The one where Oz comes back and isn't happy that Willow's kinda gay.

I must mention the funniest scene I have seen for a long time namely the opening teaser where the dialogue between Willow and Tara basically boils down to "Do you like pussy?". I had not cottoned on to it before but it is a stroke of genius from Marti when I had previously thought she had totally lost it in S4. Brilliantly Marti defuses the homoerotic hilarity when Tara says she simply wants a pet not a familiar. I must admit this somewhat disarmed me and I was more sympathetic to NMR than on previous viewings.

I loved how Buffy and Riley are so inured to one another that they can have a serious discussion, fight, then continue the serious discussion. It struck me as delightfully silly while also being a fine disclosure as to how attuned Buffy and Riley are to one another.

Oz annoys me less than he used to which I think is a result of the existence of Andrew. Rather than merely being terse he seemed a bit more stoical which fits neatly with the idea of spiritual growth. I liked how the presence of Willow 'aroused' the beast within. This seems entirely in keeping with the story drivers of earlier seasons and Angel.

I was more interested in how Willow plays both Oz and Tara than the rescue Oz story. I suppose they needed a bit of an action storyline or else it would have been too cloying. Going back to Willow's motivation for a moment I am not sure if Willow is weak not to make it clear Tara is in her heart or if Willow is not sure herself hence her delay tactic.

I am a little surprised no-one else reads the situation between Willow and Tara after all Faith did with very little evidence. Maybe the reasoning could be that an 'outsider' needs to be able to read a situation very fast simply to survive compared to the conservative scoobies who are happily secure with one another.

Amber plays Tara in an impossibly sweet and sensitive manner which makes her plight compelling.

Maybe 6/10. sk

one of the best willow episode, here having to choose between her first love and her new love. quite emotionnally for willow who has to work out who she want to be the most and tell buffy about it (something that will come back in the next episode). and has one fantastic but sad good by scene between willow and oz

tara giving willow space to let her decide who she want to be is very nice and there is no way you can not like her

riley having to deal with the existence of the big grey aera that the scoobies live with, the interesting bit is buffy telling riley about learning about willow having an "incoventional" (sp?) relationship and having to deal with it , something she also has to go through. i have to ask what kind of training riley had because his rescue attempt was kind of lame. after all that he think nothing worse can come his way :rolleyes:

spike working with adam :ermm:

still what was buffy thinking riley was doing when they went to oz rescue? was she going to break up with him if he had been with the rest of the initiative trying to stop them :unsure: :ponder:

well written, well play, an episode about change

7/10

It's for this episode, in particular the quote that Clare has put in her post, that I will always think Willow and Oz were made for each other.

This scene demonstrates the ambiguity of love and of the beginning and end of relationships.

It is one of my favourite scenes in 7 series, probably because of the empathy that I have with it: namely, being a happily married man, I still think of my first love often and although the thoughts have significantly diminished recently, I would have no surprises or expectations (I hasten to add) were I to ever meet her again. Such is the power of this bond.

That is a pretty interesting take and shows we have to bring our experiences to any aesthetic experience. We cannot help it and it is no bad thing. For instance my reading of Forbidden Planet was completely different at 14 and 34.

I am probably too ill for a serious relationship unless something remarkable happens. I think this means my feelings of empathy are not very developed when I have to consider Willow and Oz. This colours my view of things and I cannot help it. sk

and yet from this episode, it is implied that willow is gay not bi (unless i am confused) and so I wonder if oz had came back after tara death (season seven) , would he have had a chance? :unsure: :ponder:

Surely having a hetero relationship followed by a gay relationship has to be the very definition of bisexual. As one writer put it sexuality is not an exocet missile ie she was trying to say sexuality spreads itself out in various directions until it is at home with itself. This certainly seems to be Willow's predicament.

That Willow essentially starts a relationship with the next gay person who comes along after Tara's death shows where she feels most at home.

Peoples feelings are not exocet missile like I suppose and this applies to gay people as well. I am thinking of Michelle Trachtenberg's brilliantly bitchy temptress Celeste who seduces the black gay boyfriend of the main lead in Six Feet Under. This opens the door to the possibility you consider. sk

maybe the writers did try to develop/answer that question when willow and tara had the argument in tough love :unsure: :ponder: