Buffy Ep 3.15 "Consequences"


A very dark episode of Buffy.

Brief Synopsis:
This episode carries on directly from the events of last week. Faith managed to accidently kill the Deputy Mayor, and is now in deep denial. A very shaken up Buffy is having nightmares about drowning (Faith dumped
the body in the water) and wakes to find her mum watching a news report - they've found the body.
The Mayor vows that the killer *will* be found.

Naturally, Buffy is even more shaken.  This gets worse when Wesley (the new watcher) is giving out the orders
of the day (next moring) which basically involves Faith and Buffy investigating the murder of the Deputy Mayor. There is still obviously tension between Giles and Wesley.  Faith cheerfully agrees to do this,
then pulls Buffy to one side, and warns her that she (Buffy) is in trouble at least as deeply as Faith, so she'd better keep quiet.

There is an interesting scene between Wesley and Cordelia.
"Check out Giles, the Next Generation."

There is obviously some chemistry between them, although Wesley pulls aways sharply when Giles points out she is a student. (speculation  - setup for the Angel spinoff?)

In the meantime, The Mayor finds out that the DM was almost certainly killed by a slayer, and apparently points the police in the direction of Faith and Buffy.

Buffy tries to talk to Willow, but Willow is obviously still smarting from her rejection of last week. (BTW, we find out that they are still trying to 'de-rat' Amy.)

Buffy and Faith check out the DM's office, finding nothing of real interest, (except that the files have been emptied.) When they head out, they see the Mayor talking to Mr Trick. Now they know the Mayor is a bad guy...

Angel sees the police checking the scene where the DM's body was found. He apparently links this to the blood seen on Buffy's hands last week. (Possibly by smell? I'm not sure I want to know...)(Demons have built in DNA analysis???)

A Police Detective questions Buffy and Faith (seperately) about the murder. It's clear that they haven't got their stories straight. (Yet another sign of Faith's lack of a planning ability)

Buffy then goes to Willow to talk. She badly needs to talk to someone, and when Willow complains (fairly mildly) about being kept out of things, Buffy bursts into tears. They decide to do the obvious... tell Giles.

Buffy goes to Giles, but Faith has got there first, and told Giles that Buffy did it! For a while, it looks as though he believes Faith. (We were going to get very annoyed at Giles about this time). Fortunately, it appears that he just pretended to believe her, and as soon as she was out of the way, starts tying to make plans with Buffy. UNfortunately, Wesley is listening in, and he contacts the Watcher's Council. Giles had not intended to call the Watchers in, feeling (with considerable justification) that they would mishandle the situation.

Giles and Buffy call a summit meeting of the Slayerettes. (Less Oz. I think this must have been about the time they were shooting Austin Powers II). During the conversation, Xander reveals (obliquely) that he has slept with Faith. Giles and Buffy are slightly embarrassed, but otherwise take it in their stride. Willow is shattered (shocked into
using unusually direct language for Willow). Xander seems to think he might be able to talk to Faith, Buffy is far less convinced.

The meeting ends inconclusively. Willow goes off the loo to bawl her eyes out. (Very sad scene. I wouldn't have thought it would have hit her like that, but I'd say she still carries a major torch for Xander, even though they've intellectually put that behind them)

Xander goes to talk to Faith. Who then proceeds to almost rape, then strangle. (It would appear that she is now a very disturbed person.)  Xander is saved by the appearance of Angel, who knocks Faith out.

There is a scene with the Mayor and Mr Trick. The Slayers have been caught on security cameras, going into the DM's office. They also show that the Slayers have seen him talking to Mr Trick. He orders Mr Trick to dispose of the Slayers.

When Faith wakes up, she is chained up in Angel's lair.  Angel tries to talk some sense into her, but with little success. Faith
is in deep denial.

Buffy goes off to get some of Faith's things. The Watchers council, lead by Wesley, then break in, subdue Angel, and kidnap Faith. She is being taken back to the Watchers Council of Britain to stand trial. (This is the first time I've heard the 'of Britain' bit. I'd always assumed it was a world-wide organization)
Of course, they've not really properly considered how one hangs onto a Slayer. Let alone one who now has scant regard for human life. Faith escapes, beating up Wesley in the process.

Buffy returns, releases Angel, and everyone meets at the library. While they are discussing things, Wesley staggers in, revealing that Faith has escaped.
Interesting enough, it is Buffy who then snaps out orders, allocating areas to search, etc. Wesley doesn't even try to exert his authority... indeed, he asks Buffy what he can do to help.
"Go back to the mother land." says Buffy.

Faith is at the docks. (Buffy knew this was likely, Faith having mentioned it earlier in the episode) They talk, Faith saying that the reason Buffy wants Faith to toe the line is that Buffy is afraid of going over it herself. (I'd say there was more than a little truth in that accusation)
Then Mr Trick springs his trap. A crate falls on them. Buffy pushes Faith out of the way, but is hit herself. While she is freeing herself, Faith takes on several vampires. Just as Buffy gets free, she is attacked by Mr Trick.  Still groggy from having a crate fall on her, she is in big trouble.
Just as Mr Trick is administering the coup-de-grace, Faith stakes him.

The next day, it would appear that things are getting back to normal. Faith now appears to be back on the path of  righteousness, or at least headed that way.

What they don't know... Faith shows up at the Mayors office. And then she offers to take Mr Trick's place.....
Credits roll.

End of Synopsis.

Whew! A very dark, emotional episode. Top points for plot advancement, Low points for light hearted funny bits.

Plot Points:

Mr Trick is ashes.

Faith now appears to be working for the Mayor. For real, or a setup? Or hasn't she decided yet?

It's accepted that Slayers will, on occasion, accidentally kill humans. The Watcher's investigate, and deal out punishment as needed. But they also accept that accidents do happen.

(The sad thing is, the killing of the DM was a geniune mistake, in the heat of battle. If Faith had fessed up to the Watchers straight away it's unlikely that she'd have gotten worse that a wrist slapping. And I suspect that the police investigation could have been derailled at the same time.)

The Watchers council is definitely based in Britain.

Amy is still a rat.

Comments/Niggles:

I'm a little disappointed the Mr Trick was taken out so easily. If nothing else, I was expecting him to try just shooting them. After all, he eagerly embraced modern technology. Perhaps instinct got the better of him.

The Watchers Council seems less and less part of the solution, and more part of the problem, every day.

I suspect that Willow now feels about Faith the way Xander felt about Angel. After all, she tried to kill her best friend...

Good Lines: (such as there were)

Cordelia: Well, it's about time we got some fresh blood around here....

My rating:

Hard to say. I'm not as fond of the 'dark' episodes as some other people, but it certainly moved the plot along. I'd say about 7.0

Stephanie Rating: (for kids) ... not sure. Maybe. The Faith/Xander scene might be a bit much.

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