Season 4, Episode 18 | Aired: 25 April 2000 | Written by: Tracey Forbes | Directed by: David Solomon
Buffy and Riley have sex in the Fraternity house and cannot stop — a poltergeist energy formed from the suppressed sexuality of children raised in a repressive religious home is feeding on them. The rest of the episode involves Anya and Xander navigating their relationship, Giles playing guitar at the Espresso Pump, and the Scoobies saving the day while trying not to think too hard about what Buffy and Riley are doing upstairs. The episode is weaker than average but has a good Giles moment.
What Happens
The Lowell House frat — built on the site of a former children’s home run by a religious ascetic named Genevieve Holt — is generating poltergeist activity from the repressed energy of Holt’s former charges. Buffy and Riley become trapped in a feedback loop. Willow and Tara banish the ghost of Genevieve Holt. Giles, it turns out, has been playing guitar and singing at the coffee house and is embarrassingly good at it. The students in the café are arrested by how much they like it. Anya tells Xander she thinks she’s in love with him.
Key Moments
Giles at the Espresso Pump — Anthony Stewart Head doing what he actually does for a living, and the show acknowledging it. The scene has nothing to do with the plot and is the episode’s best five minutes.
Monster / Villain
The repressed spirit-energy of Genevieve Holt’s charges — not malicious, just vast and hungry and poorly aimed.
Notable Quote
“I think I’m in love with you. And it terrifies me.” — Anya, to Xander. She means it precisely. Anya always means things precisely.
Where It Fits
Where the Wild Things Are is a mid-season placeholder — it advances Anya and Xander’s relationship and gives Giles a moment, but doesn’t do much else. It is not the season’s finest hour.