Tina's Synopsis

Leslie went thud, Perri whimpered muttered profanities at the screen, Tina watched very interestedly, Sheryl went, "Ooh," Valerie went, "EEEEEGH," and much drooling was done, except for by Amy, who was very busy being highly interested in the interplay between Kendra and Dru and watching the Amazing Wandering Accent. She was just being Amy.

What, you mean you want to know what happened on the *episode*? Gee, and here I thought we were so much more entertaining.

Ok, let's see...

Dru and Spike get loving and cute at the prospect of mass murder.

Xander and Cordy bond over being trapped by Bug Boy the Demon Murderer and kiss in a big and hormonal way.

Dru tortures Angel with holy water (ok, anyone still standing please remember to go and help Leslie and Perri so they're able to stand).

Buffy and Kendra bond over a "men are dumb" moment involving a request for them to model for nude "art" pictures (*too* damn perfect of a moment, mind you, and I was loving it).

Buffy and Kendra fight over whether Angel's a good guy (happens many times), Xander defends Angel.

Kendra causes the lamp to go spuh in a mildly big way, luckily, as we all know that otherwise it would have attempted to kill someone, this being Sunnydale and all.

Spike begins the ritual to heal Dru and shoves a knife through Angel and Dru's hands (which are bound together).

Buffy shows up to fight Spike & Co.

Kendra and the Slayerettes (minus Jenny) show up.

Giles manages to get a really nice move in and slam a vampire. Hard. It was cool, in a violent sort of way.

Willow stakes a vampire. It was cute, in a homicidal sort of way.

Kendra pulls a Buffy when the demon-chick ruins her shirt (goes ballistic over fashion slight by creature of evil, that is).

Willow dusts Giles off after staking the vampire he'd been holding.

Spike has an organ collapse on him. Oh, and on Dru as well.

Angel is gotten out of there.

Buffy sees Kendra off. They bond on a Slayer level.

Willow and Oz chat on a geek/crush level involving French monkeys and animal crackers. It was adorable, no special sort of way, just adorable.

Xander and Cordelia fight and then kiss in a hormonal way (there's no other way for the two of them).

Dru goes even more wiggy than before and floats out of the church carrying Spike.

Those would be the essentials. I'd fill in some extra stuff, but I'm kinda sorta in a hurry.

Perri's Review

Wow. Major plot torture (literally and figuratively) and tons of relationship stuff. Worth the wait!

Plot:
Hey, I like Tina's version! *g* Oh, all right....

Buffy and Kendra face off in Angel's apartment until Buffy convinces Kendra to call a truce until they can talk to Giles -- who is amazed, to say the least, at Kendra's appearance. Giles quickly concludes that Kendra was called when Buffy was technically dead at the Master's hands. Kendra tells them her Watcher sent her to Sunnydale in search of an evil rising, and that she attacked Buffy because she thought she was a vampire after seeing her kiss a vampire -- Angel. The Slayerettes explain that Angel is a good guy, and Buffy loses it after Kendra lets slip that she fought him.

Meanwhile, a hurt and weak Angel is pulled from the sunlit cage where Kendra left him in the nick of time by Willie -- who promptly turns him over to Spike and his thugs. Spike takes the bound and gagged Angel (the man is having a bad day) to Drusilla and lets her have him until it's time for the ritual, which will apparently restore Drusilla to health.

Cordelia and Xander are attacked by the Bug Demon, who traps them in Buffy's basement. Kendra takes Buffy to where she left Angel, and Willie lies through his teeth, claiming that Angel left on his own. The girls return to the school, and Giles tells them that the two Watchers have decided the girls should work together to stop Spike's ritual. He and Kendra bond when he finds she has studied all of the books and volumes he so adores, and Buffy finds herself getting jealous. But she also sees the possibilities in handing the job of Slayer over to Kendra.

Cordy and Xander manage to coexist for a while until they start fighting, which leads to a clinch which scares both of them worse than the Bug Demon. They run for it, but Cordelia gets wormed by the demon on the way out. Back at the school, it's Career Fair time again. Willow meets up with Oz again and they actually carry on a conversation, while Buffy heads for her law enforcement seminar -- where she is promptly attacked by the third demon, in the form of an extremely well-armed policewoman. Oz saves Willow's life, getting shot in the arm in the process.

The Slayerettes all convene in the library, and Giles tells them what he's learned about the ritual -- that is requires the presence of Drusilla's sire, who Buffy reluctantly admits is Angel. When Giles tells her that the ritual will kill Angel, Buffy goes ballistic and everyone -- including Kendra -- settles in to stop the ritual and save Angel -- who is badly in need of saving, since Drusilla's idea of playtime involves holy water and serious bondage.

Kendra and Buffy have a heart-to-heart talk, in which Kendra reveals that she was sent to her Watcher by her parents as a child, and doesn't remember them; her entire life has been training and only training with no friends, family or dating. Buffy realizes that Willie must have lied to them and the pair heads out to beat the truth out of him, as Spike returns to Angel and Dru. Angel does his damndest to goad a jealous Spike into killing him to prevent the ritual, but Spike catches on.

After a qucik game of 'bad Slayer, worse Slayer', Willie agrees to take bufyf to the church where the ritual will occur. Buffy goes with him after fighting with Kendra,w ho goes to get Giles. Naturally, it's a trap; she arrives to find the bounty hunters waiting and that the ritual has already begun -- Angel is bound to Drusilla, and the life being drained out of him. Spike gets ready to kill Buffy -- and Kendra arrives with the cavalry. The mother of all fights breaks out, with Willow and Giles taking on the vampire thugs, Cordelia and Xander taking out Bug Demon with strategically placed glue, and Spike finding himself faced with two Slayers. Buffy manages to free Angel before the ritual is complete, and Spike tried to escape with Drusilla, setting the church on fire in the process. Buffy takes him down with a thrown censor and an organ collapses on him and Drusilla. Buffy and Kendra together get Angel to safety.

The next day, Oz and Willow have another quite sweet conversation, Xander and Cordelia have another fight which leads to another kiss, and Buffy sees Kendra off for home with the knowledge that she's not alone anymore. And Drusilla emerges from the ashes of the churh strong and healthy, carrying Spike.

Continuity:

I think it's safe to say Dru is cured of whatever was wrong with her. And it looks like she's going to be hell on wheels from here on out. And 'sire' does have the classic meaning -- the vampire who created the second one. Xander's right; Angel was busy.

So, Slayers can be located much younger than Buffy was, tend to have more warning and training when they are called, and have handbooks. *g* Which amuses me. And there is more than one Watcher active at a time; quite a few, apparently.

Hey, they remembered Angel's tattoo! You can see it when Kendra and Buffy are hauling him out of the church.

Relationships:

Okay, everyone out there who wan't predicting that Xander/Cordelia clinch, raise your hands to be thwapped soundly about the head. These two have been USTing all over the place all season, it's about time they did something about it. Not that this is going to last -- they'll kill each other once the hormones wear off. Possibly before. Yep, Xander and Cordelia are in sooo much trouble. They could have gotten past the first kiss, but the second one is entirely toomuch to deal with. Can Cordy stand up to the Cordettes enough to have a relationship with the guy she proclaimed a loser before seeing him in heroic action? Can Xander have a relationship with someone who relys so heavily on a public image that he is never going to live up to -- or particularly want to live up to?

Wow. Knew Buffy was going to go ballistic when she found out Angel was in danger, but didn't expect quite this much intensity. So she thinks of Angel as her boyfriend officially now, huh? *g* And Angel tried to talk Spike into killing him on the off-chance it might save Buffy from having to fight a powered-up Dru. Self-sacrifice is a wonderful thing... Not!

Willow and Oz are so cute! *bouncebouncebounce* He handles her just perfectly; complements her with total sincerity, then shifts back into silly mode without giving her time to flip-out or go non-verbal. Wonder if he does it on purpose, or just because that's how he's most comfortable? And he knows lots about something she doesn't, namely, music, which is unusual for Willow. Definitely the start of a wonderful relationship.

Characters:

Buffy really needs to learn to be careful what she wishes for. She spends the first half of the ep fighting between jealousy that she has to share the title of Slayer that she's rebelled so hard against, jealousy that 'her' Watcher is getting distracted by someone else, and relief that there's someone else to distract him, not to mention the rest of the universe. But however badly their relationship started, Kendra just might be the best thing that has happened to Buffy since she was Called. Knowing she's not the only 'freak' in the world, that there is someone out there who actually does understand, and might even have it worse, is going to make coping with the Slayer thing a lot easier for her. But Spike had better watch out -- she's out for blood now in a way she hasn't been since she thought Angel had attacked her mother. I don't think hatred is quite going to cover this one.

Gods, gods, gods..... At least I know I wasn't the only one whimpering during the Angel torture; heard Tina and Lizbet, and Leslie has admitted to it publically. Hell for him, not only physically, but mentally, with Dru pointing out all the reasons he deserves what's happening to him., even though he doesn't. And the further hell of being scared to death of what will happen to Buffy if Drusilla is cured. A really nice attempt at making Spike homicidal with jealousy (damn his noble little self-sacrificing hide; I'm gonna keep saying that until I feel better. Watching Angel try to commit suicide for whatever reasons is not my idea of a swell time). Don't know where this ritual is going to leave him; will he just recover and go on, or has it changed him?

Kendra has potential as a character, although I was really objecting to her until she shot the lamp, and, instead of trying to cover, admitted she wasn't an expert in everything after all. She became human. And what a pathetic life -- trapped with nothing except Slaying for her entire life, finally getting Called, only to find out that someone else already has the job. At least she's adaptable -- she overcame years of indoctrination to help a vampire at the end, and she showed signs of developing a sense of humor. Which will come in handy, since her Watcher has apparently put a lot of effort into keeping her from thinking for herself. I'd look forward to seeing her again, except that I'm still cringing at the dreadful accent.

Willow so knows what is going on between Xander and Cordy, or at least suspects, from the looks she was giving them. Looks like she'll be able to deal, though, thanks to Oz. She's also getting into this fighting thing -- showed no hesitation in fighting the vamps in the church, or staking the one fighting Giles. As usual, she'll fight to defend someone else (Angel and Giles in this case) when she won't stand up for herself.

I think I've gushed over Oz enough for one review. Love him. Want to see what Joss is going to do with him.

I also love that Xander is instantly attracted to beautiful Slayer Kendra -- then loses 90 percent of his interest when she goes non-verbal. Between Buffy and Cordelia, the boy is conditioned to be attracted to women who give him hell, or at least meet him at his own level. Which will work in Willow's favor as her spine continues to grow, if she still wants him. And love that he reflexively sprung to Angel's defense, before he realized what he was saying. But he's not getting away with as much as he used to -- this makes the second time he's been verbally or physically smacked for running his mouth.

Cordelia is getting in a bit deeper than I think she wanted, both with the monsters and with Xander. But she's thinking on her feet -- the duct tape was an excellent idea and she's up for a rematch against Bug Demon. the onyl thing she has to fear now is Xander.... I did notice she was out of the room for the entire conversation about Angel being Drusilla's sire -- does she still not know? She must by now.

Drusilla just got really dangerous. She apparently enjoys torture even more than Spike does, and is now in full command of her strength and powers, with a major grudge against Angel. Sunnydale is in one hell of a lot of trouble. Wonder how the pecking order between her and Spike is going to settle out, now that she's not an invalid anymore; he seemed to be accustomed to taking orders from her.

Willy -- get out of town. Find a very dark hole and lose yourself. If Angel doesn't kill you for setting up Buffy, Buffy's gonna kill you for setting up Angel. And we won't discuss what Spike's going to do to you.

Best Moments:

Buffy alternately pouting and baiting Kendra. Great dialogue and nice expressions from both Buffy and Kendra.

Xander and Cordelia, pretty much any time they're on screen, but particularly the first kiss, followed by the "We have got to get out of here." You can run, guys, but it's not going to do much good.... And the cheesy music is hilarious!

Oz saving Willow's life. He's so casual about it -- does something heroic, then just sort of sits there and blinks. "It's kind of odd. And painful."

Kendra and Buffy finally bonding over Willie's 'art' modelling offer -- an utterly classic exchange of looks. Some things just cross all boundaries.

Buffy's "You and bug people, Xander. What's up with that?" Beautiful line, beautiful delivery (like it's his fault), niiice continuity.

Xander's involuntary "Angel's our friend!", followed by the immediate backpedalling after he realizes what he just admitted. Too cute. *g* They're both such guys.

Willow smacking Xander at last! If she'd done that more often when they were growing up....

Drusilla's "Rruff. Bad dog." In the middle of whimpering at Angel's suicide attempt, I suddenly started choking with laughter. Wonderful delivery from Juliet Landau; she really shone in this ep.

Willow and Giles double-teaming the vampires. Willow needs to learn fighting techniques besides bash them in the head and jump on their backs, but she did pretty well for her first(?) staking. And brushing Giles off after was hilarious!

Xander and Cordelia double-teaming Bug Guy. Very nice strategy, and I can just see Cordelia insisting, 'No way, I'm going to help get him! He put bugs on me! He's going down!'

"Two Slayers." "No waiting." And Spike's face as he realizes what he's up against. Poor guy, Buffy just keeps blindsiding him with the unexpected.

Buffy cradling Angel after they rescue him. Major, major warm and fuzzies. *sigh*. And then Kendra coming over to help -- the only way it could have been better is if it had been Xander.

Oz and Willow's conversation over the animal crackers. Oz is just too cute and funny and all around perfect for Willow.

Xander and Cordy's second kiss. *g* Chris and Sasha are right -- it's like watching a slow-motion train wreck.

Questions and Comments:

Full moon or new moon for the ritual, guys? Spike says full, Giles says new. If you're going to try to change continuity in the middle of an episode, go back and fix the other one.

Giles refers to the events of 'The Witch' as an "amusing story". Considering how close Buffy came to dying, I'm not amused.

A couple little flubs -- Angel's shirt mysetriously comes unbuttoned between being dropped into the sewer and Spike leaving with him (not that we're objecting); and Betsy spotted that the textbook Xander uses to smoosh the bug has a grey biology cover in the close-up. When we pan back, the book is suddenly red. Nitpicks R Us.

So, was the fight in front of Willie a set-up? Were the Slayerettes lurking outside waiting to join Kendra to follow Buffy to the 'trap'? Can't think of any other explanation, because Kendra sure didn't have time to go get the others, then track Buffy down, and still get to the church within five minutes of Buffy and Willie's arrival.

Okay, I'm Spike, I'm fighting two Slayers while Drusilla hangs in the middle of a ritual, I'm losing, the Slayer is busy trying to disrupt the ritual -- do I take the time to to threaten/attempt to kill my mortal flunky? No! Spike, focus, man.

Kendra doesn't wear a cross. Just an interesting observation.... It would seem like a very simple precaution/weapon.

Oh, I'm amused -- looking at the Injuries list, Angel took more damage this ep than Buffy, only the fourth time she's been out-pummeled (Xander beat her in 'The Pack' and 'I Robot', and Angel beat her in'Angel').

Rating: 4.5 of five. Wonderful character stuff, and majorly intense Angel scenes, knocked down from a 5 only by a few plot holes and CPDs, and Kendra's amazingly bad accent.

Chris's Review

Great ep. Couple of CPD's that make you go "what?" on second viewing, but not enough to spoil it, really. Plus some *classic* bits.

Continuity:

Eee! Dru's all better now! Spike's down for the count! And there's a back-up Slayer on her way back to the Carribean at the end of the episode! What does it all mean?

Tune in in two weeks; or more likely, eight. There's no way to tell what the long-term effects are going to be from this episode's fallout, and that's a good thing. Predictability bites.

Unfortunately, so does Drusilla, now.

Plus Oz and Willow are starting a beautiful friendship. About time!

Characters:

The Slayers, since their interaction was so key:

By the end of the ep, I liked Kendra a lot. Not only did she learn a bit about spontaneity, playing well with others, and how to lighten up, but she was good for Buffy, and not just in the you're-not-alone kind of way. Perri pointed out that in the movie, Merrick said that Buffy *should* have been found and trained much younger than she was. Kendra's life, Slaying and Only Slaying, is SOP for Slayers; Buffy's isn't. With all the (sometimes justifiable) bit-ca-ing she does about not having a normal life, it could be a lot worse, and I think she knows that now. She also didn't like having her identity usurped; maybe she doesn't enjoy being the Slayer, but she's too used to it to back out without a huge adjustment to her world picture.

Kendra *doesn't* feel sorry for herself, and she has greater grounds to do so. She accepts that her destiny comes at a pretty high cost, but she thinks it's worth it. Maybe this will change as she gets older, or as she realizes exactly how much she's missing, but right now, being the Slayer is an honor as well as a responsibility. Watching Kendra go non-verbal around Xander was about the time I started liking her; I mean, the boy's a goofball. (Well, that, and killing the lamp. snerk!) For her to not know how to talk to Xander indicates a _true_ level of isolation from other people her own age.

(That Xander immediately lost a lot of interest when she didn't respond shows that all of Buffy's and Cordelia's snarking has had its effect--- Xander is permanently programmed to seek out women who will give him a hard time, or at least bounce the conversational ball back to him.)

Xander and Cordelia... talk about carnage. All that UST and fighting finally hit payoff time with that kiss. This is not going to be a relationship, but I can see them both having a difficult time realizing that when the hormone fog has yet to clear from either of their brains. What, aside from Slaying and sexual chemistry, do these two have in common?

Granted, that's enough to pull them together for a while; lots of danger, and secret-keeping, can make it *feel* like they're in a relationship. And neither of these two feels as important to the team as, say, Willow or Giles. But they'd have to overcome a _lifetime_ of prejudice on both sides, Cordelia's social status, and really similiar want-to-be-in-charge personalities to make it work. I like Cordelia in spite of myself, I think Xander is a trip, and they're hysterical together, but I don't think either one is mature enough to really *like* the other for another few years.

It's hilarious that Willow has already caught on to what's going on between them (witness the scene in the library when they're back to fighting with each other), and is amused by it. Should make for a few interesting moments when Xander is trying to hide his feelings about Cordelia from Buffy and Willow, and they just watch and laugh. And mock. As for Cordy, she'll continue to be wigged by the whole thing, and hopefully they'll both grow up a bit from it.

Willow and Oz... too cool. Too bad we missed their first real conversation, because they obviously chatted before and it wasn't shown, but what we did see was pretty great. He's *very* good for her, saying sweet things and then rambling on before she has a chance to freak or go non-verbal from fear. Just low-key enough not to startle her, but paying enough attention to her to make her light up. I liked Willow thanking him for the save, too; she might have gotten really shy with him after that, but I think the last year's worth of being a Slayerette has given her enough confidence to be able to do scary everyday things---like talk to a boy she doesn't know well. Still a little shy, but managing it pretty well and not letting herself retreat, which would have been her first impulse a few months ago. It also appears that Will is finally over Xander, thank God.

Dru & Angel. Dear me. My, my, she holds a grudge. I don't doubt for a minute that whatever remnants of her original personality are left definitely hate him for killing her family. But I also don't doubt, given the kinky fun she seemed to be having, that they were once quite the hot item, and she hasn't forgotten _that_, either. She also possibly resents his current infatuation with Buffy, both out of jealousy and because now he's returned to being a good person, while she's still the monster he made her into a century ago. Her craziness allows her to feel all these emotions at once without seeing the need to reconcile them.

Dru wasn't at all upset by Angel's little hints and taunts at Spike, just amused. She only tried to stop the teasing when it looked like Spike would prematurely off her sire. He was nearly sick with jealousy, but Dru wasn't worried for a second that Spike would turn on *her*. I think she could enjoy psychologically torturing her lover with hints about Angel and their past, always following with "but you're my sweetums *now*." The reversal in their roles, Spike being injured and her fine, might do weird things to their relationship---wonder how well he's going to deal with his recuperation? Especially since Drusilla will be roaming free?

As for Angel... noble self-sacrificing, yeah, etcetera. It's not like getting Spike to kill him out of jealousy was a *bad* plan, but I always vote for trying to survive the nasty situations and making them pay for it later. *sigh* But oh, does he feel bad about Dru. Poor guy.

Really great scenes with Buffy, aghast and horror-struck at Angel's condition, then sweet and caring afterwards. Her brain just turns off (Kendra wasn't far wrong) when he's in danger, but I can't blame her---I'm just glad someone else is usually around to do the thinking for her in those situations.

Giles got to bond with Kendra about books and Slayer lore, *and* shoot the crossbow. Cooool. He should get to use it more often, the weapon's perfect for him, since it doesn't require a ton of strength, just sneakiness and aim. Now, if only he would be smart and stop following up the shooting with rushing the vampires... *sigh* Well, he still held his own. Not too shabby. Loved Willow jumping the vamp and pummeling him, too. Go, girl!

Other good bits:

* Slayer bonding at different points: with Willie in the bar, in Giles's office with the lamp, and the funny good-bye scene ("I don't do hugs")

* Cordy jumping up and down on the worms yelling "die, die, die, die, die!"

* Oz's lack-of-ambition discussion with Willow ("It's a man's chord. You could lose a finger!")

* The "was that a demonstration?" question from one of the students after the shooting (I had a couple seconds there where I thought it was too)

* Definitely the "I've been hurt before" line of Spike's

*The scary bright *FLASH* when Spike joined Dru and Angel together; impressive and unexpected

* The library scene where Buffy reveals that Angel is Dru's sire; she *hates* telling this, but knows how important it is (and I'm really glad Willow finally hit Xander for being obnoxious. Should've done it years ago, girl!)

CPD's We Could Have Survived Without:

1. Spike going after Willy in the middle of the huge fight scene. Way too stupid a move for a guy who's been so smart all season.

2. Kendra's entrance & exit from America. Obviously, the border patrol decided that upsetting her wasn't worth asking for her passport.

3. The Order of Turaka stopping with three assasins. Wait, I thought these guys never slept until they got their bounty?

None of these spoil the episode. Put them in the "Things That Make You Go *Hunh*?" category and let 'em go.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of five. Great acting, great story, wonderful new possibilities. I hope we see Kendra again some time in the future, too.