Buffy - More Season 3 impressions (episode 14)

[thalia_seawood]

November is lurking at our doorstep. Since yesterday evening our house is surrounded by mist. Good thing we don't live near a hellmouth or I might start worrying. Actually, I like November weather. It tells you to stay inside and watch "Buffy" without guilt. :-)


Bad Girls

Balthazar seems to be Buffy's hommage to Jabba the Hut. And I totally pity the poor actor who had to put on the Balthazar suit. He probably lost a couple of pounds while sweating his way through the filming.

Apart from the rather ridiculous demon, there's a lot to like about this episode.

The interaction between Buffy and Faith is intriguing. They both seem to feel that they are equals and that the other is the only person who can understand what it means to be a slayer. The big difference is that Buffy has been very restrained about her slaying whereas Faith totally lets go and only acts on her instinct. Working together with Faith makes Buffy gradually let go of her inhibitions (not taking the chemistry test, seeing slaying as fun activity, dancing wildly in the disco, breaking into a shop, taking out two police officers). You already know she's out of her depth when they break into the weapons' store, but when Faith accidentally kills a man (ironically, the Mayor's deputy Allan Finch) things turn really bad.

The problem is that a slayer has to find the balance between wildness and restraint. If the right balance cannot be found the slayer either puts other people at risk or gets killed herself.

Faith' final statement that she doesn't care: I don't believe her. Once again she puts herself into super tough mode in order to avoid dealing with the situation and what she feels about it. And no, that's no excuse. She will have to confront what she has done. Seeing that the next episode is called "Consequences" I think this will happen soon.

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce is introduced. He reminds me in parts of a season 1 Giles. Strangely enough he also reminds me a bit of William/Spike before he became a vampire. (selenak showed me the episode "Fool for Love".) Wesley is probably one of Simon Tam's ancestors.

The Mayor is a fun villain. Love how he has the box with wet tissues in the same place as his evil things collection. :-)

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Bad Girls is of course the turning point of the season, as Innocence was in two. It's also what I meant when I said the issues raised by "Ted" would be addressed again. How to deal if you've killed a human being?

If Kendra is one extreme and Faith is the other, Buffy is the Slayer who has to find the middle course between the two. Which is all nice and theory, but in practice, Faith and Buffy are going to have to deal with what happened, and it's only going to get messier by the second.

Wesley: does resemble all three gentlemen named at this early stage, yes. Originally Wesley was supposed to die in "Consequences", but Joss liked Alexis Denisof, and the rest, they say, is history. At this point, he's obviously just meant as a foil for Giles, to show how Giles has grown and changed by contrast, and all of Buffy's and Giles' issues with the Council are taken out on him, but he's going to develop bit by bit and surprises a lot of people later on.

Mayor: and don't you love his to do list?

[madame-parker.livejournal.com]

I really loved the Mayor in season 3, he was a great character and got the best lines by far. And Faith is going to take a turn that I didn't see coming when I first watched S3, I can't wait to read your thoughts as you watch the rest of the season.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Mayor is such a nice guy. Gives Faith a glass of milk, because calcium is good for her. Gives her a playstation and lots of fatherly advice. So nice and evil. He's probably related to Palpatine. :-)

And Faith: Wow. I didn't see this coming either. Am very curious what will happen with her in the end.