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Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Episode 7.03, "Same Time, Same Place"
Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by James A. Contner

"Oh God, please stop hitting me with my own rib bones."

Another Tuesday comes and another episode of Buffy arrives for our viewing pleasure. Unfortunately, this week’s episode wasn’t quite as strong as the two previous episodes of season seven. That’s not saying it wasn’t enjoyable, it just wasn’t as good as its predecessors.

The basic premise of the story is that Willow has returned from her ‘vacation’ with the coven in England. The catch is that none of her friends (Buffy, Dawn, and Xander) are able to see her, and she is not able to see any of them. This results in Willow thinking none of her friends cared enough to be around when she made her return to Sunnydale. When Willow doesn’t seem to show up at the airport, though, the gang assumes she might have gone back to her evil ways or, at the very least, ran away. The situation isn’t helped by the sudden appearance of a dead body; one that just happens to have been skinned. Considering Willow’s recent history with forced epidermal removal, the gang has their doubts about Willow’s current mental state.

We all know that Willow didn’t do it though. The skinning is the work of an at times creepy, at times corny demon by the name of Gnarl. He paralyzes his victims and slowly devours their skin as he peels it off of them strip by strip. It’s not a particularly pleasant thought, and it’s quite creepy to watch him start feeding on Willow toward the end. There’s a nice reciprocity, though, in that Willow is getting some form of actual punishment for her actions last season, and it happens to be in the same manner as the murder she committed in Dark Phoenix mode. It’s a sort of ‘eye for an eye’ (or ‘skinning for a skinning’ if you prefer) type of justice. Gnarl is inevitably defeated (with two thumbs jabbed into his eye sockets) when Buffy and the gang realize what’s been happening. Willow is brought back into the fold again.

That’s the episode in a nutshell. There was some foreshadowing of something bad coming, as always. Willow mentions that she came back early from her training with the Coven because Sunnydale was going to need her help. Littered throughout the rest of the episode, though, are some particularly good moments.

There is a good scene between Anya and Willow in which they do a spell to find the demon that is really responsible for the killing. The spell lights a map up to show where all the demons are in Sunnydale. A high concentration of demons is just under Hellmouth High; so high is the concentration that it burns straight through the map. Anya also gleefully points herself out on the map. In fact, Anya’s performance overall in this episode was one of its high points and gives another little something to look forward to in the following episodes.

Dawn’s performance also merits a nod. She was able to find out who the real culprit behind the killing was showing she has some purpose. Toward the end she also had a funny bit where she was paralyzed by Gnarl’s poison and became a life size, pose able Barbie doll. Anya had particular fun playing with her in that state, making her salute and such.

There was also the requisite crazy Spike moment which is always good. He was speaking to Willow, Buffy, and Xander all at the same time. Remember that Willow couldn’t see or hear Buffy and Xander, and they, likewise, couldn’t see or hear Willow. The circumstances surrounding the scene ended up making him look a tad crazier than he might have actually been at the moment, but there’s no doubt he still hasn’t got all ducks in a row.

The end was once again one of the highlights of this episode. While it was in no way as good as the past few episodes’ endings, it was a nice moment that needed to happen. Willow was meditating alone in her room and at the same time healing the wounds that Gnarl had inflicted upon her. Buffy approaches, and the two have a heart to heart. Buffy confesses that she had feared Willow was behind the skinning, and Willow says she understands those doubts. Willow also confesses that she was behind the spell that made them unable to see each other. It seems that she had subconsciously cast the spell out of her own insecurities about their reunion. The scene ended with Buffy allowing Willow to use her own strength to help her heal faster. It nicely showed that the two are still friends no matter what happened between them.

The one major complaint that I had about this episode was its pacing. It was a really slow episode. Even the fight wasn’t particularly exciting. There were a couple other smaller quibbles also. The monster was ineffectual at times. I felt that showing less of him would have been creepier and allowed him to seem more ghoulish. Instead, when we do see him, he comes across as looking a bit silly. I was also saddened by the lack of the robed stalkers chasing down a seemingly innocent girl. We got no information on that subplot which was slightly disappointing. But, in the end, the slow pace hurt the episode the most. "Same Time, Same Place", gets:

Episode Rating: 7 out of 10

- Brandon "Pyronics" Delancey wants a robe a shiny silver dagger.

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