Faith, Hope and Trick

Big news: Angel's back, somehow. We don't know details, that's the closing shot: Angel, naked, laying on the floor.

This episode is an intro episode, starting the season's meta-plot. Character development is key; with the arrival of the somewhat morally ambiguous Faith, Buffy's jealous streak, and intro of Trick (who never quite works for me), a couple interesting things may be missed.

One, Willow knows that she's doing things with magic that Giles wouldn't approve of. She underplays and tries to lie about what she's been attempting, and Giles warns her--one of the first times I remember getting an undercurrent of "this isn't good."

Two, Giles is more subtle and aware than he may seem. A recurring bit during the episode (maybe the first couple?) is Giles pressing Buffy for more info about Angel's death so he can do a "binding spell" to insure there are no problems with the statue (or something similar). Buffy sticks with "I came, I saw, I conquered" as her line until the end of the episode. Finally, with no emotional fanfare, she starkly tells the truth: She kissed Angel, who was back to himself, then killed him. She admits it feels better to have told, but in an understated manner. It's not until after Buffy leaves that we find out Giles' only magic involved healing Buffy's pain--he knew she hadn't faced it all, and he played her to get the rest of the story. That degree of emotional insight wasn't typically observed in Giles earlier, but it becomes more common. Also, Faith suffers because she doesn't tell; Buffy sees that, and realizes that like Faith, she is part of the walking wounded. Telling Giles the whole truth helps.

Last, Joyce finds out that Buffy can't quit without dying--and that she died once and that led to Faith. She hates Buffy's calling, but supports her too. That's a recurring theme.

Next--I don't remember! Fun ahoy!