"Where Do We Go From Here?"

The long-awaited musical episode of "Buffy" ended with a long-awaited kiss and an evocative parallel to Angel's close encounter with Darla, while Giles, and possibly Tara as well, began the process of saying goodbye.

Meanwhile, this column begins the same process. This topic may soon be under new management, as this editor, like Giles, finds that it is time to be moving on.

Willow is beginning to taste the first consequences of her misuse of magic, which promises to be one of the major story arcs of the season. In the midst of enjoying the music and the dancing, the viewer also wondered with Spike whether he would be the one to succeed in saving Buffy this time, as he had failed before. The answer seems to be both "yes" and "no." Spike brought Buffy back from the brink of dancing herself into spontaneous combustion, but we have already seen on "Angel" that actions taken because "I just want to feel something besides the cold" have unintended consequences. If the spoilers are correct, Spike may soon recover his ability to harm humans, and if a scorned Spike is no longer just the "neutered vampire who cheats at kitten poker," the Buffy/Angel parallels may become even more interesting.

Over on "Angel," why is it again that Angel just can't seem to stake Darla, even when she asks for it? Oh, yes, the fetal heartbeat, which supposedly means that Darla's unborn child has a soul. If a souled vampire is therefore no longer infertile, was it merely chance that Angel didn't impregnate Buffy on the way to achieving his moment of perfect happiness on her seventeenth birthday? Is a souled vampire only fertile with another vampire? If so, didn't Angel and Darla see any action years ago when he tried unsuccessfully to return to his evil ways after he was cursed? Does the timing of the return of Holtz have some connection to the birth of this impossible child? Does any of this make any sense whatsoever? I guess we'll just have to stay tuned - which is, after all, the point.

But, when Spike next finds himself at the receiving end of Buffy's stake, we can only hope that Buffy will find a better reason than the one Darla gave for not killing Holtz for Spike not to be dusted.... even though he is, in a way, part of the family.

It's just a little more dysfunctional than usual at the moment.

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