Buffy 3x17 - Enemies

[fajrdrako]

Buffy - 3x17 - Enemies

We're on a roll. This is another favourite. I love it on a lot of levels; it's a wonderful game of slight of hand and deceptive points of view. It's also an interesting study in the personalities of three of the most interesting characters in season 3: Buffy, Angel, and Faith. AddAngelus as a ghost-image forth. And the structure of the episode - far superior in its pacing, layering, characterization and nuance than most television, including Buffy. And the suspense. Add in the tug on the heartstrings in all the best ways. Everything - whether deception or truth - was based on knowledge we already had, and understanding of the plot and characters. A major twist, with no cheating. Maybe I should try remembering DouglasPetrie's name? I see that his other work has been unmemorable, but he was "Professor Normal". As Faith would say: "Huh."

So many twists of relationships here.... Interrelated triangles. There's the obvious Buffy/Faith/Angel triangle, and it isn't just two women competing for a man. There's Buffy, Faith and Willow. There's Willow as observer and cheerleader for Buffy's relationship with Angel. There's Xander as the reverse of that, the observer anddenigrater of that relationship. There's the Wesley-Giles-Buffy relationship, which Faith ought to fit into in her role as the second Slayer, but consistently does not.

1. It starts with Angel and Buffy accidentally going to see a sex movie. Artistic. Both feel self-conscious about it. The implication is that it's more of a problem for Buffy than Angel. She explains: "I don't like getting you worked up like that. We can't actually do any of those things. You'd lose your soul. Besides, I don't even own a kimono." I like the way the problem of Angel's soul was mentioned there, without any sense of unnatural exposition, and yet a good set-up for the soul issues later.
   
   
2. Angel tries to explain why it's okay. "It feels nice, just to feel." He seems more-than-perfect here, the loving and romantic man who isn't just sticking to a relationship for the sake of lust. Which is surely difficult for Buffy, who herself isn't exactly lust-free.
   
   
3. Good entrance:

   Angel: [After the kiss] See? Safe as houses.
   Faith: Check out the lust bunnies.

   Brilliant bit of juxtaposition. Faith's cynicism against Angel's sweetness, with Buffy as the fulcrum. Is Faith feeling jealous here, or just trying to make trouble? When she lives for lust and pretends not to feel or believe in love, is she angered to see them as her opposites? Disproving her cynical view of human relations? Or is she just missing the point?
   
   
4. Interesting passage:

   Angel: Council has you back on active duty?
   Faith: Finally.

   This implies a surprising amount of involvement by the Council, and I thought Giles said he planned to not involve the Council in the matter of Faith's murder of Finch. Then Wesley interfered, but failed to send Faith back to England. I guess she used his influence to her back in Council's good graces - ?
   
   
5. Another nice twist, of the kind this episode is so full of:

   Faith: But the close but no cigar thing with Angel. I don't know if I could handle the, you know, the way you're not handling it.
   Buffy:Faith, when it comes to Angel, do me a favour. Duck!

   I love the way Faith's line has double entendres so blatant they are pretty close to graphic single entendres. (People can say those things on TV? It's Faith - she can do anything.) And then the way Buffy's comment twists ninety degrees with the appearance of the demon.
   
   
6. Goofy demon. I don't know if I find the monster-demons better or less than the goofy ones. This one isn't annoying. Just goofy. I rather liked his look. But I... don't like the type, on principle. (Mostly I didn't like the horns.)
   
   
7. I liked the demon's dialogue, though. An entrepreneurial demon. Do we know how he got the Books of Ascension?
   
   
8. I don't really understand this dialogue:

   Buffy: Oh, let him go. I don't think he falls into the 'deadly threat to humanity' category.
   Faith: A demon's a demon.

   First, Buffy has met some mild-mannered demons who turned out to be pretty nasty - is she really such a good judge of demon character to be sure this goofball isn't acting? Second, don't we have plenty of reason to believe that demons do not necessarily resembled each other at all, for good or for bad, and are far from being equally good or dangerous?
   
   
9. This made me laugh:

   Wilkins: What exactly did this demon look like?
   Faith: Demonic.

10. Wilkins makes his 'I wish you'd pull your hair back, you've got such a nice face' speech, which sounds utterly parental to me. Followed (for emphasis) by 'you worry too much for a girl your age', and he gives her a glass of milk. Something in this conversation suddenly gave me insight into why Faith trusts the Mayor when she trusts no one else: it's because she absolutely and completely can't understand him. She thinks she has everyone else figured out, but she doesn't get the Mayor at all. So she takes him at face value - and more than that, he amuses her. She doesn't know what he'll do or why he'll do it, but she does believe he'll help her and stick by her.
    
    
11. I like Wilkin's line 'find this demon, kill the heck out of him.'
    
    
12. Lovely Giles line: "Demons after money. Whatever happened to the still-beating heart of a virgin? No one has any standards any more."
    
    
13. Willow shows a little knowledge she shouldn't have. Just a hint, perhaps, of stronger things to come? Or perhaps a reminder that her theoretical knowledge far surpasses her practical knowledge.
    
    
14. Cordelia comes in and speaks to Wesley.

    Cordelia: I have something important to ask you.
    Xander: Important? Let's start calculating those odds, people.

    I don't understand his joke. Odds of what? Cordelia having something important to say?
    
    
15. But Xander goes get a great line a moment later: "And on the day the words 'flimsy excuse' were redefined, we stood in awe and watched."
    
    
16. So Cordelia is chasing after Wesley pretty openly now.
    
    
17. Though I don't usually like the fight scenes in Buffy, least of all the fight scenes with demons, I really like Faith's battle with the demon here. Just as I like the fight between Buffy and Faith, coming up. There are so many things in this episode that I like more than usual.
    
    
18. One of them being Faith's looks. I don't know quite why she looks better than usual to me here, but she does. Attractive. Sometimes even sexy. In an interesting way. I don't usually think that at all. I also think ElizaDushku's acting is better than usual. (Unlike Joss Whedon, I am not usually impressed by her style.)
    
    
19. I love the demon's emulation of a book dealer, both plea and satire: "Original editions and everything. Great condition. Okay, it;s a little worn on one spine, some slight foxing, but otherwise, perfect."
    
    
20. Faith stares at the blood on her hands after killing the demon and I can't help thinking of Lady Macbeth, except that I don't believe Faith feels any remorse or distress.
    
    
21. Then Faith goes to Angel and I totally love this scene. I have not believed at any point that Faith really has any interest in Angel's attempts to help her; I don't trust Faith at any point. No more than I would trust the Mayor. But here... this scene... Faith was very convincing. Beautifully so. Even though in the very previous scene I believed she felt no remorse about killing, here, I almost believed her. Good acting on several levels - he fear, the remorse, the falsity of it. Good bit:

    Faith: I'm scaring myself.
    Angel: I know the feeling.

22. Then he says: "You can't do this alone." Do what? Deal with guilt issues? Deal with the temptation and desire to kill?
    
    
23. So she comes onto him, then deals with it perfectly:

    Faith: I didn't mean it like that. Maybe I did, but I wouldn't press it. You love her, don't you?
    Angel: I love her.

    And for all my problems with David Boreanaz, I love Angel in this episode. Both sides of the coin, the sweet, loving Angel (who seems to have no limits) and the dangerous, nastyAngelus (who also seems to have no limits).
    
    
24. So Faith pushes again, but oh so plausibly:

    Faith: I know I shouldn't be asking this, but do you think if things were different that things between you and me would be different, too?
    Angel: We'll never know.
    Faith: Right. How could we?
    Angel: Take care of yourself.
    Faith: Lifetime of practice.

    ...Could that almost be taken as a warning? Taking care of herself is what Faith is best at.
    
    
25. So Buffy sees Faith and Angel almost-kiss. Jealousy would be natural, given how much Buffy knows about Faith. But... would sex without love be okay for Angel? No threat to his soul? How much does Buffy trust his judgement?
    
    
26. One of the Mayor's best lines: "There's more than one way to skin a cat. And I happen to know that's factually true." [And of course it makes me think of a robe made of cat fur, from cats in a Cypriot monastery...]
    
    
27. Wonderful, wonderful Giles line - gad, I love the dialogue in this episode.

    Wesley: Find anything?
    Giles: Six course banquet of nothing with a scoop of sod-all as a palate cleanser.

    And the word 'banquet' maybe brings to mind the Banquetd'Amelie at the beginning of the episode, where Angel and Buffy were surrounded by images of lust but when it comes to sex got "a six course banquet of noting" for themselves.
    
    
28. I like the bit of interplay when Wesley says "the Council isn't entirely happy that I'm letting you work for me [gets a look from Giles] - um, with me."
    
    
29. Great Buffy line: "The girl makes Godot look punctual." It might be a tad too intellectual for her, or it could just be that she sometimes lets her depths show.
    
    
30. Nice juxtaposition again:

    Wesley: This demon could be anywhere.... Finding him is going to be extremely difficult.
    Xander: [Entering] Found your demon.

    So he bribed information out of Willy. For Xander, that's really smart. I like the way his story progression goes - from "I applied some pressure" to "I asked politely" to "I bribed him". Even though it's the kind of braggart-lie that I dislike Xander for.
    
    
31. When Faith comes in, there's no end of flirting with Buffy. Xander says, "Is it me or did it just get really cold in here?" I don't understand why he said that. Was it was because Buffy was (partly) unresponsive to Faith's approaches? Or because Faith snubbed the others?
    
    
32. So Buffy fishes about what Faith was doing last night (with Angel, and otherwise) - we're set up to think Buffy has sexual jealousy on her mind, but is it more than that?
    
    
33. The Mayor summons the Mage. I like the Mage. No pointy horns. Is he mortal? He doesn't seem mortal, but he could be. He's like some of the strange occult characters who used to turn up in Doctor Strange when SteveDitko was drawing it. (I have no doubt that Joss Whedon read those comics, too.)
    
    
34. The bit with the low calorie mints was a good touch.
    
    
35. So Willow and Buffy discuss Faith and Angel. I love this: Willow as she ought to be. Especially counselling Buffy to talk to Angel. Loved Willow's line: "Faith would totally do that. Faith was built to do that. She's the do that girl."
    
    
36. What does Buffy think Faith and Angel have in common?
    
    
37. Oh dear. I never thought I'd ever like to look at David Boreanaz. But standing there in that undershirt... Kind of sexy. Sexy in an ugly-David-Boreanaz kind of way.
    
    
38. When Faith came back to 'apologize' to Angel I totally disbelieved her. Scary.
    
    
39. The Mage chants. Angel transforms. He kisses Faith. Worse and worse! Okay, so I didn't believe it, but I wasn't sure what or where the scam was. It had to be a set-up to trap Faith, but I didn't figure that both theMage and Buffy were in on it with Angel.
    
    
40. Angel's "bad to the bone" dialogue is wonderful. I especially liked "You summoned back the true Angelus because you need a new boy toy. Doesn't work that way." I also like: "Funny thing about vampires, Faith. We don't establish meaningful dialogue with Slayers." The levels of irony in that are delightful.
    
    
41. The dialogue in all of this is much sexier than usual.

    Angel: I should have known you'd like it on top.
    Faith: You want to listen or you want to die?
    Angel: As long as you're there, I mostly want you to wriggle.

42. Then Angel gets exactly what he wants: a lead to Faith's new boss.
    
    
43. Cordelia practises making Faith look subtle in comparison, saying to Wesley, "You have the greatest voice. Have you ever thought about doing books on tape?" I can't help sympathising with her here: Wesley does have a nice voice. He has adorkishness that reminds me of Xander, but he doesn't have any of Xander's annoying self-centredness or attempts to deceive. And he looks good in a suit. (Obligatory Captain Jack Harkness quote there.)
    
    
44. Good Buffy line: "I'll go home and... slip into something a little more break-and-enterish."
    
    
45. Willow says she couldn't get into the Mayor's files - he'd emptied them. We know it's because Faith told him Willow was trying to get into his computer. I like the continuity there. Subtly put in, but easy to catch, easy to follow.
    
    
46. Does Giles at this point know what's going on? Has the Mage already spoken to him? The next time we see Buffy, she knows what's going on, even though we don't know she knows. But the timeline isn't entirely clear. Giles could have spoken to her at any time between here and there. But... no, they must already have talked, because she wanted to be alone to be vulnerable to being ambushed or abducted by Angel and Faith. So they must already have had the necessary conversations. My assumption: theMage told Giles what was going on, he told Buffy, Buffy (or Buffy and Giles together) told Angel and brought him into the plan to find out what was going on with Faith, her new boss, and the meaning of the Ascension.
    
    
47. Another twist of dialogue I love:

    Wilkins: Now, then, Angelus, may I call you Angel?
    Angel: Well, actually, I'm thinking more along the lines of you calling me Master.

    And then Angel gets sinister with the letter-opener. Love it. Another good exchange:

    Wilkins: No problems with the transition? No side effects?
    Angel: Had a soul, now I'm free.

    But he pushes Wilkins to get to the point.
    
    
48. Wilkins and Angel talk about what to do with Buffy:

    Wilkins: Torture Buffy. Killingher's fine, just make it a slow one.
    Angel: My favourite kind.

    Is it just me, or is this whole episode full of double entendres and sexual nuances?
    
    
49. Why does Wilkins say of Faith, "She's not a little girl any more"?
    
    
50. Xander is (in totally annoying fashion) making fun of Cordelia's crush on Wesley. Angel hits Xander. I wanted to cheer. Angel says, "That guy just bugs me." Love it.
    
    
51. Scary: Angel and Faith come to see Joyce. Presumably Buffy hasn't kept her mother up to date on who to invite in. Or maybe she's set this up all the way, expecting them to come to her there. Yes, presumably she's making herself easy to find, and vulnerable.
    
    
52. Faith says, "I think strength in numbers is the way to go." I'm not even sure what she means - does she expect Buffy to think she's hesitant to face Giles alone? or with Angel? Maybe she's just babbling to set Angel up to make his revelation to Buffy.
    
    
53. Good Angel line to Buffy: "You know, I never properly thanked you for sending me to hell."
    
    
54. Great acting on Sarah Michelle Geller's part when she says, "No."
    
    
55. The scene in which Oz finds a photo of the Mayor from long ago reminded me directly of the scene in Torchwood in which Ianto compares two pictures ofBilis, one from 1941 and one from the present, and show them to Owen.
    
    
56. So very Xanderish: "You know how some people hate to say I told you so? Not me. I told you so." Some writers and some episodes make Xander less obnoxious than others. This is pretty close to Xander at his worst. He's practically crowing about being right about something that would break Buffy's heart, if it were real. And then he blames Wesley. But I like the last line:

    Willow: Faith and Angel? Together?
    Xander: Imagine the possibilities.

    Hmm. Sexy.
    
    
57. Angel says to (chained) Buffy: "You know what I just can't believe? All of our time together and we never tried chains." Which is of course a huge tip-off to the viewers that this is all fake because all of their time together was just a few hours in bed, once. But Faith doesn't know that. No wonder I didn't quite fall for the trick, but it's so artful, I almost doubted myself.
    
    
58. So we get Faith's point of view on things, and her jealousy of Buffy, and her resentment at have a drunken and unloving mother, and I still get the feeling that as much as anything Faith mostly hates Buffy for not putting her first. My favourite bit of dialogue from Buffy:

    Faith: Do you think you're better than me? Do you? Say it, you think you're better than me.
    Buffy: I am. I always have been.

    I love her for that. And her comeback to Faith's taunt "Angel's with me" -

    Buffy: In the real world,ANgel would never touch you and we both know it.

    And then she taunts Faith with the word she hates most: loser.
    
    
59. Then we reach a climax:

    Buffy: I never knew you had so much rage in you.
    Faith: What can I say? I'm the world's best actor.
    Angel: Second best.

    Is it rage that Faith is full of? I'd say it was accidie, or bitterness and distrust and disillusionment.
    
    
60. Love the fight that ends with Buffy and Faith holding knives to each other's throats. And she kissed Buffy before leaving. Whew. Hot.
    
    
61. So the Mage has a chummy conversation with Giles, who, it seems, was practically best man at his wedding. I love this. This is my favourite bit of the occult to turn up in Buffy yet. (Except for any occult moment that might have included Spike.) I love it that they wish each other peace.
    
    
62. And Wesley storms off to 'tell the Council' while giving the impression that he's really just miffed because Giles didn't tell him what was going on. Shouldn't they be more concerned about Faith being still on the loose?
    
    
63. And Xander is still feeling sorry for himself because Angel hit him. You can probably tell that I have no fondness nor sympathy for Xander in this episode.
    
    
64. Faith denies that she was betrayed by friends by claiming they weren't. The Mayor charms her with promises to "make all the pain go away" with "miniature golf". This is so goofy that it charms her. I think she loves it that he keeps surprising her.
    
    
65. So: I don't really understand the last scene between Angel and Buffy. She needs "a bit of a break" from him. Had he scared her so badly? Even though she knew it was deception? Is their platonic romance harder on her than she's admitting? Or is she really having trouble trusting him? I found the last two lines particularly interesting:

    Angel: You still my girl?
    Buffy: Always.