THE Andrea

4x12 A New Man

Riley is starting to feel a bit emasculated by Buffy's crazy awesome strength.They also seem to be getting the googly eyes going for each other more often. Ooooh, I sense some full contact body lovin' to come soon.

Meanwhile, at Buffy's 19th birthday party, Giles is feeling a bit awkward about hanging with a bunch of teenagers. He feels like even more of an outsider when he discovers that Riley is part of The Initiative, and Buffy didn't tell him. Ethan Rayne is back in town, and instead of booting him out of town, Giles goes and has a drink with him. Then next morning, Giles is mysteriously transformed into a demon that doesn't speak English. The Scooby Gang think that Giles' demon self actually killed Giles. Since he can't speaka the-a anglaise, he has to run from them or risk getting slain. Oddly enough, Spike speaks Giles' new language so he ends up helping Giles... for a fee, of course.

Spike: (to Demon Giles) And I'm supposed to just help you out of the evilness of my heart?

Giles finds Ethan, then Buffy finds Ethan, starts to wail on Giles, but looks into his eyes and realizes who it is. Buffy makes Ethan change him back, then Riley and his peeps do the honors of taking him into military custody. I believe this is the last time we see Mr. Rayne.

4x13 The I in Team

Buffy starts working with the Initiative, but they still don't quite understand what she's capable of.  After their first mission together, Riley and Buffy get all hot and bothered and they do that full contact body lovin' I was talking about before. However, we see that Professor Walsh has cameras in Riley's bedroom and she sees the whole hot, sexy, carnal event.

Spike gets shot with a dart by the Initiative, and he actually goes to Giles and the Gang for help to get it out. Turns out it's a tracking device.

Buffy: Professor Walsh. That simple little recon you sent me on... wasn't a raccoon. Turns out it was me trapped in the sewers with a faulty weapon and two of your pet demons. If you think that's enough to kill me, you really don't know what a Slayer is. Trust me when I say you're gonna find out.

After the sexy bit that Walsh witnesses, she starts to think that Buffy is a bad influence on Riley and she could cause problems for the Initiative. So, Walsh sends Buffy on a suicide mission. However, duh, she's the slayer. Not so easy to kill. While Walsh is telling Riley that Buffy is dead, he sees her on the monitors telling Walsh she's not so easily killed, and she will be coming after Walsh. Riley jets out of the secret base, and Walsh goes into her secret 314 area.. only to get killed by her pet project Adam. Ooopsy.

4x14 Goodbye Iowa

Buffy and Riley get all doubty mcdoubt on each other when Buffy tells him that Professor Walsh sent her off to get killed. That becomes a bit of a non-issue once it's discovered than Walsh is, yanno, dead. Riley's commando buds are quite quick to blame Buffy for the murder. Riley gets even more bewildered when he goes to Giles' to talk to Buffy, only to find Spike, aka Hostile 17, sitting all cozy up in the crib. He begins to question everything he's been taught about good and evil and the military.

Buffy: So Maggie sends me down to the sewers, with one of those blasto-guns, and the next thing I know, it's raining monsters.
Xander: Hallelujah.

Meanwhile the man-demon-machine Adam that Professor Walsh created is roaming Sunnydale and even Buffy can't seem to stop him.

Didn't love this episode. Mainly cuz Adam just looks awful as a creature. Bad makeup and all that.

4x15 This Year's Girl (1)

After eight months, Faith is still lying comatose in the hospital. She keeps having dreams that involve Buffy chasing her and sticking that knife in her gut over and over. After one particular dream, Faith wakes from her coma and flees the hospital. Riley is busy recovering from an attack by Adam. Buffy and the Gang can't get access to Riley and it's starting to make her antsy.

Xander: Second. It's called a blaster, Will, a word that tends to discourage experimentation. Now, if it were called the Orgazminater, I'd be the first to try your basic button press approach.

Riley gets up and leaves the Initiative's infirmary and heads straight to Buffy and the Gang just as they are planning a way to get him out of there. Then they are notified of Faith's escape and that just adds to the mix of anxiety. Buffy tries to explain to Riley who Faith is.. mega-psychotic-bitch and all that... and then Buffy and Willow encounter her on campus. After a bit of a tussle, Faith manages to escape her again.

Faith heads out, a demon finds her to give her a present, she kills it and takes the package. It turns out to be a video from the Mayor and a device of some sort. Faith then goes to Buffy's mother's house and starts to torment her. Buffy interrupts some tirade or other, and tries to kick some Faith booty. In the skirmish, Faith puts on the metal device she received from the Mayor and grabs Buffy's hand. We see the thing get all glowy and then Buffy punches out Faith. Joyce asks Buffy if she's okay, and Buffy responds with a Faith-ism... "Five by Five". Something wonky has gone on here... and it's to be continued. Awwwwww, snap.

4x09 Something Blue

In Willow's continuing descent into mega-pissy broken hearted chica, she has attempted a spell to have her will done. At first it appears to not work, until she saying something about Giles being blind about something they are talking about. So, he slowly goes blind. Then, Buffy can't stick around Willow to console her cuz she has to catch Spike cuz he's escaped from Giles' house. So, when Willow goes to Xander to complain she says something like Buffy should marry Spike. The next thing we see is Buffy and Spike in the middle of a marriage proposal. That is funny. Absolutely hilarious. She says yes, they both get all happy and start to make out. And they can't keep their hands off each other. Then they actually start talking about wedding plans... invitations, locations, music. I love it.

Spike: This is the crack team that foils my every plan? I am deeply shamed.

At one point, Willow says that Xander is just a demon magnet or something and of course then he can't quite keep the demons at bay. Things happen in a not so obvious manner that it takes our Gang sometime to figure out that it's a spell that Willow did. Meanwhile, Willow is busy getting offered Anya's old demon position. She declines, and they give her their card or talisman or something and then let her go. She then reverses the spell, right in the middle of a good Spike/Buffy make out session, and everything goes back to normal.

Buffy: Look at my poor neck! All bare and tender and exposed. All that blood just pumping away.
Spike: Oh gees, Giles, make her stop!

4x10 Hush

Riley can't seem to say the right thing to Buffy. He just tends to ramble on which ruins some great potential kissing moments. This turns out to be the least of his worries when the entire town of Sunnydale lose their voices. A group of strange creates called The Gentlemen appear suddently and steal everyone's voices. It's so no one can scream while they take their hearts out. They need seven hearts to fulfill something that I forgot about. Turns out they are from a Fairy Tale, and the only thing that can get rid of them is the scream of a girl.

Little Girl: Can't even shout, Can't even cry, The Gentlemen are coming by,
Lookin' in windows, Knockin' on doors,
They need to take seven and they might take yours,
Can't call to mom, Can't say a word,
You're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard.

This is a truly great episode. One of my favorites. I just love the idea of needing to communicate and not being able to, which seems to truly allow you to communicate without all the distractions that talking can provide. To me it shows that words can truly get in the way.

Not only did the episode have a great story, but it looked really eerie too. The Gentlemen simply float, they don't walk, and this looks very well done.

Oh, and during The Initiative's and Buffy's fighting The Gentlemen and their minions... Buffy sees Riley in his commando gear, and Riley sees Buffy in her full Slayer glory. Guess those secrets are out.

4x11 Doomed

The Hellmouth gets reopened... again.

Giles: It's the end of the world.
Buffy, Willow, Xander: Again?

Buffy and Riley are having a difficult time redefining their relationship since now they know about each other's secrets. Riley has asked that she keep his secret to herself, so she has to distract Giles from focusing on the commandos. She tries to convince him that the recent earthquake might be a prophecy of doom and that they need to be investigating it. Then, a new set of demons do show up in town stealing mystical items and it turns out that Buffy may be more accurate than she originally thought.

Spike is not liking the fact that he can't attack humans. He's now stuck in Xander's basement with him since Giles is having company of the female persuasion and doesn't want Spike around. He starts to despair, so much in fact he actually attempts to stake himself, but he gets interrupted. Xander and Willow cart Spike around to watch him so that he won't kill himself. I forget why they care, but I guess they do. They eventually meet up with Buffy and Riley to kick demon ass, and Spike discovers that he can attack other monsters and demons. He gets oh-so-excited by this. Now, he wants to fight evil just so he can some ass.

Spike: What's this? Sitting around watching the telly while there's evil still afoot. That's not very industrious of you. I say we go out there and kick a little demon ass! What, can't go without your Buffy, is that it? Too chicken? Let's find her! She is the Chosen One after all. Come on! Vampires! Grrr! Nasty! Let's annihilate them. For justice... and for... the safety of puppies... and Christmas, right? Let's fight that evil! Let's kill something! Oh, come on!

Fun episode. I just really enjoy it when Spike is around, and now he's really a part of the Scooby Gang. Good times. Just gets better from here... as far as having Spike around.

4x05 Beer Bad

Buffy is still being quite mopey over Parker and her unintentional one-night stand. Xander has decided to try out being a bartender. Buffy goes to visit him at his bar and is befriended by a group of upperclassmen who convince her to drown her sorrows with them. While drinking, the snobby elitist Buffy is drinking with starts getting very monosyllabic. And while most of us would consider that a blessing, it does appear to be a problem. Turns out the owner of the bar is busy tainting the beer with something cursed. He's gotten tired of all the young asswipes coming and going and this is his way of doling out some revenge.

Kip: The thing that the modern day pundits fail to realize is that all the socio-economic and psychological problems inherent to modern society can be solved by the judicious application of way too much beer.

Seems weird and random. Why would Buffy hang out with dudes that are very clearly mega-douchebags. This is starting to remind me that I didn't like Season 4 very much. Like they were having a hard time transitioning from High School to College. This is the epitome of that confusion.

4x06 Wild At Heart

While out on a little jaunt in his wolfy form, Oz runs across another werewolf. Turns out it's the lead singer Oz has seemed a little preoccupied with as of late. What's even weirder is when he wakes up next to her in the wilderness the next morning, they're nekkid. The lady werewolf, Veruca, finds out that Oz is usually caged, and he just happened to escape his cage the night before. She feels he isn't being his true werewolf self. Oz just blows her off, but doesn't like the thought of her being out and about during the full moon. He invites her over to his cage, and she won't go in until he essentially promises to get it on with her again.

Willow being the super nice loving girlfriend that she is, comes to Oz's cage to give him some breakfast, and gets a big ol' eyeful of the two of them all nekkid and cuddly. This absolutely breaks her heart. She cries like a girl with a broken heart cries. Great acting on Alyson Hannigan's part. I was 100% convinced.  Veruca then comes after Willow cuz I guess thinks that Willow is her the way of Oz being who he is. Or she just wants that booty for herself. It's right before dark... you know, full moon and all... and Oz finds Veruca trying to kill Willow. The two of them wolf-out, and Oz ends up killing Veruca to save Willow.

Oz: Veruca was right about something. The wolf is inside me all the time, and I don't know where that line is anymore between me and it. And until I figure out what that means, I shouldn't be around you... Or anybody.
Willow: Well, that could be a problem 'cause people... Kind of a planetary epidemic.

Buffy comes along and uses a tranq gun on him so he doesn't hurt Willow. After all that, Oz decides he needs to leave town and be a nomad or something to figure himself out. Lame. I never thought Oz would be so typical and scaredy cat... er wolf.

Meanwhile, Spike gets zapped and captured by the mysterious Commando guys that have popped up from time to time.

4x07 The Initiative

Spike is being held hostage in a high tech facility. He thinks this is just the usual Buffy stuff, but advanced. He manages to escape the place, which appears to be under UC Sunnydale, he heads Buffy's way but finds Willow instead.

Spike: (about Buffy) I always worried what would happen when that bitch got some funding.

This was one of the most hilarious scenes. I love it. He goes to attack Willow, and then the next thing we see is her basically telling him "it happens to all the vamps". Great conversation between these two. Oh, what the hell...

Spike: I don't understand. This sort of thing's never happened to me before.
Willow: Maybe you were nervous.
Spike: I felt all right when I started. Let's try again.
(Failed attempt to attack Willow again)
Spike: Damn it!
Willow: Maybe you're trying too hard. Doesn't this happen to every vampire?
Spike: Not to me, it doesn't!
Willow: It's me, isn't it?
Spike: What are you talking about?
Willow: Well, you came looking for Buffy, then settled. You didn't want to bite me, I just happened to be around.
Spike: Piffle.
Willow: I know I'm not the kind of girl vamps like to sink their teeth into. It's always like, "Oh, you're like a sister to me," or, "Oh, you're such a good friend."
Spike: Don't be ridiculous. I'd bite you in a heartbeat.
Willow: Really?

Riley realizes he has a crush on Buffy. He tries to start a conversation with her at a party, but fails miserably.  We then see Riley and friends go to a secret entrance in their frat house and they go down... down to the underground bunker area that Spike escaped. See, they have to go get the escaped vampire. We also see that the psych professor Buffy has is in charge of this secret unit. They do experiments on the demons they capture. One of which appears to be a nice neutering chip in Spike's brain. It makes him unable to hurt humans. If he even attempts it, he experiences mind-numbing (literally!) pain.

The commando dudes (called The Initiative), end up in the same area as Buffy, both of which are trying to get Spike. No one can see each other, due to a flare going off in the hallway, so Buffy and Riley don't get a chance to recognize each other... and Spike gets away.

I like parts of these storylines. Mainly the Spike one.. cuz that means he's more in the mix with our Gang. I seem to be likely Riley more this time around. I really found him annoying last time. This still might change. Maybe there was a reason I didn't like him. I guess we shall see.

4x08 Pangs

Just a quick note here... This episode kinda follows the Angel episode 1x07 The Bachelor Party. Angel's co-worker Doyle has visions. He's had a particular one about Buffy being in danger. Thus... Angel lurking in the shadows of Sunnydale keeping an eye on Buffy in order to keep her safe.

Another note, this is a GAWDAWFUL episode. HATE it. ABHOR it. I think I may have disliked it more this time around. If you're gonna do a crossover episode with Angel, at least make it something decent.

And to continue... this should be quick, I don't want to waste too much space on this mess. These original inhabitants, the Chumash Indians, get released during a groundbreaking ceremony. Weak plot point -- Buffy, Willow and Anya are there cuz Xander is gonna be doing the actually digging. Lame. I like Buffy's weird cowgirl outfit she has going on though.

Spike: You won. All right? You came in and you killed them and you took their land. That's what conquering nations do. It's what Caesar did, and he's not going around saying, "I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it." The history of the world isn't people making friends. You had better weapons, and you massacred them. End of story.

Ok.. this is already too much space. The spirits of the Native Americans get pissy, attacking people connected to the Cultural Center and then goes after Buffy and friends during her attempt at a home-cooked Thanksgiving. Angel helps them during the big fight without Buffy seeing him. Then Xander lets it slip that he was there and thus ends out bad episode. This episode is just dripping with lameness. ooey gooey lameness.

Oh, and this is to be continued in Angel episode 1x08 I Will Remember You.

4x01 The Freshmen

Buffy, Willow, and Oz make their debut at college. Seems like Willow and Oz have taken to the whole experience very easily. Buffy, not so much. As she stumbles her way around campus, she meets another lost student and they bond in their bad sense of direction. They discover they share a class together, Psychology, and plan on meeting up there. When he doesn't show, Buffy gets concerned. She tries to go to Giles for assistance, but he's a bit busy shagging some old friend of his, that he tells her she needs to be more self-reliant. Talk about a dis. She also makes a stop at home for a bit of comfort and that misses the mark too. Her mom has made her bedroom a temporary storage for some of her gallery's relics.

Xander: Basically, I got as far as Oxnard, and the engine fell out of my car. And that was literally. So, I ended up washing dishes at the fabulous "Ladies Night" club for about a month and a half while I tried to pay for the repairs. No one really bothered me, or even spoke to me, until one night when one of the male strippers called in sick, and no power on this earth will make me tell you the rest of that story. Suffice to say I traded my car in for one that wasn't entirely made of rust, came trundling back home to the arms of my loving parents, where everything was exactly as it was except I sleep in the basement, and I have to pay rent. How's college?
Buffy: Male strippers?
Xander: No power on this earth.

Even in her bewilderment, Buffy looks really hot in this new season. Liking the clothes she's sporting. She does briefly meet an upperclassman and gets all flustered. I think maybe her flirting skills have atrophied while she's been with Angel. Time to brush up.

She encounters some campus vamps that are making freshmen disappear and stealing their stuff. She finally man's up... woman's up?... and goes after the vamps on her own. Fight, Fight, Kill, Kill. Done.

4x02 Living Conditions

Dorm life is proving quite difficult for Buffy. Her roommate is starting to drive her crazy with all her idiosyncrasies. She plays music that Buffy hates, labels all her food in their room (including each individual egg), borrows clothes without asking, and interrupts Buffy's Slayer duties. She even gets all flirty with Parker, Buffy's first college crush. The Gang thinks that Buffy is just going mad or maybe she's possibly possessed. Buffy just thinks her roommate is evil and must be destroyed.

Oz: Oh, I'm not saying we'll braid each other's hair... probably. But I can hang with her, watch for signs she's going over the edge.

This is so perfect for those females that have actually experienced a college roommate. I had a roommate like this. I took a piece of candy out of one of those big humongous bags and she knew. Ok, well, she saw the wrapper in the trash can, but man she was so angry. It was really annoying. If I were a slayer, I would have totally kicked my roommate's ass too. But since I couldn't do that, this was a good sort of therapy.

4x03 The Harsh Light of Day

Yay! Spike is back. Can you tell I like Spike? I really like Spike. He should have been more of a permanent player earlier. I think he becomes more of a permanent fixture on the show shortly. I know he also shows up in Angel from time to time. Anyway, Spike returns with a now vampiric Harmony. Like she wasn't annoying enough as part of Cordelia's little snobby crew. Apparently Harm and Spike are kind of a couple. Also seems like she's more into the relationship than Spike. But can you blame him? Spike is searching for the vampire version of the Holy Grail, the Gem of Amara. The Gem supposedly makes the vampire that possesses it immune to crosses, stakes, and sunlight. Spike thinks he knows where it is and is tunnelling under Sunnydale in search of it.

Spike: Listen to me, you stupid bint. This gem is everything. I came back to Sunnydale for it, a place which has witnessed some truly spectacular kickings of my ass.

Meanwhile, Buffy is slightly preoccupied with her budding relationship with Parker. So occupied in fact she sleeps with him. Then he goes running off to offer up his spiel to the next unsuspecting victim. Poor Buffster cannot get a break. Her first lay ends up losing his soul and her second apparently never had one to begin with. That has to do some serious trauma to a gal. Also, the ex-demon Anya returns with quite the fixation for Xander. She comes over to his basement and demands they get it on so she can finally get over him. She is most definitely new to this female human thing. Otherwise she would know that NEVER works.

This episode is oh-so-cleverly continued on Angel in episode 1x03 In the Dark. It looks like I may have to start the Angel Collection now too. There are quite a number of cross-over episodes.

4x04 Fear Itself

It's Halloween time again, and they still think that nothing will happen on such an obvious clichéd day. So, of course, something has to happen.

Buffy is still moping about because of the McDouche, Parker. Don't blame her, she deserves her time of mope over this. The gang try to distract her and get her to go with them to a fraternity Halloween party. They just want some cheap thrills and harmless fun, but it turns into so much more. Due to some fraternity nonsense with accidental magic, the party turns into a real-life house of horrors where everyone's fears come to life.

Willow: We have to make sure she has fun. We have to force fun upon her. Yeah, and if Parker shows up, we'll just axe-murder him. That's Halloweeny.

Xander invites Anya and tells her to come as something scary, so obviously she dresses as a bunny cuz they freak her out. Funny. She arrives late to the party, and the gang is already trapped in the house. She runs to Giles and they figure out a way to get in and how to destroy the demon doing all the damage. Turns out the demon is about 8-inches high, which suddenly makes no one scared at all. So Buffy squashes him like a bug.

3x20 The Prom

In Buffy's ever long quest of trying to be a "normal" girl, she gets quite wrapped up in all things Prom. So much so, it appears she didn't even think to ask Angel if he wanted to take her. She just assumes he will. Now, in a normal High School relationship, this is how it would work. But, you need to give your 240-year old boytoy a bit of a heads up with these sorts of things.

Oh, ooops, as soon as Buffy brings it up, Angels gets a little squirmy. Then Joyce shows up at Angel's weird abode, and tells Angel she thinks he needs to be a man and dump Buffy now before things get crazy out of hand. Cuz, you know, losing the soul thing was just a blip on the relationship radar. Next, he has to relay this information to Buffy, right before the Prom. Dude, seriously, you don't want to go that bad? This info couldn't wait a day? Naturally, the fact that Buffy and Angel are splitting makes Buffy want her normal girl Prom that much more.

Buffy: Great thing about being a slayer, kicking ass is comfort food.

So, when some random kid from Oz's chemistry class unleashes some Hell Hounds, Buffy gets quite motivated to get rid of them. Even if she can't have a Prom, she'll be damned if the rest of the school will suffer. Such self-sacrifice with that one.

I did really dig how they kind of did the bad guy in this weird fast-forward way. Just as the guy is about to go into his usual bad guy monologue, Buffy cuts him off. When he says why he wants to attack at Prom, Buffy cuts him off again, and we see a flashback of him asking a girl to Prom and she simply says No. Awesome. She then beats the three Hell Hounds in record time, then whips out her Prom dress from her weapons bag, and walks into Prom just as gorgeous as can be. Bitch.  :D

Anya: Look, I know you find me attractive; I've seen you looking at my breasts.
Xander: Nothing personal, but when a guy does that, it just means his eyes are open.

There was some crazy contrasts going on in this episode. You have the kind of quick baddy thing, which was a bit funny. Then you have the real emotional killers. As the classmates are handing out their "Biggest Class Clown" and whatnot awards, they get serious for a moment, and present Buffy with a "Class Protector" award. They realize that Sunnydale High isn't like your average school, and they have noticed how Buffy seems to be there to save the day. This made me weepy. All she has ever wanted was to be normal -- not gonna happen -- and not be such an outcast. Then, Angel shows up at Prom to dance with her, and she knows this doesn't mean anything. He just wants to give her the moment I think.

3x21 Graduation Day, Part 1

The Gang receives some valuable information from their old enemy Anya, who has actually witnessed an Ascension. She reveals that the Mayor plans to transform himself into pure demon, something that has not been seen for thousands of years. As the Gang prepares for Graduation they continue to search for a way to stop the Mayor's Ascension. As they dig for answers, Angel gets shot by Faith with a poison arrow, and the only cure for him is he blood of a Slayer.

Xander: Come on guys, the suspense is killing Angel.

Now, just hearing this makes it painfully clear that we know who's gonna be feeding Angel his cure. Buffy actually stabs Faith in the stomach, but she gets away via jumping off her balcony into the back of a work truck. This is big. Buffy intentionally stabs a human. But, of course Faith doesn't die. That would make Buffy a killer. And that would be seriously uncool.

On a lighter and sweeter note, Willow finally gets her cherry popped by Oz. She's just as chatty in bed as out. And Oz is just as non-chatty. They are so sweet together. Adorable couple, but don't get used to it.

3x22 Graduation Day, Part 2

Since Buffy couldn't get Faith for Angel to suck dry, she goes to him and makes him drink from her. He refuses repeatedly, and so she starts punching him until she can get his vampire-ness raring to go. Once she does that, and she shows him a bit of neck, he doesn't hesitate. Chomp, slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp, oooops he took too much. Since he's all better now, he runs Buffy to the hospital cuz she kinda won't wake up. But, good news is she's not dead. While in the hospital they run into the Mayor who is there in another room with a comatose Faith. He is extremely upset that his precious Faith is down for the count, possibly for good. They fight in the hospital a bit, yadda yadda yadda.

Xander: [to Angel] Well, it's just good to know that when the chips are down and things look grim, you'll feed off the girl who loves you to save your own ass.

Tada! Buffy gets better all quick and slayer-like, just in time for graduation. We see the Gang call on a couple fellow classmates to get some weapons in place on the campus, but we don't quite know why. As the ceremony is in effect, and the Mayor is in the middle of his commencement speech, he gets a bit of a stomach ache. But really, he just turns into this huge snake beastie thing.

Xander: Aren't you supposed to be drinkin' tea, anyway?
Giles: Tea is soothing. I wish to be tense.
Xander: Okay. But you're destroying a perfectly good cultural stereotype, here.

Instead of screaming and running, as you'd expect, the entire graduating class stands up, tears off their robes to reveal they are all strapped for some serious fighting. I love this! What a seriously awesome bonding moment as a graduating class. They are very organized with the help of Xander. Yes, Xander. They start with the flame-throwers, and then projectiles, and then flaming arrows. Loved it, Loved it, Loved it.

Once the class does what they can, it's up to Buffy to get him where they need him. She distracts him with Faith's knife and taunting him about Faith also. He starts to chase her into the school where she leads him to the library... where it's full of explosives and whatnot. (They did pack up the library earlier, mustn't endanger the rare book collection Giles has assembled).  HUGE explosion... the day, er night, is saved. And they all are so friggin' thankful that High School is over.

With just a long tearful look across a busy parking lot, Angel and Buffy say goodbye without any words. Angel turns around, and walks away... to his own show.

3x16 Doppelgängland

Doomed to live life as a mortal since her amulet was destroyed by Buffy and the Gang, Anya begs with a demon to get her powers back... and fails. She convinces an unsuspecting Willow to assist her with a spell that will return her amulet and, with it, her Vengeance Demon powers. Willow, sensing something wrong with the magic, balks at the last minute and disrupts the spell. Instead of returning the amulet, the spell summons the vampire Willow from the alternate universe in "The Wish" and sets her loose in Sunnydale.

Giles: This is extraordinary.
Willow: It's horrible! That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil! And... skanky. And I think I'm kinda gay.

This was a fun episode. A litle foreshadowing perhaps, since Willow does get her gay on in the near future. Some might find it a tad creepy when her evil self flirts and even licks her good self. Or others might find it a complete turn-on. At one point, the Gang captures the vamp Willow and have good Willow go back out as the vamp one. This was hilarious to watch. Good Willow is all squirming in her counterpart's leather bustier and suppose to come across sexy, vicious and vampy. Another great time was when the evil Willow is locked up in the library cage and needs Cordelia to release her. Cordelia instead takes the opportunity to rail on her about boyfriend stealing. The sheer boredom and frustration that the evil Willow shows is quite good too.

Angel: Buffy... something terrible's happened that... Willow's dead... hey Willow... wait a second...

Another great set of moments is when Xander, Buffy, and Giles all think that their Willow has been turned vamp. They truly mourn her, only for her to come into the library like any other day. And when Angel comes in to tell them all that Willow is a vamp, he is just distraught. He knows how much she means to them, and he's gotta deliver this horrible news. And she pops out of the library office as he's stammering for the words. Good stuff.

3x17 Enemies

A demon offers to sell Buffy and Faith the books of Ascension but Faith, acting on behalf of the Mayor and defying Buffy, kills the demon and steals the books. Also as part of her new alliance with the Mayor, Faith tries to seduce Angel so that he will again lose his soul. When that fails, and it fails oh-so-miserably, the Mayor summons a powerful demon to remove Angel's soul with dark magic.

Wesley: And you say this demon wanted cash? That's very unusual.
Giles: Demons after money. What ever happened to the still-beating heart of a virgin? No one has any standards anymore.

Giles is just becoming brilliant now that he's been fired as a Watcher, and is just another member of the Gang. Since Wesley gets to be our stiff Englishman for the time being, I guess Giles feel a bit of the pressure is off. He's acting a lot like Buffy, really. He's sarcastic, snarky, and just plain rebellious when it comes to Wesley. Because of this, he has some great lines. Thus the plethora of them in this post.

Buffy: It's down by the bus station. Not the nicest part of town.
Giles: Again, see? No standards. Any self-respecting demon should be living in a pit of filth or a nice crypt.

Angel turns evil again, but not really, cuz they pull a fast one on Faith and her boss, the Mayor. I gotta say, what the hell is up with Angel's hair in these last few episodes. It's really bothering me. Also, Angel not looking so hot to me either. I know Mr. Boreanaz started this show when he was something like 28, so he's bound to probably go through more physical changes than some of the younger members of the cast, but still. Not digging it. Now, I know that he gets out of this awkward phase at some point, cuz he's quite hot again on Bones, but it's not helping me while I'm watching this. I like the Angel in the first season. He was just HAWT. Damn hawt. Friggin' hawt. Also, it seems I like Angel better as Angelus. Maybe it's the bad boy thing, I dunno. But it almost seems like the Angelus character has more depth or something. Angel just seems too... what's the word?.... castrated.

Wesley: Find anything?
Giles: Six course banquet of nothing with a scoop of sod all as a palette cleanser.

This was a great version of nanny-nanny-boo-boo. I had truly forgotten what happened on this episode so the ending was a complete surprise to me again. Don't you just love that? It's all fresh and stuff. But, we get a peek of emo-Buffy here. Or maybe this is just PMS-Buffy. After Angel goes through all the faking of being Angelus, which happens to involve a lot of making out with Faith, Buffy gets her panties in a wad. She thinks they need a break. Wah.

3x18 Earshot

After an encounter with a demon that has no mouth, Buffy is infected with the demon's blood as it seeps into her skin, and she gains the ability to hear people's thoughts. At first her newfound ability is useful for cheating on schoolwork and eavesdropping on the thoughts of those around her, but when the voices continue to flood her mind, she realizes that she can't control the power. Amid the chaos, Buffy hears a killer planning a mass murder at the school. Now she must keep herself from going mad long enough to prevent a catastrophe.

Buffy: Guess I won't be writing that book, "Winning Friends Through Telepathy."

Interesting to hear the Gang's thoughts. My favorite was probably Oz. He's very existential up in that noggin of his. Xander thinks about sex, constantly. No big shocker there. Wesley thinks about not thinking about Cordelia. There was a bit of a funny when Buffy hears her mother's thoughts and discovers more of the specifics regarding the events from the 3x06 Band Candy episode. Joyce and Giles did more than make out. On the hood of a police car. Twice.

Giles: Feel up to some training?
Buffy: Sure! We can work out after school, you know, if you're not too busy having sex with my *mother*!

Other than the initial little laughs, the rest of the episode was a heavy one. She and the Gang have to find who wants to do harm to the school. It ends up being the little dork Jonathan that we see from time to time in episodes. Generally, he's the butt of a joke or the target of some snide remarks. I guess this has really gotten to him. But, he just wants to hurt himself, not the rest of the school. Which seems really strange cuz, why would you take a sniper rifle into a tower on campus if you were only going to kill yourself? But, I nitpick.

3x19 Choices

Buffy receives an acceptance to Northwestern University, but what should be a happy surprise turns sour when she realizes that she may not be able to go away to school and still fulfill her duties as the Slayer. In a bit of a huff after realizing this, she decides to launch an immediate offensive against the Mayor, instead of waiting for the Ascension. She manages to intercept the Box of Gavrok, a container of mystical energy that is vital to the Mayor's plans. But when Willow is captured, the gang must decide whether they can give up their best chance at preventing the Ascension to save Willow's life.

Xander: We Bohemian anti-establishment types have always been persecuted.
Oz: Well, sure. You're all so weird.

Willow seems to be coming into her own finally. She can spin a pencil in the air. It's nice to see her not just be the nerd of the group. Buffy just really struggles with this whole destiny thing. Her skull is thick, cuz we keep having this issue pop-up left and right. This time it's about going away to college. Since she mysteriously got a good SAT score (maybe she just tests well and isn't as dumb as she acts), she has actually gotten into a decent school. But reality crashes upon her quickly. She then goes all mission impossible in the Mayor's office trying to get some fancy box that ends up being full of this super creepy spider thingies. During the big fight at the end with the Mayor and his minions -- they win -- Faith actually helps one of them with one of the creepy spiders. It seems to give everyone pause. Is she not the hopeless, serial killing, mega-bitch they all thought she was? I seriously doubt that.

3x12 Helpless

Buffy really needs to quit celebrating the date of her birth. It never goes well at all.  She tries to forego the whole celebratory thing by declining the Gang's offer of a big party. She decides she would rather partake in a traditional trip to the ice show with her father. Her father disappoints, then she finds that her Slayer superpowers are fading, possibly disappearing for good.

Buffy: Actually I do have a date. Older man. Very handsome. Likes it when I call him Daddy.
Angel: Your father... It is your father, right?

When she finds out from Giles that it is a test that she must pass at this age, she feels betrayed by him. As she struggles to regain her powers, Giles is fired for not being an impartial Watcher. He was accused of being too fatherly towards her. Which is appropriate given that her real father seems to rarely be in the picture. This part had me quite weepy. After the guy that fires Giles leaves, he takes the wet cloth she has in her hands, and starts to clean up her wounds. This small gesture just got me a little choked up.

3x13 The Zeppo

When Xander realizes that he isn't needed by the gang as much as he'd like to believe, his quest to prove he's cool leads him to an unforgettable night that finds him consorting with fast women, raising the dead and rolling with a dangerous crowd that could put Sunnydale in a world of hurt. Meanwhile, Buffy, Giles and the rest of the crew engage in a furious battle with the Sisterhood of Jhe, an all-female demon apocalypse cult that intends to reopen the Hellmouth and bring about the end of the world.

Cordelia: It must be really hard when all your friends have, like, superpowers -- Slayer, werewolf, witches, vampires -- and you're, like, this little nothing. You must feel like Jimmy Olsen.

As the picture helps indicate, why does Xander look like a cheesy 70s dirty old man? The thick gold necklace, the bad patterned shirt, and the hair isn't exactly cute. Despite this lack of cool, he manages to lose his virginity to Faith, after she has an unfulfilling Slayage and needs an outlet. It's also quite funny to see one of the Apocalypse moments through Xander's side of things. Buffy and Angel appear very soap opera-y in this episode, cuz I guess that's how Xander views it. Very funny moment at one point when Xander interrupts one of their mushy proclamations of love before the end of the world happens. Classic.

3x14 Bad Girls

While on a mission to retrieve an amulet before a powerful demon can use it to restore his strength, Faith introduces Buffy to her reckless method of slaying which leaves Buffy wanting more of the wild life. Meanwhile Giles is trying to keep his cool in front of the insufferably stuffy new watcher, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.

Mr Trick brings the Sword of El Eliminati Vampires to Mayor Wilkins, who doesn't want anything to get in the way of the upcoming "Dedication." But Buffy and Faith are determined to eliminate the Eliminati, and nothing will stop them.

Xander: I'm not gonna waste the perfect comeback on you now. But don't think I don't have it. Oh yes, it's time will come!

This ep has a definitive Faith moment. She stabs a man. A non-beastie. When Buffy confronts her, she replies with "You don't get it: I don't care."  This clearly shows that Faith ain't right in the head, and is either border-line serial killer chick or is at the very least lying to herself about who or what she is becoming. Buffy is also dealing with the boundary issues as Faith attempts to learn her in all ways delinquent. It seems real tempting to Buffy right up until Faith has to go and kill a human due to her reckless ways. Deep, harsh, emotional episode. Hard to get the funny on.

3x15 Consequences

Even though Giles thinks it's a waste of time, new Watcher Wesley orders Faith and Buffy to investigate the murder of Finch. With everyone, including the police, questioning them, Buffy and Faith soon find themselves arguing over whether to tell the truth about their involvement. When Faith refuses to face up to the consequences of her actions, Buffy tries to get help from Giles and Angel. When Xander goes to confront Faith alone, however, he may be biting off more than he can chew.

Angel: You and me, Faith, we're a lot alike. Time was, I thought humans existed just to hurt each other. But then I came here. And I found out that there are other types of people. People who genuinely wanted to do right. And they make mistakes. And they fall down. You know, but they keep caring. Keep trying. If you can trust us, Faith, this can all change. You don't have to disappear into the darkness.

Be default, Faith seems a bit emo. But Faith seems a bit more emo in this episode. It's time for her to suffer the consequences (ha! title of episode) for the human she killed. I can't tell if Faith is more emo about the fact that she killed a non-beastie, or that everyone is all up in her bidness about it. I have grown to like Eliza Dushku (Faith) more over the years with her shows Tru Calling and now Dollhouse, but I really didn't like her back in Buffy-verse. Maybe it was the character really. We know she's had a rough life, but we don't know much more than that. But maybe that was done purposefully so we don't like her. If that's the case... totally working.

3x09 The Wish

Wanting to be rid of Xander for good, Cordelia comes to the conclusion that Buffy is the cause of all her problems and makes a wish that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale.  But, shouldn't she know such simple words are not so simple in Sunnydale. Her new friend, Anya, grants the wish and Cordelia's world gets turned upside down and inside out.

The Master: Hungry? I've lost my appetite for this one. She keeps looking at me, I'm trying to eat and she looks at me!

Apparently, if Buffy were to have never come to Sunnydale, the Master actually succeeded in escaping his prison. In the course of that going down, Xander and Willow must have died. As in, the undead. Cuz now they are vampires that are really creepy and bloodthirsty. Willow makes for an interesting vamp, but I don't like her clothes so much. Actually, come to think about it, the vamp couple that was Xander and Willow came across as a weak version of Spike and Dru.

In this alternate non-Buffy-verse, Buffy is a bit more like Faith -- a loner with a bad attitude with a questionable fashion sense. She also sports a scar across her lips. Good episode simply because it shows things so different from the norm, much like that Halloween episode in the 2nd season. I like seeing the actors getting a chance to stretch their acting muscles like this.

3x10 Amends

While the gang prepares for their Christmas vacation, Angel is haunted by visions of his violent past. The ghost of Jenny Calendar appears to him and reminds him in great detail of the evil deeds he has performed. At first she almost seems to be taking pity on him, but gradually her counsel grows more sinister. Buffy and the Gang's research into why Angel has been sent back to Earth leads them to "The First Evil". Meanwhile, Willow and Oz decide to give their relationship another shot.  Sunnydale also sees it's first snow following a heat wave.

Buffy: Angel, you have the power to do real good, to make amends. But if you die now, then all that you ever were was a monster.

This episode was really good. It made me get weepy even. Angel has an internal battle with his personal demons, even if they are being stirred up by some wiggy spirit. In the end, he decides he should sacrifice himself than risk hurting Buffy and those she loves.  The whole episode for me is simply the build-up to the great scene at the end between Buffy and Angel. In Buffy's attempt to save Angel from the sunrise, she breaks down and tells him all the things she's been hiding, even from herself. She loves him, more than should be possible, but it tears her apart. She says she wishes she could wish him dead, but she can't. Oddly romantic. The snow then mysteriously starts to fall and our Romeo & Juliet walk the snow covered streets of Sunnydale hand-in-hand.

3x11 Gingerbread

Picking the wrong night for mother-daughter bonding, Joyce discovers the bodies of two children in the park, apparently sacrificed in an occult ritual. Deeply disturbed by what she has seen, Joyce rallies the adults of Sunnydale, convincing them to rid the town of all magical and occult influences. When witch paraphernalia is found in Willow's locker, no one believes it was for a special birthday present she was preparing for Buffy. So, Buffy, Willow, and Amy are considered a part of the occult threat to Sunnydale.

Buffy: (to Joyce) Maybe next time that the world is getting sucked into hell, I won't be able to stop it because the anti-hell-sucking book isn't on the approved reading list.

I always love when people become really passionate about something, but I guess this shows you can go overboard. It probably doesn't help if some weird evil Hansel & Gretel spirits are whispering in your ear making you all kinds of paranoid. So paranoid in fact, you'd be willing to burn your daughter at the Stake.  Joyce just seems like a mush-brain at this point to me. Surely your will has to be pretty weak if you keep getting possessed or otherwise manipulated.

In the end, Hansel & Gretel turn into this one big weird troll looking thing, and Buffy and Gang destroy it. Amy turns herself into a mouse to get away and Willow can't quite get her back to form. Didn't love, didn't hate.

3x05 Homecoming

School's ending and everyone's under pressure. Buffy misses getting her yearbook picture taken because Cordelia forgets to remind her about them. Just when Buffy decides that she needs to go on living life, Scott breaks up with her cuz she's seems too distracted. So, when Cordelia flaunts her sure-win for Homecoming Queen it awakens the prom queen within Buffy, and the two duke it out for the title. Mr. Trick, the new vampire baddy in town rallies a group of the meanest vamps, demons, and mercenaries together to play a game with the two Slayers -- "Slayerfest '98." But instead of the two slayers he ends up with Buffy and Cordelia in very bad moods.

Faith: Scott? There you are, honey! Hey, good news. The doctor says that the itching and the swelling and the burning should clear up, but we gotta keep using the ointment.

Ok, I couldn't stop laughing at the map software they kept showing on screen. Wow, it just looked ANCIENT. All ascii looking and whatnot. Oh, our GPS has come a long way. I'm sure we'll constantly have this sort of feeling when looking back on anything showing computers and software. But dang, this just felt prehistoric.

In the end, neither or our girls wins Homecoming Queen and Mr. Trick still doesn't get his prize.

3x06 Band Candy

As Buffy strugglers over her SATS, Principal Snyder enlists the students to sell candy to raise money for the Band's new uniforms. Everyone knows kids love candy, but what these chocolate bars do to the adults of Sunnydale is anything but sweet. Mr. Trick enlists Giles's old buddy Ethan Rayne to manufacture and distribute boxes of candy which turn the adult population into uninhibited, irresponsible teenagers. While the adults are indisposed, the mysterious Mayor Wilkins pays a tribute to a demon.

Giles: (to Buffy) Listen you're my Slayer, that means you do what I tell you, now sod off!

Seeing Giles as a teenager was hilarious. Seeing Buffy's mom Joyce as a teenager was pretty funny too. I think I liked her better this way actually. Now, seeing Giles & Joyce going at it like teenagers was priceless. Giles needs some action, and well, Joyce is as good as any. I'd like to see more of Giles like this... carefree and reckless. But he is the person that is meant to keep our Buffy at bay. So I guess that wouldn't really work. Even seeing asswipe Principal Snyder as a teenager was entertaining. I guess he was as big a dork when he was young, so that explains why he's such a douche to cool kids as a Principal.

3x07 Revelations

Gwendolyn Post, an uptight, prim and proper English Watcher, arrives in Sunnydale to take over the duties as Faith's Watcher. She also says she is on hand to assess the entire situation in Sunnydale. She is quite quick to judge Giles on his methods and his meager library. Miss Post informs them of their next mission and takes the reigns: slay the demon Lagos and destroy his weapon, the glove of Myhnegon. The glove is in the tomb of the von Hauptman family in Restfield cemetery.

Angel, still getting back on his feet, finds the glove and retrieves it for Buffy. At this oh-so-appropriate moment, they're seen kissing by Xander, who then goes back to the gang to tell them. Giles is deeply hurt, and Miss Post breathing down his neck doesn't help matters. The gang, angry and feeling betrayed, confront Buffy about her keeping this mega-secret. Xander continues to worry about the issue, and goes behind everyone's back to tell Faith about Angel's return. Faith, being the kill now and ask questions later sort, freaks out and goes to hunt Angel after finding Giles knocked out on the library floor.

Buffy: I just wanted to wait...
Xander: For what? For Angel to go psycho again the next time you give him a happy?

I really dig the intervention that the Gang does with Buffy. Their reactions are hilarious, and Xander just assumes the worst with the whole situation. Giles' anger is dead-on. Buffy thinks she can do as she pleases when it comes to the subject of Angel. And while I'm all for the selfish when it comes to the hunky mens, she does need to be shown she doesn't always know what's right. Willow plays the middle ground well by trying to get everyone to use "I" statements. However, the whole Watcher-chick ending up evil seemed to come out of the blue and really had no backstory as to why she was after the powerful glove that eats your hand and doesn't come off til you die or your hand is chopped off.

3x08 Lover's Walk

YAY! Woo! Spike is back. He's brokenhearted and drunk, but he's back! I loves me some Spike. Drusilla has left dear Spike, and he will do anything to win her back, which includes kidnapping Willow and Xander to force Willow to cast him a love spell. Spike also blames Angel and Buffy for the Drusilla heartache. Not sure how that really goes, but when you're brokenhearted, logic does truly fly out the window.

Spike: You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love 'til it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other 'til it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains, children, it's blood. Blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.

The baddy here is Spike, and I'm ok with that. We see him drunk out of his mind, and he really wants his Dru back. After he kidnaps Willow and Xander, he uses them as a way to get Angel and Buffy to help get his ingredients for his love potion. They end up fighting a ton of other vampires while in the witchcraft shop, and during the fight Spike comes to the conclusion that he needs to stop being a whiny bitch and get back to being the Spike that Dru fell in love with. So, he leaves Sunnydale to find Dru, kidnap her, and torture her until she likes him again. Awwww... sweet love.

Oz and Cordelia finally find Willow and Xander where Spike left them, and they happen to walk in on them locking lips. It truly was a "look we're dying, so let's have a final hoorah" sort of thing, but kind of hard to explain that to those that love you and would prefer that you not share your lips. After Cordy wiggs, and starts running away, she falls through the stairs and gets impaled in the stomach. First, Xander drives a stake through her heart (metaphorically, of course), and then she actually gets a stake in the stomach. Talk about a double whammy. Again with the sweet love.

3x01 Anne

Welcome back emo-Buffy, aka Anne. She's different, our new Anne. She lets nasty trucker-type dudes smack her on the ass without even the slightest quip. Quelle horreur! The girl that recognizes her is from a previous episode that wasn't very good. I guess she's trying to have a role in a better episode. This one is slightly better, so good call on that one. She asks Buffy to help her find her missing street urchin boyfriend. Buffy, being the dutiful helper of all things meek, gets into investigative mode. She finds out healthy street folk are getting sent into some weird alter dimension where 100 years equals 1 day in the normal world. The people taking them are using them as work force and then their bodies reappear the next day in normal world looking all 90-something.

Willow the Vampire Slayer: That's right Big Boy. Come and get it.

Meanwhile, the Gang is trying to make sure the vampire population in Sunnydale doesn't get out of control. But they aren't doing so well. When school starts and Buffy is a no-show, the pals have to just continue on. They try to really get a rhythm with the Slayage, but without a really strong superhuman type gal, it's a bit difficult.

One thing I realized when Buffy gets all emotional, she wears ugly baggy clothing.

3x02 Dead Man's Party

Buffy returns home, but finds that picking up the pieces of the life she left behind may not be as easy as she had hoped. Her mother is trying to accept her back with open arms, but she doesn't seem to trust that Buffy won't just run away again. Creepy Principal Snyder won't let her back in school, so Joyce starts to consider sending her to a private girl's school. Willow seems to be ignoring any personal interaction with Buffy, and she feels like her friends were doing fine without her. However, when Buffy saves them all from an invasion of zombies, things start to get back to "normal."

Giles: 'Oh, look at my mask, isn't it pretty? It raises the dead!' Americans.

Buffy's mom, the art gallery maven, brings home a creepy mask and dead things start to come alive. That art gallery job is a very handy plot device for the show. Handy, in that kind of lame way.

Xander: This sucker wobbles, but he won't fall down.

There are episodes where the normal story stuff is really good, but the background monster stuff is annoying. This is one of those.

3x03 Faith, Hope, and Trick

A new Slayer arrives in town. Faith, who was called after Kendra died, seems like a fun-loving, wacky teenager who fits right in with the gang. Buffy worries that Faith may be taking her place in her friends hearts, and then begins to suspect that the new Slayer may be hiding something. Faith and Buffy soon join forces when they are threatened by Kakistos, Mr. Trick and a bunch of Vampires.

Faith: Isn't it crazy how slayin' just always makes you hungry and horny?
Buffy: Well... sometimes I crave a nonfat yogurt afterwards.

Whoa. This episode can be summed up with simply... Angel's nekkid behind. That's right. We get a nice shot of booty at the end of the episode when Angel is mysteriously dumped from out of nowhere, onto the spot where he died. Not only nekkid, but moist. A nice sheen of mystical something or maybe sweat, combined with the nekkid. A+ for me. I don't even care what the rest of the episode was about.

3x04 Beauty and the Beasts

Buffy seems to be getting closer with Faith and that dude Scott. Don't like dude Scott. That boy just ain't right. For Buffy, anyway. When Willow lets Xander watch Oz, who is in full werewolf form and locked in the library, things get a little hairy. Xander falls asleep on duty and a friend of Oz's is found mauled. The gang worry that Oz may have escaped from his cage. However, Buffy discovers that Angel has somehow escaped Acathla's hell dimension and returned to Earth. Because time moves differently in hell, he has endured centuries of torture and is now little more than a wild animal.  Buffy must find a way to tell the gang that Oz may be innocent and to keep them from killing Angel.

Oz: (to Willow) Okay, you know that thing where you bail in the middle of an upsetting conversation? I have to do that. It's kind of dramatic, I know, but... sometimes it's a necessary guy thing.

Buffy and Faith bond more. Yay, yah, don't care. I remember not liking Faith very much the last go around. At least not at this early stage. She started to grow on me, much like mold, as time went on. The dude that Buffy is quasi-dating is strange. He just doesn't look like a dude Buffy would truly date. But that's ok. Angel's back. That means we don't have to worry about other dudes, right? Well... maybe not, cuz he comes back all animalistic and stuff. He might not be quite ready for the kissy kissy, make up lovin' quite yet. He does do the sweetest thing though. He goes all animal on a dude that is attacking Buffy and kills him. If that doesn't scream love, I just don't know what would.