Rob
Buffy has always tended to work best when there are metaphors involved - people being ignored and actually turning invisible, boyfriends that became changed people once they'd slept with a girl etc. Blood Tide continues in that fine tradition, this time using adoption as the metaphor.

Dawn's pain at discovering that she wasn't real and that her family has only really known her for six months was tangible, but building a bonfire in her bedroom probably wasn't the best solution to the situation.

Spike's is become more and more fixated with Buffy (the crumpled chocolates were unlikely to wow her, though) but his protective attitude towards Dawn seems quite genuine.

Kim
So Dawn can be a bit irritating. It's that kid sister thing - moping around, arguing, getting in trouble. But it isn't really rosy being a teenager, is it?

I'm amazed at the gutpunch the show delivers. 'Teen' drama never seems to show how utterly miserable being 'teen' can be. The shows are always big hair, big smiles and big cars - never cutting yourself because you feel like you don't exist. Self mutilation is seldom acknowledged, and alarmingly common among teenage girls.

The moment the camera cuts back to Dawn and the knife, you see an horrifically real reaction to her feelings of being different, not belonging. She's got a double dose of the usual adolescent trauma. Cut her some slack.

For more information, check out these pages on the BBC web site:

Mental Distress
Self-harm

James
Ben is Glory! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I love it when Buffy completely and utterly surprises you. We knew we couldn't quite trust Ben, we knew he was up to something... but this is just so interesting.

As Ben appears to be Buffy's new love interest, this twist promises to be awfully exciting - how will the Slayer cope when discovering her boy-toy is actually the Big Bad?

Ann
Blood Ties shows the ability of the Buffy screenwriters to make even the most story-arc heavy episode a great viewing experience. There�s a whole bundle of stuff here just to get season five from A to B - revelations about Ben, Dawn learning about what she is, Spike�s increasing involvement with the Scoobies.

A lot of moments set up resonances for later in the season too, but despite fitting in all this necessary stuff Blood Ties never drags.

The two performances at the centre have a lot to do with this. Kramer as Glory is as mad as a box of cakes, gleefully sadistic and as OTT as that golden dress she wears. Trachtenberg is absolutely convincing as a sulky teenager throwing a tantrum after learning there is something worse than having a curfew after all.

The confrontation between the two was incredibly tense, seeming as if any moment Glory would destroy Dawn by accident or design. With the whole lot rounded off by an ass-kicking force-ten fight scene, this episode not only advanced the plot by miles, but delivered Buffy as we know and love her.