TV-Reviewed

The creators of this show were able to plant hidden messages in their episodes. Some were about drugs, sexual behavior, and bulling. It showed how dangerous the situations could be. It also showed how you could handle it in a positive way. Despite the violence the show inflicted, it still showed positive ways of overcoming the odds of being a teenager. This was one of the episodes that contained a hidden message. Don’t talk to strangers over the internet. It might be a monster!

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers

The episode started with a bunch of monks, talking in some funky language, about banishing a demon named Moloch, being voiced by Mark Deakins. They explained about how dangerous this demon is and prayed that no one reads the book that they trapped him in. These monks had no clue that one day Moloch would released, not by a human but by a computer. Willow unknowingly scanned the book into the school’s computer. Moloch was unleashed into cyberspace where he was able to chat up a couple of lonely teenagers looking for a friend. It was sad seeing Willow being one them. She told Buffy that it’s not every day that a guy shows interest in her. She was so intrigued by his words that she fell in love with the demon. She didn’t know that he was a demon but you could tell what the creators were trying to say.

Buffy had her suspicions about her new boyfriend. She started to snoop around, asking questions. She noticed that a couple of the other boys were very protective over willow. She first thought that maybe one of them was her online boyfriend. She quickly realized that wasn’t the case. The demon Moloch knew that Buffy was getting close to the truth. He told one of his followers to kill Buffy. He almost did but changed his mind. He told Buffy of her impending doom just in the nick of time. Moloch was not happy and told one of his other followers to kill the boy. Buffy and the others figured out that Moloch was released into cyberspace and tried to delete the file. It didn’t work. The demon showed his love for Willow and Buffy knew she had to act fast.

Willow on the other hand knew better. The demon gave her a clue that something was wrong with him and she decided not to talk to him anymore. That ended up being a big mistake because she was kidnapped by his followers. They took her to the place where she could finally meet Moloch face to face. He had his followers build a robot that would fit his image. Once created, they loaded him into the machine, making him mobile. Willow was disgusted by the site of him. Moloch still wanted to be with Willow but Giles wasn’t having it. He and Jenny calendar, played by Robia Lamorte, were able to take Moloch out of cyberspace. Unfortunately he was stuck in his robotic body. Moloch busted through walls to get to the slayer and Willow for revenge. Buffy was able to use her brain instead of her brawn to defeat the evil once and for all. At episodes end they joked about her bad their relationships in the future were going to be. They never knew how right they were.

The message in this episode was to tell people to be careful when they are dating online. You never know who you are talking to. They could end up being a monster. This episode also brought in a new character. Jenny Calendar is a computer teacher who has an interesting past. In future episodes, she will be a love interest for Giles. This was the episode that started Giles crush on Jenny. Xander was funny as usually and the episode was able to flow at a decent pace. This episode deserves a good score because of the message they were trying to preach. Be careful who you talk to!

Rating: 7.0