"Never Leave Me" proves that not only is Buffy the Vampire Slayer back on form, it's now surpassed all previous season openers.

Season 2, oft cited as the best season (with plenty of justification) didn't really kick in until "Surprise" and "Innocence" halfway through the year: season 7 has been tightly orchestrated and concise since the first episode, slowly buliding up the suspense of the Big Bad's identity bit by bit.

So now we know - it's the First Evil. Of season 3's "Amends" fame, if you don't remember, and a damned good descision it is too. The First Evil was always, in my mind, the best villian Joss ever came up with, because it was so much more complex than all the others: non-corporeal and acting through people's own weaknesses.

So, the episode - amazing stuff really, what more can I say? Well, I can say that James Masters (in great One Flew Over the Coockos' Nest mode) was on top form, the First Evil was executed superbly, as was the revelation, and the Watchers' Council's destruction was one of the biggest and best shocks Buffy has ever pulled off. The final scene with Spike bleeding (presumably) the first ever vampire into existance was pulled off with panache, and leaves the appetite truly whetted for more.

If they can get things so right in the first nine episodes, I'd say it bodes very well for everything to come!