S03.E21: Graduation Day, Part 1

[Joe Hellandback]

 

The Good; The battle between Buffy and Faith is epic and a long time coming. Note that for some reason Buffy feels the need to put on her shiny red leather trousers before deciding to kick Faith's delectable butt?

The Bad; Couldn't Buffy just let Angel have some of her blood in batches whilst chugging down iron pills by the handful? We know the Mayor's impervious to harm but why don't they just grab him and tie him up when he's in the library?

Best line; Willow (guessing who the Graduation Speaker will be) "Seigfreid? Roy? One of the tigers?"

Spoiler

(according to Lorne in Angel Seigreid is actually evil, Roy not so much)

 beating Xanders 'We're going to need a bigger boat' from Jaws. Xander also paraphrases Private Hudson from Aliens (who in turn is paraphrasing every Vietnam film you've ever seen).

Character death; No but Angel on the brink. Faith's murder of the professor and her glib remark about it marks the nadir of her fall from grace. But you note that even then she wants her victim to turn around so she doesn't have to look into his eyes. What makes it even worse is they have their little moment of bonding, the Prof saying he likes his space and Faith agreeing with a little smile. When she chucks herself off the building it's her first suicide attempt but

Spoiler

she'll make another later in Angel.

Shot; Angel with Faith's bow and arrow

Tied up; Buffy and Faith handcuffed together

Knocked out; Angel and Faith in a coma

Women good/men bad; Actually the relationship between Faith and the Mayor is lovely, especially when we see her in her dress. Faith also refers to her childhood in Boston again and you feel her pain. As for Xander he neatly sums up the male of the species; "Yes, men like sports. Men watch the action movie. They eat of the beef and enjoy to look at the bosoms" Buffy tells Wes 'I love it when you take charge, you man you'

Spoiler

but one day she will.

Will and Anya still have hostility.

Jeez!; Faith killing the harmless old prof is beyond horrible. Plus the Mayor's eating the spiders (liquorice?). And Buffy sticks it to Faith with her great big knife

Kinky dinky; What must the Professor and his neighbours think when Faith arrives on his doorstep dressed as she does? Probably how much does she charge per hour? I for one am glad we don't get to hear the end of Anya's shepherd story.

Calling Captain Subtext; Again, violence and intimacy with Faith and Buffy who even penetrates Faith's body with her knife. Faith's goading Buffy about Angel's pain could once again be seen as sexual jealousy. Faith to Buffy "Give us a kiss". Faith also refers to Buffy as 'big sister' (does this make Joyce mom and

Spoiler

Dawn her little sister?)

Guantanamo Bay; Buffy is quite prepared to feed Faith to Angel to save him

Scoobies to the ER; Buffy get's a hiding at Faith's hands and Angel nearly dies through poisoning
 

Spoiler

Where's Dawn? Presumably Buffy get's little sis out of town alongside Joyce.

 

Questions and observations; Where's this anti-vamp poison been all these years? It would have come in useful, don't you think? Stonkingly good in almost every respect with the promise of even better things to come in pt 2. Love Will's chopper bike. Nice that Willow and Harmony make up before

Spoiler

Harmony gets all bumpy.

 Can anyone please explain to me why exactly the Mayor wants to be a giant snake? What is his plan for Sunnydale? Buffy breaks from the Watcher's Council and won't come back into the fold again

Spoiler

until season 5

. Just what are the odds that Anya, the only living survivor of an Ascension just happens to be at SDH? Is that the work of God/the PTB?

Faith's method of surviving her fall off the roof is reminiscent of Catwoman in Batman Returns. Love Giles and Wes fencing which will come in useful for both later.

Marks out of 10;

8/10

[Loandbehold]

23 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Faith to Buffy "Give us a kiss". Faith also refers to Buffy as 'big sister'

Actually, when Faith sees Buffy in leather pants, she says, "Well, look at you. All dressed up in big sister's clothes." In her mind, she has surpassed Buffy. So, I don't believe Joyce plays any role in Faith's thinking. 

[Joe Hellandback]

15 hours ago, Loandbehold said:

Actually, when Faith sees Buffy in leather pants, she says, "Well, look at you. All dressed up in big sister's clothes." In her mind, she has surpassed Buffy. So, I don't believe Joyce plays any role in Faith's thinking. 

It's actually a reference to an Elvis Costello song, again not something a 17 year old would probably know but a bunch of 30 something scriptwriters would. 

[Loandbehold]

6 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

It's actually a reference to an Elvis Costello song, again not something a 17 year old would probably know but a bunch of 30 something scriptwriters would. 

Either way, I'm pointing out that you misquoted what Faith said. And that changes the meaning. 

 

4 hours ago, nosleepforme said:

The Buffy/Faith fight is fantastic too. Shout-out again to the amazing music by Christophe Beck which really gives the show this cinematic quality. Though the stunt doubles are fairly obvious.

I agree. Excellent scene throughout. 

[lembergwatcher]

Oh my God, he's looking at her! He's got his filthy lycanthropic eyes all over my Willow (well, technically speaking, she's Xander's, @Halting Hex's and mine)!

I hope she called out Xander's name at least once every time they screwed.

[Joe Hellandback]

9 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

Oh my God, he's looking at her! He's got his filthy lycanthropic eyes all over my Willow (well, technically speaking, she's Xander's, @Halting Hex's and mine)!

I hope she called out Xander's name at least once every time they screwed.

I would have EXACTLY the same expression!

[Halting Hex]

16 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

He's got his filthy lycanthropic eyes all over my Willow (well, technically speaking, she's Xander's, @Halting Hex's and mine)!

And Buffy's.  It may take her 41 episodes after Xander stakes his claim ("Nobody messes with my Willow" in The Pack) for her to assert her own ("I need my Willow") in The Zeppo, but she says it right to Willow rather than just addressing it to the group.  Oz, in contrast, only tries it when Willow isn't in the room to say anything ("No one like my Willow" in Choices).

And yes, it's ironic that Buffy makes her declaration of Willow-need in a Big Xander Episode and that Oz goes there in the Wiffy-est Wiffy-fest that Fury ever Wiffied, but that's life on the Hellmouth.  As the Buffster herself said right before Wiz kissed for the first time, "wackiness abounds".

[lembergwatcher]

I find solace in the fact

Spoiler

that after Oz deflowered Willow their relationship lasted only for... what? Five months?

[Halting Hex]

Re: spoilers…yeah, pretty much.

Spoiler

This is June (finals take place then, per the calendar on Giles's office wall in Prophecy Girl) and Wild at Heart takes place after Halloween (Fear, Itself) but before Thanksgiving (Pangs).  Somewhere in early November (Election Day?), it appears.

OTOH, at least Willow got five months' worth of loving.  Xander was booted so Faith could shower before the hour was up, and Buffy woke up to an empty bed the next morning.  So if we're grading on a curve…

Edited October 29, 2018 by Halting Hex

[Joe Hellandback]

10 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

I find solace in the fact

  Hide contents

that after Oz deflowered Willow their relationship lasted only for... what? Five months?

Not by choice, if Verucca hadn't come along?

[lembergwatcher]

Spoiler

Their relationship was doomed from day one. So regardless of Veruca it wouldn't last too long.

[Joe Hellandback]

14 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

  Hide contents

Their relationship was doomed from day one. So regardless of Veruca it wouldn't last too long.

How so?

[lembergwatcher]

3 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

How so?

Oz's condition is the first reason. His assholism is the second...

[Joe Hellandback]

18 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

Oz's condition is the first reason. His assholism is the second...

Jeez, why all the Oz hate? If there was a single character who no one resented it was him. 

[lembergwatcher]

4 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Jeez, why all the Oz hate?

I have extensively covered that subject in the separate topic dedicated to Oz.

5 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

If there was a single character who no one resented it was him.

Well, no wonder. How can anyone resent Willow's shadow, a part of the landscape ocassionaly playin' the guitar or spewing something witty? How can you dislike someone who has all the textbook characteristics of the "cool guy" and thus will always look cool and trendy even if he does nothing else most of the time? Everyone loves the cliched cool types, you know.

[Joe Hellandback]

21 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

I have extensively covered that subject in the separate topic dedicated to Oz.

Well, no wonder. How can anyone resent Willow's shadow, a part of the landscape ocassionaly playin' the guitar or spewing something witty? How can you dislike someone who has all the textbook characteristics of the "cool guy" and thus will always look cool and trendy even if he does nothing else most of the time? Everyone loves the cliched cool types, you know.

You talk about him as if he's the Fonz, he's more bohemian than that, 

[lembergwatcher]

There are lots of moments throughout season 3 I want to inflict some bodily harm on Cordelia Chase. OK, maybe these words aren't as awful as her other remarks from The Zeppo, Bad Girls or Choices, but still. There are many Cordy's fans out there who wanted her to stay in the show, but I somehow do not miss stuff like this at all.

Back when I was much younger than now and saw the show for the first time, having very little knowledge of contract obligations and other shit like that, the third season seemed to be Xander's last... "They'll probably going to get rid of him, so nobody will stand in the way of Willoz, Bangel or other "happy" relationships between the useful characters" - that's what I thought back in the day.

Edited March 17, 2019 by lembergwatcher

[Halting Hex]

Now, now, if you can't tease a friend about their utter lack of dress sense, whom can you tease?  Besides, as Xander spends the rest of the episode (and a good bit of Part 2) in an aquamarine sweater that I could really do with less of, I'm definitely on CC's side here.

Sudden thought…perhaps Xander suited up like a rejected Miami Dolphins ballboy because Cordy expressed fondness for the teal here, and that was as close as he had?  Awww 🤔

[lembergwatcher]

7 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Now, now, if you can't tease a friend about their utter lack of dress sense, whom can you tease?

And when did they become such a good friends? Because I somehow skipped that part. As for your other question, there are people CC can tease 24/7. Like Wesley. Or Giles. Or Buffy. She likes them, after all.

[Halting Hex]

He missed her all summer.  (Despite having offered up an "I love you" to Coma!Willow, not that long before.)  She thought she was in love with him. The romance may have ended up as punctured as Cordy's abdomen, but they've at least earned camaraderie, I'd say.

"We've fought some blood-sucking fiends together, and it's all been a good time."  (Now that should be the school motto!)

[lembergwatcher]

On 3/18/2019 at 5:33 PM, Halting Hex said:

He missed her all summer.  (Despite having offered up an "I love you" to Coma!Willow, not that long before.)

Of course, he did. No one likes to be the third wheel while witnessing all the W/O constant snuggling at patrols or at The Bronze through the summer (shouldn't Oz be on a tour somewhere?). Not a sign of true love and commitment, I'd say.

On 3/18/2019 at 5:33 PM, Halting Hex said:

She thought she was in love with him. The romance may have ended up as punctured as Cordy's abdomen, but they've at least earned camaraderie

She said she thought she was in love with him. Sweet goofy Xander, such a good Chia Pet. How can one not love a Chia Pet?

As for supposed camaraderie between the two post-Lovers Walk I fail to notice it somehow. There's hardly an episode between The Wish and this one where Cordy doesn't call her former significant other a "loser" or degrade him (publicly) in some other way. Not my definition of camaraderie, I must say.

OTOH I may be wrong here since my dislike of CC clouds my judgement.

Edited March 20, 2019 by lembergwatcher

[Halting Hex]

3 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

There's hardly an episode between The Wish and this one where Cordy doesn't call her former significant other a "loser" or degrade him (publicly) in some other way.

Yes, it took a while for CC to get over it, absolutely.  But they (probably didn't) kiss and made up last episode, quite sweetly, I thought.  Apparently buying Cordelia clothes is the way to her heart.  Gee, who could have guessed that one?

Spoiler

Lesson not lost on Angel, obviously.  (See Disharmony.)

[lembergwatcher]

1 hour ago, Halting Hex said:

Apparently buying Cordelia clothes is the way to her heart.

I knew it! Although in my headcanon nothing like that would ever happen, of course.

[Halting Hex]

[Wrong thread.  Relocated. Oopsie.  And thanks to Loandbehold for spotting my gaffe.]

Edited March 31, 2019 by Halting Hex

[Loandbehold]

[small voice] I believe this dialog was from

Spoiler

"I Was Made to Love You"

 [/small voice] But, it was written by Jane Espenson.

[Halting Hex]

Yoicks! Wrong thread!  That was meant for "Favorite Quotes"!  

Will transfer and delete!  Sorry!  And must find a way to stop using exclamation marks!  Eep!

(Transfer accomplished, as noted above, now.  And again, thanks.)

Edited March 31, 2019 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

In case you missed it, Roy Horn died recently.  So Willow's Desperately Hoped-For Hypothetical Graduation Speaker list is down to just Siegfried now.

Or one of the tigers.

[Joe Hellandback]

On 3/20/2019 at 3:38 PM, lembergwatcher said:

I knew it! Although in my headcanon nothing like that would ever happen, of course.

Worked for Angel. 

[Halting Hex]

5 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Spoiler

Worked for Angel. 

 

Already referenced under the spoiler quote, upthread.  Kind of the point, really.

[Halting Hex]

Quote

BUFFY:  I'm talking about watching my lover die.

And then 90% or so of the audience keeled over from laughter.

But that's a meta-issue.  Inside the story, didn't Angel taunt her with "Hello, lover" in Becoming, Part 1?  Didn't she throw it back in his face in Part 2?  I should think that "lover" was the last term she'd want to apply here.  Try "the man I love" or "my ex-boyfriend" or "an innocent being" or "our strongest ally" or "the sexiest forehead I've ever seen" or something else, honestly.

To be fair, Buffy seems to have gone to light-speed in forgetting about Kendra's murder (the "yeah, that was such a drag" in DMP still vexes me), but I would hope she hasn't completely memory-holed how Angel suckered her to the cemetery as a diversion then. 

If only so she would no longer "fall for it every time!"  I would hope that the lesson has finally stuck.  JMO.

[lembergwatcher]

22 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

To be fair, Buffy seems to have gone to light-speed in forgetting about Kendra's murder

That's one of my biggest grievances really. That Kendra

Spoiler

was neither properly mourned nor avenged.

 

[Halting Hex]

Quote

Giles and Xander are looking at the illustration of Olvikan in the book.  The page folds out, then folds out again.

XANDER:  We're gonna need a bigger boat.

SOFIE (reactor):  Is [the demon] that big?

Apparently so.  Clearly they want the audience to tune in next week to see.

Spoiler

But wouldn't it be funny if this was like Gachnar: "actual size"?  I mean, you really don't need foldouts to illustrate; just change the scale of the drawing.

But it was the Middle Ages, and Penthouse hadn't been invented yet, so they had to find other uses for folding paper, I suppose.

[Halting Hex]

Quote

MAYOR:  Raise your hand if you're invulnerable! (evil grin)

Huh. It appears I've been in this thread for years now without venting about how stupid I find that "the Mayor comes to the Library just to twirl his mustache and promote next episode" scene.  (I've certainly inveighed against it elsewhere and elsewhen.)

But what triggered me today was I just watched Cody and Sergio reacting to 3.05 and the first appearance of Hizzoner and I flashed ahead to this and how "invulnerable" doesn't mean the gang can't stuff him in the book cage until after Graduation (or chain him up, take him to Angel's [Angel hasn't been shot, yet] and let Fang go through some of his "greatest hits" on Wilkins) and thus foil the "Ascension", whatever that is.

And then I realized that we pretty much had this exact same situation last year, in Innocence:

Quote

THE JUDGE:  You're a fool.  No weapon forged can stop me.

ME:  No, you're the fool, Big Blue.  It's no weapon forged can kill you.  The prisons are full of people who got "stopped", non-lethally.  Remember that army cutting you to pieces?

So literally the climax of one of the key episodes last season was Joss playing with the language, and pointing out that immortality is no guarantee of victory.  Just as the climax of the Season 1 finale was Joss pointing out that death is not necessarily final.  ('Prophecies are tricky things.  They don't tell you everything.")

And yet here we have Joss forgetting all his previous illustrations of how you can't assume general results from a specific condition, and the gang being all "woe is me!" just because Wilkins doesn't die when Giles stabs him, specifically.  (Which shouldn't even surprise Giles, since Angel presumably told the gang about how he saw Wilkins "catch" the letter opener with his palm in Enemies and heal instantly.  The group should have changed their goal from "destroy the Mayor" to "disable and confine the Mayor" a freaking month or two ago.)

Instead we get a Useless Villain Speech and a lot of long faces.  Nope, sorry, Joss.  Not buying it.

Edited October 4 by Halting Hex