I love Faith, Hope and Trick and it's not even only because Faith is in this episode. We've moved beyond fully dwelling on the fallout and in the third episode we have our real start of S3. Though as the ending of this episode suggests we will still have a lot more fallout from Becoming to come.
First I wanna talk about the various parallels we have on offer in this episode, obviously we have a new love interest to show up to fill the Angel shaped hole in Buffy's heart. And just like Angel, Faith shows up to Sunnydale in search specifically of her, just like Angel she meets Buffy first outside of the Bronze and just like Angel she is decidedly less than fully forthcoming in that first meeting. There's also an ancient vampire, the only other vampire who is so old that their appearance has been permanently altered, Kakistos in town who is decidedly not a fan of her, as the Master is with Angel.
Obviously Faith also has parallels with Buffy beyond the superficial of they're both Slayers. Too many to really list but some of them; they're both putting up a blatant front pretending everything's all fine and dandy while suffering from the lingering trauma of the big bad vampire they'd recently encountered and will at least have made a fairly large step towards actually confronting said trauma by the end of the episode. They both have a tendency to overly beat on whatever monster they're fighting rather in favour of their issues (Buffy will in s5 even overly beat on a monster because a very different flavour of mother issues). The dynamic between Faith and Buffy is easy to read as being pretty similar to the dynamic between Buffy and Kendra but with Buffy in opposite directions. Which is easy to read as Buffy becoming more cautious with her fellow Slayer after blundering and getting Kendra killed. So I will.
I don't think Faith is quite fully realised yet, she's very solid don't get me wrong her personality comes through clear and I don't think it's like she'll have a big character rewrite like Jenny Calendar or anything. But I feel like the fully realised Faith is something we'll see more come Revelations. I mean it certainly gives us the aspect of her character that is will instantly fall in line for the authority figure she can cast as her parental figure after the slightest crumb of affection. We do however have some very important truths about Faith, not the tall tales she goes into a detail about that are almost certainly lies but the one liners that she very much does not go into detail on; "If I had friends like you, I probably would've still dropped out," "My dead mother hits harder than that," and "You can't touch me," interspersed with beating on that vampire really paint a vivid miserable picture of her pre slaying life for the real Faith heads to extrapolate from. She was still a loser with no friends back then, her mother was almost certainly abusive, she's very much not Buffy Summers, but as Buffy will later say, different circumstances that could be her, we saw some of those circumstances back in Anne where Buffy was a lot closer to where Faith was compared to now.
There's also Mr.Trick who shares some parallels with Spike, both are a more modern sort of vampire, both begin their runtime as subordinate to a more classical vampire who is either an embodiment or an adherent of the more classical style and both will end their first episode with betraying said vampire to take the reins of big bad for themselves. Both will then have sporadic appearances before being usurped by the real big bad of the series. I'm sure Mr.Trick will have just as much follow up attention as Spike did.
Honestly let's talk more about Trick, this is getting ahead of myself in the scope of rewatch but, I think he's kinda wasted as a potential character, there's a lot that could be mined from him as an antagonist for my money that never really is. Most obviously, he has a history with Faith, it's safe to assume he was present during the whole Faith's Watcher being killed incident given how he appears to be Kakistos' right hand vampire. And despite Trick not being interested in Kakistos' revenge plot I don't think Faith would agree and there's really gotta be an episode that can be mined there for Faith going too far in trying to get him slain in revenge. But I don't think they ever even appear on screen together until Faith kills him from behind in Consequences, he does admittedly try in Homecoming but alas. Imagine the pathos this could add to Faith of hours after finally killing the last vampire involved in her Watcher's death she just fills his shoes.
He's the most technologically inclined vampire we ever (I think) see, Willow is on the road to swapping computers for magic but not quite all the way yet and yet I'm fairly we never get a dumb 90s hacking battle between them. Imagine a Faith and Willow team up episode where we could've heard Willow say some completely nonsensical computing terminology and Faith got to tell her to dumb it down and speak English, then solve (or make worse) their problems by going to punch Trick instead. Maybe I'd also dislike Mr.Trick if he'd gotten as overexposed as certain other characters but I'd like for him to at least have the opportunity to.
The subplot of Giles lying to Buffy about this ritual to force to open up about how it went down with Angel is very very strong. It's also the sort of thing that I'm certain if Buffy had ever learned that it had all been a lie to manipulate her into opening up she'd hate Giles a bit for it. Well I say that but she forgives Giles very quickly when its necessary we'll see that again later in S3.
Minor thing here but we have one of my favourite recurring Faith character bits here where despite being a loser a lot of people upon first meeting come to the mistaken impression that she's really cool and put together, we see it with Willow, Xander, Giles and Joyce here. We'll see it again in Angel with the main cast who hadn't met her yet (most memorably for my money Connor wistfully saying Faith must be as strong as they said she was meanwhile Faith is lying in a pool of her own blood after getting into a fist fight with a demon made out of rocks) and once again in s7 when the potentials are so enamoured by her they enact a coup d’etat to put her in charge entirely against her will.
And a couple more quickfire minor things, Joyce is really good in this episode; successful united front with Buffy against Snyder, her reaction to finding out Buffy had died is truly fantastic, being fond of Faith, being fond of Faith spending time with Buffy and also at the same time saying how she's walking in the Slayer Pride Parade. Willow and Xander have shades of Dead Man's Party to them in the way they're blowing off Buffy for this (not) cool girl they just met but I can't blame them I mean they have just met Faith and all it's gonna take them a bit. And some more Willow misusing magic and Giles telling her she shouldn't be messing around with such forces that'll truly come to a head in s6. To admittedly mixed results.
I forgot to talk about Angel. Good decision to only come back after Buffy had made the decision to start moving on. I guess we'll talk more about it as we get there. Anyway live notes.
Xander and Cordelia walking up behind Willow and silently lifting her up with Oz to get past this soon to be long monologue about going off campus for lunch is a fun gag.
It's impressive how much of an icon Scott Hope becomes because of one mention in four series time.
Buffy should punch Xander more when he does things like call her a slut. (admittedly this one was much more light-hearted than him normally)
89 cents for a diet soda. Medium. What a world.
"Sunnydale, town's got quaint," Huh, has Mr.Trick been here before?
"Strictly of the caucasion persuasion," Trick will arguably be our most prominent black character with his five episodes of screen time until Robin Wood in s7. The heart says Kendra is still more prominent than Trick, but that it's even debatable like that is dire.
Anyway I like Trick, he's a fun novel vampire. I don't we really get one of his like again? Maybe like the last legitimate vampire the show'll ever introduce?
I always remember Kakistos looking a bit more imposing I can't lie. But they're a good double act.
Anyway it's a fun fake out, here for the Slayer but not the one we'd think. (Post script: They don't really go anywhere with this though the very next scene we have with them was them assuring us that it is actually Faith they're after)
We don't give Joyce enough credit for getting Buffy back in school it's true
Willow messing around with magic
How many vampires has she slain in the Bronze waiting for Buffy to be there to see her do it?
Buffy blowing off Scott for Faith
Which could mean anything
It's such a shame Faith didn't say "I'm Faith, the Vampire Slayer,"
Nothing but respect to Cordelia for being the only person in the world who knows who Kendra is.
A trademark incredible bad Buffy lie to say the Three. Vampires she didn't even kill. Just say the Master. It'd even fit with weird looking ancient vampire and the new weird looking ancient vampire you'll be meeting later
Willow notably not raising her hand for eww for being attracted to Giles.
Faith's ability to zero in on Buffy's romantic partners is impressive
"She's funny, and she's leaving," pulls Faith away. Why would Scott Hope come to the conclusions that he does?
"It's probably good that you were an only child,"
Joyce's face when Buffy says the only way you get a new Slayer is when the old Slayer dies is incredible.
"I don't want you to die," And as soon as Joyce isn't around to not want that any more
It's interesting Faith knew about the Judge before coming to town but not about Angel before the Slayerettes mentioned him.
To be fair to Giles Buffy has in the past gotten carried away like Faith has and will again.
We don't hear about Vampires' lineage much
How does Giles know Kakistos by name but literally no other vampire?
I wonder how many people thought Scott Hope was like a legitimate wrong 'un back in the day. Like just happening to give her the Claddagh Ring. What are the odds? He kinda gives the vibes of someone who could be running a Fordesque con.
How much restraint did it take Faith to throw something through the window instead of throwing herself through it.
Amy would also be relationshipless not that anyone would care (though to be fair it's not like she had a catastrophic breakup like Buffy did), she'd also be caught in the Faith is the coolest field that almost everyone but Buffy is upon first meeting her. She might get a vibe that Buffy might not be Scott's type that everyone else will shoot down but she'll be vindicated in several years time! She will not even be in a position to offer to help out with the ritual like Willow does but Willow might name drop her as being involved in some of the spells she's cast.
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