Discussion of 1.19 "Sanctuary" - Aired 5/2/2000 (WB-US)

[Flannen]

Buffy comes to Los Angeles seeking vengeance under the guise of protecting Angel from Faith's violent nature, but Buffy is shocked and hurt to discover her former love siding with her nemesis as he attempts to shelter her. Meanwhile, Wesley is faced with a crisis of loyalties when the Watcher's Council offers a chance at reinstatement if he gives up Faith.

Source: TV.com

Discuss this episode here!

 

[Appelsapientje]

I found it kind of stupid of Buffy that she was so shocked when Angel hit her.. I know that that sounds harsh and I also know that men should never hit women, but she hit him first. And well, women shouldn't hit men either. And she is stronger that Angel, so it's not like she was helpless. Of course Angel shouldn't have hit her, but Buffy still hit him first.

But I did understand Buffy's reaction about Faith in this episode. Still, she quite annoyed me in this episode and that doesn't happen very often.

 

[VisionGirl]

Just re-watched it the other night, and given the events of season 8, I really, really think Angel should rewatch it too! (& listen to the things he tells Faith, then implement them)

 

[wickedtiger86]

Really a great episode.

When Faith tries to apologize to Buffy, kinda breaks my heart a little. Every time.

 

[PassionBecoming]

This was on TNT this morning. It makes me sad.

 

[Jules]

I love that Buffy shows up in this episode, although she does come across as a little petty, especially to those fans that have never seen BtVS.

I enjoy watching Faith work through her guilt and the last scene when she's sat in the cell by herself with a smile on her face is very nice.

Kate really annoys me in this episode. I like how Buffy reacted to her when Kate tried to kick her out of the police station. It would have been nice to see a bit more of Cordy in this episode.

Those Council guys were a little bit silly. Unless they didnt recognise Buffy when she was on the roof top, but they were shooting at both Slayers. They could have easily killed both of them. Which I suppose works in the councils favor since Buffy had quit and Faith had gone rouge.

 

[sylvanscribe]

I like how Buffy is a flawed human being. Specifically, she was extremely pissed off that Faith slept with her boyfriend and was acting quite petty and irrational. I am sure many women (and men) would not fare better under similar circumstances.

In any case, I love how this episode played out, with the convergence of the Watcher Council's Special ops, Wolfram and Hart, and the main Faith/Buffy/Angel story line.

 

[Mischlings]

I love this episode -- this, along with Five by Five (I count them as a single episode, since they go so well together) is my favorite episode of both series. I've got a bunch of thoughts that are coming to me relatively randomly.

Something that I notice in it that is throughout the series: Buffy is very self-centered. Why does she track down Faith? Because she took her body and slept with Riley. Not because of anything that Faith does to everyone else (and she's done a lot), but because of what she did to Buffy. Just an interesting thing to think about (I still love Buffy, it's just a character flaw to make sure to keep in mind).

You see how much Wesley actually trusts Angel -- he sides with him and helps Faith escape from the Council, even though less than a day ago she was brutally torturing him. For some reason, the fact that he tells her to grab her coat really sticks out in my mind -- I guess because it's so odd that he's kind of looking out for her well-being.

Buffy delivers one of my favorite lines to Angel here: "So you decided to punish her with a severe cuddling?"

The "microwave speech" is one of the most Whedon-y things I can think of -- the fact that this episode was written (mostly) by Tim Minear tells me how much those two think alike. And the punchline is something I saw coming a mile away, but the fact that you knew it was coming made it work.

This episode also has the biggest gut punch line in either series:
Faith: "Buffy, I'm sor --"
Buffy: "Apologize to me and I will beat you to death."
Faith (very quietly): "Go ahead."

One thing that really sticks out to me is when Buffy and Faith are on the roof. As soon as the Watchers open fire, Buffy throws Faith to the ground to protect her, even though she just threatened to beat her to death. That's part of why I find their relationship to be so complicated and interesting.

And Faith ultimately chooses to go to prison for what she did (and, as we learn later, she's only there because she wants to be), showing how she really feels about what she's done.

And that's all that's come to mind about this episode. There's probably more, but that's all I can think of.

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

The reason I think Buffy was being, so to speak, self-centered in this episode was because she wasn't sure how to feel about having her body basically violated by Faith. And seeing Angel and Faith, hugging, which I can agree that from a point of view, it could be taken as something else entirely, only added a feeling of betrayal to the things she was already feeling. Her anger at Faith wasn't misguided, but I do think she might have gone a little too far.

As a Bangel shipper, its hard for me to watch Buffy and Angel trading blows for a moment before the Council comes after Faith. It's so painful to see

 

[white avenger]

I agree, Buffy was totally out of line when she hit Angel, and then it was a little ridiculous that she should be so shocked when he, more by surprise and sheer reflex than any actual intent to hurt her. And, while I would NEVER, under anything even vaguely resembling normal circumstances, advocate a man striking a woman, I do honestly believe that Angel was totally justified in what he did. Something that I read a long time ago seems perfectly applicable in this case:

"A man never strikes a woman.

A woman never strikes a man.

Either action invalidates the other."

Or, as Robert Heinlein's character, Oscar Gordan, said in "Glory Road," "I never hit ladies. That doesn't mean that I won't spank misbehaving children, regardless of gender."

 

[Mischlings]

The reason I think Buffy was being, so to speak, self-centered in this episode was because she wasn't sure how to feel about having her body basically violated by Faith. And seeing Angel and Faith, hugging, which I can agree that from a point of view, it could be taken as something else entirely, only added a feeling of betrayal to the things she was already feeling. Her anger at Faith wasn't misguided, but I do think she might have gone a little too far.

As a Bangel shipper, its hard for me to watch Buffy and Angel trading blows for a moment before the Council comes after Faith. It's so painful to see

I understand why Buffy's acting that way, it's just something that I don't think she gets called out on as much as she maybe should throughout the series (and she's self-centered throughout the series, not just here. Selfless is another great example, and even though she gets called out on it, nothing is ever really done about it). And she definitely took it too far with Faith, but honestly I don't expect her to react any differently.

And as much as Faith/Buffy is my primary ship, I like Buffy and Angel together, and them fighting is definitely a huge moment there. Kind of cements how different they are and how far apart they've grown in just the one year apart.

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

I understand why Buffy's acting that way, it's just something that I don't think she gets called out on as much as she maybe should throughout the series (and she's self-centered throughout the series, not just here. Selfless is another great example, and even though she gets called out on it, nothing is ever really done about it). And she definitely took it too far with Faith, but honestly I don't expect her to react any differently.

And as much as Faith/Buffy is my primary ship, I like Buffy and Angel together, and them fighting is definitely a huge moment there. Kind of cements how different they are and how far apart they've grown in just the one year apart.

I wasn't saying that she was acting self-centered just in that episode, she does act like that multiple times in the series. Honestly, I think it's more realistic, because that's a somewhat normal part of human behavior. Again, some of the best writing out there for a TV series

 

[Mischlings]

I wasn't saying that she was acting self-centered just in that episode, she does act like that multiple times in the series. Honestly, I think it's more realistic, because that's a somewhat normal part of human behavior. Again, some of the best writing out there for a TV series

Yes, it's very realistic for her to act that way, I just think that the characters should call her out on it more often. I don't recall it happening in this episode, but Angel should've called her out on it or something (Faith would've if she hadn't completely broken down in this episode). It's just something that I think got ignored by the other characters a lot in the series.

 

[itssmiletime]

This episode has really grown on me. My main problem still stands though- W&H reaction to the events. The demon they sent after her and Angel was kinda lame.

Thing I loved
-How Cordelia says to Wesley that Faith was not his fault. Thank you, thank you, writers and Cordelia. After quite possibly one of Xander's lowest moments, in Enemies, he blames Wesley for the guilt.

And a thing I hated.
-Buffy. Listen, I think she was incredibly justified in being angry to Faith. However, hitting Angel? Saying lines such as 'no one has ever made me feel like a victim?'- I do think Buffy does tend to look down to victims in a way. That line made me seem like she felt ashamed of being a victim. And also- I though The Master and Angelus had a larger impact on Buffy, pretty much victimised her. They may have lost- but they did kind of win in a way.

In the police station, yeah Buffy, stop it. If a police officer uses his arm to guard you from going further, you don't grab him and raise it down. Gee, have some respect, because they earned their authority and they have it over you. Kate was incredibly justified here as well. Angel was hiding a murder suspect, refusing to listen to the officers. How else is she supposed to act?

Score: 90-ish. A tad lower than Five By Five.

 

[PassionBecoming]

-Buffy. Listen, I think she was incredibly justified in being angry to Faith. However, hitting Angel? Saying lines such as 'no one has ever made me feel like a victim?'- I do think Buffy does tend to look down to victims in a way. That line made me seem like she felt ashamed of being a victim. And also- I though The Master and Angelus had a larger impact on Buffy, pretty much victimised her. They may have lost- but they did kind of win in a way.

While The Master, Angelus, and all other Big Bads made Buffy/Scoobies/people in general victims, that's something that comes every day for Buffy. Someone or something is always trying to kill her, her friends, or end the world. That's a day in the life of a Slayer, and she knows how to fight back against it.

She probably did feel ashamed of feeling like a victim - she's The Slayer. A hero. She is supposed to do the saving and protecting, and in this instance she couldn't fight back.

Faith stole her body. That is the most personal of all possessions and something that no one else should ever have control over. Her body was used to have sex with her boyfriend; Faith got to hear Riley's first "I love you". I'm not sure what else could victimize you as much as having your body hijacked and you being stuffed into someone else's body. I think that's what Buffy meant, and I believe she was completely justified.

 

[itssmiletime]

While The Master, Angelus, and all other Big Bads made Buffy/Scoobies/people in general victims, that's something that comes every day for Buffy. Someone or something is always trying to kill her, her friends, or end the world. That's a day in the life of a Slayer, and she knows how to fight back against it.

She probably did feel ashamed of feeling like a victim - she's The Slayer. A hero. She is supposed to do the saving and protecting, and in this instance she couldn't fight back.

Faith stole her body. That is the most personal of all possessions and something that no one else should ever have control over. Her body was used to have sex with her boyfriend; Faith got to hear Riley's first "I love you". I'm not sure what else could victimize you as much as having your body hijacked and you being stuffed into someone else's body. I think that's what Buffy meant, and I believe she was completely justified.

Yeah, I fully and completely understand what you are saying. However, I can't stop feeling angry at this line. Buffy is completely justified at being angry at Faith. She violated her body. It just rubbed me the wrong way. It's hard for me tocnot see
A victim = not a hero, not strong, etc analogy at play here

 

[Wesley Pryce]

[MENTION=12236]itssmiletime[/MENTION] I agree with most of what you said there. BUT,in reference to W&H sending the "lame" demon, I think its important to remember that W&H didn't send it but instead three particular lawyers at W&H did. The difference being that they didn't have the vast resources to better demon assassins like W&H firm. They were "murdering" Angel and Faith in violation of company policy and trying to hide the fact that they had screwed up,and so their list of would be "hit men" was short. just my view on it.

 

[AnthonyCordova]

Finally...this and the very end of the previous episode gave me a reason to like Faith. I couldn't stand that psychotic sociopath from the start (excellent villain though). I never could accept the various unconvincing excuses for the way she was either. Now that she's willing to change, I can actually like her the way everyone else already does. I knew there had to be a reason.

 

[thetopher]

Yeah, I love this ep, along with 'Five-By-Five', I would say its Faith's finest hour, except we have those Angel episodes to come, where everything she does is pure liquid awesome.
She is the reason S4 of Angel is one of my favourites.

People primarily like Faith because her redemption is so well done. (But also, she was a really good bad guy- the closest thing Buffy has to a Nemesis)

The highlight to me is the rooftop conversation between Buffy and Faith, it's just so well acted (Buffy utterly, justifiable furious and Faith so repentant and raw with emotion) and the last time we see them working together for a long time...

*sigh* I so 'ship these two, I really do...

 

[Charmander]

Angel and Buffy are so different in this respect. However hurt Angel might be he tends to hide it really well, but Buffy will make accusations about of anything and everything. Likewise, Buffy punches Angel but gives him a horrified look when he retaliates.