Amadan na Briona

These "Season Eight" trade paperbacks/episodes are entertaining and capture a little of the old feel of the series, but so far they've all been good but not great. In book four, Buffy goes to the future and meets Fray, the sole surviving Slayer. In the grand tradition of every time traveling superhero comic book story ever, the two of them have to fight each other. Also, we meet Dark Willow (again). Normally I'd say this entire subplot seemed a little bit pointless, though entertaining, but Whedon is good at making small details that seemed insignificant at the time important later. Likewise the story at the end where Buffy has a dream in which she time travels backwards and gets to relive her simpler Sunnydale days with the Scoobies -- is it just an interlude, or will this dream also have significance later?

The only real advancement in the main Twilight (yes, Whedon, you were so clever giving the Big Bad of Season Eight that name) plot is the reappearance of Amy and Warren, most annoying Buffy villains ever. Props for the image of launching a magical V-1 rocket at a Scottish castle full of Slayers and witches (once again, pure crack for the storyteller no longer constrained by a special effects budget), and turning Dawn into a centaur was good for endless one-liners, but this is about the point in the season where the plot should begin moving in the direction of the finale.