Season 3, Ep 1

No need to pity the original audience. We were all watching with jaws dropped at the sight of the action heroine striking her hero pose while wielding a hammer and sickle. While liberating oppressed slave/workers in an episode that takes place around Labor Day. On broadcast television. In 1998. I don't know if younger viewers can really appreciate just how thrillingly subversive that was for the time. I love the more cinematic pacing of this episode, and at least among my group of friends, it was quite well-liked. I'm not as huge a fan of S3 as many are, but if more of its episodes had been like this one, it would rank higher with me.

SK Elkins

Because of my vacation and trip of a lifetime, I watched this out of order and did episode 2 before this one. It's not my favorite, but I like that it's first and to get it out of the way. Also liked seeing Lily step up and become someone that can help others instead of always being helped herself. I was more interested in what was going on back in Sunnydale though instead of "hell". Glad it's over and glad to be on to season 3! It's my favorite.

Melissa

This is an episode about identity and it's done really well. It's about being who you are vs. running and hiding from it. It's also about personal growth.

Chas Summers

What's (I suppose) amusing is that this is what I refer to below; the source of Joss's future problems with Stunt Coordinator Jeff Pruitt. Remember how at the end of S1 I was giving you all those behind-the-scenes updates, how Joss was looking to upgrade his team? Well, none of that this time; he hired new writers (you'll see their work later in the season) but the production stays the same: Jeff Pruitt does the stunts, Cynthia Bergstrom handles the costuming, Christophe Beck composes the music. And they'll all be here for a while, too. BUT…you may recall that one of the reasons Jeff Pruitt got his job is that he was dating Sophia Crawford, Buffy's stunt double. By now, they were engaged (they would later marry) and Jeff was, understandably, protective of his fiancée and her difficult and dangerous work. (You may recall my telling you the story of how they got engaged when Sophia was [Jeff says] nearly badly injured during the filming of "Phases".) So imagine how Jeff felt when Joss decided he didn't like how Sophia had done the "Buffy gets hit by a truck" stunt…and wanted to DO IT AGAIN. (Jeff claimed Sophia was still woozy, IIRC.) It was apparently not the happiest moment in the filming. But given what you've noted in the following scenes, I guess Joss thinks getting hit by a truck is no big deal? What a strange misconception to have. And of course, it's just a cheap shock to end Act I on; no implications in the larger story. Buffy's fine and Rickie kept on walking. Just the same as would have happened if Rickie hadn't wandered into traffic for no reason. I guess it might have had significance if nearly being roadkill had thrown Buffy so much that she didn't sense Ken was a demon…but her "vampire-sense" only works on vampires, it's not that reliable (look at all the times Angel didn't trigger it) and we don't even know that Ken is a demon, at all. He could just be some sort of alien. So I can't even blue-sky that much, I'm afraid.

Jessica Roth

I don't like this episode. One of my least favorites. Every one is apart from Buffy and angry. Not fun. I don't like Xander , It doesn't seem like he likes Buffy. Also the monster of the week was lame.

Bud Haven

"Deranged"???? Well, gee, as long as we're keeping things so polite… What my…dear friend fails to consider in his/her/its analysis is that 1.01 and 2.01 both served as "jumping-on points" without sacrificing story and character for empty spectacle. 2.01 features a long, large-scale kick-ass fight, but never loses sight of how its primarily an exploration of Buffy's PTSD iss-yews. As for "exposition relays", 3.01 utterly fails that test, too. Of all the things 2.22 covered (Kendra dead, Willow comatose then possibly paralyzed, Giles tortured, Willow exploring magic, Xander declaring his love for Willow, Buffy suspected of murder, Buffy on the run from the cops, Buffy forced to ally with an evil vampire and let another walk free, Buffy expelled from school, Buffy kicked out of her house, Buffy "kills" Angel, Angel goes to [a] Hell with his soul restored, Buffy leaves Sunnydale) only two of those 13 are explicitly addressed. Xander tells Willow that Buffy was kicked out of school, and we see Buffy living in LA. There are oblique references to two others (Dream!Angel says "not even if you kill me" and Giles tells Joyce not to blame herself, but doesn't say for what) but still. Four out 13 isn't a great batting average. If you hadn't seen any prior episodes and missed the "Previously" segment, you'd be completely lost.

Jessica Roth

ahh jordan this is such an interesting take on the pacing and the back and forth! thank you for this. really does make sense. and ive learned from season 1 to not listen to naysayers cause i lovvved season 1 hahaha so no worries!

darciesnothere

agreed about that line from larry LOL i always love when the mysterious and large amount of deaths are referenced. gives me the giggles. fair point about joyce and her pov. but i agree... her reaction when buffy told her was what drove her away. VERY excited to see what else season 3 has coming!!

darciesnothere

right!? incredible fight scene! i watched it over multiple times in editing lol

darciesnothere

LOL to be fair i was scouting out the outfit cause i really like the pants too and was like wait.... shoes are changing... i really really struggled with the pacing for sure. especially that first half and the scene after the car accident had me rolling. like she just got hit by a car now we are just chatting?! not my fave episode BUT as usual, things to love about it!

darciesnothere

oh i have always just sat! never had to lay. also have never been paid lol must have changed throughout the years!

darciesnothere

not weird at all! its bittersweet to be back haha but definitely feel back in my routine! :)

darciesnothere

This is a great episode. What the deranged poster here doesn't understand is that many S1s of various seasons were being hyped by the networks that showed Buffy as jumping on points for new fans. Therefore, they are a little more bombastic and theatric than the rest of the seasons as a whole. They also serve as exposition relays for new viewers as well.

Chas Summers

I think only 1 person in the comments talks about disliking this episode. Either way it's good that people have different opinions

x_Rhi_x

(The last sentence of the previous post should read "while JOSS pretends it's 'Bad Eggs' all over again, etc." Sorry about that. I'd fix it, but we know how Patreon feels about my editing comments after the fact. Again, my apologies.) I grant you, ignoring 10 episodes' worth of Xander/Cordy developments is almost better than the total fizzle that is the Xander/Willow./Oz "triangle", where Oz went invisible for five episodes while Willow and Xander barely said two words to each other, and then after X makes his big "I love you" romantic declaration, there's nothing in this episode to indicate that ever happened. Xander's (we presume) life-altering realization gets as much followup as Kendra's murder or Buffy's being kicked out of her house. (Giles tells Joyce not to "blame" herself, but I don't think there's an explicit reference to that in the episode at all. I guess he's just relying on the "Previously" segment to keep us up to date, which I find sloppy.) Things are so bad on the X/W/O "triangle" front that many in the audience are like "Oh, Xander just said that as a friend", despite the fact that the script is explicit about Xander's feelings (he "takes the hit" when Willow calls Oz's name) and Nick Brendon's performance leaving IMO little doubt. But if you neglect plots, they wither and die…

Jessica Roth

The last time Buffy met Joan/Sister Sunshine/Chanterelle/Lily/Anne, she saved EVERYBODY in that club…and they had all claimed they WANTED to die. (Well, she left Ford behind, but that was mercy to spare him from the pain of cancer.) Here she saves a whole six people, doesn't even try to get the rest, and seeming murders Ken on the way out, for no reason except she feels like it. (He was pinned and helpless.) She makes no effort to destroy the portal, it closes on its own, which means the aliens/demons/whatever (no explanation of who they are, why they need slaves, etc is even attempted) are free to open another portal, tomorrow, right next door, and keep on killing kids as if Buffy was never there. It would be one thing if Joss was trying to show us that Buffy no longer wants to be a hero because of Angel, that she'll save her own ass and maybe Lily because she feels a little responsible, but everyone else is on their own. But Joss isn't interested in examining Buffy's character; he just wanted a big fight on a big set to let Jeff Pruitt (stunt coordinator) make him look good, and then it's time to move on. (Ironically, this is where Whedon begins to destroy his relationship with Pruitt, but that won't hurt the series for a while yet. But that's another story.) Hey, at the end of Act III, why does Ken knock Buffy out but not Lily? He doesn't know Buffy's a superhero, and Lily's taller. Because Joss wants Ken to make an Evil Speech with someone there to hear him and not have the audience wondering why Buffy doesn't hit him in the face. Story logic be damned. As for Giles, he may not "control" Xander or Willow, but he certainly doesn't want them hurt, and fighting vampires remains his sworn duty. He's taken some trips, yes…but he's not in Oakland during the teaser, and he's back home and doing nothing in particular while the team is nearly getting killed during the climax of their comedy subplot. (Blecch.) What, he got engrossed in reading that copy of Rickey Henderson's autobiography that he picked up at that A's game he took in when he couldn't find Buffy, and lost track of time? Nah, Joss doesn't want Giles getting in the way of his cutesy-wutesy "haha, look at Xander and Cordelia bicker and then kiss with the corny music!" storyline, that's all. So Giles cheerfully lets a bunch of highschool kids head out to their possible DEATHS while he pretends it's "Bad Eggs" all over again, and ignores all the development tbat went into the X/C storyline in the second half of last season.

Jessica Roth

Exactly right. The jarring transition from everyone having a bustling first day, to Buffy trying to eat spaghettios from the can and failing. I also have had depression and that was a great representation of what it feels like and sometimes is.

Bud Haven

I diagree, doing something that is visually and aesthetically beautiful is never pointless. They had Oz repeat the grade so that he could become a member of the Scooby-core. That should be obivious. Giles isn't Xander or Willows watcher. He doesn't control what they do. Plus they said he spent the summer flying across the contry looking for Buffy, so how could he be fighting vampires in Sunneydale? About Buffy not freeing hundreds of people, I was content with them showing that Buffy can't do everything. That she can't save everyone.

Bud Haven

Unfortunately, it's also pointless. Tracking and tracking and tracking and what do we get out of it? "Xander and Cordelia have an awkward reunion". We wasted 3 minutes on that? Meantime, we include terrible characterization like Oz repeating an entire year, for no reason that's apparent, Willow somehow never noticing Oz isn't going to summer school (Are you kidding me? The moment Oz didn't graduate, Willow would become nearly obnoxious making sure that he didn't get held back), and Giles just letting the kids risk their lives regularly with nothing more than a "don't die". Last I checked, Giles thought that patrolling was HIS repsonsibility if Buffy wasn't available. (See "Ted" or "BB&B") But Joss doesn't care about continuity or characterization, or even the series as a whole. He's sick of just being a "script doctor" (just did a rewrite on "X-Men"), he wants to direct feature films. So he makes a showy and empty Director's Reel; here's an ostentatiously-long tracking shot, here's a slow sad musical montage, here's a big chaotic fight. Pretty much nothing to do with the series itself (Buffy leaves HUNDREDS of slaves behind in Ken's dimension, which is so antithetical to her previously-established heroism I can't even comprehend it), but Joss just wants to make everything pretty, quality be damned. (Actually, that corny musical montage would convince me Joss should NEVER be allowed to direct a feature. If I wanted that, I'd watch some MTV knockoff channel.)

Jessica Roth

I liked the episode. Is the pacing weird. I wouldn't say so, but I would say it's quite different than the norm. Of course, I personally thing, the pacing was completely intentional. I think they wanted to create a stark contrast between Buffy and the Scoobies. In the Scoobies lives, there are lots of people around them, it's noisy, and things are moving. Then it cuts to Buffy. Dead silence, everything is slow, very drab, very little emotion. Even Darci pointed out all the Beige. I think they were using that contrast to make us feel a little of how Buffy was feeling. I've dealt with severe depression before in life and it's quite similar to that. The world around you may be fast, loud, and full of emotion. You though don't notice it. Not the sounds, not the hustle and bustle, and definitely not the emotions. You could have told me someone threw my mom off the roof and I would have barely reacted. So, maybe because of that I kind of get what they were going for. I love the scene in the school when everyone is finding their friends after being gone for the summer. I don't know if you noticed Darci, but it's an incredibly long shot. The camera moves around and pans from one set of characters to another and back without a single cut. It must have taken forever to choreograph. Kind of going along with what I was saying before, you'll notice, especially towards the end of the scene, that the background noise is especially loud. This really makes the cut to Buffy that much more stark And who can't love the ripping the phone off the wall scene and the fight scene? For those people out there claiming this was the worst episode ever, I say those scenes alone shuts that idea down. Also, I'm an absolute sucker for bring characters back from old episodes. So Lily always was an element I loved in the episode Great reaction. I know the pacing threw you off, but then you did point out the Beige, so different people pick up on different things and I kind of enjoy that. Also, don't listen to any season 3 naysayers, it's awesome.

Jordan Haddow

Don't worry. The majority of fans enjoy this episode. The nice thing about Buffy fans is they come from all corners and have fairly wide differences in taste, so I find there is usually a minority who will dislike pretty much any episode.

Jordan Haddow

The tracking shot at the school is one of my favorite scenes ever. 3 minutes long, 9 actors, 11 interactions. A single mistake and they have to start the whole thing over. whew. I really like this episode because it shows the consequences to Buffy for what happened with Angel. Great fighting and of course that scene. Also it shows Buffy she can't stop being the Slayer because it would mean turning her back on people in need. It isn't who she is. PS It's always a risk to not have tissues no matter what episode you're watching. Also yes, you can get paid to give blood in the States. When I wasn't working I used to get a few bucks now and then too.

Bud Haven

I think way back in the way back they did pay. I think the problem with paying was it attracted people with more issues who may demographically have more problems with their blood. Plus, it really comes across wrong. Not paying for blood means people volunteered. Paying for blood looks a lot more like the rich paying for human fluids from the poor. It had a whole classism to it.

Jordan Haddow

"If we can focus, keep discipline, and not have quite as many mysterious deaths, Sunnydale is gonna rule!" What a line from Larry. :D I definitely agree that the middle of this episode suffers from some pacing issues, and it's far from my favorite season opener. That said, it does have a lot of funny moments, the quality of the fight choreography has clearly been taken up a notch, and it's nice to see Chanterelle/Lily/Anne again. More importantly, it does what it needs to do: it shows us how the gang has been coping with the Slayer's disappearance, and it breaks Buffy out of her post-Becoming depression. One common interpretation of why Buffy decides to return home at the end is that she realizes that no matter where she goes, she can't escape being the Slayer; it will always catch up with her. I don't really like that interpretation, though. She could have kept running, could have turned a blind eye and left Lily to fend for herself, but she chose not to. (Of course she did; that's who she is.) And in so doing, I think she realized that despite everything, there's a part of her that actually enjoys parts of being the Slayer. Not the parts that entail constantly being at risk of losing her own life and/or everything and everyone important to her, obviously, but the parts that entail being able to save people, kick demon ass, and look good doing it. When "Ken" exclaims "That was not permitted", Buffy replies, "Yeah, but it was fun!" Maybe it's just her mid-fight bravado talking, but can you imagine the Buffy from "Welcome to the Hellmouth" ever describing slaying as "fun"? So when she re-embraces her identity in that kinda-corny-but-also-kinda-iconic title drop, I think it's not just because she's realized she has to, but because she's realized she wants to. I also want to comment a bit on the scene between Giles and Joyce. Now, I get why people tend to get annoyed with her for telling Giles that she blames him for Buffy's disappearance. After all, he's just graciously told her that she mustn't blame herself when, in reality, she... probably should, at least a little bit. However, she does have a point--Giles *did* have a whole relationship with Buffy behind her back, he *was* a huge influence on her, and, notably, when Buffy brought up the possibility of telling Joyce the truth about her extracurricular activities in Passion, Giles was the one who shot it down. Joyce's grievances are valid, but where she goes wrong is in implying that any of that had anything to do with Buffy's disappearance. It wasn't Buffy's secret that led to her running away, Mama J; it was (among many other things) your reaction when she finally told you the truth. All in all, not a great episode, but not a bad one either IMO. Can't wait to get into the rest of this season!

ghostofdurruti

You can tell by the 1st episode of Season 3 that Buffy is gotten to be a way better fighter with that amazing fight scene.

I agree with you. I enjoy this episode overall. I do agree with Darcie that the pacing in the first half is a bit weird but overall a serviceable opener to the season

Whisper_dvm

I...didn't realize too many people seemed to seriously dislike this episode lol. Reading the comments, I'm genuinely surprised. I honestly thought this was a fantastic start to the season. Love the metaphors for capitalism and how dreary Buffy's life is portrayed since she had to murder her vampiric boy toy. Plus, I enjoy everything happening in Sunnydale as well. With Buffy gone, Xander seems to have Cordelia more on his mind i.e. venting about Cordelia at The Bronze when Willow was referring to Buffy. Willow is still in denial about it all, wanting to push any negative thoughts away. Giles is constantly pushing himself to find Buffy, just wanting to make sure she's home safe. Not nearly as great of a season opener as "When She Was Bad" but granted, it's incredibly difficult to top that one for me.

Ritchie

Holey Moley! That thing with the shoes was amazing. I would bow down, but I"m in a chair, so it would be awkward. Just what the episode needs, a continuity flub to go with the TERRIBLE characterization (everyone who isn't Joyce acts in an unbelievable way; Joyce is awful in "blaming" Giles, but that's just Joyce being Joyce, so relatively speaking she comes off well, I guess. [And at least she doesn't snap at Buffy at the end.]) , RIDICULOUS plot mechanics, and WRETCHED pacing. I've always been focused on how long and bloated Act IV is, but you're right, the first half of the episode is wayyyyyy too slow, as well. We spend half the episode to get to an Act II "climax" that is "some guy we never saw before who had like 3 lines, is dead. OOOH, Scary! I guess you could say that Ricky's important because he's connected to Lily, and Lily is somebody we've met before…but the plot doesn't much work if we can remember her immediately, which makes "Hey, it's Chantarelle!" not so much of a revelation. I guess it "helps" that Julia Lee is a forgettable (and very mediocre) actress, too. On the plus side, Oz is wearing Xander's old "Peep Show" tee shirt, so I guess we know why there's no follow-up on Xander declaring his love for Willow last episode…he doesn't want Willow to know he's been banging her boyfriend behind Will's back. (Likewise, I guess we know the REAL reason Oz is back at school, huh?) Oh, hush. I like my "secret lovers" theory. It makes more sense than the episode. But absolute garbage from stem to stern. (Bar a few good moments, like the "tea cozy" scene and "I just suck at undercover.) This is the 35th episode to air…and that's where I rate it, 35 out of 35. Other episodes might be campy or frivolous or padded, but this is easily worse than anything we've endured before. I just pity the original audience, who had to wait all summer for…this. Ugh.

Jessica Roth

They were probably giving blood PLASMA, where they draw out the blood, put it through a spinning thing [/technical term] to separate the plasma (used for pharmaceuticals and such) and then return the blood, all through a system of tubes. Takes longer and you have to lie down, but you get paid. A popular way of getting money among the poor and desperate. (I still have the insertion mark on the inside of my left elbow, even though I stopped doing it around 2000.)

Jessica Roth

I've always laid down when giving blood. Most people donate blood for free, there are some places which will pay for more rare types. But usually people give at the Red Cross.

Scott Kenney

It's good to see you back. This might sound weird, but I like the aesthetic of your room.

David Meadows