BtVS
S05E06 Family

Tara's family are in town: they may not be vampires, but boy do they suck! Spells are cast, demons vanish, and Amy Adams is terrifying!

I liked!

1. The concept. The show works best for me when it uses supernatural weirdness to highlight real-world problems. A lot of gay folks either have or know someone else who has a manipulative, oppressive, and sometimes religiously conservative family. The use of "demon" as "gay" here is pretty on the nose, but it works — subtlety by damned!
2. Amy Adams is such a good anti-feminist weirdo, she crushes in this.
3. Spike being completely invisible to Buffy — overlooked, even!
4. Spike and Anya figuring it all out, with Spike freaking calling out how bigoted the family are! Ally behaviour right there.

I disliked!

1. That Tara is just... forgiven. No-one puts it to her that she betrayed their trust: she's family (for some reason) and they move on. The whole confrontation sequence doesn't really work. (The adorable floating dance ending makes up for it though.) Her actions, and the lack of consequences, also undercut Tara's anti-magic position in season six.

Rating

While I love a lot of things about this episode, the confrontation is really pleased with itself and doesn't sell for me. Three stars!