I’ve marathoned Buffy S3. I’ll try to keep comments to a paragraph length:
Helpless: The “taken literally, incredibly gross” B/A scene is a WAY better parody of B/A than the one in “The Zeppo.” And of course Buffy finds it sweet that Angel fell in love with her when she was a lollipop-sucking 15-year-old and followed her for a year without saying a word to her. Anyway, I wonder why Giles is more easy forgive in this ep than he is in “Lies My Parents Told Me,” despite his actions here being worse, and I’m looking for an answer other than the obvious, “Everything was better in the first three seasons,” because he really does seem colder to me in LMPTM. Also, I’m surprised that the Council never tried to off Buffy and make it look like an accident so they could get a newer, more compliant Slayer.

The Zeppo: Aside from the last few minutes and Were-Oz being “oddly full” the next day (hee hee) I’m officially tired of this one. The humor just seems so…off. Maybe because I expect humor to be funny? And can I just say that it seemed like, in “Gingerbread” and “Helpless,” the stage was set to re-integrate Cordy into the Scoobs – she saves the day in “Gingerbread,” helps Buffy twice in “Helpless” and shows her human side…they were so ready to get her back in the group and get her back together with Xander at least for the rest of the season, and they DIDN’T. WHY?!

Bad Girls: There are some plot/character development issues in here – when exactly did Buffy and Faith become best friends again? Was it between their tentative making up in “Amends” and their not interacting at all whatsoever in the two subsequent episodes? But it’s fun, so it’s easy to ignore. I love pissy Giles, dorky Wesley (much more than I love dark Wesley), Balthazar the whiny demon…ha ha ha.

Consequences: You know, I’m not sure I understood the difference between Buffy and Faith just based on their hair/clothing choices, but after Faith smarting off to the cop and Buffy meekly answering his questions, I think I FINALLY understand the Good Slayer/Bad Slayer parallel. Anyway, I know people have problems with Angel being made to be SO SPECIAL that of COURSE he’s the only one who can reach Faith, but this I actually buy. Buffy’s right – she’s too close to the situation to be able to help Faith, and Angel has some experience in that area. I also don’t mind Willow’s bathroom crying jag so much, because this time she at least does it in private and doesn’t unload on Xander, plus Faith also tried to kill him.

Doppelgangland: What’s fun about this is watching how much of Vamp Willow’s personality resurfaces in Dark Willow. For a brief period in S3 I actually love Angel for refuting – or starting to, anyway – Buffy’s claim that vampire personalities have nothing to do with human personalities, because that is a BIG LIE. Plus, PERCY, who is so hot and SO into Willow it’s not even funny.

Enemies: This also has major plot issues, as others have addressed – why does the Mayor want Angelus back, when did Buffy figure out Faith was betraying her, did Giles just have this shaman friend of his on call, and all that, but the thing that bothers me the most is Buffy’s “I’m better than you” speech to Faith. It’s too mean. A Buffy who really thought that Angel had turned evil has every right to make that speech and hit Faith where it hurts. A Buffy who was in on the plan the whole time…well, she has the right to say anything she wants to a person who’s about to torture her and reveling in it, but it just feels cruel to talk about how much better she is than Faith when she’s had every advantage in life that Faith hasn’t. The girl with all the privilege is mocking the one with none. And best of all, they use ANGEL to prove that one is “better” than the other – Faith is clearly better because Angel wants her, and Buffy is clearly better because the “real” Angel really wanted HER, or something. Blech.

Earshot: So, just to confirm, Buffy’s uneasiness about the whole Faith/Angel issue has nothing to do with Angel easily slipping into Angelus – no, she’s worried that Angel liked kissing Faith. Spare me. Otherwise, I *love* this episode. A great balance of pathos and comedy. In fact, I think a lot of the individual S3 episodes are like that. For one-offs, this is a great season; too bad it has very little arc to speak of.

Choices: *Yawn.* You know how people hate it when Xander gets nasty with Buffy about Ms. Calendar and Angel, especially since he was arguably the least affected by Angelus’ reign of “terror?” I agree, and that’s how I feel about Willow’s smackdown of Faith. When she’s all, “Boo hoo, you had more in your life than some people!” I just want to shake her. Yes, girl from middle-class privileged background, go ahead and lecture the abused and neglected one about life choices! I don’t think Faith’s bad childhood is an excuse for her actions as an adult, but I also don’t think Willow has the right to lecture her on it. Growing up with Sheila Rosenberg couldn’t have been fun, but all things considered, she’s been FINE. Other than that, I think it’s important for me to mention that, for the most part, I’m really enjoying Willow in season three. Aly looks amazing – great haircut and her skin is so clear it’s almost glowy.

The Prom: Ah, the beautiful episode where Angel breaks up with the woman he supposedly loves in a sewer because her mom told him to, because the grown-ups need to make the decisions for the lost little girl. And he shows up to the prom after breaking her heart, only to disappear right afterwards, because that’s what he does – dangle little crumbs in front of her so she can never fully get him out of her head. Asshole. Anyway, I love the Class Protector award, and I love that the perfect Buffy high school moment was NOT dancing with Angel but getting recognition for all the great work that she does. Xander/Cordelia stuff is nice, I guess, but I still wanted an early reconciliation. Boo.

Graduation Day: OMG, ANGEL, GO AWAY! GO AWAY AND LEAVE HER ALONE! YOU SAID YOU WOULD LEAVE – THEN LEAVE! STOP SENDING MIXED SIGNALS SO SHE’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET OVER YOU! And it’s been said before, but I can’t buy their relationship as a good thing if her love for him is what inspires her to murder a human and FEED her to a vampire, thus betraying everything a Slayer stands for, and if it also inspires her to forsake her duty and put herself in the line of danger and possible death just so her murdering boyfriend can live. And, I love that it’s the Council refusing to help save the life of one of the most vicious vampires of all time that convinces Buffy to “graduate” from them, and NOT the Council putting her life in serious danger. But somehow, Buffy wanting to feed Faith to Angel is more forgivable than Buffy telling Wood she wouldn’t protect him from Spike, for some reason.
I still get misty-eyed at the graduates rising against the bad guy. I get so caught up in it that I never remember exactly why the Mayor wants to turn into a big snake. S3 is such a weird season. I think it’s the strongest in terms of balance between pathos and comedy, and actually is the funniest season overall. But I think it definitely has the weakest arc. Faith’s arc is strong, but when the strongest arc is NOT for the titular protagonist but for the secondary character who’s not even in the main cast, that’s problematic. I mean, I find the Mayor a HELL of a lot more entertaining than Glory and I looove him, but I at least understand Glory’s motivation – I don’t understand the Mayor’s at all. And now on to season 4 – the arc that has the best setup and execution and is truly in an arc-y form, yet suffers from being NOT REMOTELY INTERESTING.



Real-life update coming soon, complete with details about brothers' graduations.