The Wish is a what if? tale in which Cordelia, bitter over her break-up with Xander, wishes Buffy had never come to Sunnydale and is granted her wish by a demon called Anya. As one would expect, the Sunnydale Cordelia finds herself in is overrun by vampires. They are led by the Master, the main villain from season 1, who is free and still alive, and who has plans to use a new machine to drain blood out of humans.
The episode starts off as a teen drama in which Willow and Xander have to face the consequences of their kiss. I don't watch Buffy for this kind of material, but it was not actually bad. I watch for vampire-based action and humour, and eventually got plenty of that here when Cordelia makes her wish. (For humour, we have the dog-faced girl joke and Buffy noting a stake through the heart will kill more than vampires). The writers take advantage of the opportunity of an alternate universe and make the characters different in an interesting way. Willow and Xander are vampires, so we see them as evil versions of themselves. Buffy's bad, apparently because she doesn't have Giles as a positive role model, although we previously saw her like this in When She Was Bad. Then the episode kills off most major characters- Buffy, Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Angel- which would be shocking if these deaths had occurred in the normal reality. The machine and overall story are dark, and it was fun to explore this world. This is the best episode since Becoming.
The episode starts off as a teen drama in which Willow and Xander have to face the consequences of their kiss. I don't watch Buffy for this kind of material, but it was not actually bad. I watch for vampire-based action and humour, and eventually got plenty of that here when Cordelia makes her wish. (For humour, we have the dog-faced girl joke and Buffy noting a stake through the heart will kill more than vampires). The writers take advantage of the opportunity of an alternate universe and make the characters different in an interesting way. Willow and Xander are vampires, so we see them as evil versions of themselves. Buffy's bad, apparently because she doesn't have Giles as a positive role model, although we previously saw her like this in When She Was Bad. Then the episode kills off most major characters- Buffy, Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Angel- which would be shocking if these deaths had occurred in the normal reality. The machine and overall story are dark, and it was fun to explore this world. This is the best episode since Becoming.