Episode 19 - Choices
29 January 2012
Review
Synopsis: Buffy gets into North Western university but doesn't see a way she could leave Sunnydale. In an effort to stop the Mayor before the Ascension she follows Faith and sees her bringing a box to the Mayor. The Scoobies steal the box from his office but Willow is captured in the process. Buffy insists that they trade the box for her and they set up a meeting. The Mayor lectures Buffy and Angel about why they shouldn't be together before the exchange takes place.
The Good: This was a very solid episode built around character and not plot. When you think about it the Box of Gavrok and the capture of Willow were pretty manufactured incidents. At episodes end nothing has changed except that the Scoobies have more information on the Ascension and that was the real purpose of the story. In spite of that though the writing was strong and compensated well by giving us a bunch of important character moments.
The Scooby gangs attempt to steal the box was initiated by Buffy because of her fear of being trapped in Sunnydale. The thought of remaining in grave yards for the rest of her days combined with the North Western offer was enough to set her mind churning on a way to get out. After seeing the face-eating spiders though it becomes clear that a Slayer will always be needed to patrol the Hellmouth. The story dovetailed two bits of denial nicely. While she knows that she can't leave she still clings to her relationship with Angel despite its obvious limitations.
It's a sign of a good TV show when an issue is addressed that you have been pondering. The Buffy-Angel relationship has not been ideally dealt with this season but the Mayor almost made up for that here with a brutal analysis of reality. The age difference, the immortality, the vampireness! What drove it all home so beautifully was his description of his own wife. The image of an old lady cursing her immortal husband for his youth was disturbing enough to essentially confirm that Buffy and Angel will have to break up. The final shot of them leaning against a grave still saying the right things but clearly having other thoughts was well crafted.
Having been captured during the robbery Willow then got some great wonderful moments to shine. In a way her scenes here were much stronger than those in "Doppelgangland." Her final speech about wanting to do good just underlined what an admirable character she is and why viewers love her so much. Her selfless decision to stay in Sunnydale and the joy Buffy responded with were very much needed too to justify why such a talented girl would limit herself in this way.
Before all that though she uses her levitation ability to dust a vamp and then realised a fantasy by standing up to Faith. Both acts built on the new bravery (or being suave as Buffy put it) we saw on show in "Doppelgangland." She also used her considerable brains to steal some pages from the Ascension, recognising that that information was what they desperately needed.
The debate back at the library over Willow's worth was another good scene. Wesley has his flaws but he made a compelling case about the many lives on the line verse Willow's sole case. It was then left to the emotionless Oz to finally show some and end the argument. The Cordelia story was a much needed bit of direction for her character. There is real power in the way her relentless bitchiness (earlier hitting Buffy where it hurt with a comment about her lack of future) was suddenly turned to pathos when we see that her own future is far from certain.
Finally we got a couple of nice Faith moments. She continues to respond well to the Mayor's authority, which fits what we know of her. Willow shakes her confidence in such a way that we can see how much she craves love and acceptance. The fact that she is willing to get that from the Mayor shows how messed up she is. The gift of the knife clearly meant a lot to her. How many gifts has she received in recent years?
The Bad: Willow killing a vampire with a pencil should have been built up more as a dramatic moment. It happened too swiftly for the full impact to be felt.
The Unknown: The Mayor remains slightly disconnected from the threat he presents. Although I loved the content of his speech it wasn't clear to me if he was playing mind games or just shooting from the hip. I certainly have no fear that the Ascension will actually happen.
Best Moment: The Mayor pouring the cold water of reality over half a season's worth of denial and silence from Sunnydale's favourite couple. I don't just say that as the TV Critic demanding logic. I think Joss Whedon built to that moment to help show the audience why Buffy and Angel must split up. On a weaker show this would never happen and the issue would be forgotten.
The Bottom Line: A clever episode that did a lot with little plot.
Cordia's Second Look
Choices
Season 3, Episode 19
Original airing: 5/4/1999
My Rating: 52
The Good: This episode had some redeeming moments, but mostly it just felt badly put together. However, I liked the Scoobies making college decisions, Willow being a bit of a badass, learning more about Cordelia, and Wesley's very logical take on the whole situation.
First, I really like that the characters will be graduating high school and moving on to college. This still doesn't always happen in TV shows, so it's a very nice bit of realism. I also appreciated how they kept Willow close with all of her prestigious, around the world college choices. Her mature and well-thought out decision to stay in Sunnydale because she wants to keep helping to fight evil makes complete sense for both her character and the show.
This wasn't her only shining moment in the episode either. I loved the bit of continuity that was the return of the floating pencil trick from Dopplegangland (S3E16). Using it to stake a vampire was almost cute.
It was also nice to see a bit of explanation for Cordelia's excessive bad attitude lately. Apparently, her family has lost quite a bit of money lately. Her attitude seems to indicate she may not be able to go to any of the excellent colleges she was accepted to and she's been forced into taking a menial job. The poor dear.
Finally, Wesley got to have his moment in the sun as well. During and after the Willow-hostage crisis, he shows his mettle as a thoughtful and logical Watcher. He points out the unpopular opinion and makes a rather convincing argument for destroying the Box to save the whole town. Of course, when it means the loss of Willow, he's not going to convince the Scoobies. But it was a valiant effort and it was nice to see him really making a good point instead of being played for laughs. I haven't been able to take him at all seriously since his introduction, but he's slowly been showcasing his talents over the last few episodes.
The Bad: The main problem with this episode is that nothing felt organic. Willow verbally sparring with Faith while a knife was against her throat, Richard arrowing in on the problems in Buffy and Angel's relationship, the Box of Gavroc, and Faith's weird reactions to the Mayor all felt inappropriate.
Willow's choice to standup to Faith on Faith's turf was particularly stupid. She keeps telling Faith how worthless she is even after Faith punches her in the face and holds a knife to her neck. I couldn't help but wonder if Willow was attempting to get herself killed. She knows Faith is unstable and that she was attempting to turn Angel evil to help torture and murder Buffy. So her choice to antagonize Faith feels completely stupid.
The Mayor taking time out of the exchange to harp on Buffy and Angel's relationship also felt totally contrived. Why does he figure this out about them? His last experience was them tricking Faith and proving they'll always be strong together. If he's supposed to be messing with their minds, it should have been clearer. This felt like the writers were trying to address criticisms leveled at the show about the Buffy and Angel relationship. If this lecture had been coming from Giles or Willow, I think it would have felt way more natural. But having it come from Richard was completely disjointed, even with his story about his wife.
The Box of Gavroc also felt very much like a story device. Suddenly, Richard needs this box or he can't complete his Ascension. So what does he do with it? He leaves it at City Hall on a conference room table under a magical spell. He doesn't have an underground lair or safe house to stash it in? If I was going to Ascend and needed the Box to help me do it, I'd be sleeping with the darn thing.
Finally, I was annoyed with Faith's weird reactions to Richard in this episode. One moment she's teasing him, then she's scared of him, then she's planning to just rummage through his stuff without a by-your-leave. Are they surrogate father-daughter? Boss-employee?Or master-servant? I can't tell and it makes it difficult to follow their relationship and believe in their interactions.
Favorite Moment: I appreciated that Oz finally got to emote just a bit here. Wesley makes the very reasonable one vs. the many speech about exchanging the Box for Willow. While everyone is trying to shout Wesley down, Oz just gets up and makes the point moot.
The Bottom Line: This was not a good episode. It had its moments, but everything felt very disjointed and forced.
Feedback
Add your comments on this episode below. They may be included in the weekly podcasts.
’)