Episode 21 - Graduation Day (1)
24 March 2012
Synopsis: The Mayor is to give the commencement address at the high school graduation ceremony. The gang prepare to fight his Ascension at the same time. Faith shoots Angel with a poisoned arrow. The only cure is the blood of a Slayer and so Buffy tries to capture Faith. Anya begs Xander to run away with her and Willow and Oz sleep together. Buffy quits the Watcher's council when they won't help heal Angel.
The Good: The sense that things were coming to an end was well conveyed throughout this episode.
The jokes about school ending with games of hangman and the insincere niceties over yearbooks was fun. I liked the contrast drawn between Buffy and Willow's perspectives. Willow represents those students who enjoyed parts of school and are now able to look back and romanticise the good parts of their experience. Buffy missed out on those good times and is ready to move on. I really liked the link between graduating school and her decision to tell the Watcher's Council where to stick it. Buffy is the Slayer. It's not a job to her, it's her identity. She doesn't need the Council anymore to know that evil must be stopped. She has her own team in place anyway.
Speaking of whom Willow and Oz were adorable throughout. Her need to see some emotion from him leads to sex and the reassurance that he feels everything that she does. The little shot of him stroking her hair later in the episode was a nice demonstration of how this act has changed their dynamic. Again the theme of change and endings continues here through Willow as she leaves virginity behind.
Xander continues to do the right thing and stand with the Scoobies. Anya carries the comedy for him and does a good job looking confused and lovelorn. Her experience of a previous Ascension fills in some details and the news that the Mayor will become pure demon gives us a sense of the significance of what he is up to. The Mayor's taunting in the library worked well enough to drive home the threat he presents.
There were several good one liners with Percy working hard until he can "forget all this crap" and the Mayor saying that it's "sweet" to think of all the nations of the Earth coming together to tremble before him.
The Bad: The repetition of the "local expert being killed" story from Becoming (221) was less than ideal. Though Faith's reply of "Who wouldn't?" when Lester threatened to scream was pretty great.
The Unknown: The fight between Faith and Buffy was solid but no more. I couldn't ignore the stunt doubles for once. After declaring that she couldn't kill Faith even if she wanted to it seemed hollow when Buffy went to do just that. Her actual shock at stabbing her was good though and fit with what we would expect. Faith's fall onto the back of a truck felt like a flat end to the episode though. It's difficult to know how I would have felt not knowing that the show Angel was being planned. It's also not clear if Faith will come back from this. She takes a pretty nasty looking bump onto the truck but we've seen Buffy come back from the dead so it's possible she could be back in part two.
Once more I don't know what to make of the relationship between the Mayor and Faith. They are pretty explicitly acting out father-daughter scenes at this point. But what does that add to the story? Are we supposed to feel something when we think about how this man can simultaneously be a loving father and be about to shed any trace of humanity?
Best Moment: Oz and Willow were incredibly sweet together in their post-coital scene. Her gentle fretting over whether he feels the same way she does and his knowing smile was all perfectly played.
The Bottom Line: A solid part one with plenty to enjoy. The questions about Faith and the Mayor still linger though.
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Cordia's Second Look
Graduation Day - Part 1
Season 3, Episode 21
Original airing: 5/18/1999
My Rating: 73
The Good: I really enjoyed this episode. It prepared us for the finale while also managing to provide some closure, which is a very difficult thing for the first half of a two-part episode to do. Not only did we finally learn more about Ascension Day, we also got to go along for the ride as the end of high school loomed nearer for Oz, Willow, and Xander. Even Buffy got to graduate a bit early when she quit the Watcher's Council.
I loved the use of Anya in this episode to provide some much needed detail about Ascension Day. Who else might have the inside scoop on a demonic ritual than a 1,000-year old demon? It also allowed for some more interaction between Anya and Xander, which I always enjoy. I love how they play off each other with her extreme lack of guile. Very amusing.
It also led to a nice short character arc for Xander. At the beginning of the episode, he's basically freaking out about surviving the last few days of high school. But when he's offered a chance to run away before the big fight, he refuses to take it. As he tells Anya, he's got friends on the line and that's more important than saving his own skin. It's a very nice moment of maturity for him and an excellent reflection of the growth he went through during The Zeppo (S3E13).
Oz and Willow got a nice bit of wrap up to their relationship as well. Willow offered sex to Oz back in Amends (S3E10), which he rightly turned down. But now the time has come. The end of school is nicely mirrored with the loss of Willow's virginity and the mild anxiety she has afterwards as she tries to ascertain how Oz really feels about her. I like that the show got across the depth of their relationship so well when they haven't even said "I love you" yet.
The preparation for Ascension Day was well done, too. The idea that the Mayor would want Buffy distracted makes a lot of sense, and poisoning Angel to do it is very clever. One has to wonder if Richard knew the only cure was the blood of a Slayer (trying to kill two birds with one stone?) or if he just knew the poison would be effective on a vampire. Either way, it was a great way to bring several things to a head. Buffy is forced into a direct confrontation with Faith (something the show has been headed toward for a while now) and it also directly led to Buffy quitting the Watcher's Council.
The fight between Buffy and Faith was particularly brutal and well done. Buffy goes to Faith's apartment with the intent to do whatever she must to save Angel, but the shock on her face when she actually stabs Faith is very well done. A big part of season three has been the exploration of why Faith's style of Slaying is not Buffy's style. In this episode alone we see Faith murder an innocent man and beg for an additional similar assignment later because she's bored. But Buffy can't believe she's even come to the point of killing someone who needs to be stopped and for a pretty decent reason - saving Angel and, to an extent, helping to put a crimp in the Mayor's plans to slaughter the whole town. It's what the show needs to do to keep us from viewing Buffy as the same as Faith. She can't kill a human being lightly or her character changes too much. Of course, we don't actually see Faith die since she managed to land on that conveniently passing truck, but the impact is still there for Buffy.
Finally, Buffy's decision to quit the Watcher's Council may have been the most impactful of the episode. She's been essentially running her own show for a while now with her own crew, but she steps forward at this point and makes it official. It also adds to the sense of closure to this High School portion of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The show is obviously preparing to move into a new phase at this point and getting rid of the Watcher's Council so Buffy can really grow into her own is a great way to do it.
The Bad: I really don't have much to complain about here. Buffy's awkward line to Wesley right after she quits the Council is unfortunate. Telling him to "get a job" as she's leaving actually ruined the scene for me a bit. Otherwise, it would have been my Favorite Moment. But, even I can admit that's quite the nitpick.
Favorite Moment: As I mentioned, I love the interactions between Xander and Anya. And their scene at the end of the episode where she begs him to run away with her is particularly good. The kicker is when Xander is tempted for a second, then steps back from Anya and says no. As I mentioned, it's a great moment for Xander's maturity. And Anya's question, "Aren't we going to kiss?" as he walks away is just pure gold.
The Bottom Line: This was a very well-structured penultimate episode. It can be very difficult for a show to keep the first half of a two-parter interesting, but I think this is a prime example. As always, the best part of the show is the bits where we get to ride along with the Scoobies. The little wrap ups to everyone's high school experiences really puts this episode over the top for me.
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