Classics: BtVS 3:19 - Choices

Overall Rating: 8.7

One of the strongest "set-up for the finale" episodes in the Buffy canon - the personal angle for each of the main characters sets this show apart.

Plot Synopsis:

BuffyGuide.com has the full description.

The Skinny:

The show is divided into two stories (a bit forcefully) merged by a common theme - the future and the pressure it puts on teenagers when they need to begin making choices. On the monstervision side of the board, we've got the Mayor acquiring the supernatural bugs he needs to eat before the ascension to take on his new, more powerful demon visage and faith taking a more and more gleeful roll in the dark business this entails. This story is very engaging and Willow's capture and subsequent "underdog" fight with Faith and stealing of secret knowledge is particularly awesome to watch.

On the personal side of the board, we've got several *very* interesting developments - every one fo the regulars in the scooby gang has something to contribute with the possible exception of Oz, though his love for Willow does lead to one fairly interesting dramatic moment. Buffy is facing the reality that, with Faith hopelessly evil and Sunnydale in need of protection, she can never leave. She has no choice but to attend UC Sunnydale and watch her friends scatter to the four winds. Xander has realized that he doesn't have the ability or the grades to get into college, let alone succeed when he gets there. At this stage of his life, he is facing the crippling isolation of being "rejected" form the common path high school students take when they move on. His romantic fantasy about a summer road trip is not all that uncommon for someone in his position. Cordelia's father has lost all of his money and her dreams of going to a top flight school have been crushed - her family can't even afford to buy her a nice dress for the Prom, let alone a college education. Her snarky remarks to the rest of the slayerettes and her facade at school are quite sad when viewed from this perspective. Willow is faced with the choice between pursuing her academic/career dreams and going to an ivy league school...and staying in Sunnydale to fight evil. She chooses the latter (thanks in part to her ordeal in the action plot of the week and in part to her desire to stay close to Buffy)...a fascinating and selfless decision. And of course, Angel and Buffy are quickly realizing that their relationship is impossible to maintain, though I think having the Mayor express what everyone in the audience is thinking was a bit of a forced decision...an attempt to tie everything together under one theme that falls flat.

Most teenagers don't have to choose between fighting vampires and going to school (heh), but many are faced with choosing between helping their family and going off on their own (a similar sacrifice that today's culture seems to believe is cruel), or the choice between pursuing a trade/skill/career and going to college. And many...many kids run into Cordelia's problem - more and more each day as the price of tuition increases. The personal angle is what separates this episode from your typical set-up script (the action plot is necessary to set up the season finale). I don't think it rises to the feature level, but it's certainly good TV.

Writing: 8.0

If there's one weakness in this effort, it's the forced merger of the action plot with the personal plots. Willow's half of that is well done...Buffy's? Not so much. Otherwise, this is an outstanding episode.

Acting: 9.0

The huge cast of recurring characters BtVS has gathered do the show a tremendous service. Harry Groener (The Mayor), with his wholesome all-American brand of evil is a treat to watch. Of course you all know I love Eliza Dushku (Faith) and Kristine Sutherland (Joyce). However, in this episode, Alexis Denisof (Wesley) plays a MUCH more interesting role and really aids in the dramatic confrontation over what to do about Willow's capture.

Message: 9.0

The end of high school brings with it a time of boundless possibilities (the very reason it's so overwhelming and frightening to so many people)...but while some teens face the problem of TOO MANY choices...some face the far more isolating problem of too few. The wide range of personal issues covered in this script (related to college, relationships, and the future after high school) really covers this tense transition in life well.

Highlights:

Xander: Everything in life is foreign territory. Kerouac. He's my teacher. The open road is my school.
Buffy: Making the open dumpster your cafeteria? (snerk)
Xander: Go ahead, mock me.
Oz: I think she just did.
Xander: We Bohemian anti-establishment types have always been persecuted.
Oz: Well, sure. You're all so weird.
Willow: I think it's neat, you doing the backpack, trail mix, happy wanderer thing.
Xander: I'm aware it scores kinda high on the hokey-meter, but I think it will be good for me. You know, help me to find myself. (Cordelia walks between the table and Xander's tree.)
Cordelia: And help us to lose you. Everyone's a winner.
Xander: (getting up) Well, look who just popped open a fresh can of venom. Hey, did you hear about Willow getting into Oxnard?
Willow: Oxford.
Xander: Oxford. And M.I.T. and Yale and every other college on the face of the planet. As in your face I rub it.
Cordelia: Oxford? Whoopee! Four years in tea-bag central. Sounds thrilling. And M.I.T. is a Clearasil ad with housing. And Yale is a dumping ground for those who didn't get into Harvard.
Willow: I got into Harvard.
Xander: Any clue on what college you might be attending so we can start calculating minimum safe distance?
Cordelia: None of your business. Certainly nowhere near you losers!
Buffy: Okay, you guys, don't forget to breathe between insults.
Cordelia: I'm sorry Buffy. This conversation is reserved for people who actually have a future. (ow...I do like that they ratcheted up the bitchy for Cordelia given what's coming)

Buffy: I got into Northwestern.
Giles: That's wonderful news. Good for you.
Wesley: Alright, everyone. Monsters, demons, world in peril?
Buffy: I bet you they have all that stuff in Illinois.
Wesley: You cannot leave Sunnydale. By the power invested in me by the Council, I forbid it. (said while crossing his wrists over his heart - watcher authority hand signal? Buffy rolls her eyes and turns her back on Wesley?)
Giles: Ah yes, that should settle it. (ROTFL!)
Wesley: (counting on fingers) Faith gone bad, and the Mayor's Ascension coming up, ...
Buffy: I know it's complicated. I'm aware that my graduation may be, among other things, posthumous, but... What if I stop the Ascension? What if I capture Faith?
Giles: I very much hope you will.
Buffy: If I do that, then all you guys have to do is keep the run of the mill unholy forces at bay through mid-terms and I'll be back in time for Homecoming, and every school break after that. Can we at least think about it?
Wesley: Perhaps if circumstances were different.
Buffy: I'll make them different.
Wesley: What?
Buffy: I'm tired of waiting for Mayor McSleaze to make his move while we sit on our hands counting down to Ascension Day. I mean, let's take the fight to him. (I do like how Buffy's desperation to leave Sunnydale is what leads to this decision and ultimately gets Willow in trouble)
Wesley: No. No! Much too reckless. We're at a distinct disadvantage. We don't know anything about the Mayor's Ascension...
Giles: She's right. Time's running out. We need to take the offensive. (to Buffy) What's your plan?
Buffy: I gotta have a plan? Really? I can't just be proactive with pep?
Giles: No. You want to take the fight to them? I suggest the first step would be to find out exactly what they're up to.
Buffy: Oh. I actually knew that. I thought you meant a more specific plan, you know, like with maps and stuff. Great. We'll find out what they're up to.

Mayor: Hey ho! There it is! Hahahaha! Ah, what happened to the courier? I was supposed to pay him.
Faith: Hunh. Made him an offer he couldn't survive. (takes the money)
Mayor: (chuckles) You are one heck of a girl, you know that? I mean geez, the initiative, the - the skill.
Faith: Go on, go on. (sits down)
Mayor: I will. You know, I'll tell you, if Buffy ... (Faith props her feet on the desk. The Mayor frowns.) Hey hey hey hey. (Faith drops her feet.) If Buffy Summers walked in here and said she wanted to switch to our side, I'd say (snaps his fingers) no thanks, sister, I've got all the Slayer one man could ever need. (chuckles) What?
Faith: Nothing.
Mayor: Oh, it's cause I used the B-word, huh? Don't tell me you're still sore about that whole Angel-Buffy thing.
Faith: No, I'm over it. She can have him.
Mayor: Better believe she can. She deserves that poor excuse for a creature of the night. You, on the other hand, can do better. (he's so wholesome...it's such a heart-warming family moment...and so utterly evil!)

Wesley: What's that?
Giles: Maps. And stuff.
Willow: Plans for City Hall. They were in the Water and Power mainframe.
Buffy: The box is being kept under guard in a conference room on the top floor. (points to a map sheet) There. Unfortunately, that's all I could get out of my informant before his aggressive tendencies forced me to introduce him to Mr. Pointy.
Wesley: Well, now, here's what I think we should do...
Buffy: I figure we can enter through the skylight. I'll take Angel with me.
Giles: Agreed.
Xander: And there's a fire ladder on the east side of the building, (points) here.
Wesley: Yes, yes, fine, but we still need to consider whether the Mayor...
Giles: It won't be enough to simply have possession of the box.
Willow: Right, we have to destroy it. Not just physically - ritually, with some down and dirty black magic.
Wesley: Hang on. We don't know what such a ritual would require.
Giles: (flipping through a book) I think the Breath of the Atropyx is standard for this sort of thing. Fairly simple recipe. Xander?
Wesley attempts to read over Giles's shoulder but Giles hands the book to Xander.
Xander: I know. I'm ingredient getting guy.
Wesley: Alright, stop! I demand everyone STOP this instant! (everyone looks at him) I'm in charge here and I say this is all moving much too fast. We need time to fully analyze the situation and devise a proper and strategic strategem. (LOL...poor tweedly Wes...he's right this time...but you do have to feel for the guy)
Buffy: Wes, hop on the train or get off the tracks.
Wesley: The Mayor will most assuredly have supernatural safeguards protecting the box. (silence) Oh, we all forgot about that, did we?
Buffy: Looks like a job for Wiccan girl. What do you say, Will? Big time danger?
Willow: Hey, I eat danger for breakfast.
Xander: But oddly enough, she panics in the face of breakfast foods.
Buffy: Let's get to work.

Xander: I have a theory. Your snide remarks earlier? I'm guessing grapes a little on the sour side. Didn't get into any schools, did you? The grades were there, but ooh, if it weren't for that pesky interview. Ten minutes with you and the Admissions Department decided that they'd already reached their mean-spirited superficial princess quotas. (ow)
Cordelia: And once again, the gold medal in the Being Wrong event goes to Xander "I'm as stupid as I look" Harris. (takes envelopes from her purse) Read 'em and weep, creep. USC, Colorado State, Duke, and Columbia.
Xander: Wow! These are great colleges. I'm guessing they must have seen a different side of your father's money. (OOOOWWWCH!!)
Cordelia: (snatches the letters away from him) Go away.
Xander: Sure! If you'll excuse me, I have to go back to helping to save some lives. Carry on. I know that you have some important accessorizing to do. (ouch! man...such anger from the two poor kids who've had their dreams crushed)

Oz: Oh, Willow laid it out for us pretty well. (shows him Willow's papers)
Xander: Wow! She even drew helpful diagrams. That's the pedestal.
Oz: And the ingredients. And us. See, there's you and there's me.
Xander: Well, how can you tell which is which? I mean, they both look kinda stick-figurey to me.
Oz: Well, this one's me. See the little guitar. (aawwwwww)
Xander: Oh, gotcha.
Oz: Nobody like my Willow.
Xander: No sir, there is not. (how cuuuute!)

Giles: They'll kill her.
Wesley: We're assuming they haven't already.
Buffy: No. No, they know what she means to us. She's too valuable as long as we still have the box. We trade.
Wesley: We can't.
Buffy: No, it's the safest plan. (to Giles) It's the only way, right?
Giles: It might well be.
Buffy: Look, we call the Mayor and arrange a meeting.
Wesley: This box must be destroyed.
Xander: I need a volunteer to hit Wesley. (heh)
Wesley: Giles, you know I'm right about this.
Buffy: Wes, you want to duck and cover at this point?
Wesley: Damn it, you listen to me! This box is the key to the Mayor's Ascension. Thousands of lives depend on our getting rid of it. Now I want to help Willow as much as the rest of you, but we will find another way.
Buffy: There is no other way.
Wesley: You're the one who said take the fight to the Mayor. You were right. This is the town's best hope of survival. It's your chance to get out.
Buffy: You think I care about that? Are you made of human parts?
Giles: Alright! Let's deal with this rationally.
Buffy: Why are you taking his side? (The outbursts of Buffy, Giles, and Wesley clash for a moment, then Wesley's voice breaks out of the babble.)
Wesley: You'd sacrifice thousands of lives? Your families, your friends? (Oz has been sitting through all this. He gets up and walks behind Wesley.)
Wesley: It can all end right here. We have the means to destroy this box. (Oz picks up the pot for the box-destroying ritual and throws it into a display case, smashing both to shards. Everyone looks at each other.)
Buffy: Giles, make the phone call. (awesome scene)

Faith: Check out the bookworm. (standing in the office door)
Willow: Faith!
Faith: Anyone with brains, anyone who knew what was going to happen to her, would try to claw her way out of this place. But you, you just can't stop Nancy Drew-ing, can you? Guess now you know too much and that kinda just naturally leads to killing.
Willow: Faith, wait. I want to talk to you.
Faith: Oh yeah? Give me the speech again, please. Faith, we're still your friends. We can help you. It's not too late.
Willow: It's way too late. You know, it didn't have to be this way. But you made your choice. I know you had a tough life. I know that some people think you had a lot of bad breaks. Well, boo hoo! Poor you. You know, you had a lot more in your life than some people. I mean, you had friends in your life like Buffy. Now you have no one. You were a Slayer and now you're nothing. You're just a big selfish, worthless waste. (GO WILLOW!!!!!! - Faith punches Willow in the jaw and she falls to the ground.)
Faith: You hurt me, I hurt you. I'm just a little more efficient. (Willow climbs back to her feet.)
Willow: Aw, here I just thought you didn't have a come-back.
Faith: You're begging for some deep pain.
Willow: I'm not afraid of you. (Faith pulls out the fancy knife)
Faith: Let's see what we can do about that. (The Mayor is standing in the doorway.)
Mayor: Girls, I hope I don't have to separate you two. Faith, you can play with your new toy later. Something's come up. (Faith keeps holding the knife to Willow's neck, staring into her eyes.
Mayor: Faith! You know I don't like repeating myself.)
Faith: (to Willow) I got someone. I got him. (and that is one sad consolation prize)

Buffy: Let her go.
Mayor: No. Not until the box is in my hands. So you're the little girl that's been causing me all this trouble. She's pretty, Angel. A little skinny. Still don't understand why it couldn't work out with you and my Faith. Guess you kind of just have strange taste in women.
Angel: Well, what can I say? I like them sane. (ZING! - Willow makes a sound as Faith tightens her grip.)
Oz: Angel. Mayor: Well, I wish you kids the best, I really do. But if you don't mind a bit of fatherly advice, I, uh, I-I just don't see much of a future for you two. I don't sense a lasting relationship. And not just because I plan to kill you. You two have a bumpy road ahead.
Buffy: I don't think we need to talk about this.
Mayor: God, you kids, you know. You don't like to think about the future. You don't like to make plans. Unless you want Faith to gut your friend like a sea bass, show a little respect for your elders.
Angel: You're not my elder. I've got a lotta years on you.
Mayor: Yeah, and that's just one of the things you're going to have to deal with. You're immortal, she's not. It's not. I married my Edna May in ought-three and I was with her right until the end. Not a pretty picture. Wrinkled and senile and cursing me for my youth. Wasn't our happiest time. And let's not forget the fact that any moment of true happiness will turn you evil. I mean, come on. What kind of a life can you offer her? I don't see a lot of Sunday picnics in the offing. I see skulking in the shadows, hiding from the sun. She's a blossoming young girl and you want to keep her from the life she should have until it has passed her by. My God! I think that's a little selfish. Is that what you came back from Hell for? Is that your greater purpose? (ooouch)

Willow: Deep thoughts?
Buffy: Deep and meaningful.
Willow: As in?
Buffy: As in, I'm never getting out of here. I kept thinking if I stopped the Mayor or ... but I was kidding myself. I mean, there is always going to be something. I'm a Sunnydale girl, no other choice.
Willow: Must be tough. I mean, here I am, I can do anything I want. I can go to any college in the country, four or five in Europe if Iwant.
Buffy: Please tell me you're going somewhere with this?
Willow: No. (hands Buffy a letter) I'm not going anywhere.
Buffy: UC Sunnydale?
Willow: I will be matriculating with Class of 2003.
Buffy: Are you serious?
Willow: Say, isn't that where you're going? (Buffy hugs her and they tumble onto the ground.)
Buffy: I can't believe it! Are you serious? Ah, wait, what am I saying? You can't.
Willow: What do you mean, I can't?
Buffy: I won't let you.
Willow: Of the two people here, which is the boss of me?
Buffy: There are better schools.
Willow: Sunnydale's not bad. A-And I can design my own curriculum.
Buffy: Okay, well, there are safer schools. There are safer prisons. I can't let you stay because of me.
Willow: Actually, this isn't about you. Although I'm fond, don't get me wrong, of you. The other night, you know, being captured and all, facing off with Faith. Things just, kind of, got clear. I mean, you've been fighting evil here for three years, and I've helped some, and now we're supposed to decide what we want to do with our lives. And I just realized that that's what I want to do. Fight evil, help people. I mean, I-I think it's worth doing. And I don't think you do it because you have to. It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in. (awesome)
Buffy: I kind of love you.
Willow: And, besides, I have a shot at being a bad ass Wiccan, and what better place to learn?
Buffy: I feel the need for more sugar than the human body can handle.
Willow: Mochas?
Buffy: Yes, please. It's weird. You look at something and you think you know exactly what you're seeing, and then you find out it's something else entirely.
Willow: Neat, huh?
Buffy: Sometimes it is. (awww)
(and for a fun twist...back at the dress hop we see Cordelia admiring the same dress in a full-length mirror)
Woman: Chase! What are you doing? Your break's been over for ten minutes. I still need you to re-stock the shelves and clean out the storage room. Let's go. (she's working? What?? I love this show)

Buffy: It's gonna be fun. Will and I are going to go on Saturday to check out the campus. I'm hoping Mom will let me live there. It's too far to come home every night. Plus the whole lack of cool factor. Either way, I'll be close to your place. I don't know what the Mayor was talking about. How could he know anything about us?
Angel: Well, he's evil.
Buffy: Big time. He doesn't even know what a lasting relationship is.
Angel: No.
Buffy: Probably the only lasting relationship he's ever had is with evil.
Angel: Yeah.
Buffy: Big, stupid, evil guy. We'll be okay.
Angel: We will. (ah denial...)