I can't believe that this episode doesn't pick up immediately after the scene with Spike and Buffy in the church in "Beneath Me." What a complete rip off! How could Buffy just let Spike go back to the basement now that she know he has a soul? Every time I see "Same Time, Same Place" it bugs me. That said, this is actually a pretty good episode. It's nice to finally have Willow back in Sunnydale and (eventually) reunited with the Scoobies. If you're watching the season, you shouldn't skip this episode.
"Same Time, Same Place" revolves around Willow's return to Sunnydale. She shows up at the airport and realizes that no one has come to meet her. Hurt, she heads to the Summers' house and waits for her friends to show up. But she never sees them. At the same time, The Scoobies are searching for Willow. They were at the airport waiting for her, but she was completely invisible to them. Willow can't see the Scoobies and the Scoobies can't see her. Willow goes to Anya and Spike to ask if they've seen Xander and Buffy. But, at the school, she finds a skinless body and panics. Buffy and Xander see it, too, and wonder if Willow might be back to her Dark Willow flaying activities.
Willow and Anya preform a spell to try and find the demon who killed the man. The Scoobies do their investigation using a computer and Spike's sense of smell. They all come up with a plan to search a cave in the Sunnydale woods. Inside is Gnarl, a demon with paralyzing fingernails and a desire to eat human flesh. Dawn is cut by his fingernails and can't move. Willow is inadvertently trapped inside the cave with Gnarl, as the Xander and Buffy rush Dawn home. Then, Anya tells them that Willow went to the cave, and they hurry back. Gnarl is eating Willow's skin and Buffy has to fight it. Willow, Buffy and Xander finally begin to see each other. Willow realizes that she was scared that her friends wouldn't accept her and accidentally cast an invisibility spell. Buffy and Willow reaffirm their friendship and bond.
There are some really good parts to this episode. I think it's really cute that Xander made his "Welcome Home, Willow" sign with yellow crayons. And I love the scene with Anya and Willow trying to preform their locater spell. They're so funny together as Anya worries about her carpet and warns Willow not to try anything sexy. Willow scoffs at the very idea and soon launches into a long speech about their common fears that they will loose themselves in their powers. Finally, Anya says, "Wow, that did get a little sexy, didn't it?" and Willow makes a "Yeah, kinna" sort of face. It just cracks me up. Also, the scene with Willow, Buffy and Xander all talking to Spike in the basement is really cool. Willow can't see Buffy and Xander and they can't see her. They all talk to Spike at the same time, so he's carrying on fractured conversations with all of them. Spike is now crazy, but tries to figure out what's happening. He still has enough presence of mind to ask if there's any blood with the body, which sort of ties in with Dawn's later investigation of Gnarl. He's also trying to remember a "word that means gleaming" which references back to season five's "Fool for Love." But, when Buffy says "Please Spike," in an attempt to get him to concentrate, he freaks out. He's reminded of Buffy's words the night that he tried to rape her and cringes away from her. It's sweet that Spike still warns Willow that the Slayer and "her boy" are going to blame her for the death, though. Like he was trying to protect Willow even in the midst of his breakdown. And Xander's incredulous, "Now, I'm 'her boy?!'" is just hilarious.
On the down side, am I really suppose to believe that with Willow missing and possibly going evil again, Giles went to an all day Council meeting where he's completely unreachable? Come on. That's just dumb. Also, they can show Dawn working on that computer and researching demons from now until the next apocalypse. I'm still never gonna buy that she's now "watcher junior." Sorry.
My favorite part of the episode: Spike leading the Scoobies through the forest. From his muttering that its "suppose to help to help" (which is a nice little nod to "Angel"), to Xander's face when Spike grabs him and whispers fiercely, "keep your ticket, you'll need that," to Spike just leaving them there and stalking back to his basement, it just all works really well.
"Same Time, Same Place" revolves around Willow's return to Sunnydale. She shows up at the airport and realizes that no one has come to meet her. Hurt, she heads to the Summers' house and waits for her friends to show up. But she never sees them. At the same time, The Scoobies are searching for Willow. They were at the airport waiting for her, but she was completely invisible to them. Willow can't see the Scoobies and the Scoobies can't see her. Willow goes to Anya and Spike to ask if they've seen Xander and Buffy. But, at the school, she finds a skinless body and panics. Buffy and Xander see it, too, and wonder if Willow might be back to her Dark Willow flaying activities.
Willow and Anya preform a spell to try and find the demon who killed the man. The Scoobies do their investigation using a computer and Spike's sense of smell. They all come up with a plan to search a cave in the Sunnydale woods. Inside is Gnarl, a demon with paralyzing fingernails and a desire to eat human flesh. Dawn is cut by his fingernails and can't move. Willow is inadvertently trapped inside the cave with Gnarl, as the Xander and Buffy rush Dawn home. Then, Anya tells them that Willow went to the cave, and they hurry back. Gnarl is eating Willow's skin and Buffy has to fight it. Willow, Buffy and Xander finally begin to see each other. Willow realizes that she was scared that her friends wouldn't accept her and accidentally cast an invisibility spell. Buffy and Willow reaffirm their friendship and bond.
There are some really good parts to this episode. I think it's really cute that Xander made his "Welcome Home, Willow" sign with yellow crayons. And I love the scene with Anya and Willow trying to preform their locater spell. They're so funny together as Anya worries about her carpet and warns Willow not to try anything sexy. Willow scoffs at the very idea and soon launches into a long speech about their common fears that they will loose themselves in their powers. Finally, Anya says, "Wow, that did get a little sexy, didn't it?" and Willow makes a "Yeah, kinna" sort of face. It just cracks me up. Also, the scene with Willow, Buffy and Xander all talking to Spike in the basement is really cool. Willow can't see Buffy and Xander and they can't see her. They all talk to Spike at the same time, so he's carrying on fractured conversations with all of them. Spike is now crazy, but tries to figure out what's happening. He still has enough presence of mind to ask if there's any blood with the body, which sort of ties in with Dawn's later investigation of Gnarl. He's also trying to remember a "word that means gleaming" which references back to season five's "Fool for Love." But, when Buffy says "Please Spike," in an attempt to get him to concentrate, he freaks out. He's reminded of Buffy's words the night that he tried to rape her and cringes away from her. It's sweet that Spike still warns Willow that the Slayer and "her boy" are going to blame her for the death, though. Like he was trying to protect Willow even in the midst of his breakdown. And Xander's incredulous, "Now, I'm 'her boy?!'" is just hilarious.
On the down side, am I really suppose to believe that with Willow missing and possibly going evil again, Giles went to an all day Council meeting where he's completely unreachable? Come on. That's just dumb. Also, they can show Dawn working on that computer and researching demons from now until the next apocalypse. I'm still never gonna buy that she's now "watcher junior." Sorry.
My favorite part of the episode: Spike leading the Scoobies through the forest. From his muttering that its "suppose to help to help" (which is a nice little nod to "Angel"), to Xander's face when Spike grabs him and whispers fiercely, "keep your ticket, you'll need that," to Spike just leaving them there and stalking back to his basement, it just all works really well.
