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"It's not about right, not about wrong, it's about power."

Well, last year was about learning to deal with responsibility. To borrow the old Spidey phrase "with great power comes great responsibility." It's nice to see that the core concept of this season is being laid out pretty clearly from the get go. Xander is now more and more succesful as an architect. Buffy is given a role to influence the lives of students. Willow is attached to magical power whether she wants to be or not. Spike has a soul again. Anya is a vengence demon still, yet questions her role. And now Dawn is at the head of her own gang of Scoobies.

Even a new figure of power is introduced in the form of Principal Wood. Interesting that the episode featuring our core characters and an examination of a more mature responsibility and power is the same that introduces him. In the past the Sunnydale High principals have been ineffectual, short-sighted, and apart from the students. Now we have a principal who is actually on "our side" and wants to make a positive change for his students. Nice reflection of the change in thematics.

Buffy's new role hits me very close to home as a future educator. Up until a few months ago I really questioned whether this was something I wanted to do with my life and I was somewhat afraid of the responsibilities inherent. After stepping into a school and interacting with both educators and students for the first time as an adult I found myself moved by what I saw and given a sense of purpose. For someone who has struggled so much with her own sense of identity and purpose I can only hope that her new role gives Buffy a similar sense of contentment.

In terms of plot, this gives the show a whole new basis to work from. With the school located on a reinvigorated Hellmouth there is a basis for all sorts of dangers to occur/re-occur. Buffy's new job will give her more of an inside track to the troubles that might be going on throughout Sunnydale. Dawn and her Newbie Gang (oh lord, shoot me now) could provide for a great storytelling outlet, and might possibly be the future of the franchise. What role will Principal Wood play in future events? It seems like he knows more about Buffy than we've had the chance to see so far.

Willow's brief segment was well-done and lent itself perfectly to the topic at hand. As much as I might've liked to see non-magic using Willow back, I'm also glad that we might get a more balanced portrayal of magic again in the upcoming episodes. Right now the interaction between Willow and Giles is only taking the form of interludes, but this could work very well in future dramatic possibilities. Establishing the status quo in Sunnydale will be important before re-introducing Willow into the mix. It builds anticipation for how the characters will interact and adds a bit of interest as to what her role will be now.

I know this opinion isn't going to be popular here, but this episode wasn't the time for the Tara issue to be addressed. Considering that three months have elapsed since the events of Seeing Red it's not that hard to believe that she and Giles have discussed the issue of Tara, quite probably at length and frequently. I'm hoping that we will see some of this when she rejoins the Scoobies state-side. The Tara issue is definitely one that needs to be addressed, but so do the I tried to kill my friends, I killed someone, and the tried to blow up the world issues. I'd rather wait to see how these issues are addressed when Willow is a part of the full-plotline rather than when her story is in the interlude phase.

And then there's Spike. I'd really hesitate to call anything he received at the end of last year a "reward" after seeing this episode. The guy has obviously been driven looney and isn't having a very good time. Is this punishment enough? I'm withholding judgement, but I hope this somehow leads to an examination of how culpable the current person is for his prior actions and whether or not his soul status is the same as the one plaguing Angel. Is he a vampire with morals and choices now or is he still without moral compass? Maybe he'll be driven to commit evil acts but plagued with their repricussions. More questions and some interesting set-up.

Compared with last year's start I'm feeling way more hyped up for what lies ahead. This episode laid out quite a few developments to be built upon in the future while also presenting an entertaining hour of television. Who is behind the Talisman? What side will Spike be on? What role will the upcoming returning characters play? Will Dawn truly grow into the role of the slayer? How will the Scooby Gang react to the Newbie Gang? And most importantly, who is super shifty villain talking with Spike? I can only hope this year's big bad is the same entity we saw way back in S3's Amends, but that's my favorite episode ever so of course I would say that.

And addressing a few points...

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All the resolution, the ONLY resolution

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Not all the resolution, just all the resolution we saw this week. If you look back at Anne or Bargaining there were still quite a few issues left un-addressed at the end of those episodes. Each ended with Buffy's return, be it from the dead or running away, and each addressed some points of the previous year without completely resolving matters either. It's necessary to have forward movement while also addressing what has happened before. By spreading the consequences out over the coming weeks it gives a chance for long-term plot threads to be dealt with while also presenting new ones.

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And Xander, yes mighty Xander who can hurt whoever he wants and continue on oblivious. (A necessary power in BTVS since the main characters can commit no REAL wrong.) He's out making long green while he messed Anya up so bad she can't even move on with her life.

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If Xander was oblivious why did he run away for awhile and come back still feeling distraught? Why did he express a desire to remain with Anya and a love for her? Why was there a strong tension anytime the characters appeared together after the wedding? Maybe he didn't have a scene that established his current feelings towards Anya, but it seems a bit early to call him oblivious. And regarding making green maybe the guy has thrown himself into his work as a way of overcompensating for his recent failure. Maybe he feels that if he furthers his own social standing Anya will be more tempted to come back to him. Maybe by earning more green, something Anya has expressed interest in a couple of times, he'll be more desireable to her. Flawed thinking? Yes, but people who are somewhat freshly out of a broken relationship tend to do irrational things to compensate.

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No case of that one girl who was with her when they went out with vamps on Halloween. No case of the guy she was crushing on and udnerstood what she felt when she cut herself? I guess they got over the idea of keeping the secondary characters consistent when they blew away the longest running one.

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Well, first off a lot of teenagers shift social groups throughout their academic careers and find themselves drifting apart from one friend or set of friends while becoming closer with others. Secondly, Sunnydale High is a new school. With modern California zoning laws and schooling situations there is nothing to say these two kids aren't in a different zone now that SHS has been re-opened.

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Ohhh, and as a side note with Dawn... her own little Soocby gang... there not going back to the begining they're recyling plot. Especially when you consider they become friends right after their life is threatened.

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It's a real shame they brought that old chestnut back. It was cliched enough when they introduced that new Wiccan through the danger route back in Hush. Perhaps the one core theme that has run through the previous seven years of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the notion of growing up. Each season has featured the core characters going through changes which the viewers at home can relate to through their own experiences. One of the biggest aspects of growing up, and the phase they are at right now, is the moment where you realize that you might still be growing and changing, but there is a whole new generation coming behind you who are going through the same sorts of experiences you have. The music might be different, they might wear clothes that would've gotten you kicked out when you were in school, you might not know whether something being "tight" is good or bad, but you recognize that they are not really all that different than you were.

I don't see how this week's episode was really a re-hash of anything that had come before it, especially considering the situation it has put our central character into. While some of the scenarios might be similar, and the high school setting is one from the past, Buffy's found herself in a brand new role. We've spent the past 6 years watching her grow through the difficult phases of her life and learn from them. Now we are seeing this wisdom passed on in two forms. First, as a Watcher training Dawn to slay vampires. Secondly, and in some ways more importantly, we see her land a job where she will be able to utilize everything she has learned to help troubled students get their lives together and hopefully effect a positive change on them. Maybe it's just a matter of me connecting with the education setting too strongly, but this is quite possibly one of the most brilliant ways of linking Buffy to the "real world" that we've seen so far.

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So as an educator a member of the staff would be hired after being seen talking to a group of students with no accredation and no background check (yes I know he knew her record but 3 years passed since high school)?

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No, but at the same time any librarian seen spending all of his free time with a group of students would probably be severely reprimanded if not suspended for fraternizing with students. There has been quite a bit of suspension of disbelief necessary for any of this stuff going all the way back to the pilot. And while it could turn out this isn't the case, it seems as if Wood has some knowledge of Buffy's role as a defender of the previous Sunnydale High. He never really gets the opportunity to speak with her fully until she rapidly accepts the job offer. There is way more going on here than has been shown yet. I can't really pony up evidence that he is fully aware, but the implications were there repeatedly. And many schools do utilize community outreach programs although very few are budgeted for actually hiring staff.

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Angel said a soul is a blessing and while there may be a rocky road cannon says he's right.

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Not sure if by cannon you mean canon & canonicity or not. While he has made this statement and accepted his role as a champion, you'd find quite a different case if you asked him earlier on in the soul days. Back when Whistler first approached him Angel was avoiding life altogether and living like an animal. Incidents like the moment of happiness with Buffy have caused him tremendous torment. Plus, there is the fact that it has always been refered to by the majority of characters (and Angel himself) as a curse and was initially put upon him as an act of vengence. While he may have grown to view it as a blessing, this wasn't always the case.

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Ohhh, and from waht I read they didn't adress Willow's killing spree either, NOTHING from season 6 was addressed. For at least this episode it was all, ALL swept under the rug.

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-Buffy accepting her role as Dawn's mother figure.
-Buffy training Dawn to be a slayer
-Anya's demonic nature
-Spike's soul
-Willow/Giles discuss power, her trying to blow up the world, and the way she is being treated by those working with her now. Murder is bad, but to these people they are dealing with someone who tried to wipe out existence. It probably comes across as a bigger deal, especially since they weren't there to see the more small-scale aspects of it.
-Buffy finds a job.
-Buffy sees Spike again for the first time since the infamous incident.

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A series that at least had the mentality to keep recycling Jonathan could have Dawn at least with Janice who has been referred to before and has had experience with vampires.

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First off there is nothing to say that the actress was available or that they wanted to use her in a recurring/enhanced role. Secondly, they are utilizing two troubled characters, and what little we saw of Janice didn't really seem to fit this. Third, being familiar with vampires would have worked contrary to this story. It was necessary to have characters in a state of disbelief at what was going on who were also in disbelief that someone else believed them and was helping them.

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"Anne" did not have her home and that's kind of the point.

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The same could be said here for developments with Willow. We are seeing her slowly come to accept a new status quo and learn from her mistakes. Some of this has happened off-camera over summer, some of it no doubt lies ahead. Events are changing back at home, some of it has been dealt with, other aspects are still in the air. Not sure how that differs outside of which character is in exile.

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What this group is going to do is give us a group of characters we have no connection to that can pull the camera away from the characters we have been following from the start.

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The series has always had a history of introducing new characters to add a different mix to the dynamic. Jenny Calendar, Oz, Amy, Jonathan, Anya, Faith, Tara, Riley, Kendra, and many others have come and gone in various levels of participation to name but a few. Each of these characters has introduced a new element into the series and given us some interesting reactions from the core Scoobies.