You Were Myth-taken

Episode 4.12: A New Man. Original Airdate 1.25.00

"Ethan Rayne returns to town and transforms Giles into a demon. Spike is the only one who can help."

Zelda's Thoughts:

• Anyaaaaaaaaa. "Please continue your story" and that proud smile at Xander.
• "I've seen the library. It's gone downhill since you left." Good parent banter, Riley. "So you're retired?" Less good parent banter, Riley.
• I don't quite buy Buffy worshipping Professor Walsh or calling her the smartest person she's ever met, much less to Giles's face. It feels like a forced out-of-character moment, in order to facilitate Giles's emotional plot for the episode, in the same dishonest vein of The Zeppo. There are other aspects that weren't forced, that had been adequately planted, like not telling him about dating Riley or about Riley and the Initiative in general.
• "And you're what, shocked and disappointed? I'm evil."
• Heh the dick-measuring. Walsh describes Buffy as poking demons with a sharp stick, and then she completely wipes the floor with her stats over Riley's. Don't try to belittle my Buffy, Professor Walsh.
• "How many hostiles would you say you've slain?" Per our stats, 156 onscreen. BAM (well, not all of them were hers, but shhhhhh)
• I really really really like that Buffy didn't downplay her achievements, that she was honest about all her awesome heroical activities.
• "I suddenly find myself needing to know the plural of apocalypse." It's apocali. True story. NO ONE CAN TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME.
• And see Walsh throwing massive shade on Giles and his parental skills, that I believe too. She's been passive aggressive like this from her first episode, as well as passing judgement without adequate knowledge. Of course she would treat Giles like this.
• "Of course. How wrong of me to choose my own words."
• WOW seriously Walsh you decided she lacked an adequate male role model? How ... 50s of you? Like seriously why would she say male? Buffy's a female. It makes NO sense if you take it at face value. It make sense only if you realize her actual intention is to insult Giles.
• Aw poor Giles. This is upsetting. See Buffy? You shoulda told him.
• His real accent is even breaking through a bit, he's so upset. "Spike? Spike knew?"
• See, this stuff isn't forced. But some of Buffy's insensitive anvil-dialogue was.
• HI ETHAN HI.
• So wait. Was Ethan hiding in the shadows of the crypt for that entire conversation? The lengths chaos worshippers will go to, to achieve evil monologue time!
• 314 is harming demons? PI IS HARMING DEMONS YO. No one can take my math puns from me.
• HI DRUNK GILES.
• "I'm twice the man she is."
• "An unemployed librarian with a tendency to get knocked in the head."
• So ... Ethan turning Giles into a demon was just for kicks, right? Like .. .basically if you worship chaos, that's the only motivation you need for any hijinks. 
• Giles is a demon!
• It must have been fun for Tony Head to break all the things. Usually all the things break him.
• So I think actually the first clue (that's not just tonal) that magic=gay is that Willow doesn't immediately tell Buffy about Tara. She claims she was by herself when the rose spell went wonky. It shows that there's something she's uncomfortable talking about, especially as the rest of their conversation is about Buffy's relationship with Riley. And she hasn't been reticent about friends in the past, nor about relationships. She's not saying anything because she knows, whether she'll admit it or not, that there's something different going on here and she doesn't want to talk about it until she's figured it out.
• Poor Giles. Your English does not resemble our Earth English at the moment.
• Wait so ... let's say Giles found Xander around noon. They don't make it to Giles's apartment until 6 pm? Did they stop for afternoon tea and scones? PRIORITIES, PEOPLE.
• Spike is so amused that Giles is a demon.
• "He must undo this and then he needs a good being-killed."
• "And I'm just supposed to help you out of the evilness of my heart?"
• "Money? Oh, I like money!" And thus was spawned Spike the Capitalist. Inspired, of course, by Anya's practical questions from before. Anya, the true capitalist.
• Aw see, Buffy? You didn't communicate with Giles, and now he's afraid to communicate with you about his Fyarlness because he wants to not appear useless.
• "We have stuff ... pictures." // "We have nothing." Anya wins.
• Fyarl Giles terrorizing Maggie Walsh will never not be wonderful.

• "Two of them. English like me. But older, less attractive."
• Riley has a skeleton key that opens every door on Main Street. You mean ... Only Street?
• I love Buffy. Riley keeps trying to tell her she can't come along on a military operation and she's having none of it. Nope. This is her territory, this is her field, and this is her father figure. If anyone stands in her way, she will smash them like she smashed that door.
• See, Giles, if you had said yes to Spike's plan of telling Buffy, she wouldn't be almost killing you right now.
• And Spike smashes Giles's car in the midst of taunting the commandos. Spike, you're so inept at so many things. Delightful blustery Spike.
• "It's the stay and gloat that gets me every time."
• Oh god that shirt.

• haaaaaaaaah and Riley finally has a use. He arrested Ethan. I guess that's why we never see him again.
• "You're really strong. Like Spiderman-strong. And you're in charge. You're like, make the plan, execute the plan. No one giving you orders. I like it." This is the part of Riley I really like. I like that what he admires and loves in Buffy is her strength and independence, her leadership. When he's later feeling his inferiority in S5, it's because he's lost more of his power since he lost the juice given to him by Professor Walsh. It's the same thing driving Angel giving up being human in I Will Remember You. They both want to feel like they matter in the fight. But neither of them want to weaken Buffy in order to make themselves feel stronger. This is important and it's not mentioned enough. Riley is a doof in many many ways, but this part of him I like.
• TAH-WIST 314 is Professor Walsh's secret lab of secrets!

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Buffy and Riley making out!  I so want Marc Blucas to make an appearance on The Crazy Ones.
• It’s Buffy’s birthday! Nothing bad can happen…!
• Robin Sachs!  Ethan’s last episode. :(
• Do we really want to surprise Buffy?  I mean - haven't we learned that this is a thing that shouldn't be a thing?
• Anya!
• Anya is learning how to be human and enjoying it.
• "You’re retired? Or…working somewhere else now?"  Nice save, Riley Finn.
• Why can Spike just leave now?
• And when did Buffy decide to tell Professor Walsh about her Slayer-ness?
• "You were myth-taken."  Ha!
• Uh oh. Giles has apocalypse-coming face.
• The plural of apocalypse.  I say apocali.
• Oh wow.  The passive-aggressiveness between Walsh and Giles is awful.  It's just so uncomfortable and obvious that Walsh has absolutely no idea the extend of what Buffy's been doing the past three and a half years.
• Aww, Poor Giles.  This episode really sums up his life this season.  He needs a job…
• One of the best reveals ever of Ethan… “Oh Bugger, I thought you’d gone.”
• Buffy/Riley sparring.  Kinda hot.  Not sorry.
• I love drunk Giles!  His real accent comes out a bit when he’s drunk.

I'd like to see this show.

• Oh hey Tara! So that's where Willow's been running off to.
• Why you being so secretive about your activities last night Willow? Huh, Willow? [Just let it be - Scott Hope]
• “I sorta kicked him across the room last night.” “That’s not good.” Aly has such good delivery.
• This episode has a lot of comedy but it's also pretty sad.  I so want Giles to find his place soon.
• Spike has no belongings. But he has a tape measure?
• Anthony Head is trying so hard to talk with all the prosthesis and it’s mostly working.
• Giles scaring the hell out of Walsh is so awesome.
• “Why would a demon steal a car?”//”Why would a demon steal that car?”  HA! They’re really finding Anya’s voice.
• That’s a pretty huge hotel room.  Almost as big as the really huge dorm room.  Set builders like size...
• Those message boards from Hush would really have come in handy right about now.
• Nice shirt, Ripper.
• “Excuse me, if you don’t mind. I’m…[going to find an excuse to leave you two alone so that you can talk.]” 

Crossfire!

Z: WAIT NO YOU STOLE MY JOKE. APOCALI IS MY JOKE. I MADE UP THAT WORD. SHENANIGANS, SIR.
D: lol, I thought I made up that joke.
Z: No.
D: And I didn't think it was a joke.
Z: I totally made up that joke. I've just been saying it for years.

Favorite Lines:

Daniel: "You were Myth-taken"  - Buffy.  Her delivery is so cute...like she knows how dorky her pun is but she doesn't care.

Zelda: "Uh oh. You have but-face. [Giles looks appalled] You look like you're gonna say 'but.'" - Buffy, my hero

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Recurring: Ethan Rayne (final appearance), Walsh, Tara, Anya.
• And Giles is the last to know about Riley and the Initiative
• Ethan tells Giles that something's harming demons. Something called 314. This ends up being the number on the door of a secret lab in the Initiative.
• Spike had a couple of Fyarl demons working for him once. Sure.

Stats:

Anya's Hair - short, honey colored

Dead Humans - 0

Dead Undeads - 0

Giles Unconscious - 0

Giles Cleans His Glasses - 1

Giles Breaks a Door - 2

Buffy Breaks a Door - 1

Evil Reveal - 0

Unevil Reveal - 0

Shenanigans Called - 0

Apocalypse Called - 0