Little sis coming

This Year's Girl (Douglas Petrie)

Xander almost fries himself and no one notices and I don’t think it is stretching to say that this reflects the minds of the BtVS creators who didn’t have a clue what to do with the character who didn’t go to college (not that Buffy, Willow or Riley seem to have done much work recently) and Riley fixing it so easily is just another sign of contempt for a character who, although I have a lot of problems with, deserved better than this.

“What did you tell him?” “The truth? That she's my wacky identical cousin from England, and whenever she visits hi-jinks ensue?” “It's good you guys have such an honest relationship.” “No, I told him the story. I vagued up a few bits, but no flat-out lies.” Sigh, this so sums up BtVS.

I love the conversation between Willow and Tara about Faith, that is, I love it when I focus on the words and not the clothes. They are not the worst outfit either wear (see Willow's After Life's "You're welcome" red top and Tara's "that's my cue to put some clothes on" but-please-not-that-Sam-Browne-belt-blouse in Seeing Red) but it’s the worst duo of outfits. The insane costumer must have said something like this: "Amber dear, you are actually slim but you have a big bottom so, wear this sash to diminish your breasts and make your hips look vast. Oh, and Aly, here's a tablecloth that'll look super" (...on a table).

“This is strictly recon. What?” “You said "recon". You're like Cool Monster Fighter!”...“Don't worry, we're sure to spot Faith first. She's like this cleavagey slut-bomb walking around "Ooh, check me out, I'm wicked-cool, I'm five-by-five."” “Five-by-five? Five what by five what?”

Faith vs Joyce: Faith nails the distance between Buffy and Joyce (not seen since Fear, Itself) but Joyce shows a bit of pep: "Were you planning to slit my throat any time soon?"

Buffy coming through the window is silly but a brilliant touch. Cue another great fight (despite the stunt doubles there is something elemental about seeing these two evenly matched people (women) bashing the heck out of each other). I'd love to try my hand at analysing their relationship and the similarities and differences between them but I know someone with more time and talent than me has already done it.

The final twist ("five by five") is proper cliffhanger material.