Anne

Anne
9/29/98
guest stars: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Julia Lee (Lily), Carlos Jacott (Ken), Mary Pat Green (Nurse) Chad Todhunter (Ricky)
Writer: Joss Whedon
Director: Joss Whedon

synopsis: The cemetery, night. Andrew Holich's tombstone. Mr. Holich slowly climbs out of the ground only to encounter the feet of a girl: "that's right big boy...Come and get," mocks Willow Rosenberg. The vampire advances towards Willow and is grabbed by Xander, while Oz charges at him, stake at the ready. The vampire kicks Oz away and flips over Xander, and then throws him into Willow. Both fall on the ground with a thud. "He's getting away," shouts Willow, "and ow." Oz readies his stake, takes careful aim, hurls it at the fleeing vampire...and it bounces off a tombstone and drops to the ground a good 20 feet short of its target. "That really never works."
     Xander wonders what was with the acrobatics, until Oz points out that Andy Holich was a gymnast. "Cheater," Xander calls after him. "And the other problem I'm having, come and get it, big boy?"
     "Well the slayer always says a pun or a witty play on words and I think it throws a vampires off and makes em frightened ‘cause I'm wisecracking, okay, I didn't really have a chance to work on that one, but you try it every time," says Willow, defending her choice of phrasing. Oz suggests "this time it's personal. There's a reason why it's classic."
     Xander comments how they took Buffy's punning for granted, and Willow scolds him for using the past tense. Xander says he only meant "we in the past took it for granted and we won't when she gets back."
     Willow tells Oz that she'll be busy all day, but "only till 3, and that's when you usually get up," and Xander comments that he "can't wait to see Cordelia. I can't believe I can't wait to see Cordelia." Willow wonders what they're first homework assignment will be, and off a look from Xander defends herself. "Hey, you're excited over Cordelia, okay, we've all get issues."
     Willow says it would be great if Buffy showed up, but Xander tell her she can't, she got kicked out. Willow wonders where she is.
     Buffy is on a beach in the sunlight, and Angel comes up behind her and wraps his arm around her. "How did you find me here?" she asks. "If I was blind I would see you." "Stay with me," she asks. "Forever, that's the whole point. I'll never leave. Not even if you kill me."
     Buffy wakes up then, and looks out the window onto a dirty city street. Sirens wail in the background, and the opening credits roll.
     Buffy is waiting tables in a diner, utterly dejected. She is quiet and rather unfriendly to the customers, and doesn't really react when a hilljack slaps her but. She comes to a new table, with a poor couple, and see that Buffy is going by the name "Anne" now. They order pie, and show Anne the tattoos on their arm. They each have half a heart, with Lily on the guy and Ricky on the girl. "Nice," says Anne, "nice and permanent." "Yeah, forever. I mean that's the whole point." Anne is wigged at hearing that, and Lily recognizes Anne. Anne doesn't think she knows her, though, and tells another waitress she's not feeling well and asks her to cover.
     Giles and Willow discuss the events of last night, and Willow tells him the vampire got away. "We still have some glitches in the system like vampires getting away," and Giles tells her to be careful, he would be most upset if she died. "That part of our whole mission statement: don't get killed." Willow runs into Cordelia, and they have a friendly conversation before Cordelia asks about Xander, and worries that he's forgotten about her. "Who would he meet in Sunnydale but monsters and stuff. But then, he's always been attracted to monsters...What if he's forgotten me? Well, I'll just have to make him remember."
     Willow sees Oz then with books and stuff, and asks him why he has them. "Remember when I didn't graduate?" "Well, I know you had a lot of incompletes, but that's what summer school was for." "Well, remember when I didn't go?"
     A student runs thru the halls, and a teacher scolds him "slow down people, summer is over, be somber."
     Willow is a little upset that Oz needs to repeat senior year, and Oz says "I was kinda banking on you finding it cute." Xander comes up and asks about Cordelia, "I don't want to come on too geek, but, okay, I'm psyched, there's going to be some heat, if you know what I mean so you might want to duck and cover. And I'm starting to be geeky."
     Larry comes by with another football player saying "this is our year, I'm telling you, best football season ever! I'm so in shape, I'm a rock! It's all about egg whites. If we can focus, keep discipline, and not have quite as many mysterious deaths, Sunnydale is going to rule."
     Willow is still "trying to get to cute, really, but I'm still kinda stuck on strange." "Well, I'd be willing to bargain down to eccentric with an option on cool."
     Xander and Cordelia finally meet, and have a really stilted, awkward conversation before basically fleeing each other.
     Anne is alone in her room, eating spaghetti O's out of the can, and then walks down a dirty street with homeless people. A bum says "I'm no one. I'm no one."
     In the library, Giles tells Willow and Xander that he has a lead, and is going to Oakland. Xander wonders what "makes this different from the last 9 leads." "I think there's a meal on this flight." Giles leaves, and Willow asks if Xander really thinks Giles won't find her. "I think he'll find her when she wants to be found.
     Anne walks down the street, and Lily calls after her. "Anne...Anne...Buffy?" Lily reveals that she knew Buffy from the time Ford betrayed her to Spike, she is Chanterelle of the wannabees. She tells Anne that she won't turn her in, and wouldn't even tell Ricky who she is, and asks if she wants to go to a rave. Anne says that she can't deal with so many people, when a bum interrupts them, pushes thru them, and walks into the street saying "I'm no one. He stops in front of a car, and Anne shoves him out of the way and gets hit herself.
     A couple of people help Anne to her feet, and she gets freaked and runs away, smack into a man handing out fliers. He introduces himself as Ken, and runs a home for runaways. He tells her that kids grow up to fast here, and that despair drains the life out of people. He says he tries to help them find some hope. The camera pans past some homeless kids, and cuts to the Bronze stage where a band is playing.
     "Boy I'm glad we showed up for depressing night," Xander comments. "I wonder what she's doing right now," Willow says. "Oh, I know what she's doing. Gabbing to all her friends about her passionate affair with Pedro, the cabana boy, laughing about me, thinking about how she still might have feelings for me," and, off a look from Willow, "oh, it's possible you were talking about Buffy." He comments how the slaying isn't getting any easier, and Oz arrives with some drinks, saying "I think we're kinda getting a rhythm down." "We're losing half the vamps," Xander states. "Yeah, but, rhythmically."
     "I know what we need," Xander says. "The vampire slayer?" Oz asks. "The next best thing," and, looking at Cordelia, he says, "bait."
     At the Summer's house, Joycie is paying bills when she hears a knock, and opens the door to find Giles. He tells her the lead in Oakland didn't pan out. Joycie says she wishes she could talk to her, since the last thing they did was fight. Giles tells her not to blame herself, and Joyce says "I don't. I blame you. You've been this huge influence on her, guiding her. You've had this whole relationship with her behind my back. I feel like you've taken her away from me." "I didn't make Buffy who she is," Giles says. "And who exactly is she?"
     Lily tells Anne the next day that Ricky is gone, and she's terrified. Lily begs Anne for help, since that's who she is: "you help people...You know how to do stuff." Anne finally agrees to help her. The first check the blood bank, and the nurse tells them that he hasn't been in for a few days. Anne says they should split up. They leave, and the nurse watches, nervous about something.
     That night, Anne sees the man she saved from the car the night before, dead in an alley, holding a bottle of drain-o. Something catches her eye–The tattoo on his arm. It's Ricky.
     Anne tells Lily that Ricky is dead, and Lily is both disbelieving and heartbroken. She visibly sinks at the news, and when Anne tells her that somehow he was aged before he died, and Lily says that it must have been a monster that followed Anne. Anne angrily defends herself, and Lily leaves.
     Lily runs into Ken, who tells her that Ricky isn't dead, he's at the family home. He tells her that hope is a real thing, like despair, and to come with him, because he'll take care of her. She goes.
     Anne breaks into the blood bank and looks thru the files. She sees that Ricky is a candidate. The nurse catches her and asks what she's doing. "Breaking into your office and going thru your private files," Anne replies. The nurse threatens to call the police, but Anne calmly rips the phone off the wall. She asks what the people are "candidates" for. The nurse tells her that all she does is "give him the names of the healthy ones." "Give them to who," demands Anne.
     Ken tells Lily that she's going to be cleansed, and that Ricky is excited to see her.
     The gang in Sunnydale gets ready to fight, and Cordelia complains about being bate. She follows Xander to his hiding spot. He tells her to go away, "this is my hiding spot." "Where do I hide?" "You don't hide. You're bait." Cordelia asks what the plan is. "The vampire attacks you." She presses for more, and Xander, somewhat exasperated, tells her "the vampire kills you, we watch, we rejoice." They argue about their relationship, and while the argue, a vampire come up behind Willow.
     Ken begins the "cleansing" ceremony, and tells her the water will wash away the past, along with the sin, the pain, and the and. Lily comments that the water, which looks more like an oily substance, is dirty.
     Anne comes to the door of the home, and tells the man (played by stunt coordinator Jeff Pruitt) "Ya know, I just, I woke up, and I looked in the mirror and I thought ‘hey, what's with all the sin? I need to change. I'm...I'm dirty. I'm bad with the sex and the envy and that loud music us kids listen to nowadays, wha...' oh, I just suck at undercover. Where's Ken? Pruitt starts to shut the door, but Anne kicks it back open and knocks him out, calmly stepping into the home.
     Lily sticks her hand into the oily substance, and Anne comes in, demanding to know how Ken makes them old. Lily wonders what's going on, and then is pulled thru the oily substance. Anne attacks Ken, and the two follow Lily.
     The land hard on a floor, and Ken seems to be in pain. He pulls his face off, and is revealed to be a demon. Ken calls for the guards, and Lily and Anne run. The arrive at a ledge overlooking a work pit,, where hundreds of people are working in a forge-like environment. More demonic guard watch over them, whipping and beaten some. "Welcome to my world," Ken says. "I hope you like it." He hits Anne over the head, knocking her out. "You're never leaving."
     Xander and Cordelia accuse each other of cheating. Xander wonder's if she was still "taxying down the runway" before he forgot her, and Cordelia accuses him of meeting some "hot little Inca Mummy Girl." They are cut off by Willow's screams, and both run to her. Oz arrives first, and is thrown off by the vampire. Xander fairs better and manages to get the stake to his chest. Cordelia, afraid for Xander, jumps on to of the vampire's back and they all three crash to the ground, the vampire in between Xander and Cordelia. The stake is driven into his chest and he disintegrates, Cordelia drops down on top of Xander, and the two kiss as melodramatic music plays.
     Anne regains consciousness, and Lily tells her that they're in hell. Anne tells Lily that this isn't hell, but Ken says "what is hell but the complete absence of hope?" He also tell them that time moves much quicker in this reality than in theirs, and that "a hundred long years will pass in this reality, in yours, just a day." Ken tells Lily that no one would wonder where she is anyway, that's why they chose her. When Anne says "you didn't chose me," he tells her, that he knows her, that she wanted to run away, to disappear. "Congratulations. You've got your wish."
     Anne is thrown down in front of a ghastly looking guard, who is briefing the prisoners. You work, and you live. That is all. You do not complain, or laugh, or do anything besides work. Whatever you thought, whatever you were, does not matter. You are no one now. You mean nothing." He comes to one boy. "Who are you?" he asks. "Aaron," the boy answers, and the guard hits him with his club, killing him. "Who are you?" he asks Lily. "No one." "Who are you?" he asks a third person. "No one." "Who are you," he asks Anne.
     "I'm Buffy. The Vampire Slayer. And you are?" she responds, smiling evilly.
     Enraged, the guard swings his club, but Buffy grabs his arm and snaps it in half, then takes his club, hits the second charging guard in the face and killing him, before burying the club in the stomach of the third guard. "Anyone who's not having fun here, follow me."
     Buffy leads the workers back thru the tunnels, and tells Lily to get the rest out while she distracts the guards. Lily doesn't think she can do it, but Buffy insists she can. Lily apologizes for accusing Buffy, and Buffy runs thru the work station pursued by guards. She comes to a platform, and proceeds to beat off one two three four five six sever eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen guards using a variety of weapons including a hammer and sickle, (actually, an African weapon resembling an ax called a hunga munga,) in the most bad ass fight sequence on this show to date. Finally, as she flees the platform, Ken, having dragged Lily away at knife point, stops the attack saying "one of you fights, you all die." To Buffy, he says "that was not permitted."
     "Yeah, but it was fun."
     Ken continues to pontificate on what happens to people who rebel, at least until Lily pushes him off the platform and he falls at least fifty feet. Lily, Buffy, and all the guards look shocked. Buffy leads the rest out, and pulls open a huge iron gate with spikes at the bottom, and as she squeezes under Ken tackles her, knocking her to the other side of the gate as it closes– right onto his legs. The others climb out thru the oily substance, as Buffy picks up the club and confronts a gasping, bleeding Ken. "You...ruined...you..."
     "Hey Ken, wanna see my impression of Ghandi?" Buffy asks, and then smashes his skull with a sickening splattering sound. Lily comes up behind her, a slightly sickened expression on her face.     "Ghandi?"
     "You know, if he was really pissed off," Buffy says. Buffy and Lily climb thru the oily substance, and Lily wonders what they do about the portal. It seals itself up on its own, though.
     Later, Buffy shows Lily around her apartment, telling her the rents paid for three weeks, and tells her she'll be able to get a job at the diner. Buffy promises to check up on her. Lily tells her that she's not good at taking care of herself, and Buffy tells her that "it gets easier. It takes practice." Lily asks if she can be Anne. Buffy smiles at her.
     In the Summer's home, Joyce is repairing the stove when she hears a knock. She answers the door to see Buffy standing there and the two embrace. Cut to black.

...... Review: The episode opened with a really spectacular scene in the cemetery. Willow was as cute as I'd ever seen her, Xander and Oz were funny, and right away I decided that I'm okay with the whole Oz thing. All three of them were so natural together. I think I was right about the whole Xander/Willow thing: he's not jealous, just protective. He seems to get along well with Oz. Shift to a nice scene with Buffy/Angel on the beach in the daytime. I knew it was a dream, since one, Angel's in hell, and two, he's a vampire anyway and can't go to the beach in the daytime, but I still liked the scene. If anything, just because I got to see some cinematography on a beach. Then s very brief scene of Buffy, looking out a window into a dirty city street.
     First of all, though, the opening credits sequence is changed and I think I like it more. It shows Jenny Calendar's murder so, whatever else, at least I have that to remember her by, every episode. The scenes fly by at a faster rate, and I think it fits. I was saying earlier how cool the last scene was, from The Harvest, when it says "created by Joss Whedon," and I had hoped that it wouldn't change. Well it did, and I think the new one is even cooler.
     Then the episode actually starts. There are two distinct parts, in Sunnydale, and in L.A. (I don't know for certain that it's in L.A., but I'm assuming since that's a place Buffy knows, and it was a big city.) The Sunnydale parts were great. Aly, Nick, Seth, and Charisma are still on top of their game. Especially when Willow and Cordelia met (interesting how they are totally friends now) and Cordy was all excited to see Xander, and Xander was all excited to see Cordy, and then they actually saw each other and were all awkward. Giles seems to be coping very well. Going off to places to try and find Buffy, even using a computer without complaining. (That's obviously a tribute to the late Jenny Calendar. I'm going to mention in every review how Jenny impacted something on that show. It's my mission.)
     I missed Principal Snyder, but I'm sure he'll be around shortly so I'll overlook it for now. But I loved seeing Larry, and his scene was great: (We have discipline and not as many unexplained deaths.) The whole Oz repeating a year was good to. Did I mention Willow looked adorable?
     I even liked Joyce. I knew she would blame Giles. It's only natural. And he kinda did take her away. I said all last season that Giles was more of parent than she was. I guess she realized that too.
     But, of course, the episode had to focus on Buffy. And while she was Anne, it was just...to quote the biscuit in a show with the potential to replace Buffy as my favorite show, "I'm troubled." I know she's been thru a lot, but I don't like watching a character whose that morose. I have real life for that, thank you.
     So, the first half of the episode, the Buffy parts, didn't bode well. As much as she was a bitch in WSWB, I still enjoyed watching her. This time, I didn't. Not even a moving performance from Julia Lee as Lily (formerly known as Chanterelle, I'll talk about that later,) saved it. I was thinking to myself "you know, Ally McBeal was really funny last night..." And then, they went into hell.
     I can bet that a lot of people won't like that part. "Was it necessary? Did it have to regress into her going into another dimension and fighting demons to come home? Couldn't they have done something a little more realistic?" You know what? Yes, it did. Fighting demons is who Buffy is. She had to fight some to remember that. I thought that scene was great, and it fit perfect. This show is, after all, about vampires and a 17 year old blonde girl that slays them.   It's not realistic, no matter how truthful the characters are.    I liked what creepy ken said about wanting to disappear and getting her wish. It was great. And the line that saved the show:
     "I'm Buffy. The Vampire Slayer. And you are?" After that, my faith in the series was restored. Buffy's back. Just to see her kick total ass, and finally accept who she is and always will be, and did I mention kick total ass? I approve. And I, and I can't believe I'm saying this, was hoping Angel would show up and help her. He didn't, and I think it's better, but it would have been cool.
     So Buffy comes to grips with herself. I said in my WSWB review that I hoped this episode was about healing. It was. It was like an epilogue to the Innocence-Passion-Becoming trilogy. So it was fitting, then, that Julia Lee's Chanterelle (now calling herself "Lily") should make a return. (Chanterelle was one of the vampire wannabees in LTM, which I consider to be the prequal to the trilogy.) And I really liked her return. I think it was neat that someone she had saved, but not someone she was close to, kinda bring her out. It's a reminder of all the good Buffy's done, no matter what mistakes she's made. And it kinda brought the arc full circle. I'd like to see Lily in a future episode.
     I was glad to see Buffy came home, but I do want to see Willow, Xander, Cordelia, Oz, and especially Giles' reactions. I'm afraid I won't see that next week, they'll just breeze over it. But the Joyce/Buffy scenes might actually be good this season. The end sure was.
     I said in WSWB that you can't predict an season based on the premier in this show. This is certainly true here. No new threads are introduced, but a lot are cleaned up. I see some hints. Xander and Cordy both really like each other, I mean a whole lot, but are really insecure about where it's going. And I've been thinking Buffy/Xander for a while now. I don't think they'll have a real relationship, but maybe a kiss, spied by Cordy, which will really add some tension. I think Larry will show up some more. I think Jenny Calendar will come back somehow. (Or maybe I just really, really, really really want to think this.) I think we might even see Buffy happy on occasion. And god knows she deserves it. We'll definitely see Angel, since he's in the credits.
     Other predictions based on nothing in this episode, and note, I don't know any spoilers, nor do I want to: Snyder will be a bad guy, and we'll learn a lot more about him and the mayor. Spike and Dru will show up. Spike will hook up with Buffy. (Hey, I can dream!) And I won't like the new bad guy near as much. I'll like the new slayer more than Kendra (unless she has a french accent. Then I'll really hate her.)
     Unsteady premier, with some disappointing moments, but rocked at the end and looks like the season will just get better. 7/10

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