The episode picks up right on the tail of the previous with Buff-ified Faith being wheeled away on a stretcher.
As Buffy in Faith is wheeled away, Faith in Buffy takes Joyce's hand as if to indicate,
"You lost. Here's how badly."
After she is wheeled away, Joyce and Faith go back inside,
and Sarah Michelle Gellar begins putting on a clinic of Eliza Dushku's mannerisms as Faith.
Her physicality here is really wonderful, a completely distinct performance from her Buffy.
Joyce attempts to hug Faith and Faith obviously doesn't know what to do with the gesture, pulling away.
When she does, Joyce utters a painful little 'sorry' as though she just misread the moment, and then...
"I've missed you."
"'Cause I haven't visited, right?"
"I knew it."
Faith then takes a bath,
as though she wanted the opportunity to consider the shape and dimensions of this new body she's inhabiting.
This is followed by an iconic scene of her staring at Buffy's face in the mirror,
trying on different expressions and gestures.
This is a standard seen in the 'Freaky Friday' trope.
but the addition of Beck's foreboding score in the background,
and the knowledge of the woman who is actually underneath,
makes it all INCREDIBLY tense as Faith wields Buffy's morality as parody.
"You can't do that.
"It's wrong."
"I'll kick your ass!"
And somewhere in town, Buffy is fighting to get home and is sedated by the cops.
Willow is wondering where she is and Tara gives us a pained line.
"Well, you should be safe. Nobody knows you're here."
"I mean, they don't even know I exist, right?"
"...I-I just kinda like having something, that's just, you know... mine."
"I am, you know."
"What?"
"Yours."
In the last episode of the Guide, I decided I was going to break the subtext bell.
"I had so much fun the other night,
[Lesbian subtext bell]
"with spells."
[Lesbian subtext bell]
When I first watched the series,
it took me quite a while to understand what was going on between Tara and Willow,
and I think partially it's because Oz's departure was one of the most emotionally engrossing episodes in the entire season.
Call me thick, but it wasn't until this moment where I absolutely understood what was going on.
"I-I believe the, uh, subtext here is rapidly becoming, uh,"
"...text."
Tara and Willow have been falling in love.
Whedon has said in interviews that the magic was a way of substituting for actual physical intimacy between the two of them.
Something they had to do because the network 'Buffy' was on at the time openly told them that they didn't want any kissing between the two of them on television.
Of course, it was completely unfair,
especially in a season that has featured Buffy having sexual relationships with two different men.
But an odd byproduct is that the spell Willow and Tara cast later in the episode
ends up being one of the most insanely erotic things to ever appear in the series.
The banging spell culminates in the two of them falling on their backs,
dripping perspiration and orgasming while literally a giant 'O' rises above them.
Faith, looking to leave town with Buffy's passport, orders a plane ticket using Joyce's credit card.
The flight is for the next day, and having some time to kill before her flight,
Faith decides to toy with the Scoobies as Buffy.
The Watchers Council nabs Buffy in Faith's body and attempts to leave the country with her.
I realize we had to have Buffy in some jeopardy in order to give the Faith shenanigans their due,
but boy, is this B-plot the only thing about the episode that drags for me.
When Faith joins the Scoobies at Giles', we get a tracking shot of her walking through the door that feels very deliberate to me.
In the previous episode, Faith stared through the window at the life she couldn't have because she didn't have an invitation.
But Buffy does.
Giles explains that Faith has been taken to England by the Watchers Council for rehabilitation,
which Faith finds amusing, and Willow weighs in.
"I forgot how much you don't like Faith."
[stab]
Faith's psychotic fantasies played out on screen are especially horrifying
when played out as Buffy.
Faith promises to go out hunting for Adam.
Cut to The Bronze, whereupon dancing, she runs into...
"Oh... you."
Faith realizes who Spike is, and, well...
"I could ride you at a gallop until your legs buckled and your eyes rolled up.
"I've got muscles you've never even dreamed of."
"I could squeeze you until you popped like warm champagne and you'd beg me to hurt you just a little bit more."
I wonder if a very important development in Spike's character was seeded by this moment.
[gasp]
"I get this chip out,"
"you and me are gonna have a confrontation."
A group of vampires in the sewers run into Adam who converts them to his cause.
Buffy wakes up in the back of a truck.
"Well, it's awake."
The only other Buffyverse instance I can remember of someone referring to a woman as "it", was in 'She'.
Assuming this is sexism commentary,
I mentioned in "Helpless," that the Watchers were a patriarchal symbol.
As ever, when the show makes overt commentary on sexism, the sexism is just so...
"I mean, look at the way she dresses."
"Oh Summers, you are turning me on!"
[slap/grab sound]
[slap sound]
"You know you shouldn't make me mad."
"Hey, sweet girl!"
"How much for a lap dance for me and my buddy?"
"You're a girl!"
...overt.
Where some of the subtler ugly stuff tends to be ignored.
Meanwhile, back at The Bronze, Willow has brought Tara along to spend some time with her friends.
Faith immediately reads the dynamics of Willow and Tara's relationship, and upon making Tara uncomfortable with it,
mocks her anxiety-induced stutter until Tara can't stand to be there.
Willow points out a vampire and Faith, remembering that she's Buffy, goes to stake him.
When she does, the gratitude on the victim's face is painful.
Meanwhile, Buffy grabs a Watcher to try and force him to release her but he is abandoned by his comrades who choose to let him die.
But Buffy is not Faith and on being called on her ruse, boots the man out the door.
Tara picks up some aberration in Buffy with her Wiccan-ness-ness
and proposes a spell with Willow to discover what's going on.
Back at the frat house, Faith presents herself to Riley.
This is a tough, complicated and powerful scene.
Faith is taking some revenge on Buffy by committing a crime against BOTH Riley and Buffy.
I'll explain more about that in a minute.
But for me, it also ends up being one of Riley's most redeeming moments,
as much as Faith is trying to play the nympho to activate Riley's more lurid sexual fantasies...
"Yeah, what do you want to do with this body?
"What nasty little desire have you been itching to try out?"
"Am I a bad girl?"
"Do you want to hurt me?"
...Riley is having none of it.
"I don't want to play."
He is demanding that there be intimacy and connection between them
and later, after the deed is done,
Riley looks into what he believes (are) Buffy's eyes and utters with no music or drama or fanfare,
"I love you."
It's a crushing moment, and the way it's executed dramatically is so effective
and piercing and disgusting and awful,
given it's Faith naked with him and not Buffy.
As with before when Buffy's mom showed her affection,
Faith in Buffy's body has a powerful reaction in which she struggles to get Riley off her, Slayer strength and all.
"Who are you?"
"What do you want from her?"
If genuine meaning in life is derived by living through ethical choice,
then Faith, who hasn't been doing that,
can't trust that Riley's love for Buffy is genuine.
She herself has been used and manipulated throughout her life,
and her defense mechanisms to see the world as a cold and meaningless place are on display here.
"This is meaningless."
But things are beginning to reach her.
It's such a powerful scene from such a despicable act
and maybe this is a good time now to bring up something that we're going to have to talk about a few more times as the show goes on.
"Informed consent" is defined as "permission granted in the knowledge of possible consequences".
Condensing a bit, "rape" is
"unlawful sexual activity carried out against a person who is incapable of valid consent because of intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception."
Without complete understanding of the situation,
Riley was incapable of giving informed consent and Buffy certainly wasn't either.
In other words, this scene is a rape of both Riley and Buffy.
And as much as I think the scene is powerful,
Buffy's problem with Riley for the next couple episodes hasn't aged well in the last 20 years.
Once she finds out, she becomes distant with him
because unlike when she looked into the eyes of the Fyarl demon and saw Giles,
Riley wasn't able to look into her eyes and see Faith.
Her reaction is played as though Riley cheated on her...
"You slept with her."
...when the reality of the situation is that Faith has two victims from this scene,
and holding Riley in any way accountable feels to me like a vestige of the antiquated notion that a woman can't rape a man.
The idea of consent is incredibly important--
"I thought it would go better if you didn't know."
--and one the show sometimes has a dubious relationship with.
I've read several opinions from people who believe that Faith actually raped Xander back in The Zeppo',
as you never actually hear him say the word "yes,"
before she throws him on the bed and then tosses him out of her room.
I think that's a little bit of a stretch.
"You up for it?"
"Oh, I'm up."
But her deception in this scene leading to the victimization of Riley AND Buffy is pretty cut and dry.
Meanwhile, Willow and Tara perform the sexy spell,
Faith heads to the airport,
Buffy escapes the Watchers
and Adam's vampires take a church hostage.
Escaped Buffy in Faith returns to Giles' place and begs Giles to see the real her.
Eliza and Anthony's performances here are completely adorable.
"Giles, you just have to--"
- Stop inching!"
"You were inching."
Buffy plumbs her mind for ways to convince Giles that she is really herself.
"Oh!"
[singing] "The space... goes..."
"Down down baby, down down the roller coaster."
"Sweet sweet baby, sweet sweet don't let me go."
"Shimmy shimmy coco pop, shimmy shimmy rock,"
"Shimmy shimmy coco pop, shimmy shimmy rock."
"I met a girlfriend- a Triscuit."
"She said a Triscuit--"
"Actually, I beg you to stop."
The real Buffy meets Tara for the first time but as introductions are going down,
the gang hears that the vampires of Adam have attacked a church.
Tara and Willow have created some...kind of...helpful glowing thingy.
"What is--"
"It's a Katra."
"His katra."
"His living spirit."
Faith fights, and in a shot that parallels "Consequences"
when Faith saved Buffy,
Buffy saves her.
Faith looks into her own eyes, literally having to confront herself and attacks what she sees.
"You're nothing!"
"Disgusting, murderous bitch!"
"You're nothing!"
They swap and Faith escapes,
but the damage has been done.
I'm particularly fond of the 'Freaky Friday' trope.
I find it innately fun.
And "Who Are You?" is the greatest execution of it I've ever seen.
This two-parter is SO DARN GOOD
The return of Faith brings an incredibly captivating boost
to a season that was beginning to feel a bit like it was floundering.
As I mentioned in the video for 'A New Man',
one of the repeating themes this season is magic vs. science
or masculine vs. feminine,
which is further reinforced by the idea of magic between Tara and Willow being used as a metaphor for intercourse
and sweet, sweet orgasms.
As much as the use of it may have evolved out of necessity
because the network was afraid the public wasn't ready to see same-sex kissing,
the symbol has been consistent so far throughout the show.
Willow began as a shy wallflower, heavy into computers,
and as her affinity with magic has developed,
the tech aspect of her character has started to fall away
and her confidence has grown with her power,
culminating in her relationship with Tara.
The magical power they're accessing shows signs of being innate
and revealed from inside,
where the men on the show have accessed magic almost purely through ritual and ceremony.
Borrowed power.
The significance of magic as a feminine symbol will repeat itself a few more times
and then become a bit contradicted and corrupted later in the series,
which is why I think it's important to note what it stands for now.
It's not surprising that when Walsh left the show,
the writers brought back a character that they had spent
the whole (previous) season studying
and learning to love and understand.
A character whose developing arc would also make
a great fit for her on Angel's new show.
and I find it kind of beautiful that Faith's ethical restoration
...is brought on by love.
Buffy's mother loves her.
Buffy has friends who treat her with respect
and include her in their lives.
Buffy has a boyfriend who wants her present with him, not acting like someone else.
This is Faith discovering that there are things worth fighting for
and the Mayor's soulless proclamation that her life was over for her
and her suicidal self-hatred displayed in the church
show a person who believes they are not capable of good.
A person who believes that their past is who they are.
Her showing up at the Mayor's office in 'Season 3' and asking for a job
might then be seen as an act of submission,
the events of the season dictating her identity.
'I must be the bad guy.'
And our conscience is a tool that can become blunted over time,
the more wrong we do, the easier it can become.
Doing right, then, is not something simply grounded in impulsive do-goodery.
By the end of the episode, Faith has figured out why we fight and appears to have a genuine desire for a life of purpose.
"Yeah, you're a killer."
"I am NOT a killer."
"I am the Slayer."
The Slayer, don't forget, is the symbol for adulthood and meaning through choice,
and her stint in Buffy's life allowed her to do something that she didn't believe she was capable of as Faith Lehane:
make an ethical choice.
"You're not gonna kill these people."
"Why not?"
"Because it's wrong."
I spent a lot of time thinking about the theme of this episode,
mistakes I've made in my own past that still wake me up in the middle of the night sometimes,
decades-old mistakes that I struggled to forgive myself for.
Our pasts must be grappled with, certainly.
But the past doesn't write the present.
We do.
Buffy has earned the love in her life through the actions that make her who she is, but that doesn't make it conditional love.
Rather, moral decisions we make
foster and reinforce ethical culture,
while immoral decisions diminish it,
and this is not the last time that love will have a significant impact on a character acting in bad faith.
But she can't have Buffy's life,
and her rage at the sight of her own face in the church indicates a profound self-hatred
As well as a question she doesn't yet know the answer to:
'How do I redeem myself for all the wrong I've done?'