Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S3/E17 Enemies

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The Mayor and Faith plot to steal Angel's soul and bring back Angelus.

Tropes

Faith: Do you think you're better than me? Do you? Say it, you think you're better than me.
Buffy: I am. [[[Beat]]] Always have been.

  • Arrow Catch: After Angel makes a few unsubtle threats, the Mayor invites Angel to kill him with the letter open he's fondling in a significant manner. Angel hurls the letter opener and the Mayor quickly moves his hand to block it, catching the blade through the palm. Angel and Faith take this in stride, until the Mayor removes the letter opener and the wound closes itself up.
  • Audio Erotica: Cordelia finds Wesley's voice quite sexy, much to Xander's fury.

Xander: I love when you talk, Wesley. I love when you sing, Wesley. Can you say the words "Jail Bait", Wesley? Limey bastard!

  • Axe Crazy Knife Nut: Faith killing the demon informant.
  • Bait and Switch: Faith seems uneasy about her Face Heel Turn, is shocked at the violent manner in which she kills a demon, and so goes to Angel for help, leading to noticeable UST between them. It looks like she's going to confess her relationship with the Mayor, only for it to be revealed she was actually hoping to sleep with Angel to make him lose his soul.
  • Bait and Switch Comment: Annoyed over Faith's innuendo about Angel, Buffy has only one thing to say; "Duck!' Faith ducks and Buffy punches a demon sneaking up behind her.
  • Blatant Lies: Cordelia asks Wes to help with her studying, which she does best in a nice restaurant.

Xander: And on the day the words 'flimsy excuse' were redefined we stood in awe and watched.

The Mayor: There's more than one way to skin a cat. And I happen to know that's factually true.

    • Angel reveals to Buffy that he's turned evil.

Angel: You know, I never properly thanked you for sending me to hell. And I'm just wondering, where do I start? Card? Fruit basket? Evisceration?

  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Buffy warns that Angelus will turn on Faith once the two of them have killed Buffy. Angelus admits that's true; Faith just smirks and says they'll have to take their time killing her.
  • Double Entendre

Faith: The close-but-no-cigar thing with Angel. I don't know if I could handle, you know, the way you're not handling it.

    • Faith is down because she couldn't get Angel to sleep with her and lose his soul.

The Mayor: So you couldn't give him that one moment of true happiness.
Faith: I was thinking more along the lines of a long weekend.

Buffy: You don't know what you're doing.
Faith: Really? Weird, because something about all this just feels so right. Maybe it's one of those unhappy childhood things.

Angelus: "You know what I just can’t believe? All of our time together and we never tried chains."

Angelus: Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Maybe there's still some good deep down inside of me that remembers and loves you. If only you could reach me. Then again, we have reality.
Buffy: I will kill you before I let you touch me.

Xander: I, uh, hate to spoil the mood, but this is so much worse than you think. You know how some people hate to say I told you so? Not me. I told you so. Angel's back in the really bad sense, and uh, I told you so.

Before we get started, I just want you to know; if you're a screamer, feel free.

  • Meaningful Echo: Buffy tells Angel she'll always be his girl. When Buffy says the same thing to Riley Finn in Season 5, you know she's lying. When Buffy screams at Spike that she'll never be his girl, you know she's terrified of falling in love with another vampire.
  • The Mole: Faith of course, but also Angel.
  • Moment Killer: "Check out the lust-bunnies."
  • Nightmare Fetishist: On hearing the demon wants $5000 to sell the Books of Ascension, Giles gripes at the fall in standards in the demon world. "Whatever happened to the still-beating heart of a virgin?"
  • Not Helping Your Case: Willow tries to assure Buffy there's nothing going on between Faith and Angel. Unfortunately she's still angry at the whole Faith-sleeping-with-Xander thing.

Buffy: You're right. Faith would never do that.
Willow: Faith would totally do that! Faith was built to do that. She's the do-that girl.

Buffy: Comfort, remember comfort, here?

Willow: I mean, please, does Angel come up to Faith's standards for a guy? Let's see, is he breathing?

Buffy: Actually, no.

  • Not So Different: Buffy worries that Angel might be attracted to Faith as they have a lot in common. Willow assures Buffy that Angel's not interested, and that her advice should be trusted because, "I too know the love of a taciturn man."
  • Oh Crap

Faith: What can I say? I'm the world's best actor.
Angel: Second best.

Angel: You're still my girl?
Buffy: Always.

Faith: You know, I come to Sunnydale. I'm the Slayer. I do my job kicking ass better than anyone. What do I hear about everywhere I go? Buffy. So I slay, I behave, I do the good little girl routine. And who's everybody thank? Buffy. You get the Watcher. You get the mom. You get the little Scooby gang. What do I get? Jack squat. This is supposed to be my town!

  • Sex Is Violence: Angel loses his soul and snogs Faith, then tries to kill her. Eventually Faith gets him pinned down.

Angel: Should have known you'd like it on top.
Faith: You wanna listen or you wanna die?

Angel: Long as you're there, I mostly want you to wriggle.

Mayor: And what exactly did this demon look like?
Faith: Demonic.

Willow: Faith and Angel? Together?
Xander: Imagine the possibilities.

  • Summon Bigger Fish: The Mayor's reason for bringing back Angelus.
  • "Take That!" Kiss: Once the ruse is revealed, Faith kisses Buffy on the forehead. It was scripted to be on the lips, but either SMG or the network nixed it.
  • That Was the Last Entry: The first info the Scoobies have about the prophesied "ascension" is a journal entry saying "Tomorrow is the ascension, may God help us." It was the last time the town was ever heard of.
  • Throw It In: When the Mayor suggests miniature golf to take her mind off her troubles, Eliza Dushku (Faith) unscriptedly cracks up at the absurdity.
  • Uncanny Family Resemblance: Invoked by the Mayor, who was him, his son, his grandson and his great grandson (he's immortal).
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension / Betty and Veronica: One of the reasons why the thought of Angel getting close to Faith shakes Buffy's confidence, given her relationship with Angel.
  • Vampires Are Sex Gods / Evil Is Sexy: Faith enthusiastically tongue-wrestles with Angelus.
  • Wham! Episode: Angel loses his soul to become the monstrous Angelus and has allied himself with an utterly psycho Faith, who is all for killing all of Sunnydale for the Big Bad. It's all a ruse, but evil Faith is frightening.
  • Xanatos Gambit
  • You Have Failed Me...: Lampshaded by the Mayor when Faith asks what will happen is she doesn't get to the Books of Ascension in time. The Mayor replies that he only likes positive thoughts, after all replacing Mr Trick was difficult enough. At the end however when Faith has failed, the Mayor decides to cheer her up with a game of miniature golf instead.
  • You Owe Me: The Mayor brings in some kind of necromancer demon to remove Angel's soul and bring him over to their side. It seems to work at first, but is later revealed to have been a ruse on Angel's part to get info on the Mayor's plans. The necromancer is shown at the end talking to Giles about how his debt to him has been repaid. When the awestruck Scoobies ask what that meant, Giles casually explains, "I introduced him to his wife."
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