Told there's another Slayer in Sunnydale waiting to be discovered, Willow's spell apparently fingers Dawn as the potentially Chosen One. As she attempts to come to terms with her destiny, Buffy continues to train her replacements before the First makes another play.

It had to be done, really. We've all been expecting things to lead to exciting spin-off Dawn The Vampire Slayer, so suggesting that she could be the next in line after Buffy is an obvious ploy by the writers. Thankfully, at least as far as I'm concerned, because I really don't want Dawn to be a Slayer (too obvious), the whole thing turns out to be false, as the spell of Willow's actually catches someone else entirely, the real 'Potential'. The Dawn plotline is perfectly okay, but most of the way through I was thinking 'Oh, do we have to do this?' until the tables were turned. As such, I found the episode a little dull to watch as it went through a series of events that were fairly predictable, as Dawn overhears Willow, Xander and Anya and heads off searching for a fight in which to prove herself. The way she bumps into Amanda is a trifle convenient, as is Buffy arriving in the nick of time, but it does all lead to a really beautiful and exceptionally well written scene between Dawn and Xander, where the latter explains that he's always been the one with no powers, the one no one notices. It's a perfect distillation of the character, and demonstrates once again how much further he's grown than his friends. By keeping normal and grounded, he's a more realistic human being than all of them combined, and his sympathy for Dawn is especially touching.

Elsewhere, Buffy's training is going quite well. At least the Potentials are doing a little less whining now, a trait that had gone on far too long, and the fact that they now seem to be fighting better is a good sign for future high points during the season. Buffy and Spike make a good team, and we've really missed this partnership, not to mention this is the first glimpse we've had of the 'new' Spike this season. He seems more reasonable, quite charming, demonstrating a desire to improve himself in the eyes of Buffy and the world, and while he's unusually softly spoken in this story, it gives him a greater gravity as he helps prepare the Slayers-to-be for war.

There are two points where this story kicks in: the first is Dawn's realization that she isn't a Potential, and the other is one Buffy irritates a powerful vampire and then wanders off, leaving her charges with the ultimate test. Both of them are gasp-worthy moments and help elevate this episode from the rather dry, pointless approach of the last couple of weeks to something more interesting. It's that traditional mid-season dry spell where the show plays for time, and while it's less obvious than it maybe has been before, it's still clear that we need a big surprise to spin events in a new direction again. Oh, and the First is having a rest, recovering after its ubervamp got beaten? Give me a break. The source of all evil on the Earth? Putting its feet up? It's a pretty poor explanation for why everyone's not in mortal danger for the moment. Let's not do that again, eh?

***

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