"The Replacement" is the third episode of the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is the eighty-first episode altogether. It was written by Jane Espenson and directed by James A. Contner. It originally broadcast on October 10, 2000. When Xander takes a mystical hit from the demon Toth that was intended for Buffy, he wakes up to find a mysterious double living his life in his place—and, frankly, doing a much better job of it.