agreed, they look bad, esp. SMG.

So, what do you think the new principal is? An undercover watcher? A new evil? Or someone with hidden "powers" trying to protect the school?

I think it's obvious he has placed Buffy at the school for some ulterior motive rather than "you'd make a great counselor"...

And while I'm unsure about the new Scrappy gang, I think it's good to jump-start the maturity process on the original Scoobs and treat them like successful adults--after two years of identity crisis... Xander in a suit and nice car may be a stretch just two years after his parent's basement, but it's still good to see.

It was a great move to shift the focus back to the high school. I think that giving Dawn a gang, and establishing the Scoobs as finally mature, was probably the best way to do that.

The show needed to feel like a fresh start this year, and at first glance the focus shifts have done a promising job. Hell, I even liked Spike's hair... My guess is they're going to lead him down the fully human path for a while, and then make a sharp U-turn back into badness...

He did say that.

Weight:
I thought SMG looked better here than she has for the past two seasons.

Dawn actually WASN'T that annoying, but I am really bothered by the possibility of her getting her own show. The "Mini-Scoobs" aren't doing it for me either.

Willow looked like hell, which I thought was good. It looks like she's had a rough summer, and I'm sure her homecoming will be interesting.

Xander, as near as I can tell, is just heading up a crew on the Sunnydale High site. I thought he said something to that effect, but I can't remember what it was. He's been heading up crews since last season, so I didn't think that was too much of a stretch.

And Anya looked like hell. They put her in the ugliest clothes at times. I think Emma Caufield, though an actress that I like, is quickly running out of a reason to be on the show.

And SPIKE! So glad to see him back in a way that's different from the mopey crap and the Spuffy sex we had to deal with all season. It'll be interesting to see where it goes.

Yeah, I don't really think that was in question though. Even from last season we knew what Spike was trying to accomplish by going there but rather now it's "what exactly is Spike?". I'm hoping it isn't rehashing the Angel w/a soul angle but something else entirely.

I guess you missed some of the "heated" discussions to this effect at the end of last season!

I think Spike getting his soul back has basically ruined him due to the guilt of what he has done. Like Angelus before him, he cannot really cope with it. The only problem is that Angel had helping out Buffy as his redemption goal. Spike did not want to help Buffy but destroy her. This, along with the chip in his head, has turned him insane.

Most of what he said came across as babble, and Buffy seemed to know he was out of the loop. Note also that the Big Bad was taking great pleasure in taunting him. Bottomline: Spike has been turned into a loser. Just like he was before Drusilla vamped him.

Great ep.

But I was a little surprised that Buffy didn't pick up on Spike saying "Just the three of us." If she was barricading herself into a room for safety and someone said there was a third "person" in there with her, it seems like she would investigate that.

I read somewhere in an interview (EW, maybe) with either Whedon or Marti Noxon that the Spike arc wouldn't be a rehash of the Angel storyline, but rather something different.

Here's hoping.....

I was bored with the "meat" of the episode, but I did enjoy the bookends.

At the beginning with the slayer training of Dawn - but can Dawn even be "called" to be another slayer, or would she just be a slayer-wannabe with a different set of energy powers due to her "humble" origins.

It is apparent that there is an order of evil that is hunting slayer candidates from the opening chase scene.

The high school main plot was just to get Buffy back into the doors of the high school in some working capacity. But a very generic exercise for Buffy (with Xander coming through to rid them of the talisman).

I've seen that actor that played Principal Robin Wood (haha Robin "Wood" not "hood"), but I can't remember where else I've seen him.

It makes me sad to see Willow struggling with her magic gifts, and it's apparent she'll never be able to not be a witch, she's just got to find a way to control her powers. She is now tied to the world in ways no other mortal can be, and now she also serves as an early evil warning device. It was good to see Giles again.

The Helfrek/Anya bit was also dropped into to get the audience pumped for the upcoming season long big bad.

The ending piece was classic Buffy: from her getting the school job, (the "You're the coolest mom" comment) and dropping in the hints of the upcoming big bad, which everyone has sussed out to be . This will prove exciting, I think.

I have higher hopes for the return to a happier Buffy (in terms of an existential angst perspective - Buffy has re-acclimated back to living again, being a "mom" to Dawn, and friend to her friends).

From a season opener standpoint, there was enough to get the Buffy fans looking forward to more classic Buffy with even more interaction and interplay of the Scoobies with each having more to do, and more to offer in the fight with the big bad this season. Looking back, it's amazing how much growth each one of the characters has sustained since season 4 (and before, of course).

One more thing, was it just me, or did it look like SMG has slightly firmer biceps this season?

What I want to know is why did it take three years for them to build a new high school?

Where did all the kids go in the interim?

• Quoth Patman •<HR SIZE=1>I was bored with the "meat" of the episode, but I did enjoy the bookends.

From a season opener standpoint, there was enough to get the Buffy fans looking forward to more classic Buffy with even more interaction and interplay of the Scoobies with each having more to do, and more to offer in the fight with the big bad this season. Looking back, it's amazing how much growth each one of the characters has sustained since season 4 (and before, of course). <HR SIZE=1>

This pretty much echoes my feelings. I was pretty bored with the episode and the shameless "pilot for a spin-off" feel, but there was enough good and enough classic and enough set-up for the future to make it worthwhile.

btw, Among other things, D.B. Woodside was Karen's physical therapist last season on Once & Again and was the hot shot new attorney in the second season of Murder One.

das

We all know it's best to NEVER question any logic flaws in the Buffyverse. It will just make your head hurt....


Here's a question about the season opener:
Did I miss something, or why is it assumed that the pre-title sequence was about a slayer-in-training? In hindsight it makes sense, it's just that it didn't occur to me as I was watching it...

Well, the girl was pretty agile, and quick, but since she didn't have the slayer power boost, she was overcome by the order of evil chasing her in Istanbul.

And thanks for the "Once and Again" sighting of the principal. I knew he was hooked up with a white lady in the show I last saw him in last season.

More speculation of the girl being chased:

NOOO!!!! Please, not my beloved !

Oh well, like she would ever go to bed with me anyway. I would actually love a season finale where Faith and Buffy take on Glory, and then proceed to engae in HLA.

I'd rather see one of Dawn's high school friends called as the next slayer rather than Dawn. I think it wouldn't make sense for Dawn to be the chosen one, but she'd be a great Scoob for another Slayer.

I think it would be cool if Dawn doesn't know who the Slayer is for awhile and vice-versa. Maybe they could keep seeing each other near vamps and assume the other one is evil until the truth is revealed to them, etc.

I'd love it if it were a Cordy-type character who became the next Slayer-- someone that would be rude to Dawn at first and only reluctantly start to hang out her after she finds out Dawn is the sister of a Slayer and will need help, etc.

In my twisted mind, I would looooove to see a season of hot nasty Faith as slayer, once Buffy has moved on, died, whatever...

Sniff, I kinda miss her..

I also forgot about him in O&A, but I remembered him from Murder One and an episode of the Practice. I immediately recognized him but did not know his name. He's a good choice, young and close to Buffy's age.

In fact, I was wondering if he could be a possible Buffy love interest? Although not a vampire, he is tall, dark, and mysterious.

If he becomes a love interest I hope it has some plot point and is not some ploy to boost ratings by the network or the producers. "Oooh look! We have an interracial relationship going on Buffy!" Sorry, but that would come off has token and not true.

I think the producers missed a great joke:

When the principal first meets Buffy & Dawn and thinks that Buffy is Dawn's mother, it would have been hilarious if Buffy had quipped: "This isn't the Gilmore Girls!"

Especially since that show is up against Buffy.

Didn't Willow say something to Giles like "Don't get all Dumbledore one me." I thought the Hary Potter reference was

My 11-yr-old daughter LOVED that line.... (as did I, btw)

I had no idea what she was talking about. Thanks.

What I want to know is where did Buf hide her cell phone? I don't see any pockets, purse, etc. She just seemed to wip it out from her back all the time. Oooooo, could it be hiding up her @--?!

You wish! 8-D

Also, didn't she look not as "well rounded" as before? Or just didn't wear any "push-ups"? Or any at all?

SMG's been losing boobage season by season.

I don't think that necessarily confirms your theory. We won't really know for sure until Spike explains it.

If he was attempting to get his soul back, he would have no idea what the experience would be like. Angel was equally tormented when his soul was restored. It's possible that Spike just didn't know how rough it would be.