Reviewed By: Adam Bardwell
Rating: 8.5/10
This is a good follow up to the events of "Bad Girls" exploring how the fact that Faith killed a man has affected her. In some respects it can be seen as the second part to that story. These two episodes are often referred to as a two-parter but I don't buy that. They are closely connected but as only the Faith story carries over they are not two parts of the same adventure (different villains etc). There is a continuity problem with these episodes, two-parter or not, which is that in "Bad Girls" we see Buffy the day after the murder go and see Faith yet in this episode we see her dream and wake up on this same day. Events were probably ordered in this nonsensical order to give the shocking ending to "Bad Girls" of Faith not caring what she had done but this lack of continuity grates when the series prides itself on this aspect of its stories.
The way Buffy and Faith deal with the events of "Bad Girls" is the main thrust of the episode. It shock Buffy up badly - she feels quite guilty and very distressed by Faiths lack of guilt. In fact Faith is unable to admit what she has done. In fact she goes to Giles to tell him that it was Buffy who accidentally killed the Deputy Mayor. This shows not only how deeply she is in denial but how she can't value her friendship with Buffy. This is symptomatic of her lack of trust of everyone except herself which was of course compounded by the betrayal of Ms. Post in "Revelations". This is key to her inability to deal with what has happened.
It was very logical to have Angel try to help Faith deal with what she has done. He knows what it is like to take a life and not care. There are a great deal of parallels between the characters and he has the best chance to get though to her which he finally proves in "Sanctuary". How well he is getting though to her here is difficult to judge. She certainly seems to be listening but how well she is taking it in is hard to say. If he had had more time with her he may well have perverted her turning to the dark side so to speak. This was finally set of by Wesley kidnapping her and attempting to take her back to England to face a disciplinary inquiry (where did he get those helpers from?). She escaped his custody and all hope for her for the time being at least was lost. She went to the docks to leave but Buffy and then Mr. Trick and some of his henchvamps found them. Faith ending up saving Buffy by slaying Trick leading Buffy to believe that she has come though for them. Little does she know that Faith uses this opportunity to approach the Mayor to ask for Tricks job in a equally brilliant as it is shocking end scene.
The revelation that the man Faith killed, Deputy Mayor Allan Finch, was planning to betray the Mayor and give information to the Slayers - probably about the ascension - makes his death more tragic. Its a piece of classic Hollywood irony but I think its ironic for Faith in particular for if she hadn't killed him she would have remained on Buffy's side with ammunition on the Mayor who becomes her farther figure in the run op to the season finale. In fact if things had turned out differently they may have been able to stop the Mayors dedication thus preventing his ascension. As it is they find out about the Mayor's association with Mr. Trick in this episode and finally realise he is up to something (of course its too late in the sense that the dedication has occurred and he can't be harmed until the ascension).
This leads me to Mr. Trick. He was introduced seemingly as the big bad of the season. He seemed to have potential in this role - he was the first modern vampire of any note and he was the first non-Caucasian character to last more than one episode (the only other black character I can think of is Absalom in "When She Was Bad"). It was clear from his second appearance in "Homecoming" that his role would be as the Mayors side kick. He was cool and the two characters worked well together but we saw disappointingly little of the two of them. Killing him off here made sense, it gave Faith a job, but it seems like an opportunity with his character was lost - we only saw the modern vampire approach in "Homecoming".
There are some very powerful scenes in this episode. Most notably are the one with Willow crying in the toilet and Faith straggling Xander. Willow discovering what Xander and Faith got up to in "The Zeppo" was understandably upsetting for her - she has loved him since she was little (even after he broke her Barbie!). For Xander what happened made him think that he shared a connection. We already know from Faith's comments in "Homecoming" and "Revelations" how she feels about the men she sleeps with. They are just there to be used and disposed of when she gets board - sex doesn't mean anything. Xander should have picked up on this when she kicked him out after the even because she wanted a shower. Even when Buffy tells him Faiths attitude to the men she is with he is unable to accept it so goes over to Faith's to assure her that she has a friend and try to get her to talk about what has happened. Unsurprisingly this doesn't work. She ends up kissing him before strangling. Xander is only saves by Angel's timely appearance to take her to the mansion. This was a surprisingly powerful moment and really shown how dangerous Faith is even to the people who she knows.
Cordelia meets Wesley for the first time in this episode - describing him as "Giles: The Next Generation"! This sets off a fun subplot with runs though the rest of the season. They are attracted to each other but with Wesley feeling it is unproper to get together with a student it takes a while for anything to happen. As fun as this storyline is I prefer there sibling relationship they now share on Angel.
Great Buffy Moment: Has to be the ending with Faith asking for Mr. Trick's old job.
In a Nutshell: More good meaty plot development which to me really highlights how easier Buffy and Faith could have turned out like the other given different circumstances.