Previously on BtVS: Warren shot Tara, Willow ripped his skin off, she tried to destroy the world, she didn't. Buffy agreed that life had been the suck and declared said suck over with. Spike got a soul, and yeehaw, we're underway!

Our story opens in Istanbul. Huh? Yeah, it's Istanbul (not Constantinople). Cue scared girl running through town and equally scared villagers hastily shutting their doors. So it's a known local evil in robes, putting on a relentless chase. Which, naturally, doesn't relent. Scared girl shimmies up a drain spout and makes for the rooftops, but there's already a robe-guy up there. He throws her to the ground, robe #2 whips out a shiny dagger, brings it down, and we cut to Sunnydale, where Buffy is coaching young grasshopper (aka Dawn).

Apparently Slaying's all about power, which the rising vampire might have more of if his foot wasn't stuck on a root underground. Buffy gives him a helping hand up and kindly directs him to go bite her sister. Heh. Dawn makes with a couple of cool moves, but her first plunge doesn't quite hit the heart. Which was never really a problem for Xander, but I guess they hold Dawn to a higher standard. Anyway, NewVamp turns the tables and gets his fangs on Dawn's neck before Buffy decides to rescue her. And whoo! Cool, whirly fighting moves! Sword flashes, vamp goes dusty, and the gals ponder the next big, unavoidable evil they have to face.

Of course, we're all hip to the wacky misdirection, so we know it's something mundane like school. Which it is. Sunnydale High is back in business and still smack on top of the Hellmouth. Which, goody! I really miss the Hellmouth.

New season's credits are shamefully light on the Giles. But hee! MummyHand!

When we come back, the scene opens in Westbury, England. Giles is leisurely riding a horse in an Australian overcoat. Giles. Not the horse. And I kinda take a second to pick myself up off the floor. The setting, the scenery, and the music all scream 'inner peace' as he approaches Willow. She's using her magick to make a flower grow. He comments that it doesn't belong there, and Willow whips out some of her new, enlightened understanding that everything is connected. She's been learning from the coven that sent Giles to take her down, and she's upset that they all seem so afraid of her. Not that she blames them, of course, because then I'd really have to smack her.

Most important part of the scene, though? Giles singlehandedly piffles away the whole "addiction" silliness and tells Willow that she needs to suck it up and deal because the magick is a part of her, and it's her own responsibility. My hero! Now let us speak no more of the trite After School Special that was Willow's addiction.

Back in Sunnydale, Xander - sporting a swanky new suit - arrives at Chez Summers in his swanky new car. I'm guessing new because the last time we saw his car, Willow had just given it a thorough bashing. So shiny new car, shiny new suit, shiny Summers gals. Buffy & Dawn seem to finally be getting the morning routine down, complete with elaborate cereal prep, and Buffy's full of mounting yet reasonable fear about Dawn starting school directly on top of the Hellmouth.

And on that very subject... Xander has pulled the plans of the new and old schools (seeing as how he's in charge of the building crew - yay, Xander!), and it seems that the new Principal's office stands directly over the Hellmouth where the Library used to be. Man, just seeing the old blueprints made me all wistful and stuff. I was really hoping they'd have rebuilt the Library, but I guess it's not to be. Oh, well - I'll cope with my sorrow and move on. The office's placement suggests that the new Principal is either evil or in serious danger, and I start waiting for all the new and inventive ways Dawn's going to find to get sent to his office. Then Buffy gives her a 'back to school' present, and it's time to skeedaddle.

They arrive at Sunnydale High and go their separate ways - Buffy to take Dawn to class and Xander to where they're still building. As Buffy admonishes Dawn to be careful, the new Principal, Robin Wood, does a quick meet and greet. He comments that Buffy looks really young to have a daughter in high school. She corrects him, and he looks embarrassed. Well, he should be. That was extremely silly. Buffy blames the confusion on the theoretically mom-hair she's sporting, and Principal Wood drops a cryptic mention of having heard of Buffy before he rushes off to do Principal-type things. MmmHmm.

Buffy wants to focus some more on the caution, but Dawn's ready to be off to class. So Buffy decides to spread the caution by herself. As the bell rings, she follows a suspicious-looking guy around a corner, but he disappears. Not that she checks the basement door right next to her, of course, because where's the fun in finding him already? Dawn, meanwhile, is in class. And hey - the kids aren't all white! 'Bout damn time.

Buffy stops off in the girls' bathroom to check her not-mom-hair, and yes, Buffy, let's do pick up the strange talisman lying on the counter, shall we? Excellent. With that accomplished, a clearly dead girl appears in the mirror behind her and bitches at Buffy for not protecting her. Buffy turns around, but the dead girl is gone, replaced by another deceased fellow who wants to growl at Buffy before he too disappears.

Cut to a commercial for the "Guess What Elmo" doll. Because it's the perfect time-slot to reach the Sesame Street crowd.

When we return, Dawn is introducing herself to the class. She's doing a bang-up job, getting laughs in all the right places, which is Buffy's cue to burst in, ranting like a very crazy person about getting the hell out of there. She backpedals, but the damage is done. Congrats, Buffy, on embarrassing the hell out of your sister on her first day in high school.

Meanwhile, across town, Anya and Halfrek are having a cuppa joe and mocking the syrupy sweetness of the wuvvy duvvy duet singing on the Pump's makeshift stage. Because Monday morning is the prime time for coffee house gigs. Halle bursts Anya's "I'm so bad" bubble by pointing out the lameness of her wish-granting. She also mentions that all the Lower Beings are jittery because there's some brewin' evil a'coming, and it's a bad time to be a good guy. Ooh, sounds fun! Anya snarks that if this is some sort of intervention, then shouldn't all her demon friends be here? Halle informs her that they are. Ouch.

You know, it's at this point where I notice that the show's already regained some of the funny and fun it was missing last year. Not to say they won't get all serious and stuff, but I'm really glad some of the fun is back. Part of what's always made BtVS so unique is the way it blended drama, comedy, action, and horror together so beautifully. Except that last year (and in much of S5) they kind of forgot the comedy part. Except for Tabula Rasa, but then that one went and ripped my heart out. Bah. Bring the funny, I say! And I also say "Back to the episode!"

So Buffy finds Xander across campus and fills him in on her bathroom fun. She's suspicious about why the school was rebuilt and wonders what's in store. Dawn, meanwhile, is in class, lending a pencil to the nice guy next to her... who turns into a zombie dude and jams the pencil in her eye! She falls on the floor screaming, but her eye's fine. Dawn, now firmly in the 'freak' category her sister used to occupy in school, heads to the bathroom to collect herself. Oops.

A girl named Kit is in there crying. She's seriously scared and thinks Dawn won't believe why. Don't worry, Kit. Dawn will believe you. Especially when the angrydead freakshow comes out for an encore. They make with the boo, the floor collapses, and Dawn and Kit fall through into the basement below.

Meanwhile, Principal Wood and Buffy run into each other again. He confesses to knowing more about her than he let on earlier, and Buffy's again large with the suspicious. Also meanwhile, Giles holds Willow as she recoils in horror. With her new "everything's connected" awareness, she just got a feel of the Hellmouth, and she seems convinced it's going to swallow them all. Well, that sounds fun. No, really, it does!

For some reason, the school board apparently recommended that Wood spend some time reading Buffy's record. Veeeeery interesting.

In the basement, Kit and Dawn bump into the suspicious guy who disappeared on Buffy earlier. Turns out he just ducked into the basement for a smoke and got kind of lost. And yelled at by the dead janitor. Which dead janitor? Um, the one right behind them! He and his two dead buddies advance, and Dawn remembers her present from that morning - namely, a cell phone! Yes! Sheesh, about time this band of adventurers had a more reliable system of communication than "Quick, somebody run to the Library/Magic Box".

Dawn calls Buffy, who's busy trying to convince Principal Wood to kick Dawn out of this dangerous place. Buffy bluffs that the call is from her dog walker, and when she makes an audible comment about things being dead, Robin's aghast that Buffy's dogs have died. She runs off, of course, and Robin is very understanding of, if a little bewildered by, her sudden dog tragedy.

The dead folks have pulled another disappearing act, but Dawn asks where they went. Sheesh, girl, have you learned nothing? Never ask that. Because, naturally, they jump out and grab you by the throat. Yes, just like that.

Buffy jumps down the rabbit's hole in the bathroom floor and calls Dawn's phone. The dead janitor answers as Buffy rounds the corner to find him, and he blames Buffy for not saving him. Buffy's really more about finding Dawn than getting blamed for his death, but he just won't let it go. The other two join him for a chorus of "It's Buffy's fault I'm dead". Which would have been seriously traumatizing for a younger Buffy, really, but this one just wants to find her sister. Aaand it's time for the fightey fun. Brief fight, but as soon as Buffy throws them off, they're standing right in front of her like it never happened. So she opts for the jumping over them approach to reaching the door. Which works great. She sails over them, and then the door bursts open to reveal... Spike!

She asks him if he's real, and he bursts into manic giggles before telling her to duck. Buffy, stunned and kind of thick, doesn't get it and is wanged in the head. Then as the dead folks try to lay a little smack down, Spike mutters that he's terribly busy today and withdraws. Buffy, though, fights off her attackers and locks the door behind her, leaving her shut into the same room as Spike. Who's become a raving loon. Shades of Dru, really. Buffy steps towards him, and he nervously closes his shirt. He cowers from her, but she gently peels the fabric back to reveal a mess of deep scratches across his heart. He tried to cut it out. Whether the heart or the soul, I don't know. But he's suffering and suffering big. Which, good. He should be. But for all his past evil, I still really like the guy. Go figure.

So naturally Dawn picks this moment to call. The sisters wonder what the dead folks' story is - ghosts? Zombies? Actually, according to Spike, they're manifest spirits, controlled by a talisman and raised to seek vengeance. Yes, well, Buffy's got a sister to go save, and Spike has some more pitiful mumbling to do. Oh, and Buffy needs to make a call.

Dawn fashions a weapon by stuffing two bricks into Kit's purse. Yippee, it's swinging pain on a rope! Handy, really, because the spirits are back. Or still there. Whatever. A little back and forth violence ensues. Then Buffy joins the fray as Xander makes his way to the girls' bathroom (pausing to appreciate the extra repair work his crew will be getting paid to do on the floor, of course). Buffy makes huge with the brick-sack, and it's so indescribably awesome to see her kicking some ass again! DeadChick jumps Xander, but he snaps the talisman, and the spirits go poof. Buffy correctly concludes what happened, and Dawn asks how she knew about the talisman. But rather than tell Dawn, she makes with the lies of omission. Sigh. Not that it's such a good idea to tell Dawn that Spike's in the other room, cowering and insane, but it's still kind of a bummer that she's making with the secrets already.

After finding their collective way upstairs, Buffy gives the Junior Scoobies some parting words of advice and encouragement. Of course, Carlos has to mention that Buffy's the coolest mom ever, which sends her back to worrying about her hair again and makes me roll my eyes painfully. But having bonded, the three set off for class. Robin Wood sees this and is mightily impressed. So would Buffy be interested in a part-time job as a sort of counselor? Wow, no greasy meat, a job with flexible hours that lets her keep an eye on Hellmouth High? Oh, yeah. She's in. I wonder, though. Is the still working at Doublemeat? Because I really hope she's not. But then again, I really want to get to watch her quit that job.

We're still not quite done, though. And this last minute is freaking awesome. Down in the basement, Spike is mumbling again. But he isn't alone. Standing behind him is Warren. Freaking Warren! Except that Warren becomes Glory becomes Adam becomes Mayor Wilkins. Becomes Dru, cooing to her Spike about belonging together in the darkness. Becomes the Master, promising a return to the true beginning. Becomes Buffy. Who knows it's all about power.

Aw, yeah. This is gonna be good.

Thoughts

Lessons didn't have the kind of 'punch' I'd hoped for from the season premiere, but the last minute or so? Humdinger! Gah, I never expected to see those guys again! Please oh please let this whole "many faces, one evil" thing keep up because I absolutely loved it! Then again, any day I get to see the Master is a jolly day indeed. I love that guy. Bless you, Mutant Enemy, for keeping their names off the "Guest Starring" credits in the beginning!

I honestly don't have strong feelings about the ep as a whole. Maybe after I've seen a couple more episodes, I'll get a better feel for it, but right now, I think I'm a lot more excited about the season starting than about the ep itself. But the strong points? Giles was only on screen for a couple minutes, but his quiet intensity was astounding. And I'm seriously fascinated by what's up with Spike. He ain't William. Or William the Bloody. Or Deadboy Jr., for that matter. But raving mad and having personal conversations with the Ghost of Big Evils Past? I like that in a guy.

You know what I did notice, though? There were several moments between Buffy and Xander that were oddly comfortable and domestic-like. Could easily just be that they're such close friends, but riding in the car, giving Dawn the pressie, even the simple way Buffy checked the time on Xander's watch... I dunno, maybe it's just me, but it looks like the door's not entirely slammed shut on the possibility of B/X. Of course, that'll depend on a lot of things. Two of which are named Anya and Spike.

And the end of the episode... see, this is precisely why I avoid spoilers like the big, stinky plague that they are. Because as opposed to saying "Huh, neat!" I got to say "Omigod, omigod, omiGAWD!!" The ep might not have thrilled me, but I am *super* excited about whatever that ending was about. Plus, The Master got to come visit, and that's always a good in my book. So ya think it's related to the robed guys in Istanbul? And whoever set up the whole wacky talisman gag? Gosh, I hope so.

Quirks

Didn't Dawn tell her undead date last Halloween that she was a Freshman? So why's she all about this being her first day of high school? I vaguely recall hearing about some districts where high school is actually grades 10-12, so maybe this is one of those? Buffy mentions Dawn being suspended for three years, so that could be the case. Actually, my high school was 10-12, but it was a British-style boarding school, complete with Prefects and everything. Sunnydale High, though? I really have no idea - just thought it was odd.

Body Count

Girl in Istanbul - Stabbed, presumably killed, by some guys in robes
Vamp in Teaser - Staked by Buffy (Dawn did soften him up, though)
3 NonZombies - Went poof when Xander snapped the talisman

Haiku

Spike behind the door
Buffy asks if he is real
Bitter giggle fit

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