Overall Rating: 8.35 Matt: 8.7 Eric: 8.0 Writer: Jane Espenson Director: Christopher Hibler Cast : Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris, Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg, Emma Caulfield as Anya, Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers, James Marsters as Spike, Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles. Main guest stars : Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers, Amber Benson as Tara, Abraham Benrubi as Olaf the Troll. Original broadcast date : January 9, 2001 My one-line description: I want a hammer like that. My friends don’t have a hammer that big. Xander and Anya are chatting in bed, wondering how Buffy is dealing with Riley’s departure. In a convent, Buffy fights and dusts a vampire, then asks a young nun about the religious lifestyle. "You know, um, with the whole abjuring the company of men? You know, how's that working for you?" she innocently questions. While training with Buffy at the Magic Box, Giles announces to her that he’s headed to England to seek the Watchers’ Council help in getting info about Glory and the Key – although he promises not to mention Dawn. He muses that he might have sought the Initiative’s help, but with Riley gone – then he apologizes for saying the R-word, but Buffy puts up a good act of telling him that she’s fine. Anya is elated that Giles is going to England – she believes she’ll be left in charge of the shop. Giles is a bit worried, since Anya is good with the inventory and the cash, but lacks people skills. Willow offers to help, but that makes Anya angry. Xander, caught in the middle of the fight, dances out of it by asking Buffy about her slaying. She mentions her trip to the convent, worrying him quite a bit. At the Summers home, Joyce has shed her blue bathrobe and dressed in real clothes. Buffy and Dawn marvel at the change, making their mother happy. Then Buffy goes to read in her own bedroom, where Dawn rapidly joins her. The teen notices that all the pictures of Riley have disappeared, and she comments that he was gone so fast… Buffy admits that it hurts, that she’s mad at him and at herself, and that she can think of plenty of ways she could have prevented this. She tells Dawn he may come back, and she’ll get to say all the things she didn’t get to tell him before he left. Spike, using a blonde mannequin he’s scavenged, practices apologizing to Buffy for leading her to the vampire suckers club. But then he imagines her arguing back, and he gets angry. He knocks the mannequin down, then calms himself, straightens the mannequin and tries again. At the Magic Box, Anya makes a scene when Willow and Tara start collecting items for a spell they’re planning. She claims they’re stealing, and Willow tries to mollify her by offering to teach her a few spells. Anya refuses; Xander arrives and both girls try to get him to defend their point of view. Ticked off, he snaps that he’s sick and tired of being in the middle of their arguments, and asks them to settle this themselves. After he storms out, Tara also leaves before they try to put her in the middle, too. Willow starts pouring the ingredients for her spell in a cauldron (she wants to create a ball of sunshine for Buffy), and Anya adds up the bill for the ingredients. Willow asks her to stop distracting her – any non-ritual word can foul up the spell. Of course, Anya can’t stay quiet, and the two girls start fighting again. Willow, now fully distracted, demands that whatever’s bothering Anya, she "let it out". An explosion occurs, and a large troll appears. It bellows at the two frightened girls before leaving the show. "He’s not a ball of sunshine," Willow timidly comments. Tara, attending a new class with Buffy, tries to comfort the Slayer and take her mind off Riley. As they leave for lunch, Buffy suggests they get Willow and go for a hamburger. Tara says Willow is at the Magic Box, and she tells Buffy about the fight Willow and Anya had that got Xander to leave in a huff. Buffy panics, thinking – in her fragile emotional state - that Xander and Anya are breaking up. Tara does her best to reassure the suddenly half-hysterical Slayer. Willow and Anya hop into Giles’ red BMW convertible and follow the trail of havoc the troll has left. A comical scene ensues as Willow realizes Anya doesn’t know how to drive – she’s just learned to use the pedals – and this leads the two to argue some more. Anya steps on the gas, and the car goes faster – making Willow lose some of her spell sheets to the wind. Xander is at the Bronze venting his anger when he runs into Spike. The vampire thinks Xander is angry because of the whole Riley-sucked-by-vampires deal, and he tries to know if Buffy is holding a grudge against him. Xander asks him what Buffy has to do with this, and Spike realizes Xander is angry for another reason. Tara and Buffy arrive at the Magic Box and find the place a mess – and of course Willow and Anya are gone. Full of foreboding, they too follow the trail of destruction left by the troll… Spike and Xander are playing pool, while Xander complains about Willow and Anya putting them in the middle of their fights. The conversation is interrupted by the arrival of the troll, who drinks down half a barrel of beer, and then asks for stronger ale and plump, succulent babies to eat. Xander tries to placate him, until Anya and Willow arrive. Willow wishes Buffy was there, and voila – Buffy enters. "I wish I had a million dollars!" Willow exclaims. "Just checking," she adds. Anya tells Buffy that Willow conjured up the troll, and says that they need to do a reversal spell. Willow begins to perform it, and the troll interrupts her, accusing Anya of spoiling his fun – just like when they were dating. After some surprised exclamations, Anya explains that he wasn’t always a troll – she turned him into one after she caught him cheating on her; then a coven of witches imprisoned him in a crystal ball. The troll prepares to attack the gang, and Willow tries to do the spell – but nothing happens. Buffy charges the troll, but he sends her flying with a knock of his hammer. Then he knocks down the support pillars for the balcony, which comes crashing down over the Slayer’s head… Buffy rises uninjured, but the troll has disappeared. She orders Xander to find the troll, and Willow and Anya to go to the Magic Box and find a spell that will work. Then the Slayer sees Spike tending to one of the wounded bronzegoers, and asks what he’s doing. He replies that he’s not feeding off the victim, and Buffy is appalled and disgusted that he would brag about not feeding off a wounded person. She leaves in a huff. At the Magic Box, Willow and Anya argue (again) while looking for a spell. Willow finally admits her concern that Anya could hurt Xander, and Anya protests that she would never do that – besides, she has no magic powers anymore. She comments that Willow is the one D’Hoffryn offered her old job to, so maybe she’s the one Xander should be afraid of. Willow, in turn, swears that she would never hurt Xander. Thus, the girls ascertain that neither of them will hurt Xander… and they see the troll burst into the shop, intent on hurting them. Xander arrives and tries to defend the girls against the troll, and the monster throws him around like a doll. However, Xander’s willingness to fight has impressed him, so he makes him an offer – only the woman he chooses will die. Xander refuses to choose, of course, and Olaf commends his loyalty – then he breaks his arm. Anya asks Olaf to kill her but spare Xander; then Buffy and Tara bursts in, and once again the Slayer charges the troll. Anya distracts Olaf by some more nagging, while Willow works a spell that sends the troll’s hammer flying from his hands. Buffy points out that Olaf isn’t so strong now… Wrong. Olaf is still pretty strong – and quite annoying, as he comments that Anya and Xander’s love will never last. This sends Buffy into overdrive. "Their love… will last… forever!!!" she shouts as she pummels him unconscious. She then looks around, and bursts into tears. Later, Willow – now reconciled with Anya - performs a spell to send Olaf back to a universe of trolls. Buffy is happy she has Olaf’s nifty hammer, and even happier that Anya and Xander are still together. At the thought, she starts sobbing again. At the Summers home, Buffy, Giles and Joyce are discussing Glory and the Council. Buffy wonders if the Council knows Dawn is the Key. As they keep on talking, Dawn comes downstairs, but stops cold in the stairs, hearing Buffy wonder "what they’ll do if they figure it out" about Dawn. Dawn looks alarmed. Summary by OttsFiveByFive.