Mary Beth's Review

We open at the Bronze. The whole gang's here, and Willow, Oz, Xander, and Cordy are talking about and planning for the Homecoming Dance, to limo or not to limo. And Cordy's planning for queendom already. But Buffy's not planning much of anything. She's actually practicing the art moping at the Bronze. Scott shows up just in time for Cordelia, demonstrating much "tactfulness" (and I use sarcastic quote marks), to wonder why Scott hasn't asked Buffy to the dance. He hems and haws and makes a lame "I didn't think you'd be interested" excuse. He and Buffy trip over each other's tongues as they each say "I'll go if you'll go." And they finally agree. Buffy then begs off hanging with Scott because she's "tired", and he cools off. Buffy, however, reaches out for a nice, sickening kiss. I still think she's trying too hard.

****

We're at the mansion. Angel--wearing a shirt now, though unbuttoned--paces. He's nervous and uncomfortable--as if in pain, barely in control. He hears a sound and shoves the blackout curtains open. It's Buffy. Bearing gifts. Well, a pint of blood.

Things are awkward. Angel looks at the blood, but doesn't drink it in front of her. She asks how he feels.

"It hurts...... less," he answers, his back turned.

More awkward tension as Buffy turns and positions herself a little closer to the door. She turns to face Angel, his back still to her, and tells him she hasn't told Giles and the others he's back. Angel repeats Giles' name, his face a mask of confusion, pain.... memories?

Buffy continues, telling him that they wouldn't understand that he's better. She tells him she'll continue to help him get better but that things have changed. She's a senior, she's actually studying and thinking about college, and she's involved with someone. At this, Angel whirls to face her, not menacing just.... surprised. But Buffy actually steps back. Angel reaches out to touch Buffy's jacket--which looks an awful lot like the jacket he gave Buffy back in season one. Maybe it even is; it does look big on her. I noticed here that once again, Buffy's necklace is turned around so the cross she's wearing is in back. Something she always did when she was with Angel. Old habits die hard, but things are obviously still strained and very much broken between them.

She continues to tell Angel about Scott, including his name, that "he's a nice, solid guy. He makes me happy. And that's what I need... someone I can count on."

** **

The next day at school, Buffy's greeted with a bit of a shock of her own. Scott tells her he doesn't think they should see each other anymore. He tells her she's distracted, no longer vibrant and full of life like she used to be. She vows that things will change, that from now on there will be a "drastic distraction reduction," but he's not hearing it. He apologizes and leaves her standing in the hall, dazed and confused.

As she watches him leave, the view shifts to that of a binoculars trained on Buffy. She's being watched by a pair of buff twins in a electronic wonderland of a van. Using more fabulous technology, the twins transmit the image via modem to a older gentleman in a wheelchair in a nicely decorated, spacious HQ somewhere.

"Is that her," he asks as the real source of danger comes into view: Mr. Trick.

"In the nubile flesh, my friend," he smirks. "That's the target."

****

City Hall

A very nervous... oh what the heck, scared shitless aide is waiting.

"The Mayor will see you now," says a secretary. Perhaps unwillingly, the aide enters the Mayor's office.

Our first view is of the Mayor's hands.... as he dries them.

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir," says the aide.

"I'm not bothered, Alan," says the Mayor as he moves to his desk to sit.

Alan places a file on the Mayor's desk as he fills him in on the two twins we just saw watching Buffy. They're German... Hans and Fredrick. Wanted for murder, terrorism, the usual. He trails off as he watches the Mayor--who's face we finally see and doesn't he just look like your average friendly politician (and dancing guy from "Cupid")--pick up the piece of paper and sniff it

"Will you show me your hands please," he asks.

If it's possible, I think Alan just got scared-er. Reluctantly, Alan places his hands on the desk blotter, right next to the lovely letter opener. The Mayor gives them a good once-over.

"I think they could be cleaner," he says as he sits back.

Alan insists that he washed them.

"After every meal and under your fingernails," says the Mayor. "Dirt gets trapped there, and germs, and mayonnaise. My dear mother said 'cleanliness is next to godliness' and I believe her. She never caught a cold." He smiles congenially and then tells Alan to put Hans and Frans, er, Fredrick under surveillance and inform him if there are any other colorful characters in town.

"I'll take care of it," Alan says nervously.

"You have all my faith," smiles the Mayor as Alan begs a hasty retreat.

****

Ah, that time of year when your bad hair days, acne, and taste in wardrobe are documented for all eternity: Yearbook pictures. Cordy looks fabulous, of course; Xander mugs for the camera and actually comes off looking, well it's a cross between geeky and suave; Willow, poor Willow, has a picture mishap and ends up with quite the Willow-like expression on her face; and Oz... looks like Oz. No Buffy in sight.

Afterward, Willow and Xander are talking dance outfits. She's asked him to come by her house to help her pick an outfit. She wants a guy's opinion on how to make Oz go "oh." Xander's gotten himself a tux to try on, too.

They join Cordy, who's checking out her Homecoming Queen "competition": Holly Charleston and Michelle Blake. Cordy's pretty much got overconfident down flat.

Buffy's in absentia because she wasn't around when they announced Picture Day. She's "getting sweaty" with Faith in the library--working out in Xanderspeak. Cordy actually volunteers to let her know about pictures.... it's on her way.

Faith is helping work out her Scott issues. They bond a bit as Faith urges Buffy to let her hair down and go to the dance anyway. They'll go together and have fun. Buffy agrees.

Unfortunately, Cordy never makes it to the library because she gets distracted "spreading the campaign love" along the way.

The next day, Buffy runs into a teacher, Miss Mason, and asks her to write a recommendation for Buffy's file so that Buffy can fulfill her last requirement for Principal Snyder. Sadly, Miss Mason has no recollection of Buffy, even though she was apparently Buffy's favorite class.

Later, in the cafeteria, as Cordy cooes and cajoles her classmates, Buffy sits dejected at a table with Willow, Oz, and Xander. She's feeling like a nonperson, invisible even. She's fallen far from the glory days of Hemery High when she was pretty darn popular for a freshman. "The yearbook was like a story of me," she remembers. And now she worries she'll just be one-eighth of one crappy page. She won't even be that, she finds out as her friends tell her she missed yearbook pictures. "Didn't Cordelia tell you?"

Hell hath no fury like an already dismal and freshly ticked Slayer. When Buffy confronts Cordelia about the yearbook pictures, Queen C is less than apologetic. She doesn't see the big deal, and besides, Cordy's under a lot of pressure with the campaign. Buffy has no sympathy. The confrontation escalates as Cordy tries to tell Buffy she has no idea what it's like. Buffy puts down Cordy's posters , and Cordy attacks--hitting Buffy where it hurts: her lack of involvement with the school. If it were about monsters and blood, Buffy might stand a chance, says Cordy. But it's not. "I'd like to see *you* win the crown," scoffs Cordy.

Buffy takes up the challenge, promising Cordy a fight to the death. Cordelia's awakened the prom queen within.

****

At Mr. Trick's place, he's got quite a party going on. He's planning a competition of his own. He's gathered quite an assortment: humans--the Wheelchair Guy and the Wunder Twins and some bounty hunter; vampires--Lyle Gorch and a blonde female companion; and demons--Kulak of the Meekwak Clan, aka Spiney-Headed Guy. They ante up and they've got a chance to enter this big game: SlayerFest '98 -- targets: Buffy and Faith.

****

Willow and Xander are in Willow's rooming trying on outfits for the dance. Willow's got a screen up for changing behind; Xander's struggling with all his tux pieces. Lisa Loeb is playing softly on the stereo.

As Willow tries on her first outfit -- a rather plain blouse and long skirt -- she talks about the importance of this dance. It's a real dance.... with a boy and a band. She's excited. Xander agrees. He even sunk to borrowing the tuxedo from his only relatives with money.

Willow changes to outfit #2 -- a prettier, floral full length ensemble. Xander gives this one a "nice" as he struggles with his bow tie. Willow moves to help him, and as she ties it, remembers the 8th grade cotillion, when Xander wore a clip on. They've come a long way, but Xander still thinks they'll be helping each other out when they're old and gray.

While Willow tries on outfit #3, Xander changes the subject to Oz, wondering just how far things have gone. "That's none of your business Alexander Harris," Willow teases. Then she asks him about Cordelia. Xander tells her a gentleman never tells.

"Since when did you become a ...." Willow says as she steps from behind the screen ".... gentleman."

He's fully decked out in a handsome tuxedo and Willow's wearing one beautiful floor-length black dress. They're stunned by each other and they fumble awkwardly for compliments. Distracted, Willow worries about being able to dance in the dress, so Xander pulls her close to practice. They're caught up in the moment, the music, their closeness. They kiss, tenderly, deeply. After a moment, they break apart. Shocked. They both try to deny what happened. Xander cites his respect for Willow... and for Oz. Willow says the same for Cordy.

"It must be the clothes," Says Willow. Xander agrees. "It's a clothes fluke. And there'll be no more fluking." They're clearly flustered, but still attracted as they lean toward each other again. But they both pull back and insist on getting out of those clothes.

**** The next day, in the library, Buffy's addressing her troops--Willow, Xander, and Oz, that is--as she preps them for campaign war. She's got a chart and everything. Willow is sitting close to Oz and as far from Xander as possible. She and Xander look miserable. Oz looks oblivious.

Buffy cracks a joke about Cordy, but gets no response, so she starts giving orders. Cordy's arrival interrupts her. While Buffy tries to remain cool and maintain a civilized relationship, Cordy brushes her off and steals the troops. Xander's working for his girlfriend; Willow claims Cordy "needs it more" but she looks really sheepish and guilty. "As Willow goes, so goes my nation," says Oz as they all follow Cordy out and leave Buffy with Giles.

Buffy is not happy.

****

Buffy and Cordelia campaign hard, pulling out all the stops: nice clothes, fancy posters, lots of chocolate, lots of bribery.

Meanwhile, Trick's players prepare for their the SlayerFest.

Buffy runs into Scott and wins his vote and support. Neither one seems very broken up about their break up.

Buffy finds Willow in the lounge. Willow is nervous, awkward. I'd think she'd been sampling the caffeine again if I didn't know it was guilt. She's still so bad at hiding things. Buffy lays and even larger guilt trip on her for helping Cordelia, telling Willow she's not hurt, they're still best friends, she's not made that Willow's helping Cordy even though Buffy's save Willow's life so many times. Buffy's not pulling punches. Willow gives in and lets Buffy get a peak at Cordelia's special database.

Campaigning continues as Buffy tries to win Jonathan's vote while Cordy uses the "Vulcan Death Grip" to make points with the "geeks." Things heat up as Buffy and Cordy face off, exchanging insults, each getting worse as the minutes pass. Cordelia thinks Buffy's trying to be like Cordelia in an pathetic attempt to relive her glory days. Buffy wonders at Cordy's tactless behavior, asking if she even has parents. "Yeah, two of them," says Cordy, hitting below the belt with an attack on Buffy's family situation. Xander tries to break things up before it gets worse. He fails, but manages to drag Cordelia away while Willow looks on with angst.

****

In Willow's room, Willow rants about the strain that the situation is putting on all their friendships. Xander misunderstands and thinks she's talking about "them."

As the conversation continues, Willow blames the problems on the fact that they've overcompensated for the guilt by helping Cordelia. She sees things heading toward a fiery conclusion.

Xander tries to focus on the problem, but he can't. He's finally gotten everything he ever wanted: he's a senior, he has a girlfriend. But he's miserable. He's distracted by the fact that Willow is staring at his face. She's noticing how sweet his mouth looks when he's upset. She touches his face; he takes her hand. Willow asks what they're going to do. "We'll just have to hope they can make it," Xander says about Buffy and Cordy.

"I was talking about us," sighs Willow.

****

It's the night of the dance. Buffy, in a lovely red dress, leaves her house and climbs into the chauffeured limo that awaits.... and finds Cordelia. One unhappy Cordelia (wearing a lovely green dress).

"Where's Faith?"

Cordy silently hands Buffy a note, from the others. They want Buffy and Cordy to ride to the dance alone so they can work things out. They even left them corsages.

But as the limo pulls away we see the chauffeur is none other than Hans..... or is that Franz?

The limo continues on it's journey to nowhere near the school as Buffy and Cordy fight over the corsages. Suddenly the limo stops and the driver runs off, leaving Buffy and Cordy stranded in the woods. They get out and find a TV and a VCR (hooked up to what.....). They play a tape that was left for them. It's Mr. Trick. He welcomes Buffy and "Faith" (he never did get a good look at Faith and, oops, he got the wrong gal) to SlayerFest and informs them they have 30 seconds to run for their lives.

"Hello?!" yells Cordy. "She's a Slayer. I'm a Homecoming Queen!!!"

Gunfire sends them running.

****

The Bronze. The Dingoes are playing; the dolled up crowd is grooving to the beat. Except for two of the prettiest patrons. Willow and Xander are standing forlornly on the dance floor. Even Faith notices how down they are.

"We're not mopey," says Xander. "We're just grooving on Oz's band. he's a great guy, Oz."

"He wrote this song for me," mourns Willow.

Faith turns to see that Scott came to the dance after all, with some nice little blond girl. She's turns away, disgusted. Giles runs up, nattily attired in something Armani, and tells them "Buffy's in danger!!" Willow and Xander barely react as Giles reveals he was joking. Giles barely notices that they barely react because he's spotted the finger sandwiches.

****

Buffy and Cordy run through the woods together. Cordy saves Buffy from a bear trap and Buffy, in turn, saves Cordy from the hunter with a rifle. Buffy traps the guy and gets his gun. She gets him to reveal info on all the players and then leaves him stuck in one of his own traps as they're chased off by the Spiny Headed Guy.

****

Back at the Bronze, Faith finds Scott and exacts some revenge of her own by telling him, in front of his little girlie-date, that she's talked to the doctor and the itching and burning and swelling should go down as long as they keep using the ointment. She leaves him red-faced and confused to try to explain to his date.

Giles makes *another* joke, this time claiming the finger sandwiches contain actual fingers. But Willow and Xander, still moping but now sitting, fail to respond, so Giles decides to head back to the library until the coronation. Before he leaves, he commends Willow and Xander for all they've done for their friends. They look less than thrilled with themselves.

****

Buffy and Cordy have found an old cabin in the woods. As Buffy settles in and takes stock, Cordy, certain she's going to die, decides to freak out. She's actually worried she'll never be able to tell Xander she really loves him.

Buffy takes control and actually tries to rile Cordy up by saying they *will* get out of it and get to the dance.... just in time for Buffy to accept her crown. It works. "Where's a damn weapon," Cordelia spits.

Buffy keeps watch while Cordy searches the place, finding a spatula... and a phone.

****

Wheelchair Guy tracks the ladies in the woods and detects the phone. Buffy is leaving Giles a message when the phone dies. Spiny Guy and Hans and Franz are still on the hunt.

As Giles gets the message, Buffy and Cordy bond in the cabin. Cordelia laments about the messes she always gets into with Buffy. Buffy welcomes Cordy to her life. She tells Cordy that she only wanted to be queen so she'd have a moment to remember, to look back on as "normal." So she could know she was part of the school, chosen for something other than Slaying.

Cordy seems to understand... but they're interrupted by Spiny Guy as he rushes in the cabin. Buffy fights him, Cordy tries to help...and fails miserably. While they fight, Hans and Franz fire a bomb into the cabin. Buffy and Cordy get out just in time. Spiny Guy....not so lucky. The girls head for the library.

****

In the library, we see the weapons spread out on the table. Giles must have been preparing them. But now, he's lying on the floor unconscious. Again. Lyle Gorch and his new bride, Candy, are there. It seems Lyle used his one brain cell to figure that the Slayer would go to Giles for help. Candy plays with the crossbow. They wait.

Wheelchair guy continues to track the "Slayers" somehow. There's a knock on Trick's door. Trick answers.... to find a few of Sunnydale's Finest. They cuff Trick and drag him off.

****

Buffy and Cordy arrive at the school all business, but they're ambushed by the Gorches. Buffy fights Candy and manages to stake her with the spatula just as Candy knocks Buffy out with the coat rack. Buffy falls to the floor unconscious. Candy goes *poof*!

Lyle is none to happy. He starts to threaten Cordelia, but she's had just about enough. She gets in his face and proceeds to dress him down and chase him off. Lesson learned: Don't mess with Cordy on Prom Night.

A bit later, as Buffy and Cordy and Giles clean up, they figure out that they were tracked through the corsages, which no one actually purchased for them. They hear a sound outside the library. It's Hans and Franz, tracking them with the help of wheelchair guy and infrared goggles. And they've got guns.

Buffy grabs the corsages and then lures Hans and Franz away, getting one to follow her into a darkened classroom. She plays them against each other and gets them positioned directly opposite each other, with a wall between them. Buffy then plants the corsages on one. Wheelchair Guy gives the order to fire, and Hans and Franz decimate each other.

****

Meanwhile, back at City Hall, Mr. Trick is led into Mayor Richard Wilkins' office (according to the sign on the door). They Mayor is cleaning his chairs with a lint brush.

Mayor Wilkins reveals that he know what Trick is. He tells Trick he's been Mayor a long time and that he likes for things to run smoothly. He says this is an "important year" for him.

"Election year?" asks Trick.

"Something like that," answers the Mayor.

The Mayor asks Trick if he likes children. "Children are important." They're the future. They Mayor needs them. And the rebellious ones need to be controlled.

Trick assures the Mayor that he's taking care of that problem that very night.

The Mayor knows about SlayerFest. He admires Tricks ingenuity, his initiative. He can use a man like Trick on his team--he has no choice.

Then he offers Trick a moist towelette.

****

Back at the Bronze, it's the moment we've been waiting for: the coronation. Buffy and Cordy arrive just in time--tattered, torn, grimy and grungy. They've bonded some, though, and after all they've been through..... this crown is still damned important.

And the winner is....... a tie!!!! The Homecoming Queens are.......

Chris's Review

At first viewing, this ep is all over the place... but upon a second look, it's a little scary how everything feeds into everything else.

Group Dynamics as Meteors and Nuclear Particles

Once again, Buffy's life is sucking: she's missed Senior pictures, her favorite teacher can't remember her name (and thus give her the written statement of support she needs to stay in school), she's depressed about Angel's current state of mind, and Scott has dumped her. All of which conspires to emphasize how set apart she is from the normal school activities. Par for the course for the Slayer. But when Cordelia proceeds to be her worst, most self-centered self, Buffy decides to fight back. And being the Slayer, she goes in for overkill.

I can't find it in me to sympathize with the whole Homecoming Queen thing; of all the silly contests there are in High School, the courts for dances always struck me as the silliest. But I can understand how Buffy would like to have some proof that she existed as someone other than the Slayer after this is all over. Cordelia's motivation is the same as it's always been, to be the absolute center of attention. It's good to be reminded once in a while that while she's come a long way from the worst bitka in Sunnydale of first season, she hasn't changed *that* much. She may be smarter than we gave her credit for, and more honest, but she's still pretty darn spoiled.

The fun part of this episode comes from how Willow and Xander's long-overdue kiss messes up everything else. I was praying for this to happen last year; but now, Willow has Oz, and Xander has Cordelia. Having them fall for each other now is going to be soooooo ugly! I'd say it was just a plot-driven way of making everyone suffer, except that the scene where they kissed was done really well. It wasn't just the fact that they were seeing in each other in fancy clothes, but the long-standing friendship between them--- Willow fixing his tie, Xander reassuring her about the dancing--- that makes it seem possible.

Is it just hormones? Probably not. Is it a good idea? Oh, definitely not. They immediately feel *awful*, but they can't take it back. So they overcompensate and spin out the "group dynamic", as Willow pointed out. It's only going to get worse. Much worse. I would be laying in the popcorn supplies for the meltdown, except I genuinely don't want to see Oz or Cordelia (no matter how rotten she can still be) get hurt. I can't see Willow and Xander just managing to "get past it" next week. Curse Joss, anyway. He gives us exactly what we want in exactly the way we *don't* want it; I should have remembered this from Innocence!

Fun with Kitchen Implements and Paper Supplies

Willow and Xander's overcompensation leads to an attempt to fix things that goes wrong as soon as Mr. Trick's SlayerFest '98 gets started. Most of this is pretty forgettable, although fun. The best bits come not from Buffy's explanation of why she wants to be Homecoming Queen (except for the tiara remark), but from Cordy's scattered attempts to keep up with her fly-swatting spatula technique, and her overfocusing to the point of completely ignoring the phone. Combat is *not* one of her strengths. Unless, of course, you're talking about pure intimidation tactics, as she demonstrates on Lyle Gorch (who I was hysterically amused to see escape again. The boy *will* be back, count on it!). Plus. Buffy's use of the corsages to take out the Germans was just _wonderful_.

Still, it's again the background stuff --- Giles getting silly with the finger sandwiches at the dance, Faith embarassing the hell out of Scott, and the two other contestants getting the tiara in the *perfect* end to the silly contest--- that makes it most fun to watch. I'm glad Scott's not involved with Buffy any more, I've decided. He was nice, but there was no way he was going to evolve into another Xander or Angel. And I am getting _really_ fond of Faith, despite her total lack of background or major storyline. I hope they do something cool with her. Giles, unfortunately, racks up another one of his headaches from getting jumped by the Gorches. Which is almost balanced out by how fine he looks in that suit... yum!

Except, that is, for Trick and the Mayor. They're fun all on their own.

Bad Guys 'R' Us

Really nice bit of directing, and a terrific bit of acting from Harry Groener as the Mayor. We've been hearing about him for over a year. Everyone, including Snyder and the Police Chief, is terrified of him, and when we finally get to meet him, and he's just this smiling, slightly wonky guy --- until you realize that everyone around him is _still _ terrified, and he's not making as much sense as he should. And what does he want with Trick? What does he want with the next generation? And what's with the hand-washing, for Pete's sake? More unanswered questions! Argh!

Trick's still kind of a cipher, fun to watch, but not totally fleshed out as a villain. Granted, this is only the second time he's surfaced, and his agenda looks to be hugely influenced by the Mayor's. I love his attitude and approach, but he'll have to start being more menacing to remain a believable bad guy.

Overall, a pretty good ep. More interesting for all the messes it sets up for coming weeks than for anything else, but with some classic lines, great dresses, and Willow and Xander kissing! (eep!)

Three and a half stars.

SunSpeak

"My summary of the first half of the episode was, "Okay, so he only got seven lines...but he looked damned good in that suit."" -- Betsy on Giles

"OK, I for one am thoroughly afraid of and creeped out by the mayor. "
"Yeah. And imagine having seen him just a few weeks ago on Cupid. I kept expecting him to break out into song and start dancing around the office. Which would have fit with the character actually.... and creeped me out more." -- Deb and Mary Beth

"And this was only Homecoming, god save us from The Prom!" -- Sasha

" Am I shallow because I appreciate good tailoring? Nah!" -- Sasha

"As Willow goes so goes my nation :( Oh... This is killing me. I love Oz damn it! He is my third favorite character of the show She better not hurt him and he better NOT end up with Cordy in some kind of bizarre trade off. As interesting as Cordy was this ep she is just to vapid for him. " -- Sasha on Oz

"The cordster can be fun when they use her right. She has been pretty much Xander's parrot this season but this time we got some of the old Cordy back and it was nice to see. Charisma is a good actress and kudos on the "I'm The Queen" speech. Can anyone else see major not slayer related bloodshed ahead when she tells Xander she loves him and he waffles? He can't lie, he's almost as bad at it as Willow. He'll waffle... She'll figure it out... bad. " -- Sasha

"Oh my. You know you just can't trust that Whedon guy? Just when everything seems to have settled down BLAM! Mess them all back up. Just like life"
"Absolutely! I didn't know about the kissage ahead of time, and I'm so glad. I just got swept along with Willow on that one. WOW! This was a beautiful, tender moment that hurt like hell! " -- Sasha and Leslie

"And okay, this "It's a long story... I guess not that long." thing, that Buffy's done at least twice now. D'ya think this is maybe Joss's way of pointing out to Buffy that she's a little short in the sharing department? She tries to rebuff questions with the "it's a long story" or "you wouldn't understand" only to have someone else explain it, simply and to the point. You *can* give your friends the short version, Buff, and they'll understand! Let's hope she gets the hint." -- Maureen

"He not only dumped her, he dumped her *after* asking her to the dance (thus negating the asking), and _then_ he shows up at the dance with someone else, who he's dancing with real close? I tell you, he had this other babe waiting in the wings - heck, for all I know, the reason he didn't ask Buffy to the dance was because he'd already asked this other girl. I agree with Faith (not that I woulda had the nerve to do what she did, but I gotta admire it) - he's slime." -- Maureen on Scott

"Except, I really don't want Oz to be hurt, and I don't like the idea of Cordy being hurt when she's still working on her humanity."
"Yeah, this is the thing that's bothering me. For Willow and Xander to be happy together, Oz and Cordy have to be hurt. And while it won't devastate me to have Cordy get dumped (something that I'm sure hasn't happened an awful lot in her life!), if Oz gets hurt, Joss is gonna get stinky dead animals in the mail from me! :-[ He just doesn't deserve that, and yeah, I know that's the way life works sometimes, people get hurt who don't deserve it, but... but...! It's *Oz*!" -- ??? and Maureen

"It wasn't that the Mayor was actually so frightening, or doing anything overt in *any* way, it was simply the fact that his aide was so obviously terrified that made him frightening. Very cool writing/acting! You just don't know *what* to expect from him, so you expect _any_thing. Nice set-up! (And I'm *not* speculating what's going to happen with him, I'm not, I'm _not_, I can't hear you, la la la la la!)" -- Maureen

"I think the storyline with Buffy/Cordy totally fell flat for me, and I coulda cared less about the hunters. I agree that Mr. Trick lacks Spike's flair. I *am* entertained that Cordy got to scare off Mr. Yellow, thoroughly enjoyed the creepy Mayor, and enjoyed angsting along with Willow and Angel." --- Jennie

"Actually, I think that's Angel. < g > Didn't you just love (in an owie, hurting kind of way) watching him twitch and cringe? I think David is really getting into this "torture victim" acting - he's going to have to stop or it's going to get too painful to watch him!" -- Maureen

"And let us not forget, brothers and sisters, that next week's ep will feature the Tweeded One in tight jeans and t-shirt, thereby blowing the minds of many a teenager. " -- Elaine