Guest cast: Chet Grissom (detective); Alastair Duncan (Collins); Rick Stear (Booke); Jeff Ricketts (Weatherby), Kevin Owers (Smith); Amy Powell (reporter); Rick Scarry (sergeant); Jennifer S. Albright (date)
Music: “Vivian” (at the Bronze), by Nerf Herder, from How to Meet Girls; “Watching Me Fall” (in the Bronze as Spike and Buffy spar), by The Cure, from Bloodflowers; “Sweet Charlotte Rose” (at the Bronze during Willow and Tara’s visit), by Headland, from Headland 2
Plot: After taking over her body, Faith prepares to take over Buffy’s life. Adam goes on the offensive.
THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE: Buffy has to convince people it’s really her inside Faith’s body, appearances notwithstanding!
ANALYSIS: From the beginning it has been known that Faith is a troubled young woman, but now she’s clearly unstable. As she takes over Buffy’s life, including her friends, her family, and her lover. Faith begins to believe she actually is Buffy, like someone suffering from multiple-personality disorder.
Buffy, on the other hand, is trying to keep her wits about her, knowing she’s in danger of being locked away for the rest of her life. She must escape from the Council’s men who want to take her back to London—in Faith’s body, of course—and figure out a way to reverse the spell. The problem, of course, is that nobody believes a word she’s saying.
But while Faith might have switched their bodies, she wasn’t able to switch their respective souls—which, as the episode makes clear, is our true essence regardless of our appearance. It’s Tara who recognizes this, and she helps Willow perform a spell to reveal what has happened and comes up with an antidote that will give Buffy back her rightful body. As Tara and Willow perform the magic together, their body language indicates their intimacy now extends beyond mere friendship. When, later, they walk into the Bronze, they are holding hands.
When Buffy is finally restored, and she learns how much of her life Faith experienced, she feels violated and a little disappointed that even in an intimate moment Riley couldn’t tell something wasn’t right. And although she never says it, you can’t help suspecting that Buffy’s head is telling her that Angel would have noticed.
THE REAL HORROR: Self-loathing. Faith freaks out when Riley tells her—as Buffy—that he loves her. And, when Faith-as-Buffy wails on Buffy-as-Faith, the depth of Faith’s self-loathing is made uncomfortably clear. She tries to literally become someone else by switching bodies, but once she regains her true form, Faith is left alone with herself, which is more frightening than any creature she ever faced as a Slayer.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: The opening credits list Eliza Dushku as Buffy.
73. “Superstar”
(APRIL 4, 2000)
Director: David Grossman
Teleplay: Jane Espenson
Recurring cast: Danny Strong (Jonathan Levinson); Amber Benson (Tara); Bailey Chase (Graham Miller); George Hertzberg (Adam); Emma Caulfield (Anya)
Guest cast: Erica Lutrell (Karen); Robert Patrick Benedict (Adam’s follower); John Saint Ryan (Colonel George Haviland); Adam Clark (cop); Chanie Costello (Inga); Julie Costello (Ilsa)
Music: “Trapped” (played by onstage band at the Bronze), by Royal Crown Revue, from Walk on Fire; “Serenade in Blue” (song Jonathan sings), by Royal Crown Revue
Plot: A lonely outcast turns into the world’s most famous man.
THIS WEEK’S TRICKERY: One of Buffy’s former high school classmates, Jonathan, casts a spell turning him into everyone’s ideal. The only drawback is, the spell also creates a monster that is everyone’s nightmare, to balance things out.
INTRODUCING: Colonel Haviland, the new leader of the Initiative.
ANALYSIS: This episode explores how easy it is to manipulate people, especially when they’re willing. Logic would dictate that nobody could have accomplished as much as Jonathan claims to have done at his relatively tender age. Only Buffy begins to question just how perfect Jonathan is.
Even though Buffy still possesses all her powers, she is hesitant and uncertain. In the Jonathancentric universe, her leadership is unwanted by those around her, proving that ability is only one aspect of success; people also need encouragement to achieve their full potential. But even while under a spell, Buffy’s Slayer instincts struggle to the surface and she doggedly questions whether Jonathan really is what he says he is. Ironically, the only person who even considers she might be right is Riley, the person who has known her the least amount of time.
Jonathan uses his status mostly for good, which is why he ultimately helps Buffy kill the monster, which breaks the spell, rather than allowing her to be injured or killed by it. Jonathan just wanted to leave his mark on the world and, unable to do it on his own, resorted to sorcery—not too dissimilar from what Willow did when trying to mend her broken heart. Both Jonathan and Willow underestimate the potential consequences of such power, which will one day change both their lives.
THE REAL HORROR: Going through life unnoticed. In high school Jonathan contemplated suicide because he felt like an outcast and found it too difficult to struggle to be accepted. Although he’s now a young adult, emotionally Jonathan is still that lonely teenager who fantasizes about what it would be like to have friends, adventure, and plenty of sex. But he’s willing to obtain his ideal life through mere trickery instead of working to cultivate real relationships. His preference for taking the easy way will be reinforced in later episodes.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: Jonathan’s last name, Levinson. Though the Sunnydale High yearbook stated this, it’s the first time it’s been mentioned on the show.
MUSICAL NOTE: The vocals for the song sung by Jonathan at the Bronze were performed by Brad Kane, who played Tucker, the hellhound breeder, in Episode 54, “The Prom.” Kane also provided the singing voice for Aladdin in all of the Aladdin movies.
74. “Where the Wild Things Are”
(APRIL 25, 2000)
Director: David Solomon
Teleplay: Tracey Forbes
Recurring cast: Amber Benson (Tara); Leonard Roberts (Forrest Gates); Bailey Chase (Graham Miller); Emma Caulfield (Anya)
Guest cast: Casey McCarthy (Julie); Kathryn Joosten (Mrs. Holt); Neil Daly (Mason); Jeff Wilson (Evan); Bryan Cuprill (Roy); Jeffrey Sharmay (drowning boy); Jeri Austin (running girl); Danielle Pessis (Christie); David Engler (Initiative guy); James Michael Conner (scientist)
Music: “Behind Blue Eyes” (at coffee house), sung by Anthony Stewart Head; “The Devil You know (God Is a Man)” (during party), by Face to Face, from Ignorance is Bliss
Plot: Buffy and Riley’s sexual passion unleashes deadly poltergeists.
THIS WEEK’S DEADLY DISRUPTIONS: Poltergeists. The pent-up emotions of dead abused and sexually repressed children draw energy from Buffy and Riley’s marathon lovemaking, slowly draining the life out of the passionate couple.
INTRODUCING: Safe sex. Although the use of birth control has been mentioned before, this is the first episode where we actually see condoms.
ANALYSIS: This somewhat graphic episode focuses on abuse and sexual repression. At first all Buffy and Riley know is that they are at that exciting point of a new relationship where physical passion is like an intense hunger. For Buffy, it’s a chance to explore her sexuality freely, without worrying she will turn her partner into a murderous demon. And Riley’s obvious love for her also gives her the emotional security to be uninhibited.
For Anya, sex isn’t an expression or outgrowth of love, it is love. So when she and Xander skip lovemaking for a night, she assumes he doesn’t love her anymore. Still new to this “human emotion” thing, she responds by immediately wanting to exact vengeance for her feelings of hurt and confusion. She finds a kindred spirit in Spike, who longs for the days when he had the power to cause damage. But Spike is a survivor and he is adapting to his new circumstances the best way he can—including going to a party thrown by Riley at Lowell House. If you can’t bite ’em, you might as well drink their beer.
Willow and Tara’s passion is more muted, in part
because Willow hasn’t revealed the nature of their relationship to anyone yet, but it is obvious they are intimately involved. So when Tara pulls back from Willow’s touch during the party, it hurts and confuses Willow, who is still getting used to this new side of her sexuality.
Since Giles’s midlife crisis, which ended with him being turned into a demon, he seems to have made an effort to get a life that includes other adults—and activities not dictated by the Hellmouth. While Buffy and her friends were in high school, Giles was primarily a “grown-up” authority figure. But now that Buffy and the others are on the cusp of being adults themselves, they start to see him in a different light. Although the females of the group seem to like it, Xander is unnerved by Giles as potential girl-magnet because up to now, he never thought of him as testosterone competition.
The episode also offers a glimpse at the fine line between passion and lust. While the former can inspire us, the latter can consume us. What started as a passionate encounter between Buffy and Riley is mutated by the supernatural forces in the house. Had not Xander and Anya broken the spell by hacking through the magically vine-covered door, Buffy and Riley’s lust literally would have been the death of them.
THE REAL HORROR: Repressed anger—although it’s never a pleasant experience, it’s much healthier to express anger than to bottle it up inside. Spoken anger loses much of its power, but repressed anger gains in intensity until it can turn into an uncontrollable rage. The children abused by the former director of the orphanage that was previously located in Lowell House, Mrs. Holt, had been forced to repress not only their anger over being abused but their sexuality, too. Those pent-up emotions form the poltergeist that almost proves fatal to Buffy and Riley.
BLOOPERS: When Spike decides against entering Lowell House to save Buffy and Riley, his reflection can be seen both in the window and in the glass door.
LITERARY ALLUSION: This episode shares a title with the children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, about a young boy named Max who gets sent to his room without supper and imagines that his room turns into a magical forest inhabited by monsters which make him their king.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: Some paranormal researchers believe the poltergeist phenomenon is most often associated with young women, and is the telekinetic manifestation of the stress of going through puberty.
MUSICAL NOTE: The song Giles performs at the Espresso Pump, “Behind Blue Eyes,” was written by Pete Townshend and recorded by The Who on their 1971 album Who’s Next.
75. “New Moon Rising”
(MAY 2, 2000)
Director: James A. Contner
Teleplay: Marti Noxon
Recurring cast: Amber Benson (Tara); Leonard Roberts (Forrest Gates); Bailey Chase (Graham Miller); George Hertzberg (Adam); Emma Caulfield (Anya); Seth Green (Oz)
Guest cast: James Michael Conner (scientist #1); Mark Daneri (scientist #2); Robert Patrick Benedict (Adam’s follower); Conor O’Farrell (Colonel McNamara); Doron Keenan (commando #2)
Plot: Willow is forced to make a painful decision when Oz returns to Sunnydale a changed man.
THIS WEEK’S TURNABOUT: Oz has found a way to prevent transformation during the full moon through a combination of herbal and meditation techniques learned in the Himalayas.
ANALYSIS: When we see people every day, it’s hard to notice how they change over a period of time. However, when you’ve been out of the loop for a while, the changes can come as quite a shock—the situation Oz finds himself in when he returns to Sunnydale.
For Oz, while he devoted himself to finding a way he thinks will enable him to control his inner animal, the rest of his life came to a standstill. But back home, Willow had no choice but to move ahead in order to get past the pain of being left behind. She discovered the truism when one door closes, often an unexpected door opens up. In her case, she found love with a soul mate who just happens to be another woman.
Complicating matters is the fact that Willow and Oz didn’t break up because they stopped loving one another, but because Oz needed to be alone so as not to endanger her on the personal journey he needed to undertake. But, by leaving, he also ran the very real risk of letting Willow slip through his fingers.
The other thing Oz hadn’t anticipated was what his response will be if things don’t work out. He asks Xander if Willow has a new guy in her life, so he is realistic enough to consider the possibility. And Willow misses an opportunity to be honest with Oz when he brings it up, in part because she isn’t sure herself how she feels about his return.
After one whiff of Tara’s and Willow’s mingled scents, Oz realizes why Willow preferred having breakfast over going to bed with him. Losing her to a woman means she has found something he can’t possibly give her. Oz is so upset he transforms into a wolf in the middle of the day, which results in his being captured by the Initiative.
Meanwhile Riley is still trying to recapture his center. When he could view the world in black-and-white terms, his moral purpose was unambiguous. But meeting Buffy changed all that. Now, when he learns of Willow’s love for a werewolf, Buffy interprets his surprise as coming from bias. She later realizes she judged him too harshly, when she reacts badly at first to Willow’s admission that she and Tara are involved. It momentarily shakes up Buffy, to be confronted with a side of Willow she never suspected. It reminds us that, no matter how well we know someone, we never know everything about them.
The most important thing is the willingness to take a stand for what you believe in. Riley and Buffy run afoul of the Initiative and are branded traitors for freeing Oz, while Willow chooses the person she’s in love with, Tara, over her first love, because she knows she and Oz aren’t the same people they once were.
THE REAL HORROR: Jealousy. There’s a reason they call it a monster. Oz’s transforming in the middle of the day is a metaphor for how jealousy can turn the most rational person into a raving lunatic and replace civilized behavior with out-of-control, animal impulsiveness.
LITERARY ALLUSION: The comment about “pulling a William Burroughs” refers to the accidental shooting of his common-law wife, Joan Vollmer Adams. Burroughs was a noted Beat writer, best known for his 1959 novel, Naked Lunch. While in Mexico, on the lam from authorities to escape drug charges, at a party he decided to show off his marksmanship by shooting a glass off Joan’s head, William Tell style. He missed, and killed her. The moral about mixing drugs, drinking, and guns, seems pretty obvious.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: Shortly before this episode was filmed, Emma Caulfield signed on as a series regular.
76. “The Yoko Factor (Part I)”
(MAY 9, 2000)
Director: David Grossman
Teleplay: Dough Petrie
Recurring cast: Amber Benson (Tara); Leonard Roberts (ForrestGates); George Hertzberg (Adam); Emma Caulfield (Anya)
Guest cast: Bob Fimiani (Mr. Ward); Jade Carter (lieutenant); Conor O’Farrell (Colonel McNamara); David Boreanaz (Angel)
Plot: Adam recruits Spike in a game of divide-and-conquer between Buffy and her friends. Angel and Riley square off.
THIS WEEK’S NEMESIS REDUX: Spike, who agrees to alienate Buffy from her friends to make her an easier target for Adam.
ANALYSIS: Dr. Walsh was very successful in making Adam not only physically dominant, but astute as well. Adam knows the best way to defeat the Slayer is to take away her support group. And after studying human nature, he knows the way to do it is to attack their weakness—emotion. The stresses and tensions of all the changes Buffy and her friends have undergone since leaving high school finally boil over in this episode, with more than a little nudge from Spike acting as Adam’s infiltrator.
Buffy has returned from visiting Angel in L.A., and is upset over an argument they had, over his helping Faith. Buffy feels betrayed; plus, just seeing him rekindled old feelings. With so much going on in her life, she hasn’t been paying enough attention to how her preoccupation might be interpreted by others. She gets even more distracted when Angel shows
up unannounced. His attempt to make amends with Buffy backfires as Riley gets territorial and he and Angel square off. Although the bond between Buffy and Angel is still very evident, she knows it’s important she that direct her energies toward Riley.
The rest of the gang is confused, too. Willow assumes Buffy’s distance is tacit disapproval of Tara. Because Xander hasn’t found a trade or vocation that can give him a sense of purpose, he worries the others see him as superfluous. Giles, likewise, is still struggling to find his place with Buffy and the others as they become adults. These feelings are all really just projections of what they’re feeling about themselves.
An argument finally erupts in which everyone vents their frustrations. Feeling that she’s being unfairly accused and abandoned just when she needs her friends most, in the shadow of her pending showdown with Adam, Buffy storms out. In the cooling-off period that follows, everyone is left to reevaluate their relationships.
THE REAL HORROR: Lack of communication. The reason Spike is able to so effectively get Buffy and her friends to go at each other’s throats is that he knows the right buttons to push, and plays on individual insecurities. He mixes just enough truth with out-and-out fabrication so that he easily manipulates all of them. It becomes a potential meltdown because nobody seems willing to sit down and talk it out. It’s not until Buffy figures out what Spike’s up to, and confronts the others about where they’ve been getting their information, that the misunderstanding is cleared up.
BLOOPERS: When Spike rushes into Giles’s place with the discs, his reflection is visible the mirror behind Tara and Willow.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: The title of this episode refers to the way many Beatles fans blamed Yoko Ono for the band’s breakup, viewing her as the instigator of bad blood, even though it was more a matter of the group having run its creative course.
MUSICAL NOTE: The song Giles is playing, “Free Bird,” was originally written and recorded by Lynyrd Skynrd in 1973, and has become a classic-rock staple.
The Girl's Got Bite: The Original Unauthorized Guide to Buffy's World Page 29