37A) Faith, Hope & Trick. WHAT'S IN A NAME?: "The episode title, Faith, Hope and Trick, is probably a takeoff on a quote from Corinthians [from the New Testament,] 'But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love' (13:13). The other possibility for the title -- Faith, Hope and Charity is...a sculpture...[by] Sir Alfred Gilbert, R. A. (1854-1934)..."--LadyStarlight, Mon, 06/30/03 at 21:46:44
"The title also gives us the names of three new characters introduced in this episode. But it also sets up the themes:
1. There are several tricks involved in the episode. Giles tricks Buffy into revealing the details of Becoming II. Faith tries to trick Buffy into dealing with Kakistos for her. And Kakistos tricks the Slayers into a trap. [There is also "the trick that love played on Buffy by bringing Angel back just as she had decided to let him go".--Alison, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:35:10]
2. Faith lacks both faith in her ability to handle Kakistos and hope that she can survive. Buffy gives her both, enabling Faith to slay her personal demon. This, in turn, lets Buffy put to rest hers by laying the Claddagh ring in the mansion.
3. The power of hope restores Angel. The First Evil just took credit [in the upcoming Amends]."--Sophist, Tues, 07/01/03 at 08:32:19
Teaser
37*1) "Wow, it's, uh, also a big step forward, a Senior moment, one that has to be savored." WHAT WAS I SAYING AGAIN?: "'Senior moment' usually refers to forgetting something, the way an old person ('senior citizen') supposedly would. But Willow isn't referring to the stereotype; her line establishes for the new season that the gang are now high school seniors (for the 2nd time, in Oz's case) & that, after the 1st 2 episodes, which covered Buffy's time in LA & her return home & renewing her relationships w/friends & family, the show's focus, like Buffy in this episode, is returning to high school. It may be a stretch, but you could also say it foreshadows the fact that the season will end in Graduation--both the event & the 2-part episode.
I can't find any instances of the other kind of senior moment in the episode. But Willow's hesitation to face this new development in her life can be seen as a parallel to Faith's initial inability to face Kakistos. Both make a big deal about how cool their situations are, then balk, have to be pushed into it by someone else, but finally rise to the occasion. And, though we see less of it, Buffy's finally telling Giles about Angel's cure in Becoming (see ) & her moving on to begin a relationship w/Scott Hope clearly parallels Faith's achievement. As she says about Faith, 'She had a lot to deal with, but she did it. She got it behind her.' Buffy does the same thing w/her Angel issues. Of course, they don't exactly stay behind her..."--anom, Tues, 12/30/03 at 12:22:19
37B) "Oh, but, no! What if they changed the rule without telling?" WILLOW IN A NUTSHELL: "Willow's reluctance to actually transgress the established borders, even when she knows that it's no longer forbidden, and her glee once Oz and Xander drag her to the other side, is another piece of the pattern of Willow who sees herself as 'very seldom naughty' but hides a lot of rebellion and anger that she doesn't know how to express--we'll glimpse it in VampWillow of The Wish and Doppelgangland and finally in dark Willow of season six."--MaeveRigan, Tues, 07/01/03 at 12:05:39
37C) "Hey, I'm walkin' here!" POP CULTURE TIME: See 33Jx5.
37D)
They see Buffy just inside the park. She has laid out a blanket in the shade
of a palm tree by a bench, and is setting out serving plates of food and bottles
of drinks. NICE DAY FOR A PICNIC: "The picnic theme,
introduced here, is picked up much later on in Season 4. Buffy and Riley's first
date is a picnic, and then Faith, in a coma, dreams of picnicking with the Mayor
in what is (as has been pointed out elsewhere) a very Garden of Eden-esque scene.
Picnics in themselves seem to symbolize a partial return to nature, perhaps
to Eden, perhaps to a Rousseau-like state of innocence. There is a well-known
19th Century Impressionist painting, le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe (Manet
1863) (see it at http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/manet/dejeuner/)
in which two clothed French gentlemen converse with a naked female bather over
a picnic lunch. The picture caused an outcry when first exhibited, not because
of the female nudity (common in art) but because of the way this was represented
in a contemporary, outdoor setting, without the normal guise of a classical
metaphor.
Another impressionist, Monet, repeated the picnic theme, but without any naked
people, in 1866 (http://www.abcgallery.com/M/monet/monet7.html),
contrasting the natural setting with the elaborate clothing of a Parisian group
of socialites. Buffy, in laying out a picnic for her friends, is perhaps demonstrating
her wish to return to a state of innocence, to make a fresh start. She is also
offering a shared meal, to re-unite the group after her rejection of it over
the summer, and perhaps by way of apology for that rejection."--MsGiles,
Thurs, 07/03/03 at 08:48:45
37E) "Ahh. Buffy and food." NUMMY TREATS: "This must represent some kind of utopian ideal for Xander."--MsGiles, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 08:48:45
37F) "Uncouple." FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: This foreshadows Lovers Walk, when Willow and Oz, and Xander and Cordy uncouple for real.--Sophist, Tues, 07/01/03 at 08:32:19 , paraphrased by Rob
37G) "When did you become Martha Stewart?" POP CULTURE TIME: "Martha Stewart, famous American cooking, gardening, etiquette and interior decoration writer, much mocked for the perceived impracticality of her recommendations and allegedly obnoxious private behaviour, currently implicated in alleged stock fraud."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
CONTINUITY CHECK: "This may be the first BtVS reference to Martha Stewart, but it won't be the last. In season 6, Anya will reveal offhandedly that Martha Stewart is a witch: 'Nobody could do that much decoupage without calling on the powers of darkness' (Wrecked)."--MaeveRigan, Tues, 07/01/03 at 12:05:39
37*2) "Second of all, way too much free time on my hands since I got kicked out of school." FREE TIME: "Buffy has hit on Stewart's secret (the one that isn't insider trading). I heard an interview w/Stewart in which she said her career started when it occurred to her that her field could be 'living' (as in the title of her magazine). She seemed to have absolutely no concept that this gives her at least 8 hrs. a day that people who make their living other ways don't have, to spend on her cooking & decorating & stuff, & then tell us we should all do the same in the time we don't have (& with the staff we don't have)."--anom, Mon, 01/05/04 at 22:04:45
37H) "We're seeing Snyde-Man tomorrow." THAT'S PUNNY!: Of course, Buffy isn't only giving Snyder a nickname here, but punning on the fact that he is, indeed, snide, which according to Dictionary.com means, "derogatory in a malicious, superior way."
FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: In the original script, Buffy follows this with the line, "Maybe I should bring a wheel of my extra runny brie...," which is amusing for a few reasons: (a) it ties in to her prosciutto joke; (b) it sets up the 'Buffy loves cheese' gag in the fourth season (see 28III); and (c) in just the last episode, the gang nixed Giles' idea of a quiet dinner with Buffy, with brie and crackers, in favor of a kick-ass party (see here). Just as they were wrong reading Buffy's true desire there, they were also wrong in assuming she wouldn't want a Smelly-Cheese-Night!--"Faith, Hope & Trick" by David Greenwalt, available through Pocketbooks, Inc., as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
37I)
"Ooo, Scott Hope at eleven o'clock." WHAT'S IN A NAME?:
"'Scott' refers to 'Scott of the Antarctic' perhaps; an icon of
heroic failure. The British Captain Scott mounted an expedition to attempt to
be first to the South Pole (in 1910), but was beaten to it by the Norwegian
Amundsen's better equipped team. Scott and the party he led to the Pole died
as a result of appalling weather on the way back. Not a very good omen for Scott's
chances with Buffy.
'Hope': Willow is offering Scott to Buffy, in the hope that it will be possible
for Buffy to re-start her life as a normal teenager again, after the disasters
of the previous year. Willow is as yet unaware that she actually partly caused
one of the worst disasters: the need for Buffy to kill a restored Angel (see
34Gx4). Scott won't work either,
but at least he won't be a disaster."--MsGiles, Thurs, 07/03/03 at
08:48:45
37J) "He likes you. He wanted to ask you out last year, but you weren't ready then. But I think you're ready now..." LINKAGE: Buffy's reluctance to go out with another boy due to Angel issues, and Willow's encouragement for her to go on a date echo the opening scene of I Only Have Eyes For You, where the same thing happens (see 31E and 31F).
37K) "He didn't try to slit our throats or anything...That's progress." THAT'S OUR CORDY!: See 30AAA.
37L) "All right, yes, date and shop and hang out and go to school and save the world from unspeakable demons. You know, I wanna do girlie stuff!" TWISTAGE: Another one of the "mission statement" lines from Buffy, this line neatly subverts gender stereotypes and reinforces the central theme of the series.
37M) Trick raises the window... FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: In the original script, Mr. Trick is described as "young (20's), smart, easygoing and deadly. Speaks quickly and mellifluously, all charm." Kakistos is described as follows: "In some circles he is worshipped, in all he is feared...[His] hand[s are]...cloven, beastly."--"Faith, Hope & Trick" by David Greenwalt, available through Pocketbooks, Inc., as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
TRICKSY: "Mr. Trick’s name literally suggests that he is a trickster figure. However his role as someone who works for others, first Kakistos and later the Mayor, seem to make him more of a Puck figure, someone who spreads mischief rather than true change. Mr. Trick works most definitely within the system, he doesn’t challenge authority, but rather seeks to use it in his own self-interest. Trick strikes me as the personification of pure capitalism; order and technology are useful for personal gain, any sort of ideology beyond self-interest is unnecessary."-- ponygirl, Wed, 07/02/03 at 19:57:03
37N) "I mean, admittedly, it's not a haven for the brothers, you know, strictly the Caucasian Persuasion here in the Dale." LILY-WHITE SUNNYDALE?: "Caucasian persuasion - a self-mocking joke about the excessively white cast of BtVS, criticised before and since."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
37O) "It makes...D.C. look...like Mayberry..." CURRENT EVENTS/POP CULTURE TIME: "DC - Washington DC, at the time notorious for its extremely high murder rate."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
"Mayberry - Quintessential small town, Mayberry, North Carolina, the setting of The Andy Griffith Show [which ran from 1960-1968], and epitome of simple virtues, supposedly modeled on Griffith's real home town of Mt. Airy, NC."--MaeveRigan, Tues, 07/01/03 at 12:05:39
"Washington became known in the 1970s as 'Chocolate City' because its population had become predominantly black--an additional contrast w/Sunnydale's 'Caucasian persuasion.' Hmm...I wonder if his pragmatism is at all related to his origins in the city whose primary business is the U.S. federal government?"--anom, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 11:34:17
37P) He pulls his cloven hand from Trick's knee. VAMPIRES & AGE: "Although vampires are immortal, they do change as they get older.
Kakistos was OLD, that causes the clovenness. Remember the Master? He looked like a bat -- a LOT like a bat (with fruitpunch mouth--see 1UU). the idea is that the older they get, the more animalistic -- but not necessarily the same animal. They devolve. That's my theory (joss, Oct 13 21:34 1998).
Why didn't this effect Angel's looks after all those years in hell? He was not in hell long enough:
As for demon dimensions, the one Buffy was in was NOT the one angel was in, time moves differently in each (joss, Nov 18 22:30 1998). See 35VVV.
So why did the Master's skeleton get left behind (see 12TTT), while Kakistos' wasn't (see 37Px4)? Unknown." See both the aforementioned 12TTT and 13AAA for some possible answers, both symbolic and metaphysical. --Masquerade, "Faith, Hope & Trick" Analysis from http://www.atpobtvs.com
37Q) "Kill the Slayer, yeah. Still, big picture..." RED HERRING: "We falsely assume that [Trick and] Kakistos...[are] referring to Buffy here."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
PRAGMATIC TRICK: "We already see the tension between the thuggish Kakistos and the far calmer, more pragmatic Trick. It's hard to imagine these two being master and minion for very long before this. Trick is the most socialised and least violence-driven vampire ever to play a major role in BtVS, which may be linked to his slightly older apparent age at siring than most BtVS vamps. (Dru and Harmony were teenagers, Angel and Spike in their early twenties but emotionally immature)."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
DICHOTOMY: "Although Trick is slick, urban and contemporary, Kalistos is ancient, primitive and powerful. The contrast between the two is rather like the contrast of Spike, into video recorders and television, with his predecessor the Master's medieval style, at the start of Season 2."--MsGiles, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 08:48:45
PETTY REVENGE: "Kakistos seems primarily interested in bloody revenge on Faith for a wound she gave him. There is little point in this except his own emotional satisfaction. Killing a slayer will only produce another one."--Masquerade, "Faith, Hope & Trick" Analysis from http://www.atpobtvs.com
37R) The boy screams as Trick pulls him out of the building and part way into the limousine. GOOD EATIN': Trick seems to enjoy chowing down on restaurant workers. See 37PPP.
37S) The camera stops on the Happy Burger mascot, its mouth wide open to take another bite from the burger that it's holding. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "...we settle on Mr. Happy Burger, grinning his eternal plastic grin."--"Faith, Hope & Trick" by David Greenwalt, available through Pocketbooks, Inc., as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
Act One
37*3) "The Background" by Third Eye Blind begins to play as the camera approaches the door. MUSICALLY SPEAKING: "Is it metanarration that this song is being used as background music? Of course, on Buffy, songs are never too far in the background."--anom, Mon, 01/05/04 at 22:04:45
37T) They hold each other close and look deeply into each other's eyes as they slowly dance. PRODUCTION NOTE: "Angel is wearing a white shirt in this scene, a sure sign that there’s going to be blood. Black just hides the stains too well..."--ponygirl, Wed, 07/02/03 at 19:57:03
37U) At a nearby table Oz, Willow, Cordelia and Xander watch them dance. Their faces are devoid of any expression. JUDGE, JURY & EXECUTIONER: "Are they sitting in judgment? They watch without approval or disapproval, but they’re still in Buffy’s dream, perhaps reflecting Buffy’s fears that her friends will reject her for her relationship with Angel. Or possibly Buffy’s deeply hidden anger about her friends’ role in her killing of Angel. Anger that never surfaces until Selfless."--ponygirl, Wed, 07/02/03 at 19:57:03
37V) The ring is loose on her finger, and before she can clasp his hand it falls off and clinks on the floor. DREAM A LITTLE DREAM: "The dream appears to refer to Buffy's guilt over the feeling that she is moving on romantically from Angel, believing him to be irreversibly dead." It will be reflected later when Buffy drops Scott Hope's claddagh ring to the floor. See 37Ix4.--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
37W) "GO TO HELL!" LINKAGE: Once more, Buffy's subconscious is (literally!) playing head games with her, creating an Angel who morphs from the kind, loving Angel she knows, to a figure who chastises and cruelly mocks her for what she had to do to him. She is actually dealing harshly with herself, out of guilt for both killing him (even though it was her only option at the time) and her psychological need, as a human, to move on afterwards. This episode is a psychological precursor to the seventh season's The Killer in Me, in which after kissing Kennedy, Willow turns into Warren, feeling that by moving on, she is murderering Tara's memory just as surely as Warren killed her the first time.
37X) "I'm not sure I like your attitude, Mr. Snyder. I spoke with the school board, and according to them..." METANARRATIVE HUMOR: "A reference to the goof in Becoming II, that High School principals do not have the right to expel pupils themselves (see 34III)."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
37Y) "I think what my daughter's trying to say is...Nyah, nyah-nyah-nyah, nyah." MOTHER AND DAUGHTER: "The whole scene shows the new closeness between Joyce and Buffy after the previous two episodes."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
37Z) "It's the Mayor on line one." FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: "Reminding us that at the end of the last series it was revealed that the Mayor and Snyder know about the Hellmouth, and may be in some form of collusion (see 31PP and 31QQ)."--MsGiles, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 08:48:45
37AA) "Have you ever noticed, though, when he *is* mad, but he's too English to say anything, he makes that weird cluck-cluck sound with his tongue?" MOTHERCLUCKER: "Is the cluck cluck sound not made in America, then? I can verify it's an English teacher/parent disapproval noise, used to bring a miscreant's attention to that fact that they are being disapproved of. Often accompanied by a wagging forefinger, shaking head and frown. I would guess a bit out of date now, more often used ironically than seriously, except perhaps with the very young...
Another contemporary scenario when clucking might be heard: picture a group of middle-aged English people, at a bus-stop, say. Over the road, a group of teenagers start doing something socially unacceptable, like vandalising a phone box. The people turn to each other. As each catches the others eye, they cluck. A brief spate of clucking establishes a disapproving consensus, then everyone goes back to waiting for the bus...It's funny when you suddenly realise that some behaviour you take for granted may in fact be really weird...now I'm cluck watching!"--MsGiles, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 08:48:45
37BB) "Giles, contain yourself. Yes, I'm back in school, but you know how it embarrasses me when you gush so." AWARE GILES: "Buffy hasn't spotted that Giles is deliberately overplaying his diffidence here, because he's trying to gently trick her into talking about what went on when Acathla came back, and why it upset her so much."--MsGiles, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 08:48:45
37CC) "What are you doing, making him some demon pizza?" LINKAGE: Possibly intended as a darkly humorous counterpoint to Trick's devouring of the pizza delivery boy later in the episode. See 37PPP.
37DD) "Oh! Who's more sensitive than me?" WORDY IRONY: "'Sensitive' Willow hasn't picked up on Giles' ruse either - tellingly, she's far too eager to be involved in another spell."--MsGiles, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 08:48:45
37EE) "Mm, sage. I love that smell." SMELLS LIKE...: "Sage seems to be a regular magic ingredient: junkieAmy will be caught stealing it from the Summers house in Season 6, and Buffy will be embarrassed by its presence when Doris the social worker calls in Gone, again Season 6, when..." the sage is mistaken for pot.--MsGiles, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 08:48:45
37FF) "These forces are not something that one plays around with, Willow. What have you been conjuring?" CONTINUITY CHECK: The roots of the argument Willow and Giles have in All the Way can be found here.
37GG) "But since then, you know, small stuff: floating feather, fire out of ice, which next time I won't do on the bedspread." WITCHY WILLOW: "Yet another example of Willow's magic going awry. Perhaps her biggest problem to overcome is not her mistakes, but her inability to acknowledge the potential real danger in the forces she is using: something of which Giles is much more aware (for reasons we already know). It's interesting that Willow *expects* Giles to be mad at her here, even though he isn't that worried. It's almost as if she's beginning to test him, test the boundaries. They are all finding, as they grow older, that the restrictions on them from authority are decreasing, and they will come to find that the rules are replaced by responsibilities. Of the group, Buffy finds the rules most irksome, and easiest to leave behind, as she already carries Slaying responsibilities. Willow on the other hand clings to the safety of rules, and will be the slowest to realise the level of responsibility that her increasing power lays on her."--MsGiles, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 08:48:45
"But here, as in some other cases, it's not that the magic itself goes wrong (Willow's talking about the stuff she can do) but that Willow didn't think ahead to the most elementary logical consequences & take precautions. Someone once listed her spells, looking at which ones worked & which went wrong; it might be interesting to look at which went wrong because of the magic itself & which because she didn't think about what the consequences might be. I think it's safe to say that even if Willow learned the specific not-on-the-bedspread lesson, she didn't go on to apply it as a general principle."--anom, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 11:34:17
LINKAGE: "Fire out of ice is one of the spells Willow claims to have been practicing. In the first X-Men movie, two young male Mutants flirt with the novice Rouge; one, Pyro, generates a little ball of fire in his cupped hand; the other, Bobby (Iceman) extinguishes it with an icy blast. This 'ice out of fire' is an inversion of Willow's spell, and may or may not have any relation to the fact that Joss penned the original script for X-Men (see 36Fx4)."--Anneth, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 14:50:06
37*4)The band tonight is Darling Violetta, playing 'Cure'." MUSICALLY SPEAKING: "Another song title as comment: Willow has just mentioned that she 'tried this spell to cure Angel.' As for the lyrics, I'm not sure if they apply better to Buffy, as Sophist says (note 37KK), or to how Angelus treated her."--anom, Mon, 01/05/04 at 22:04:45
37HH) Most couples are dancing normally, but there's one couple that is a bit more energetic about it. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: In the original script, Faith is described as follows: "...young, loose and fast, 18-ish, biker type meets trailer park..."--"Faith, Hope & Trick" by David Greenwalt, available through Pocketbooks, Inc., as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
TATTOOS EVIL: "Faith's tattoo...[can be seen as an] omen that she's going to turn evil."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 14:21:22
37II) "Is that why you run, why you hide?" MUSICAL GOODNESS: "The song lyrics could hardly be more explicit in their foreshadowing here."--Sophist, Tues, 07/01/03 at 08:32:19
37JJ) "I'm a bad liar. It's not good for the soul." BAD LIARS: Another sign that Scott Hope is a good match for Buffy. See 5S.
37KK) "But you don't love yourself..." MUSICAL GOODNESS: "Buffy can't, not yet."--Sophist, Tues, 07/01/03 at 08:32:19
37LL) "What was the last thing that guy danced to, K.C. and the Sunshine Band?" POP CULTURE TIME: "Here’s some info from the Official KC and the Sunshine Band Homepage: 'KC And The Sunshine Band is one of the most recognizable names from the disco craze of the '70s. KC, otherwise known as Harry Wayne Casey garnered a total of nine Grammy nominations, winning three of them, including two for his work on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, and an American Music Award as well. KC's records literally sold millions (75 million to be exact) keeping him on a winning streak that lasted well into the eighties. KC became a one-man hit factory for South Florida's T.K. Records, helping several artists scale the charts with material he composed. KC shares a distinction with The Beatles as the first artist to have four #1 singles in the span of one year: Boogie Shoes, Rock Your Baby, Get Down Tonight, and That's The Way (I Like It). Notwithstanding, KC's other hits like (Shake, Shake, Shake), Shake Your Booty and I'm Your Boogie Man still stand as milestones of the disco age.'"--ponygirl, Wed, 07/02/03 at 19:57:03
CONTINUITY CHECK: "A further reference to the tendency of some vampires to remain culturally blocked in the era when they were sired."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34 See 1XX.
37MM) "I'm Faith." WHAT'S IN A NAME?: "Faith's name is, of course, deeply ironic given her extreme cynicism about humanity in general and herself," and of course also her later betrayal of the Scoobies. By later in her character arc, however, she will live up to her name; due to the faith Angel has in her, she will learn to have faith in others.--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34, with additions by Rob
37NN) "Can I borrow that?" LINKAGE & SYMBOLISM: "In Dirty Girls, Faith’s return is also marked by her taking a stake from Buffy to finish off a vampire. Here in this first appearance it sets up Faith as someone who is taking Buffy’s status – her weapon – from her."--ponygirl, Wed, 07/02/03 at 19:57:03
37OO) "Thanks, B. Couldn't have done it without you." I THINK THIS MIGHT BE THE BEGINNING OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP: From the start, Faith does three things that instantly annoy Buffy, all of which have to do with a fear of her stealing her life: the first is the aforementioned taking of Buffy's weapon, the second is Faith's shortening of Buffy's name to "B," which symbolically demonstrates Faith "cutting Buffy down a notch" and is also an example presumptuousness or lack of caring on Faith's part that Buffy will not mind (which she of course does) the too-familiar nickname, and the third is Faith's implication that Buffy helped her, rather than the other way around.
Act Two
37PP) ...Faith has joined the gang and is relating one of her stories to them. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "Faith devours a huge muffin, in the middle of a story; Xander, Cor, Oz and Willow are charmed and amused by Faith (okay, Cordelia's not charmed by anyone) -- Buffy feels a little left out."--"Faith, Hope & Trick" by David Greenwalt, available through Pocketbooks, Inc., as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
37QQ) "...and this church bus has broke down, and there's these three vamps feasting...on half the Baptists in South Boston." FAITH'S PLACE OF ORIGIN: "Given that there aren't a lot of Baptists in Boston, I think she's being nearly literal here - the vampire are dining on what may well be half the Baptists in South Boston, as the entire population would probably fit on two buses!"--dream of the consortium, Tues, 07/01/03 at 13:09:26
37RR) "Isn't it crazy how slayin' just always makes you hungry and horny?" KINKY SLAYAGE: "This tie between slaying and sex will become very prominent in the future."--Sophist, Tues, 07/01/03 at 08:32:19
HUNGRY SLAYAGE: "In Wrecked, Dawn mentions to Willow that Buffy always heads straight to the refrigerator after slaying: 'I'll leave a note for Buffy on the refrigerator. That's the first place she goes after patrolling. She's such a pig after she kills things.' In Gone, we see Buffy do that very thing."--Arethusa, Wed, 07/02/03 at 11:42:41 See 43F.
37SS) "Well... Sometimes I-I crave a nonfat yogurt afterwards." KINKY AND HUNGRY SLAYAGE: "Buffy will, at later stages, admit to feeling the more viscerally predatory side of slaying, especially in Season 5."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
37TT) "There was one, and then Buffy died for, like, two minutes, so then Kendra was called, and then when she died, Faith was called." THE CALLING: See 22M.
37UU) "So, B, did you really use a rocket launcher one time?" CONTINUITY CHECK: This refers to the events of Innocence (see 26CCC), and also confirms that the Council is aware of at least some of the details of Buffy's slayage.
37VV) "Uh, yeah, actually, it's a funny story. There was..." QUIET BUFFY: Buffy's friends and Faith ignoring her story further feeds Buffy's fears that Faith is trying to take over her life. See 37RRR.
37WW) "So what was the, uh, story about that alligator?" TALL TALES?: "I was a little surprised some time ago when one writer suggested that Faith's stories in this scene are lies. Given what has happened to Buffy over the last two years, they are not greatly implausible. The question of just how much prior experience Faith had is probably down to your own gut."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
37*5) "Oh, there's this Big Daddy Vampire out of Missouri who used to keep them as pets." POSSIBLE IDENTITY?: "Does this refer to Kakistos? If so, Faith is talking about him more casually than I'd expect. But she does say later, 'I tell ya, I never had more trouble than that damn vamp,' which is certainly true of Kakistos."--anom, Mon, 01/05/04 at 22:04:45 [Editor's Note: Unless Faith is lying, when she refers to the "Big Daddy" vamp as her 'toughest kill,' I'd assume that this wasn't Kakistos, because (a) as already said, she claims to have killed him, (b) the casual way she speaks of him, and (c) Kakistos doesn't seem either Southern or the type to keep alligators as pets.--Rob]
37XX) "Oh, do you guys remember the Three?" BUFFY OOPS!: They don't remember the Three, and apparently Buffy doesn't have a great memory of them, either, since if she did, she'd recall that she didn't kill them. Darla did, in the episode, Angel, after they were unsuccessful in carrying out the Master's orders to kill Buffy (see 37OO). One could go so far as to say that Buffy was the indirect cause of their death, but that's pushing it.
37YY) "...I'm wondering about your position on werewolves." CALL OF THE WILD: See 27MMM.
37*6) "Apparently not that long." CONTINUITY CHECK: This joke has a great follow-up in Homecoming (see 39Vx4).
37ZZ) "Hey, as long as you don't go scratchin' at me or humpin' my leg, we're five-by-five, you know?" CATCHPHRASE: "The first use of Faith's trademark idiom..."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
"The 'Five by Five' comes from military radio operators who used the phrase to tell the person they were talking to how well they were coming in. There was a five point scale in two categories, strength of signal and clarity of transmission. A strong, clear signal was coming in 'Five by Five', lesser signals would be judged with lesser numbers. Radio operators and other servicemen picked up the phrase to represent generally good circumstances. So when Faith says everything is 'Five by Five,' things must be, by her standards at least, going great (Hugin, Feb 24 12:11 2000)."--Masquerade, "Faith, Hope & Trick" Analysis from http://www.atpobtvs.com
37AAA) "The vamps, though, they better get their asses to DEFCON ONE...'cause you and I are gonna have fun, you know, Watcherless and fancy-free." SOLDIER GIRL: "Another miltary phrase, this time coming from nuclear defence. Defcon One means that an actual nuclear attack is in progress."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
CONTINUITY CHECK: Xander uses this phrase again in Bargaining II. (Thanks to anom for remembering the phrase and TCH for remembering the episode!)
37BBB) "If I'd've known they came *that* young and cute, I would've requested a transfer." SEXY GILES: Although this raises the bile in Buffy's throat, the fact that Faith can instantly see the hotness of Giles shows just how cool the girl is. Like Oz, she is the definition of "cool." Also, the fact that she's flirting with a man who is not only an authority figure but much older than she is is another clue to the audience at how ragingly sexual the girl can be.
37CCC) "Raise your hand if 'ew'." SCOOBY SPEAK: See 13CCC.
37DDD) "And over here, we have the cafeteria, where we were mauled by snakes." CONTINUITY CHECK: This happened in I Only Have Eyes For You (see 31PP).
37EEE) "And this is the spot where Angel tried to kill Willow." CONTINUITY CHECK: This happened in Innocence (see 26BB).
37FFF) "Oh...and over there in the lounge is where Spike and his gang nearly massacred us all on Parent-Teacher night." CONTINUITY CHECK: This happened in School Hard (see 15CCC).
37GGG) "Oh, a-and up those stairs, I was sucked into a muddy grave." CONTINUITY CHECK: Another reference to I Only Have Eyes For You (see 31BBB).
37HHH) "If I'd had friends like you in high school, I... probably still would've dropped out. But I might've been sad about it, you know?" BOSOM BUDDIES: "The relationships in this episode, with the SG fascinated by Faith and Buffy feeling left out, will change completely after the events of Revelations, which leave Faith disastrously alienated and distrustful of humanity (see 41Qx4, 41Rx4)."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34 See 43H.
37III) "What is it with you and Slayers?" LINKAGE: "In S5 Buffy-obsessed Spike gets Harmony to do that exact thing." Cordy is referring to the crush Xander has had on both Buffy and Kendra (see 22WW). She will say a similar thing to Connor in Salvage, when she realizes he has a crush on Faith, telling him that he takes after his father, Angel, in being turned on by Slayers.--MsGiles, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 08:48:45, with additions by Rob
37JJJ) "Maybe I should dress up as one and put a stake to your throat." LINKAGE: "In Season 5, Buffy-obsessed Spike gets Harmony to do that exact thing."--MsGiles, Thurs, 07/03/03 at 08:48:45
37LLL) "Hey, maybe Faith and Scott could hit it off." CAMEL BACK-BREAKING STRAW: At Willow's suggestion that Faith might like Scott, Buffy shows almost a sibling-rivalry type jealousy (see 37SSS). She isn't interested in Scott (or at least acts as if she isn't), but at the suggestion that maybe this other girl who has recently begun to insert herself into her life might like Scott, Buffy becomes instantly envious, and not only because of Scott himself but because now her best friend isn't trying to find a guy for her but for Faith! See 43H.
37*6) "This town, this very street, wired for fiber optics." FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: "Is he saying it's already got the fiber optics installed? A little one-Starbucks town like Sunnydale? Could this be an early indication of the presence of the Initiative? We do learn in the episode of that name that they have the whole town under surveillance & can lock down sectors by remote control. Trick must be a pretty good hacker if he can tap into their network."--anom, Mon, 01/05/04 at 22:04:45
37MMM) "See, we jack in a T-3, um, twenty-five hundred megs per, we have the whole *world* at our fingertips." TECHY OOPS!: "And ME still isn't good at numbers. A T3 line (more commonly referred to as DS3) is 45 Mbps."--Kenny, Wed, 07/02/03 at 08:28:55
37NNN) "...we stay local--where the humans are jumpin' and the cotton is high--but we live global." TRICK, YOU IS MY MINION NOW: "What a great combination of techno-speak and allusive-satirical commentary on racial-cultural history in Mr. Trick's speech here, with the appropriately altered line from the Porgy and Bess [the classic American opera, written by George Gershwin in 1934] song, Summertime: 'Summertime, and the livin' is easy / Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high' (Gershwin). Ironically, of course, 'Summers' will end the easy living [for Trick] soon enough."--MaeveRigan, Tues, 07/01/03 at 12:05:39
37OOO) "She's going to pay for what she did to me." FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "Kakistos moves into the dim light. For the first time we get a look at his face. Not a pretty face. One eye is milky and useless; a wide-ass scar runs through that eye and down his terrible face, as if someone parked an ax in it. Even the unflappable Mr. Trick is flapped. He takes a step back."--"Faith, Hope & Trick" by David Greenwalt, available through Pocketbooks, Inc., as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
37PPP) "You guys order a piz..." FACT OR FICTION?: "This incident copies an urban legend, reported as fact from several conveniently out-of-the-way places, in which 'vampires', 'Satanists' or plain psychos order takeaway food and sacrifice the deliverer."--KdS, Tues, 07/01/03 at 09:38:34
37QQQ) "Buffy can be awfully negative sometimes." MOM-JACKING: And now Faith has won over Buffy's mom and worst of all, she has gotten herself into that coveted position of the person (usually a sibling--see 37SSS) that the mother tells her child she should strive to be like. Of course, soon enough Joyce will be no more enamored of Faith than Buffy is right now.
37RRR) "No, but I'm the one getting single-white-femaled here." POP CULTURE TIME: "A reference to the movie Single White Female, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bridget Fonda," about a mentally unbalanced woman who attempts to steal her roommate's identity by becoming a carbon copy of her, right down to the fashion she wears, and then killing her.--Sophist, Tues, 07/01/03 at 08:32:19, with additions by Rob
37SSS) "It's probably good you were an only child." A PRIVATE JOKE?: "We know there was foreshadowing of Dawn in Graduation Day II [at the end of the third season]. You have to wonder if Joss is making an inside joke here."--Sophist, Tues, 07/01/03 at 08:32:19 See 37Ex4.
37TTT) "Mom, no one can take over for me." LESSON LEARNED: "Buffy tried to run away from it over the summer, but now understands she cannot."--Sophist, Tues, 07/01/03 at 08:32:19
37UUU) "Then that means you...When did you die? You never told me you died!" CONTINUITY CHECK: This, of course, refers to the events of Prophecy Girl (see 12HHH).
37VVV) "Look, I-I know you didn't choose this, I know it chose you...I have tried to march in the 'Slayer Pride' parade, but...I don't want you to die." QUEER AS SLAY: "Another suggestion of the Slayer as a metaphor for a gay teen[; the 'Slayer Pride' parade is a pun on the Gay Pride Parades in which gay people, and their parents and friends, march] (see 34SS and 34TT). Joyce’s reaction also emphasizes why Buffy cannot share Faith’s lighter approach to slaying – Buffy is very much aware of how her actions hurt those she cares about."--ponygirl, Wed, 07/02/03 at 19:57:03
37WWW) "Wow! Think you can take me?" MEOW!: "Ooh, the beginning of the Buffy/Faith slashy subtext! Faith’s words echo Buffy’s more than slightly sexual challenge to Angel in When She Was Bad (see 13WW)."--ponygirl, Wed, 07/02/03 at 19:57:03
37XXX) "My dead mother hits harder than that!" BACK STORY: This is when we learn not only that Faith is an orphan (if her father is alive, he's obviously not in the picture), although we may have earlier assumed as much from her personality and the circumstances of her arrival in Sunnydale (at the very least, she seemed to be a runaway), but that her mother was abusive. In Enemies, we will learn that she was an alcoholic, and, when she wasn't physically harming Faith, was neglectful of her.
37YYY) "FAITH!" FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: Faith getting so involved and caught up in her slayage to the point that she does not notice what is going on around her proves to be almost fatal to Buffy here, and will prove fatal to Allan Finch, the deputy mayor, in Bad Girls.