It was written by Marti Noxon, directed by James Whitmore Jr., and first broadcast on April 28, 1998, on The WB.
Written as a ghost story dealing with the themes of second chance and regret, the episode received positive reviews from critics.
As she comes back to the present, she finds that her teacher has unknowingly written "Don't walk away from me, bitch!"
Outside, Snyder talks to the police chief about the incident and it is revealed that they know about the Hellmouth under the school and the possibility of Buffy being the Slayer.
Buffy goes to the kitchen where she finds a sign for the 1955 Sadie Hawkins dance in her pocket as James' voice whispers, "I need you."
Scriptwriter Marti Noxon said that prior to working on Buffy, she had written several times about ghosts, which for her are figurative expressions of the need for "repentance and second chances", drawing on her own family background.
Noxon was influenced in her storytelling by the movies Poltergeist and Truly, Madly, Deeply, which featured a widow who was unable to move on after the loss of her husband.
[1] In the episode "Out of Mind, Out of Sight," their English class discussed William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
The website Women at Warp compares the "past love affair gone bad plays out again and again" theme with the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Eye of the Beholder."
"In both episodes, the spirit left behind by a man whose love affair turned tragic inhabits the minds of key female characters.
"[3] Vox rated it #45 in a list of all 144 episodes, writing, "The smart, moving twist, as penned by Marti Noxon, is that when Buffy and Angel (excuse me, Angelus) end up possessed, the gender roles are reversed, with Buffy consumed by the guilt and self-loathing James feels for killing the person he loved.
It's an unexpected, effective window into Buffy's psyche in the aftermath of Angel's transformation, and while James's spirit eventually makes peace with his actions, the episode shows Buffy still has a long way to go toward forgiving herself for her part in Angel losing his soul.