Reviewed by Sanguine

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sex.

Yup. Sex.

Hormones going crazy, rapid pulses, lips touching, blood rushing. You know. The stuff that makes being 15 so wonderful and so confusing. Heck, the stuff that makes being any age so wonderful and so confusing.

Sex.

Anya, skating around in short shorts with Farrah hair; the latter-day incarnation of an Angel (of the Charlie's not broody Irish kind). Looking forward to playing shiver me timbers with the Xand-man.

Buffy, raising both eyebrows at Spike's little comment about wanting a bit of a "rough and tumble." Looking longingly at the happy couples strolling the streets of Sunnydale.

Giles removing his glasses so he won't have to witness the spectacle of "Xander's vigorous use of his tongue."

Janice, fleeing into the woods, pursued by a horny vampire.

Dawn, making out with Justin in a stolen vehicle. Her first kiss with fangface.

Tara, still getting hot and bothered over Willow, even if her lover is turning to (insert echo effect here) THE DARK SIDE.

Yeah, sex. The episode wasn't called All the Way for nothing, kids.

But sex and unresolved sexual tension isn't enough to make a good episode. And, unfortunately, All the Way, just didn't take me, well, all the way. It dragged. It was sort of boring. It felt like filler. Even great performances by Michelle Trachtenberg and Anthony Stewart Head and an occasionally witty script by Steven DeKnight couldn't save this hour from its lack of plot. I have the feeling that Mutant Enemy has invested so much time and energy in the musical that it's sucked the life and the quality out of the past few episodes. Joss wanted Once More, With Feeling to pack the emotional wallop, so in Life Serial and All the Way we're left with flaccid and unfocused scripts. But I'm not really worried about this season. Yet.

That's not to say that this episode didn't deliver some really nifty treats for us on Halloween eve. I've already mentioned the strong performances of Michelle Trachtenberg, who made the juvenile delinquent Dawn seem sympathetic and vulnerable, and Anthony Stewart Head, who had some fine comic moments and also got to kick some major vampire ass. I'll miss Giles. Emma Caulfield, after a spate of annoying episodes as Anya the ex-demon, thankfully crossed the line back into humourous. Her dance of Capitalist Superiority was priceless. No wonder Xander wants to marry her.

This episode also set up some of the conflicts that, I'm assuming, the big musical extravaganza will bring to fruition. Xander finally got over his cold feet enough to announce the engagement to Anya. But when she started talking about babies and houses and a wedding, the Xand-man looked green. He loves Anya, but maybe he isn't quite ready for nuptial bliss yet. Bet he'll sing about his conflicted feelings in the musical episode!

And while I’m on the topic of conflicted feelings, Spike and Buffy were sending off some strange vibes. Buffy caught Spike stealing in the basement of the magic shop. He asks her if she'd like a "rough and tumble" (of course he only meant patrolling--honest!) Buffy looks stunned and a bit puzzled, but not entirely opposed to the idea (and Buffy hasn't exactly been a shrinking violet about rejecting Spike in the past. Remember "the only chance you had with me was when I was unconscious" accompanied by the glare of death?) Of course, Spike is her friend now, so she wouldn't have that reaction to him again. Nevertheless, could Buffy be attracted to Spike? Later in the episode, Buffy barges in on her favourite bleached blonde vamp. He seems irritated with her and actually he has a right to be. Buffy may tolerate him, even consider him a friend of sorts, but she doesn't respect him. She takes him for granted. She assumes that he will be there when she wants him and he will disappear when he's no longer needed. Spike used to put Buffy on a pedestal. But their relationship has grown past that. He actually knows her now, not some idealized version of her. And he doesn't always like what he sees. This brings me to an icky moral quagmire that I suspect the musical will directly address. Spike has changed his whole mode of behaviour for Buffy. He's given up everything that used to be so important to him: blood, mayhem, and killing her. But he's still a vampire. He's still technically the enemy. Yet, every night, Buffy and Spike kill his kind. He is, in short, a traitor.

Spike's dilemma is emphasized as he and Buffy intervene in Giles and Dawn's altercation with the teenage vampires. Buffy lambastes her sister for snogging with the vampire, Justin, as Spike looks on, obviously annoyed. After all, he's a vampire, and she's been hanging out with him. Here's the root problem: Buffy still doesn't really "see" him. He might act like a man, but he still has plenty of monster inside and she won't accept that. But his mixture of darkness and light is precisely what makes his struggle against his baser instincts so provocative and so powerful. Unfortunately, someday, unless Spike finds a reason completely external to his Buffy-love to do good, his suppressed vampiric nature will come back to haunt him and possibly the Scooby Gang.

While I'm on the topic of the morally imperfect let's talk about Willow. Willow has taken a turn from bad to worse. The former geek and recovering "spaz" now has access to unlimited power. She never has to feel helpless again. With a few incantations, she can send her enemies (and friends) to alternate dimensions. She can decorate apartments, locate missing teenagers, and even yank Buffy from Heaven. But her moral compass has not improved along with her burgeoning magical powers. Tara and Giles are right to be worried. Willow is becoming a very dangerous woman. And, if you question the veracity of that statement, her final actions of the episode leave no doubt; she has no compunction about erasing her lover's memory so she won't have to deal with Tara's righteous anger. Dark!Willow has arrived and I don't like her one bit.

Buffy, like her friend Willow, doesn't want to deal with the complexities of post-resurrection life. So, she's using Giles to take up the slack. I caught some flack last week for suggesting that Buffy shouldn't have taken Giles's payout, or, at the very least, she should have offered to pay him back. Some astutely pointed out that Buffy already has a full time job, and the Council of Watchers should be paying her salary (to that I would say, it didn't stop her from graduating high school. Her job is mostly a night-time gig). But the point of this season is "oh grow up" and part of growing up is realizing life isn't fair. It isn't fair that Buffy must fight the forces of darkness with no monetary recompense. It isn't fair that Buffy was pulled from her heavenly reward. It isn't fair that Hank isn't sending child support and Buffy must be a surrogate mother at the tender age of 20. It isn't fair that Buffy's friends expect her to bounce back to normal after returning from the dead. But it also isn't fair for her to rely on Giles. Her money problems are not his responsibility. And it's not his responsibility to discipline Dawn. Giles knows this (his sighs and looks of exasperation speak volumes). And that's why it will become necessary for him to leave. In order for Buffy to grow, he must allow her to fend for herself.

Dawn's story was the least interesting of the episode. Her brush with delinquency did not provide new insights into her character. She steals. She is jealous of her sister. She is trying to find her own identity, post-key. She happily succumbs to peer pressure. She has poor taste in friends. And, like her sister, she has a tendency to be attracted to vampires. What is it with the Summers' women? If the big truth Dawn reveals in the musical is her stealing, then it will inspire a big yawn in the Sanguine household.

At least we get singing and dancing next week.