Spoiler Slayer

Won't You Lie To Me

TV Guide has posted the summary to 'Lies My Parents Told Me'. UPN has also released a description.

TV Guide

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Lies My Parents Told Me
60 min.
The Scoobies' failure to nullify the First's hold on Spike inspires Wood to pursue a vendetta as the vampire relives the day his soul was taken away. Anne: Caroline Lagerfelt. Drusilla: Juliet Landau. Young Robin Wood: Damani Roberts. Vamp: Ira Steck. Kennedy: Iyari Limon

UPN

SPIKE REVISITS HIS PAST IN AN ATTEMPT TO DISCOVER WHAT HAS BEEN MAKING HIM "VAMP" OUT, ON "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER," TUESDAY, MARCH 25

"Lies My Parents Told Me" – As Spike struggles with haunting memories of his past, Giles returns with a device that he hopes will find and deactivate the trigger in Spike’s subconscious that The First is using to make him "vamp" out, on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, Tuesday, March 25 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on UPN. David Fury directed the episode from a script written by Fury and Drew Goddard.

Meanwhile, Willow embarks on a mysterious journey as Buffy and Giles quarrel over his teachings.

It's also been confirmed that Nathan Fillion will be playing Caleb.

Tell Me A Fable

Though I didn't make much mention of it on the, I did receive a fair amount of email from fans who couldn't understand how I could not like 'First Date' (but I also received an equal amount from those who did). Of all the reviews that I've done so far this year, that one seems to have generated the most controversy. However, after watching 'Storyteller', it's even clearer to me that 'First Date' simply is not up to the standards of what I expect from a Buffy episode.

Once again, Jane Espenson took up the pen to write this episode. This time, the comedy is firing on all eight cylinders, and the episode manages to have that right mix of humor and drama that we're used to seeing on the show (though it's a shame that this will probably be the final funny episode of the series).

One advantage is that the episode centered quite a bit around Andrew, who along with Anya are about the only two Scoobies that can pull off comedy at the moment (and I'm talking characters, not the actors). Xander used to be another one, but I think it's been harder and harder to pull this off after the events of last season. It's also a believable premise, especially coming from a geeky character who is probably a bit bored at this point. I should know, as I too have a history with video cameras and whiteboards. If I only had one complaint, it's that something like this would have been great when the show jumped to UPN to draw new fans into the show.

The video interludes were definitely the best part, and it seems that there were more than a few homages to the fans. Xander being called the 'heart' of the Scoobies, shirtless Spike, etc. There were also a couple of nice jabs at some of the recurring events in the latest batch of episodes, such as endless speeches and constantly broken windows. The flashbacks to Andrew's past were also amusing, and filled in some more details on what exactly happened in Mexico. I also really got a kick out of the alternate takes on what really happened.

I'm glad that they took a moment to resolve at least a few of the ongoing storylines. Such as Xander and Anya's status, Wood's intentions towards Spike, and Kennedy dealing with Willow's darkside. The seal in the basement. Although the episode itself definitely seems to be filler, wrapping up some of the various storylines before we hit the final stretch, it was not only needed but welcome.

I do have a couple of minor nitpicks. For example, what is Amanda doing living the Summer's home. Don't her parents find this more than a bit odd? Why haven't we seen female Bringers up until now, and why aren't there more? Also, as I mentioned in my last review, there seems to be too much speechmaking followed by intense combat action around the seal. When as a writer you are already making fun of Buffy's speeches, something which only began within the last six episodes, it's not a good thing. Making fun of the goody-good nature of Riley and Angel, or Xander's demon-dating tendencies, or Dawn's "Get Out, Get Out, Get Out" is sensible, as this is something that took many episodes to develop. But when you're poking fun at something that's supposed to be serious, and was only introduced recently, I don't think this is a good sign. Sadly, it looks that the theme for the second half of Season Seven will be "How Not To Win Friends And Influence People".

The only other thing that seemed a bit out of place was the Xander/Anya scenes. They just didn't seem to fit the mood of the episode. In fact, this probably would have been a better spot for the upcoming 'pillow fight' scene, it would have just fit better with the fantasy versus reality theme of this episode. I would have also liked to have seen Andrew's entire take on either the Slayer lineage and Buffy's history, or Spike's for that matter.

In the end, this was the episode that 'First Date' should have been. Jane is a great comedic writer, which is part of the reason why I look forward to her episodes. This one is certainly showing Jane at her best, with the comedy nicely balanced with the drama. And hey, Buffy's speech at the end wasn't that annoying. Though a note to the writers, everytime time I hear Buffy talk about about people dying, I keep on hearing in my head, Jar-Jar Binks saying "Yousa tinkin yousa people gonna DIE ?"

That's not a good thing.