Her dream of having one memory of high school that doesn’t in some way involve Slaying is typically shattered as Buffy finds herself battling the assassins with Cordelia in tow. For, as much as Buffy might have wanted to beat Cordelia as Homecoming Queen, when put to the test she would also give her life to protect Cordelia. Once again, battling evil has the effect of putting life into perspective for Buffy, so when it turns out that neither Buffy nor Cordelia wins, there’s a certain poetic Hellmouth justice.
THE REAL HORROR: Competition. As if adolescence isn’t ego-busting enough, with hormones churning up a smorgasbord of insecurities and angst, the institution of Homecoming Queen merely creates one more opportunity for most high school girls to feel inadequate.
Buffy seems almost insulted that nobody can envision her as Homecoming Queen. If she is good enough to save the world, repeatedly, why isn’t she good enough to wear a tiara? At the same time, though, unlike many teenage girls who are still searching for an identity, Buffy already has been endowed with a sense of self, so in the end, while she would have liked to be queen for just a day, her self-worth will remain intact regardless of the outcome of the voting.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: Chad Stahelski, who played spiny-headed demon Kulak in this episode, was David Boreanaz’s regular stunt double.
While filming this episode, Sarah cracked a bone in her left hand. The bandaged hand is visible in the scene where Buffy is standing in front of the white board in the library.
This episode marks the second appearance of Jeremy Ratchford as Lyle Gorch. He was first seen in “Bad Eggs,” Episode 24, from Season Two.
40. “Band Candy”
(NOVEMBER 10, 1998)
Director: Michael Lange
Teleplay: Jane Espenson
Recurring cast: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers); K. Todd Freeman (Mr. Trick); Robin Sachs (Ethan Rayne); Harry Groener (Mayor Richard Wilkins III); Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder)
Guest cast: Jason Hall (Devon); Peg Stewart (Ms. Barton)
Music: “Blasé” (while talking about the SATs), by Mad Cow, from Eureka; “Tales of Brave Ulysses” (while Joyce and Giles are in his apartment), by Cream, from Very Best of Cream; “Violent” (played by Oz’s band at the Bronze), by Four Star Mary, from Thrown to the Wolves; “Slip Jimmy” (at the Bronze), by Every Bit of Nothing, from Austamosta.
Plot: Something is causing the adults of Sunnydale to regress.
THIS WEEK’S MIND-ALTERING TREAT: Chocolate bars that turn adults into their teenage alter egos as part of Mr. Trick’s plot to feed Lurconis—a sewer-dwelling demon—a sacrifice of human babies.
ANALYSIS: When Buffy suddenly finds herself in the unlikely and uncomfortable role of being one of the most mature people in Sunnydale, the safety net of having someone tell her what to do is suddenly gone. Seeing all her authority figures suddenly acting more like her classmates, is initially disorienting. However, seeing her mother and Giles—who is in full Ripper mode—in a hormone-driven clinch is downright disturbing and makes Buffy even more determined to return things back to normal. When she discovers Ethan Rayne is behind the spiked candy bars, she takes her frustration out on him, in part because he deserves it and in part because she’s still appalled at the unseemly sight of adults acting like such juveniles.
Not having Giles to spearhead the research, Buffy has to wear both Watcher and Slayer hats. In a telling display of her growing maturity, although she’s not happy about having to do it, Buffy ably takes command, directing Willow and the others to their tasks, all while keeping her mother and Giles at arm’s length.
THE REAL HORROR: Realizing your parents are just grown-up teenagers. Although it’s a teenagers rite of passage to rebel against authority on the way to becoming an adult, there’s a certain security in having parents to fall back on. But parents have another side of their lives that children either don’t see or choose not to think about. Seeing her mother and Giles behaving impulsively, not to mention sexually, was a rude reminder to Buffy that fun and desire isn’t exclusive property of the young.
IT’S A MYSTERY: How does Buffy know who Mr. Trick is?
OF SPECIAL NOTE: Angel is seen practicing T’ai Chi Ch’uan, an ancient Chinese martial art.
Lurconis, the name of This Week’s Demon, means “glutton.”
41. “Revelations”
(NOVEMBER 17, 1998)
Director: James A. Contner
Teleplay: Douglas Petrie
Recurring cast: Eliza Dushku (Faith)
Guest cast: Serena Scott Thomas (Gwendolyn Post); Jason Hall (Devon); Kate Rodger (Paramedic)
Music: “Run” (performed by Oz’s band), by Four Star Mary, from Thrown to the Wolves; “West of Here” (at the Bronze), by Lotion, from The Telephone Album; “Silver Dollar” (at end of the episode), by Man of the Year, from The Future Is Not Now
Plot: Buffy faces the consequences of hiding Angel. Faith’s new Watcher has a secret past.
THIS WEEK’S WATCHER-GONE-BAD: Power-mad Gwendolyn Post hopes to take over the world by finding the Glove of Mynhegon.
ANALYSIS: While the mind might say one thing, frequently the heart says another. As Angel recuperates from his torturous time in Hell, Buffy realizes that her feelings for him are as powerful as ever. She has backed herself into a corner by keeping his return a secret from the others for so long, and knows the longer she goes without being honest, the worse the repercussions will be. But she puts off the inevitable, afraid what the outcome will be. However, Buffy’s not the only one harboring a secret. Both Willow and Xander are guilt-ridden over a number of shared passionate kisses, which they can’t seem to control even though both are involved with others.
Buffy’s obvious distraction is chalked up to Slayer moodiness, which isn’t helped by the arrival of Faith’s new Watcher, the incredibly prim and proper Gwen Post. When Xander stumbles across Buffy and Angel sharing a kiss, the secret is out and Buffy must face the gang’s anger and sense of betrayal. But the confrontation makes her belief in Angel even more resolute, and in the end, he proves himself to be the Angel of old by protecting Willow from Gwen Post after she dons the Glove of Mynhegon.
Buffy is more worried about Faith than herself. After seeing her first Watcher killed by a vamp and now discovering Gwen Post was excommunicated from the Watchers’ Council for being partial to evil magic, Faith seems disillusioned and angry and responds by pushing others away and building up a wall that buries her emotions ever deeper. Faith feels that it’s her against the world, and it’s clear the chip on her shoulder will soon propel her over the edge.
THE REAL HORROR: Disillusionment. Being disappointed by those we either care about or want to look up to is painful, and Giles especially feels the hurt of Buffy not being honest about Angel’s return. Even though intellectually Giles knows Angel was a different being without his soul, he can’t forget that Jenny was taken from him.
Although Faith had no real emotional connection to Gwen Post, she felt played for a fool by the ex-Watcher, which stirred up her deep-seated feelings of inadequacy. For all her bravado, Faith yearns for acceptance and approval and when she doesn’t get it, it reinforces her justification of blaming the world. Her resentment of Buffy is beginning to show. Even when Buffy screws up, she’s still respected and looked up to. Faith feels she’s not getting similar respect or benefit of the doubt, and that resentment will prompt Faith to become even more reckless.
BLOOPERS: During the scene where Buffy says, “Faith, we can work this out,” a boom mic can be seen above Gellar.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: It’s revealed that Sunnydale has twelve cemeteries.
Guest star Serena Scott Thomas is the sister of Kristin Scott Thomas, best known for her Academy Award–nominated role in The English Patient.
42. “Lovers’ Walk”
(NOVEMBER 24, 1998)
Director: David Semel
Teleplay: Dan Vebber
Recurring cast: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers); Harry Groener (Mayor Richard Wil
kins III); James Marsters (Spike)
Guest cast: Jack Plotnick (deputy mayor); Marc Burnham (Lenny); Suzanne Krull (clerk)
Music: “My Way,” performed by Gary Oldman, from the Sid and Nancy soundtrack
Plot: Distraught over being dumped by Drusilla, Spike returns to Sunnydale with a plan to win back his lady vamp’s love, while Willow and Xander pay the price for their lack of control.
THIS WEEK’S UNDOING: Love.
REINTRODUCING: Spike, Sunnydale’s newest resident vamp.
ANALYSIS: For the Slayer, life tends to be lived very much in the moment because the threat of death is so ever-present. But after Buffy scores unexpectedly high on her SAT, the possibility of having a future beyond Sunnydale and the Hellmouth leaves her a bit unsettled. While fighting evil has its own terrors, they are familiar fears. An unknown future away from her identity as Slayer is emotionally scarier than facing vampires.
Her reluctance to leave home is complicated. In part, being the Slayer so informs her identity, that giving it up and handing the job over to Faith would feel like losing a part of herself. Nor does she want to leave Angel behind, now she’s gotten him back. She’s so conflicted that when she hears others encouraging her to leave, it almost feels like rejection.
Buffy’s not the only one at a crossroads. Spike feels directionless since being dumped and decides to have Willow use a love spell to get Dru back. Willow and Xander are trying to ignore their attraction to each other but the danger of it seems to act as an aphrodisiac. Nobody seems comfortable with their life, nor do they seem sure of where they are going. Ironically, the two who seem most confident that all is well with their worlds, Oz and Cordelia, will be the ones whose lives will be most turned upside down by Xander and Willow’s indiscretions.
In the end, nobody has what or who they want—some by choice, some by fate, and some by the consequence of their own actions.
THE REAL HORROR: Betrayal. The symbolism of Cordelia being impaled after walking in on Xander and Willow says it all—such a breach of trust is like a knife through the heart. And while some might eventually be able to forgive, it’s a wound that never fully heals.
LITERARY ALLUSION: The book Angel is reading, La Nausée (Nausea), was published in 1938, the first novel by noted French writer and existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: According to the WELCOME TO SUNNYDALE sign demolished by Spike’s car, the population of Sunnydale is 38,500, which is roughly the size of Palm Springs, California.
Drusilla was supposed to appear in this episode but she had to be written out because of Juliet Landau’s schedule conflicts.
43. “The Wish”
(DECEMBER 8, 1998)
Director: David Greenwalt
Teleplay: Marti Noxon
Recurring cast: Mark Metcalf (the Master); Emma Caulfield (Anya/Anyanka); Mercedes McNab (Harmony); Danny Strong (Jonathan)
Guest cast: Larry Bagby III (Larry); Nicole Bilderback (Cordette #1); Nathan Anderson (John Lee); Mariah O’Brien (Nancy); Gary Imhoff (teacher); Robert Covarrubias (caretaker)
Music: “Tired of Being Alone” (in Bronze), by the Spies, from Toy Surprise Inside; “Dedicated to Pain” (when Willow and Xander visit the Master), by Plastic; “Slayer’s Elegy” (during slow motion sequence), by Christophe Beck with Bobbi Page; “Never Noticed” (end of episode), by Gingersol, from Extended Play.
Plot: A demon grants Cordelia’s wish that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, resulting in an alternative world in which vampires rule.
THIS WEEK’S DEMON: Anyanka, the vengeance demon.
INTRODUCING: Willow and Xander as vampires; and Anya, who in human form will become a regular character.
ANALYSIS: At some point everyone wonders, “What if?” How different would one’s life be different if one particular incident had not happened? When living on a Hellmouth, the answer to such musings can be dangerous.
Psychologists tell us we are a product of our genes, our hormones, and our environment. But while we are influenced by external factors, we possess a certain core personality. Thrust Buffy into the hard streets of Cleveland and the sunny, California aspect of the Slayer we know might be replaced by an urban edge, but her basic character traits, such as responsibility to duty, would remain.
Likewise, in the alternative universe Cordelia wishes for, everyone is different, but at the same time hauntingly familiar. Giles still relies on intellect and Oz offers quiet support, but their lives are consumed by trying to simply survive every night after sundown.
The episode also touches upon the question of fate. Since Buffy never came to Sunnydale, the Master has risen and made Hell on Earth. But just as Giles destroys Anyanka’s necklace and returns reality, the Master breaks Buffy’s neck. Regardless of the alternative universe in which they reside, Buffy appears destined to die at the hands of the Master. However, there’s no CPR that will cure a broken neck.
The most significant difference is that Willow and Xander have become vampires and Giles was never her Watcher, leaving Buffy more vulnerable than we’ve ever known her. It reinforces the fact that beyond her own growing abilities, what makes Buffy such a formidable Slayer is her support group. In this reality, without them to give her emotional strength and practical help, death seems more inevitable for Buffy.
THE REAL HORROR: Getting what you wish for. Like many people who are in emotional pain, Cordelia looks for somebody to blame. She not only lashes out at Xander, the appropriate target, but at Buffy. The way Cordelia sees it, had Buffy never moved to Sunnydale, Cordelia never would have been drawn into the Scooby Gang, never would have had reason to get to know Xander, and therefore never would have had her heart broken.
But while this particular hurt may never have happened, Cordelia fails to think through what events might take its place. This episode takes the common human tendency of fervently wishing for something only to have it fail to meet expectations, to its most horrific level.
LITERARY ALLUSION: When Anya comments, “I had no idea her wish would be so exciting. Brave new world,” she’s referring to the classic novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Set in the twenty-sixth century, the book describes a man-made utopia that isn’t as wonderful as it appears at first glance. The origin of the phrase “brave new world,” however, comes from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, when the character Miranda says:
“O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t!”
OF SPECIAL NOTE: Nicole Bilderback, who guest-stars as Cordette #1, appeared with Seth Green in the 1998 movie Can’t Hardly Wait.
44. “Amends”
(DECEMBER 15, 1998)
Director: Joss Whedon
Teleplay: Joss Whedon
Recurring cast: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers); Robia La Morte (Jenny Calendar); Saverio Guerra (Willy); Eliza Dushku (Faith)
Guest cast: Shane Barach (Daniel); Edward Edwards (male ghost); Cornelia Hayes O’Herlihy (Margaret); Mark Kriski (weatherman); Tom Michael Bailey (tree seller)
Music: “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe” (when Willow tries to seduce Oz), by Barry White, from All Time Greatest Hits
Plot: Haunted by the evil deeds of his past, Angel decides the only way to end his pain is through suicide, Christmas notwithstanding.
THIS WEEK’S APPARITION: The essence of absolute evil known as “the First,” which is summoned by eyeless priests called the Bringers, or Harbingers, and takes the form of Jenny Calendar.
ANALYSIS: While typically broody about his past evil deeds, Angel’s angst is ratcheted up even more than usual in this episode, to the point of emotional implosion. He’s so pathetic than even Giles feels compassion for him and agrees to help Buffy try to figure out what is driving him to the brink of madness. Instead of seeing his return to earth as a second chance, to Angel, he’s still in Hell.
The theme of second chances runs
through the episode, with Oz forgiving Willow for her indiscretion with Xander because the alternative, of not having her in his life, is unacceptable. It’s equally unacceptable for Buffy to allow Angel to end his life. Tormented by the First, in the guise of Jenny Calendar, Angel is so vulnerable, disjointed, and haunted by the people he has killed, he believes it when the First says the only way to keep Buffy safe from himself is to die. But a miracle snowfall that blocks the sun keeps him from turning into a pile of smoldering ashes, proves that Angel’s second chance on Earth was not by accident, and that redemption is possible through acts of love.
THE REAL HORROR: Remorse—wishing we could undo the past is something everyone can relate to. Self-loathing often goes hand in hand with remorse, and Angel’s got it in spades in this episode. He doesn’t feel worthy of redemption until he gets a message from the heavens, literally, that if life is so precious he mourns those lives he took, then the only way to redeem himself is to keep living and try to put good back into the world.
IT’S A MYSTERY: Although a major plot point was that Sunnydale was experiencing a heat wave, most of the people were dressed for much cooler weather.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: The weatherman seen in the episode, Mark Kriski, is the real-life morning news weatherman for Los Angeles WB affiliate KTLA.
While thrilled to reprise the role of Jenny, Robia La Morte was reportedly disappointed that the character was an evil spirit.
45. “Gingerbread”
(JANUARY 12, 1999)
Director: James Whitmore Jr.
Teleplay: Jane Espenson
Recurring cast: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers); Harry Groener (Mayor Richard Wilkins III); Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder); Elizabeth Anne Allen (Amy Madison); Jordan Baker (Sheila Rosenberg)
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