BtVS: Revelations & Lover's Walk

in Revelations Faith gets a new Watcher.. sort of. enter Gwendolyn Post (Serena Scott Thomas), an extremely snobbish, severe, some might say "hard nosed" woman supposedly sent by the Watcher's Council to take over Faith's training.
claiming a demon named Lagos is on its way to Sunnydale in search of the Glove of Myneghon, Ms. Post is, in fact, looking to score the glove herself and, was actually fired by the council several years ago for abuse of dark forces.

in the subplots Xander catches Buffy macking on Angel and runs back to tell the rest of the gang that Angel's back. information that doesn't sit to well with the rest of the gang, particularly Giles (who was tortured by Angel in last season's two part finale.)
still fighting their urges Willow and Xander almost get caught smooching in the library. Willow almost confides in Buffy about her and Xander but gets interrupted when Lagos attacks Buffy at the cemetery.
this is also the first episode Faith meets Angel, and tries to kill him. attempted slayage aside, Faith and Angel eventually become bestest buds.

Giles Report: Seriously conked on the noggin by Gwendolyn Post, hard enough to send him to hospital.

alrighty, big doings in Lover's Walk starting with the return of Spike. Drucilla has dumped him, and he's feeling a little down. okay, a lot down, and perpetually drunk for the first half of the episode. so drunk that he passes out in Angel's garden and almost gets fried by the morning sun.

Oz gives Willow a Pez Witch as a show of affection, and Xander discovers Cordy has pictures of him taped to her locker door, which makes both Willow and Xander feel even more guilty about fooling around. they overcompensate by planning a double date to go bowling. Willow, fearing that Oz and/or Cordy will discover what's going on while the four of them are together decides to make a "de-lusting" spell.

while looking for a nasty spell to inflict on Angel ( whom he blames for the breakup with Dru) Spike spots Willow at the magic shop, buying some supplies for the "de-lusting" spell she plans to use on Xander, and hatches a plan to get Dru back. the plan being to force Willow to cook up a love spell he can use on Dru.

there's a great scene between Spike and Joyce that exemplifies the great relationship they have. even now (before the events of season four, which we'll leave off for now) Spike seems to respond to Joyce's motherly nature. more on that later.

anyway, while Willow and Xander are trapped at the factory, in a moment of weakness due to impending danger, they kiss. naturally Oz and Cordy burst in to rescue them. Cordy freaks, runs up some rickety stairs, falls through and impales herself on a re-bar. ouch!

is this the end for Willow and Oz? for Cordy and Xander? well, you'll just have to wait and see.

and what of Spike? after a spot of good old violence between him, Buffy, Angel and a bunch of the Mayor's vampire goons, he decides he doesn't need a love spell after all. he just has to go back to being the "man" Drucilla fell in love with. but before he goes he imparts a bit of wisdom to Buffy and Angel.

Buffy and Angel aren't friends, they never were friends, and they'll never be able to be just friends. which Buffy takes to heart and tells Angel that she can't see him anymore. sure, that's gonna work.
Giles Report: we really don't see much of Giles this episode.