The Girl's Got Bite: The Original Unauthorized Guide to Buffy's World

by Kathleen Tracy

  56. “Graduation Day (Part II)”

  (JULY 13, 1999)

  Director: Joss Whedon

  Teleplay: Joss Whedon

  Recurring cast: Eliza Dushku (Faith); Harry Groener (Mayor Richard Wilkins III); Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce); Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder); Danny Strong (Jonathan); Mercedes McNab (Harmony)

  Guest cast: Larry Bagby III (Larry); Ethan Erickson (Percy); Paulo Andres (Dr. Powell); Susan Chuang (nurse); Tom Bellin (Dr. Gold); Samuel Bliss Cooper (vamp Lakey)

  Plot: After saving Angel’s life, Buffy devises an unconventional plan to defeat the mayor.

  THIS WEEK’S TRANSFORMATION: The Ascended mayor as a giant—and very hungry—serpent.

  ANALYSIS: High school is an evil that one must vanquish on the way to adulthood. This premise is presented with an exclamation point in this episode. Because it so envelops us during perhaps the most socially formative years of our lives, and because high school is such a self-contained experience and environment, the idea of life beyond those academic walls sometimes seems as if it will always remain out of reach. In the case of Buffy and her friends, just making it to see tomorrow seems iffy as they prepare for the mayor’s Ascension.

  Although Buffy is numbed by the prospect of Angel leaving, watching him die is simply out of the question. The depth of her commitment to and love for Angel leaves no other option but to offer her own blood to save him, trusting him to stop in time to keep her from dying. He does, and now—even if their lives will be spent apart—they are bound by ties that transcend any force of nature.

  For the past three years Buffy has been diligently, if sometimes crankily, saving as many of her classmates as possible from the variety of horrors thrown their way by the Hellmouth. Now, in order to fight the mayor, Buffy has to ask their help in return, and all give it willingly. Better to die on the offensive than wait to be a demon snack. And Faith reveals the key to defeating the mayor to Buffy—when they invade each other’s dreams—an ironic twist indicating it is possible that Faith isn’t beyond redemption just yet.

  Another clever irony is that, while love and loyalty prove to be the mayor’s weakness (after Buffy shows the transformed Wilkins the knife she stabbed Faith with, he follows her into the booby-trapped library), those same traits are also the greatest source of human strength.

  THE REAL HORROR: Saying goodbye. They say the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. As they walk away from high school to face a an uncertain future, Buffy and her friends are also saying goodbye to their childhoods. While they have gained wisdom and strength, they have also lost their innocence—in more ways than one. While their optimism remains, it is tempered by the knowledge that, as young adults, we are not in control of our destiny as much as we once thought we were.

  As the smoke clears, Buffy is still numb, and has yet to absorb all that has happened. But cutting through the haze is her last vision of Angel, staring silently through the haze, his silence a deafening profession of undying love. While she survives the day, a part of her heart dies as he turns and walks out of her life.

  IT’S A MYSTERY: What exactly “counting down from seven-three-oh” means. The same phrase is referred to in Season Four, in “Restless” (Episode 78). Some fans have suggested it pertains to the fact that in two years (730 days), Buffy will die in the “The Gift” (Episode 100).

  BLOOPERS: When Angel is talking on the pay phone, you can see the reflection of his fingers in the phone handle, and, later, when he grabs the mayor in the hospital, Angel’s reflection is seen briefly in the glass of the room’s door.

  OF SPECIAL NOTE: Not only was the broadcast of this episode delayed out of deference to the Columbine shooting, but the ending was rewritten. Originally, as they walk away at the end, Xander had lines expressing the thrill of having blown up the school. Those were cut out and the episode ends in a much more thoughtful note.

  SEASON FOUR

  Fourth-year overview: Just when Buffy was getting the hang of high school, she now finds herself having to start school over again. While Willow and Oz easily adapt to the transition to college, Buffy feels disjointed and out of place. Xander also has to adjust to being odd man out, since his school days are officially over and he faces uncertain job prospects. The one constant is the Hellmouth, but this year Buffy will learn that even people with the best of intentions can unwittingly release evil on the world.

  SEASON FOUR REGULAR CAST

  Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers)

  Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris)

  Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg)

  Seth Green (Oz)

  James Marsters (Spike)

  Marc Blucas (Riley Finn)

  Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles)

  57. “The Freshman”

  (OCTOBER 5, 1999)

  Director: Joss Whedon

  Teleplay: Joss Whedon

  Recurring cast: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers); Marc Blucas (Riley Finn); Phina Oruche (Olivia); Lindsay Crouse (Professor Maggie Walsh)

  Guest cast: Dagney Kerr (Kathy Newman); Pedro Balmaceda (Eddie); Katharine Towne (Sunday); Mike Rad (rookie); Shannon Hillary (Dav); Mace Lombard (Tom); Robert Catrini (Professor Riegert); Scott Rinker (R.A.); Denice J. Sealy (student volunteer); Evie Peck (angry girl); Jason Christopher (guy); Jane Silvia (conservative woman); Mark Silverberg (passing student); Walt Borchert (new vampire)

  Music: “Universe” (as Buffy walks on campus), by Stretch Princess, from Stretch Princess; “Freaky Soul” (as Buffy walks into the dorm), by Paul Riordan, from Alternative Volume 1; “I Wish that I Could Be You” (as vamps talk), by the Muffs, from Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow; “Memory of a Free Festival” (as Buffy walks into Giles’s apartment), by David Bowie, from Space Oddity; “You and Me” (at the Bronze), by Splendid, from Have You Got a Name

  Plot: Buffy is overwhelmed by the adjustment to college life, and it begins to affect her self-confidence—and her Slayer duties.

  THIS WEEK’S BIG BAD ON CAMPUS: A vampire named Sunday, who preys on college kids.

  INTRODUCING: An unemployed Giles and his new girlfriend, Olivia; Buffy’s dorm roommate, Kathy; psychology professor Walsh; Riley Finn, Walsh’s teacher’s aide.

  ANALYSIS: Buffy is lost, literally and figuratively. Instead of being an exciting adventure, her first day on campus feels like a test that she’s failing miserably. All around her are enthusiastic faces, including Willow’s, but Buffy feels overwhelmed and out of place.

  Typically, the one potential new friend she meets, disappears under mysterious circumstances. Making her feel even more adrift is Giles’s apparent emotional distance and his disinterest in the turn of events. Part of the reason is that he has company from England—a new squeeze named Olivia—and then there’s the fact that Giles has been unemployed since they blew up the school in order to kill the mayor.

  Buffy’s encounter with a street-tough vamp named Sunday—who goes after kids who aren’t adapting well to college life, leaving fake suicide notes and stealing all their belongings—goes badly, leaving Buffy humiliated on top of everything else. Sunday’s m.o. strikes a nerve in Buffy because, of course, she’s not adapting quickly to college.

  Xander’s pep talk reminds Buffy that she’s not as alone as her self-pity was making her feel and it’s a reinvigorated Slayer who goes out to dust some vampire butt. When Giles runs in—albeit after the fight is over—guilt-ridden over not having paid more attention to Buffy, it emphasizes that the ties binding Buffy and her friends remain strong regardless of what environment they find themselves in.

  THE REAL HORROR: Change. For all her complaints about high school, at least it was familiar and offered a sense of structure for Buffy. Back when she first came to Sunnydale, Buffy was more outgoing and, in fact, established the foundation for her friendship with Willow and Xander the first day of school. It wasn’t until she started Slaying that she felt like an outcast. Walking around the large campus, unsure where to go, and feeling like a j
erk for not enjoying the college experience as much as she thinks she’s supposed to, Buffy seems dwarfed.

  IT’S A MYSTERY: How were Sunday and her minions able to enter Buffy’s dorm room uninvited? Are we to assume that Kathy invited them and didn’t intervene when they stripped Buffy’s side of the room bare?

  BLOOPERS: When the vamps clean out Eddie’s room, you can see a couple of them in the mirror above the sink.

  OF SPECIAL NOTE: The “University of Sunnydale” is actually UCLA.

  Katharine Towne, who plays Sunday, previously worked with Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 1999 movie She’s All That.

  58. “Living Conditions”

  (OCTOBER 12, 1999)

  Director: David Grossman

  Teleplay: Marti Noxon

  Guest cast: Dagney Kerr (Kathy Newman); Adam Kaufman (Parker Abrams); Paige Moss (Veruca); Clayton Barber (demon #1); Walt Borchert (demon #2); Roger Morrissey (Tapparich); David Tuckman (freshman)

  Music: “Believe” (played several times by Buffy’s roommate Kathy), by Cher, from Believe; “Pain” (as Willows hangs a poster of Oz’s band), by Four Star Mary

  Plot: Nobody believes Buffy when she says there’s something very wrong with her roommate.

  THIS WEEK’S DEMON TRANSFER STUDENT: Kathy, a Mok’tagar demon disguised as a college student, who tries to rob Buffy of her soul to prevent her family from finding her and taking her back to the demon dimension.

  INTRODUCING: Parker Abrams; Veruca.

  ANALYSIS: While some college students become great friends with their dorm roommates, just as many find themselves suffering through a year of incompatibility. From the moment Buffy set eyes on Kathy, her Slayer instincts kicked up a notch—and it wasn’t just Kathy’s preference for Celine Dion.

  Back at Sunnydale High, Giles and the others probably would have paid more attention to Buffy and taken her concerns more seriously. But because of Buffy’s obvious difficulties adapting to college, everyone assumes she’s just being oversensitive. Even after Buffy complains of nightmares in which a demon is sucking out her soul, the others refuse to point the finger at Kathy. And when Buffy’s demeanor takes a War of the Roses–type turn toward her roomie, the others worry that Buffy may be dangerously close to the edge. While it’s true that the whole college experience is threatening to suck the life out of Buffy, she knows the difference and is frustrated that the others doubt her.

  After Kathy reveals her true demon self, the sense of vindication Buffy feels in discovering she’s been right all along seems to give Buffy a new sense of purpose and a boost of confidence, evaporating much of her recent broodiness.

  THE REAL HORROR: Feeling like Cassandra, the woman in Greek mythology who was given the gift of prophecy, along with the curse that nobody believed what she predicted. Instead of accepting Buffy’s observation that Kathy must be a demon, Willow and the others assume Buffy is buckling under the pressure of college. Although they all apologize later, if one of Kathy’s fellow demons had not appeared to drag Kathy back to the other dimension when he did, Buffy may have paid for Willow and friends’ disbelief with her life.

  BLOOPERS: When Giles and Buffy are talking, his towel moves around from one shot to the next.

  When they get up to tighten the ropes holding her, Oz is on Xander’s right. After Buffy knocks them out, the shot of them on the floor has Oz on Xander’s left.

  OF SPECIAL NOTE: Clayton Barber, who played demon #1, had previously worked as Angel’s stunt double.

  59. “The Harsh Light of Day”

  (OCTOBER 19, 1999)

  Director: James A. Contner

  Teleplay: Jane Espenson

  Recurring cast: Emma Caulfield (Anya); Mercedes McNab (Harmony); Adam Kaufman (Parker)

  Guest cast: Jason Hall (Devon); Melik (Brian)

  Music: “Dilate” (performed by Oz’s band), by Four Star Mary, from Thrown to the Wolves; “Take Me Down,” by Psychic Rain, from Spun Out; “Moment of Weakness” (at fraternity party), by Bif Naked from I, Bifcus; “Faith in Love” (as Harmony seduces Spike), by Devil Doll, from Queen of Pain; “Anything,” by Bif Naked, from I Bificus; “Lucky” (as Buffy and Parker dance), by Bif Naked, from I Bificus; “It’s Over, It’s Under” (as Buffy looks for Harmony), by Dollshead, from Frozen Charlotte

  Plot: Spike returns to Sunnydale with a new girlfriend, while Buffy looks for a new romance.

  THIS WEEK’S VAMPIRE ACCESSORY: The Gem of Amara, which makes the wearer invincible.

  INTRODUCING: Harmony as vampire vamp.

  ANALYSIS: Angel has been gone long enough that Buffy is ready to try and get on with her life. So when the handsome Parker shows interest in her, Buffy responds—spurred on by Willow, who wants Buffy to be as happy romantically as Willow is with Oz. Meanwhile, Spike is back and, in his effort to get over Drusilla, has hooked up with Harmony, who was turned into a vamp during the melee following the mayor’s Ascension. Although there is vigorous sexual heat between the two, it’s obvious Spike isn’t in love with Harmony, but is just using her to fill the void of being alone.

  Unfortunately for Buffy, Parker isn’t all that different from Spike. Once they finally have sex, Parker’s interest in her dims. Buffy is shell-shocked. She had been the sole object of Angel’s love and desire, so to find herself in a position of blatant rejection is new. But instead of feeling angry and telling Parker off, Buffy is engulfed with desperation and wants to get him back.

  Also, Anya is trying to sort out her feelings for Xander. Her plan to get over him by having sex backfired, making her want him all the more. Although Xander is beginning to have feelings for Anya, he’s hesitant about voicing them; but whether it’s because of her past as a man-hating demon, or because the prospect of a serious relationship is a bit scary, is up for debate.

  Buffy’s distraction over Parker is almost fatal when she’s blindsided by Spike, who’s able to survive in sunlight thanks to the ring he’s wearing. But, to Spike’s utter frustration, Buffy proves she can still get the best of him and he narrowly avoids going up in a puff of smoke after she wrests the ring off his finger. Her decision to give the ring to Angel speaks not only of her desire for Angel to live a more normal life, but is a reflection of her new appreciation for just how special he and his love for her are. It’s going to be tough for Buffy to find something that can ever come close to it.

  THE REAL HORROR: Being used. The reason Buffy still wants Parker after he uses her for sex is that she doesn’t want to feel discarded. If they continue to go out, in her mind it means their sexual encounter—and, by extension, Buffy herself—was as special to him as it had been for her. Buffy learns the sad lesson that just because she might fall for a mortal man, doesn’t mean the road to romance will be any easier.

  BLOOPERS: After Spike takes the necklace off, it reappears in the next shot.

  OF SPECIAL NOTE: James Marsters was not listed in the opening credits when the episode first aired so as not to ruin the surprise of Spike being back. In reruns, his name is listed.

  Originally this episode aired as part one of a Buffy/Angel crossover.

  60. “Fear Itself”

  (OCTOBER 26, 1999)

  Director: Tucker Gates

  Teleplay: David Fury

  Recurring cast: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce); Marc Blucas (Riley Finn); Emma Caulfield (Anya); Adam Kaufman (Parker); Lindsay Crouse (Professor Maggie Walsh)

  Guest cast: Marc Rose (Josh); Sulo Williams (Chaz); Aldis Hodge (masked teen); Walter Emanuel Jones (Edward); Adam Bitterman (Gachnar); Michele Nordin (Rachel); Adam Grimes (lobster boy); Darris Love (hallmate); Larissa Reynolds (present girl)

  Music: “Kool” (during party setup), by 28 Days, from Kid Indestructible; “Ow Ow Ow” (as party starts), by Third Grade Teacher, from Greatest Hits Volume 1; “Pretty Please” (as the group approaches the fraternity house), by Verbena, from Into the Pink

  Plot: A Halloween frat party turns into a real haunted house.

  THIS WEEK’S HALLOWEEN HORROR: Gachnar, a demo
n that feeds off people’s fears.

  INTRODUCING: Anya’s fear of bunnies.

  ANALYSIS: Parker’s rejection still has Buffy depressed and withdrawn. Her emotional preoccupation with Parker is interfering with her Slaying. This is emphasized when she mistakes a student in a costume for a real demon. She’s so wrapped up in her own angst that she doesn’t notice that Xander is also fighting feelings of rejection, by Buffy and Willow, after they initially neglect to include him in a Halloween party thrown by a UC Sunnydale frat house. Anya doesn’t help matters any by bluntly pointing out that Xander has nothing in common with the others—and on the surface, she is correct. But Anya, the still-developing human, fails to understand that people don’t have to live the same lives to be friends; that friendship is based on kindred spirits caring and showing concern for each other.

  Once they enter the frat house for the Halloween party, it’s soon apparent the Hellmouth is at it again, as everyone’s fears are coming true. Xander becomes invisible and Buffy gets angry because now she thinks Xander has bailed on her, too—just as dead bodies begin rising out of the ground to attack her. Oz’s fear of losing control is made manifest when he starts to transform into a werewolf. And Willow’s worry that she’ll never be a good Wicca results in a spell backfiring—again. Eventually Buffy and the others overcome their fears and together they confront the demon controlling the frat house. In a clever twist, the demon itself turns out to be just a few inches tall. The only real power he had was the power given to him by people giving in to their fears. It’s only by confronting fears that they can be overcome.

  THE REAL HORROR: Feeling abandoned. Every time Buffy opens her heart to someone, they seem to leave. Parker’s rejection opened old wounds for Buffy, who has never truly gotten over feeling abandoned by her dad after the divorce. Buffy is learning the hard way that the only way to find love is to open your heart—but by doing so, you also open yourself to hurt.

  BLOOPERS: When Willow is checking Buffy’s wound, the position of her left braid changes from one shot to the next.