Looking back on this and the preceding episode, it’s surprising to see Buffy going down a very dark path so early on in the show’s run. Because The Dark Age picks up some of the threads left by ‘Halloween’ and ‘Lie to Me’ , and binds them together in a story which is stronger and indeed darker than either. By the end of the episode, one of the regular characters has to face up to something in their past which puts everybody in danger, not least the person they love- something which completely changes what we know about them and how we see them. It’s also a well-played ensemble piece; bringing one character to the fore allows everybody else to share the action, and giving Buffy a supporting role means that we see the other characters in three dimensions.

It’s Giles’s episode, of course, and Anthony Stewart Head is more than up to the task of carrying everything that the story requires of him. There are a couple of beautifully-played scenes with Jenny early on in the episode- the characters complement each other so well, and it’s clear that Head and Robia La Morte had really found the chemistry by this point. It’s far easier to believe that Giles and Jenny are in love with each other than it is with Buffy and Angel bickering at each other. Contrast this, then, with what Giles has to go through in the course of the story- finding initially that his old black magic circle is being wiped out one by one, then discovering that a demon from his past has been resurrected and seeing that demon possess the woman he loves- and Head gives what’s probably his performance of the series so far. Part of the episode’s intention in illuminating Giles’s past is to cast a new and unexpected light on a character who’d previously seemed dependable and safe, and it’s a real jolt to see Giles threatening Ethan with violence, or his despair once Eyghon has possessed Jenny. But then, this is an episode which goes to some very dark places- the whole sequence with Ethan tattooing the Mark onto Buffy and then pouring acid onto his own arm is really quite edgy- Robin Sachs is probably more effective here than in any of his other appearances. By the same token, at the end of the episode there’s a scene with painful emotional reality, as Giles and a suitably fragile-looking Jenny realise that they can’t just pick up where they left off.

As mentioned earlier, for the rest of the cast it’s pretty much an ensemble piece. Apart from being Ethan’s decoy, Buffy’s main function is to draw Giles out of himself and establish what the problem is. It’s Willow who works out the solution, giving David Boreanaz his chance to earn his fee for this week, and Willow’s rant is one of the comedic highlights- Xander and Cordelia are strictly on comic banter duty this time out. It’s not a bad decision structurally, as it concentrates the drama on the Giles plot, where it should be, and keeps the comedy on the sidelines for relief. But such a dark path is ultimately unsustainable in serial television- Buffy’s strength is in the balance of drama, horror and comedy, and after having gone to the dark scary place, a slight course correction was in order. It’s a slight shame that what we learn about Giles’s past jars with the broad-brush approach to magic and spellcasting that the show took in its first season, but then again Giles’s background opens the door to Willow’s exploration of Wicca and the whole area of character development which followed. Still, ‘The Dark Age’ more than lives up to its title- it takes our characters to a place of darkness and mistrust, and as an example of Buffy doing dark, it’s one of the best.