"The Wish"

****This was an absolutely fabulous episode.(Or so we thought.) Buffy was getting pretty predictable and boring lately and this was an interesting change. It had some nifty little twists of fait along with some emotional effects in the end. Read on and see what we mean!

We start out as Buffy is attacked by some slimy little monster in the park.

Willow and Xander aid Buffy in killing it and that about wraps up the first scene.

Cordelia is now recovering from her harsh break-up with Xander while Willow is trying to get Oz back.

Cordelia has some fun with her make-up the next day at school hoping to win her 'old' snotty friends back over. Just as Cordy thinks that Melody (or whatever her name is) is her friend again, Melody shows Cordy her future boyfriend. (He's a poor little nerd and then Cordelia realizes that her supposed friends were just teasing and they don't want to hang with her.)

Cordelia is feeling pretty bad but a girl named Anya befriends her and they hang out for awhile. Anya always seems to be trying to get Cordelia to wish for something until she finally wishes that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale. (She has convinced herself that Buffy was the cause of all of her problems.) Anya turns around to reveal her true colors (a very disgusting little face) and says "granted." (or something like that) The new world Cordelia is in is a little bit darker and a little bit creepier.

Once she realizes that her whimsy wish has come true, she merrily heads off to class as usual. She meets up with her 'old' friends (who are oddly wearing some very blasé clothes). Class ends and Cordy suggests going to the Bronze but her friends angrily tell her that her new little world isn't the most happy place to be. The Bronze has been taken over by the vampires and there is a curfew set on Sunnydale. The students are not allowed to have cars and are supposed to wear brown and black since it is a known fact that vampires are attracted to light colors. Cordelia tries to run home under the advice of a janitor but she doesn't make it there before dark. She sees a very pale Xander in a dark alley and tells him that everything has changed and they must find Giles and fix what she did with her wish.

Then, a very pale Willow pops up, (Willow and Xander hang all over each other implying that they are together) and Cordelia sees this body language and realizes that they, indeed, are, together in this little universe as well.

She's gotten this fact but she still can't seem to notice how strange they are acting. She eventually figures out that they are both vampires and she runs from them. They catch her but Giles and his troops come in a van and pick Cordy up before Wil and Xander can kill her. We see Willow and Xander return to the Bronze and meet up with the "above ground" master.

They tell him that Cordelia mentioned a vampire slayer and the master immediately orders them to kill Cordelia. (He also mentions some factory or something that he is planning.)

Cordelia wakes up to see Giles and she tries to tell him everything she has done. Xander and Willow show up and lock Giles in his little cage thing in the library.

They proceed to kill Cordelia (as ordered), head back to the Bronze to tell the master of their 'good' deeds. Giles calls Buffy's watcher in Cleveland (how strange) and attempts to get a hold of her but he is less than helpful. The master is pleased and he gives Willow the pleasure of playing with the "puppy."

We learn that the "puppy" is our beloved Angel who is now locked up in a cage and chained to the wall.

Willow and Xander thoroughly enjoy torturing Angel so they burn him with matches until their boredom is cured.

Buffy shows up out of the blue with a completely different look, including a little war scar across her lips and long hair.

Along with Buffy's different look, she has a different attitude towards everything. She lives only to kill vampires and sees no use in hope of any kind. She isn't compassionate and could care less about Angel (when she sees him).

Buffy does some investigating and finds Angel. He tries to explain what his purpose is to her but she doesn't seem to care. She eventually and somewhat unwillingly, lets Angel go with her to kill the master.

Angel and Buffy's investigation of the master's factory reveals that he has built a machine that sucks the blood out of people in mass quantities.

This process is very painful looking but doesn't require the vampire to actually bite its victim. Buffy and Angel see how inhumane this process is so they ambush all of the vampires in the factory.

A lot of fighting takes place in the following scene where Angel is killed, Oz kills Willow, Xander dies, and Buffy's neck is broken by the master. This sequence of events is played in slow motion (it adds to the emotional effect). In the meantime, Giles has confronted the demon that started this entire alternate universe crap. Anya turns out to be the demon of woman's scorn. The only way Giles can break the spell and get Sunnydale back to normal is to cut off Anya's source of power. He breaks the amulet she wore on her neck and everything flashes back to normal. We see Cordelia making her original wish (that Buffy never came to Sunnydale) and nothing happens. Cordelia keeps wishing (and it actually makes her feel better). Anya tries to grant Cordy's wishes but nothing happens as the beautiful Cordelia walks off in a better mood.

The End