Ep by ep; DirtyGirls
The Good; Faith back in Sunnydale, what could be wrong?
The Bad; What a shame this is the ep they get Nic Brendon to comment upon, with all the other great Xander centric eps he's been in. Again, Caleb doesn't finish them, he just lets them run?
Best line; Xander; "Everything has eyes" (Oh dear)
Women good/men bad; I don't think I've ever felt such visceral hatred for any villain as I do for woman-hating Caleb. I want to crush his skull in my bare hands. At least the nerds were funny and the Mayor charming and polite (for the most part).
Jeez!; Caleb torturing Shannon, Molly and Colleen killed, Xander maimed.
Kinky dinky; (I may just have to extend this subject now Faith's back) Nubile Potentials pillow fighting in their skimpy undies and suggesting threesomes (to my shame I didn't get the leg-cramp gag first time around). Faith puts the moves on Spike. Scott Hope. Angel, Riley, flirting with Giles and now Spike, the girl just can't help it, she's always stealing Buffy's boyfriends. Faith talks of dressing up as a horny cheerleader (Bring it on?), naughty nurse and sexy schoolgirl for her past lovers. Mayor Wilkins? Wesley? She's also quite OK with the sight of Spike's chains "Each to their own". Her phrasing is quite ambiguous "I used to run with this guy who liked me to dress up as a schoolgirl then take this bullwhip...". Now does she mean she whipped him or he whipped her? Or maybe they took turns? To judge by her later comments about 'looking up the guy with the bullwhip', having had enough all female company for a while, having been the toughest girl in a woman's prison for the last 3 years it seems likely that she was the one being whipped. Remember we've seen her self-harming a couple of times and the naughty schoolgirl is invariably the one being punished in S&M scenarios (probably be the strict schoolmistress if she was doing the whipping?). "If you can't beat them..." Spike comments that the schoolgirl thing is old hat which may be a subtle dig at Britney Spears and the outfit Buffy wears to seduce RJ in Him. One popular fan theory is that Faith is referring to Spanky who Angel meets in the frist ep of Angel Season 5 and who likes to spank women and certainly has a bullwhip. If you like the idea of Eliza Dushku with a whip check out the Youtube clips from the Dollhouse ep 'Spy in the house of love'. Now if you'll excuse me I need to sit down. Faith seems pleasantly surprised that Buffy has had a wild affair with Spike, maybe not so stuffy after all?
Captain Subtext; Obvious tension between Dawn and Faith, one wonders if Dawn always resented this rival for Buffy's affections or liked her only to feel betrayed when she went evil? Faith notes of Dawn 'Brat's all woman sized'. Note when Xander and Kennedy are hurt it's Xander Willow goes to rather than her girlfriend. Xander's fantasy has the girls being with each other as well as him and loads of sapphic sex-play between them. Faith says she's "had her fill" of all female relationships in prison. The choir girl The First poses as for Caleb to stab is very reminiscent of Darla in 'Inside out'. Buffy seems jealous that Faith has been inside Angel's mind which she wasn't able to do in Earshot. Andrew cries at Xander's speech. Spike still very anti-Angel, getting a soul didn't change that!
Guantanamo Bay; So, is Buffy's plan rash or sound? Hard to say, she's right that they just can't sit around waiting and now that they have Faith it might be the time to go on the offensive.
Scoobies to the ER; Xander and Rhona very badly hurt
Scoobies knocked out: Buffy and Spike
Kills: 1 vamp for Faith plus her kills from her appearances on Angel. Faith: 19 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans.
Recurring characters killed: 16, goodbye Molly. Also Colleen who was one of the girls from Xander's threesome fantasy.
Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce, Katrina, Tara, Quentin Travers, Chloe, Molly, Jonathon.
Sunnydale deaths; Molly and Colleen 107
Total number of scoobies: 35 or so, there now seem to be about 20 Potentials plus Faith. However no Anya whatsoever and no one even comments upon it. No Vi either.
Notches on Scooby bedpost: I think we can safely add Bullwhip guy to Faith's total? Faith:3 ;Xander, Riley, Bullwhip guy
Buffy and Dawn more than sisters? In this case Dawn and Faith, you wonder could they have actually been the sisters if things had worked out differently?
Questions and observations; Spike says he reformed long before Faith did, no he didn't! He didn't truly reform until season 6 whilst she turned herself in by season 4. Caleb says that the Bringers DON'T serve Satan meaning the First isn't the Devil. But is he kidding himself? Amazed they let them use the Star Trek refs although I'd always thought Faith's dagger looked very Klingon. You feel sorry for Buffy losing her job, she obviously loved having something normal in her life. People are fleeing Sunnydale, a clear sign that this is the end for the town. Why not just shoot Caleb? I would suspect that the Potentials would be far too young to remember Falcon Crest.
Rachel Bilson as Colleen of course who'll go on to get some real lesbian action on HIMYM. Nasty kick by Buffy at Giles, referring to girls who still 'need a teacher'. Godzilla is referenced, giant Dawn going on to battle Mecha-Dawn in Tokyo with Andrew's advice and encouragement in season 8. Caleb refers to Buffy and Faith as Cain and Abel, Cain of course betrayed his brother whilst Faith betrayed her sister slayer. Xander appears to have a toy dog collection but maybe they're actually Anya's given her 'Puppy' remark in 'Beneath You'. Dawn in a mini-skirt, how did I miss that? It's actually Wood who suggests Buffy takes the offensive, does she do so because she feels bad for him?
Nic Bredon lists his favourite eps as OMWF, Hushed, The Body and Restless, all firm fan favourites Marks out of 10; 8/10