Maybe if the show had a shorter, tougher name - a name that didn't sound like a Saturday morning cartoon for little girls whose parents think they need to be empowered - maybe then more adults would watch WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Because as it is, they're missing one of the best shows on television, a brilliantly executed, immensely entertaining hour that could be nominated for either the comedy or drama Emmy and make a fair case for winning.

Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), however, doesn't have time to worry about names or prizes. Already on the hunt for Adam, the freshly minted demon hybrid who's terrorizing Sunnydale, she now faces a special two-week return of Faith (guest star Eliza Dushku), the rogue slayer she put into a coma at the end of last season.

"I'd say this qualifies for the worst-timing-ever award," says Xander (Nicholas Brendon, who has been a bit underused this season). "I'd hate to see the search for a homicidal lunatic get in the way of the search for a homicidal lunatic."

It's a good line, but one of the show's great joys is that things are never quite that simple. Buffy sacrificed one friend to save another, then let her life move on without either one - and now she's paying the price. The dramatic world of the Slayer is as well-ordered as a Greek tragedy: Responsibility cannot be shirked, and actions always have consequences.

Nor is Faith all bad. Having lost her connection to the late mayor (Harry Groener, who makes a welcome cameo reappearance), she no longer knows where she fits in or who she is. Cleverly, her problem keys into the other characters who are questioning their identities: Willow (Alyson Hannigan), Riley (Marc Blucas) and Spike (James Marsters).

There are times when tonight's opening hour becomes a bit diffuse - guest characters and conspiracies seem to be multiplying so quickly that we're in danger of losing track of the superb central cast. But as usual, creator Joss Whedon pulls the various plot threads together in unexpected ways and makes each one reinforce the rest. United, they lead to next week's spectacular conclusion, which shows off Gellar in an acting tour de force.

I won't give away what happens - and I urge you, in this age of Web-flooded information, not to try to find out, because it will spoil the fun. If you want to know, you'll just have to watch.

Reprinted from USA Today - February 22, 2000