As I mentioned in the last post, I'd intended to touch on a few key Faith scenes in episodes like "Homecoming" or "The Zeppo." I've decided to expand on that a little bit by recapping at least the relevant bits of the episodes that fall between the ones I'm doing full reviews of. So here goes...
In "Beauty and the Beasts," Faith and Buffy are discussing Buffy's sex life (or lack thereof). "All men are beasts," Faith promises. Faith appears to be taking an interest in Buffy/Scott (I'll drop my insistence on finding lesbian subtext for these "interlude" posts - I mention Faith's interest in Buffy/Scott as a setup for her epic revenge on him on Buffy's behalf in the next episode).
Also, and this is supremely important for "Revelations"... "Beauty and the Beasts" concerns a series of murders that the Scoobies originally thing are being committed by Werewolf!Oz. Willow's immediate reaction: "Wolf-you, not you-you." Xander: "But it's not. It's not wolf-you, it's not you-you..." indicating that he also subscribes to the notion that Human!Oz is not responsible for the actions of Werewolf!Oz. (Possibly - he has another comment a few minutes later that's a little more ambiguous, but the gist of that one as well is, "Is it Oz's fault that [he's a werewolf]?")
Speaking of setups for "Revelations," Buffy runs into an extremely feral Angel, knocks him out and chains him up. Okay, I've gone from searching for lesbian subtext to finding flagrant bondage subtext. And yes, just in case you had to ask, yes, this episode was indeed written by Marti Noxon. I know a section of the fandom rags on her as "the woman who ruined Season Six." I prefer to think of her as "an obvious bondage enthusiast," seeing as the "Written by Marti Noxon" credit basically ensures that somebody's going to get tied up at some point during the episode. (Sidebar: the first Mad Men episode where I noticed her name in the credits did indeed have somebody tied to a bed. There's a point where coincidence just plain old stops.)
Buffy goes to the library to relieve Faith from Oz-watching duty (Faith's eager for the chance to get some slaying in) so she can research Acathla, the demon she had to more or less sacrifice Angel to. Giles gets the drop on her, so she pretends she only just had a dream. Giles says that even if Angel were completely feral from spending a century in the demon dimension, he might not be beyond redemption.
Faith immediately associates "horsing around" with "screwing." And that's basically all we need to know from this episode.
"Homecoming" drops a couple of bombshells. Scott dumps Buffy, and Xander and Willow are revealed to have feelings for each other. Angel is getting better, in the sense that he can talk now. Buffy tells Angel that she's not going to tell the others that he's back, because they wouldn't understand that he's better.
It's common knowledge in the demon underworld, thanks to Mr. Trick, that there are two Slayers in town (although apparently they don't have any pictures of her, because all the demons mistake Cordy for her). When he knows that they're training, Xander says that Buffy and Faith are in the library "getting all sweaty," so it's not just me. Faith thinks that "some quality rage" gives you an edge. And then she suggests going to the dance with the now-dumped Buffy. Yeah. It's canon. (Okay, okay: she then suggests that they find a couple of studs and use them and discard them.)
Buffy discovers that all of her friends are working on Cordelia's Homecoming campaign. Not the last time her good friends will abandon her. (Speaking of friends, this episode is probably the closest that Faith will come to being part of the Scoobies when she sabotages Scott's Homecoming by telling his date she got an STD from him.)
Buffy threatens to kill one human being, and becomes complicit in the deaths of two human beings by tricking them into shooting each other. We meet Allan, the deputy mayor, for the first time. This will be important later. And speaking of "important later," I think Jonathan (Inca Mummy Girl's almost-victim, "I just wanted a book on Stalin," Dip Guy) gets named for the first time. And Trick starts working for the Mayor (who says he's been the Mayor for "quite some time." He's not kidding).
"Band Candy" is an amusing episode featuring Ethan Rayne. Under the effects of some magic candy, the adults revert to teenage mentality. Giles's accent drops about three classes, and he has sex with Buffy's mum. In terms of ongoing stuff, Faith is absent, and Buffy has been lying to both Giles and Joyce about where she is (cuz she's spending time with Angel).
The "Revelations" review will be up later today. Cheers.
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