Guest Starring: 
     
 Kristine Sutherland: 
 (Joyce Summers) 
   
 Amber Benson: 
 (Tara) 
   
 Michael Bailey Smith: 
 (Toth) 
   
 Kelly Donovan: 
 (Xander's double) 
   
 Cathy Cohen: 
 (Estate Agent) 
   
 David Reivers: 
 (Foreman) 
   
 
 
  3. The Replacement.  
   
  A weapon intended to distil Buffy's slayer strength is used on Xander, causing him to be split in two.  
   
  Great quotes:  
   
 
    Two Xanders?
  • Xander: "I have spagetti-o's, set them on the dryer and you're a cycle away from lukewarm goodness."
  • Xander: "Incompetently dubbed Kung fu, our most valuable Chinese import."
  • Xander: "I never help. I just get in trouble and Buffy saves me."
  • Xander: "Hey wait till you have an evil twin, see how you handle it!" Willow: "I handled it just fine."
  • Anya: "When do we get a car?" Xander: "A car?" Anya: "Or a boat. No, wait, I don't mean a boat. I mean a puppy, or a child. I have a list somewhere."
  • Anya: "Buffy has super strength; why don't we just load her up like one of those little horses?"
  
  Fantastic moments:  
   
 
    Willow isn't the only one who is confused.
  • The episode opens with an entertaining scene in which Buffy complains about the martial arts in a Bruce Lee film. The best bit is when she says "... who uses a cauldron anymore?", cue an over-dramatic 'evil' cut to a demon stirring a cauldron.
  • Xander doing the Snoopy dance is classic stuff. Willow's understated mock surprise to his weirdness is equally funny.
  • Anya makes some fairly unsettling comments about how her and the two Xanders should go and have sex together; Giles then brings things back to reality: "... we should all continue to pretend we didn't hear any of the disturbing sex talk."
  
  Duff Bits:  
   
 
  • Why doesn't Toth keep trying to attack Buffy with the splitting gun after he gets Xander?
  • Lame Xander pulls a gun on suave Xander. Why? They've never used guns before; neither Xander knows the other is a Human.
  • The episode has a strange an almost unnecessary epilogue in which Riley tells Xander that he knows Buffy doesn't love him. It feels like lazy story telling, events during the normal course of the show should be enough to show the audience that the Buffy / Riley relationship is strained.
  
  Dean's comments:  
   
 This is a bit dodgy, the weapon seems unfeasible (it seems like too much trouble to kill Buffy, if you're going to shoot her just use a gun) and the whole plot seems like a device to kick-start Xander's adult life without him having to do it himself. I suppose the point is that the only thing Xander lacks is confidence, look at the way he demeans 'himself'. He can't believe the foreman at the building site is complimenting his work ("Why isn't he firing me?") or that the estate agent would like him ("'Mr Harris'? Yeah right!"). All he has ever needed is think to think of himself as a winner rather than a loser, a little self-confidence. It's great to have Nick Brendon using his comic talents again, and also kudos to the production team for clever use of Nick's twin brother Kelly. On a final note, neither Dawn nor Spike appear much during the episode, a sign that once again the BtVS cast is becoming very large. 
   
 5/10 
 
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