Buffy: Doppelgangland

Buffy: "So you want to go out tonight?"
Willow: "Strangely, I feel like staying at home. And doing my homework. And flossing. And dying a virgin."

Evil double plots are done to death, but they can be marvelous when they're done well. And this one was done exceptionally well. It was very clever and very funny, with one liners coming thick and fast and everyone wonderfully in character. Alyson Hannigan again did a superb job as Willow, vamp Willow, and Willow playing vamp Willow.

It's interesting that Willow does have something of a bad girl within. She resented being boring old reliable and wanted to be sexy. But perhaps not that sexy. What was really freaky was vamp Willow wanting to have sex with herself. Now, where did that come from? The vampire personality isn't a reflection of the real person, now, is it?

There were so many scenes I just loved in this episode:

-- Willow saying to Snyder, "You want us to breed?"

-- Xander pointing the cross at real Willow, and then shaking it to make it work.

-- Real Willow in very tight leather, breaking character to wave at Oz.

-- Angel's scene in the library. "Something's happened. Willow's dead. Hey, Willow... wait a second." This scene is a big favorite of mine.

And they brought back Anya from "The Wish," and she was absolutely hilarious. "I'm eleven hundred and twenty years old! Give me a freaking beer!"

Faith made a sexual overture to the Mayor, which wasn't surprising. But interestingly enough, the Mayor made it clear that their relationship was definitely in the father/daughter range, making sort of a dark parallel to Giles and Buffy. I'm starting to lean toward the "Faith must die" contingent. She sold out Buffy for a Play Station and a Sealy Posturepedic?

Bits and pieces:

-- Why did they leave alt.Willow alone in the cage? They never leave Oz alone in the cage. It made for a fun Cordelia scene, but still. And speaking of Cordelia, she seems to have moved on to Wesley. They sort of make a revoltingly cute couple.

-- Willow floated a pencil.

-- So Willow is still a virgin? Barry White didn't work, I guess.

-- In this week's hair report, Oz was back and had pitch black hair.

-- Obligatory dog reference: Old Yeller.

Quotes:

Anya: "For a thousand years I wielded the powers of The Wish. I brought ruin to the heads of unfaithful men. I brought forth destruction and chaos for the pleasure of the lower beings. I was feared and worshipped across the mortal globe. And now I'm stuck at Sunnydale High, mortal. A child. And I'm flunking math."

Willow: "Competition is natural and healthy. Plus, you'll definitely ace her on the psych tests. Just don't mark the box that says, 'I sometimes like to kill people'."
Buffy: "I know Faith's not gonna be on the cover of Sanity Fair, but... she had it rough. Different circumstances, that could be me."

Snyder: "You've got the brains, he's got the fast break. It's a perfect match."
Willow: "Match? You want us to breed?"

Buffy: "So he threatened you? With what?"
Willow: "Well, it wasn't exactly anything he said. It was all in his eyes. I mean, there was some nostril work as well, but mostly eyes."

Willow: "No, it's fine. I'm 'Old Reliable'."
Xander: "She just means, you know, the geyser. You're like a geyser of fun that goes off at regular intervals."
Willow: "That's Old Faithful."
Xander: "Isn't that the dog that, that the guy had to shoot..."
Willow: "That's Old Yeller."

Willow: "Okay, that's a little blacker than I like my arts."

Anya: "I swear, I am just trying to find my necklace."
Willow: "Well, did you try looking inside the sofa in Hell?"

Giles: "She was truly the finest of all of us."
Xander: "Way better than me."
Giles: "Much, much better."

Willow: "It's really nice that you guys missed me. Say, you all didn't happen to do a bunch of drugs, did ya?"
Xander: "Will, we saw you at the Bronze. A vampire."
Willow: (indignant) "I'm not a vampire."
Buffy: "You are. I mean, you, you were. Giles, planning on jumping in with an explanation any time soon?"
Giles: "Well, uh... something... something, um, very strange is happening."
Xander: "Can you believe the Watcher's Council let this guy go?"

Bartender: "I.D."
Anya: "I'm eleven hundred and twenty years old! Just gimme a friggin' beer!"
Bartender: "I.D."
Anya: (sighs) "Gimme a Coke."
Devon: "Man, we need a roadie. Other bands have roadies."
Oz: "Well, other bands know more than three chords. Your professional bands can play up to six, sometimes seven completely different chords."
Devon: "That's just, like, fruity jazz bands."

Buffy: "It was exactly you, Will, every detail. Except for your not being a dominatrix. As far as we know."
Willow: "Oh, right. Me and Oz play Mistress of Pain every night."
(silence)
Xander: "Did anyone else just go to a scary visual place?"

Evil Willow: "Wanna be bad?"
Willow: "This just can't get more disturbing."

Willow: "That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil and skanky. And I think I'm kinda gay."
Buffy: "Willow, just remember, a vampire's personality has nothing to do with the person it was."
Angel: "Well, actually... that's a good point."

Four out of four stakes,

Billie