Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Enemies - S03E17 Review

ENEMIES
SEASON 3 EPISODE 17

Think of this as the Passion of Season 2.  It's a continuation of that point of no return, but takes it over the line, much like Angelus did with the death of Jenny.  It's a very odd episode, and actually feels like a movie at times.   It's got an epic quality to it, despite the small-ish scope.   I guess big, game-changing things really seem like they're happening the whole time, and that's pretty cool.

We start at the theater, Buffy and Angel just getting out of a really awkwardly sexual movie.  Buffy worries about getting him all worked up like that, but he reassures her with a kiss and all is well. Guess they're full-on dating again!  I don't know if it was ever explicitly said, but this clinches it.  Of course, the sweet moment must be spoiled, so Faith drops by and pulls Buffy away to go patrol.

At the graveyard, the two run into a demon that tries to sell them the Books of Ascension so he can use the money to fly out and away from the Mayor/apocalypse.   Faith tries to kill him but he gets away, so later on, Faith relays the info to the Mayor.  We see some more of the Mayor and Faith's relationship, and you can tell that he's really starting to care for her.  However, he does indirectly threaten to kill her as well, so the bond's not quite all there yet, obviously.

At the library, the gang talks about the Books of Ascension and what they could mean.  They read up on the Ascension and Giles decides that it's a good idea to meet with the demon to see if they can get their hands on the books.  Cordy drops by to inappropriately ask Wesley on a date; I still am not sure why she, of all people, would be into him.  Meanwhile, Faith breaks into the demons house and forces him to show her the books.  Then she just straight up murders him.  Annnnd all sympathy for her goes out the window.

She heads to Angel's and puts on her best 'scared girl' routine, claiming that she needs help and she's finally seeing the error of her ways.  Then she tries to seduce him, but Angel's a smart guy; he's not falling for that.  He rejects her and sends her packing, in a nice way, of course.  Buffy sees the kiss though and starts to get the wrong idea, naturally.  Faith reports back to the Mayor, proving that it was all an act to get Angel to lose his soul.   So the Mayor decides to remove it by magic instead.

At the library, Wesley orders Buffy and Faith to go talk to the demon about the books, so they do, and they obviously find him dead.  Faith does her best to sell it, but she's not that convincing. The next day at school, Buffy confesses to Willow that she's worried about Angel and Faith, but Will reassures her that Angel would never do anything like that.  Then she makes Buffy go talk it out with Angel, showing that very teacher-y side to her again.

At Angel's, Faith stops by again, seemingly to apologize.  But it's obviously all just a ploy for her to get close to him, then she douses him with blood and the shaman comes out and does his thing.  When he gets up, it's like Angelus never left.  He kisses her and then beats the crap out of her.  Interestingly enough, he pronounces it Angelus (as in Los Angeles) and not An-jealous, which is how it's supposed to be.  I didn't know they made that mistake this far into the series.  But basically, they call a truce to take down Buffy.

The entire group is at the library, and Giles suggests that Buffy breaks into the Mayor's office to get the books of Ascension back.  Wesley, Cordy, Willow and Oz go to the Hall of Records to see if they can find anything out about the Mayor. Lastly, Xander decides to cruise town for some odd reason.  At the Mayor's, Faith takes Angel to meet him, and he basically tells the two new lovebirds to go kill Buffy.  Xander spots them walking down the street and Angel clocks him right in the face.  Good to see that their dislike for each other is still alive and kicking.  The two get to Buffy's house, and of course, Joyce lets them right in.  They get Buffy and take her to the mansion, telling her that they have the books there.  Once they arrive, he reveals his Angelus-ness and punches Buff out.

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Records, the group finds an old picture of Wilkins, proving that he's over a hundred years old.  Time to be surprised by that, though, is cut short when Xander comes in with news of Angelus's return.  The gang decides to go the mansion without contacting Giles to save Buffy as soon as they can.  Buffy finally wakes up, chained up in the mansion and being taunted by Faith and Angel.   Faith gets out her torturing equipment and finally decides to do her evil monologue as to why she's doing what she's doing.   And apparently it all boils down to Buffy getting all the praise, which in hindsight, doesn't make that much sense, seeing as how everyone loved Faith when she first got to town.  She only got tossed aside because she decided to go it alone.

Buffy eventually gets the upper hand in the argument and starts to piss Faith off.  Faith keeps picking up what she's laying down, playing right into her hands.   Faith then begins to spill what she knows about the Ascension, namely the fact that it's on the day they graduate.  And then the bomb drops: the whole thing was a gambit to get information on the Ascension and Buffy and Angel have been working together the entire time.  Angel never turned, Buffy was never in any danger.   It's really one of the coolest twists in the show.

The gang storms in and Faith uses that time to fight Buff for a second before getting away.  Back at the library, Giles thanks the shaman, who declares that his debt to Giles is repaid.  When asked what Giles did, he replies that he introduced the shaman to his wife, which is a hilarious anticlimax.  Faith and the Mayor do their "I'll get you next time!" schtick, and Buffy heads to the mansion to talk to Angel.  She basically tells him that she needs a break, but reassures him that she's still his as a variation of their love theme plays us out.

Overall, this is a really cool episode.  I love the episodes that revolve around a big twist, because they don't happen that often (there's a really good one on Angel as well).  This one delivers a compelling storyline and it's good to see Angelus again, even if it's just an act.  Probably the most satisfying story arc episode of the season, as the coming few do leave a bit to be desired.

****