Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Faith, Hope and Trick"
Faith, Hope nd Trick
by Jason Henderson
webdate: 12/4/98
(http://www.flash.net/~jhenders)
Overview
There's a new slayer in town, and she's brought more than just a lot of
half-shirts - - there's an ancient demon out to get her, and he means to
take Buffy down, too. Meanwhile, what's the secret Buffy's keeping, and how
long can she stand to keep it?
Credits:
Screenplay: David Greenwalt
Direction: James Contner
Buffy: Sarah Michelle Gellar
Cordelia: Charisma Carpenter
Angel: David Boreanaz
Willow: Alyson Hannigan
Xander: Nicholas Brendan
Oz: Seth Green
Mr. Trick: K. Todd Freeman
Giles: Anthony Stewart Head
Synopsis
We open with Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Oz giddy over being allowed to
leave campus for lunch (they're seniors now,) a freedom they exercise by
going about thirty yards to a green space where Buffy's set up a picnic.
She's still hoping to get back in school.
Willow encourages Buffy to meet cute boy Scott, who wanders by, and Buffy's
reasonably enthused. "I want to do girly stuff," she says.
That night, two vampires arrive in a limo, looking for "the slayer." One is
very old. The other, "Mr. Trick," is his assistant, and he says Sunnydale-
while not all that multicultural- is a nice place for vampires. "It makes
DC look like Mayberry," he says, before killing a fast-food attendant.
Buffy dreams of Angel yet again, who picks up Buffy's dropped ring, his
hand dripping with blood as he squeezes it. "Go to Hell," she says. "I
did," he laughs. (For those of you just joining us, Buffy sent vamp
boyfriend Angel to Hell at the end of last year as a necessary sacrifice to
a demon. Evil at the time, he snapped out of it before she sacrificed him,
making him a proper innocent sacrifice but the whole ordeal a massive
bummer.)
Principal Snyder, late of watcher Giles' threats, has decided to let Buffy
back in, provided she jump a few administrative hurdles.
Willow and Buffy go to the library to see Giles, who says he needs a few
details about Buffy's sacrifice of Angel to make good a "sensitive and
delicate binding spell" to hold the demon. Buffy gives a few details and
runs off, leaving Giles to brush off Willow's offer to help on the spell.
He also warns her to be careful with her spell-casting. "These forces are
not something you play around with."
That night, at the Bronze, Cute Boy Scott charms Buffy, who considers
dancing with him before following a girl and a vampire out of the club. The
gang comes along, to find that the girl is in fact yet another slayer,
named "Faith," who borrows Buffy's stake to put the vampire down.
Faith is a vivacious, curvy, trampy sort of slayer who immediately charms
everyone with her enthusiasm and tendency to tell stories that involve her
being naked, a good technique if you have the chops for it.
Seems Faith is in town because her watcher is on an international watcher
retreat, one Giles wistfully regrets not attending. Faith likes Giles: "If
I'd known they come that young and cute I would have requested a transfer."
("Raise your hand if eww," Buffy responds.)
Buffy declines to give Giles more information for his spell. ("Next time I
kill Angel, I'll video it.")
While Faith meets Buffy's Mom, who's thrilled that now maybe Buffy can
split her hours on this slayer thing, the old vampire and Mr. Trick reveal
that they've come following Faith, not looking for Buffy.
Mom is horrified to learn that Faith is here because, even though there's
only one slayer at a time, a divergence in the slayer line has happened and
stuck: Buffy died, to be replaced by African Kendra, who died to be
replaced by Faith, even though Buffy did not remain dead. (To her credit,
it was semi-ditz Cordelia who worked this out almost immediately.) "I hate
this," Mom says. "I hate your life…. I don't want you to die."
Buffy and Faith avoid one another's probing questions (Faith thinks Buffy
should lighten up.) The girls fight a vicious band of vampires and Faith
takes way too long pounding a vampire before staking it, leaving Buffy to
fight several at once. Which isn't physically a problem; it just seems
rude. The vampires served someone called "Kokistos."
"You have very different temperaments," Giles offers later, but he promises
to call Faith's watcher overseas, since Buffy thinks Faith is a bit loony.
Meanwhile, Kokistos is Greek for "worst of the worst," he's a vampire so
big and old he has cloven appendages. Buffy thinks Kokistos and Faith
showing up are related.
Buffy bungles an opportunity to go out with Scott when he offers her a
friendship ring he got from a curio shop, the same ring she dropped in the
Angel dream. Then she learns from Giles that Faith's watcher is dead, in
fact.
Buffy goes to Faith's run-down hotel, where the new slayer says her watcher
was killed (they don't have a word for what they did to her) by the vampire
that's come looking for her. Faith blames herself, but Buffy says she was
right to run. ("First rule of slaying. Don't die.")
Kokistos and company attack Buffy and Faith, and together the slayers
dispatch the old demon pretty quickly, especially since Mr. Trick abandons
his mentor, deciding the cloven-hoofed one is too out of date for today's
vampirism.
Back at the library, Giles reveals he's worked everything out with the
Watchers and Faith gets to stay; Giles will watch both of them. When Buffy
reveals there's healing in putting the past behind you, she openly admits
that Angel was cured, was a good soul, when she killed him. She leaves, and
Giles admits that there never was a spell-he just knew that Buffy needed to
speak the truth.
At the chapel where Angel died, Buffy sets down her ring, finally saying
"Goodbye" to Angel. She leaves. Fade out.
Fade in, and Hell opens up and spits Angel back out again.
Notes
I find Oz and Willow's relationship genuinely charming, as when Willow goes
on and on about something and turns to him, saying, "You should stop me
when I do that." "I like it when you do that, Oz says."
Buffy's been punishing herself really hard about killing Angel when he had
no memory of his evil deeds. Giles' ploy to get Buffy to open up is well
done, and it's to Willow's credit that she gets it immediately.
I'm having a tough time figuring out the rules of the Buffy world. How many
watchers are there? Is there a watcher in every town, just in case the
slayer - - the one slayer of the earth- - shows up there, as when Buffy
move in the first episode from her last school to this one to get a new
watcher? Are they all "sleeper agents" until then, and if so, why didn't
they invite Giles to their retreat? He's the one who *actually has the
slayer.* Do they watch other things, like vampires? If not, thank God there
are now two slayers, exactly doubling the hopes of every watcher out there
who'd like a chance to watch the chosen one.
How long will this disruption (two slayers caused by Buffy's temporary
death) remain, anyway? Obviously Kendra got a replacement when she died,
will Buffy? Are there now two chosen ones, forever?
The whole idea of there being a chosen one, with that much of the world
responding to it, indicates to me that Buffy's destiny is more cosmic than
we're being led to believe. When she's fighting an all-out war for the
earth against the forces of darkness, she'll look back on all this as her
quirky high school years, I guess. Buffy at thirty-five will be a sight to
behold.
Brava to the hypersexual Faith for taking note of Giles in a way Buffy dare
not. Taster's Choice, anyone?
Memorable Quotes
On fantasies:
Cordelia: "What is it with you and slayers? Maybe I should dress up as one
and put a stake to your throat."
Xander: "Please, God, don't let that be sarcasm."
(Reaction to Xander's new-found lust object, Faith.)
On the only thing that apparently doesn't exist in this universe:
Buffy: "There are only two things I don't believe in: coincidences and
leprechauns… I was right about the leprechauns, right?"
Giles: "As far as I know."
(And he would, one presumes.)
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