Lovers Walk

Okay, this is going to be tough. Three years' perspective is often an advantage in recapping an episode. However, I'm in a quandary as to what to do about Spike. Considering how much I loved him in Season Two, it would be so easy to pretend I hadn't seen his character go from evil and entertaining to emasculated and annoying. But somehow, I just can't do it. The best I can do is to acknowledge how much he brought to the show back then, with some contrasts to how he is now thrown in. It's not easy being a recapper, you know. I just want to be loved -- is that so wrong?

Willow and Xander walk across the school lawn. Willow: "This is a nightmare." Xander assures her that it's not that bad. Willow: "740? Verbal? I'm pathetic. Illiterate. I'm Cletus the slackjawed yokel." Okay, you don't bitch about a 740. I mean, I'm sure she got 800 on the math, so 1540? Boo hoo. But I'll still give the Simpsons reference a "hee." Xander tries to put things in perspective: "And the fact that your 740 verbal closely resembles my combined scores in no way compromises your position as the village idiot." Willow wonders where she went wrong. I'd start with her outfit. Rust-colored pants and an orange and yellow top? Vomitous. Xander, sitting down on a bench to her, tells her she did great, and puts his arm around her.

Oz and Cordy approach, and Xander jumps up. Xander reads Cordy's scores, and wonders what people will think when they find out he's "dating a brain." They'll probably be glad there's one in the relationship. Cordy: "Please. I have some experience in covering these things up." And a mighty fine job you've done of it, too. Oz to Willow: "I can see why you'd be upset." At Willow's nod, he says, "That was my sarcastic voice." Xander: "It sounds a lot like your regular voice." Oz: "I've been told that." Still so cute. Oz thinks they should celebrate. Cordy tries to mouth to Xander that she doesn't want to double date, but she's ignored. Buffy appears, looking nine kinds of wigged. Willow asks if she got her scores. Buffy says yes. Her outfit is hideous, too. Powder blue and electric blue together? Make it stop. And yet another silly little purse. You couldn't even fit a stake in that thing! Buffy gives Willow her score slip. Willow: "1430! Buffy, you kicked ass!" While I don't think Buffy's dumb at all, it's pretty hard to believe that she would score that high. It's worth it to see the chagrined look on Cordelia's face, though. The gang thinks that these scores could change Buffy's future. Buffy: "The thought had occurred to me." She explains that she feels weird, because she was never sure she'd even have a future. Cordy brightly says that it's great, because the scores enable Buffy to leave and never come back. The gang looks at her. She explains: "Well, I mean that in a positive way. Get out of Sunnydale -- that's a good thing. What kind of moron would ever want to come back here?"

Cut to the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign we first saw in "School Hard." It's night. A truck knocks the sign down. We all know who the moron in question is. The driver's side door opens. A bottle of liquor falls and shatters on the ground, and then Spike falls out all Edina in Absolutely Fabulous. He slurs, "Homesweethome" and passes out. Credits.

The factory. Spike is drunkenly singing "My Way." He calls out, "Drusilla! I'm home!" and giggles, then starts crying. He picks up one of Dru's burnt dolls, and starts asking why she left him. Then he vamps out, throws the doll to the ground, and, yelling, "You stupid, worthless bitch!" beats the doll with a piece of metal. He whines, "Look what you've done to me." Okay, so we've got emasculation of Spike, Spike being violent to women (representatively, in this case), and Spike blaming women for his problems. Oh, and Spike playing with dolls. Does that ring any bells with anyone? Sigh.

Xander and Cordy, at her locker. She's trying to get out of going bowling, but Xander guarantees that it'll be fun. As he presses his case, he notices that she has pictures of the two of them taped up on the inside door of her locker. He's pleasantly surprised: "I never knew I was locker-door material." Yeah, except that soon Cordy'll be using that locker door to beat your head in. They run into Willow and Oz, and Cordy accedes to the bowling idea. Xander and Cordy take off, and Willow goes to her locker. Oz presents her with a gift, wrapped in newspaper. She asks what the occasion is. Oz: "Pretty much you are." Aw. She unwraps it to discover a Pez dispenser with a witch's head. Double aw. She loves it. She wants to get him a Pez werewolf, but he thinks they might have to settle for a "wacky cartoon dog." She laments that she doesn't have anything to give him. With a little smile, he puts a hand on her shoulder and says, "Yeah you do." Swoon. He walks off. My cold, cold heart melted throughout this scene. Then I see that Willow looks nine kinds of guilty, and I remember that what she has to give him is a cuckold's horns. Back to being an ice prince.

Giles proudly reads Buffy's SAT scores. They exposit that Giles is going on a retreat in the woods for a few days. Buffy teases him about how much stuff he's bringing: "Giles, you pack like me." I hope that doesn't mean he's packed a little purse in every hideous color of the spectrum. He hands back the scores, and says he expects Joyce is pleased. Buffy: "She saw these scores and her head spun around and exploded." Giles looks perturbed. "I've been on the Hellmouth too long. That was metaphorical, yes?" Hee. Buffy says yes, and that her mother "started all this crazy talk about [Buffy] going to collegemaybe someplace else." Giles shocks Buffy by saying that he agrees. He explains that she needs to think of her future, and that with Faith on hand she might be able to "move on, for a time at least." Buffy processes that, and Giles suggests they discuss it further when he returns. Which, unfortunately, will not be in this episode. He asks her not to do anything rash. She senses there's a hidden meaning, and asks for clarification. He asks if she's planning to see Angel, and she says yes. He looks warily at her, but she assures him, "Nothing's gonna happen."

The Ironic Segue Fairy makes a quick appearance as we cut to Willow telling Xander, "Something's gonna happen." She thinks the double date is a big mistake. Not the cheating, mind you -- the double date. She worries that Oz and Cordy will know something's up. He tries to reassure her: "Maybe we've had one or two indiscretions but that's all past. Look, we're just very good friends who like to hang outand can I kiss your earlobe?" That one I've never heard, and that's saying a lot. She starts to let him, but then wards him off with the Pez witch. Heh. He strokes her hair, and wishes aloud that their mutual attraction would stop. Willow: "Any suggestions?" Great. Prelude to another character arc I found really appealing. Not.

Summers kitchen. Joyce is pushing several colleges on Buffy. She says that Buffy belongs "at a good old-fashioned college, with keg parties and boys, not here with Hellmouths and vampires." Buffy: "Not really seeing the distinction." Heh. She's got a point. I mean, who would you rather date, a creature of the night or Kyle from Real World? Sars? ["Of the night or not, name a creature -- it's in line ahead of Kyle." -- Sars] Joyce goes on that Buffy's always wishing for a normal life. Wow, you really think so? Buffy says it's not that simple, but Joyce says Buffy has to think about her future. "I mean, honestly, is there anything keeping you here?"

Anvilicious cut to Angel. Oh, lord -- he reading Sartre's La Nausee. I'm feeling a little nauseated myself, thanks. Whatever, Deepguy McForehead. We see that Spike is watching him. Angel gets up and walks further inside. Spike starts a drunken rant about how he and Dru were happy until Angel brainwashed her. That's giving her a lot of credit. He hilariously slurs, "I'll show you who's acool guy." He continues, "You're going down," then predictably trips and passes out. It was still kind of funny, though. I'm a sucker for sight gags. Remember Angel's dancing dream sequence in "She"? That was ten of the funniest seconds in television history.

Shot of the sun rising. Spike's still passed out. His left hand, lying in the sun, bursts into flame. He wakes up in a panic, sticks his hand in the nearby fountain, and scrambles up the stairs. He dives into his car, pours liquor all over his burnt hand (yeeoouch), and takes a slug of the stuff. He whinges, "This is just too much." I'll say.

The magic shop. A very New-Age-type woman hears the back door close. She walks over to Spike and asks if she can help him. Spike: "Need a curse." That line cracks me up. We figure out that he means to curse Angel, and settles on leprosy as his preferred method. New Age Woman: "We don't carry leprosy." Hee. The front door opens, and New Age Woman excuses herself. It's Willow, with a shopping list. New Age Woman recognizes the items on the list as the ingredients for a love spell, but Willow explains that she wants the opposite effect, "kind of a de-lusting." The ingredients are the same, and New Age Woman rings them up. Spike watches as Willow leaves. New Age Woman goes back to attend to Spike, asking if he found a "spell book." However, he grabs her, game face on. "Forget the book." He kills her. "I just got a better idea." Remember when Spike was scary? And I realized that that death disturbed me not because I was invested in the character, but because it wasn't attached to some preachy and anvilicious message. It just happened. That's scary.

Very Bad Things. I honestly have no recollection of that movie whatsoever.

City Hall. Yay! The Mayor is practicing his golf putting as Twitchy looks on. He bemoans a missed shot. "I swear, I would sell my soul for a decent short game. Of course, it's a little late for that. I don't suppose I could offer your soul, huh? Will you help me on the green?" Twitchy makes a note to himself to update his will for the third time this month. The Mayor: "I'm just funnin'." Best. Villain. Ever. The Mayor has just learned that Spike is in town. Twitchy explains about the incident at the magic shop. The Mayor fondly reminisces about Spike's "shenanigans." Twitchy absently sits on the Mayor's desk, and the Mayor whistles in warning. Hee. The Mayor more seriously says that it's too important a year for him "to let a loose cannon rock the boat." He wonders whether he just employed a mixed metaphor. "Boats did have cannons. And a loose one would cause it to rock." Heh. I'm expecting him to plunge a hand into Twitchy's chest and rip his still-beating heart out without missing a word in his monologue. The Mayor asks Twitchy to take care of the problem with a "committee." Twitchy says it's as good as done. The Mayor: "That's swell." He sinks his putt. He'll probably feast on someone's eyeballs later to celebrate.

Mansion. Buffy and Angel discuss her college plans. This scene is boring, so here's the short version: Buffy asks Angel what he thinks she should do. He thinks she should leave, because it's a good opportunity for her. That's not what she wanted to hear, and she passive-aggressives her way out the door. Oh, and Joyce doesn't know Angel's back. Well, duh.

School chemistry lab. Willow's using a mortar and pestle as Xander walks in. She says she's doing an experiment. Why she's trying to keep the spell from him is a mystery to me. I mean, she was going to have to recite an incantation, right? Even Xander would pick up on that. Sigh. They flirt, but then she gets serious. He eventually recognizes that she intends to do "love-spell stuff." She says she thought it would go better if he didn't know. Boy, this episode is chock full of the beginning of annoying character arcs, isn't it? And "go better" for whom, exactly? She continues, "You said you wished that these feelings could just go away!" Remind me not to sing the Oscar Meyer wiener song around Willow. Xander retorts, "Yeah, I wish for a lot of things! I told you I wished I was a fireman in sixth grade, but you didn't follow through on that!" Word. She says she can't do this anymore, and he snides, "Do you really need to resort to the black arts to keep our hormones in check?" She snits, "At this point, I'm thinking no." Xander turns the lights on, but Spike, out of nowhere, grabs him from behind. Xander struggles with Spike as Willow grabs a marble head. Spike punches Xander, then catches Willow as she tries to wallop him with the marble head. He snarls, "That's not nice. We're all gonna be very best friends." He grabs the head and clocks Xander across the temple, knocking him out. That really looked like it hurt.

Xander lies on a table at the factory, a large streak of dried blood where Spike hit him. Spike menaces that Willow will cast a love spell on Drusilla for him. She says she'll try, and he grabs her and says that that's not good enough. He breaks the bottle he's been drinking from and sticks the jagged glass in her face. She begs him not to hurt her. JM really sells this drunken psycho scene. He's quite an actor, especially given the crap he's had to work with lately. Spike downshifts back to pathetic, whinging about how Dru left him. He explains that Dru took Spike's truce with Buffy to mean that he wasn't "demon enough for the likes of [Dru]." Willow looks nonplussed throughout this entire monologue. He says that he caught Dru making out with a Chaos Demon. "Have you ever seen a Chaos Demon? They're all slime and antlers." Sounds like what you'd see on a Saturday night in the West Village. Spike plays with Willow's hair. He says he told Dru that he was leaving. His voice breaks as he says, "She said we could still be friends." BWA HA HA! Spike literally cries on Willow's shoulder, then looks up and regards her neck. He vamps out, and Willow jumps up. He says he hasn't had a woman in weeks. She says she'll do the spell, but that "there will be no bottle in face, and there will be no 'having' of any kind, with me, all right?" She doesn't sound like she completely believes what she's saying, and Spike grabs her head and leans forward. Remember when Spike used to be scary? No, really. He morphs back to his human visage and lets her go. Willow realizes that she left a necessary spell book somewhere. Spike growls, "Where?"

Cut to Buffy, jumping rope in the library. Oz and Cordelia come barreling in. They take her to the chem lab. Buffy realizes that there was a struggle. She says she'll look for Xander and Willow, and dispatches Oz and Cordy to get Giles from his retreat. Buffy returns to the library to get weapons, but the phone rings. It's Joyce, wanting to schedule a college talk. Buffy's impatient, but then hears Spike's voice in the background. He smiles threateningly: "Hello, Joyce." Cut to a cloud of dust where Buffy was just standing.

Joyce pours Spike some tea as he relates his sob story. Hee! I didn't expect that at all the first time I saw this episode. Blah blah blah Chaos-Demon-cakes. Joyce sympathetically says that Dru sounds "very unreasonable." She attempts to give Spike the wisdom of her experience, but he says that their love was "eternal, literally." I have one of those moments with this show where I start giggling uncontrollably. I mean, Joyce is giving relationship advice to a vampire. That's funny. With a smile so sexy it would turn Anne Heche straight (oh, wait -- bad example), he asks if she has any "little marshmallows." Joyce goes to look. How she's not straddling him already is beyond me. I mean, we know she's a sucker for the accent. Plus, it's not hard to believe this particular attraction runs in the family. Oh no I di-int!

Okay, this seems like a good time to explain why I think Spike was a much better character back then than he is now. I know this subject's a powder keg, but hey, it's my job. First of all, he was sexier. Let me clarify that I think James Marsters is really, really hot. Amazing body, high cheekbones, everything. He totally does it for me. But I'm talking about Spike here. The thing that made him sexy in my eyes was that he was a rebel among vampires. He was a punk long before the punk era existed. It seems to me that when he's dressed in his signature outfit, he's truly in his element. I could picture him instead of Sid Vicious on that famous "Never let them take you alive" poster. The trend of the last season of him taking his clothes off doesn't make him sexier -- it does the opposite for me. The clothes are part of the image that made him so appealing. Even his voice has lost something -- watch a Season Two episode with Spike in it sometime. Close your eyes and listen to his voice. Mrow. These days, he's too busy whining. He's lost his joie de vivre, as it were. I realize Mutant Enemy would claim that these changes show "character development," but Spike was perfect in his original inception -- an evil bad boy you loved to hate and hated to love. I don't need a good villain to change, and I certainly don't need to see him naked to find him alluring. People change; vampires don't have to. In my opinion, this character has been grossly mishandled. It's a crying shame, because the character was great and James Marsters is a superb actor. And that's the tragedy of this episode, because Spike himself realizes at the end that a fun version of him is so much better than a mopey version. Sigh. Back to watching Season Two on DVD. After I finish this recap, that is.

All right, I'm off my soapbox. Broody McLurk sees Spike through the window. He tries to run through the doorway, but is stopped by the invisible barrier. Joyce jumps up in fright. Spike, standing behind Joyce, makes a series of hilarious faces, hand gestures, and comments in this scene. Angel tries to get Joyce to invite him in, but she's not having it. Spike taunts Angel some more. Angel: "You touch her and I'll cut your head off." Spike: "You and what army?" Buffy, appearing out of nowhere: "That would be me." She grabs him by the neck and holds him down on a table. She invites Angel in, and Joyce is very confused. Buffy goes to stake Spike, but he cries, "Willow!" He explains that he's got Xander and Willow, and about the spell. He calls Angel "Peaches," which causes me to spill a non-product-placed cola everywhere. Spike says that when Willow does the spell, he'll let her and Xander go. Buffy doesn't trust Spike, but he says, "Well, you and your great poof here want to tag along, that's fine. But you get in my way, and you kill your friends." Oh, Spike. I miss you.

Cordy and Oz are driving. She's freaking. Oz stops the car and sniffs the air. He says he can smell Willow, and she's afraid. Cordy: "Oh my God. Is this some sort of residual werewolf thing? This is really disturbing." Oz: "I really agree." These two needed more scenes together. While they were on the show. Sigh. They change direction and drive off.

Spike is leading Angel and Buffy to the magic shop when he holds his head and whinges about sobering up. "I wish I was dead." Buffy, pulling out a stake: "Well, if you close your eyes and wish real hard" Angel stops her, telling her that they still need Spike. Buffy bites out, "Need him? He's probably just got 'em locked up in the factory." Spike, slightly unconvincingly: "How thick do you think I am?" Ha! Buffy backs off. They stop at a bench, and Spike reminisces some more. Blah blah blah I-miss-Dru-cakes.

They enter the magic shop. Buffy, seeing the police tape inside, snits, "Your work?" They split up to get the ingredients. Buffy and Angel start needling Spike about Dru. Much as Angel can be annoying, I never get tired of seeing him use Dru to get to Spike. Maybe it's because he exhibits an actual personality when he does it. Spike punches Angel, but Buffy tosses him away. Spike whines some more, prompting Buffy to snark, "You're not even a loser anymore. You're a shell of a loser." Spike: "You're one to talk." He points out that the last time he saw Buffy and Angel, they were fighting to the death, but now they're "making googly eyes at each other." Hee. "Googly eyes." Buffy and Angel claim they're just friends, but Spike isn't hearing it: "You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love 'til it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other 'til it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends." Thanks for the bubblegum wisdom. And if they move to different networks, instead of fighting and shagging they'll each never speak a word of the other again. Spike's coup de grace: "I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it." That's my Spike. Well except for the "love's bitch" part.

Factory. Willow tries to break open the door, to no avail. Xander stirs, and props to the make-up department, because he looks just awful. Willow exposits where they are and why they're there. "Drusilla broke up with him." Xander: "Gee, and we'd all hoped those crazy kids would make it work." Hee. Xander wonders what their options are, but the three that Willow advances all end with them dying. Xander tries to get up, but falls back as Willow catches him. They lean in. Willow: "We're not supposed to." Xander: "Exemption for impending death situation." I don't really have a problem with this particular indiscretion, but boy, if they could take it back. The Guitar Of Infidelity starts playing, and I'm really glad this is the last time I'll have to hear it. They mack. The camera pans around to Oz and Cordy coming down the stairs. Oz barely reacts, saying they have to get out of there, but Cordy puts her hand to her mouth, looking for all the world like she's going to be sick. Charisma Carpenter really is a good actress. She looks so sad. She runs up the stairs, but one of them collapses and she falls through. Xander rushes up to see her lying face up. She manages, "I fell." The camera pans down to show that she's been impaled on her left side, somewhere near her kidney. It's pretty shocking.

Buffy, Angel, and Spike walk out of the shop, supplies in hand. Buffy tells Spike she wants him out of her life. God, if I had a nickel for every time I've heard that. She says he tends to cause trouble. Spike says he'll be gone soon. "No trouble." On cue, a large vamp accosts them and greets Spike. Several henchvamps surround them. Buffy snarks, "No trouble at all." Commercials.

Cool aerial shot of the unfolding scene. The lead vamp makes it clear that this is not a friendly situation. Buffy tries to tell them that Spike's just leaving, but they're not interested. The lead vamp offers Buffy and Angel the chance to leave quietly. Spike: "I die, your friends die." Buffy apologetically says, "Sorry, we're staying." The fight is on. I love watching all three main characters fight, so this is a treat. Buffy stakes two vamps, but the three of them get herded toward the magic shop door. They run in as the vamps rush them. Spike and Angel manage to barricade the large front window as Buffy quickly breaks a chair and fashions stakes for them. They await the onslaught. A vamp comes in through the back door, and maybe Spike should have anticipated that, considering that he did the same thing earlier in the episode. Two vamps get in before Angel barricades the door with his body. Well, they're not going to want to come through that.

Xander climbs down to Cordy as Willow yells that Oz went to get help. Cordy looks like she's about to expire.

Fight. Buffy dusts one vamp, but both entrances look like they might give at any moment. Angel wonders if they could get to the roof, but his door collapses in on him. The lead vamp rushes up and punches Spike. Lead vamp: "Yeah, I'd heard you'd gone soft. Sad to see it, man." Spike, incredulously: "Soft?" Lead vamp: "Yeah. Like baby food." Wrong thing to say, I'm guessing. Another vamp is on Spike's opposite side. Spike smirks, "Well then, let's give baby a taste." They fight.

Buffy tosses a vamp aside and attends to Angel. They realize that the front barricade is about to fall. In the foreground, the camera focuses in on a shelf filled with vials of holy water.

Spike is repeatedly bashing the lead vamp's head into a table. "Does baby like his supper? Does baby like his supper?" Don't think so, but I'm kinda liking it. "Why doesn't baby have a nap!" He stakes him, and looks immensely pleased. Buffy yells at him to hit the deck, which he does as the barricade falls. Buffy and Angel let fly the vials. Is the glass that flimsy that it would break on the vampires? Questions that need answers. And by that, I mean, "Questions that I really don't care about." Repulsed, the vamps flee. Spike's thrilled to have had a good fight. Angel winces in pain, and Buffy holds him. Spike chuckles, "Oh yeah, you two. Just friends. No danger there." Hee. Buffy asks about the spell. Spike: "Sod the spell. Your friends are at the factory." Buffy gives him an "I can't believe I'm so dumb" look. Spike jauntily says that all he needs to get Dru back is to quit whining and to be the man he was. That's what I'm sayin'. He strolls out. Shouldn't Buffy, like, you know, kill him or something?

Xander finally reaches Cordelia, and begs her to hold on. At least he didn't say, "Promise me that you'll hold on." Yack. That movie bit, as so many Best Picture winners do. Let's not get started on that topic -- I could rant all day. She squeaks, "Xander?I can't see you." Sniff. She loses consciousness as he strokes her hair. Cut to a cemetery, where a service is being performed. Buffy and Willow walk by. Buffy: "So Cordelia's going to be okay?" Thanks, Misdirection McHackney. Willow says that none of Cordy's vital organs was punctured. She exposits that Cordy wasn't allowed to have visitors at first, but that Xander will see her that day. Buffy asks about Oz. Willow: "I never knew there was anything inside me that could feel this bad. For the longest time, I didn't know what I wanted. I wanted everything. And now, I just want him to talk to me again." Aw. AH nailed that speech. Buffy advises time and groveling. Willow's ready to grovel. Buffy: "I hear sometimes it works."

The Ironic Segue Fairy makes another appearance as we cut to the hospital. Cordy is lying in bed in the foreground, with her head tilted to face the camera. Xander, a large bouquet of flowers in hand, knocks and asks if he can come in. She doesn't answer, but he enters anyway and sits down. He starts talking, but doesn't get through a sentence before she cuts him off. "Xander?" She turns her head, and she looks wan and sad. "Stay away from me." She turns away again. Ouch. He looks like he's been punched in the gut, and leaves. When he does, Cordy's face breaks. Sniff. I'm not a Xanderphile at all, but I think those two actually worked well as a couple.

Mansion. Buffy enters, toting Silly Purse #27, and Angel looks thrilled to see her. She bursts his bubble by telling him she's not coming back. She says that they're not friends, and that she can fool most people on that point, "but I can't fool myself, or Spike for some reason." Angel doesn't want to let her go. She says they can still see each other if he can tell her he doesn't love her. He doesn't answer, and she leaves. That scene annoyed the hell out of me. Firstly, the speech was a rare (at least back then) false note for SMG -- she didn't sell it at all. There wasn't nearly enough emotion for the sentiments she was expressing. Secondly, it felt like it was only there to set up the cheesy montage that followed. And finally, it made "Amends" necessary to bring Angel back into the show, and that I can't forgive.

Said cheesy montage ensues. It's actually The Guitar Of Tragedy that's playing, and it really gets on my nerves. We see Angel brooding, Willow sadly playing with the Pez witch (aw), Oz pensively playing guitar, Xander in the library looking sad, Cordy in bed looking lost. Then Buffy, looking sad as well. I drown out The Guitar Of Tragedy by yelling, "Ye gods, what the hell is she wearing?" It's a pink -- yes, pink -- leopard-print shirt. At least The Guitar Of Tragedy is fitting for that.

Spike drives out of town, smoking and singing along to the Gary-Oldman-as-Sid-Vicious remake of "My Way." That's how I picture Sep leaving for her summer vacation. He screams, "I did it myyyyy waaaayyyyy!" Best. Ending. Ever. And it seems like the writers are going with fun Spike, not mopey Spike, right? Right? Sigh.

My VCR won't make it to England for a few weeks. That's actually good, because it'll give me time to mentally prepare myself for recapping "Amends." The accent? The mustache? The mullet? Oh, the humanity.