As Buffy experiences extreme frustration at the hands of her roommate Kathy, she starts to get strange dreams as well in which demons perform a strange ceremony on her.
The second-episode-of-the-season-is-a-bit-duff rule holds true once again, as this story doesn't really hold together very well. Buffy out of character is far less enjoyable to watch, and there are aspects of Kathy's personality that would rub me the wrong way too, especially Cher's Believe on permanent loop. That Buffy leaps to the (albeit correct) conclusion that Kathy is a demon seems a little odd, as it is the very experiments being performed on her that set her on this course.
The question remains, if Kathy is sucking Buffy's soul, who are the other demons summoning the third? Is Kathy one of them? It's not exactly clear what's going on, which demons are which and where the one at the end of the episode comes from. Basically, it all seems an excuse to get Willow rooming with Buffy.
There are a few rays of light. The confrontation between Kathy and her father is quite fun, and Buffy's developing relationship with Giles is working a treat. It all seems rather shallow though, with too much time spent on making the viewer hate Kathy (and possibly Buffy) that the unpleasantness eventually gets rather unbearable and you want it all to end.
It was clear that Kathy couldn't stay, but this is a lazy way of writing her out, and Willow and Buffy should have simply been put together at the outset. After the triumph that was The Freshman, this is something of a disappointment.
**
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