Guest Starring: 
     
 Robia LaMorte: 
 (Jenny Calendar) 
   
 Robin Sachs: 
 (Ethan Rayne) 
   
 Stuart McLean: 
 (Phillip Henry) 
   
 Wendy Way: 
 (Dierdre) 
   
 
 
  8. The Dark Age.  
   
  A blast from Giles' past as Ethane Rayne returns to Sunnydale in search of help against a demon that is out to kill them both.  
   
  Great quotes:  
   
 
Giles' dark side is revealed.
  • Giles: "I trust I give good squirm." That sounds kinda dirty but I'm sure exactly sure...
  • Giles complains about Buffy's musical tastes: "I know music, music has notes, this is noise."
  • Cordelia talking to the police: "It was a one-way street, I was going one way!"
  • Willow in charge of the library: "Hey! We don't have time for this. If you two aren't with me 110% then get the hell out my library!!"
 
  Fantastic moments:  
   
 
  • The scene in the computer room in the weekend class has a great double entendre. Jenny is interrupted by Buffy's entrance "The first thing were gonna do is... Buffy.", Xander's reaction; "Did I fall asleep already?". Then Xander's description of his uncle Rory "... by night it was booze, whores and fur-flyin'...", blimey!
  • Willow drinks tea just like Giles in the library, did I mention that she's cute?
 
  Duff Bits:  
   
 
  • If all you have to do in order to get Eyghon off your trail is to remove the tattoo (as Ethane tries to do), why don't they all just do that? In fact, why didn't they all do that years ago?
 
  Dean's comments:  
   
 
Robia LaMorte as Jenny Calendar.
A lovely episode that fleshes Giles' troubled youth where he dabbled in the dark arts. Ethane Rayne's return is welcome, a character that is a loose cannon but not strictly evil is fun, as the forces of 'good' (i.e. Buffy) have to think more carefully about how to deal with him. The idea that he 'worships' chaos is an interesting one. The episode is all about the relationships between kids and adults, and about how kids are often much wiser when left to their own devices (although not always of course). Look at the way that Buffy and Willow take command in the library without Giles there and how Giles treats Buffy like a child, assuming she wont understand when in truth he needs her mental and physical strength.
The spirit of Eyghon.
The reactions of the kids to the grown-ups and visa-versa is interesting too, the Scoobies seem appalled by Giles and Jenny kissing while Giles refuses to believe that Buffy can help him at all, preferring to ignore her while he confronts Ethane "This is not your battle, stay out of it". Children don't realise how good it is to be children, Buffy and Willow are playing "anywhere but here" at the start of the episode afterall.
 
   
 7/10 
 
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