This is a great episode! It’s funny, and moves the season arc along by finally introducing us to The Mayor – and finally beginning to show the conspiracy alluded to several times during the second season.
The episode actually starts off with Scott dumping Buffy. I mean, he definitely deserves better considering she keeps sneaking off to be with Angel (unromantically), but it’s too bad. If he knew her Slayer secret he would understand most of her behavior and then she could actually be with a nice guy. Oh well. It is pretty funny when during the homecoming dance Faith gets revenge on behalf of Buffy by basically telling his date that he has an STD. Another reason why Faith is awesome.
Speaking of homecoming, we actually have a couple of cliché high school things happening in this episode. The other one (because the first is, duh, homecoming) is school pictures. Now, when I was in high school, we all made separate appointments for ourselves with a professional photographer (and not the same one or two, or even three) at a studio to get ours done. So, this whole senior photo thing happening at school makes no sense to me. I’m pretty sure that generic school pics are only for underclassmen, even today. Also, all schools have a make-up photo day. So if Buffy did miss her photo it wouldn’t be her last chance. I mean what if someone is out of school because they are at home throwing up? You mean to tell me that the school would just say, “Oh well, too bad. Guess you won’t have a photo in the yearbook”? NO – that would not happen. Of course, in the case of BtVS this is all a plot device to a) pit Buffy against Cordelia, and b) cause Buffy to feel isolated due to her slaying duties.
So because Buffy misses her photo and won’t be in the yearbook, all because Cordelia was too self-involved in her Homecoming Queen campaign, Buffy decides to run for Homecoming Queen herself. Which is funny. But even funnier when she and Cordelia butt heads. So the two of them being forced to spend quality kill-or-be-killed time together makes for a great hour of television. It’s too bad these two characters never really spent much one-on-one time together. I mean, I know that they’re not “friends,” but they sure do group hang a lot. I think this and “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” are the only two episodes like this. And both deal with popularity interestingly enough.
Despite Buffy being the slayer, Cordelia somehow manages to save the day. First, she is just hilarious with a spatula, but when the surviving Gorch brother gets in her way boy does she let him have it. Honestly, it’s everything. Cordelia is fierce. And funny. Buffy doesn’t even need to defeat him – after Cordelia’s rant he just runs, never to be seen again.
The two girls’ time together isn’t just about standing up to those trying to kill them though. Cordelia, expressing how she doesn’t want to die says that she thinks she loves Xander. That alone bonds these two girls and allows them to work together to get out of the Slayerfest ’98 that Mr. Trick has set up for them. Well, for Buffy and Faith, but one out of two ain’t bad, right?
Side note: Slayerfest ’98 – awesome or tacky? The name perfectly fits the time period with various Lollapaloozas and Lilith Fairs and other (usually music) events happening with the year on the end. I myself attended Mix Fest ’98, hosted by a local radio station and saw The Coors, Edwin McCain, and Barenaked Ladies perform. The fact that Trick picked this goes with the times, but also suggests multiple Slayerfests, which there were actually none of… so I think it was misnamed, but a perfect pop culture misnomer.
Why does Trick think that Cordelia is Faith? Well, Faith was going to be Buffy’s homecoming date after Scott dumps her, so she was supposed to be in the limo with Buffy, not Cordelia. Here’s the thing though, lots of high schools don’t allow same couple dates at major school dances (even though Buffy and Faith are not a couple). Further more, a lot of schools don’t allow people to bring dates that go to other schools. So Faith being allowed into the dance is actually pretty cool. Granted the extra ticket she used was bought for Scott originally. I’m sure that most high schools hadn’t even thought about policies like this yet. Most gay high schoolers were still in the closet and I think it was expected that a lot of kids dated college kids or out-of-town kids and school’s didn’t really care. But it strikes me as wonderful that none of this was an issue for Sunnydale High back in the fall of 1998.
Speaking of dates, both Willow and Xander make a huge deal out of this dance and looking great for their dates. Of course Willow’s date was in the band, so it’s not like they’d get to spend a lot of time together. My high school did not make such a big deal out of the homecoming dance (I don’t even know who was crowned at any point during high school and certainly no one campaigned for Homecoming Queen or King that I know of. Also, my senior year Prom decided not to have a king or queen, so I was robbed of that oh-so-very high school experience altogether), but at Sunnydale, at least in 1998, it was huge. So Willow and Xander decide to help each other out and in the process of previewing their outfits for each other and practicing dancing something happens. Something that I had been wishing for throughout the entire first season and most of the second. However, now I no longer want it and it is infuriating how wonderful and horrible this moment is as a result. Willow and Xander kiss/mini make-out. Ahhhh! Why? Cordelia is actually great for Xander and what about Oz? Not fair!!!! The scene starts off so innocently with them helping each other pick out outfits and then just turns into that. And then they end up deceiving their friends, making Buffy feel unwanted as they (and Oz) help Cordelia out over Buffy due to their guilt, and they can’t even enjoy the dance because of their unwanted attraction to each other (and the resulting guilt). Not cool!
You know what is cool though? Giles and finger food. What a great combination. When chaperoning a dance, it’s good to know that you can eat finger food and be funny at the same time.
In all seriousness though, this episode is amazing. It’s funny, has great character development, and is a break from the usual monster of the week even while still including several monsters of the week and introducing us to the season’s Big Bad. At some point I should actually sit down and try to make my Top 10 Buffy episodes list. I don’t know if this would definitely be on it, but it would be close for sure.
The Great Buffy Re-watch 