Warning: This review should be read with tongue planted firmly in cheek. No offense is meant, and I hope none is given.

Giles: "Well, I saw myself in more of a patriarchal sort of role. You know, lots of pointing and scowling."

A few months ago, Joss Whedon did an interview with the feminist magazine, Bust. During the course of the conversation, Whedon confirmed that he had self-consciously created Buffy as kind of a neo-feminist icon: a small, petite girl whose benign appearance belied her ability to kick major monster ass. In the episode Family, which Whedon wrote and directed, his political proclivities are certainly in evidence. In spite of the fact that this episode was created by the same guy who gave us the brilliant Hush and The Body and that this reviewer was completely sympathetic to Whedon's ideological message, Family remains for me one of the least appealing episodes this season.

Why? The answer to that question is one word. Tara.

I like the character of Tara. I like the idea of her relationship with Willow. I like the actress Amber Benson. She seems really sweet and--bonus--does not look anorexic. But this episode just made clear how much Tara's character had been neglected during the past year. Before Family we knew very little about her except that she and Willow were in love and that Willow was almost impossibly happy with her (What? Heterosexual couples are the only ones who have angst in BTVS?) We also knew that Tara liked magic and in one of the more misguided metaphors on the show, the practise of Wicca has become synonymous with lesbianism. While I'm sure that some practising Wiccans are gay, not all Wiccans are, as Xander puts it, "swinging with the Wiccan lifestyle." In some respects, Whedon could have made a stronger message about Willow and Tara's coupledom if he hadn't fallen into the whole hackneyed magic user=lesbian metaphor. Having made this critique, I'm glad that Whedon writes Willow and Tara's relationship with such warmth and sweetness, although sometimes the actresses, who occasionally seem uncomfortable with each other, fail to deliver.

So, all we really knew before Family was that Tara liked magic and she liked Willow. Now we have a whole episode devoted to her. It is as if the writers had a meeting and decided, "Gee, who is this Tara person anyway? We should really find out. And we have that whole botched spell thing lingering out there." So, Whedon writes the episode and as usual subverts all expectations of what is "wrong" with Tara. The big answer: there's nothing wrong with Tara except she comes from a white-trash family that thinks women are demons. Yikes.

Joss Whedon started out writing for Roseanne, a show that sympathetically dealt with working-class Americans. In Family, Whedon unfortunately betrays his elitism (and this from a man who had Buffy wielding a hammer and sickle in Season 1--for shame!). The monsters in Family are Tara's undereducated, white-trash relatives who come to Sunnydale in a. . . wait for it . . . camper. Oh dear. Donny is the archetypal redneck and the scene in the Magic Shop that introduces him to the audience is painful. ("Gee, what are them there big books?") I almost thought he would start chewing straw or whip out a banjo to play the theme from <I>Deliverance</I>. Tara is obviously afraid of and embarrassed by her family, and given the way they are written, who wouldn't be? They have come to take her home, because the McClay women begin manifesting their demon attributes at the pivotal but tender age of twenty. As McClay simplistically states, "Evil is evil." Hmmm. Tara is torn between telling her friends the truth (she opts for major lying and doing a spell to cloak demons from their eyes--highly dangerous since Buffy is, well, a VAMPIRE slayer). At the end, everything turns out just fine, in part because of that pesky lovesick demon Spike's intervention. Everyone spontaneously adopts Tara into the "family" or clique or Scooby Gang. The final scene in Family rang completely untrue because during the whole episode the Scoobies had been discussing how Tara was, um, "nice" (Scooby code for weird and boring), but they really didn't , um, "know her" (Scooby code for "and I don't really want to know her"). I guess meeting her evil, patriarchal, homophobic, white-trash family really made the Scoobies sympathize with Tara (hey she has a dysfunctional family too, guys, awwww). Judging from the manipulative, emotional musical cue that supports that "heartwarming" moment, I guess the Scoobies really do feel warm fuzzies for Tara. Now if only Spike's family was dysfunctional, maybe if he had a father figure that was a real evil baddie who did all sorts of nasty things . . . oh wait, that's right! Angelus! Maybe there's hope for Spike after all.

By making the evil, patriarchal McClays laughable caricatures, Whedon undermined the potentially powerful message of this episode. Many people (including well-educated, middle-class people) are sexist and homophobic. Whedon made his cultural critique too comfortable by distancing the villains from the demographic group of most of his viewers. It would have been far more effective if Mr. McClay had been an articulate college professor or something. Now that would have been frightening, and it would have allowed me to extend my theory that all professors at UC Sunnydale are evil.

This episode was not all bad though. It advanced the season-long arc in many respects. Buffy tells Giles Dawn is the key. Buffy moves home to be closer to her mother and Dawn. There's a nice scene with Ben and Glory and the Leiach demon that can only fully be appreciated now we know that Ben and Glory share a body (boy, Ben must have changed into that little black dress awfully quickly). Riley's feeling insecure, developing into an alcoholic, and is flirting with vamps at Willy's Bar. How did Buffy miss the telltale warning signs that her beau was not a happy camper? Riley (voice dripping with sarcasm): "You've got a lot on your mind. Decide to let me in on any of it? Let me know. I'll come running." Buffy. Always so perceptive. Spike's obsession/love for the Slayer develops and grows in this episode. In the previous episode, Out of My Mind, Spike had his erotic dream about the Buffster. His, ahem, longings are vividly demonstrated in a rather graphic scene involving both Buffy and Harmony, that, as it aired at 8:15 pm, probably barely made it past the censors ("I'm coming, I'm coming right now!"). Indeed. Naughty Joss. Naughty.

Speaking of Spike, we see a bit of character development in this episode, as he comes to terms with his Slayer love (or crush, or obsession, or whatever it is in episode 6). After briefly looking concerned ("How's that?") when Harmony informs him of the Leiach demons' plan to kill the Slayer, he embraces the notion and even wants to watch. However, once he arrives at the Magic Shop and sees his beloved in danger, he jumps right into battle. Unfortunately, Spike, being part demon, is also invisible, so he doesn't get credit for his daring-do. We can assume the only reason Spike intervened in the Magic Shop battle is because he loves Buffy and doesn't want her to get hurt (since she couldn't see him, he never will get credit for his actions--something he probably realised as Tara explained her invisibility spell). Which brings us to a glaring logical error in the script: since Tara wasn't ever invisible, wouldn't everyone realise that she wasn't a demon? Apparently not, as they all stand about discussing her potential "evilness" until Spike takes matters in hand and socks her a good one in the nose (after this episode, I actually enjoyed that little spot of violence). Why did Spike decide to help? Did he just feel like hitting Tara? In any case, the punch caused him pain. I'd be curious as to how this action can be explained in light of the theory that because Spike is an evil vampire with no moral compass, "all Spike's actions are self-serving."

"Evil is evil." So says the voice of idiocy in this episode, Mr. McClay. Are we supposed to subscribe to this fundamentalist position? Unless Whedon intended us to sympathise with the patriarchal McClay's I don't think so. I think Anya articulated Whedon's beliefs about evil and demons when she said, "Some [demons] are very, very evil and some have been considered to be useful members of society." For that matter, as Family shows, some humans are very nasty (Donny's line, "I'm gonna beat you down," being a prime example) and manipulative (brainwashing your daughter into believing she is evil so she'll be your unpaid servant for life). Some ex-demons and demons were shown to be useful members of the "family" (Anya contributed her financial expertise in the Magic Shop and her words of wisdom at the end of the episode, Spike helped with the Leiach demons and punched Tara in the nose). While, as many people have pointed out, Spike said he didn't care, his actions belied the veracity of his snarky statements. He did care, but he wouldn't be Spike anymore if he lost that caustic edge. "I like you," says a smirking Spike to Mr. McClay. Sigh. I like you too, Spikey.