Reptile Boy.

Had Giles saying 'You were almost eaten by a giant snake. The phrase 'let this be a lesson to you' are a tad redundant.'

And Willow telling off Giles and Angel! "And you! You're gonna live forever; you don't have time for a cup of coffee?!?" The whole B-plot on "Reptile Boy" was great, I thought.

I never saw that as fulfillment of a death wish. I think I am very alone. I never saw it as suicidal. I never saw it as giving up. I just saw it as her next turn at throwing her life between death and people she loves, and this time, she knew she'd really save the world.

I see it as a moment of perfect clarity, where she finally realizes what she has to do. She knows how to save the world, her friends, and Dawn, and how to make everything all better in one fell swoop.

At the time The Gift aired, I thought it was a huge cop-out -- on the *character's* part, not Joss/ME's part. But I showed my Mom "Prophecy Girl" the other day, and Buffy did essentially the same thing, all the way back in S1. She didn't want to fight the Master, she "quit," even tried to get Joyce to go out of town with her, but in the end, when she was talking with Willow after the slaughter in the AV room, Willow asks "What are we going to do?" Buffy replies "What we have to." Her expression is so resolved -- she's *going* to fight the Master, even if it means she's going to die. For all she knew, she was going to die. (And, of course, *did*, although it didn't last.)

S1 has some good, good stuff on re-watch.

S1 has some good, good stuff on re-watch.

I agree, but "I Robot, You Jane" still misses by miles. I just can't help it that when I see Moloch in the robot suit, I keep thinking that he looks like the Emperor Zurg from the Toy Story movies.

The ending, though, when the gang realizes that all of their relationships will be doomed because they live on the Hellmouth, is very sad. Maybe now that they destroyed the town (did the Hellmouth get destroyed as well? I wonder), the "curse" will be lifted.

"I Robot, You Jane"

The whole axe-murdering circus freak conversation still floors me.

(did the Hellmouth get destroyed as well? I wonder)

Heh. If it didn't get destroyed, it's in for some SERIOUS rehab. Trading Spaces wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot measuring tape.

WillowNKennedy4Evah?

On the Hellmouth front, I know Giles' line about Cleveland was a nod to "The Wish," but if there's another Hellmouth out there that didn't happen to have the Slayer(s) and a comparably-powerful good vampire defending it, why didn't the Sisterhood of Jhe, the demons from "Doomed," etc. JUST GO THERE TO END THE FREAKIN' WORLD?

Heh. If it didn't get destroyed, it's in for some SERIOUS rehab. Trading Spaces wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot measuring tape.

Hildi would. Hell, she probably did the set.

I think the Hellmouth is not a purely physical product with only a single location -- Angel's Los Angeles is a mean place too. Because Hell is constant wherever Man is.

Months after the series finale and I have a theory that the FE was lying about its strength. That opinion goes back to what I perceive evil to be, and evil is a liar. What is the Devil's greatest victory? That he convinces us he doesn't exist. The FE took the form of many people because it had no form. It wasn't all powerful -- noncorporeal, needed a psycho priest to funnel power through. It was a ruse.

Watch Exorcist and you get a great exposition of secular psychology vs. spiritual understanding, especially in the discussion between Father Karras and Father Merrin before the exorcism. Karras, trained in psychology, talks about multiple personalities and Merrin responds "There is only one."

Demons are all about the see-and-be-seen. Where's the panache in destroying the world from Cleveland when you could be apocalypting in SoCal?

I agree, but "I Robot, You Jane" still misses by miles.

Introduction of Jenny Calendar - that works in a big way.