| Episode No. | Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3, Episode 6 |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Michael Lange |
| Written by | Jane Espenson |
0:23 : Buffy is studying for her SATs in the cemetery. Her logic regarding answers (“B. We haven’t had a B in forever!”) is slightly questionable.
1:11 : Hilariously, after Buffy takes out the vampire with her pencil, Giles produces another pencil from his pocket. The timing is perfect.
1:47 : Mr. Trick, while happy subletting, assures the Mayor that his guy has worked in town a few times before, a hint to their identity.
2:04 : We see inside the Mayor’s office cabinet for the first time. It’s filled with demonic paraphernalia, presumably to do with the tributes he needs to give and the upcoming Ascension. There’s apparently no scotch in there, however.
3:16 : Mad Cow‘s ‘Blasé’ is playing over the scene of Buffy and company discussing their SATs.
3:38 : Willow beams with pride that Oz is the only student to have such a high SAT score, but fail to graduate. We learnt Oz was good in class in What’s My Line?.
3:48 : Cordelia enters the scene with a brilliant line: she asks, rather loudly may we add, if they’re killing something again. Why does she ask these things?
4:03 : The Scoobies look surprised when Cordelia says she’ll test well, which will come in useful for her later in the season when her test scores are revealed.
4:24 : First time Buffy writer, Jane Espenson, can be seen as a lunch lady behind Principal Snyder.
5:17 : Buffy first asked Joyce is she could learn to drive in Surprise. Joyce informs her that she failed the written test and they wouldn’t let her take the road test.
5:38 : To which Buffy responds with “I don’t test well… she said two days before the SATs.”
5:55 : Buffy goes too far here when she tells Joyce that if she wanted to skip town again, she’d simply get on a bus, which is what she did in Becoming.
6:19 : Another great line from Buffy: “And does he ever say he’s sorry?” – right before the scene cuts to Giles doing just that.
6:31 : Unsurprisingly, Buffy has managed to sell all of her candy ridiculously quick. She got her mother and Giles to buy twenty bars each, which completes the box of 40 she was given.
6:56 : Giles’ moment to shine now: he believes he’s outwitted Buffy when she’s blind folded and not sure which direction the ball needs to be thrown in. He’s even smug about it, telling her it’s not as simple as it looks – just as the ball comes careening from nowhere and hits him with an audible “Ow.”
7:40 : Angel is practising T’ai Chi in the mansion’s garden, the first time we see him doing so.
9:23 : Angel asks after Scott, who Buffy told him she was dating in Homecoming – just before he broke up with her. For the record, Buffy doesn’t tell Angel this.
10:12 : In fact, Angel seems to think that soon he’ll be strong enough to manage alone, meaning Buffy can give him some space. He says it’ll be good for them. It’s the first hint that he’ll soon leave Sunnydale, but here, if he’s honest, he doesn’t sound confident.
11:04 : We cut to the Summers’ house, where Giles and Joyce are clearly acting rather strange. We can tell, due to how much they’re eating, that it has something to do with the candy…
12:39 : Sure enough, the scene cuts to a warehouse where the chocolate is being boxed – under the supervision of Robin Sachs‘ Ethan Rayne, returning to the show for the first time since last season’s The Dark Age.
13:29 : Cordelia refers to her life now in two different eras: now and BX, which stands for ‘Before Xander’. Again it’s obvious here just how much she likes him, which will be important in The Wish.
13:54 : Unbeknownst to poor Cordelia however, Willow and Xander have been unable to block their attraction to each other, playing footsy under the desk.
14:30 : Cordelia gets another line that is perfect for Charisma Carpenter‘s comedic timing: “Where is Giles already? I’m bored, and he’s not here to give me credit for it.”
14:36 : Ms. Barton is played brilliantly by Peg Stewart. Stewart had been an actress since 1937 and appeared in over fifty motion pictures during the Golden Age of Hollywood, starring in her preferred vehicle, the Western. She continued to work throughout her career, guest starring in The Office in 2010. Her final role was as a guest star on comedy series Getting On, starring Laurie Metcalf. She was 95 years old when she passed.
16:46 : It takes Buffy a minute to realise Joyce is in Giles’ apartment, but gets distracted by the driving to give it much thought.
16:35 : As we can see from Buffy’s reaction, she was not expecting the keys. “What? Excuse me, I meant what?”
17:00 : It seems the only way to emphasise the adults regressing is to show them all smoking or drinking, which both Giles and Joyce do here.
17:07 : Joyce’s car is a black Jeep Cherokee, with the license plate of 3HUJ259, which we previously saw in Passion and Becoming.
17:50 : A great moment from Willow as she screams at Buffy to keep her eyes on the road!
17:55 : The song Giles and Joyce are listening to is “Tales of Brave Ulysses” by Cream, which Giles also listens to following her funeral in Forever.
18:04 : Giles’ accent, for some inexplicable reason, changes to cockney, suggesting, rather oddly, that he puts on his normal accent. Why would his accent change with his age? Environment is key to our accents.
18:14 : Fittingly, considering the episode’s chief villain, we get to see Giles’ Eyghon tattoo, which we first saw in The Dark Age.
18:52 : Four Star Mary perform their song ‘Violent’ in the Bronze here.
19:02 : Jason Hall is once again on stage as Devon McLeish, lead singer with the Dingoes.
19:34 : Buffy makes an in-joke here regarding doing the Time Warp, famously part of the set list for classic rock opera The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Anthony Stewart Head once headlined as Dr. Frank N. Furter.
20:09 : A moment to point out that Armin Shimerman is fantastic throughout this episode as Principal Snyder, especially with these comedic scenes. His regression into Snyder’s youth is excellently performed and is a stand-out moment in the series’ run.
20:39 : Willow’s “I think that is my doctor!” is hilarious.
20:56 : A laugh-out loud moment for Snyder: “There are some foxy ladies here tonight!”
21:50 : Pay attention to Ethan’s face after Trick kills the innocent worker. He displays the slightest look of concern, and it’s clear he’s not brilliantly happy with the plan…
22:08 : Snyder comments that Oz has great hair, then proceeds to stare at it. But it’s the look of complete confusion and uncomfortableness on Seth Green that is beautifully done.
22:33 : Buffy gets one of the best moments to end this scene: seeing two adults smooching, she states that “No vampire has ever been that scary!”
23:15 : Snyder’s line, “Summers, you drive like a spaz!”, was cut in the UK as it contained a term considered a slur in Britain.
24:06 : Oz has never been told about Giles’ past as Ripper, which we learnt in The Dark Age. Buffy’s description is also memorable: “Giles at 16? Less ‘together’ guy, more ‘bad magic, hates the world, ticking time bomb’ guy.”
24:17 : Notice Giles is suddenly wearing an earring. It’s actually Tony Head’s own jewellery – the make-up team had to cover his piercing up every episode.
24:49 : The shop that Giles breaks into is April Fool’s which will be seen again later this season.
26:02 : Giles and Joyce kiss on the hood of the police car and the scene cuts away…
27:17 : Oz mentions that his parents ate a ton of candy – the only time they’re ever mentioned!
28:22 : Again, as with Armin Shimerman, Kristine Sutherland is superb in this episode. Her scenes with Buffy are gold. She clearly looks like she’s enjoying the episode.
29:57 : Buffy recognises Ethan Rayne from behind. He takes a minute before he makes a futile run for it.
30:50 : The book Xander has when he and Willow brush digits is entitled ‘Demon Dimensions’ – presumably the same book Buffy was reading in Beauty and the Beasts.
32:11 : Another fantastic moment as Snyder asks Joyce if she and Giles are going steady. It’s not just that Snyder’s question is funny, but the sublime eye-rolling Kristine Sutherland does as she walks away!
32:50 : As can be expected from the coward that is Ethan, and probably because of his doubts earlier in the episode, Ethan gives up Trick as his employer straight away. And he still leaves parts out. This is his last scene in the episode. He’ll be back in A New Man.
35:02 : Snyder, apparently, took Taekwondo at the Y.
36:15 : We see a shot of Sunnydale General Hospital at night, taken from Killed by Death.
36:49 : Lurconis, which according to Giles translates to ‘gluttony’, is a demon who has served the Mayor for decades. He comes for a tribute once every thirty years, which is the first hint to Wilkins’ longevity.
37:08 : After all of the action, Snyder’s bravery disappears when he refuses to go down into the sewers. Giles’ name-calling here, a slur in the UK, would almost certainly not be written in modern times.
38:40 : Mayor Wilkins, while waiting for a sewer snake demon to come along, has genuine concerns about gas piping and sewer maintenance, and even calls the office to report it. Say what you like, he looks after the town. After all, he needs it in one piece for the season finale. He also cancels his three o’clock.
39:07 : As soon as Buffy makes her presence known, the Mayor flees the scene, primarily so the Slayer and her allies don’t know his involvement. They don’t find out about the Mayor’s true motives until the second half of the season.
39:50 : Lurconis comes forth and devours the vampire thrown into his path. So why does he need babies? Is that just a preference? Or is it the Mayor’s choice?
40:08 : Mr Trick briefly attempts to take on Buffy here for the first time, although Giles gets his punch in first. They haven’t met Trick yet, with Buffy only seeing him on video in Homecoming. Presumably Faith mentioned him, since we never see Buffy learn his name.
40:29 : It turns out the Mayor was right about those exposed gas pipes! Buffy manages to pull one free and uses it with the flame from the torches to burn Lurconis. We don’t see the demon die here, but Trick refers to him in the past tense in the next scene, so we can assume he was killed.
40:49 : Buffy gets the last word: “They never leave. Always gotta say something.”
41:17 : Trick mentions to the Mayor that Ethan Rayne has left town, and also that he was paid.
41:40 : Mayor Wilkins warns Trick about doing him any more favours in the future. Indeed, Mr. Trick will be careful, not appearing again until Bad Girls.
43:29 : Buffy is relieved that she managed to get to Joyce and Giles before anything more happened between them. The look between the two adults however, alerts the audience to the truth…
