Season 4, Episode 19
Written by Marti Noxon
Directed by James A. Contner
Original Airdate: 1 May 2000
Tara “No, I understand. You have to be with the person that you love.”
Willow “I am.”
REGULAR CAST
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
- Marc Blucas as Riley Finn
- James Marsters as Spike
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
GUEST CAST
- Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
- Leonard Roberts as Forrest Gates
- Bailey Chase as Graham Miller
- Robert Patrick Benedict as Jape
- Conor O’Farrell as Colonel McNamara
- George Hertzberg as Adam
- Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
- Seth Green as Daniel “Oz” Osbourne
CO-STARRING
- James Michael Conner as Scientist #1
- Mark Daneri as Scientist #2
- Doron Keenan as Commando #2
SYNOPSIS
Willow and Tara talk about Tara getting a cat as a pet. At the Scooby Gang meeting, Buffy explains that there is little going on, but as usual, Giles knows that means trouble. As the meeting ends, Oz shows up in the doorway, shocking everyone into silence. Oz arranges to talk with Willow later, and after Oz leaves, Tara also leaves the incredibly uncomfortable situation. Buffy and Riley talk about how bad Willow and Oz’s break-up really was, and Buffy accidentally mentions that Oz is a werewolf. Buffy goes off on him when he negatively comments on Willow dating a werewolf.
Oz takes Willow for a walk outside during a full moon, showing her that he’s not in werewolf mode. While in Tibet, with the help of herbs, charms, chanting, and meditation, he’s learned to control the wolf inside. Oz wants to get back together with Willow, but she is reluctant. Graham patrols with a team and they are all attacked by a couple of werewolves. Willow and Oz talk all night about their lives while they were away. Tara comes by while Willow is away, and upon having Oz answer the door she gets nervous and leaves.
Buffy wakes up at Riley’s, but she’s very distant from him. They talk about the night before in the graveyard and Riley’s reaction to Oz, then Riley leaves after hearing news about Graham getting hurt. Willow shocks Buffy with the news about Oz being able to control the wolf. Buffy is even more shocked as Willow subtly explains that her relationship with Tara is now serious and that it complicates things with Oz. Adam goes to Spike for his help, and in exchange will remove the chip from Spike’s head.
Willow tells Tara that she and Oz only talked the night before, and then they hug. Oz and Tara have a confrontation and after smelling Willow on Tara, Oz concludes that the two are romantically involved. He loses control, and starts to change into a werewolf. Werewolf Oz chases Tara into a classroom, and then Riley and Initiative guys take Oz away. The gang meets up and makes a plan to free Oz. Oz is kept caged at the Initiative and just as Riley is about to shoot him dead, he changes back into his human form.
Despite Riley’s attempts to help, the scientists start performing tests on Oz. Spike shows up at Giles’s place and offers to lead Buffy and the gang into the Initiative. Riley sneaks in, gives Oz some clothes and tries to help him escape. On the way out, they get caught. Colonel McNamara lectures Riley about betraying the Initiative on so many levels and how he will be court marshalled. Dressed as commandos and scientists, Spike and the gang sneak into the Initiative through a back door. Adam secretly helps them by running operations through a computer and helping them shut down the power for most of the city.
Holding the Colonel hostage, Buffy gets Riley and Oz free, Riley leaving the Initiative for good. Now that his life is in danger, Riley camps out underground with Buffy at his side. He confesses that he was wrong about Oz, and then Buffy volunteers to tell him about her past, and hopes that it won’t destroy their relationship. In Oz’s van, Willow and Oz say their sad goodbyes and then Oz leaves town again to escape the Initiative and Willow, who unintentionally is the cause of him turning into a werewolf. Willow goes to Tara’s, bringing her a candle. Willow tells her she is with the person she loves, and Tara blows out the candle.
AMBER BENSON SPEAKS
After this episode aired in America, some fans where extremely annoyed that Willow chose Tara over Oz. They were unkind towards Tara, and especially towards her weight. Amber Benson was naturally upset about this and bravely went online on May 4th, 2000 with the following message:
“I’ve been thinking a lot about what people said about Tara on the internet after the last episode aired. At first, I was very hurt. I tried to disassociate myself from feeling bad by saying: This is Tara that they are talking about, not me. But I couldn’t. I guess it hurts when someone calls you ugly or makes nasty comments about your weight whether or not it is really you they are referring to. I am just a human being and I feel like I deserve to be treated as such. I also feel that Tara deserves to be treated with a little more kindness and compassion.
Yes, I am not a stick. I am a normal, healthy (I was gonna say Girl, but…) woman. I have breasts and hips and I am very happy that they are part of me. I weigh 118 and I am 5’4. If you saw me in real life, you would think I was on the thin side. But on TV, next to my very petite co-stars, I do look heavier. I am proud to be normal. A body is a beautiful thing to waste. Believe me, I have seen enough of my friends and peers waste away to nothing so that they could work in this industry. So that they could perpetuate the lie that anorexia is beautiful. It is not. You are beautiful. All of you. Just for being.
You all can judge me and Tara for being ‘fat’, ‘gay’ and ‘shy’. I suppose that my being on TV gives you that right. But I do not have to read what you say. I have enjoyed being a lurker. But my feelings just can’t take the criticism. Those of you (you know who you are) with sensitivity will understand. Thank you for sticking up for us. Tara and I both appreciate it. I think that being a beautiful, heavy, lesbian witch rocks! No matter what happens I’m glad I get the chance to walk in Tara’s shoes. All you girls and guys out there who think that starving, binging and purging and exercising yourself to death is gonna change how you feel inside – It’s not. Don’t buy all the media crap. Love yourself for who you are, not what others think you should look like. It’s definitely more important in this life to love each other despite our imperfections.”
TRIVIA
Seth Green returns as Oz in this episode. His intent is to woo back Willow. His character leaves Sunnydale for good in this episode, but Seth returns one last time in Willow’s dream in Restless.
Robert Patrick Benedict, who played Jape in Superstar, was credited in the opening guest cast list for this episode but his scenes were cut.
For the first time, Emma Caulfield was listed with the regulars in the script, though she has not yet been added to the opening credits. She had signed a contract confirming this though, and appears on the credits as of Buffy vs. Dracula.
CONTINUITY
There are many references to earlier events this season, in particular Oz’s departure in Wild at Heart, which Riley remembers as being heartbreaking for Willow since he saved her from a speeding car.
Tara attends her first meeting with the Scooby Gang and is officially inducted into their ranks. She also discusses getting a cat with Willow, which turns up in The Yoko Factor.
Giles mentions that they’ll have to infiltrate the Initiative again, which Buffy and Xander did in The I in Team.
GOOFS
In the scene after Willow and Oz have been up all night, Oz’s necklace keeps moving around, even when he’s not moving.
When Willow leaves her dorm room to brush her teeth, hardly any time passes between when she leaves and when Tara knocks on the door. They should have seen each other in the hallway.
When Oz is chasing Tara, he begins to run down a row of seats, getting a few feet down before the camera cuts to Tara. When it cuts back to Oz, he’s at the beginning of the row, starting to run down the aisle again.
When Tara throws the chair at Oz, Riley nails him with a tranquilizer dart at the same time. Oz falls to the floor, with no dart in his back. Riley steps over him, and the dart is now in his back.
Adam confronts Spike in his crypt during the daytime. There’s lots of sunlight around, yet Spike doesn’t dust.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
EPISODE
Where the Wild Things Are / The Yoko Factor
STORY ORDER
Eternity / Five by Five
The Watcher's Guide 