and

AKA: Holy Wicca, Batman!

My general impression: OMG!  Way to go, writers.  I'm almost impressed.

As usual, my thoughts are a quagmire, so I will organize my comments per character.

Clem

What happened to him?  Is the poor guy still sitting in the waiting area at Rack's, fiddling with the extra skin on his arms, or reading a People Magazine from 1986?  I can see him now, looking around, terrified, but trying to whistle a jaunty tune.  My poor baby.

Rack

Finally got what he deserved.  The only one who didn't was Andrew, unfortunately.

Jonathan

Did anyone else notice Superstar Jonathan make his appearance during the scene in the cemetery when Andrew threatened Xander with a sword?  Priceless.  If he weren't such a screw up, I might actually like the little geek.

Anya

She's pretty GOOD for a demon without a soul, don't you think?  Oh, that's right.  She has breasts.  I forgot about that.  Perhaps Spike didn't really get a soul at the end.  He just got boobies.

I loved her in this episode...and only this episode.  She was always too annoying for me before.  She was still very straight forward and tactless, but a truth teller with heart, nonetheless.  

Her interaction with Xander was perfect.  She was hurting, yet stood up for herself, and even felt sorry for Xander and his woes.  All I can say is, why aren't the core Scoobies as good as her?

Too bad she never got to change out of her Santa Maria exclusive blouse.

Giles

The minute I saw him standing there in the Magic Box, I let out a roar of delight.  I never realized how very much I missed him.  And how perfect was that for him to come back in order to help out his 'children'?  I'm sure seeing Willow like that hurt him as much as it did us.

One of the most emotional moments of the entire two hours was the embrace between him and Buffy.  It's nice to see her giving true emotion, and it was special that Giles brought it out of her.  That look in his eyes almost made me tear up: "You cut your hair."

One thing that bothered me was the scene where Buffy admits to him all the crappy things that happened to the SG since he left.  She actually gathered the nerve to admit she was sleeping with Spike and what was his reaction?  He laughs hysterically.  Now, I get the point.  He's not judging her.  He's just happy to see her alive and 'well'.  But I can't for the life of me understand why that little tidbit of information required chuckling, much less a grand guffaw.

Now, I must say, that I have officially become a Giles/Anya 'shipper.  I cursed it.  I fought it.  I resisted it.  I failed.  Darn their sinister attraction.

One last thing.  Being spoiler-free really does make these episodes more thrilling and suspenseful.  I truly had no idea whether or not Giles was going to die.  My heart was in my throat the entire time.

Dawn

How many dead bodies does this girl have to see?!  The discovery of Rack probably scarred her for life.  Jeez.

As for the ending...I did like the fact that Dawn finally grew up and defended herself with Buffy against the undead creatures.  However, please, no Dawn the Vampire Slayer.  I can't give a good reason as to why this doesn't set well with me.  It just doesn't.

Have to admit I loved, loved, loved Willow's rant about her whining.  I was cheering the nasty little witch on, man!  "Yeah, you tell her, oh Evil One!"  (I'm a bad dog.)

Xander

Finally!! The year of Xander that we've been promised for so many seasons now.  I figured the Big Bad would be the trio, posing more of a local, personal threat.  But, nope.  We had the Big, Big Bad with threat of apocalypse and everything.  I sat there thinking to myself, what the hell are they going to do?  The SG is no more.  Buffy's lost Willow, her key player.  She lost Spike, her muscle.  She lost Giles, the supernatural brains.  What does she have left?  A brat sister, a vengeance demon with uncertain loyalties, and a glorified bricklayer.  But when it came down to it, who saved the world?  Xander.  Wow.

I'm sure there will be great discussions on the ramifications of him choosing to forsake Buffy in order to save Willow, but I have nothing to add at this moment.  Xander finally took the bull by the horns and saved the world with his most powerful asset: his love for his dear friend.  Good on him.

Willow

I can't say that I loved the end.  I found it kind of lame that Xander just kept saying "I love you" over and over again...and this worked.  But, it was great excitement.

AH is one terrific actress, as long as she's not asked to play a lesbian.  She made a great mousy nerd in season 1.  She made a great college student learning her place in the universe in season 4.  She made a phenomenal Bad Ass Warlock.  She just didn't seem too gay to me.  Now, AB?  Gay and comfortable with it.  AH, not so much.

I enjoyed the 'loving hair dye' job.  I wish my hair could be colored that easily.  It never happens when I embrace my husband, though.  Darn.

Buffy

This episode was so not about Buffy.  Yay!

Now, down to the nitty gritty...saving the best for last, and all that rot.

Spike

The trials: boring!  Our fanfics were so much better than that.  Just a few physical confrontations and a bunch of creepy crawlies?  Booooo.  I thought the idea of Xander and Harmony at the gates was a much more interesting idea.  (If you don't understand that reference, then read the fic.  Really.  It'll be worth it.)

The decision: Could you vague that up a bit for me?  Fury specifically said that we would find out what happened to Spike during "Grave".  Liar, liar, you are a liar.  

Okay.  The demon specifically said Spike was going get what he wanted.  He was going to be restored to what he once was.  Then, he tells Spike he's getting his soul.  Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but Spike was never a vampire with a soul.  So, you can't possibly return him to a state in which he never existed.  That makes me think he is now human.  But then why didn't the Uber-Demon just say that?  Grrr.  Argh!  It's gonna be a looooong 4 months.

It was nice to see so much bare chested Spike without having to tolerate cold hearted sex scenes.  Yay!

Oh, and, I could have done without the "Angel reminder".

Questions and Ponderings

I don't usually catch the little things,  but I did this time.  My mind was working overtime from the sheer excitement of these two new episodes with no chance of Kick the Spike.

Buffy and Anya were attached to little, mental alarm clocks.  I'm sure of it.  They kept getting knocked out, then they would wake up- BOOM -right at the perfect moment.  I felt like there was some puppet master above them chanting: "Now you will sleep, and now you will wake!  Haha!"

How many times was this phrase uttered?  "I get that."  I mean it.  Go back and count them the next time you watch the shows.  Seriously.

Why is it Buffy can't break the chains in "Crush", but she can bend iron bars meant to keep in prisoners?

Buffy said a Spike line, Buffy said a Spike line! :0)  "I don't want to hurt you.  Doesn't mean that I won't."

The Magic Box scene with Giles plastered to the ceiling: nice ceiling!  I need to get those panels/tins for my house.  They'd be perfect.

Not another phallic symbol!

On that note, I've always wondered if the Christian God was a part of the Buffyverse.  Well, I have my answer.  Willow went to a Satanic worshiping site.  If they include Satan in the verse, then there must be God.  (Here come the emails, lol.)

Throughout these two episodes, I was strongly reminded of three other sci-fi verses:

For you Farscape fans, while Willow was at the police station screaming, I was expecting the metal to melt and her hair to turn bright red.

Jurassic Park--is anyone else sick of the "glass of water signaling impending doom"?

Star Wars--what was with the Star Warsian background music?  They've never done that before that I can remember.  It's always been Christopher Beck.

And, finally, have I mentioned my phobia of bugs crawling into my ears?  <Tara shudders violently>  I'm an RN.  I can take a lot of gross things.  The only times I've ever had to look away from the TV screen were during the attempted rape scene and the one with the bugs.

Favorite Line: "Grow up!"

Screen Caps courtesy of Spirit Crow