The Watcher Diaries - The Replacement - Buffy Episode 5.3

Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 11.04.2009

There's two Xanders in Sunnydale this week! But is one evil, or a machine, or a demon?



5.3 The Replacement
Writer: Jane Espenson
Director: James A. Contner

Slayer Speak

Xander: It's a robot. It's an evil robot constructed from evil parts that look like me designed to do evil.

Giles: I said, "Oh, dear Lord."
Buffy: You always say that.
Giles: Well it's always important.

Anya: What'll we do if this doesn't work?
Xanders (in unison): Kill us both, Spock!

Anya: Well, maybe we shouldn't do this reintegration thing right away. See, I can take the boys home and we can all have sex together, and, you know, just slap 'em back together in the morning.
Giles: We just need to arrange the candles. Also, we should continue to pretend we heard none of the disturbing sex talk.

Watcher’s Notes

Buffy loves ice-skating movies... Nicholas Brendon’s twin brother Kelly appeared in this episode in scenes with the two Xander’s together... Xander can do the Snoopy Dance!

Ron Martin has the full review!

If it looks like a Xander episode, smells like a Xander episode and walks like a Xander episode, it must be a Xander episode, right?

The first time I was going through the Buffy series, I found out Nicholas Brendan had a twin brother. I told my girlfriend at the time that there had better be some storyline involving some sort of evil Xander as a series like this wasting the fact that one of the major cast members has a twin would be ridiculous. That was in the middle of season three and here we are in season five with our evil Xander (kind of) for one episode.

When Xander becomes two, chaos ensues but the overall effect is supposed to strengthen our faith in Xander as a hero. The confident Xander who gets hired on as a full time construction worker and gets the nice apartment has always been inside him, whereas the weaker Xander who is full of self pity and incompetence is also part of the Xander as a whole. Confident Xander gets thing done, but as this episode shows, even weak Xander is resourceful and full of fight. The scene where he convinces Willow of who he is, is not only hilarious but also reminds us that these two have been best buds since they learned to crawl. Their relationship was all but put aside in Season Four, but will be built back up in Season Five in time to make the season-ender for Season Six mean something.

The monster of the week is kind of the generic demon that pisses me off by destroying parts of the newly rented apartment. Other than that, he is pretty easily dispatched and is only used as a means to an end.


Lots of foreshadowing here as the foundation is laid for Riley's exit off the show and for Joyce's untimely demise. This is the first time she mentions the headaches that will eventually do her in.

Out of this episode we can take a few things, almost all exclusively about Xander. In every state, Xander is a hero. We get these reminders every now and then (see "The Zeppo") so that we don't forget that Xander is as capable as any of the others who have powers. We are also initiated into the fact that while weak Xander would stand for a lot, he would not stand for confident Xander to try and take his girl, thus showing how deep his love for Anya has become. Anya, in her usual way, shines in this episode with her realization of her own mortality (another "foreshadowing" for Joyce?) and her desire to be the meat of a Xander sandwich. Got to love that.

Ronny Sarnecky	One of my favourite “Buffy” episodes of all-time is “The Replacement”. While this episode may not rank among the best “Buffy” episodes ever, it is one of the most entertaining. It’s a Xander episode after all. I find Xander episodes among my favourites, because I can relate to Xander the most out of any character in the series. I think most people indentify with Xander. He’s the misfit of the group. He has no “powers.” He isn’t smart. He lacks confidence, yet is comfortable in his skin. His greatest asset is his sense of humour. In this episode, we have not one, but two Xanders. One is super cool and confident. The other is, well, Xander Harris. The best part of having the “two Xanders” is that they discovered that both were really Xander. Xander was more than just the Zeppo, he just didn’t know it yet. The most important element to come out of this episode was a scene that you probably didn’t pay much attention to during the season’s first run. In the episode, Dawn and Buffy were arguing when Joyce complained that they were giving her a headache. Little did we know at the time, but Joyce had more than a headache. It was a great display of foreshadowing, as they dropped a hint that all wasn’t right with Joyce. Yet, it was so subtle, you didn’t pick up on it until rewatching the season. Very good show.	9
Jason Chamberlain	Any Xander episode immediately earns points with me, certainly more than last week’s Dawn centric outing. And two times the Xander no less! It’s great for Xander to realize he’s got all the confidence and suaveness he could ever need already inside him. On the other hand, this is an episode that showcases why I never really liked Anya very much. I know the whole point of her character is to be the blunt, insensitive one, and there are times when that act works and others when it’s just grating and annoying. This episode was the latter, for me. Personally, I think Xander should have dropped her for the real estate agent!	8
Mike Gorman	This week we get the many faces of Xander when a throwaway demon splits Xander in two. One half is confident, aggressive and goes after what he wants. The other is goofy, clumsy and not highly motivated aka the usual Xander we know and love. Is it any wonder that at first it seems like the confident Xander might be an evil impostor? As is the case with most Xander-centric episodes, this one is a lot of fun and proves to us once again that Xander is an integral part of the Scooby Gang even though he lacks any supernatural enhancements. The cool part of this one is that not only do we see how great Xander can be when challenged but he does too. I agree with the other reviewers when they highlight the moments between Xander and Willow as being particularly special this week. Those too share a bond that goes way back to the days of the yellow crayon. Overall I think this is a great episode and shows the promise that the fifth season will soon deliver on.	9
Jeremy Thomas	As noted by the others, "The Replacements" is a Xander-centric episode, which always means good humor. That's certainly the case here, but I also found, besides that, that this episode is a remarkably well-written one. Yes, it certainly takes some cues from "The Zeppo," but for me this was a different sort of lesson for Xander to learn. In "The Zeppo," Xander had to learn that he wasn't the liability of the Scoobies. Some of that pops up again during the conversation between Xander and Willow, sure...but this is more about him moving forward with his life. Xander was at a place in his life where he wanted to make something of himself, but didn't know how. Having been in similar situations--spiritually at least, I didn't have drunken parent fights or demons that kick my ass--it's easy for me to see how Xander was allowing his fear to hold him back. This is the episode that allowed him to move forward into adulthood, when he was afraid to leave the trappings of youth behind. Meanwhile, you have a lot of great things going on here. The script by Jane Espenson is very smart in how it leads us to believe that strong Xander is a demon, yet it all makes sense when you look back at it. The only contrived part is the flashy coin, which I felt was a little overdone and probably not needed. It's fun to see Nicholas Brendon acting alongside his twin brother Kelly Donovan, and they do great mirroring off each other. At the same time we have some great hints of what's to come. The brief mention of Joyce's headache, played as a joke during the Dawn/Buffy argument, is going to bring big things down the line and the way Spike handles the Buffy mannequin gives hints about how he is really starting to feel about her. And of course we have Riley's confession to Xander that he knows Buffy doesn't love him. This is a good episode that advances a lot more than it seems, and I appreciated that alongside the humor.	8
Shawn S. Lealos	After a lesser episode, Buffy rebounds with The Replacement, a very fun entry. That is what you should have expected from a Xander episode. A Toth demon is trying to use a spell to split Buffy into two separate halves, one with all her good points and the other with her bad. It accidentally hits Xander and we get a funny, entertaining episode with Nicholas Brandon teaming with his twin brother Kelly Donovan to play the two Xander’s, something that would never have been as well done with CG work. Both actors are fine actors and they bring something very different to each of their Xander’s, making this one of my favorite Xander episodes. I also enjoy the dialogue here, providing a great comic showcase for two minor characters. Both Anya and Riley get to work both ends of the spectrum, and are spectacular in all instances. Anya starts the episode showing she is very scared of her mortality and the sense of death is striking her as a very real thing. She also has some of the best lines in the episode, especially when she talks about wanting to have sex with both Xander’s before they remerge. I have always been a fan of Marc Blucas, so it is not a surprise to see him bring some quality to the usually bland Riley. He has the funniest line in the entire episode when he says he’d like to lock the two Xander’s in separate rooms and experiment on them. Then he brings the goods in the last scene in the episode when he admits that Buffy does not really love him. Suddenly, Riley doesn’t suck so bad and we start to sympathize with him. It’s a throwaway episode but it is a very fun one. There is also added points for a lack of Dawn.	8

GRR!!! ARGH!!!

The 411: Kind of a throw away episode just establishing what we already knew about Xander. It's placement in the season kind of gives it a "let's go ahead and get our Xander episode for the year out of the way" feel to it. Funny, as all Xander episodes are, but I like "The Zeppo" better.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]