Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"The Replacement"

Airdate: October 10, 2000

I think it may be safe to say that Jane Espenson is a Buffy fan's best friend. She's given us so many gifts over the years: Giles in a tight t-shirt, killer lunchlady, SuperJonathan, and most importantly, half-naked Spike bein' all seductive. And this time, she's giving us something truly special.

Two Xanders. Yes, that's right. Two of them.

This blessing came about when a new spiffing glow-in-the-dark demon tried to use its manly stick to attack Buffy, and ended up putting the whammy on Xander instead. His friends help him up and walk him home, but in the morning, another Xander wakes up at the site of the previous night's combat, wondering just what the hell's happened. He heads home only to find the other Xander inhabiting his basement and taking over his life. He's chagrined to find out that the other Xander -- who's a cool, suave UberXander -- lives his life better than he does. He goes to Buffy for help, but she's convinced that he's a demon duplicate rather than his smooth counterpart, so he rejects that option and goes to Willow instead. The more pitiful Xander finally ends up confronting his other self to protect Anya, but the rest of the Scoobies have discovered the truth: neither Xander is a demon. Rather, the demon's weapon split one Xander into two: one with all of the original's good qualities, and the other with the bad. The result is one Xander who is cool and confident, and another who's blundering and insecure. Willow and Giles put Xander back together again, and he's seeing life a bit differently.

I don't know if I'm prepared to say that this is the superior, be-all end-all of Xander episodes. "The Zeppo" still throws me into fits of Xander-loving frenzy. But this is certainly an equally strong entry, and it's nice after a mostly Xander-deprived fourth season to finally see another episode focused exclusively on the Xandman. Nicholas Brendon delivers a wonderful performance as the widely different sides of his character, and he's backed up by nice contributions from the rest of the cast, especially Emma Caulfield.

Also putting in an appearance in "The Replacement" as Xander's evil twin is Nicholas Brendon's not-so-evil twin, Kelly Donovan, who provides a second Xander for the scenes where the two must be shown together. Kelly mimics his brother so accurately that by the time the two were making Star Trek cracks at the end of the episode, I had absolutely no hope of telling them apart.

But there's something I haven't covered yet, and that is the legendary Snoopy Dance. In order to prove to Willow that he's the real Xander, the uncool Xander does his own rendition of Snoopy's dance. This is better than Riverdance or The Nutcracker or any of that other froofy dance stuff. It's practically a religious experience. If religion were funny.

-- Lisa Kincaid

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

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

Next Review >