The Scooby Gang Not Realising Faith was in Buffy's body

[Joshua]

Did anybody else think it was pathetic a little that Buffy's best friends didn't recognize that it wasn't "Buffy" in "Who Are You"?

I mean someone who never even met Buffy noticed "Buffy" wasn't herself right away. Like honestly was it bad writing in this episode?

 

[Robb Stark]

Well, yes and no.

I mean, on the one hand yes, Faith (as Buffy) was acting pretty weirdly, no doubt. But on the other, think about it. If you had a friend acting strangely, even crazy, would your first instinct be "oh, I got it. She's switched bodies with someone". I don't think so. Buffy had acted weird before when things in her life weren't going well ("When she was bad", "Anne"), so I'm sure the Scoobies just thought something was up with her.

The only one who probably should have figured it out, given the world they live in, was Riley. I mean, I can understand where he's coming from, if Buffy came onto me like that I wouldn't be thinking too much about the why or how, but she just tweaks when he says he loves her, and nothing about the way she acts toward him is even remotely close to what Buffy would or had done.

As a side note, I thought it was really cool for Tara to figure it out. That was neat to sort of get her into the group.

 

[Riley's Way]

The only one who probably should have figured it out, given the world they live in, was Riley. I mean, I can understand where he's coming from, if Buffy came onto me like that I wouldn't be thinking too much about the why or how, but she just tweaks when he says he loves her, and nothing about the way she acts toward him is even remotely close to what Buffy would or had done.

I don't agree! Riley had only known her for a few months at this point, if it were me and I had told my GF that I loved her & she reacted that way, I'd just think "oh another crazy one, yay for me" I don't think you can blame Riley for not figuring out she was someone else ..

 

[Tome]

Naaah, I doubt that any of them knew such a thing was possible.... I guess that Willow could have felt it, just like Tara did, since she's a witch too. 😛

It's true that Riley should have noticed that something was off, and at least asked her about it...

 

[WileyDairyGnome]

Well, yes and no.

I mean, on the one hand yes, Faith (as Buffy) was acting pretty weirdly, no doubt. But on the other, think about it. If you had a friend acting strangely, even crazy, would your first instinct be "oh, I got it. She's switched bodies with someone". I don't think so. Buffy had acted weird before when things in her life weren't going well ("When she was bad", "Anne"), so I'm sure the Scoobies just thought something was up with her.

That's what I was thinking too.

 

[white avenger]

As a side note, I thought it was really cool for Tara to figure it out. That was neat to sort of get her into the group.

Not really surprising when you consider that she was the only one who could look at Faith/Buffy objectively. Everyone else just saw their friend acting strangely and looked for reasons why she would act that way.

I do think, however, that Faith should have tried a little harder to try and behave a bit more in line with how the real Buffy acted, at least around the people who knew her best. Of course, it's possible that she was just trying to totally destroy Buffy's reputation before leaving town.

Incidentally, here's a great fan fiction about the consequences of Faith's conversation with Spike, suitable for all ages, and you don't even have to be a Spuffy shipper to appreciate it:

http://www.allaboutspike.com/fic.html?id=294

 

[BuffyElevated]

I don't know if it was pathetic that they didn't realize it wasn't really Buffy. I mean, should they have automatically thought "That's not my friend; someone must have inhabited her body!"?? No, they shouldn't have, but I do think they could have paid a little more attention to her actions and maybe brought it up with Giles that something was off.

I do think it was cool that Tara was the one to figure out it wasn't her, because of reading her aura. 🙂 That was a neat little twist.

 

[Icarium]

"Buffy" was much meaner to Tara than to the people who actually knew the real Buffy. And Tara was the only one who could read auras, so I don't see anything strange in Tara being the one who got really suspicious of "Buffy".

 

[Somnambulist]

"Buffy" was much meaner to Tara than to the people who actually knew the real Buffy. And Tara was the only one who could read auras, so I don't see anything strange in Tara being the one who got really suspicious of "Buffy".

I'm pretty sure at this point in the season Willow had been telljn Tara about Buffy and the gang and how nice they were, etc. So based on Tara's initial meeting with Buffy/Faith she was probably able to determine something was off.

 

[Pike]

I think Riley hardly knew her. The others have only known her for a few years. To see someone acting strange or odd one day isn't too far fetched. Unless she did something so drastic.

I know they have fought dozens or hundreds of Vampires, Demons, and Giant Snakes.. but I still don't think anyone would be experienced enough to figure it out. Even Giles, as an experienced watcher, still surfers from trying to figure Buffy out; or all of them.

I do think its cool that Tara figured it out.

 

[iShower4free]

Even though Riley hadnt known her that long they were in a pretty intense relationship, even if it was more physical than anything else. You get to know someone on a pretty deep level in those situations.

 

[BuffyIsMyAlways]

I think the only person who should have noticed right away is Riley. If he loved her as much as he said he did, he should have known it wasn't her when he saw her.

 

[Wild At Heart]

Well, that's not something you expect to happen even if you are on the Hellmouth because it didn't happen all the time. Also there have been points in the past where Buffy acted strange & a little bitchy so they just probably didn't think too much into it. I feel like Willow has her suspicions at certain points & also Faith was trying to not be too evil when they were around, hence why she waits until Willow leaves before she grills Tara.

---------- Post added at 05:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:01 PM ----------

I think the only person who should have noticed right away is Riley. If he loved her as much as he said he did, he should have known it wasn't her when he saw her.

I do sort of agree with that but at the same time, Riley always found Buffy to be very unpredictable & hard to figure out. He may not have understood why she was acting the way she was but may have figured that she was trying to be playful or surprise him & that if anything was going on, she would explain it to him later on.

 

[Mischlings]

Let me say something that I've noticed: the Scoobies are kind of dumb. They're never as perceptive with Buffy as they like to think that they are. I mean, look at all the times something is wrong with her and they don't really notice. If I had to guess what it was, notice that every time they're not sure something is wrong with her they're dealing with very stressful situations (in this, Adam and Faith being on the loose; in Intervention, Joyce had just died -- in episodes where they're not under that much stress, they notice her acting weird and see that something is wrong about it, such as Something Blue).

Honestly, though, I'm most surprised that Spike didn't notice anything was really wrong -- Buffy was too disgusted by him at that point to flirt or tease like she did at the time, and the part about her being "a stuck-up tight ass with no sense of fun" is too self-aware for Buffy. Then again, if a girl dressed like that said what to me what she said to Spike, I don't think I'd be able to pay attention to anything else. (Fun fact: the kiss between Buffy and Spike in Tabula Rasa takes place in the same location as the scene between Spike and Faith, and, at the time, he probably still thought it was Buffy who had done that, so I wonder how much Faith actually had to do with encouraging Spike's attraction to Buffy...)

 

[DevilishDrone]

I mean they didnt know that vamp willow wasnt the real willow either.

 

[Seeing Red]

Everyone has there bad or off days. Her friends may have noticed that something was up, but it could have not been enough to draw that much attention to that fact. Plus, the Scooby Gang as a whole is not the best of seeing what is right in front of them.

They did not believe that Buffy was inside of Faith's body. To me they were just looking at the body, not how they were acting or how different they were behaving.

I thought it was an excellent episode. Eliza Dushku and SMG did a great job in my opinion. Not all actors could pull that off.

 

[AbraxasP3]

This episode finally caught my attention when I watched it a few days ago. I have watched the episode before and interestingly enough, not really processed the likelihood of something like this happening & nobody noticing.
I like the episode - I think the contraption Faith uses to do this is rather interesting, and the acting from Sarah and Eliza is top-notch. I can't decide which actress did a better job because they both displayed an amazing sense of knowing the other characters and their mannerisms.

Having said that, yes, it's very outrageous to me that Faith would have been able to pull it off for as long as she did. It's so obviously not Buffy at all - it's definitely a hard sell for me to believe that Willow wouldn't catch on - BUT I do find it rather rad that Tara was able to sense something when we as an audience haven't been that used to her as a character - it's one of the few things that forehadows the potency of her character later on in the series. What I will mention is that Tara's whole demeanor changed a little as the series progressed. In season 4, Tara is very shy, reserved, quiet, and her body (mostly her head) is always slumped down in a weird position -- this changes drastically in season 5 & 6 -- I can only imagine this to be explained by her sudden friendships and love of Willow.
But her ability to know it was not Buffy is really kinda neat.

A few other series have delved into this same plot (Charmed, Supernatural, Warehouse 13 - to name a few). I think "Buffy" and "Charmed" end up doing it very well because it's all about character & the dialogue - and it's great in "Buffy" when the special affects come secondary to character development because no matter what the writing is always fantastic. I know Joss has always wanted us fans to have a well-rounded series.

Like I said, I do find it unlikely for Willow, Spike, Riley & Xander not to of known that something was horribly wrong.
The body switcheroo is probably something the writers were wanting to try for a while (and to do it between 2 slayers probably looks the best on paper). And season 4 is kind of the most logical time to do it because each character was (to some extent) out of sync - gone were the days of high school when they were all glued to eachother. Both Buffy & Willow recognize this in "Primeval" when they are descending down the elevator shaft of the Initiative.

Definitely a fun episode but I now get a good kick out of nobody realizing Faith has hijacked Buffy's body, especially when it comes to the scenes in the Bronze

 

[Cordy_Chase]

Finally just a few hours ago did I reached this mini-arc. This thread title has been taunting me for a few days.

The prospect of recognition went both ways. The way Faith dressed in her personally desired attire, partied like a slut (when she has a boyfriend for that matter) and brushed off or asked for confirmation of certain comments were pretty obvious. The scooby gang at least should have recognized Faith by that outfit!

Then again Buffy has that lust for life and tough bitch persona. How many parties has she meant to attend which was then ruined by some demonic situation? Someone suddenly acting out of character isn't humanly impossible and Xander and Willow whether they are being rational or blind have a history of denying supernatural reasoning initially. Remember Kathy, to give one example? Buffy's first roommate at UC Sunnydale whom no one believed was a demon? Buffy could have been under a lot of stress about Faith after the close attack on her mother or wanting to turn up the heat with Riley who by the way barely has any idea who Faith is nor does he know Buffy very deeply and personally unlike the Scoobies. Her reaction to his telling her he loves her is easily insecurity (though freakish, I actually don't understand that moment, I guess Faith is terrified of commitment?).

In addition on the real Buffy side of the story, I found it strange how only the one committee guy that she had threatened noticed that 'Faith' let him go. They are more than aware of how dangerous she is and yet it's not unusual that she wouldn't follow through on a threat? Though I can see the real Faith finding it empty when they don't care about losing a guy.

There were also areas where Faith was actually very believable such as the scene between her and Joyce where she said:
"I just hate thought that she could have hurt you." and hugged her, then later how she told Willow that she'd never let Faith hurt her. Beautifully played. She also had the line about going out on patrol that night down.
Then, though she was alone in this moment, while at the airport prepared to skip the country she sees the church raid on the news and turns her gaze on it exactly in a Buffy manner. Her outfit at that point was even fitting and once at the church the scene between her and Riley was on the money.

May I also say that the way Tara picked up on the switch was boss! Here I was assuming she was gonna get the wrong impression of Buffy. That "She's not your friend" line got the same thought from me as it did Willow. Nicely done.