2.1 When She Was Bad

Plot Synopsis (Hide)

On the last evening of the school holiday, Xander and Willow are walking together, playing guessing games and talking about their boring summer. Neither has heard from Buffy recently. Xander dabs ice-cream on Willow's nose, then moves in playfully to lick it off. She protests, but not very convincingly, and they almost kiss, but Xander pulls back at the last second, and they suddenly realise there is a vampire behind them. Xander yells at Willow to run, and tackles the vamp, but he is no match for the creature. As he struggles, a hand suddenly pulls the vampire away, and a blond girl attacks and kills it - Buffy is back. Her friends are pleased to see her, but although she smiles and hugs them both, she somehow doesn't quite seem herself.

After school the next day, Buffy trains with Giles in the library. Towards the end of the session, she lays into a punching stand as if her life depended on it, raining blows so hard and fast that Giles starts to look concerned. She finishes by kicking the stand so hard that it breaks in two

That night, Buffy dreams that Giles attacks her, while Xander and Willow chat obliviously in the background. Desperately trying to fend him off, Buffy shoves hard against Giles's head, but as she does so, his face comes away in her hand to reveal the Master beneath. When she wakes in bed, she sees Angel at her window. He warns her that the Anointed is gathering forces, but she treats him coldly, and he leaves

At the Bronze next evening, Buffy snubs Angel again, and asks Xander to dance with her. As Willow and Angel watch, she flirts with Xander, and dances slowly, moving sensuously against him. Despite his feelings for Buffy, Xander looks uncomfortable, somehow knowing it means nothing to her. Buffy tilts her head, almost close enough to kiss, then just turns and walks away, leaving Xander alone on the dance floor, and Willow looking puzzled and unhappy.

Cordelia follows Buffy outside, and advises her to get over whatever is causing her attitude problem. As Buffy turns her back and walks away, Cordelia is grabbed by two vampires and carried off. They push her into a cellar, where she finds Jenny already on the floor, unconscious. Walking home alone, Buffy passes the spot where the Master's remains have been buried, and finds the grave open, and the bones gone.

The next day, the gang research possible rituals which could be used to bring back the Master, and find one which requires his bones, and the blood of whoever was closest to him when he died - Buffy decides this must be her. As they discuss what to do, a rock is thrown through the window, with Cordelia's watch wrapped around it, and a note telling Buffy to go to the Bronze. Although they realise it is probably a trap, she harshly tells the others to stay where they are, so they don't get in her way, and sets off anyway, leaving her friends hurt and confused.

Angel arrives at the Bronze at the same time as Buffy, and they find a female vampire, dressed as Cordelia. Realising something is wrong, Buffy rushes back to the library, leaving Angel to guard the vampire. Meanwhile, Giles has been struggling to translate some details of the re-vivification ritual, and finally determines that "closest" referred to actual physical proximity, meaning himself, Cordelia, Jenny and Willow. As the truth dawns on him, a horde of vampires descend on the library, and by the time Buffy gets there it is too late - Giles and Willow are gone, and she finds only a bruised and angry Xander.

Returning to the Bronze, Buffy basically tortures the female vampire until she reveals where the others have been taken - to an abandoned factory, where the Master's bones have been laid out, and the captives strung up above them. Buffy, Xander and Angel are able to sneak into the factory unobserved, where they watch the vampires start the ritual. Buffy's plan is simple - she will kill the vampires, while Angel and Xander rescue the others. As the vampires continue the ritual, the Slayer suddenly appears in their midst and mayhem ensues.

The captives are soon released, and while Jenny checks on Giles, and Xander comforts Willow, Buffy continues her killing spree, until the last vampire is dust. She stands alone, bewildered, for a few moments, then walks slowly towards the skeletal remains of the Master. As the others watch in silence, she picks up a sledgehammer and bashes the bones into powder, before collapsing tearfully into Angel's arms.

The next day, Buffy feels ashamed of the way she treated her friends, and is nervous about facing them. When she joins them in class, however, they accept her back into the fold with grace and humour, and with no need for apology.

Highlights

• Snyders "kids are like locusts" speech, while in the background Giles is meeting Jenny again, and as they walk off together, Snyder finishes with "I might as well be talking to myself".
• During an overly-frenzied training session, Buffy kicks the wooden punching stand so hard it breaks in two.
• The scene where Xander dabs ice-cream on Willow's nose, then moves in to lick it off. The mood is intimate, and they almost kiss. Later in the Bronze, Willow tries to re-create the moment by dabbing ice-cream on her own nose and waiting for Xander to react. The significance doesn't even occur to him, he just tells her she has something on her nose. Her face falls, and she realises that everything is different now Buffy is back. Although he says he's over her, it's clear Willow doesn't stand a chance while Buffy is on the scene.

Unusual Weaponry

Buffy kicks a vampire against a tree, where he is dusted by a broken branch

In the factory fight, Buffy somersaults over a wooden box, then keeps it in her hands as she springs back on to her feet, swinging it over her head and using it to bash a vampire in one smooth movement.

Breaking off most of a standing torch, she twirls it, then stakes one vamp with the broken end, and burns another with the flame.

Pop Culture References

The episode title probably comes from the Nursery Rhyme "Jemima", rumoured to have been written by the great Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

There was a little girl, who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good she was very very good
But when she was bad she was horrid.

Cordelia refers to the gang as 'The Three Musketeers'
The original literary reference is to the classic novel by French author Alexandre Dumas, on which numerous stories, cartoons, movies have since been based. The team of swash-buckling heroes embody nobility, honour and romance.

Xander thought Cordelia's insult would have had more impact if she'd gone for 'The Threee Stooges' rather than the musketeers.
The Three Stooges were a famous slapstick comedy trio from the 1930's to 1950's.

Cordelia: 'Whatever's causing the Joan Collins 'tude'
Refers to the English actress most famous in the States for her role as super-bitch Alexis in the American soap opera Dynasty.

Comments

In a dream sequence, Giles attacks Buffy, and she rips away a mask to reveal the Master underneath. Clearly, some part of Buffy blames Giles for what happened to her, and resents it. He is the father-figure who let her down, failed to protect her when she needed him the most.

Although there are a few situations in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where torture is assumed to have been used by the "good guys", this episode contains the most graphic example of it - most others either occur off camera, or are only referred to, or implied. This is probably meant to illustrate the alternate Buffy we see in this episode - closed off from her feelings, and therefore more brutal and unscrupulous than we are used to seeing her.

Willow: It's over.
Xander: No, it's not.

Xander is often the most perceptive of the group when it comes to Buffy's feelings (except where they affect himself!), in this case, knowing that simply winning the fight is not enough to banish Buffy's inner demons. He understands that she needs a more physical form of catharsis, smashing the Masters bones to smithereens to finally break the hold he has had over her.

Slayer Quips

So, are you gonna kill me, or are we just making smalltalk?

Nitpicks

• This is probably overly picky, but I found it a bit surprising that Buffy so quickly identified Coredlia's watch/bracelet when they're not exactly close friends. Maybe she'd just seen it and admired it, so it stuck in her mind...
• In the scene where Buffy smashes the Master's bones with a sledgehammer, she clearly destroys his ribcage at one point, but in a later cut it is still intact and she whacks at it again.