As Buffy’s mother goes into hospital for tests, Glory sets a monster on a mission to find the Key.

And welcome once again to Buffy The Vampire Slayer treads water. A common problem since season three, this episode is clearly moving the pieces around and building to something bigger, but it takes a long time to get there and once again the episode has no real plot of its own, something that occurred last year in episodes such as Goodbye Iowa. Can you remember specifically what happened in that episode? I can’t.

Likewise, Shadow takes a similar path. Although the emotions of Buffy, Dawn and her mother are dealt with flawlessly, with all three women giving excellent value, too much time is spent with people dancing around the subject or teary-eyed faces. This element becomes more of a main plot than a sub-plot, which is what it should really be, even if the episode is named after it. Now, whether Joyce’s illness is linked to Dawn isn’t clear, but it would seem like something of a cop-out now if it was. The return of the hunky doctor is also becoming rather suspicious.

Another let-down is the snake-demon Glory conjures up. While it’s CGI-generated, it’s fantastic, but the second it is it’s clearly a man in a suit and a very rubbery suit too. It’s a shame, as a purely CGI villain would have been fine. And what is Riley up to? It seems that he’s considering becoming a vampire so Buffy will like him, but he must surely see how stupid an idea that is? Although he’s offering support in some scenes, he doesn’t seem to care that much about his girlfriend or he’d not be wandering off to bars to meet other women.

There are good points; the way the rest of the gang meet Glory is good fine, and she herself is wonderful, her fight with Buffy superbly futile for the Slayer and truly vicious. Sadly, while we wait for whatever evil plan she is hatching to be revealed, it seems other plotlines must remain on hold. Oh, and Spike’s visit to Buffy’s bedroom is priceless. It’s just not enough this time.

**

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