Guest Starring: 
     
 Emma Caulfeild: 
 (Anyanka) 
   
 Mark Metcalf: 
 (The Master) 
   
 Larry Bagby III: 
 (Larry) 
   
 Mercedes McNabb: 
 (Harmony) 
   
 
 
  9. The Wish.  
   
  Cordelia's new demon friend Anya grants her the wish that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale.  
   
  Great quotes:  
   
 
  • Xander: "I cannot stress enough how I don't have plans."
  • Willow: "Darn tootin'!"
  • Evil Willow: "Bored now..."
  • The Master: "The Humans, with their plebian minds, have invented a truly demonic concept, mass production."
  • Alternate Buffy: "Is this a 'get in my pants' thing? You guys in Sunnydale talk like I'm the second coming!"
  
  Fantastic moments:  
   
 
Evil Willow and Xander.
  • The 'evil' versions of Xander and Willow are brill. Willow gets to do more stuff and of course we're going to see her again so she sticks in the memory more. This has nothing to do with her leather outfit of course.
  • The end of act one when Anya is revealed as a demon is suitably surprising.
  • The whole of act 2 is wonderful; all the slight alterations to the school and the behaviour of Cordelia's mates (such as there being a monthly memorial and everyone wearing dark colours) that reveal we're in a new world are well realised by the writers.
  • The slaying of Cordelia by the evil versions of Xander and Willow is just about the most graphic death in the entire series.
  
  Duff Bits:  
   
 
  • When is this episode set? Cordelia's injury in 'Lover's Walk' was very serious, yet Harmony makes an oblique reference to her and Xander breaking up only a week ago. Surely she can't have healed that quickly, more likely that Harmony is just plain dumb.
  • Does smashing Anya's amulet really reverse all her spells? Even turning her ex-boyfriend into a Troll (see 'Triangle' and 'Selfless'). A minor error of logic I know but it's a rather lame way to end the episode so I thought I'd complain.
  
  Dean's comments:  
   
 
Anya.
It has been noted that this episode reads like a piece of net-based fan fiction, but don't let that diminish its impact. Sci-fi shows are great because they can do this whole alternate universe thing and we get to see the actors playing different roles to normal. I especially draw attention to the Buffy and Giles alternatives. Buffy dresses, does her make up and generally acts like Faith (essentially Faith is Buffy's alter ego, this rather neatly encapsulates one of the major themes for season 3). Giles has found his fighting gloves in Buffy's absence, becoming tense and edgy without her around. It is interesting that the alternate Buffy can't kill the Master while the less experienced Buffy of 'our world' could. I recon that this was deliberate to show that Buffy gets strength from her interaction with her friends in the Scoobies; in the world where there are no Scoobies she's less powerful.		 
   
 9/10 
 
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