Following on from "The Yoko Factor", Buffy searches for Riely who's not in the most stable mood. She finds him with Adam, who has activated a chip by Riley's heart and now completely controls him.

Following on from "The Yoko Factor", Buffy searches for Riely who's not in the most stable mood. She finds him with Adam, who has activated a chip by Riley's heart and now completely controls him. As if that wasn't bad enough, Riley then learns that Forrest is now a resurrected part demon warrior, and Professor Walsh and Doctor Angleman are both shambling zombies. On the plus side, Buffy twigs that it was indeed Spike's fault that the Slareyettes have fractured as a group. The gang kiss and make up. Aww. They also realise that Spike is in Adam's employ, and that Adam plans on waging a war against the Initiative from within. His masterplan is to allow loads of demons to be captured then cutting the power so they escape. To stop him, the gang must cast a powerful spell; Giles, Willow, Xander all pouring their strength into Buffy to make her mightier than ever. With her new Matrix-like speed and powers she kicks Adam's arse and rips out his uranium core in a brilliantly choreographed scene. Riley manages to slice out his own chip and kills demon Forrest. The Scooby Gang do what they can but the Initiative HQ is a write-off, and somewhere in Washington some suits decide to shut the place down.

Review:
A fantastic finale... But wait. This is only episode 21 - there's another one to go! Joss decided to go for a kind of 'concept' season finale, making this the more conventional 'blow lots of things up' episode. And blow lots of things up they do - easily the most ambitious and challenging stunt set-pieces so far. Not the best script in the world, but a good solid action-packed 44 minutes.

Best line:
Buffy: Xander!
Willow: Oh, wonderful Xander!
Buffy (while giving a group hug): You know we love you, right?
Willow: We totally do.
Xander: Oh God, we're gonna die, aren't we?

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Trivia: Joss Whedon told SFX that seeing The Matrix "made me want to be a better writer." As bizarre as this statement may seem, it may explain just why there are so many stylistic references to the film throughout this episode - most notably when Super-Buffy dodges Adam's attack, bullet time style.