I agree power, responsiblity, and choice are definetly themes ruling this season. Although every season deals with these issues. I'm hoping that this season will enter into more gray territory. When right and wrong aren't so clear. When you have to choose the lessor of two evils. Knowing that the big bad will still come and this is just a band aid to stem the tide. There are so many possiblities from the return of Willow who hasn't completed her training and has powers she's afraid to use and can not completely control. To Anya's struggles between being a demon and a human. Not to mention Buffy's need to protect even though she can not and will not always succeed (I refer to "Help" episode aired 10/15).

The season opener threw me for a loop when they cycled through all villians past. What I thought was most curious was that the last image Spike sees is Buffy and the last thing she says is a comment on power. Are the writers trying to hint that this season's villian will be Buffy?

The funny thing about power is that it comes with a price. Look at the prices Buffy paid everytime she defeated a villian. Dying was the price to close the hellmouth. Killing herself was the price to stop Glory and Armageddon from raining down on the world.

I think this season will once again test how far she's willing to go to live up to her responsiblities as the slayer. What more can she give? She's given up her need to be a normal girl, she has already given her life, twice; and she gave up the love of her life.

What's left? One thing I can think of is her judgement. Her ability to cleary identify right and wrong. What happens if the evil she must face is herself? What happens when the decisions she makes however well intentioned turn out to create the very thing she has been fighting against all along. Buffy has the responsiblity to protect the world and the power to carry it out; does she have the ability to judge herself? Even if her decisions made in good faith have created the very thing that can destroy everything she has fought so hard to protect? We can be our own worst enemy.

After the last season I am looking forward to what this season will bring. So far it's shaping up to be pretty good.

Serenity ~

"It's like somebody killed an Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue."

It's about time they got around to filling in some backstory on Anya. Her history hasn't really been developed much in the 3(?) seasons she's been on the show. Now we know that she dislikes load-bearing barmaids (Is there any other kind?) and we even get a new musical number. It was like Christmas. But without the fat white guy. Or the carolers. Or the... okay, it wasn't like Christmas, but it was good.

I do feel the need to rant about UPN's need to re-run the season opener next week. Call me crotchety, but in my day they waited until the end of the season to start playing reruns.

I suspect the musical number was one that was originally filmed for "Once more with feeling" but had to be cut for time.

I agree it was also hilarious but the fast abrupt cut to the impaled Anya was one of the more emotionally intense moments I've seen on TV. Especially because of the cut from music to dead silence. Power is the theme of the season and this ep had it in spades.