Angel returns to Sunnydale to save Buffy from a terrible fate just as an old Mission is unearthed and a Native American spirit is released.
There's a lot right and a lot wrong with this episode, and it veers from one to the other surprisingly often. Jane Espenson has a pretty consistent track record for good episodes so far, but she's a bit off-centre with this one. Although it's difficult for any Buffy episode to be bad thanks to the work of the main cast, this one spends too much time in talking and not enough forming a coherent plot.
What Espenson does have down pat is the ability to know when to throw in a funny one-liner. From the outset, there are little gems scattered throughout the story, culminating in one of those one-word finishing lines the series does so well. Anya and Spike are the stand-outs once again, with both actors giving their all to their respective characters: an Anya trying to cope with the increasing craving she is feeling for Xander's body and a Spike trying to cope with his inability to eat anything and looking for help everywhere until he is forced to go to the Slayer for help. The fight sequence at the end is also good, not only funny but also well-choreographed and frenetic, allowing everyone to get in on the fighting action.
The return of Angel isn't really played up; he's only there to hide in the shadows and do a quick spot of fighting, then he heads back to LA. Presumably more of this will be picked up in the Angel episode that follows this, I Will Remember You. He seems rather out of place here, as if he shouldn't be in the series (which, really, he shouldn't).
The Native American spirit idea is hardly a new one, but is the main problem with the whole episode. Giles, Willow and the others argue about how they should get rid of the spirit for far too long, to the extent that it gets tedious. Likewise, Buffy's determination to have a good Thanksgiving get old fast. The even more stupid aspect is that in the end, Buffy discovers an easy way to be rid of the spirit and does so, negating all the moral implications Willow spoke about and finishing the whole problem off far too easily. We've come to expect more.
***
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