Our Buffy Time Travel continues, as we flip to the second half of Season Three, possibly the best season of the whole show, and, from Sky One, the first episode here is Consequences. The ‘Previously On’ does a great job of reminding us of the important story details. Giles has been replaced as watcher by Wesley. Buffy got a bit wild under Faith’s influence, then Faith kills a human during a vampire brawl who also happens to be the deputy mayor. But Faith doesn’t care. Buffy does, though.
Wesley wants the slayers to investigate the deputy’s murder, against Giles’ advice. Wesley also meets Cordelia and is a bit creepy, considering their theoretical difference in ages. Of course, in real life, he’s been married to Alyson Hannigan for ages, despite their 8 year age difference.
Even shredding evidence isn’t making the Mayor feel better. But he and Mr Trick know that the deputy was probably killed by a slayer.
Buffy is interviewed by Police, as is Faith.
Willow confronts Buffy about her behaviour recently with Faith, unaware of what’s happened. It’s a lovely scene where Willow starts telling Buffy off, then Buffy starts crying and Willow thinks it was her who upset her.
Buffy goes to see Giles to tell him about Faith, but Faith is already there, and has told Giles that Buffy killed the deputy. It’s another nice scene, as Giles thanks Faith, lets her go, Buffy thinks he believes her, but he tells her that it’s obvious Faith is lying. At the risk of repeating myself, I love Giles so much.
Unfortunately, as Giles and Buffy are discussing what to do, and Giles tells Buffy that he won’t get the Watcher’s Council involved, Wesley is eavesdropping, and rushes to the phone.
The gang discuss what to do about Faith. Xander suggests he talk to her because ‘they have a connection’ – admitting he’d slept with her. Willow doesn’t take this revelation well.
With all the unearned confidence of a mediocre man, Xander goes to talk to Faith. But she doesn’t respond well to his approach, and ends up with her hands around his neck.
Lucky for Xander, Angel is there to clobber Faith with a baseball bat, and take her to his hideout to try to convince her to walk back from becoming a killer.
Unfortunately for Angel, the Watcher’s Council come barging in and grab Faith.
Doesn’t take Faith long to escape from them, though.
Buffy tracks Faith to the docks, But Mr Trick and his vampire goons arrive, and there’s another big fight. Mr Trick has Buffy cornered, but Faith stakes him. “Oh no, this isn’t good at all.” This definitely felt like a waste of a good villain, although it wouldn’t be the first time (see Maggie Walsh in S4).
But Faith hasn’t been redeemed, she bolts, and the episode ends with her turning up at the Mayor’s office, looking for a job.
We skip an episode (a good one that we’ll see in a couple of months if my calculations are correct) so the next episode is called Enemies. Buffy and Angel come out of what I presume was a movie with lots of sex, and they’re both a bit uncomfortable, and Buffy worries that getting Angel worked up might cause a repeat of the events in Surprise/Innocence.
Buffy and Faith are still patrolling together, since nobody knows Faith has started working for the mayor. A Demon approaches them offering them the Books of Ascension.
Faith tells the mayor about them, and is sent to get the books before Buffy can get them. Faith negotiates hard.
Faith goes to Angel and tries seducing him, hoping to remove his soul. Buffy sees them and assumes Angel and Faith are getting it on.
The Mayor meets a demon, and asks him to remove Angel’s soul with magic. Faith chucks a bit of blood on Angel’s shirt, and the demon does his work.
It works, and Angelus is back.
Faith takes him to see the Mayor. We learn that the Mayor is currently impervious and can’t be killed. A useful plot device.
Xander comes across Faith and Angel in the street, and Angel punches him in the face. I like Xander, but this is funny.
They go to Buffy’s house. I’m always nervous when Joyce is in even the slightest danger.
The gang are researching, and they discover that the Mayor might actually be over 100 years old.
Faith and Angel chain up Buffy and prepare to torture her. But Faith can’t resist taunting her with what she knows about the Mayor and his Ascension, which is coming on Graduation Day. This is a great scene.
BUFFY
I never knew you had so much rage in you.
FAITH
What can I say? I'm the world's best actor.
ANGEL
Second Best.
Faith turns slowly, realising something.
BUFFY (To Angel)
Graduation Day. You think we missed anything?
ANGEL
I think we know everything she knows.
BUFFY
May I say something?
She holds up her hands - no chains.
BUFFY (Contd)
Psych!
It’s a lovely reveal, drives the plot forward without the need to spend several episodes collecting information, and also gives us a really tense time thinking Angelus is back. But it was all a plan, engineered by Giles. The demon who pretended to do the soul removal tells him his debt is repaid. “What did you do?” asks Willow. “Oh, I introduced him to his wife.”
The next episode, Earshot, is more of a stand-alone episode. Buffy fights a pair of demons, kills one of them and gets its blood on her hands. Pretty soon, she can hear people’s thoughts. At first it’s weird and embarrassing, but also useful, when Buffy can answer all the questions in English class. I also love how the show uses Othello as a reflection of what Buffy is feeling about Angel and Faith.
It gets a little more serious when Buffy overhears a strong thought in the lunch room “This time tomorrow I’ll kill you all.”
This is such a good episode, filled with hilarious moments, like when Buffy learns that her mother and Giles had sex (in the episode Band Candy). “Twice?”
Buffy is cured of the mind reading, but the gang still have to find out who it is who’s going to kill everyone. Which they do by asking questions, “for the yearbook”. Again, some brilliant little vignettes here. This is an outstanding episode, from writer Jane Espenson. I also love how we meet some characters who have appeared in previous episodes.
The questions draw a blank, until they confront the editor of the school newspaper. It wasn’t him – he was hiding because he thought they were mad at a review he wrote – but Cordelia finds a letter from Jonathan, about how tomorrow “Now you all know what I’ve done, I’m sure you understand why I had to do it.” They have to find Jonathan quickly. Buffy spots him in a high tower with a rifle, and manages to talk him out of shooting everyone. At which point he tells her he had no intention of hurting anybody, and he was there to kill himself.
So who was it? Xander goes looking for Jello in the canteen, and spots the lunch lady putting rat poison in the food. It’s such a great reveal.
And a perfect ending as Giles asks Buffy if she wants to do some training after school. “Sure. If you’re not too busy having sex with my mother!” and Giles walks into a tree.
The final episode on this tape is Choices. Faith gets a present from the Mayor.
Faith brings him a box he needs for his Ascension, but he doesn’t let her look inside as it’s too dangerous.
Finding out about the box, Buffy, Willow and Angel go to steal it, with Willow there to break any spells protecting it.
Buffy and Angel get away with the box, but Willow is not as lucky.
Wesley argues that the box must be destroyed as it’s key to the Mayor’s Ascension. Buffy and Xander argue they should trade the box for Willow. An argument breaks out, until Oz, who has been sitting there saying nothing, stands up, walks over to the magic bowl containing the rare ingredients that can destroy the box, and smashes it. He says nothing, just barely nods at Buffy, and she says “Giles, make the call.”
At the Mayor’s, Willow is being menaced by the vampire guarding her, but she kills him with a floating pencil – I love that this was established early on as the tiniest bit of magic Willow could do, and here it saves her.
Rather than escaping, Willow finds the books of Ascension, and does some research.
There’s a tense hostage exchange in a school classroom, made more complicated when Principal Snyder arrives thinking he’s catching a drug deal. One of his security men makes the mistake of opening the box to look inside and a large insect jumps out and eats his face.
More insects escape, and one of them attacks the Mayor. It’s a good thing he’s invulnerable.
That’s it for Buffy Season 3, though. I’ve checked my database, and it seems the tape that has the final three episodes on it is one I haven’t digitised. Which is a shame because they’re great fun, especially the next episode, The Prom.
After this, there’s the start of an episode of Friends, during which the tape ends.
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