Willow and Tara walk along together through the park  whoa, I don't think we've ever seen that place in the daytime before  talking about getting a cat.  Tara wants to make sure Willow's not allergic or anything before she gets one, because she wants her place to be "Willow-friendly".  They smile and hold hands as they walk toward Giles' for a Scooby meeting.  There, Buffy tells the gang that her kill count is way down; nothing's been happening recently, and Giles worries that Adam is planning something.  Riley says, however, that the Initiative has been way busy; they've got demons coming out of their ears.  Anya expresses boredom, and everyone gets up to leave.  Giles starts to nag Anya about her snide attitude, but suddenly everyone freezes as the front door opens; it's Oz.  Everyone's too stunned to say anything; Tara's the first who actually speaks.  When she realizes who it is she says "Oz," and looks down.  Xander finally steps forward to greet Oz, and Buffy asks if he's staying, or just passing through?  Giles tells her not to barage him with questions right away, and Oz steps forward to Willow and asks if they can talk that night.  Willow nods a stunned yes, and he leaves.  Willow looks very much off balance, and Tara looks devastated.  Buffy moves to comfort Willow, and Tara leaves, feeling out of place.  On patrol that night, Buffy tells Riley that Willow and Oz had a rough breakup, and that's why emotions were running so high when he showed up.  She nonchalantly mentions the werewolf thing, and Riley is stunned that Willow was dating a werewolf.  He's surprised, and says that he didn't think Willow was "that kind of girl", someone into dangerous guys.  Buffy is defensive of Willow partly because of Willow, but probably also partly because of her own past relationship with Angel, and calls Riley a bigot.  Oz comes to Willow's dorm room, and she invites him in, but he asks her to go outside with him instead.  They take a walk, and Willow says this all feels like a dream or something; like it's not really happening.  Oz says it's real, and tells her to look up.  Willow does, and sees the full moon.  It's a full moon, and Oz isn't a werewolf.  She's excited for him, and hugs him.  Oz hugs her back with obvious emotion, but Willow pulls away and tries to make it clear that she did it because she was happy for him.  She asks where he went, and what he did to be able to manage this, but he says it's a long story.  He tells her that Xander told him she doesn't have a new boyfriend or anything, and he knows what he put her through, and he won't push, but he is a different person than he was when he left, and he can be what she needs now.  That's why he's back.  He wants to be with her again.  (I'm actually writing this at first viewing, and SOB, already!  * sniff * I miss Oz!)  Willow looks confused and conflicted and not sure how to feel.   In the woods, Graham leads a team of Initiative guys out on patrol.  They're attacked by at least two hairy creatures with horns, which Graham only sees hazily through blurry eyes after he's knocked to the ground. The next morning, Willow and Oz are still talking in her dorm room.  He's told her a bit about his travels and how he's been able to stop turning into the wolf (a few charms, some chanting, meditation techniques, some herbs he has to take, etc).  Willow tells him a little about her last few months, too. Willow suggests breakfast, and Oz suggests that they could sleep for a little while, and touches her hand, but Willow opts for the "less confusing waffles".  Oz smiles and instantly acquiesces.  Willow leaves the room to go freshen up, and moments later there's a knock at the door.  Oz opens it and finds Tara on the other side.  She is surprised to see him there, and immediately makes to leave.  Oz tells her Willow's just in the bathroom but she can come in if she wants.  Obviously the whole subtext here is that Tara's in love with Willow, so is Oz, but he doesn't know Tara's in love with Willow, or even think of it.  He's confused when she acts like a spaz and leaves, and tells Willow about the visit when she comes back.  Not thinking anything's wrong, he turns to get his coat so they can go get breakfast, and Willow looks conflicted again, obviously wanting to go after Tara.  In Riley's dorm room, he and Buffy wake up and Buffy's obviously still not happy with Riley.  He says he only said what he did because he's concerned, but Buffy tries to explain that not all demons are really evil, per se, but he looks at it in black and white like that.  Humans, good, Demons, evil.  He doesn't see anything wrong with that.  Buffy starts to tell him that there are demons; vampires, even, who aren't evil at all.  Riley says "Name one", but before Buffy can drop the bomb about Angel, Forrest enters and tells Riley they need him downstairs to go out on a hunt to catch whatever hit Beta Team.  Riley asks about Graham, and Forrest says he's walking.  Buffy inquires as to what demon it was that attacked them, and Riley snaps "Does it matter?" on his way out. In the room, Willow sits on her bed, lost in thought until Buffy enters.  She asks how it went with Oz, and Willow tells her how he's cured, and that they spent the whole night talking.  Buffy's uber-excited for her, until she realizes that Willow's not as excited as she is.  Willow tells her that she is excited, but that it's complicated. When Buffy asks why, she says it's complicated because of Tara.  Slowly, Buffy gets it.  She's obviously surprised, but comes to terms with it and says she's glad Willow told her, but what did she tell Oz?  Willow reveals that she hasn't yet, because when she was with him she felt everything coming back, and he's OZ.  She doesn't want to hurt anyone, but Buffy says someone's going to get hurt; there's no way around it.  All she can do is be honest. Cut to Spike, sleeping in his crypt.  Something walks up to where he's resting, and reaches a hand out to him.  With his eyes still closed, Spike grabs the hand and says he knows whoever it is is a demon.  He opens his eyes and sees Adam, and quickly changes his mind about beating on whatever demon has awakened him.  Adam wants Spike to come with him and help him with his problem.  In exchange, he'll help Spike with his. Willow goes over to Tara's room, and tries to explain about what Tara saw that morning.  Tara tells her she doesn't have to explain; and implies that she always knew that if Oz came back, whatever she had with Willow would be over.  Willow says no, they were just talking.  "Really?" Tara asks.  Willow confirms it, but says that it was intense talking.  They had and still have a lot to talk about.  She says, basically, that Oz meant a lot to her; still does, but her life has changed,  and she has changed since he left.  And her life was getting "so good again", and Tara is a big parat of that.  Willow says she doesn't know what to do, and Tara tells her to do whatever makes her happy.  Willow hugs Tara, crying. In the dorm, Oz is examining a bulletin board when he suddenly sniffs, and calls out "Willow!", turning.  He's surprised when he sees Tara, instead.  She greets him, and notes that he's got some school stuff in his hand.  She asks if he's going back to school, and he says yeah, that he's oddly motivated.  Tara remarks that that should be good for her and Willow, and she hopes they'll be happy, but she's obviously distressed. Oz is distracted by her scent, and asks if that's Willow's sweater, or something.  Tara doesn't answer, and Oz becomes alarm, saying that Willow's scent is all over Tara. Tara says she can't talk about it, and tries to leave, but he catches her arm and asks if they're involved.  Tara stammers, and Oz realizes that they are.  Pained, he asks if Willow is in love with her, and he starts to wolf out.  He and Tara both look down at his hand, which quickly changes into a paw, and he tells her to run. Quickly transforming, Oz chases Tara into an auditorium.  She throws a chair at him, and thinks she knocked him out when he falls to the floor.  Some commandos come running into the room, however, and we realize that they tranqued him at the same moment.  They pack OzWolf into a bag, and one of them remarks that he looks just like the demons that attacked Graham and his team the night before.  Riley says if it is, they'll "put him down".  To Tara's credit, she immediately tries to tell them that the wolf is actually a person, but they don't listen to her, and they drag him out. Quick scene with Spike down in Adam's lair, and he agrees to help Adam if Adam gets the chip out of his brain. Willow's in the library, obviously not concentrating on school work, when Tara comes running in.  Tara tells her that Oz changed right in front of her, even though it's broad daylight, and that the Initiative guys stopped him and took him away.  Willow runs to get Buffy.  At Giles', Buffy tries to contact Riley, but he's not answering his pages.  They decide to make a plan without him, but hope he calls.  In the Initiative, OzWolf turns round and round in his cage as labcoat people and Initiative commandos watch.  Riley wants to know if this is one of the demons that attacked Graham, but a guy in a lab coat says they won't know until they run DNA tests on his hair and blood and whatnot.  Riley pulls out his gun and says he doesn't need a match to take care of it, and starts to pull the trigger, until suddenly the wolf turns back into Oz.  Later, Oz looks up into bright lights through a haze, and more lab coat people are surrounding a medical table he's laying on.  Riley notes that he's coming to, and tries to talk to him.  The doctor says he won't be talking for awhile because of the drugs they've already put into him, and Riley says they don't have to do any tests on him now because he's no longer a threat.  The lab guy tells him only the head honcho can order him to desist from doing his tests, and orders Riley to leave the room when he balks at them using a shock-gun type thing on Oz.  After Riley is escorted out, the lab guy shocks Oz, who immediately turns back into a werewolf, and the doctor notes that the transformation is induced by negative stimulation. At Giles', Buffy is worried that Riley hasn't returned her phone calls yet.  They decide to break into the Initiative on their own.  Willow says she'll go with them, because she can't just wait around and do nothing.  Buffy notes that her clearance would be long gone by now, and the only way she knows to get in is through the elevator shaft.  Spike shows up in the doorway and says "Or, you could use the back way".  He says he's there to earn a little money, but also because he likes messin' with the Initiative.  Buffy thinks he intends to lead them on a wild goose chase, but Spike tempts her with talk of getting past security cameras and stuff.  Cut to Oz, naked, locked in the same plexiglass prison Spike was in during his stay.   He's all curled up in the corner, bruised and scratched from the tests.  Riley enters and hands him some clothes.  After dressing, Riley helps Oz out of the detention area, supporting him as they walk. Suddenly the lights flash on, and Forrest and Graham lead a team of commandos out to intercept them.  Busted. In a cell, Riley rises when his commanding officer enters. The CO berates him for disloyalty, and strikes hard at Riley's military roots, telling him that in the morning he's going to organize a court marshal to investigate his behaviour.  He basically tells Riley that if he helps them take down Buffy and her "gang of freaks", it might save his military career.  Otherwise, he'll go to his grave labeled a traitor.  Outside, Spike (dressed in commando gear, hee) leads the gang to the shed that houses the back entrance to the Initiative.  He waits a moment as Adam, at another location, overrides the lock on the door.  When Spike opens it, no alarms are triggered.  He leads them inside. At Giles', Anya tries to power down the entire grid, so that the Initiative will also be shut down.  Adam helps her from his own location, and all the lights go off in town. Emergency lighting comes up in the Initiative, and Buffy breaks into the CO's quarters.  She holds a crossbow on him, and demands that he take them to Oz.  The CO thinks they're there for Riley, and says he's gonna face a court martial.  Buffy finds out that he tried to help Oz escape, and then orders the CO to take them to both of them.  Buffy busts Riley out first.  Riley hesitates, saying if he leaves now, he can never go back.  He and Buffy leave.  They go next to the detention area, and by now the rest of the Initiative knows they're there.  Several commandos surround Buffy and her gang, but Buffy's got the crossbow to the CO's head, and orders them to let Oz out.  They do.  Willow starts to rush forward to help him, but he starts to wolf out and tells her to get back. She retreats, and he gets control of himself and doesn't turn.  Riley jumps forward to help him instead, and they turn to go.  The commandos follow, all aiming their guns at them.  Buffy continues to hold the CO hostage until they take the elevator back up to the dorm, and Riley pulls all the wiring out of the override panel so no other soldiers can follow them.  Everyone files out, and the CO tells Riley he's a dead man.  Riley punches him out.  At the old high school, Buffy and Riley make camp.  Riley says the power's all still out, so he's got at least until the morning to decide what his next move will be, and Buffy says it was smart of them all to just split up; they're too find-able in a group.  Riley says he's sorry it ended the way it did, but he's glad it's finally over, and he knows where he stands.  He tells Buffy he was wrong about Oz, but she says she understands that he was thrown, and had momentary wiggins.  He says still, he had this view in black and white, of demons versus humans, and it's not like that.  Especially when it comes to love.  Buffy, finally comfortable now that Riley realizes that, decides to tell him about Angel.  Parked in Oz's van, he and Willow discuss how it's being around her, losing his inner calm, that makes him transform.  Oz is upset, thinking he'd changed, but finding out that he hadn't.  Willow says that he has changed, she saw him stop the transformation. But Oz says he couldn't even look at her. In a very sad scene, it becomes clear that Oz can't stay.  He asks if she's happy, and she says she is, but that a part of her will always miss him.  They hug, and they both cry as they know they're saying goodbye for good this time.  (SOB!)  Oz leaves. That night, Willow comes to Tara's room with a candle, 'cause the power's all still out.  She says she has to tell her - , but Tara interrupts, saying she understands.  She thinks she's back with Oz, and says Willow should be with the one she loves.  Willow smiles and says she is.  Tara's all "Really?", and Willow confirms it.  She says she's sorry for everything she put her through, and is going to start making up for it right now.  Tara smiles and blows out the candle.   FLAWS:         none found.         THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE:                 Sad, so sad.    :(   In a way I kind of feel like it was a cop out to have Oz have to leave because of the wolf thing, instead of just having Willow decide which person she wanted to be with definitively, but in other ways it's almost better this way, because those of us who loved Willow and Oz together can at least know that if it weren't for the wolf thing, if Oz had never been a werewolf, they'd still be together.  As it is, this was a sad episode, but it pretty much closed the chapter on Willow and Oz, and turned the page on Willow and Tara.  And I gotta say, Tara is no Oz, but she's very sweet, very good-hearted, and just adorable.  Sometimes, I like her more than Willow  ;)   Hmmm, too bad Tara and Oz couldn't get together; then we'd have the best of both worlds!  Anyways, everyone did a good job in this episode.  AH and SG and AB with all of the angst and tears, and Riley and Buffy with the stepping up of their relationship as they really begin to communicate more, Riley finally figures out where he stands in the grand scheme of things, and Xander gets to play backup army guy again.  As per usual, however, Giles has nothing to do. * sigh * We get some set up for the next couple episodes by way of Spike teaming up with Adam to take down the slayer, and the increased demon activity the Initiative is experiencing.  All in all, not a bad ep. BEST LINE:   Willow:  (to Spike, wearing the commando green shirt)  "You do kinda look like an evil olive."

"New Moon Rising"