...But the electron doesn't have to wait the lifetime of the universe for this to happen, thanks to the vast number of subatomic particles involved at quantum scales. The probabilities that one particle would slip through are much higher. In fact, the phenomenon occurs all the time. So if Lorne were a subatomic particle instead of a big green empath demon, he could escape his captors much more easily.Whoa, I found myself thinking, did I actually just understand something from quantum physics?

The book avoids becoming pedantic because it acknowledges that the TV writer's foremost job is to provide an engaging and emotionally resonant story; illustrating physics is merely a tangential side-effect of the work, like the heat or sound released in a chemical reaction. She also realizes that there is an inherent tension between reality and fantasy in TV series like Buffy or Angel. Creating mystical entanglements that echo the rules of physics can make the fantastical seem more believable and spare the audience the disappointing moment when disbelief falls completely from its suspension. Her examination of Ghost Spike specifically addresses this precarious balancing act (and my biggest pet peeve with the vast majority of ghost stories):

True, he can't touch anyone, he can walk through walls, and when he first emerges from the amulet, he lunges at Angel in a fury, passes right through Angel's body, and finds himself standing in the middle of Angel's desk. Yet he somehow manages to make contact with the floor, and he later makes himself quite comfortable seated in Angel's desk chair—indications of a corporeal being. The willing suspension of disbelief notwithstanding, this is a troubling inconsistency.

Even a physics-illiterate recognizes the inconsistencies that Ouellette enumerates through explanations of how matter interacts. (Ultimately, she also provides a loophole explanation which, though not fully supported by the "canon" evidence, might explain how Spike could be there and not there at the same time.)

Ouellette is also funny, with the same geeky-wacky humour that was so often seen in the Buffyverse shows. This makes the book feel like a coffee klatch with friends, except that instead of discussing Buffy's ever-changing hairstyles or Spike's potential for redemption, the subject just happens to be the origins and rules of the universe itself. Ouellette seems to be saying, "The nature of the universe? No big."

Ouellette's conversational approach to physics inspires a kind of confidence that is hard to achieve when looking at physics in a more traditional, jargon-and-equation fraught setting. You get the sense that Ouellette believes everyone is capable of understanding basic physics precepts, if only physicists were to explain them in an accessible way. And though some of the concepts still seemed to be over my head, I was surprised by how much I got. In other words, Ouellette makes you feel smart. As Buffy says, "I'm all for spurty knowledge."