BtVS: The Wish

The Wish, another one of my top ten favorite episodes, can be summed up as the antithesis of "It's a Wonderful Life" Buffy style.
in this follow up to last episode's double break up between Oz and Willow and Xander and Cordy, we watch the fallout take a nasty turn when Cordy wishes Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale. of course anywhere else you wish in one hand, s#!t in the other and see which one fills up first, but in Sunnydale the outcome isn't a sure bet.

this episode also introduces another character that eventually became a regular on the show, Anyanka (Emma Caulfield). Anya (as she comes to be known) is a 1,000 year old vengeance demon who specializes in granting the wishes of spurned women. when Cordy wishes Buffy had never come to Sunnydale all hell breaks loose... literally.
Sunnydale becomes a haven for creatures of the night where the Master has risen and plans to go into the mass production of blood using the people of Sunnydale as his suppliers.

it's a dark "what if" vision of a Sunnydale where Xander and Willow are vampires, Angel's locked in a cage and tortured, no one stays out after dark, and there's not a slayer in sight. a place that Cordy comes to regret when she's bitten and killed by vampire Willow and Xander.

when Buffy finally does show up (she ended up in Cleveland in this reality) she's not the fun loving sweety we've come to know and love. she a cold blooded vampire killing machine. hard and cynical.

the great thing about this episode is seeing how different everyone is in this reality. i'm sure it was great fun for the cast playing alternate versions of themselves, stretching their acting muscles.

Giles Report: he doesn't lose consciousness, but he does get locked in a cage and knocked around a bit.

Jonathan Watch: Harmony, as a cruel joke meant to humiliate Cordy, picks our man Jonathan has her next boyfriend.