RILEY, YOU BIG LUG A small shrine to the dumbest man on TV. This week: Our hero doesn't react well to being described "all weak and kitteny". He's missing his old Initiative superpowers. Although we'd beg to differ, Spike describes Riley as "Captain Cardboard". Do we detect a hint of jealousy?

Glorious Debut: Sunnydale's public enemy number one makes her debut, in the stunning form of Clare Kramer. Having worked with Eliza Dushku on hit cheerleading comedy Bring it On, Clare has obviously learned how to act as mad as a brush. Kramer keeps a journal on every role she plays to maintain continuity and character development throughout each project she works on. Plus, she looks great in a red dress.

Brain Drain: With Glory's ability to give Buffy a good pounding in a fight, the production team were worried she might become too much of an invincible threat. Her need to suck brains dry was therefore introduced to make the character weaker and more vulnerable when need be.

Sphere today: You may be wondering about the point of the glowing Dagon Sphere Buffy is given at the start of the episode. Don't worry, it'll be back by the end of the season, and very handy it is too.

What's Cooking?: Dawn's comment, "Who died and made you the Iron Chef?" refers to a Japanese cooking show - sort of Ready Steady Cook meets Grandstand. The show's unofficial web site explains that it centres around a battle between two prominent chefs, one being the finest of a specific cuisine and one being a challenger. The contestants have one hour to whip up a multi-course menu that utilises a "theme" ingredient. Commentators discuss the dishes being made during the hour. There's also a sidelines reporter, interviewing the chefs in the Kitchen Stadium and instant replays of cool culinary manoeuvres.

Wrap it up and start again: Remind us never to leave Willow in charge of wrapping the Christmas presents. Anya seems to fare much better as a shop assistant, although her customer relations may need a little polish.

Emma Caulfield told us that she wasn't a natural shopkeeper in her pre-acting days, but soon figured out in one waitressing job that if she told customers the food was rubbish but the drinks were great, she got far bigger tips at the end of each evening. Smart girl.