Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves

"Him," the episode we watched in class on Tuesday follows Dawn, Buffy, and the Gang as each female member is struck in turn by a love spell. Within a matter a hours, the group is divided and in danger due to the effects of a high school letterman's jacket. In the end, however, Buffy is able to shake off the spell when someone she loves is in peril. This foreshadows the events that follow in the episodes we watched for Thursday.

In "Conversations With Dead People," the Scoobies are visited separately by disconcerting figures, some of whom are sent by the nefarious First. While Willow and Dawn are both tormented by apparitions who know their deepest thoughts and secrets, Buffy encounters a newbie vamp named Webs whom she knew in high school. Though they are all disturbed by their individual experiences, it is Buffy who takes charge. She slays Webs and realizes that she must find out whether Spike is biting again. Buffy's role is about to change from Mother to General, and her ability to adapt to quickly changing circumstances is about to be tested beyond a blast-from-the-past vamp and a few ghostly baddies.

Buffy's transformation from Mother-Guidance Counselor-Slayer to Commander-in-Chief of the Potentials Army becomes complete in "Showtime." In a moment reminiscent of great motivating pre-battle movie speeches, Buffy rouses her gang of misfit future Slayers by promising that while hell may swallow them up, it would choke on her. When Buffy kills the Uber-Vamp in front of the Potentials, she takes a huge step not only in allaying their fears, but in establishing herself as the leader. It is hard to imagine the old Buffy putting her powers on display as she does in Xander's construction site. Apparently the days of secrecy are over. Also crucial to Buffy's new position as Chief-Slayer-In-Charge is complete unity with her closest confidants, Willow and Xander. They are so united, in fact, that they create their plan to defeat the Uber-Vamp in front of the potentials...in front of the potentials. Using Willow's abilities, they literally become "of one mind." If Buffy is going to be the teacher of the Potentials, she must first establish her credibility and authority, which she does with her Uber-Vamp exhibition. It seems that her time mentoring Dawn and the Sunnydale High School kids was merely a warm-up for the tutoring job she is now undertaking.

Side Note: Am I the only person who laughed hysterically at the Thunderdome references?