Overall Rating: 8.9
Two very nice misdirection tricks give the episode a very creepy feel that resolves with a weighty, and yet heart-warming scene and sets up the entire season beautifully.
Plot Synopsis:
The full summary can be found at BuffyGuide.com.
The Skinny:
The key moment that takes this show from "solid plot-mover" to near-feature status is the last scene, during which Buffy commits to defending Dawn. When she learns that Dawn is not, in truth, supposed to be there...that her memories are invented...Buffy's first impulse to wish for that spell to be undone. But when she actually SEES Dawn...sees how hurt she is after their altercation during Buffy's spell-revealing trance...she realizes that, real or not, this is still her sister. The big commitment happens when Buffy, frustrated that Dawn won't forgive her, recalls something from that invented past and stops short. Whether it happened or not, it's real to both of them...as is their sisterly bond.
We'll learn, later, when Buffy questions whether she is capable of loving someone after her break-up with Riley, that she burns with it...her love is brighter than all the fire in creation...and that this is what makes her special (relative to other Slayers who lived in solitude and hunted on instinct). But it is obvious to everyone except Buffy herself by now...and it's scenes like this reconciliation between Buffy and Dawn that have painted that picture.
Writing: 9.0
This one carries forward a lot of running plot threads from earlier episodes well, but at the same time sets up the ultimate villain for Buffy and one of the best Buffy-centered stories you'll ever see...impressive to do all of that in 45 minutes.
Acting: 8.7
I do have to say that Clare Kramer was a tad too "big" in this one...her insanity trip was...well...I guess the right word would be hammy. She does it much better in future episodes and pulls off a real fear factor that is a bit off in this episode.
Message: 9.0
This one has two messages woven into the story-telling fabric. Firstly - that with all of Buffy's power...she's still human and there are still things she cannot fight - brain cancer for one (which we'll find out later, but the illness is obvious)...and Buffy was probably too eager to HOPE that her mother was being attacked by something she could fight. And secondly, that her responsibility to Dawn is not attached to some arbitrary truth of events before the magic that created her...but to the higher truth that all life is sacred - especially the innocent.
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