I always felt there were some neat ideas buried in there, but there actual season is just so damn slow and frustrating. It also makes heavy use of a writing tic that's become a real bugbear for me: the bit where you artificially inflate the drama by hiding something from the viewer, then revealing the answer later in a way that suggests you should be really impressed. (I recently rewatched "Lessons," and couldn't believe the weak punchline to the mini-mystery of what-weapon-could-Buffy-have-given-Dawn - oh, wait, it's a cell phone! Um...)

Ahem. Anyway, yes. Let's just say I'm going to be trying to cut to the chase a little more. : )