First Word: Jail; Second Word: Bait.

Episode 3.15: Consequences. Original Airdate 2.16.99



"A homicide detective closes in on Buffy and Faith as he investigates the deputy mayor's death."

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Guilt dreams!  I've had similar dreams that one time I accidentally watched my friend kill that guy...I mean...
• "Giles: the next Generation."  Love it.
• "She's a student".  See, I forgive Wesley for this since....Charisma is about 30.  I wonder if that's somehow an inside joke.
• I love this whole conversation between Faith and Buffy - it's not just about arguing and opening up.  It clearly shows the divide of who Buffy and Faith are as people; how they handle things and how strong their morals are.
• And at this point, I'm not even sure the police are dumb or just Going Through the Motions. Because he did mention the wooden stake...so he knows...but maybe his instructions from above are to let slayer things slide.
• SMG has the hugest eyes!  Especially when she has emotions!
• I'm glad they cut past the shit of not believing Buffy.  Giles is amazing and does exactly the right thing: Pretending to believe Faith and then telling Buffy as soon as they're alone.  Because he knows her.  I love Giles in this moment more than ever.
• And Alyson is so good.  Her reaction when she gets what Xander is talking about before anyone else does. Remember when she was a subtle actress?  Bite me, HIMYM.
• "I don't need to say 'oh'.  I got it before." - yep.  CAUSE SHE'S SMART.
• Buffy's comment to Xander is so...  "They're kind of a big joke to her - no offense."  Um...okay?  None taken?   I mean Xander is an idiot for believing he has some 'in' with Faith just because they slept together - but come on, Buffy.  Tact. [Tact is just not saying true stuff. - Cordelia]
• Ugh - but the crying.  Stop, Willow.  You've got a cutie-patootie boyfriend in Oz, now.  It's time to get over Xander.  I think getting upset over this is pathetic.  I'd have liked to see Cordelia's reaction, though.
• But still - at least there's a lot of good character exploration here - In this whole episode, in fact.
• And then there's this whole power trip Faith is using against Xander which is really kind of upsetting.
• And Angel enters; he's never been there before - so to go back to an earlier argument regarding Kakistos, I guess Faith's place really isn't a 'home.'  Though, I bet they could have put some kind of spell on it...if anyone wanted to...
• When exactly did Wesley find out Angel was a vampire?

During the intermission?

• Faith said ABOAT on A BOAT!

This boat is Boston-bound, yo. Wicked.

• Aww! Faith saved Buffy!!!
• Yay! No more Mr. Trick.

Zelda's Thoughts:

• Oh hai dream!Allan Finch. Thank you for following the rules of the Buffyverse: die and return for more episodes anyway.
• And now Faith's trying to throw culpability onto Buffy, because she thinks it will keep Buffy quiet, and also because if she can convince Buffy to blame herself, she can stop feeling the blame herself.
• Shenanigans! The detective asks the witness what time she heard Finch scream. He did not scream.
• I love that shredding documents is feel-good therapy for the Mayor.
• AAAAAAAAAAH he's terrifying when he laughs.

Subtext: I will destroy you and all you love.

• "So his papers are gone. That doesn't prove anything." // "Except that somebody didn't want us to prove anything."
• Faith's trying to rationalize that the number of people she's saved is enough to cover the person she killed. "We are better. That's right, better. People need us to survive."
• Meep. Bye bye Faith's morality. See you next year.
• Oh hey the deeply stupid police found Buffy! Good for you guys!
• Aww crying Buffykins. I'm glad she tells Willow.
• *shakes fist* Damn you, Faith! How dare you tell Giles Buffy did it!!!
• And it's so heartbreaking when Giles makes us think he believes Faith. But then it turns out it was all an act and whew!
• Dammit Wesley. Stop fucking things up.
• Awww Willow's face. She figures it out about Xander and Faith right away. Her hurt over this is interesting. She's not in love with Xander anymore, she's not even in lust with him anymore, but maybe there's still this priority sense with him ... so that she can still be hurt by his first time with someone else. I don't fully understand it rationally, but ... I think I sort of get it? In any event, AH rocks in those scenes.
• And here, unlike in The Zeppo or Grave, we see an instance where Xander's words are supremely ineffective at fixing the problem. Faith won't let you fix her, Xander.
• I am impressed with the teenage boy who's not letting the girl distract him with the sex. He doesn't once move his hands to embrace her.
• Geez, it's pretty scary watching her strangle Xander. She doesn't even seem fully conscious of what she's doing, that this is real.
• I do like that they realize Angel is the one to deal with Faith - he's the one with experience with the murder and such.
• Oh, writers, writers, writers, monologuing is not DB's forte. It's not even his piano.

I want to start using this gif every time I think I'm being
exceptionally witty.

• Dammit Wesley. Dammit dammit dammit. Stop fucking up everything.
• Oh lookythar Faith escaped. WELL DONE, WESLEY. WELL DONE.
• "What can I do? I want to help." You shoulda thought of that before you fucked up all the things, Wesley.
• Though it is sad to see him standing alone, useless.
• "You need me to toe the line" - you didn't toe it, Faith, you crossed it. That's the problem. You don't realize you crossed it.
• When Faith saves Buffy from Trick, it's our one salvage point - our sign that we might be able to bring her back.
• And then NOPE. WRONG. YOU WERE WRONG AND

President Bartlet stopped by to tell you how wrong
you were, because Faith's working for the Mayor now.

• I love his implacable expression as he shuts the door.
• I wonder what she thinks it means, going to work for the Mayor. What this choice means to her. Is it just a rebellious break from Buffy and the White Hats? What does she think will happen when she joins forces with a known evil (though the nature of the evil is still unknown)? It's a cool twist, to be sure, and I love where it goes, but I don't quiiiiiiiiiiite buy the reason for her choice. Maybe if she'd seen him in action besides the random hallway sighting ... Right now it just feels like a chaotic choice without rationale, and maybe that's just where her mind is right now, but I like reasons and stuff.

Crossfire!

In our review of Faith, Hope & Trick, we had a crossfire about Faith's living arrangements. Zelda called Shenanigans on Kakistos's being able to get his arm through the door of Faith's apartment. Daniel pointed out that this was more a motel than an apartment, not a long-term living situation. Here, with Angel's being able to enter Faith's apartment without an invite is definitive proof that Daniel's assessment was correct.
Daniel: I WIN THE CROSSFIRE.

D: What large glowery windows you have there, Angel.

Z: It's the stupidest house for a vampire in the world.

D: Yes, and I wanna live there.

Z: It's made of styrofoam.

Favorite Lines:

Daniel: "I don't need to say 'oh.' I got it before." - Willow

Zelda: I didn't really have one, so I'm gonna go with Trick's final line as a pretty funny way to die: "Oh no. No, this is no good at all."

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Recurring: Faith, Wesley, Mayor, Trick
• So um. Faith killed Allan Finch. And that was bad.
• Shoutout to Michael the Warlock.
• Buffy & Co. finally know the Mayor is evil.
• It's good ol' Detective Stein! You may recognize him from such episodes as Ted and Becoming: Part 2.
• Now everyone knows about the Xander/Faith boinkage.
• The Watcher's Council has teams they send out to deal with unruly (read: murder-y) Slayers.
• Trick is dead.
• Faith has joined up with the Mayor.

Stats:

Dead Humans - 0

Dead Undeads - 3

Giles Unconscious - 0

Giles Cleans His Glasses - 1

Buffy Breaks a Door - 0

Evil Reveal - 1 (Faith joins forces with the Mayor)

Unevil Reveal - 0

Shenanigans Called - 1

Apocalypse Called - 0