Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Halloween on AllMovie

Everyone is preparing for the night by buying their costumes at Ethan's (Robin Sachs) Costume Shop. Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) wants to dress like an 18th century noblewoman -- the kind Angel (David Boreanaz) had the hots for back in the day. Willow (Alyson Hannigan), meanwhile, covers up as a ghost and Xander (Nicholas Brendon) plays against type as a macho military soldier. The night starts out great until Ethan, a mystic, casts a spell causing everyone to take on the characteristics of their costume. Buffy becomes a helpless weakling, Xander goes all Rambo, and Willow can run through doors -- closed doors. The spell is discovered as Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), dressed in a cat outfit from another store, does not act like a cat -- at least not any more than usual. Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), an old acquaintance of Ethan's, uncharacteristically beats the spell reversal out of him. This encounter is the first glimpse of Giles' sketchy past with the occult.