graduation, part 1

Graduation, part 1
5/19/99
guest stars: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Harry Groener (Mayor Wilkins), Alexis Denisof, (Wesley), Mercedes McNab (Harmony), Ethan Erickson (Percy), Emma Caulfield (Anya), Eliza Dushku (Faith), Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder)
written and directed by Joss Whedon

Synopsis: not yet written.

    review: For a part 1 to be effective, it has to grip you, hold you in suspense, and leave you with your mouth hanging open, drooling for next weeks offering. Graduation, part 1 succeeded brilliantly. Joss Whedon proves yet again that he can top the best anyone else has to offer.
     Every character on the tapestry was woven into the story and used well. Mercedes McNab's return as Harmony was welcome, and her friendly scene with Willow was a hoot. Looking back on my own high school graduation, the entire thing was completely real. Cliques didn't exist on graduation day. By way of note, this was McNab's fifth appearance as Harmony, her cut scene in Surprise notwithstanding, dating all the way back to the pilot. Likewise, Ethan Erickson made an effective return as Percy, the boy Willow tutored (and leather Willow beat up) in Dopplegangland. It added not only a degree of realism to the show, but also an element of desperation. Because, after all, the lives of all these people are on the line. On another side note, the hangman teacher was the same man who said "be somber" in Anne. Coincidence?
     I hope Joyce heeds Buffy's advice and stays gone. I know she won't, but I hope she does. Dealing with a dead Joyce is not the way I want to end the season, and there isn't much she can do to help. Principal Snyder remains an enigma. I have a feeling he still has a part to play though, and it will be on the side of good.
    Emma Caulfield's Anya becomes a more entertaining character with each episode. I definitely think Whedon is grooming her for much more of a major role next season, similar to what he did in season 1 with Ms. Calendar. I can only hope that Anya doesn't suffer the same fate. Her struggles to understand her human feelings are both amusing and moving at the same time. Her scene with Xander in the hall was quite well done. Plus, her experience as a demon are obviously of help to the gang. I imagine that she will be back next week. Some nagging feeling she had in the pit of her stomach made her do it, she'll explain. It's called ‘guilt.' Plus, points just to hear her say "aren't we even going to kiss?"
     When FHT first aired, I wrote that I totally dug that character of Faith. Since then, she's slowly gone downhill to the point where I really didn't care about her all that much. I was happy she turned evil, just because she had become more of a plot device than a person. Even as a bad guy, she never struck me as interesting as the Mayor, Trick, Angelus, Drusilla, and especially Spike. Even the Master, who I didn't like much at all, was more interesting because he was written to be a static villain. Faith was supposed to be dynamic. She just wasn't. However, tonight's episode changed my mind. The interplay between Dushku and Groener was very touching, and if it weren't for the fact that they are both crazy evil people, almost sweet. It's been pondered that the Mayor would turn on Faith once he ascended, but I truly doubt that he would.   He seemed to have a genuine fatherly love for her. Tonight was Groener's best work on the series, I think. He's always been amusing, but he crossed the threshold into a truly classic villain with, ironically, his tenderness. The best villains are the ones that have redeeming qualities, such as Spike with his devotion to Drusilla. The look he get's in his eyes when he looks at Faith actually kind of makes me feel sorry for his now that Faith has been killed. I imagine he'll be devastated to learn of her death.
     Yes, Faith's death. Faith is dead, at least, it seems that way. Whedon can go one of three ways, as far as I can see. One, we can assume she is dead, and next weeks episode lacks Dushku, however no body is found, so the possibility of her return is there. Two, Faith comes back next week, very much alive and very pissed off. What she'd do from there is anyone's guess. Three, Faith truly is dead, body and all. And we finally get to see the Mayor really lose his cool. If I had to choose, I would choose the third option. Whedon has never shied away from doing in his major characters. (Anyone remember Ms. Calendar? You should since this is her second mention in this review.) I think Dushku's exit from the series will provide a wonderful backdrop for Buffy to do some serious soul searching. After all, Buffy has taken a human life. She's caused some deaths before, but this is the first time that her hand consciously stuck the knife into her victim's stomach. On a final note about Faith, there were times tonight she looked like a little child. When she was talking with the Mayor about her childhood, and, especially, right after Buffy stuck the knife into her stomach. She recovered nicely, but right then, she knew she was going to die and was terrified. It was the last thing she expected. Kudos to Eliza for her work tonight.
     I had been spoiled as to the Oz/Willow tryst. Since I have become quite the W/X ‘shipper, I was not happy about it. However, I can't disagree with how it was done. I still don't think Oz is the one for Willow. I think she needs to do a little searching, and resolve some Xander issues first. I'd like to see more W/X next year. However, Oz is the guy for her right now. She doesn't need to find her ‘one' yet. I am reminded of last night's Ally McBeal, (my other favorite show.) The firm defended a woman being prosecuted for fraud because she wasn't ‘in love' with her husband. But she did love him. That's what I think is true about Willow and Oz. Willow loves Oz. She may not be ‘in love' with him, but that doesn't mean she doesn't love him. And that is certainly reason enough to sleep together. While admittedly, I'm not Mr. Experienced in the romance department, (I still have my V-card, thank you very much), I'm certainly not a proponent of the ‘wait until you're married' thought. As long as they care for each other. Plus, I'm glad that Whedon will let his characters act normally like that. Most high school shows, (90210 obviously excluded), no one ever has sex. Not even the parents. Here, ever major character except Cordelia has had sex in an episode. And I certainly have my doubts that Cordy has the old V-card still. Sex is a good thing. No need to make it so damn taboo.
     It was nice to see Cordy and Xander on speaking terms. I feel vindicated in my season-long defense of Xander. He is so the man. I will miss his barbs with Cordelia next season, though. Brendon and Carpenter play off each other well. Cordy, while actually having a few things to do this episode, was noticeably absent from all the meetings. Odd, seeing that she's getting on with Xander and she hit it off well with Wesley.
     Speaking of Wesley, I still like him. You could tell he was very torn in what he wanted to do. Because I can see he's come to respect Buffy, and obviously wants her respect in return, and isn't getting it. He was perfectly eager to help Angel. At the same time, he hasn't been there that long, and he's obviously loyal to the counsel. And there is no reason why he shouldn't be. After all, he was counsel trained and bred. Unlike Giles, who was always kind of a rogue. My belief is that the high in command on the counsel, like Travers, want the power, and don't care for the Slayer too much. Probably they aren't bad men, but they've seen a few Slayers come and go, and if they genuinely cared about them all they'd go mad. That's why they replaced Giles, they want control. But there is a rogue element on the counsel who likes what Buffy is doing and supports her, and that's why they picked Wesley. Because realistically, if they were planning on replacing Giles just so they could control Buffy, they wouldn't send a guy who can't be much older than 25 and has no experience whatsoever, they'd send one of their top guns. This rogue element knew Wesley would allow Giles to work with him (since he wouldn't have much choice) and that's the only reason they allowed the counsel to replace Giles. Just my opinion though.
     I think Wesley deserves a lot more respect than he gets. He wasn't suggesting that Buffy let Angel die, just like he wasn't suggesting Buffy let Willow die in Choices. He was saying, "hey, let's think about this."   He was clearly torn when Buffy quit taking orders from the counsel, since that just isn't done, but he could see that she was actually right. I think Wesley will come back next week, and when Buffy asks "what about the counsel?" he'll say something like ‘screw them," although probably more refined.
     That being said, even though Buffy didn't listen to Wesley, I think she made the right choice. It wasn't like she was choosing between helping Angel and stopping the ascension, since they really weren't getting anywhere near stopping the ascension. Unlike when they had the box. On a related sidebar, I think it's pretty certain that the box was necessary, since it started the transformation. They may have lost a little time while looking for the cure, but on the whole, they weren't giving up much to save Angel. Plus, Buffy came up with a damn good plan. Go after Faith. It's not like she could attack the Mayor, and we've seen that she's not much at the book learning, but Faith has been a key player and to trade her for Angel would be a grievous blow to the Mayor. Plus, she still left Giles and Xander to research the ascension.
     The murder of Faith, since basically that is what she did, is something that is going to haunt Buffy, and that's a reason I'm thinking Faith is actually dead. It just works so much better for the long term arc, and makes Buffy so much more compelling. Admittedly, I haven't been the biggest Buffy-fan this season, but I really did like her tonight. Two weeks in a row! A record! Anyway, I like to see her as kick ass Buffy. Plus, I don't think she cried tonight. That's always nice.
     The B/A stuff was okay, but I'm really hoping they don't spend too much time on the "Buffy needs to feed Angel her blood to make him well" subplot, and a lot more time on the "Buffy needs to stop the Mayor" plot. I was worried about the poisoned-Angel storyline, but I thought it was well-played and tied in nicely with the main arc, seeing as how it led to Faith's murder. As always, I enjoyed David Boreanaz's performance, plus I liked how he called Buffy a brat. Someone needs to call her out every now and again. Without getting trashed for it.
     Jeff Pruitt, Sophia Crawford, and the rest of the stunt people did an outstanding job. The Buffy/Faith fight especially was tops. The best fight of the season save the sequence in Anne, and the third of all time. (The sword fight in B2 is still my favorite.) Chris Beck, as always, did a terrific job setting the mood with his powerful, dynamic score, and Whedon's direction kept a tense, somber atmosphere over the episode which was quite effective. The crew doesn't get nearly the recognition they deserve. The acting on BtVS is always great but it's the guys behind the scenes who really make it work.
Predictions for next week: Buffy will beat the Mayor. That's about as far as I'm going to go on that one! Guest stars I'd like to see, apart from Harry Groener and Alexis Denisof, would be Elizabeth Anne Allen (gotta be a reason Willow mentioned Amy), Mercedes McNab, Danny Strong, Larry Bagby, Armin Shimerman, Jason Hall, Emma Caulfield, and, as always, Robia LaMorte. There is always some way for Ms. Calendar to get involved.
     On a final note, the Mayor eating the spider was disgusting. Didn't need to see that, thank you.
     All and all, a remarkably effective episode. Definitely sets the stage and raises the tensions for next weeks season final, which of course I can't wait to see. 9/10

I want feedback! If you agree with me, post it here. You don't even have to tell me who you are, I have a nice simple form...

back to the Buffy page
to my homepage

hosted by Geocities