The Good: This was an episode with some fine scenes and moments but one that didn’t hang together all that well.

The first incidents where Buffy discovers she can read thoughts were excellent. The insecurities of her class mates and the dirty minded young men of Sunnydale led to some obvious comedy. The Scooby meeting in the library really captured the problems of telepathy in one lovely bit of scripting. Cordelia, Xander and Wesley carried the easy laughs while Willow raised genuine concerns about being friends with a mind reader. Oz’ philosophical musings provoked even deeper questions. It was wonderful short hand to demonstrate why this power would further alienate Buffy from the world.

Angel had a good episode, once more declaring his selfless love for Buffy. I was pleased that he was used as a surrogate Slayer (something you would think might happen more often) and that he saw through her childish attempt to read his mind. His deadpan delivery of “I’m a funny guy” was perfect.

The revelation of Giles and Joyce’s past indiscretion was a triumph for long term planning. By holding off on that for so long this really felt natural, despite the supernatural catalyst. The final shot of Giles walking into a tree out of shock was well timed.

Buffy is a show which was designed to deal with teen angst by using supernatural analogies and the use of telepathy was a very solid example of that. Buffy literally hears all the issues and worries that her peers are experiencing and is able to tell Jonathan that he isn’t alone. It’s the closest the show has got to an “after school special” moment but I thought it was well presented. After what she had been through Buffy was full of sympathy for him even when she thought he was planning slaughter.

There were other jokes which worked nicely, like Cordelia asking people if they planned on murdering people tomorrow or Oz saying (of the school paper) “I always go straight to the obits.”

The Bad: Season three has been full of impressive achievements and yet not everything the producers attempt works exactly as intended. This episode had pacing, tone and twist problems.

In terms of pacing I felt like the first eleven minutes were somewhat wasted as Buffy anticipated developing an aspect of the demon. It didn’t feel like much was happening and I was waiting for the story to really begin. It might have been better if Buffy had developed the ability instantly and then we would have had more time for comedy in the middle and drama at the end.

Instead the writing put the drama and comedy together in an awkward way. Buffy’s ability accelerated in a short space of time and we were asked to feel a sense of desperation that she might go insane. That idea didn’t have adequate time to gain traction and concurrently the jokes kept coming. So while Angel was out fighting to save Buffy’s life, Xander was using his clipboard to wrangle dating advice from girls. There was also a flippant reference to other high school shootings which felt entirely inappropriate. Again the writers had Xander act foolish during the final search for the killer which made him look deeply un-heroic.

As with “Enemies” the writers got too cute with their misdirection. Buffy hears a voice planning mass murder and we are then presented with an unspecific suicide note from Jonathan and see him clutching a rifle with a scope on it. Both these choices were intended to mislead us but not in an organic or understandable way. Buffy could have made the same speech to a suicidal guy as she did to a murderous one. It also meant that the lunch lady (the real killer) was dealt with in very quick and dismissive fashion. Again the misdirection made the story less effective than it might have been.

The Unknown: If those demons could read thoughts then why didn’t they know Buffy was faking her run-and-trip?

Best Moment: The library scene was very well constructed and acted.

The Bottom Line: In a season full of wonderfully ambitious experimentation this was only a minor stumble.

63/100

My Rating: 75

The Good: The story of Buffy as a mind-reader was fun and entertaining. We got to take a nice little peak into the minds of the Scoobies and it allowed for a pretty interesting story about how much people get wrapped up in their own lives.

Hearing everyone’s thoughts was all together humorous, poignant, and thought-provoking. Xander and Cordelia were straight forward comedy, while also revealing the interesting fact that Xander seems to still be pining a bit for Cordelia. Oz’s version of “I think, therefore I am” was a very in-character joke and Willow raised some very important questions. As Buffy gets more and more disconnected from humanity with special powers and skills, what does Willow have to offer to their relationship? This also led to Buffy’s discovery that Giles and Joyce slept together in Band Candy (S3E6). This was an excellent long-term pay-off.

I also appreciated that Cordelia was useful again. We have another example of her being sucked back into the Scoobies because they need all hands on deck to handle the crisis. I loved how Willow took charge and sent everyone on their assignments with their worksheets. We got to see some fun cameos from returning characters Jonathon and Larry as well. The new characters, Lauren and Freddy, were nice miss-directions as well. Freddy, particularly, was an example of a good red herring. We learn through Buffy and Willow that he’s a malcontent and his reason for avoiding Oz makes a lot of sense. When they finally track him down, they learn he was just afraid of being beat up.

Finally, it was nice to see another little bit of maturity in Angel and Buffy’s relationship. After she attempts to use her new power to read his mind about Faith, they have a real conversation about it. Buffy admits her fears that a small part of Angel might still want a bad girl. Angel states plainly that he’s been there, done that and he loves Buffy. As someone who believes all relationships should be rooted in honest, direct, kind communication, I really appreciated this scene. When drama is created purely because characters refuse to talk to each other, it drives me up the wall.

The Bad: My main gripe with this episode is the Jonathon red herring. It’s actually handled pretty well, up until we learn he was planning to use a high-powered sniper rifle to off himself. This comes across as a ludicrous weapon choice and was an obvious attempt to trick the audience into thinking he was going to be the mass murderer.

It’s also a little unfortunate that the lunch lady came out of left field as the murderer. The story was wrapped up so quickly after this discovery, it almost felt truncated. But I’m willing to forgive it because the lunch lady poisoning everyone wasn’t really the point of the episode.

Favorite Moment: Despite not being the real kicker of the episode, the lunch lady was still my favorite moment. Her face when Xander catches her pouring rat poison into the food is just priceless.

The Bottom Line: This is a very entertaining episode which also succeeds very well with the original premise of the show – teenage angst hidden in supernatural happenings.

The Good: There were some fun lines here. I liked Giles asking Xander if he had got a receipt for his bribe and it was good to see Willow tell Buffy to cut the crap and just go talk to Angel. I also liked the opening scene where we finally got some focus on how Buffy and Angel’s dating life actually functions.

The Bad: Otherwise I really didn’t like this.

I never thought Angel had turned into Angelus. Yet the slow motion turn of Faith’s head when the ruse was revealed makes it clear that I was supposed to. It was a bad miscalculation by the writers to go anywhere near Angelus.

It’s so rare for television shows to create genuinely emotive villains. We’ve all seen too many silly James Bond-style bad guys to take the average character seriously. Yet in season two Buffy managed to create the truly chilling thought that her boyfriend was now a dangerous, unrepentant psychopath who could kill at any moment.

As soon as “Angelus” reappeared here my b.s. meter went off. Could the writers really be so foolish as to actually bring him back with no build up? Fortunately they didn’t but unfortunately they played at it. I found the scenes where he and Buffy had to interact pretty unpleasant. I didn’t like the idea that the show was trying to squeeze emotion from something really important in what I saw as a flippant manner.

Perhaps I would have felt differently if the story was written in a different way. At no point did anyone discuss a suspicion that Faith was working with the Mayor. Not even after they had uncovered the truth. Sometimes twists like that can work well but on this occasion I thought it felt flat. The way it was presented I kept thinking “is it really worth dredging up these horrible memories just to find out more about the ascension.” Also if Buffy really suspected that Faith was working for the Mayor then shouldn’t she have planned to capture her somehow? Angel could have taken her by surprise and knocked her out but no, they had to give the audience the “shocking” revelation which actually undermined the logic of what they were doing.

The whole episode felt badly organised. Before Buffy’s plan came into being we also got the Mayor and Faith making an unannounced attempt to take Angel’s soul. It was only after he had rejected Faith that we learnt that that is what she was up to. To already have had an unexplained plan go on earlier in the episode took more away from the main twist.

We are also asked to accept that Faith is now evil and happy about it. Last episode she looked uncomfortable at the thought that Willow was going to be killed. Now she is revelling in the thought of the Mayor massacring the town. She also shows no discomfort at psycho Angelus being by her side despite years of slaying and is ready to torture Buffy. That part I find particularly difficult. The idea of the Mayor slaughtering people is a bit abstract at the moment so perhaps she is not really thinking it through. The Angel seduction is a jealous reaction to the life Buffy has. But torture? So she is going to watch Buffy scream in pain and die slowly and enjoy that? It’s all a big jump from the attention seeking, confused girl we have known so far.

The Mayor is also a problem. Early in the episode he seems to have an interesting push-pull relationship with Faith where he makes a veiled threat about killing her should she fail in her task. Yet when she does fail the task he acts like her Father and tries to cheer her up with talk of miniature golf. His endless chatter about germs and mints is becoming a bit obnoxious. The Master liked a camp turn of phrase but there was no doubt about his desire to kill and maim. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to think about the Mayor. It feels like the writers have fallen in love with their creation rather than actually building a character to make the audience feel something. I mean, who cares about calories if you are going to ascend?

I didn’t think much of Buffy getting jealous over Angel liking Faith. At this point in her relationship with Angel is she seriously worried about him leaving her for another girl? It seemed so petty, especially considering there is clearly nothing in a relationship for him (as they discussed in the opening scene).

Finally I disliked Cordelia relentlessly hitting on Wesley. It seemed unbecoming for a girl who once played with men for her own social benefit to be begging for a date so shamelessly. She also seemed crass for doing it all in front of Xander (the writers thankfully acknowledged this).

The Unknown: What is the ascension? What kind of being is the Mayor?

Best Moment: Willow telling Buffy to stop whining and go talk to Angel.

The Bottom Line: I thought this was a major miscalculation. To mess with the emotions surrounding Angelus felt flippant and foolish. The story was poorly structured and required a major unexplained leap forward in Faith’s turn to the dark side.

45/100

My Rating: 53

The Good: This was an excellent episode – the first time I saw it. It allowed the characters to catch up to the audience in a very dramatic, fun way. As viewers, we already knew Faith was evil and that the Mayor was planning something big. After everything that happened in Bad Girls (S3E14) and Consequences (S3E15), it was nice to keep the momentum going with this tricky story. However, it doesn’t fair well on Rewatch. The crux of the episode is the long con Buffy and Angel are playing. Knowing what’s coming, it just becomes too easy to focus on the plot holes instead of getting wrapped up in the story.

That being said, there were some great things in this episode. I loved Faith. She’s wild and crazy, but calculated. Her attempts to seduce Angel are keyed to his desire to protect damsels in distress, she takes that demon out with ferocity, and she still feels the loss of her “Slayer life” at the end of the episode. She brought this all about herself, of course, but we can see that she’s a bit lost and confused by all that happened. It was also fun to see the developing twisted father-daughter relationship she has with Richard.

Angel as Angelus was also very interesting. The upside to this being a Rewatch was seeing how David Boreanaz plays Angelus ever so slightly differently when he’s Angel pretending to be Angelus. It’s still oh so convincing, but there’s just a bit more restraint in the character. He punched Xander instead of killing him and he waited to chat with the Mayor before attempting to stab him with the letter opener. Two examples of things Angelus, the real demon, probably would have done a bit differently.

And, finally, seeing the emotions the ruse stirred up in Buffy were the best part. While I was frustrated that it seemed like no one else really knew what was going on (The Bad), it did allow Buffy to finally begin to explore how her doomed relationship with Angel makes her feel. They can’t ever really be together, but they’ve been doing a good job so far of pretending that doesn’t matter. Now, “Angelus” has reared his ugly head again and Buffy is painfully forced to face her memories of last year. The final scene of the episode was the first in the Buffy/Angel relationship that I’ve found stirring and emotional since Angel’s return in Beauty and the Beasts (S3E4). This felt real.

The Bad: The unfortunate thing is that what made this episode great on first watch, made it terrible on the second. Not knowing the con being played on Faith makes it exciting and confusing. However, knowing what’s coming just allowed me to focus on the questions of: Why didn’t they tell the rest of the Scoobies? When did Angel and Buffy plot this? Why are they now beginning to suspect Faith when last episode they believed she was reforming? Why did they let Faith escape at the end instead of capturing her? How the heck did Giles and Richard just happen to contact the same mystical ninja guy? Who contacted him first?

The questions go on and that’s the problem. The more you dig into the con, the more flimsy the feasibility becomes. Especially because it went completely unexplained at the end. Buffy didn’t apologize or justify her decisions to the Scoobies. For people she’s been treating as almost-equal partners in the protection of Sunnydale, this was very disappointing.

Worst of all, however, is Cordelia. The writers cannot figure out a long-term game plan for her. Some weeks she’s wonderfully fitted into the story and some weeks she’s so plainly shoe-horned in, it’s painful. This was a very bad week. Her over-directness involving Wesley is out of character and unreasonable. She’s the popular, pretty girl. She doesn’t chase boys, they chase her. She acts very desperately around Wesley, attempting to trick him into asking her out and then declaring that she’s essentially not leaving his side. Even more cruelly, she’s being so blatantly obvious in front of Xander. While I can believe she might try to rub his nose in things a bit, this was just too over the top. The show even goes meta by having Xander comment on Cordelia’s complete lack of subtlety. This doesn’t make it funny, it just makes me cringe more.

Favorite Moment: Despite all of my complaints, my favorite moment stems from my fond first memories of this episode. As a new viewer, I had no idea the con was going on. I thought Angelus was back and evil as all get out. Therefore, the short scene between him and Joyce was chilling to me. I honestly thought he might kill her in that moment. It brought chills to my spine that I still remember today.

The Bottom Line: This is a great episode on first watch, but it does not hold up to multiple viewings.

The Good: There are three parts to this terrific episode. One is the story of Willow and the changes and consistencies of her character. The second is a wonderfully plotted story which was as entertaining and clever as the show can be. The third was comedy and there was plenty of it.

The reason I say the changes and consistencies of Willow is that although she is growing in maturity and confidence she remains deeply good. I am more convinced than ever that the reason Buffy works so well as a show is the strong moral centre to its main characters. Willow is a lovely, sweet girl with a gentle spirit but she is also firm and strong when it comes to knowing what is right and wrong.

That gentleness is played up wonderfully throughout the episode and the writers understand how to draw the line between gentle and timid. Willow’s brief rebellion ends quickly as soon as she recognises that Anya is dealing with something genuinely dark. Even then though she has to try and teach and cajole Anya into doing the right thing rather than yell. Similarly there was something terribly sweet about her affection for the demon who had stolen her body. Even when faced with soulless evil she still saw something redeemable.

Clearly Willow is changing though. The writers have been thorough at drip feeding us her growing knowledge of magic so that seeing her levitating a pencil didn’t seem silly. She has also gained in confidence to the point where she was willing to set foot into a club full of vampires and risk her life to save others.

Alyson Hannigan was really good throughout the episode. She plays Willow with a nervous, childish energy all the time and so her shift into a cold and calculating vampire was effective. Even better was when she then had to play Willow again but now in the bondage outfit. Suddenly you could see her craft on display as she had to play Willow pretending to be something she isn’t. Great job.

So to the plot and its wonderfully logical twists and turns. So many ducks had to be put into rows to make this work and it worked. Just think about how many ongoing stories were slotted beautifully into place. First you had the dystopian universe from “The Wish” which none of the characters except Anya would recognise. Then we had the Mayor using Faith to get information on what the gang were up to and Snyder leaving Percy’s education in Willow’s hands. This set up a string of hilarious confrontations as Vamp Willow surprised everyone who came across her.

Then things got really clever as Anya explained to Vamp Willow what was really going on and she headed off to the library to find Willow. Willow was able to tranq her and the subsequent clothes swap led to the fun of Willow pretending to be a vampire. Even more extraordinary was what followed back in the library (see Best Moment) as the writers finally rediscovered how to use Cordelia. Again the budding Cordelia-Wesley romance was played into with him able to save the day in heroic cowardly fashion. The final punch lines were excellent too with Vamp Willow returning only to be run through by Alt Oz as she was meant to be and Percy handing in his homework with an apple on top. It was a breathless and brilliantly structured story that made the most of all those involved.

So to the comedy. Sometimes Buffy is better at comedy than actual comedies. This was one of those times. There were jokes that I remembered which I laughed at then (Xander shaking his cross to see if it still worked, Giles hugging Willow after everyone else has finished) but didn’t this time simply because I knew they were coming. Then there were a bunch of jokes which I had forgotten (All the Willow as Vamp Willow stuff, Anya being 1120 years old but too young to buy a drink) which were delightful to relive. Sometimes the writers just resorted to sit com dialogue and nailed it:

Giles: “Well, uh, something, something very strange is happening.”
Xander: “Can you believe the Watcher’s Council let this guy go?”

Again though I direct you to the best moment of the episode which I thought was tremendous.

As if the episode weren’t brimming with enough good stuff there was yet more. I liked that Snyder was presented as a smart guy who didn’t pretend that Percy wasn’t a jerk. I thought the Faith-Mayor scene was fascinating. The weird Father-daughter relationship and the horrible price Faith is willing to pay to live in luxury sets up good stuff going forward. Then you had the interesting exploration of Vampire-human psychology. Since Spike appeared it’s become clear that some vampires retain large chunks of their human emotion. Here it would seem Willow’s straight laced “fuzziness” could still contain hidden depths of kinkiness, strength and perhaps homosexuality. The moment where they both gave a snort of derision toward Anya was a nice touch. I also liked seeing Angel use pool balls in a fight, which was just cool.

The Bad: I suppose it’s worth questioning a couple of things that happened. A tranquiliser dart knocking out a vampire raises some questions about how their biology works. I didn’t like Cordelia being able to move from acknowledging that Willow was dead to asking Wesley out. The writers have often pushed her character too far for a punch line and this was needlessly unkind.

The Unknown: What is Faith willing to accept in exchange for a Playstation? Mayor Wilkins has a family or is just a family man? So is Anya just stuck here now and how are the gang going to keep an eye on her?

Best Moment: Vamp Willow wakes up to discover she is wearing Willow’s clothes and locked in the book cage. In walks Cordelia, clearly hoping to see Wesley. Vamp Willow recognises an opportunity and watches her tongue as she tries to talk Cordelia into letting her out. Cordelia puts the key in the lock but then pauses. Suddenly tension turns to laughter as Cordelia suddenly recognises the chance to talk about Xander. Again the writing is so strong because we haven’t seen them really talk since it happened (308) so it made perfect sense for Cordelia to use this position of strength to witter on and on and reach some catharsis. Of course Vamp Willow couldn’t let on that anything was amiss so we got a great jump cut to her hanging off the cage looking terminally bored as she waited for Cordelia to stop talking.

The Bottom Line: In a season already replete with brilliant episodes this is another one. This didn’t have the transcendent qualities which I saw in “The Zeppo.” But it was just Buffy at its best. As usual when the monster of the week is a character we know and care about things get really good. The comedy and storytelling were hugely impressive and you will have to work hard to find light drama better than this.

82/100

My Rating: 76

The Good: What an excellent way for an episode to focus on Willow. We’ve gotten to see some intense looks at Buffy and Xander, so it only makes sense for Willow to get a turn. And bringing back VampWillow from “The Wish” (S3E9) was pure genius. Alyson Hannigan really gets to showcase her acting skills. Not only does she have to play two very different yet interconnected characters, she then has to play one of those characters pretending to be the other character. And she does it all very, very well. This episode would have fallen apart under the weight of its own absurdity if it had been given to a lesser performer.

Having VampWillow also allowed the other actors to play a bit. They got to react to the “new” Willow and her supposed death. Buffy and Xander’s faces in the Bronze when VampWillow snarls at them are absolutely pitch perfect. And the scene in the library after they tell Giles is particularly well-conceived (see Favorite Moment).

Cordelia got to have a moment in the sun this week as well when she held VampWillow captive in the book cage to lecture her “about the ethics of boyfriend stealing”. This was brilliant as VampWillow had to pretend she was regular Willow and listen to Cordelia prattle on. The payback in her eyes when she finally gets out of the book cage is just wonderful.

Finally, I really enjoyed the short scene between Richard and Faith. Faith reacts to Richard’s generosity with a very sexual energy, which he quickly shuts down. It is reasonable to assume Faith would see things in a sexual light as it is her way of controlling men. But I like that Richard seems to be viewing Faith more as a trainee who he’s grooming and providing for. I also liked her face of actual concern when he suggests killing Willow. Too bad it disappears so quickly.

The Bad: Anyanka was the most annoying part of this episode for me. She spends most of her time on screen complaining. She has quite a bit to be bitter about (turning human, losing her necklace, and being forced to only drink soda), but that didn’t stop her from wearing on me very quickly. I wanted to cheer “hear hear!” when Willow suggests the blood bath should start with Anyanka.

In contrast to the good reactions, we have some bad ones from Cordelia and Wesley. When they think Willow has been turned into a vampire, it’s quickly dismissed for a joke. Poor form.

Favorite Moment: I could have easily picked out a half dozen moments in this episode to talk about, but the one I appreciated the most as a critical viewer was the scene in the library where Buffy, Xander, and Giles think Willow is dead. For an episode about misidentity, this was a lovely serious moment. I appreciated that the show had them react as I would expect if Willow really was dead. But I also appreciate that the real Willow quickly walked in so things weren’t carried too far.

The Bottom Line: This episode was a fun look at Willow’s personality.

Cordia and I can’t make our schedules match over the next couple of weeks. So the next podcast will be with you on January 9th.

Until then, happy holidays!
Robin

Here’s the podcast for Season 3, Episode 15 – Consequences

Angel treats his guests well

Download: Consequences