Bad Girls (Buffy episode)
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| “Bad Girls” | |||||||
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| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |||||||
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 14 |
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| Written by | Douglas Petrie | ||||||
| Directed by | Michael Lange | ||||||
| Production no. | 3ABB14 | ||||||
| Original airdate | February 9, 1999 | ||||||
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| List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes | |||||||
"Bad Girls" is Episode 14 of Season 3 of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
[edit] Summary
Buffy gets a new Watcher; Faith lures Buffy into reckless abandon.
[edit] Expanded overview
While patrolling, Faith asks Buffy if she's ever had sex with Xander, and Buffy says they're just friends. They slay a vampire wielding a short blade and long blade. The next day at school, the gang is looking into college and they discuss future plans. Wesley, Buffy's stuffy new Watcher annoys Giles in the library while both Slayers attempt to ignore him. Buffy is instructed to go retrieve an amulet that once belonged to a demon named Balthazar, who led a cult of swordsman vampires before he was killed. Faith expresses to Buffy her belief that as the Slayers, they can do what they want, and enjoy it. Buffy is skeptical, but Faith believes Buffy gets off on slaying as much as she does.
That night, Buffy finds the amulet but a group of Balthazar's vamps enter before she can take it. Faith arrives and the two slay some of the vamps before retrieving the amulet. After handing over the amulet to Wesley, Buffy leaves to take a necessary chemistry test, but she can't stop talking through the whole test about the previous night and how much she ended up enjoying it. Faith shows up at the window and she and Buffy leave to destroy a vampire nest. The two go dancing afterwards at the Bronze where Buffy meets up with Angel. She's acting very strange and he tries to ignore it and tells her that Balthazar isn't dead and he's looking for his amulet. When Wesley comes looking for Buffy, she takes the amulet from him and gives it to Angel.
Buffy and Faith go out and find Balthazar, an obese and ugly demon that must live in a large pool of water and constantly be kept wet. At a loss for weapons against a large group of vampires, they break into a sporting goods store and steal some. Faith continues to expound on her philosophy of being a Slayer to Buffy. "Life as a Slayer is very simple. Want, take, have." The police arrive and arrest them, but in the car, the two Slayers kick down the metal gate separating them from the cops, causing the car to crash and the cops to be injured. The following morning, Buffy checks the local newspaper for any news regarding the accident, but finds nothing. The Mayor is attacked by one of Balthazar's vampires, who is foiled by Mr. Trick and imprisoned.
Balthazar demands his minions bring him the Watchers and kill the Slayers. No matter the cost, he must have his amulet. The enemy who crippled him is about to gain ultimate power and he refuses to let this come to pass. Willow presents Buffy with a protection spell and is ready to go slaying that night, but Buffy tells her that it's too dangerous and that she's going with Faith instead. This leaves Willow feeling hurt. The two run into several vampires and stake them, then Allan, the Mayor's secretary walks out and Faith accidentally stakes him, too. He dies before anything can be done and both Slayers flee the scene of the crime in separate directions. Buffy runs into Angel and he tells her about Balthazar taking Giles while Faith returns to the scene where Allan is and just stares at the body.
With the two Watchers in his possession, Balthazar searches for answers as to who has his amulet. Wesley is cowardly willing to give up anything in exchange for his life. Angel shows up with Buffy, frees Giles and everyone fights. When Balthazar captures Angel, Buffy tosses a live wire into his tub of water, electrocuting him. With his dying breath, Balthazar warns them of his enemy. "When he rises, you'll wish I'd killed you all." In his office that night, the Mayor performs a ritual in front of Mr. Trick and the captured vampire. Once it is finished, the Mayor orders that the vampire has his weapon returned to him and be released. Mr. Trick is confused, but does as he's told and releases the vampire. The vampire immedietly attacks the Mayor by slicing his head in half... however the head promptly repairs itself with no ill effect on the Mayor and Mr. Trick stakes the surprised vampire. The Mayor tells his right-hand man that the hundred days before the Ascension has begun and that during that period he is completely invincible. Buffy confronts Faith about Allan's death but Faith doesn't want to talk about it.
Buffy is aghast. "Faith, you don't get it, you killed a man."
Faith's reply: "No you don't get it, I don't care."
[edit] Writing
Faith follows Angel as a character who fought on Buffy's side but turns into a villain. While Angel's turn was sudden and caused by his curse, Faith's transformation is more gradual; the seeds were planted in her first appearance.
After Faith accidentally kills Allan, Buffy finds her in her hotel room obsessively scrubbing his blood from her shirt. As Richardson and Rabb note, this scene is reminiscent of Lady Macbeth’s "equally futile attempt to wash away guilt by washing away its physical signs." When Buffy reminds Faith that "you can shut off all the emotions that you want... but eventually, they’re gonna find a body," she is referring to the authorities’ finding Allan’s body; however the ambiguous grammar suggests that it is Faith's emotions of guilt and shame that will eventually find a body as well.[1]
Buffy's instantly antagonistic relationship with Wesley recalls her first meeting with Giles, revealing how far they have come.
[edit] Acting
[edit] Starring
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
- Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
- David Boreanaz as Angel
- Seth Green as Oz
- and Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
[edit] Guest starring
- Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
- Harry Groener as Mayor Richard Wilkins
- K. Todd Freeman as Mr. Trick
- Jack Plotnick as Deputy Mayor Allan Finch
- Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
- Christian Clemenson as Balthazar
- Eliza Dushku as Faith Lehane
[edit] Co-starring
- Alex Skuby as Vincent
- Wendy Clifford as Mrs. Taggert
- Ron Roggé as Cop
[edit] Production details
[edit] Music
- Curve - "Chinese Burn". - Plays whilst Faith and Buffy dance in the Bronze.
[edit] Quotes and trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Buffy: (sarcastically to Wesley) "Whenever Giles sends me on a mission, he always says 'please.' And afterwards I get a cookie."
- The song playing during Faith and Buffy's dance at the Bronze is also the song playing during the opening sequence of the Season 3 DVDs.
- In this episode, Oz wears a T-shirt for the early English punk band Eater.
- Alyson Hannigan first met future-husband Alexis Denisof on the set of this episode. While Alyson was immediately attracted to Alexis and asked him out, he declined saying that he didn't date coworkers. The two remained friends for over a year before they started dating. They married in September 2003.
- When Buffy tells Faith, "I hate it when they drown me," it's an allusion to the season one finale in which the Master drowns Buffy (she was revived by CPR).
[edit] Translations
- Italian title: "Balthzar" (sic! Balthazar with an "a" missing!)
- German title: "Der neue Wächter" ("The new watcher")
- French title: "El Eliminati"
- Japanese title: "バッドガールズ" ("Baddo Gāruzu" - "Bad Girls")
- Spanish title: "Chicas malas" ("Bad girls")
[edit] Continuity
[edit] Arc significance
- This episode is the major turning point of season three. Faith has been a loose cannon with issues of trust, and she enjoys slaying a little too much, but she has been fighting for the right cause. She will not for much longer. The Mayor's plan becomes clearer, and Wesley has arrived and will bug the Scoobies until the end.
- Willow gives Buffy the protection spell she has been working on since "Gingerbread" in a lavender-scented pouch.
- This episode marks the first appearance of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce who goes on to become a prominent member of Angel Investigations in L.A.
- When Buffy is attacked by the vampire while in the graveyard, Faith stakes it from behind. She will do this again in Season 4's episode Who Are You, but Buffy was in Faith's body at the time.
[edit] Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) |
Buffyverse chronology: January 1999 - Spring 1999 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy graphic novel: Uninvited Guests |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy comic: The Final Cut |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy graphic novel: Bad Blood |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.11 Gingerbread |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy comic: Bad Dog (by Doug Petrie) |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy graphic novel: Crash Test Demons |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy graphic novel: Pale Reflections |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.12 Helpless |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.13 The Zeppo |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy book: The Deathless |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.14 Bad Girls |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.15 Consequences |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.16 Doppelgangland |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy book: Doomsday Deck |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy book: Immortal |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.17 Enemies |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy graphic novel: Angel: The Hollower |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Prime Evil |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Revenant |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | B3.18 Earshot |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | B3.19 Choices |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Power of Persuasion |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | B3.20 The Prom |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Resurrecting Ravana |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy books: The Gatekeeper [Trilogy] |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Return to Chaos |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Visitors |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Unnatural Selection |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Obsidian Fate |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Deep Water |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Here Be Monsters |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: The Book of Fours |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | B3.21 Graduation Day, Part One |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | B3.22 Graduation Day, Part Two |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Sunnydale High Yearbook |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy comic: Double Cross |
[edit] External links
- "Bad Girls" at the Internet Movie Database
- "Bad Girls" at TV.com
[edit] Reviews
[edit] References
- ^ Richardson, J. Michael & Rabb, J. Douglas (2007), “Buffy, Faith and Bad Faith: Choosing to be the Chosen One”, Slayage 23, <http://slayageonline.com/essays/slayage23/Richardson_Rabb.htm>. Retrieved on 26 July 2007
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