Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Earshot - S03E18 Review

EARSHOT
SEASON 3 EPISODE 18

This is one of those wacky and fun episodes of Buffy that lightens the tension.  In a season that's been largely serious (with a couple exceptions like The Zeppo, Band Candy and Doppelgangland) goofy, fun episodes are always welcome.  This is the also the first episode that gives background character Jonathan a bigger role, foreshadowing his expanded role later in the series.

The episode begins with Buffy fighting two mouthless demons in the park.  She kills one and the other runs off, but we see that she gets some demon goo (not that kind) on her hand, and we know that can't be good.  The next day at the library, the gang is still looking for a solution to the whole Mayor's Ascension thing.  There's some good Xander-is-annoying-Giles humor in there, but mostly it's pretty run of the mill.  Ooh, Oz's hair is bleach blonde!  Wesley comes in, acts like a pompous douche, and then reveals that he knows nothing more than the gang.  So pooh on him.

After the library meeting, Percy comes up to Willow and we see that their whole tutor/studying thing has been going well.  This is a weird little plot thread that doesn't really get a payoff, but hey, it's cool to see that Willow is growing as a person.  You'd think that she would go into a teaching field or something, but no, not really.  Actually I don't know how she gets money during the series.  But all of this basically sets up that everyone is going to the basketball game except for Buffy, who is again busy with slayer duties.

Giles and Buffy have a conversation about the demon, and that Buffy may be infected with a part of the demon.  Ruh roh!  Meanwhile, at the school pep rally, Willow reads the school paper that has some scathing articles written by some guy named Freddy.  Xander and Oz also have an awkward conversation about the cheerleaders and Xand gets jealous when he sees Wesley eying Cordelia.  Ah, good ole hypocritical Xander.  Oz is great in the scene too; it's one scene where his understated performance really meshes well with Xand's frantic jealousy.

Later that night, Buffy runs into Angel, and it's still awkward from the whole Faith sting operation.  They have a sweet moment about how he'll love her no matter what.  D'aww.  The next day, the gang plays down the big game that Buffy missed so as to not hurt her feelings.  As you might expect, Buff is feeling pretty left out.  This is pretty much her version of The Zeppo and Doppelgangland.  Then she hears Xander think about Cordy and Wesley kissing.  Turns out, she can read minds now; that's her aspect of the demon.  Now for the fun stuff!

She goes down the hallway and hears a ton of people thinking.  It obviously doesn't take her long to get really disgusted, but she finds Giles and tells him that she loves the new power.  She goes to English class and totally steals the show, getting all the answers correct.  Now that's responsible use of a power!  She also overhears Freddy making some vaguely disparaging remarks about the students.  He's your typical non-conformist red herring kid.  Not important.

But all of this classroom business gives her an idea, so she heads to Angel's to see if she can read his mind.  Of course, this is drama, so of course he's the one she can't hear.  Guess it doesn't extend to vampires.  It is pretty funny to see her try to focus intently on him, though.  He assures her that he hated to hurt her and he only has eyes for her.  He also gives one of the best lines of their entire relationship.

"In 243 years, I've loved exactly one person."

There may be some cheesy aspects to their relationship, but you can't say it doesn't have its beautiful moments!  Later, at the library, we get lots of people saying one thing and thinking another.  Willow is paranoid that Buffy doesn't need her, Oz has this weird existential crisis, and Xander just thinks about sex.  Xand even hilariously runs out of the room so Buffy can't hear him think about Buffy being naked.  Wesley does the same when he starts thinking about Cordy.  Jailbait, Wesley, jailbait.  Only Cordelia says exactly what she's thinking; I guess that's one of her more endearing traits, actually.  This leaves Buffy with a headache and feeling more alone than ever.

Giles finds another case of a man having the power, and that guy is in isolation from going completely insane.  At the cafeteria, she becomes overwhelmed by the voices before singling one out that says "This time tomorrow, I'll kill you all".  Then she passes out from the chaos in her head, and is awakened by her friends, who decide to play detective and find the would-be killer.  Xander makes a comment about gunning down the school.  This brings images of the string of school shootings in the 90s (and I think Columbine happened a couple weeks before the episode, forcing it to get pushed back from its original airing until the Summer) and makes things a little uncomfortable in hindsight.

Buffy goes home where she's pampered by her mom.  Joyce is obviously overcompensating because she's afraid Buffy will read her thoughts, and then she does, revealing that Joyce and Giles did the nasty back in Band Candy on that police car.  Good on them!  Still kind of gross, though.  Meanwhile, Willow sends out everyone to investigate the many suspects.  Willow interrogates Jonathan in a scene similar to Go Fish, Oz interviews Percy's friend, Cordy talks to a shifty teacher, etc.  There's also a good Xander/Larry callback from Phases.  Turns out, Larry's out of the closet.  Go Larry!

Later on, Oz heads to Freddy's office and finds a bunch of suspicious articles.  Red herring, I tells ya!  Wesley and Giles prepare a mixture while Angel hunts down the other mind demon and gets its heart to provide an antidote.  He feeds her the weird mixture of lava lamp fluid and bacon and she's all better.  Then we get a look at the boy in the bell tower with a high-powered rifle.  It's... dun dun dun!  Jonathan!

Back at Buffy's, she's all better, so she heads to the school and spots Jonathan.  What follows is a great performance by Danny Strong, and may in fact be what solidifies his role later on in the series.  Buffy talks him down and basically tells him like it is; everybody hurts.  After the talk, Jonathan drops a bomb.  Not a literal bomb, of course, but he reveals that he went up there to shoot himself.  Really?  Shooting himself with a rifle?  Is there a more clunky weapon with which to commit suicide?  Maybe he should have brought a mortar up there.

But either way, that means there's still a killer out there.  Meanwhile, Xander's snooping around the back of the cafeteria and happens to see the lunchlady dumping rat poison into the school's food.  Well, I guess she's the killer.  That background character who we haven't even heard a line from, she's the culprit.  And she's completely stark raving mad.  It's actually kind of funny how tacked on it is.  I'm sure it's intentional, but wow is it silly after the great tower scene.  Anyway, Buffy shows up and beats her down.  Piece of cake.  Surprisingly enough, an overweight lunchlady with a cleaver is no match for Buffy.  By the way, watch her lose 100 pounds while they fight!  Isn't movie magic wonderful?

In the aftermath, Buffy and Giles have a talk about Jonathan.  Wrap-up stuff, he's going to be okay, but it's going to take some time, etc.  Giles suggests that maybe she could take him to prom, but then she declares she's not a saint, which I always found pretty funny.  Is he really that gross?  I mean, I know they made him look like he had some sort of sweat gland disorder, but still, he's not that bad.  But then she caps it off with an offhand remark about the Giles/Joyce sexcapade, and Giles runs into a tree.  Huh.

Overall, it's a really funny and well-written episode.  I actually kind of like the dumb lunchlady ending because it lets you have the dramatic weight of the Jonathan suicide thing as well as a light and fun little capstone for the end of the episode.  It's one of the funnier ones in terms of the group as a whole; everyone gets some time to shine here.  Even the sadly underused Oz!  Not the best of the season, but a very solid episode nonetheless.