walking right into the Summers house and staring straight at Dawn — the object she seeks — while remaining completely ignorant." Reviewer Mikelangelo Marinaro wrote for the Critically Touched Reviews website that this "wonderfully pleasant episode" is "Buffy's first serious take on the subject of power, which of course is a major theme of S7." 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." The reviewer gave the episode grades of 90/100 and A−. 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. The Watchers have been needing comeuppance. That they get it direct from the sacrificial teen they've been happy to think of as 'their instrument' only makes it sweeter." References External links "Checkpoint" at BuffyGuide.com Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 5) episodes 2001 American television episodes Television episodes written by Jane Espenson