Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Good;
Faith's dream sequences are all excellent, wonderful to see Harry Groener again, love the reveal of Faith at UCSD and great scenes with Joyce/Faith, the fight that follows one of the best in the show's history

The Bad;
Are you kidding, Faith is back, how could anything be bad?

Best line;
Faith; How do I look?
Joyce; Psychotic?

Character death;
Thankfully not

Knocked out;
Buffy-as-Faith in the final scene plus the poor girl at the hospital

Women good/men bad;
Nope, female villain this time around

Jeez!;
Psycho-Buffy in Faith's dreams is scary indeed, great performance from SMG, love her vacant stare, steady walk and that little tilt of the head, give her a hockey mask and she's the villain in the slasher film. Check out Buffy's expression as she twists the knife in Faith's side. Plus Faith hits Joyce! Oh, that girl deserves SUCH a spanking! Plus Adam's Silence of the Lambs homage.

Kinky dinky;
As Petrie comments, 'Cleavage, demons and intrigue'. Faith also tells Buffy she has dreams about 'cigars and tunnels', Bill Clinton and Monica anyone? (a reference that would have been a lot more topical at the time). Willow refers to Faith as a 'cleavagey slutbomb'.

Calling Captain Subtext;
The grass snake intruding in the picnic needs no interpretation. It represents the Mayor's evil desires intruding on his and Faith's happiness. Doug Petrie comments on Jaith and I think he's right, actually Joyce and Faith love each other much the same as Buffy/Faith do. I remember reading a great fanfic called 'Forbidden' where Joyce is lying in bed feeling guilty about having sex with the naked Slayer lying beside her who calls her 'mommy'. Of course in the very last word of the story you realise that it's actually Faith rather than Buffy and it all makes perfect sense from both a narrative and character point of view.
Buffy and Faith in dreams are still making the bed, Faith pleads for Buffy to take the knife out of her, does this signify a yearning for forgiveness?

Scoobies to the ER;
Buffy-as-Faith get's a hammering (one could argue that this is actually Faith self-harming?)

Where's Dawn?
Taken hostage by Faith alongside Joyce? It would certainly explain Dawn's antipathy towards her in season 7. Faith refers to 'Little sis coming'. Of course Dawn could just as easily have been Faith's sister if things had worked out differently.

Missing scenes;
The bit where Tara and Willow search for Faith is quite obviously an add in but is funny, especially Tara's idea of fighting.

Apocalypses; 5,

Questions and observations;
Wonderful to have Faith back. You can't help but feel sorry for her when she's wandering the streets of Sunnydale having lost everything, ecspecially when she sees the happy daughter leading her father by the hand. One question, looking at the Mayor's video he seems to think that there will be a museum dedicated to him in Sunnydale and that he and Faith will bring 'order' to the town? By being a big snake?
I always wondered what would happen if a Slayer was brainsucked by Glory? Read a fanfic once where that actually happens to Faith but then DarkWillow brainsucks Warren before killing him and uses his mental energy to cure her. Watching this I realise that if Slayer healing can restore Faith from her coma then Glory would be no big deal for her or Buffy. Tara asks what 'Five by five' means, about time someone did. Who calls the police for Faith at UCSD?

Marks out of 10; 9/10

is Year's Girl (1) was a perfectly fun episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In this episode there was a lot going on with everyone! Buffy and Riley are still trying to find their footing after the unexpected death of Dr. Maggie Walsh. Now Adam is on the loose, and with Faith waking up there is surely trouble to follow. This episode did a great job of tying all these stories together, and this episode ended with Faith using a surprise gift from the Mayor. There was lots of action, intrigue, and character development. I like how in Faiths dream world that they used a lot of symbology. The little garden snake crawling across their picnic! This episode left me on the edge of my seat and I can't wait to find out how things play out!!!!!

Faith awakens after spending eight months in a coma from Buffy stabbing her. She is seeking revenge on Buffy, and she receives a present from Mayor Wilkins from beyond the grave. After Faith holds Joyce hostage, she and Buffy have a slayer-on-slayer battle that results in the two switching bodies.



I LOVE this episode. I love Eliza Dushku, and the character of Faith, so I was pretty excited with this episode. I liked the fight that she had with Buffy on the college campus, and then when they had the fight in the Summers home at the end. Great episode and YAY for the return of Faith. :)

I love this episode. Faith wakes up from her coma to cause some havok. She beats up a woman to take her clothes and heads straight for the scoobs. This episode has great action, great dream sequences, and great humor. Xander being paranoid about Faith coming after him due to their "history" comes to mind.



Forrest is still getting on my nerves. I'm glad he gets what's coming to him later on in the season. It's also nice to see The Mayor back, if only just for an episode. He is one of those villains that I find likable, even if he is evil. A great character all around.

This Year's Girl is a fantastic episode in all respects; wonderful acting, writing and top-notch action sequences all the way throughout. It has the return of "cleavagey slutbomb" Faith and is a rollercoaster all the way throughout.



We all knew Faith would return at some point. She's simply too amazing a character to not be brought back. Her return is everthing you could want; shocking, brutal and brilliant. Eliza Dushku is looking hotter than ever and completely steals the show all the way throughout. The opening sequence of the Buffy/Faith dream is a great teaser, one of the best. I so love these Slayer dreams as they contain a lot of hints about the next season and Dawn. It gives me goosebumps to hear Faith say "Little sis coming" as I know what will happen in later episodes. The dreams are brilliant all the way throughout and I love what they reveal on Faith's view of Buffy; menacing, cold blooded killer. Sarah looked positively terrifying as she stalked Faith through the cemeteries. It's interesting that according to Faith, Buffy is the villain and not her. It shows how damaged she is.



However, when Faith does wake up, it's nothing short of spectacular. Learning everything that has happened while she's been in a coma was shocking for her. The scenes where she watches the Mayor's video is quite touching as you can see how much they truly cared for each other. A real highlight to see Harry Groener back as well; he's a fantastic actor and I'm glad he appeared another two times as The First in Season 7.



When Buffy and Faith have their long awaited confrontation, it's very satisfactory. We get a taste at the college and it's definitely brilliant; tense is the word. The scenes with Joyce in Buffy's house are excellent as well; the first time Faith really opens up and ironically it's just as she's about to kill someone. Her rant about Buffy moving on and forgetting the people that matter is quite shocking and revealing; what Faith has always wanted is Buffy's acceptance and since she feels she can't have it, she decided she'll take her life. Literally.



The fight scene at the house was exhilarating; the props used were fantastic and every blow felt important. The stunt work was brilliant all the way throughout and the music made it all the better; pulse-pounding and exciting.



Willow was so completely hilarious all episode. I love Willow. Her rant about Faith- "She's like this cleavagey slutbomb walking around going 'Oh check me out I'm wicked cool, I'm five by five" is one of the funniest moments ever, thankfully due to Alyson's perfect delivery. She's such an outstanding actress, I'm glad she's getting recognition. Also, great to see her relationship with Tara getting stronger but I'll talk about that more next episode!



The twist at the end was truly shocking; magnificently played by Sarah who captured Faith's psychotic streak with ease with the chilling line "Five by five". It was classic Buffy moment.



This Year's Girl is nothing short of exceptional. Everything about it works. It's often overshadowed by it's (admittedly better) second half but is still an excellent episode and not one you will forget.

This Year's Girl-After eight months in a coma after her fight with Buffy, Faith awakens to seek revenge. After Faith is thwarted by both Buffy and the cops, Mayor Wilkins gives her a mysterious gift from beyond the grave. Armed with her secret weapon, Faith confronts Buffy in a climatic slayer-on-slayer battle... What can I say, it's always great to have Faith around and Joss Whedon made a ingenius desicion to keep Faith around after the fact that she was in a coma. Faith's return is done with class yet creepy scenes, especially the dream sequences with Faith is terrifyed running from Buffy. Eliza Dushku is pretty much a pro at this point playing the wild child slayer who wakes up and finds the world not like she left it. You actually do feel sad for Faith, with the Mayor dead, she's all alone not mention homeless again. It shows tremendous writing when you can feel sympathy for a character who spent last year going a killing spree before being put into a coma.



At the same time, Faith brings up some great points, especially when she holds Joyce captive. Buffy has been a bit distant from her friends this season, not to mention her mother. I loved seeing Kristin Sutherland back after a while and her lines as well as her delivery of them were fantastic like:



Faith: "I know what your thinkin, you'll never get away with this...warm?"

Joyce: "Actually I was thinking, my daughter's gonna come and kill you soon."

Faith: "That a fact?"

Joyce: "More like a bet."



and



Joyce: "Were you planning on slitting my throat anytime soon?"



The climatic fight between Buffy and Faith was one of the best of the series with Buffy flying through windows and both slayers literally trashing the Summmer's house as they beat the crap out of each other. The episode ends with a very trippy cliffhanger as you think Buffy has won, yet when her mom asks how she's doing, Buffy responses with "Five by Five". Uhhh ooohh! "This Year's Girl" is a superb first parter to these Faith double episodes and of course, part 2 is far superior being penned by Joss himself!

how can anyone not like this episode when faith came back after 10 months in a coma? storyline: faith just came out of her coma, and she wants revenge from buffy as she just lose 10 months of her life and found out the mayar died. the mayar had given her a gift that switches the essence of someone. faith then went to look for buffy and found out that a lot has changed since she'd been gone. so, faith decided to go for buffy's mon, joyce, as buffy never go home anymore. but buffy was expecting that and went to stop her but they swithched body insted. this episode is just amazing.

How can you go wrong with an episode that sees the best Buffy character ever (Faith) wake from her Buffy induced comatose? An episode that not only explores the inner workings of Faith's mind but one that pulls down some of the rogue slayers barriers and ultimately, due to her own actions, becomes the pivotal episode toward Faith's redemption. The continuation of this episode 'Who Are You?' explored this 'redemption' further through Faith's evident self loathing and confusion when she is confronted with true affection. All of this, plus dramatic dreaming, dangerous dueling and a dialogue to die for... can you want more? Unwarrented psychotic revenge at it's best with a "5 By 5" rating from me.

One of my favorite episodes out of the whole seven seasons. Faith is out of the comma and is seeking revenge on Buffy. She goes after Buffy quietly finding out everything there is new about her. She sees Riley and everyone at Giles. She then shows up at college to fight Buffy. One of the most amazing fights ever. She escapes. Faith then gets a package from a demon which she immediately kills. The package was from the mayor. The package contained a video. The video was the mayor pre graduation telling faith that her days are limited and that he (the mayor) is probably dead. He then gives her this new weapon to switch bodies. She then goes over to Joyce's house. She tells Joyce how Buffy had given up on them and stuff. Buffy then jumps in. They fight and then Faith switches their bodies. Then Buffy in Faith's body is taken away by the police leaving Joyce and Faith in Buffy's body at home. TO BE CONTINUED.

After spending eight months in a coma Faith awakens from a dream where, in this dream, Buffy was hunting her down and trying to kill her. Faith's evil personality hadn't changed and she was out for revenge for the death of Mayor Wilkins, who she looked upon as a father figure. Buffy had killed him during graduation last year while Faith was in a coma. So Faith beat up a woman took her clothing, and went in search of Buffy. Yet she was still confused and wandered about for a bit. Turns out there was a spy who told the watcher's council that she had esacped. So they sent three guys to take care of the situation. They didn't get a hold of Faith, yet, but Faith did find Buffy and watched as she received the call about her, Faith's, disappearancce. She sees Buffy hanging all over this other guy, not Angel. When Faith and Buffy finally confront each other everyting seems to come out into the open. She brings about the fact that Buffy tried to kill her to save Angel and here she is all over this other guy. There is true hatred in Faith's eyes at this point, but she keeps poking at Buffy and Willow actually hits her with her schoolbag, which I thought was a bit funny. Then Faith does her worst in holding Buffy's mom hostage, planning to kill her. She knocks her out with a single punch and taunts Joyce. It is here where Faith lets all her pain and feelings out about Buffy. Until unsuspectingly, Buffy crashes through the window and Faith and Buffy throw down. The fight goes all the way downstairs where a few lines of dialogue are exchanged and then Faith pulls out her shiny new gadget that the Mayor gave her and switches places with Faith. This has got to be one of my favorite episodes from season 4.

This episode is special to me, I LOVE Faith, she is fantastic, one of the best characters written into the show! The fight scene in Buffy's Mother's house is extremely exciting and kept me hooked on the screen without blinking! I love the fact that Joss has special background music when Buffy & Faith go head to head. Two Slayers, only one ment to exist in one period of time. Great to watch them both go at it! When Faith tranferrs bodies with Buffy it goes to show that everyone notices the change within Buffy pretty much straight away, Faith & Buffy are such different characters, switching bodies like that was a great plot twist, your work is and always will be FANTASTIC Joss!

This was the best two-parter on buffy and another one of my favorite episodes the best part about it was that during the episode the tension was building up and finally at the end they bust out with them switching bodies i was like really shocked at first i didnt know what happened when their hands clapped together and i didnt even know when she said five by five i finally realized when i watched "who are you" Pt 2 i was like oh! and i couldnt wait to find out what happened next in the second half!

So, last episode we had Riley compared to Adam: two lugs making brave steps into their new worlds (baby steps in Riley’s case, stepping on babies in Adam’s). This week we have the comparison between Riley and Faith. Riley is confused and injured, but he stands up to Forrest, admits that he “sucks at the gray (sic) areas”, and allows Buffy to tutor him. He even considers being Double Agent Finn, working for the Initiative and the Scoobies. Faith, on the other hand, may look lost and vulnerable in her hospital gown, but her first action is to beat up a girl for her clothes – and then go straight after Buffy.



It’s a good job Buffy’s big plan to rescue her boyf isn’t needed, as Faith dominates this episode, forcing Buffy to put aside her fantasy that she and Riley together will defeat Adam (little realising that her friends remain her best allies, rather than her looking-to-the-future boyfriend). Faith forces her back to the past. She is even having Buffy’s dreams: part two of the making the bed fantasy. In Buffy’s half of the dream, Faith told Buffy to count down from 730; now she reminds her that “Little Sis” is coming, foreshadowing for the unspoilered. In this dream we see Faith perceiving Buffy’s life as safe and domestic, all cleansoftsheets and sunny mornings. Faith craves that life - in her next dream we see her, in sweet summer clothes, having a picnic with her father-substitute. In both of these dreams, she is the victim and Buffy the killing, stalking victor. Faith’s view of what happened exonerates her in her mind, and she has to defeat Buffy and crawl out of own grave in order to pull herself out of her coma. Avenging herself and taking Buffy’s place as the no.1 Slayer is what is important to her, not repenting. Waking up into a world where the Mayor is dead, the ascension didn’t happen, there’s a whole new Big Bad, the boyfriend Buffy tried to kill her for is gone, and everyone has forgotten about her doesn’t help Faith change her mind. The world is still turning - with no place for her in it. This of course fits into Season 4’s theme: moving on. Riley has Buffy to support him but with the Mayor gone, Faith has no-one; this point is hammered home to her when watching the video the Mayor left for her (and proving that he was such a better villain than FrankenAdam). He also sows the seeds of fear in Faith’s mind that Buffy will try to kill her again – “Without my protection, your days are numbered,” before showing her the sex toy magic weapon.



Faith only has her violent streak to make her important again and she attacks Joyce (another person whom she thinks has been left behind), causing the superhero fight with smashed furniture, “witty” banter and a giant cliffhanger. Once again, Buffy beats Faith down – OR DOES SHE?

This is a great episode because it does two things at once: moving the Initiative/Riley/Adam plot forward, but also being a set-up episode for the 'Return of Faith' storyline.



Adam continues on the periphery of the story, apparently continuing his biology lessons and leaving gruesome evidence around. I also like that Riley is once again back with the gang and Buffy. The main point of the episode though is all about Faith. Her waking from the coma to find that the world is different than when she was stabbed on a rooftop 8 months ago. Her surrogate father-figure is dead and Buffy has once again triumphed, leaving Faith as bitter as ever.



Any time Eliza is on screen she brings a dynamic energy as Faith and makes her a welcome character. Her confrontation with Joyce (who keeps her cool and gives Faith some great barbs) is terrific. The fight between the two Slayers is also great...again...and the ending of Part I promises fun.

‘This Year’s Girl’ is a brilliant quote where Faith is back for payback.



The best thing about the episode where Faith’s dreams. First she dreams of Buffy making up a bad (for Dawn) and Buffy still haven’t gotten out the knife. Then she’s having a picnic with The Mayor until Buffy comes and kills him and comes after him and as third Faith is running from Buffy in a commentary and when Buffy goes to kill her in a grave, Faith fights back and pulls herself out of it. Then she wakes up in the hospital.



Meanwhile Buffy is trying to figure out a way to bring Riley back while Riley is trying to leave the initiative. Riley come back but then they get a phone call of someone who says that Faith has woken up and escaped out of the hospital, while Faith is looking at them and sees that Buffy has a new boyfriend.



In school Faith confronts Buffy and Willow, Faith is back for payback and when the police comes to take her she escapes. She hides somewhere with a tape of The Mayor who tells her that there isn’t a place for her in the world and instead he is leaving her some machine that she can use to go out with a bang.



Faith with that goes to Joyce, I loved the way Joyce stood up for her and wasn’t afraid. Then Buffy jumps in the house and begins to beat up Faith, when the time comes Faith puts on the machine and grabs Buffy’s hand, something happens and Buffy then knocks out Faith.

When Joyce asks Buffy is she’s allright she smiles and says ‘five by five’.



The episode was very strong, the dreams were brilliant.

Adam doesn’t appear in it but his storyline was that he is studying biology and killing humans and demons.

I also loved the Riley/Buffy scene, I think that they made up for very good characters and it was sweet how she told him that he was a good man.

Faith proves once more that she is a very interesting character, I found this episode to be more effective than any of her season 3 episodes. It was a great first part of a two-part episode.

Excellent!!! This is one of the best buffy two-parters ever!! this is one of the top ten buffy episodes i love to watch!! season 4 (and 2) is my favorite season!! Really kept me on the edge of my seat during the fight scene but the end will have you stunned and confused! Part 2 explains everything!

Finally we got a break from The Initiative and Adam to go back to last season's bad girl: Faith. And thank God, she's biachter than ever.



The dream sequences were great and the fighting scenes between Buffy and Faith were amazing, specially the last one on Buffy's house. It was good to see Joyce again, but let's be honest, this was a Faith-episode, so everyone else was on her shadow. Spike was in just one scene and Anya didn't even show up.



I can't wait to see part 2, the conclusion. Faith rocks.

When this two-part episode was originally aired, one of the common criticisms was that it disrupted the flow of the Initiative plot thread by bringing back issues from the third season. But it doesn’t take much to recognize that the return of Faith serves a distinct purpose. Faith was meant to be Buffy’s dark reflection: Buffy as she would have been without the support system she had managed to gain for herself. The fourth season has given Buffy plenty of reason to question her own assumptions about her world and her place in it; thus Faith’s return provides the means to point out what Buffy has lost sight of in her own life.



Being with Riley has presented Buffy with the kind of focus that was missing from her life earlier in the season. Like most of the other relationships among the Scoobies, this has resulted in the slow but steady isolation from others in her life. In many respects, Buffy has taken all of the things that made her more emotionally balanced than Faith and shoved them away. That’s fairly normal for young adults of the college age, but in Buffy’s case, the effect is somewhat more profound.



The teaser begins as a dream sequence which strongly suggests that Buffy and Faith retain some level of psychic connection. Immediately the theme is reinforced: Faith feels like Buffy forgot about her, and in a sense, abandoned her to her condition. Faith’s expectations aren’t exactly sane, but Faith is on the brink of a major breakdown. That doesn’t mean that Faith is wrong. Symbolically, “forgetting Faith” means that Buffy has forgotten the lessons about life that Faith’s example provided.



Perhaps more importantly, Joss inserts one of his many examples of foreshadowing for the fifth season. Faith and Buffy both talk about the impending arrival of “little sister”. This is, of course, a reference to Dawn and her impact on Buffy’s life. Dawn’s arrival brings about Buffy’s foretold death, which in and of itself is part of a process that results in the transformation of the Chosen One into the Chosen Army. Since Faith must metaphorically die as well for that to happen, so she can be reborn as Buffy’s ally, it makes sense that the two Slayers would be bound by a common future.



Meanwhile, Buffy is focused entirely upon facing Adam. Xander tries his hardest to contribute, but when he’s hurt, his pain is unnoticed. Giles tries to be a mentor, but Buffy follows her own counsel. Willow is still left to provide friendly support, but there’s a sense that Willow is the background noise to Buffy’s continuing dialogue of worry about Riley. Indeed, despite the obsession about Adam, Buffy’s entire world is focused on Riley.



Similarly, having found his world torn apart and tossed inside out, Riley is focused only on Buffy and the stability she represents. His friendships with Forrest and Graham are secondary, and in effect, that weakens the utility of the Initiative in the wake of so much tragedy. Riley could be focusing on the threat and helping the others see reason. Instead, blinded by his own grief and confusion, he complicates the situation and makes it easier for Adam later in the season.



Meanwhile, Faith’s internal fantasy world churns on, in which the Mayor is a charming father figure with little or no responsibility for his own diabolical choices. Buffy is a violent destroyer of dreams, dedicated to killing what little Faith has gained in her life. Perhaps even more importantly, Faith has convinced herself that she’s innocent of any moral culpability for her actions. In her mind, Buffy disrupted the proper order of things, in which Faith gets everything she wants.



Buffy discovers that Adam has been studying human and now demon biology. This was still the point at which Adam’s motivations were undefined, so the emphasis placed on this is somewhat out of proportion with the overall arc. Despite this revelation, Buffy’s main goal is rescuing Riley from the Initiative, rather than trying to get the Initiative to work with her in defeating Adam. When Riley reveals his departure from the Initiative, both he and Buffy conclude that together, they can do anything. That relationship is so strongly reinforced that it’s clear where the story is going: Riley, like Angel before him, represents the center of Buffy’s world.



The final dream sequence is supposed to symbolize the fact that Faith kills the version of Buffy hunting and hounding her inside her head, which gives Faith the ability to focus her energy on waking up. She picks up where she left off, but when it’s clear that time has passed and her “father” is dead and gone, her focus is on getting away and gaining payback.



Buffy and Riley are finally placed on something of a level playing field. Like Buffy, Riley was meant to be a soldier taking orders. Buffy came to the conclusion that the Watchers’ Council was corrupt and manipulative; Riley was forced to see that the Initiative was using him for all the wrong reasons. And like Buffy, Riley is now forced to figure out what to do with a life where all the basic rules have changed. Where Buffy decided to break from the Council and fight on her own, Riley still has that choice to make.



If there’s one aspect of this episode that doesn’t quite come together as it should, it’s the logic behind calling in the Watchers. The idea is that Faith must be dealt with, and now that she’s awake, a team must be sent in. But why wait until Faith wakes up to take action, when it just gives her a chance to fight back? Why not kill her, allowing a new Slayer to be called? One explanation is that the Watchers blame Buffy and her allies for Faith, and as such, they don’t want a new Slayer to be called until Buffy’s influence is out of the picture. From their point of view, Buffy is unlikely to be around for much longer, so why not keep Faith alive but out of commission until a new Slayer is needed, since Buffy will do the dirty work for them?



While Buffy and the others discuss strategy, Faith stands outside, gaining knowledge of the new reality. It’s clear to Faith that Buffy has moved on from Angel to Riley, and that only makes Buffy’s “betrayal” that much worse. It’s a bit confusing that Buffy receives the news about Faith at Giles’ home; exactly who knew to call her there? But the point is that Faith gets to see Buffy’s reaction to her sudden revival, at least the part where everyone immediately wants to take her down. It doesn’t exactly give Faith a reason to consider the sane.



It’s not a good sign that Buffy told Riley the sanitized version of the story with Faith, because it gives Faith an opening. But Faith has plenty of ammunition as it is. Faith immediately hits Buffy where it hurts, pointing out that Buffy hasn’t learned a thing about herself since beating Faith at her own game. Instead of coming to terms with the part of her that resonates with Faith, Buffy has rejected that side of her personality. Faith may have perspective issues, but she’s not entirely wrong.



Along the way, there’s more Willow/Tara bonding, which seems to be designed to highlight the woes of the wardrobe department. Way too often in this episode, the wardrobe seems to be cobbled together from the rejects of the local thrift store. Sure, some college students live on thrift store clothes, but not all of them! Especially someone like Buffy, who always wanted to walk a little on the wild side. Aside from the occasional pair of leathers, Buffy and her friends seem stuck in some bohemian fashion hell. It doesn’t help that the producers intentionally made sure Tara looked frumpy, right down to the badly applied lipstick. It makes Faith look all the more hotness in her skintight vinyl!



The scene also shows how far Willow has come. Once upon a time, Willow was Tara, the one with the sense of awe at the thought of combating evil and hanging out with the Slayer. Now she’s the wise and experienced fighter and magic user. How often did Willow look like she was “swimming”? It also gives them another reason to get close, which is another step on the fairly obvious road to the sex.



Giles and Xander continue with their odd partnership, borne earlier in the season when they were the odd men out, and demonstrate an unfortunate level of stupidity in the process. Giles has been rather foolish all season when it comes to thinking of Spike as a vampire in reform; he, of all the Scoobies, should be the least inclined to harbor such false hopes. Spike’s response to Giles and Xander is absolutely hilarious, if only because they should have seen it coming. (One could claim that this reveals some of the aimless bad writing of the fourth season, based on the poor logic involved, but it’s a minor quibble of the episode.)



It’s fascinating to watch how completely the Mayor manipulates Faith so long after the fact. Sure, for her, it’s been a matter of hours or days since they were both looking at a bright future. But he’s damned good at making her believe that her options were tied to his fortunes, and that without him, she’s looking at a very short life span. Giving her the device, it seems, was a failsafe; was the whole speech meant to convince her that escaping into another life might be the only way to escape her past? Having her actually seek redemption, after all, would require them to believe that what she had done was wrong.



Faith does the somewhat predictable thing and takes the one step necessary to draw Buffy out: she takes her mother hostage and waits for Buffy to work it out. That gives Faith a chance to really display her lack of self-awareness. Joyce, long since dismissed out of Buffy’s complicated life, does a good job of hiding the fact that Faith hits on some uncomfortable truths. The most compelling madness is rooted within some consistently twisted perception of reality, after all.



The fight through the Summers home is one of the more brutal fight scenes of the season, punctuated by the deeply rooted hatred driving both Buffy and Faith to beat down the other. The “Freaky Friday” effect of the Mayor’s device is a bit cliché, but considering the theme for the season, it actually brings Buffy’s tribulations to something of a logical head: she is now literally not herself.



This is also the beginning of the end for Faith. In a flash, she has everything she ever wanted from Buffy; she has the life that she always thought Buffy had squandered. While Buffy struggles to regain her identity (partially satisfying the metaphorical side of the season arc), Faith begins to recognize that she cannot escape herself. That brings her own character’s arc to a low point, as she seeks self-destruction on “Angel”.



As the first part of a two-part story, much of what happens in this episode is setting up the character conflicts and the probable consequences. Buffy doesn’t ask for Faith to switch bodies with her or come gunning for her loved ones, but her lack of attention to anyone but Riley and her dishonesty towards him open the door for what Faith does in the second half. While the writers are forced to walk a fine line between having the characters work together to solve problems while also growing apart, this episode focuses so much on Faith, Buffy, and Riley that these issues are more obvious.



But at this point in the season, the writers were openly admitting that the conflicting demands of the season’s theme, in concert with a Big Bad that was developed in a haphazard fashion. So it’s not a question of whether or not there are issues. By now, it was a question of making the best out of a flawed situation. Bringing back Faith for a couple episodes was a good move, based on her popularity, and it helps to explore the season’s theme. In this particular case, the episode’s strengths outweigh the underlying weaknesses.