Oz becomes increasingly drawn to Veruca, the lead singer of the latest hot band to hit Sunnydale, and it seems his feelings for Willow may not be able to keep them apart when he learns of her secret.
Kicking off with a fantastic surprise appearance by Spike that contains another surprise which is simultaneously hilarious and unsettling, it looks as though there will be a two-pronged storyline going on: that of Oz and some explanation of the SAS-type people who've been roaming the UC Sunnydale campus grounds. It's not. Most of the episode is dedicated to Oz and Willow's relationship breaking down in order to write Seth Green out of the show.
These facts lead to some ambivalent feelings. There's a lot of great aspects to this, but there are just a few niggles that let it down and stop it being a five-star episode. Firstly, writing out Oz could have been rather obviously and heavy-handedly done, in a similar way to Angel's disappearance at the end of last season. It isn't. Oz's inability to control his werewolf side is a powerful way of breaking up his relationship with Willow, with some powerful, touching and superbly acted emotional scenes. Alyson Hannigan in particular gives it everything she's got, and even when acting in an un-Willow way, the viewer can still understand why she's doing what she's doing. Seth Green also gets possibly his first real acting job on the show, particularly in the electric confrontation between himself and Willow after a night caged up with Veruca.
Now for the problems. The werewolf outfits can never be convincing. They're probably the best any show could do, but it's difficult to take a fight between two people in costumes seriously. Willow's visit to Xander as well should have been more emotional; after all, the pair have been best friends since way before Buffy arrived, and this bond needs to be brought out more.
Giles is still sidelined from the action, being used each week for comedy when this is a chance to get a deeper insight into his character and watch as he finds his new calling. After all, he has to live somehow, doesn't he?
Finally, we need more Spike and it's way past time the SAS people were explained. Luckily, it seems that we need wait only one more week.
Overall, Wild at Heart is one of the most emotionally powerful Buffy episodes (and that's impressive), but there needed to be a bit more going on sub-plot wise.
****
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