Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Good;
The final battle and the end of SDH (for the moment, at least). The chance to see some familar faces again and to say goodbye to others. Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies finally graduate into the adult world and if not exactly putting childish things aside growing past them. So great to see the kids of Sunnydale High fight back at last (although has this spoiled the survival record they were all so proud of in The Prom?) Snyder's introductory speech is a definite highlight. It's all terrific and I think we should all be proud to say that we graduated Sunnydale High, class of 1999

The Bad;
Are you kidding? Well, actually one thing that always bothered me was after we see a devastated Mayor visiting Faith in hospital he seems awfully chipper when briefing the vamps for the Graduation? Maybe the briefing the vamps scene was supposed to in a different order in the script?

Best line;
Willow; "Man, just ascend already!" just beating Xander's 'Good to know that when the chips are down you can feed on the girl who loves you to save your own ass!' Also fond of Oz 'Our lives are different to other peoples'.

Character death;
Byebye Larry (although his death isn't confirmed until season 6, I for one had no idea if he'd survived or not). Byebye Snyder who quite obviously had no clue what was going on. We see Harmony bitten but we don't see her sired? And byebye the Mayor, Harry Groener will be missed, he brought a lot to the table. Glad we'll see him again a few more times. Also unless I'm mistaken Cordy bags her first solo vamp.

Shot;
Vamps with flaming arrows, great idea straight out of every western you've ever seen.

Knocked out;
Faith still in a coma and will remain so for over a year. Buffy also unconscious. A pained Wes asks at the end could he be knocked unconscious.

Women good/men bad;
The Mayor refers to Buffy as a whore, a nastily misogynist remark. Buffy says Wes 'Screams like a woman' and compares Xander and Angel to squabbling old ladies.

Jeez!;
Watching the Mayor try to smother an unconscious Buffy is awful

Kinky dinky;
Angel biting Buffy. The sexiest scene you'll ever see between two fully clothed lovers, once again a vamp feeding is seen as a sexual act with violence as foreplay (the second time Buffy has been bitten by a vampire but by no means the last). Willow loses her virginity to Oz, it's all so sweet. Their van sex proves Cordy's theory about danger being an aphrodisiac. Willow says that its the best time of her life.

Calling Captain Subtext;
The entire Buffy/Faith dream sequence is just one huge Buffy/Faith love in, especially Faith's caressing of Buffy's face and Buffy kissing an unconscious Faith. Face it, they love each other, they're meant to be together. And remember it's Faith who gives Buffy the secret of defeating the Mayor. Angel in his delerium also mistakes Oz for Buffy, THAT would have been an interesting conversation! Wes and Cordy's kiss is a disaster, one day they'll love each other plenty but not like that.

Guantanamo Bay;
Buffy gets Angel into vampface by slapping him around a little. Is Buffy going to let Angel drain Faith entirely or give them a bit of each of their blood?

Scoobies to the ER;
Buffy is taken to hospital for blood loss whilst Wes is carted away at the end. The Scoobs must be such frequent visitors there the staff must know them by name.

Where's Dawn?
Safely out of town with Joyce. However I think it's no great leap of imagination to say that the cat in the dream sequence is representative of Dawn. Indeed this could be the moment it's decided she's Buffy's sister rather than Faith's. Faith remarks about 'Little Miss Muffet, counting down from 730' which of course is 365x2 and it'll be 2 years before Dawnie shows up.

Questions and observations;
Goodbye Angel, he makes a fantastic exit. Again, what exactly is the Mayor's plan? He obviously believes in a sort of idealised vision of Sunnydale, how is being a huge snake going to achieve that? Also although this is referred to as an apocalypse it really wouldn't be the end of the world, we've had demons like this before and the world goes on. Also surely the Initiative/Military/National Guard would just blast the Mayor to bits? Xander's soldier knowledge once again comes in useful. Although I'd really have liked to have seen the hummus offensive.
The Mayor says Faith doesn't like to be cooped up, prison must have been tough for her then. Why should Wes leave the country? Would the Council really give up that easily? Shouldn't the hospital staff call the police when the Mayor tries to smother Buffy? There's a great picture of Wes in the Sunnydale High Yearbook asking 'Who is this guy? The first mention of shrimp in the Buffyverse. Anya refers to her car but then in 'Triangle' says it's the first time she's driven? The Mayor says Sunnydale is 100 years old but surely the town dates back to Spanish/American times?
Lot of fanfic based on the concept of 'what if?' the ascension had succeeded. Like the one where WR&H, the Initiative, Doyle, Gwen, Spike, Fred, Warren, Lorne, Tara, Gunn etc team up to set the world to rights, also fond of the monks sending Dawn to Faith as her sister, Glory killing the transformed Mayor in her quest for The Key and Faith killing her then being won back over to the good guys by her little sis' love. All time favourite though is Faith realising the transformed Mayor doesn't love her anymore so she goes to the Oracles and turns back time, even if it means she ends up in a coma.

Marks out of 10; 10/10 and no mistake. For me Buffy peaks at exaclty this point, it's still a wonderful show for the next 4 years and never jumps the shark but this is the best of the best and we'll never see TV consistently as good as this ever again.

With Faith lost, Buffy sees herself left with only one option to cure Angel: To let him feed off her. Meanwhile, the whole of Sunnydale High prepares to take down the mayor who is about to turn into a giant snake. Of course.



The weakest season finale ever on Buffy, I think, Graduation Day (2) sees the final battle of Sunnydale High and the exit of several characters: Angel, Cordelia, mayor Wilkins, principal Snyder. The Angel/Buffy storyline comes to an end, making the episode's greatest impact with the very haunting feeding scene (hello, intercourse) and Angel's highly emotional departure at the end, impressively executed without a single word or tear. The Buffy/Angel-arc has in deed been one of the most beautiful and gripping that the show ever did, but it was wise to let it end here, while it's still interesting.



The big battle at the end is intriguing only because of the effects and the spectacle. Unlike Charmed, Buffy never bothered to have the mortals in the heroine's surroundings respond realistically when exposed to supernatural forces, and here we have all the graduates united to fight a giant snake, readily and willingly. It is unrealistic even by unrealistic standards.



The mayor gone snaky was more laughable than frightening. All this building up to the great Ascension, and this was it? There wasn't at all that sense of actual danger, as there usually is when the villain is human, i.e. Spike, Angelus and the Master.



But then again – it would be hopelessly naïve to expect a thrilling conclusion to the arc of the dullest big bad that Buffy ever did (I exclude the trio for now); to this day I cannot grasp, cannot fathom, cannot begin to comprehend why anybody would ever find mayor Wilkins frightening. I have heard people argue that it is exactly his lack of fangs that makes him so scary – well, then I guess I'm a fang guy. Groening is nothing short of boring as the big bad, and more than once I've found myself wanting to fast forward whenever he showed his face on the screen. The 'psychotic nice guy' could have become extremely frightening, but alas, in the hands of a limited actor, this happens in stead.

I'll however give the writers credit for his rather touching relationship with Faith, whose character and storyline are by far the strongest asset of season three. Superb.



As is often the case, the humour is spot-on. The intense kissing scene between Cordelia and Wesley made me laugh out loud.



By no means a disaster episode – a Buffy season finale never is – Graduation Day (2) was simply too interested in wow'ing effects and too careless about suspense. A nice suspense/horror story, carefully balanced with a strong pathos story, makes for the perfect Buffy story, but this one, sadly, is no such thing. It's got the pathos part down, though, and that is what makes this episode work.



(And finally –how long will the writers be milking Xander's military experience from the Halloween episode??)

Graduation Day (2) was the season three finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This was a Perfect episode combining a great story line, personable characters, and action of course. Both Buffy and Faith survive the ordeal the each went through. The Mayor upset about Faith continues with his plans for Ascension with a vengence in his heart. Buffy comes up with a crazy plan that just might work. Every one does their part and helps in different ways. It was so cool to see every one work together. The graduation and ascension was a great part. It was a great ending to the season, and I look forward to seeing what happens with Buffy now that High School is over and Angel has left town.

ISo I am working my way thru Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I think I would say this was my favorite episode yet! I think it did a great job of finishing out season three. I loved how Buffy's entire class banded together to defeat the mayor. I thought the special effects in this episode were amazing. It was also great that Xander was finally importnat in a plan! Angel leaving was sad, but I knew it was coming, so I was expecting it. I think the writers of this episode did a wonderful job leading up to the showdown at the graduation. I must say Cordelia & Wesleys cringe-worthy kiss was well, cringe-worthy! Although I was happy to see that storyline put to rest! Anyway, all in all this was a great finale to a great season!

After Faith escapes from Buffy, she allows Angel to drink her blood to rid his body of the poison. With Buffy in a coma, the gang must figure out a way to stop the Mayor's ascension. Meanwhile, while she's in a coma, Buffy gets help from an unlikely source.



I enjoyed this episode. It was sad though. The gang is finally graduating! It's a milestone in the show's history. No more library scenes! :( Percy is freakin' hot, and I loved the shirtless Angel scenes, even if there was a hole in his chest. I liked the hospital scenes and Faith helping Buffy. Plus, the ending was pretty climactic. I loved the end, especially with the high school blowing up. Farewell, Cordelia! Season 4 is going to be sooo different. Good job on three seasons so far! :)

This is one of my favorite episodes just due to how well the huge fighting scene is done. I do wish Faith was in it more but I suppose it's good because it left it so her character could return next series and many other episodes throughout Buffy/Angel.



Although I wish Buffy and Angel had stayed together because they just SHOULD have lasted forever, I love that he left for his own spin off show which everbody just loves!



I also wish Cordelia could have had more of a part or a better story towards the end of this series but I suppose, again, she gets more than enough in "Angel" than she ever did in "Buffy".



And goodbye Sunnydale High School library, corridors, cafeteria, etc. These are all bad points and good points put together because I have all mixed feelings for this episode.

This is one of the best episodes of Buffy! My favourite scence in this episode is at the end. A lot of cool things happen at the end of this episode. Buffy and all the graduates have to defeat the mayour who turns into this big snake demon thingy. It's really cool how Buffy got everyone in the school to help out. It's one of the most memorable moments on Buffy in my opinion. The school blows up which is really cool. One of the saddest things in this episode is Angel has to leave in this episode but Buffy knows she can't stay with him. This was a good way to end season 3.

Graduation Day, Part 2-During their battle, Faith manages to escape from Buffy, so Buffy forces Angel to drink her own blood to rid his body of the poison. With Buffy in a coma, the gang must devise a plan to defeat the Mayor once and for all. An epic finale that not only brings the storylines of the season to a close, but concludes the overall storyline for the past 3 years that High school is hell in a wonderful manner. The episodes opens with a shocking and erotic scene as a defeated Buffy gives herself to Angel for him to feed on her. Just watching Buffy so helpless as Angel lterally drains the life from her is more disturbing than it's actually looks. But I love how in the hospital just as Buffy is brought in the Mayor is there as Faith is now in a coma. The confrontation between him and Angel is great as we finally get to the Mayor vunerable for the first time as well as showing his feelings for Faith are that of a very protective father.



The episode are has some incredibly surreal scenes like Buffy's dream about Faith. Like the dream sequences before it, there are some terrific metaphors and hidden forshadowing place with in. The most notable is Faith's very vague line.



Faith: "Little Miss Muffet counting down 7-3-0."



It's a amazing forshadowing of Buffy's death exactly 2 years later. Other great scenes are Buffy and the gang preparing for the finale battle as while as the Mayor giving his pep talk to his men before the Ascension. Then there's the scene of Wesley and Cordelia's horrible kissing as they realize that a relationship between them will never work...ever, lol! The big battle at the end is tremedous as the whole graduation class bands together to stop the now Giant Snake Mayor and his gang of vampires. It's a powerful scene as it sends a strong message of unity since high school has always been a lonely place for teenagers. Most of them even seperate into indiviual groups to survive the ridicule of the pressure that is high school. Knowing that in the end, the whole class came together to be one fight unite is touching and makes the past 3 years come full circle. The whole fight is full of great moments from the flaming arrows to Wesley getting knocked out in the first 2 seconds to the class charging toward the vampires to Cordelia staking a vampire for the first time. But the best part is the brief yet big chase scene as The Giant Snaked Mayor blindly follows Buffy to the library where he gets blown up. Despite the Giant Snake looking dodge with the CGI effects, the explosion of Sunnydale High is a very epic sequence that is unforgettable. The closing moments are touching as Buffy and Angel have one more glance before he leaves her for good. Then there's Buffy, Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordelia having one last satisfying moment as they not only survived the battle, but high school in general. All and All, a fitting classic as the high school years come to a close for the series with surreal scenes and epic battles.

The final episode to the third season was fantastic, but I felt that many things were left (unwritten) unsaid about certain characters such as Cordelia Chase. Charisma Carpenter had played the character for three season on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and I felt that Joss Whedon did not give her a proper ending on the show. Although we found out before the season ended that Charisma was leaving the show to work on Angel, I feel that JOss should have given Cordelia a proper ending on the show. She helped the gang out a lot, although being snippy on many occasions, and saved the world at least three times! Joss Whedon gave Angel a proper goodbye on the show, I just never understood why Cordelia got a farewell (on-screen; for the fans) before swopping shows.

(Also, Joss Whedon never properly wrote her out of angel after she apolagised for what she said about him, how annoying is that toward the fans!)

I hope u agree, and found this review interesting..

Great episode, especially after Buffy's message in Earshot, about everyone coming together to stop the Mayor, even though they're not all going to make it -- it seems that Sunnydale inhabitants actually do have a clue of what's going on in their town. This episode holds a special place for me because of "A Shared Vision," the scene where Buffy has the dream with Faith. I always like Faith, less of course when she was bad, but I appreciated her struggle. So for her to appear to Buffy, and the two of them to have a civilized, if cryptic, conversation, was a great treat (sidebar, why don't great and treat rhyme). This is also reflected in This Year's Girl/Who Are You in Season 4 because Faith is still out for blood but she has a connection with Buffy (one of the few that actually do).

I loved this episode.



After Faith shot Angel with a poisened arrow, they find out that the only cure is to drink the blood of a slayer. Then it is no more Mrs. nice Buffy. She sets off to kill faith and let Angel drink her blood. It doesn't work out that way and Angel has to drink hers. Buffy is rushed to the hospital and they find out Faith is in a coma next door to her. The whole gang formulates a plan to stop teh mayor's ascension. Willow, Xander, Oz, Cordelia, Wesley, Giles, Buffy, and Angel all come together to fight teh ascension. As the day comes, they get the whole Sunnydale High School Class of '99 to help out. They all have weapons and are ready to fight! They fight off the vampires and make a bomb to destroy the mayor-demon. Buffy plays on his human weakness to lure him into the high school. Then she runs out just in time for the bomb to explode. They kiled him together. Angel leaves in this episode and it is sad.



I liked the end of this episode because you see Cordelia, Oz, Willow, Xander, and Buffy all together in the end.

Greta episode, definately one of my favorites.

I loved the beginning. It was amazing to see Buffy with that almost blank look on her face as she realized what she had done to Faith. I loved that since Buffy couldn't get Faith for Angel she made him drink from her.



The relationship between Faith and the Mayor was incredible here. You could tell that he had a father's love for her. I loved how he was trying to kill Buffy for what she had done to Faith.



Faith and Buffy together in that dream sequence was amazing. They were so pure and real together in that scene. There was no evil bad girl good girl stuff they were the same and that's what made that scene so amazing. The Mayor coming into the library when Buffy was telling the gang her crazy plan to defeat him was great. I loved how Giles just stabbed him and he pulled the thing out like it was nothing. I loved that Buffy chose to put Xander in charge and then he started bickering with Angel. It's always funny to see angel and Xander bickering like little old ladies.



Wesley and Cordelia packing up books in the library was an amusing scene. The kissing session they had was so totally awkward and you could tell that both of them thought it was a terrible kiss. The fact that they were messing around made to episode somewhat lighter.



Willow and Oz were great too. I cannot believe that they did it in Oz's van before graduation. I loved how they both walked up a little late too. They were so incredibly adorable. I loved Buffy and Willow talking at the beginning of the ceremony after Willow walked up later. It was great that they just wanted him to ascend because his speech was so boring.



I really enjoyed that they managed to get the entire graduating class together to fight the Mayor. It was amazing to see Buffy and Xander giving orders. I loved seeing Xander take charge of what every group was to do and how they were gonna fight. I loved how Buffy got the Mayor to chase after her and into the library so she could blow him up. It was incredible to see Sunnydale High go out with a bang like that.



This was an incredible ending to an amazing season. And as Oz put it they survived High School.

This is the greatest season finale I have ever seen! I really liked Faith and I'm sad to see her go, but I'm sure she'll be back. I thought it was sweet that Buffy was willing to let Angel suck her blood in order to keep on living. It was gross, but it was sweet that she was willing to take that risk. I really liked the fact that all the students at the graduation were armed with weapons and that they were all going to help fight the mayor. It certainly made the episode interesting. I'm not at all sad to see the principal die. I didn't like him very much anyway. It was cool to see Buffy draw the mayor/demon into the trap. What a shame the school was destroyed in the process (sarcasm).

Favorite Quotes:

Oz: "Guys, take a moment to deal with this. We survived."

Buffy: "It was a hell of a battle."

Oz: "Not the battle. High School. We're taking a moment... And we're done."

Xander: "Well! School's done. That is so cool!"

Willow: "Why do demons even come here? I mean, don't they know how bad we are?"



Great episode. I must say that I was very happy to see how the mayor was defeated. Seeing all of the senior class stand together against him was just great. Unfortunately Larry ended up dying, and Harmony was turned into a vamp in this episode, as we find out later. With the mayor gone, and Faith in a coma we end on a bittersweet note: Angel leaves.

The mayor blows up soon after his ascension to demon status, as far as scary monsters go he wasn't the best looking but the message was there.



I loved the way that the whole year group helped to fight the demon, it really showed how people in Sunnydale can do the right thing for a change and see what is right in front of them.



Buffy's heart breaks as Angel leaves but she does seem to accept it as she doesn't run after him when she sees him walking away. On some level she does accept that i really is for her benefit.



Blowing up Sunnydale High really was a brilliant way to symbolise the slayer going to college.

in the last episode faith shoot a arrow to angel and angel gets poison. and buffy is sad and mad. she has a crazy couple of days. also she has to worry about the mayor ending the world. the mayor is a demon ever since he used that spell. so buffy need angel to bite her to cure the poison. and he does not want to but then he does. buffy is left half dead. the she wakes up and goes to the ceromonie to go to college. then buffy has a plan to exploded the mayor. then everyone one has a part to do the students have to kill the demons and vampires to help buffy. then buffy gets to the mayor and kills him. that was funny he tries to run away. hahahahaha. the mayor is dead. the world is still here and buffy is going to college. YAY. a good episode.

We see all the students at Sunnydale High take part and finally accept all the strange things that have happened over the years. They stand up and fight against one of the biggest baddies they will ever see. Xander has a pivotal role in the fight, and that's one of the best parts about it. He's finally needed for something important. Buffy's role in the fight is minor, while all the students play the key roles. I loved that Cordeila got her first taste at killing a vampire, and that litthe Jonathon got a chance to kick some butt.



Plus, blowing up the school did look awesome.

So the gang finds out that the Mayor is the key speaker at the graduation and that is where the accession is taking place. They also talk to Anya (who has witnessed one) and she explains as mush to them as she can. Buffy wants her mom to leave town so she doesn’t have to worry about her but Joyce says no. Willow is freaking out that she isn’t a good witch and can’t help Buffy at all. Oz starts kissing her and they have sex. The mayor shows up to challenge the gang and Angel gets hit with a poisoned arrow – her mind is no longer on the accession. The poison can only stopped by draining the blood of a slayer so Buffy sets out to find Faith. They have a huge fight and Buffy stabs faith but she falls into a moving truck (dead or just unconscious). Meanwhile the gang find out the demon that they mayor is turning into and it’s a big one. Buffy decides that to save Angel he will let him drink from her – she beats up on him until he gets all vampy and bites her. He drinks until she looses consciousness and he takes her to the hospital where we find Faith in a coma. In Buffy’s state she has a dream where Faith is talking in riddles. She wakes up with a plan and goes to tell the gang. They start working their plan and graduation starts (this is when the gang realizes that the mayor is going to give his entire speech, how evil). The accession starts and the students stand up and fight back, that was Buffy’s plan. Larry is killed, Harmony is bitten by a vamp and the mayor as a demon eats Snyder. Buffy distracts the mayor taunting him with the knife he gave Faith and then the school blows up taking the mayor with it. When it is all over Oz wants them to reflect that they survived…high school. Buffy sees Angel in the haze as he walks away.

The writers could not have ended season 3 any better at all. The mayor's speech and him being a giant snake monster and all was just fantastic. Buffy running through the school and into the library with the giant snake monster mayor chasing her was just so exciting. How she blew up the library though was pretty damn fantastic. And when all the vampires turned up but all the students took off their robes and started kicking ass, that was just brilliant. Angel leading them as well was totally cool. The only downside to this episode was that in the end Angel leaves for LA, that was kinda heartbreaking :(, especially coz Buffy and Angel have a "moment" before he goes and then he disappears into the smoke and leaves and Buffy is just stood there all devastated...:'(

Wonderful conclusion to a strong season ending arc. There are just a ton of wonderful moments in the episode and it has no dull spots.



Faith and Buffy's dream-to-dream meeting filled with dream-babble that suddenly makes sense in a few seasons. Oz helping to relieve Willow's panic. Willow and Oz watching over a sinking Angel:



Willow: He thought I was Buffy.

Oz: You too, huh?





Buffy making Angel feed from her is easily one of the most disturbing, but highly erotic scenes I've seen on Buffy.



Mayor Wilkins genuine grief for Faith (a surprise since I half-expected he was using her all season and would end up killing her in the end).



Xander's anger at finding out that Angel fed from Buffy.



The entire senior class standing up for themselves and fighting back. (Poor Larry!)



Buffy to the Mayor (about Faith's knife): "Hey! (holds Faith's knife up) You remember this? I took it from Faith. Stuck it in her gut. (Looks at the knife then back up at the Mayor) Just slid in her like she was butter."



Chilling, but effective.

Good end to the third season. Even though I felt like it missed something extra, like it could have been better despise some very important and beautiful scenes.

‘Graduation, part II’ proved to be up there, but not quite on top. Part I succeeded better and that one still missed something too.



I think that the biggest problem of this episode is the lack of credibility, all those kids would have run instead of using all their equipments to fight. They first see a big snake demon, no way a normal kid would stay and even though some ran, it wasn’t enough. Also, I can’t help but think that The Mayor snake looked a bit, fake. But I can look through that, except when he says ‘Oh, gosh’ that was just way too over the top.



Despite that, the episode was still excellent. Like I said before, it has a couple of amazing scenes. Biggest to that is Buffy forcing Angel to drink her, he doesn’t want to but she hits him until he does.



Angel brings her to the hospital and saves The Mayor from taking Buffy’s life, he was next to all of that with his Faith in bed and the doctors told him that she might never wake up. So anyway, The Mayor leaves and tells Angel to be there on his second act. Angel calls Buffy’s friends, it really bothered me how they treated him. Specially Xander, he’s a nice guy and all but sometimes he really deserves some slapping.



Another beautiful scene was with Buffy and Faith in one dream, the riddle and filming was beautiful. ‘Little miss, counting down from 7-3-0’

I believe she gave the strength to Buffy to take up, when Buffy does the first thing is to kiss Faith on her forehead and then she goes to her friends, she’s ready for war.



When it’s time for the graduation, The Mayor is so evil that he does a big speech but soon the Eplix comes and The Mayor changes into a big snake. But the students pack out and fight as well, it was nice to see him eating up Snyder. But to bad Larry had to die, so did Harmony. So anyway, after the big fight Buffy draws The Mayor snake towards her with Faith’s knife and when she draws him to the library he sees a lot of dynamites. Giles makes it explode and the whole school goes down with The Mayor in it.



Another great highlight was the Wes/Cordy kissage. They had been into each other for a while, and now that they kiss they completely kill their affection. Also both had a fun part in the fight, Wes was down as first and couldn’t stand up, the sissy. While Cordy kills her first vampire, good for her.



After the big fight, Angel promised not to say goodbye. But he does, he looks at her and slowly fades into the darkness.



‘Graduation Day, part II’ was an excellent episode, not the best finale but still. Pretty good.

Contrasting with the last episode’s violence, we start off with a whole load of tenderness:– the Mayor frets about Faith, Cordy worries about Wesley leaving town, Willow tells Oz it’s the best night of her life (are you sure you’re a lesbian, Willow?), Angel, in the midst of dying (I bet Wolfram and Hart et al would have paid quite a lot of money for some of that mystical poison), is concerned for Buffy - telling her (or rather, Willow) that he was wrong and can’t leave her. (Un)Fortunately, Buffy’s self-sacrificial offer then goes to show him, and us, just why he has to go. The horribly erotic scene in which Angel, erm, sucks Buffy is the closest thing they’ve had to sex all season and considering Joss’s professed feminist credentials, I find it a little queasy – the woman, getting off on pain, submits to the man, and he, unable to control his urges, takes what he needs without thought or feeling. Anyway, it’s a good way of showing that puppydog Angel can bite and also Buffy’s residual guilt about killing Angel in S2 – she needs him to survive this season.



Their roles are then reversed as he takes her to the hospital and tends to her. Faith’s and Buffy’s fates are once again in tandem, as Faith is in a soap-opera-y coma in the room next door. This is a good plot decision as it saves Buffy the consequences of having killed a human (and her alter-ego at that) and it also stops another Slayer rising and really, we’ve done that story to death already. The Mayor, who has never seen Buffy as more than a fly in his evil ointment, shows his love for Faith as he loses it bigtime with Angel: “Well, I'd get set for some weeping if I were you. I'd get set for a world of pain. Misery loves company, young man, and I'm looking to share that with you and your whore!” and tries to suffocate Buffy, before Angel slaps him across the room.



Meanwhile, well, it’s a Joss ep, so there’s gotta be a dream. Here Faith tells Buffy how to deal with the Mayor (“Human weakness never goes away – even his”) and that “everything fades”….Buffy will die, in 730 days. There’s a lot in the dream (the cat being the equivalent of the cheeseman?) but Faith just tells her to “take what you need”.



This wakes up Buffy and returns her to her camp to prepare for war. The two Generals start to discuss their plans. Apart from hummous and a pretend box of ebola, the Scoobs’ Plan is kept amongst themselves, whereas the Mayor lays his out. Once again, however, Xander is key; how many times has he saved the world exactly? Wesley redeems himself by offering to work outside of his job description and help Buffy, his last act in Sunnydale before he moves to LA, becomes a Rogue Demon Hunter, the leader of Angel Investigation, a be-grizzled lone wolf and then dead warrior. Maybe it’d’ve been better if he’d just gone back to England and got a research job. Anyway, all the guest stars from S3: Percy, Larry, Jonathan and Harmony are in on the plan. A pity they couldn’t get Tucker, Marcie, the hyena kids, Aura and everyone who’s ever been a bit-part to help launch the flaming arrows.



Back to the romance and Wes and Cordy share the best comedy slobbery kiss ever, Oz and Willow panic once again in the back of the van, the same van where Willow fell for Oz after he wouldn’t kiss her (she likes the control freaks) and Angel and Buffy fail to kiss, and she finds out that he won’t say be saying goodbye to her after the battle.



So, the graduation scene. Snyder, snide to the last, tells the assembled mass: “You all proved more or less adequate”. And then he introduces the guestnote speaker: Mayor Richard Wilkins III. Ironically, Buffy et al want him to “ascend already”, so that they can attack him, but the Mayor wants to talk about change, and how nothing will ever be the same, which of course refers to life outside high school, his ascension and to Buffy TVS the series, which does take a change of tone after the high school years. He notes that the centenary of the town is today: he has been working for and waiting for a hundred years for this moment, his moment, and his arrogance makes him believe the Slayer is not a threat. With “a synchronicity that borders on predestination”, or maybe it’s just a lucky co-incidence/plot device, this is also the day that the Slayer and has, from the Prom, gained the confidence to know that the rest of the school can work as a whole, that everything from the last 3 years can be forgotten in a final blaze of glory - they can act together rather than leaving Buffy to do it on her own, rather than ignoring everything that goes on in Sunnydale - they can strike back at the evil in the town rather than becoming its victims.



As the Mayor drops his index cards and begins his transformation, parents start shrieking and running but the kids stand firm. They take off their graduating robes to reveal swords, crosses, stakes, flame throwers, and cross bows. Giles is right, children en masse can be gracious – and courageous. The giant fight begins: Wes gets knocked down, Larry is killed, Harmony bitten, Jonathan uses himself as a human cannonball and Cordy stakes her first vamp which, along with her move to LA ,leads her to work for Angel, inherit psychic visions, become half-demon, do her own ascending, become the carrier for an evil God and then die in a coma. Bet she wishes she’d stayed at April Fools, hey? Snyder, horrified by the chaos, shouts that “this is totally unacceptable”, just before he’s eaten by the Mayor-snake. Hey, at least he wasn’t ripped apart by hyenas. Poor Snyder - but it was his own blinkeredness and superciliousness that killed him; puffed up with self-importance at his supposed ability to control events at the school, he never gave a thought to what was behind it all.



Similarly, as Buffy taunts the Mayor-snake with the knife that he gave to Faith which is covered in her blood, cuts and guts, he forgets his operation and chases Buffy through the school right to the library where dynamite is waiting for him, as is Giles with the detonator, which is a completely fitting end to Buffy’s high school years. Isn’t it every kid’s dream to blow up the school on the last day of term? Although, talking of pre-destination, wasn’t Buffy warned about not burning down anything when she started at the school?



But thanks to Buffy the future does belong to the class of ’99; nevertheless, as Angel slips away into the shadows and smoke, it is a bittersweet ending.

Another well written off beat buffy the vampire slayer season finale. Although the finale doesnt wrap up the entire season (fans should know) that the faith/mayor story line continues in season 4 episodes \\\"This Years Girl part 1\\\" \\\"Who are you part 2\\\" and season seven episodes. This 2 part story arc takes place a couple weeks(well months) before the assencion with the scooby\\\'s planning a attack on the mayor part 1 was a ittle dissapointing when i watched it nothing big happened except until the end part 2 picks up the action with a stunning closing Graduation Day 1&2 Is avalible on Dvd!

I used to hate people rating this above Becoming. But upon rewatching it I was impressed with Joss Whedon's ability as a director. This episode is a piece of art and so much more moving than most movies you see these days.



I love the huge oner (long camera shot, a Whedon fav technique) at the hospital. The Buffy/Faith dream is such a wonderful end to their arc and the music in this scene is gorgeous. And who doesn't love all the Buffy/Angel stuff?



Here the stakes are raised. This *feels* like a season finale and you can't help but love all the characters, good and bad. It's been so long since I've been able to say that about any show.



The Smallville high school graduation, which I finally saw the other day, had similar elements and left me cold. This show never relied on big special effects and gimmicks to get attention. It was always about the character development. The Mayor was my favorite Buffy villain. His genuine grief over Faith was pretty touching.



And for some reason I love how anticlimatic Angel's departure from Sunnydale is. I expected some final goodbye or major angsting. That last scene between Buffy and Angel was perfect.



Also, the humor is top notch, as usual:

Willow: "Faith told you? Was that before or after you put her in a coma?"

Buffy: "After."

Willow: "Oh."

This is a great episode. It really has anything that makes Buffy such a great show and it was a good season finale too. So what’s happened here, that was so great?

First I like to say, that everything comes to and end and starts over again. There are the obvious things like Angel ending he’s relationship with Buffy and leaving only to start again in LA. But the story contains much more such aspects bigger ones and smaller ones.

First: Faith time has ended, till she will wake up again.

Second: Cordelia and Wesley finally kiss each other, but that’s also the end of there time together (when you even can tell that).

Third: Willow finally sleeps with Oz – also an aspect of ending and restart (she ends her childhood and starts being an adult).

Fourth: Wesley is leaving only to come back to Angel in the future.

Fifth: The Evil is battled but still exists somewhere in different forms and with different intentions.

But additionally to this theme, there were a lot more in here (well otherwise it wouldn’t be Buffy). So let’s take a look at the Buffy Angel relationship. After Buffy failed to bring Faith to Angel, she offers herself to him and forces him to drink her blood. That was a really sad moment, but the second part of this theme is even sadder! It’s the scene when Angel and Buffy are preparing to fight, Angel tells her, he’ll leave just after the battle. Just imagine how Buffy must feel in this moment. She almost died, she was ready to give up her own live for her love, but Angel is still willing to leave her. This moment was so sad; even we all know that it’s best when Angel leaves.

There were funny moments in here too, for example when Willow and Oz are late for the graduation speech, Cordelia kissing Wesley or when Buffy tells the gang, what Faith told her after both were unconscious and Willow’s “Oh”. So nice.

The final fight was really good and after the episode “the Prom” we all know, that everyone knows about Buffy and so everyone is going to help fight the mayor. The only thing in this fight I didn’t like so much was some part of the CGI effects. Sure my expectation at CGI work is high (and I write this at the end of 2005, six years after the production). I don’t say that everything was bad. The snake outside the building and the morphing in to the snake were quite impressive. The parts I didn’t like where, when the snake eats Snyder. The shadow is wrong, the snake shimmers too much, and look close how the snake bites. You’ll see that, the foot of Snyder would be outside the mouth and should be bitten of, but it just disappears while the camera holds on it. The other thing I didn’t like about the snake was the brightness her skin has inside the building, when she fallows Buffy. In the Featurette on the DVD about how they made the snake, they explain, that they darkened the scenes, so the snake looks better. Well I think that’s true, but the snake is the strong enlightened when the rooms are so dark. But I think I just not old enough to forgive such things, but this isn’t the reason, why I don’t give a 10 for this episode. All other brilliant Buffy episodes end, after some fight or whatever has ended, and we just see the characters looking back. This time they talk and think about their past (a funny scene though), but it some kind destroys the story viewer connection. We laugh and forget the past – but the past is the important thing in this episode.

The episode opens up with Angel still at deaths door needing the blood of a slayer to survive. With Faith no longer an option,Buffy thinks she killed her, Buffy decides to save Angel herself. The scenes of Buffy forcing Angel to drink from her were amazing. The scenes to follow of Angel getting her to the hospital and fighting with The Mayor were great too. Buffy and Faith, who is in a coma, having a mind meld of sorts was a nice way to bring the two full circle again. Then comes the ultimate battle where Buffy organizes the whole school to rise up against The Mayor when he begins his ascention. Watching everyone take part in the battle was a lot of fun and Buffy and Giles putting the final kaboom on the snake was perfect. It was sad to see Angel leave at the end but we always knew he'd be back some day. I loved how the final scene focused on the gang together in wonderment not of the battle they just fought and won but of the fact that their high school years were behind them and they survived them.:)