When there’s a glut of reruns, as has been the case with our beloved Buffy, two things usually happen when a new episode finally airs. You will a) love the episode no matter what simply because it’s new, or you will b) feel completely let down after waiting so long. But Tuesday’s “Doublemeat Palace” falls staunchly in the middle.

After getting off to a rollicking start with Buffy’s resurrection and continuing on to the spectacular spectacular that was the musical, the show’s pace has been dragging. Although by no means a bad episode, it was merely a monster-of-the-week ep, and the season’s arc is still developing at an agonizingly slow pace. This week’s ep, penned by resident comedy queen Jane Espenson, was big on laughs but little on actual story development.

Poor Buffy. Not only was she wrenched from the fluffy clouds of heaven, but she’s poor! So she has to get a job at a fast-food joint, the titular Doublemeat Palace, and things don’t seem right. A usual, the writers make some sharp commentary on society’s little institutions, but really, how hard is it to spoof fast-food restaurants? Anyway, Buffy quickly realizes that something’s awry when coworkers keep disappearing, and she suspects that humans are the secret ingredient in the doublemeat. But that’s way too obvious, isn’t it? The shocking truth is that the secret ingredient is actually … vegetables! Oh, and the disappearances are because of this cherry-pie-eating old lady with a big monster that grows out of her head.

Right.

In other developments, Buffy struggles with her sexual addiction to Spike, Anya struggles with doubts about Xander after a visit from a vengeance demon friend, Willow struggles with staying on the magic wagon after Amy casts a spell (that’s a metaphor — there isn’t actually a magical wagon), and Dawn struggles with being the most useless member of the cast.

It sounds like things are developing, but they really aren’t. These are the same things that have been going on — quite slowly — for the past several episodes, and more needs to be done. Notably absent are Tara, who’s been laying low since her breakup with Willow, and Buffy’s nemesis … is … es, Warren, Jonathan and Tucker’s brother.

The biggest happening unfolds at the end of the episode when Willow tells Scabbers — I mean, Amy — to stay away from her. It seems that trouble’s a-brewin.’ Throw in a third witch, Tara, and the rumors of a major character’s demise, and there’s great potential for things to get very interesting.

So there you have it; “Doublemeat Palace” isn’t stellar, but new episodes sure do taste good.