Reviewed By: Adam Bardwell
Rating: 9/10
This episode is quire easy to sum up - it is great drama with the animosity between Faith and Buffy steeping up a big notch but the plot is a little underdeveloped leaving the viewer puzzling exactly why events occurred as they do. In some cases this ambiguity is good, such as did Faith go to Angel for she was genuinely wigging on seeing the blood on her hands or was it an off screen order from the Mayor. Other under-explain areas are slightly more annoying, however, in particular the whole act Angel and Buffy pull on Faith. Did it come about because the sorcerer informed Giles of the Mayors plan? If so how did he know of Giles association with Angel and why did he say for Giles not to call on him again at the end of the show implying that Giles had set the whole thing up but yet he didn't know the Mayors plans. Also why weren't the scoobies informed as to what was going on. It is possible to come up with rational answers to these questions which kind of make sense but the casual viewer isn't going to give it a lot of thought and just see these as plot holes. It would have only taken a line or two to explain these questions.
This underdevelopment of certain plot points is really the only problem with this episode. That and the predictability that Angelus wasn't really back. On first seeing this episode I didn't guess that Angel was acting as Angelus but I was clear that this would only be a temporary turning to the dark side. We had Angel turn to Angelus in the second half of season 2 and there was no way the writers were going to do the same this season. I didn't mind the predictability here really it was just great to see Angelus again - he's always great fun to see!
The way the writers tantalise the audience with little details of the Mayors past and his forthcoming ascension shows a very solid approach to continuity based story telling. This is an important episode for the Buffy / Faith story arc yet it stands on its own quite nicely while using previous episodes as a base and setting up future events. To put it more simply it is part of an arc not a serial which certain episodes of season 4 could be accused and so it is not bogged down with a larger story - it has its own clearly defined beginning, middle and end.
The beginning teaser was funny. Buffy and Angel come out of the cinema having just seen the film Le Banquet d'Amelia. They found it a bit saucy - they had naïvely thought that it was about food (although they did acknowledge the scene with the food in). Although funny it was also sweet how Angel said that he was in control. Of course he isn't fully which is part of what his show has been exploring (see, for example, "Blind Date") . As a aside I wonder whether this film inspired Angel to spill that peanut butter on him in "I Will Remember You". Although this could not be described as a comic episode this beginning sets the tone for the sprinkling of humorous moments it does have. I particularly liked Cordelia's attempt to get Wesley to go on a date with her by saying she needed help with an English assignment and that she needed an insiders perspective. Xander's response of; "The day Cordelia redefined the phrase 'flimsy excuse' we sat in awe", was a real gem.
The main thrust of this episode is the Buffy / Faith story. The show gets its name from the fact that Buffy discovers Faith's allegiance to the Mayor so they both now know the other is the enemy. Previously they have felt threatened by each other which is partly to blame for this situation. Faith has had particular trouble dealing with Buffy. She has everything that Faith feels she should have had. Sunnydale was ment to be her town yet she has to share it like she has to share a Watcher. She wants acceptance and friends. Buffy has this and Faith turning to the Mayor then trying to take Angel from Buffy is her way to try to take what Buffy has away from her. She is bitter and so plays with Buffy as she basically admits in "Sanctuary" after continuing this trend by sleeping with Riley when she was in Buffy's body (in "Who Are You?". When Faith first goes to Angel in this episode she has just killed the demon who had the books of ascension. This seemed to shake her up and she seems genuinely questioning what she should do to change when she arrives at Angel's with the demons blood on her hands. It becomes apparent that this isn't really the case - the Mayor has sent her to try to take Angels soul. I think the point of all this is to show that killing does affect Faith but she is able to shake it off and no longer think about it and she was acting with Angel. Its a pity that we will never know for sure.
The best drama of the show comes when Angel reveals that he and Buffy were acting. The scene with Faith gloating immediately before finding out that she has been tricked is great television and there is a great slow motion as Faith realises what is going on. This leads me to a quick mention of the director, David Grossman. This is his first episode of Buffy and he does a very good job. He gives the show a very good dark feeling. The use of a fast (almost 'crash') zoom into Angelus and Faith was particularly good.
Buffy is worried by the end of the episode that Angel enjoyed kissing Faith too much. This is very similar to Buffy's reaction to Faith's actions in "Who Are You?". In both cases Buffy's feeling are brought up and her other half assures her that Faith ment nothing in the next episode, "Earshot" and "Superstar" respectively (both Jonathan shows). It is this on off nature of Buffy and Angel's relationship in season three, though, that lead me feel that there relationship dragged a little too much. They make a great couple and there is a great irony with a vampire slayer being in love with a vampire but they had played this out really in the first two seasons. Things might have worked out better with Angel the series starting after Buffy's second season.
Great Buffy Moment: Faith realising that she has been tricked.
In a Nutshell: A very god episode although some aspects of the plot required more explanation.