When a new monster arrives in Sunnydale, Buffy and friends have only one person they can turn to: Jonathan.
This simple premise works like a charm. With doctored opening credits reflecting Jonathan's new James Bond-style air of cool, it's big laughs all the way. There are posters of him, he's on talk shows, he even starred in The Matrix.
The whole episode is a testament to the abilities of Danny Strong. As a supporting character, he was always around and good for occasional fun until Earshot showed there was a lot more to him. But it's here that Strong's abilities really come out as he plays the suave, sophisticated hero with ease, giving Sarah Michelle Gellar a good run for her money as star of the show. There are even moments when you start to hope that this is going to be the set-up from now on. When he reverts to the geeky version of Jonathan at the end, it seems a terrible shame. Hopefully he'll pop up again sometime, maybe even as an occasional member of the Scooby Gang.
The only aspect that lets the side down is the plotting. In the beginning, it's fast-paced and action-orientated all the way, but towards the middle it slows down considerably as Buffy and company try to figure out why things just don't hold true. The monster itself, if is is meant to be the embodiment of all that is evil, it doesn't look like it; it just looks like a cross between a couple of other Buffy monsters. It all builds to a simple but nicely-played climax, but it's a shame there isn't more inbetween.
Having said this, there are plenty of laugh out loud moments with Jonathan and the reactions he gets from the others, and there's a ton of visual gags as well. On top of this, Adam is given a long-needed air of added creepiness when he reveals that his senses are so heightened that he can tell reality has been altered and we learn that he can't be killed without being totally obliterated. What we could have done with is to see him try various plans over the whole season rather than turning up so late into it. I await future developments with interest...
****
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