Buffy vs. Dracula
Both BvD and “Restless” mention the Slayer’s power rooted in darkness and all that and I’m looking forward to seeing the Slayer mytharc develop. Anyway, this is not my favorite season premiere but still tons of fun, although I agree with Xander that we’re ALL sick of him being the buttmonkey. Remember when Xander used to make jokes and wasn’t *the* joke? Also, it’s funny to me how Gellar and Blucas had zero chemistry as “hot” lovers in S4, yet in S5, when Buffy and Riley have clearly lost the “zing” and have fallen into boring routine, they *do* have appropriate chemistry.


Real Me
Tara looks tremendously pretty in this episode. Up-dos work really well on her. I’m also not finding W/T nauseating yet. I *am* finding Dawn super-annoying, even more than I usually do. It’s the personality, the shrieking, the everyone catering to her every whim and her complaining that *Buffy* gets whatever she wants. And yeah yeah, I know it’s the spell that’s making people overprotective, but that doesn’t make her any less annoying. Let me put it this way: I have a brother with a severe lifelong disability and we don’t cater to him the way they all cater to Dawn. And suddenly I find myself over-identifying with Buffy which, much as I love her, hasn’t happened this intensely before. (I will say that I don’t hate Dawn when she’s talking about how cute Xander is, because, uh, that’s when I over-identify with *her.*) Meanwhile, I find every single Harmony scene completely tedious, although this is the first time I’ve bought her as a queen-like popular girl. Mercedes McNab is very pretty but she always looked far too wholesome in seasons 1-3 to fit her character. One thing about the Dawn arc that *does* work for me? SMG and Kristine Sutherland look even more like mother and daughter than ever, and MT looking decidedly *not* like either one of them is neat, considering that she’s fake. Okay, a lot of ranting here, so to sum up? This would’ve been a lot more entertaining if we’d seen Spike and Giles watch Passions together.

The Replacement
I love the Snoopy dance and any reminder of Xander and Willow’s lifelong friendship (I said *friendship.*) And I still can’t decide if this episode is largely complimentary to Xander or insulting to him. It highlights his competent, skilled side, but he’s also a bad influence on himself. I HATE the “I get in trouble and Buffy saves me” bit, like HELLO, has everyone forgotten about Prophecy Girl, Becoming II, Graduation Day II as the key guy, or the less epic times he’s shoved other people out of harm, or riding on the gurney through FLAMES to save Cordelia? Okay, I think I’ve fallen on the “insulting” side. FUCK YOU, ZEPPO! I like the foreshadowing here, though, with the Buffy-Dawn extended conversation about Dawn giving Joyce a headache. I don’t know if it’s canon that the insertion of Dawn gave Joyce the fatal tumor or if I’m making it up, but either way, I’m convinced it’s true. Riley goes back and forth from making me like him (his awkward but well-meaning attempts to distract them all from Xander’s family’s drunken fighting), to making me hate him (getting all macho about fighting Toth, putting his hands over Buffy’s book when she’s trying to read). Also, Willow, despite being biased given that she doesn’t like Anya, is pretty intuitive about Xander/Anya: “You’ve known all this time, and you didn’t think of Anya till just now?”

Out of My Mind
I can sympathize with Riley to a point. It’s not easy to go from having a purpose and then feeling like you no longer do, nor is it easy to feel strong and then suddenly feel weak. I can even sort of feel bad for him in regards to Buffy, because ultimately I do think he’s right and that he’s not enough for her…but then I part ways, because he’s wrong for her in a different way than he thinks. He thinks he’s not superman enough for her; I think he just doesn’t understand what being the Slayer means and what it means to Buffy, and the supernatural aspect of the Slayer power is incredibly unsettling to him. This is the third time we’ve seen him say a variation of “I love you” to Buffy, and every time she’s not said it back – “Tell me about it”/*silence*/ “I don’t know why,” and I wonder how long I’ll be able to feel bad for him about that. I’m amused that almost every time Riley gets his own story, Spike’s there to serve as a parallel to him – they’re both going crazy, Riley because he doesn’t think Buffy wants him and Spike because he thinks Buffy’s never leaving him alone, and the dream kiss at the end sneaks up and you and WHAT a delightful surprise it is!