SEX AND THE SLAYER: After a rather lengthy hiatus (due to actual new TV and work-related program activities), it's time to return to the promised "Blogging Buffy," with episodes 5 and 6 of the first season--"Never Kill A Boy On The First Date" and "The Pack." Interestingly, Alan noted, in reviewing the finale of Reaper, that there are a number of interesting parallels between Reaper and Buffy's first seasons, one of which is that the monster of the week episodes are generally far less interesting than those which develop the story arc. That's very true here, where "Never Kill..." is designed mostly to set up the "Master" plot arc, while "The Pack" is almost purely Monster of the Week, and "Never Kill..." winds up being a considerably more interesting episode. A few other notes:

• The "Never Kill..." teaser with Giles critiquing Buffy's slaying technique is really funny, and (along with Giles' fighting training later on), really adds to his cahracter.
  
• The scene with Xander and Willow attempting to persuade Buffy to go to the funeral home in "Never Kill..." is effective and funny, if just for Xander's obliviousness that Willow isn't pretending.
• The end of "The Pack" is particularly anti-climactic--the zookeeper transfers the hyena spirit into himself and then he's tossed to the hyenas? Nothing else?
  
• One of the joys of "The Pack" is that it gives Nicholas Brendon a nice chance to play against his ordinary character of the dorky guy pining silently, and he actually does pretty darn well with it.
  
• SMG's outfit in the final scene of "The Pack" is almost unspeakably awful.
• Both have mild twists in the endings (that Buffy didn't slay the "Anointed One" and that Xander does remember his time possessed), but neither feels tacked on or added for pure shock value, unlike in other episodes.
  

Next--the arc and flashback-heavy "Angel," and the monster of the week "I Robot...You Jane."