This episode is a fantasy within a fantasy.  I am pretty sure that castles don't exist in Sunnydale.  Riley reaffirms this, which tells us that the episode is all a dream, meant to be forgotten.  

The finish made me wonder where the little sister came from.  I assume that Dawn had been living with Buffy's father, but I also thought that Buffy was an only child.  Something is going on but we don't find out what for a while.   The inconsistency bothered me at first.  When Buffy first sees Dawn, she has a confused look on her face, then she asks, "What are you doing here?"

The fact that Dawn and Buffy say the same thing exactly the same way is a hint of a theme from the end of this season.  Dawn is like a little clone of Buffy.  

The arrival of Buffy's sister puts both of them in danger from a new gang of vampires.  "Real Me" is about Dawn's life and her relationship with her older sister, Buffy.  

When I first started watching the episode Superstar I began to wonder if I had missed the show that explained what is going on.  The same feeling hit me when Buffy's sister, Dawn, arrived on the scene.  I had never seen this character before, and it turns out that the whole season is mainly about her.  I wondered if this is an "alternate reality" like Superstar or The Wish or if Dawn might be some sort of evil demon.   The first few shows of the season tease us with these ideas before they finally explain what going on.   It is a very clever setup that keeps us guessing.  

A crazed homeless man confronts Dawn and tells her that she doesn't belong in Sunnydale.   Who this stranger is we don't know, but it is hint to the audience that not all is right in the Buffy world.  I was beginning to wonder that already, but without this scene I might have more easily accepted the presence of Dawn.  This man calls Dawn, "Little Miss Muffet" which are the same words Faith used in last season's prophetic dream where she said "Little Sis is coming." "Little Sis" is Dawn.  

In a way, "Buffy vs. Dracula" was so different from normal Buffy universe that it serves as a warning that things are going different this season.   They are.  Dawn is what is different.  

Dawn, in every respect, seems like a normal teenage girl.   She fights with Buffy.  She is a little unhappy with her life.  She wants to be treated like an adult and everyone treats her like a child.   Dawn seems to get clueless the moment Xander walks in the room.  She obviously has a crush on him.  

Buffy is overprotective of Dawn, especially given the dangers that Buffy must face everyday, but she is also frequently annoyed with Dawn.  We start to see Buffy take on a maternal role to Dawn that she will be forced to assume when Joyce becomes ill.  Buffy was always the strong one in the family anyway.  

Dawn does not understand that Buffy's overprotectiveness is for her own good, and she rebels against it.   Dawn's perspective on life is through the eyes of a 14 year old, and she does not understand the problems and worries of others.  

It is interesting to see the Scooby group from Dawn and Tara's perspective.  Dawn bonds well with Tara, because they both feel like outsiders to the group.   Tara seems more concerned about Dawn fitting into the gang than about herself.   When Willow tells Tara that she is one of the good guys, Tara gets all solemn.   She obviously has trouble fitting in.  It takes another 4 episodes before we find out why.  

It is interesting that Buffy is not worried that Willow and Tara are a bad influence, but we get a hint that maybe Joyce is worried.  

The episode ends with Dawn commenting that Buffy doesn't really know who she is and is in for a surprise.  This ironic comment is yet another hint that Dawn is more than she appears to be.  

A mysterious demon, Toth, creates something that looks and acts like Xander.   Riley tells Xander a secret about his relationship with Buffy.  

Some episodes of Buffy have such emotional depth that I can watch them over and over again.   This is not one of them.  It is more of a light comedy.   Quite a few things about this episode are surprising, which is part of the entertainment value, but the story line outside of the surprises is just O.K.  I didn't find myself as intrigued the second time that I saw the show because I already knew what the surprises were.  The episode is entertaining but I am used to being blown away.  

The most important thing about this show is the character development of Xander.  All last season he was in a "my life sucks" mode, and now things are happening that allow him to be a man.  We will see more of this as the season progresses, and it is a comforting change.  

We also see the character development of Anya, who has a hard time accepting her new found mortality.  She is upset that she will age and die.  Xander tells her that it is O.K. and she is comforted because he loves her (which he proves more than once in this episode.) I wonder if love is how most people cope with their own mortality?

There are some good funny one liners about Babylon 5, Klingon costumes, references, not being dead or unconscious, popcorn, and sexual references.  

1. Joyce momentarily doesn't know who Dawn is and then collapses and has to be hospitalized.
2. We meet (doctor) Ben for the first time.
3. Riley's life is endangered because of what the Initive did to him.
4. Riley's former army buddies try to get him help.
5. Riley resists getting help until Buffy convinces him otherwise.
6. Spike devises a plan to have the chip removed from his head.
7. Harmony helps Spike with his plan.
8. Harmony is clueless as ever.
9. Buffy and Riley fight Spike and Harmony.
10. At the end Spike has an erotic dream about Buffy.  He wakes up filled with dread realizing that he is love with his greatest enemy.

This episode is not deep on emotion but there is much that happens and it is all entertaining.  The title could refer to Riley or it could refer to the chip in Spike's head, or it could refer to Spike's dream, or maybe just stupid Harmony.

1. Monks use magic to hide the key from the beast.
2. We meet Glory (the beast) for the first time.  She is like Cordelia on super steroids.
3. Glory somehow sucks energy from people's brains and it makes them crazy.
4. Buffy uses a magic trance to find out if demons are making her mother sick.
5. Buffy suspects that Dawn is not her sister.
6. Buffy catches Spike stalking her.
7. Buffy engages Glory and gets beat up.
8. A dying monk tells Buffy the truth about Dawn.
9. Buffy settles her differences with Dawn and becomes more affectionate toward her now that she knows the truth.

1. In Real Me Anya didn't understand the board game "Life" that having more money meant that you were winning.  Once she understood that she was winning she liked the game.  She wanted to sell her plastic children for more game money, which bothered everybody else at the table.  Now she seems obsessed with real money.  She wants to win at the real game of life so she wants more money.   She sees retail as a way of getting money, so she is obsessed with excelling at retail, although it is not clear if she understands that most of the money goes to the shop owner.  This is part of a process of becoming more human, because she finds out that to get what she wants that she has to be nice to customers.  This is not something that she is used to as a thousand year old vengeance demon, but she quickly learns to put on a front of politenes, although maybe insincere.   Eventually, though, politeness is a behavior that she learns.   It shows in a very clever way that she is adapting to her new human existence.  
2. It is interesting how we are mislead in this episode to think that Dawn is something evil, but the truth is far more interesting and surprising than I could have imagined.
3. The show ends with Dawn asking Buffy what is wrong their mother, Joyce.  I like how her voice switches from angry to worried.  Buffy says that she doesn't know.  This provides and emotional center for Buffy and Dawn where they can put away their differences and focus on the danger to their mother.

1. Buffy tells Giles the truth about Dawn and warns him not to tell the others.
2. Riley realizes that Buffy is withholding something and is bothered by this.
3. Buffy moves out of the dorm and back in with her family to protect Dawn and to monitor her mother's illness
4. Tara is visited at the magic shop by her family, who later tell her that she must leave Sunnydale with them because she is part demon.
5. Tara casts a spell on the gang so that they won't see her demon self.
6. Glory sends demons to attack the slayer, which the gang can't see because of the spell.
7. Tara breaks the spell in time and the demons are defeated.
8. Tara's family demands that she return with them, but the gang determines that Tara has no demon in her and send the family away.
9. Tara has a birthday party at The Bronze.

I didn't know what to think of this episode at first.  There is a great deal that happens that is interesting, but Tara's family seemed so mean that it bothered me to watch the scenes between Tara and them.  Her brother seemed like a country hick, and the father seemed a little bit that way too. Having come from a rural background, they didn't seem realistic to me.  Most rural people are not that unsophisticated, at least not in this century. There are a few really backwards areas, but are you going to find them in Southern California?

If there is one point to the episode, it is that lying is bad.  Buffy tries to conceal the truth about Dawn from the gang, for their own protection, but it immediately hurts her relationship with Riley.  It doesn't help the relationship with Dawn either.   Tara's family might be lying to Tara as a way of controller her.  Tara tries to conceal what she thinks is the truth from the gang, but it nearly gets them killed.  It is only when the truth about Tara is found out that the gang can reconcile their differences.

Buffy is much more forgiving of Tara than I expected.  It doesn't seem reasonable that she would so quickly take Tara's side, but this gang has been through a great deal together, so maybe a little deception and one dangerous spell is not enough to ruffle Buffy's feathers.

Dawn very quickly takes Buffy's side, maybe so as to feel more important, but given that she was pissed off at Buffy at the end of the previous episode, this surprised me.  It seems that the two sisters can reconcile their differences.  I can believe that, even though Buffy acted like an extremely overprotective parent in this episode.

It makes some sense that Dawn would want to protect Tara.  Tara has always been concerned about Dawn.

1. Buffy is bested by a vampire and Riley saves her.
2. Riley starts to live dangerously.
3. Buffy seeks information from Spike about former slayers.
4. The life story of Spike is explored in great detail.   This is really a sequel to Lover's Walk.

Every once in awhile this show does something really special and surprises me.   The story of Spike gives us great insight into his character and how he has changed over time.

The show starts with Joyce getting a CAT scan.  It is interesting how a show about monsters now deals with monsters from within. Illness can be as frightening as any other threat to our well being. Seeing the CAT scan from Joyce's perspective is a somber moment, not just for her, but for her family waiting outside.

The results are not good.  Joyce has a serious brain tumor.  Buffy does not tell Dawn right away.  Buffy wants to use magic to try to solve the problem but she is told by her friends that it will not likely work and could make things worse.

Buffy, who is frustrated at not being able to do anything, goes out and confronts Glory.  This is a bad idea.  Buffy barely escapes with her life.  

Glory creates a snake monster to find the key.  Later Buffy has to face the monster to protect Dawn.

Riley, although trying to be supportive, feels shut out of Buffy's life, and continues to do dangerous things.  Buffy seems to actively shut him out and not aware of how it affects him.   Buffy has too much on her mind to notice.  She has to worry about Glory, vampires, monsters, college, and her family.  

The final scene where Joyce has to explain her illness to Dawn is very touching.  Joyce is worried about how she looks and how Dawn will react. This meeting takes place off screen while Buffy and Riley talk outside, leaving Dawn's reaction to our imagination.  Joyce then calls Buffy into the room, and Buffy shuts the door leaving Riley feeling more shut out than ever.  Buffy's attention is on her family, and unfortunately she takes Riley for granted.

The title "Shadow" refers to a great many things not in plain sight.

1. The doctor refers to Joyce's tumor as a shadow on the x-ray.
2. Glory refers to the key as a shadowy thing.
3. Shadow could mean Glory, her minions or her monster.
4. In the next episode Joyce again momentarily fails to recognize Dawn and refers to her as a shadow.
5. A shadow hangs over Buffy's head as everything all at once goes wrong in her life.  Poor Buffy can't get a break right now.  
6. It might mean the secret dangerous life that Riley has been living
7. It could refer to the final shot of Riley being pushed out of Buffy's life.  Buffy takes for granted that Riley will always be there for her. Riley probably feels like Buffy's shadow.  Buffy does not see what is happening.  Their relationship is rapidly coming to an end.

I have to nitpick on two technical areas: 1.) The computer generated monster looked cool, but half of the time it was a model and looked less than real.  2.) In the scene where Buffy runs into the park, we can barely see her face and it is the stunt double.  It hardly seems necessary to use a stunt double for a running scene, and normally they are more careful not to show the face.

1. Buffy and Dawn are visiting their mother at the hospital
2. Joyce's operation is scheduled for 36 hours later.
3. Giles and Xander and Willow are on vampire patrol.  
4. Willow dusts 2 vampires, gets excited about it, and then nearly faints.
5. Apparently Riley forgot to show up for vampire duty, and the next scene shows him volunarily getting bitten by a vampire.  Where his heart and mind is at this point is not clear.
6. Joyce is starting to show manic behavior from her brain tumor.  Dawn is worried but Buffy explains that it is just the illness.
7. A crazy man at the hospital , who had been made crazy by Glory, refers to Dawn as "a thing."
8. Ben apologizes and says that their mental ward is overflowing and that they had to release some of the patients to home care.
9. Tera and Willow are gazing at stars and see a meteroite crash into Sunnydale.
10. From the meterorite emerges a monster which later kills the crazy man.
11. Joyce is stressed being in the hospital, and requests to go home and rest while waiting for the operation.
12. The gang investigates the meterorite, finds a body, and concludes that something evil crashed to earth.
13. Riley calls his friends at The Inititive.
14. The monster attacks the patients in the hospital mental ward.
15. Buffy and Dawn take their mother home.
16. The monster follows them there.
17. Soldiers meet Riley at the meterorite site.
18. Joyce exhibits more crazy behavior.  Buffy and Dawn put her to bed.
19. Joyce fails to recognize Dawn and refers to her as a thing and a shadow.
20. Dawn is upset and Buffy comforts her.
21. The monster attacks Joyce.  Dawn and Buffy comes to the rescue, with a little unwelcome help from Spike.   The Inititive. guys show up just barely too late.
22. One of Glory's minions confronts Ben about why he summoned the monster.  He refers to Ben respectively as if Ben is somehow associated with Glory.
23. Later back at the hospital, Joyce realizes that Dawn is not her daughter and talks to Buffy about it.  Joyce understands that that Dawn is important even though she is not sure what Dawn is.
24. The final shot is from the perspective of the gang watching Joyce being wheeled into the operating room.

This is really Shadow Part II and the next episode is Shadow Part III.  It is really one continuous story.

1. The gang awaits the result of the operation.
2. The doctor emerges.  Buffy looks worried.
3. The news is good.  The tumor was removed.  Everyone is relieved.
4. Dawn stays with Xander and Anya while Buffy and Riley have a romantic moment.
5. In the middle of the night Riley sneaks out and Spike follows him to a den of vampires.
6. Spike drags Buffy out of bed to show her what Riley has been up to.   They find him getting his thrills in a den of vampires.
7. The gang finds out that some people have been paying vampires to bite them.  Riley is one of them.
8. Riley attacks Spike for interfering with his relationship with Buffy.  The two boys settle down and share a drink while comparing their relationships with Buffy.
9. What is left of the inititive decides to recruit Riley.
10. Buffy is upset at Riley for the remainder of the episode which leads to a confrontation later where Riley expresses his feelings where he thinks that Buffy doesn't need him.  He gives Buffy an ultimatum about how he is going to leave unless they can work it out.
11. Buffy is attacked by a gang of 7 vampires.  Since Buffy is angry she dispatches them with the efficiency and speed of a Jedi Knight.
12. Buffy stays angry at Riley until Xander convinces her that she shouldn't let him go.  She tries to catch Riley before he leaves with the inititive but it is too late.
13. Xander goes home and expresses his love to Anya.  The final shot is of Buffy going home alone and feeling sad.

Joyce is out of danger, for the moment, but Buffy and Riley implode leading to the end of their relationship.  For most of this season, Riley has felt like furniture anyway.  He is just background, or at least that is how Buffy treated him.  This is not necessarily her fault, as she has five times as many problems to worry about.

Buffy tries to recover from the loss of Riley.  Giles goes to the watcher's council to try to get information about Glory.  Willow accidently conjures a troll and this causes all kinds of problems.  Meanwhile Willow and Anya work out their differences over Xander.

There was at least one person the web who thought that this was a bad episode, but it is a comedy and I enjoyed it both times that I watched it.  It is nice to have an amusing break from the seriousness of the last three episodes.

Things that happen in this and the next few episodes have an impact on the season finale.

I though that it was signicant that Anya offered to die in place of Xander.

In the final scene Dawn overhears Buffy, Giles, and Joyce talk about her and the key.

The Watcher's council tries to impose its will on Buffy.  A group of ancient warriors attack Buffy.  Glory threatens Buffy's family while looking for the key.  Buffy reasserts her independence from the watchers' council.

"Yes, I do.  I worked here ever since I moved from southeast Indiana, where I was raised by both a mother and a father".  Anya trying to disguise that she was once a demon.   I like this quote because I am from southeast Indiana.

I like how Ben tried to help Dawn and told her that he has a sister that annoys him too, but the sister he is refering to is Glory.  Apparently they share the same body.  I like how Ben sent a message to Glory by giving one of the pesky minions a black eye.  I like how Dawn was being coy with Glory about where the key is.  I also like how Tara and Willow did such a good job defending the gang from Glory.  I like how Buffy reaffirms her connection to Dawn.  

Good funny episode.  Since this season was so serious and dour, it is nice to have some levity.  

I like how Buffy tells the robot that it is not her fault that her creator left her, because it shows that she is getting over the loss of Riley.  At end she decides not to date Ben, realizing that she doesn't need men in her life right now.

At the end Buffy finds her mother strangely still.  The apparent death of Joyce immediately makes me wonder what will happen to Buffy and Dawn.   Will they live with Buffy's father?

This episode had a huge emotional impact on me, partly due to the similarity of my own life experience, but because of the incredible emotional intensity of the show.  It is a real tear jerker, but it is more than that.  This is an intense show that does not need music to set the somber mood.  It rivals "Hush" as the best episode of the series.  

I have to wonder why Buffy's father was never contacted? We can assume that is because of a need to protect the key.  Bringing in the father would would make that more difficult, but when does he find out?

Warren gives Spike the Buffy-like robot that he ordered.

Glory kidnaps Spike to find out where the key is.

The episode starts with Glory trying to figure out who the key is, and then continues with Dawn being in trouble at school, Buffy and Willow arguing over Dawn, Buffy and Dawn arguing, which leads to Willow and Tera having a rather silly argument. At first the episode did not seem very interesting, but this was just the setup. Where it ends is someplace entirely different. Glory attacks Tera. Willow tries to come to her rescue and fails. What happens next leads to an exciting battle followed a tender ending that shows just how much Willow loves Tera. Finally there is a surprise that leads to the next episode. I may have been bored at first but the rest of the episode kept me on the edge of my seat.

I would have thought that the need to take care of Tera would have caused Willow to proceed with more caution and not take personal risks.

I like how Spike clues in Buffy as to what might be happening with Willow. I like how Glory says to Tera, "You like this sort of thing" and then later refers to Willow as "The lover" and says "How cute" as if she has nothing to be afraid of. I like how Glory blames Tera for her own failure.

Buffy and friends try to flee Glory.

This continues from where the previous episode left off. It is an entertaining episode that is mostly action.

This could be Tough Love Part III, because the final 4 episodes of season 5 are just one continuous story leading up to the final confrontation with Glory.

The opening sequence, where Buffy does a very routine slaying, pays homage to the early days of Buffy when the her enemies were much simpler and far less dangerous than what she faces now.  

Spike has made the transformation from an evil person to being part of the gang and willing to put his life on the line. He knows that he might die, but he doesn't care, because he is fighting for a higher cause, not to mention the fact that he is in love with the slayer.  

If it is not already obvious by now, Buffy's actions strongly suggest that Dawn is Buffy's daughter.  It has been that way since episode 2 of the season.  Understanding this relationship gave me a better appreciation for episode 2, and for Buffy's behavior throughout the season.   Previously she says that Dawn is made from Summer's blood and her blood to be more specific.  Just as Eve was made from Adam's rib, Dawn was created by magic from slayer blood.  Buffy's blood.  Even though killing Dawn might save the world, Buffy threatens to kill anyone who harms Dawn and in the end makes the great sacrifice herself so that Dawn doesn't have to.  

The final shots of the tombstone and Spike mourning and Willow weeping is heart wrenching.  Had the series ended here, it would have been very sad.