies contemplate this new development. Buffy plans to track her down. The next day, Faith confronts Buffy and Willow while they're at school instead.
- Faith's belligerent and threatens Riley. Fortunately, police sirens scare her off before she can waste any more of my time.
- Willow hitting Faith with the backpack was great.
- While out looking for Faith, Xander and Giles come across Spike. Spike is apathetic to their problems.
- Some professional looking people arrive by helicopter.
- A demon delivers Faith a tape from the Mayor (she kills the demon) to be watched in case the plan failed. The Mayor tells her to stay strong and then tells her to open a box that came with the tape. The Mayor remarks that just because she's alone, it doesn't mean she can't go out with a bang.
- Oh look it's Buffy's Mum. Haven't seen her in a while. Oh look it's Faith. Hopefully they'll both die together in the explosion of whatever.
- Faith kidnaps Buffy's Mum. They take turns needling each other until Buffy... dives through the window. On the second floor. Okay.
- Faith and Buffy fight. Buffy's Mum calls the police.
- Turns out the professional looking people are the Council and they pay Giles a visit.
- As the cops arrive, Faith places a weird contraption on her hand. Faith grabs Buffy's hand and activates the device. It glows but it doesn't explode or whatever. Buffy cold cocks Faith and knocks her out.
- Buffy destroys the device but I'm suspecting it did something considering the weird sound that I heard when it activated and got crushed.
- Uh oh, Buffy and Faith switched bodies. Dun dun dun.

Episode Rating:

7/10.

My interest in the series is practically dead right now. Even with a 'to be continued', I have no motivation to keep watching. I'll try again tomorrow.

faith is awesome

Buffy - Who Are You - Season Four, Episode Sixteen

Notes:
- Doo doo. Doo doo.
- Buffy (in Faith's body) is arrested. Faith (in Buffy's body) is all smug about it.
- SMG is nailing Faith's mannerisms.
- Faith practices acting like Buffy in front of a mirror. Man, SMG's nose is weird lookin'.
- Buffy wakes up in hospital and panics. She's sedated.
- Willow and Tara (remember her?) have a heart to heart. When are they gonna fuck already geez.
- Faith is terrible at acting.
- Buffy is being transported by two officers when suddenly an armored truck plows into the car they're in. Buffy is abducted by Council.
- Faith meets up with the Scoobies and tells them that "Faith" has been taken care of. Giles warns her that "Faith" has been captured by the Council; Faith can't hide her glee at the surprising turn of events. Willow notices something wrong with "Buffy".
- While out shirking Buffy's patrolling duties in favour of grinding with some guys at the Bronze, Faith runs into Spike. She taunts him and leaves him with a serious case of blue balls.
- Meanwhile, Adam pays some vampires a visit. Just to remind us that he still exists, presumably.
- Buffy wakes up in the Council's custody. They ignore her claims and pleas for help.
- Remember when the Bronze used to be for high school students? ...Yeah.
- Willow and Tara find Faith at the Bronze and strike up a conversation. While Willow is getting drinks, Faith notices Tara's attraction to Willow and takes great pleasure in mocking their relationship. Willow interrupts when she notices a vampire leaving with a girl and Faith leaves to deal with it after some delay. After dealing with the vampire and feeling awkward when the girl she saved thanks her, Faith pays a visit to Riley.
- Now alone, Tara tells Willow that she suspects Buffy has been replaced thanks to some crazy misplaced spiritual energy mumbo jumbo. Tara asks Willow to help her perform a ritual that can find the truth.
- Faith's slutty advances tip Riley off that something's not quite right but they still end up sexing one another regardless.
- There's some heavy lesbian subtext to the ritual Tara and Willow perform. This may just be me, but I am not sold on Tara and Willow's relationship one bit. The entirety of their relationship seems to be "Hey, we can both do magic!". Seems like there would be something more substantial to make Willow realize she's a lesbian.
- More and more, Faith seems to be realizing how much of a bitch she is.
- Buffy finally escapes from the Council guys. She goes to Giles for help and manages to convince him that she's not Faith. Willow and Tara arrive and confirm that Buffy is telling the truth. Together, they've managed to create a device that will switch the two Slayers back.
- Three vampires, acting on Adam's orders, hold a church and it's congregation hostage. Faith - becoming more and more like Buffy as time goes on - feels obliged to intervene.
- Faith deals with the vampires (allowing the churchgoers to escape) while Buffy sneaks into the church to confront her.
- Seriously, Riley throws a vampire into sunlight and it dies instantly. Angel and Spike walk around in sunlight for minutes at a time and live. MY IMMERSION.
- Buffy and Faith do battle for like the ninth time. Faith pounds on Buffy while screaming obscenities that are clearly directed at herself. Seems like Faith has finally begun to see herself what she really is and is filled with self loath.
- Buffy activates the device and the two Slayers switch back. Faith runs away and hitches a ride out of town on a train, never to be seen again. (This is almost certainly not the case.)
- Riley tells Buffy he slept with Faith in her body. I can see this being milked for all the angst it's worth.

Episode Rating:

8/10.

Faith grew as a character, who knew it was possible?