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We open with the demon Anyanka, now mortal, pleading with some demon god to get her powers back.  He condemns her to living out her normal life, and die.  Anya vows to get her powers back with or without his help.  In the quad at school, Buffy and Willow hang out while Willow floats a pencil and Buffy does sit ups.  The discuss a battery of tests Giles and Wesley have her and Faith running through, and Buffy admits to wanting to do better than Faith.  Willow's all for the competition, as she's still got issues with Faith.  Later in Snyder's office, Snyder commands Willow to tutor football player Percy, who is failing history.  In the library, Faith and Wesley enter after their round of evaluations, and Wesley's beat.  Buffy goes to change for her session, leaving Faith in the library with Willow.  Willow unwillingly tells Faith that she's trying to access the Mayor's files via the computer, and Faith runs to tell Mayor Wilkins. 

Cut to Faith's brand new place, that the mayor has gotten for her. He instantly seems to have an almost fatherly attitude toward her, but quickly turns the conversation as to how to kill Buffy and her friends.  Back at school, Willow tries to get Percy to meet her at lunch to work on his history paper.  Percy seems to be under the impression that Willow's going to do it FOR him, and leaves.  After just having been told by Oz that he didn't figure she'd want to miss school to come to his gig the weekend before, Willow takes it to heart.  This is compounded when Xander and Buffy come up wanting her to help them with some school work from the week before.  Willow feels like she's predictable, and boring.  She goes inside the school, and encounters Anya.  She is interested immediately when Anya mentions a spell Anya wants her to help with, in creating a temporal fold.  Anya hopes to go back in time to the other reality from "The Wish", but tells Willow she just wants to go back and find her lost necklace.  They perform the spell, and Willow sees flashes of that other world, and of her other self in vampire form.  Willow realizes that Anya hasn't told her everything, and won't help her any more.  Cut to the Bronze, where vampire Willow has materialized from the other reality.   She wanders the streets, confused.  In HER reality, vampires rule Sunnydale, and she's perplexed in her mad way as to why she seems to be the only leather-wearing vamp running around.  She heads to the Bronze, where she encounters Percy.  After he tries to be a jerk with her, Willow attacks him.  Xander comes in and sees them, and thinks Percy's attacking her.  He throws him off, and Percy runs away.  Willow embraces him,  happy to find Xander (her demon lover in the other reality). She quickly realizes he's not quite right, though, and he's shocked at her appearance.  As is Buffy, when she comes in.  Willow leaves, but not before revealing that she's a vampire to Buffy and Xander when her face changes. 

In the alley, evil Willow comes across some of the mayor's henchmen vamps, and tortures them into siding with her.  Buffy and Xander return to the library, where they tell Giles how Willow's been killed and turned into a vampire.  They each blame themselves, thinking that the Willow they saw before was THEIR Willow.  At this point, human Willow comes into the library, and they react kind of violently to her until they realize she's human; at which point they're all happy, although confused.  (this is actually a funny scene in which Xander confronts Willow with a cross.  Upon its having no effect, he shakes it like maybe it's broken, and resumes brandishing it at Willow.  After they realize she's alive, all three go a bit overboard in showing their relief; even Giles, and Willow's like "Say, you all didn't happen to do a bunch of drugs, didja?")    They tell her how they saw her as a vampire at the Bronze, and everyone wonders what's going on.

At the Bronze, Anya tries unsuccessfully to order a beer, while Oz and Devon set up their stuff on stage.  Angel shows up looking for Buffy, and Oz tells him he thought she was supposed to show later.  Just then, evil Willow and her vamps arrive and take everyone in the Bronze for hostages.  Oz watches helplessly as who he thinks is HIS Willow feeds on a girl.  He sends Angel to get help, and is heartsick that Willow's a vampire until Anya talks to evil Willow about how this isn't her world, and Anya herself wants to get to that other reality.  Angel goes to the library to tell the gang that Willow's dead, and starts visibly when he sees human Willow alive and well.  He tells them about the vamps at the Bronze, and the gang heads out, minus Willow.  Going back into the library, Willow encounters herself in the vamp form, and they struggle until human Willow pulls out the tranquilizer gun they always use on Oz and shoots the vampire Willow with it.  She falls to the ground, unconscious.  (see flaws, below)  Willow brings the gang back, and they come up with an idea. 

At the Bronze, human Willow has dressed up in Vampire Willow's dominatrix-like outfit, and enters the Bronze with the rest of the gang waiting outside to charge in at the first sign of trouble.  Inside, she tells Anya that she killed the other Willow, and sends a couple vamps outside to investigate a strange noise (they go out to meet death from Angel and Buffy).  Back in the library, Vampire Willow wakes up in the cage when Cordelia comes in hoping to accidentally run into Wesley.  Rather than let her out of the cage, Cordelia decides to 'talk' with Willow about the ethics of boyfriend stealing first.  She finally lets her out, and Willow chases her throughout the school before Wesley saves her by warding Willow off.    At the Bronze, Anya has seen through Willow's façade.  Willow calls for help, and the rest of the gang comes running in, starting to fight.  Willow punches Anya out, and Oz grabs Willow, trying to bring her to the relative safety of the stage.  There he's knocked out by the vampire Willow, though, who then takes on human Willow.  She almost strangles her to death before Buffy intervenes; almost killing her until human Willow stops her.  Back at the school, the gang performs the temporal fold spell and sends vampire Willow back to her own world..just in time to be staked by the Oz in that world. 

At school the next day, Willow feels kind of guilty about the evil Vampire Willow, and feels extra virtuous.  Percy shows up with his history report, which is stellar (he's been quite intimidated by the vamp Willow), and Willow's suddenly seeing the possibilities in being evil. 



FLAWS:         I'm drawn once again back to the continuity rules of being a vampire.  They're dead.  No breath, no heartbeat, no blood should be flowing around in their veins.  Under those rules, the sedative in the tranquilizer should not have been transported by the circulatory system to the brain, rendering vampire Willow unconscious.  Sorry, I'm a real stickler about this point. 


THOUGHTS ON THE EPIOSDE:  A truly good one from season 3, I must admit  :)  This epiosde is a must-see, if only for the comic factor.  Plus it was back before Anya was ignorant and annoying, so hey...bonus.


BEST LINE:    Several.  This was a good Willow episode.

Willow's complaining about Snyder as she and Buffy enter the library:   "I mean, I just hate the way he bullies people.  He just assumes every one else's time is his.  "
(Enter Giles) "Willow, get on the computer.  I want you to take another pass at accessing those files."
Willow, automatically complying:  "okay".


After having seen the evil Willow at the Bronze, Angel goes to the library to tell Buffy, Xander and Giles what happened.  Looking really upset, he tries to tell them:  "Buffy I....something's happened.  Willow's dead."   (looks behind him and notices human Willow standing there)..  "Oh hey, Willow........wait a second." (it's a funny moment, a must see).

After having been exposed by Anya, Willow tries to play it off:  "This girl has a known history of mental problems, dating back to early childhood.   I'm a blood-sucking fiend! Look at my outfit!"



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