The Good

The Not-So-Good

Danny Strong (as recurring character Jonathan) steps into the spotlight in a serious way, and does a damn good job of it.

Danny Strong gets more screen time in one episode than Nicholas Brendon (Xander) has had all season. Grrr.

Writer Jane Espenson injects the episode with more than a little campy '50's comic-style fun, complete with a Lex Luthor-y Spike (who constantly calls Buffy "Betty") and frighteningly suave Wonder-Jonathan.

Writer Jane Espenson is evil. I mean, I love her, but she's evil. Just look at the things she puts me through. I could've ruptured something from all that laughing.

The hilarious title sequence replaced a number of the regular scenes with shots of Jonathan looking like the bastard lovechild of Batman, Superman, and everyman.

Casual viewers were probably more than a little confused, not just by the titles but by the episode in general. But who cares about them, anyway? They need some devotion, man.

Spike. Spike was there. And he was all sneering-villain-y, too, just like in the good ol' days. He also had a sexy exchange with Buffy (thankyougod).

Spike and Buffy did not shag. This is a concern of mine that I think needs to be addressed immediately, and remedied with a lot of sex for Buffy and Spike. Together. Now, please.

Marc Blucas lounges around for an entire scene without his shirt. There is no apparent reason for this. Maybe wardrobe "forgot" that Marc's supposed to wear clothes.

Though I've pondered the matter considerably, I can't find a down side to that one.

Jonathan performs a spell to make himself a superstar. Hilarity ensues.

The whole "we did it with magic" trick is getting a little tired. If it's all that easy to change the entire world with one spell, then let's do a "remove all vampires who aren't super hot from the world" spell, shall we?

Jonathan is not just suddenly popular, but he's like... he's like... a Backstreet Boy. Only cooler.

It's the ultimate Mary Sue fantasy, in technicolor. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but it contains the phrase "Mary Sue" so I put it in the bad column.

To conclude, the world is returned to normal, Jonathan's just a geek again only less popular (if that's possible) because those who still retain some memory of events hate him for screwing up the world. Oh, and his identical-twin girlfriends moved out. Awwww.

The ending is a little too "here's the moral"-y, but I suppose that fits well enough with the '50's-ish theme. But Buffy... for god's sake, would you invite the guy to have lunch with you and your friends? Yeesh. Even I would do that, and I'm an anti-social loser.

The episode overall is a fun romp in an alternate world that begs you not to overanalyze the experience.

I can't help but overanalyze. A lot of stuff didn't make sense here, and there were more than a few unanswered questions that make me want to nitpick. Attempting to resist the urge to analyze may cause some twitching and shifty eye movement.