Faith, Hope & Trick
Faith, Hope & Trick
Season 3, Episode 3 (Episode 37 of entire series)
Pardon me while I invoke some Jim Croce: "...movin' ahead so life won't pass me by..." (okay its title, "I Got a Name", would've worked for Anne, but I think this works here, too.) This ep. marks Buffy's reinstatement at school, and also introduces a slew of new characters..or, okay, maybe just 3...Scott Hope, Mr. Trick, and Faith. Who are these folks? A new slayer in town, a potential new "friend" for Buffy, and a new demonic evil --not necessarily in that order, and no, I don't mean Snyder is the demon. Probably most important, though, is Buffy's coming to terms with what happened with Angel and Acathla. Here Buffy opens up to Giles and Willow about what happened, and seems to put it to rest as best she can. Okay really she's just sort of starting to deal with it more and move on.
Show starts with Willow yammering about how it's sort of a rite of passage to be able to leave campus for lunch...she can't deal with the enormity (?) of the sitch, so Oz and Xander pick her up and carry her...over to the lawn to meet Buffy for lunch. Buffy's still out of school -- though she and her mom are meeting with Snyder the next day -- and she brings the gang a picnic lunch. All the while, Willow talks about how Buffy should do her "smile" and get back into dating. She also mentions the perfect candidate, Scott Hope, who's liked Buffy for a long time...
Cut to a guy in a big limo, who's ordering a soft drink at a drive-thru window. The restaurant's character, a big happy hamburger eating guy, reminds me of the old Big Boy they had at Shoney's before that dumb marketing tool, aka Shoney Bear came to town. Um, anyhoo, this fellow is yapping about how great the death toll in Sunnydale is, and he's with some odd-looking cloven-hoofed thing with a vandyke. The thing's also got an ocular problem..namely, a big old scar over one of his eyes. His modus operandi? He wants to kill the Slayer. Like that's something new. Anyhoo, what's interesting to me is the sign that reads: "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone." -- it's neat for a few reasons 'cause the black vampire just talked about how "the dale" is mostly a place of "the Caucasian persuasion." But it also is neat because Snyder is plainly refusing Buffy's right to schooling....ooh.
Anyhoo, Buffy gets reinstated in school, she has to pass a bunch of make-up exams. Meanwhile, there's a fellow, Scott Hope, who's had a huge crush on Buffy for a long time, and at Willow's urging, he shows up at the Bronze to try to hang with Buffy. Although he uses the word "mosey" things don't really work out as he'd like them to. Buffy's still not sure she's ready to do the fun thing. At least where dancing/dating is concerned.
Anyhoo, at the Bronze, Cordy makes fun of some girl's outfit and the girl's dance partner -- Buffy realizes that the guy is a vampire and runs out of the Bronze to see what's up. In the alley, they see the girl beating the vamp up; the girl introduces herself as Faith, and she swipes Buffy's stake and kills said vamp. Buffy's stunned.
Anyway, a lot of what happens in this episode has to do with Buffy's...well, see, the whole time, she's trying to adjust to her new life and says she wants to put things behind her. But Giles keeps bugging her about what went down with Angel and Acathla. And Scott keeps coming up to Buffy and sort of getting mixed signals from her. And Faith sort of takes Buffy's friends, her Watcher, her french fries...
Meanwhile, new enemies show up in Sunnydale. Kakistos has a bone to pick with Faith, and he's brought his vamp entourage, which includes one Mr. Trick. When Buffy learns that Faith's watcher died at the cloven hooves of Kakistos, and when she learns that Kakistos is in town, she tells Faith. Faith does the Buffy and starts to pack, much to Buffy's dismay, but it's too late. Kakistos & Co. show up at Faith's motel, and Buffy and Faith take off through a window. Big showdown, Trick leaves while the getting is good, and the chicks kill Kakistos.
Later, Buffy tells Giles and Willow what really went down at the Garden Mansion, and Buffy makes amends with Scott, they plan to do something. Buffy also decides to put her past behind her as best she can by placing her claddagh ring on the spot where Angel was sucked into hell through the vortex. She leaves...and misses Angel's drop-in from hell!
That's a nutshell. For more, why not watch the 'sode?
1. Faith beat the vamp outside the Bronze, and staked him with Buffy's stake.
2. Buffy beat Kakistos's vamps during patrol, while Faith pounded on one mercilessly.
3. Buffy staked Kakistos once, then Faith rammed a big wooden log thing through him.
1. Seniors can leave campus for lunch!
2. Giles clucks his tongue to show you he's mad, according to Willow.
3. According to Faith, slaying makes a girl "hungry and horny."
4. Buffy's seen Single White Female.
5. Joyce doesn't want Buffy to die.
6. Returning from Hell looks somewhat akin to a Terminator's arrival.
1. Sunnydale High School
2. Happy Burger
3. Buffy's house
4. The Bronze
5. Some streets, alleys
6. The Garden Mansion
7. A motel(interior)
8. A warehouse (Trick's/Kakistos's place)
1. Buffy
2. Willow
3. Xander
4. Giles
5. Cordelia
6. Angel
7. Joyce Summers
8. Oz
9. Principal Snyder
10. Faith
11. Happy Burger Guy
12. Scott Hope
13. Mr. Trick
14. Kakistos
15. Motel Guy
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