- Poor Dawn, asking so many questions because she's scared. Good thing Buffy caught on it before she said something hurtful.

- Xander is really pissed about Riley destroying the vamp nest solo. He knows why Riley is doing this while Willow doesn't catch on it. Riley wants to prove that he's capable of getting the job done without help (kinda like Buffy does) and he's doing that to impress Buffy and his wounded ego.

- Aww, nice to see Willow and Tara smile at Anya's character growth. :D

- Can anyone really blame Riley for being pissed when he found Spike sniffing his girlfriend's clothes? I actually felt bad for Riley in his whole scene with Spike. Hearing that Buffy spent last night buying Spike drinks as well as her not asking Willow to do a deinvite on the house, plus bringing up Angel (who used to be Buffy's everything) isn't a good thing for Riley's bruised self-esteem ever since he gave up his chip of power. To be honest, I don't blame Riley at all for going aggressive on Spike. Spike was asking for it.

- The big punch came: Spike knew about Buffy's mother being in the hospital and Riley didn't. I think it's more Spike's taunting imply that made Riley insecure than the information itself. "You know, it's-it's funny her not calling you about that. I've known since last night."

- 'Bite-sized one' is probably the lamest nickname Spike had ever thought of.

- Very good, Riley! Loved his scene with Buffy in the hospital afterwards. He was very understanding and supportive. That's what Buffy needs.

- Yay for Tara discovering that Glory is something else other than a demon and an evil spirit.

- I loved when Glory showed up and they were all oblivious that she was the one they're looking for. Buffy not being around to identify her is a plus.

- I loved the cozy scene between Buffy, Riley and sleeping Dawn.

- You know, I realized while watching Buffy's scenes in the hospital with the doctor and Dawn that she knows nothing about real life and the suffering of adulthood. She always relies on her mother with these matters. She's only 19, so it can be expected. As for her friends, I'd say they're more aware of the demands of adult life than her. Willow because she likes to search these things up and reads quite often and Xander because he's expected to fend for himself right after high school was over.

- It's remarkable how Ben is just like Riley. Not looks-wise but the polite, gentleman behavior. No wonder he's Buffy's choice for a rebound. 

- Buffy jumps immediately to what she knows best. Supernatural world. She thinks she can win against real life using magic. Riley knows that it's natural for people to get sick but Buffy wants a fast cure and what's better than magic.

- LOL at Giles and Xander's reactions to Anya's heys. Giles is so embarrassed for his Magic Box, lol.

- Yay for Anya sharing the wisdom and experience of centuries. Giles' offended "I'm gonna fire you" tone as well as Xander's scared for his girlfriend getting fired outburst are so cute!

- This episode is just throwing punches at poor Riley, doesn't it? Dawn meant well when she told him that Buffy cries less with Riley than she did with Angel. Riley's skeptical tone about Buffy being glad he's here shows the beginning of his inferiority complex regarding the relationship.

- I got the impression that Dawn wasn't an Angel fan. (I can't wait for #20 of S8 where we visit the high school years with Dawn around. I hope they focus on her opinion of Angel and Cordelia.) Buffy appears happier and high spirited while dating Riley, which is much better than her broken and gloomy self while dating Angel. So I can see why Dawn likes Riley better.

- The Scoobies are just so funny in this episode. Anya's too honest nature have her make a slip about Glory, everybody went shush on her. Poor Anya. :D

- Great to see Xander telling Riley off. The scene between Riley and Xander shows Xander's potential of being "the guy who sees", very nice foreshadow.

- Sadly, Xander's lecture to Riley didn't help matters. Riley is back to the bar drinking his sorrows. After all the stings he got as well as Xander catching what he's doing, nothing like alcohol to make it easier. Enters Sandy and Riley lets her bite him, it's sad to see this while Buffy is with her mother at the hospital. I can't really blame Buffy for what's happening with Riley, she showed how much she was grateful for him showing up when he did. It's not her fault her mind was so caught up on her mother's illness and her sister's dangerous situation. Riley's rising insecurity came from discussions with people other than Buffy.

- Re: The Scoobies researching on Glory, Giles promising to take care of Dawn while Buffy is at the hospital and Willow/Tara doing a mini-patrol: I love how supportive and helpful the Scoobies are when Buffy has got so much to deal with. Here's the advantage of having friends when you're the slayer. :)

- Nice little bits: Xander rushing to Dawn's side and his concern for her after the snake attack. Willow noticing that the snake is scared of Dawn.

- The Giles/Buffy due in the car is awesome!

- The last scene: This is the first time since the beginning of S5 that I didn't sympathize with Riley. It seemed he was more concerned about healing his fragile ego than Buffy's serious problems with her mother's condition.

I got the impression that Dawn wasn't an Angel fan.
I can't imagine that Dawn really knew Angel all that well. I mean, he hardly ever came to the house (except for sneaking in Buffy's window), and he only saw Joyce a handful of times (and at least one of those, he was evil), so I doubt that Dawn really would've spent much time with him. Her feelings toward him probably spring mostly from the typical younger sister reaction - *gag* boys are gross, jealousy of her older sister, plus an extra layer of dislike for what he did as Angelus and the effect it had on Buffy.

Of course, in "Real Me," Dawn doesn't seem terribly enamored with Riley, either. She gets cranky when he calls her "kid," VOs that he's sooo into Buffy with a kind of tonal eye-roll, and reserves her swooning for Xander. It seems like Riley has been hanging around more, so she's more used to him than Angel, but I don't know that she really liked him all that much, either. Maybe he grew on her as season five went on?

Maybe he grew on her as season five went on?

I guess she started to like Riley after she and Buffy started to fight less and worry more about their mom's condtion. She could see how Riley made Buffy happy and from then it was more he's good for my sister and less eww he likes my sister.

The one scene that comes to mind is when Dawn tells Riley that Buffy cried less with him than she did with Angel, then she wanted to make him feel better by saying that she thinks he's been really good for her.  I think that proved she liked him at least a little bit, and she seemed to be upset that he just took off without saying goodbye, if her reaction to him in "As You Were" was anything to go by.

I agree. In As You Were, Dawn was quite upset with Riley because he had left. She was upset because she came to like him a lot and then he just left, without saying goodbye, which hurt her deeply.

Was looking at some icons a friend of mine made for "Shadow," which I haven't rewatched recently, btw.  Anyway, in it, it appears that Buffy is wearing the same shirt that the Buffy bot later wears.  Anyone know for sure?

That's an interesting info. So the Buffybot is actually wearing Buffy's clothes instead of something Spike or Warren have.

It's not the same shirt. It's a very similar style (and Buffy wears it under a leather jacket, just like the Buffybot), so it very well could be something Spike stole from her closet, but the one in "Shadow" is purple and the Buffybot's is pink.

vs.

Probably the shirt, shoes, and jacket, but there's no way in hell that was Buffy's skirt.

He probably got that skirt from the trash, lol. I'd say that Buffy would notice if a leather jacket went missing (I'd certainly notice that), but then again, she seems to wear a different coat in every episode, so maybe it was an old one of hers that she wouldn't miss.

Poor Dawn probably got blamed for it all anyway - she was the one who got yelled at when Buffy couldn't find her blue sweater (which later showed up in Spike's crypt).