BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER 3x17 REACTION l Enemies

[@spacejack400]

That moment when Buffy says "syke" right to the camera

[@domie]

INSANEEEE!!!!

[@RubyDianArts]

Your shock at the twist was A+

[@domie]

Thank you 😂

[@teresaschultzauthor8197]

Agreed! That’s what I came here to say. Your face when the realization hit was priceless!

[@becca1189]

@@teresaschultzauthor8197 Domi e. mirroring Faith's slow mo reaction! Best ever!

[@invadertifxiii]

her shock was the same as faiths

[@kingbrutusxxvi]

I love how the reveal that Mayor Wilkins is so old answers so many questions. His old-timey accent, his love of manners and good hygiene, and all the rest. Little things that I wasn't even aware of at first because they were so subtle. Great writing and great acting by Harry Groener.

[@Kap00rwith2os]

FUN FACT: Faith's laugh after the mayor says "miniature golf" was a real laugh from actress Eliza Dushku. She couldn't help reacting to Harry Groener's goofy smile, and they kept that in the final cut :)

[@lawrencewestby9229]

Some wonder how they knew to suspect Faith and thus make their plans to set her up. Near the end (16:25) Giles thanks the glowy-eyed guy for coming to him, he would have gone to Giles after the Mayor and Faith met with him about taking Angel's soul. Only Giles, Buffy, Angel, and glowy-eyed guy were in on the setup.

[@teresaschultzauthor8197]

@@jamie7398 that’s what I was going to say!

[@spamfilter32]

the Shrouded Man, that's his name.

[@1nelsondj]

I really like the Mayor, if he wasn't evil he'd be a stand up guy. He's civic minded, he's into milk, mints and miniature golf. The rest of the episode titles for this season don't really help much, they aren't meant to but they're all good episodes.

[@heatherrose5594]

Great character!

[@Logan_Baron]

I love that the Mayor can be wholesome and evil at the same time.

[@holi117]

I love the mayor. Such a wholesome bad guy lol

[@JustJames83]

You barely said a word! That’s when you know your fully involved, shock twist at the end was just incredible

[@earthandairandrain]

'Enemies' gets some flak from fans for the way it brings Angelus back, but holy crap Dushku and Gellar are so damn good in these scenes. Boreanaz too, who gets to show both his personalities in one episode -- the always-awesome evil side, and his growing strength as an actor on the good side. Consequences and Enemies use him well, and might be even better justification for bringing Angel back so soon in S3 than Amends was.

[@Belnick6666]

not fans then as he was never brought back

[@lenr112]

I was holding my breath that you wouldn't talk over the line " second best" like another reactor did and then wondered what the hell was going on. Your predictions are interesting 😊

[@irishinnish1]

I've seen dozens of reactions to this episode, and nearly every time, without fail, the reactor talks over the EXACT moment of the twist. Your reaction was fantastic!!! Watching it slowly dawn on you was so funny lol

[@hardybryan]

Wes is supposed to be fresh out of school. Early to mid-20's. It's still messed up, but a lot of people assume he's supposed to be as old as the actor and he's not.

[@jeanetteking434]

Wow I never realized low old Alexis Denisof was on Buffy. Wes never seemed that old to me he seemed somewhere between 25 and 30. It looks like the actor was actually 35 at the time.

[@sirmoonslosthismind]

@@jeanetteking434 and that's why they cast him. not to mention that in a show about teens, the only actual teen is eliza dushku (faith).

[@samrobotsin]

These shows often use characters as "mirrors" of each other to portray characterization. For example, Xander represents Buffy's human side. When Buffy is feeling insecure about something, typically Xander is going through something similar, or the beats of Buffy's romantic storylines are usually paired with Xander's, usually in the exact opposite way. In this same principal other characters take on this kind of duality, Spike & Riley for example. Faith & The Mayor are the dark mirror of Buffy & Giles. One of my favorite dynamics is how Giles never tells Buffy what to do. He gives her advice & trusts her to make her own decisions for the most part. The Mayor on the other hand is *constantly* telling Faith what to do.

[@Sanzen86]

“Oh, Faith … oh you shady bitch.” HAH what a perfect way to describe Faith in this part of the season! This episode is so satisfying to watch. The utter shock on your face at the twist was just awesome. I have so many (super gay) feelings about the Buffy/Faith interactions here … a forehead smooch?! EXCUSE ME, MADAM! Also, your character analysis about Faith is super interesting considering you’ve seen a much more mature version of her. Great stuff! You’re wonderful and I love your reactions. Looking forward to the rest of this season!

[@domie]

Thank you so much Victoria!!!

[@sebastianwittmeier1274]

For Faith sex is not just love, but power, domination

[@blacktronlego]

On the subject of super gay I've heard in the original script the forehead smooch was actually a lips smooch!

[@Sanzen86]

@@blacktronlego I've heard that too! Would've been pretty cool, not gonna lie. 😄

[@DreadedX]

Another great episode of season 3. A personal favourite of mine. Fun Fact: The chord that plays at 15:37 after Angel says "Second Best" is the same one that plays in the episode 'Consequences' two episodes prior to this one, when Faith goes to Giles and tells him that it was Buffy that killed the mayor's aid! I believe it is meant to be a direct correlation between the two incidents. First Faith is being the one trying to fool Giles to implicate Buffy and then Buffy gets her pay back here by fooling Faith.

[@DegrassiInstantStar]

The psych-out of the conclusion is incredible and part of why this series is iconic.

[@ghostofdurruti]

The other bad guy Faith killed? I think his name was... "Kissing Toast". Or maybe it was Taquitos...

[@wbrownshadow]

Kokistos

[@chrisrj9871]

@@wbrownshadow .....................is that bad??

[@Talisguy]

I really love how, on rewatch, you notice that Buffy (the character) isn't a very good actress. A lot of her reactions to Faith and Angel before she reveals Faith was set up are kind of muted and stiff, hinting ahead of time that she's not actually surprised by what's happening.

[@1nelsondj]

As she said in 3x01 she sucks at undercover. We've also seen her lie very unconvincingly at times, "My mom doesn't speak a word of English," and "There was a cat, then another cat came and they fought and then they left." Terrible liar.

[@frakkintoasterluvva7920]

@@1nelsondj "That gym was full of vamp..mice. Mice who smoked".

[@timothypierce5303]

There's also a moment where Angel throws the knife through the mayor's hand that even he breaks "character"

[@jamessmithe5490]

I assumed Buffy needed a break because of how intimate with Faith Angel had to be to make the deception believable.

[@spamfilter32]

The Mayor: "there's more than one way to skin a cat. And I happen to know that's factually true."

[@sjbenson5618]

Hi Domi when faith was trying to get with angel, the look in your eyes was unbelievable and impossible that she can ever be with him.

[@trufamilybromontqc]

its scary to see how faith changed so fast :(

[@Talisguy]

Note that Angel doesn't *have* to knock Xander out. Xander has no reason to suspect Angel and Faith of wrongdoing at that point - Angel could have just "pretended to be Angel" and have gotten by. Angel had to have punched Xander just because he wanted to. Now, Xander is frequently an asshole to Angel and it's mostly unjustified, but it's not *completely* one-sided, Angel is an asshole right back on more than one occasion (remember Angel's complete dismissal of Xander's feelings after he put him in harm's way back in School Hard? Yeah.)

[@Talisguy]

@@ItsMeBarnaby I agree, but I would say that deliberately knocking people out just because they annoy you (when you have super strength and they're just a squishy powerless human) and responding to 'what if your plan had gotten me killed?' (which it very easily could have, Angel offered Xander's neck to Spike with no clear plan to get him out of there) with 'then we would have known he bought it' are a bit beyond what's covered by "you don't owe shitty people anything". "Xander does a lot of deeply shitty things and the narrative doesn't always realize how shitty they are, so he's not called out for them as much as he should be" and "it was wrong of Angel to shrug off nearly getting Xander killed and a dick move (even if it was funny and kinda deserved) to deck him just because he didn't like him" aren't mutually exclusive viewpoints.

[@ilovevegimite]

He punched Xander because it is something Angelus would do and he wanted to convince Faith that he was him.

[@spamfilter32]

@@ilovevegimite Angel punched Xander because he had wanted to do it for a while, and pretending to be Angelus gave him the opportunity he needed to do it.

[@kendavis8046]

Thanks for the reaction. Yes, this was a roller coaster of an episode!

[@domie]

Thanks for watching Ken!!

[@Jontor11]

Great reaction Domi. Yeah, we were all right there with you - "are we seriously going down that road again with Angelus!!". This was painful for me to watch the first time as Faith is my favourite character ever. But Eliza Dushku is brilliant here and you can sort of understand what she is going through. What parts of Angel have you seen? It seems you lack some Faith-history...:-)

[@LittleMissDivine]

heyyy ahh I´m excited for this let´s get it

[@domie]

❤️❤️❤️

[@Buffy8Fan]

SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT NOT HAVE SEEN AtS S4 I am actually surprised they got domi e with the twist because there is a line she would have seen in AtS S4 where Angelus states he doesn't play well with others. And he is partnering up with Faith here. It goes against how Angelus would actually act. This was the perfect way to bring Angelus back without ruining the storyline arc of the season while also pushing the story forward and outing Faith to the Scoobies as working for The Mayor. I still remember fans hoping for his return because Angel was being too broody. Great delayed reaction on Angel saying, "Second best." Xander had a black eye from Angel because he had it coming. Angel didn't have to pretend to be Angelus to have justification for hitting Xander, who has repeatedly called him dead boy even after being asked not to. Angelus would have pretended to be Angel, but Angel wanted (and had justifiable reasons) for hitting Xander. I love how the Mayor takes his loss as if it is no big deal.

[@wbrownshadow]

I think in all general purposes the council knows WWP sucks thats why they sent him to Sunnydale. Giles is unofficially under their watch they know they just cant control Giles as a watcher or Buffy

[@mike777ok]

Great Reaction. I know this episode would get you. The look on your face as you realized Buffy and Angel were tricking Faith was priceless. I loved it. As for XANDER, I have always had a problem with him being one of Buffy's "Best Friends". I did not hate XANDER but he didn't back Buffy several times that didn't sit well with me. I know he came through for her several times but for me it did not make up for times he was not in her corner.

[@invadertifxiii]

oh u poor soul, now im watching ur reactions out of order, thinking faith with realize shes not bad

[@DmGray]

Literally EVERYONE starts loving Faith. Just like the gang did. But she was ALWAYS clearly troubled, traumatised and in desperate need of help. Her childhood was extremely traumatic, her watcher was killed in front of her, the persona she inhabited was liked by the gang, but that quickly got old and they never really made her welcome (her insecurities at play here too. You have to make effort to be accepted too) She was then betrayed by the new watcher she put trust in (inspiring jealousy as well as further trauma) then AGAIN by her new watcher (that she has to share with Buffy anyway) Giles failed her, but he is no longer a watcher, his first responsibility is to Buffy AND he's not psychic. He developed his relationship with Buffy over time, he has not had that time with Faith. Her defensive reaction to killing a man is VERY different from Buffy's at the death of a human (as we see in Ted) but it's clear that it made her feel something other than weak and pathetic. Other than a victim. She felt powerful. Then she spirals into true evil and finds a mentor who treats her well. I can confirm that Faith's betrayal of the gang was a knife in the heart when it first aired. Her attack on Xander was the moment for me. The moment she broke. Even understanding that she was a victim, that doesn't excuse becoming a victimiser. The fact Angel MIGHT have redeemed her without Wes' interference is just the tragic "what if" that Whedon loves.

[@spacecow149]

trigger warning: the next episode deals with an all to common school tragedy.

[@carrotfloyd]

15:30 Nice slowmo

[@spamfilter32]

The best lies are laced with the truth. Faith's words to Angel in her attempt to bond/seduce Angel were good lies, and to be as good as they were, they had to have the truth in them. Her telling Buffy and Angel that she is on Team Big Bad is her trying to live down to the expectations of others. Everyone is telling her (or she believes they are) that she is bad, evil, a killer, and so she is trying to be those things, but underneath it all, you can see that she really isn't.

[@Ethros64]

The real star of this episode is Willow’s coat 🔥

[@zebritah1]

Angel stalked Buffy and fell in love with her when she was just fifteen... I wouldn't be too surprised about Wesley and Cordelia....

[@Henrik_Holst]

And then one realise that in the real world Alex is 5 years older than David :)

[@coldservings]

"Second best." 😀

[@tananario]

People not constantly chatting with you does not justify doing evil. Faith is making horrific choices out of her own greed and selfishness.

[@nostrum6410]

I've always wondered at what point in the episode did they devise the plan

[@spamfilter32]

a couple of minutes after the Mayor hired the Shrouded Man to de-soul Angel.

[@ernesthakey3396]

Psyche...

[@Logan_Baron]

Angel is pretty much relegated to Buffy's love interest. You're seeing Angel from having his own show. Remember that during the first part of Buffy Angel was never even part of the group. He'd pop in and give Buffy some info and disappear again. They never even fought side by side. The one time he ever even seemed to fight early on, was he was injured offscreen and apparently on his own not with Buffy or anyone. Little by little they've grown his character, which I like to think that Buffy more inspires him and he's growing because of that. Until eventually he's a lead character for his own show.

[@wbrownshadow]

IAm losing a little Faith in the girl,, but you do see some hesitation in her face as The Mayor goes on

[@SweeranSwift]

Xander the jerk again.. And Another amazing performance by David !

[@youtert]

You left out the best joke: "I introduced him to his wife". By the way, if you watch the episode again you can see when Eliza goes to Angel she isn't acting as well as normal, because Faith isn't as good an actress as Eliza is.

[@redviper6805]

That’s right Faith! You’re second best! I said it before, David Boreanaz is the world’s best actor! Another round of applause everyone! This episode had me fooled!

[@trexinvert]

I know you were still hoping, but it's safe to say at this point. Faith is pure evil. There is no hope for her.

[@ilovevegimite]

Maybe i have you confused with someone else but didn't you study psych in college? Is so, the writers did an excellent job, didn't they?

[@WakingDreamer01]

lol, are thinking of Alley from her alley box channel who is also in the middle of Buffy reactions? I think Domi studies screenwriting instead of psych. Still, both reactors put a lot effort in their character analysis and episode reviews, and without going through outside material such as published Buffy essays, their berakdowns are the most thorough.

[@ilovevegimite]

@@WakingDreamer01 oh yes i am as i often get her and alley box confused as i watch both.

[@Majoofi]

I hate all the behind the scene machinations/information hidden from the audience. It was a cheat that they would have had to understand more than we already did about Faith's involvement with the Mayor, just sort of magically, and worked out a plan to counter it off stage.

[@kendavis8046]

After the first 3-4 watchings of this episode, it finally occurred to me that Buffy caught on to Faith's perfidy when they were in the murdered demon's apartment. Faith was just way too eager to get out of there without investigating anything.

[@redlikeroses8950]

@@kendavis8046 Actually, Buffy noticed that Faith knew exactly where the light switch was.

[@Logan_Baron]

@@redlikeroses8950 Exactly. As they're leaving Buffy even looks in that direction (of the light switch) again. You can see the gears turning as she's not quite there yet, but she's piecing things together. Faith dropped some clues like "Maybe he put up a fight" which was her explaining away her own brutality. On it's own it probably would have went unnoticed, but once Buffy started wondering how Faith knew where the obscure light switch was everything started going together. Like Domi says Buffy is very smart. People forget that. I mean some characters even think she is not too bright, partly because of her bad grades, but she's shown to use smarts in battle and even does well in school subjects until slaying interferes with her studies.

[@somedudeontwitterstalkedme3829]

This is worth it, to see you and Faith react in the exact same manner... brilliant!!!! You are Faith and Shan is Buffy (her reaction in 2 x 17 "Passion" was a second by second display, very similar to yours starting at 15:43)... hahaha brilliant!!!

[@domie]

Haha thank you Tazmon!