In the final episode of this season, Mal will take a second visit to the Buffyverse with 'Cursed' by Mel Odom. This is a crossover tie-in between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

In this episode, I'll be wondering whether I actually watched Season 5 of Buffy because I didn't know about Spike and Buffy's relationship. I'll be thinking about how important outlines are when planning a tie-in. Plus, I'll be addressing whether something so far into two different series can be an entry point to either. I might mention Angel and Spike's love life, but I avoid (I hope!) getting dragged into the fan discussion of who should be with Buffy.

Content warning: It's worth knowing that I use the word Romani throughout the episode, but the novel does not use that term when talking about the Romani community. "Gypsy" is use ...