Reviewed By: Adam Bardwell
Rating: 8.5/10
I honestly don't have much to say about this episode. The return of Oz was dealt with well and it sparked off some important changes. I forced Willow to chose between him and Tara and it also lead to Buffy and Riley having a greater acceptance for unusual relationships. So much so that as a fairly direct result of Oz's return Riley deserts the Initiative and Buffy tells Riley about her past with Angel.
The core of this episode is the Willow / Tara / Oz love triangle (OK not a true love triangle but you know what I mean). They produce some go drama as well as some sweet scenes. Oz has returned because he has found a way to control the wolf inside of him so he doesn't change with a full moon. He basically expects Willow to get back together with him when he discovers that she doesn't have a new man in her life. For Willows part she doesn't mention Tara. Tara also assumes that Willow will return to Oz and she basically says that they will be friends in a very good scene. She is prepared to give her up so she can be happy. Ultimately Willow chooses Tara and the fact that the two of them are validated by the end of the episode with Oz leaving again.
As an aside we still don't see a Willow / Tara kiss. I personally think it is necessary to show the romantic nature of the relationship. They shouldn't be kissing ever show like Buffy and Riley are but to odd kiss is necessary I think. I know Joss is worried about such a kiss being censored. I don't know much about America censorship but I know that other genre shows such as DS9 have shown same sex kisses on more than one occasion. I agree that seeing Willow and Tara kissing could encourage people to watch the show for the wrong reasons but without it the sense of a romantic relationship may be lost.
Although Willow doesn't tell Oz about Tara he figures it out for himself when he smells her sent all over Tara (good reusing of this ability from "Lovers Walk"). This triggers Oz to turn into a wolf even though it is the middle of the day. This is ironic for it is the person he loves who sets off his change. In fact the irony seems a bit convenient as Oz has lost his inner cool over Willow before, "Lovers Walk" being a good case in point, but not turned into a wolf. This to me seems like a convenient plot point as does Tara not being able to tell the Initiative that they had captured Oz. It is also a bit too similar to Pete turning bad when Debbie makes him angry in, "Beauty and the Beast".
I liked the way that Buffy was cross with Riley for freaking out when finding out that Willow dated a werewolf before doing the some thing when Willow tells her that she loves Tara. This shows that we all initially tend to think of things in terms of black and white but the world isn't like that and we have to accept that there can be shads of grey in terms of demons and that there is nothing wrong with unusual relationships (not that same sex relationships are that unusual). It is Riley's acceptance that not all demons are bad that contributed to his treachery to the Initiative and ment Buffy felt able to tell him about her past. However, his reaction to Angel in "The Yoko Factor" shows that he still has some way to come with the concept (although to be fair it is that fact that involves Buffy that clouds his judgement).
I have a few very small qualms about this episode. The first is very nit-picky - Oz never said he was going to look for a cure to being a werewolf in "Wild at Heart". He said the wolf was in him all the time and that he needed to figure out what this means. I suppose he found out that he becomes the wolf with negative stimulation What he really needed to do was to accept his wolf side - this is what I though he was going to do after "Wild at Heart" but I was obviously mistaken.
My other qualm is even more trivial. When Anya and Giles cut the power their computer remains on as I think does Adam's. This makes no sense even the power is cut or it isn't. I suppose Willows lap top may be running on batteries so I may have answered my own complaint or it may have been a production oversight.
I have to end by saying how thrilled I was with the reference to one of my all time favourite bands, Radiohead. As Oz is so up on music this just exemplifies how cool they have become - I can' wait to see them live (again) next month! I'd have to be desperate to give up my Radiohead albums - even more to give up my Buffy videos!
Great Buffy Moment: Oz's unexpected appearance at Giles at the beginning - the tension was intense.
In a Nutshell: A good platform to highlight Willows feelings for Oz and Tara. It brought home how much I've missed Oz as the series has also.