Dude! Them legs ... ain't no plain.But she's so darn plain.
Buffy ep by ep; rewatch and reviews
- Thread starter saturn5
- Start date
Yeah! I know! Even if its just coincidence, there's a lot of points during Buffy's run when things just... all come together so well. I even shudder at Xander playing Oedipus (the character who gets blinded in the Greek tragedy) back in 'The Puppet Show', season one!
If the slayer thing doesn't work out, Buffy can always go out for Secretary of State.
If the slayer thing doesn't work out, Buffy can always go out for Secretary of State.
I'd rather like to see that!
Great pics of Eliza but I'd like some more of Buffy and Faith dancing not to mention her bikini fashion parade from The New Guy or Dominatrix Echo from Dollhouse
Consequences
The Good;
Hugely powerful ep, the dream sequence, Angel reaching out to Faith, the fight at the docks, the shock ending, as powerful as Buffy has ever been.
The Bad;
It's truly heartrending to watch Faith's fall from grace. One question though, where does Wes get his thugs from? They'd have been rather useful in the past.
Best line;
Buffy; "Cordelia is a friend"
Cordy; "Let's not exaggerate"
Whedon Cliches;
Character death;
Bye-bye Mr Trick, who didn't follow his own advice about getting an Uzi.
Shot;
Tied up;
Angel in chains and Faith chained up twice. Buffy entangled at the dockside
Knocked out;
Faith, Angel, Wes and possibly Xander
Women good/men bad;
Not this time
Jeez!;
Horrible to watch both Buffy and Xander almost strangled
Kinky dinky;
Faith and Xander forget the safety word (a BDSM term). Faith tries eroto-asphyxia and refers to Xander as her boy toy (just a minor point but how gorgeous does she look at this point, like she's off to the ball or something?). Buffy in her dream sequence indulges in some wet T-shirt action. First meeting of Wes and Cordy (historic although neither realise it). Faith refers to Cordy as jail-bait suggesting she is under 18.
Calling Captain Subtext;
Willow sobbing in the toilets (how many of us did that in high school?) that Xander has lost his virginity to Faith rather than her. Buffy states that the guys Faith sleeps with are a 'big joke to her', implying that she's not that into guys? Buffy starts to make the effort to be more friendly to Will, you could say she's choosing her femme girlfriend over her butch?
Guantanamo Bay;
The Watcher's council once again show their ruthless side. Although the Mayor controls the police his influence seems to be not total.
Scoobies to the ER;
Xander must have some fingermarks on his neck with Buffy and Angel also bearing some bumps as does Wes
Where's Dawn?
Must be used to cops at the Summer's house by now? Joyce seems to wait up for Buffy to come home
Questions and observations;
Good ep but hard to watch, it's all so sad. We do however now start the run of the final eps of season 3 which set the standard for TV generally. Faith seems to feel genuine regret for what she's done but can't come to terms with it. She doesn't go evil right away, she saves Buffy, she could have just snapped Xander's neck but she doesn't. She's happy that the Mayor and deputy Mayor were dirty, alleviates her guilt. Apparently Slayers have killed before and the council takes them back for rehabilitation. But really they don't have much alternative, up until now there's only one Slayer. Does the Mayor want rid of the Slayers or not? Who's going to control the supernatural threat for him otherwise? To judge by the way the SDPD go straight to the Slayers and talk about wooden weapons the Slayers are an open secret in SD.
Terrible commentary, directors commentaries always seem to want to talk about camera speeds and lenses. More writers and actors please!
Marks out of 10, 6/10 powerful but not that much fun to watch
Thanks. Dancing is a bit like fighting - awesome but very hard to screencap!
Yeah, I much prefer the Buffy commentaries by writers and actors. Like you, I prefer hearing about the creative/story side to the technical aspects.
Buffy as a whole is one of the most amazing TV shows ever, but if I had to pick my order of preference, by season, it would probably be:
3- Barely a stinker in the whole bunch. The introduction of Faith and the Mayor added a whole new dimension to the show. Not only does Faith add a lot of character conflict, but her dynamic with Mayor Wilkins is brilliant, and laden with subtext. The season is full of 'mirrors'. During the course of season 3, we meet a mini-Giles (Wes) who forces Giles into a more tough guy role. Faith is like what Buffy could have been in another life. Don't forget the two Willows, either. In fact, meeting her doppelganger could have been the beginnings of Will asserting herself more and not being such a wallflower. It's just an amazing thrill ride season of TV. So many spectacular episodes: Earshot, Lovers Walk, Graduation Day, Band Candy, Bad Girls/Consequences. Awesome.
2/5 (tied) I find it hard to choose between these two. The second half of season two must surely qualify as one of the greatest continuous runs of television ever. And season five, especially the second half, is just a non-stop rollercoaster of awesome.
6- Don't hate me. I actually really liked season 6. Really liked. It was depressing, it was dark, some nasty stuff happened to our characters, etc. It's kind of a 'like it or hate it' season. You get what they were trying to do or you don't. There wasn't a tangible Big Bad. The Big Bad was themselves. Life was the Big Bad.
4- I don't get what is so wrong about this season. Losing Angel and Cordy to the spin off was a blow, and the change of setting very jarring. But it was the start of a whole new era for the show. As a transitional year, I thought it very successful.
7- Brought back a lot of the fun, after the bleakness of 6. There might have been a case of 'too many characters' in season 7, with not enough time to develop them all. But overall, it was a satisfying conclusion.
1- Not bad, in fact its very entertaining most of the time. But it hadn't yet reached the greatness it would achieve later on. At this point, it was just a fun, good, entertaining, quirky little show, not yet an awesome one.
3- Barely a stinker in the whole bunch. The introduction of Faith and the Mayor added a whole new dimension to the show. Not only does Faith add a lot of character conflict, but her dynamic with Mayor Wilkins is brilliant, and laden with subtext. The season is full of 'mirrors'. During the course of season 3, we meet a mini-Giles (Wes) who forces Giles into a more tough guy role. Faith is like what Buffy could have been in another life. Don't forget the two Willows, either. In fact, meeting her doppelganger could have been the beginnings of Will asserting herself more and not being such a wallflower. It's just an amazing thrill ride season of TV. So many spectacular episodes: Earshot, Lovers Walk, Graduation Day, Band Candy, Bad Girls/Consequences. Awesome.
2/5 (tied) I find it hard to choose between these two. The second half of season two must surely qualify as one of the greatest continuous runs of television ever. And season five, especially the second half, is just a non-stop rollercoaster of awesome.
6- Don't hate me. I actually really liked season 6. Really liked. It was depressing, it was dark, some nasty stuff happened to our characters, etc. It's kind of a 'like it or hate it' season. You get what they were trying to do or you don't. There wasn't a tangible Big Bad. The Big Bad was themselves. Life was the Big Bad.
4- I don't get what is so wrong about this season. Losing Angel and Cordy to the spin off was a blow, and the change of setting very jarring. But it was the start of a whole new era for the show. As a transitional year, I thought it very successful.
7- Brought back a lot of the fun, after the bleakness of 6. There might have been a case of 'too many characters' in season 7, with not enough time to develop them all. But overall, it was a satisfying conclusion.
1- Not bad, in fact its very entertaining most of the time. But it hadn't yet reached the greatness it would achieve later on. At this point, it was just a fun, good, entertaining, quirky little show, not yet an awesome one.
Personally I would say;
2/3; no difference between them, both superlative
5; great stuff
7; I liked it, a fitting finale
1; early days
6; needs more joy
4; series finding it's feet after high school
Dopplegangland
The Good;
The beginning of the father/daughter relationship between Faith and The Mayor, Anya comes into her own, VampWillow is a joy to behold, Wes actually makes himself useful, all of the library scenes are comedy classics and the lesbian subtext rapidly starts to become text. The great final gag.
The Bad;
None, it's all fabulous
Best line;
Willow (appreciating her cleavage in VampWillow's leathers) "Gosh, look at those!"
Wheldon Cliches;
Character death;
Poor Sandy, although this isn't the last we'll see of her. And VampWillow get's her dusty desserts back in the Wishworld.
Shot;
VampWillow by real Willow.
Tied up;
Nope although Vampwillow is caged
Knocked out;
Anya and VampWillow
Women good/men bad;
VampWillow; "Bitch!" (all in the delivery). The beginning of the epic hostility between Anya and Willow.
Jeez!;
VampWillow killing Sandy is akin to snuff. Also her breaking of the other vamps fingers
Kinky dinky;
How much time have you got? VampWillow has the hots for everything in sight, Xander, Willow, Sandy. She speaks of 'riding people in chains like ponys' (and I've met more than a few Alysson Hannigan fans over the years who would gladly volunteer). Plenty of naughty touching. Meanwhile Faith refers to 'all the screwing' at her hotel and the Mayor as 'Sugardaddy' but he turns down her advances, making her actually love him more. Best of all is the scary visual place of Willow and Oz playing 'Mistress of Pain' (I'm sure there's a fanfic somewhere?). Percy says he 'owns Willow's ass' but actually it seems to be the other way around. Willow says she feels like 'Dying a virgin'
Calling Captain Subtext;
Will refers to snuggling and thinks her vamp self is 'kinda gay'. She also get's a curious look on her face at the thought of 'breeding' with Percy. VampWillow fancies everything in sight but her lusting after Cordelia's neck is especially interesting considering VampWill's already had a bite in The Wish. Willow's jealousy of Faith is very apparent. Note VampWill still loves Xander much in the same way Spike and Dru still love one another (maybe they were sired by Dru in the Wishverse?). Giles seems to have a very real affection for Will and as we'll later learn she has the same for him. We learn that VampWillow has a great deal in common with real Will.
Guantanamo Bay;
Pretty much everyone is ruthless all around, the plan for luring the vamps out is masterful. Again Buffy shows her skill as a general and not just a fighter.
The dodgy message of the week is to make athletes care about history tests you should beat them up?
Scoobies to the ER;
Not this week
Where's Dawn?
What the fanficcers thought; Willow and her evil twin an insanely popular slashfic pairing. And even better our own cartoon series featuring the pair;
http://buffy.slayers.co.uk/01x01.htm
Questions and observations;
The first appearance of Percy and D'Hoffryn. Devon back again, Oz and Angel seem to have a pretty good relationship to judge from their conversation. Faith continues her slide but can't kill for the Mayor yet. Wes saves Cordy for the first but not last time. According to Angel your human self influences your vamp self (as we see with Spike). Xander is oddly pleased at the thought of his vamp self. I figure that the Wishworld run's paralell to the real world but stops dead the moment Giles smashes the necklace. Anya is 1120 years old.
When you look at the scene in the Bronze where VampWillow beats up Percy and Xander asks 'Is it a funny thing?' it looks as though it's Larry amidst the crowd but his name isn't in the titles
This ep features one of the most understated but important scenes in the whole series. VampWillow walks down Sunnydale mainstreet. In her world where Buffy never came to Sunnydale it's a bleak and deserted wasteland. In the real world, it's full of happy, laughing people. Sure people still die in Sunnydale but the difference one person can make! D'Hoffryn says Anya will live out her mortal life and die. Why does Anya go to Sunnydale High, did she create parents etc for herself as well? Or is she hiding out from those seeking vengence? Buffy has lots of sympathy with Faith, Willow says that Buffy would never kill people but she does. Some lovely moody music at the Bronze. Wonderful performance from Alysson Hannigan, the way she slips from real Willow to VampWillow and effortlessly back again then to real Willow pretending to be VampWillow and VampWillow pretending to be real Willow is just masterful.
The Bronze must go through pool cues at a fearsome rate. 'Dingoes ate my baby' apparently know only three chords but nowadays that doesn't seem to bar anyone from musical success.
Marks out of 10; 10/10, totally brilliant, possibly the best ep of Buffy ever?
2/3; no difference between them, both superlative
5; great stuff
7; I liked it, a fitting finale
1; early days
6; needs more joy
4; series finding it's feet after high school
Dopplegangland
The Good;
The beginning of the father/daughter relationship between Faith and The Mayor, Anya comes into her own, VampWillow is a joy to behold, Wes actually makes himself useful, all of the library scenes are comedy classics and the lesbian subtext rapidly starts to become text. The great final gag.
The Bad;
None, it's all fabulous
Best line;
Willow (appreciating her cleavage in VampWillow's leathers) "Gosh, look at those!"
Wheldon Cliches;
Character death;
Poor Sandy, although this isn't the last we'll see of her. And VampWillow get's her dusty desserts back in the Wishworld.
Shot;
VampWillow by real Willow.
Tied up;
Nope although Vampwillow is caged
Knocked out;
Anya and VampWillow
Women good/men bad;
VampWillow; "Bitch!" (all in the delivery). The beginning of the epic hostility between Anya and Willow.
Jeez!;
VampWillow killing Sandy is akin to snuff. Also her breaking of the other vamps fingers
Kinky dinky;
How much time have you got? VampWillow has the hots for everything in sight, Xander, Willow, Sandy. She speaks of 'riding people in chains like ponys' (and I've met more than a few Alysson Hannigan fans over the years who would gladly volunteer). Plenty of naughty touching. Meanwhile Faith refers to 'all the screwing' at her hotel and the Mayor as 'Sugardaddy' but he turns down her advances, making her actually love him more. Best of all is the scary visual place of Willow and Oz playing 'Mistress of Pain' (I'm sure there's a fanfic somewhere?). Percy says he 'owns Willow's ass' but actually it seems to be the other way around. Willow says she feels like 'Dying a virgin'
Calling Captain Subtext;
Will refers to snuggling and thinks her vamp self is 'kinda gay'. She also get's a curious look on her face at the thought of 'breeding' with Percy. VampWillow fancies everything in sight but her lusting after Cordelia's neck is especially interesting considering VampWill's already had a bite in The Wish. Willow's jealousy of Faith is very apparent. Note VampWill still loves Xander much in the same way Spike and Dru still love one another (maybe they were sired by Dru in the Wishverse?). Giles seems to have a very real affection for Will and as we'll later learn she has the same for him. We learn that VampWillow has a great deal in common with real Will.
Guantanamo Bay;
Pretty much everyone is ruthless all around, the plan for luring the vamps out is masterful. Again Buffy shows her skill as a general and not just a fighter.
The dodgy message of the week is to make athletes care about history tests you should beat them up?
Scoobies to the ER;
Not this week
Where's Dawn?
What the fanficcers thought; Willow and her evil twin an insanely popular slashfic pairing. And even better our own cartoon series featuring the pair;
http://buffy.slayers.co.uk/01x01.htm
Questions and observations;
The first appearance of Percy and D'Hoffryn. Devon back again, Oz and Angel seem to have a pretty good relationship to judge from their conversation. Faith continues her slide but can't kill for the Mayor yet. Wes saves Cordy for the first but not last time. According to Angel your human self influences your vamp self (as we see with Spike). Xander is oddly pleased at the thought of his vamp self. I figure that the Wishworld run's paralell to the real world but stops dead the moment Giles smashes the necklace. Anya is 1120 years old.
When you look at the scene in the Bronze where VampWillow beats up Percy and Xander asks 'Is it a funny thing?' it looks as though it's Larry amidst the crowd but his name isn't in the titles
This ep features one of the most understated but important scenes in the whole series. VampWillow walks down Sunnydale mainstreet. In her world where Buffy never came to Sunnydale it's a bleak and deserted wasteland. In the real world, it's full of happy, laughing people. Sure people still die in Sunnydale but the difference one person can make! D'Hoffryn says Anya will live out her mortal life and die. Why does Anya go to Sunnydale High, did she create parents etc for herself as well? Or is she hiding out from those seeking vengence? Buffy has lots of sympathy with Faith, Willow says that Buffy would never kill people but she does. Some lovely moody music at the Bronze. Wonderful performance from Alysson Hannigan, the way she slips from real Willow to VampWillow and effortlessly back again then to real Willow pretending to be VampWillow and VampWillow pretending to be real Willow is just masterful.
The Bronze must go through pool cues at a fearsome rate. 'Dingoes ate my baby' apparently know only three chords but nowadays that doesn't seem to bar anyone from musical success.
Marks out of 10; 10/10, totally brilliant, possibly the best ep of Buffy ever?
Doppelgangland is indeed a superb episode of Buffy. It's definitely in my top ten. The only thing that bugged me in this ep is how Anya meets Angel (she and he are both there at the end when VampWillow is tied up); and yet later on in 'Pangs', she acts as though she's never seen him before? Another case of someone forgetting they've met someone (I call it the Anti Khan-Chekov effect ) is Angel not remembering Chanterelle/Lily/Anne in Angel season 2.
The opposite of this is the Khan-Chekov effect (people claim to know each other when they've never met). Wesley reacts to seeing Spike in Angel season 5 'Conviction', even though there isn't any onscreen evidence they've ever met (I know, I know. Wes claimed to have done his research on William the Bloody. But unless his textbooks are up to date with recent pics of Spike, how does he know what William looks like from his 18th C journals?)
) is Angel not remembering Chanterelle/Lily/Anne in Angel season 2.The opposite of this is the Khan-Chekov effect (people claim to know each other when they've never met). Wesley reacts to seeing Spike in Angel season 5 'Conviction', even though there isn't any onscreen evidence they've ever met (I know, I know. Wes claimed to have done his research on William the Bloody. But unless his textbooks are up to date with recent pics of Spike, how does he know what William looks like from his 18th C journals?)
How about because Angel had just announced that that's exactly who it was a split second before?
Angel (amazed): Spike??
Wesley (realizing): Spike!
Harmony (excited): Blondie Bear?
And Scrawny, it's nice and all that you're finding these pics for us, but you've got to find a better way of uploading them. This way they stretch the page out of all recognition and they'e only visible on 6 billion resolution.
Finding? Finding? FINDING?
** splutters in mock indignation **
Actually, they're my own screencaps, apart from the Halloween one. The images posted here are all in original DVD source size (720 by 576 pixels). I was a little concerned that loading times etc would be an issue for some people, but on my own four-year-old desktop with USB modem they load fine. If anyone's experience of this thread is spoiled by the size/quantity of the pictures, please let me know.
Enemies
The Good;
Loads more Faith/Mayor stuff and some strong emotional work between Angel and Buffy. The return of 'Angelus' and a heck of a Keyser Soze. Faith's treachery revealed at last. Also some very nice comedy with Xander and an interesting scene with Angel, Faith and Joyce.
The Bad;
Again quite painful to watch Faith's slide to the darkside.
Best line;
A toss up between Buffy's triumphant 'Psych!' and 'Minature golf'
Whedon Cliches;
Character death;
Only the demon. Faith still hasn't gone all the way yet, she still feels guilt about what she does. Again we see a non-dangerous demon spared by Buffy, shades of grey entering the Buffyverse rather than just humans good/demons bad. Willow bags her first vamp who's skin must be awfully soft if it can be penetrated by a pencil.
Shot;
Tied up;
Buffy in chains. Or is she? Angelus comments that Buffy and he never tried chains, Faith comments that bondage looks good on her.
Knocked out;
Buffy and Angel (or are they?)
Women good/men bad;
The women are very bad in this ep
Jeez!;
Faith gutting the demon seems very graphic
Kinky dinky;
Faith sitting astride Angelus and him asking her to 'wriggle'. Faith pawing at him in the Mayor's office (weirdly I think ED looks her most beautiful ever in this scene). Buffy chained up with Faith about to 'torture' her smacks mightily of S&M 'If you're a screamer, feel free'. Angel(us) flatters Joyce (love KS's little 'I still got it' look of triumph). Buffy and Angel go to see some sort of arty yet sexy French film which can't help their celibacy towards each other. Faith refers to the then topical Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky sex scandal "Close but no cigar". Faith's low cut black top really is hookerwear, her cleavage looking like it's about to explode out of it at any moment. Would Faith having sex with Angel really have robbed him off his soul? To judge by what we learn on Angel (Darla, Nina, The Furies, Eve) almost certainly not. Willow describes Faith as the 'do that girl' although she's done her own boyfriend stealing in her time. Faith and Angelus seem to think beating each other up is foreplay. Angelus refers to himself as a boy toy as Faith refer to Xander in Consequences. The Mayor once again demonstrates his father's love for Faith, concerned that Angelus will keep her out late. Oz refers to Cordy as jail-bait.
Calling Captain Subtext;
Faith kissing Buffy even after they fight, even when they're holding knives at each other's throats. Interesting to note Faith's little look when 'Angelus' speaks to Joyce, it's rather guarded, she's not going to let him hurt her. Faith tells Angel she's 'keeping Buffy warm for him' and . Her rant whilst Buffy is chained up has the air of a rejected lover, jealous of Buffy's boyfriend. Even now Faith and Buffy still walk arm in arm and refer to one another as girlfriend. Angelus wants the Mayor to call him 'Master'.
Guantanamo Bay;
Giles, Angel and Buffy's plan is very clever and dirty. Wes thinks Faith would be helpful in persuading the demon. Xander says he beat up Willy the Snitch but actually just slipped him some money.
Scoobies to the ER;
Xander gets 'a good bruise'
Where's Dawn?
Presumably at the house when Faith and Angel arrive.When Faith has her rant against Buffy she notes 'you got the mom!' making the subtext pretty much text. Anyone want to bet that in everyone's revised memories she also says 'You got the little sister'? After all, Dawn could very easily have been Faith's sister if things had worked out differently.
Questions and observations;
And now the die is cast! So what would have happened if Angel had really turned? Either Buffy defeats them, the Scoobies rescue her or Faith doesn't go through with it? When Faith is about to torture Buffy she seems to still be psyching herself up, as if she can't quite go through with it. Read a very good fanfic once where Angelus does start to torture Buffy but her screams revive memories of Faith' own childhood abuse and she rescues Buffy. When Faith goes to Angel with blood on her hands is it all a ruse or is she partly genuine? She's obviously genuinely upset at facing the demon murder scene and Buffy's reference to 'Someone's idea of a party' What would Faith do if Angelus started to suck on a passerby? Would her Slayer instincts kick in as they do in 'Who are you?' There are texts that Giles doesn't want Willow looking at, fearful of her growing magic power.
Some great acting by DB, he can effortlessly slip into Angelus now with just a look. Interesting that EDs crack up at the Mayor's line at the end was unscripted. If Angel was going to lose his soul again wouldn't the gypsy woman see the signs? Angel says it's been a while since he's been to the movies, not since his Charlton Heston fad in the 70s. From what we learn in the later seasons of Angel it's highly unlikely that Angelus would have been content to be The Mayor's lackey. Wes is more and more part of the gang and seems to be on better terms with Buff and co. Nice to see 'Waiting for Godot' mentioned in an American teen TV series. Actually if Angelus had killed Buffy we wouldn't have had a new Slayer as The Gift shows, Faith would have come back to the good guys. Angelus calls Buffy sleepyhead which is Joyce's pet name for her. Love Buffy's Union Jack top (this is when the Spice Girls were huge). Faith hasn't been informed on all the details of the Ascension. Would she still love the Mayor when he's a great big snake? Also obvious that Faith would like the Scoobies to be hers.
This appears to signal Cordelia's return to the Scooby gang, she's back in research mode and will be a permanent fixture in all future Scooby adventures.
Marks out of 10;
6/10
The Good;
Loads more Faith/Mayor stuff and some strong emotional work between Angel and Buffy. The return of 'Angelus' and a heck of a Keyser Soze. Faith's treachery revealed at last. Also some very nice comedy with Xander and an interesting scene with Angel, Faith and Joyce.
The Bad;
Again quite painful to watch Faith's slide to the darkside.
Best line;
A toss up between Buffy's triumphant 'Psych!' and 'Minature golf'
Whedon Cliches;
Character death;
Only the demon. Faith still hasn't gone all the way yet, she still feels guilt about what she does. Again we see a non-dangerous demon spared by Buffy, shades of grey entering the Buffyverse rather than just humans good/demons bad. Willow bags her first vamp who's skin must be awfully soft if it can be penetrated by a pencil.
Shot;
Tied up;
Buffy in chains. Or is she? Angelus comments that Buffy and he never tried chains, Faith comments that bondage looks good on her.
Knocked out;
Buffy and Angel (or are they?)
Women good/men bad;
The women are very bad in this ep
Jeez!;
Faith gutting the demon seems very graphic
Kinky dinky;
Faith sitting astride Angelus and him asking her to 'wriggle'. Faith pawing at him in the Mayor's office (weirdly I think ED looks her most beautiful ever in this scene). Buffy chained up with Faith about to 'torture' her smacks mightily of S&M 'If you're a screamer, feel free'. Angel(us) flatters Joyce (love KS's little 'I still got it' look of triumph). Buffy and Angel go to see some sort of arty yet sexy French film which can't help their celibacy towards each other. Faith refers to the then topical Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky sex scandal "Close but no cigar". Faith's low cut black top really is hookerwear, her cleavage looking like it's about to explode out of it at any moment. Would Faith having sex with Angel really have robbed him off his soul? To judge by what we learn on Angel (Darla, Nina, The Furies, Eve) almost certainly not. Willow describes Faith as the 'do that girl' although she's done her own boyfriend stealing in her time. Faith and Angelus seem to think beating each other up is foreplay. Angelus refers to himself as a boy toy as Faith refer to Xander in Consequences. The Mayor once again demonstrates his father's love for Faith, concerned that Angelus will keep her out late. Oz refers to Cordy as jail-bait.
Calling Captain Subtext;
Faith kissing Buffy even after they fight, even when they're holding knives at each other's throats. Interesting to note Faith's little look when 'Angelus' speaks to Joyce, it's rather guarded, she's not going to let him hurt her. Faith tells Angel she's 'keeping Buffy warm for him' and . Her rant whilst Buffy is chained up has the air of a rejected lover, jealous of Buffy's boyfriend. Even now Faith and Buffy still walk arm in arm and refer to one another as girlfriend. Angelus wants the Mayor to call him 'Master'.
Guantanamo Bay;
Giles, Angel and Buffy's plan is very clever and dirty. Wes thinks Faith would be helpful in persuading the demon. Xander says he beat up Willy the Snitch but actually just slipped him some money.
Scoobies to the ER;
Xander gets 'a good bruise'
Where's Dawn?
Presumably at the house when Faith and Angel arrive.When Faith has her rant against Buffy she notes 'you got the mom!' making the subtext pretty much text. Anyone want to bet that in everyone's revised memories she also says 'You got the little sister'? After all, Dawn could very easily have been Faith's sister if things had worked out differently.
Questions and observations;
And now the die is cast! So what would have happened if Angel had really turned? Either Buffy defeats them, the Scoobies rescue her or Faith doesn't go through with it? When Faith is about to torture Buffy she seems to still be psyching herself up, as if she can't quite go through with it. Read a very good fanfic once where Angelus does start to torture Buffy but her screams revive memories of Faith' own childhood abuse and she rescues Buffy. When Faith goes to Angel with blood on her hands is it all a ruse or is she partly genuine? She's obviously genuinely upset at facing the demon murder scene and Buffy's reference to 'Someone's idea of a party' What would Faith do if Angelus started to suck on a passerby? Would her Slayer instincts kick in as they do in 'Who are you?' There are texts that Giles doesn't want Willow looking at, fearful of her growing magic power.
Some great acting by DB, he can effortlessly slip into Angelus now with just a look. Interesting that EDs crack up at the Mayor's line at the end was unscripted. If Angel was going to lose his soul again wouldn't the gypsy woman see the signs? Angel says it's been a while since he's been to the movies, not since his Charlton Heston fad in the 70s. From what we learn in the later seasons of Angel it's highly unlikely that Angelus would have been content to be The Mayor's lackey. Wes is more and more part of the gang and seems to be on better terms with Buff and co. Nice to see 'Waiting for Godot' mentioned in an American teen TV series. Actually if Angelus had killed Buffy we wouldn't have had a new Slayer as The Gift shows, Faith would have come back to the good guys. Angelus calls Buffy sleepyhead which is Joyce's pet name for her. Love Buffy's Union Jack top (this is when the Spice Girls were huge). Faith hasn't been informed on all the details of the Ascension. Would she still love the Mayor when he's a great big snake? Also obvious that Faith would like the Scoobies to be hers.
This appears to signal Cordelia's return to the Scooby gang, she's back in research mode and will be a permanent fixture in all future Scooby adventures.
Marks out of 10;
6/10
Last edited:
Are you serious?
I think it's a f*cking awesome episode. 10/10. Dopplegangland on the other hand, doesn't do much for me at all. Guess it's all a matter of opinion.
Let's not forget:
Xander: "I love when you talk, Wesley. I love when you sing, Wesley. Can you say the words jail bait, Wesley? Limey bastard.".
Giles' comments on the apparent dip in the standards of demons are amusing, too. (E.g.: "Demons after money. Whatever happened to the still beating heart of a virgin? No one has any standards anymore".)
Actually, that's not until Choices. As regards the force used; well, she accidentally embeds a pencil in a tree at the start of Doppelgangland, so it appears that she's up to it. Buffy also dusted a vampire using a pencil at the start of Band Candy.
Faith appears to have scrubbed up a bit. Is she aiming to impress someone?
Last edited: