Having trouble coping with the sheer tedium of her life, Buffy is surprised when Riley Finn drops into the Doublemeat Palace and asks for her help in tracking a demon. Dropping everything, Buffy discovers that things have changed between them, but is it for the better?

Oh God, I can't say how much I was dreading Riley coming back ever, and more so once I knew it was coming. It's tempting to say it doesn't disappoint, and to be honest it doesn't: this episode is just as bad as I'd imagined. Marc Blucas is as dull as ever, instilling little to get excited about into Riley, although somehow I found him a little more interesting to watch them in most of his past episodes. Maybe it's the greater concentration on his James Bond super-agent status that I quite liked rather than his dull, sappy personality, such as it is.

Now, a reunion with Riley in Buffy's currently confused state would have just about worked, but we have another problem: Riley has got married. Firstly the timeframe doesn't work anyway; it's mentioned Riley has been away for a year, only for his wife to say it took a year for him to get over Buffy. What, so he has in the last 10 minutes? Sam Finn is actually rather a good character; she's tough, she's fun, she's attractive, and frankly it's impossible to work out what the hell she's doing with Riley as there's no really any chemistry between them.

The demon Buffy is asked to help fight is not only another of the show's infrequent but appalling rubber monster creations but also little threat. Okay, so the mini-demons it spawns are a little better judged, but since when can you wipe out a demon infestation problem with one hand grenade?

Spike's involvement is good to see as a reminder that he's still not exactly good, but even this seems to become a minor story point and even Buffy doesn't really noticeably care about what he's been up to. The ending, where Buffy tells him it's really over is probably the only well-observed scene in the thing, and there are suggestions on the Net that this could be Halfrek disguised as Buffy for some reason. While this would be an interesting twist, I hope it's not the case, if only because here we see a finally more confident Buffy and the way she calls Spike William is rather touching.

And last but not least we have the ongoing traumas of Xander and Anya's wedding. Do we really need all this any more? It's not going anywhere and it's just filling screen time with a load of unnecessary rubbish. I mean, this time we don't even see the demons or Xander's relatives that have been invited. Will we see anyone in the wedding episode next or is that too much to ask?

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