Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Consequences - S03E15 Review

CONSEQUENCES
SEASON 3 EPISODE 15

This one is kind of eh.  It's one of the more boring episodes of the season (and that goes for the commentary as well; unbelievably dull) and really doesn't have a lot of standout moments to it.  There are some interesting themes at work here, but the episode itself leaves a lot to be desired.

We start out with Buffy having a nightmare about Faith and Finch, obviously guilt-ridden from the whole experience, even though she wasn't the one that killed him.   She wakes up to see her mom watching the news that they found Finch's body.   At the library, Buffy and Faith are ordered by Wesley to investigate the murder, and they reluctantly do so.  Cordy comes in and Wesley becomes immediately and inappropriately smitten with her.   They too will become close friends on Angel, and it's really weird to see them in this odd state of flirtation.   It's sort of out of character for Cordy at this point too; sure, Alexis Denisof is a good looking guy, but his stuffy bookishness is not something that Cordelia would be into.  Maybe it's the accent.

Buffy and Faith have a talk about telling the police; Faith is obviously against it because she was the actual killer and thinks Buffy is going to rat her out.   Afterwards, Buffy and Willow talk, but things are still pretty tense between them.  Willow does mention trying to de-rat Amy again though in a nice little callback.  Meanwhile, Angel checks out the crime scene and puts two and two together, thinking Faith might have killed Finch.  The Mayor and Mr. Trick put this together as well, unfortunately, when the autopsy report shows wooden splinters in Finch's heart.

Buffy and Faith break into Finch's office later that night and look for reasons that he could have been looking for them.   They discover that the Mayor is at least shady, but they don't know the full extent though.  Afterwards, Buffy tries to talk to Faith again about coming clean, but Faith still refuses. When Buff gets home, she finds a detective waiting to ask some questions.  He questions both Buffy and Faith and their stories don't quite line up, so he knows they're hiding something.

Later on, Buffy decides to come clean to Willow and they finally reconcile.  Willow suggests that they go to Giles because he always knows what to do.  So Buffy does, but she sees that Faith as beaten her there... and that Faith is confessing that Buffy was the killer.  Giles pretends to go along with it for Faith's sake, before sending her home, then revealing to Buffy that he knew Faith was lying the whole time.  Things like this make Giles so cool!  Giles and Buffy come up with a plan to meet with everyone to see who should talk to Faith to get her to admit some responsibility. Unfortunately, Wesley, still loyal to the council, overhears the conversation and has a plan of his own.

At the meeting, Xander decides he should be the one to talk to Faith because he thinks the have a 'connection' and no one really understands what he means at first, but then Willow gets it, then Buffy, and then finally Giles.  It's a funny scene but man, that's a heartbreaking look Willow gets when she first realizes.   Then she cries in the bathroom, which is even harder to watch.   I don't quite understand why, seeing as she was all ready to sleep with Oz a few episodes ago, but it's still sad.

Xander goes to talk to Faith, despite the gang's urge against it, and it doesn't go as well as he had planned.  At first she starts to come on to him, but abruptly starts trying to kill him.  Honestly... I don't get it.  She's in denial, sure.  Unstable?  Yeah.   But a flat-out murderer at this point?   I don't buy it at all.   Luckily Angel has been stalking her apartment though, and busts in, knocking her out with a bat and chaining her up in his mansion.   He tells Buffy that he'll try to reach Faith, but that she might not want their help now.

Meanwhile, the Mayor sees the footage of the slayers in their office, and he lambastes Mr. Trick, telling him to get rid of them.  Kind of funny that they don't have enough evidence to put them away; they did just break into a store, steal a bunch of weapons, crash a police car, knock out two cops, AND Finch turns up dead the next night.  Seems like a lot.   Later, Faith and Angel talking about killing; they too have an interesting relationship.  Faith is actually sort of like a human Angelus.  But just as he's starting to reach her, Wesley busts in and knock Angel out, stealing Faith away to receive judgment from the council.  On the van ride, she of course easily escapes.

Buffy finds Angel and the group regroups at the library and Buffy decides to go to the airport to head off the council, but Willow asks a good question: why?  Who cares?   Let her get punished; I'm completely with Will, here.  But soon Wesley comes in with his tail between his legs, having lost Faith.   They all split up to look for her, and Buffy finally finds her at the docks, about to leave.  They start to fight, but soon Mr. Trick and his goons show up and they're forced to fight them off.  Faith gets rid of the goons while Trick goes for Buffy.   Faith kills the underlings and considers bolting, but decides to save Buffy by stabbing Trick right in the back.  Farewell, Mr. Trick, you were an OK secondary villain.

Afterwards, Giles and Buffy sit down and talk. Buffy thinks that she got through to Faith and that she just might be okay.  But then we see Faith at the Mayor's door, ready to take Mr. Trick's place as secondary villain.  And with that, she clumsily becomes a full-on bad guy.   I don't especially like the ending.  I don't think it's earned at all, but overall, the episode is better than I remember.  Far from great, but definitely less boring that I remember it being.

**1/2