Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"New Moon Rising"

Airdate: May 3, 2000

I have this thing about werewolves. It's a semi-sick obsession, and if I were just a little more geeky, I'd probably send my Friday nights playing Werewolf: The Apocalypse in somebody's basement. So I really can't help that I have a soft spot for Oz; aside from being played by the eternally delightful Seth Green and just being an overall cool character, Oz occasionally turns into a wolf-type thing and runs around trying to kill people. He's not very good at the killing part, mostly, but you wouldn't be either if you were just a guy in a really furry suit.

So of course there was great rejoicing in my house when Oz appeared again. I jumped up and let out a loud "Woohoo!" My dog jumped up and barked. As it turned out, the dog just needed to go outside, but for a moment there I thought maybe he was an Oz fan, too.

When Oz returns to town in "New Moon Rising", he probably couldn't have picked a worse time: Willow's finally getting her life together and things are progressing nicely with her and Tara, and the Initiative is still operating in Sunnydale, very much a threat even to the warm fuzzy killer animals like Oz. When Oz turns up at the end of a Scooby meeting, he wants to talk to Willow, who's suddenly very conflicted. Tara takes off, and later that night Oz and Willow have their serious talk: under the full moon. Oz has been all over the world, and he's finally found ways to control the beast inside him.

Of course, all can't end well. When Oz discovers that Willow and Tara are getting involved, he loses control; the wolf comes out in broad daylight and chases Tara around campus, until he's dragged away by Initiative soldiers. Tara tries to tell Riley that the wolf is Oz, but none of the soldiers listen, and instead Tara ends up running to tell Willow what's happened, and she goes to get Buffy, and Buffy starts hatching plans to spring our little Ozzie from the clank.

Meanwhile, Adam is paying a visit to Spike's crypt, enlisting the vampire's aid to defeat the Slayer. When Adam offers to have Spike's v-chip removed, the vampire agrees to team up with the... uh... whatever Adam is, and then heads to Giles' to help the Scoobies retrieve Oz -- as part of the plan, he'll be helping the Scoobies now. Odd.

In the Initiative's underground detention center, Riley almost shoots OzWolf, but the snuggleable one suddenly turns back into JustOz. Cue dramatic music. Later, the scientists have Oz strapped down and doped up, and they're running experiments on him; Riley tries to stop them but is taken out of the room. When he later tries to sneak Oz out of the Initiative, they're caught and captured; Oz is thrown back in his holding cell, and Riley's booted into the brig, facing court-martial unless he helps the Initiative in their new war against the Slayer.

With Spike's help -- and, secretly, Adam's -- the gang breaks into the Initiative, takes the CO hostage, and frees Riley and Oz. Thereafter, they're on the lamb; Riley's wanted by all of his former friends, and everyone else is a target. Oz heads out of town again, leaving Willow to the new life she's built, because he's unable to control the wolf in her presence, and Willow heads over to Tara's to set things right between them. Willow heads over to Tara's, mending their relationship, and the lesbian subtext finally becomes less sub and more text, which some people had a problem with. So they're involved. They've been leading up to this for months, so I don't get why people are pissed now and weren't during the magical orgasmic scene weeks ago. My only real problem with Willow and Tara is that when they're together, I'm in danger of sugar shock.

Big plusses of this episode were Seth Green's great, intense performance -- we all knew he could do more than he was on previous seasons of Buffy, and finally he's given a little more range to act in. Riley displays some backbone and chooses sides once and for all, and Oz and Willow's part scene had me in tears. Again. I missed my Oz, okay?

On the down side, I could've stood a lot more Oz and a lot less Tara; the character bores me to death. Same goes with Riley. I do appreciate him shirtless and all, and I appreciate that they gave him some growth and a spine, but he's still boring and far too perfect. I'd like to see both characters get some actual development where they're defined as people more than "Willow's girlfriend" or "Buffy's soldier-boyfriend". The werewolf makeup remains as disappointing as ever and firmly reminds us that it looks much better in the nighttime; Big Gay Possum doesn't even begin to describe how silly the guy in the furry ape suit looks. I'm glad that Oz survived the encounter (I was sure they'd kill him, because they're cruel to me like that), but I wish we could see more of him; the man could carry a spin-off of his own.

"New Moon Rising" is gut-wrenching, rife with misery and broken hearts (so you know it's Buffy), and is a very strong episode to elevate a weak season. The new Oz (well, not really new, but certainly changed) is both familiar and foreign, and it's going to be all too easy to miss Green now that he's gone again.

-- Lisa Kincaid

Buffy the Vampire Slayer airs Tuesdays at 8pm EST on the WB.

We welcome your comments on The 11th Hour and this review. Please send letters to: letters@the11thhour.com

< Previous Review | Next Review >