Buffy recalls that her previous experiences with the Council put her life in danger, and wishes they would give her the information she needs.
Quentin announces that the Council plans on conducting a review of Buffy's methods, skills, and abilities.
The Watchers have information on Glory, but will not reveal it until Buffy passes their tests; if she fails, the shop will be closed permanently and Giles will be deported.
Club wrote that Checkpoint was a "highly entertaining episode" with "narrative and thematic significance," adding, "The real fight that Buffy has been staging for five years now may not be between good and evil, but between hidebound traditionalism and ingenious innovation, and between elitism and democratization... What better symbol for the degraded state of The Old Ways than a mad god in stylish clothes, sucking the brains of postmen and walking right into the Summers house and staring straight at Dawn — the object she seeks — while remaining completely ignorant.
Marinaro discusses how "Checkpoint stays focused on Buffy and how she takes another fine step into adulthood while discovering more about her power as a Slayer which, of course, is a big theme of the season."
[2] A. M. Dellamonica, writing a recap for the Tor Books website, concludes, "Though [this is] not a primarily comic episode, the Scooby interviews are chucklesome.
And even though, in dramatic terms, this confrontation has superficial similarities to the one between the Scoobies and the Maclays in Family, I can't help but love that sense of a bill coming due.