As Buffy longs for a normal life, the Master plots to fulfill an ancient prophecy concerning the creation of the 'Anointed,' a weapon which could finally rid of the vampire slayer for good.
While I had enjoyed the past two stand-alone episodes of
Buffy, I had been looking forward to getting back to the main arc of the season and seeing exactly what the Master had up his sleeve. I had hoped that the series could establish itself a stronger foothold through building up the tension and developing the main storyline of the series. The fifth episode of the season brought back the vampires in force, which, along with unique and interesting ideas of its own, crafted what has been the best episode to date.
The episode opened with Giles observing Buffy fighting a vampire in the cemetery. As sort of an evaluation exercise, he determined that Buffy was exerting far to much energy fighting each creature, and that she should simply slay one and move on to the next - as an alternative, she could also surely drop the puns just before each kill, although that would take half of the fun out of each of these encounters. Soon after the exercise was complete, Giles noticed that the vampire had dropped a ring with an insignia of the Order of Aurelius on it - which was later revealed to be an ancient vampire sect. Confused as to why a vampire was carrying around such an object, Giles investigated further, propelling the episode into its main story arc. The intrigue in this episode was of definite advantage for the series; while the previous two episodes had been good, they were sorely missing any sort of mystery. The new Order added a lot of excitement to the proceedings, and I was captivated by potentially finding out exactly what it was by the end of the episode.
This episode seemed to be almost completely split in half story-wise. The other major plot developments again concerned the titular character. Buffy, who has quite a bit of difficulty sustaining an adequate social life, felt as though she needed a break from her role as Slayer. Rather ideally, a potential new character in the form of Owen was kind enough to ask her out on a series of dates throughout the episodes. Buffy, much to the dismay of an increasingly-anxious Giles, agreed to meet Owen at the Bronze. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this side to Buffy; a young woman looking to establish herself in the social life around her high school. The excellent dialogue between Buffy and Owen also helped sell that these were simply normal teenagers, secretly admiring one other:
"So, Emily Dickens, huh? She's great."
"Dickinson."
"She's good also."
The series seems to be really wishing to develop the main character throughout each episode, which is a fantastic goal to have for any series, but is also one which is rarely met. In addition, it was actually believable. After an overnight lookout with Giles, Buffy figured that nothing terrible was going to happen over the course of the next few nights, and rightfully believed that she could have a bit of fun. What makes this story so organic is that I've rarely seen Buffy engage in any form of social event completely removed from slaying before now. Of course, in order to keep in-character, Buffy also removed herself from the social scene once she discovered the dangers facing her friends. The writer's seem to meticulously follow what has previously happened in the series, while also paving out new directions for it to proceed, all while remaining completely natural in the process.
In another nice development, the Master finally returned to the series in this episode. His scenes are always a favourite of mine, as he always seems to revel in being pure, uncensored evil. While he hasn't had much of an opportunity to work outside of his prison in the underground, he always comes across as a formidable threat to Buffy. His goal this episode (and what the prophecy set forth by the Order of Aurelius predicted was to happen around the time-frame of the episode) was to raise an insatiable demon known as the 'Anointed,' which could be used in the battle against the Slayer. It was predicted that Buffy herself would be unable to contend with this creature's feral might, and that she would be brought down by the beast. Of course, Giles also soon uncovered this plan, and set out to prevent the Anointed from rising from the ashes of five dead people.
By far my favourite aspect of this episode was the sound design. More so than in previous episodes, the ambiance and effects heard throughout the episode truly impressed me. Once the fact that the Anointed would rise from the ashes of five was established, the scene quickly cut to that of a bus - filled with five civilians. As if this would not raise the tension in this scene enough, the music heard dramatically aided the sense of unease. The mutterings and prophetic preachings of a man on the bus established instantly that something was about to go horribly wrong for this group. The character could be heard gradually increasing the intensity of his speech, growing from a barely audible whisper to shouting down the bus at his companions. Of course, the bus was quickly ambushed by vampires - the screeching of tyres and death-cry from the horn of the bus signalling that the Anointed was about to be born.
Once Giles decided to check the funeral home following the deaths of the five victims, he was quickly attacked by vampires (yet, smartly, produced a cross to fend them off). The resulting intensity of the following scenes was palpable. Supposedly destroying her date with Owen, Buffy rushed to Giles' rescue with Willow and Xander in pursuit. Splitting up, Buffy and Giles decided they needed to investigate the morgue for the potential Anointed, while Xander and Willow occupied a naive Owen in the observation room. Once again, the ambiance kicked in once the group saw a corpse in the adjacent room rise and smash the window between them - the Anointed had indeed risen. The knowledge that Buffy could likely not defeat this vampire meant that the chase through the funeral home was far more intense than any of the previous battles - the mutterings and speeches of the Anointed dynamically echoing down the hallways behind them.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this episode was the final confrontation with the Anointed (although the final twist somewhat alleviated this issue). It all seemed to be over so quickly and easily. With Buffy enraged after believing that the creature had killed Owen, she ducked out of the way as the monster dived for her - sending it head-first into the incinerator.
The final five minutes of the episode offered some fantastic character development for Buffy and (thankfully) Giles. Buffy ended up turning down Owen for a second date, with the fear of losing someone she cares about during her own struggles taking over. While it was nice to see her develop a social life outside of her core group, it was clear that she could tell that she has duties to perform - ones far larger than a simple date or party. It may be difficult to accept at times, but the greater good must be considered.
Giles also finally got some backstory to call his own - which actually turned out to be very interesting in its own right. As a child of ten-years-old, Giles was told by his father that he was to become a Watcher; the next in a long-line of men in his family to become one. Despite his wishes to become a fighter pilot (or a grocer), Giles was sat down and told that he had no choice in the matter - that sacrifice was needed in order to fulfill his supposed destiny. Comparisons to Giles' childhood and Buffy's are clear, with neither having much of a choice for their future. I hope this discussion brings the two closer together, as it's clear that they're already excellent friends.
I don't particularly have much else to mention about this episode, other than the final reveal that the Master has taken the child present on the ill-fated bus and plans for him to become the true Anointed, sent to mislead Buffy into his custody. Obviously this leads-in to future episodes, and made the underwhelming battle with the patsy in the morgue a little more tolerable.
Overall, this was by far my favourite episode of
Buffy yet. Not only did it provide yet more character development, and offer a startling sound design, but it has also established a story for future episodes to build upon. I look forward to discovering what exactly the Master has planned for his new protégé, and how Buffy and her companions are going to deal with such encounters.
