Reviewed by Sanguine

It's a spell. You were helpless. We're not responsible for anything we did, morally or, ya know, legally.

Anya, "Him"

"Him" was a standard Buffy filler episode. Its primary purpose was to move the players into place for the big sweeps episodes that will follow--the episodes that will actually propel the story arc forward. The primary problem with "Him," written by Drew Z. Greenberg, was that some of the characters were behaving, well, out of character, and it wasn't because of no love spell.

Watching the episode, I felt Greenberg had a checklist from Mutant Enemy, telling him the things he needed to do: 1) Get Spike out of the basement, just in time for sweeps; 2) Make clear that the Scoobies know about his soul-having status; 3) Assimilate Anya back into the group (apparently, they'll need her for the big battle); 4) Make Dawn understand how powerful love/lust can be; 5) Make the point that if a person is enchanted (under a spell) s/he can't be held responsible for their actions.

Well, Drew, mission accomplished. But until the final sequence, which was absolutely hilarious (I laughed, I cried; it was better than Cats!!) the episode felt forced and clunky. Even Principal Hottie, ahem, Principal Wood couldn't save this lemon.

The episode opens with a rather puzzling sequence. After leaving Spike in the basement for several weeks and seeming pretty indifferent to his fate/feelings, Buffy suddenly decides that she's going to help him. What? What happened to Tough Love Buffy from last week? I don't recognize this New And Improved Buffy. She seems all weird and compassionate and stuff. Maybe it's Malevolent Morphy in disguise! Maybe he/she/it needs to get Spike out of the basement so he can do he/she/its dirty work. In any case, suddenly Xander and Spike are going to be roomies. Even though Xander has learned off-screen that Spike is all soulful, he's understandably displeased at having the Bleached One playing Oscar to his Felix. At least Xander is written consistently. He's never been a member of the Undead Citizens of America Fan Club, nor is he likely to join up any time soon.

Another scene was similarly jarring. Suddenly we're in the middle of a major fight. Buffy's kicking demon ass in Anya's apartment. Whadaha? Since when does Buffy keep tabs on Anya? Didn't she just try to kill her last week? Oh, but she's human now, so everything's different. This scene could have been interesting and even moving if it had been written well. Buffy reaches out to Anya because obviously Anya needs her help (the parallel with Spike here is clear). Anya softens when Buffy calls her a "friend" and immediately everything is forgotten. Water under the bridge. Presto! Anya reintegrates herself into the Scooby Gang. After last week's episode, it seemed like a cheat. They wanted to get Anya's story out of the way (so much for her taking some alone time to figure out who she is) and get her back in the Scooby fold. Is that a twinge I feel in my neck? Must be whiplash. And why didn't D'Hoffryn just kill Anya last week? I'm confuzzled.

Moving right along, we have yet another weird sequence in which Buffy tells her sister (and the audience) that she's terribly confused about what she feels for Spike. Dawn tells her that "none of it makes sense." And gee, I have to agree with her. We've seen absolutely no onscreen evidence that Buffy has warm, fuzzy feelings for Spike, now suddenly we're supposed to believe she cares? Colour me bemused. Show me, don't tell me, Mutant Enemy. Oh, but I forgot. We're going back to the beginning. And the preview for next week clearly shows Spike noshing on a girl, a la Angelus at his worst. Hmmm. Methinks we're revisiting Season 2. Buffy's boyfriend (or ex-boyfriend) is going evil (or at least that's the way it looks). But in Season 2 this story had a real impact because it had been established over the course of many weeks that Buffy loved Angel. Buffy doesn't love Spike. She's made that abundantly clear. Nevertheless, this could be an interesting storyline, so I'm willing to go along for the ride, especially if Anya's statement about not being culpable for actions done under a spell proves applicable to Spike's situation. I just think the set-up for future Spike/Buffy angst in this episode was sloppily done.

So Dawn doesn't understand why people act crazy when they're in a relationship? Well, let's have her experience it for herself. Incorporating elements from "The Witch" and "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered," Dawn, and later Buffy, Willow, and Anya, fall under the spell of RJ's powerful letterman's jacket. [A sidenote: if this thing had been worn by RJ's dad and then his brother, wouldn't it be a little threadbare? Oh, I guess it's a Magic Jacket! That explains everything.] Anyway, Dawn has a disastrous cheerleading experience (just in case we didn't get the parallel with "The Witch," Dawn dresses in her sister's outfit) and proceeds to go all bad seed, shoving RJ's competition for the quarterback position down a staircase. Then she becomes the "pushy Queen of Slut Town" (yup, there were some extremely funny lines in this episode) and bumps and grinds with RJ on the dance floor at the Bronze. Which brings us to two moments that were supposed to be funny, but instead made my skin crawl.

The first cringe-worthy scene happens in the aforementioned Bronze. A sexy girl is dancing with RJ and her lap dance catches Xander's eye. "Daddy like," he says. The incestuous ramifications of his statement become apparent as Dawn reveals her face. Ewww. Xander has been functioning as Dawn's surrogate father and this moment was truly yuck worthy. The Xand-Man apparently thinks so too, although judging from Willow's reaction, he wasn't alone in his lust for the nubile Dawn. [Sidenote: what is it with Mutant Enemy these days? First Connor and Cordy and now this??] The second cringe-worthy moment happens when Buffy falls under the spell of RJ's jacket. She takes him out of math class and lures him into a vacant classroom for sex. Yuck. Her Catholic schoolgirl outfit was amusing (shades of Darla, Season 1), but as I watched her thrust against the boy I was reminded of a line from a Season 4 episode which also involved a love spell: "can I be blind too?" ::shudder::

Despite these flaws, the episode did have its entertaining moments. The final sequence in which all four of the women (Buffy, Dawn, Anya, Willow) try to prove their love for RJ (complete with split screen and 1970s soundtrack) was absolutely hilarious. Especially funny was the scene where Buffy aims a bazooka (or was it the flame-thrower she used on the judge) at Principal Hottie, ahem, Wood. The principal is oblivious as through the window we see a bleached blond man (Spike, of course) tackle Buffy. Finally, Spike manages to take the bazooka away from the Slayer and we see him running, Buffy in close pursuit. And this is probably the only time we'll ever see Buffy chasing after Spike. Also funny was Willow's temporary return to boy's town. When Anya points out that "his [RJ's] physical presence has a penis," Willow responds, "I can work around it." She resolves to turn him into a girl. Now THAT I would have like to see.

As my review suggests, "Him" wasn't a completely horrible episode. Some moments were pretty hilarious. "Him" just lacked complexity, finesse, and consistent characterizations. I look forward to next week. How 'bout you?