When a demon offers to sell Buffy and Faith some books that will help them stop the Mayor's ascension, the Slayers are pitted against each other. Meanwhile, the Mayor's next stop on his quest for power is to recreate Angelus...
This is one of those episodes that kind of needs to be done to delineate the positions of the various characters and finally show just whose side Faith is on. There is a lot of discussion and not as much action as normal, but the pay-off is so good that it really doesn't matter. On top of this, we also have some really good comic moments between Xander and Cordelia and some truly disturbing attempts sequences with Angelus, with David Boreanaz showing his dark side extremely effectively as he threatens to kill everyone around him and torture Buffy to death.
Once again, this episode brings out the best in the series: the characters and their personalities. The extended team including Faith and Wesley all have something to do, especially Faith whose past and future becomes increasingly clearer from her on, and resolves some of the questions about her for the viewers and the Slayerettes. In fact, these supporting characters would be wonderfully well-used in the Angel spin-off series, and I can't wait to see what happens to them at the end of the season. Maybe Wesley can help Angel explore his life...
It has become something of a tradition for Buffy to build towards an end of season apocalypse, and this one seems to be well on the way. With Buffy and friends now realizing what they are up against, it clearly time for some serious ass-kicking. Can't wait.
****
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