Xander has met his match - himself!

A demon known as Toth is hell-bent on using a weapon to divide Buffy into two beings, thus weakening her and allowing her ultimate death. In a thwarted attack, Xander is accidentally struck by the energy beam and, unbeknownst to anyone else, an exact copy is created in the spot where he landed.

They depart and shortly thereafter Xander2 basically takes over, proving himself to be everything that the original model isn't: sensitive, assertive, strong, genuinely romantic and able to handle himself in any situation. Xander watches in horror as his life is taken away from him, and drastically improved upon by this double. Naturally it's up to Buffy and the Scooby Gang to bring the two Xanders back together.

Other key events: Anya starts to grapple with the fact that she is going to live a finite life, Riley reveals to Xander that he doesn't believe that Buffy really loves him, and Xander, thanks to Xander2, ends up with an incredible new apartment.

Review:
Let's face it, ever since the original Star Trek episode "The Enemy Within", virtually every genre show has seen it fit to "pay homage" to the idea of one of their characters being split into two parts, usually one evil and one good. During the course of said story, someone will inevitably observe that both halves are required for the single person to live, and, yes, this episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer lives up to all the clichés and then turns them on their head. Like Captain Kirk who discovered that his leadership abilities came from the darkness of his soul tempered with his conscience, Xander learns something as well. In this case, though, Xander2 isn't evil, just more confident and we see what kind of course Xander's life might have taken had he been able to tap into that part of himself. And in the end, when the inevitable move is made to unite the two of them (but not before Anya proposes the idea of having sex with both at one time), Xander just may have learned enough that he might be able to make his life a little better.

Two definites: he realizes that he genuinely loves Anya, and he's going to be living in a way-cool apartment.

Marc Blucas' Riley Finn doesn't have a lot to do, but what's there carries plenty of pathos. Love him or hate him, it's difficult to imagine anyone remaining unmoved by his statement that he knows Buffy doesn't really love him. It's a touching moment, and you can't help but wonder whether or not it's true. Angel is, after all, a tough act to follow.

Best line: The two Xanders stand in front of Buffy, one of them proclaiming: "Kill us both, Spock!"
At last, SOMEBODY acknowledges where the evil twin idea came from.

Bloopers: None that Ed spotted. Have you found any? E-mail us with your suggestions.

Trivia: First impressions are the Nicholas Brendon portrayed both Xander and Xander2, but in actuality his twin brother played the second Xander. Which is actually quite a cool idea.