Well This is Just...Neat

Episode 2.6: Halloween. Original Airdate 10.27.97

"On Halloween, Buffy and her friends patronize an unusual costume shop where customers turn into whatever costume they are wearing."

Zelda's Thoughts:

• OH THANK GOD A GOOD EPISODE.
• Ahahaha throwing a gord at the vampire, then a pumpkin = Zelda laughs. I do love me some slapstick.
• Again, why does Snyder want a juvenile delinquent watching children? What is his deal? This could backfire horribly on him.
• Hi Larry! Who woulda thought you would get used so much on the show after this episode?
• "A black eye heals, Buffy, but cowardice has an unlimited shelf life."

• Buffy and Willow planning to steal Giles's journals is so freaking adorable I could die. "Most importantly, it would be wrong."
• Also I LOVE Willow's face in the window ======>
• "Do you stuff your own shirts, or do you send them out?"
• I love this episode. So cute and funny. UNLIKE FRIKKING REPTILE BOY.
• Aww Buffy wanting to be a princess. Very sweet.
• "Still, I think I'd prefer being able to vote."
• "You're never gonna get noticed if you keep hiding!" = Willow's valuable lesson of the week. Of course, Oz noticed her anyway, so ... that kinda disproves that theory.
• More evidence that Spike is a modern vampire = having his minions videotape Buffy. Also more evidence that Spike is a stalker.
• "Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see?" Dru's and Buffy's insecurities are the same.
• ...Xander has a toy gun in a public school. Xander gets expelled?
• "Is mister I'm-the-lead-singer-I'm-so-great-I-don't-have-to-show-up-for-my-date-or-even-call gonna be there?" // "Yeah, you know, he's just going by Devon now."
• ZOMG THE CHILD'S A DEMON. Yay. I love this show:

Child or little person in make-up?  You decide.

• Xander's onscreen gunswap was pretty well done.
• Hah. Buffy faints.
• "She's not Buffy." // "Who's Buffy?" // "Oh, this is fun."
• Man, I love so many things about this episode. But SMG's attempt at an accent is not one of them.
• I love it. The dialogue is so sharp in this episode.
• "Mrs. Summers? Good, she's gone." Of course she's gone. Joyce is never home. [Worst. Mom. Ever. -Blog Gods]
• Methinks this is the start of Cordelia having a thing for Xander.
• "Well, this is just ... neat." I love you Spike.
• Yay it's the Buffy/Xander/Willow picture again!
• "I'm just meant to look pretty, and then someone nice will marry me. Probably a Baron." It's kind of cute because she's not exactly what a noblewoman of the time would be like, but she's exactly like what Buffy was imagining a girl like that would be like (a princess with no responsibilities) without fully examining the scope of it.
• So...the vamp who gets into the house is clearly not a real vamp because otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get in without an invite. I hope Angel didn't kill him.
• OMG Giles's reaction to Willow walking through the wall:

Thanks V for this gif.  Read Coincidence & Leprechauns.  Link is =====>

• "I'm a ghost!" // "The ghost of what, exactly?"
• Spike already has new minions ... tiny demon children. Boy works fast.
• "Hello Ripper." GASP GASP GASP
• "It's strange, but ... beating up that pirate gave me a weird sense of closure." d'aww.
• And Angel carries Princess Buffy, because she is utterly useless. And in this episode I gain a tiny bit of respect for Angel, because he's so clearly annoyed at what a useless doily she is.
• OMG Giles is a badass and beating the snot out of Ethan eeeeeeeeeee. I guess he is a good sparring partner ... just maybe not against a supernaturally strong slayerperson. Then he calmly cleans his hands with his handkerchief. Of course he STILL won't clean his freaking glasses, but I guess we can't have everything.
• Big props to the whole cast btw for this episode - good work and range all around (accent notwithstanding).
• Yay! Buffy's back.
• "You know what? It's good to be me." We all learned that lesson, yes?
• And Spike runs away again. He's really good at that. Now he'll live to snark another day.
• So this time everyone remembers what happened during magic fun time ... how will this get explained to the entire freaking town?
• Aw and yay, Willow's got her swagger.
• Not a shenanigan - Oz is driving a European van and they haven't moved the steering wheel over yet.
•  "Who IS that girl?" THEIRLOVEISSOTRUE
• Shenanigans! "I hated the girls back then, especially the noblewomen." Yeah, that's just because you were such a drunken lout, they wouldn't give you the time of day. He says he wanted someone "interesting." That's not you, Buffy. That was Darla.
• "Be seeing you." Yay! More Ethan to come!

Daniel's Thoughts:

• I think this might be the first time I've noticed that the majority of vamps Buffy fights in the opening sequences are men.  Actually I think they all might be men. Odd, that.
• I like that Cordy & Angel actually at least somewhat get along, preparing for his spin-off. [Ew. - Z]
• I love love love Willow & mischievous plan to get the watcher's diary.
• Shenanigans!  "Who is she?"//"It doesn't say":

Umm...does so.  It's Sarah...something

• I love that Cordy still doesn't know that Angel is a vampire.
• Cordy: "When it comes to dating, I'm the Slayer."
• "You're a cat"//"That's just my costume" Hee.
• I had the same note as Zelda - it seems like this is the first time Cordelia shows a bit of interest in Xander.  I think it's the gun.  Chicks dig guys with big...guns.
• Such great dialogue in this episode and the actors sell it.  Really good back & forth.
• It's Ethan Rayne!  Star of "Chaos Bleeds", an awesome Buffy video game.
• Shenanigans! When Giles tells Willow to leave, after a few seconds you hear a door open and close.  This is awful on so many levels.  Someone in some meeting made sure to say they had to add a sound effect and no one at all thought this was a mistake since Willow is a freaking ghost??
• I love the "Be Seeing You" note that Ethan leaves for Giles: An obvious reference to the cult series The Prisoner, a surreal British series that paved the way for shows like Buffy.

Well played, writers.  Well played.

Crossfire!

Daniel: We need a crossfire.

Zelda:  But we agree on everything.

Daniel:  But we need a crossfire.

Zelda:  No, we don't.

Favorite Lines:

Zelda;  "It's not a demon, it's a car." // "What does it want." // "Is this woman insane?" - Willow/Buffy/Xander
Daniel: "She couldn't have dressed up like Xena?" ~Willow

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Cordy's dating Devon again.
• Larry's first appearance! Not yet gay.
• Halloween is supposed to be quiet time for vampires. This is rarely actually true in Sunnydale.
• Cordelia still doesn't know Angel's a vampire. Even after they tell her he's one. Several times.
• Ethan Rayne's first appearance.
• Giles's nickname is Ripper. BECAUSE HE USED TO BE ALL DARK AND STUFF AND WAS FRIENDS WITH ETHAN RAYNE.
• Drusilla has prophetic visions.

Stats:

Voiceover - Giles

Dead Humans - 0

Dead Undeads - 1

Giles Unconscious - 0

Giles Cleans His Glasses - 0

Buffy Breaks a Door - 0

Evil Reveal - 1 (Ethan)

Unevil Reveal - 0

Shenanigans Called - 3

Apocalypse Called - 0