Willow returns to Sunnydale, but somehow she can't be seen by Buffy, Xander or Dawn, who believe she isn't back. As she tries to find her friends, a creature who peels the skin off people and eats it makes his presence felt.

There's a certain unnecessary convenience to this story, with a flesh-eating demon just happening to turn up just as Willow needs to be seen to be potentially evil still. If she was being framed in some way, that would be a little more reasonable, but there's a certain element of poetic justice about Willow being put through slow torture which on some level she feels she deserves for what she inflicted on Warren. The reason for Willow being invisible to the others is a little tacked on as well, as we're back to the old 'Oh, it was accidental magic' routine again.

But these are minor complaints and this is actually a pretty nasty, creepy story that successfully brings Willow back into the fold by showing her just how much her friends care about her. Even then, though, it's still only Xander who never suspects Willow of skinning a boy alive, knowing of her innate goodness, when even Willow herself is worried that she may be responsible. You do feel a little bit as though Willow could use just a teeny tiny bit of magic to save herself, or at least help herself without causing any disasters, though.

I like the way the season is coming together so far. With Spike sitting quietly in misery and Anya trying to rebuild her life, it's very much back to basics for the rest of the team, who are right back to the core group, albeit with Dawn, who manages to prove her worth and seems to have been there all along. Because she has, of course. Michelle Trachtenberg is wonderful in this episode, expunging all thoughts of last year's awkward, bitchy Dawn and being much more a useful part of the group, doing research and being glad that she's actually being let in on things at last. Her enthusiasm for finding the demon responsible for what's happening is fantastic, especially when Xander then describes her as 'terrifying'. Plus she also has the best comedy moments when the demon paralyzes her. Not only is her attempt to speak hilarious, but so is the point where Anya comes over to help and explains that Dawn is now fully poseable. Really good laughs amid some top quality horror, the kind of thing Buffy does well.

I do miss the others, and wish there was an easy way to fit them back into the arc, but I'm sure there are plans for both Spike and Anya as the force reaching into Sunnydale requires their abilities. In the meantime, this really is part of an ongoing return to form that brings back great memories of the early episodes of the show. It's really working out nicely.

****

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