I Only Have Eyes For You

I Only Have Eyes For You Warning: If you SPOILERS will haunt you until you can be at peace, I recommend turning back now. There's more than a ghost of chance they are just ahead for the latest epsisode of Buffy, "I Only Have Eyes For You."

In short: The perfect cure for BWS (Buffy Withdrawal Syndrome).

I'll be honest up front. I really, really enjoyed IOHEFY. And to be honest, while it was a strong episode (and a definite improvement on the last new episode we got, which was the horrific "Killed by Death"), I am not sure how much of the pleasure I got out of watching it was due to the fact that it was so strong but also the fact that it's been two monthes since I saw new Buffy and I was just so darn happy to have it back.

But, what a way to bring it back.

Overall, it was one of the stronger ensemble efforts this year. I like the fact that the story had major impact on several of the characters lives and growth and along the way gave each character a moment to shine. I especially loved the return of Funny!Xander (tm). Don't get me wrong--Xander usually cracks me up no matter what. But Xander here felt more like the Xander of old with his wisecracks and sarcastic sayings be genuinely witty and in synch with the overall story rather than funny little quips that were added on so Xander has his funny moment in the sun. Hoenstly, I like that Xander a lot better and hope we get to see more of him in the upcoming episodes.

Willow was also given a few moments to shine. And I've got to say that while I generally praise the rest of the cast, I often neglect to offer praise to Allyson Hannigan. Her performances are always first rate and she always shows up to give us excellent moments as Willow. It's just at times she can get overshadowed by all of the other great performances on the show. Not so here. She really stuck out last night--in her scenes teaching, her scenes offering advice to Buffy, and the scenes with Giles. Hannigan had a quiet but very noticeable presence in the show and it worked so well. Often times I tend to overlook Willow in favor of the rest of the Scooby gang, but last night she really came through.

About the only major Scooby gang character given the short end of the stick on the old character development scene was Cordy. Yes, she was there, but she didn't add much. Indeed, at times I wondered if she was only included because the ritual to exorcise the ghost required four people and with Giles out of action, Cordy was the next logical choice. (It could have just as easily been Oz, but it wasn't). The only thing Cordy really added was the great line about everyone dying in "The Exorcist." I love that reference.

And while each of these characters were given a moment to shine, the real focus was Buffy and Giles. And I've got to say that it's playing to your strengths.

I am, quite honestly, just eccstatic that Joss is allowing the consequences of storylines introduced on the show to be played out. First, let's start with Giles.

It could be easy enough to see him move on and not acknowledge his grief at the loss of Ms. Calendar. Heaven knows enough shows have had major plot changing elements like this introduced and then backed away from them. Not so here. Giles' obsession with the fact that it must be Jenny trying to contact them, despite blinding evidence to the contrary is wonderful. And Anthony Stewart Head's perfomrmance as Giles last night really showed that. His stuttering and arguemenative nature was well done. And I like the way he came to realize the truth when Willow points out that Jenny couldn't be this mean. A wonderful quiet moment.

As for Buffy, I like that she's still really hurt by what has happened between her and Angel. It's not somethng she's going to get over overnight and I like that way we see her going through stages. Last night was major denial and repressed anger coming up. I think we are on the way to seeing her forgive herself and Angel for what's happened between them. Not that I don't think she's not gonna try and slay him (quite frankly, Angel deserves it!), but I think that once she is able to put aside these feelings the job will become easier for her.

I liked the way the situations that Giles and Buffy are facing paraleled the story of the doomed lovers from 1955. To be honest, when I heard this was the plotline, I rolled my eyes, thinking we had just seen it on Dawson's Creek (yes, I watch it!) a few weeks back. But whereas Dawson left me wanting to run screaming from the room when that plotline came on screen, here it worked better. It could be that we only got a small snippet of what happened and didn't have to endure the weeks of development and denial we did on Dawson. Or it could have been that we had an outlet into understading the characters in the 50's better because what they faced was so similar to what Giles and Buffy were going through. For whatever reason, I liked it.

So, overall, it's a good episode. And it really played up a lot fo the show major strenghts. And it did a good job of setting up some things for the season finale, I think. A few balls were put into play that I think we'll see more of soon.

One of the biggest being Healed!Spike (tm). I honestly didn't see that one coming and it was a nice suprise and a great way to end since it left me wanting more. I really hope that Spike makes it to next season. He's just too cool to kill off.

Dru, on the other hand, is just getting annoying...

Well, that's about it for now, except for a few small things.

--Did anyone else keep wanting to shout "Look between the desks!" when Giles and Willow were talking in Jenny's classroom. That yellow disk has got show up again soon!

--So, Principle Synder knows about the Hellmouth, eh? Which begs the question of why he was assigned to be principle there. Please don't leave me hanging on this question. I honestly think it was one of the more intersting insights we had last night into a character.

--I loved the effect of the gun rippled out of existence. A very nice visual. In fact, the direction of the episode overall was quite striking.

So, the wrap it all up, a good return. A definite keeper and one that's erased the bad taste of Killed By Death from my mouth. Let's hope we get three more solid eps before we bid Buffy farwell for the summer...

Rating: 8.5 (out of 10.0)

Next up: Don't go near the water! (BTW, did anyone think this ep looked a lot like the X-Files episode, "The Host" when you saw it?)

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