episode reviews

Lie to Me
11/03/98
guest stars: Robia LaMorte (Jenny Calendar), Jason Behr (Ford), Jarrad Paul (Diego), Julia Lee (Chantarelle), James Marsters (Spike), Juliet Landau (Drusilla)
Writer: Joss Whedon
Director: Joss Whedon

.......... Synopsis: Drusilla encounters a young boy and is about to feed on him when he is saved by Angel. Angel offers Dru the chance to leave Sunnydale with Spike, and tell her that "this has to end sometime." Drusilla replies "Oh no, my pet. This is just the beginning." Buffy spies the exchange from afar.
.......... The next day in class, Xander and Cordelia bicker about Marie Antoinette while Buffy and Willow exchange notes about Drusilla. (Buffy doesn't know who she is.) Buffy is upset about the encounter, and Giles suggests that she take the night off. She feels sorry for herself, and Xander tries to cheer her up with a "Crazed dance party at the Bronze...Very calm dance party at the Bronze...Moping at the Bronze," to which a voice replies "I'd suggests a box of oreos dumped in apple juice, but she may be over that phase." Buffy turns to face Billy Fordum, and old friend from L.A. Buffy invites him to come to the Bronze that night, and introduces him to Willow and a jealous Xander. ("This is Ford, my bestest friend of all my friends...Geez, doesn't she know any fat guys?"
.......... That night at the Bronze Ford, Willow, and Xander seem to be hitting off when Buffy arrives. She runs into Angel and asks him what he did that night, and he lies to her, telling her he stayed in. Angel is introduced to Ford, and Buffy, feeling decidedly uncomfortable, decides to leave with Ford. Willow invites Angel to stay with her and Xander but he has already gone.
.......... Meanwhile, Buffy makes an excuse to get rid of Ford and slays a vampire. He sees her, however, and confesses that he already knew that she was the slayer. They split, and Ford goes to a weird club that reveres vampire where he reveals his intention: he wants to be a vampire.
.......... Angel comes to Willow's bedroom and asks her to track down Ford on the net. When Willow suggests that Angel is jealous, he replies "Things used to be pretty simple. Hundred years, just hanging out, feeling guilty, really honed my brooding skills. Then she comes along. Yeah, I get jealous." But he also tells Willow that he knows people, and that "this is a wrong guy." Willow discovers that Ford isn't registered with the school, but they are interrupted by Willow's mom, and Angel leaves after telling her not to mention anything to Buffy.
.......... The next morning at school, Willow is very edgy but Buffy interprets it as too much caffeine. Giles informs Buffy that he has a date with Ms. Calendar that night, and too page him if she needs...study help suddenly. Buffy tells him that Ford knows she is the slayer, and Giles leaves them alone, after confirming that Buffy is not betraying her secret identity to "Impress cute boys."
.......... That night, Buffy shows Ford around Sunnydale, and they encounter two vampires at the school. Buffy fights with one, while Ford holds a stake to the other and demands to know something. After Buffy slays the first, she finds Ford alone and he tells her that he slew the other one. Meanwhile, Angel, Willow, and Xander have found out about Fords club, and decide to check it out. Angel doesn't need much time to realize that they are "just children, making up stories of friendly vampires to comfort themselves in the dark," and they really don't know anything about them. Xander wonders why Ford, "the bestest friend of the slayer" would hang with a group of vampire wannabes.
.......... Back at the library, Buffy meets with Giles and Ms. Calendar. She apologizes for ruining their date but Giles wasn't upset, they had gone to a monster truck rally. While Buffy laughs at them, a vampire breaks into the library and steals a book: it was the vampire that Ford claimed to have killed. Buffy then sees a picture of Dru and learns that she is Spike's girlfriend and was killed in Prague by an angry mob. Buffy replies "Well, they don't make angry mobs like they used to, 'cause this girl's alive." She is the one she saw with Angel.
.......... Drusilla is talking to her dead bird then, while Spike questions her about talking to Angel. The vampire brings Spike the book from the library, and Ford arrives and offers Spike a deal: If Spike turns him into a vampire, Ford will give him Buffy.
.......... Angel comes to Buffy's house that night and tells her what they learned about Ford. Buffy is hurt that her friends lied to her, but Angel explains that they didn't want to upset her if it turned out to be nothing. Buffy wants to know about Drusilla, and Angel asks if she loves him. Buffy says "I love you. I don't know if I trust you." Angel tells her the truth: he made Drusilla after driving her insane.
.......... The next day at school, Willow apologizes to Buffy for lying and tells her that Angel was just really worried. Buffy understands. Buffy follows Ford to his hangout where she learns about his plans: that night, he and the wannabes are going to be changed over. At first she doesn't believe it, because vampires are picky about who they change, and then it dawns on her: Ford was going to trade her to Spike, and the wannabes were just food thrown in. Buffy tries to convince everyone that Spike isn't going to change anyone, he's just going to kill them, but they don't believe her. She tries to convince Ford that it is wrong, and that he won't become a vampire, he'll die and a demon will set up shop in his body. Ford tells her that he doesn't have a choice: he's dying of brain tumors, and has maybe six months to live. Buffy is grieved but tells him he is still wrong. He tells her to "try throwing up for 24 hours because the pain in your head is so intense and then we'll discuss the concept of right and wrong. She says that she feels sorry for him, but if anyone gets hurt she'll kill him herself. She tries to get him to help her stop, but he won't. He tells her "I really did miss you, Summers."
.......... Spike and the others arrive and begin to feed, and Buffy knocks Ford out. Buffy grabs Dru and threatens to dust her if he doesn't let everyone go. Spike does, and Buffy pushes Dru down the stairs and escapes, locking Spike and the vampires in the club. Spike realizes he can't get out ("Uh, where's the doorknob"). Ford wakes up and asks Spike what happened. He says that he delivered, so he still expects his reward. Angel, Xander, and Willow show up outside the club, and Buffy tells them that they can come back later "for the body." The next day, Buffy arrives and finds Ford's body.
.......... At the graveyard a few nights later, Buffy tells Giles that everything has gotten so confused. "I'm constantly trying to figure it out, who to love, who to hate, who to trust..." Giles tells her that she is growing up, but Buffy wants to stop. She asks if it will ever get easy, and Ford pops up out of the ground, vamped out. Buffy slays him without interrupting the conversation, with barely even turning her head. Giles asks what she wants him to say, and Buffy replies "lie to me". Giles says that "Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by the pointy horns or black hats. And, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after."

review: This is one of the most moving episodes of Buffy that has ever aired. It's interesting that this episode aired right between the phenomenal Halloween and only two weeks before the WML two parter, which was a major episode. It was seen as pretty much filler before it aired, but surprised everyone with it's power and poignancy.   For me, it's remained one of my favorite episodes of the series.
    Every single major character, (with the exception of Charisma Carpenter, who was hardly used) gave one of their best performances of the series.   Jenny Calendar's appearance, while being entirely extraneous to the plot, provided an amusing glimpse into the characters of both her and Giles. (Loved the monster truck rally.) Xander's barely contained jealous mixed perfectly with his biting wit, all the while his genuine feelings of friendship for Buffy showed as his strongest emotions. Alyson Hannigan is in top form, in her concern for Buffy and more in her dealings with Angel. Giles continues to act as a father figure to Buffy, as the moving cemetery scene shows. This scene is one of the most powerful of the series, emphasizing the show's central themes of Buffy's maturation.
    Sarah Michelle Gellar gives one of her best performances as Buffy begins to deal with betrayal on all sides. She finally learns the truth about Angel, and, for the first time, admits that she loves him. The emotions she conveys when she learns the truth both about Angel and Ford provide for powerful television. Buffy grows up more in this episode then any until Innocence, and Sarah portrays every agonizing pain with vivid detail.
    One of the most interesting aspects of LTM was the fact that Ford was perhaps the most fleshed out one shot guest star I've ever seen on this show. Jason Behr gave a truly moving performance, and I found myself much in the same position as Buffy, feeling sorry for him despite the things he's doing. Not even Elizabeth Anne Allen's Amy, who up to that point was the most developed guest star, matched the intensity with witch Behr presented his character's feelings and actions.
    While learning quite a bit about Drusilla's past and what makes her who she is, we also learn a little about Spike. It is evident that he has two weaknesses, the first being that he is rather rash. (witness his attack on Chantarelle while Buffy is still around.) This point would be reinforced in WML2 when he attacks Willy in the middle of the fight with both Buffy and Kendra. At first, this seems like an episode flaw, but in the context of the season it becomes more of a character flaw.
    The second weakness of Spike's is his devotion to Drusilla. He gave up all his prey, and the chance to kill the Slayer, for her. This would prove to be especially important later in the season when Angelus began to take his place by Dru's side. Also interesting about Spike is that he keeps his promise to Ford and turns him into a vampire despite his failure to kill Buffy. (Ironically, despite everything Ford went through to become a demon, his immortality lasted less than 10 seconds, and Buffy slew him with hardly so much as a second glance.) Marsters and Landau both continue to play off each other remarkably well, Drusilla's ultra-serious ramblings making no sense while Spike seems to take everything in stride, humoring Dru into thinking she's talking at least somewhat logically.
    This is perhaps David Boreanaz's best turn as the Angel persona, overshadowing even WSWB. His brooding isn't quite so pronounced, and for the first time since Angel he reveals a little about his past. His concern for Buffy is at it's most pronounced here, as he goes behind her back to Willow to help her, relying solely on his gut. On a lighter note, it is nice to know he realizes he's quite the brooder.
    This is, in truth, the most important episode for the characterization of Angel since we found out he was a vampire. Before, we had only known that he was a vampire the same as any other, albeit somewhat more powerful. Now, for the first time, we see in Drusilla the fruits of his exploits. Her total madness was caused by him. This episode lays the groundwork for what would come later, and is dripping with foreshadowing. From Drusilla's line at the beginning "this is just the beginning" to Giles moving speech at the end, everything hints at what is to come. Even the theme of the episode, betrayal, was the central theme in the Innocence-Passion-Becoming trilogy. This episode can be considered the prologue for the second half of the season. In an interesting aside, Julia Lee's Chantarelle also appears in Anne, which could be considered the epilogue of the I-P-B trilogy.
    Joss Whedon does an exceptional job directing the episode. The camera work in the scene immediately following Angel's revelation to Buffy, with Buffy and Ford outside of the school, is a unique, highly effective circling pattern which reveals even more than the script or Sarah Michelle Gellar what Buffy is going through. It seems to personify the whirlwind of thoughts and feelings consuming Buffy's mind right then. It is remarkable tv-making.   Also, the score is used effectively to convey the tone of the scene. Music is increasingly becoming an important part of the show, and is being used more and more effectively.
    Without the character and theme developments of LTM, most of the second half of the season wouldn't make sense. It marks a distinct turning point in the tone and quality of the show, and sets the stage for the dramatic trilogy to follow just a few episodes later. It shows a remarkable maturity of both script and acting, and while not as dramatic or riveting as Innocence or Becoming, is perhaps all around the most well-done episode of the series. 10/10

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