As Buffy’s mother is prepared for an operation on her brain tumour, a creature is found to be killing anyone with mental problems. And Joyce Summers is next on its list.

I wasn’t particularly impressed with this episode, I’m afraid. The biggest problem it has is that the monster is very poor indeed. It looks like someone has bought a job lot of former X-Files creatures and joined together the Flukeman’s head from The Host with the conjoined twin from Humbug’s body. As a result, it looks awful, not scary, very rubbery and little threat to Buffy or anyone else. To its credit we don’t see a lot of it, but we see enough to tell it’s just not working. It also makes Buffy’s confrontation with it extremely unscary and not difficult.

The Joyce plotline is handled well, with her sudden outbursts really quite frightening (much more than the monster), including the way she finally sees through Dawn’s ‘disguise’. How long it will be before Dawn finds out her own significance is unclear, but Michelle Trachtenberg superbly conveys her feelings about the reactions of those around her. It’s also not clear whether Joyce will survive her operation; the story plays like her final episode, and dealing with Dawn alone would make things even more difficult for Buffy and much more emotionally involving. Whereas I’d first thought Joyce’s problem was due to Dawn’s presence, I’m not so sure now, and it’ll be interesting to see where this story goes.

The main story just doesn’t cut it though. The demon from space is a ridiculous idea, it’s not clear by the end what it’s been trying to do, and the revelation about the recurring doctor character, Ben, is expected, confusing and potentially unnecessary. I do like the mystery being retained about how Glory and the other supporting characters inter-relate, but it’s time for at least a little explanation.

Speaking of which, Riley. His actions over the last few episodes have been puzzling, and I’m still not clear what he’s trying to prove, why no-one’s noticed the bite marks on him and how the military fit into his life. He seems to still have some connection, but it’s not clear what. All it provides is a grotesque, unexpected and highly unpleasant scene at the start of the episode, but that’s it. Spike’s involvement is likewise limited, but his connection with Buffy is fascinating to watch as he comes close to rediscovering his humanity. There’s some interesting material here, but a series of scenes with little linking story, where the main threat seems written in as an afterthought, just isn’t good.

**

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