Choices

Season 3, Episode 19, Aired
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Episode Summary

Buffy receives an acceptance to Northwestern University, but what should be a happy surprise turns sour when she realizes that she may not be able to go away to school and still fulfill her duties as the Slayer. Buffy manages to intercept the Box of Gavrok, a container of mystical energy that is vital to the Mayor's Ascension. But when Willow is captured, the gang must decide whether they can give up their best chance at preventing the Ascension to save Willow's life.moreless
8.9
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Fan Episode Reviews (13)

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  • Buffy does heist movie

    6.0
    "Fair"
    By joxerlives, Jan 19, 2012 Report Abuse
    The Good;
    Buffy does a heist movie. Some clever foreshadowing of events to come and some good strategising on the part of the gang, taking the offensive for once. The Faith and Willow showdown and Oz shows his love in a suitably taciturn manner. Love the diagram Willow makes of Oz and Xander, distinguishable by stick-figure Oz having a guitar.
    The Bad;
    The creatures in the box look a bit ropey, Buffy takes 'inspiration' from Aliens not for the first time and not for the last.

    Best line;
    Willow; "Sounds like your mom's in a state of denial"
    Buffy; "More like a continent"

    Character death;
    Faith kills another human/demon? SDH loses another staff member, this time one of the security guards.

    Shot;
    No but Faith kills the courier with her bow from Bad Girls.

    Tied up;
    Buffy get's tangled in the wires, Willow gets captured but not tied up.

    Women good/men bad;
    Cordy seems unnecessarily snarky about Willows acceptence from the universties but we'll understand more about that later.

    Jeez!;
    Poor old security guard, what a way to go! Was I the only one who took a few seconds to comprehend what Faith meant by her 'cut through bone ' remark?

    Calling Captain Subtext;
    The Faith/Willow showdown has a lot of the elements of two jealous lovers fighting over their shared object of desire. The Buffy and Willow rolling around on the ground at the end telling one another they love them is a slashficcer's dream.

    Guantanamo Bay;
    Buffy beats up and interrogates the Mayor's limo driver before 'introducing him to Mr Pointy'. A tough call with the trade for Willow, if they had not gone through with it, Larry, Snyder, the Professor Faith kills, Harmony etc might never have died.

    Where's Dawn?
    How does she feel about Buffy going away to university? Happy to have more time to herself in the bathroom or will she miss not having her big sis around the place?

    What the fanficcers though?
    Instead of fighting Buffy seduces The Mayor into giving up evil; 'Buffy the Mayor's Plaything'

    Questions and observations;
    Good ep, carrying the central storyline forwards whilst also accepting that life goes on outside the Hellmouth. The first time that most of the Scooby gang actually meet the Mayor. Cordy working in the shop is a shocker and no mistake. Joyce calls Buffy's Aunt Arlene, is she Joyce's sister or Hanks? Is she the mother of cousin Celia from 'Killed by Death'? The Mayor's comments on Buffy and Angel are true and Joyce will say pretty much the same in the next episode. First appearance of Faith's knife which looks like something the Klingons would use on Star Trek.

    Marks out of 10; 6/10
    moreless

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  • Choices

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By TrueTvWatcher, Oct 15, 2010 Report Abuse
    Choices was a great episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This episode continues with the Mayors plans for Ascension being the main point, while Buffy scores a temporary win against him. This win may cost Buffy dearly however as Faith catches Willow and the Mayor holds her in City Hall. There was a lot of character and story development in this episode. Wesley the new watcher made a call, and Buffy went against it to save Willow. He remains upset, and Buffy feels trapped in Sunnydale. The story was compelling, the actors were full of charisma, the action was exciting and the drama was engaging.moreless

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  • Season 3, Episode 19.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Wanted23, May 02, 2009 Report Abuse
    Buffy gets accepted into Northwestern University and does not know if she can attend because of her duties as the Slayer. Buffy intercepts the Box of Gavrok, but when Willow is captured by Faith, she must arrange a trade with the mayor. I liked the storyline for this episode. The concept was good, and I liked Cordelia in this episode, too. I think she's poor and needs the job. Willow decides to go to UC-Sunnydale with Buffy! Woohoo! I loved that scene. Plus, I liked when Willow was captured and all of Faith's scenes in this episode. I liked Willow and Faith fighting and Willow making the pencil go through the vampire's heart. Plus, Buffy looked really good in all the scenes, especially the last. Cool episode.moreless

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  • Willow and Faith face off.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By addict666, Jul 31, 2008 Report Abuse
    This is a really good episode for Willow, it shows her growing as a person and kind of separating from her doormat type personality. She's never really like Faith, but now she has good reasons and when she confronts her and tells her to get over it, she's being a little harsh which is a new thing for Willow. Faith and the Mayor are such a great pair and I love to see them together, his gift of the knife which turns out to be a large part of his downfall are presented so well in this episode. Although my absolute favorite part of this episode, which granted is about 15 seconds, is when everyone is arguing about trading the box for Willow and Oz is stoic and silent as usual stands up and knocks over the bowl thing for the spell and then just nods at Buffy, still silent, but expressing how much he loves Willow at the same time. Then the confrontation between team Mayor and team Buffy at the end is great. When Angel is insulting the Mayor and Oz issues the one word warning and shows off his fear it is so sweet (my obsession with Oz cannot be stopped). Then the mayor comments on the relationship between Angel and Buffy which is something that they all know, but are too afraid to talk about. Then at the end Willow decides she wants to devote her life to saving the world. Her decision to stay and fight evil shows how it's not just Buffy who feels responsible for the world.moreless

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  • Decisions, Decisions

    8.3
    "Great"
    By lenzinoH20, Jan 18, 2008 Report Abuse
    Choices-Buffy receives an acceptance to Northwestern University, but what should be a happy surprise turns sour when she realizes that she may not be able to go away to school and still fulfill her duties as the Slayer. Buffy manages to intercept the Box of Gavrok, a container of mystical energy that is vital to the Mayor's Ascension. But when Willow is captured, the gang must decide whether they can give up their best chance at preventing the Ascension to save Willow's life.

    An episode that could have been average but thanks to such truly excellent scenes, it's very good. I like how the continuing storyline of Buffy as well as the rest of the gang's future is brought back up. Buffy gets excepted to a great college with her suprising good SAT scores but can't have a future with her slayer duties in the way. Willow can go to any college in the world while Xander is pretty much done after high school. But the most sad part is that Cordelia seems to be broke and possibly can't go to her colleges. The main plot with the mysterious box is good and the sequence of when Buffy and Angel go all "Mission Impossible" then leading to a cool fight scene against the Mayor's guards was great. We also get a chance to see Willow show she has matured and some serious guts as when being held captive by the Mayor, she gets into an intense confrontation with Faith. I love how Willow has grown so confident standing up to Faith like that and Faith being so defensive in the end. The scene where the Buffy and the gang make a trade with the Mayor and his camp is thrilling scene. First we have some very creepy crawlers causing some brief suspense with them flying into people's face, ehw! The scene in which the Mayor's face heals from being ripped open is nasty looking. But most importantly, the Mayor of all poeple giving quality advice to Buffy and Angel. His words are all true even though Buffy and Angel at the end try to ignore their impossible future. All and All, a surprising good episode becuase of some great developments.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • We learn that Buffy has an Aunt Arlene, presumably Joyce's sister, who lives in Illinois. Edit
    • The ritual they planned to use to destroy the box of Gavrok was called Breath of the Entropics. Edit
    • We learn that the Mayor used to have a wife named Edna Mae (whom he married in 1903 and remained with until her death) and an Irish Setter named Rusty. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • The knife given to Faith is part of a collection designed by world famous knifesmith Gil Hibben. It is called "The Jackal" and was released in 1999. Edit
    • In this episode we learn that there is a University of California campus within the Sunnydale city limits. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Wesley: The Mayor will most assuredly have supernatural safeguards protecting the box. Oh, we all forgot about that, did we? Buffy: Looks like a job for Wiccan girl. What do you say, Will? Big time danger. Willow: Hey, I eat danger for breakfast. Xander: But, oddly enough, she panics in the face of breakfast foods. Edit
    • Buffy: I'm a Sunnydale girl, no other choice. Willow: Must be tough. I mean, here I am, I can do anything I want. I can go to any college in the country, four or five in Europe if I want. Buffy: Please tell me you're going somewhere with this? Willow: No. (hands Buffy a letter) I'm not going anywhere. Buffy: U.C. Sunnydale? Willow: I will be matriculating with Class of 2003. Buffy: Are you serious? Willow: Say, isn't that where you're going? Buffy: I can't believe it! Are you serious? Ah, wait, what am I saying? You can't. Willow: What do you mean, I can't? Buffy: I won't let you. Willow: Of the two people here, which is the boss of me? Buffy: There are better schools. Willow: Sunnydale's not bad and I can design my own curriculum. Buffy: Okay, well, there are safer schools. There are safer prisons. I can't let you stay because of me. Willow: Actually, this isn't about you. Although I'm fond, don't get me wrong, of you. The other night, you know, being captured and all, facing off with Faith, things just kind of got clear. I mean, you've been fighting evil here for three years, and I've helped some, and now we're supposed to decide what we want to do with our lives, and I just realized that that's what I want to do. Fight evil. Help people. I mean, I think it's worth doing and I don't think you do it because you have to. It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in. Buffy: I kind of love you. Willow: And, besides, I have a shot at being a bad ass Wiccan, and what better place to learn? Edit
    • Buffy: Do you get the feeling that we're kind of in a rut? Angel: Rut? Buffy: You never take me any place new. Angel: What about that fire demon nest in the cave by the beach? Thought that was a nice change of pace. Buffy: So this is our future? I mean, this is how we're gonna spend our nights when I'm 50 and you're... the same age you are now? Angel: Let's just get you to 50. Buffy: Liking that plan. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Buffy: The Box of Gavrok. It houses some great demonic energy or something which His Honor needs to chow down on come A-Day. Gavrok is also the name of a character who appears in the Doctor Who episode Delta and the Bannerman from 1987. Edit
    • Faith: I made him an offer he didn't survive. This is a play on the famous line "I made him an offer he couldn't refuse", spoken by Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather. Edit
    • Faith: But you, you just can't stop Nancy Drew-ing, can you? Nancy Drew is a fictional teen detective who has her own series of mystery novels for younger readers. Edit

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