She left him for a fungus demon

Buffy S4E2-4

“Living Conditions”

Didn’t it seem like your freshman roommate was actually a soul-sucking demon from an alternate dimension? Wouldn’t you have liked them to get pulled through a transdimensional portal back to the demon world from which they came? Buffy gets all the luck.

“The Harsh Light of Day”

It continues to suck to be Buffy, as she attempts again to date someone normal. Turns out that after sex not only can vampires turn into soulless demons that try to kill all your friends, humans can also show their true colors as douchebags. For a show that gets such feminist kudos, it sure would be nice if Buffy stopped getting punished for sex. Anyway, at the same time, Spike is back in Sunnydale again, and it’s totally not because he’s obsessed with Buffy, definitely not, there’s just some ring that makes a vampire invulnerable conveniently buried there that he’s looking for. He’s also finding some of his own consequences to sex, in that the newly vampired Harmony has started calling him “Blondie Bear”.

Spike finds the ring and has a sunlit fight with Buffy and despite Spike being gross and cruel, he and Buffy still have way more chemistry than she did with that Parker dude. Spike should probably have gotten the ring resized, though, because Buffy pulls it off and sends it along to Angel for “In the Dark”.

At the same time, Anya has returned to Sunnydale to sort out her annoying feelings about Xander. She forthrightly (as is everything Anya does) prepositions him in a way that is both hilarious and incredibly charming.

It doesn’t help her get over him, though, so lucky for us she sticks around. I love Anya.

“Fear Itself”

This is basically the sweetest Halloween episode. Some frat boys set up a haunted house, and accidentally summon a fear demon, the gang is trapped inside, and they’re separated by their fears coming true. Anya has to face fears as well, dressed in her scary bunny costume, unable to reach Xander in danger. Giles resolves his with a chainsaw.

And Emma Caulfield is the best, she is absolutely hilarious
padding around in giant fuzzy bunny feet.

And boy there sure are some racist Halloween costumes, though I’m giving a pass to Giles in a novelty sombrero, because it’s just charming.

And when the fear demon is manifested, he’s tiny, and easily defeated with laughter. It’s silly, but like I said, sweet.

“Beer Bad”

The one where Giles and Buffy are in a shuttle that breaks warp 10 and then they turn into lizard people and have lizard babies and we never speak of this again.