Episodes

      Sanctuary

      Written by Tim Minear & Joss Whedon
      Directed by Michael Lange

      Mary Beth's Synopsis | Mary Beth's Review | SunSpeak

      Mary Beth's Synopsis

      Previously on Buffy and Angel, a whole hell of a lot of history happened, wherein Faith met her Watcher Wesley, killed Alan the Mayor's assistant and didn't care, failed Redemption 101 with Angel, woke up from a coma Buffy put her in, escaped a group of Special Ops Watchers that the Council sent after her (neatly ignoring the fact that Buffy was the one who actually escaped them), went to L.A. where Wolfram & Hart hired her to kill Angel, beat up junior associate Lee "I'm weasel, just look at my outfit!" Mercer, tortured Wesley, fought Angel, then broke down in Angel's arms, begging him to kill her. So if you're just tuning in, you didn't miss much.

      Two wounded warriors, body and soul, ride down in Angel's elevator. Faith doesn't say a word, she doesn't flinch, she doesn't blink. Angel opens the doors when they hit bottom (metaphor much?), but he still has to coax her out. Clutching at herself as much to ward off the chill she must feel from still being wet and cold as to hold herself together, Faith steps out. Angel leads her to his bed, gets her to sit and tells her "It's okay." He gives he a blanket and tells her to rest. He even has to put it around her. She still won't look at him. She lies down, pulling her legs up in a not-quite-fetal position, and he covers her with another blanket and tells her to rest again. He puts her stuff by the bed and tells her he'll be close by. As he turns to go, Faith finally reacts, calling out to him. Angel turns and in a flash Faith is there with a knife in hand. She slashes and punches, violently, her face contorted in rage. . . . And it didn't happen. It was a fantasy -- or a nightmare. Faith tells him it was nothing and looks away. Angel leaves her alone with her demons.

      ~*~*~*~

      The next morning, Cordelia meanders about the office wearing this hideous outfit (big surprise there) that consists of a halter top type thing with pink and green stripes and a green skirt. Her hair is a big upsweep. She acts like she's looking for something, but who knows what. She finally turns so we can see the left side of her face, which sports a big shiner -- made more prominent by the big upsweep. Wesley arrives a moment later, dressed casually. He doesn't look so great himself. He sees Cordy and her black eye and mutters, "Bitch." Off Cordy's look, he qualifies, "Not you, of course." He apologizes for letting this happen, and Cordy reminds him that "it was Faith that allowed her elbow to collide with my face." It's not his fault, she tells him. Wesley replies that at least she only got the elbow. In an attempt to comfort him, Cordelia tells Wesley that it looks like he was tortured "by a much larger woman."

      Wesley asks if Faith is still there, and Cordelia scoffs and tells him that "he gave her his bed." Wesley is incredulous, but before Wes can comment, Angel arrives. He's surprised to see Wesley in the office so soon and asks awkwardly how he's feeling. "As well as can be expected," Wesley replies tersely. Angel's glad to hear that, but is more focused on why he came up -- donuts. "Developed a sweet fang, have you," Wes snarks. Angel ignores the jab. Cordy is staying out of it, busying herself with some kind of paperwork at her desk. Wes wonders that it must be difficult for Faith to "enjoy delicious jelly-filled donuts if she is, one assumes, bound and gagged." Angel tries to placate him and reminds him they've discussed this. Wesley says that yes, they agreed the police would be ill-equipped to deal with a Slayer against her will. But he doesn't understand why someone who brutally tortured him the previous evening gets pastries now. Angel tells him he doesn't have anything else and asks if Wes rather he let her starve. "Certainly not," Wes replies acidly, "there are far more humane ways to deal with a rabid animal." Angel's had enough, he gets in Wesley's face and tells him that Faith is a person, not an animal and they're not "in the business of giving up on people." Wesley is offended that Angel would "take the moral high ground with [him] after what she did." He believes in helping people but not in coddling murderers. "It wasn't too long ago that you were the one making a case for her rehabilitation," Angel reminds him. "It wasn't too long ago I had feeling in my right arm!" Wes strikes back. Angel insists she wants to change, but any compassion Wes may have had for Faith is clearly, and understandably, gone. He's convinced that if she's beyond redemption and that if she's set free, she'll kill again. His point made, Wes grabs his jacket and leaves.

      Angel thinks he'll come around, and Cordy, finishing up her paperwork, tells him that "sure, people always get a little funny right after they've been sadistically tortured. Well, you'd know." She hands him the checkbook and asks him to sign several checks. Without blinking, Angel does, more focused on making sure Cordy understands what he's doing. She does. He states that they "can't just arbitrarily decide whose soul is worth saving and whose isn't." She gets it. Done signing, Cordy takes the book with a thanks, and Angel belated realizes all the checks were made out to her -- for paid vacation. Cordy's already pocketed the checks and is putting on her jacket. "Like I'm gonna stick around here while psycho case is roaming loose downstairs with two tons of medieval weaponry? Not! Oh, and I'm thinking. . . sugar high? Not a good idea." And with that, she's gone. And Angel's on his own.

      In the loft apartment where Faith held Wesley, the police are in full investigative mode. Detective Kendrick is surprised to find Kate already on the scene. She tells him she's a detective, so she's detecting." Then they discuss what they know about the case -- fugitive from Sunnydale, tracked her to this place from the guy she beat up, they're pretty sure they'll find her prints all over the place. Kate's busy looking around and barely registers the other Detective. He wants to know why she's really there, since it wasn't heard Kate. "It looked interesting," she tells him. Kendrick isn't buying it. He knows Kate has heard the rumors "that this girl has some kind of supernatural powers." Kate feigns ignorance, and Kendrick goes on to say that "everybody knows you've gone all Scully" looking for weird cases. Kate just stares at him a moment, then corrects him "Scully's the skeptic." Kendrick is confused. Kate continues "Mulder's the believer. Scully's the skeptic." Kendrick is still confused, "Scully's the chick, right?" Kendrick is also an idiot. She goes on to say that Mulder's the one who wants to believe. "And you want to believe?" Kendrick asks. "Oh I already believe," Kate replies as she turns to leave. "That's the problem."

      When Angel returns to his place, with donuts, he looks to the bed and finds no Faith. He calls out for her a couple times, not too frantically, but definitely concerned. He checks the living room, then turns to see her standing in a doorway of the kitchen. She's still in zombie mode, definitely not very aware of herself or her surroundings. Angel tries to tempt her with the donuts. She just stares. He puts them down, then starts moving slowly toward her. "I understand what you're going through," he tells her, as his fingers twitch as if he's readying himself for a duel. "I wanna help, but there are a few things you have to do. First," he says as he stops a couple feet from Faith, "I need you to give me that knife." Faith looks down and we see for the first time that she is, indeed, holding a large knife. Faith seems to see it for the first time, too. She looks from the knife to Angel, then slowly points it at him, then turns it around and hands it to him, handle first. "You should be resting," Angel tells her gently. "I've been asleep for 8 months," Faith responds, her voice dead. "You rest." And she turns to walk away.

      Meanwhile, in the corporate part of town, Lilah finds Lindsey in his office to tell him they've found Faith -- with Angel. "Is he dead?" Lindsey asks. Lilah reminds him that he's a vampire, so yes, technically he's dead. Lindsey smiles slightly at the joke, and Lilah goes on to tell Lindsey that Faith is Angel's houseguest. This gets Lindsey's attention. Lilah is indignant that their assassin is rooming with the mark. Lindsey actually looks impressed and mildly amused. "I told you he wouldn't be easy. He can't be bought and apparently he can't be killed, even by a vampire Slayer." She leans in to tell Lindsey there's even a rumor that he dated one. Lindsey doesn't care. He's more concerned about the senior partners finding out and how bad they look. They've got to fix the situation, so how? He and Lilah look across the office to Lee, whose face is more purple than skin-tone and who sports a next brace and a wired-shut jaw, all courtesy of Faith. Not surprisingly, Lee votes for killing her.

      Back at Angel's place, Faith sits on the edge of the bed, her body practically quivering with tension. But her mind is still elsewhere -- this time, on her memories of killing Alan, the deputy mayor. And her subsequent conversation with Buffy wherein she claimed she didn't care. She jumps up, grabbing her bag and throwing her things inside. Angel comes in and stops short. Faith just looks at him and finishes packing. He tries to convince her to stay, "You're in no condition to leave here. You go out that door now, you'll be running for the rest of your life. My bet is, it'll be a pretty short run." Faith doesn't care, she grabs her bag and heads for the stair. Angel follows and stops her. Faith wants to know why he's doing this. She tells him to stop and tries to move past him. He doesn't budge. "You gonna step aside, or are we gonna throw down," she asks, talking tough and looking not. Angel throws the door to I don't know where open (This apartment makes Duncan MacLeod's Dojo look simple) and tells her she's not his prisoner. "So I'm free?" she asks. "Don't know about that, but the doors open," Angel responds. Faith takes it, heading out into a hallway. Angel asks where she's gonna go, then proceeds to utter some confusing dialogue about That Darkness and Faith going out into it and him having told her before she didn't have to go to That Darkness. Faith stops at the end of the hall and listens, rethinking. Angel continues muttering about touching That Darkness. Whatever it is he means, it gets through to her. . . she finally reacts, punching him hard across the face. Angel takes it. Thrown, she looks down and says quietly, "Help me." He will.

      At the Third and Long Pub, Wesley stares fixedly across the room, then tosses a dart, then two. He's scoring pretty well. The look on his face is one of a man working through some serious anger issues. Cool. He takes a sip of ale, then goes to collect his darts, when suddenly another dart goes flying past his face in straight into the bull's eye. Wesley turns to confront the Terrible Trio of Special Ops Watchers that we met in the Buffy episode "Who Are You?", (and more recently in the Previously Ons. . .). Weatherby, the one who threw the dart, sneers at Wesley as his buds Collins (the leader) and Smith (the other one) smile and greet their old mate.

      ~*~*~*~

      Back at the Pub, Wesley sits rather uncomfortably in a booth surrounded by the Council lackeys. They make small talk about Wesley's choice of Los Angeles for a place to settle down. "Well, it seemed as good a place as any to re-evaluate my situation after being asked to resign my position with the Council," Wes tells them rather stiffly. "And the weather . . . I find it. . . dry." Sounds like he just loves the place. Weatherby has been glaring at Wes that entire time, and finally pipes up, "Wouldn't cough up a dosh for the airfare home, would they?" Wes doesn't argue, and the 3rd Council guy, Smith, grumbles about "all those alchemists on the board of directors, and they still make us fly coach. Miserly bastards." With the idea firmly established that they all hate the men in charge, Collins sets to work on Wesley.

      He lays it on thick, too. Telling Wesley that the Council is willing to admit when they've made a mistake and offering to take him back to England with them. Wesley is dubious at first, but he's definitely listening. The Council, Collins tells him, is willing to reinstate him as a Watcher. Turns out they don't blame him for the "nasty business back in Sunnydale." "Really?" Wesley asks. "Because I rather got the impression they did, when they sacked me." Weatherby doesn't seem to appreciate the snide remark, but Collins brushes it of and tells Wesley it was a mistake that can be rectified. With a nod, Collins has Smith hand Wes a folder. . . that contains a picture of Faith. Collins tells Wesley that they know where she is and that Wesley has access to her. Wes refuses to help, and Weatherby scoffs at him for his loyalty to a vampire of all things. Collins blows smoke in Weatherby's face -- I guess threatening him with the idea of cancer from secondhand smoke is his way of reigning his lackey in.

      Collins assures Wesley that Angel is no concern of theirs and that a Rogue Slayer is much more dangerous, "surely you understand that." Wesley squirms, the bruises on his face speak for themselves. Still, he wants to know why they've come to him, they are, after all, the Council's elite. Wow, those guys became really fascinated with their ale all of a sudden. Wesley gets it. "She cleaned your clocks, didn't she?" Well, technically Buffy did. Do we really think Faith, with her hotheadness, would have gotten away from them as easily? These are Watchers we're talking about. Moving along. Collins sneers at Wes that Faith has "betrayed her calling, the Council, you. She has power and willingness to use that power for evil. She must be stopped."

      Angel finds Faith standing in the kitchen, leaning on the microwave, staring blankly at the wall. "So, how does this work?" she asks. Angel regards her a moment, then tells her that "there's no real simple answer to that. I won't lie to you and tell you it'll be easy. Because it won't be. Just because you've decided to change doesn't mean the world's ready for you to. Truth is, no matter how much you suffer, no matter how many good deeds you do to try to make up for the past, you may never balance out the cosmic scale. The only thing I can promise you is that you'll probably be haunted, and maybe for the rest of your life." Faith takes everything Angel says in, then indicates the microwave and repeats her question. "So, how does this work?" Sheepishly, Angel shows her and asks her if popcorn is enough for her. She says she can live off the stuff and tells him to thank Cordelia. He tells her it's Wesley's -- and (1) I think, Wes? Munches microwave popcorn? And (2) I ponder the similarities between Wesley and Orville Redenbacher. At the mention of Wes, Faith balks. But Angel doesn't let her off so easily. "Are you saying I gotta apologize," Faith asks. Angel asks her if she can and she has a truly pained expression on her face. It's a concept that's totally foreign to her. She's not sure she can. "How do you see 'Gee, I'm really sorry I tortured you nearly to death?'" At least she understands the depth of the problem. Angel advises her to leave the "Gee" off and then tells her to ask herself if she really is sorry.

      Faith counters with "There are some things you can't just take back no matter how sorry you are." Angel knows. He's got experience in dealing with that. Faith reminds him he's had 100 years, she's just trying to make it through the next 10 minutes. I think she's showing remarkable insight into her situation. Angel tells her to take it a minute at a time then. She wavers, but he believes in her. Still, she says, "It hurts. I hate that it hurts like this." Angel tells her it's supposed to. She's caused a lot of pain and suffering and it's not just going to go away. "Deal with it. And maybe you got a shot at being free." Faith laughs for crying and says she's "gotta be the first Slayer in history to be sponsored by a vampire." Quietly, Angel reminds her that he has experience when it comes to that, too.

      At the mention of Buffy, Faith freaks out again. "How'm I gonna ever make things right with her?" Angel tells her this about Buffy. I'm still awed that Angel can admit that not everything is about Buffy. Faith goes on to say "all my life, there was only one person who tried to be my friend." Let's see, was that Willow showing her around the school and talking Buffy into inviting her to dinner? Or would that be Xander, who was kind enough to save her from demons, give her his virginity and believe in her so much that it nearly got him killed? Oh, now, she must mean Buffy, who first acted petty and jealous of Faith before she accepted her into her family. But I digress. Faith continues, "Who went out of their way when I had no right or reason to expect her to, and I screwed her. Not to mention her boyfriend, only him literally." D'oh! This is gonna hurt. Angel reminds Faith that they never did anything (so take that all those people who thought they did in Enemies). Without thinking, as she's wont to do, Faith says "not you, the new one." Oooh. I was right. That hurt. Now Angel is speechless. Stung. Stunned. Faith realizes instantly that she goofed a big one. She actually apologizes, and Angel tries to cover by congratulating her on doing so, but his smile is forced and the breakthrough moment they were having is lost. He wanders off alone, shell-shocked.

      In a conference room at Wolfram & Hart, Lilah pours refreshements while she and Lindsey and are hiring another assassin --this one pretty much hideous-looking Predator-like creature with really bad table manners. This time, they're after Faith. They want her dead, but quick and easy is fine, no need to hurt her. Lee, whose still looking very much the worse for wear, thinks some pain would be good.

      At the pub, Collins presents Wesley with a syringe filled with a sedative "strong enough to bring down a man twice [his] size. . . or a Slayer." Thoughtfully, Wes asks how it works. Exasperated, Weatherby tells him you jab it with her. I'm thinking Weatherby doesn't like Wes much. I'm thinking he doesn't like anyone much. Collins tells Wes just a prick will do; it's fast-acting. "So you intend to take her alive, then," Wes asks. They do. The sedative is to secure her for transport back to England for rehabilitation. Wesley is incredulous, "Does the Council really believe she can be rehabilitated?" Collins assures him they "have every confidence." They just want Wes to take her down, signal them, and they'll take care of the rest. Wes doesn't exactly agree, but he indicates he has conditions of his own -- first and foremost that they don't harm Angel. Weatherby scoffs again -- "Don't be a ponce!" Wesley insists. Collins says they have "no quarrel with the vampire." "Unless you count that he is a vampire," Weatherby interjects. I'm thinking the threat of cancer isn't really enough to hold him back anymore. Smith, meanwhile is one deadly dull fellow. Wesley reminds them that Angel is special, "he has a soul. In point of fact, I've confronted more evil, slain more dem--" his voice rises with an unexpected passion (no, not that kind of passion) and he has to quiet himself, "slain more demons, in short done more good while working with Angel then I ever did when I was in the Council's employ." Go Wes! And while Collins reassures him that they'll "make every effort" I'm thinking that no Watcher is gonna like the idea of a vampire besting him at his job. Anyway, Wes is adamant about no harm coming to Angel, and Collins finally agrees, sealing it with a handshake. Weatherby scouls. Smith drinks.

      Popcorn in hand, Faith flips channels on the remote control, never stopping long to watch anything. She munches away, not noticing that something is moving through the shadows around the edges of the apartment. Angel ducks out of the hot . . . steamy. . . shower. . . . *sigh* to check on her. "It was touch and go for those four minutes you left me alone, but somehow I got through it." Heh. Angel heads to the bedroom to get dressed. Faith continues to channel surf. Something looks on her from the ceiling above her. She still doesn't notice. We finally see that it's the assassin, ready to strike. Faith finally hits a station with the news, featuring a special report all about . . . her. Stunned, Faith reaches for her drink and knockes it to the floor. Angel, who's got his pants on and his shirt on, but unbuttoned, hears and runs to the living room. He sees the report, with Faith's picture on the screen and tries to reassure her that they knew this was coming and they'll deal with it. He cuts off when a familiar voice catches his attention -- it's Kate, speaking at a press conference and warning the greater Los Angeles area that Faith is "violent and unpredictable. Faith sits frozen in her chair, gripping the arms, holding on for her life. Angel grabs the remote and turns the TV off. He tries to tell Faith that it's okay. She's safe there, and of course that's when the assassin attackes, dropping onto Angel's back from above.

      It first throws Angel aside, then Faith. Angel's already back up and ready to fight, he kicks it and then shoves Faith out of the line of fire. She heads for the kitchen while Angel takes on the demon. It's strong, and it sends him flying across the apartment. It moves in for the kill, but just then Faith arrives with the butcher knife in hand. She slashes away it the thing, violently --one, two, three times--then kicks it down, where it falls to die. Faith immediately freaks at the sight of the blood on the knife, she drops it and stares at the blood on her hands. She can't speak, can't move. Angel goes to her and moves her gently to the divan, settee, sofa thing. She clutches at him instinctively and he comforts her, pulls her close, shushes her. Until a sound by the stairs grabs his attention. He looks up, still hugging Faith close, to see Buffy staring down at them.

      ~*~*~*~

      On seeing Buffy, Angel quickly extricates himself from Faith's arms, leaving Faith to stare vacantly at her blood-stained hands. Buffy. . . is not happy. He goes to the bottom of the stairs to meet her, finally buttoning his shirt as he does so. He starts to greet her, but she cuts him off. She keeps looking from him to Faith, stops and starts and finally asks indignantly "What are you doing?" Angel glances at Faith and quietly tells Buffy that "we were attacked." "We?" Buffy asks. "You and her." She can't even say Faith's name, so Angel does it for her. Buffy repeats, "You and Faith," her face contorting as if it's painful to speak the word. Angel tells Buffy that it's not what she thinks, to which Buffy scoffs "You actually think I could form a thought right now?" She tells him that Giles heard that Faith tried to kill Angel, which Angel admits is true. Faith finally starts to come out of her haze as Buffy snarks "So you decided to punish her with a severe cuddling?" Angel wants to know if punishment is why Buffy's there. Buffy glares and tell him she was worried about him. Faith finally realizes that Buffy's there, and tentatively calls out to her. At this, Buffy turns and gives Faith a look of pure hatred, this, as much as anything, unnerves Faith. She squirms and mutters "Oh god."

      Buffy starts toward Faith, her expression shifting to one of a person who's enjoying seeing a caged rat squirm. "You didn't think I was gonna find you, did you?" she challenges. Faith squirms and refused to look Buffy in the eye. Angel tries to intervene, to tell Buffy Faith needs help, and Buffy turns on him. "Do you have any idea what she did to me?" Angel says he does. Through her teeth, Buffy asks if he cares. Angel avoids the question, telling Buffy instead that Faith wants to change, she just needs a chance. But Buffy's had enough of giving chances. She waants Faith in jail. Angel is asking Buffy if she realy thinks that'll help, when Faith finally gets up and walks to Buffy. Buffy turns to face her just as Faith takes a deep breath and awkwardly starts to apologize. Buffy cuts her off, "You apologize to me, I will beat you to death." Well, it's good to know Buffy learned a lot about forgiveness when she was dating Angel, huh?

      Faith basically shrugs at Buffy and quietly tells her to go ahead. Buffy actually looks ready to take her up on it, when Angel steps in between then. He tells Buffy this is not gonna happen. "You gonna stop me?" Buffy challenges. "Cuz you're gonna have to." Faith backs off, upset at the tension she's causing. She tries to tell them not to do this. Without taking his eyes off Buffy, Angel just tells her to go upstairs. Buffy refuses to let Faith out of her sight, but Angel is insistent. Faith listens, heading for the stairs. Buffy actually makes a move toward her and Angel stops her by grabbing her arm. Buffy reacts --backhanding Angel solidly across the face. She goes for another shot, which Angel blocks. Then he returns the favor with a hard right to Buffy's face. Dead silence.

      Buffy holds her hand over her mouth and stares wide-eyed at her former lover. Angel is appalled. He immedieately apologizes, though I'm not really sure for what.

      Upstairs, Faith stands at the top of the stairs, listening. Wes finds her there and asks rather coldly if she's going somewhere. Faith says she's not. She "just wanted to be alone." Wes slowly moves in to the room, his gaze never wavering. He ascertains that Angel is downstairs, and stops to give Faith a good long glare. At Wolfram & Hart, Lindsey paces nervously in a conference room, while Lee sits and waits. Lilah storms in and informs them their assassination attempt. Lee has had enough, "This is getting ridiculous. The first assassin kills the second assassin -- sent to kill the first assassin, who didn't assassinate anyone until we hired the second assassin to assassinate her." That's a real mouthful for a guy with his jaw wired shut. Lindsey states that "this obviously isn't working," and we finally see why he's risen so high in the junior ranks! What a brain! Basically, he decides they've been going about this all wrong; it's time to get back to the business they know -- the law.

      Back at Angst Central, Angel informs Buffy that Faith isn't going to run. "Why would she?" Buffy spits, "When she has her brave knight to protect her. She got you. Did she cry? Pouty lips, heaving bosom? I thought you needed help." Angel tells her he didn't want this to happen. "You hit me," she pouts. "Not to go all schooyard on you," Angel counters, "but you hit me first." So Neener! He also reminds her that she's a lot stronger than he is. Buffy's fixated, though. "You did it for her." Patiently, Angel explains that Buffy was on the verge of ruining all the progess they'd made so far, that Faith is at a crucial stage. Buffy insists that Faith is playing Angel. Nice to know she thinks so highly of him, no? "She tried to kill you," Buffy reminds him. Angel responds that it was a cry for help. "A cry for help is when you say 'help' in a loud voice." Heh.

      Angel tries to tell Buffy that he knows Faith did bad things to her, but Buffy cuts him off "you can't possibly know." No, cuz Buffy decided they shouldn't communicate, right? Angel tells Buffy she couldn't possibly know what Faith is going through -- which isn't exactly true if Buffy's lived in Faith's skin, right? I'm a little disappointed that Faith was so affected by her Buffy experience, but Buffy hasn't gained an ounce of insight. But I digress. Buffy strikes back, saying that of course Angel can relate to her. "I'm sorry I can't be in you club," she snaps self-righteously, "I've never murdered anybody." No, but she thought she did, when Ted "died." And she sure felt responsible for Alan's death, too. Does she retain nothing from her experiences? *sigh*

      Thankfully, Wesley picks this time to interrupt before things get more hateful. He's leading Faith down the stairs, and tells Angel there's been a change of plan, that everyone should get ready to vacate. Buffy follows Faith into the other room, keeping an eye on her as she gets her coat. He fills Angel in on the Council guys' plan -- that they've got 20 minutes until three guys show, expecting to find Angel gone and Faith knocked out with stuff in the syringe he holds up. Absently, he greets Buffy. Angel wants to know why Wes brought them there. Wes says he couldn't shake them and had to pretend he was helping. "Why aren't you?" Angel asks. Before Wesley can answer, Buffy turns to tell them that she knows these guys. "They're killers." Wes says they've surrounded the building, so Angel decides to check the sewers and see if they're clear. He calls to Faith. . . but she's gone. Slipped out when Buffy turned her back. Angel says she'd head for the roof. Buffy takes off after her, and Wesley stops Angel from following. "Buffy can protect Faith," he tells Angel. "I'm not sure that's her agenda," Angel worries. But he relents, heading for the sewers. Wes stops and tells Angel that "It wasn't for her." Angel knows. Wes continues that "It's because I trust you. Well, more than three gun-toting maniacs at any rate." Aww, he's such a softie.

      At the LAPD, Lindsey approaches Kate -- who's not to pleased to be talking to a W&H lackey, no matter how cute. He pulls out the surveillance photo of Angel that Wolfram & Hart has on file from way early in the season and plays to Kate's anxieties about "the creatures how murdered [her] father." When she asks him to get to the point, he tells her that "there are beings, detective. Beings that aren't governed by the laws and scriptures that we humans have devised." He points to the picture of Angel and says that he is one such being, who thinks he's above the law. "Which is why he gives aid and comfort to a known murderer. The woman you're looking for, she's with him." With that, Lindsey turns and walks away.

      Buffy finds Faith on the roof of Angel's building. Faith is standing at the edge, looking down, her back to Buffy. Buff tells her she's "not gonna run." Slowly, she moves closer to her counterpart. "What are you gonna do?" Faith asks. "You gonna throw me off the roof -- again?" Buffy wants to know why she shouldn't. Faith turns to face to Buffy and takes a stand, "There's nothing I can do for you, B. I can't ever make it right." "So you're just gonna take off again?" Buffy sneers. "Leave us to clean up yet another one of your messes." Faith thinks that would make things easier for Buffy. "Until you got bored with the whole guilt thing," Buffy continues. "Decided to come back and shake things up?" Faith says that wouldn't happen. "You're right," Buffy answers.

      Faith smiles and laughs to herself, "Angel said there was no way you were gonna give me a chance." Buffy explodes, "I gave you every chance! I tried so hard to help you and you spat on me! My life was just something for you to play with -- Angel, Riley. Anything that you could take from me, you took. I've lost battles before, but nobody else has ever made me a victim."

      Now Faith's had it. "And you can't stand that," she counters. "You're all about control. You have no idea what it's like on the other side. When nothing's in control, nothing makes sense. There's just pain and hate and nothing you do means anything!" Shaken, Buffy cuts her off -- "Shut up!" Could it be that she does remember what it was like to be in Faith's shoes. Is Faith getting through? And Buffy doesn't like it. "Just tell me how to make it better," Faith pleads. Suddenly, Collins burst through the door to the roof, automatic rifle blazing. Buffy grabs Faith and throws them both under cover.

      Wesley and Angel hear the shots and Angel helpfully points out the shots are coming from the roof. Before they can get half way across the apartment, though, Weatherby comes down the stairs, also firing away with a rifle. The guys duck for cover, and Wesley calls out that he hasn't given the signal. Weatherby doesn't care. Before Angel can get a jump on him, Weatherby pulls out his secondary weapon -- a mini-cross bow. He's got them both pinned down.

      On the roof, Buffy and Faith make a run for the next building, but before they can get to the edge of the room, the third Watcher makes his appearance -- in a helicopter, with another large gun aimed right at the Slayers.

      ~*~*~*~

      When we return form the commercial, the big actiony sequence ensues. Buffy and Faith duck out of the line of fire from Collins and the chopper, next to a large skylight. Weatherby continues to hold Angel and Wes at bay while droning on about the perversion of working for a vampire. Buffy decides she has to take down Collins. She tells Faith to wait, then gets up and dives up and over the skylight and knocks the gun out of Collins' hands. Luckily, for Buffy, the pilot has trouble holding the chopper steady so he can't get any shots off. Weatherby blahblahblah sacred vows. Wes tells him he did swear -- to protect the innocent. He dives across the room, drawing fire as Angel heads for the roof. On the roof, kicky, fighty, punchy with Collins. It should not be this hard for Buffy to take him down. Downstairs, Wesley puts his dart-throwing skills to good use by nailing Weatherby in the neck with the syringe. True to its word, the sedative is fast acting. Weatherby goes down--but not before Wesley takes out a little of his frustration on the Watcher with a solid right hook.

      On the roof, more kicky, more fighty and Buffy finally takes Collins down, just as the chopper steadies and moves in for the kill. Buffy freezes in the spotlight, unable to do much more than watch. Angel gets to a landing in the stairs under the skylight, and wasts no more time. He jumps up, through the skylight, and onto the rail of the chopper. When did vampires develop springs for legs? Anyway, he grabs the gun from Smith and pulls. Smith falls to the roof. Angel vamps out and threatens the pilot into landing. Buffy turns to look for Faith, but she's disappeared.

      When the chopper lands nearby, Angel finds a posse of police cars ready to greet him. Kate pulls up and demands to know where Faith is. Angel just stares, unflinching. So Kate has him arrested, for aiding and abetting a felon. At the police station, Buffy and Wesley arrive just as Kate brings Angel in. Buffy protests when Kate tells Angel she's got a great cell for him, one that faces east. And the sunrise is in four hours. "You know what he is?" She asks Kate. "Who are you?" Kate wants to know. "She's obody," Angel deadpans. Ouch. That stings. Buffy continues, insisting that Angel is not "gonna take the fall for her." Angel cuts her off, and Buffy finally sees what Angel does. Across the room, Faith sits cuffed, waiting at Kate's desk. Kate goes over to her, and as Angel, Buffy, and Faith look in with varying degrees of shock on their faces, Faith rises, looks Kate straight in the eye, and says "I'd like to make a confession."

      ~*~

      Later, still at the police station, but in a stairwell lobby, Buffy and Angel face each other once again. Their body language is less rigid, the air less tense, but things are hardly okay. "You should have told me what was going on," Buffy insists. Angel tells her that he didn't think it was Buffy's business. "Not my business?" Buffy is incredulous. Angel starts to tell her he needed more time with Faith before he made another move, but Buffy cuts him off again. "Do you have any idea what it was like for me to see you with her? That you went behind my back . . ." And Angel's had it. It's his turn to do the interrupting, as he finally tells Buffy like it is: "Buffy, this wasn't about you. This was about saving somebody's soul. That's what I do here, and you're not a part of it. That was your idea, remember? We stay away from each other." Go Angel! Buffy insists that she showed up because Angel was in danger. And Angel scoffs that he's "in danger every day. You came here because of Faith. You were looking for vengeance." Bingo. "I have a right to it." Buffy sneers. " Not in my city." The tension is back. Hurt, angry, and probably aware that she's in the wrong, but unwilling to admit, Buffy strikes back the best way she nows how, by going for the heart. "I have someone in my life now," she tells Angel. "That I love. It's not what you and I had. It's very new. You know what makes it new?" She takes a step closer to Angel, her eyes hardening, "I trust him. I know him."

      Angel scoffs, his eyes moist, his heart aching. "That's great. It's nice. You moved on. I can't," he reminds her. "You found someone new. I'm not allowed to, remember? I see you again, it cuts me up inside. And the person I share that with is me." He moves in, his voice rising, "You don't know me anymore, so don't come down here with your great new life and expect me to do things your way." One last hard look into Buffy's eyes, and he finishes, " Go home."

      Buffy stares back, then moves past him, picks up her coast, and throws one past parting shot at Angel's back, "See? Faith wins again." Angel leans his hands on the wall in front of him, doesn't turn to look at her, just tells her to go. And she does. Down the stairs and back to Sunnydale. As soon as she's gone, Angel nearly punches a hole in the wall in front of him. Wesley walks quietly in and asks if he's alright. "For a taciturn shadowy guy, I have a big mouth," Angel complains. "Do you want to go after her?" Wesley asks. Angel respons instantly, "Yes." But he doesn't move. A moment of silence, then Wesley tells Angel, "I don't know how much my opinion counts for, but I think you did the right thing." "Yelling at Buffy?" Angel asks. " No," Wes responds. "The other thing."

      The scene shifts to a prison, a cell at the other end of a long hall. A lone figure sits on a cot. As Angel continues to talk, we move in closer. "I didn't do it." Angel says. "Faith did." Wesley ponders that maybe Faith is "strong enough to make it. Peace is not an easy thing to find." Angel sighs, "She has a chance." And as the cell door slams, the camera focuses in on Faith, whose face is filled with the most overwhelming expression of peace that I've ever seen.

      Mary Beth's Review

      COMING EVENTUALLY!

      SunSpeak

      "Do we--- ohh, hi. Remember you guys. You made everything worse! Jerks. I SO hate the Council. Go away, loser leather-boys! We don't want you in the country! We won the war, you lost the empire, we have Slayers, you have *nothing*! " -- Kiki, doing her running commentary

      "Hey, Buff. Your timing *sucks*. : >" -- Still Kiki's running commentary.

      "The single most moving moment of the evening for me, even over Willow and Oz's goodbye, was that final shot of Faith, sitting in prison. Because at the end of such a tumultous two hours, to see someone who has so utterly hit bottom and who has made an ultimate sacrifice of her life and future, sitting there with such a PROFOUND look of peace on her face. . .. was just too much. I wanted to weep for her. I did, a little. Wow. Chills. Eliza ROCKS." -- MB

      "She really, really does. Faith finally stopped fighting herself; I guess it had to be a relief. The Council, W&H, Buffy--- all those problems get put on hold while she deals with the biggest issues (her crimes, and how she feels about herself) where they can't get to her. It's bizarre--- they perfectly lead up to her doing the right thing, and yet I never considered it, despite the fact that it was the perfect solution for her. Joss rocks in writing it, Eliza really rocks in portraying it."--Kiki

      "Less Cordy = disappointing. But don't blame her for getting out of dodge. Sometimes, it's just easier to get away."
      "She's so smart. I would *so* have been saying 'hasta' while Angel dealt. 'I'm mad, I can't deal, I won't stop you, you're an idiot, but anyway, I'm gone.' I am sorry that she wasn't there to kick Buffy's shins over the way she treated Angel, but otherwise, it did keep the area clear for the big issues." --MB & Kiki

      "Loved Wesley and the Council guys. Too funny. Loved that he ultimately trusted Angel. Hmmm ......who should take a lesson from that? Hmmm..... oh! I know. Buffy! Yes, I'm a B/A fan. But I've always been more an Angel fan. And I've hated Buffy more and more this season and I was just as happy to see him hit her as the non-B/A fans. She needs to snap out of it. And that final conversation . . . the way she told him about Riley . . . she didn't know he'd already found out. That was just spiteful and cruel. And she deserved to be told off. And that she told Angel she could trust Riley? Oh, I wanted him to smack her again. But I LOVED Angel's reaction to it -- to point out that he lives with a lot more pain than she does. That he doesn't have such choices. And that he is NOT over her. And that her selfish ways are unwelcome there. Ah, I can only hope it resonates. "--MB

      "Time out. Buffy's 'selfish ways'? C'mon, now. Buffy may have the same kind of "meme" streak a lot of young women have at that age--and older--but I think it's a little bit of a stretch to call her selfish. This is, after all--as she pointed out--the chick who gave Faith *every* chance, when no one else was willing to, way above and beyond any call of duty or reason or personal safety. Faith responded by trying to destroy absolutely everything Buffy ever was, had, or cared about--not just her relationships with Angel and Riley, either. She threatened Buffy's mom. She threatened everyone Buffy loved. And every single time Buffy reached out to her, she responded with violence and viciousness. So I can hardly blame Buffy for going just slightly over the edge when, so soon after Faith *yet again* tried to destroy her life utterly, she finds Angel completely, totally, in Faith's camp, without one word of 'Hey, I get it, you have every right to feel the way you do.'" -- Gina, responding to MB

      "When did he get a chance to say that? Frankly, I don't blame him for worrying more over Faith who was on the verge of snapping and going to kill someone else, then Buffy, who was massively angry and massively hurt AND HAD EVERY RIGHT TO BE. Angel's got his own baggage. On top of Wes and COrdy being hurt, he is way overidentifying with Faith, blaming himself for them being hurt, etc. And he just found out about Buffy and Riley. So, not being perfect, when Buffy comes charging in and freaks over him for protecting Faith, he doesn't handle it with as much sensitivity as Buffy needs." -- Lizbet, responding to Gina

      "Sure. I'm not really blaming Angel either; I was jumping back from side to side during both of those confrontations. Point is, everyone's leaping down Buffy's throat and calling her selfish, when she was no more out of line after everything she'd gone through than Angel was based on *his* experience. I don't think Angel was wrong, and I don't think Buffy was wrong--they both reacted perfectly understandably based on their situation. Yet every post-ep discussion I've seen paints Buffy as the selfish brat. I disagree." -- Gina, responding to Lizbet responding to her

      "I'm sorry, no one but a saint could just go, 'Oh, okay, you think she can be redeemed, coolies, go to it.' Cordelia didn't. Wesley didn't. They all let Angel know in their own ways that they thought he was nuts. It just happened that his adoption of Faith was a goddamned knife in Buffy's gut." --Gina

      "Exactly...it just *happened*. All Buffy could see was "this hurts me, how could he do that?" She didn't pay the slightest attention to his attempts to explain that he was doing it for reasons *that had nothing whatsoever to do with her*. Period. What it had more to do with, actually, was attempting to undo his own previous failure to turn Faith around...and, in spite of his sharp (and quite correct) words to Wesley last week about that situation, his behavior makes it clear to me that he does feel it's *his* failure, even if he knows better intellectually. This is *his* problem to solve, and it really, truly *isn't* about Buffy. Buffy can't deal with that. Fine. Like I said, I don't really expect her to right away. But what he said to her still needed to be said, or she never *will* deal." --Val in response to Gina

      "He never asked her to believe that Faith could be redeemed. He just asked her to let him believe it. I guess the way I see it is that Angel (probably, we had *zero* time to see his reaction) felt that Buffy had a point in what she was doing and saying -- but he considered Faith's needs more important. Buffy wasn't emotionally capable at that point of making the same concession to Angel." - -Lizbet in resposne to Gina

      "Yeah. I'm sure it felt that way. Especially right after Faith slept with Riley. Buffy's always had trust issues anyway, back from her first morning-after with Angel--- no matter how many times she tells herself that was Angelus, I'm sure it doesn't hurt less, or feel less like a rejection. This was just her worst nightmare. But her timing *sucked* --- and Angel's lack of social skills in some arenas, and his (legitimate) priorities in helping Faith combined to make it impossible to reassure Buffy enough." -- Kiki in response to Gina

      "Um... isn't a 'memememe' streak kind of the definition of selfish?"
      "No. A 'mememe' streak is something just about everyone has at that age. It's something that kicks in occasionally, not a defining character trait. I didn't know a single woman in college who didn't go there at some time or another, but that didn't mean that every woman I knew at that age was selfish...just that it's very hard to deal maturely, calmly and rationally with that kind of personal betrayal at that stage of development." -- Lizbet & Gina

      "Nobody can tell me that if they had gone through what Buffy's gone through as regards Faith...let's just think back over the past two seasons for a bit here, shall we?...and then walked in, expecting to find Angel fighting for his life against her, and instead found them *cuddling* and her star-crossed love utterly caught up in Faith, that they wouldn't be just as mad as Buffy and just as likely to lash out hurtfully. Sure, what she said to Angel was vicious. He'd just hurt her and she wanted to hurt him back. If he'd taken the five minutes to sit down and talk to her about it with some respect for her feelings, rather than blunt "I know"'s (and the attendant-seeming "I don't care,"), then I think she would have reacted at least somewhat less harshly toward him. But he handled it badly, so she handled it badly. He's 240-whatever and she's 20. Guess who should know better by now?" -- Gina

      "Both. But both forget sometimes. And regardless of his age, if Angel didn't forget sometimes, it would mean he had that much less humanity. (It could also be argued that Buffy is still way better socialized than he is, but that's neither here nor there.)" --Val, responding to Gina

      "19. But yeah. I kept thinking--- and it's a bizarre thought---- that you could say, 'Well, what do you expect if you date a teenager?' Then I thought back, to their whole relationship... Buffy has always *seemed* much older than she is, because of the responsibilities and powers she's taken on and been so successful with. But you come right down to it, and she *is* only 19. They have always seemed like equals, mentally, physically, socially... but the fact is, they aren't. His knowledge of human nature may have atrophied after a few centuries of non-use, but he still *is* more mature than Buffy, in a lot of ways. She's had to start over as a freshman, and she's making a lot of mistakes as she does so, learning stuff for the first time. I don't blame him. I'm trying not to blame her, although I find her more annoying, and, since she has less to cry about in her life, much less forgivable. Especially since she wasn't sorry for lashing out at him. I'll find it forgivable when she's sorry." -- Kiki, also responding to Gina

      "Even with all the Faith-betrayal and the Angel-betrayal, what does Buffy do when Faith is threatened by the Watchers? *She protects her*. She could bail. She could be focusing on where the heck is Angel. Or she could friggin' turn Faith *in* to the bloody Watchers. But she did none of the above...because Buffy's *not* selfish. Because in the clutch, her instinct is to reach out and help."
      "For three seconds on the roof, she really *did* get what Faith went through--- she understood that Faith's whole *life* felt, to her, like the few times that Faith managed to really hurt Buffy. I think it wigged her, and she couldn't stand thinking about it. Too much. And yes, a lot of Faith's victimization was stuff (at least in Sunnydale) that she did to herself after a while. But now that she's starting to understand that fact, and actually wanting to change, she deserves that chance. Revenge, however wonderful it feels, doesn't make anything better. Giles (and how he dealt with Angel) is a role model that Buffy could stand to emulate here." -- Gina & Kiki

      "I'm just so sick and tired of Buffy being called "selfish" for...geez...*not trusting for one bloody second* someone who's betrayed her trust time and time again, stolen her life, and tried to kill her and everyone she loves multiple times. I am baffled as to how Buffy is supposed to react so as not to be 'selfish.' She's a barely-out-of-her-teens (if that) Slayer, not a saint." -- Gina

      "It's more annoying that she didn't trust Angel long enough to explain it. That she jumped to the worst possible conclusion (probably because of the Riley thing) without even thinking about what she and Angel had together, once. Understandable, but still very, very irritating." -Kiki responding to Gina

      "I don't think refusing to trust Faith was selfish. On the contrary, it was pure common sense. I *do* think refusing to trust Angel, or to acknowledge that he can (or is allowed to) have motivations and objectives that don't necessarily square with hers, was one of the most selfish things she has ever done. The fact that it resulted from her perfectly sensible distrust of Faith doesn't change that." -- Val responding to Gina

      "I wouldn't call Buffy selfish for not trusting Faith. Duh. The only thing that made me scream 'Bitch!' at the screen is when she told Angel about Riley for the sole purpose of hurting him. She kept twisting the knife on that one. She was hurt, damn straight, but lashing out at Angel in terms of Riley (rather than in terms of Faith) was unfair and vicious. Completely understandable, both in terms of what's going on in her life and what she's seen and knows, but still she was deliberately cruel. It makes for a *MUCH* more interesting Buffy, though. *g* Like you said, she's not a saint, and it's more interesting to watch a character who *will* lash out like that." --Lizbet, responding to Gina

      "Sure. Deliberately cruel and *totally* understandable. Angel is being utterly cold to her. "Do you have any idea what she did to me?" "Yes." Said like "Yes--and it doesn't matter." The man who's supposed to have been your one true love tells you that the fact that this person he's protecting *stole your life*, among her other psycho-deeds, is pretty much irrelevant...well, you're going to be pretty goddamned hurt. And when people are hurt, they tend to want to hurt back. Lashing out at Angel in terms of Faith didn't get anywhere--he was so focused on Faith that it didn't matter. The only way Buffy could feel like he heard her or gave a damn--the *only* point at which he showed any sign that he actually *felt* anything for her, not for Faith--was when she hurt him. Yeah, it sucks. But it makes total sense. It was the only way she could hurt him like he'd hurt her. I keep thinking of ...aw hell, I'm losing track of episode names...the Faith-tortures-Buffy switcheroo in which Angel and Buffy pull one over on Faith. Even though she knew all along that it was an act, we saw that was agony for Buffy...and the audience--as well as Angel--clearly understood why. For Buffy, this must be like living that all over again, as she has *no* reason to believe Faith really has changed--only this time it's real. " --Gina, responding to Lizbet

      "When discussing Buffy's selfishness -- I'm not saying I would expect her to walk in and forgive Faith. I understand her anger. I understand her being upset at seeing Faith in Angel's arms. I get all that. I'm not saying she was selfish not to forgive Faith. I am saying she was selfish not to trust Angel. Heck, even Wesley, despite his own hatred of Faith, trusted Angel. The woman who's supposed to love him couldn't? Her pulling the Riley card on him was selfish. Yes, she was hurt. Yes, she was angry. But that was just cruel -- especially since she knows Angel can't move on. She did not know that Angel knew about Riley -- she said that with the express purpose of hurting him. Yes -- that is *real* and painful and more interesting. It's what makes them *them* -- they, as Spike said, have hit the time when they 'hate each other until it makes them quiver, but they'll never be friends.' I don't disagree. But it *was* selfish. And petty. And childish. That's what Buffy is right now. I've been right there backing Buffy up for 3+ seasons. But this season, in the latter half especially, I've just about had it. She's the Slayer. She is in a job that requires self-reliance, self-control, self-discipline and other good self- things. But she should not be selfISH and self-centered. And while I've always understood that she's human and young, it seems that this season has been worse than ever. I do think that's part of the point -- she's off on her own, she's got a new guy, she's young and free. I hope Joss is, and suspect he is, going somewhere with that. What I'm trying to say is that I definitely think that Buffy has been in a more serious 'mememe' kick this year. And yes, I label it selfishness. Or self-centeredness. Just because it's a 'common thing' for girls that age doesn't mean you label it differently. And I say that this 'common thing' is dangerous for a Slayer. As always, Joss is dealing in shades of gray here. . . . and that's what I love about him. Neither Buffy nor Angel are completely in the right or in the wrong. But Buffy, moreso, was way overreacting. And Angel wasn't as supportive as he could have been, but as Lizbet (I think) pointed out. . . he had no time to worry about Buffy. He needed Buffy to worry about herself -- or just go away. And she was incapable of doing that this time. She took it all too personally, when there was so much more to it. It was NOT about her. And she needed to be told that, IMNSHO.

      selfish (adj.) - arising from concern with one's own welfare or advantage in disregard of others. (Webster's 10th)

      In this case, Buffy was being selfish -- letting her own (justified) pain and (warranted) anger get in the way of what Angel (someone she should have trusted) was trying to do."
      --MB, responding to Giner.

      "He never asked her to believe that Faith could be redeemed. He just asked her to let him believe it."
      "But he also asked her to step aside and not act; which was, by definition, asking her believe it. Buffy's the Slayer, and it's her responsibility to protect the innocent. Faith has shown no compunction for harming anyone and everyone who gets in her way, and she's not the kind of ordinary criminal Buffy could reasonably expect to leave to the cops. (Yes, we know that probably *now* she is, but it's kind of a stretch asking Buffy to take that on faith based on all her experience. She didn't even see the soulful look in the jail cell, after all.) Angel is saying "Leave this homicidally dangerous, super-powered individual to me. I know what I'm doing." And Buffy, while certainly not completely rational herself, knows that Angel may be somewhat blind when it comes to this situation as well. So by asking her to let him believe Faith can be redeemed, he *is* asking her to believe it too...and to trust a lot of people's lives to his belief." --Lizbet & Giner

      "well, Buffy and selfishness. My roommate and I watched the Angel episode last night. We cheered when Angel punched her. What's that tell you. Do I think Buffy is a selfish bitch? Sometimes, usually no, but I'm not too fond of the way she treats the other people in her life other than her current "lover boy". They way she threw Riley and her trusting him in Angel's face was a bitchy act, there's no doubt about it. But she felt hurt so she hurt back, very human response. But I still was glad he punched her, after all, she did hit him first." -- maddog

      "Yes, I'm a B/A fan. But I've always been more an Angel fan. And I've hated Buffy more and more this season and I was just as happy to see him hit her as the non-B/A fans. She needs to snap out of it."
      "I wasn't happy to see it --- but I did think she needed to realize that she was out of control. You don't use your Slayer powers to hit your ex, no matter *what* side you think he's on, if you're already positive he's not evil Angelus. It's wrong. And Angel had no reason to have to sit there and take it, not when she'd already started the physical stuff. He didn't escalate, he just returned it, and that snapped her out of it." --MB & Kiki

      "And that final conversation . . . the way she told him about Riley . . . she didn't know he'd already found out. That was just spiteful and cruel. And she deserved to be told off. And that she told Angel she could trust Riley? Oh, I wanted him to smack her again."
      "Well, I figured that she was lashing out. This trip *so* didn't go as planned. I think Buffy felt she had to tell him that she had someone else now... but yes, it was an unnecessarily harsh way to do it. I don't think she expected it to hurt him as much as it did. She was just so incapable of seeing his point of view regarding Faith, that she felt like he couldn't possibly care about how she felt about it, and by extension, didn't care about her. (She was wrong, but, hey, I don't blame her for being overly regarding her fellow Slayer. It would take a saint not to be. It's just too bad Xander or Willow didn't come with her to yank on her choke-chain... then again... maybe not either of them. *Someone*, though.) But yeah.. the 'trust' lie--- that was over-the-top. Wishful thinking on her part, too. Trying to make the past less, so the present perceived betrayal hurts less." --MB & Kiki

      "But I LOVED Angel's reaction to it -- to point out that he lives with a lot more pain than she does. That he doesn't have such choices. And that he is NOT over her. And that her selfish ways are unwelcome there. Ah, I can only hope it resonates."
      "Yeah, I hope that it sinks in too. It's not her fault; it's something that Angel put on himself, to make up for what he used to be, and to stop himself from being evil again. But he doesn't need the extra." --MB & Kiki

      "So I can hardly blame Buffy for going just slightly over the edge when, so soon after Faith *yet again* tried to destroy her life utterly, she finds Angel completely, totally, in Faith's camp, without one word of 'Hey, I get it, you have every right to feel the way you do.' Because Buffy *does*. She *does*."
      "She does. The problem was, Faith was at a fragile point, Buffy barely gave Angel a second to open his mouth, and he was trying to keep Faith from running or killing herself again, and he made the choice to err on the side of caution. If either Buffy *or* Angel had been calmer, they could have said these things, but...." "I don't really blame her either; and you're right, it would have helped if he'd said this. Maybe, if he hadn't been so preoccupied with hanging onto the teeny bit of progress he'd made with Faith, he even would have. But I lost patience with her when she repeatedly *ignored* his 'This isn't about you'...because it wasn't, and she simply couldn't process that. I couldn't honestly expect any different of her, but I still hoped." -- Gina, Kiki, & Val

      "This been developing all season, though, this perception that Buffy's self-centered, and it's not entirely unprecedented (wow, Giles word. Speaking of whom...) It's easier to react to her actions in light of recent past foolishness and thoughtlessness (misjudging and joining the Initiative; blowing off Giles for so long; not hanging with her buds as much; how damn annoyingly cute she and Riley can be) and see it as a developing character flaw. And to some extent, it is, because most of Angel's choices weren't about her at all. And couldn't be. She never gave him the chance to really explain that. (And, well, he did a sucky job when he tried to do so... alas.)" -- Kiki

      "My problem with all of this, is... I'm feeling outside-manipulated by Joss, to a certain extent. He needed to split Buffy and Angel farther apart; he needed to establish Angel as his own guy, separate from the Slayer. This is L.A., the grown-up town; Buffy is the teen Slayer who must go back to Sunnydale and grow up. Unfortunately, he plays on Buffy's worst character traits (tendency toward melodrama, overreactions, distrust, fear of losing people) to do it, and Buffy ends up looking really bad, when a word or two in either direction could have salvaged her character (but then, the romance would have been unweakened, so.... no dice). I can only applaud SMG for biting the bullet and playing those scenes straight, without necessarily liking them, and showing Buffy's hair-trigger side without making it unbelievable. Hard thing to do. Anyway. It accomplished it's purpose: got Faith off the screen for a while, widened the wedge between Angel and Buffy. "--Kiki

      "I do think Angel contributed to the mess by not being honest--with himself, or with Buffy--about his real motivation for attempting to redeem Faith. He has to, not just because she reminds him of himself, not just because he's pretty much the only person in her life who can, but because *he failed to do it before*. I suspect that coming to that realization and admitting it would have gone a much longer way with Buffy." -- Val

      "Nobody can tell me that if they had gone through what Buffy's gone through as regards Faith..." "I have a hard time thinking that anyone is trying to. I'm the first to admit that, within the situation, I can't guarantee I wouldn't be equally irrational. But I'd still be wrong. Angel has been just as wrong in many of their previous conflicts, even though I understood exactly why he was behaving the way he did, and even sympathized. That didn't make him any less wrong, and it doesn't make Buffy any less wrong now. And for Angel not to call her on it wouldn't be doing her any favors." -- Gina & Val

      "Buffy's *not* selfish. Because in the clutch, her instinct is to reach out and help."
      "I'm in agreement with both of these statements, except for one thing: No, Buffy is not, by definition, a selfish creature incapable of giving to others. She is, however, capable of a level of self-centeredness in *certain areas* that, when it rears its head, can be quite startling precisely *because* it is in such sharp contrast to her overall nature. I can understand frustration with Buffy being called 'selfish', with the implication of it being a blanket description; but in this case she was behaving in a selfish manner, and could not see around it." --Gina & Val

      "How long are they going to lock her up for? She was still a minor, really... And while there is no justification for any of this, there are mitigating circumstances. (Accident. And, well, insanity. Or maybe not. I don't know....)"
      "And now that they've established that she was the one in the apartment that got trashed, and there are serious signs that something very bad happened there, are the police going to question her about who her victim was? Will Kate put two and two together?"
      "Wesley wouldn't press charges. He's at a point where it's still hard to do things actively for Faith, but I think he'd automatically avoid adding to her time. I can't see how he'd think the police/jail would be of any help in resolving things between them."
      "Agreed that he wouldn't press charges. I'm just wondering if Kate is going to figure out who the victim was; and, if she does, what will she do about it." "Another good question; but one I bet they skip. Partly because (as Dee said) he won't press charges, and partly because they have so much other evidence against her, as well as the confession." --Kiki, Betsy, Dianne, Betsy, Kiki

      "I think they've got perfect grounds to try her as an adult... and rightly so, frankly. :-/"
      "Hmm. You know, I have no idea what the grounds are for trying someone as an adult, versus as a minor, if they're underage? Any legal eagles (not with Wolfram & Hart) out there who can clue us in?"
      "varies, I believe depending on state, crime and individual. I'd have to check on that but I can't think of how they would get away with NOT trying her as an adult."
      "Well, not only was she over 18, I believe, when she commited the murder in Sunnydale but she's definately an adult for her crimes in Los Angeles. Not to mention that even if she was 17 when she commited the murder the prosecutor would probably petition to have her tried as an adult anyway. Its routinely done with kids as young as 15 and Faith had to be older than that."
      "Were I her lawyer, I'd deal with her being tried as an adult, but plead diminished capacity -- and stand a really good chance of it working. We're talking about a teenager who just woke up from an 8-month coma, remember? The DA will pleabargain her in a second, since a jury, played correctly by a half-decent psychologist, will probably be sympathetic as hell."
      "Which crime are we talking about? The assaults in Los Angeles? Sunnydale. It doesn't really matter, the prosecutor doesn't have to plea bargain. The idiot confessed. Never confess, it takes away any motivation the prosecutor has to plea bargain. You could argue that the confession was coerced by police behavior but that didn't occur here. Faith just became some prosecutors wet dream by confessing. What would be the point of a jury trial? The only question I have is just exactly what did she confess to and are there any affirmative defenses? Self-defense, no. Diminished capacity of what? Guilty by reason of insanity? She's a little too sane, probably. Well, without knowing what she said, its hard to say if trying it to a jury instead of a judge is going to get you anywhere as far as the sentencing goes. Remember, never confess to the police, it ruins your chance at a plea bargain. Always ask for a lawyer as soon as you're arrested. Asserting your right to silence doesn't necessarily break off the interrogation as effectively. If they ask to search your car or come into your house they don't have legitimate authroity to enter and you can just say no. And yes, I just took my criminal procedure final in law school."
      "Point of order (just to be obnoxious): we saw her saying 'I'd like to make a confession,' and we saw her in a cell. It's a test of Kate's ethics whether they urged Faith to have an attorney present in between."
      "Okay, I'm confused. I thought Faith went to the police station on her own and then confessed. I thought Kate showed up with Angel is tow just as she was doing the 'confession bit.' So don't think Kate was necessarilly the cop she was talking to, there was another cop with her. It could matter if she was under arrest at that point by the other cop and she confessed as Kate came in. Or if the other cop was just standing there and at the point she was confessing to Kate she wasn't under arrest. "
      True. It all hinges on (a) what document she was signing for another officer when Angel, Buffy and Kate walked in; and (b) what she actually said in the confession that happened offscreen. I was assuming what she was signing at the top of the scene *was* a confession, until the *last* line of the scene was her "I want to make a confession" to Kate. So either the scene was badly written, or she was signing some other paperwork at the beginning of it. The former is always possible, but I prefer to frame my explanations for things within the universe in question if at all possible. :-) My guess is that what she was signing had something to do with surrendering, but I don't know enough to know at what point in that process she would be under arrest. "
      -- Dianne, Kiki, Deb, maddog, Perri, maddog, Val, maddog, & Val. Did you follow all that?

      "Just to be obnxious on a point:
      Situation 1 - Faith wasn't under arrest when Kate showed up and then Faith confessed. Miranda warnings are not required unless there is custodial interrogation. Faith seemd to just show up at the police station and say I'd like to confess to blah blah. Well, that's pre-custodial and pre-interrogation so there's no admissibility problem at trial - No Miranda warnings necessary.

      Situation 2 - Faith was under arrest and she spontaneously blurted out her confession. The statements were voluntary. Even if there was no Miranda warnings (which are not Constiutional in nature, BTW, they're prophylactic to protect your 5 and 6 Amendment rights), her confession was not the product of police coercion and probably admissible. They could always Mirandize her and then get her to waive and repeat her confession.

      As for it being a test of Kate's ethics, ethics have nothing to do with it. Once Faith confessed, and she was then arrested, if Kate wanted to get any of the rest of Faith's statements admitted at trial she would have to give her the Miranda warnings. Because we just hit the wall of custodial interrogation and while you can get them admitted without Miranda if they're voluntary its a heavy burden on the prosecution to prove they were voluntarily made if Miranda warnings are not given." --maddog, being a lawgeeker.

      "I know people (newscasters, cops, etc.) keep referring to Faith as a woman, but I have to wonder if she's not still a minor. (Not that it'll matter a *whole* lot, given the nature of her offenses, but it's still an interesting wrinkle.) I've always gotten the sense that she was at least a little younger than Buffy and the rest of the Slayerettes--not least because she was next in line after Kendra, who was after Buffy. There probably are enough pre-Slayers out there to cover rapid successions, so I don't have any *really* solid reason for assuming Buffy's destined successors were any younger; but it's just always been intuition about Faith." --Val

      "Another thing that won't really matter, if she goes about this the right way and confesses to the couple of Sunnydale homicides for which they probably *don't* have evidence connecting them to her, but about which I'm curious...if not for those--if all she'd done since killing the deputy mayor, which *was* accidental in a weird sort of way, was go overboard on some demons and assault the folks she's beaten up on since arriving in L.A.--what would happen to her? If she'd stuck with the deal, the W&H folks could have gotten her off in their sleep. If she didn't confess to things like the guy she killed instead of paying him for the spider box, even a normal lawyer would probably have made sure she got a psychiatric rather than a punitive sentence. Maybe--hopefully--she still will." -- Val

      "oh, they *so* must have the next little Slayer-chick lined up."
      "Yup. And they *so* had no intention of actually letting Wesley be her Watcher. We're gonna have to meet this kid sooner or later. After the Council's recent failures, they're going to have brainwashed her until she makes Kendra look like the class clown. I do not like this line of thinking...la-la-la-la-la..." --Kiki & Val, being evil

      "*sigh* Buffy, well, yeah, she *was* worried about him.."
      "Um, yeah. Kinda like the way Nick Knight worries about people. Which is to say, deciding what's best without consulting them. (Y'know, that which makes many of us want to stake him ourselves, even if he is cute & cuddly & hopelessly well-meaning?) Bad Buffy. No biscuit." -- Kiki & Val

      "Oh, they're underestimating Kate a lot too."
      "And miscalculating in the extreme. If they think they can get anywhere with her by trying to equate Angel with the vamps that did in her dad, maybe their information isn't always perfect after all." -- Kiki & Val

      "And as someone already pointed out, this needed to be said to separate the two shows, the two histories, everything..."
      "And it just plain needed to be *said*. Repeatedly. And hopefully Buffy will eventually get it, because right now she *is* still completely stuck in anything-Angel-does-or-says-MUST-be-about-me mode. And it's simply no longer true. Even the bit about Faith being her problem to take care of wasn't much of an excuse, because she *doesn't* have any more compelling a reason to be responsible for Faith than Angel does (except for that vengeance thing, which, sorry, doesn't count). And frankly, Angel *is* the only one qualified to deal with her in the way she needs. Period. I can understand why it's not easy for Buffy to accept that he has to have his own life, and make it significant in his own way. But she's gotta do it." --Kiki & Val

      "Faith...What can I say about our little psycho that hasn't already been said? Not much, except that while I should say I hated her torturing people a few weeks back and all, the truth is...I cheered her torturing Wesley. I'm sick, but he's still a dweeb. :-P~~~ I'm just wondering how long she'll be in jail and will she possibly be out in time to have the big showdown with W&H. It was also interesting to see that her Slayer instincts to fight evil were still present, even at her lowest ebb while she was at Angel's and ended up killing the assassin (or is that the assassin's assassin?). It was purely instinct. Just as Buffy's protecting Faith from the Council's kill team. Just as that same instinct has snuck in Faith here and there ("Who are You?" when saving the people in the church from the vamps and last season when she speared the loose spider just before it jumped Wesley) just to quietly let us know that it's just in a kind of hybernation, but not actually gone." --Julie

      "Wesley...I must agree with the Angelus quote from several eps back: Wow, he finally grew a pair. I never thought he'd have the balls to tell anyone from the Watcher Council off. Or to tell anyone at all off, ever. The times, they are a-changing. But my feelings for Wesley aren't." --Julie

      "Cordy ... I loved her deciding to take a paid vacation while Faith was about. A good, practical idea. Nothing wrong with her survival instincts. Or her nose for money. And it's also good to see that she is growing as a person. As much as she wants all that money, and probably to be on a pedestal, she's discovered that she can't do it for money alone. A few years ago she probably could have, but not now, not with what she's seen & who she's been through hell with. Angel isn't the only one being redeemed here. They all are, with every episode we see." --Julie

      "Angel telling Buffy that them not being together and in separate places was her idea. Wrongo, boy wonder. Who dumped whom in the sewer and left with out a word? She only revised the rules you set down. (He had the right sentiment, but the words that came out were so wrong. ::SLAP::)" --Julie

      "I think the hope is for accident on the first guy and mental on the rest.... although, i'm afraid to see what a 'normal' (i.e. non- supernatural aware) shrink would end up doing to her."
      "Not an un-valid point... The big question is, how much did she confess to? And how much do they have evidence for? After eight months in a coma, some of those investigations *have* to have stalled--- and I wouldn't put it past Tricky Dick to have kiboshed some of the Sunnydale stuff before he tried to Ascend. They have her dead to rights on all the L.A. assaults and thefts, but past that... I don't know." -- Dianne & Kiki

      "I have to admire Joss's ability to deal with her without killing her off like he did Kendra, though. First a coma, now jail time--- and we still only have one effective Slayer out in the real world to deal with things. And before all that, she was evil for a while. The threat to the vampire community never increases, despite Buffy's Domino-Slayer trick.> The thing is, you never expect anyone to go to jail on TV for stuff they *should* go to jail for, if you know they're a major (or semi-major) character. Outside of soap operas, which can get a lot of fun mileage out of prison stories, it takes people out of the loop. Faith could get time for the assaults, the thefts, the minor stuff--- and still get paroled by next fall, if they give her therapy, she gets an Ito-esque judge, and they try her as a minor. And once she's eighteen, the juvie record goes away, if that's all there is. I think Faith's eighteen now --- I'm not really sure, but didn't we always assume she was just a year or so younger than Buffy? But she spent eight months in a coma, so there's another little legal loophole for a good defender to use. She might be considered still legally under-age, and all the murders may have been committed while she was underage, too. Anyway. She gets out, she's paid her dues, but she still has to start over. I've heard it's harder to behave outside than in jail, for some people; less structure, more temptation, lots of fear... Could be interesting!" --Kiki

      "I'm also wondering just how long she's been trying, whether or not she was aware of it, to get herself killed. I think she was when she shot Angel with the poison bolt last season. As a matter of fact, I think that may have been a conscious attempt, possibly the first. Or was the first, going to the Mayor who could have just as easily killed her as hired her? Anywho, I think she realized about that point in time, that being a Slayer, she's not exactly easy to kill as another part of those pesky Slayer instincts is an extreme strong survival instinct, and that another Slayer, Buffy, would be the best bet to kill her. The problem would be that Buffy doesn't kill humans and was pretty freaked when Faith did so. But, earlier in the season, Buffy had fought against her--for Angel. So she may have figured that her best bet would be to really make Buffy almost blindly mad by slowly killing the one most important to her. And it almost worked, so she tried it again only with Angel this time. Fortunately, he'd already been down that road from her side and it didn't work. I'm looking foward to a slightly saner Faith. Hopefully soon."
      "After reading your paragraph on this...longer than I thought 10 minutes ago. ~meep~ And I just figured out that part of the reason I have continued to feel sorry for her at least as much as be pissed at her (if not more, which has been the case a good chunk of the time): her own stubbornness and determination (which I would guess to be standard personality traits of Slayerdom, since we've seen it in Buffy and Kendra as well) worked against her. Which, when the goal she applied it to was self-destruction, resulted in the *spectacular* progress she achieved toward that goal. No wonder Buffy and Angel and everyone else who's tried to help her had their work cut out for them! *sigh* The only way to effectively break her out of that was to get her to accept another goal...one requiring a much more difficult and painful process. Now that she's finally on that path, tho, her Slayer-stubbornness should continue to operate, but now for her benefit." --Julie & Val

      "Um, you know... restraints would have been a good plan, Angel..." "For his safety, yes. For what he's trying to achieve with her, very much under the category of 'counterproductive.' And he *did* achieve it...it's just the part where he's the only person he knows who thinks it's worth doing that sucks. Y'know, at the beginning of this I was saying that the system was *so* not going to do her any good. But what I really commend Angel for was getting her to the point where, by the time she turned herself in, just maybe it will." -- Kiki & Val

      "Regardless of where she ends up, tho, they now *have* to follow through with at least Angel, and probably Cordy and Wes as well, attending her trial. *thinks a second* They probably won't have a choice, actually, being material witnesses and all. And then we'll at least have to have mentions of prison/hospital visits. If Angel lets go and lets the system take over now, she'll backslide badly. He's taken on a lot of responsibility with this." -- Val

      "As much as I LOVED the Angel ep. . . I'm irritated that they didn't better explain how Buffy's visit fit in in the Buffyverse. Because . . . if she was worried about Angel as a result of Giles' call, we didn't see it. Are we to assume it came after Buffy helped Riley bunk down and told him about Angel? Or was that why Angel was on her mind so much when it came to Riley being "bigoted"? Because I have not liked how little Angel seems to have been on her mind this season. . . I've been hoping they'd deal with that. That she was repressing. And they did, sorta. But. . . . I'm just annoyed. " --MB

      "As one of the few people in the universe who don't think Buffy was that selfish last night (I think Angel and Buffy's relationship has always been a selfish one on both their parts, btw), I thought I'd bring the timing question up. I really think New Moon Rising should be considered something that happened after Sanctuary. Last week on Angel, it was a week since Faith came out of her coma. Only a few days passed in the two episodes. It seems a lot more time passed in the Buffy universe. The Buffy we saw in Sanctuary was a Buffy who'd only got her body back for a short time. The Buffy in New Moon Rising was someone back to being normal for a while." --Karen

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      This page last updated June 23, 2000.

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