Let's go in order. First, Joyce and Giles. While under the influence of cursed candy (in "Band Candy") Joyce and Giles revert to teenagers and have a brief affair. This is kind of fitting since Joyce is Buffy's mother and Giles is Buffy's father figure. Their affair is over them moment the candy is out of their system. Also, while under the influence of the cursed candy, Joyce and Giles discover that Buffy is lying to them about where she is spending all of her time and that she is using them as an excuse to the other. They don't realize it is because Angel is alive, but Buffy does tell them that she feels that she had to lie to them because they won't give her a moments peace or let her make a single decision on her own. They finally acknowledge that she might be partly right - though this is probably the candy's influence - but by the episodes end they do start to back off of Buffy.
Moving on to "Revelations," Faith gets a new Watcher (Gwendolyn Post) who seems to be everything Giles isn't. She's cutting, snide, and belittling towards Giles and is more interested in Faith as a weapon then as a person. In all honesty, she is more of a real Watcher then Giles is - and she knows it. She is also a fake. She was kicked out of the Watcher's Council years ago for abusing magic, though no one knows this yet. She arrives in Sunnydale, ideally both to train Faith and to find the Glove of Myneghon. She claims she wants the glove destroyed but in actuality she wants it for herself.
Meanwhile, Xander makes the discovery that not only is Angel alive but that Buffy knows this and isn't telling anyone. Between the stress of Gwendolyn arriving, Buffy lying, and Xander being so angry some serious fractures appear in the group. Giles accuses Buffy of not respecting him as her Watcher, Xander convinces Faith to kill Angel (though in all honesty it didn't take much convincing), and Willow is freaking out over her affair with Xander but she feels like she can't talk to anyone - not even Buffy. Then to complicate things even more, it is revealed that Gwendolyn is evil when she attacks Giles and goes after the glove (which is in Angel's possession). Faith and Xander discover Giles further cementing Faith's belief that Angel needs to die. Xander acknowledges that the attack on Giles isn't Angel's style but he can't talk Faith out of her determination. Then Gwendolyn attacks Angel - but when Faith arrives she sees an evil vampire attacking her good Watcher, not a good vampire defending himself from an evil Watcher. Xander further complicates things by rubbing it in Buffy's face that Faith has gone to kill Angel. Buffy arrives to stop Faith and things get even uglier when they fight. Then the truth of the situation is revealed when Gwendolyn puts on the glove - and Angel saves Willow from an attack.
This episode puts some serious stress on the group. Xander and Buffy get into a serious fight over Angel - with Buffy accusing Xander of being jealous which makes things worse with Cordelia. Giles is incredibly angry with Buffy over Angel. Faith is left incredibly hurt - both by her fake Watcher for using her and by Buffy for not trusting her. And in typical Faith fashion she shuts down from the betrayals. Willow and Xander are starting to get sloppy in their affair - that both insist that they don't want - and is going to get them caught in the next episode. Our heroes are left broken here, and while they start to pick up the pieces the next episode shatters things further.
Angry at Spike for picking sides with Buffy against Angel, Drusilla has left him ("Lovers Walk"). Spike comes to Sunnydale a drunken wreck looking for a spell to make Drusilla love him again. He finds Willow, and abducts her and Xander to force her to do the spell for him. While Buffy and Angel try to make Spike tell them where Willow and Xander are, Oz and Cordelia show up to rescue them - and find them making out. This ends Cordelia and Xander's relationship. In all honesty, I feel so bad for Cordelia. She really gets the short end of the stick. She sacrifices everything for Xander, tries to fit in with a group that she can't stand and can't stand her in return, starts to become friends with them, starts to fall in love with Xander, knows that Xander has feelings for Buffy - just to find out that Xander is cheating on her with Willow. She has had one long, incredible, painful story arc. And then to top it all off, her old friends want nothing to do with her. I do feel a little for Xander. He finally realizes just how much Cordelia means to him but it's too late. Cordelia, meanwhile, has gone back to being hostile to the group.
She also blames everything on Buffy, which is interesting. While Anya tries to get Cordelia to curse Xander, she instead keeps harping about Buffy - even going so far as to say that she never would have dated Xander if it wasn't for Buffy's friendship with him. One day, far in the future, things will settle between Cordelia and Buffy, but it is interesting to note that if it wasn't for Buffy entering her life Cordelia would have had a much different path. And I don't just mean the alternate reality she sent everyone into with her wish that Buffy never came to Sunnydale. I mean that Buffy brought something out in Cordelia, something she didn't even realize she had. A desire to do good, a desire to fight evil - and a desire to pick personal happiness over being a rich, snotty bitch. Buffy was the L.A. version of Cordelia. She had no problem joining Cordelia's clique. But Buffy chose to break with that and to make real friends instead. I think a part of Cordelia resented that but was also jealous of that. And in the end she tried to make the same choice. And it must have been a deep hurt to have that choice not pan out exactly the way she hoped for it to.
As for Willow and Oz, things are better. Oz tells her that he needs space, and when she tries to push him he shuts her down. It was hard to watch, but one can't blame him for feeling the way he does. Willow is not the victim here. But they don't stay apart for long. In "Amends" Oz admits to Willow that he does miss her and wants her back. They resume dating, with Willow trying to convince Oz to sleep with her. Oz is caught completely off guard and turns her down, telling her that he wants their first time to be because they both want it for the same reasons - and not as a way for Willow to make things up to him.
And things do start to get better for everyone. (Well, everyone who is not Cordelia.) Buffy and Xander make up over their Angel fight, with Xander admitting that Angel makes him a bit crazy. The core group of Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles holds together. Angel even turns to Giles for help and as much as Giles hates Angel and distrusts him (which is hard to watch considering how much he once trusted him) he does try to help. Spike goes back to torture Drusilla into loving him again (which oddly enough is a happy ending for them - even though it won't last). Buffy and Angel (with Spike's help, again, oddly enough) acknowledge that they love each other, that they will always love each other, but that they can't be together. Oz and Willow start dating again. And even Faith and Buffy start to patch things up. Despite everything they were through, they went through it together and came out the other side stronger together because of it.
Spike even starts to build a good relationship with Joyce - which is very odd. The first time Joyce met him he was trying to kill Buffy. The second time Joyce met him she found out Buffy was a Slayer and had a meltdown. The third time Spike shows up on her doorstep crying about Drusilla dumping him. She knows Spike is a vampire, she knows Spike is not a "good guy," yet despite this she lets him in her life and starts to build a sort of relationship with him.
Lastly, a note about the alternate universe. In this universe Joyce isn't even mentioned - though one assumes that she knows Buffy is the Slayer since Buffy takes off for days at a time for Slayer duties. Buffy is also a true Slayer here. While her Watcher seems to have no real control over her, she is a weapon, plain and simple. Giles does not reveal to anyone that he is a Watcher but he, along with Oz, a random girl, and Larry (of all people) try to fight against the vampires of the town and save the people. Willow and Xander are vampires and together - and they kill Cordelia. Angel is a prisoner of the Master. Xander kills Angel, Buffy kills Xander, Oz kills Willow, and the Master kills Buffy. Every relationship is perverted and broken.
It is also my favorite episode of these five for that reason. Watching Oz kill Willow when you wish them together. Watching Xander kill Cordelia after the betrayal she just went through at his hands. Seeing Buffy as a weapon - and seeing her fall, just like Kendra, for it. Seeing Xander finally kill Angel just like you know he wants to. It was so hard to watch, yet so incredibly good.
The episodes:
Band Candy - Season 3, Episode 6
Synopsis - Ethan Rayne is back, doing a job for the mayor with cursed candy that turns adults into teenagers.
Revelations - Season 3, Episode 7
Synopsis - A new Watcher shows up for Faith, in search of a powerful weapon, and the knowledge that Angel is alive is revealed to the group.
Lovers Walk - Season 3, Episode 8
Synopsis - Spike abducts Willow and Xander to force Willow to do a love spell for him on Drusilla. Willow and Xander's affair is revealed.
The Wish - Season 3, Episode 9
Synopsis - Cordelia makes a new friend in Anya, a vengeance demon, and unknowingly makes a wish that Buffy never came to Sunnydale sending everyone into an alternate universe.
Amends - Season 3, Episode 10
Synopsis - It is revealed that The First saved Angel from the hell dimension he was trapped in so that he can kill Buffy.
No comments:
Post a Comment