Ah, the continuing adventures of that guy who looks like Lindsey, talks like Lindsey, but doesn’t act a thing like him. What fun.

I’ve been very confused about the use of Lindsey this season. But that hardly figures into this episode. While trapped in a suburban hell, there’s very little opportunity to suddenly switch your motivations or decide that you want to kill someone who you made peace with two years ago. Plenty of chances for getting your heart ripped out repeatedly. And Lindsey’s taking full advantage of this.

Until, of course, our heroes decide to rescue him for information. Not that I’m really clear why Lindsey should know any more than the rest of them could if they put their minds to it. But he does seem to think he does, so I should probably accept it. And so, in part, we’ve got one of those irritating didactic episodes that attempts to change the course of the season not through dramatic events but through people sitting around, giving semi-lame speeches about how everything we knew was wrong. Otherwise known as the X-Files technique.

It’s not all bad though. The portrayal of the ‘suburban hell’ is excellent, with oh-so-nice family and oh-so-destructive demon. I especially liked it when the family got their machine guns out. I don’t know what that says about me. But it’s the little things about this episode that make it worth watching — Lorne’s mourning at the bar, Wesley’s drunken ramblings with Illyria, Spike’s beer and briefcase. And one big thing — Hamilton. I don’t mind a little creative borrowing of iconography, even if any resemblance to a certain Agent Smith is completely unintentional.

And Eve’s lost her immortality. I still don’t care though.

Ultimately, this episode feels kind of like an extension of Spike’s lame ‘bad stuff is coming’ speech last episode. Stop telling us this, folks, start showing it. Please don’t turn into Buffy. I’d cry.

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This entry was posted by the illustrious Tom Charman on Monday, July 5th, 2004. It concerns such pressing issues as . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.