Stephen: "Inner Demon"

Giles to the fore once more! Nice to see his inner demon unleashed finally. They do say it�s always the quiet ones...

Rupert Giles has been in the background too much recently, and this is to Giles what Something Blue was for Willow: Amusing, entertaining, inconsequential , but none-the-less a well considered look at the character�s place in the Buffyverse.

The Fyarl demon lets us see how the (surprise) emotionally restrained Brit really feels about Riley, Professor Walsh and his distant place in the Slayer�s new life. Good to see him kick a little 'A' too. Anthony Stewart Head truly is THE MAN.

Kim: "Mwaaaaa-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!"

Ethan trips up bad this time, doesn�t he? It�s the classic boo-boo: appear out of the shadows, laugh menacingly (Mwaaaaa-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!) then spend five minutes telling everyone why you�re so evil. Then D�oh! In walks your nemesis, who�s been listening outside the door all the time. What else do you do after that but go down the pub? And then make exactly the same mistake at the end of the episode... At least the old dear is self aware.

Something to look out for this episode - Giles has a Charles Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman. Big deal, you may think - but check out the chair on the balcony in Frasier! Is it some kind of middle-aged-single-man-in-American-serial thing? Hmmm....

James: "Lovely sense of playfulness"

Typically strong dialogue from Jane Espenson, who has made Giles-based angst and Ethan Rayne very much her own. It's nice seeing the episode develop Giles's predicament from slight marginalisation to full-on demonic strop.

There's a lovely sense of playfulness between Giles and Ethan, kicking off from the magical moment when Giles walks in on Ethan gloating. What other show would have the hero and the villain go out and get smashed in a bar together?