I always wish this episode pushed just a touch farther. It really is excellent as it is, but part of me always thinks Anya should have died here. The episode doesn’t need it, but the character does.

The benefit of killing Hally is that it pulls an old switcheroo for D’Hoffryn. All of a sudden it’s like “Oh, he’s a huge badass. He’s not just a funny, sassy demon boss. What a mindfuck.” But we never cash in on that because we don’t see him again. And we never cash in on Anya’s guilt because after this episode, she has minimal presence in the rest of the series.

I always want characters to have huge endings. And I understand, Anya’s death was about not giving a character a huge ending. But given the choice between having my heart ripped out and stomped on in a satisfying way or having a “hmm, that was thematically clever” moment - stomp baby, stomp.

(All of that is said with the hindsight of having seen the entire season and zero concern for actual actor/story/episode obligations.)