As this episode opens Buffy is lured to a surprise birthday party... of course for her the biggest surprise is that her birthday isn't ruined by the forces of evil. She isn't the only person getting a surprise; Giles is shocked to learn that Buffy, her friends and even Spike know about the Initiative but nobody thought to tell him. When he learns of a new prophecy he heads to a crypt and is unpleasantly surprised to meet old friend Ethan Rayne. The two end up in a bar talking pondering where the years have gone. Ethan also says something that suggests The Initiative may be more sinister than though; something they are doing is scaring demons and not just because they hunt demons. The next morning Giles feels different... he has become a demon! To make things worse the only person who can understand him is Spike... everybody else just thinks he is an evil demon who probably killed Giles and now they want to kill him.
This episode was a lot of fun. There was plenty of good character development, hints of ominous things to come, some tense moments and genuinely funny scenes. For me the funniest was Professor Walsh trying to impress Buffy by letting her know how many demons/vampires Riley had dispatched... seventeen! Having Giles turned into a Demon was a good idea which led to some good action where we are concerned for both people fighting. Away from the main story it looks as if Buffy will be invited into the Initiative and Willow and Tara are practicing magic together. The cast are on good form; Anthony Head and James Marsters stand out as Giles and Spike; their scene in Giles's car was priceless. Overall a top quality episode.