Prophecy Girl S1 E12

Buffy and the Art of Story Podcast CoverThis week on Buffy and the Art of Story: Prophecy Girl (Season 1, Episode 12 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

This pivotal story for Buffy begins in Xander’s point of view. We’ll explore that as well as (1) creating multiple characters the audience identifies with; (2) using actions to demonstrate characters’ feelings; (3) a very layered Story Spark/Inciting Incident; and (4) a strong midpoint and three-quarter plot turn.

As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).

Sorry, no Season 1 DVD commentary for Prophecy Girl.  

Next Up:  Season 1 Overview  

Last Week: Out of Mind Out of Sight S1 E11

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About 

In addition to hosting the podcast Buffy and the Art of Story, Lisa M. Lilly is the author of the bestselling four-book Awakening supernatural thriller series and the Q.C. Davis mysteries, as well as numerous short stories. She also writes non-fiction, including books on writing craft, under L.M. Lilly. She is the founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com.

Episode Transcript for Prophecy Girl

Hello and welcome to Buffy and the art of story.

If you love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and you love creating stories, or just taking them apart to see how they work, you’re in the right place.

I am Lisa M Lilly author of the Awakening Supernatural Thriller Series and the Q.C. Davis mysteries and founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com. Today we’re talking about Season 1 Episode 12 Prophecy Girl. It is the finale for Season 1.

This is a huge story for Buffy.

Interestingly, it’s wrapped in Xander’s experience, so we’ll explore that as well as:

  • the different characters we identify with emotionally
  • how the writers and actors use action to express the characters’ feelings and emphasize them
  • a very layered Story Spark
  • and a strong Midpoint and three-quarter turn.

As always, there will be no spoilers except at the end to talk about foreshadowing. But I’ll give you plenty of warning.

Okay, let’s dive into the Hellmouth.

Opening Internal Conflict

Prophecy Girl was written and directed by Joss Whedon.

We began in the Bronze, a classic Buffy location. And we start with conflict — Xander’s conflict.

It is mainly internal. He is struggling over whether to, or how to, ask Buffy out. Specifically, for the Spring Fling, which is what they call the prom. He’s practicing his lines on Willow, as she looks on adoringly.

What I love about Willow in this scene is that she is such a good friend to Xander. Though her feelings are so clear on her face, and we know she has this crush on him, she really does her best to encourage him about what to say. But mostly to be a sounding board for him.

Xander wonders what Buffy is doing right now.

Opening External Conflict

And we cut to Buffy. She’s fighting a vampire outside in what looks like a field. There are people parking there, including Cordelia who hears noises. Buffy eventually defeats the vampire. When it’s over, she says, “Three in one night. Giles would be so proud.”

She sounds so weary, and we cut to Giles.

He’s in the library, and he’s translating Latin. And he says to himself as he’s parsing through the words, “The Master shall rise…this is it…and the Slayer… My God.”

Everything starts to shake. Giles’ teacup falls to the floor and shatters. We see the earthquake shaking the Bronze, toppling over bookcases in the library.

And the Master in his lair feels it and says, “Yes, yes,” and holds his hands up in a very dramatic way. Then the shaking stops and we get some humor. Because he says, “What you think? 5.1?”

What Is The Inciting Incident?

All of this is part of our Inciting Incident or Story Spark. I had to think about what the Spark was here because on the surface, our story is about this prophecy that Buffy will face the Master and she will die. Everyone is certain it is going to come true even as they tried to struggle against it.

But If the prophecy foretells the future, and is going to come true regardless, which it does, then there almost is no Story Spark. Because that story was already in motion. But we will see the Master later will say that Buffy set this in motion. So will get to that.

For that reason, I see the Spark as when Giles translates that part of the prophecy about the Anointed One, and Buffy will face the Master and die.

Is Giles Drinking Coffee?

Before we move on quick note about Giles’ teacup. I think he was drinking coffee and there it looked a lot like coffee. And we will find out throughout the series, hopefully this is too minor spoiler for anyone to care, that Giles is quite the tea drinker.

I can only think of one other time when he drinks coffee. So I think it’s coffee and it shows how he’s staying up all night and he’s struggling with this. And he is so distressed.

The Tension Escalates

After the credits, Buffy comes to the library to tell Giles about the vampire fighting and her close call. And he is so disheveled and distracted. He doesn’t really listen to her, which is so rare. She says, “Giles, care,” and jokes about breaking a nail.

In the next scene we are outside the school, and we get Xander’s conflict again.

He gets Buffy alone, and he asks her to the dance and says he wants to date her. She says she doesn’t know what to say. He says, well that’s a good start, or you’re not laughing, that’s a good start.

But she doesn’t feel the same way is he does, and he takes it very badly. He says something like: “I guess a guy’s gotta be undead to make time with you.”

Buffy tells him that’s harsh. He kind of apologizes but says, “Well I don’t handle rejection well, which is funny because I’ve had so much practice.”

Buffy looks very sad when he leaves. And remember, last week she was feeling very isolated in the school, and even from Willow and Xander. Giles wasn’t really listening to her this morning. And you get the feeling all she’s been doing outside of school is slaying vampires.

So she’s feeling very alone. And now Xander, one of her two friends, is angry at her.

A Side Character’s Point of View

Having Xander’s perspective so strong in this episode shows one of the strengths of the show. As I’ve mentioned before, we have different characters, different people that we all can identify with for different reasons. In Xander you get, I won’t say every man because I’m not saying every guy or every person is like Xander, but he is the one who has no special powers here.

Yes, Willow is an ordinary girl, but it is clear she’s supersmart. She’s really good at research.

Xander is really struggling kind of with everything. So he is that person who is easy to feel for. Yes, he reacts badly, we’d like to see him handle it better. But he’s very, very flawed and he is one entry point in this series.

Bringing Out The Characters’ Emotions

In this episode we get so much emotion from each of the characters. We have Willow and her feelings about Xander, and later her feelings about what’s happening in the world. We have Giles and his fears about losing Buffy.

We don’t get Angel’s emotions quite as much, but you get his anger over this prophecy and his devastation about losing Buffy. And of course we have Buffy herself, who was struggling both emotionally and with first the slaying and of course the prophecy.

This is the best type of story to me. Because it while it includes action, it is about the human story and the feelings of Buffy.

Anxious Giles

We are back in the library. Giles is on the phone any saying, “I need to see you. I understand, come after sundown.” We realize he’s talking to Angel. Which tells us – we don’t yet know what that prophecy says – it tells us how important it is.

I just don’t picture Angel even having a phone. The idea that Giles would call him when normally he just sort of turns up tells us how serious this is.

Plus, Giles’ appearance. Because Jenny comes in and she overhears him. And she comments on him wearing the same clothes as the day before.

She knows something is going on. People have been sending her reports of things like a cat giving birth to a litter of snakes, and some messages from a monk about the Anointed One.

This further rattles Giles because he and Buffy both believe that she killed the Anointed One. When we find out the full prophecy, we’ll understand why he is so spooked. Because the idea that the Anointed One was gone probably was giving him some small amount of hope that this prophecy would not come true.

Jenny Offers To Help

Jenny wants to help. And we get another nice moment — we saw so much of this in the pilot – where we get some quick exposition, but it is through genuine conflict. So it works on both levels.

Here we have Jenny offering to help. Giles says I don’t know if I can trust you. And she says something like, “I helped you cast that demon out of the Internet. I think that warrants some trust.”

So for those who haven’t caught an episode with Jenny in it, we get a very fast sense of who she is.

She’s gotten all these reports about things. We know it’s something about that she is involved with magic, and that she cast out a demon. So there is reason Giles should trust her, but we also know that he doesn’t.

Building to the First Major Plot Turn

We next see Cordelia with her new boyfriend. They’re being very cute and happy and she’s kind of unCordelia-like, she’s seems so relaxed.

And she asks Willow to help her at the Bronze to get ready for the dance, something with the sound system.

Willow says yes. But she’s distracted. She sees Xander in an empty classroom throwing a ball against the wall, very unhappy. He tells her what happened with Buffy. He is so upset.

And then he says, “Hey, I know, we will go to the dance together.”

I love Willow here. She is so strong. And she says, “No. Do you think I want to go to the dance and watch you wishing you were with her? You should know better.” And she’s very quiet about it and very firm. She takes care of herself and she points out what he is done in taking her for granted.

This works on two levels. It works if we think that Xander does recognize Willow’s feelings for him. It also works if he doesn’t. Because she has been being this great supportive friend, and he does take her for granted. It’s like an afterthought: okay, we’ll go together.

They have always done so many things together. Even if she didn’t have feelings for him, it’s just sort of “Oh, you can help make me feel better.” Going to the dance without him thinking about her at all.

The One Quarter Plot Turn

We are now just over 14 minutes in. So sometimes we would see the One Quarter Turn in the episode coming earlier. In a book or movie, it almost always happens right at the one-quarter point through the story. Some some books will put it about 1/3 of the way through.

In TV, it varies. I suspect because in network TV we have the commercial break issue. But regardless of where it is, what matters is that it turns the story in a new direction. And it is something outside the protagonist.

Here we have exactly that because Buffy overhears this conversation between Giles and Angel. If she hadn’t overheard, it’s possible Giles wouldn’t have told her of the prophecy. At the very least, it would likely have played out differently because he might’ve found some other way to tell her. As it is, she hears this conversation, which is another great example of getting information to the reader through conflict.

A Dramatic Reveal Though Conflict

And it makes the reveal of exactly what this prophecy says so dramatic. Giles is saying it’s clear what will happen. Angel is arguing with him. Giles says he’s read the text, The Codex.

And Angel says you’re reading it wrong.

This pushback from Angel — and his refusal to believe the prophecy — forces Giles to speak angrily and so strongly, in a way that perhaps he would not have done even to Angel. That he might not of wanted to say aloud this way to himself.

But he says, “I wish to God I were. But it’s very plain. Buffy will face the Master and she will die.” This telling of what the prophecy says, and that Buffy is going to die, is so much stronger than if Giles had said that while reading it to himself and maybe thrown down his glasses or knocked over his cup.

It’s also stronger than if we saw the actual text of the prophecy on the screen. Or that if he simply read it out of a book to Angel or to Buffy.

It is such a strong statement, and this adds to the effect on Buffy.

Buffy Reacts

She is reacting both to the prophecy that she’ll die, but also Giles’ certainty. He seems so strong and so certain.

Buffy gives this shaky laugh that pulls in so much emotion. So desolate, and so on the edge. Sarah Michelle Geller does an amazing performance here.

Her lines are another example of that escalation that was in Nightmares where each line is that much more heartbreaking than the last.

She says she knows the drill, when one Slayer dies the next one is called. And she asks will Giles train her will, or they send someone new. Does it say how the Master will kill her? “Do you think it will hurt?”

Showing Characters’ Emotions Through Actions

We also see through her actions how she feels. And this is key in any story.

If you are writing a novel, this is a good thing to either do in your first draft or go through on rewrite. I often look at when rewriting what action would the character take here? It’s particularly key in visual mediums like movies, television shows, and plays because we can’t be inside the character’s head, and we can’t feel the character’s sensations.

Here, Angel moves toward her to comfort her. And she yells at him, “Don’t touch me” and jerks away. She keeps the physical distance from him. And in a few moments she’ll say, “What do you know about it, you’re never gonna die.”

She says she’ll quit. Giles tries to say it might not be that easy and says something about the signs. She throws books at him and says, “Signs. Read me the signs. Tell me my fortune.”

This is the quote I mentioned in the pilot episode (in the spoilers) where we had an earlier scene between Buffy and Giles very much like this. And this is escalated to the nth degree because she’s going to die. She says, “I’m 16. I don’t want to die.” She also tells Giles he so useful with his books and he’s really a lot of help.

He looks so devastated and says he supposes he’s not.

When she says she doesn’t want to die, she throws the cross Angel gave her onto the floor. In our next scene we get more of what she’s feeling through action because she’s sitting on her bed looking through her photo album. Looking over her life as she’s contemplating dying.

Joyce Sensing Something Wrong

Her mom, Joyce, comes in. Joyce clearly knows Buffy is upset about something. Buffy won’t tell her what it is. She makes a comment, and Joyce in a great quote, says, “You’re probably just full from that bite of dinner you nearly had.”

Buffy tries to get Joyce to go away for the weekend, thinking that getting away from the Master will help. Joyce says she can’t get away, and isn’t the prom or spring fling this weekend and did nobody ask Buffy. And Buffy says, well somebody asked. Joyce says, “Not the right someone.”

What’s ironic is that is sort of true. That isn’t Buffy’s problem right now. But yes the wrong person asked — someone she doesn’t want to go with. And she has fallen for Angel who isn’t exactly the boyfriend who’s gonna take her to the Spring Fling

Joyce says, “See, sometimes I do know what you’re thinking.” She takes out a dress, acknowledging this might not be the right time for it, but she shows Buffy this beautiful dress that she bought for her. Even though they can’t really afford it. But she saw Buffy eyeing the stress in the store window.

Subtext in Dialogue

Buffy loves it. But she says she can’t go to the dance.

And then we get this line that I love from Joyce. I used to go to a Buffy discussion group at a bookstore in the Andersonville neighborhood in Chicago, Women And Children First. We had one meeting where we talked about Joyce and Buffy and the different scenes between them throughout the series. I thought this one really showed how Joyce connected with Buffy and did understand her.

Others thought it showed how disconnected and clueless Joyce was about Buffy’s life.

My feeling is that while Joyce is talking about a different situation – she thinks the issue is the dance – she gives Buffy exactly the advice that Buffy needs to hear. Maybe saying the advice drives the rest of Buffy’s decisions is a bit strong, but it definitely informs the choices that Buffy makes.

When Buffy says she can’t go to the dance, Joyce says, “Who says? Is it written somewhere? You should do what you want.”

This goes right to the prophecy. Yes, it’s written, and we’ll see Buffy echo that at the end when she’s talking to the Master.

The World Changes

For now, we switch to Cordelia and Willow in the school.They’re heading for the audiovisual lab because Cordelia’s boyfriend never showed up. I think he was supposed to be there for a sound check. She’s mad, or trying to be mad. She normally would be. But she likes them so much that she thinks it’s cute.

There’s a window in the door. They look through. At first it looks like there is a group of students watching cartoons. Willow and Cordelia go in, though, and realize these students have been slaughtered.

There’s blood everywhere. And there is a bloody handprint on the TV. We see it with cartoon dancing pigs behind it. Such a strong visual of what has happened.

At Buffy’s house again, she is trying on the dress and looking at herself in the mirror. Looking wistful. Joyce calls to her and says there’s something on the news about Willow.

The Midpoint of the Plot

We see Buffy in Willow’s bedroom. Buffy’s wearing the dress with her leather jacket over it. Probably the jacket Angel gave her.

Willow tells her what happened. Willow is so shocked and stunned. She says,
“I’ve seen a lot of things, but this was different.” And she says something like,”It wasn’t our world anymore. It was theirs. What are we going to do?”

This is 22 minutes, 39 seconds in, almost exactly at the Midpoint.

And Buffy says, “What we have to.” We know she has decided that she will face the Master even though she’ll almost certainly die.

Buffy’s Philosophy and the Show’s Theme

This to me encapsulates the theme of the show. There is no higher power telling Buffy to fight. She’s not acting out of some threat of punishment, eternal punishment, like you might find in many religions, or for a reward. She doesn’t know. She does what she does because she can, and because she doesn’t want to live in the world where it’s, where what Willow says: It’s not our world anymore. It’s theirs.

Buffy has the power to try to change that, to fight. And her philosophy, whether she says it or not, is that it’s better to fight and probably die than to live in that world and not try to change it.

She cannot live with that.

Right before she leaves, Willow says, “I like your dress.” Buffy looks down like she forgot she was wearing it. She tells Willow to take care. And the way she says it, we know that she does not think she will see Willow again.

Preparing to Face the Master

Back at the library, Giles and Jenny are talking about the Anointed One being a child, Giles quotes the prophecy where it says the Slayer will not know him and the Anointed One will lead Buffy to the Master. Buffy comes in, once again having overheard, and says, “Okay, I’m looking for a kid.”

She and Giles argue. Giles says, “I’ve been among my books too long. I am going to face the Master. You’re not.”

Buffy can’t talk him out of it so she punches him and knocks him out. She tells Jenny to think of something cool to tell him that she said when he wakes up. Jenny says, “You’ll die.” And Buffy says maybe she will, but maybe she’ll take the Master with her.

Outside it’s dark. The Anointed One comes up to Buffy, he says, “Help me.” Pretending to be this helpless little boy.

She says, “It’s okay, I know who you are.”

I have always wondered, is this part of what changes things? Because it says she will not know him, and she does know him. I also like that because if that’s true, that is something that Giles did to help her by telling her who the Anointed One is. And who she’s looking for.

Character-Based Conflict

Back in the library, Xander and Willow get really angry and upset at Giles that Buffy has left. Xander in particular says how could you let her do that? In a great quote of the episode, Giles says, “As the soon to be purple area of my jaw will attest, I did not let her do anything.”

Both Xander and Willow get mad at Jenny because she is trying to tell them yes, Buffy is important. But hey, there’s an apocalypse, that’s what we should focus on. Willow says, “Why does she get to be in the club?”

Xander Challenges Angel

Xander goes to see Angel and is asking for Angel’s help. Xander saying we’ll go face the Master and go help her. Angel tells him he’s way out of his league, that the Master will kill him. And Xander says, “I don’t like you, I pretty much think you’re a vampire” but “Buffy thinks you’re a real person. So prove her right.”

I love Nicholas Brendan’s delivery here because those lines in the whole argument with Angel could have come across as being all about Xander’s jealousy. But it doesn’t. He is truly concerned for Buffy.

And I get the feeling that his distrust of Angel – sure there’s a bias there, this is the person Buffy wants – but it also feels very genuine. I’m sure that was intentional, given what we see as we go through the episode, that Xander is written and he is directed as more complex. He’s not just sulky and angry because Buffy rejected him. Sure, he definitely feels that way. But he does put that aside, and he wants to save Buffy. And he will go to Angel even though he’s jealous of Angel and though he also in his gut does not trust Angel.

Entering the Cave

Buffy is in the Master’s candlelit layer. The scene looks very much like the one from her nightmare in the episode Nightmares. There isn’t a lot of physical fighting here.

There is some hunting – what Buffy calls cat and mouse.

The Master is able to draw her to him without even touching her through his own mystical power. As he is gripping her, he tells her it was noble of her to try. But prophecies are tricky, they don’t tell you everything. And she is the one who set him free. If she hadn’t come into the lair he couldn’t have left.

So this is why, going back to that Story Spark, I see it as Giles translating that prophecy. This suggests if he never translated it and never told Buffy, perhaps this whole story wouldn’t have happened.

Though we still had the Anointed One around. Probably there would’ve been some confrontation at some point, but probably not this specific story on this day.

The Three-Quarter Plot Turn and Death

We are also at the three-quarter turn in the story that comes from the protagonist’s actions, but also spins the story in a new direction.

Here, the Master kills Buffy. He bites her, he exults in the power of drinking her blood, and drops her face down into a pond or lake. And says, “By the way, I like your dress.”

He’s now free.

Xander and Angel, who have been heading for the lair and are underground, feel the shaking and know that the Master has become free. They run down they find Buffy. But she is dead. Angel is holding her in his arms, looking devastated. And we cut to commercial.

When we’re back, Xander is saying CPR, we need to try CPR. Angel can’t do it because he has no breath. So Xander revives Buffy.

The Hero’s Journey

These scenes echo parts of the story structure The Hero’s Journey. At some point I’ll have to go through it because probably this whole episode does. But the ones that struck me in particular, there’s a point where the hero goes to the inmost cave. And this can be literal here.

Buffy is in a cave.

Or if you think about one of the Star Wars movies, I want to say Return of the Jedi where, or maybe it’s Empire Strikes Back, where Luke literally goes into the cave. And he doesn’t know what’s in there.

It is the hero facing something that she has avoided to this point. Something the hero has been fearing and dreading. So we have that here.

And the next scene is typically a death. It can again be metaphorical or literal. Here, it is literal death and rebirth, so that the hero goes back into the world with the elixir or the Holy Grail or whatever it is.

We have that very literally here. And Buffy says, “I feel different.” She says she feels strong. And she is not any longer operating out of fear.

She heads for the school. She kicks a vampire on the way. She is no longer afraid of the Master.

More Obstacles for the Protagonist’s Friends

Jenny and Willow are caught out in the parking lot behind the school. They have been going out there to go to the Bronze. Because they and Giles thought the Hellmouth would open there. The Master’s supposed to get free and open the Hellmouth and take over the world.

There are hordes of vampires coming toward them. And they realize the Hellmouth must be in the school. Because all the vampires would be coming to the Hellmouth. But more important, they’re in great danger. And it’s just the two of them when Cordelia drives up in her car. They get in and say they need to get to the library.

Cordelia drives right through the double doors of the school, down the hall, and crashes at the library doors.

I love this because Cordelia is so strong and acted so quickly. Without asking any questions, she gets it. She may not know the details, but she knows what to do.

Buffy Returned from the Dead

The Master is on the roof above the library. There is a skylight. He is calling forth the Hellmouth.

Inside the library is chaos, vampires, parts of the Hellmouth breaking through – these like sneaky little arms that are grabbing at people. And then this three-headed slimy monster with teeth. I’m never sure if that is the actual Hellmouth or the Hellmouth is the opening. But anyway, it’s pretty awful. Lots of screaming, running, fighting. It does not look good.

Buffy leaves Xander and Angel outside the school as a line of defense. She goes up on the roof and comes up behind the Master.

Much as she did not hear him in the lair behind her, he does not register that she is there until she says something. He turns and says, you know, “You’re dead.”

And in a great quote she says, “I may be dead but I’m still pretty.” And if you listen to other Buffy podcasts you probably know this is where the title comes from for one of them: Still Pretty

Is It Written Somewhere?

And I love that the Master then says that it was written that she died. I feel like this is a little call back to Joyce saying is it written somewhere and telling Buffy to do what she wants.

And Buffy says, “What can I say? I flunked the written.” Which is another fun quote.

She pretends to let him draw her over. He grips her throat, so he thinks he’s winning.

Then she insults him and breaks away and does a flip over him.

This is a nice call back to the pilot, where we saw a fair amount of Buffy doing her somersaults and flips and acrobatics. In the DVD commentary, Joss Whedon mentioned that was pretty close to the end of that. We definitely see Buffy fighting throughout the season. But we don’t see her doing so many of these sort of gratuitous flips that don’t really accomplish anything.

The Climax of Prophecy Girl

So here we get this flip and somersault. I guess it does something because it gets her on the other side of the Master. She grabs him, or actually he grabs her again, but she is clearly in control. She’s looking down behind her through the skylight and sees this big shard of wood from either one of the tables or the bookshelves or something. And she flips the Master over.

He plunges down and lands directly on that shard of wood and he is dusted. His dusting is far more dramatic than other vampires. It is slower. We see what looks like dirt. Just pieces of dirt flying off of him as his body disintegrates and he leaves the skeleton.

Unlike other vampires there is this large skeleton there.

So that was our climax. All of this action, everything comes together and closes off our main plot.

Falling Action

We have brief Falling Action. Down in the library, Cordelia let’s Angel and Xander in. Xander says to Giles, “Buffy died and everything.”

Giles says, “I should’ve known that wouldn’t stop you.” And he gives her this look of admiration and love.

Xander says they need to party, they should go to the dance. And Cordelia says, “Yeah.” I love this too because we get this arc for Cordelia. Just last episode she was thanking them for saving her and then she immediately turned on them and said I’m not hanging out with those lepers when Mitch came up to her.

Now helped save the day and she is. And she let Xander and Angel into the library, which I think was kind of symbolic, and she’s excited about going to the dance with them. So it’s a really nice moment where I think Cordelia has become part of the group. Though we will certainly see that she will struggle with that.

The Three Beat

On the way out, Angel says to Buffy, “By the way, I like your dress.” And she says, “Yeah, yeah, it’s a big hit with everyone.”

This is what’s known as a three beat. When you come back to, here it is a line of dialogue. And it is said three times – I like your dress — by three different people in very different circumstances, and in very different ways. And each time it has a different meaning in the story.

So we have Willow saying it sincerely, and then we have the Master being kind of sarcastic. And now we have Angel saying it in the context Buffy would’ve liked in the beginning of the episode. When she was feeling sad and probably thinking about how Xander asked to the dance and was mad at her, and on some level thinking about how Angel was never going to take her to the dance. Here he is saying, you know, by the way, I like your dress.

And at this point it just doesn’t matter.

The End of Prophecy Girl

We end on a long shot of the Master’s skeleton in the library. So it’s leaving a little something eerie at the end after our hero has a great triumph and celebration.

Other than spoilers, that’s it for today’s episode. If you’d like to connect or send me your thoughts about Buffy or the podcast you can tweet me @LisaMLilly#BuffyStory. You can email me: Lisa at LisaLilly.com. You can also find my fiction, including mysteries and supernatural thrillers at LisaLilly.com or visit WritingAsASecondCareer.com for articles on writing, time management and publishing.

If you’re not sticking around for the spoilers, thank you so much for listening, and I hope to see you again next Monday.

Spoilers

And we are back for spoilers.

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There are quite a few things in this episode that foreshadow Season 2 in particular, and some later things in the series. I really like that.

An Ending That Foreshadows

Because this could have been a series finale. I feel certain it was written that way. I don’t remember the timing of Buffy being renewed, but it seems very likely that with a 12-episode Season 1 they wrote it to be an end just in case. And I really appreciate that because it is hard to watch a show that you love, and it’s bad enough if it doesn’t get renewed, But if it doesn’t reach any conclusion it’s disappointing.

There was a very short-lived show called, I want to say Happy Town. And it raised so many intriguing things, and I still think about how it might’ve ended. They did kind of throw in a bit of a wrap up. It felt kind of tacked on. I know there was so much more that story, so it still bugs me.

Spoilers about Jenny Calendar

So we have Jenny. Giles not trusting Jenny. Willow and Xander saying what is she doing here?

I had not realized how many flags there were that Jenny maybe wasn’t trustworthy. And we see next season that she does have her own agenda. While she doesn’t purposely hurt Buffy, she does hurt Buffy very badly. And here we have this suspicion.

I’m uncertain about how genuine Jenny is being here. Because when she finds out Buffy is the Slayer, she says, oh, that’s the one thing that surprises her, that Buffy’s the Slayer, because she so little. And I wonder about that.

Because if Jenny was sent to watch Angel, wouldn’t her family have told her that Buffy is the Slayer? Or maybe they don’t know. I don’t know about that. That makes me wonder if the writers knew there’d be something about Jenny but perhaps not quite what yet.

Or maybe she is pretending. But I think the performance doesn’t suggest she’s really pretending. Perhaps she was told to play it either way.

Giles Might Fight

We get a quick foreshadowing for Giles when he says to Buffy, “I’ve been in the books too long.” Something like it’s been too long since I’ve been in the real world and fighting. So I guess this does give us a hint that perhaps Giles wasn’t always the book guy.

We definitely find that out next season, that he had quite a past and dabbled, more than dabbled, in the occult. And he is a really good fighter.

In this season, we have seen him be very about the books. We don’t see him fight. In fact, we get suggestions that he’s not a good fighter. So maybe this, too, the writers were still developing Giles. But this gives us a hint that there is more to him in terms of being able to do battle himself.

Foreshadowing Future Conflict

The Xander/Angel scene really struck me this time. Because when Xander says, “Yeah, I pretty much think you’re a vampire,” and next season that will be the issue.

That Angel turns evil, becomes Angelus again. And Xander was right. How much of Xander’s feelings come from jealousy and how much are a real grasp of the issues, and/or a gut level instinct, hard to say. But it turns out he was correct.

So we have him foreshadowing that that this is, of course we know it’s an issue: Slayer/ vampire. But we don’t know that there’s any reason really to fear Angel. He hasn’t fed on humans in, I think he told us, 100 years. So it’s a nice moment that Xander flags that.

Dracula and the Master

We also have the Master drawing Buffy to him. And we will see Dracula do the same thing in the beginning of Season Five. I had forgotten that the Master did this and that Dracula kind of echoes that. Which makes sense because Dracula likewise is a very old vampire.

Not as old as the Master, because we see the Master looks different because of his age. He’s from this earlier time when presumably also vampires were much more powerful. And we will find that out later as well. So the Master looks a little bit like the Turok-Han that we will see in Season Seven that Buffy at first is unable to defeat.

So we get these kind of calls forward to these other powerful vampires. Buffy in response, she pretends to be under the Master’s power, then insults him and breaks away. And she does, I think, a very similar thing with Dracula.

That also makes sense to me. It doesn’t feel repetitive because these are tools in Buffy’s toolbox. This is what she does. And it works well with the Master and she does it again with Dracula.

The Master’s Bones

Finally, that last shot of the Master’s skeleton – so telling because Season 2 Episode 1 we will deal with the Master’s bones. And this tells us the Master is different.

Buffy has defeated him, and yet there is this tiny question. Why is there still a skeleton there when other vampires turned to dust and they’re gone? That will be key from almost the very beginning of Season 2 Episode 1.

That is it for the spoilers.

Next Week

Monday I will do an overview of Season 1. I’ll talk about favorite character moments and plot turns and other story elements. So I hope that you will join me for that. And then we will be off to Season 2, which I’m so excited about.

Thank you so much for listening and I hope to see you next Monday.

Buffy and the Art of Story is a production of Spiny Woman LLC. Copyright 2020.