the greatest nightmare. Xander learns that hard way that actions have consequences and that revenge never works out the way you hope. It was written by the incredible Marti Noxon and directed by James A. Contner. 

The episode starts off with Xander showing Buffy a neckless he bought Cordelia for Valentines day. Buffy in turn makes it clear that she thinks he could do better. She's not a fan of Cordy. Xander points out that this is his first real valentines date and he just wants it to go well. 

Their heartfelt moment is ruined when Buffy is forced to go to work and take out a newly awaken vampire. The next day at school, Cordy learns that her standing has dropped thanks to her relationship with Xander. Harmony, her number one lackey, now talks down on her. Something that crushes her. 

Meanwhile in class, while Willow is bragging about Oz being her boyfriend and being in the band to a heartbroken Buffy, who is still dealing with losing Angel, Xander catches Amy using witchcraft on the teacher to get out of turning in homework. He tries to tell the girls, but they are interrupted by Giles who wishes to speak to Buffy alone. Blowing off Jenny in the process. It's clear that neither he, nor Buffy, have forgiven her. 

On the other side of town, Angelus shows off by getting Dru a gift and making Spike feel like a loser. Being in a wheelchair isn't helping him much. He tries to get under Angelus skin, but that's not an easy thing to manage. 

Buffy is at home with her mom when a gift is left for her. Her mom is the one who finds the roses with a card. Back at the bronze Xander makes his move to give Cordy her gift, not long after Harmony and the other girls once again hurt her feelings. He gives her the gift, she loves it, even loves how he is dressed up. Alas, that's not even for a girl who is just starting to come out from her shallow world. She breaks up with him. Crushing his heart. You can tell that she doesn't want to do it, but she feels trapped. Like she has no other choice. Xander is pissed, but it comes more from hurt than real anger. He really cared about Cordy and she just tossed him aside. He tried to talk to Buffy but she blew him off and Harmony made him feel even worse about himself.

So Xander does the only thing he can do. He hunts down Amy, confronts her and blackmails her into helping him. He wants a love spell, Amy tells him that it's the hardest spell. He tells her that he doesn't want Cordy forever. He just wants her under a love spell so that he can break up with her and hurt her. Amy agrees, but she needs a personal object. 

Buffy gives the message to Giles. All it says is soon. She demands Giles tells her everything he knows. Elsewhere in school, Xander confronts Cordelia and demands the locket back. She lies and says it is in her locker, but it's not. She is wearing it. He clearly meant a lot to her as well. This part is so heartbreaking. I really like them together!

That night Amy does the spell, using the locket. No part of this is moral or even acceptable, but heartbreak and fear of being exposed makes you do crazy things. The next morning Xander walks up to Cordelia, who is back with her group of friends. She wastes no time in insulting Xander. She clearly is not over the moon in love with him. She cuts him down and he leaves heartbroken. 

In the library Giles is reading Buffy all of Angelus greatest hits on valentines day. He nailed a puppy to a wall. Great great. Giles leaves to get more books while Buffy asks Xander out on a date, even offering to give him a lap dance if he plays his cards right. She's really happy that he broke up with Cordy. After all, she is really seeing him for the first time right now. Just as they are about to kiss, Amy comes in and interrupts them. She tells Xander the spell doesn't work and that they could try it again.  He says no, so she asks him out. He starts to notice that something is wrong. Made all the more clear by more women coming and asking him out. He takes off, leaving them alone and heads home. Where he hopes to be safe. 

Doesn't really work out. Seeing as Willow is in his bed, wearing nothing but his shirt. He tries to tell her what is happening, but she isn't listening to him. She is throwing herself at him. She even starts to kiss on him, he rejects her and flees from the room in fear for his life. 

Harmony and the other girls are once again pissed at Cordelia, this time for breaking up with Xander. It seems that every girl in school is in love with him. Every girl that is, but for Cordelia. The one girl he intended to make fall in love with him. 

He makes it to the library and tells Giles everything. As he tries to explain it, Jenny shows up to make amends with Giles. The whole time she starts to hit on Xander. Giles pulls her away and tells him off. Giles orders him to stay in the library and he pulls Jenny out of the room. Leaving Xander alone. He attempts to block the door, only he doesn't do it right and in enters. . .

Buffy in a rain coat. Looking all kinds of sexy. She says all the right things. She is all but impossible to resist. But Xander does. Which only leads to her getting pissed off. A pissed off slayer is not a good thing. It never ends well. 

Before she can hurt him, Amy shows up and turns her into a rat. Giles and Jenny show up seconds later, only to find that Buffy is now a rat. Xander demands that she turns her back while Giles looks for Buffy and Jenny and Amy fight over him. 

Harmony and the other girls show up to beat the shit out of Cordy. They have to defend Xander's honor after all. In the library, Giles takes charge. Putting the girls in their place. Just as Xander is about to catch Buffy, Oz shows up and hits him. Knocking him down hard. Buffy escapes. It seems Willow was upset all night. Oz helps Xander up, who explains that Buffy is now a rat. He sends Xander away, while he tries to undo the spell with the girls and has Oz try to find Buffy. Giles is not at all happy with Xander. Can't help but feel bad for him. Or at least I do. 

As Xander leaves school he find Cordy being attacked. He jumps in and saves her. Or at least tries to. 

No sooner is Cordy out of the room than Joyce starts rubbing on him and kissing on him. She is stopped by Cordy who forces her out of the house. Cordy demands to know what is going on when Joyce breaks into the window. The two of them run up to Buffy's room when Angelus shows up out of nowhere and throws him outside. Things don't look good for the Zman, when Dru shows up and fights Angelus off. She's in love with him as well. She's going to turn him, but Willow and the other crazy women show up. Attacking him and almost killing him. Cordy saves him.

They lock themselves in the basement. Dru tries to go too, but she can't go in the house. Oz tracks Buffy into the basement of the school, while Giles and Amy start to undo the spell. Cordy is pissed at Xander for putting a love spell on everyone else. When she finds out that the spell was for her she finds it sweet. A moment that is ruined by the crazy women breaking into the room. 

Amy undoes the spell on Buffy, turning her human and naked in the basement. Oz goes to find her clothes. Giles undoes the love spell just as all the women try to tear Xander apart. They undid it just in the nick of time. They all seem kind of confused. 

The next day Buffy and Xander talk everything over. Willow is still pissed at him. Buffy tries to cheer him and thanks him for not taking advantage of her. 

Harmony insults Xander, only to be told off by Cordelia who says she'll date Xander if she wants to. They are so cute together! 

What's up ladies and Gentlemen, todays episode is a game changer, not in the heart wrenching way that the last two were, after all, we need a bit of a breather after that gut punch, but in a more fun way that alters the dynamics of the Scoobies moving forward. 

This episode was written by Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali 

and directed by Bruce Seth Green. Ironically enough, it's a very Seth Green heavy episode. 

The episode starts off with Oz (Seth Green) weirding out looking at a cheerleading trophy, he believes that it's eyes are watching him. That's a callback to the season one episode the witch. He tells Willow about it and she thinks nothing of it. Which is fair because no one knows what happened to Amy's mother after her spell backfired. 

Willow and Oz have their awkward flirting which is fun to watch. They are so cute together, what it is less cute is brutish Larry and his over sexualization of women. Oz blows him off while Willow complains to Buffy that Oz isn't making any moves. We also learn that Willow is still bitter about Xander dating Cordelia. 

Instead of making out with Cordelia, he is complaining about Willow dating Oz. Cordy is not happy about it, she just wants to make out, in her father's car under the full moon. Which is perfect for when we get our first view of a werewolf in the Buffyverse. Xander and Cody don't notice it. They are too busy doing what teenagers do when they are along in the middle of nowhere. Xander stops kissing to ask Cordy if she heard anything, she gets annoyed telling him that his mind just isn't into it, that is until the wolf breaks through the roof.  

Giles tells the gang that there has been reports of a number of animals have been attacked all over town. We also learn that the Buffyverse mythos for Werewolves is that they turn on the night before the full moon, the night of and the night after. 

Xander has this whole weird jealousy thing going on, it's a bit weird. He has no interest in Willow and has his own girlfriend, but teenagers are weird. We learn that Larry, the womanizer had been bit by a dog last month. We also learn that Oz was bit by his little cousin. The class is having a self defense class and Larry is paired up with Buffy, she is pretending to be weak, so as to not give away her secret, but when he grabs her ass, she lets loose and flips him over. 

Buffy's bitterness towards men starts to come out. It doesn't last long, but can you blame her? The whole ordeal with Angel must have been so painful for her. Xander asks how they kill it, but Giles orders that they don't kill it, they capture it. Most of the month they are a human just like everyone else. 

That night Buffy and Giles go out looking for the werewolf when Buffy gets caught in a net by a werewolf hunter. He doesn't care that they are human most of the month. He makes money off of their deaths and that is what is important to him. 

Elsewhere in town, one of Buffy's classmates is walking alone when we she her being stalked, we think it's the werewolf, but instead it's Angelus. At the same time, Cordelia and Willow are bonding over being annoyed at Xander and Oz. Boys, just can't do anything with them. Seems to be the main point of this episode. Their conversation at the Bronze is interrupted by the attack of the werewolf, luckily Buffy shows up in time to stop it. It manages to escape. 

The hunter talks shit to Buffy, telling her that since she is a woman, she can't do this. He tells her that if it hurts anyone it's her fault. The wolf stumbles across Angelus, who had just murdered the classmate. Buffy and Giles hear on the radio that the girl is dead and Buffy blames herself. She let the werewolf get away, she could have saved this poor girl. If only she knew the truth. 

This is about the time we learn the truth as the sun comes up and we see the werewolf turn back into . . . Oz. Turns out his cousin is a werewolf. He just calls up his aunt and asks her, she tells him. It's all played as if it's no big deal. He goes to the library to tell the gang what he found out, only to hear that Buffy says she should have killed it. He also learns that he might have killed someone the night before. Oz is scared. 

Xander wants to hunt down the werewolf, he points out he has experience in what it's like. Until Buffy points out he said that he told her he couldn't remember. He then changes his tactics and says he knows who it is. Oz gets worried, until Xander says it's Larry. Willow invites Oz to help her, stay up all night researching stuff, but he blows her off and runs off. Hurting poor Willow. Little does she know his real reasons. 

Xander confronts Larry, who gets pissed. He offers to pay Xander off. Xander tells him that he has been through what he is going through. Larry doesn't want to own up to, but Xander keeps pushing, only to learn that Larry isn't the werewolf, he's gay. Xander starts backtracking, pointing out he isn't gay, but Larry tells Xander he just brings it out in him. Larry promises not to tell anyone Xander's secret. While this is happening, Willow looks up who else could be the werewolf, the only other one who fits the profile is Buffy. 

Buffy talks Willow into going to speak to Oz. Xander reports back that Larry is not their guy and also worries a bit about how close Cordelia and Willow are getting. While Xander and Buffy are talking, she starts thinking about the girl who was killed. They go and check out her body, learning she wasn't killed by a werewolf, but instead killed by Angelus. The girl comes back as a vampire and attacks them. She tells Buffy that Angelus gives her love and it distracts Buffy, giving the vampire the advantage. Xander saves the day and points out that Angelus is not Angel. That's not her fault. They almost kiss, but Buffy pulls away. 

Oz is getting ready chains, which he plans to tie himself up. Makes me wonder where his parents are at that they wouldn't notice all night. Willow bangs on his door, he tries to get her to leave, but she doesn't want to listen. Just as she starts to notice something is wrong he starts to go through the change. He chases Willow though the house and out the back door. 

The hunter spots Oz. Giles and Buffy get the dart gun ready. They still want to take the werewolf alive. The werewolf who corners Willow. Just as it's about to go in for the kill it smells something and turns and leaves. Willow makes it to the library and tells Giles and Buffy. 

It's now a race against time. They have to get to Oz before the hunter, who has already tracked him down. Buffy stops the hunter just in time, fighting him off. Oz joins into the fight and Buffy has to battle him as well. Giles knocks the werewolf out and Buffy sends the hunter on his way. 

The next day as Buffy and Xander talk about Oz, we see that Larry is acting like a human being for once. He thanks Xander for everything, but Xander won't tell Buffy. Xander worries about Willow being safe with Oz, but Buffy puts him in his place. Willow and Oz have a heart to heart. He offers to leave her alone, but Willow tells him that she doesn't want him too. This is the start of a beautiful relationship that involves no biting, as per the rules they set out. 

I love this episode, Willow and Oz are one of my favorite couples on this show. They are just so cute together. I hope you guys enjoyed it as well!

Welcome to part two of one of the best two-parters ever made. The aftermath of Buffy and Angel finally making love. This episode written and directed by Joss Whedon himself, starts off with Dru and a still injured Spike telling off the Judge for not doing more. It's a bit disarming, which sets up the gut punch that comes next. The ending of the teaser is Buffy waking up, alone, while Angel is outside in pain. We don't know it yet, but we are witnessing him losing his soul. A fact made clear when he feeds on some poor woman walking through the alley. Angel is gone, long live Angelus. 

Buffy gets home and tries to take a shower before being stopped by her mother who hints that she looks different. From Buffy's POV it seems like her mother knows that she had sex. It hits her hard. 

Back at the library the Scooby Gang is trying to figure out what to do. Xander and Willow want to go and save Buffy, but Giles, Cordy and Jenny want to wait it out. After all if the slayer and a vampire couldn't stop them what chance did the rest of them have? They are saved from having to deal with this conflict when Buffy walks in. She lies about what happened, pretending that she was separated from Angel in the sewers. She is very concerned that no-one had heard from Angel. She is starting to freak out.

So where is Captain Forehead? He is confronting Spike and Dru, or at least pretending too. When the Judge attacks him and he isn't hurt they learn the truth. He has no soul. 

If that isn't enough of a gut punch, Willow catches Xander and Cordy making out. She does not take it well. The heartbreak in her eyes is visible. It kills me every time I watch it. And yes, she had just started dating Oz, but still. Xander is the one she had loved all her life. Of course it would hurt her. 

Buffy goes to Angel's home to try and find him and he taunts her. He pretends to be Angel and just makes her feel so small and unimportant. This episode is one hit to the heart after another. It never lets up, for even a second. Such as the very next scene when Jenny learns that his soul is gone because Angel had a moment of happiness. The curse is finally told to us in full. Poor Angel. 

Xander and Willow have a heart to heart when Xander comes up with a plan. Before he can tell us what it is, Angelus shows up. He sends Xander away and calls Willow over. If it wasn't for Jenny showing up and telling Willow to stop who knows what would happen. Buffy shows up and fights him off, but it kills her inside. How could it not? The man she loved had turned against it. Add to that the fact that he did it the da after they had sex the first time just makes it so much worse. 

Willow points out that Jenny knew before the rest of them, but Jenny sidesteps the issue. Giles starts pressuring Buffy for information on what happened, but Buffy can't handle it and runs out of the room. Everyone is in full on panic when Xander announces he has  a plan. He needs Cordy to make it work, but also makes sure to include Oz to make Willow feel better about it. I know the internet loves to hate on Xander, they find any and every reason to tear him down, while giving everyone else a pass, but this is just one example of what a great friend he is. 

Angelus tells Spike and Dru all about his run in with Buffy and we start to get a sense of who he really is. Why go for the kill when you can go for the hurt. He loves the idea of torture. It gets him off. 

Buffy has a dream that Jenny was involved with what happened to Angel. Buffy confronts her in the middle of class and Giles tries to stop her. Defending Jenny, but Jenny just comes out and admits to everything. She tells them the curse, pointing out that Buffy is responsible. This is when Giles finds out that Buffy had sex. Buffy's only care is that Angel gets cursed again. She wants to meet Jenny's uncle, which is what we believe the next scene is, only it's Angelus who shows up instead. 

Oz's van pulls up outside a military base, while Xander and Cordy break in. They get stopped while breaking into the armory, luckily Xander still remembers everything from when he turned into his Halloween costume. He manages to convince the guard that he is a soldier who just wants to show his girlfriend a good time. 

Back in the van Willow asks Oz to make out with her. Oz, being the best guy to ever live, in a fictional world or even real life, tells her how much he wants to. How he dreams of it, but he tells her that he won't kiss her. Because she just wants to make Xander jealous. When he kisses her, he wants it to be real. Because she wants to be with him. He tells her he can wait until she is ready. I really think this is the start of her falling for him. 

Jenny shows up with Buffy and Giles to find her uncle dead. Buffy decides that the only thing left to do is kill Angelus. 

Angelus, Dru and the Judge head out so that they can feed the Judge and get him to full power. Leaving Spike behind. Xander lets Buffy in on the plan. Everything is a go, except for one thing, Jenny wants to help. Buffy and Giles are in agreement, they want nothing to do with her. 

All parties involved end up at the Sunnydale Mall. Right away the Judge takes his first victims as the vampires block the exits. The Judge is about to feed on everyone else when Buffy and co show up. It's a race against the clock. The Judge is hit with an arrow. He reminds her that no weapon forged can stop him, to which Buffy replies, "That was then, this is now" and shoots him with a rocket launcher. Destroying him. Xander's plan worked.

Buffy goes after Angelus. They fight under the sprinkler system. He goes for the hurt but she pretends like none of it gets to her. Buffy wins the fight but she can't kill him. At least not yet. She leaves him there, defeated and Giles takes her home. The conversation in the car is just one example of how great a person Giles is. Buffy is sure that Giles is disappointed in her. He tells her that he isn't. He knows she loved him, and that Angel loved her. Giles that he has no guilt to give her. All he has for her is support and respect. It's a beautiful conversation. He's a great man, an inspiration to us all. 

The episode ends with Buffy and her mom talking about her birthday. Buffy tells her that she just got older, her mother tells her that she looks the same to her. It is one of the few times that I think Joyce did the right thing as a mom. 

This is such a heart wrenching episode of television. Joss Whedon really knows how to bring the pain. You gotta love him for it!

I can't believe it has been over a year since I've written one of these, almost two since I did the last episode. Boy do I suck. And to stop at such an important episode. Forgive me, those two people who still read these. 

The episode starts off with Buffy waking up in her bed, a normal enough start, until she walks into the hallway and Drusilla is standing behind her. She makes her way down the hall and opens a door, leading to the Bronze of all places. It quickly becomes clear that this is in fact a dream. Her mom asks her if she is sure she is ready before dropping a cup. Remember that!

Our beloved Buffy just makes her way through the Bronze until she Angel, but before she can get to him he is staked through the heart. Dru wishes her a happy birthday, that's right ladies and gentlemen, we are in for a Buffy birthday! And those never go well! This one happens to be her 17th.

After the amazing intro music, which I have missed oh so much, she goes and visits Angel and tells him about the dream. He tries to cheer her up and remind her that not every dream is a slayer dream. You can hear in her voice how stressed out she is, how worried she is, but Angel stops her with a kiss. The passion between the two of them builds, only stopping when she tells him the most corny of lines. "I like seeing you at bedtime." It's adorable. 

Buffy confides in Willow about her concerns and what she should do with her relationship. She wants to seize the day, and maybe help Willow talk to the Ozman. I have to be honest, I know Willow and Tara is everyone's favorite, but I love her and Oz. They were so perfect together. This scene here, where Oz asks her out, in the most Oz like way, shows just how perfect they are for each other. How can you not love them?

We jump from the perfect couple to the most tragic of relationships. Xander and Cordy. I personally love them together. At this stage in their lives, they fit so well. He humbles her and she fills him with confidence. They each give each other that one trait that they are missing. That they need to be more well rounded. They make each other better in a way that the other relationships don't.

Back in the world of Spike and Dru, we see that they are planning a party of their own. Complete with gifts. Gifts that smell of death. You know, the kind you really want. 

Back at Summer's residents, we find Buffy asking her mom if she can take her driving test, to which she asks if she is really sure she is ready and wait for it. . .she drops shit! The dream has started to come true! If that is not bad enough, we learn the true about Jenny Calendar. That she is a member of the Gypsies tribe that cursed Angelus all those years ago. That she is here to make sure he still suffers and the curse stays in place. Oh, and her real name, yeah its Janna of the Kalderash. Her uncle shows up in her classroom to yell at her for not making sure Angel is in pain. It doesn't matter that he saved her life. He must suffer for all time. She is tasked with breaking the two of them up.

Giles and the others try to get Buffy to relax, but she is too freaked out. Can you blame her? I mean Giles big example of her dreams not always coming true was the Master rising. You'll remember that he did rise. Yes she stopped him, but only after he rose. Long live the Master! After Buffy leaves Xander and Willow get ready to cancel the party but Giles won't them. Buffy needs this party. She needs some fun and normal in her life. This is very true. 

On the way to the library Buffy is stopped by Jenny, who tells her she has to take her to Giles. Is a trap? What could it mean? Oh no! The suspense! Before we can find out where they are going they spot some weirdness happening and they stop so Buffy can check it out. She is a hero after all, and this is what heroes do. It turns out that it is Spike's annoying lackey with the glasses, stealing yet another box like the one that was given to Dru at the beginning of the episode. 

The fight ends up in the Bronze, where they rented the place out for Buffy! What great friends! The best part of all, Oz doesn't seem at all shocked about vampires being real. Jenny brings in the box, inside is a arm and Angel feels them in on the Judge. Giles tells the story of no weapon foraged by man can stop him. Jenny volunteers Angel to take it out of town. Buffy is not happy with this idea, but it is their only option. What a horrible birthday present, the love of your life leaving town.

Meanwhile Dru is pissed at Vamp with Glasses, stepping on his glasses with the intent to poke out his eyes but Spike saves him. Got to love Spike. She puts his broken glasses back on his face. Can you stop for a moment and think about how much it must suck to be a vampire and still need glasses? Talk about unfair.

At the dock Buffy and Angel are attacked while they are saying their goodbyes. She is worried about him, but he keeps telling her not to worry, this is when he gives her the Claddagh ring. It's an Irish wedding band, it's very sweet. During the fight the box is stolen by the vampires and Angel has to let it go in order to save Buffy, who was tossed into the ocean. 

Xander is far to excited by Angel leaving town. His jealous is showing, but I still love Xander. Crazy fantasies about how you turn your life around and show everyone how amazing you truly are is something I do all the time. Plus, you can tell that he is feeling bad about things, since Cordy still wants to keep them a secret. The two of them really are great together, if they would just get out of their own ways.

Dru puts the Judge back together and right off the bat he criticizes them for their humanity. He doesn't feed on them however, no that he saves for the vamp with glasses. Just in time for Buffy to figure out that they are at the factory. Her plan is for her and Angel to go and scout out how close they are to finishing the Judge, never for a second thinking that the job of putting him together was already done. That is until they see him walking around with Dru and a wheelchair bound Spike. The Judge senses them and the vampire quickly capture them. 

We also learn that Dru had the same dreams as Buffy. Got to love the psychicness of it all. Buffy and Angel manage to escape into the sewers, much to the disappointment of Spike and co. They exit the sewer into the pouring rain and head for Angel's apartment. Soaking wet and cold. Angel gives her dry clothes and tells her to get under the covers for warmth. He turns around to give her privacy and she winces in pain. He goes to check it out, she is fine. She starts crying, telling him that she feels like she lost him. He confesses his love for her. One thing leads to another and they end up having sex. Buffy's first time. Thunder wakes him up and he runs outside, screaming in pain. As he calls out for Buffy we get a to be continued. You'll never guess what happens next!

sewers, it was fun. Buffy makes a fool out of herself while talking about Angel giving her his jacket, something that makes them both blush. Although, as Irishman, it's not hard to make Angel blush, I should know. 

Buffy goes to leave, heading back to school, making her way into the sun. Something that Angel can't do, but he plays it off by going back into the sewer to look for more vampires. Unknown to her, the school called her mother Joyce, who is not happy to hear her daughter skipped class, yet again. 

In the middle of yelling at Buffy, Joyce decides to step up and be a better mom. Something that I've been asking of her since episode one. I mean there is no worse parent in the world than Joyce Summers. Well, maybe Hank Summers. Or Scott Summers, okay, maybe Summers just make bad parents, who knows. Not the point. The point is, Joyce wants to be more involved in her daughters life, this would be a good thing if it wasn't for the fact that Buffy is the slayer.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Sunnydale a cute little girl is walking with what appears to be her mother, dragging her to the candy shop when they are attacked by a vampire. Business as usual in this small town. Until the little girl asked the vampire to take care of and the vampire agrees. 

Joyce follows through on her word and shows up at the library to see Buffy. They make a plans for a movie night, something she is unable to escape. Later that night Buffy and Angel find the little girl and almost kill the vampire before Angel stops her. He figures out that the little girl is really a Cuclidus Demon. 

Giles informs us that this demon forces people to protect itself no matter what. Even if it hurts them, even if it kills them. Buffy blows off her spa day with her mom to hunt for the demon, she has no luck. But as is the case in the world of fiction, the world is a small place. The little girl wants to go to the movie, during the day and her trusted vampire burst into flames. She did this feet away from Joyce who becomes her new protector.

When Buffy gets home that night she sees her mother serving this little girl and ignoring Buffy. It is hard to watch. Makes me feel so bad for Buffy and hate Joyce even more, even if it isn't her fault this time. This time. Once more the little girl wants to go for candy, almost causing them to get hit by a car, only to be saved by Buffy, who takes the demon and runs inside, locking Joyce out. 

Joyce bangs on the door, hurting herself trying to get in, at least till Giles and the others show up. Xander and Willow hold Joyce back as Giles does the spell to reveal the real form of the demon and Buffy slays it. 

As luck would have it, Joyce remembers nothing and Buffy manages to get herself out of trouble. This is a great book, lots of fun and really fits in well with the feel of season one. I really hope they keep making these High School Years books. 

​Welcome back to the Buffy reviews! On our brand new Channel! We left our nice safe home over at Blueroof Productions, to try and make it on our own over here at the new company The Uncanny Fans, own 100% by . . .Drum rolls please. . .Blueroof Productions. Basically we are just on a new website but nothing else has changed. We love you all.

​Let's get right into the thick of it. We are going back in time a bit for yet another issue of Buffy the High School Years. This time, it's the free comic book day outing entitled "No Need to Fear, The Slayer's Here" written by Kel McDonald and Paul Tobin with art by Rachel Downing and Yishan Li. It's a nice little throw away story about Buffy slipping in the mud and feeling a little down about herself.
​
The next day she goes to the comic book store with Xander who tries to cheer her up. Once inside the comic book we see a lot of little easter eggs. There is an issue of Buffy season 8 in one of the bins, Xander tells her to check out the X-Men because he thinks she will like Shadowcat. Those of us who have listened to Joss Whedon talk over the years, know that Buffy was based in part on Shadowcat. That made me smile. We also see a little girl talking to Buffy about Sailor moon, not something I really watched a whole lot, but something that seems to get compared to Buffy a great deal so that was cool. Inside the next room, Xander finds the vampire that escaped her the night before and Buffy tosses him out into the sun.

​The little girl asks her mom why she never told her that there were superheroes in real life and Buffy leaves the store with a smile on her face. It was a nice little victory for our beloved Slayer!

The episode starts out with Buffy at the mall with her mom as the argue over Buffy buying an outfit that her mother thinks makes her look too trashy. The day is getting late and Joyce still has too much to do so she tells Buffy to pick up her outfit. As Buffy makes her way to the store she spots a vampire about to attack a woman and steps in to do her slayer duty. She meets up with Joyce who is not too happy that her dress wasn't picked up. She gets on her daughter about being responsibly, which is funny because that is what she was doing. Buffy than makes a joke about being a slayer but once again her mother doesn't really listen.
​
​Cordy worries about missing class as she and Xander make out and this leads to a fight about how they don't like each other and yet they keep making out. What a great couple. I really do love them together. In class the teacher talks about the human sex drive and Xander makes a fool of himself when agreeing that wanting sex makes us crazy. Cordy then gives us way too much info about her extra curricular activities. This turns into Xander and Cordy fighting through asking questions. Everyone is very confused until Willow starts talking about pregnancy which leads us to the plot of the episode. 

The student body has to raise an egg and make sure that nothing happens to them. For the point of class they are their babies. Buffy never went to class and so she has to raise her egg alone. Giles finds out that the vampire that fought her and got away is from a set of brothers who burned a village to the ground before they were vampires. They could be trouble!

They also happen to be creeps. They watch on as Buffy and Angel make out. They don't attack her or anything, just sit and watch them make out while they decide to attack her later.

​As Buffy sleeps we see that the egg is more than just an egg. It starts to move all on its own. The brother vamps get into a fight arguing over when they should attack Buffy. They break down into a fist fight. Buffy wakes up feeling weak  and more tired than when she went to sleep. The egg seems fine. Joyce keeps making stupid parent jokes, very punny.

​At school Xander is the only one who seems to be his normal self. Buffy and Willow both seem to be very out of it. So why is Xander feeling normal? Well the answer is given to us when Xander drops his egg and it doesn't break. He hardboiled his egg.

​Cordy also seems to be her normal self. She tells everyone that the health teacher might be dead and they should check all the closets. Xander agrees and they run off. I'm almost certain that they aren't looking for the teacher. Which brings us to night two of Angel and Buffy just making out instead of working. Angel tells Buffy to get some sleep while he continues to hunt for the brothers. Buffy starts talking about kids in the future and Angel tells her that he can't ever have kids. Damn liar! I'm telling Conner. But Buffy tells him that all she wants in life is him. That's sweet.

​Back at school the night guard goes down to the basement because why not? While there he hears someone moving about. It turns out to be the teacher who knocks him out. Buffy makes it home just as her egg hatches and a weird creature tries to attack her. She moves out of the way and it slides under her bed. She picks up her iron and goes looking for it. After it attacks her she trades the iron for scissors and kills the bug like creature. She quickly calls Willow and tells her to break her egg. She tells her what happened but Willow keeps telling her that everything is okay. Even tells Buffy that her egg is in the fridge. She is lying! Lying I tell you. Her egg is next to her hatched!

​All the noise got Buffy's attention and caused Joyce to enter her room. Since Buffy was on the phone and dressed to go out, well Joyce thought Buffy was about to sneak out. This caused Buffy to be grounded. Poor Buff.

​Xander gets hungry and starts to crack his egg, this is when we learn that it wasn't just Buffy's egg that is weird. Well it's when Buffy figures it out. Giles for some reason isn't in the room as they start to cut open the creature. Cordy and Willow make quick work of Buffy and Xander, knocking them out cold. It would seem that the whole school is on board for the egg train.

​Down in the basement they are all digging for something, what, we don't know yet. As night comes to Sunnydale Joyce walks into the library looking for Buffy. Giles tells her that he has been looking for her as well. Joyce is not happy. Joyce then refers to Buffy as a burden. Not an example of a great mother. Although I've never though Joyce was a great mom anyways. And now, thanks to Giles, she is an egg slave just like the rest.

​Buffy wakes Xander up, they are still locked in the closet. There are two eggs next to them. It seems they wanted to implant them with egg creatures as well. Buffy smashes them before breaking them out of the closet. The two Scoobies who are the worst at research now have to figure out what is going on. Thankfully Giles left the book open to the page. It seems he figured it all out before the egg creature got to him. A fact that Buffy and Xander now know thanks to finding an egg shell next to the book.

​Outside the library Jonathan is fighting one of the egg creatures but by time Buffy and Xander get there he is already under the control. They follow him to find out where everyone else is. It seems the egg slaves are digging up the mama egg creature and harvesting more eggs to spread around. Xander goes in and pretends to be an egg slave while Buffy goes for a weapon.

​This is when the vamp brothers step in to try and kill her. Worst timing possible. Egg slave Willow orders the other egg slaves to kill Buffy and the brother vampires, the Gorch brothers. This leads to them teaming up to try and stay alive. The younger brother is killed by the mama creature, this causes the older brother to throw Buffy to the mama creature, with a little help from Joyce. Mother of the year. Buffy kills the creature and frees all the egg slaves. The remaining Gorch brother takes off running.

​No one remembers what happened. Giles tells them it was a gas leak. Buffy tells Joyce that she was in the gym working out. Joyce is pissed that her daughter wasn't caught in a gas leak. Great mother. Buffy promises not to leave her room. So Angel being the gentleman that he is. sits outside her bedroom window and makes out with Buffy through the window. Great guy. And that my friends is where I leave you today. See you soon.

Okay, now let us get to why you are all here, to talk about John Rit. . . I mean Buffy the vampire slayer. The episode starts off with Willow and Xander having a friendly argument while Buffy ignores them completely. She is lost in her own head, not really listening. They make it to Buffy's house where they find the door slightly open. She tells the others to wait outside while she goes in for a look. Seconds later she hears glass break and her mom squeak. She rushes to the kitchen to find her mother, the annoying Joyce, kissing John Ritter, or well his name on this show is Ted.

​Ted cooks for the gang and impresses Willow with free demos, which causes her to freak out in a good way. Everyone seems to love Ted, but for Buffy who pretends to be okay before taking all of her anger out on some poor vampire. He never asked for any of this but does the slayer care? Oh no, she just wants to cause him pain. Even Giles is trying to calm down. Buffy complains to Giles about vampires but it is clear that she is talking about Ted.

​The next day at school Xander is raving on and on about Ted and even Buffy can't find anything bad to say about him. She just doesn't like the guy and doesn't know why. It doesn't help when he shows up at Sunnydale High and invites them to play minigolf and Xander signs them up.

​Now let's move away from Ted for a bit and go and check in on Giles. He makes his way to Jenny's classroom to tell her that he has some of her text books. It is clear he wants to talk to her but doesn't know how, not since she was possessed by the demon that was after him in Dark Ages. She tells him that she needs space, he can't keep coming around and trying to fix things. It makes her feel bad that she doesn't feel better. Giles leaves heartbroken. God can we just sit here for a moment and cry for our beloved Giles?

​Buffy is alone with Angel and all she wants to do is bitch and complain about Ted. She seems a bit obsessed with him and Angel tries to get her mind off of it. The next day everyone is playing minigolf and Ted lectures Buffy on her grades before trying to act like her father. This is where we finally start to see that Buffy is right, there is something really off with Ted. He even threatens to slap her across her face. He makes a smart remark about not being wired a certain way which is telling. It is also important to note that everyone loves his cookies. Cookies are evil.

​As Buffy tries to tell Joyce about Ted, Joyce lets it slip that she might be in love with him. The look on Buffy's face is heartbreaking. Her mother just confessed love for a man who was not only rude to Buffy but scared her, not much can scare the slayer but Buffy is also a teenage girl. A teenage girl whose parents just got divorced and this new man in her life is trying to change everything for her. That would be scary for any child. It all gets worse when Joyce doesn't believe Buffy when she says that Ted threatened her.

​Xander complements Cordy and she snaps at him. She gets pissed off at him for saying it in front of his friends because she doesn't want anyone to know. He promises her that no one will ever know and then asks if she wants to make out. She is disgusted that that is all he thinks about and then agrees to it. I love them together.

​Being the tech wizard that she is, Willow finds out where Ted works and Buffy goes to his job to spy on him. This is where things go sideways. Ted is a workaholic who never misses a day but is taking off for his wedding. His wedding to one Joyce Summers. Buffy is going to have a new step dad and she is not happy.

​At dinner it's important to note that Buffy has yet to eat anything that Ted cooked. This is important to keep in mind. Buffy asks Ted and her mother if they are engaged and they tell her not yet, but Ted asks how that would make her feel. Buffy tells him that it makes her feel like killing herself. Joyce sends her away and apologizes to Ted for her daughter. It makes me sick how bad a mother she is. To be fair she is under a spell, wait what? We will get to that.

​It's a slow night in the vampire world so Buffy heads home. Sitting in her room is none other than Ted. He threatens her once again, telling her she is to do whatever he says from now on or he will show her journal to Joyce and have Buffy locked up for believing in vampires. Buffy tries to stop him from taking the journal and he hits her. The two of them fight as Joyce watches on in horror. Ted falls down the stairs and lands at the bottom, dead.

​Buffy confesses to the police that she pushed him and they question her. She tells them that he threatened her and hit her. The cop comments that he must not have hit her hard because she doesn't have bruises. Buffy almost breaks down, it just makes you feel for her so much.

​But not nearly as much as the silent car ride home. Joyce doesn't say a word to her. The next day at school everyone just watches her, judging her. Xander and Willow start asking her all these questions, such as what kind of demon he was. When Buffy admits that he was human you can see the judgement in her friends eyes. This episode really pulls on the heart strings a lot.

​The police are at school questioning teachers about Buffy trying to figure out what kind of person she is. Willow tries to find anything she can about him online as Xander rants about how everything is bad and he hates Ted. He takes one bite of a cookie left over from Ted and everything changes. He is no longer worried about anything. He is just in a great mood. The key is in the cookies, in the food. Never trust great tasting food made by people you don't know. It could be drugged.

​Giles decides to take over for Buffy on patrol since Buffy is riddled with guilt. Buffy tries to talk to her mom about everything but Joyce won't hear it. She wants nothing to do with Buffy right now. Willow finds out that the cookies have something similar to ecstasy. Cordy finds an address and old marriage licenses, something isn't right and the gang heads out to his house.

​Jenny tracks down Giles and tells him that she forgives him for putting her in danger, seconds later she is once more put in danger as a vampire attacks. Speaking of attacks, Buffy is alone in her room when Ted attacks her. He man handles her in a way that no human should be able to. We intercut between this and Jenny shooting Giles with an arrow. It's a funny moment, lucky he isn't hurt too bad and uses the arrow to dust the vampire. Buffy hits Ted and we see that he is a robot, say what!!!
​
​Ted knocks her out and heads downstairs to find Joyce as the Scoobies break into his house. Turns out he has been married four times and is a lot older than he looks. They find nothing in his house until they find a rug out of place. It leads to another house below that one. Joyce is in shock at seeing Ted standing before her. He makes up a story about only being dead for a few moments before waking up.

​His house is right out of the 50's. He clearly has been around for a long time and he as for his old wives. Yeah he keeps them in the closet, well their dead bodies anyways. Ted tries to talk Joyce into coming away with her but she is more worried about Buffy, for once. Ted's programing starts to act up and Joyce thinks that something is wrong with him, still not thinking that he is a robot because, well, who would?

​On a happy note, Giles and Jenny patch things up. It's good to see them happy together. They were really cute together. Buffy wakes up just as Ted is trying to get Joyce out of the house. She is stalling for time but he won't allow it. She now sees that the man is insane. He throws her into a wall and is about to carry her out when he hears Buffy and goes in search of her. She hits him with a pan of all things and we see his robot face. It is right out of terminator, very cool. Another hit and he is down for the count. No more Ted, poor John Ritter.

​Joyce and Buffy are back on good terms, I'm glad for Buffy even if I'm not a fan of Joyce. The police also know he is a robot so Buffy is not in any legal trouble. This is truly a great episode, and even hints at the fact that Willow never grows. She kept part of Ted because he is a robot and she finds that cool. She will go on to keep the Buffybot because it's a robot and that is cool. Damn Willow, try to learn.

​Okay before we go, this is the 20th anniversary of Buffy and Entertainment Weekly did a great reunion video for the show so I thought I'd put a link to it down below if you guys want to check it out. It's about 40 minutes and worth the watch! I love this show!!!

Buffy and Willow have a nice classic sitcom montage where they keep cooking cookies until they get it right. No sooner do they finish when Giles comes with information. It would seem that the real teacher has gone missing. Something we already know. So what does Buffy do? She hits the streets for information. Slayer style.


​She all but gives up as the morning sun starts to come up. That is when she hears a scream from inside a local bakery. She rushes inside to come face to face with the giant tiger and gets her ass handed to her. The baker runs off and the tiger grows bored, leaving Buffy alone.

​Now here is how you know that McDonald is a skilled writer. There are a lot of hints at things to come later in the story. All sprinkled in, to the point that you wouldn't even notice it if you weren't paying attention. Buffy almost blowing up her house, the Fry the Tiger Café. All important hints to the ending of the story. That's a master right there.

​The next day in class the teacher shits on Buffy's cookies but loves Xander's dessert. As luck would have it, Xander bought them from the same bakery that the tiger attacked that morning. The teacher asks Xander to stay after class while Buffy heads off to meet up with Willow and Giles. Giles figured out that the giant tiger likes to collect humans to cook for them, this tips Buffy off to who the tiger is, the new teacher!! She makes it back to class just in time to witness the tiger attacking Xander. She tries to stop him but the tiger is just too strong. He takes Xander and flees, leaving a defeated Buffy behind in his wake.

​Buffy, Giles and Willow find the tigers hideout in the Fry the Tiger Café. Willow made two fake desserts full of the same ingredients that Buffy almost burnt her house down with. Buffy distracts the tiger while Xander mixes them in with the rest of the food. The tiger takes a bite and it's night night tiger. The day is saved once again thanks to the Scooby gang! Well that and a sword to the eye delivered by Buffy.

​After everything is said and done Buffy finally turns in good well cooked cookies! To the real teacher this time and Willow even gets a good grade on her art. To be fair it's because the teacher thought it was abstract, it wasn't. But it is a fun end to a fun story and a nice addition to the slayers journey!

Which brings us to the story of the day. A group of nerdy vampires lead by a girl named Hester. Even as an undead girl she still doesn't fit in with everyone else. They try and fail to get into a club made for vampires but can't get past the door man. He tells them that the only way in would be to kill the slayer. And we have a story!

​Willow tries to help Buffy study and we start to see just how different the two of them are. A very important theme for this issue. Buffy doesn't like her new life and Willow can sense it. Meanwhile Hester hates her friends and the fact that they aren't cool. She talks them into trying to team up against the slayer. They find her at a graveyard, where else would she be? Buffy makes quick work of some vamps while Xander and Willow talk about if they are cool enough for Buffy. If she would even like them if she wasn't the slayer, if she was still "cool". She tells them she will meet up with them later when she is attacked by Hester and the other nerdy vamps. Before she can get a chance to slay them Hester points out that Buffy is a "cool kid", that she thinks she is better than everyone else. It gets into Buffy's head and gives the vampires a chance to escape. Buffy never shows up at the Bronze, instead going home and going to sleep. She has horrible dreams about being mean to her friends.

​This is the type of story that I wish I was better at writing. It fits in with the show so well. The underlining theme fitting perfectly with the monster of the week. Faith Hicks knows how to write!

​ Buffy goes to school the next day and over does with the trying to show her friends how much she cares about them but it blows up in her face. Willow knows something is wrong and is hurt when Buffy won't tell her what. It also gives us the most amazingly Giles moment when he tries to cheer her up but is horrible at it. Giles is just the best!

​While Hester and Buffy seem to have a lot in common we quickly see just how different they are. Buffy may not always be the best at showing her friends how much she cares but she does care. Hester on the other hand doesn't. Maybe it's the vampire in her but more than likely it is the fact that she wants so badly to be liked that she will do whatever it takes, even turning on her friends. She sacrifices them to summon the demon she needs to kill Buffy but missed the part where she needed a fourth vampire to make the demon obey her. It turned on her and killed her without even giving it a second thought. Whereas Buffy's friend's showed up in the nick of time and saved her life. Showing that the Scoobies are true friends who always come through for each other when needed.

​This is a great addition to the slayer lore and if you want more Buffy you should really pick it up! It fits so perfectly with the show!