Last time we tackled the first half of S3, so now Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Retrospecticus – Season 3 Pt 2 will get to the second half followed by some stray thoughts on the season.

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Retrospecticus…

3.12 Helpless

• Written by David Fury / Directed by James A. Contner
• Buffy’s 18 now and, per Willow, can “vote not to be drafted”–the joys of adulthood.
• Buffy tries to get Giles to take her to the ice show, as if the surrogate father angle wasn’t already clear. As for Giles drugging Buffy, that’s such a huge violation. I know it’s his job and he’s between a rock and a hard place, but he also could have told Buffy all about it. Then they would just have to put on a little show for Quentin about Buffy losing her abilities, she’d go through with the cruciamentum, then everyone goes along their merry way none the wiser. 

• Buffy must have done the ice show with Dad last year before her birthday went off the rails as she certainly wouldn’t have had an enjoyable time after. And it’s nice of Joyce to try and soften the blow of Buffy being ditched by Dad, but no dice.
• The Council bricks up an old inn for the cruciamentum–did they get a good deal? Maybe they have a realtor on retainer for these kinds of things. Or perhaps a scout was sent ahead of time to find an abandoned place they could use for a little while unbeknownst to the owners.
• Buffy being saved by Cordy is too much for her to take, understandably.

• “It’s an archaic exercise in cruelty” is correct, Giles. That’s why you just lie to them as I said. Also, there’s a popular fan theory that Faith’s watcher died in her cruciamentum gone wrong. Sounds good to me.
• How does a vampire needing pills work? I know there’s no good answer, I can’t help but wonder. Also, I still sometimes say “pills” like Kralik does. Jeff Kober is pretty great as Kralik and I can see why they had him on again later as someone else.

• Buffy will experience being powerless another couple times that we know of, but she also gets to be Super Buffy a couple times (really super–flying through the sky and stuff) so I guess it all works out.
• That council guy rises as a vampire pretty damn fast. Ridiculously fast, really, and only because the plot requires it.
• Angel gives Buffy a book of sonnets for her birthday and, in my opinion, that’s lame. And Buffy jokes about an old slayer’s home now, but thanks to her/Willow that probably becomes a reality one day. Angel’s heart speech is weird. Angel’s both weird and lame.

• Giles searching the inn is actually nice and creepy. I wonder what kind of mutilation he saw that made him retch.
• Buffy has to flee and scream for help, like a horror movie victim, but thankfully Giles shows up so he can further shatter her world by telling her he’s made her this way.

• Vampire photos shouldn’t work, but I guess I have to get over it. And Buffy should have taken Angel or Giles, even Cordy–someone! Kralik must have held up a one hour photo for all this film. Also, he should feel that holy water pretty instantly in his throat, you’d think.

• Quentin Travers and the Council are kind of evil. He’s also an ass who thinks he’s fighting a war, but as Giles points out– “You’re waging a war, she’s fighting it.” Buffy will get her revenge on Quentin one day, though, and then he blows up.
• Xander almost gets to be the big, strong man for Buffy with that jar at the end. Almost.

3.13 The Zeppo

• Written by Dan Vebber / Directed by James Whitmore, Jr.
• While hunting the Sisterhood of the Jhe in the foggy underground everyone actually looks pretty well put together, considering the situation. Xander’s been helpful on many occasions, though, so pretending he always needs saving or something doesn’t ring true to me.
• What does ring true? Cordy having a lot of fun ripping into Xander. Also his chat on what’s cool with Oz–”Not sure,” “Am I?” & “Could be.” 

• Xander says “my thing” re: Uncle Rory’s car enough that “Is this a penis metaphor?” is a fair response. As for Car Girl, she ends up boring Xander so much he’s actually pleased to see Angel. That’s quite an accomplishment.
• Giles is always the one who says they should have jelly donuts in the mix–“We’re sorry…Buffy had three!” Leaving Xander out of all this stuff and not even telling him what’s up is kind of a jerk move–he’s proven himself enough to help avert the apocalypse.

• A bully liking someone just because they didn’t narc is a dumb plot device. And more gay panic from Xander, “But not in a gay way.”
• Car Girl can’t take the undead, it turns out, so Sunnydale surely is not the place for her. “Are all your friends dead?”
• Giles speaks to the spirit guides and, while I know it’s mostly boilerplate supernatural stuff, the fact that there are no subtitles on the repeat airings always seemed odd to me. Giles sending Xander away, I understand. He should be doing that with all the teens, really.

• See look, Xander helps Faith right here and isn’t completely useless–in a couple of ways (sex). I always like how Xander’s first sexual encounter randomly happens completely out of the blue and with Faith, no less, who couldn’t care less about him–“That was great, I gotta shower.” This whole experience could be interpreted as a kind of sexual assault, depending on where you land on the Benson scale.

• Xander takes kind of a while to realize his new undead non-friends aren’t just up to stupid hijinks (“Hey, they’re not baking any cake”). Also, he has a necklace, a ring, and a bracelet–I know he liked rings back in S1, but do we ever see this much jewelry on him again?
• This highly dramatic Buffy/Angel scene being interrupted by a Xander pop in is a nice mash up of the different worlds they often live in.
• It is now, for no particular reason, where I will give kudos to the score for this episode. It goes a long way to making so much of this zany nonsense work.

• Why would these undead high schoolers set the bomb for 60 minutes and leave? I find it hard to believe they wouldn’t want to watch the school blow up. Their odd choice does lead to this whole Xander/zombie mailbox interrogation, so at least there’s that.
• The juxtaposition of Xander’s slight & fun zombie fights with the overly dramatic background apocalypse fight works great, if you ask me (“I wasn’t finished!”). I know some people aren’t amused by this episode, but you can’t win with everyone.

• Xander vs Jack in the boiler room has that timer veering all over the place to the point I have to believe it’s a joke. Xander leaving Jack alone with the bomb, however, is really a dipshit move on his part–what if he just reset it to explode in five minutes, or something? I know it’s so we get the fun button of Oz eating Jack and being “Oddly full” the next day, but it’s still stupid of Xander.
• Xander ignores Cordy for once–it only took a wild and crazy night of near-apocalyptic danger.

3.14 Bad Girls

• Written by Douglas Petrie / Directed by Michael Lange
• Buffy and Faith have a mid-slay sex chat, covering Xander and grunting–nothing Buffy seems to find very sensual. Also, why do they even question if these vamps are together? They’re all dressed in the exact same getup so they didn’t just bump into one another.
• Slayer Sense Fail: Trick grabs the swords from right under two slayer’s noses.

• Mr. Trick reappears after being MIA for the last seven episodes. The fact he wasn’t ever around made it clear he wasn’t going to be around much more. Deputy Mayor Alan Finch choosing to share “I like to read Cathy” makes me wonder if he’s ever met either the Mayor or Mr. Trick before. The way the Mayor walks right into/through Alan is one of those times Harry Groener nicely sells his callousness.

• Willow has lots of college choices, to the surprise of nobody, while Xander has no illusions he’s college bound. As for Cordy, her “my father has a job” comment makes me wonder–do you think her home life has already crumbled, or is it about to?
• Wesley! Knowing his whole character’s journey really makes his early BtVS appearances so much more fun. While he might have been an irritant the first time around, now I find him an added value element. Faith doesn’t quite feel that way–“New watcher? Screw that.”

• I like that the vampire cult’s numbers dwindled, in large part, due to “a lot of pointless dueling.” Both watchers clean their glasses–perhaps it’s a learned behavior at the council?
• Faith’s perspective on being “The chosen two” isn’t horrible to Buffy and before she knows it they’ve jumped in a manhole while pursuing some vamps. “Want, take, have” vs “wait, stop, think” gives Buffy a different viewpoint–”didn’t suck.”

• Giles’ first diary passage about how Buffy mangles the English language is amusingly accurate. Also amusing is all the Giles/Wesley interaction, and Giles generally not being terribly helpful–“I know. I feel just sick about it.” Giles definitely has more of hard shell around Wesley and gets to be the cool guy a bunch in this one.

• Faith continues to pull Buffy over to her way of doing things with some impromptu school hours slayage followed by blowing off steam at the Bronze. Faith dancing with all the guys by herself is a nice touch, though Buffy adopting Faith’s temperament/persona isn’t my favorite here–she just seems a little too much like a copycat trying on a different personality.
• Balthazar, this obscenely fat & gross demon (“Moisten the front”), is a memorable switch from their usual kinds of monsters–no doubt a callback to Pearl, from Blade. This thing flailing its stubby arms while yelling “Unacceptable!” always makes me laugh.

• Buffy and Faith, two youthful offenders, are absolutely breaking/entering/stealing and should probably be arrested–but what’s with this cop firing a shot into the ceiling? And the one Faith describes as “butch”? Um, I certainly wouldn’t describe him as butch.
• I know Willow had what she considered a good reason in the last episode for ditching Xander, but now that she’s the one being left to her own devices it’s not so much fun, is it?

• Buffy and Faith accidentally commit some alley-based manslaughter, and now their relationship is irrevocably altered. They eventually find their way back to being friends & allies, but it does take well over a decade before that happens.

• The Mayor becomes invulnerable (for 100 days) after a meeting with PTA & a haircut. Priorities. 
• The quiet exchange of “You killed a man” & “I don’t care” sets up the rest of the season wonderfully.

3.15 Consequences

• Written by Marti Noxon / Directed by Michael Gershman
• Wesley and Cordy share an immediate & mutual attraction, only for Wes to be minorly horrified that she’s a student. In his defense, they’re only four years apart in reality. She’s closer to his age than real life wife Alyson Hannigan.

• Actually, Willow, your de-ratting of Amy won’t be going well for several more years…
• Angel snooping around Sunnydale trying to figure out what’s really up with Buffy & Faith is like a sneak peak of Angel Investigations.
• Buffy and Faith finally discover The Mayor of Sunnydale is a black hat, to Buffy’s surprise and Faith’s lack of surprise, which leads to their discussion on slayers vs people–of which “We are better” is Faith’s POV. I certainly understand both perspectives, but I might agree more with Faith’s general argument (Buffy will, too, one day).

• Joyce looks so disappointed & worried re: the detective needing to question Buffy–she thought this kind of thing was behind them, I bet.
• Buffy comes clean with Willow and makes amends after Willow laments not being part of the club because she “can’t kill things with [her] bare hands.” Soon enough, Willow, you won’t even really need to use your hands to kill.

• The Giles mislead (Faith told him Buffy did it) works well and I’m so glad we bypass that whole misunderstanding, but then it’s a little ruined by having Wesley eavesdrop.
• Willow doesn’t take as long as everyone else to get the Xander/Faith connection (no “Oh” realization needed) and I like that it’s left to the viewer to interpret what her bathroom crying is about.

• Faith choking Xander as she asserts herself over him (“kinks or vanilla”) is a less vague instance of her sexually assaulting him. He might have been on board the first time, but not so much this one.

• Angel seems to be getting to Faith a little bit (“A future, a world of possibilities snuffed out by your own hand”) before he gets whooped by a bunch of randos–how’s that?–when Wesley barges in and attacks/nets his future boss/employee/colleague. Good thing Angel’s forgiving (for now).

• Putting aside how Buffy got to the docks since she doesn’t drive, once again Faith says things (“We are the law”) Buffy doesn’t want to hear but will one day echo (“I am the law”).
• Buffy really drops the ball on this whole dock fight. I know she’s hit with some crates right away, but that’s no excuse. Good thing Faith sees a window to kill Mr. Trick and take his job since I suppose she’s had enough of people speeching at her all the ways she’s wrong or needs to be better.

3.16 Doppelgangland

• Written & Directed by Joss Whedon
• Anya reappears and D’hoffryn makes his debut so this episode is already off to a great start. I’m not sure the interplay jives with their history as we come to know it, but it’s not glaring.

• Willow floats a pencil right out in broad daylight with no attempt whatsoever to keep it a secret–Sunnydale life! 
• “You want us to breed?” Willow should just say sure to Snyder’s suggestions to tutor Percy and then set him up to fail–win win.

• Faith is being way too nice to people and interested in what’s going on, which should be a giveaway that something’s up. Red flags, indeed. As for her fancy new apartment, well it has a Playstation so it must be expensive. I often forget how The Mayor and Faith don’t have all that much time together. Before the finale it’s really just a few episodes and yet somehow their connection is fairly monumental–”Now, let’s kill your little friend.”

• Willow being the one winds up as the reason Anya connects with the Scooby Gang (aside from Cordy vengeance stuff) would likely disappoint future Willow. They make a fun magic duo, though–“Did you try looking inside the sofa in hell?” & “Idiot child” being highlights.

• Vamp Willow kicks Percy’s ass at the Bronze and, as a result, he buckles down and graduates. I don’t think she’d be pleased. Vamp Willow even being in this universe sure is good timing, considering The Mayor just sent a vampire hit squad out to end Willow. And this weakling vampire just needed a couple fingers broken to switch allegiances like that? Crap employee.
• Buffy, Xander, & Giles’ shell-shocked reactions to Willow “dying” both works as how they might react while also being funny–“Much, much better” & Giles needing to hug Willow, too, after what he thought happened to her.

• I’m amused by the peer kind of relationship Angel seems to have with Oz as they briefly chat before Oz sends him off to get Buffy. Sandy, the lady Vamp Willow “kills,” shows up as a vampire later (somehow) but does everyone just think Willow murdered someone in the Bronze? Any aftermath of that?
• I love that Anya, some random teenage girl as far as anyone knows, takes control of the vampire gang by simply being strong-willed and in control. I know we’ve established they’re all pushovers, but it’s still pretty impressive.

• Vamp Willow wanting to turn her other self into a vampire then have a party is nice and kinky. Willow’s “and I think I’m kinda gay” might seem like light humor now, but give it a year.
• When it comes to the Bronze fighting pairs, Buffy/Angel and Xander/Giles are NOT even teams.
• Cordy wanting to chat with Willow “woman to woman, with you locked up” is fun and the logistics of how Wesley got into the bathroom before Cordy and Vamp Willow don’t really make sense. Cordy being so indifferent to Willow being a vampire does make sense to me.

• Devon trying to scale that rope like Angel and failing miserably is always amusing.
• Xander’s pleased to be a badass vampire in an alternate dimension, even though we know things don’t exactly end well for anyone in that alternate world. Xander appears to have no real contact with Anya, yet she comes a callin’ when it’s Prom time. She must have liked what she saw. I’m glad this is far from the last time Anya participates in Scooby Gang shenanigans.

3.17 Enemies

• Written by Douglas Petrie / Directed by David Grossman
• Buffy and Angel seeing a sexy French movie seems like a bad idea. Surely there was some clue to the nature of the film before they bought tickets and sat down–like the title or poster, for instance. I doubt it was sold as a buddy comedy, or whathaveyou.

• This random demon pretty fortuitously shows up with the books of ascension. He’s not too bright if he thought trying to sell the books to slayers was going to end well for him.
• Faith and The Mayor continue to convincingly bond in such a short time. It seems like it goes without saying this isn’t a healthy or conducive to long-term happiness & success kind of relationship for Faith, but there you go–it’s been said. I don’t doubt the genuine kinship The Mayor likely felt for her, or however much a soulless creature could feel that way. Why does he just have a pitcher of room temperature milk? That’s gross.

• Boom, Willow comes through with ascension knowledge while Cordy keeps flirting with Wes, flagrantly and shamelessly.
• Faith kills the demon salesman really foolishly & sloppily. I know she isn’t some old pro at this kind of wetwork, but she’s still killed lots of demons before. Then trying to seduce Angel with a sob story and bloody hands is also not terribly well executed. Strike two!

• This whole episode works better the second time around, even if it’s not really a favorite of mine no matter what. I think mostly it’s that I’m over Evil Angel so I’m glad it doesn’t happen. 
• “I wasn’t about to burst into glorious song about it, myself”–In a few years Giles will find that won’t hold true. I imagine he’ll still feel this same way re: demon standards–whatever happened to virgin hearts and crypts? Now it’s cash and a seedy motel.
• Faith’s quite obvious in her behavior at the demon’s place that she’s been there before. At least Buffy notices. As for the imminent double cross she initiates, I’m not sure how the logistics of Giles and the shaman tricking The Mayor makes any sense, but whatever.

• “I give you leave to go” from Willow always stuck in my brain.
• Faith’s big soul stealing light show seems convincing at the time, but Evil Angel suddenly making out with her always makes me laugh.
• Hey look, Cordy’s in a Scooby meeting again–it’s been a while. I know it’s just because of Wes, but it leads into making amends with the gang before she leaves and I appreciate that. In other news with the gang, Oz only has a half dozen lines this episode and if Xander needed any other reason to hate Angel he’s got that good bruise on his face now, too.

• This whole climax isn’t my favorite, honestly. High on relationship drama, I’m not an evil Angel fan, and they all talk too much. Also, Faith, if you didn’t want so much Buffy in your life then it was pretty stupid to move to Sunnydale. At least she gets mini golfing out of this whole thing.

• I understand Buffy’s feelings about everything that happened, and all, but I still think it’s kind of funny Angel did what she asked him to and as a thank you she needs some time apart. Drama.
• In scheduling trivia we all know already, almost two months pass between the air dates of this episode and the next new one. A school shooting plot line seemed to ruffle some feathers.

3.18 Earshot

• Written by Jane Espenson / Directed by Regis Kimble
• In additional scheduling trivia, this one originally aired the week before S4 premiered (like a lost episode). I know people had their reasons for delaying it, but it was a silly choice. Anyway, this one’s another classic Jane Espenson addition.
• The white blood is an interesting new look. There should be more demons with non-red blood.

• Even before the humor kicks in things are already nice and fun with the ascension chat (“He’s a cross referencing fool”), which features more Giles getting to mock Wes.
• The school paper is extremely morose/pessimistic and has obituaries, which makes sense for Sunnydale.
• Willow wondering “Was it a boy demon?” when wondering what demon aspect Buffy will get is just what Buffy needed to hear.

• Slayer Sense Fail: Buffy still can’t tell Angel is right behind her.
• Buffy’s hall walk as she listens to everyone’s thoughts is still fun, as is the classroom mind reading: Xander’s a sex monster, Willow’s confused how Buffy’s so smart suddenly (the teacher’s thesis), Nancy Doyle hates Buffy, and Freddy Iverson’s sardonic bread crumbs comment. Also, we get a classroom discussion on TV that eventually parallels a character’s personal life–who would have thought.

• Angel says he’s 243 years old, but 1753-1999 is 246 years. Maybe Angel should sit in on one of these high school math classes.
• Okay, this Scooby meeting with Buffy reading everyone’s mind remains as hilarious and character-based as ever–Cordy just saying everything she thinks never fails to make me laugh, with Oz being deep & ponderous beneath his laconic shell right behind.

• “This time tomorrow, I’ll kill you all” is wonderfully creepy.
• “Who hasn’t thought about idly taking out the whole place with a semi-automatic?” School shootings have been a thing for a while now, but I bet Xander’s comment was one of the things that ruffled enough feathers to postpone this one for half a year.

• The laughs keep on coming with “You had sex with Giles? On the hood of a police car? TWICE?” and another classic scene where Willow interrogates Jonathan (though she certainly misses something).
• I swear, this might be Cordy’s funniest episode–”Were you planning on killing a bunch of people tomorrow? Oh, it’s for the yearbook.”
• Bring a weapon to the demon fight, c’mon Angel.
• I can help but wonder why Snyder allows this school-hating newspaper to continue in its present form. Just seems like the kind of thing he’d try to ruin.

• Jonathan could only easily access a high-powered rifle, I guess, instead of a smaller gun for the purposes of killing himself. He had to know how it’d look to an outsider, right?
• Freddy Iverson overhears quite a bizarre conversation in his office. I wonder if he ever had any articles about Buffy published in his time as editor.
• Of course Cordy needs to grab both shoulders and stare directly into people’s faces to figure out if they’re Jonathan.

• Buffy and Jonathan’s clock tower moment is well done and feels earned thanks to his various appearances these last couple years. “I’d rather do it this way” of taking the gun is a nice touch, plus it’s followed by the evil lunch lady twist. Xander accidentally foils the evil lunch lady’s plans and saves a bunch of people thanks to jello. Lunch Lady’s stunt person isn’t quite the ideal match.

• For one last moment of great humor, the Buffy and Giles wrapup walk and talk is pure gold–”If you’re not too busy having sex with my mother” and he slams right into a tree with his next step.

3.19 Choices

• Written by David Fury / Directed by James A. Contner
• The Mayor gives Faith the knife, cookies, and structure–with violence. While it seems like a dream come true for Faith, it’s really all on his terms. I suppose on some level she wants to be cared for and doted over, so she’ll take what she can get.

• Joyce is jazzed Buffy got into Northwestern. Hopefully Buffy took at least a few minutes to be proud of herself before all the realities of her life set in. As for other Scoobies, we have two poles–Willow got into all the colleges and I’m doubtful Xander even bothered applying to any. Also, any of that self-assurance he might have found in “The Zeppo” seems largely dissipated by now and he takes Cordy’s jabs to heart. Except as Willow says, “She was just being Cordelia–only moreso.”

• Wesley telling Buffy how the council “forbids” her going to college elsewhere is amusing. Good luck telling Buffy what to do quite soon when she decides their terms no longer work for her.
• Faith’s vampire driver guy is a dope and he should close his mouth. Also, if he’s so shocked that Faith cuts through snake face tattoo guy’s arm with her fancy new knife I have to doubt his efficacy as a vampire henchman.

• Wesley resents how everyone works together well without him and doesn’t respect his “authority,” but he’s given them no reason to think of him as anything but a joke.
• In more college talk, Cordy got into USC, Colorado State, Duke, and Columbia–nice and all, but I’m not sure how those compare to everywhere Willow got into that Cordy poo pooed.
• Xander and Oz get the living flame spell all set up based on Willow’s directions–all these teens sure get a lot of stuff done with Giles’ faith in them. Wesley approves of their help, too.

• This Mission: Impossible setup to get the box of lowering down with this contraption seems extraneous for super-people. One (or both) of them can’t just jump down or lower a rope or something? I don’t buy it. Plus, only two guards on this extremely important magic box? Poor security. And why don’t Buffy & Angel have pocket stakes with them (pretty much always)? Seems like it’d be wise.

• Oz makes a big, wordless gesture of destroying their spell setup as if that’s an argument, but Wesley’s pretty much right (and will have the same kind of viewpoint in the future) about the big picture. They could have tried to find another way, at least.
• Willow floats a pencil to stake a vampire as part of her near escape, only then she gets all sidetracked with investigating things for X amount of time. At least she gets to tell Faith what she thinks of her, finally. Also, one day in the not too distant future Willow will be the one who Faith should fear.

• Despite the silliness of it happening at all, the clandestine meetup scene is a high point. I’m sure Giles (and others) agree with The Mayor re: Buffy/Angel’s relationship. As far as doomed couplings go, Buffy, yours is high on the list. Random security guard has his face eaten by a demon spider monster–how’d Snyder explain that one? And Buffy could have grabbed the box, y’know. It was right there. Oh well.

• Willow’s reason for staying in Sunnydale works for me and seems in character, as does Buffy’s joy at the news. Also, “I have a shot at being a badass Wicca” couldn’t be more true.
• Cordy’s a worker bee and I guess we’re supposed to feel bad for her, but really–poor little rich girl has to work for a living after all? How sad, my heart breaks.

• Buffy and Angel try to keep fooling themselves in that last scene, but the rot isn’t going away. I’m pretty pleased he’s hitting the road soon.

3.20 The Prom

• Written by Marti Noxon / Directed by David Solomon
• It’s the last Buffy and Angel couple episode (mostly), yay! Wrap it up.
• Angel Sense Fail: He can’t sense sunrise? Seems like that’d be important.

• More Anya, which the behind-the-scenes decision makers seemed to realize is a good thing. Now, barring a date here or there, this will be Xander’s last relationship in the TV series. The comics are another story, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
• Joyce has largely sat quietly on the sidelines when it comes to Buffy & Angel, but good for her telling Angel who’ll need to make the hard choices very soon. Also, I like her noticing the chains in the wall and moving right along. Joyce and vampires are fun together.

• Giles can’t take all the prom dress talk (”And I will be wearing pink taffeta as chenille doesn’t go with my complexion”), which I certainly sympathize with.
• Hey look, it’s Andrew’s brother. We won’t see him again, but I’ll point out when we hear him one other time.

• Angel randomly breaking up with Buffy in the sewer isn’t the best choice, but I guess that’s just another day at the office. At least he doesn’t bring Joyce up. Buffy and Willow agreeing that it’s the right choice to end the relationship is a nice touch.
• Cordy’s info dump on her parents’ money troubles set her up for the upcoming move to Angel while also providing an opportunity to make amends with Xander. Two birds.

• I appreciate there’s no ridiculous zoom and enhance stuff with the VHS security tape, but there is a rather odd angle on the video camera.
• Willow hacked into Tucker’s email? She’s quite a cyber criminal over the course of the series.

• Buffy makes the plan and delegates what’s happening–there’ll be a lot more of that in her future. I’d imagine Giles is a bit proud of the leader she’s growing into. In other speculation of Giles’ feelings, I bet he’s pleased that Angel’s leaving town.
• Captain Holt would sure love the balloon arch everyone enters the prom under. Jonathan has a pretty date–so, working girl or magic? It has to be one of those. And Cordy went stag.

• That random student who saw Buffy kill a monster probably didn’t go to Sunnydale high (he didn’t know where the bathroom was) so I wonder what he thought of that–obviously he’s been around, though, as the whole monster dog thing didn’t throw him too much.
• As for Tucker’s lame “reason” why he wants revenge being that someone said no when he asked them to the prom–I’m pretty sure in real life he’s what we now know as an “incel.” What the hell do you do with someone like him in Buffy’s world? He tried to murder people but they can’t exactly call the cops, so…?

• Buffy’s class protector award is forever a wonderful moment (“A lot of write in ballots”) and something she certainly earned over the years. Giles’ reaction to the award as well as his nice surprise for Buffy continue the wonderful moments.
• So, what is Wesley’s role at Sunnydale? Assistant librarian? Secret assistant to the librarian? And I’m sure today many people would be up in arms about the idea of Wesley and Cordy dating, but she’s legally an adult and we clearly see she makes her own choices/is her own person so I think I agree with everything Giles says about Wesley’s immaturity/fluttering about.

3.21 Graduation Day Pt 1

• Written & Directed by Joss Whedon
• Everyone mills about as their high school years wrap up and Xander/Cordy continue to chat like friends, all the barbs behind them. And no, Willow, you will NOT hang out with Harmony–nor will you miss her. While everyone else is busy with graduation activities, Faith murders Professor Worth and I know she’ll be conflicted about all this stuff later on, but as of now she’s pretty evil about it.

• I remember playing hangman in class on those last days, so that rings true. And Anya’s attraction to Xander comes in handy, as since she’s been around for 1,000 years she can provide some eye witness intel as to what The Mayor’s ascension might entail.
• Casual dress Giles fencing with Wesley, who’s as pompous as ever, provides light amusement before The Mayor randomly shows up to chat, which is so great. There have certainly been all kinds of melees in this place over the years, but somehow his non-violent pop-in still manages to feel very violating. Also, Giles stabbing him is wonderful.

• Buffy gets her mom out of town, which is a pretty good idea. I wonder if the other Scoobies had their families not attend for the same reason. We don’t see or hear of them either way, so it’s up to the viewer to decide.
• Oz’s “Our lives are…different than other people’s” statement is quite an accurate assessment. While their lives may be out of the norm, they still enjoy an inappropriately timed sexual encounter just as much as the rest of society.

• I like how Buffy just takes a box of stuff from Professor Worth’s home. I know he won’t be needing it anymore, but surely the police would frown upon wandering around/taking things from a murder scene. So, how long was Faith waiting on the roof to continue working on her archery skills? And how did she know Buffy and Angel would both be right there? Hm.

• Well, this is NOT your last office romance, Buffy. Not even close.
• Faith and The Mayor have a nice & simple last scene together before he has to eat a bunch of demon spiders, which of course they don’t know will be their farewell interaction. That’s something I’ve learned over the years and try to keep in mind when possible–most of the time in life the last time you happened to do something/talk to someone/what have you will be the last time it happened. Life generally doesn’t let you know when things are about to change or end, it just happens.

• “I hope you die. Aren’t we gonna kiss?” is wonderful, classic Anya.
• Wesley and Buffy finally have a head to head, in which Buffy quits. She’s quite done with the irritant that is the Watcher’s Council and feels right about putting a period on it.
• “C’mon, guys, the suspense is killing Angel” Nice one, Oz.

• Buffy and Faith have the fight we’ve all been waiting for, and it’s lots of fun. “All dressed up in big sister’s clothes” is, I believe, our first subtle hint of what’s to come (all in good time). And Buffy should have just acted fast to grab Faith before she fell–Slayer Sense Fail!

• In more scheduling trivia (because S3 had a few issues), now another two months pass until the second half of the finale *finally* airs in mid-July. Again, because of school shootings or whatever.

3.22 Graduation Day Pt 2

• Written & Directed by Joss Whedon
• “Tea is soothing. I wish to be tense”–an Englishman’s thoughts on why he drinks coffee.
• The Mayor’s quite unhinged after losing the super-powered & murderous daughter figure he’s always wanted. While it’s definitely not a healthy relationship, I don’t doubt he’s genuine.

• Angel mistaking Willow (plus Oz, and maybe Giles?) for Buffy is a thankful bit of light humor before the high drama of Buffy having Angel drink her blood gets started. I know this is monumental and I understand Buffy’s got strong feelings, but if you ask me I don’t think Angel dying would be such a loss. He’s had enough chances, the fact that he chose to mostly just mope around for 100 years was his own doing.

• I understand Buffy getting a shared hospital space, as she’s just some regular citizen, but The Mayor couldn’t pull any strings to get Faith a better set up? And I assume he wasn’t called like he’s her emergency contact so I’d guess he has a source at the hospital. I like how nobody calls the police or seems too concerned when Angel throws the mayor of the town into a door across the room after his “You and your whore!” remark.

• After Giles, Xander, and Willow learn of Angel feeding off Buffy to cure himself I’m sure Giles is ready to never see Angel again. Xander, too, obviously–“Well, it’s just good to know that when the chips are down and things look grim you’ll feed off the girl who loves you to save your own ass.”
• Ah, yes, this Buffy and Faith dream. The one that got all kinds of forums buzzing–”Little miss muffet counting down from 7-3-0”–but what does it all mean? Such fun speculation and a wonderful payoff, years from now.

• I’m glad we get one last Scooby Gang library meeting with everyone before the place becomes ruins. And at the time I’m sure nobody would have guessed that Angel, Cordy, and Wes would be a unit of their own a year from now. You never can tell with BtVS.

• It’s sure glossed over how they got enough explosives to destroy the entire building, but the specifics of those kinds of things have never been the show’s biggest concern. Why waste time on that stuff when, for instance, Cordy and Wes finally kiss? The fact that they have no chemistry and it amounts to a big dud is a nice resolution to this monthslong flirtation.

• Snyder’s a joyless jerk one last time, of course, in his graduation “speech”–who would expect anything less? Willow’s late due to sex so she’s spared his heartfelt words.
• Everything about The Mayor’s speech is wonderful, from his tenor to the daggers in his eyes to the bitterness at Faith not being there (“Some people who should be here today, aren’t…”). The fact that it all culminates in him becoming a huge snake was certainly unexpected by me at the time. I mean, I just didn’t expect the culmination of his years-long journey to be turning into a snake.

• The logistics of this whole battle, by the way, don’t make anything resembling sense. It works as a thematic climax to their high school years, but if you think about the “How?” of any of it…well, it’s best not to go that route.

• Mayor snake eats Snyder pretty quickly (making it two Sunnydale principals eaten on the job, that we know of), and then kills Larry with a tail whip. Boooooo. I’ve always found it disappointing they kill the one gay guy who’s barely ever around, nobody even cares, and then we never get another one. Andrew doesn’t count as he’s not out until S9 or S10 in the comics. They certainly lean into him being a closeted gay, but it’s more for jokes at his expense than anything else. I could keep going about this topic so I will stop now.
• I’m amused how all the parents just flee and leave their kids behind to die–that must have been an awkward dinner afterwards for many.

• Despite my displeasure at the Larry situation, as a whole the graduation melee is fun nonsense. Honestly, I would have been okay if Harmony just died when she was bitten instead of being turned (as we learn next season). I’ve never been a huge Harmony fan. Oh well, at least Cordy gets to stake a vampire and Giles & Xander get to blow up the school.

• Giles salvages Buffy’s battle damaged diploma in one final act as librarian before he segues into man of leisure for a while.
• I just realized Buffy doesn’t do any fighting in this whole episode. She punches Angel a couple times at the beginning, but I wouldn’t call that a fight. Even in S4’s dream finale next season Buffy manages to squeeze in a quick slayer vs slayer bout so this is actually the only season finale where Buffy has nobody to fight. Willow, too, doesn’t have much heavy lifting to do this episode–magical or otherwise.

• Good day to you, Angel. I said good day!And that’s a series wrap on both Cordy and Wes, though we’ll obviously see a lot more of them over on Angel. 
• The Scooby Gang departs high school one last time. Their yearbook cover, “The Future is Ours,” has greater meaning by the time the comics wrap up nearly twenty years later considering they actually manage to greatly influence how future events unfold. Maybe their yearbook editor had The Sight.

And that’s a wrap on the high school years. Despite the fact there’s no cliffhanger or To Be Continued feeling of “What will happen to the gang next year?!?”, this season finale arguably leads to the most change from season to season. Even Buffy dying at the end of S5 doesn’t result in an overhauling of who, where, why, etc the way the S3 finale does. S7’s finale is a bigger fundamental change to the entire fabric of the show, obviously, but that’s a series finale and therefore a completely different beast.

Anyway, we lose the library and the whole high school in general, Buffy no longer answers to the Council, Angel & Cordy leave town, Giles isn’t actively a Watcher anymore, Buffy’s going to move away from home, and that’s not even counting all the ways S4 continues to bring about change once we get there.

I know last wrapup I did a whole postseason breakdown of where each couple and character was at, but I don’t think that’s necessary now as I’m covering more stuff in each episode. Plus, if you’re reading this then you know the broad strokes of who’s dating who. What I will say, now that S3 has walked off into the sunset, is this is easily the best one yet. The episodes themselves are generally tighter and more well-made than S2, there’s better consistency, the overarching storyline carries through the year nicely, and personally I prefer Faith/The Mayor to Evil Angel.

The finale to S2 has more high drama and Buffy catching that sword before wiping the floor with Angel is still one of my favorite moments of the show, but as a whole I think S3 takes the cake. The fact that after this wonderful season where it feels like things are firing on all cylinders most of the time they decide to embrace the natural progression of life is quite respectable. Really, it wouldn’t have been unheard of for a TV show to twist itself into a pretzel trying to find ways of keeping the status quo preserved–Giles becoming librarian of the college where all the principal characters attend, for instance. 

One thing I didn’t notice until this rewatch was that Cordy and Angel don’t interact *at all* during S3. Never. They’re not even in a room together until The Prom and they still don’t share any dialogue–just a couple quick moments where they’re in the same shot. It’s the same situation for Graduation Day Pt 2. I suppose Whedon & co decided to keep that pairing relatively untouched for their impending move to LA.

Changes are coming to Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Retrospecticus as well, but we’ll get to that next time. For now, though, just enjoy the breather and have at this installment’s trivia questions.

1. Who had a wife named Candy?
2. The Lowell House for children housed how many adolescents?
3. What were the names of the FBI agents who took Marcie away?

*Last week’s answers: 1) The Dance of Capitalist Superiority, 2) Justin

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Retrospecticus – Season 3
RATING:	TV 14+	Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3 DVD Trailer
Runtime:	~16 Hrs. 40 Mins.
Directed By:	All These People
Written By:	All These People