There's a very strange girl in Sunnydale who walks stiffly, speaks oddly and is looking for Warren. While the Scooby Gang instantly peg her as a robot, they must find out what she wants Warren for and if she's a danger to other humans.

It's good for a series to know its past history, and, like Buffy and the gang, every viewer knows that April is a robot pretty much from the first time she appears. The way everyone just passes it off as another day, another robot is superb, especially with Xander's response to the rather well built new woman in Sunnydale which gets him evil looks from the girls and makes him wish Oz were still around: "He wouldn't have said anything, but he'd have understood". Willow's reaction to her is also good fun, made better by Tara's looks at her.

Of course, Warren's girlfriend situation – that he had to construct one to get the perfect woman – hits a little close to home for Buffy in particular, who is still finding troubles getting past her inability to attract the right guy. Once more, Xander proves himself to be a great friend to the Slayer in some nicely written scenes. Spike gets treated typically badly once again, and his attempts to get close to Buffy are laudable yet laughable until the end when he hits on a decidedly worrying new plan. His confrontation with a particularly tough and threatening Giles, something we haven't seen in a long time, is incredibly strong.

Meanwhile, the Glory plot is going on in the background as Ben makes a pass at Buffy and Buffy decides she doesn't need a man in her life at last. The seemingly interchangeable link between Glory and her brother is still puzzling when they appear in each other's clothes, but it keeps things ticking over. And then there's a surprising, shocking and devastating ending to lead into next week's events. Superb.

*****

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