TRIANGLE

Bear with me, here.

Once upon a time there were two little kids.  At first glance you wouldn't think they had much in common.  The girl was from a white collar, professional Jewish family while the boy was a blue collar WASP.  But they did.  They were both outcasts.  The girl was so painfully shy and painfully intelligent, smarter than all the other kids and too proud to hide it.  And the boy was from a white trash family and the classic underachiever, looked down upon by all the richer and more sophisticated kids.  So all through school it was just them against their torturers.  And, as is usually the way, the girl fell in love with the boy while the boy still considered her just a buddy.  But that didn't matter to her because she knew she was still the most important person in his life.

Then, in their second year of high school something happened.  They discovered that there really was a boogie man and monsters that go bump in the night.  They met the Slayer and her Watcher and they, as is usually the way, both kinda fell in love with these new people and with the fight for the greater good.  And now it wasn't just them against a small world but rather they were part of a team against a bigger, scarier world.  But that didn't matter because each knew the other was there just for them them.

The boy began to see another girl, one of the group that had taunted them but now could see something that she hadn't seen before.  The girl began to see another boy, the first to look beyond the shyness and brains.  And maybe the boy and the girl really loved these people or maybe they just fell in love with the first people who accorded them worth.  It doesn't matter.  They were in love but each knew that the other was there to talk to and support them no matter what.

Then something happened.  All the feelings that the girl had thought dead and all the feelings the boy hadn't recognized burst into life.  And, although it was just stolen kisses, they were discovered.  The boy's relationship was destroyed and the girl's severely damaged.  They went on, both aware of what happened, but pushing it all back into the friendship zone.

A couple of years passed.  The boy grew into a man and began to see someone who was able to see the worth in him.  The girl grew into a woman and began to see someone who could see beyond the shyness and the intelligence.  And it seemed that each had found the person that complimented and completed them.

But deep down each remembered when they were ten years old and it was them against the world.  And each remembered the stolen kisses so quickly blamed on teenage hormones.  And each remembered when they were the most important person in the others life.

God, I love amateur psychology.

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer ... okay, I missed the previously.  

Currently on BVS Xander has obviously reaped the result of his heartfelt declaration of love to Anya.  They're discussing the Buffy/Riley situation and wondering how it's going to turn out.  Anya wonders if Buffy simply can't hang onto boyfriends.  Xander wonders, and justifiably so, if Buffy's going to do something drastic as this latest relationship explodes.  

Cut to the visual joke of Buffy in the convent.  Buffy dusts a vampire who was threatening a young nun.  As they walk away Buffy starts asking her about life without men but, before they can get into a discussion on melons and gourds we break for the credits.  Pwaise Hestia!

Nerf Herder sings.  Subliminal credits show Riley gone.

The show proper opens with Giles kicking Buffy's butt in a training session, a clear indicator that she's off her game.  They take a break to discuss his trip to visit the Council in England to discuss Glory and see if they know anything.  Buffy's worried about Dawn's cover and Giles is worried about Buffy's emotional state after the breakup.  The rest of the Scoobies are discussing who's going to be in charge of the shop while Giles is away.  Anya, as employee, assumes she.  Willow, having Giles tenure, assumes she.  Xander, displaying survival instinct, humours the girlfriend and avoids a firm stance.  Giles decides to cut any sightseeing out of the trip.

At the Summer home Joyce is almost back to normal and Buffy and Dawn share a sisterly conversation about how Buffy is doing.  Buffy seems to be accepting some responsibility in the relationship explosion and knows that, although it hurts now, it'll get better.

Spike, sliding a bit deeper into the abyss, is chatting up his Buffy-mannequin with charm and chocolate until he looses it and knocks it down.  Only to set it up and start the whole conversation over.

Now we get to the real show.  At the Magic Box Tara and Willow are trying to make a light spell so Buffy can call up an instant ball of sunlight and dust vamps en mass.  Anya is ticked that the two seem to think of the store as their own private magic component supply.  Anya and Willow start in with some snide comments to each other and, again showing survival instincts, both Xander and Tara suggest that they work it out.  Alone.  Willow continues the spell with Anya constantly interrupting her with price checks and other comments.  To the point that the spell continues while they bitch at each other.

About this time the troll arrives.

The troll is a troll.  Big.  Strong.  Hammer.  Pissed off.  He wrecks the Magic Box a bit and then storms off.  Willow and Anya follow in Giles' car (and you can bet next time he flies to England the car's going to the Park 'n Fly lot for safely).  Anya drives, and she should stick to emphatic gesturing, while Willow tries to create a reversing spell from her rapidly dwindling notes.  Anya theorizes, while trying to figure out how to close the top on the car, that the troll was trapped in the crystal. 

Now, for all you who had forgotten that Buffy was a student, because she's been to exactly zero classes this season, we have a scene where Buffy and Tara leave a class together.  Everything is peachy keen until Tara mentions the tiff in the Magic Box and Buffy breaks down, crying on her shoulder.  Later, at the Magic Box, they see signs of mass destruction and follow it to where the troll is... The Bronze.

And here you thought Joss was going to leave a first season set intact.

Anyway, Spike and Xander were already at the Bronze having a particularly confusing conversation because Spike wants to know if Buffy is mad at him for his telling on Riley and Xander hasn't a clue what he's talking about.  The troll arrives,  Willow and Anya arrive, Buffy and Tara arrive.  The troll recognizes Anya and, holy coincidence, it turns out that the troll is really Olaf, the poor bastard who originally cheated on the then mortal Anya so traumatizing her that she cursed him so impressing the demon D'Hoffryn that he offered her the Vengeance Demon gig.  Turns out Olaf did the troll thing, drinking beer and eating babies, until some witches imprisoned him into the crystal.  Needless to say Anya and witches aren't high on his "no smash with hammer" list.

Willow attempts the reversal spell and fails.  Buffy attempts kicking his ass and fails.  Olaf attempts bringing the Bronze down on their heads and succeeds.  While the Scoobies and Spike rescue everyone Olaf escapes.  General Buffy sends Willow and Anya to the Magic Shop to try the spell thing again, Xander to find Olaf, Spike to grow up and Tara's with Buffy.  (The urge to type "Move out!" is strong.  Too strong apparently.)

Anyway, at the Magic Box Anya and Willow start bickering again but instead of the surface stuff it's what's really bothering them. Willow is sure that Anya is going to hurt Xander, Anya is sure Willow is going to steal Xander from her as she did from Cordelia. The fact that Anya has no powers doesn't matter  to Willow because Xander can be hurt even without demon or witch powers. The fact that Willow is gay doesn't matter to Anya because... because I guess she figures the writers could make Willow straight next season.

Olaf arrives followed by Xander who, in a brave attempt to save the two, gets beaten silly.  Olaf offers Xander his own life plus one of "his" women, take his pick.  Xander refuses and gets his wrist broken.  Anya attempts to offer her life for Xander's and is refused.  Willow attempts the reversal spell and fails.  Anya suggest separating Olaf from his hammer.  Anya attempts a distracting insult and succeeds.  Willow attempts a telekinesis spell and succeeds.  Buffy  attempts kicking his ass and fails.  Olaf attempts his megalomaniac villain gloating speech and succeeds.  Buffy, given new will to fight on, again attempts to kick butt and knocks him out.  Willow attempts to return Olaf to the Troll Dimension and succeeds.  She thinks.

And Buffy again bursts into tears.

Sigh.

Anyway.  For the final scene Giles briefs Joyce and Buffy at their place.  The Council of Watchers was singularly useless in the information giving department and fairly demanding in the information desiring department.  All three wonder what the Council would do if they found out that Dawn was the Key.  Completely oblivious to Dawn listening in on the stairs.

Fade to black.

Random Quotes

Buffy: You want credit for not feeding off of bleeding disaster victims?
Spike: Well, yeah.
Buffy: You're disgusting!
Spike: What's it take?!

Willow: Well, he's no ball of sunshine.

Willow: Hello?  Gay now.

Anya: Rules are stupid.

Xander: You dated him?
Anya: Un-huh.
Xander: But you like me better.
Anya: Un-huh 

Random Notes:

New guy Christopher Hibler directed the episode written by Jane Espenson who's last episode was The Replacement.

The acronym for Council of Watchers is COW.  Why did I never see that before?

Buffy cries on Tara's shoulder.  I see some B/T fic coming down the pipe from that little exchange.

Notice how Buffy is paranoid about Xander and Anya's relationship and not about Willow and Tara's?  My first thought was that it was because she didn't consider Willow and Tara to have a "real" relationship but that doesn't necessarily make sense considering her reaction/acceptance in Family.  My second thought was that it's Xander that's the problem.  See, Xander is a guy and guys leave.  Every single relationship Buffy has had (father, Angel, Scott, Angel, Parker, Riley) has ended when the guy left.  So maybe that man rant in Willow's dream segment of Restless wasn't Willow, but Buffy's true fears and thoughts.

I spelled D'Hoffryn from memory by the way.  That's scary.

I'm sure I heard about the World without Shrimp before. I *think* it was the Jonathan "Superstar" episode also written by Espenson. I think she has a hate on shrimp.

Angel Notes: