Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"Out Of My Mind"

Airdate: October 17, 2000

And here you thought we were rid of all that Initiative nonsense. In this episode it comes back to haunt us, and poor Riley in particular; the experiments conducted on the boy from Iowa have given him some super-strength and a messed up metabolism. Essentially, he's a ticking timebomb on his way to massive heart attack, but he doesn't want the government screwing around with his insides anymore, so he refuses the help offered by his old buddy Graham. This all leads to lots of gut-wrenching angst and a few scenes with sweaty Marc Blucas. Buffy's mom also suffers in this episode, suddenly collapsing in her kitchen and ending up in the hospital, where the doctors can't really determine what's wrong with her.

But more importantly, it all leads to Spike. Lots and lots of glorious Spike-ness. He's got a new houseguest (or cryptguest) in the form of Harmony, whose self-centered world view leads her to believe that she's Buffy's archnemesis and the Slayer is after her. She hides out at Spike's place while he obviously intends to take advantage of the situation to let off a little sexual steam. When Buffy isn't able to get Riley to cooperate and go to the hospital to be operated on, Riley takes off and hides in the caves below and around the Initiative. Figuring the nobody knows those caves better than Spike, Buffy pays the vamp a visit; she'll pay him to search the caves for Riley and bring him safely back to the hospital.

But she couldn't have honestly thought it would be that easy. Armed with information, Spike isn't very interested in helping Riley, or the money Buffy offers. Rather, he sees a chance to get the chip taken out of his head by one of the guys who put it in there. He and Harmony (who's still perfectly capable of killing people, though she's not exactly skilled at it) head to the hospital, where they kidnap Riley's doctor for a little emergency surgery. Buffy ends up finding Riley herself, but when they show up at the hospital they find Graham and a guard out cold, and the doctor kidnapped.

The surgery seems to have been a success, despite the doctor's doubts that he could perform it at all. Buffy and Riley bust in, ready to kick Spike's ass, but he and Harm are on the offensive now that Spike's capable of killing again. Spike attacks Buffy, finally ready to be rid of her, but when he tries to bite her, the chip activates in his head: the doctor faked its removal. Spike and Harmony are saved by Riley's sudden collapse; Buffy's attention is diverted, as is the doctor's, and the two vampires slip out into the night, very unhappy. Riley's released from the hospital, and as an extra bonus for the Blucas fans, he's even half-naked.

Probably the most notable aspect of this episode is what seems to be Spike's slide into... well, maybe not madness, but certainly wackydom. He rants to Harmony that the Slayer's haunting him and turns up wherever he goes, which really isn't very true; she seems to avoid him more than anything. Later, he dreams that Buffy comes to his crypt to kill him... and they end up locked in a passionate embrace instead. The dream seems to horrify poor Spike, but obviously there's something more going on here than there first appears, and this strange turn will definitely be explored in future episodes.

James Marsters puts forth a particularly excellent and energetic performance in this episode, finally being given some room to play after more than a season of being incredibly underused. And I never thought I'd say it, but it was nice to see Harmony again; she's shaping up as a pretty funny villain, and her interactions with Spike never fail to amuse. Though Sarah Michelle Gellar and Marc Blucas do put forth a nice effort, their scenes together only remind me of previous angst-fests between Buffy and Angel, so there's nothing really new there, and the effect is almost disconcerting. When Buffy gets that emotional, I expect her to be talking to the tall, dark and brooding type. Still, "Out Of My Mind" delivers entertainment galore, and a return -- however brief -- to the same sort of Spike that many of us miss from season two. His newfound feelings for Buffy should prove interesting in future episodes. Did I mention that he rips off his shirt? Now that's entertainment.

-- Lisa Kincaid

Buffy the Vampire Slayer airs at 8/7c, Tuesdays on the WB.

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