Buffy: The Wish (3.9)

Alternate universe stories are a time-honored tradition for genre television, and what makes Buffy's interpretation so special is in its clever subverting of our expectations as an audience, as well as its really beautiful ideas about having faith in something. Cordelia takes center stage for the early stages of the episode, angry and bitter over Xander's infidelity, and repeatedly humiliated by the bitchy popular girls she abandoned in order to be with him. She encounters a new girl in school who unexpectedly grants her wish to live in a Buffy-free Sunnydale, only to end up in a world where vampires rule, the human population is rapidly dwindling, and few saviors are in sight.

Buffy: Lovers Walk (3.8)

I really missed Spike. And considering I grew to violently dislike his omnipresence on the show in its later years (an opinion that may change during my re-watch), that's some feat. But while season three has been pretty spectacular so far, my biggest complaint is about the use of its cast of players. Buffy and Giles have never been better, but with Oz and Cordelia majorly on the periphery of things and Xander and Willow both becoming hateful, a vital element on the show had been lacking somehow. And while Spike's one-shot appearance doesn't turn that complaint around entirely, his presence is really, really welcome. I love his humor, his insight into the characters, and the fact that he's such a whiny sad-sack here.

Buffy: Revelations (3.7)

I hate Xander Harris. I've always been sort of ambivalent to him as a character, been occasionally annoyed at his inappropriate quippery, but this episode truly sewed the seeds of my hatred of him. Revelations sees him as jealous, petulant, obnoxious, reckless, stupid, arrogant and hypocritical, arranging for all the Scoobies to gang together to take a big metaphorical dump on Buffy, and then further betraying her by teaming up with Faith of all people to kill Angel. I had a lot of problems with this particular storyline, but Xander's actions were entirely reprehensible. He's a cowardly butt-munch here, stretching whatever credibility he may have by creating elaborate reasoning for why Angel must die, and doing everything in his power to humiliate and degrade Buffy for doing something stupid. He makes my skin crawl.

The X-Files: Dreamland II (6.5)

Considering it still doesn't exactly justify being spread over two episodes, I actually enjoyed Dreamland II a lot more than its predecessor. While it still remains a little flat and spends far too long coasting ahead of its underwhelming conclusion, I enjoyed the general theme that ran through the hour, of Mulder somewhat having wasted his life. Here's a man who had it all at one point, yet became so consumed with alien conspiracies and hunting for the truth that it eclipsed what could have been a successful career and personal life.

Nip/Tuck: Benny Nilsson (6.9)

There's obviously an artificial quality to the drama present throughout this episode. Brendan McNamara, until this point, never existed, and his presence is ridiculously jarring. It's another example of the writers pulling faux drama from their collective butts to create some kind of standalone storyline... and that sucks. However, there are sparks of intrigue here and there, things that render Christian once again an interesting character.

Charmed: Coyote Piper (3.9)

I can't really watch Rainn Wilson's guest spot in this episode without thinking of his later confession on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that his performance here was the worst piece of acting he'd ever done. It got me thinking what the hell the show was thinking with its various demon characters, the far majority of whom were played with a scenery-chewing, melodramatic menace, like something out of a bad Shannon Tweed movie. I blame Billy Drago, presumably the bench-mark for all similar evil characters on the show. Rainn is spectacularly awful here, especially in that early scene with Terra that he recreated on Jimmy Fallon years later. But regardless of the ham, this is a pretty awesome episode.

Charmed: Sleuthing with the Enemy (3.8)

This episode, more than any other this season so far, truly reflects the themes that I'm assuming the writers were aiming to explore this year. Cole is the series' most successful example of a morally gray character, somebody who orchestrates evil, has no problem with killing anybody that gets in his way, yet is suddenly cursed with a sense of humanity and passion after falling in love with somebody he really shouldn't have fallen in love with. Phoebe, too, is almost possessed by their affair, lying to her sisters and covering up Cole's escape, all because she believes he can somehow change him. It's a story as old as time: the good girl who thinks if she can just try hard enough she'll be able to make her boyfriend somehow different. The story bleeds into the next couple of seasons, and you can see why it was so beloved by fans.

Buffy: Band Candy (3.6)

Like Homecoming, this was another comedy episode. But, annoyingly, it didn't have the emotional resonance or logical sense that made Homecoming such a classic. I know that Band Candy is popular with so many folks out there, but I never really got the love for it. It's amusing, sure, but it's one of the few Buffy stories that's essentially a one-joke hour. And once you get over the initial humor of all the adults acting like teenagers, it becomes kind of flat. It's nowhere near a bad episode, of course, but I'm not exactly a fan. And can we please stop the 'Willow and Xander secret love affair' subplot, show. It's seriously grossing me out.