Okay, I just watched FFL and I was wrong (I can admit it). It's a good ep. Certainly not the worst ep of S5. I mean, Buffy vs. Dracula was S5 after all.

While I don't think the latter was a work of Jossian excellence on par with the prime Season 1-3 episodes, it was cheesy good fun. Season 5 is the one that gave us "Into the Woods" and "Spiral," after all.

I got the feeling during season seven of Buffy that the writers were positioning D'Hoffryn as a baddie in league with The First Evil but then the thread seemed to be dropped, perhaps in favor of focusing on Buffy and the potentials. Even after his last appearance in Selfless he was sending demons after Anya. I always thought he would appear later in the season and Anya would be the one to defeat him, coming full circle. I had an idea that she could discover D'Hoffryn's plan to sacrifice his vengeance demons to The First and decide to confront him in his vengeance HQ. Anya tells all the girls the truth and just before D'Hoffryn tries to attack her, she wishes him a most painful death. At once all the vegeance demons jump him. Once he's dead the girl's are released from his thrall and return to human form. The message would be that women don't need men tormented by supernatural means anymore, they are empowered enough to deal with them by human means. Hell, that would have paired nicely with the sharing of the Slayer power as a feminist theme. Part of me wishes Joss and the writers would deal with him in the future on Angel but it may not be as meaningful without Anya there. What do you think?

Actually, I had in the back of mind that Xander and D'Hoffryn were heading for a showdown sooner or later. D'Hoffryn took Xander somewhat seriously ('better hold him back slayer') and I can see Xander blaming D'Hoffyrn for a lot of the pain that Anya went through, and 'making it up' to her by confronting D'Hoffryn.

So I can see Xander coming to Angel (et al) for help to deal with D'Hoffryn, especially since he would think Buffy and Willow needed time to rediscover their own lives in the post-Sunnydale era and were focused on the other Slayers.

This could be his own thing, that he would want to do without them...

Now that Anya's gone, I would absolutely love to see Xander and maybe Andrew(she saved his life) take on D'Hoffryn on Angel. Though the writers would have to come up with a good enough reason for them to come to LA and involve Angel and friends.

D'Hoffryn took Xander somewhat seriously ('better hold him back slayer')

See, I heard an unspoken "because I'd really rather not gruesomely kill him right now" right after that.

See, I heard an unspoken "because I'd really rather not gruesomely kill him right now" right after that.

Me too. I took it as hold him back because if he annoys me I could kill him all too easily. Still I like the idea of a Xander/D'Hoffryn confrontation where D'Hoffryn thinks he is easily going to win and Xander surprises him somehow.

Though the writers would have to come up with a good enough reason for them to come to LA and involve Angel and friends.

Well, there'salso the D'Hoffryn/Cordelia connection (Not like that. Ewww.) although no one quite clearly remembers it. D'Hoffryn has seriously fucked with the women closest to Xander. It wouldn't take much of story mechanism to set them against each other and draw in the MoG.

See, I heard an unspoken "because I'd really rather not gruesomely kill him right now" right after that.

Well, yeah. And he could, but really, I think D'Hoffryn did have a higher opinion of Xander than other baddies did.

Xander was the guy that penis-whipped his star pupil into domesticity, after all. I don't think D'Hoffryn saw him in terms of a tactical threat, I think he saw him as the no-account punk that cost him his surrogate daughter. Xander had already put more of a hurtin' on him than Buffy could ever manage.

Season 5 is the one that gave us "Into the Woods" and "Spiral," after all.

Both of which I liked. (Actually in the case of Spiral more than liked. And yes I know-magic horsies etc. For me it's a perfect Buffy combo of Stagecoach and Beau Geste.)