This is the best episode in the series up to this point.   Not only is it comic, but creepy, a bit grotesque, and way, way scary.  

This was a good show with a surprise ending.  My only problem was seeing the gang argue with each other, but it is necessary as a setup for the finish.  

After spending their first year in college growing apart, Buffy and her friends reconcile their differences to join forces to fight Adam.  

I am not quite sure what to think of this show.  On an emotional level I am glad to see the Scooby gang get back together, and I like how Spike switched sides when he saw which way the wind was blowing, and I like how Buffy tells off the military commander when they are having an argument over which one of them is interfering in the other's turf.  On the other hand, most of the show contains what seem like standard action sequences, with the exception of something that Riley does with a piece of glass and the ending which seems imitative of "The Matrix."  I liked the ending, but I just didn't think that it was that original.  

I think that it is significant that the reconciliation of the gang occurs outside in broad daylight away from where others can influence them (i.e.   Spike.)

My college experience tells me that friends don't get back together after growing apart, but in the case of the Buffy gang, they had no choice.  They had to fight a common enemy.  

I can't say enough good things about Spike.  His character seems to be increasing in importance.  He seems to know how to survive when his evil plans go bad, and that is to switch sides for awhile and at least pretend to be a good guy.  

It just occurs to me that Adam was probably given his name because he is the first of a new species.  

I like the line where Xander asks if anyone misses the Mayor.  It means that the forces of evil are getting tougher to fight and it is a ironic foreshadowing of the terrible things to come in the next season.  

After the grand battle in Primeval, the gang has bad dreams.  

After seeing this episode a 2nd time I have decided that it is not terrible.   There is forshadowing here that doesn't mean much until you have seen the next season.

Quote:  "Get back before Dawn." ("Dawn" is a character introduced in the next season.)