Buffy walks home in the dark, still doing -- what, kiddies? That's right -- moping. A demon jumps out in front of her (which surprises me, even though I was expecting something of the sort) and she knocks him down with a punch to the head. The demon grabs his head, pulls off his mask and yells, "What the hell's wrong with you, lady?" "That's what I'd like to know," mopes Buffy. I think he deserved it, though. I mean, if you're going to go around jumping out of the shadows to scare lone females at night, you should get what’s coming to you. Especially if it's Buffy you're trying to frighten.

Credits ["As I was watching the credits I was thinking that I'd sure like to see the episode that involves Giles in leather wielding a chain saw." -- Sep]. It looks like this is the episode they had just finished filming when they updated the credits from last season.

I know I'd probably only use it once and forget about it, but I really want one of those I-Zone cameras with the sticky film. I'm a slave to advertising. ["Can I borrow yours?" -- Sars]

Establishing shot of UC Sunnydale. Willow and Buffy walk into the cafeteria as Willow discusses her witchy business. Willow explains that the next level is "transmutation, conjuring, bringing forth something from nothing." As Willow grabs an unidentifiable plate of food covered in plastic wrap, she says the magic (or "magick," or however else you'd like to spell the word for something that doesn't exist) is pretty scary, and Buffy replies that no one is pushing her and if "it's too much, don't do it." Buffy is wearing a hideous off-the-shoulder peasant blouse that looks like it was made out of a cheap chintz tablecloth. I don't think that anyone should wear an off-the-shoulder top unless they're spending the day at Renaissance Faire or on the set of a costume drama. "’Don't do it’?" exclaims Willow. "What kind of encouragement is that?" Buffy looks concerned and says, "Oh, this is an encouragement talk? I thought it was ‘share my pain.’" Hee. As Willow progresses through the cafeteria line, she says she can experiment and will know when she's reached her limit. "Wine coolers?" asks Oz, sneaking up behind the girls. When Buffy answers "magic," Oz looks pained and hopes that Buffy didn't encourage Willow. Willow wants to know where her supportive boyfriend has gone, and Oz says he's just worried that Willow will get hurt. "Okay, Brutus," says Willow, and gets flustered as Buffy and Oz give her blank looks. Oz says he gets the reference -- we all do, but somehow we don't see how your boyfriend expressing concern that you're steeping yourself a little too far in the mystical forces, especially in a world where such dangers are real, qualifies as betrayal -- but he can't lie and say he doesn't worry. He knows what it's like to have deep, dark powers you can't control. He finishes by saying that whatever Willow decides, he'll back her, and then he gives her a kiss on the cheek. So cute. Buffy says, "Concerned boy is sweet boy," and as Willow agrees, loud laughter erupts from across the cafeteria. It's that dog, Parker, laughing and eating lunch with a large group of people. Buffy looks pained and hurries out of the cafeteria. Willow follows and tell Buffy not to leave just because of Parker. Buffy replies that she isn't, but that she doesn't want to cope with the whole thing. Smells like denial to me. Willow suggests that the party will cheer Buffy up and maybe she'll even meet someone. Buffy lies, umm...I mean replies that she'll have to patrol, and she's going to double-check with Giles because "he doesn't care about Halloween." As I recall, we learned from the last Halloween episode that October 31 is a quiet night for the mortally challenged, but Willow doesn't call Buffy on that.