Buffy’s fourth season ended with hands down the weirdest non-Sopranos dream episode ever. And how does this season begin? With Buffy doing battle with the most infamous vampire of them all, Dracula. It made for a great season premiere, skipping the usual angst of a new beginning, and keeping things pretty funny. Of course, it did also set up Buffy asking Giles to become her Watcher again, Riley’s continued insecurity about Buffy’s love of vampires, and the introduction of Buffy’s lovable little scamp of a younger sister, Dawn.

Wait – what? Buffy has a sister? My first thought was that this would be a pretty lame move by a very cool show, to say that Buffy always had an off-camera sister who was suspiciously never mentioned and had been living with her dad or something but who was now coming to live with them. Of course, that turned out to not be the case, and my next impulse was that she had been wished into the family, à la Jonathan in the “Superstar” episode. But that also felt a little hackneyed, since it had already been done. Then, the way “Real Me” ended, with Dawn saying in her journal that Buffy would be surprised when she found out that she wasn’t *just* her little sister, I was totally convinced that Dawn was evil, making me 0 for 3. (I’m still not sure if that was a deliberate red herring or a goof on the writers’ part.) But after all those false leads, I have to say that the reveal that Dawn was a Key, who didn’t know that she wasn’t a real girl, was really well handled. As an aside, when Buffy cast the spell that revealed that something with Dawn wasn’t on the up and up, did I see Dawn’s shadow turn into a monster in one quick shot, like how Anakin’s shadow turned into Darth Vader really quickly in Episode II?

This half-season has also seen some more great Xander moments, which I’m always happy to see.  (What can I say, I see a little bit of myself in his well-intentioned goofball.) The episode where he got split in two had a cheesy feel when it seemed that one of the Xanders was an imposter, but by exploring both sides of Xander, it ended up giving a great insight into his character. And by the way, I love Anya. She is consistently funny and is a great match for Xander. I loved the way their relationship was cemented in “Into the Woods,” and the troll that Anya and Willow accidentally conjured was a great way of resolving the conflict that had been building between the two gals. As a full-on cast member, Anya feels right at home.

Though I can’t understand why they haven’t done the same for Tara. She has become an integral part of the Scooby gang, and the “Family” episode did a great job of showing how much everyone values her, even if they wish they knew her better. But whenever she’s not in an episode, it feels like something is missing, and that’s a shame. Meanwhile, Spike continues to feel underused, which is also frustrating, since he’s such a great character. Don’t get me wrong, he’s had some great moments, like when he told Buffy the tales of how he had killed two prior Slayers. But watching him just make googly eyes at Buffy just feels like he’s not living up to his full potential. Though he did serve a purpose by driving the final wedge between Buffy and Riley.

I was digging Riley last season, but his whining about not being useful was beginning to get a little grating. But the show did a great job at making this break-up feel very natural and normal, and it is hard to blame just one party. Riley was needy, sure, but Buffy was keeping him at arms length, not including him on the whole Dawn situation, for example, or by really leaning on him when Joyce was sick. It’s too bad that Buffy had to have her heart broken again, but it does stand to reason that a Slayer might have a hard time hanging on to boyfriends.

But back to Joyce. I for one thought that she was going to meet her end last year when Faith paid her a visit, but thankfully Buffy got there in time. Watching Joyce deteriorate and get healthier has been an emotional ride for Buffy, of course, but the fact that she is sharing it with her sister who isn’t really her sister just adds a whole extra level to the drama. I’m not totally sure about the nature of Joyce’s disease; was it biological or supernatural? When she was sick she was able to see that Dawn was not really her child, just as the other “crazy” people could see. But there was no hope for the other loonies, whereas Joyce seems to have been cured by her surgery. Maybe her tumor was normal,  it just happened to have a paranormal side-effect?

And of course, there are still a lot of questions about the non-Voldemort evil who-cannot-be-named, Glory. Who is she? Why is she so hot? What does she want the Key for? And why is her buddy Ben working as a male nurse? Wouldn’t it make more sense for him to be apprenticing as a locksmith or something? I have no idea where this story is going, and I can’t wait to see how it ties into the “big thing” that happens at the end of the year that Faith hinted about so long ago.  So far this season has been really strong, and has largely skipped the silly monster-of-the-week premises that have brought down episodes in the past.  Hopefully they show will be able to keep up this momentum.